Most people who knew him, described Scorpius as a pleasant boy. Friendly, hardworking and determined. Most people also didn't dare approach him, no matter how kind he apparently seemed. For some reason, the surname Malfoy still had a bad ring to it, even after all these years.

Scorpius looked at the blackboard and yawned. He wondered why people did avoid him for having the surname Malfoy, but not his best mate with the surname Zabini. It didn't make sense to him.

It had never bothered Scorpius that they left him alone. He had no problem with solitude. It suited him. Most people he didn't find worthy of his time in the first place. He had people he cared for and that cared for him. But not anymore. It had started nagging at him from the back of his mind and Scorpius couldn't let it go.

For some stupid reason, Vinny had started hanging out with people from other houses. People who held their breath or turned around and ran when Scorpius walked by.

He scowled and prodded the sleeping mouse he was supposed to wake up with a spell, trying to wake him the mundane way.

Someone behind him snickered. Scorpius turned around to see Potter. Albus shot him a confident look and waved his wand, whispering something under his breath. The mouse woke up and Potter shot Scorpius a smug look. Scorpius glared at him and turned back to his mouse, prodding it harder to vent of his irritation.

It cost him fifteen points for Slytherin.

Scorpius plumped down next to Vinny when dinner was already in full spur with a foul shirt and a fouler mood. Vinny, ever the charmer, almost gagged on his food when he saw him. He was laughing.

"What happened to you?"

Scorpius rubbed his eyes and scowled. His hands came back dirty.

"Potter," he said. He rubbed his cheeks in a futile attempt to clean the dirt off of them. "Him and that little garden gnome."

Vinny's dying laughter intensified. His sister, Lisa, hit Scorpius under the table with a kick. Scorpius' grimaced and rubbed his shin. Lisa shot him an apologetic look and a moment later Vinny was shouting at Lisa about impulse control and violence.

Today had been awful. It had started with the weather, like most awful days did. When Scorpius had woken up, thirty minutes late and wondering where the fuck he was, the dark lake that swirled outside the windows was in turmoil. It was storming outside. Scorpius didn't do well with rain.

His mother said it was all between his ears, but Scorpius only remembered falling down stairs, hitting his head and messing up duties on rainy days. It was his sign of bad luck.

The highlights of his day were a p for his charm essay, a slip and fall on his rushed way to Herbology and a few minutes ago, a barrel of sticky dirt emptied over his head.

He would have changed out of his dirty clothes before supper, if he hadn't run late because professor Longbottom had insisted upon talking to him after class.

He refused to miss supper because of Potter.

"I don't understand how they keep getting you," Vinny said. Scorpius shrugged and filled his plate.

"There are a few hundred of them, can't avoid them all, all the time." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'll get them back."

Lisa leaned in, interested. She had been his partner in crime more than once. She had once stated that the gods had flipped a coin to choose which traits to give her, and which to give Vinny and she had gotten all the good stuff, including a sense of humour and mischief.

Vinny pulled her back. "No," he said. "Last time you helped him, you got yourself and him caught, remember."

Lisa flicked her hair over her shoulder. "I didn't say anything."

"He's right," Scorpius said. He had rarely met anyone as clumsy as Lisa. Up until the Sorting hat placed her into Slytherin house, Vinny had told him, everyone had been convinced she would have been placed into Hufflepuff house. Scorpius remembered thinking how narrow minded that sounded, and how disgusted he was with himself for thinking the same thing when he had met Lisa and she had tripped over her own feet.

