As Scorpius got ready for bed that night, he could hardly contain his excitement. He threw on his pajamas, jumped into his bed, but didn't fall asleep. He couldn't fall asleep, because he was too busy imagining what Hogwarts would be like. Scorpius dragged a finger through the air, imagining what it would be like to finally hold his own wand, what it would be like to brew potions and learn spells and meet people his own age, people like him. He shook with the prospect of the new beginning. However, one thought brought down his spirit a little.
He knew full well that his entire family was in Slytherin; his father, his mother, his grandparents on both sides. Scorpius wondered if he too would be sorted into Slytherin. He strained to remember what his grandfather had told him Slytherins had stood for. Ambition, Shrewd, and Cunning. Scorpius didn't think of himself as any of these things, except ambitious. He knew he wanted to learn, that was for sure. And he was clever, he knew that too. But when Scorpius thought about it, he didn't think he was shrewd or cunning. Maybe he was, deep down, but Scorpius had never run into a situation that required him to be any of those things.
As if on cue, Scorpius's father knocked on his bedroom door. Scorpius settled down in his bed and pretended to be asleep as the door cracked open. Light spilled into his room, and Scorpius's father peered around the door. Scorpius heaved his shoulders up and down, trying to make it appear as if he was deeply asleep.
"Scorpius," Draco said in a commanding tone. "Stop faking sleep."
Scorpius frowned and sat up. "How did you know?"
Draco shrugged and sat on the side of Scorpius's mattress. "I had a lot of practice with that myself." Draco smoothed the bed cover. "Are you excited for school?"
Scorpius imitated his father's shrug. "Yeah. I guess."
"You guess?" Draco asked, looking intently into his son's clever grey eyes. "I know you better then that. You've been asking about Hogwarts since you could talk." Scorpius looked at his hands. Draco sighed.
"I just…" Scorpius fell silent. He looked up at his father. His father had a pointed, sneering face, but there were laugh lines around his mouth and eyes. In Scorpius's mind, he recalled some of the names he had heard Slytherins be described as. Evil. Power-hungry. Un-humane. When he looked at his father, Scorpius didn't see any of these traits. "Dad, did you like being in Slytherin?"
His father frowned slightly, and then ran a hand through his hair. "Did I like it? Usually. I made friends in that house, and I was proud to carry on the family tradition. Whatever people say, Scorpius, there are good people in that house. I like to think that your mother and I are good people. We were both in Slytherin."
"I know," Scorpius replied. His stomach squirmed. He couldn't bear to think what would happen if he wasn't placed in Slytherin. He would be the first Malfoy in years, maybe even a century, to break the tradition. "I'm afraid to think I won't be in Slytherin." He lowered his voice. "What if I get put in Gryffindor?"
He recalled what he had heard about Gryffindor. His grandfather had made a nasty face when he heard the name, but at his grandmother's urging, he repeated what the sorting hat said about it. Courageous. Good hearted. Scorpius couldn't see himself being courageous either, but he knew, deep down, that he wouldn't be placed in Ravenclaw, no Malfoy had ever been placed in that house. He hoped he wouldn't be put in Hufflepuff. His father had once joked that Hufflepuff took the leftovers, and while his mother had scorned Draco's words, they had stuck with Scorpius.
"Well," Draco said slowly. "I can't say I know too much about them. When I was at school, they had an excellent Quidditch Team. And they were clever, no doubt." Draco grimaced. "I'm sorry to say that when I was at school, I didn't get along with Gryffindors. I hated them. But things changed, Scorpius, as all things do. Slytherins have changed, as have Gryffindors." Draco leaned in and patted his son's shoulder. "Whatever house you're in, you are going to become a fine wizard."
"Thanks, Dad." Scorpius allowed his father to kiss his forehead, and then lay down in bed. Draco shut the door quietly behind him and trekked down the hallway. His wife was waiting for him, sitting up in bed. She had just put on her lotion, which smelled like gardenias and made her tan skin shine.
"So?" Celia asked as Draco closed their bedroom door. He padded across the floor and slipped into bed next to his wife.
"Scorpius is nervous about the sorting," he told her. "He asked me about Gryffindor."
Celia raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's where I was supposed to be placed."
"But you ended up in Slytherin," Draco pointed out. Celia patted his arm and turned out the bedside lamp.
"Only because of you," she said, curling up into Draco's side. He placed an arm tightly around her shoulders and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Besides, what's wrong with Gryffindor?"
Draco pondered on this. He found that as much as he tried to think of an answer, he couldn't find a solution to his wife's question. Scorpius's parents curled up and talked about him for another hour, before they fell asleep in each other's arms.
The next day, Scorpius's parents took him into Diagon Alley. Scorpius had been there a few times before, but only when his mother needed supplies for the household, and when she had purchased her cat.
The first thing they did was go into Ollivander's wand shop. Scorpius had never been in this dusty, cramped store before. He heard a scuffling from behind the desk, and a big-eyed man stepped out from behind one of the shelves. He looked at Scorpius's mother and smiled.
"Celia Validus. Oak and Dragon heartstring, ten inches, incredibly powerful wand. Is it still treating you well?"
"Yes, Mr. Ollivander," Scorpius's mother replied, digging her wand out of her robe's pocket. She held it up to the light. "Perfect condition."
"Good, good," Ollivander murmured, setting his eyes on Scorpius's father. "Draco Malfoy. Hawthorne, unicorn hair, 9 ¾ inches, springy. You got your wand back, I presume?"
