Draco and Lily did everything behind closed doors. His potions were sometimes very dangerous and Draco faked almost all the information he sent to McGonagall regarding the service. From the first dark potion Draco saw in Lily something he had never seen other than in his own parents and it was the radiant excitement of brewing a toxic potion. This time, while they waited for the right time to put out her cauldron off the fire, her cheeks turned red, her hands sweated and trembled, she bit her lower lip and her chest moved heavily with excitement. When he gave the go-ahead for her potion she hugged him.
Draco laughed. It was almost funny to him that Potter's children were so different from him. Albus always went above others to get what he wanted. He was a worthy Slytherin, if he didn't look so much like his father he would even adopt him.
And Lily...Lily was different in every way.
She was like...weird for a Potter.
Too instinctive and cunning. There were even times when he thought she should have gone to Slytherin, he was sure of that because she had something...
How to say it? There was something about her that was the same in all self-respecting Slytherins.
A mysterious look, her ability not to show her emotions which (because he had watched her) only surfaced in private, she got excited, she trembled, she smiled when she was in front of the cauldron. But in his walk, sure, confident, with her friends around her, she didn't, she withdrew. She smiled yes, but she wasn't entirely honest, it was as if she was always taking care of something, like an instinct for self-preservation.
Draco found himself thinking of her again, it was a curious thing because he almost didn't think about his students, he was good at what he did, he was good at explaining, it didn't matter if his students were paying attention or not, those who were interested were getting better notes and those that weren't, weren't. Simple as that, he supposed it was because he spent a lot of time with her, three hours every other day. That was, in the end, nine hours more than with any other student. He spent a lot more time with her than he did with Scorpius because he had training, he was a good chaser, and he also had to study for NEWTs and spend time with Albus. Mostly.
Draco smiled.
Last week Lily and he had seen something curious. It was Albus's birthday and as expected his son was going crazy in Hogsmeade looking for the perfect gift for Albus, in the end, he decided to give him a silver bracelet (because gold was for Gryffindors and therefore not acceptable) it had olive leaves motives on it and, curiously, Lily and Draco who were walking away from the forbidden section of the library, walking in the gardens towards the dungeons they saw Albus and Scorpius.
For some reason they both decided to hide nearby to listen, they didn't even agree, they just ran silently to hide and see.
Scorpius sat next to Albus, wearing his Quidditch uniform, wet hair, and red face.
"You finished early," Albus said closing the book he was reading, probably one about magical creatures.
" I asked for permission to retire before but of course, Adalbert only let me go after crushing me with bludgers. Happy Birthday." Scorpius said giving Albus a hug. Albus smiled and returned the hug, he seemed really happy.
"Thanks...so, you left early to spend the afternoon with me...what do you want to do?" Scorpius searched through his clothes and pulled out a small paper bag, handing it to Albus.
"Your present." Albus opened the small paper packet and took out the bracelet.
"Ohh wow. It's really beautiful, thanks." He smiled.
"Put it on." Scorpius asked but the brunette shook his head. He pulled the wand out of his tunic instead.
" I've been practicing something I want to try."
"I don't think it's a good idea Al..." Then a light came out of the wand and the bracelet broke, it looked like an illuminated ring, then each piece twisted into rings.
"Two identical rings, from the same bracelet. One for each one." Albus then took Scorpius's hand and placed the ring on it. Scorpius was smirking. "Now we can go and get lost out there. Maybe we should go to the dungeons to leave your broom."
" OK. " The two got up slowly, one more embarrassed than the other, they looked first at the ground and then towards the front. They walked slowly towards Slytherin territory.
" If they don't declare themselves, I'm going to pull out the little hair I have left," Draco said, coming around the column.
Lily laughed.
"Dad is going to lose his hair if they ever propose. He doesn't want to think about it. He wants to keep thinking that Albus can somehow go back to being normal."
Draco snorted.
"Your father still doesn't like the Malfoys very much, huh?" Lily got up.
