*J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter!

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SCORPIUS

Daisy furiously slams the door to the loo and locks it. "Your sister's such a hateful bitch," she complains, kissing me furiously, pressing my back against the tiled wall and holding my chin in her fingers. She smells strongly of my cologne already. "You're just as horrible for letting her speak to me that way."

"I can't control Rose," I inform Daisy. If she doesn't like Rose, then I don't understand why it matters to her so much what she says. After all, Rose was partially correct. Daisy shouldn't have spoken to Al in that way. Only I'm not a fool enough to risk angering Daisy by saying so.

"You ought to," Daisy whispers into my neck, tugging my shirt out of my belt and dropping my trousers. She runs her fingernails up my back, and I hiss in pain. I grab her wrist to make her quit.

"That's what you get," she chides, her teeth grazing my neck. If she's trying to get me worked up, she's doing rather well. "Take your anger out on me. You need an outlet. "

I don't need to be told twice. "Keep the lights out. I hate being reminded that we've been reduced to the damn restroom." The restrooms on the train are pretty large and comfortable, but still nowhere near my first choice. Since last year, it's become increasingly difficult for Daisy and I to spend time with one another privately. At the beginning of my Sixth Year, from a series of careless meetings, Daisy fell pregnant. Needless to say, both our fathers made sure Daisy had it taken care of right away. It wasn't as if either of us minded.

"Merlin, your robes are ridiculously hard to remove," I complain, trying to fumble in the dark. All this senseless fabric is wasting my time. If we weren't on our way to school, I'd just have a go at ripping them. It seems to add more intrigue to the whole thing anyway.

"Then don't," Daisy replies, gathering her robes at her waist and bending over in front of me.

"Brilliant." I put my hand tightly over Daisy's mouth, and she pulls away.

"What the hell?" she questions, her voice rather loud.

Must I have to spell everything out for her? "Since we aren't permitted to use magic on the train, I can't perform a silencing charm. I wouldn't so much fancy getting caught midway. So, if you don't mind," I mutter, covering Daisy's mouth once again.

It doesn't exactly work. Daisy utters a loud curse and moans, balancing her hand on the wall in front of her. "Shut up," I instruct.

"Be quiet yourself," Daisy replies, pulling her childish antics. "I don't care if we're caught. I didn't fail Seventh Year on purpose for us to half-do things in a restroom." Last year, Daisy informed me she had plans to purposely fail out of Seventh Year so that she could repeat with me. Now, I don't consider her very bright, but she easily could have graduated had she wanted to.

"We'll have our own room," I assure Daisy. "But in the meantime-"

"Then stop," Daisy interjects. She scoffs when I don't. "I didn't think so. I'm not bothering you that much. Besides, I thought you liked a bit of affirmation…"

Merlin, she's right. But this isn't the time nor is it the place. "Daisy, I won't plead with you. I said to shut up, and you're to do as I say!" I tell her in an angry whisper. If Daisy wants me to control Rose, then I can do the same with her. And I've got a hell of a lot more control over her than I do Rose.

Daisy laughs considerably quieter, and I'm grateful for it. "Your wish is my command," she says jokingly, placing light kisses on my fingers. "That's the sort of control I need you to take. I need you to control me, Scorpius."

I can't help but think how emotionally monotonous our marriage is going to be. Daisy isn't challenging in any sort of way. Most of what she likes to do doesn't involve talking. I'm sure any other pureblood man would consider himself lucky to have someone like Daisy, but she bores me slightly. At least she's extremely beautiful.

A knock on the bathroom door causes me to look up. "Don't stop," Daisy whispers.

If it were a student, I probably wouldn't have. But it sounds more like a composed, adult knock. Daisy curses and stands up. "I'm going to fucking kill someone," she says quietly, turning on the bathroom light and fixing her robes and hair. I hurry to pull my trousers up and put my robes back on.

"See who it is," I order in a low voice, pushing her back gently and standing in the shadow. Daisy composes herself and opens the door halfway, sticking her head out.

"Professor Lupin," Daisy greets in a bored drawl, cocking her head. "Is there a problem?"

