A/N: How can you possibly have a Harry Potter fanfic without The Boy Who Lived making a short cameo?

Think Happy Thoughts

The next day came too soon. Scorpius was slumped in his usual armchair in the Slytherin common room that early Tuesday morning, not even bothering to make his way towards the Great Hall for breakfast. He felt too miserable to be hungry.

He did not feel like facing Rose today for some reason, though he knew he had at least two classes with her today: first there was that dreaded Potions, and then they had Defence Against the Dark Arts in the afternoon. The image of her sombre expression in the prefects' common room the other night replayed constantly in his head to the point where he did not even get a wink of sleep; his eyes were a little pink around the edges and there were slightly prominent purplish shadows under them as well. He lightly slapped his cheeks to wake himself up as he rose from his seat; though the common room was underground and he could not see the rising sun, he had a feeling class was soon approaching. Plus, he figured that even though he was not hungry, grabbing an apple to eat on the way to the dungeons would not hurt either.

Shouldering his bag, Scorpius trudged out of the Slytherin common room and started his long walk to the Great Hall. He tried to make his walk as lengthy as possible so he could have some sort of an excuse to be late for Potions, but then again being late would mean he would be the centre of attention for a few minutes. He quickened his pace and closed his eyes as he felt the comforting warmth of the sun heat his face. He opened them again as he approached the large double doors of the Great Hall, making long strides over to the Slytherin table: Holden, Porter, and Princeton were just about to leave for class.

"Class starting soon?" Scorpius asked casually as he plucked a Granny Smith apple from one of the fruit bowls. It made a loud, satisfying crunch the minute he sunk his teeth into it. Holden pulled the sleeve of his sweater back to look at his watch.

"In around five minutes or so." He said, and the four began to walk out of the light and into the darkness of the dungeons. People would have figured that after nearly seven years of living there, the Slytherin student body would have gotten used to the damp, dark environment of the dungeons, but a lot of things were definitely easier said than done. Scorpius automatically wrinkled his nose the minute the sun left him. By then he already finished his apple (he underestimated his appetite) and he carelessly tossed it over his shoulder, ignoring Princeton's disgusted protests.

"Ugh, horrible. Smells like fish down here." He muttered as the hall began to darken; Porter snickered lightly.

"Fish is an understatement, mate. Smelled like rotten, cursed, old-"

"We're here." Holden interrupted wisely, pushing the heavy wooden door open. Most of the class had already arrived, but Scorpius was sure they were not late, judging by Slughorn's usual humble expression; he usually soured when latecomers arrived. The four Slytherins moved quickly to their seats; Scorpius could not help but notice the pair of sapphires that were trained on him the entire time he was moving.

"Ah, just in time, boys! I'm excited to see what everyone's Veritaserum ended up as. Pair up, everyone; it's time to show me what you've got!" Slughorn clapped his hands together, and at once the class came to life; students rose from their seats to find their designated partners. Scorpius sat still for a few more seconds, stalling himself for whatever reason. Rose did not throw any sort of glare or shout out any kind of protest, so that was a good sign. So far.

"Still half-asleep, Mister Malfoy? C'mon, get up and move beside Miss Weasley!" Slughorn's voice brought him back to his senses, and he stood up so quickly he nearly knocked over his chair. He was lucky the rest of the class was too busy to notice his fumble; he staggered over to Rose's side and plopped down beside her. There was a blank, emotionless expression on her face. She was probably waiting for further instruction. He wondered if she even noticed him coming here; maybe waving a hand in front of her face would get her attention-

"Alright, settle down, settle down. I know you're anxious to show me your wonderful (Albus groaned quite audibly at the back of the class) potions, so would you please present your cauldrons to me?"

Rose wordlessly brandished her wand, muttered something inaudble, and her little black cauldron poofed! into existence. The mature Veritaserum was clear, odourless, and still. Naturally, Slughorn made his way over to their table first. Rose still showed no sign of life; Scorpius was beginning to feel a little worried, though he kind of hated to admit it.