"It's not because he's a Malfoy, it's about Albus, Dad thinks about it like it's another stripe to the tiger, somethings else is out of place, Dad and Albus already have a very difficult relationship, they are not like you and Scorpius, I mean, you're strict but you're kind and kindness seems like a code between the two of you. Dad just wants his children to be calm, easy to read, and to not cause problems, but he doesn't get to understand Albus, he has a certain understanding with James, their personalities are different but they fit, instead Al is just as stubborn as him, and if you add the same explosive temperament as my mom, they collide."
" You watch your family a lot." They both took the books firmly in their hands and walked again, slowly, towards the laboratory in the dungeons.
" I started doing it when Al entered Hogwarts, Al...became distant, nobody understood him, he suffered being here and being at home, he was a snake surrounded by lions and my cousins and my brother always blamed him for it and Dad...it's like he was pushing Albus to enjoy it, but it's hard to enjoy when all eyes are looking at you. When someone has expectations and you want to meet them because if you don't, it feels like...like...
" As if you were useless."
" Well." Lily laughed. "Yes." And she looked at him with smiling eyes.
" Do you feel like that sometimes?"
"Well, yes. The only one who came to terms with it is James...Dad says James is just as extroverted as the grandpa, but Al and I are more like normal."
" Who are the ones who really have those expectations?
" Everyone." She blurted out tiredly. "Dad expects me to be a good daughter, mom expects that I have enough character to walk among all those people who look at me and point at me, my grandparents also have their expectations, they want me to be a Muggle lover as them, my uncles want me to be nice and adventurous, even James has his expectations about me and about Albus..."
" Are you sure? Aren't you the one with all those expectations? I mean... Isn't it you who is forcing yourself to be good at everything because you think that's what others want?"
" Projecting yourself, professor?"
" Of course I do, I know more than anyone the damage that expectations entail but somehow I can't imagine Potter having expectations of his children beyond passing the NEWTs and the OWL's. He was a more or less a mediocre student." Lily looked up at him with an unreadable expression. Draco smiled. " Sorry, habit. It's true, though. but what I'm getting at, is that he doesn't know what parental expectations are, he was an orphan, I don't think he has them."
She made an indignant gesture.
"That's pretty cruel."
" Hey, I was his classmate, I know what I'm talking about. Plus you should be happy about it."
" Did your parents have high expectations of him?"
" They had them and I can say that they ruined my life. I did everything my father wanted but I never lived up to his expectations and the sad situation is that even now I care... I still wait for the moment when he tells me 'I'm proud of you' And you don't know the damage that It has made me wait. Potter would never hurt his children like that, I'm sure of that. Go calm through life. Enjoy it."
Lily smiled.
" There is no doubt that the Malfoys are political animals. They insult and flatter at the same time." She said.
Draco opened the lab door letting her in first like a real gentleman. And like every day he moved the high chair for her to sit on. Lily felt happy, no boy, at least not in her class, did that kind of thing for her.
" You would be surprised. There's a whole book of Malfoy's history in the library. Read it if you want to learn how to do politics from tearooms, men's clubs, and parties." They both smiled at each other and proceeded with that day's task.
They started with that day's potion. Black solution. Curiously, it was a white colored potion, but after it has been finished you only have 20 minutes to cover it, because at minute 21 it was considered ripe and a ripe black solution, when it came into contact with air it turned into a gas and left Temporarily blind whoever is in range. It was one of those potions that they tested on laboratory rats, because the professor was insistent on confirming the efficacy of the potion.
It was again, a great potion.
o-o-o-o-o
Draco had been teaching for a month now, it was right at the beginning of October. Headmistress McGonagall had been pestering them about the preparations for the Samhain ball. A new tradition (well, not new, it was nine years old but he didn't know about it and Scorpius had never mentioned it to him, he must have spent the night locked up with Potter staring at the ceiling counting his collection of chocolate frog stickers).
Balls... Draco had only been to one at Hogwarts but at home, he sure had had quite a few every year. He was a great dancer, it had been at a ball where he met Astoria and that's why he was very fond of them. Especially abroad, when the entire delegation of Malfoys went out to live with associates in other countries because that was where Scorpius could be calm and even dance with several girls without feeling singled out. However, a Ball at Hogwarts being a teacher...means staying up all night babysitting horny brats." He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
" It's going to be complicated." He finally said deciding that he should go to the dungeons because soon it would be time to be with Lily. At least that was the part of the day that he liked the most.