"Yes sir," Scorpius's father said, and Scorpius smirked into his elbow. He had never heard his father call anyone sir. But the smirk was wiped off his face as Ollivander bore down on him. His eyes seemed to grow larger.
"Who is this?" Ollivander asked.
"This is out son, Scorpius," Celia said. She placed a hand on her son's head. "He needs a wand."
"Oh ho," Ollivander said, turning away from the family. He waved his own wand, and a tape measure flew over to Scorpius, taking the measurements of his arms, legs, torso, his feet, the diameter of his head… "Here." Ollivander pulled a box off one of the top shelves, took out a wand and handed it to Scorpius. "Vine, unicorn hair, ten inches, perfect for charms." Scorpius raised the wand, but immediately, Ollivander snatched it back. "No, no," he muttered to himself. Ollivander placed the wand back in the box, and then plucked another box off a bottom shelf. He handed Scorpius a longer wand this time. "Cherry, phoenix feather, thirteen and a half inches. Try."
Scorpius knew, as soon as his fingers touched the wand that this belonged to him. The wood seemed to mold to his fingers, and Scorpius got a warm, powerful feeling as he picked up the wand. He waved it through the air, and a bird burst from the tip.
"Oh my," his mother said, waving her own wand, and the bird disappeared.
"Well," Ollivander said, beaming. "The wand chooses the wizard, does it not?" He looked curiously at Scorpius's father. "It seems your son also has an affinity for powerful wands, Mr. Malfoy."
"Dad?" Scorpius asked curiously. "What's that mean?"
But Draco just shook his head. He dug out two galleons from his pocket and handed them to Mr. Ollivander, who in turn, handed Scorpius a box to keep his wand in. Scorpius carefully laid his wand inside the box and handed it to his mother for safekeeping.
Next, Scorpius and his mother went to the apothecary to buy potions supplies. Draco was supposed to come too, but instead, lingered outside the Quidditch supply store, admiring the new firebolts on their stands.
The apothecary fascinated Scorpius. His mother handed him a potions kit, and then took her time looking around the store, picking up some beetle eyes, powdered unicorn horn, newt tails, and things like that. Scorpius was drawn to the jars that lined the shelves, where preserved intestines lay. Scorpius looked into the nearest jar, at a preserved dragon's heart was floating in green liquid. He glanced into the jar, and then stumbled backwards in surprise, nearly knocking over a barrel of wormwood shavings. There was an eye looking through the jar on the other side.
"Sorry!" the other person said. A girl emerged from the other side of the shelf, blushing a bit. She was shorter than Scorpius, but not by much. She had long red hair and big blue eyes that seemed wise for her age. She looked curiously at Scorpius, who looked curiously back at her.
"I'm Scorpius," he finally managed to say. The girl smiled back, and Scorpius noticed that her teeth were nearly perfect.
"I'm-"
"Rose!" A voice called. Another woman emerged from behind the shelves, her arms laden with shopping bags. "Rose, these are your supplies for next year. I can trust you will hold some of them." Rose's mother looked down at Scorpius, and a look of recognition crossed her face.
"Scorpius!" his own mother called out. She pushed past the barrel of wormwood, and then found her son. "Wondered where you got off to." She smiled, and then saw whom Scorpius was talking to. The mothers looked at each other, smiled broadly, and laughed. Scorpius and Rose were shunted aside as the women hugged.
"Hermione Granger!" Scorpius heard his mother exclaim. "Good god, I haven't seen you since…well, since Harry's wedding. That was years ago."
"It's so good to see you," Hermione said sweetly, patting Celia's back. She pulled back and looked Celia up and down. "You look just like we did when we were seventeen."
"I was just thinking the same thing about you," Celia replied. She looked down at Rose. "This must be your daughter, Rose. Nice to meet you."
Rose smiled shyly, and turned towards her mother. Hermione drew her daughter into her side and stroked her hair.
"Rose, this is Celia and her son, Scorpius Malfoy." Scorpius wondered how she knew that, but figured that she must have been a friend of his mother's, back before he could remember anything. At the sound of his name, Rose's eyes narrowed. Not in a mean way, but an analytical manner. "How old is Scorpius now, Celia?"
"He turned eleven in May," Celia said promptly, and smoothed back her son's hair. "And Rose?"
"Eleven," Hermione beamed. "They'll be off to Hogwarts together, then."
"I suppose so."
Hermione and Celia chatted for a few more moments, while Scorpius and Rose eyed each other apprehensively. Eventually, the women said goodbye, hugged once more, and then took their children out of the shop. When they were leaving, Rose waved goodbye to Scorpius. Hesitantly, he waved back.
"We saw Hermione and her daughter," Celia told Draco as they met at the ice cream store. Scorpius dug in his father's pocket, extracted a few sickles, and ran up to the counter without his parents noticing.
"And?" Draco asked, stiffening a little.
"She was nice," Celia said, frowning at her husband. "Always is. Her daughter is headed to Hogwarts this year as well."
Draco groaned. "It's going to be like our year all over again."
"Oh," Celia said quietly, rolling her eyes. "I don't think so. After all, Rose was very pretty."
A/N: just another reminder for you all, I have crossed this story with Odd One Out. While it's true that in Audacity, Draco and Celia have been in love since they were teenagers, and while Celia is friends with Hermione, she was NEVER romantically involved with Harry. Sorry if that's confusing. Just imagine the back story of Odd One Out, without any Harry/Celia romanticism. They will be revealed to be friends in this story, but their relationship was always platonic. Just trying to clear up some confusion.