Ch 2. Bond of Friendship

James Potter, eldest heir of The Boy Who Lived, was sure Roxanne's mouth was on the floor, his own not that far behind it. His mind had to play catch-up with him to understand everything that had happened in the last minute. He'd been having fun with Lorcan, then Roxy had come up and thought she'd been left out of their pranks- really she should know better- then something had started to fall on their heads.

He glanced at the bust of Headmistress McGonagall. Then some girl, a new member of the Sneaker group, started taunting them about it when Peeves had come into the hall like a whirlwind. And now- James snapped his gaze back up- that girl had offered Peeves... a hand of friendship?

She was obviously mental or a complete idiot, but James still felt a twinge of jealousy bolt through him. Here was another thing neither his parents nor aunts nor uncles had ever managed to do, and some nobody girl was doing it first.

Even the poltergeist himself seemed taken aback, frozen in place as it hovered above his head but even with the banister the girl stood on. It looked at the extended hand with suspicion. "Itle-wittlle baby-bwue want what?"

"Well I would love a map," The girl shrugged, her hair shimmering in a way that had to be magical. "But I'm not sure it'll do much good, with the way this castle changes, and it's more important I find Miss McGonagall right now. Do you know the way to her office?"

Directions. James couldn't believe it. This little, bratty kid was befriending Peeves the Poltergeist for... directions?

Lorcan shook him out of it as he pointed down the destroyed hallway, which was being magically put back together as a small figure slowly stalked toward them. "Snottgrout is coming!"

James looked at the stolen bust of Headmistress McGonagall and grimaced. "We need to get going."

"If we're gonna get in trouble, may as well be for something good!" Roxanne exclaimed, waving her wand to make sparks fly through the air and give all the portraits in the hallway mustaches.

"Rox!" Lorcan groaned. "We were supposed to save that for the History of Magic final!"

James glanced up only to find that Malfoy and Blue Hair had already left and Peeves was taunting the now portraits Roxanne had enchanted. Frowning, he turned to run for the nearest secret passage. "Com'on."

Roxanne threw back her head and gave the same laugh that her dad, George Weasley, had once peppered the halls with. "Ha ha finally, a good run!"

Rose had finished her Potions essay and rereading her Transfiguration Book. She knew the charms that would be on Flitwick's final by heart and she really, really should be focused on practicing theory of Shield Spells for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Instead she glanced over at Fred, who was sitting still as a rock. When he wasn't distracted by social things like what Moaning Myrtles were doing in bathrooms when they shouldn't be, he didn't let anything delay him from his task. His seriousness was forever a source of mystery for the family, who all expected him to live up to the troublemaking ways of his dad and the twin he was named after, Fred Weasley I.

His younger sister Roxanne, on the other hand, was quickly moving up the list of Hogwarts' Greatest Pranksters and Troublemakers along with James. His parent talked about the irony of it quite often over family gatherings, Rose recalled.

"Maybe we should have named you Rashaan and her Freddette." Uncle George would tease, only to be scolded by her Aunt Angelina.

"George!" Her Aunt Angelina would whisper fiercely.

"Just joking, Angie, joking. After all, he's much better as a Freddy Frodo." Four year Rose old started to laugh with the rest of the clan, Aunt Angelina's red face only making it all the funnier.

"GEORGE!"

Needless to say the nickname had stuck for a few Christmases after that. The clan still called him 'Frodo' from time to time, but objected to any outsider using it. Rose smiled thinking of the ten year old memory.

Thump.

Rose jerked and hid a grin when she realized Albus was kicking her chair again.

Thumpthump.

He looked at her through his messy hair and nervously asked. "Wanna catch a ghost with me?"

Thump.

"You can't-" Rose bit her tongue and sighed "Do you want to go find a ghost together?" A beaming smile made all the frustrations worth it.

"Yeah!" His childish nature never failed to bring a grin to Rose's face, and she put her books away slowly as she watched him bounce from side to side in excitement. There was a reason James went overboard with teasing his little brother; it was just so entertaining to see all of his reactions.

Finally her cousin couldn't seem to wait anymore. "I gotta grab something, meet you back at the Tower!" And Albus dashed outside.

Rose chuckled, amused, and started after him but was stopped when a small hand gripped her side. She looked down to see Lily glaring up at her. "Don't you start teasing him too. James is bad enough and I'll have my hands full with Hugo soon."

Lily Potter could be a strange little girl, completely serious and despite her status as one of the clan youngest she was easily their best peace-maker. Her oldest brother was irresponsible and her closest brother was immature... Rose supposed it had been a natural development for her to develop a silver tongue in negotiating quickly as she had. No other first year would have dared scold Rose or James as often as Lily did.

"I know. I honestly just need a break from studying, and who knows? Maybe he's right and there is a ghost to find."