"Excellent! This is brilliant, brilliant Veritaserum, and I can tell just by looking at it-" Slughorn reached inside his robes and pulled out a small glass bottle with a cork stopper. He unstoppered it and scooped a bottleful of Veritaserum before plugging it again. He held it up in the air and examined it closely, closing one eye, "Merlin, this is the best Veritaserum I've seen! And created by students, I'm utterly flabbergasted!"

The class broke out into hushed, suspicious whispers; Scorpius ignored them and turned to face Rose to see her reaction, but as he expected, her face was still as blank as a roll of unused parchment. She simply sat there, arms by her sides, wand sitting idly on the table in front of her, her eyes staring indifferently at the wall across. She did not look like she was present, mentally speaking of course. Even though she was not on the brink of tears like she was last night, he had to admit that this was worse. At least last night he knew what she was feeling. The fact that he did not know kind of bothered him.

Slughorn took a few more minutes to examine everyone else's potions; when he was finished he instructed that the groups who had the mature, properly brewed Veritaserums (for safety measures, of course-so this excluded Albus, much to his chagrin) to try the potion out on each other. One person was to drink the potion while the other asked the questions that Slughorn had written on the board for them; after that they would write their observations. Everyone else had to resort to answering questions about properly making the potion from the textbook (Albus groaned even louder this time).

Scorpius frowned and scratched at his messy blond head; how was he going to get Rose to speak, to even crack a smile? It bothered him so much that she was not showing any expression at all; it would have even made him feel better if she was arguing with him right now. He stared hard at the still cauldron and came up with an idea.

"Hey, I hope you're listening, 'cause I've got an idea...kind of." He said, and he grabbed a medicine dropper that was lying on the table, along with the rest of his Potions equipment, "You're annoying when you're talking, but I didn't know it was possible for you to be even more annoying when you're not talking. So here's what we're going to do: I'll take the potion, and you'll ask the questions. Got it?" He waved the medicine dropper in front of her face like a metronome, hoping he would get her attention. To his relief her eyes began to follow the medicine dropper, and she nodded. A shadow of a smile even appeared on her face. Feeling quite pleased with himself, he poked the Veritaserum with the dropper and then opened his mouth, letting in a drop or two. It was like water, tasteless and cold.

"Feel any different?" She spoke for the first time, and to his surprise her voice was back to its normal, business-like tone. He looked at her and noticed she was holding a clipboard in her hands, along with her usual scarlet plumed quill. He smirked, relieved that she was back to her irritating self.

"Nope, but we're gonna have to see about that. Go along with the questions then." He prompted, nodding towards the blackboard. She smiled, a little wider this time, and he felt his chest muscles twitch.

"Okay then-" She turned her head for a bit to glance at the blackboard; there were three lines of questions written there, "First question: what is your favourite colour?"

It only took him a fraction of a second to ponder that question.

"Dark blue." His eyes widened and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Really? I thought you were more of a green person. Maybe it's because I've seen you in those Slytherin robes so much." She scribbled a few words onto her clipboard. Scorpius continued to stare at her in horror.

Dark blue? DARK BLUE?

He tried telling himself that his favourite colour was green, but the Veritaserum was too strong; it kept correcting him, insisting that his preferred colour was dark blue. He shook his head and Rose suppressed a giggle.

"Must be frustrating to argue with yourself." She said, and she smiled again, but this time it was wider, more genuine. He felt his stomach somersault a few times and he smirked back, trying to hide his uneasiness.

"Anyways, next question." Her brow creased for some reason, "This shouldn't be much of a shock. Who do you think will win the House Cup this year?"

"Ravenclaw." Scorpius' eyes widened again. So did Rose's. She looked like she was going to burst out laughing; a warm bubble began to inflate inside of him.

