A/N: Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter. Who knew that celebrating your birthday involved so much cleaning?
I'm not particularly happy with this chapter, but if I revise it anymore I am seriously going to go insane.
"SCORPIUS!"
Scorpius groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. It was the second to last day of summer break, and instead of being able to sleep in, he was being violently awoken by his demented best friend.
"Scorpius! Scorpius Malfoy!" The covers were forcefully ripped from the bed, but the chilly air still didn't entice Scorpius to get up.
"Go away," he groaned, though it came out slightly muffled by the pillow.
"Ha," said the voice of his tormentor. "No way in heck, my friend. You are getting up right now or I will use this very large bucket of ice water."
Scorpius pulled the pillow away as fast as he could. He was met with the sight of Summer Winters standing over him, holding a large blue bucket just waiting to be dumped on an unwilling victim.
Scorpius rolled off of the bed just as she poured the whole thing on the spot he had just vacated. He landed with a thump! at Summer's feet.
Scorpius realized that his mouth was hanging open and he quickly shut it.
"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. "And what was the point of all this?" He gestured towards the now soaked bed.
Summer flung the bucked away and glared down at him with her hands on her hips. "Don't curse, or I'll curse you," she warned.
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "You're not my mother."
Summer raised an eyebrow. "I'd certainly hope not. As for your other question… I needed you to wake up."
"I don't need to wake up," he said. "What I need to do is go back to sleep."
"Which is now impossible since, oh look," she gave a fake gasp, "your bed is all wet. I guess you'll just have to come downstairs."
Scorpius buried his face in his hands. "I could just magically dry it you know."
"You could," she said with a nod. "But I bet by the time you've found where I've hidden your wand, you'll be wide awake." She smiled evilly.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." He sighed and glanced at his clock, then did a double take. "Seven," he said, turning to her with a death glare. "It is seven o'clock in the morning. Why are you waking me up on one of the last days I have to sleep in?"
"Because," she said, "today is also one of the last days you have left to see your father." She raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. "He leaves for work in an hour. Get dressed and get down to breakfast or I'm not giving you a birthday present."
He frowned at her. "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh wouldn't I?" she asked smugly. "I guess you'll be finding out."
Without another word, she got up and left his room.
Scorpius sighed and let himself fall back onto the floor (painfully hitting his head), wishing for nothing more than another hour of sleep. But he knew if he didn't get up, Summer would no doubt make good on her promise; and beyond that, return with her wand. That would not be a pretty picture.
Grumbling some more, he heaved himself up off the floor, out the door, through the hall, and down the stairs, not even bothering to comb his hair or put on real clothes. At the bottom of the stairs, the smell of sizzling bacon hit his nose. Feeling slightly more awake, he meandered into the spacious kitchen.
The Malfoys had not lived in Malfoy manor since the war. Both Draco and Narcissa Malfoy had both refused to return there, especially after Lucius' imprisonment. Not lacking in money, they had moved into the large two-story home located in a nicer muggle neighborhood. The shock that had come from the Wizarding World learning that the Malfoys of all people had moved into a muggle neighborhood was astounding. Most could not believe that the fanatic pureblood family could ever associate with, let alone live with, muggles.
The truth of the matter was that the two Malfoys had nowhere else to go. And though it took a huge amount of soul searching and adjustment, they found that it was the only place where they didn't receive death glares and threats. It was a place that they had found friends and acceptance and a place where they didn't have to hide their names or faces.
And that did more to change them than anything else.
When Draco met Astoria, his old self would only have seen the Ravenclaw muggle-lover and blood traitor. The new Draco, however, saw someone who understood him and was able to accept his past. It was the two of them that had made the house a home.
And it was the only home that Scorpius had ever known.
That home had been more than a little damaged by the death of his mother nearly four years ago. And walking into the kitchen and seeing her absence only made it clearer.
Draco was sitting at the table and Summer was at the stove cooking the breakfast. Her presence in the house was a blessing for both of the men. She kept them on track and grounded and she had been the person to get both of them through the death of Astoria. Scorpius was fairly certain that neither he nor his father would have never recovered if it hadn't have been for the blonde that always put others first.
Scorpius sat across from his father. "Morning, Dad."
"Morning, Son," replied the man.
An awkward silence enveloped the room and Scorpius stifled a yawn.
"Well aren't you two both bundles of joy this morning," said Summer sardonically.