"Oh shut up," Lisa said, throwing a piece of bread at Scorpius. "We'll see how you do on your own. If you need help, you know where to find me." She flashed him her brilliant white teeth.

~~~.~~~

Call it superstition, Scorpius was convinced the number seven was holy. The seventh time he fell of his toy broom, he had fallen in the pool and his father had, by accident, made the most brilliant photo that he still displayed in his study. On his seventh day at school, he had earned his first house points. His seventh Quidditch game, he had scored every shot he made. His seventh time breaking his arm, he had had a reaction to some of the potions he had drunk and he had been stuck in the hospital wing for three weeks.

Seven was the magical number, after all.

Scorpius' day started just like any other. He ran around the lake to wake up, ate breakfast, went to classes, doodled on parchment and stared out of windows.

Vinny was bummed out about some girl that hadn't given it up to him yet, and kept sighing. It annoyed Scorpius a little, but he managed to keep his composure and ignore it.

During fourth period, he made the first mistake.

Vinny was staring out of the window like a depressed little puppy. They were in charms and professor Webb was explaining about non verbal spells. Again.

"And what is the third rule of non verbal separating spells is..?" Webb asked, looking around the room expectantly. Scorpius knew the answer. He was fairly confident half the class knew it. Everyone was too busy dozing off to answer though. Scorpius kept his eyes down and continued his doodle of Crowell, a girl who sat diagonally in front of him.

"Mister Zabini perhaps?" professor Webb asked.

Zabini didn't hear. His eyes were glassy as he sighed yet again.

"Mister Zabini?" Webbs voice was stern. Scorpius kicked Vinny under the table and hissed at him to pay attention.

"What?" Vinny said, finally looking up.

"Maybe if keep your mind with the lesson in the future, mister Zabini, score results like last won't repeat themselves. Ten points from Slytherin"

Vinny nodded, at a loss for words. Scorpius suppressed a snigger.

"Are you that hung up on your girl?" He whispered when Webb continued lecturing them.

Vinny scowled and shook his head. "Me, hung up on a girl? not a chance."

So Scorpius left him alone until he couldn't handle the desperate mooning from his best friend anymore.

He turned to Vinny and asked "Is there anything I can do?" and as if that was the queue Vinny had been waiting for for the whole day, his eyes lit up and a smile lit his face.

It turned out that yes, there was something he could do, that you for asking. Remember that scrawny little birdy from Gryffindor that spent most of her time thinking of hexes to fire his way? well, that was the one Vinny was trying to woo into his bed.

"And what exactly do you expect me to do about your sick little secret?" Scorpius asked during supper, which was about the time Vinny had finally stopped blabbing on and on about Lily Potter.

"For starters," Vinny said, "I'd appreciate if you would not call it that."

"Not happening," Scorpius said.

"And would refrain from saying anything to Lisa."

"I can consider that."

"And lastly, I was wondering if you could make her life hell for me."

Scorpius looked at his best friend and a smile appeared on his face.

"That, my friend, I will do with love."

Vinny wanted to explain why, explain his master plan of how he was going to woo the sweet little fiery Lily Potter, but Scorpius didn't want to hear it.

"Save it, please. I will lose my appetite if I hear that name one more time. I don't need any more than a command to make her life hell. You do with it what you want. Just please don't do it in front of me. I am not sure my stomach can handle that."

Vinny grinned. "Well, since you're helping me I think I can promise that one thing to you in return."

Helping Vinny. Second mistake.

~~~.~~~

Daddy's little girl. That is how Scorpius saw Lily Luna Potter. She was someone who irritated Scorpius without even opening her mouth, and managed to piss him off even more when she did. The feeling was mutual, or so he guessed from the dirty looks she shot him and the snarky remarks she made.

Scorpius had a problem with her, and he made this abundantly clear every chance he got, but something he had never done was break his own rules. No matter how much she irritated him, he had never broken school rules for her without proper cause.

He had promised himself long ago never to stoop to the level of revenge.

Helping a friend, that was no revenge.

"You're awfully happy." Lisa said when they made their way to potions.

Scorpius grinned. "What can I say, it is a beautiful day."

Lisa shot him a doubtful look. "It is so cold, I considered wearing gloves."

"Cold is the new hot."

"Like hell it is. I prefer my boys hot and my ice cream cold, but like hell that I prefer ice cream over boys."

"I'm planning on kicking Potter's ass. Quench a fire. stomp a happy face. That sort of stuff."

Lisa scowled. "Planned on inviting me to this fun?"

"Promise not to tip of Peeves again?"

"Like I did that on purpose," Lisa huffed. She crossed her arms. "When are you ever going to let me live that down.

Scorpius laughed. "When do you think? It was the most genius thing you ever did."

"Don't talk so lightly of my other moments," Lisa said.