"Why on earth would you, Scorpius Malfoy, a Slytherin, think that a house that doesn't have anything to do with snakes or cunningness or whatever would win the House Cup?" She spluttered, and she did not hold back her laughter this time. For some reason he did not feel the need to give her a snappy reply, or smack her in the face. He felt pretty good that she was laughing, actually.

"Um, 'cause they're smart, I guess." He answered, and he cursed inwardly, suddenly regretting his suggestion for taking the Veritaserum. She smiled and continued to write on her clipboard.

"Wait 'till Damien hears about this." She grinned, and he felt the stab of anger, or frustration, or jealousy, or whatever it was, pop that warm bubble, "Last question: what do you fear most?"

He gulped; he felt uncomfortable answering this question, but he felt the Veritaserum kicking in…

"Um-"

"Alright, that's all the time we have for today. Pack up your things, I'll see you later!" Slughorn's booming voice bounced off the old stone walls of the dungeon classroom, and Rose sighed. Scorpius sighed too, but he probably meant it differently than she did. He stuffed his things into his bag and proceeded to leave, but he felt something warm on his shoulder. Despite the warmth, he froze stock still.

"Scorpius?" Rose's voice beckoned him to face her and he did so. She was giving him the same wide, authentic smile she gave him earlier, and that pleasing bubble was inflating inside of him again.

"Thanks." And she was gone.

It took him a few seconds to recompose himself. He learned something new today.

He liked making her smile.

--

It was funny how the one thing (or person, she should say) that made her so miserable was the reason why she felt so cheery at the moment.

Rose was beaming at lunch, heartily munching down on her food, animatedly stirring up conversation with her friends and family as she did so. Albus was surprised and elated to see his favourite cousin back to her usual self. He had no idea what caused the dramatic change, but he did not bother to find out. He was just happy he had his Rose back.

"Professor Slughorn said that Scorpius and I got perfect on our Veritaserum." Rose grinned as she and Albus made their way up to the Gryffindor common room; they had spare period now and Albus needed help on his Transfiguration homework.

"Password?" The Fat Lady asked lazily.

"Seven shiny sliver….no. Sheven shiny-ugh. Seven shiny shilver shteps-gah! Oh for Merlin's sake, you do it!" Albus cried exasperatingly, and Rose broke out into a fit of giggles.

"Just say it slowly, Al. There's no need to impress anyone. Seven shiny silver steps." She said with ease, and the portrait swung open for them to enter. Albus muttered "Show-off," as they strode into the scarlet and gold common room to sit down at one of the wooden tables. He pulled out his Transfiguration essay for her to read.

"So you were saying that Slughorn gave you and Malfoy perfect, eh? Good for you, I knew you had it in you. Perfect's normal for you anyways." He brushed a few stray black bangs out of his eyes and squinted past her towards the window looking over the Quidditch pitch. "Without Mina around I couldn't really do much. Who's that practicing out there?"

Rose swiveled around in her chair to see; she raised a questionable eyebrow. The window was not so far from them, and she swore that a few weeks ago Albus was able to see clearly from where he was sitting. Plus, how could he not recognize the yellow and black of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team?

"It's Hufflepuff, and is your eyesight going? You used to be able to see from there." She said as she turned back around to face him. He stopped squinting and focused his eyes on her, but he still seemed to be straining them.

"Yeah, lately my eyes haven't been what they used to be. I'm getting old." He chuckled. Rose frowned worriedly.

"You should get that sorted out, Al. Glasses, or something." She suggested, and his eyes widened.

"And look more like my old man? No way." He protested, and crossed his arms defiantly. She sighed.

"Then how are you going to avoid those nasty Bludgers on the field?" She asked, and he grew silent. It was her turn to cross her arms; she knew she was victorious.

"Speaking of your dad, isn't he coming today? He's lecturing us this afternoon."

The mention of his father only soured Albus' mood even further; he slumped in his chair and groaned.

