The rest of Scorpius' day proved to be considerably uneventful. In hindsight, this could be seen as a good thing, but he still would have at least liked something nice to happen to him on his first day. His last lesson was Herbology, and he had to admit he was excited for it. Stepping into the greenhouse after lunch made him just that little bit happier, and his two companions caught on.

"I take it you're a plant man, Scorpius?" Rose chuckled next to him, a little pleased to see him perk up. "Oh, definitely. My dad built me a green house at the end of our garden when I was 6, so I guess being in here reminds me of home~" Once they had all huddled around the centre bench, a man walked into the greenhouse. He was tall, lean but with a slightly rounded face, with slightly faded scars covering his tanned forearms. As he grinned broadly at them all, Scorpius couldn't help feeling he looked familiar... "Before you ask, yes, that's Alice's dad", Albus leaned over to him and whispered, obviously having seen Scorpius' intense focus on the man.

Good Afternoon, students! I'm your Herbology teacher, Professor Longbottom, only to be called by that name". He cast an amused glance over at Albus and Rose, both of whom sent him back embarrassed grins. Professor Longbottom moved to the front of the green house, and Rose took the chance to whisper to the blonde, "he knows we're going to call him 'Uncle Neville' at some point". She chuckled slightly, turning her head back to the front.

Scorpius blinked, chuckling slightly, and turned his head to the front as well. The lesson went rather well, with Scorpius managing to answer every question Professor Longbottom asked, which he actually seemed rather pleased about. By the end of the lesson, Scorpius was happy, and that made Rose and Albus perk up considerably as well.

When the class was over, Scorpius was packing up his books, and talking to his two friends, only to be alerted by Professor Longbottom. "Scorpius. Can I speak to you a moment, please?" Scorpius nodded, nervously, and made his way over to his Professor, Albus and Rose not far behind. "I would like to speak to Mr Malfoy alone, please, Rose and Albus" he smiled, amused, as the two cousins nodded slowly and made their way out of the greenhouse, "We'll see you in the common room, Scorp!" He heard Albus call to him, but he was too nervous to reply. What was Professor Longbottom going to say to him? Had he done something wrong?

The tall Professor leant against his desk and turned to the blonde. "So, Scorpius. How are you finding school? You've made friends with Albus and Rose rather quickly, yes? That's good." Scorpius was unsure of what to say, "Y-yes Professor... Uhm, School is good... It's only my first day, so..."

"Ah, yes, do excuse me. I was rather vague. What I mean to say is, are you enjoying yourself? Has anyone been giving you trouble? Anyone?" Scorpius froze. Swallowing, he simply said, "N-no, sir. There's no one giving me trouble." Frowning, Professor Longbottom sighed. "Well, if there is, be sure to tell me, okay? I want to make sure you're enjoying yourself here."

Scorpius blinked. He didn't understand. Why did he seem to care so much? "If you're wondering why I'm caring so much about you, as opposed to treating you the same way as many of my colleagues are," the blonde noticed, with slight shock, that there was a hint of sourness in Professor Longbottom's voice. "It's because I understand what you're going through. I may not have gone through it myself, but I do know that many people will be judging you as if you are your father. I, personally, do not think that is the right way to handle things. I know your father has changed. He really is not the man I went to school with."

Scorpius blinked "You went to school with him? You knew him?" Professor Longbottom chuckled, although there was a slight grimace on his face. "Oh, I knew him alright. No offence, but he wasn't exactly the kindest guy to me." The blonde winced. That was always one of the first things he heard about his father. "But when I spoke to him yesterday, on the station platform, he was extremely polite. He even had the decency to apologise to me." The man before him smiled, already answering the questioning glance Scorpius was giving him. "Yes, I spoke to him. He was putting your bags in the luggage carriage, and he was getting a couple of angry glares from the other people on the platform when I bumped into him. In fact, he looked rather relieved to see a familiar face."

"When we were chatting, he did mention to me that you have a great interest in Herbology, and that definitely shone through today." Scorpius blushed. "Don't be embarrassed. I know how it feels", he said, chuckling, "I had a huge interest in Herbology when I was your age. Pretty much the one class I was ever successful in." He scoffed, making Scorpius giggle, "Yeah, I was never that good in school. Bad grades, a bit ditsy, but brilliant at Herbology."

"May I ask, Scorpius, have you had a Potions class yet?" the blonde shook his head, "I can forsee you doing well in that. With your knowledge, I can see Professor Todd liking you." He smiled, and Scorpius felt himself getting a little more hopeful about this school year.

After his conversation with Professor Longbottom, Scorpius made his way up to the common room to meet Rose and Albus. Upon arrival, he noticed the two were sitting on the sofa, gently petting an owl that looked suspiciously like- "Aria?" Upon hearing her name, the owl turned and flew over and perched herself atop the blonde's shoulder, nuzzling at his cheek and nipping at his knuckle when he put a hand up to pet her.

"Is that her name? Oh, Scorpius, she's just gorgeous!" Rose seemed mesmerised by the little owl, giggling when she gave a small hoot in reply to the red-head's compliment. Albus rolled his eyes with a mutter of what sounded suspiciously like 'Women'.

"She brought a letter for you, mate. Probably meant to give it to you this morning at breakfast, but you weren't there." Albus handed him the small envelope and Scorpius examined it. Expensive parchment, his name etched beautifully on the front in navy ink, and the family crest printed on the back. Only his father would go through that much effort to make a letter look pretty.

"It's probably from your mum. That handwriting looks pretty girl-", "That's my dad's handwriting, Albus." Scorpius couldn't help sounding a little amused.

"Oh. Well. That's awkward. Maybe you should- uhm, open it?" Rolling his eyes, Scorpius gently opened the envelope and unfolded the parchment. Once he had read the letter, he couldn't help smiling a little.

"Let's go down for dinner, eh?" The blonde smiled, pushing the letter into his pocket as he made his way out of the door with his two friends.

That night, before he fell asleep, Scorpius found himself rereading his Father's letter one last time.

Dear Scorpius,

We heard that you were sorted into Ravenclaw and we are so proud. Your Mother is rather happy to have a son in the same house that she was in, and I'm just glad you weren't in Slytherin. I knew you wouldn't get put in with that lot.

I hope you are making lots of friends, I saw you talking to Albus Potter on the train. Stick with him, his father is a good man.

I also hope you managed to find your little friend on the train. You know who I mean, you seemed pretty fond of her when you were talking to her in Florean's when you were younger. She is Albus' cousin after all, so you'll probably run into her. Don't let what her father said get you down. I don't care who you make friends with. As long as they make you happy, I don't mind.

Please talk to Professor Longbottom if you have any problems, or owl your mother or I. I don't want you to suffer in silence. Please try and trust Longbottom, I may have been horrible to him when we were kids, but I hold a lot of respect for him. He was braver than I ever was in that war.

We love you, don't ever forget that.

Be true to who you are.

Love, Father.