Of Slytherin Pride And Hufflepuff Grace

Harry Potter,

I am eternally grateful to you, both for taking care of my son and for informing me of where he is. I have no excuse for my behaviour towards Scorpius; it was unforgivable and you have every reason to mistrust me, but I would never attempt to threaten my son. I have enclosed a letter for Scorpius, and I can only ask that you will at least give him the opportunity to decide whether he wants to read it. Should he refuse, or should he read it and still not wish to see me, then I swear I will leave him alone.

Yours gratefully,

Draco Malfoy


Scorpius,

I've never been very good at apologising. All that stupid Slytherin pride, I suppose. As a general rule, we're not very good at admitting we're wrong, or at forgiving other people for being wrong. For you, however, I will try, because you're worth sacrificing every ounce of pride I have left.

I'm so, so sorry. I can't believe I was such an idiot. If you are even bothering to read this letter then it's more than I deserve. I'm a pathetic excuse for a father, and I wouldn't blame you if you never want to see me again. But I have to apologise. I didn't mean a word of what I said. You have never ever disappointed me. Far from disgracing the Malfoy name – which Grandad and I managed to do quite successfully before you were born – you have actually gone some way towards redeeming it. A few months ago I was introduced to Professor Honey, your Muggle Studies teacher. As a Muggle Studies teacher and a muggle-born, I expected her to despise me the moment she heard my name and move on to talk to somebody else. Instead, rather than labelling me as "Lucius Malfoy's son" or "Draco Malfoy, the boy who let Death Eaters into Hogwarts" she immediately exclaimed, "Oh, you're Scorpius Malfoy's father! How wonderful! Such a lovely boy." and proceeded to chatter away to me as though being your father automatically made me a wonderful person. I have never been more proud. Being your father is the most worthwhile thing I have done in my life, and the best thing that has ever happened to me. A long time ago, I tried to befriend Harry Potter, and failed miserably due to my incredible arrogance and prejudice, and his refusal to be friends with somebody like that. That you have succeeded in becoming best friends with his son, as well as being accepted by the whole family, is just another sign that you are a far better person than I could ever be, and perhaps one I was a little jealous of.

That sounds ridiculous, doesn't it: jealous of my own son. You deserve everything you have earned throughout your time at Hogwarts; I never did, and I'm sorry that I tried to take it away from you. Please, please, please give me a second chance.

If you want me out of your life, I completely understand. I'm sure the Potters would be happy to let you stay for the rest of the holiday, and in a few weeks you will be of age and entitled to do as you wish. However, even if you will not see me, I ask that you consider coming home for a little while to visit your mum, who misses you desperately. If you'd rather I weren't there, I can go and stay with Grandma and Grandad while you visit. Whatever you decide, I will accept it completely.

Please forgive me?

With love,

Dad


Dad,

Yes, I forgive you. Of course I do. I forgave you not long after it happened. And I would never want you out of my life, no matter what you'd done. The only reason I didn't write to you was that I thought you were still angry. I couldn't deal with the whole argument all over again.

I'm not sure I ever really believed the stuff you said about being disappointed. Well, I did a little at the time, because I was so angry and hurt and not thinking clearly. But once I'd been at the Potters' for a few days, I began to realise that it hadn't really made much sense. Why would you spend years supporting me and telling me you were proud of me, just to turn around and say none of it was true? Obviously there were more complicated reasons.

I'm not sure I'm ready to come home yet, though. I'm having such a wonderful time here, and if it's okay I'd like to spend a little while longer here? I'll come home for at least a couple of weeks, however, and I was wondering if you would mind Rose coming to stay for a few days? She really wants to meet you and Mum, and I want you to meet her. I know you'll both love her.

Got to go now – there's a party starting in an hour and Molly's very stressed and wants me to help Al and James set up the tables in the garden, and stop them from breaking anything. Stopping James from breaking something may be outwith my abilities, but I suppose I should give it a go.

Love, Scorpius


Scorpius,

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. It all sounds like a lot of fun and you're welcome to stay as long as you like, but let me know when you're planning to come home.

Rose is welcome to come and stay whenever she wants. Your mother is desperate to meet her, and I'm sure I will enjoy meeting her too.

Dad


Mother,

You were right. The ability to forgive is one I may never truly understand, but my son possesses it in incredible quantities.

She's coming to stay with us in a couple of weeks. Rose, I mean. I don't understand why I'm so nervous. Isn't it normally the boyfriend or girlfriend who's nervous about meeting the parents, not the other way round? I know I was absolutely terrified before meeting Astoria's parents. And yet I'm almost as scared now as I was then. Isn't that stupid?

There's probably not even much point in worrying about it. The girl's going to hate me no matter what I do. There's no way her father hasn't told her all sorts of awful stories about me. It's funny: I never thought I'd see the day when I was trying to impress a Weasley. Life's strange sometimes.

Draco


Mum and Dad,

Al's family are going away to France for a couple of weeks, so I'll be coming home next Tuesday, and Rose is going to come with me for a couple of days. She probably won't stay too long though, because her parents want her home fairly soon.

Can't wait to see you both!

Scorpius


Al,

How's France? I'm sure it must be lovely. Are you enjoying yourself?

