Hi everyone. I'm not dead. I'm just really bad at updating in a timely manner. Let's see, maybe this chapter will make up for that?

Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, I am not J.K. Rowling, therefore... I do not own Harry Potter.

Here's that non-romantic relationship I was talking about.

Scorpius Malfoy ran down the third floor corridor as fast as he could. Behind him his pursuers were shouting.

"He went this way!"

"Come around and head him off!"

"Got him!"

"Take his wand!"

He was trapped. Again. For the umpteenth time.

"What are we going to do with him this time?" one of them asked.

"Shouldn't you know that before hand?" said Scorpius, "Pretty poor planning on your part, really." His voice was shaking so bad no amount of false bravado could hide it.

"Isn't he cheeky?" said the leader. "We'd better fix that."

Scorpius felt himself rise off the ground and slowly pivot. Upside down, right side up, repeat. He madly tried to right himself and the leader smiled.

"Potter, you sadist!" Scorpius whimpered indignantly.

James Sirius Potter just kept on smiling and increased the speed at which Scorpius was spinning. The death-muncher was lucky they even let him in Hogwarts after everything his parents did, but he acted like he actually deserved to be there, like his parents hadn't almost ruined it for everyone, and like all the sacrifices James's dad made were for nothing. That just made James's blood boil.

"C'mon Potter! I didn't ask for this," begged Scorpius.

Yes. You did, thought James. "Petrificus tota-" but mid-way through James Potter disappeared.

Scorpius fell to the floor, no longer suspended by James's spell. There was a shocked silence, until someone asked Scorpius what he'd done with James. Someone else ran to go get McGonagall.

When the headmistress arrived there was an uproar.

"Malfoy's banished James Potter!"

"I always knew he had it out for him!"

"You can never trust a death-muncher!"

"Quiet please," said Mcgonagall. There was instant silence. "Mr. Malfoy, you'll accompany me back to my office, the rest of you to return to your dormitories".

Everyone scampered, except Scorpius, who at the moment felt about two feet tall. The journey to the head's office was hell, Mcgonagall was silent, and Scorpius was terrified. What if she thought it was his fault? What if he was expelled? What if he wasn't expelled and everyone thought he'd done it? The thought was too horrible to bear.

Finally they arrived at the stone gargoyle. Mcgonagall muttered "Pangur Bán" and it slid aside. Up the stairs, through the doorway, and into an oversized chair Scorpius went. It was a struggle not to cower, but he was a Malfoy, and even if that meant very little it did mean he should at least attempt to appear brave.

McGonagall looked strained. Unbeknownst to Scorpius, she did not think he was at all responsible for Potter's strange disappearance. She was rather cross at having a student vanish, but there was very little she could do about that. It was a magical school after all, and incidents were bound to happen. Strange absences ranked on the less troublesome end of the scale considering the school had been attacked by a mass murderer more than a couple times.

No, what really bothered McGonagall was the poor boy infront of her. She did her best to keep him (and all her charges) safe, but what could she do when she had no conclusive 'proof' that something was happening? It was all very frustrating.

"Mr. Malfoy," she said after a beat. "I think the best thing to do in this situation is to contact both your father, and Mr. Potter's."

"Ma'am I-"

McGonagall cut him off. "Scorpius, you are not in trouble to any extent of the imagination. Now wait here, and I'll be back in several moments". Mcgonagall tossed floo powder into her fire place and called out 'Malfoy Manor' several seconds later and she was gone.

Scorpius felt oddly relieved. For the first time in four years he didn't have to be afraid. Mcgonagall was going to do something. Hopefully, Potter would never appear again and all would be well. Sure Potter's gang would still be after him, but they no longer had a leader. It was brilliant.

He was slightly more apprehensive about meeting Potter's father. Harry Potter was praised by all like some sort of wizarding messiah, but in Scorpius's experience a good reputation did not always mean that someone was truly good or kind. He remembered, rather ironically, being excited to meet James Potter as a first year.

"I wish I was a muggle," Scorpius said to the empty office.

He was rather surprised when some one answered. "You'll find, my dear boy, that each walk of life has its own struggles and its own rewards. 'the grass is always greener on the other side', If you'll forgive me the platitude, I really find it sums up the sentiment nicely."

"Who said that?" asked the startled boy.

The second to last portrait on the wall waved at him. Its eyes, though composed purely of paint, seemed to twinkle.

