A/N: Okay I'm a little slow on this but - WOW, 200+ reviews? Thank you thank you! You guys are amazing for putting up with me for so long! Haha.

Oh, and sorry I took so long to update - I was trying to think up of a good plot for this chapter, and I've been replaying Twilight Princess (LoZ ftw!) for the 38294294th time, so I admit to getting a little side-tracked. Sorry.

--

Just My Luck

"This place sends cold chills down my spine, Harry." Ron muttered, rubbing his arms absently.

"Why did you ask me to come with you, Dad? You know I swore an oath never to come here ever again…" James complained. Harry rolled his eyes and glanced over his shoulder to face his oldest son and best friend.

"Come off it, the both of you! You're acting like kids, for Merlin's sake! It's not like we're facing off Voldemort or anything."

"But this is worse," Ron groaned, "we're going back to school."

Harry rolled his eyes again as they entered the main doors of Hogwarts. Students that passed them by instantly recognized them (mostly Harry and Ron; James did not mind that he was being partially ignored) and stopped for a bit to say hello. Harry had another guest lecture today and he figured Ron needed some fresh air after being stuck underground in the Auror Department for so long, and as a requirement for Auror training James needed a few hours of job shadowing, so Harry thought it would be an experience bringing his son along with him.

"It's not like you'll be the one learning anything, Ron - and James, you need hours for your training, so you really don't have a choice." Harry reminded the both of them. James sighed and rumpled the back of his hair.

"Why couldn't I just tag along with Uncle Ron? We could've done something much cooler than this-"

"Yeah, like filing paperwork and reading boring documents for five hours at a time. Sounds plenty exciting, doesn't it?" Ron mumbled sarcastically; ever since Voldemort's defeat there has not been enough evil to go around.

"Sounds better than coming back here, I suppose." James muttered under his breath. After turning through numerous corridors they stopped in front of a single wooden door. Harry pushed it open to reveal a wide, empty classroom with long windows and a few rows of desks at the far back. Ron snickered and scrambled over to one of the desks in the first row; he began jumping up and down in his seat with his hand stuck up in the air.

"So Professor Potter," He said in a mocking high-pitched voice, "what will we be learning today?"

"Since NEWTs is in a little more than a week or so, there's really nothing new," Harry explained as he unlocked his briefcase on the teacher's desk, "it's going to be mostly review - but I'm going to be doing it my way, of course."

"Which means the students will be out of their seats and hexing each other 'till they explode?" James asked casually; his father nodded and grinned.

"Exactly." Harry nodded towards the desks, "Can you push all of those desks along the wall? I need to write a few things on the blackboard here."

James brandished his wand and Ron leapt out of the way, but Harry immediately strode over to his son's side and snatched the wand out of his hands.

"Manually." Harry ordered, and James' face fell, "There's always some kind of disaster whenever you try to clean up something with magic, and I don't want to risk that here."

Ron laughed and plucked his own wand from his pockets, but then Harry interrupted him.

"That means you too, Ron!" Harry then added in a much lower voice, "Where's Hermione when you need her…?"

--

"Your dad's teaching again!" Rose exclaimed as her, Scorpius and Albus made their way towards their DADA class. Albus groaned in agony and slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Please don't remind me, Rosie." He cried as he pushed the door open, but when he had one foot in the room he immediately pulled backwards and shut the door to a close. Scorpius and Rose exchanged looks of confusion.

"Er, something the matter?" Scorpius asked, placing a hand on Albus' shoulder. Albus turned around slowly and Rose and Scorpius saw that his eyes were wide (though his right eye was slightly smaller due to his concealed bruise) with fear.

"That afraid of your old man, eh Potter?" Scorpius chortled, and pressed his palm against the door to open it, but Albus shook his head and smacked his hand away. Rose raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" She asked a little impatiently, her foot tapping rhythmically against the stone floor. Albus pushed his two friends away from the door and towards a corner at the end of the hallway.

"I saw James in there with him," Albus gulped; Scorpius' face paled and Rose looked indifferent, "and your dad, Rosie."

This time Rose let out a little squeal or terror, and her face was even paler than Scorpius' and Albus' combined. She shook off her uneasiness though, and straightened up, smoothing her skirt.