I'm certainly enjoying myself at Scorp's house. I admit I was pretty terrified to begin with – because what girl isn't nervous about meeting her boyfriend's parents? – but they're both so lovely. Mrs Malfoy – who insists I call her Astoria – treats me like her own daughter and chatters away to me about anything and everything. She confided to me yesterday that she often wishes she did have a daughter. I suppose it must get a bit lonely sometimes, being the only woman in the house. She clearly absolutely adores Scorp though.

If all the stuff Dad says about what Mr Malfoy was like when they were at school is true, then he's practically transformed into a different person since then. He seemed even more nervous than me when we met, and he was so incredibly polite to me. It was hard at first to get him to talk normally to me, because he always seems so terrified that I'm going to hate him or something, but he's beginning to relax. Astoria was out yesterday, and Scorp was upstairs doing homework or something so Mr Malfoy and I ended up chatting for about half an hour. Apparently he used to want to be a teacher, back when he was at Hogwarts. Would you believe that? He said he never told anyone because he knew his father wanted him to work at the Ministry, and then when he left Hogwarts his reputation was too bad for him to get a job anywhere, never mind at Hogwarts.

I think it's really sad that he never got to fulfil his dream. He told me I should definitely do my best to become a teacher, if that's what I want, because I'll regret it forever if I don't. I know Scorp's been too scared to tell his dad about his dream of working in Muggle relations, but I'm starting to think he's wrong to feel like that. After some of the stuff Mr Malfoy said yesterday, I don't think he'd stand in the way of any dream of Scorp's, no matter how much he disapproved of it himself.

It's funny; Dad's placed this image of the Malfoy family in my head since I was about three, and I thought I'd stopped believing it when I met Scorpius, but I hadn't. I may have accepted that Scorp was a decent person, but deep down I think I still expected his parents to be arrogant, prejudiced snobs like Dad makes them out to be. They're not. Of course they're not.

Shame you couldn't be here too, but I'm sure France is amazing.

Rose


Mum,

I'm having a really great time here and was wondering if I could stay a little longer than originally planned. Maybe a week and a half? You're not in any particular hurry to have me home are you?

Rose


Rose,

Stay as long as you like darling. We were originally hoping to spend some time as a family next week, but something's come up at work so Dad's working overtime, Hugo's staying with a friend and I think I may go and stay with Hannah and Neville for a few days. They've been inviting me for ages and I've just never had the time, but it's been a while since I had a proper catch-up with Hannah. So it all works out rather nicely really.

Enjoy your stay, and I look forward to seeing you again in a couple of weeks.

Love, Mum


Rose,

France is pretty amazing, though I do wish I'd been able to come and stay at Scorp's too. Maybe another time.

Anyway, I'm glad you're having a good time. We're coming back next week, and I can't wait to see you guys again. Maybe we should meet up in Diagon Alley, once our book lists have arrived?

Can you believe we're going into seventh year in a couple of weeks? Our last year of Hogwarts. That's a pretty scary though, isn't it? Pretty exciting too though. Soon we'll be out in the real world, fending for ourselves. Following our dreams. I'll miss Hogwarts. It's been such a big part of our lives over the last six years. I can't imagine leaving it forever. Then again, it won't be forever for you, will it? Not if the whole teaching thing works out, which I'm sure it will.

Enjoy the rest of your time at Scorp's and I'll see you soon.

Al


Mrs Weasley,

I'm aware we've never really met, but I felt I should write this letter anyway. It seems a little odd for my son to be dating your daughter without us having ever exchanged a word. Perhaps we will never be best friends – the hostility between my husband and yours will see to that – but we could at least be acquaintances, surely? For the sake of our children, if nothing else.

Rose is a charming young woman. To everyone's great surprise, she and my husband hit it off in a way he rarely does with anyone. She sees something in him that very few do, that fundamental goodness that he hides so well.

Funny isn't it, how life works out? I can assure you that seventeen years ago, when Scorp was born, Draco would never ever have guessed that he would end up falling in love with the daughter of two of Draco's biggest school rivals, and that he himself would end up getting along with her. To be perfectly honest with you, I wouldn't have believed it either. Rose is the last person I would have expected my son to end up with. She's good for him though. She's good for Draco, too. I haven't seen him laugh so much in a long time, probably not since before the death of his father.

Listen to me rambling on. I didn't mean to say so much in this letter. All I really wanted to do was introduce myself to you, as the mother of your daughter's boyfriend. And suggest that perhaps we meet up sometime. Just the two of us, without our husbands. Draco may like Rose, but I don't think he's quite ready for civilised conversation with Ron Weasley just yet. I'll work on it.

Yours sincerely,

Astoria Malfoy


Astoria (may I call you Astoria?),

I was delighted to receive your letter. I will admit I have always thought I should meet the mother of Scorpius Malfoy, the boy my daughter and my nephew would never shut up about. It would love to meet up sometime, and I think you're right about not bringing our husbands along.

Ron has surprised me, however. He got along very well with Scorpius when he stayed, which I don't think anyone was expecting, least of all Ron himself. Love of the Chudley Cannons may have had something to do with it, though I don't think that was all. He and Scorpius just clicked, somehow.

Yes, life certainly is funny. I can't help thinking it's most definitely a good thing, though. Perhaps our children are succeeding in destroying pointless rivalries in a way our generation never could. It's a wonderful thing to see: people setting aside old prejudices at last.

Yours,

Hermione