Third Year

Rose loved having dinner with the Potters. There was something warm and wholesome about their house, with its wooden interior and squashy armchairs, that made her feel peaceful and at ease. Then there was the fun of spending time with her cousins; as much as Rose loved Hugo, he was only eleven and still a baby as far as she was concerned. She got along much better with Albus and James, and she could talk about school stuff with them as well. All Hugo ever wanted to talk about was the Chudley Cannons.

At the moment they were in the middle of eating, and Rose was feeling satisfyingly full of Sunday roast. Not that she would ever tell her mother, but an extra perk of coming to the Potters was getting to eat her Aunt Ginny's cooking. Preparing food was about the only thing Hermione Granger had never quite mastered. That, and flying.

"So," said Harry, his warm green eyes scanning the children seated around him. "Now that Christmas is over you must all be excited to get back to studying, hey?"

There was a collective groan around the table.

"No way," muttered James. He speared spitefully into a potato. "I intend to make these next two weeks count."

"You'll be taking your OWLs soon, won't you James?" asked Hermione. "Ah, I remember my OWLs, such fun."

Rose rolled her eyes. She hoped her mother wasn't going to start daydreaming about her exams again.

"Feel free to take mine for me if you want," James said to Hermione, who chuckled.

"Oh, you'll be fine. And Lily and Hugo have their first exams this year too. And Albus and Rose, you'll be studying hard as well of course. My, it will be a busy time, won't it?" There was the faintest hint of envy in Hermione's voice.

"Er-my-nee's alweady wishin she wa' ba' dere," mumbled Ron, his mouth full of food.

"Ron, don't talk with your mouth full!"

"Di-n't."

"Ronald! You're setting a bad example to the children!" Hermione shot him a look and Ron swallowed guiltily.

"Third year?" said Harry suddenly, startling them. Rose saw him glance at Ron and Hermione; the three friends shared a look, as if remembering a common memory. "Time sure flies."

"Tell me about it," said Ron mournfully, running a hand through his thinning hair. "Those were the days. Remember Hermione taking too many classes, and needing to use that – what was it called?"

"Time-Turner."

"Yeah, needing to use the 'Time-Turner' every single day." Ron shook his head. "You'd just keep disappearing and then reappearing somewhere else. Made you do strange things too, like storm out on Professor Trelawney." Rose raised her eyebrows, unable to envisage a scenario where her mother left class voluntarily. "And – the look on Malfoy's face when you punched him!"

There was a sudden clatter. Albus had knocked his knife off the table. While he was ducking down to retrieve it, the four adults shared a meaningful look.

"And – and that was the year Gryffindor finally won the Cup," Ginny said, clearly fishing for a different topic. "Wood was so pleased."

"Only after Malfoy tried to grab hold of your broom though, little cheat," muttered Ron. Hermione hissed at him, and he reddened.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Rose looked from one adult to the other. She knew they were avoiding talk of Draco Malfoy for Albus' sake. It had been such a huge shock when he was sorted into Slytherin, but everyone was trying to be as positive as possible about it. That included not badmouthing any Slytherins, which Ron in particular found difficult to accept.

"Dad," came Albus' voice after a while, sounding very uncertain.

"Yes son."

"Third year was the year you found out about Sirius Black, wasn't it?"

The air around the table suddenly tensed, and Rose leaned forward, eyes keened on her uncle. They didn't often speak of Sirius; he had died when her parents were still in school, and she knew they didn't like to talk about it. She wondered why Albus had brought him up, until she heard his next words.

"Sirius was a – a pureblood, wasn't he?"

Harry looked a little surprised, but nodded. "Yes he was."

"And – and his whole family were in Slytherin, weren't they?" Rose, who had by now latched on to Albus' train of thought, was glaring furiously at her cousin. But he ignored her. He seemed determined to finish now that he had started. And he had the whole table's attention. Even Lily and Hugo had looked up from their own whispered conversation.

"That's right. Sirius was the first of his family to be sorted into Gryffindor," Harry patted his son's shoulder. "Not that there's anything wrong with being in Slytherin."

"So…Sirius Black is proof that you shouldn't judge someone only by their family, right Dad?"

"Oh for Merlin's sake Albus!" Ginny put down her knife and fork and stared sternly at her son. "Spit it out, would you?"

Albus lifted his chin. "I was wondering if Scorpius Malfoy could come and stay with us these holidays?"