Lily narrowed her eyes, considering, then released her cousin's robes. "No making fun of 'im if you don't find it. Her. Him- whatever the ghost is." She huffed and went back to reading about levitating charms for her upcoming finals.

"Yes mum." she answered, and grinned when her younger cousin nodded back seriously. Rose fingered a lock of her red hair as she climbed up to the Gryffindor Common Room. She hated being a Weasley Legacy but loved her Weasley family- what would she do without her cousins?

Scorpius panted after their long run, and pressed himself farther into the back of the small alcove he was concealed in. It was dark, musty, and uncomfortable, but that was the least of his concerns. He needed to stay hidden at least until Potter's crew got caught, or the Caretaker moved on.

"This isn't MgGonagall's office."

He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. Then there was that. He didn't know what had possessed him to pull the blue kid along after him, but now he was stuck with her hiding with him until it was safe to go.

"Is this one of those secret passages I'm always hearing about?" She added, undeterred by his silence as she looked around.

"This," Malfoy took a deep breath to balance his composure. "Is where we're going to wait and hope nobody finds us."

"If that's what you're worried about we should be fine," The pixie girl carelessly ran a finger through the dust and rubbed it between her index and thumb, "Doesn't look like anyone's been in here for a while." She waited for a few moments, then her gaze turned suspicious as she threatened "If you brought me here to try and kiss me, you should know-"

"No," Malfoy cut her off with a sneer, "I did not."

"Good." She nodded, the relief on her face deepened his scowl. He and James competed in many things, popularity being one of them. There were hosts of girls at this school that would beg to be in this situation with a 'bad boy' like him, snogging or not, and this chick was acting as though it was the most repulsive idea in the world.

"So why were you moving that statue?"

He debated whether he should talk or ignore her, but her very presence was distracting and he had a feeling she could be downright annoying if she set her mind to it. "Just getting back at a couple of Gryffindors."

She practically buzzed with excitement. "There are griffins in the school? Cool!"

"What- no, Gryffindor, the student House."

She frowned. "Who needs a house in a castle?"

How did anyone in Hogwarts not know about the Houses? He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "The students are divided into four groups, called Houses: Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepluff, Gryffindor. Those students are in Gryffindor, I," He gestured proudly to the badge on his robe, "Am in Slytherin."

"Huh." She lifted a curled finger to her chin and seemed to be taking that in.

He took the moment to study her better. She was short, like he noticed earlier, but upon a closer inspection she seemed older than he'd originally assumed. Her body was curved without a trace of fat and her face held the angled sharpness of intelligence. "Why did you talk to Peeves?"

"Didn't you talk to that ghost first? You shouted his name."

That had been James, not him, but he gave her the point anyways. "Peeves is a poltergeist- very different nature from a ghost- who takes pleasure in tormenting everyone and everything in Hogwarts."

Surprise glowed in her green eyes. "Really? He doesn't seem like the type."

So much for intelligence, Malfoy sighed internally. "You're lucky he didn't throw a dungbomb in your face."

"A dung...bomb?" Her nose wrinkled. "Does that do what I think it does?"

He nodded smugly, enjoying the look of dawning horror on her face.

"Gross! Who would walk around with something like that? What if it went off in your pocket?"

Scorpius chuckled as he was struck with the image of just that happening to James, and filed it away for future planning.

She laughed too, a tinkling sound that made him smile even more as they relaxed on opposite walls. "So, how long until Snottgr-"

He shot at her and covered her mouth, the other hand instinctively pointing his wand at her chest. "Don't say it!"

She squeaked in surprise as he leaned over her until she was pressed against the wall, his nose inches away from hers. "Do not. Say. That name. You understand?"

She hesitated, then shook her head, soft strands of electric blue hair brushing against the hand on her face. "Hii wot?" She mumbled from behind it.

It took a moment to decipher her question. 'Why not?' Well, he supposed, not everyone had their own house-elf. "She'll hear you and catch us."

Her expressive green orbs flickered toward the empty hall on the other side of the tapestry and back, obviously saying We're alone, genius.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Fine. The house-elf will sense that someone said her name and be able to apparate straight here. Now do you understand?" This time she nodded, and he slowly moved his hand, but kept the wand where it was in case she said it anyways to rat him out.

"I thought you couldn't teleport in Hogwarts."

Tele-? Where was this girl from? "Of course wizards can't apparate in Hogwarts."

"But you just said-"

"House-elves have different magic." This was only once of the most important factors that had allowed Harry Potter to gain allies and locate all the Horcruxes, enabling him to defeat the Dark Lord in the Second Wizarding War. Merlin, how could anyone be this ignorant?

Again she grew silent as she absorbed the information, during which Malfoy realized that he was still pressed up against her and that if anyone walked in on them, it would seem like they were snogging. He quickly jumped back.