"That tends to happen when one is threatened by ice water at the crack of dawn," Scorpius replied blandly.
Draco raised an eyebrow and Summer smirked. "I need you alive, not happy."
Scorpius stared at her. "Well, that isn't at all foreboding."
Summer just laughed and even Draco gave a chuckle. Summer flicked her wand and a dozen plates of food came soaring onto the table. Scorpius looked at everything and his mouth watered. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, waffles, muffins, crepes, scones, kippers, cereal, toast, fruit, and a jar of nutella.
Despite his hunger, Scorpius still had to raise an eyebrow at her. "We can't possible eat all this," he said.
"You can't." She held up a fork with a feral grin. "But I can. This is only to hold me over until we go to the Potter's and I can eat again. Now shut up and eat your toast."
Scorpius frowned but Draco laughed quietly. "What would we do without you, Summer?"
"Bore each other to death," said Summer with a tender smile that she reserved for those she loved. "You guys need me to shake things up a bit."
Draco laughed again. "We certainly do."
Despite Summer's statement that she would eat everything, there was still food remaining when Draco left for work. Summer wrapped everything up and put it in the fridge. She then set the dishes to wash themselves and went to get changed.
Scorpius only bothered to brush his teeth and then waited in the den for Summer. He didn't particularly care what he looked like to visit the Potter's. They had to be his favorite family in the world. Both them and the Weasleys. The Weasleys had accepted who he was (with a little help from Harry and Hermione he suspected) and his friendship with their children. And being the most famous family in the Wizarding World, that meant he was generally accepted everywhere now. Some people still didn't like him. But then again, some people still didn't like Harry Potter either. One couldn't have everything.
Summer finally came downstairs again, dragging a muggle suitcase with her and making a loud thump with each step.
Scorpius winced at the noise. "What's that thing for?" he asked.
"I'm staying over at the Potter's tonight," she said simply. She jumped the last two steps and her suitcase followed with a bang! She noticed his curious stare. "Did I not tell you?"
"No, you did," said Scorpius frowning. "I just didn't remember until now. What about tomorrow morning?"
Summer rolled her eyes. "Don't worry," she said with a smirk. "You're all set. Why do you think I made so much food today? And then day after tomorrow I'll be here, ready to cook your breakfast."
Scorpius nodded in approval. "Good. You belong in the kitchen."
Summer threw her shoe at him.
Ginny and Lily Potter were sitting at the table, reading the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly respectively, when Summer and Scorpius arrived in the potter kitchen.
"Morning, Ginny, Lily," said Scorpius. Summer had already walked by them to the fridge where she was gathering everything to make breakfast. Again.
"Hello, Scorpius," said Ginny smiling.
"Hey, Scor," said Lily. She looked up and batted her eyelashes at him. He sat down as far away from her as possible.
It wasn't that he didn't like Lily. He just didn't like being stalked by his best mate's little sister.
"You know," said Summer slowly, distracting from all the awkwardness, "I'm surprised that you haven't started cooking yet. After all, it is after eight."
Ginny gave her a mock-confused look. "But Summer," she said innocently, "why would I make breakfast when I know that you're coming over and you can do it for me?"
The other three laughed and Summer scowled over at them. "You're lucky I can use magic to do this. After all, here I am, slaving away at the stove making you people food, and all you can do is laugh at me?"
"Slaving?" asked Scorpius. "Didn't you just say that you were using magic?"
Summer shot him a very dirty look.
"Anyway," said Scorpius, ignoring Summer, "where is Al? I thought he would be up by now."
Summer's face immediately brightened. "I'll get him!" She bounded off in the direction of the stairs.
"You know," Scorpius said to Lily, "I worry about her sometimes."
"You should," said Lily nodding. "Someday she won't be able to keep up her energy like this. And when that day comes, I think we're all going to learn a lot."
Scorpius stared at her. Lily wasn't just the dumb little girl everyone thought she was. Somewhere in his mind, he vaguely wondered if she had any seer blood in her.
Ginny gave them both a strange, confused look just as a loud voice resounded throughout the house.
"ALBUS POTTER, GET YOUR LAZY BUTT OUT OF BED THIS INSTANT!"
Scorpius sighed. "Looks like I got off easy this morning. She only tried to dump water on me."
Lily giggled. Summer waltzed back into the kitchen looking pleased with herself. "He's up," she announced.
