CHAPTER FIVE
TEN YEARS LATER
James messed his eternally rebellious hair in frustration, letting out a low groan. He was sitting in the library by the window, studying for his midterms with his friends, but he felt more confused every time he read the chapter on the Wizard Wars of 1628. His reaction gained him a sympathetic look from the girl beside him, and he forced a little smiled to his lips, looking back down at his textbook. He had to learn that, he was determined to. If only his brain would cooperate.
It was his O.W.L.s year, and the normally worry-free teenager found himself spending his every spare moment bent over one book or the other. All the molecules in his body protested his choices, screaming at him to do something physical, anything but stay put for hours until no more information could penetrate his brain. It was a constant struggle, and he had a long way to go as far as his concentration skills went, but he felt he was getting better. Marginally.
It had been the same way for the past five years, since he entered Hogwarts. He'd cruise through the semester, usually barely turning in his homework in time, but a month before his exams, he'd try to cram as much information as he could into his brain. He knew he'd make things a lot easier on himself if he simply allowed more time for the same amount of information to be absorbed - i.e. if he studied some all semester, rather than trying to make up for it in a month or less -, and though he promised himself every time that he would definitely start doing things differently, nothing ever changed.
He sighed, noticing that yet again his mind had drifted away from his studies, and looked up as he stretched his arms. Perhaps a change of subject would be good; he still had quite a few chapters of Transfiguration to work on, and he'd always done better on that subject than in History of Magic. In fact, he was still to find someone who actually did well in Binn's classes, as mostly even the best students struggled with his monotonous speeches and confusing facts.
"Come on, another half hour and we can go down to dinner." The boy on his left encouraged him, and this time his smile was more genuine. Merlin knew he could use some warm food to restore his energy right about now.
"I know, Chase. But half an hour sounds like an awfully long time." He made a face and the other students on the table laughed, gaining them all a reproachful look from Madam Pince.
"I did tell you to start studying sooner, especially because of our O.W.L.s, didn't I?" The girl who'd encouraged him earlier joked, gaining herself a playful frown.
"Maybe if you'd followed your own advice, you could've gone to Hogsmeade last week instead of having to stay here with the rest of us, Addie."
The girl stuck her tongue out. "It's not my fault the captain made us practice so hard for that last game."
"We were both there, so what makes you think I had any more free time than you?"
"Kids, kids, don't argue." The only person who'd remained quiet so far finally spoke. "We all knew we should've started earlier, and that this sucks, but you're not helping my concentration."
"Like you ever need to study!"
"For your information, James, I do too. Granted, not as much as the rest of you, because I was privileged with superior intellect..." She joked, and the other three made faces at her. "... But if I want to keep my near-perfect record, I need to put some effort into it."
"Well, your life would be much more interesting if you lowered your standards to that of us mere mortals." Chase joked. "Think about it. You'd actually have time to hang out with us, and see those guys play, and come to Hogsmeade and play pranks-"
"I'd rather get a top job in the future, thank you very much."
"Well, at least one of us doesn't have to worry about it." Addison joked. "He's inheriting all of Malfoy's assets, plus his share of the Potter's and the Black's fortunes. He doesn't have to work a single day in his life if he doesn't want to, and he'd still have more than enough money for the next several generations."
"Shut up." James replied, annoyed.
"Come on, Jamie! We all know that's what's gonna happen."
"Not if I don't work for it." He mumbled quietly. "I already told you, Scorp has more right to inherit it than I do."
"Just because he's got the same blood, it doesn't mean he has any more right, James." Chase encouraged. "You're the oldest. Aren't those things usually inherited by the oldest kid?"
James gave a little smile. "Yeah, maybe."
"Anyway, you can always be a Quidditch player if you want to. I mean, teams have already talked to you about going pro when you graduate."
"I know, Jules. But I don't want to do that. I want to be like my dad, make him proud. Prove to him I'm worthy of his legacy."
"I'm sure he's already proud of you, Jamie." Chase smiled at him, his green eyes gently fixed on brown.
"I hope so." He said quietly. "Well, screw this then." He said, smiling and grabbing the backpack he'd left beside his chair. "It's not like we're going to learn anything anymore. Anyone up of a game of Exploding Snap while we wait for dinner?" He smiled broadly.
A couple of minutes later, the four of them left the library laughing, under disapproving looks from Madam Pince. Even though dinner still hadn't been served, there were plenty of students in the Great Hall by the time they arrived there, and the four of them sat somewhere in the middle of their table, and engaged themselves in a quick Exploding Snap championship to pass time and help them release the tension from their studies. They were still planning another couple of hours with their textbooks before they called it a night.