The girl looked down at the distance he put between them and seemed amused if nothing else as she finally saw what had been poking into her. "Did you really threaten me with a stick?"

"A-" Scorpius Malfoy could not believe his ears. "A stick? This is a wand, you crazy pixie!"

"... Looks like a stick."

"I- this is a twelve inch, hawthorn, dragon heartstring core-" Scorpius realized that he was starting to bluster and shut his mouth. Malfoys did not bluster.

"My bad; it's a stick, with a bit of dead animal inside it. Yeah, that's much more scary." She turned away from him and muttered "Weirdo."

He struggled to remain calm, but was finding it hard to do so in the face of such startling ignorance. He was seriously considering the possibility that a Muggle had somehow wandered into Hogwarts. Scorpius forced himself to speak slowly, wondering if anything would make it through that weird blue hair of hers. "This is a wand. The dragon heartstring core amplifies and focuses a wizard's magic to increase spell potency."

"Why?"

He narrowed his eyes and tried to figure out what this girl was ignorant of this time, and was finally forced to ask "Why what?"

"Why does a stick make magic more powerful? How does it work? Shouldn't it, I dunno, slow it down more like a net or something?" She waited a little bit, eager, then frowned at his silence. "What, aren't you here to learn magic? It can't be that hard of a question."

She dared- Scorpius was livid. This little slip of a girl had been waving her idiocy around for all to see, and now she dared imply that he, he, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, was ignorant? He looked down his nose at her, doing his best imitation of his father when the latter helped him study. "I was just trying to imagine the simplest possible way to explain a complex subject to your uneducated mind."

"Oh. Okay." And just like that the girl relaxed, looking up at him with a patient but still hopeful and eager expression.

Well that was unexpected. He'd thought she'd get upset again, or at the very least defend her 'uneducated' self. It left his prepared retorts to die in the back of his mind as she waited for him to do what he'd promised and answer her query about his 'stick'.

He scowled at the challenge in her eyes and eventually explained "Wands act as a catalyst and a focal point. It's small shape condenses the magic of it's user and the core amplifies it as it resonates with the natural mindset of the Wizard, resulting in a stronger and more focused blast that's impossible to achieve without one."

The girl nodded for a moment longer then frowned, "Well that seems positively useless. What good is magic if you can't cast it without a stupid stick?"

It could have been his imagination, but Scorpius would swear his wand was heating in his hand the more she insulted it. He tried to reason in a way she could understand. "What's the point having shoes when you need to walk?"

"Feet can walk without shoes- I mean, they're nice to protect you from sharp rocks and the like- but what happens if you lose that stick? Can you not cast magic then? Or what if it breaks? What if someone steals it? Will you be rendered a magic-less twit without it?" The last question held genuine curiosity as the girl looked up and awaited his response.

It was rare that Scorpius Malfoy was ever at a loss for words, but that's where he found himself. There was ignorance, there was stupidity and then, it seemed, there was this girl. "Who are you anyway?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you tell me who you are first? You're the one who's been dragging me around."

She didn't know who he was. Scorpius waited for his anger to rise at the notion that someone hadn't recognized a Malfoy on sight, but it didn't come. Surprised at himself, he answered instead of protesting. "Malfoy."

"Malfoy. Malfoy, Malfoy..." Her eyebrows drew together in puzzled confusion and he noticed that they, unlike her hair, were a normal brown. "Oh! I know you!"

And there it was. He sighed and waited for her to shout Death Eater or traitor and back away, as everyone always did. Not everyone said it aloud, but this girl seemed like a vocal person and would likely say exactly all the dark things she'd heard about his father and grandfather. Though he hated to remember it, he and his group had banded together because they, not unlike the Legacies, had parents who'd become famous in the Battle of Hogwarts. But while the Legacies enjoyed gushing admirations, squealing fangirls and autograph requests, Scorpius and his friends usually found themselves shunned and ignored throughout their classes.

She snapped and pointed her finger at him in the same motion. "You're the top student in the year!"

He looked at her in surprise and said what was likely the most unintelligent statement in his life. "Whaa?"

"Yeah, top of the class for all practical exams and top or second on all the written tests. You only ever come in second to... um... oh what was her name, that red Wessel girl named after a flower..."

He laughed, a full laugh which rang louder than it had in awhile. "Are you talking about Rose Weasley?"

"That's the one!" She beamed at him, then grew more serious. "Wow, can't believe I got to meet a top student my first time here. I'm Malam," She shot her hand out to him with the same smile she'd given Peeves.

He too looked at it as though it was biting dragonsnap. "Just Malam? What's your last name?"

"That is my last name." Her eyes twinkled. "I'll tell you my first when you tell me yours."

That tingling feeling went down to his toes again, and he took her hand. "Nice to meet you, Malam."