"Gee, we couldn't tell," said Lily sarcastically.
Summer turned to glare at her. "One would think you would be more appreciative of my amazing waking up ability," she said, and Scorpius knew that she was half serious.
"Oh no," said Lily, "I've been on the other end of those wake up calls. You could wake up the dead!"
"I just don't think that we should waste our lives by lying around in bed all day!" Summer protested.
"Yeah, 'cause an extra hour of sleep would cause us to miss out on sooo many wonderful things in life."
"You'd be surprised," said Summer cryptically.
"Oh shut up," said Scorpius. Both girls shot him evil glares. "It's too early to be fighting like this."
"Fighting?" asked Lily confused.
"Who said we were fighting?" questioned Summer.
"It's just how they talk," supplied Ginny as she set several plates of food on the table in front of them. "The language of sarcasm."
"Only the intelligent understand us," the girls said in unison.
"It seems your definition of intelligence varies greatly from the rest of the world," said Scorpius in amusement.
"Says the boy whose sarcasm puts us all to shame," Summer pointed out.
When Scorpius only shook his head and chuckled, she took it as her cue to pile her plate sky high. She shoveled the food in her mouth, causing herself to look more like a teenage boy rather than a slender girl. Scorpius frowned at her.
"You are aware that you've already eaten enough this morning to feed a small army, aren't you?"
Summer swallowed. "I am a small army."
"That's apparent," murmured Scorpius, thinking back on Summer's many escapades.
Lily shook her head. "I don't how you stay so thin." She took a tiny sip of water with her pinky in the air. "You eat like a horse."
"And you eat like a butterfly."
Three pairs of eyes stared at her incredulously. She looked back unruffled.
"Come on. Haven't you ever seen a butterfly eat?"
Lily gaped at her. "Pathetic," she muttered.
Summer paid her no attention, as Albus had just staggered into the kitchen. His red eyes were half closed and his hair looked like an animal's burrow. Scorpius had to hold in his laughter.
"Morning, sleeping beauty," Summer said, managing to smirk and beam at the same time.
Al stared at her. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Her smile disappeared.
"What the heck is wrong with… your face?" she countered lamely. "And don't swear."
Al continued to stare at her. Perhaps he thought that sleep deprivation was causing him to hear things wrong. Shrugging, Scorpius took a bite of food.
"Pathetic," Al murmured.
Scorpius choked.
The rest of the morning passed without further interruptions. Ginny left for work, warning them not to burn the house down while she was gone. They were left to make plans for the rest of the day. Planning took all of three minutes as soon as Lily took charge.
"All right gang," she said authoritatively, "we all know that this year is a very important year for us. Because three of our number will be leaving us forever, and they will never have another chance at this. It is their last year to prove themselves worthy. To destroy the enemy and crush those who dare challenge us. So if we want those three to not be socially scorned and forced to live in a cave for the rest of their lives, then we must be victorious!"
Everyone gave her a blank stare.
"Uh… Lily… what are you talking about?"
Lily looked down at Al from her perch on top of the coffee table. "The Quidditch Cup of course! What the heck did you think I was talking about?"
"You're talking about Quidditch?" Al asked with a frown. Lily nodded. "You're giving a pep talk about the Quidditch cup?" Again, Lily nodded. "Are you the captain?" Lily now frowned and shook her head. "Then why the hell are you talking to us?!" he cried.
"Language!" admonished Summer.
"Well," said Lily, "the captain of our team is a bit incompetent in my opinion. I mean, come on. What else would he be if he lets his own sister take control?"
"Why you little-!" Al lunged at Lily, who deftly dodged him. He chased her for a fair bit. Both of them darted around and jumped over obstacles. Scorpius had to admit that it was probably good training.
"It's a good thing Ginny hid their wands before she left," Summer said to him as they watched the Potter's antics. "If not I think there would be nothing left for her to come home to."
"Probably," said Scorpius. "Though you'd think they'd notice that they're missing."
"She's been doing it for four years," said Summer. "They're just used to it by now. Besides, they've always seemed to prefer physical violence."
"I suppose so," sighed Scorpius. "I bet Al is going to murder us this year in training."
Summer laughed. "Well at least it can't be worse than James. Do you remember the time we had to run laps?"
"Around the entire Hogwarts perimeter? Yeah I remember," said Scorpius with a smile. "I thought I'd never walk again." He suddenly frowned. "Speaking of murder, what is it going to be this year?"