Albus smiled as he entered the Great Hall half an hour later, his eyes meeting his brother's. They generally didn't talk much when they were at school, but always made sure to look after one another and Lily. And Scorpius as well, as they all considered each other siblings, despite their different origins. Scorpius who, at that moment, was walking right next to him, so close people might talk if they hadn't always been that close, physically as well, since they first arrived at the school.
The two of them took their seats next to some other of their fellow third-year students, and almost immediately engaged in a deep analysis of the last Quidditch match of the year. With both boys playing for their House team - Scorpius as Seeker and Albus as Chaser -, it was a frequent subject among them. And as most students - boys especially, though a considerable amount of girls as well -, they were obsessed with the sport and never seemed to grow tired of it.
It had been a constant distraction for all the children living in the Malfoy manor to play Quidditch on the property's field. When they were on holiday, they were only indoors to eat and sleep - and do their homework, when either Draco or Astoria forced them -, and spent the rest of the time flying back and forth, alternating positions and practicing plays they'd see in the many matches Draco would take them to.
All three boys expected Lily to make it to the team the following year.
An hour later, the blond and the brunet got up to leave the table when Albus realized he hadn't yet seen his little sister. With time for dinner running out, he quickly packed a little of everything in a lunchbox Scorpius conjured for him and the two left the Great Hall intent on finding the girl.
As they soon realized in the beginning of the school year, Hogwarts wouldn't be any different for Lily than any other school had been. Except for the time she spent playing with them, she would occupy every spare moment with her nose stuck in a book, so many that she'd already read all the school books years before she was assigned them. She'd also devoured through some magical literature, but hesitant that she'd advance too fast and not be mature enough to handle her skills, Draco and Astoria had limited her access to that part of the manor library.
After nearly half an hour wandering around the castle, they finally found the girl perched on a window sill in a remote hallway on the fourth floor. She consistently repeated she hated spending time in the library because of the excess of people in the room, and checked out several books at a time to read in hidden corners. She had conjured a small glowing globe which was floating over her head to illuminate the pages, and the two boys smiled at each other as they approached. She'd always been precocious with her magic.
"We told you, Lily, you can't skip meals." Scorpius said, reprovingly shaking his head from side to side, and Albus did his best to keep a serious expression. "You have to eat, no matter how interesting the books might be."
She smiled a little embarrassedly, marking the page she was on before closing the book and looking up to them. "What time is it?" She asked, shyly, jumping down from the window sill.
"Past dinner time." Albus finally smiled, offering the lunchbox. "It's probably cold by now, but I'm sure you've perfected your heating spell by now."
She smiled, gratefully taking the box and opening to explore its contents. "I don't like broccoli." She complained, making a face.
"What, you skip dinner, make us bring you food and complain about it?" The brunet said, faking upset.
"Oh, come on, Al, it's broccoli." Scorpius said overdramatically, pretending to sympathize for a moment before turning serious again. "You have to eat you greens, no discussion about that."
"What good is it being away from parents if I have two brothers to do their job for them?"
"Just two?" Albus raised an eyebrow.
"Jamie doesn't make me eat broccoli." She said with a satisfied smile.
"Don't worry, we'll get that fixed for you." Scorpius said, smiling back.
She stuck her tongue out. "Don't you have anything better to do than parenting me?"
"Don't you have anything better to do than hiding away and reading 24/7?" The brunet mimicked her tone, making the blond laugh.
"Make sure you eat everything that's in that box, Lil. No skipping your greens." Scorpius said, motioning his head towards the lunchbox.
"What, you put a spell on it to let you know if I don't?" She mocked, and he raised an eyebrow.
"What if I have?"
She hesitated for a moment. "You couldn't have. You don't know how to."
"Maybe I do."
She sustained her look for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I'll eat everything." She finally said, defeated.
"Good." His tone was severe, but the blond was smiling. "Come on, Al." He turned around and started walking away, closely followed by the brunet.
"Thanks for dinner." Lily said to their backs, not too loud, but they were perfectly able to hear her in the silence of the hall, and raised a hand in acknowledgement.
The little redhead sat on the window sill again and cast the heating spell on the food before conjuring a fork, which turned out to be a cross between that cutlery item and a spoon. She frowned, making a mental note to practice her skills some more later.
Outside, snow had started falling again - it was practically December already -, and despite the darkness covering the grounds, she could still see the nearest flakes in the dim light escaping the window. She smiled distractedly. Winter had always been her favorite season, and she never grew tired of admiring the work of art nature created in the tiny flakes every time it snowed.
It didn't take her too long to finish her meal, and she had a Chocolate Frog - which she found hidden and magically protected at the bottom of the lunchbox - for desert before putting her backpack over one shoulder and walking back to her Common Room. It was almost curfew, and she didn't need another detention for losing track of time. She'd had too many of those that year already.