There was a stunned reaction to his words. Ron choked on the wine he was drinking, spraying his plate with crimson droplets. Hermione rushed to pat him on the back, eyebrows raised into her hairline. Harry and Ginny looked at each other. Blank surprise was written all over their faces. Although they knew Albus and Scorpius were in the same House, nobody had told them just how close the pair had become during their two and a half years at Hogwarts. Inseparable, many of the teachers described them, but that hadn't yet translated back to the Potter household. Rose rolled her eyes; of course he had to ask his parents while she was there. Well, if he thought she was going to stick up for his unfortunate choice of friends, he had another thing coming.

"Scorpius Malfoy?" Ron had recovered from his coughing fit and was now staring at Albus as if he had gone mad. "As in, Draco Malfoy's son?"

Albus nodded.

"But – why would you – what – friends?" her father seemed incapable of proper communication.

"Oh hush Ron," said Hermione. "I think it's wonderful that the two of you get along Albus. Although I do wonder – " she broke off, and glanced at Harry. "It's just, well, what would his father say about Scorpius coming here?"

"Probably disown him," said Ron darkly. "Fraternising with the enemy, and all that."

"Scorpius said it would be fine," Albus retorted, his cheeks pink. "He's already asked his parents and they said it would be okay, as long as you agreed. And you do agree, don't you?"

Harry and Ginny exchanged nervous glances.

"You have to understand, Albus, that it's very difficult for us. His father – "

"But Scorpius isn't like his father. And besides, I bet Draco's not that bad."

Ron seemed to be having trouble breathing. "Not that bad…not that bad…"

"What do you think James?" Harry looked to his eldest son. James had been glowering into his plate all through the conversation. "You've met Scorpius Malfoy. What's he like?"

James looked between his father and brother. "Well…he's a bit of an arrogant twerp if you ask me." Albus' face fell. "But…" he shrugged painfully. "I suppose he's not that bad." Albus grinned.

"Rose?" she blinked and looked at her father. Ron was giving her a piercing look. "What about you? You're in the same year, what do you think?"

"I – well, I –" she looked at Albus and saw the plea in his eyes. It made her angry. This wasn't how things were meant to be. She and Albus had grown up together, they were best friends, cousins…they were supposed to be fellow Gryffindors. Why did he have to go and screw everything up? "I…" What could she honestly say about Scorpius Malfoy? Even though she hung out with Albus all the time, and he was almost always there with them, Rose had hardly spoken five words to him since the day of their sorting. In general she just pretended he didn't exist, and he did likewise. "I…think he's a typical Slytherin."

"Rose!" Hermione looked scandalised at her daughter's response, but her father grinned and ruffled her hair. Albus was staring at her as if she had committed a sin of ultimate betrayal. She bit her lip and focused on her plate.

There was a long silence, punctuated by the sounds of eating. Then Lily spoke, in her childish sing-song voice. "I like Scorpius because he helped me when I was lost."

Everyone besides Rose laughed, and the tension in the air seemed to lift. "Well," said Harry. "That settles it, then. Albus, tell Scorpius he's welcome to come and stay."

"Thanks Dad," Albus slid out of his seat, beaming. "I'll go tell him straight away."

The end of the Christmas break drew nearer, and, with no mention of visiting the Potters again, Rose began to think she would return to Hogwarts without actually seeing Scorpius. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. Of course, she was glad not to have to interact with him, but she missed Albus. The two of them were usually inseparable during the holidays. And she didn't want her parents to think she couldn't handle it.

Then, four days before they were due to go back to school, Rose overheard her parents arguing in the kitchen. She froze mid-step, knowing instantly what they were talking about.

"…shouldn't force them," her dad was saying.

"Oh for heaven's sake Ron, it's just dinner. No one's forcing them to do anything. Besides, it'll be good for Rose and Hugo, and I know Albus would appreciate it. It must be hard for him, being the only one not in Gryffindor. The lease we could do is be nice to his friends."

"Percy's kids are in Ravenclaw, and you don't see us going round to have dinner with their friends," Ron's voice had the faint edge of clutching at straws.

"This is different and you know it!"

There was a heavy, begrudging sigh. "But it's Malfoy."

"No, Ron, it's Malfoy's son. Draco won't be there, and we don't have to have anything to do with his family. It's not like we're being asked to go and dine at Malfoy Manor!" Hermione slammed the fridge door with more force than was strictly necessary, and there was a clatter as something fell off a shelf.

"Well…" Ron was clearly wavering. "If he says anything to you or the kids…"

"Ginny says he's been nothing but the pinnacle of good manners since he got there. Come on darling, it'll be fine."