"Huh?" she asked bewildered by the sudden topic change. "What is what going to be?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You're planning something insidious aren't you?"
Summer gave him a blank look. Then it dawned on her and she smiled innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about?"
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Don't try to deny it. You do it every year."
"Hmm." Summer batted her eyelashes at him, and he cringed, stepping away automatically.
"I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE ALBUS POTTER!" Lily shrieked as both she and her brother ended up back in front of Summer and Scorpius. "You and you're children!"
"I don't have any children!"
"And you never will when I'm done with you!"
"SHUT UP!"
Both of their mouths snapped shut, though they still were breathing heavily, and they turned to look at Summer.
"Thank you," said Summer with a glare. "Now that you're all done behaving like children-"
Lily snorted. "You're a fine one to talk."
"Now that you're done behaving like children," Summer stressed with a pointed look at Lily, "I think that you two would be much happier settling this dispute on the Quidditch pitch. Not to mention the rest of us will no doubt be caught in the crossfire if you don't get your energy out."
Neither said anything, much to Scorpius' amusement.
"Right," said Summer, taking their silence as agreement. "We'll play a match and see who is really victorious."
"Fine," said Lily grudgingly. She then pointed to Al. "But there is no way I'm being on the same team as him."
Al snarled. "Well I wouldn't have you on my team if you paid me."
"I am on your team, stupid!"
"Well I didn't have any say in the matter!"
"Oh my gosh, you two are just asking for a painful death," groaned Summer, burying her face in her hands.
They looked at her blankly. "What did we do?"
She shook her head and took a deep breath. "Nothing… forget it. Anyway, we'll play boys verses girls. Al, you're captain of the boys," Al smirked at Lily, "and Lily will be captain of the girls." It was Lily's turn to smirk. "I'll get Rose and Hugo over here to make it a bit more interesting."
"But Rose is the enemy!" Al and Lily cried together.
Summer face-palmed. "Rose isn't even on the Quidditch team. How is she the enemy?"
"She's a Ravenclaw," said Lily.
"She could tell all our secrets to the other teams," finished Al.
"Uhh, guys," said Scorpius. "You've been playing Quidditch with Rose for as long as I've known you. And that includes all the years we've been on the team. Just let her play."
Both grumbled. "Fine," said Al. "Just this once." It was Scorpius' turn to face-palm
"Good," said Summer with a clap of her hands. "Now go get ready."
"Yes, Sir," said Scorpius.
Summer glared. "Watch it boy, I still have your wand."
She turned and left, no doubt to floo the Weasleys. Scorpius shook his head at her.
Al and Lily were already on their way upstairs, still fighting.
"She would totally make a better captain than you-Ow!"
Ten minutes later found the six teenagers in the Potter's backyard. Even though the Potter's house was humble in size, their property was not. It was a huge area that included a lake, that served as a swimming pool, and a Quidditch pitch, while the whole property bordered the woods (Harry had purposely made it as much like Hogwarts as possible, though he would never admit it). It was everyone's favorite place to hang out besides the Burrow.
The Quidditch pitch had come in extremely handy for the huge family of Gryffindor players and captains, ex-professional Quidditch players, and professional Quidditch players. Games were held nearly every day. There had also been the tremendous amount of strategy meeting and practices that both Teddy Lupin and James Potter had insisted upon.
But neither of them was there at the moment, so that left Al and Lily to fill the position of Quidditch fanatic. A role they both seemed to fill very well. The others were doing their best to get into the spirit of things. Only Rose seemed to have no interest in the battle of the sexes.
"You called me over to play Quidditch?" she asked, annoyed. "I could be studying right now."
"Quiet," hissed Lily.
Al smirked. "Seems one of you team members has a bad attitude, Potter."
"Just worry about you own team, Potter," snarled Lily. "Cause they'll be crying like babies when we're through with them."
"Only monsters kick babies!" shouted Al. He then paused in confusion at his own words while the girls all gave him strange looks. Al glared in a silent dare and turned to his team. "Okay, in order to beat them, we're going to have to strategize very carefully." He paused for effect. "They may think that they're clever and talented, but they aren't. They haven't got a Quidditch playing bone in their bodies."
"Al," said Scorpius slowly. "Two of them are on the house team."
Al pointedly ignored him. "We need all the advantages we can get!" Scorpius just shook his head sadly. It seemed his friend was forever doomed to be insane.
