Scorpius wasn't nervous. He wasn't.

Maybe a little bit.

But Father was nervous. He'd been nervous ever since the letter arrived. They'd known it was coming but receiving it had made it suddenly more real and looming than it had been before.

They'd already received some nasty looks as they stood on the platform. Scorpius didn't really care. He'd been fine without friends so far; he didn't need them now. So long as no active attempts on his life were made, he'd be fine. And surely at least a few people would at least be cordial. All he needed was for his dormmates to be decent and no one who hated him would choose to room with him. He'd put a lot of thought into this, and he was quite confident.

"Write as soon as you've settled in, sweetheart," Astoria reminded him.

"I will," Scorpius promised, nodding.

"There will be kids who are cruel to you, Scorpius," Draco warned apprehensively. "Just remember that you've done nothing wrong. Nothing."

"Yes, I know Father," Scorpius assured him. "You keep saying that."

"It's going to be hard enough at Hogwarts being a Malfoy," his father continued. "Our… similar appearances won't help." Similar was an understatement. Scorpius was practically the miniature version of his father. Pale, blonde, grey eyes, everything was a copy of his father. Scorpius had inherited very little from his mother, though people did tell him their noses were similar. They might just be saying that for her sake though, noses all looked basically the same to Scorpius. "Be kind, be yourself, and you will make friends in Slytherin. And don't go starting fights, no matter what they say."

"Grandfather says-" Scorpius started but his father cut him off before he could even finish the sentence.

"Ignore him, Scorpius," Draco insisted, a hint of exhaustion in his voice. "You don't have to be constantly fighting others to remain honorable." Not exactly what Scorpius had been about to say but this was admittedly not a good time to bring up anything regarding Grandfather.

The crowds around them were thinning as more and more students got on the train. There wasn't much time left.

Draco's eyes shifted to look at something over Scorpius's shoulder but quickly looked away again. "Potter's got another kid going this year," he muttered more to Astoria than to Scorpius. "Granger's daughter too. I thought she wasn't due until next year."

Unable to resist, Scorpius glanced behind him to see the eldest Potter son glaring at him with narrowed eyes. The rest of the Potters and Weasleys were focused on their first-year children. Scorpius had never seen Harry Potter in real life before. He looked oddly normal, seeing off his kids with the other parents. The eldest son was still glaring at him.

Scorpius jerked his gaze back towards his parents.

"It's Weasley now, Draco," Astoria reminded him. "And, yes, it does look like the girl is going. We already knew there were going to be Weasleys at the school."

"Yes, that bunch breed like rabbits," Draco remarked bitterly, and Scorpius withered internally. He wasn't sure if the bitterness stemmed from jealousy or not, but Scorpius felt it was probably jealousy. Scorpius hadn't meant to make Mother more unwell. He would have loved to have a sibling. When his father turned to him again, Scorpius made sure his negative emotions weren't showing. "Try to avoid them, Scorpius," Draco instructed. "The dungeons and Gryffindor Tower are quite far apart, it shouldn't be overly difficult."

Draco hesitated and Astoria shook her head fondly. "Have a good first day, Scorpius," she told him, bending down to hug him. She then prodded Draco.

"Yes, Scorpius," Draco agreed, getting down on one knee to embrace Scorpius. The hug lingered far longer than his father usually allowed in public. Like he was trying to put off Scorpius leaving for a few seconds longer. "We love you."

"I love you too," Scorpius returned, the anxiety he'd been suppressing for the last week, the last month really, beginning to leak through. This was it. He wouldn't be returning home until Christmas break.

Not wanting his parents to worry, Scorpius kept his head held high as he pushed his trolley towards the train. He wished this was the fantastical, exciting moment it was for the rest of the kids and didn't feel like he was boarding a prison transit. It was a really nice prison, a prison he wanted to see, but full of people he didn't want to interact with.

Most kids had already boarded so it took a few minutes for Scorpius to find an empty carriage. He put away his trunks and set Orion, his barn owl, beside him.