Scorpius leaned on her shoulder. She was the perfect height. "I'm sorry if I offended you, madame. I won't say such insensitive things to someone who cannot handle the truth in future times. You have opened my eyes to this mishap I committed."

Lisa tried to beat him up.

"So, you have a plan or something?" Lisa asked, but Scorpius shushed her. the rounded the corner and, just as he expected, there was Al Potter, eating the face of his girlfriend. Scorpius suppressed his gag reflex and sped past them into the classroom.

"My eyes are burning," Lisa said as she sat down besides him in her usual seat.

"I know the feeling," Scorpius said.

"There is no way she in enjoying that, it looked like he was trying to get as much of her in his mouth as possible."

Scorpius shrugged. He didn't care.

"Is he the target?" Lisa asked. He shook his head and whispered "little one" from the corner of his mouth.

"Why?" Lisa asked. Scorpius shrugged. "I have my reasons. Are you in or not?"

"Definitely."

~~~.~~~

Scorpius almost got emotional when he saw his handiwork. It was beautiful, the way it swayed to the rhythm of the wind. He was quite proud how he had managed to make it all come together. Lisa stood next to him. He knew she wanted to get out of there already, but it wasn't quite finished yet. It missed that little extra spark that transformed this from beautiful, to magical.

"Almost done," he said.

"You dream big," Lisa sighed. "I like that about you."

Scorpius laughed. "I never took you for a sap, Lisa."

"Of course you did. I made you watch Pretty Woman with me three times."

"Don't remind me. Now come on, you know what to do."

Seven minutes later, Lily potter, Hugo Weasley and James Potter were hanging upside down above a swamp in the middle of the great hall, stripped to their undergarments.

Someone was also yelling at Scorpius.

Scorpius was not to worried though.

Lisa had managed to bring down a chandelier. It had made a hell bound noise.

Lisa was a prefect and Scorpius' friend, so he had done the right thing and had rushed her into a secret passage way he knew they were going to check if he went that way too and stayed behind. It was his prank anyway.

A tiny little prefect had walked in, far smaller than Scorpius. He might have even been smaller than Lisa. He looked at the bundle hanging above the swamp with big eyes and Scorpius wondered if it might be the first time he saw a girl without her clothes on. Probably.

"I…" The boy said.

"I'll be going now." Scorpius said. "Can't stand the stink in here. Maybe someone should clean up in here once in a while."

He was almost out the door when the poor little thing had finally gathered his courage to stutter out for him to stop and wait.

Scorpius obliged. He was in trouble already. No use in digging his grave even deeper by trying to get away with it. He was a Malfoy, they were never letting him off the hook. Not with a witness.

It irritated Scorpius how long it took them to punish him. It was indecent. First he had to wait until the stuttering boy found his patrol partner, because he didn't have the balls to say anything to him, then the patrol partner bird tried to fetch a teacher. He was lucky it was the Slytherin bird, because otherwise he would not have been able to convince her not to do that, because if she did that, what was the point of having prefects? They apparently can't punish students. Was she really going to undermine her own authority?

He would have been fucked if they had fetched a teacher. If teachers got involved at that critical point in time, they would have full say of how to punish him, and believe it or not, stripping students and hanging them over swamps was not looking kindly upon. Teachers had the authority to suspend. Prefects however, did not. And teachers could not further punish someone who had already been set strait by a prefect.

It undermined their authority or some bull like that. Lisa had told him.

The girl hesitated. Scorpius knew he had her. She was burning to punish him. No way she was going to give away that chance. No, she wanted this for herself. She didn't want to give it away.

So she was yelling at him, patronising him. Lecturing him. He sat through the ordeal and tried to look guilty.

"And never speak that way to me, Malfoy. I am a prefect and I deserve to be treated with respect. Detention until Easter. Three times a week. Now get back to your common room and never let me catch you setting even a toe out of line or I will involve the headmistress, because frankly, this is unacceptable behaviour. I expect better from Slytherin house."

That was a ridiculous amount of detention, but Scorpius knew better to complain. He looked down and made his way to the Slytherin common room with haste.

That was the seventh time he got caught.