Al blinked a few times and gave his head a little shake. "Right. We need to pick our positions. I'm chaser of course, and we need another chaser and a keeper."
"I'll be keeper," said Hugo, raising his hand.
Al nodded approvingly. "Good man. Just remember, you can't let a single goal through, not even one." He stared down at Hugo menacingly. "You got that? Not… even… one."
Hugo gulped and nodded.
"Good." He turned to Scorpius. "Scor, you're my other chaser. Let's do this thing!"
The game was going pretty well. Rose and Hugo were both excellent keepers, and Al and Summer were chasers for Gryffindor and evenly matched. Scorpius was a bit out of his element chasing, being used to holding a beaters bat instead of a Quaffle. But he had been forced to play chaser so many times during small matches during the holidays, that he was able to hold his own against the others. The same went for Lily, who was a Seeker. She seemed determined to beat Al at all costs and played viciously.
Yes it was all going pretty well.
And then it turned ugly.
"YOU CHEATER! YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!"
"DAMN STRAIGHT I DID!"
"LANGUAGE!"
Scorpius watched the scene from above. Al and Lily were once again having a go at each other, and it was over the stupidest thing he could think of. Lily had gotten a goal past Hugo, and Al had been furious. So when he sneezed on the Quaffle, he took the opportunity to chuck it straight at Lily's face. The unprepared Lily got a face full of germy Quaffle, and that made her equally enraged. They then started yelling at each other when said Quaffle couldn't be found.
In all their bickering, neither had yet noticed that the missing Quaffle was currently tucked under Scorpius' left arm.
As they continued to scream at each other, Rose flew up next to Scorpius. She was an excellent flier but didn't have the same love of the sport that the rest of her family did. Of course she always went to the matches to support her family and friends, but she simply preferred to be studying. Scorpius did have to admit that with the amount of hours he put into Quidditch, another life could have been lived. Possibly a more productive one.
"How early did this start?" asked Rose as she surveyed the row below.
"Right after breakfast. Which actually lasted about three hours now that I think about it," he said with a frown.
"The breakfast or the fighting?"
"Breakfast," he said with a smirk. "The fighting's been going on for fifteen years."
Rose laughed. Scorpius thought it was nice to see her let loose. She was so much like her mother that often she would refuse to do anything fun if there was work to be done.
His heart gave a funny little flutter when she turned and smiled at him.
"Are you ever going to tell them that you have the Quaffle?"
"Uh, yeah," he said, giving himself a mental shake. "Just watch."
He grinned and drifted forward until he was right above the siblings. With a final glance at Rose, he lined up the Quaffle and let it drop.
It fell right between the squabbling Potters, both of whom abruptly stopped shouting as it whizzed past them. The other four burst out laughing at the astonished looks on their faces. The laughing only increased when the two of them leaned forward, to see what had interrupted them, and banged their foreheads against each other.
"Ow!" they cried and glared at each other.
At this point, Hugo was barely hanging onto his broomstick and Summer had tears of laughter streaming down her face.
"What are you clowns doing?" came a voice from below.
They all looked down and saw James Potter standing on the pitch holding the fallen Quaffle. His face was trying to form itself into a disapproving look, but all he was managing was a sort of constipated look.
"JAMES!" cried Summer delightedly. In an instant, she shot down and crashed right into him. They both ended up in a heap on the ground.
"Wow," said James dazedly. "I knew I had an effect on the ladies but I never thought it was this strong."
"Shut up, you," laughed Summer, punching him on the arm. She disentangled herself and they both stood up just as the others landed.
"So, Mr. famous Quidditch player has decided to finally grace us with his presence," said Lily with arms crossed. But she quickly broke out into a grin and threw her arms around his neck. "I thought we weren't going to see you until Christmas." James was on the reserve Quidditch team for the Ballycastle Bats.
"I wasn't," he said, disentangling himself from Lily and moving to fist bump Scorpius instead. They had been good friends ever since third year after Scorpius did James' essay for him in return for use of the invisibility cloak. After James got an O, he had decided that Scorpius was a genius and deserved the title 'best friend'. The title was rescinded after both Summer and Fred (who was James' best friend) balked. "The last match was canceled due to 'unforeseeable circumstances'," James lifted his hands and did air quotes.
"Uh-huh," said Summer. "What were these 'unforeseeable circumstances'?" She imitated the air quotes.
