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Chapter Text

Albus rummaged around his dresser for a clean t-shirt. Despite him having everything neatly folded at one point in time, everything ended up wadded together and wrinkled by the time it came to wear them. Somehow the clean and dirty clothes entwined themselves in an indecipherable heap. 

He grabbed a promising looking black shirt. It was plain. It boasted no Quidditch teams or school houses. Just a nondescript black. Not even the darkest of blacks. It had a faded quality that matched the wrinkles and small hole over the left shoulder. 

He smelled it. Seems okay, he thought, and he pulled it over his head, messing up his dark hair. He ran his fingers through it to calm the flyaways. People often told him that he looked a lot like his dad with his dark hair disheveled that way, which was something he tried to avoid. So he tried to keep it neat and often opted to wear colors that would bring out the bits of auburn that underlay the dark brown. Nothing did that more than the green in his school uniform, his Slytherin house robes which had driven an even deeper wedge between himself and his father. 

“Oh honey, you can’t wear that. It’s torn.”

Albus jumped slightly. He hadn’t known his mother was standing there. 

“It’s fine. At least it’s clean!” he countered. 

Ginny put a hand in Albus’s drawer and pulled out several balled up shirts. She grimaced. “I don’t know how you can tell in this mess.”

Albus reached out and tugged the shirts from her hand and shoved them back into the drawer. He attempted to slam it closed, but the disorderly pile jammed the tracks. 

Ginny sighed, “I had always hoped you’d grow out of this phase, Al. You’re going to be thirteen in just a few weeks. You need to take better care of your things. This room,” she spun around and gestured with her hands, “I thought I told you to pick it up before your friend arrives.”

“I did!” argued Albus. 

Ginny raised her eyebrows incredulously. “It looks like a nearsighted troll crashed through here.”

“Scorpius won’t mind.”

“ You should mind. Now he’ll be here in less than an hour. Don’t come downstairs until it’s picked up.”

“Mum, couldn’t you just…” his voice trailed off when he saw her face. He knew better than to ask her to cast a tidying spell. It was one of the first things he planned on doing once he came of age. “Okay, I’ll clean things up.”

Ginny patted him on the shoulder. “And change your shirt,” she gently directed before she walked out of the room. 

Albus sighed and began picking up some of his many piles. Scorpius had been Albus’s roommate at Hogwarts the previous year, so he was well aware of Albus’s shortcomings and penchant for messiness. Still, maybe his mum was right, and it would be best to make a nice impression on his friend’s first visit to his home. 

He moved his half packed school trunk into a corner out of the way. Albus had waited nearly all summer to spend time with his best friend. Unfortunately, Scorpius’s mum had fallen seriously ill three times that summer, and he couldn’t bear to be away. Her condition had stabilized and he finally felt comfortable enough to leave. There were only two weeks left of summer, but Scorpius’s dad had agreed to let him stay for five days. 

Ginny had been strategic, too, about which week he could come to stay. There was still a lot of tension between Albus and his father over his choice of friends. Also, she feared a confrontation between her husband and his childhood nemesis, Draco Malfoy, when he came to drop off his son. Therefore, she carefully chose a week when she knew Harry would be away on assignment to avoid any unnecessary unpleasantness. She knew it could only be avoided for so long, especially if the boys were to remain close friends throughout their years at Hogwarts, but she thought it best to ease into the eventual conflict. In the end, it may not have proved to be the wisest decision as it would keep Harry from getting to know his son’s friend, and not dispel the prejudices he harbored against the boy. Not only was he the son of his bully, but he had gotten Albus accused of cheating the year before. He had never really forgiven Scorpius for dragging Albus into trouble, and still had his doubts about the boy’s honesty. 

It was sadly a stark difference from how Draco had handled the situation. Although Scorpius had confessed to the cheating, he had done so only to give Albus a second chance to take the test. Albus had written to Draco before the end of their previous school year to explain the situation and make it clear that Scorpius didn’t cheat. Draco had very formally responded and stated he knew his son didn’t cheat, but he respected Albus’s explanation and thought him to be very honorable. He mentioned something also about Albus displaying the true fraternal nature of Slytherins, but he wasn’t sure how that part of the letter made him feel. Albus was still trying to accept that unlike his Gryffindor family, he was part of the rival house, forever to be different from everyone else.  More or less, though, he felt that Draco bid him no ill feelings and was more welcoming to him than his father was of Scorpius. Albus hoped one day that would change, but his father wasn’t really budging on that front just yet. At least his mother understood and had convinced Harry to be a little more open minded. If Albus had known about how much they had truly argued over Scorpius staying at their house for a few days, his heart would have broken. He hated the idea of being the cause of any strife between his parents. He already felt enough like the black sheep of the family without the fear that he would cause his parents to fight. Ginny knew her son’s sensitive heart and was careful to cast the Muffliato charm to keep Albus from overhearing. 