Of course, it had to be Teddy. Each year, a different teacher supervises the ride to school. It just happened to be him this year. I'm not afraid of him.

"There will be a conflict if you aren't in the restroom alone," Teddy replies, an edge to his voice as if he intends to punish us. He wouldn't think of doing a thing to me.

"Well, I am on my own. Do you get off on interrupting girls in the loo? Is this some sort of game?" Daisy questions, lowering her voice in a challenging manner and putting a hand on her hip. "What proof do you have?"

Teddy falters. "Daisy, open the door," he orders, trying to sound authoritative.

"I don't have to. I'm in the bathroom. It's my right to privacy," Daisy argues, an amused tone in her voice.

"And it's my right to invade your privacy if I have any belief you're breaking rules," Teddy continues. The little bugger won't quit. "Open the door."

To my surprise, and probably just to prove a point, Daisy opens the door to the restroom, revealing me as well. "Did it sound well, then?" she questions, raising her eyebrows at Teddy. "I've got no need to fake it."

Teddy looks completely dumbfounded. He turns to me. "Scorpius, I have half a mind to tell-"

"Isobelle says hello," I interject, knowing that will shut his mouth. It does.

Teddy's face goes slack. "Both of you knows the rules," he says rigidly, trying to keep his composure.

I raise my eyebrows at Teddy. How does he dare to preach to me about rules when he's sleeping with my sister, who's married? And they're related, no less. "What's a good rule if there isn't anyone around to break it?"

Daisy grabs my hand and stares Teddy down. "Give us a pass," she pouts, although it probably doesn't matter to her whether or not she gets in trouble. "See you in Transfiguration, Professor." Daisy bumps into Teddy's shoulder and pulls me along, but he doesn't say anything more to either of us. He probably has no idea what to say.

Daisy pushes me into an empty compartment and shuts the door. Her face sets in a deep frown. "I can't believe you," she says, shaking her head at me. "Since when do you let Professor Lupin threaten you? You should have torn him apart!"

"What are you talking about?" I question, frowning at Daisy. It seems she's made the decision to be bent on complaining today.

"You stood there and let Teddy speak to me, while you hid like a little girl!" Daisy exclaims, waving her hands. I want to say I only did so because Daisy is far more tactless and uninhibited than I am, and doesn't have a shred of respect for any of the teaching staff. However, I know to choose my battles and not to waste time starting another argument with Daisy.

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Fair enough," I relent. "You're absolutely correct."

Daisy frowns. "Are you mocking me?" she demands, putting a hand on her hip in a manner awfully comparable to Rose.

"Of course, not."

"I would hope not," Daisy continues, narrowing her eyes at me. She tosses her hair with her hand. "Considering I'm here for you. I could be at home already, already someone else's wife, but instead, I'm following you back to school for another damned year! I'm losing honor, Scorpius, following after a man a year younger than me! You could at least be grateful, or not act like such a boy!"

Taking a deep breath, I shake my head slowly at Daisy. If I behaved the way I really wanted to with her, she wouldn't be able to stand it. "You're making things out to sound like you're here by choice," I say.

"I am!" Daisy snaps.

She may be a little stupid, but I, for one, am not. "Please, if anything, your parents made you stay in school another year so I could keep an eye on you. I'm probably supposed to ensure you don't sleep with someone else and ruin our marriage before it even begins."

Having been engaged since we were twelve and thirteen was barely a hindrance to any other relationships Daisy and I have previously had. We've allowed each other to be with other people, but we've kept it secret from our parents. Daisy, however, ran wild with it. Those other relationships were purely physical, and we reserve loyalty to one another. But now that our marriage is nearing, I suppose it should stop.

Daisy scoffs. "As if you've never done it, either!" She counters. "Perhaps if we were the same age, then this wouldn't be an issue!"

"Well, we aren't, so there's no use complaining about it. You're giving me a damn headache."

"I hope I am!" Daisy says impossibly, crossing her arms, She sinks down beside me. "You forget how lucky you are to have me."