James snorted and ruffled Hugo's hair in greeting. Hugo tried to shove him away. "The host team had been taking Felix Felicis before their last two matches. And then they were caught, so they decided to sue the Department of Magical Games and Sports for unfair rules." He suddenly grinned. "Personally I think the potion went to their heads and they thought they could actually win the case."
"How sad," said Lily. "For you I mean."
"Yeah," agreed Summer. "Now you have to put up with these guys." She jerked her thumb at the group. Lily and Hugo made noises of protest. James just laughed and hugged Rose, who had been patiently waiting her turn.
James beamed at them all. "Looks like I missed out on teaching you lot a lesson."
"A lesson on what? How to be an annoying prat?" asked Lily.
James clutched his heart dramatically. "You wound me!" The others laughed causing him to smirk. "Anyway, I'm starving. What's there to eat around here?"
"Oh, and the truth comes out!" cried Summer, pointing a finger at James. "The lonely bachelor only crawls out of his cave for food and laundry."
"No," said James crossing his arms. "I don't come just for food and laundry."
"So you're telling us," began Lily, "that in the hall, there isn't a huge sack filled with your grubby clothes?"
James was silent for a moment. "No?"
Lily raised an eyebrow. "So yes, you do have a huge pile of laundry?"
"No," he said firmly. "I don't have a huge pile of laundry."
He paused.
"I have a ginormous pile of laundry."
Lily rolled her eyes. "You're a wizard. It takes two seconds to do a cleaning spell."
James scoffed. "I didn't want to learn all those sissy women spells."
Lily, Rose and Summer gave him looks that would scare any man.
"Care to repeat that sentence?" Lily asked dangerously.
"Sure," said James with a shrug. "I said I didn't want to-"
"Alright! That's it!" Lily lunged at James much like Al had lunged at her earlier. James turned tail and ran toward the house with Lily hot on his heals yelling, "COME BACK HERE JAMES SIRIUS POTTER, YOU ABSOLUTE ANIMAL!"
Summer sighed as she watched them. "I suppose we should clean up." She pulled out her wand and sent the brooms and Quaffle soaring into the broom cupboard on the west side of the pitch. Scorpius watched her, and suddenly recognized the thin piece of wood in her hand.
"Hey! That's my wand!" he cried indignantly.
Summer looked down at it blankly. "Oh yeah!" she said suddenly. "I forgot! I left my wand here on Wednesday so I've been using your wand."
Scorpius stared at her. "How did I not notice this? And why didn't you just come back here to get it?"
She shrugged. "You're a dork and it seemed like too much bother." He glared at her. "What? You didn't even miss it!"
He shook his head in exasperation and held out his hand.
Summer tossed it over with a grin.
"I'll get you back for this," he warned.
He turned his back and heard her whisper, "Not if I get you first."
He shot her a dirty look, and it was then that he remembered the end of summer prank that would inevitably come. Every year, without fail, Summer and James had played a prank on fellow family members. James had been away this summer, but Scorpius knew that wouldn't stop Summer from keeping the legacy alive.
"Come on then," said Summer. "Let's go inside. I don't know about you, but all this bickering is making me thirsty."
Summer, Scorpius, Rose, and Hugo all began trudging back to the house, from which screaming could now be heard.
Al hung back from the group and Scorpius frowned, realizing that he hadn't said one word since James had arrived. He slowed his pace until he was beside Al. Summer and Rose were deep in conversation, discussing the flaws of men, while Hugo was busy defending his gender. None of them noticed his absence.
Al was walking with his head bent forward and his hands shoved in his pockets. Having known him for so long, Scorpius knew that was a bad sign.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Nothing," said Al sulkily. He kicked a tuft of grass.
Scorpius waited, and after a moment, Al spoke again. "It's just… I don't understand why everyone's so in love with James. He's nothing special."
"Well," said Scorpius slowly and a bit nonplussed. "He's a Potter. He was Quidditch captain for two years and Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup for both of them. He's now a professional Quidditch player. And he was the good looking prankster of this generation."
Al grumbled.
"But what I really want to know," said Scorpius, furrowing his brow, "is why, suddenly, you care so much. James has been James, since he first started school. So why do you suddenly mind?"
Al snorted. "I don't mind."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I'm just trying to help. You can talk to me you know."
Al sighed. "I know. Sorry." But he didn't elaborate on his feelings anymore, so Scorpius decided to drop it. There would be other opportunities to talk to Al.
