Scorpius' family had taught him many things. Growing up he had only the best tutors. His father had taught him to fly. He had been taught how to act around those in authority as well as how to control him emotions. These things had served him well at Hogwarts, but now he found there were things missing from his education. Scorpius Malfoy had been taught to never apologize and now that he found it was the one skill he needed.

He didn't know where to begin. It wasn't her fault that everyone worshiped the ground her father walked on. She wasn't like her brothers, lapping up the attention every chance they got. He had had only a few conversations with the younger girl, and yet those had been some of the most relaxing times he could remember. It was no excuse for yelling at the one person who actually seemed to want to spend time with him.

He raked his hand through his hair and laid his head on the table in frustration. How do you go against everything you were taught? How do you go about apologizing to someone for the first time? He closed his eyes. This was something he used to ask Blain about. It was something he would have even considered talking to Lily about; well if it wasn't Lily he was trying to apologize to.

The week had been a long one. Every time he made eye contact with Lily, she had given him a death glare. His Slytherin friends were noticing that something was up and he was not sure how to explain it to them. They would be about as understanding as his father. It was true Blain was a Gryfindor, but he had been part of the group before school so they eventually accepted him.

Lily was a Potter. She was a true Gryfindor, so that was two strikes against her in their book. Merlin, what was he going to do? He wanted… oh he didn't know what he wanted. Maybe that was the problem. He wanted to make his father proud, he wanted his friends to go back to just spending time with him without the looks or the questions of "How are you holding up?" He wanted his friendship with Blain to go back to the way it had been. And Lily? He wanted her to forgive him so he could just go and sit at the tree with her again.

He had gone down to the tree every morning before and after practice. He had even been late to practice and Patricia had ripped him a new one. Lily never showed. There was no sign of a falcon either, so he didn't think she was near the area. For Pete's sake, he was thirteen. Things should not be this hand!

He held his head on his hands. At least the library was quiet and no one disturbed him here. His friends avoided the library most of the time. They were more inclined to work in the common room away from other students. It was unusually quiet today, but Scorpius didn't mind. It gave him time to think.

It was quiet, and yet he didn't hear the footsteps coming from behind him. When a hand rested on his shoulder, Scorpius jumped out of his chair and had his wand out within seconds. His wand was inches from Blain's face.

For once, he wasn't smiling at the sight of his friend. "Scor? Is everything OK? I've been watching you for weeks now, and you don't look good."

Scorpius almost laughed. After weeks and weeks of small talk and ignoring each other, now Blain decides to come talk to him. The stress of the weeks came cracking down and Scorpius gave into the laugher, but there was no joy in it.

"What do you care? You've been off with your precious friend Potter. In fact, he's probably wondering where you are now." He knew he wasn't being fair to Blain. He hadn't made any effort to track Blain down, so he was just as guilty as Blain for their lack of contact. But he was angry. His third year was turning out to be awful and it was easy to take out his frustrations on Blain.

"Look, I'm sorry. I was angry at you. I... well I was tired of always having to come visit you. I mean, I don't really get along with the others, not really. I was hoping that you had gotten over your Potter thing so that you could come over and visit with me there for once."

Blain was staring at the floor. He was proud, and this admission must be taking a lot, and yet Scorpius didn't say anything.

"I know that is no excuse for not trying harder. I mean we were friends for so many years, and I just let that go. I'm sorry. I pushed when I shouldn't have. I just want you to know, if you need something, I am still your friend."

Scorpius looked at his friend, and suddenly their rift seemed so stupid. They were fighting because they didn't like the other's friends. It had nothing to do with their friendship but with their personalities. Scorpius looked at Blain. He had swallowed his pride and had apologized. If his friend could do it for him he could do it for his friend. Besides, his father always said practice makes perfect. If you needed to learn to apologize, why not practice. Scorpius put his hand on Blain's shoulder and took a deep breath. Blain looked up,

"I'm sorry too. It was stupid." It was all that needed to be said. No more words and they knew they were going to be OK. It might never be the way it was, but it was a step in the right direction. Blain and Scor sat down at the library table.

"So you gonna tell me what's been going on these last few weeks?"

Scorpius laughed quietly. "I'm sure you're going to believe it. I think I may be trying to befriend a Potter." He laughed again at Blain's wide eyed expression. It was almost comical. He felt a weight lift from his shoulders. It was good to have his friend back. He began to tell him about his meetings with Lily Potter.

At the end of his tale, Blain was looking at him was a comical expression. "You are definitely in a pickle. Trust me; she is not someone you want to be on the bad side of. She knows some really advanced hexes for her age."

"Yeah I noticed. How did she learn them all. I mean she is only a first year and she pulled off a perfect bat bogey hex." Scorpius grimaced, remembering the hex.

"You know, I asked her about that. Turns out that she would sneak spell books out of storage. I mean her parents old ones and some of James' and Al's old books and she would practice them for hours. She didn't have a wand, but by the time she made it on the train, she knew a ton of spells. She's really advanced for her year, but because she is advanced, she is having a real hard time. I guess they all figure she could do those without practice, so when she tells her friends she needs to practice spells and do her homework, they laugh and say "yeah right." It's nothing harsh, just really annoying I guess."

"No wonder she was looking for a quiet place."

Scor and Blain sat quietly in their own thoughts for a while. Then Scor spoke up.

"So why did you come to find me today? I mean I've looked awful for weeks. Why now?"

Blain smiled again. "Well it was a Potter that convinced me I was being a bit of a prat."

"A Potter?"

"Well, Lily came to me with some advice her dad gave her. When we start school, we make new friends, and those are new and different so sometimes we spend more time with those new friends and we forget about the friends we already have. He told her it was important to make new friends, but to continue to work on the friendships you already have. It is all a balancing act. So when I told her I had noticed a change in you, she encouraged me to come talk to you so here I am."

Scorpius was silent. It seemed he owed her an apology as well as thanks now. Before he and Blain could continue their conversations, there was a slamming of doors. In the next moment, Scorpius had a wand shoved in his face and he was met with the very angry eyes of Albus Potter.