"I do every time you open your mouth," I agree. "Honestly, if you aren't going to say anything intelligent, don't waste my youth."

Daisy's nostrils flare. "That's the problem! You've got too much youth already!" She says in a shrill voice. She stares me directly in the eye. "You are going to be head of the Malfoy family as soon as you marry me. We're basically royalty. We've already got so much against us that you're going to need to take charge and fix. I want a powerful husband, not some boy who hides behind his name. I want a Malfoy husband like I was promised. It's what every pureblood girl dreams of, Scorpius, and you're mine. Don't disservice me."

I wouldn't for a second believe Daisy loves me nearly as much as she loves my last name. And, she sees me having a large family as quite the indisposition. We can't have the Manor until Nina graduates, and she's only beginning her first year today.

"Well, your father knew what he was getting you into," I say simply. "You knew as well. You know my family. It isn't as if I'm having you shipped across the ocean."

Daisy gives me a fierce look, but says nothing back. She takes my hand in hers.

"Is that your form of an apology?" I question, raising an eyebrow.

Daisy shakes her head. I should have known better. "You know how much I care for you," she tells me earnestly. I don't. "How much I care for us, and what we will be. I like that the other girls are envious that they can't have you. You should be proud of that, too. Proud of me."

She doesn't seem to get it. I think most of my friends wouldn't mind being married to Daisy, given her reputation but, for the same reason, their parents would never have arranged the marriage themselves. If my father wasn't best friends with Daisy's father, he probably wouldn't have given it a thought, either. My life was decided from the start. I can't exactly be proud of something I had no hand in.

"I am proud of you," is a much easier response for Daisy to handle.

She kisses me. Some of the other students walk by our compartment, laughing and carefree. Why can't my life be that simple? Why must I be trusted with the politics of a marriage I had no hand in and a seemingly hopeless attempt to uphold my family's name when it was my father who ruined it in the first place?

"I want to give you hundreds of sons," Daisy informs me quietly. "And I want to begin tonight. As soon as I say 'I do', I want to give birth to your son the next day."

"So that everyone can think I married you so soon only because you were pregnant?" I question. Daisy has to be joking. "Your parents would kill you, and so would mine."

Daisy's face contorts into another frown as if she's genuinely confused. "Then what am I to do? Wait until our wedding night and present myself to you as if I'm something you've never seen before? That's bullshit!"

"It's custom," I remind her. I'm not exactly sure how Daisy figures I'll be able to get settled into a new job directly after school and handle a son. I don't plan on being nonexistent. "You'll give me sons. If not right after the wedding, you will eventually."

Daisy squeezes my hand and speaks into my shoulder. "We aren't going to waste time. I want to prove to you that I can have a son. You see what's happening to Isobelle, it's disgusting. I'd kill myself if people whispered about me like they did her."

Isobelle can't have a son to save her life, and she's ridiculed for it. I'm sure that's part of what's driving her half-mad, if not all of it. If things didn't work out with having a son, I would still never think to be that cruel to Daisy. Given her attitude, that really makes a testament to my character.

"That won't happen," I assure her.

"Then again, I'm not stealing anyone's husband," Daisy mutters with a smile. "I say it serves her right."

"You know that's a rumor!" I snap. Isobelle didn't take Simon from his first wife. Anyone who believes that is an idiot. Of course, with Isobelle's bad luck in the children department, some would say it's her actions coming back to her.

Daisy smirks as if it was her sole intention to get a rise out of me. "None of that," she says, resting her head in my lap. She looks up at me. "You're quicker to defend your stupid whore sister than you are me. What do I have to do to make you stand up for me? Lose a couple children? Cry a lot? Or should I expect you to treat me equally in everything, as if that's socially acceptable?"

Perhaps she should expect me to beat her into submission like Simon does Isobelle, as if that would make me any more of a man. "Shut up."

Laughing quietly, Daisy rolls her eyes. "You're so easy to get to," she tells me. "If I wanted a soft husband, I'd have married Rose. But then again, sometimes she's got more grit than you."

