Chapter 6

I managed to catch Malfoy after Potions on Friday. Believe it or not, Potions wasn't half as bad as I had thought it was going to be. I was paired with Lysander Lovegood, who tended to talk about Nargles and Crumple-Horned Snorkacks a lot but otherwise was a very good partner. Rose sat in front of me with her cousin, Roxanne. Professor Slughorn was alright, if a bit annoying, and I had managed to make a decent Confusing Concoction that day. Anyway, class had just finished, and Slughorn had retreated to his office when I spotted Malfoy alone, for once not surrounded by his Slytherin friends.

"Go on without me, I'll catch you up," I said to Rose, who was waiting for me in the doorway. She shrugged and headed off to Transfiguration. "Malfoy," I called. He turned around. "Can I talk to you?"

"Er, sure," he said, looking slightly apprehensive. I slung my satchel over my shoulder and we began to walk.

"Well, I just wanted to say thank you. For apologizing. I appreciate it."

A faint pink tinge spread across his cheeks. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay," I said, a little bit confused by his brusque manner. "Well, no offense or anything, but why did you apologize?"

"You wouldn't get it," he muttered.

Now I was rather annoyed. "Oh, yeah? Try me. Look, I don't know what your problem is, but you're being really confusing, and I think you at least owe me an explanation."

His face softened a tiny fraction, and he blushed a little more. "Fine. I apologized because of my dad."

So Rose was right! "Your dad made you?"

"No," he said quickly. "I apologized because I don't want to end up like my dad." Okay, so Rose hadn't been right. But now I was even more confused.

"Um, why not?"

"Oh yeah, you wouldn't know. You're a Mud- Muggle-born." He didn't say it cruelly, as he had before. Just a statement of fact. "In the war against Voldemort, my family was one of the main supporters of the Dark side. I come from a family of Death Eaters, okay?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Well, now you do. Anyway, after I cursed you, everyone- well, except my friends and some of the Slytherins- was looking at me like they wouldn't have expected anything else out of Draco Malfoy's son. I just want to prove to people that I don't have to be what my father was. And I knew what I did was wrong and, to be honest, pretty stupid."

I was shocked. From what Rose had said, you would have thought Scorpius was an evil maniac who cursed anyone in his way. Sure, he was a little bit curt, but I had a feeling that he was just embarrassed.

"Look, I have to get to class. But do you think you can-er- forgive me?" He was officially the color of a well-cooked salmon.

I sighed. Rose was going to Avada Kedavra me, burn my body, and tap dance on my grave. "Yes, Scorpius. I forgive you."

"Friends?" He stuck out his hand.

"Friends." I shook it.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" screeched Rose when I told her at dinner. "EVERYONE IN HIS WHOLE FAMILY IS A BLOODY PUREBLOOD MANIAC!"

"Rose! Stop yelling, everyone's looking!" I spotted Albus and Clarice staring at us curiously from the Ravenclaw table, and down the Gryffindor table Roxanne and Fred were whispering and pointing. James, Will, Lily, and Hugo, who had heard everything, were also staring.

"Seriously Allie, I think it's a bad idea. He cursed you on the first day of school before he'd even met you!" Will said, looking concerned. "He could just be using you."

"Stop, guys. I don't like him that way. We're barely even friends. And when he apologized, I could tell it was sincere. Maybe he really has changed." Rose just looked at me disbelievingly.

"You only like him because he's good looking."

Now I was annoyed. "Rose, are you deaf, or did you just not her me say that I don't like him that way? And why would you, of all people, notice how he looks?"

She blushed furiously. "Oh, so now you think I like him? Well think again, Allie." She picked up her bread roll, stood up, and stormed out of the Great Hall.

"Fantastic," I muttered to myself, putting my head in my hands. I had managed to turn my first friend at Hogwarts against me.

"Hey, what's up? I saw Rose run out absolutely steaming." I looked up and saw that Albus had taken Rose's seat.

"Oh, someone else tell him." I put my head back down. Vaguely, I heard Will explain what had happened, with the others butting in occasionally.

"Scorpius Malfoy did that?" said Albus, sounding shell-shocked. "That was… unexpected."

"I know, and Rose just blew up on me for no apparent reason. What is up with her?"

Hugo spoke up for the first time. "It's not just her. It's our whole family. The Weasleys and the Malfoys have hated each other for centuries. I mean, I'm sure he doesn't mean to-well, then again, maybe he does- but my dad has sort of ingrained it into us that all the Malfoys are evil scum. It's what I've been taught since I could understand it."

Now that he mentioned it, I remembered Rose telling me about her family hating the Malfoys. "Oh. Thanks, Hugo."

"Don't mention it."

"You know, she really may have a point," said James. "For centuries, the Malfoys have been evil scum. Why would Scorpius want to change?"

Why did they keep bringing this up? "I don't know, ok? Do I look like Scorpius Malfoy to you? All I know is that a fairly decent person apologized to me and asked me to forgive him, and I did. What is so wrong about that?"

"Allie, I'm just saying-"

"Guys, why don't we just let this simmer down overnight and we can figure it out tomorrow?" Albus interrupted his brother. "Or one of us might say something he –or she- will regret."

"Alright, well I'm going to bed now," I said. "Goodnight." I got up and started towards the door.

Just as I was closing the doors behind me, I heard Will call, "Allie! It's only 7:00! Why are you going to bed so early?" I rolled my eyes. Boys can be so stupid.