As usual, the room seemed overcrowded with students chatting too loudly and playing games, so she went straight up to the dorm which, at that relatively early hour, was empty. Not five minutes later, another girl came in and they smiled at each other as she made her way to Lily's bed.
"You disappeared again." The girl said quietly, peeking at the cover of the book the redhead left on her nightstand.
"Sorry, Skye. I lost track of time." She smiled a little embarrassed. Skye was the only girl in her year she could consider a friend; though she was in good terms with everybody, her unintentional and constant isolation made it hard for her to connect. But somehow, the two of them had gotten close over the past few months, and whenever the redhead managed to stay away from her books, they 'd have extensive conversations about a multitude of subjects. It turned out Skye was also a voracious reader, although not quite as much as Lily.
"Must be a good book." The brunet girl smiled back.
"It is. I'm almost done with it, if you want to give it a try."
"Sure." She nodded.
The two remained silent for a few minutes. There was something comforting for them both to just be in each other's presence; for Lily, who'd grown up surrounded by loud boys, there was a certain complicity in spending time with a girl without being forced into the stereotypes which seemed to define her other roommates and made her want to give up on females; for Skye, who'd grown up alone, it was simply marvelous to spend time with someone her own age and, more than that, having someone who understood her so completely, and not having to explain herself all the time.
Their peace was soon broken by the arrival of their other three roommates, who were talking loudly about some second-year boy who looked their way, their high-pitched voices immediately threatening to give both girls headaches. They shared an understanding smile before the brunette moved back to her own bed and Lily engaged in looking for her pajamas in the mess of clean clothes she'd carelessly tossed into her suitcase. It'd been months since her clothes had been pressed, or even known what it meant to be folded.
Synchronizing her movements with a decent amount of precision, she was just leaving the bathroom when the other girls were going in, and she already had the curtains around her bed closed and a silencing spell cast by the time they returned. Lily wasn't aware anymore of their constant talking, and didn't even notice when, half an hour later, they turned out the lights and shortly after fell asleep. She only looked up from her book again when she read the final line, and as she braved out of her cocoon to leave the book over the backpack she'd left perked up against the foot of the bed, she noticed the first lights of day creeping through the window.
With a slightly guilty smile, she dropped her head on her pillow and immediately fell asleep, the characters from the book gaining new adventures in her dreams.
"No, no, we're not pursing that line of business."
"I understand your reservations, Mr. Malfoy, but I believe-"
"I vetoed that idea months ago, Padmore."
"I know, Mr. Malfoy, but your father-"
"You've just lost any last chance you might've had of convincing me. My father lost his right to this family's businesses when he chose his side on the war and forced me along it. I am done with this conversation. Have a good day." Draco waved his hand dismissively, looking away from the fireplace and down to the paperwork before him.
As soon as the war ended, all Malfoy assets had been frozen pending investigation, and though part of them were confiscated, most of the patrimony was allowed to return to its rightful heir, under the condition that Lucius be completely banned from the businesses, administration of any property and access to any funds. For Draco, it meant going straight out of Hogwarts to being head of the family in all aspects imaginable, and though he'd been prepared for it his whole life, he still struggled a lot in the beginning, especially until his advisors gained his trust and convinced him not only they knew what they were doing but were actually invested in the progress of the businesses, and not trying to sabotage him and coup him out of his position.
Over two decades later, most decisions came easily to him and his gut instinct proved itself again and again. Of course, with so much in his hands, he still dwelled on certain courses of action, but projects such as the one he'd been discussing just a few minutes earlier, spoke for themselves. And with supporters as Padmore and his father, put themselves up to almost undoubted failure.
A soft knock on the door caught his attention and, without looking up from the document he was scanning, he asked, "Just a moment, please!"
It was his habit to rule his small empire from home, where he could be around his wife and, when they were on holiday, his children as well. So it wasn't all too rare to have Astoria approach him about work-unrelated matters during the course of the day - especially when, as was the case, they had a big social event coming up. With room to spare and, due to the children's friendships, generally accepted by the wizard society, they had made a tradition of throwing rich Christmas and New Year's parties. At first, the Weasleys had refused to come, but as it was the only way they could see the children over the season holidays, they finally gave in and eventually reached a point of mutual tolerance with the Malfoys.
Most of the time, he found the interruptions very welcome. If left alone, he'd easily bury himself on work for days on end.
As he reached the bottom of the page and left a brief comment, a second knock came, and it immediately put him on high alert. His wife was a patient person, and wouldn't have done so if the matter wasn't serious. Tucking the parchments away on the first drawer, he dropped his quill in the ink pot and made for the door.
"Is everything alright?" He asked, the concern noticeable in his tone, as he opened the door.
"There's a man from St. Mungo's here for you." She informed nervously. "He says there's been changes in Harry's condition."