"Well…" She sounded a little unsure at first but her voice picked up later on, "as long as we aren't seen together then they won't suspect anything, wouldn't they?"

Albus and Scorpius 'ah-ed' and their skin tones returned to normal.

"Okay, I'll wait here for Zabini and the others. You two go on ahead." He leaned casually against the wall with his arms crossed and his bangs falling over his eyes; Rose felt her cheeks rise in temperature at the sight of him and she hurriedly stepped into the classroom. Albus gave Scorpius one single nod before joining her. Scorpius waited patiently for his Slytherin friends - there seemed to be some kind of 'Slytherins-always-arrive-fashionably-late' code with the house, so he was not surprised when he spotted Holden and the others arriving just minutes before class was supposed to start.

"Alone today, are we?" Holden asked teasingly, smirking. Scorpius rolled his eyes and jerked his thumb towards the classroom.

"You'll find out why." He muttered as he pushed the door open; the class was already bunched up in a medium-sized huddle in the centre of the classroom. Harry and a tall, red-headed man stood at the head of the group, both smiling. A much younger man that looked a lot like Albus and Harry without glasses was leaning against the professor's desk, a grudging look on his features. His chocolate brown eyes found Scorpius' grey ones, and the Slytherin ducked out of view and tried to blend with the crowd.

"Oh." Holden was staring at Ron.

"Hello everyone," Harry's bright green eyes seemed to be combing through the crowd, or maybe Scorpius was just being paranoid, "I trust you're all ready for NEWTs? They're not too far along now."

The students responded with a despondent groan; Scorpius heard James Potter snicker from the professor's desk.

"Lucky for you lot Harry's here to give you some review," Ron grinned, "and James and I are here to help him out."

"Where's your mum and sister, Al?" Thomas Finnigan's voice emerged from the group of students, and everyone laughed. Albus' cheeks flushed a violent shade of scarlet and he tugged at his collar uncomfortably. Harry motioned for everyone to settle down, and then he went through a run-down of what he was going to be reviewing today.

"Are you sure you're okay, mate? You look ill." One of Holden's eyebrows was arched upwards; Scorpius nodded quickly and scratched the back of his neck.

"Y-yeah...just hate crowds - not enough space for yourself, y'know?" He mumbled distractedly. Holden rolled his eyes and reverted his attention to Harry.

"Alright, time to review our basics - hopefully all of you remember them! Let's start off easy...hmm…what about the simple disarming spell, Expelliarmus?" When the class laughed at the basic spell, Harry chuckled quietly and shook his head. "I know, I know, it's all first-year stuff, but this is going to be on the exam, and if you don't do it right it will cost you a few easy marks! Let's get two lovely volunteers to come up and show us how it's done, eh?"

Of course, everybody was too shy to come up and demonstrate their skills to the great Harry Potter - except Rose Weasley. Ron beamed proudly as Harry beckoned Rose towards him; the bronze-haired Gryffindor gave her favourite uncle a smile as she reached inside her robes to take out her wand. Harry turned back towards the small crowd of students, eyeing for another 'volunteer'.

"Oh c'mon, it's not like I'm grading you or anything-"

"Scorpius, why don't you come up and show us what you can do?" Ron's voice piped up from behind; Rose's head snapped towards her father and her eyes narrowed. Ron was sneering into the crowd, directly where Scorpius was standing. The students cleared out of the way so that Scorpius stood by himself in the midst of the crowd; his eyes were wide with shock and his knees looked like they were even trembling a little bit. Albus helped the poor boy by pushing him forward.

"C'mon now," Ron's voice was so sickly sweet it made Rose's stomach turn, "don't be shy."

Scorpius staggered to the front of the class, just a few metres away from where Rose was standing; he felt Ron and James' eyes on him, studying his every movement. He wondered why they were being so watchful - did they know anything…?

"Wands at the ready?" Harry stood between them, glancing back and forth between the two to make sure they were armed properly. Rose's expression did not look more relaxed than Scorpius'; in fact she looked even more alarmed than he was.

Make sure she wins, his conscience instructed him. His eyes flitted over to Ron, who was glowering at him, and he clamped his eyes shut.

"Alright, ready?" Harry's voice interrupted his thoughts; Scorpius and Rose turned on their backs and took three steps forward. "One...two...three!"