"Yeah, ugh. It's so weird having him teach me in class, but I reckon it won't be so bad, since he told me this morning that today's lesson is going to be pretty cool. And you know my dad; when he says that something's cool, he really means it."

Rose felt excitement exploding at the pit of her stomach; she loved her Uncle Harry's abilities with magic, and she was anticipating his lesson today. She wondered if he was going to teach them any advanced magic, the kind of magic she was actually willing to try hard for. The things they taught at Hogwarts seemed alright, but it also seemed like she was not pushing herself to the very limit for it. She needed a real challenge.

"I'm pretty sure that whatever your dad has for us today, it will be worth it. I can't wait, to be honest with you. He always has something interesting to show us."

Albus smiled halfheartedly.

"Try living with him. Try calling him interesting then."

--

It was time for the last class of the day, Defence Against the Dark Arts. Scorpius hoped it would be an interesting class today, since the famous Harry Potter was coming in to teach them once again. He came at least once a month to teach them, and whenever he came it always proved to be a class worth coming to.

"D'you think he'll teach us something cool?" Porter asked eagerly as they hurried down the hall.

"I dunno, I hope it's something useful." Princeton sneered. Holden pushed the door open to the class, and Scorpius noticed that Rose was already there, standing with Albus Potter, who seemed to be squinting towards the blackboard. The desks were all pushed to the far side of the classroom; so they were going to learn a spell today. Up at the front, a man who greatly resembled Albus was standing beside the blackboard with his wand held in his hands. He had untidy black hair that stuck up at the back, and behind his round glasses were a pair of startlingly bright green eyes. His bangs were covering most of it, but Scorpius managed to catch a glimpse of the infamous lightning bolt-shaped scar on the man's forehead.

Harry Potter grinned and the whole class became quiet. Scorpius rolled his eyes. He was like the messiah or something. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Albus shrinking into the shadows.

"Hey everyone! Glad to see you all again." Harry raised his arms, and everyone greeted him with just as much enthusiasm. Albus groaned.

"Do we have to go through with this every time, son? C'mon, Albus, embrace the fact that your father occasionally teaches at your school!" The entire class broke out in laughter, and Scorpius could not help but join in. In an odd way he kind of understood the embarrassment Albus must have been feeling at the moment.

"Anyways, I've moved the desks aside for a reason today. We're going to learn a spell, and an advanced one at that. You usually don't learn this in school, but don't worry, it isn't illegal (a few Slytherins moaned in disappointment). Have any of you heard of the Patronus Charm?"

A few gasps erupted throughout the classroom; Rose's hand shot straight up into the air. Scorpius, of course, also knew the answer, but he did not bother to compete with her. He concluded that she was too fast for him.

"Why am I not surprised-Rose, tell us what it is, won't you?" Harry pointed to her, and she was only too happy to comply.

"A Patronus Charm is used as a shield to defend oneself from Dementors. It's conjured from the caster's innermost positive feelings, such as joy or hope, and it is unable to feel any despair. Because of this, the Dementors feed off of the Patronus instead of the caster. The Patronus also takes form of an animal, unique to the caster." Rose explained happily, and Harry smiled back.

"Exactly. I'd award points if I had the authority to. The Patronus Charm keeps Dementors away, but only for as long as you can keep that feeling of happiness inside of you. As most of you probably learned from previous lessons, Dementors take away all of those positive feelings, and as Rose explained, the Patronus Charm gives it something to feed on rather than feeding on you." He took his wand into one hand, pointed it towards the air above him and shouted clearly:

"Expecto Patronum!"

A silvery, almost liquid-like substance began to stream out from Harry's wand; the class watched in awe as the silvery aura began to expand and take form of a large, proud-looking stag, its antlers sprouting quickly from the top of its head. In seconds it was fully formed; he stood on his hind legs and forced himself forward to prance gracefully around the room. The class "Oohed" and "Aahed" in astonishment.