"Oh," said Scorpius. "I thought you were sleeping".

"No my boy, I'm completely and truly awake". He smiled rather realistically. "I am afraid we haven't been properly introduced. I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, although, you may call me 'Professor Dumbledore' or just 'Dumbledore' if it suits you."

Scorpius noticed the portrait to the right of Dumbledore making a show of tactfully not rolling his eyes through Dumbledore's monologue. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy". He briefly wondered if he should include his middle name as Dumbledore had, but he decided the moment had passed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Scorpius," said Dumbledore.

The portrait to Dumbledore's right was again tactfully not rolling his eyes. Scorpius was fighting laughter. He knew who this portrait was, his father had told him so many stories.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Professor Dumbledore. May I ask, is that Professor Snape there, to your right?"

If it was possible to look chuffed and glower at the same time, Snape was the master. "Hello Scorpius. I suppose your father told you about me," he said.

Dumbledore laughed. "Severus, you are a delight. Scorpius, he really means that he's pleased that Draco remembers him fondly."

Scorpius was beaming. "He- well, I'm very glad to meet you Professor Snape."

"Likewise," said Snape, who would have claimed he was just being polite.

Albus seized the the silence that followed."Scorpius, my boy," he said, his eyes now twinkling at dangerous levels, "I did not ask you here for small talk,-"

"Albus," said Snape, who was quite exasperated, "You didn't ask him here at all, he just happened to walk in".

"Poppycock. Nonsense and poppycock," said Dumbledore. "I invited him, whether he knew it or not."

"Wait? Does that mean…" Scorpius said. "Does that mean that you had something to do with Potter's disappearance?"

Dumbledore giggled. "That I did my boy, all three of them."

Snape actually rolled his eyes this time. Scorpius just looked confused.

"You know, you are the first one over all these years to figure that out." said Dumbledore. "Of course, I didn't really give Hermione a fair chance, that girl is so trusting, she's very loyal in that-"

"Albus," said Snape. He'd been steering Dumbledore back onto the subject for most of his afterlife.

"Oh, right. Got to stay on subject. Bother," Dumbledore turned back to Scorpius. "I suppose you have questions?"

"Why would you… I mean I thought you liked the Potters," said Scorpius.

"Of course I like them. That's why I had to make them disappear," said Dumbledore.

"I don't understand," said Scorpius.

"But you will," said Dumbledore. "That is you will if you agree."

"To what?" asked Scorpius. Out of the corner of his eye he could see movement. Snape was shaking his head ever so slightly.

"Scorpius, I must ask you a favor. Will you help me save the Potters?" said Dumbledore.

Scorpius didn't know what to say. There was no way to express his contempt for that idea. But Dumbledore was waiting for an answer. "I'm sorry sir, I'm not the right person for this. I can't help."

Dumbledore didn't seem as upset by this revelation as Scorpius had expected. "That's quite alright my boy. Lemon drop?" He indicated a glass jar full of yellow sweets lovingly placed on a pedestal next to his portrait.

"No, don't," said Snape.

But it was too late, Scorpius Malfoy had already eaten the potion laced lemondrop and was off to dreamland, to converse with the Potters, leaving the portrait of Snape to question the moral stance of the portrait of Dumbledore, who had fallen asleep in delight.

As they were eating, a tall skinny blond boy fell into the room. His eyes swiveled back and forth trying to comprehend, but he couldn't, so he just said, "Oh god, there's three of them".

Two plates of chicken nuggets hit the floor. Prongs considered dropping his to show solidarity, but the nuggets were too good.

"Malfoy!" said Harry, with a note of fear.

"Malfoy!" said James with a note of disgust.

"Malfoy?" said Prongs with a look of utter confusion. We'll forgive him. He really had no idea what was going on.

Scorpius shuddered. "Why am I here?"

Harry frowned. "Didn't Dumbledore tell you?"

"He was too busy drugging me to explain much!" Scorpius said. "Please, I just... I don't want-" his voice broke. "I wanna go home".

"Sure you want to go home you prat," said James. "You want to go home so your daddy can wait on you hand and foot! Well go! We don't even want you here!"

Harry knew two things in that instance. The first bit was simple. That boy was not Draco Malfoy. His hair was pale, but it wasn't Draco's laser lemon. The second bit was terrifying

"James, what are you doing?" he asked.

So what do you think?