"Absolutely! Marriage while you're still under aged is a marvelous idea!"

"Really?"

"NO!!! ARE YOU MENTAL?!"

Scorpius had gone the very next day to the greenhouses at the crack of dawn to get Neville's permission to marry him and Castora that Saturday. Neville was less than accepting of the idea.

"Yes, yes I am mental," Scorpius protested. "My mum always said she was mental for loving Dad, and so I came to believe love as a form of insanity."

Neville muttered under his breath, "Well, anyone would have to be daft to love your Dad."

"What was that?" Scorpius asked.

"Nothing."

"But Castora agreed to marry me, and we want to do so as soon as possible!" Scorpius said. "Surely you must at least see where we're coming from?"

Neville groaned as he took a pot containing a bitter root from a Whomping Willow seedling. Scorpius followed him eagerly. "I don't see why you must do it this weekend!"

"Well, we can wait another week, but we both agreed we want to marry before the holiday recess," Scorpius said.

"Again, I ask, why?" Neville said. "I'm still not convinced you're in love. And the fact that Castora agreed to this poppycock is beyond my reasoning—"

"—does true love need a reason?" Scorpius asked. That question stopped Neville dead in his tracks. "In times like this, I'd think you'd be happy for two people who are able to see each other as not just which common they call their home, but as a person with feelings, emotions, fears and hopes. Two people who hear Gryffindor and Slytherin and think first of historical people and not legacies, or pride, or honors to be upheld! Professor Longbottom, Castora and I could bring our houses together through this bond. Hogwarts can finally become the peaceful place that you yourself, as I recall, fought for."

Neville looked at Scorpius, very moved and convinced by his speech. No normal fifteen year old boy looking for a thrill or two or getting married without thinking things through would have those words to say. "So, you two want to marry to reconcile the Houses?"

Scorpius shook his head. "No. We want to marry because we HAVE no Houses. We're going to show the world that there are more important things in life than pride and honor, and whether you're a snake, a lion, a badger or an eagle."

"Like what?" Neville asked, going to get some water for the willow seedling.

"True love. Which is what Castora and I have. Blood status means nothing to us. Damn the Houses of Malfoy and Black! What IS a House anyways?"

Neville smiled at Scorpius' wisdom. "Indeed."

"I was always under the impression that a House was a building with four walls and a roof where someone lived. Just something that stood there for centuries and didn't DO anything. A family is what I want to continue, not a House! I want to leave a FAMILY legacy, not a House legacy! Professor, I assure you, if you refuse to marry us on Saturday, we WILL find other means, Castora and I."

Neville found himself lost in thought. Visions fell before his eyes, provoked by Scorpius' speech. Articles in the Daily Prophet showing pictures of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter shaking peaceful hands as Scorpius and Castora kissed in the background; the two fighting brothers, Albus Severus and James Potter, embracing, brothers once more; the world as peaceful a place as those who died before wanted it to be for their children. All beginning with a kiss…

Neville turned to Scorpius. "Bring Castora here Saturday, and I will bind you two in marriage. BUT, take the rest of this week to seriously make sure what you are doing is right. Afterwards, we will gather your families and Houses together and give them the news."

Scorpius beamed. "Thank you, Professor! Thank you!" He squealed, like an excited girl, and ran out of the greenhouse and down the corridor, tripping again on his way out.


"Wait, read the letter again," begged Brady O'Toole. He and Albus Severus were sitting in the courtyard after lunch that day, reading a piece of parchment Albus had slipped under his door that morning. The courtyard was a lively place, where all the renegade Slytherins hung out between classes. Albus loved it out there. Peoples tossed Weasley products around, tested new hexes on unfortunate Gryffindor passersby, and enjoyed that last warm days of the year before winter sank in.

"To Scorpius Malfoy, House of Slytherin," A-Sev read, "I challenge you to a one-on-one duel, to the death, in the corridor outside the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower, send an owl back to Gryffindor Tower with the time. Signed, James Sirius Potter."

"You think he'll answer it?" asked Brady.

"Psht! He's literate, I should think he can answer a letter!" A-Sev said, shredding the parchment apart and tossing it to the breeze.