"Now," Harry resumed as the stag continuously galloped around them, "I want all of you to try it. You have to pick the happiest memory you possibly have. Once you found it, you have to let it sort of take over you, fill you up. When you feel you're ready, point your wand to a safe, clear area, and shout in a clear voice, Expecto Patronum."

In an instant the class spread out, and pretty soon there were mutters of Expecto Patronum everywhere. Harry did not expect anyone to get it right the first time; he was a patient teacher. Ten minutes into the class some people managed to produce a few wisps of silver from the tips of their wands; Scorpius swore he saw some sort of a shape from his silvery blob, but Porter said he saw nothing.

Think about something happier.

He knew that the memory of him riding his broom for the first time was not enough; he had spent the last ten minutes trying to get that bloody memory to fill him up, or whatever that Potter idiot was trying to say, and it still did not work. He spun around the room, trying to find anything that would jump-start his memory.

Suddenly, a loud, eardrum-ripping roar tore through the room, startling everyone.

"Look, Uncle Harry!"

"Wow! Well done, Rosie!" Harry had rushed over to Rose's side and they were both looking upwards; the rest of the class followed suit. Scorpius looked upwards as well, only to see the same silvery stag trotting around casually like he was ten minutes earlier, but then something else loped into view; something bigger, something more graceful.

An elegant silver and white tiger pounced in front of the class, pausing momentarily to look at everyone. It noticed the stag and it began to prance with it by its side. Everyone applauded and hoarded around Harry and Rose to congratulate her on her progress. The animal was like her in so many ways: graceful, calculating, but ferocious when necessary. Scorpius, grumbling and seemingly insanely jealous, pointed his wand towards the empty space in front of him and focused with all of his might.

"Expecto Patronum." He muttered. He imagined himself up in the air on his broom, the cool wind swishing against his face…

A silvery burst of air popped into existence, and then faded into nothing.

He cursed and resisted the urge to throw his wand across the room. His eyes shot over to Rose, who was alone now, admiring the silvery tiger that danced around her, purring affectionately. The other students were spread out again. Though he did not want to, he found himself staring at her a little longer than he wanted.

She was smiling that wide, real smile she was smiling earlier that morning in Potions. The smile he caused that morning.

He felt that warm bubble swelling up inside of him again, and this time he knew he was ready.

Her smile ever so clear in his mind, he pointed his wand and shouted in a clear voice:

"Expecto Patronum!"

The bright silvery light shot straight out from the tip of his wand and in an instant it began to form a shape; everyone stopped what they were doing and crowded behind him to see what it was going to form into. He heard Rose gasp and she strode to stand behind him; he could almost hear her breathing. Harry stood by the blackboard, his arms crossed and an odd smile on his face. Was he impressed with the son of his old school enemy?

The silvery wisps came together to form a four legged, pointy eared creature; it ran soundlessly around the room for a few laps before stopping in the centre. The majestic, transparent wolf threw its head back to let out a spine-tingling howl. The tiger purred in response.

"Well done, Scorpius, well done." Harry was clapping his hands, and the rest of the class followed as well, though a little more hesitantly so. Rose smiled and placed a warm hand on his shoulder.

"A wolf, eh? My tiger can take him down any day." She said with a wink before running off to Albus. Scorpius stood still, his chest heaving and his wand trembling in his hand. Harry approached him slowly.

"Yeah, it takes a lot out of you, but it's worth it, as you now know." He said cheerfully as he watched the stag, the tiger, and the wolf circling around their heads, "Your wolf materialized quickly though; much quicker than Rose's tiger...and maybe even my stag. The memory you were using must've been pretty strong. Don't ever forget it, Scorpius." The Boy Who Lived gave him a reassuring pat on the back before turning back to help students who were having difficulty (which was basically everyone except the conjurors of the wolf and the tiger). Scorpius shook his head and ran a hand through his wayward blond hair, making the back stick up almost exactly like Harry and Albus'.

How could he ever forget that smile?