A few times, other kids approached the door, but he could see it in their eyes when the recognition hit them, and they scurried along to find another carriage. Scorpius didn't mind. He'd prefer to stay alone if at all possible.

"It's almost a nine-hour trip, Orion," Scorpius told his owl, petting his feathers through the bars of the cage. "But once we get there, they have a nice owlery and a whole castle for you to fly around." Even if he wasn't excited about the people, he was eager to explore the ancient castle. So much history, so many secrets.

The final whistle blew and still no one had entered his carriage. Scorpius let out a sigh of relief and dug the book he'd planned to read on the journey out of his bag.

He'd started to read so he didn't see them coming until the door slammed open.

Two familiar faces stared at him, familiar only because he'd just seen them on the platform. They looked just as surprised as him. All three of them were frozen for a few long seconds. His father's warning echoed in his head 'Try to avoid them, Scorpius.'

The girl's expression turned thoughtful, blue eyes darting around the carriage then back out at the rest of the train then to Scorpius. "Um, hi," she greeted, her long, wavy red hair bouncing slightly as she shifted on her feet. "Can we sit here?" Scorpius blinked… Was this a prank? Something worse?

The boy seemed just as shocked at the question as Scorpius.

"Rose," the Potter boy hissed, not even trying to be quiet enough that Scorpius wouldn't hear. "You know who that is."

"Well, someone took so long to get on the train that there aren't any other seats available," Rose huffed.

"I'm sure James will let us sit with him," the boy argued. Scorpius was very uncomfortable. Should he say something? He really didn't want to.

"He just told us no," Rose reminded him.

"He'll change his mind if we tell him-"

"Ugh," Rose groaned, "it's one train ride. Just deal with it, Albus." To Scorpius she said, "Sorry, everywhere else is full. Can we sit here?"

He couldn't say no. This was going to be awful. "Um, if you want to," Scorpius agreed tepidly, secretly hoping Albus would insist on leaving. This didn't even feel real. These two? Out of all the students in Hogwarts?

Albus glared at Rose but followed her in, probably not wanting to leave her alone with a Malfoy. The pair put away their stuff silently, seeming to have a conversation with each other with their eyes alone. As for their pets, the girl had a tawny owl and the boy had a ginger, stripped cat that must be at least part kneazle judging by the tufted ears. The cat gave him the most judgmental glance Scorpius had ever received from a cat in his life then hopped onto the seat next to Albus and curled up.

The two sat down just as the train started to move. Albus sat as far away from him as he possibly could, practically leaning into the door. The three of them stared at each other awkwardly.

Nine hours. It suddenly felt a lot longer now. Could he just read the whole trip and they'd leave him be? Should he try to talk? About what? He had very little practice when it came to conversing. He'd never last a nine-hour ride.

"What are you reading?" Rose finally asked.

"Oh, um, 'A Guide to the Magical Properties of Stones, Ores, and Gems'," he answered. Could he possibly stretch that one question into a nine-hour conversation?

Albus made a face, but Rose perked up. "Really?" she asked. "How interesting!"

Albus groaned. "Merlin's beard, Rosie, are you serious?"

"What? It sounds interesting," Rose defended. To Scorpius, she asked, "How is it so far?"

"Well, I'm rather early in," Scorpius informed her, a bit disconcerted by her lack of aggression. It didn't make sense. "But it's quite fascinating so far. It reminds me of wand wood classifications in some ways. I do wonder if anyone's ever tried a wand made of stone or maybe even crystal." Maybe Goblins would use stone wands. If it was allowed.

"Why would anyone lug that around?" Albus scoffed.

"I've never heard of such a wand," Rose pondered. "But it is an interesting idea. I'd never thought of it." She suddenly startled. "Oh, I'm Rose by the way, and this is my cousin Albus."

Oh, right, introductions. They hadn't done that. That was something you were supposed to do.

"I'm Scorpius," he stated, not including his last name since they hadn't either.

"Malfoy?" Albus questioned aggressively, leaving Scorpius's decision to not say it irrelevant.

"Um, yes," Scorpius confirmed. They'd both clearly already know it.