"Ditto, Malfoy." She kept smiling, then her face turned a bit pink and she pulled her hand back. "So, um, now could you tell me the way to the Headmistresses office?"

It turned out to be a short run. For all their boasting and bragging, James and Lorcan still hadn't mastered the maze of hidden passageways that wove throughout the school. This, combined with the fact that the trio had no real destination in mind was the reason they were now sitting in the Headmaster's office, awaiting the reprimand that was sure to come while Snottgrout guarded the exit.

"You three again?" The question was more of a sigh as Headmistress McGonagall descended the staircase from the upper floor. Roxanne had been told that McGonagall used to be one of the strictest teachers in the school, but the silver-haired, weary-eyed woman before them didn't look half as frightening as their parents' described.

The Headmistress turned to Snottgrout, "Thank you," she said, "I can handle it from here."

The caretaker left with the implied dismissal, fuming as she did and grumbling something about Peeves and scissors and having to sweep up hair. Roxanne hid a smile, word of her creative spell would no doubt spread through the halls much the same as those mustache hairs. But then McGonagall cleared her throat and Rox's thoughts turned to their current predicament.

McGonagall looked at the three of them in turn, the silence stretching past being uncomfortable and delving into the realm of unbearable. The Headmistress' lack of shouting and screaming was a stark contrast to what the caretaker normally enjoyed.

Finally McGonagall shook her head and moved to stand behind the large desk at the center of the room. "I'd hoped that all these childish quarrels would be stifled after twenty years- it seems my hopes were ill founded."

"My dear Minerva," Rox jumped and looked at the portrait of Dumbledore as he continued, "time is hardly a proponent for peace. Give them the chance to mature and gain wisdom of their own."

"Wisdom?" Roxanne's head swiveled to look at the portrait of Headmaster Snape. "That is hardly the trait Gryffindors are known for, let alone those of a Potter."

"Oi!" James jumped out of his chair. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, Mr. Potter, that you and your kin still suffer the dimwitted, misplaced bravado that your grandfather displayed when he roamed these halls."

"Why Severus," Dumbledore smiled at the other portrait, "I do believe that certain... other students displayed this 'misplaced bravado' in their time here, wouldn't you say?"

Snape's scowl deepened "As I've told you, Albus, I-"

"Enough, the both of you." McGonagall interjected in her soft voice, "Mr. Potter sit down."

James glared at Snape few moments more, then sat down with a grumble. "Dunno why dad named Albus after a git."

"Mr. Potter." McGonagall looked at him over her glasses for a few moments and held his gaze, ensuring his attention. James sighed and slumped in his chair- so much for getting off easy. McGonagall had her serious face on. "Now, the three of you have been wreaking havoc for three years now, and till this point we've allowed it. But desecration of school property will not be overlooked, even in the last week of school."

"As such, I am now faced with the dilemma of how to appropriately punish you while allowing you time to study for the next five days- which contain the last reviews, might I add, before you start taking your second week of O.W.L.s. Mister Potter, you will accompany Miss Snottgrout in cleaning the trophy room every night until the end of the year. Miss Weasley, you will serve the same sentence by straightening the broom cupboards at the Quidditch Pitch. Mister Scamander," Lorcan jumped in his chair, having started to doze off through the process they'd all gone through a dozen times. "You will help the Prefects enchant the girls bathroom on the second floor against flooding."

"Not Moaning Myrtle..." he groaned, dismayed.

James cleared his throat, ignoring his friend's plight. "Headmistress, if I may, I know more about brooms than my cousin. I was, after all, appointed Seeker to the Gryffindor Team second year."

"Proficiency at a sport, Mr. Potter, does not give you the privilege to choose your own punishments." She shot Snape a warning glare when he chuckled, silencing him before he could comment. "In addition, all three of you are banned from going to the Hogsmead trip after finals and shall instead assist the house-elves in cleaning an old teachers bedroom- without magic."

Their chorus of protests began in unison.

"But Headmistress-"

"That's not fair-"

"We'll just be getting in the way-"

"It'll take forever, no magic?"

"This is the caretakers job, not ours-"

"Malfoy's the one who started it, he-"

"Enough." McGonagall looked hard at them, "My decision is not up for debate. Next time, I suggest you think before you act. Use those heads of yours to consider the consequences. I will have you know that the house of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the wizarding world for centuries. I will not allow you to besmirch that good name by acting like a babbling, bumbling band of buffoons." After a moment of ensuring there would be no further protests, McGonagall nodded, "Now off you go, and remember, if you are caught again I can extend punishments into the next school year."

James, Roxanne and Lorcan sulked as they left the office. "I was looking forward to buying a new dress with Rose and Lily in Hogsmead," Roxanne sighed.

"I was planning to use the pitch for practice this week. I don't have a pitch at home."

"I," James declared, "am going to get that brat and make him regret this. Malfoy can't hide from me."