Summary: It was about time they put their past behind them. If not for themselves then for their children. The trio and Draco Malfoy friendship.
To say that Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were surprised to find out that their children's new best friend was Scorpius Malfoy was an understatement. Ron had spilt his cup of iced water all over the family cat, Hermione had almost dropped her daughter's letter into the pot of soup she was stirring and Harry had tripped down the flight of stairs in the Potter household. And to say that nine-year-olds Lily Potter and Hugo Weasley were not amused at their reactions would have been a lie.
It was five seconds later when the first sentence was uttered.
"This is all your fault, Ronald Weasley!"
"My fault? How is it my fault, Hermione?"
"Of course it's your fault, Ron! You're the one who got our children to notice Malfoy!"
"I can't believe you're on her side, Harry!"
"You're damn right I'm on her bloody side, Ron!"
"Harry! No cursing in front of Lily and Hugo!"
Hermione's statement seemed to have reminded the two male adults that their children were in the room too and that neither Hermione nor Ginny Potter appreciated vulgar language being taught to their children. Ginny's reaction to finding out that the children she loved dearly were being exposed to foul language would make Voldemort look like a harmless white bunny.
"Lily, Hugo, could you two please go up to Lily's room and play there? Your fathers and I need to talk," Hermione said. The two kids shrugged as they headed to the room. When the three adults heard the door close, all arguments for the past thirty seconds they had suppressed burst out.
"Oh god! My Rose is friends with a Malfoy!"
"I'm taking Albus out of Hogwarts! He's friends with scum!"
"Now, Harry. I don't think it's fair to judge Scorpius based on who he is related to."
"He's a bloody Malfoy, Hermione! Enough said!"
"Shut it, Ronald!"
"You were the one who blamed me for getting Rose to notice Scorpius! Now you're on his side?!"
"I am not on anybody's side, Ron. Oh, my poor baby girl. I do hope Scorpius does nothing to hurt her!"
"I'd like to see that little cockroach try."
"I am going to write to James. He'll know what to do to get them to stop being friends."
"Harry James Potter! You are not going to use your son to your dirty work!"
"I'm cleaning up scum, Hermione!"
"I'm with Harry on this one! I say we sic James and Fred on Scorpius!"
"OI! WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY I'VE COME HOME TO THREE BICKERING THREE YEAR OLDS IN ADULT BODIES?!"
All raised voices came to a halt and three pairs of eyes darted towards the entrance of the living room where a woman stood with her fiery red hair flowing in all directions and her bright brown eyes blazing with fury at the amount of noise Ron, Hermione and Harry had been making.
The three adults gulped and fear clouded their eyes as they looked like three guilty children.
Ginerva Potter was home.
xxx Harry Potter xxx
Ginny Potter was having a headache. The editor of the newspaper she was working on, The Prophet, had been a total bitch to her and never one who took kindly to having someone walk all over her, Ginny had screamed back at the other witch before stomping out of her office. Ginny had Apparated to her front door, hoping to have some peace and quiet when she got home, only to frown and literally feel her blood boil at the sounds of raised voices from the inside of her house. To find out that the reason for the loud argument was what she felt was a small matter made her cheeks go redder than the colour of her hair.
She growled – literally – and felt a sense of satisfaction when Ron stepped back, Hermione gulped again and Harry flinched.
"So, let me get this straight," her voice drawled as she narrowed her eyes at them and took a step forward. "The three of you are bickering like little girls – don't bother denying it, Ron – because our children are friends with a Malfoy?"
Since neither males were willing to respond, Hermione nodded her head.
"And now, you want to take Albus and Rose from Hogwarts because of Scorpius?" Harry and Ron nodded while Hermione looked like she was suppressing the urge to roll her eyes at her husband's and best friend's behaviors even though she looked like she might agree with them. Ginny smiled sweetly at them. "Well, I agree."
Harry's head perked up and a small, timid smile caressed his face. "Really?"
Still smiling, Ginny walked over to her husband before she wacked him on his head.
"OW! What was that for?"
"DID YOU ACTUALLY SERIOUSLY THOUGHT FOR A MOMENT THAT I'D AGREE WITH YOUR RIDICULOUS DRAMATICS?"
"Now, Ginny, calm down," Ron tried calming his sister down and looked like he was about to say something else but almost immediately shut his mouth when Ginny glared at him.
"I will NOT calm down! You, out of all people, Ronald, should know that a person should not be judged because of who his family is. Why, if you'd been judged on who your brothers were – two Head Prefects and a Quidditch Captain, not to mention the genius pranks Fred and George often pulled – you'd have cracked under pressure! You haven't even met the boy yet and you're already classifying him as scum. I am ashamed of you!"