Lucky for Rose, she doesn't have to worry about keeping someone happy. She can say what she truly feels without the repercussions mattering.

I've waited months to be among my friends again, people who actually understand what's going on in my life. A few of my friends are also soon to be married, but a couple of them haven't yet spent much time with their future wives, since they go to different schools, or live in a different country altogether. They don't know how lucky they are.

Galleons pass around the table as Slytherin House bets on where the First Years will be sorted. It's become too easy for me. By now, I can take one look at a student's face and figure out which House they'll be put into. It's a gift.

"How about him?" My friend, Sebastian Quick questions, looking between Albus and I. He points to the front of the Great Hall where a pudgy red-haired boy stands, looking as if he's going to piss himself. McGonagall, who's damn near ancient by now, beckons him forward with the Sorting Hat in her hand.

"A Hufflepuff through and through," I say mockingly, doing my best imitation of the Sorting Hat. "Obviously."

Sebastian raises an eyebrow. "Looks like a Ravenclaw to me. 10 galleons, each of you. What do you say, Albus?"

Al shrugs and looks at me. He's smart enough to agree with me by now. "Hufflepuff," he says. His voice is starting to go sore already from having to raise it above his usual whisper.

The Sorting Hat barely touches the head of the boy before shouting "HUFFLEPUFF!" He looks relieved, and manages to make his way down with dry pants.

"Bloody psychic you are!" Sebastian shouts as the Slytherin table erupts in a fit of shouts and cheers at my correct guess. He passes Al and me each ten galleons.

"Shouldn't bet against me, then!" I shout back over all the noise in the room.

Daisy claps for me. "He's perfect!" she shouts with a smile, as if she wasn't saying the opposite a few hours ago. I'm sure most of my friends understand why Daisy's come back another year. They don't say anything about it, nor do they seem surprised.

The ruckus dies down as we wait for the next student to come so we can pick him apart and try to assess his inner qualities all based on one glance. I turn the other way to reply to a question asked by one of Daisy's friends and accidentally make eye contact with two of my cousins. They give me murderous glares. They're the children of my Aunt Daphne and her husband, a son in Fifth Year and a daughter in Third Year. I haven't spoken to either of them once in my life that I can remember, but we clearly know and understand that we're first cousins. However, my mother's side of the family believes whatever happened to her was unfair, and some scheme plotted by my father and Isobelle. Even my grandparents believe it. However, from Mum, Dad, and Isobelle, I've heard a completely different version. I don't know what to think. I only met my mother again briefly five years ago, and she died shortly after. I only remember her as being absent and aloof, but not necessarily good or evil. I prefer not to think of her at all.

Daisy rests her hand firmly on the inside of my leg in an attempt to calm me down. "Don't look at them," she whispers. "You're having a good time."

Finally, she's said something productive tonight. I look away and focus on eating. Mum's a brilliant cook, but nothing can compare to the feasts at Hogwarts.

Albus bumps my shoulder. "Wipe your mouth. It's Nina's turn."

I pass my napkin over my mouth and look to the front of the Hall. The other Slytherins look at me, eager to know where I believe my little sister will be sorted. She's easily a Gryffindor, and we've all known it for years. Nina's courageous, or fearless, more like it, and always insists upon doing the right thing. She's basically Mum, just a less uptight and nagging version.

"Gryffindor," I say, without being prompted. Hugo and Lily look away from their conversation with their friends to see Nina's sorting. Rose looks up as well. I clench my jaw when I see some bloke's got his arm around her shoulder. I can only see the back of his head, but I don't need to see his face to know I already hate him. He's got no business touching Rose.

Nina looks dignified when she sits on the stool so McGonagall can put the Sorting Hat on her head. She already knows what it's going to decide, and I do as well. There's not even any intrigue to the situation.

"SLYTHERIN!" the Sorting Hat shouts wildly, taking no time to deliberate.

"What the fuck?" I say so loudly, some of the students at the Hufflepuff table look at me. My fork drops on my plate. Hugo and I make eye contact, and then he looks at Rose. I can't see Rose's face, but they seem to be equally confused.

