"Scorpius..."

"Scorpius..."

"OI! SCORP! WAKE UP!"

Scorpius awoke with a large jolt. "Wh-wha...?" Albus was sitting on his bed, hair wet but fully dressed.

"Breakfast is in half an hour, mate. You need to get up if you want to eat!" The blonde jumped out of bed, albeit a little groggily, and stretched. He looked around the room and frowned. "Where is everyone...?"

"The other guys already went downstairs. We're getting our timetables as well, so I assume they just wanted to get down early." Scorpius sighed. He was far too tired for all of this. Trudging his way into the bathroom and quickly washing, he groaned at the oh-so-difficult task of pulling his uniform on. He was not going to find his first day easy in any shape or form.

Once Scorpius was ready, the two boys made their way down the spiral staircase, only to be welcomed by the sight of a very frustrated Rose. "Where have you two been? I was waiting for so long I actually went down to get breakfast, then came back up afterwards, and you still weren't ready!"

"Well sor-ry, Rosie, but I'd like to see you try and wake up sleeping beauty here." Scorpius blushed, "Sorry Rose...". The aforementioned red-head sighed. "It's fine. You can't help it. Here." She tossed him a napkin, which inside held three slices of toast, all buttered and spread with a thick helping of strawberry jam. Scorpius blinked, "Th-thank you..."

"You mentioned last night that you love strawberries. I thought I had better put it into practice", she smiled softly before holding out a piece of paper to him. "Your timetable. All three of us have the same timetable, so at least you'll be okay", she passed a pile of toast to Albus, as well as his timetable. Albus grimaced, "Ergh. First thing. Charms with the Slytherins"

Scorpius had to wonder for a moment what Rose had meant. 'You'll be okay'? Was there some kind of danger threatening him? Was there something wrong?

These thoughts continued to plague his mind while they walked to Charms. The two boys scoffed the last of their toast before stepping into the large and airy room. A tall man stepped out from behind his desk at the front of the classroom. "Good morning class! I'm Professor MacMillan!" His bright smile shone about the whole room. "Now, I have a bit of a seating plan for you all, and it will stay that way until I have gauged your skill levels! Now..."

Professor MacMillan placed them all in their seats, and Scorpius was lucky enough to be sitting next to Rose, with Albus behind them. "We're going to just be starting off with some simple levitating spells, okay? Now, repeat after me- Wingardium Leviosa" The class repeated, and Professor MacMillan seemed happy with them all. "There is, of course, a wand movement to go with the incantation. A simple swish and flick." This practice continued on for a while, before feathers were placed in front of each student. "I would like you all to try levitating these feathers, okay class?" Professor MacMillan smiled once more before allowing them to continue.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Scorpius blinked and looked over at Rose, frowning. The red-head seemed to be struggling somewhat. "U-uh, Rose...? I-I think you're saying it wrong..." "Huh..?" "You're saying it like 'Levio-sah', but it's meant to be said 'Levi-oh-sa'..." Rose scowled as Albus started quietly shaking with giggles. "Fine then. You try it, Malfoy." Scorpius blinked, but turned back to his feather. "Wingardium Leviosa", with a swish and a flick of his wand, he watched as the feather gently floated up towards the top of the class room. "Perfect! 10 points to Ravenclaw, Miss- Oh." Professor MacMillan looked over to the source of the incantation, expecting to see Rose, but instead saw the red-head with her wand on the table, watching Scorpius levitate his feather. "Ah, well. Good Work, Mr Malfoy. Carry on." Scorpius blinked, allowing the feather to touch back down onto the table once more.

Rose didn't seem to look as annoyed with Scorpius as she had at the beginning of the lesson. In fact, she seemed more sympathetic towards the blonde. "Don't worry about it, Scorpius. He just expected it to be me because of my mum, that's all..." Neither Albus nor Rose managed to make Scorpius feel any better about the situation by the end of the lesson.