They had reached the house by this point, and thankfully Lily had stopped shouting at James. They were both in the kitchen. James was leaning casually against the counter while Lily was perched on the island, glaring daggers at him.
"There you guys are," said James, beaming at them. "What took you so long?"
Summer rolled her eyes.
Rose went over to the fridge. "I made lemonade this morning and brought it over for you guys." She pulled out a huge pitcher.
While the others crowded around to get some, Scorpius saw Summer and James whispering conspiratorially to each other. He suddenly got a nasty feeling that James had somehow sneaked himself into this year's prank. Rose handed out glasses to everyone, and when Scorpius saw both Summer and James surreptitiously set their cups down, he figured that he had just discovered what it was.
He gave his glass a suspicious glare and set it down as well. Summer threw him an irritated look.
He just smiled.
Summer was leaning against the counter next to James. And was it Scorpius' imagination, or had Al's glare deepened? Scorpius looked from Al, to James, and back to Al before a thought struck him.
But it couldn't be right.
It was no secret that James had had a crush on Summer during their Hogwarts years; he had said so many times. He had gotten over it in his sixth year though, and in seventh, he had gotten a steady girlfriend.
Scorpius was genuinely confused. It didn't make sense that Al was reacting the way he was unless… unless he liked Summer. If he was right, and Al liked Summer, then the situation had the potential to get very awkward. Because Summer had never mentioned any feelings for Albus and Scorpius and Summer told each other almost everything. She had told him about her fears and her past, but she had never once mentioned a crush on anyone. He would have to ask her later.
"Well," said Rose suddenly. "I think we should be getting home. Come on Hugo."
"You don't get to tell me what to do," snapped Hugo.
Rose crossed her arms. "I do unless you want me to tell Mum that you haven't done any of your summer homework."
Hugo's eyes widened. "How do you know about that?"
"Because every year you do it all on the train ride to school," said Rose disapprovingly. "Why would this year be any different?"
Hugo grumbled and glared at everyone when they started laughing. With his chin in the air, he strode out the door without a backward glance.
Rose sighed. "Boys." She shook her head sadly. "We'll see you lot tomorrow." And with a wave she was gone.
Albus drained his glass and stood up. "I'm going to go get changed," he said stiffly, and walked out into the hallway.
"Me too," said Lily, examining the ends of her hair. "And get a shower." She followed Albus out.
Scorpius made to follow them, but someone had grabbed his wrist. He turned and saw Summer, grinning.
"Wait for it." She looked positively ecstatic.
James looked like a kid in a candy store and Scorpius knew what was happening. Their prank was finally going to be revealed.
Sure enough, several minutes later, two simultaneous screams from upstairs were heard. Seconds after that, Albus and Lily came storming back into the kitchen.
"SUMMER!"
But everyone was too busy laughing at them to answer. Albus' hair had turned a shocking pink and Lily's a sickly green. They both had the exact same expressions on their faces –rage.
If the others thought the situation couldn't get any funnier, they were wrong. Harry and Ginny had chosen that moment to arrive home and enter the kitchen from the backyard. It must have been a strange sight. Al and Lily standing in the middle of the kitchen with pink and green hair respectively, with James, Scorpius, and Summer laughing their heads off. After several moments of confusion, the adults joined in. Al and Lily were not happy.
But before anything could be said, the door burst open once again. A furious Rose Weasley marched in with lime green hair. If looks could kill, all of England would have paid for Summer's trick.
"Summer Winters what did you do to my hair?!" Rose shrieked. She suddenly noticed Harry and Ginny and her cheeks turned pink. "Oh… hi, guys." James and Scorpius laughed harder.
Al had had enough. "How did you do it?" he asked Summer angrily. "It couldn't have been a spell."
"No," Summer snickered.
"It was the lemonade," supplied Scorpius.
They looked at him blankly.
"But how?" asked Rose with a frown. "I made that! And you were outside when I put it in the fridge."
James cleared his throat and Rose's look of curiosity disappeared. "Oh," she said. "I should have known."
"Yep," said James proudly. "I just couldn't miss out on my baby's last year." He ruffled Summer's hair and she promptly shoved his hand away.
"But how did you do it," continued Rose. "You said it wasn't a spell, and James isn't smart enough for that anyway."
"Oi," protested James.
Summer said, "I found a potions book in the library a couple months ago. It had some really strange potions, like… really, really weird."