"How'd you get your own sister wrong?" Sebastian questions. Suddenly, everything about him infuriates me. Albus gives him a look, telling him now isn't the best time to speak to me.

Nina's petrified. I can't hear her, but I see very clearly that she mouths the word 'no'. Her hands grip the stool as if the longer she waits, the Sorting Hat may just change its decision. That hasn't ever happened, and I'm certain it won't now.

McGonagall removes the hat from Nina's head and urges her to get off the stool to keep the ceremony going. Nina's so entirely stunned that she turns the wrong was to come down and join our table. She passes Rose, but doesn't even look at her, as she hangs her head in shame. Rose says something to the boy touching her, and he moves his arm so that she can turn to glare at me, as if I'm the damn Sorting Hat. I'm just as surprised as everyone else is. Hugo gives Nina a good-natured nudge on the shoulder she doesn't return.

The Great Hall is silent. Two other students have been sorted since Nina, but no one's paying them any attention. Nina still hasn't made it to her seat, and no one's going to be rude enough to rush her. Once again, all attention is on my family, making it clear that no one expected this. Granted, Nina's last name is Malfoy, and we have the same father, but she's different than I am. She's also Mum's child, a half-blood, and wasn't raised similarly in any way to what I was. I don't understand why she's a Slyhterin.

Before Nina approaches the Slytherin table, I cast a threatening look at my housemates, letting them know that if they have anything negative to say that I'm likely to kill them. They seem to get the message.

I wave Nina over. Slowly, she comes to my side of the table. I'm determined to make her feel comfortable.

I turn around to face Nina and do my best to give her a smile. I tilt her chin up with my fingers. "You're a Malfoy. Be proud of yourself."

Albus moves over so that Nina can sit between him and me. Nina climbs over then bench and reluctantly takes her seat. Some of the new First Years look at Nina jealously as if they'd like to sit at the end of the table with the older students. I'm not responsible for making any of them feel better.

"Congratulations, Nina," Daisy says with a kind smile, reaching over me to rub Nina's shoulder. "You made it into the only good House."

"Thanks," Nina says so quietly, I can barely hear. The other Slytherins around me follow Daisy's example and congratulate Nina as well. It doesn't seem to do anything to make her feel better. Albus fills her plate for her with foods she likes, but she doesn't want to eat.

I can feel both Rose and Hugo's eyes on me, Hugo's out of concern, and Rose's out of pure judgment. They seem to be genuinely afraid that Nina's been sorted into Slytherin, rather than simply shocked like I was. It's almost as if they think she's part of the club, and now she's going to start practicing the Dark Arts and renouncing them. Hugo and Rose watch Nina as if they're scared for her, like I'm someone they suddenly don't know.

Of course in their eyes, regardless of the fact we both share one parent with her, they probably see themselves as more Nina's sibling than I am, and me as a completely different species of human altogether. When Mum married Dad, everything was fine for all my other siblings, since they're half-bloods. The way I was supposed to be raised suddenly became unacceptable since, in her eyes it was unfair. I'm ostracized in my own family through no fault of my own, and at times Dad goes along with it.

"I'm sure when you write Mum and Dad, they'll be extremely proud of you," I promise Nina. "Eat something."

Nina frowns as if she hasn't yet thought about telling Mum and Dad. I think Mum will be a bit shocked at first, and then she'll accept it. Dad will be proud of Nina either way. She has nothing to worry about.

I, on the other hand hope Nina will be all right. I am curious to know just what qualities she has that make her a Slytherin. Another thing, I don't want anyone giving her any trouble over this. If so, they'll have me to answer to. Since I'm Head Boy, I'll have my own room. I'll have to have Albus and Daisy watch over Nina whenever I can't. Now that she's in my House, I'm actually concerned with watching over Nina, even if it's partially to prove something to Rose and Hugo. I can't believe Mum was right.

*(A/N: Plot twist! I think we were lacking in some Scorpius character development! He's slowly becoming really fun to write, because I think Scorpius is a completely different person than what he seems at face value. Leave a review!*