A/N: Here's something for you to gnaw on :) Thanks for reading.
The next evening, Scorpius was so anxious about his meeting with Harry that Teddy resorted to pulling him along an hour early despite mild protests. Ginny was home to greet them. They spoke in the living room for a while, but she was in the middle of dinner, so she let them be.
Lily was just passing by to get a snack from the kitchen when she ran into her unexpected visitors. "Oh! Whoa, I didn't know you guys were coming over today," she smiled. "What's up?"
"He's just here to talk with Harry," Teddy said, jerking his thumb at his cousin.
"This is really weird, but Al was just talking about you, Teddy," Lily said. "He's got something to ask you. He's in his room."
"Cool." Teddy got up. "Be right back, Squirt."
Scorpius pulled a face after him. Lily laughed and joined him on the couch. "Al and Teddy are pretty close," she told him. Then she leaned in conspiringly. "I don't think he likes us much. Teddy, I mean," she whispered.
"And why wouldn't he like you?" Scorpius indulged her.
"Because we're rather opinionated," Lily winked. "He doesn't like to lose and he always loses to us. With Albus, he doesn't have to try. Al just gives in."
"Man, all of you are so different," Scorpius noted. "It must be a madhouse in here."
"Oh, you have no idea," she giggled. "And what about you? It must be heaven to be an only child."
"Right." He rolled his eyes. "Heaven. Why do you think I'm so fascinated by you lot? It's boring at my place."
"Grass is always greener."
He chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Father says he's had enough excitement for a lifetime," he divulged. "It's as if he turned into a retiree at the age of twenty. It puts me off sometimes. I wish he was more like Harry."
"No, you don't," Lily snorted in derision. "Dad might seem awesome at first glance, but he's a real dork. Everyone loves him and all, but it gets old really fast. It's been over twenty years already and people still want pictures with him. At least now his workload has eased up. Before, he used to work twelve hours a day. He just can't say no."
"He's Harry Potter."
"What? I'm not allowed to call Harry Potter a dork?"
"I don't think you are," Scorpius smiled. "Isn't that blasphemous around here?"
"He's my father. I can call him a dork if I want to."
"I see. It's a privilege, is it?"
"Of course."
Sounds of bounding footsteps interrupted them and Teddy showed up near the foot of the stairs, grinning mischievously at his cousin. "Come up here, would you?" he invited slyly.
"Why?" Scorpius asked. He was always cautious around Teddy when he looked like that.
More footsteps sounded from above and Teddy was jerked back up out of view.
"Ooh, I want to see this," Lily giggled. She grabbed Scorpius' hand and tugged him up off the sofa. He let her drag him up the stairs without complaining. He was her guest after all. "I bet you a Galleon they're having a very passive aggressive fight right now," she conspired.
Sure enough, when the two of them got to Albus' bedroom, they found the boys talking loudly at each other. Not yelling. Just talking rather loudly. Teddy kept bursting into controlled chuckles while Al was blushing bright red. Both of them shut up as soon as their audience arrived.
"No, no, please. Keep going," Lily urged.
"Just ask him," Teddy snickered.
Albus looked like he had swallowed a whole lot of wasps. Scorpius couldn't help pitying him, especially since he had been in that same situation way too many times. "Ask me what?" he wanted to know.
"Nothing," Albus mumbled.
Teddy was more than willing to fill everyone in on the situation. "He called me up here to figure out what books you like to read, Scorp," he laughed.
Scorpius arched a brow while Lily joined Teddy's amusement. Albus was trying to justify himself over their cackles, attempting to explain that he had to know at least some of Scorpius' basic interests if he was to find books in his massive library, but his excuses went unheard by everyone but Scorpius. Al finally just gave up and shoved his hands into his pockets. Scorpius realized that the youngest Potter was truly incapable of understanding social etiquette.
"You can ask me," he assured Albus. "I'm nice."
"I just-I was just… trying to help," Albus sulked.
"You're definitely most helpful," Scorpius assured him. "Come on." He gestured for Albus to walk over to the bookshelves. Once they were apart from Lily and Teddy who were now in the process of reenacting Albus' stumbling words, Scorpius asked, "How do you sort your books?"