The sense of satisfaction increased when Ron shrank back into the sofa, his face getting more guilt-ridden every second. Beside him, Hermione shifted uncomfortably. Deciding it was Hermione's turn to face the music, Ginny turned the direction of her glare towards her curly haired sister-in-law.
"And you, Hermione Granger-Weasley! I must say that I am most surprised by your reaction. You actually agree with them! Oh, don't bother denying it!" the red head snapped and Hermione clamped her mouth shut to stop the arising protests. "Imagine that we live in a different era and muggle-borns are still being discriminated. Rose would have been going through the same shit Scorpius Malfoy is probably going through now because of his blood and family. Heck, just think of how you were treated by the Slytherins, Hermione! That should be enough!"
As tears swarmed Hermione's eyes when recognition, shame and pity hit her at the same time, Ginny turned to Harry and hit him on the head one more time, ignoring his yelp of pain.
"Harry James Potter! I am completely disappointed in you! You may not like Draco Malfoy – heck, I know you hate him to the core – but you seem to have forgotten that you owe Narcissa Malfoy your life. Commanding your oldest son to give Scorpius hell is definitely not the way to repay the woman who saved you. Your godfather came from a family of Blacks but he was still a good man, Harry. There is a chance that Scorpius is the same. Didn't you see how unhappy he was when Draco Malfoy was lecturing him on the station? He doesn't fit in with the Malfoys even if he was one!"
"In my defense, Ginny, I didn't see Malfoy lecturing his son," Harry retorted unwisely before taking a step back when Ginny took out her wand from her pocket. She pointed the wand at him threateningly.
"Of course you didn't notice. You were comforting Albus and the two of you were oblivious to the surroundings. And if you retort one more time, Harry Potter, you will sleep on the streets instead of the couch for the next ten years of your life."
"C'mon, Gin! Don't do that!"
"You'll well remember that I don't care if you're The Chosen One or not," she replied calmly. "I am going up to my room to take a long shower before going to bed. I am going to give the three of you three days to come to terms with this bit of news. Draco Malfoy is a prat, I would agree with that. But his son has not proven that he is like his father so I am going to give him a chance. In the meantime, Harry, you either sleep on the couch or with Ron and Hermione since Hugo is sleeping over tonight because I cannot stand to be in the same room with you tonight. Goodnight, the three of you."
With that, Ginny Potter walked out of the living room.
xxx Harry Potter xxx
Three days later, Ron, Hermione and Harry were hanging out at the Three Broomsticks when Ginny stomped right up to them and slammed a piece of envelope onto their table. She banged her palms on their table, motioned them to read the letter before hissing, "You'd three better fix this." And then she stomped right out of the pub and Apparated back home.
Harry grabbed the envelope, tore it and scanned through the letter, his heart breaking as he took in his son's words.
Dear Mom,
Lily and Hugo wrote to us and told us that Dad, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione are thinking about taking us out of Hogwarts. Please don't let them do it, Mom. Me and Rose love it here and we want to stay. I don't understand why they already hate Scorpius when they haven't even met him yet. He proved to be loyal to us when he stood up against a bunch of third year Slytherins who were giving me and Rose a hard time. Even James and Fred were impressed on how well he handled the situation.
He's the first Malfoy to be a Gryffindor, Mom. Surely that means something, right?
Wasn't it Aunt Hermione who said that a person should be judged on how he performs and not where he comes from? Wasn't it Uncle Ron who reassured Rose should perform to her standards and not the family's? Wasn't it Dad who told us that Narcissa Malfoy saved his life?
James and Fred don't want to admit it but Scorpius is already part of our gang, Mom. Victoire and Molly were wary of him at first but they too have warmed up to him. If Dad takes me out of Hogwarts, I'll run away. I really will.
I know that Dad has a history with Mr. Malfoy but he hasn't any with Scorpius. Please. Mom, convince him and Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione that we're better here at Hogwarts. Please!
Albus Potter
P.S. Rose and I really will run away!
Despite the seriousness of the situation and the fact that his son had threatened to run away, a proud smile formed on Harry's face at his son's loyalty towards Scorpius. Albus and Rose obviously like Scorpius enough for them to make threats and have plans to go along with it. Judging from Ron's amused expression, the freckled wizard probably felt the same way.
"They're willing to run away for him. They're almost just like we were when we were their age," Hermione whispered proudly.
It was for that reason did the trio decide to give Scorpius Malfoy a real chance.
A/N: Should I continue or just stop? Review!