"You know who we are?" Albus demanded, straightening, leaning in closer.

"Er, yes, I do," Scorpius nodded. "I saw you and your families on the platform." Even if he hadn't, Albus looked just like his dad, minus the glasses. And Rose's red hair was a strong Weasley indicator.

"And?" Albus pushed.

"And…?" Scorpius repeated, unsure of what the boy wanted him to say.

"Albus, knock it off," Rose hissed quietly, but they were all too close together for Scorpius not to hear. "We've got the whole train ride with him."

"What? No!" Albus refused heatedly. "He's a Malfoy! Death eaters the lot of them! We shouldn't even be here!"

"I'm not a death eater," Scorpius refuted softly, yet firm, causing the pair to turn towards him. "Neither was my mother."

"Well, the rest of your family was," Albus spat. "And you just never got the chance. Your dad tell you bedtime stories about how he served the great Voldemort?"

"No!" Scorpius snapped, anger finally flaring. "It's not- he's not proud of it. He's never pretended it was a good thing. He hates Voldemort. He's always told me he's grateful for what your parents did." His father didn't talk about his childhood much, but it was always self-deprecating when he did. And he loathed his dark mark.

Albus paused, taken off guard, but shook it off quickly. "Oh please," he scoffed, lips curling. "Your whole family are a bunch of blood purist loons."

"We aren't blood purists," Scorpius protested. "At least, my parents and I aren't." Scorpius hadn't been able to find any link between blood status and magical ability, no matter how much Grandfather insisted otherwise. Frustration boiled higher. "Bloody hell, sometimes I want to marry a muggle just to get the other pure blood families to stop trying to set me up with their daughters." Not the best reason for choosing a wife but... "I don't know you, you don't like me, I've never even met your daughter, and I'm not even a teenager yet. Just leave me alone!" Usually, Scorpius would never talk about any of this stuff to a stranger but why the hell not. He was never talking to these two again and their opinions of him were already below dirt. Nothing he said now really mattered.

Albus truly paused at that, giving him an odd look. "You'd marry a muggle?" Even the suggestion would make most pure-bloods blow up with indignation.

"I mean, if I really loved her," Scorpius shrugged. It was unlikely to happen, mainly because he didn't interact with muggles much at all, but he had fantasized about it before. It would probably literally kill Grandfather, the man's heart would give out on the spot. Grandfather had been against father marrying mother and she was a pure-blood. His whole body would probably give out if his only grandchild, in his eyes, ended their bloodline and ended it in shame. "I don't really want to be thinking about romance this early though. I'm only eleven. I really feel like it shouldn't be something I have to think about already."

"But-" Albus began, but Rose cut him off.

"Don't you think it's odd none of the death eater kids wanted to sit with him either?" she whispered, very quietly this time, Scorpius could barely hear it. Scorpius had seen one of the Carrow boys approach the door, but the boy's eyes had hardened, and a sneer had appeared when he recognized Scorpius. He'd passed right on by.

Albus's face twisted thoughtfully.

"Do other pure-blood wizards really try to… what, set you up on dates?" Rose asked curiously.

"Rowena Rowle jumped me at the last St. Mungo's charity event," Scorpius recalled with exasperation. "She just went on and on about how well I'd get on with her daughter and making suggestive remarks. Never bloody met her daughter. She was giving mother and father dirty looks all night. But I'm the last of the Malfoy line and, as far as they're concerned, the last of the Black line, since Adromeda Tonks married a muggleborn." And there were slimer pickings of pure-bloods than ever with how many pure-bloods had died or been imprisoned for fighting for Voldemort in the wars. "I could be a half braindead troll drool drinker and they'd still want me for my bloodline. They can always poison me later once I've pumped out a few children. Merlin, it was so horrible and awkward. And now the daughter's going to be in my house. It's going to be so hard to avoid her now."

"So, you're expecting Slytherin then?" Albus asked, much calmer than he'd been a minute ago, but still not friendly.