"Genre."
"Alright. Point me in the direction of crime fiction."
Albus took five steps to the right and paused.
Scorpius followed him hesitantly. "Okay. But which shelves?" he prodded.
Albus pointed to the very top and then moved his hand down to the very bottom.
"Whoa," Scorpius breathed when he realized that the whole wall of shelves was dedicated to crime fiction. "No way."
"I… like crime fiction," Albus murmured.
"I see that…"
"They're arranged by the author's last name."
"Which is the best?"
He chewed on the side of his cheek as he thought for a moment. Then he said, "Mulberry Way. That one." He crouched down to pull out a book with a worn green jacket.
"How very Muggle of you," Scorpius smirked. He would have simply waved his wand to get the book.
"I don't use magic around books."
"Oh? How come?"
Albus shrugged as he said, "I've pulled down shelves before."
Scorpius chuckled in disbelief. "What do you mean?"
"Shelves… Literally on top of me."
Lily and Teddy jumped in when they heard those words because the day Albus' room tried to kill him had been one of the most eventful days in the young man's life. "I was downstairs," she quickly interrupted, "and I hear this horrendous crash. I thought the house had broken in half or something. Turns out Al's room caved in on him when he tried to get a book. He's not very good at magic."
"That's not true," Albus argued so quietly that he was completely overlooked. "I was only thirteen."
"It took Harry ages to find him," Teddy told Scorpius. "They were digging through piles of books for ages. The fact that Al refused to shout for help the entire time didn't help the case. Apparently he was in too much of a shock from all his broken bones."
"All his broken bones?" Scorpius asked in horror.
"Not that many," Albus mumbled.
"Oh, fun times," Teddy sighed.
"Not really."
"Don't let them push you around, Al," Scorpius said while frowning at Lily and Teddy. "I don't know how you deal with your family."
"Sometimes I wonder too," Albus said under his breath.
"You're the only sane one here."
Teddy scoffed at the two of them and nudged Lily with his elbow. "Geek solidarity," he joked.
"What's wrong with that?" Scorpius asked. "I bet I'd get along better with Albus than I do with you two. Go away. We're picking out books."
Albus grimaced. "You're all being very embarrassing right now."
"Yes. You sure are," Scorpius told Teddy and Lily off.
"You too, Scorpius," Albus grumbled.
"What?" Scorpius blurted out. "I'm on your side, man."
"Oh, leave him alone," Harry piped in from near the doorway, causing everyone to turn to him. He had his Ministry robe draped over an arm and a cup of coffee in his other hand. He smiled at Scorpius and nodded. "Office?"
"Sure," Scorpius said eagerly.
"Yeah," Albus huffed at Teddy and Lily. "Leave me alone."
"Thanks for the book, Al," Scorpius said before he disappeared into the hallway, following Harry into the large study.
Soon enough, he was a regular visitor at the Potter household. Whenever Teddy visited, which was every other day, he brought Scorpius along. They always stayed for dinner. By his fifth visit, Ginny had stopped giving Harry loaded looks, Lily had decided that the young Malfoy was the coolest ever, and he went home with a different book.
Harry, in the meantime, was getting hell from the Weasleys. He didn't mind it too much since Ginny wasn't as unforgiving as her family. Hermione had thrown a great big tantrum for a handful of minutes before calming down and congratulating Harry for being above all the prejudice surrounding ex-Death Eaters. Ron was still digesting the information, so he hadn't formed a proper opinion yet.
Harry was glad that his actions from all those years ago weren't for naught. Scorpius had had a relatively normal life in the States. He had graduated with honors in his school. He had gained admission into a good university. His parents were doing quite well, so they had no troubles with finances. He had a smart head on his shoulders. After all their talks, Harry realized how much Scorpius had grown. He was a mature adult now, able to participate in healthy conversations about the current situation regarding Ministry regulations as well as politics. He had very strong views against bigotry for obvious reasons. Harry wondered if he should figure out a way to get Hermione and Scorpius in the same room. They'd be talking for hours, no doubt.
"You did a good thing," Hermione told Harry. "I truly believe it. It's just… the circumstances that I don't agree with. You broke rules, Harry. A lot of rules. How could you be sure that it won't come back to you?"
