Chapter 2 – Draco

Draco Malfoy woke up in Hogwarts guest chambers. He had approximately ten minutes to meet Granger outside the dorm and go for a very early breakfast together, but all he could do is lay on his back and stare at the canopy of his bed. It was hard to admit, but he felt extremely stupid. It was his lack of caution that put him in this situation, and it was humiliating.

Eventually, after being sick of the feeling of shame building up inside him, in one swift motion he jumped out of bed to visit the bathroom. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. It was a strange feeling, to suddenly see a completely different person than the one he was used to. His hair was now brown, just like his eyes. The chin was not as pointed anymore and he had fuller lips with a slightly more hooked nose. A common half-blood nose, he thought with disgust.

Despite all the mortification he felt about his actions, there was a slightest hint of relief. According to McGonagall, he and his family were still alive and living well, therefore he had no reason to worry. He no longer had to spend fruitless, terror filled hours trying to mend that wretched Vanishing Cabinet or dread what was going to happen to his mother and father if he didn't succeed. Deep down, the prospect of not having to be Draco Malfoy and consider whether his actions are pleasing to his father was also very appealing. He might even think himself free, even if he wasn't going to remember any of this.

The idea of his new found freedom gave him energy to head downstairs to meet the insufferable Gryffindor, who no doubt was going to give him a lecture on punctuality.

'You're late.' She exclaimed.

She may have had her looks greatly altered, with her dark blonde, bushy hair and blue eyes, a straighter nose as opposed to her button one and thinner eyebrows, but her body language and facial expressions were as annoyingly Granger as ever. He thought that she could blow their cover acting so much like herself, but he doubted she did anything significant with her life for anyone at Hogwarts now to make that connection. He decided to ignore her and proceeded to start walking towards the Great Hall which seemed to infuriate her.

'Oh, so you're going to ignore me now?!' She shouted in disbelief, trying to catch up with him, whilst carrying all her books and pieces of parchment. 'You do realise if it wasn't for your childishness we wouldn't be here right now?'

Draco felt his blood boil. He felt enough shame without her insolent reminders. He stopped whilst she still trotted behind him.

'Listen, you filthy little Mudblood…' he started, but didn't get a chance to continue his lesson on how not to talk to her superiors because someone came around the corner and collided with her pretty spectacularly.

All her papers and books as well as his broomsticks went flying in the air, blocking off Draco's view of the person.

'I'm sorry!' The blonde boy said and crouched to help Granger pick up her belongings. He seemed to be in too much of a rush because he gave up quickly and took out his wand. With one spell, all the books were now hovering, waiting for Granger to claim them. They both got up and finally saw his face. They were standing in front of a slightly taller replica of Draco Malfoy.

'Thanks…' muttered shocked Granger, but the guy didn't wait. He was already running off in his green quidditch robes with the last name 'Malfoy' written across his back.

His heart started pounding. The surreality of the situation just dawned upon him. He was twenty-six years into the future, and he had a son. A son he was going to be attending school with! He wanted to run after him, see what he's like and how he played, but Granger grabbed his arm.

'Professor McGonagall wanted us in the Great Hall early. They won't let you watch the practice anyway.'

He gritted his teeth and went with her in silence. Not many students were having breakfast just yet, but they still received odd looks from the ones awake enough to notice. McGonagall said it was best to get there early and get acclimatised. They also avoided awkwardness of finding a place to sit.

As the Great Hall filled slowly, Draco had time to think about his son. He was eager to meet him, but their earlier encounter gave him doubts. Why would a Malfoy be helping a random nobody? He judged it to be the mother's influence, and if that was the case, then fortunately for him, it wasn't Pansy Parkinson.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by two people sitting down in front of them.

'You're sitting in our seats,' said a black haired girl with a very intense expression. 'There's a gruesome punishment involving mountain trolls for your ignorance'. She spoke in a very deadpan, bored tone with her head tilted down, staring directly at them with piercing light blue eyes.

'No there isn't', sighed the boy who settled down next to her. Draco groaned inwardly, he looked exactly like Potter minus the glasses. Curiously enough, he was in Slytherin.

'Yes, there is. You will die.' Her face remained serious with no hint of a smile. With the Dark Lord's followers constantly visiting his home, Draco couldn't admit she was the creepiest girl he met, although she was scarily close.

'She's just joking,' said the Potter spawn.

'No, I'm not.'

'S-sorry about that,' Granger stuttered. 'We'll remember for the future.'

'Are you new here? I've never seen you before,' the Potter boy asked almost reluctantly. He was acting as if he wasn't sure they'd want to be talking to him. 'Rightly so' Draco thought.

'Yes, we transferred from Ilvermorny,' said Granger. No doubt she was trying to latch onto another Potter to worship. 'I'm Hayley and this is Dean.'

'I'm Albus,' he responded. 'And this is-'

'Satan.' The deadpan girl cut in.

At this moment, the blonde Malfoy boy reappeared. Draco's stomach twitched.

'Her name is Emma Jane,' he said with a gentle smile on his face, 'and I'm Scorpius,' he added as he settled next to Albus.

If someone was to put Draco and Scorpius next to each other, they would pass as twins; and yet, the younger Malfoy's expression made such a difference, that their relation could be questioned. His blonde hair was short on the sides, and longer and wavier on top. His eyebrows were raised giving him an open, curious look and there was no hint of the traditional Malfoy sneer. He looked kind and healthy, unlike his father.

'Sorry, for bumping into you this morning,' he spoke to Granger. 'I was in a hurry.'

Draco saw how poorly she concealed her reluctance and surprise at his civility. 'Don't worry about it.' She said with a slight frown.

'What position do you play?' Draco asked, not wanting her to be the one to bond with his son, even though he questioned his unusual for a Malfoy friendly-ness.

'I'm a beater, do you play?'

'Yes, at my old school I was a Seeker,' he said proudly. 'One of the best in the year.'

Granger snorted.

'I've yet to see you do anything worthy on the pitch!' Draco snapped at her before he could stop himself.

He regretted this immediately when he saw the surprised and awkward stares from the trio opposite them.

'Does anyone know which way I can get to Arithmancy?' Granger asked.

'Yes!' Exclaimed Scorpius. Draco nearly scowled at how eager he was. 'I finally get someone else in Slytherin smart enough to take the subject. The class is filled with way too many Gryffindors.' He said jokingly, but you could hear a hint of the Malfoy drawl.

He was shocked by how his son was acting, but not as stunned as Granger seemed to be. She had no choice but to reluctantly follow him out of the Great Hall, leaving him with Potter and the weird girl. Draco wished he took Arithmancy.

Albus Potter narrowed his eyes as he watched them walk away.

'Seems like she'll fit right in here,' he said bitterly.

'How so?' Draco asked.

'Well, she's only been around for five minutes and managed to make it very clear she wants nothing to do with Scorpius,' Albus replied irritably. He then got up and left without saying goodbye.

'He's definitely plotting Hayley's murder, I hope he uses stuffed toy replicas of his father to execute her,' she said in a serious tone.

Draco didn't respond - Potter's words gave him a lot to think about. He guided out of the Great Hall towards a quiet courtyard. Why would the majority of the school want to avoid Scorpius Malfoy? He felt the anxiety build up inside him as he walked. In his time, there were many people that wanted to stay clear from him, but it seemed more understandable given his attitude. Despite Draco's suspicions that his son's situation had everything to do with him, he felt that there clearly wasn't any strong hostility from people so far, therefore there was not much to be feeling guilty about. Scorpius isn't the one trying to find a way to kill the most powerful wizard of his time in order to save his family after all.