"Yeah," Scorpius shrugged. "Everyone in my family gets Slytherin. You two are expecting Gryffindor I presume?"

Rose nodded.

"Of course," Albus rushed to agree, maybe a bit too eager. Scorpius wasn't going to poke.

Albus's cat got up with a stretch then crawled onto Albus's lap. The boy began stroking its back once it settled.

"What's your cat's name?" Scorpius asked. He wanted to ask if he could pet it, but he knew what the answer would be.

"This is Rascal," Albus told him, setting his hand aside again.

"He's three-fourths kneazle," Rose added. "He's from my mum's cat's litter. I have one from the litter too, back at home, but I got Flora-" She nodded towards her owl. "-so I could send letters and all. My little brother will probably bring Willow when he comes to Hogwarts."

"I would have liked an owl," Albus sighed, gloomily glancing at Flora. "But James' owl can deliver mail for the both of us."

"You didn't want to bring your cat?" Scorpius asked, surprised.

"No," Albus corrected indignantly. "He's my cat, I wanted to bring him. I just would have liked to have an owl too."

"I get that," Scorpius nodded. "I do understand why the rule exists though. I'd end up having a whole zoo."

"I am going to miss Willow," Rose lamented. "But I do love Flora too. I only just got her."

"She's a very pretty bird," Scorpius observed.

"She is, isn't she," Rose agreed proudly. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to choose. I researched owl breeds for weeks."

"It was longer than that," Albus mumbled.

"But I kind of just knew when I saw Flora," Rose continued. "One of those instant connections."

"Almost like all that research and constantly bugging me about it was pointless," Albus commented drily.

"It was still useful, I learned a lot," Rose asserted. Her gaze turned to Scorpius's own owl. "What's your owl's name, Scorpius?"

"Orion," Scorpius answered. "He's fairly new too. My parents got him when I received my letter."

"Got a star theme going, huh?" Albus noted.

"I don't know if it's a theme exactly," Scorpius mused. He didn't name everything after stars. "But kind of, I guess."

"You like scorpions?" Albus asked.

"Uh." Scorpius had to think for a few seconds. No one had ever asked him that before. It seemed like he ought to have some kind of feeling towards the arachnids, but he'd always associated his name more with the stars than the animal. "I don't have any strong opinions on them. I saw one at the zoo once. I do like stars though."

"What animals do you like then?" Rose asked, brushing back her bangs.

"Oh, I like most of them, I suppose," Scorpius pondered. "I really like owls, cats, dogs, phoenixes are cool, griffons, pegasus, love dragons-"

"Dragons?" Albus burst out, eyes lighting up. "I love dragons!" Oh, wait, should Scorpius not have said that? "What's your favorite breed?"

"Oh, um, I suppose-"

Miraculously, the conversation went smoothly for the rest of the trip. No more angry outbursts or accusations. When the sweets trolley came through, they shared candy, spending a good bit of time testing out the newly released Blooming Bites. Time was flying by. They actually had a lot in common. Rose shared his love of books and magical studies and he and Albus had a surprising amount of common interests: dragons, legends, an eagerness to explorer the castle, they both collected and played Magic and Beasts cards… Scorpius never would have expected it.

When they arrived at the station, Scorpius was sad it was over. This was the most he'd talked to kids his age in... ever. But he'd known this was a one-time thing since they first stepped into the carriage. It was his own fault for getting too attached. He was likely never going to talk to them again.

Or, that is what he'd thought until Albus invited him to ride in their boat. It was so out of nowhere it took a second for Scorpius to process the offer and say yes. Maybe he shouldn't have. Maybe he was giving himself false hope and it was going to hurt all the more when they placed into different houses and he never really interacted with them again. Or worse, they'd drop the act and actively go after him throughout the year. He wouldn't even blame them too much really. They were already much nicer to him than expected.

Scorpius was very aware of all the eyes on him as he sat next to Albus. Even their escort, Hagrid, seemed bewildered. The attention wasn't great, but everyone would forget about this after the sorting and Scorpius could do his best to melt into the wall. He hoped the ceremony would be over with quickly.