Harry smiled sheepishly. "I was really careful," he assured her. "Besides, all the rules I broke were revoked. Revoked by you, in fact. And they moved after getting stable jobs in the States. They had work permits. That's within the rules. All I did was put in a good word and speed up a few things here and there."
"That's favoritism."
"Well… Scorpius was very persuasive for an eight year old."
She rolled her eyes at him. She knew all about that soft side of him, so she couldn't think of any reason to argue a point that would no doubt go over his head. According to him, his morality was intact and he had done what he could to help an innocent child. That's how she saw it as well. Scorpius couldn't help who his parents were. Harry had tried to justify Draco Malfoy's actions using that same excuse, but she heard none of it. Draco may have been indoctrinated when he was younger, but he still acted out of cowardice. Scorpius' situation was drastically different, or at least it was in her eyes.
"Would you like to meet Hermione?" Harry asked Scorpius, quite obviously encouraging the young man to say yes.
Scorpius, however, wasn't so sure. "Um… I've read a couple books she wrote," he faltered. "Father says she doesn't have a good opinion about him."
"I won't deny that," Harry winked. "She did punch him that one time." As Scorpius paled, Harry looked off into the corner and added, "Actually… I think Ron's hit him once too. Huh."
"I see," Scorpius gulped. "And I'm sure he deserved it. But I don't think it would be in my best interests… to meet her."
"On the contrary, I think she'd be extremely valuable if you're willing to take the time to speak with her," Harry explained. "She is a very smart woman, Scorpius. The smartest I've met. And she has plenty of connections. You know, if you plan to stay here…"
"Harry."
"Oh, come on," Harry pressed on eagerly. "I know you want to stay. What's keeping you? Your parents?"
Scorpius shrugged as he sat back in his chair. "I've never been away from them, I guess," he said. "They would support any decision I make, I know that. And… it's different here."
"Just think about it for now."
"I will."
Scorpius couldn't ask for a better way to spend his summer than to hang out with Teddy and the Potters. His father and mother were busy with their work, so he was glad that someone had taken him under their wing. There was never a shortage of excitement in the Potter household. Over the two months he had already spent at their place, he had been at the butt end of three pranks, courtesy of Teddy and Lily, learned how to ride the motorcycle (on the road) with James yelling in his ear the entire time, sat through Ginny's rambling rants about the unfairness of broom quality between Quidditch teams, and spent what quiet time he had left in Al's library bedroom.
"Can I ask you something?"
Albus was sitting on the floor against the bed with his knees pulled up and his bespectacled eyes peeking out from above them. Scorpius smiled in confusion at the timid question and nodded as he set his book down on the ground. Albus rarely spoke to him and he definitely never took the initiative to start a conversation.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Um… No. I don't."
"Lily said she saw you with Lauren at that party."
Scorpius smiled. "She's not my girlfriend, Al."
"Okay."
Scorpius waited for Albus to continue, but he didn't. So they went back to sitting in silence. Scorpius tried to get into the book once again but he could feel Albus' stare, which made him incredibly self-conscious.
"Because I think Lily likes you."
Scorpius shook his head in defeat as he put the book down again. "Did she tell you that?" he asked carefully.
"Not in so many words, but I notice things," Albus mumbled.
Scorpius allowed himself a short laugh. He had never known Albus to be so direct. "Then I'm sorry to say I'll have to disappoint her. And how old is she, anyway? Eighteen?"
"Mhm."
"There you go."
Albus tilted his head to the side but all Scorpius could see were large emerald eyes behind thick frames. "You only date older women?" the dark-haired boy asked inquisitively.
"What is it with these questions?"
Albus shrugged.
"Weird," Scorpius muttered under his breath as he smirked. "You're rather weird, Albus. Has anyone said that before?"
"All the time." Albus tipped his head down so his eyes were hidden away once again.
Scorpius worried his lip for a long moment before pulling himself together. "I'm not interested in your sister."
"Because you're in love with my father, right?"
There was strained silence for a second.
Then Albus picked his head up and rested his chin on his knees. "You look at him," he explained. "I've noticed."