There was a short silence. "Fine," Rose could almost see her father conceding defeat. "I suppose one dinner won't kill us."

"That's my man."

Grimacing, Rose hurried up the stairs before she had to endure the sound of her parents kissing.

Dinner was going smoothly enough. There had been a few awkward moments, mostly caused by Ron, but in general the conversation flowed easily and everyone seemed in pretty good spirits. Even her dad didn't seem too perturbed by it all, although he was certainly more uptight than usual.

Rose was watching Scorpius closely out of the corner of her eye while she picked at her meal. He seemed comfortable enough, and friendly, and altogether normal, but she was sure he was up to something. Once or twice he glanced up and caught her gaze, causing her to scowl and look down at her plate. But mostly he just chatted with Albus, or answered the grown-ups' questions. On the opposite side of the table, Lily was sending shy smiles in his direction every few minutes, and giggling whenever she was involved in the conversation. Rose rolled her eyes. It was ludicrous; he was just a boy, not some kind of mythical god that had apparated in front of them? And he wasn't even that handsome.

"So…what Quidditch team do you support Mal-Scorpius?" asked Ron after a long silence during which Hermione had been giving her husband not so subtle hints to make small talk.

"Falmouth Falcons," answered Scorpius with a grin. "My family's followed them for centuries."

Both Ron and Hugo turned an odd puce colour, while Ginny smiled wickedly.

"Oh, that's nice," she said in a sickly sweet voice, still eyeing her brother. He returned her gaze viciously. "They won on the weekend too, didn't they?"

"Mm-hmm," Scorpius nodded, oblivious to Ron's reaction. "Thrashed the Chudley Cannons, 700 – 0. Mind you, we always thrash the Cannons. I don't think they've lost by under 150 points against us for –"

"Arghgahdabogoda!" shouted Ron suddenly, startling everyone.

"Sorry?" Scorpius eyed Ron as if he had sprouted another limb. "I – uh – didn't catch that."

"What-what department did you say your father worked in?" asked Hermione hurriedly, before Ron could recover. Rose was sure she already knew the answer.

Scorpius looked disappointed in the change of topic, but merely shrugged and answered, "Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Law Enforcement," snorted Ron, his skin shade returning to normal. "That's ironic." There was a dull thud as Hermione kicked him under the table.

"And his mother's a lead designer for Abbot & Rem's in London," Ginny told Hermione, whose eyes widened in a sort of suppressed glee. Harry and Ron rolled their eyes at each other. Abbot & Rem was a high end boutique clothing store famous with the upper crust of wizarding society. Rose had never even been in one of their stores.

"And how is your father these days?" asked Ron with a twisted smile. "Old Draco, eh? Who would've thought?"

"He's well," Scorpius either didn't notice Ron's strange tone or chose to ignore it. "Although I think sometimes he gets a little lonely. With the death of Grandfather – "

"Lucius?" Harry interrupted sharply. "Lucius is dead?"

"Yes, he died just three months ago," his voice tightened, as if the memory were painful to him. Well, thought Rose spitefully, he would be close to his grandfather, wouldn't he? His murdering, treacherous, blood purist grandfather…

"Where?" asked Ron a little bullishly.

"At home, at Malfoy Manor" Scorpius' jaw stiffened imperceptibly. Ron's insinuation had not been lost on him. "So it's been hard for Father, and for Grandma." He shifted in his seat. "Dad always wanted more children, but Mum said it would ruin her figure. It's tradition anyway, so…"

Ginny was looking at Scorpius with such sympathy it made Rose want to puke. "It must be hard, without any brothers or sisters?"

"Not that there's anything wrong with being an only child," said Hermione primly. Ginny pursed her lips.

"Well, it's been a real pleasure having you here Scorpius," said Harry, breaking the sudden tension. "And you're more than welcome back. I wasn't sure at first, but you've certainly lived up to Albus' recommendation."

"Thank you sir," Scorpius smiled. He looked different somehow, almost younger, when he did. "My father told me once that you're the bravest man he ever knew, and I think he's probably right."

There was a stunned silence. Even Ron seemed lost for words, while Hermione's eyes had filled with tears. Albus muttered something to Scorpius and the two of them stood up. "We're going to go outside for a bit." He looked at Rose. "Coming?"

Acutely aware of all the eyes on her, Rose nodded stiffly, slid out of her chair, and followed the two boys outside.

"Can I go too mum?" she heard Lily ask behind her.

"You finish your dinner," snapped Ginny.