DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. They are the property of J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 9

Albus' POV

It had been four months since I had started at Hogwarts and my feelings for Scorpius had only grown. I was almost certain that I was in love with him, but there was still a small percentage of me that was still confused about it, so I had decided that I would take some more time to think about it.

It was now Christmas Break and I was sitting on the train in a compartment with Scorpius, Rose and, to my horror, James. However, James spent the entire train ride staring out the window at the falling snow. A couple of times Rose tried to get him into the conversation, but she ended up giving up because he wasn't responding.

As we got closer to Kings Cross Station, I found myself getting more and more nervous about meeting Scorpius' parents. What if they don't like me? What if they don't approve of me being with their son?

As more and more what-if's filled my mind, my heart began to pound and my breathing became hitched and ragged as I felt an anxiety attack coming. However, Scorpius put his hand in mine and squeezed, calming my pounding heart instantaneously.

"Are you okay, Al?" He asked, worrying creasing his forehead.

I took a deep shuddering breath, "Y-yeah I'm fine. Just…a bit scared to meet your parents," I explained.

He kissed me softly and I saw Rose look away with a small smile on her face. When he pulled away, my face was a light pink. "Don't worry about that, Al. I'm sure they'll love you. After all…what's not to love?" He gave me a small smile as his own cheeks turned pink.

I smiled back and heard a fake gag come from James, but I ignored him. I heard a slap and James muttered, "Ow…what was that for, Rosie?"

"Be nice," Rose hissed.

We finally got to King's Cross and I climbed off the train, suitcase in hand. I looked around and saw my mother and father waving at me. I walked over and gave my father a hug.

"Hey, Al," smiled my dad. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright, I guess," I replied with a sigh. I turned around to see where Scorpius went and saw him standing with his mother and father. They started to walk over here and my heart skipped a beat. Dad followed my gaze and his eyes softened.

"Hello, Draco. It's been a while," said Harry, holding his hand out to blonde man in front of him.

Draco nodded, accepting the hand. "Harry…" He looked down at me with grey eyes that were so similar to Scorpius' eyes. "You must be Albus."

I nodded, my eyes wide. "I-It's nice to meet you, Mr. Malfoy," I stammered.

"Mr. Malfoy was my father. Just Malfoy is fine," replied Draco.

"It's okay, Al!" Exclaimed Scorpius with a grin. "My father may look scary and intimidating, but he wouldn't hurt a fly."

Draco ruffled his son's hair in an affectionate manner before turning to Harry again. "I'm not sure if Albus told you, but Scorpius invited him over for a week over the holidays. Is that alright with you?" He asked.

My dad looked down at me and I looked back with a pleading look in my eyes. He smiled and then nodded. "I don't see why not. As long as your family comes to our Christmas gathering."

Malfoy looked at his wife who shrugged, then he looked back at Harry. "Sure, we'll be there."

His wife moved towards Ginny and Lily and held out her hand. "I'm Astoria, Scorpius's mother."

Ginny smiled at her and accepted the hand. "I'm Ginny. It's good to meet you, Astoria."

"Likewise." She turned to Draco. "Well, we'd best get going now."

"You're right." He turned back to Harry. "Don't worry, Potter. We'll take care of Albus while he's staying with us."

My father nodded and turned to look at me. I gave him a hug then I gave my mother a hug and then Scorpius took my hand, pulling me away, excitement evident on his face.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a little over 2 hours of driving, a huge mansion was suddenly looming over us and my eyes widened in shock. This is their house? I thought to myself. I couldn't believe how big and how beautiful it was. Once the car was parked, we all climbed out and grabbed our trunks from the back of the car then walked into the house.

"So what do you want to do first, Al?" Asked Scorpius. "We could play outside in the snow or play video games in my room or—,"

"Before you do any of that, Scorpius, you have to show Albus to his room and then get ready for dinner. It's already 4:30pm and dinner-,"

"Always begins at 6:00. I know, father," interrupted Scorpius.

"Also, your grandmother and grandfather will be staying with us as well. They will arrive before dinner, so be on your best behavior."

"Yes, father," nodded Scorpius. Then he turned to me again. "Come on, I'll show you where your room is."

I followed Scorpius through the mansion, looking around me in awe. Suddenly, I heard footsteps on the stairs in front of us and looked over. Standing there on the bottom step holding a broom was a strange creature with bat-like ears, a long nose, and wearing what looked like a dirty pillow case. The creature looked up when it heard us approach and I saw that it had big blue eyes.

"Master Scorpius! Welcome home!" exclaimed the creature in a squeaky voice. It bowed so low that its nose touched the ground.

"Hello, Keemy," replied Scorpius, nodding at it.

"Would the young master like snacks for him and his guest?" squeaked Keemy.

"Yes, please. We will take it in my bedroom. Thank you, Keemy." Keemy nodded and scurried off. When she was gone, I turned to him curiously.

"What was that?" I asked.