"Expelliarmus!" Scorpius had pointed his wand in Rose's direction and mouthed out the incantation, but he did not actually say the spell - he even scrunched his face in concentration so it looked like he was trying. Rose, on the other hand, actually performed the spell, and since she was amazing at everything the disarming spell hit Scorpius full force, flinging him backwards and sending him spiraling towards the hard stone wall.

There were stars flickering in and out of Scorpius' eyes; he was sitting against the wall, his clothes and hair even more crumpled than it usually was; his tie somehow swung backwards on his collar during his trip in the air and it flopped over his head and dangled in between his eyes. Rose was standing exactly where she was before their 'duel', her wand by her feet and her hands cupped over her mouth. Her dark blue eyes were wide with shock. Ron, on the other hand, was on the verge of collapsing - the strained expression he was wearing obviously meant that he was restraining his own laughter, and his eyes were glazed over with tears; James looked no different.

"Wow…" Harry rushed over to Scorpius' side and pulled him back on his feet, "that was brilliant, Rose. Are you okay, Scorpius?"

"Uh huh," Scorpius was nodding dumbly, still trying to blink the stars away. The class was not even laughing; they were all staring at Rose with wide eyes and slack jaws, with the exception of Albus and Holden of course, who looked like they were expecting it to happen.

"I think you better sit down for the remainder of the class." Harry helped the bedraggled Slytherin into a nearby chair. When he was certain that Scorpius was able to sit on his own, he hurried back to the front of the class and hastily continued the lesson. Rose shuffled back into the crowd, keeping her distance from Scorpius but maintaining enough proximity to keep a careful eye on him.

The rest of the class progressed smoothly, and Harry informed everyone that he was going to be teaching the class again the day before exams started. Everyone dispersed quickly; Scorpius stumbled ungracefully out of the class with one hand skimming against the wall for support. When he was far enough from the classroom Albus, Rose and Holden jogged up to him.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have hit you so hard-" Rose's voice was hysterical, "do you need to go to the hospital wing? Are you feeling dizzy at all?"

"'M fine," Scorpius mumbled as his friends led him into an unused classroom; he plopped down on the nearest available chair, "just a bit...discombobulated, that's all."

"Discombobulated? Who uses that word, seriously?" Albus snorted; Holden laughed and crossed his arms.

"Well as long as you're not dying or anything." He shouldered his back and headed towards the door, "I'd love to say and chat but I've got one more class to attend to. I'll see you later, Malfoy."

"Oh bloody hell, that reminds me-" Albus grabbed his bag and hoisted it over his own shoulder, "-got Quidditch practice tonight. Hope you'll feel better soon, Malfoy!" He darted out of the room. Rose cringed and turned back towards Scorpius, who was still trying to blink the stars out of his sight.

"Quite a turn of events." His voice was dripping with sarcasm, and Rose could not help but giggle. "Your dad absolutely loves me."

Rose knelt down in front of him and took his hands in hers. "I have to apologize for that - my dad's insane, you see."

"You really did splendid on that disarm though," He flexed his arm to remove the kinks, "you would've given Voldemort a run for his money." He took her face in his hands and pulled her to him; she moved to sit on his lap and wound her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in his hair.

Unbeknownst to them, there were footsteps down the hallway…

--

"I'll have to admit, that was kinda fun." James grinned; Harry grinned back.

"See, told you you'd like it."

"Thanks to Uncle Ron, I had a blast." James doubled over in laughter and Ron joined in.

"That wasn't smart, Ron. He could've been seriously hurt." Harry said solemnly; Ron stopped laughing immediately.

"Oh c'mon Harry, since when did you care about any member of the Malfoy family?"

"Since one of them became my students." The three of them continued their walk in silence, only stopping suddenly when James held a hand up in the air.

"D'you hear that?" He scrunched his brow in concentration. "Something's skittering about somewhere close by."

"You sound a lot like Filch, son." Harry joked, watching James flit to nearby classroom doors. The former Gryffindor opened the doors by just a crack so he could take a peek inside; after realizing that there was nobody in the classroom he would step back and shake his head in disappointment.

"You're just being paranoid, mate. There's nobody around here." Ron reassured him, though his voice sounded a little on edge.