"Really?" asked Rose with a raised eyebrow, "I wasn't aware that you could read."
Summer smiled sweetly. "Just because I never need to read a book what with my walking talking library over here—," she gestured to Scorpius, who blushed, "— doesn't mean that I don't read for the pleasure of obtaining knowledge that others don't possess." She grinned wickedly as Rose just stared at her.
But at the mention of Scorpius, Al had realized something. "Why doesn't Scorpius have different colored hair then?" he asked, annoyed.
"Because he figured it out," said Summer, miffed. "He's too clever for his own good."
"He's not that clever," argued Rose.
All through their conversation, Harry and Ginny had been standing by the door, listening in amusement as their kids had a go at each other.
"Well he is the only one that still has normal hair," Ginny pointed out.
Night had just set in and Scorpius knew his father would be getting home soon. It would be a lonely night without Summer in the house, but it would be nice to get a chance to talk to his dad alone for once. He knew that was partially the reason that Summer was staying over at the Potter's that night.
But going home would have to be put off for a little while longer. At the moment, he had something he needed to do.
Scorpius stood staring at Summer's door for some time. Thoughts raced in his mind at a hundred miles an hour. Al hadn't actually told him that he had feelings for Summer. But the more he thought about it, the more obvious it became.
Summer was his best friend. And that meant that Al most likely wasn't going to be open to him about his feelings for her. But Scorpius also didn't want to go behind Al's back and reveal something. The way Scorpius figured, the best (and easiest) way of helping out both of his friends was to find out how Summer felt. He didn't need to mention Al at all.
With that thought in mind, he knocked softly on her door.
There was no reply and Scorpius couldn't hear any noise coming from the room. He frowned and tried again.
Still nothing, and now Scorpius was beginning to feel worried. He hesitated a moment, but his concern won out and he pushed the door open.
Summer was sitting at her desk with her profile to him. She stared vacantly at the wall in front of her with her chin resting on her folded hands. Scorpius could see the slight furrow of her brow and the sadness in her eyes.
"Summer?" he asked tentatively.
She gave a start and whipped around. When she saw it was him, she sagged in relief. "Oh, it's just you."
"Gee thanks," he said with an eye roll as he closed the door behind him.
"I didn't mean it like that; I thought you were Al or Lily." She smiled. "They probably want to kill me right now," she laughed lightly.
Scorpius went to sit on the bed and Summer's smile slipped from her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
She sighed and stared past him at the wall. "I don't know. I guess it was just… James."
"James?" asked Scorpius, bewildered.
Summer nodded and looked back at him. "He didn't do anything. I just finally realized that this was our last summer here… as kids. We hardly saw James at all, and we're not going to see him at school. And then today, we did our final prank together." She sighed. "It feels like I've lost another brother."
Scorpius looked at her sadly. "Oh Summer." He held out his arms in invitation, and after a moment, she sat down next to him on the bed. He hugged her tightly. "You haven't lost James. I don't think you could get rid of him even if you tried." She chuckled softly.
He paused trying to find the right words. "You don't have to worry about losing him or anyone else. James will always be there for you, no matter what. He is a Potter after all."
Summer nodded and pulled out of the hug. "I know," she said with a sad smile. "He reminds me of Larry. Sometimes I just… I just miss him so much."
A single tear slipped down her cheek and Scorpius gently brushed it away before she had the chance.
She shook her head at him. "Here you are, taking care of me and I didn't even ask what it was you came in here for."
"Who says I didn't just come in here to make fun of you?"
Summer rolled her eyes. "'Cause that's the last thing you would do. So… what's up?"
He paused a moment, wondering if he was really doing the right thing. He didn't want to upset her any more than she already was, but he needed to ask her. Taking her hand in his, he looked into her eyes. She was hurting. More than anyone could possibly know. There were only three people that she had ever trusted completely. He was proud to say that he was one of them. The others were his father and Mr. Potter. Harry had been there for both of them, and he was still there for them today. Whenever they needed someone to talk to he was there. He was like a second father to both of them. His own father had faced sadness and difficulties. Both of the adults could relate to her, and to them. They understood.
Their friends were a different story for Summer. Though Albus was so much like his father that Scorpius often wondered why Summer had never confided in him.
He looked into her eyes and sighed. "I just need to ask you something," he began slowly. She looked at him questioningly. "About… you."