"But the challenge! Your brother—"

"—he is no brother of mine," A-Sev said between gritted teeth.

"James Potter said it was to be to the death. He could tell a Professor," Brady suggested.

"No, Scorpius is my man! He'll answer the duel, and smother James Potter into the dust! See, James is a bully. He liked to pick fight tot sound tough, so provoking this rumble might show us Slytherin he means business. But Scorpius, with me as his backup, of course, will, without a doubt, show James Potter that he means business!" A-Sev predicted. "James Potter is a buffoon! And a drama queen."

"You think?" asked Brady.

"Psht! No doubt, the boy couldn't produce an AvadaKedavra curse if he was facing that first year, Roxanne Weasley!" A-Sev said. "A monkey could take him!"

"Agreed," Brady said, holding up a scrap of the torn parchment. "But he told Scorpius to call a time."

"Eh, I think it'll be more…fun…to just have them meet randomly in some hallway and duke it out, don't you, Brady?"


"FINALLY! What, does it take you six hours to wash your hair?!" Castora said as Rose Weasley stepped causally out of the bathrooms in her bathrobe. Castora was pacing in a whirl around the five beds in the dormitory room up in Gryffindor tower. It was mid-afternoon, and Castora had twenty minutes before she had Potions class down in the dungeons. "You missed all your morning classes, and we had double-Charms!"

"I called in sick," Rose said casually. "See, I may have inherited my Mum's brains, but I also inherited my father's laziness. Slept in until lunchtime, then I took a long hot shower without anyone having to yell at me to wasting hot water! It's been the best morning I've had in a long time! Don't worry, Cas, Lily covered for me," she said, as if nothing was going on out of the ordinary. Castora groaned.

"Well, I've been thinking you've been avoiding me because of—"

"—because you're entire too mental?! Because of that DISTURBING piece of news you told me this morning?!" Rose suddenly burst out, revealing her previous attitude to be purely sarcastic (Rose was very good at that).

"Rosie—"

"—because you want to get married at fifteen years old, and to a SLYTHERIN?!"

"Shh!"

"And not just ANY Slytherin, but THE Slytherin?? The one who's got two pureblooded houses up his ass for him to produce a pureblooded heir, which cannot come from you?!" Rose said, taking down her brown hair and beginning to routinely comb it through. Castora took a seat on her bed. Rose paced the room. "I always thought you had more sense than that!"

"This doesn't make any sense, but in a good way," Castora said back. "Scorpius Malfoy loves me, and he proposed to me. We want it to happen this Saturday, and I want you to be my Maid of Honor."

"Flattered as I am," Rose said. "I, unlike you, am well aware how DANGEROUS this is!"

"Don't you think I thought this through?!" Castora protested. "I'm in love, but I'm not stupid! Scorpius is very popular with his house, and I am in mine. If we marry, not only will we be together forever, but our Houses will realize that this entire Blood War is stupid!"

"You can't think that one underground wedding will reconcile two Houses and two breeds of wizard that go back for centuries?!"

"Scorpius is one of only five purebloods in this school right now," Castora said. "If everyone sees that he married a Muggle-born like me purely out of love for me, then yes, I do believe that the Houses will reconcile!"

"You're mad as a hatter, you are," Rose said, beginning to plait her hair in two long rows.

"And you just figured this out?" Castora said raising her left eyebrow. Rose finally cracked a smile at this.

"Castora, I still believe you are a fool to rule over all fools. A wedding at fifteen, to your greatest enemy, during times like these. But…you are my best mate. And I do see what this could potentially do, beneficially and dangerously. So…I guess I don't see why I shouldn't be your Maid of Honor."

Castora beamed widely. "Oh, Rosie!" She got off her bed and ran to hug Rose. "But you cannot tell another soul. Not James, not Lily, not your parents or mine," she said.

"No," said Rose. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Castora let go of Rose and sighed happily. "I'm…I'm getting married this weekend! I'll be Castora Malfoy!"

"Ugh," Rose shuddered.

"What is it?" Castora asked.

"Could he possibly take your name?" Rose asked, smirking. Castora widened her eyes and broke out laughing. Rose joined the fit of laughter, and they both ended up skipping Potions just to laugh.