"Shh-" James beckoned his father and uncle over to the door he was currently standing in front of. "I think it's this one-" It was empty again and he cursed under his breath. Harry sighed and lightly pushed him forward with his hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe you're just hungry." He muttered.

--

Scorpius poked his head out from the corner, just to see Harry, James and Ron talking briefly in front of the classroom he and Rose were in just minutes earlier. Rose had heard their shuffling, and they managed to escape unnoticed. They were too squeamish to reveal anything yet, and especially with Ron's behaviour earlier they ultimately decided to put it off for as long as time allowed them.

"What are we going to do? Now your bloody cousin's suspicions are aroused!" Scorpius hissed. Rose shrugged her shoulders and ducked her head under Scorpius' to look for herself - they were gone. Deciding that it was safe, she stepped out cautiously with Scorpius following her.

"I don't know, but we can't do this forever. It's already proving to be too much of a burden." She murmured, her eyes cast to her shoes. Scorpius reached for her hand and led her down the narrow hallway.

"C'mon, we should be making our way upstairs - that cousin of yours can assume anything." He felt Rose's grip tighten by the slightest and she quickened her pace to match with his. They walked in silence, both swimming in their own individual thoughts.

"HAH!" Screeched a voice the moment the both of them turned a corner; in a flash Scorpius' hand was wrenched from Rose's and he found himself suspended in mid-air, upside down and squirming uncomfortably.

"I knew it," James Potter growled maliciously, "I knew there was something going on - I was certain I didn't hear your voice during that duel..." He stepped closer to Scorpius, who was staring wide-eyed at his captor. Rose rolled her eyes and stepped in between them.

"Sod off, James! He doesn't deserve this!" She said loudly, but not loud enough so that she would draw attention. James shook his head and laughed, his wand still pointed in poor Scorpius' direction. The blond was beginning to feel faint as the blood began to rush to his head.

"You think you can just waltz into this school and take any girl you want, hm? You Malfoys all think alike! Well guess what, Scorpius-" James spat out his name as if it were poisonous, "-you undeserving, pompous, thickheaded-"

"He's not like that!" Rose pleaded, "He's different from his father and grandfather!"

"I swear I mean no harm," Scorpius mumbled pathetically. James wagged his wand dangerously.

"Oh really? Well, what if I do this?" He flicked his wand once and Scorpius' belt unbuckled itself; his pants magically rolled upwards to his ankles as if they had fallen down. Scorpius clamped his eyes shut as he rotated slowly in the air, his white boxers with little wizard hats dotted on them exposed to his girlfriend and her cousin. Rose's eyes widened and she immediately turned away, flushing in embarrassment as James howled with laughter. Scorpius was glad this hallway was nearly empty...

"What is going on here?" Harry stomped into view, with - both Scorpius and Rose gulped - Ron trailing behind him. When Ron caught sight of the unfortunate Slytherin hanging by his ankles in mid-air with his pants 'down' he stifled a laugh, but immediately regained his seriousness. Harry glared at his oldest son.

"James, let him down." He commanded, and his son obliged; Scorpius crumpled onto the stone floor in a heap, and he immediately pulled his pants back on and clamped his belt shut. He stood up, his cheeks flaring hot, and leaned against the wall, desperately wishing he could sink into it and disappear forever.

"Now what would have sweet little Scorpius done to egg James on like that?" Ron asked in that falsely innocent voice again; James swerved over to Rose, only to see her staring back with an almost desperate look in her eyes. Her expression tugged at his heartstrings and he hesitated, his brown eyes focusing on his shoes.

"Er," He started, and Ron and Harry leaned in closer to hear him better, "I was…" He trailed off, his voice uncertain. Scorpius and Rose exchanged looks of confusion.

"Well c'mon now, spit it out! What made you hex the poor boy?" Harry demanded. Scorpius could not help but smirk; James was nearly a grown man and he was still getting berated by his father.

"I was being stupid." James muttered, and Harry frowned.

"Now that's something I never heard before. You were definitely doing something stupid, James." He turned to face Scorpius and gave him a sad smile. "I'm so sorry, Scorpius."

Scorpius opened his mouth to reply but James intervened. He stepped in front of him and shook his head. "I should be the one apologizing." But he added in a voice low enough so that only Scorpius could hear, "Prefects' common room, straight after dinner. You two are going to explain everything."