Not enjoying the large crowds of people, Scorpius opted to spend a small while longer packing his bags after the lesson. Albus and Rose had gone ahead, and Professor MacMillan had left, yet Scorpius still felt a slight uneasiness in the room, as if he was being watched. He sighed, turning to the door, only to be welcomed with the sight of it being closed. Frowning, he stepped forward with the intent of opening it. "Where do you think you're going, blood traitor?"

'Blood traitor' is an awful term, isn't it? Many wonder what the point of it is. Others wonder why it is not used more often. I, personally, have only used the phrase a couple of times in my life, and my mouth still feels dirty from the use of it. Why is it so important to demean witches and wizards for purely believing in equality? Where is the use in giving the best of our kind a humiliating insult?

Scorpius turned, gulping audibly, "M-Marc... What are you doing here?" The boy before him chuckled, "I just fancied a little chat with my dear cousin, you know? I wanted to get a few things straight."

Scorpius stepped back with each step forward Marc took, his breath hitching. "I don't want you, or any of your little blood-traitor buddies anywhere near me, you got that? You don't look at me, you don't talk to me, and if you do..." Scorpius squeaked as Marc's fist slammed against a neighbouring desk, "You're gone. I don't want anyone in Slytherin knowing I'm even related to you. If they find out, that's my reputation over. So, what are you gonna do?"

Scorpius gasped, tears stinging his eyes as he struggled to articulate. "L-l-l-leave-". His shoulders trembled as Marc began to wrack with laughter. "Oh yeah. forgot you get all stuttery when you're freaked out" the blonde whimpered, "I d-d-d-don-" "Suuure you don't Malfoy. You're really just a massive wuss, aren't you? Well, I best be off. Stay out of my way, Remember that, traitor." And with a swift kick to the blonde's shins, Marc left the room.

Scorpius slid down the wall, his body shaking with silent sobs. Checking the time, he shuddered. Transfiguration had started 10 minutes ago, and he knew Professor McGonagall wouldn't be happy. Picking up his bag and rubbing harshly at his eyes, he made his way to his lesson.

The silence filling the classroom upon Scorpius' arrival was deafening. Everyone, including Professor McGonagall, had turned to look at him. "Please explain to me why you are so very late, Mr Malfoy", her voice was icy, her stare even colder. "I-I-I..." Scorpius chewed at his lip, struggling to find words. "G-g-g-got l-l-l-lost" his stutter was still prominent, earning him a few snickers throughout the room. A sigh came from the older woman. "Very well. Please take your seat next to Mr Potter..." Still aching from where Marc kicked him, the blonde slowly walked over to his seat, thankful to be sitting next to Albus. As he expected, Scorpius was bombarded with harshly whispered questions from Albus the second he sat down. "What happened, mate? You're limping and," the raven-haired boy squinted, "have you been crying?" Scorpius sighed, pulling out his books and parchment and, not wanting to bother with battling his stutter, opted to simply scrawl down in the corner of his sheet, 'I'll tell you after class'.

The class continued on without incident, with Scorpius remaining quiet unless spoken to, and when it was time for break he near enough jumped out of his seat. Grabbing his bags and the two cousins, he walked quickly towards the library. "S-Scorpius hang on!" Once inside the library, he turned to his two friends, whimpering slightly. The two had looks of concern written across their faces, and both sat down and listened patiently as Scorpius blurted out what had happened to him after Charms.

Once he had finished, Albus was the first to speak. "I wouldn't expect any less from him, I sat next to him in Charms and he was looking at you pretty murderously when you levitated that feather- where did you learn to do that, by the way?" He stopped talking once Rose glared at him, and Scorpius cringed when the red-head turned to him. "You need to tell Professor McGonagall, this is bullying, Scorpius. She can put a stop to it." Scorpius gave her a look, "You're joking. You're joking, aren't you? It's obvious she hates me, what's the point?"

Rose opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. They all knew Scorpius was right. It was obvious that, no matter how hard he tried, his father's reputation would always leave room for people's judgemental opinions of him. So, in the end, what was the point?