"It was my family's house elf, Keemy. You haven't seen one before?"

I shook my head. "Not up close like that," I chuckled, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly.

Scorpius chuckled. "Well, I suppose you wouldn't have. Only really powerful families own house elves after all."

"I guess your family must be real powerful then." I looked at him with a mischievous twinkle in my eyes.

Scorpius grinned and pulled me into a headlock. "You want to find out just how powerful we Malfoy's are?"

"Ow! I give, I give!" I laughed.

He laughed with me and pulled his arm from around my neck. I turned around to face him and we both stopped laughing as we looked into each other's eyes. He put his hand softly on my cheek, his eyes going soft as he slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to mine. We stayed like that for a few seconds before he pulled away. I could feel a blush forming on my cheeks.

"Come on. Let's bring your stuff to your room," he said softly as he turned around and started up the stairs.

After a moment's hesitation to compose myself, I followed him upstairs

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We played in his room until supper. We were playing with his cat and giggling as we made her chase a string around when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Scorpius called, laughing as the cat jumped up to grab the string and fell on her side.

"Master Scorpius…I was told to come get you and Mr. Potter for dinner by the lady of the house," said Keemy in her squeaky voice.

"Okay. We're coming." He dropped the string and stood up, holding his hand out to help me up. We ran downstairs and Scorpius led me into the dining hall where his parents were waiting. When they got in there, however, Albus noticed two other people sitting at the table. The man had long pale blonde hair that was pulled into a ponytail and the woman had long black and white hair. When I saw them, I knew that they must be Scorpius' grandparents.

Scorpius stopped in the doorway and bowed his head respectively. "Hello, grandmother…grandfather."

Lucius Malfoy just sneered and looked away, but Narcissa stood up. "Scorpius! It's so nice to see you again! My, you've grown so much!" she exclaimed.

Before he could reply, Lucius spoke up. "And who is that boy behind you?" His cold, grey eyes narrowed as he took notice of me.

"Oh, this is my best friend, Albus Potter. Al, these are my grandparents, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy," Scorpius introduced.

"Potter? Are you related to Harry Potter?" asked Narcissa.

"Um…yes…he's my father," I replied nervously.

Lucius snorted and looked away. Scorpius and I hurried to our seats and sat down just as dinner started coming out. While I was chatting with Scorpius, I could feel Lucius Malfoy's cold stare on me, but I ignored him instead focusing on my conversation about quidditch with Scorpius.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After dinner, Scorpius and I went back upstairs. We sat on his bed and talked until bedtime. "I don't think your grandfather liked me very much…"I fretted.

"Don't worry. I don't think he likes anyone. I wouldn't take it personally. According to father, he's always been like that," replied Scorpius.

"Yeah but he seemed to really hate me…he wouldn't stop glaring at me during dinner…"

"Al, don't worry. I'm sure it was nothing," he smiled reassuringly at me.

"If you say so…"

We chatted for a little while longer until Scorpius said we should start getting ready for bed. I went to my room to grab my toothbrush and pajamas. On my way to the bathroom, I heard footsteps behind me and whipped around, only to see emptiness. I started walking slowly again and suddenly felt someone grab my wrist and shove me against the wall. I whimpered in fear and looked up at my attacker only to realize that I was looking in the cold grey eyes of Lucius Malfoy.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed. I didn't reply, instead looking up at him with wide, scared eyes. "Answer me!" He shook me a little.

"I-I'm a friend of Scorpius. H-his father invited me over for a week during Christmas," I finally stammered.

"You stay away from my family or so help me, I will kill you," he spat. With that, he stormed away in a fury.

I let out a single sob and ran to Scorpius' room. I opened the door and closed it loudly, making Scorpius (who was reading a book in bed) jump. "Al! You scared me!" He exclaimed.

Without speaking, I hurried over and climbed into his bed, hugging him and allowing the tears in my eyes to overflow. "Al? Al, are you okay? What's wrong?" He demanded, putting his arms around me tightly.

"Your…your grandfather…he threatened me. H-he told me to stay away from his family or he'll kill me," I sobbed.

Scorpius didn't say anything. He only tightened his hold on me and kissed my forehead. We stayed like that, clinging onto each other, until my tears finally dried and I started to fall asleep. When Scorpius thought I was asleep, he leaned forward and whispered softly to me. "I won't let him hurt you…that's a promise." With those words, he held me tighter and we both fell asleep in each other's embrace.

I am really sorry for the extremely late update. I've been under a whole lot of stress in my life and trying to deal with personal matters. I'm not even really impressed with this chapter, but oh well. I've made you guys wait long enough. I've decided that this story will be strictly Scorpius x Albus. I know that I said in the beginning that there would be some James x Rose, but I've decided against that. There will still be bits of their relationship, however. I am hoping to get chapter 10 posted tonight, but it just all depends on how tired I get. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I apologize if Lucius and Narcissa are OOC. I wasn't sure how to portray them. Until next time, my pets.