Scorpius gave him a nervous smile. "Er, it's alright. I guess I should be used to this by now." James smirked and stepped away from him.

"I'll be seeing you during dinner, Rosie." Ron leaned in to give his daughter a peck on the forehead, and moved to follow Harry and James, who were already walking away.

"You're going to tell me the truth, whether you like it or not." Scorpius heard Harry's scathing voice as they walked farther away from them.

"What did he tell you?" Rose was tugging on his sleeve; Scorpius turned to face her immediately.

"He said that he wants us to explain everything," He replied shakily, "and that he's going to meet us in the prefects' common room after dinner."

Rose sighed and pulled her fingers through her hair. "I suppose I'll tell Albus to come with us too. Maybe he can calm his own brother down."

Scorpius nodded, still feeling a little uneasy. "I hope so." He took Rose's hand in his and resumed their walk out of the dungeons.

Potter's definitely won this bet.

--

Dinner was as ordinary as it was supposed to be, except for the fact that Scorpius' lingering paranoia caused him to think that somebody was constantly watching him - his suspicions were confirmed when he snuck a quick glance at the professor's table, only to see James glaring daggers at him as he bit into his roast chicken.

Meanwhile, Rose had informed Albus of what had happened earlier, and he nearly choked on his food from laughing so hard.

"Why did I have to go to practice? I would've done anything to see that!" Albus still could not believe Rose's explanation as he walked with her and Scorpius to the prefects' common room later that evening. Scorpius was silent, his hands in his pockets and his gaze cast to the floor, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. He reached out of his pocket and pressed the promised five Knuts into Albus' awaiting hand.

"What's that for?" Rose asked suspiciously, but both boys shook their heads. Confused, she pushed the door to the common room open to find James waiting patiently by the fire, his arm resting against the mantle.

"Just in time." He smiled serenely, and gestured towards the couch. The three moved to sit down, with Rose in the middle, while James walked over to the armchair.

"So, care to explain?" He asked, and Rose sighed. She went on about the whole star-cross'd lovers thing and how everything added up, and then Scorpius explained about his detachment from his family. Albus explained about how he found out (James' eyes widened in horror while Rose and Scorpius blushed in humiliation) and how he tried to explain it to Rose's brothers, only to get punched in the face instead.

"You're wearing makeup?" James burst out in laughter, and Albus groaned; Scorpius stifled his own laugh. Rose rolled her eyes.

"I'm afraid I have something to confess," James said once he calmed down, "Dad managed to squeeze the truth out of me. I told him that I saw you two holding hands - he has his way of getting it out of you, y'know."

Rose gasped and Scorpius cursed under his breath, but James shook his head. "He said that he wasn't going to tell your dad, Rosie, so you don't have to worry about that - he seems to be completely fine with the whole thing."

"But what about you?" Rose asked quietly, and James took a few seconds to ponder his cousin's question.

"Well, I can't say that I don't like the idea of it, but there's nothing I can do, can I?" James' expression softened a little and Rose and Scorpius relaxed, "And if you're not as bad as you seem to be, Malfoy, then I guess you're not too bad for my cousin either." He grinned, and Scorpius smirked back.

"Though, Rose," James turned to face his cousin, "I do advise you to tell your mum about it. She'll have a levelheaded reaction in comparison to your dad, at least, and you can't hide this forever, though so far you've done a fairly decent job."

Rose nodded and kept a mental note to visit the owlery later. "Thanks, James."

"Well that settles that," Albus rose from his seat and stretched. Rose nodded and got up as well, along with Scorpius, and then James. They moved towards the exit, with Rose and Albus leaving first. Just as soon as Scorpius was about to step outside, he felt a firm hand on his upper arm. He forced the lump down his throat and turned around slowly, his life flashing before his eyes.

He knew this was going to happen - James was just waiting for the opportunity to strike, and this was it…

"There's one more thing." The older Potter said, and Scorpius stared straight at him - though James was older they were nearly exactly the same height.

"Y-yes?" The Slytherin stuttered; James smirked deviously.

"I just want you to know that that hex I put you in earlier will look like nothing compared to what I'll do to you if you hurt Rose."

The threat was genuine; Scorpius could hear it in his tone. The blond nodded once and bolted straight out the door, leaving James to laugh triumphantly to himself.