“What’cha doin’, Al-bear?” His sister leaned inquisitively into the room, hanging gracefully off the side of the door jam. She was lean like a ballerina and just as strong. She would definitely be carrying on the athletic legacy of his parents. 

“Er, just cleaning up my room, Lilly Billy,” he replied.

She chuckled, “You sure about that?”

Not only did the room still totally look like a disaster, but Albus was not actively picking it up. He instead was flipping through his annual from the previous year. It had been lying in the corner, and while he had fully intended on putting it back on his book shelf, he became distracted by the book and completely forgot about the tidying task. Albus didn’t have particularly fond memories of his past year at Hogwarts, save meeting his first real friend. He had been the only one to even sign his yearbook. It wasn’t a very long message, but it always brought a smile to Albus’s face when he read the perfectly elegant script:

Thanks for staying for my sweets, Albus. And for being my very best friend! -–Scorpius 

“I guess I got sidetracked,” confessed Albus. He flipped through the yearbook one last time as he walked it over to his bookshelf. Then he stopped dead in his tracks. He spotted something he had never seen before. Scrawled in ugly letters on one of the pages was the word SQUIB in all caps. He scowled. He had probably left it unattended in the Slytherin common room. While anyone could have done it, he had a couple of ideas on who it might have been. 

“What is it, Albus?” asked Lily, concerned. 

He slammed the book shut and jammed it onto the shelf. “Nothing,” he lied. Plastering a fake smile, he turned to his sister. “You want to help me clean up my room?”

She wrinkled her nose, “Not really.”

“C’mon, Lils. I’ll let you ride my broom,” he coaxed. 

She rolled her eyes. “I’m the only one who does anyway. You’ll never use it.”

Albus nodded in agreement. “Well, you’re right about that.” His father had gotten him an early gift for his birthday and start of his second year at Hogwarts. Likely it was in hopes that Albus would actually improve his flying, or at least find some interest in it.  His marks in his flying class had been dismal, and he had been practically ordered by his professor to practice over the summer. Harry thought maybe having his own broom would make practice more palatable for Albus. It had not. 

“If you are looking for the next family flying prodigy, look at Lily,” Albus had suggested. 

“You sister is only ten and will have her chance. But you need to learn this,” Harry had demanded. 

“Sorry to be yet another disappointment,” Albus had raised his voice angrily. 

In the end, Ginny had to break up their argument. Harry had been practically fuming, and Albus was on the verge of tears. 

Now the broom was just gathering dust in the corner by Albus’s half packed trunk for school. 

“Well, next year, you can just have it, Lily,” Albus persuaded. 

Lily left the door jam and glided into the room, side stepping a pile of their Aunt Hermione’s Muggle albums he had strewn across the floor. She put her arm on Albus’s shoulder. She was nearly his height now, despite being almost two and a half years younger. A fact that had not escaped his older brother James who had teased him about that all summer. Lily never mentioned it, though. She adored Albus, though he was too wrapped up in his teenage insecurity to realize it. 

Lily looked earnestly at her brother, “You and I both know that Dad would never go for that, but I will help you with your room. You have to promise to come to all my quidditch matches when I’m at Hogwarts.”

“I would have done that anyway,” Albus remarked. 

She shrugged. “Yeah, I know, but now it’s official,” she giggled. And without needing any more convincing, she plopped down on the floor to start neatly stacking the albums. 

Albus grinned and turned to a pile of laundry that had never made its way to his closet and began hanging it up. Lily helped keep him focused whenever it looked like he was about to get sidetracked. The only other person who had ever been able to do that in a non-condescending way was Scorpius, and Albus greatly appreciated it. In less than thirty minutes, the room was looking remarkably improved. 

It was impeccable timing because just as they finished and left the room, a firm knock resounded on their front door. Albus grinned at Lily, “He’s here!” He took off in a flash and bounded down the stairs. When he arrived at the bottom, he raced for the door and nearly collided with James coming out of the kitchen. 

“Hey, watch it there, Thumbelina!” he cried. 

Albus turned to glare at him. James’s new nickname for him made his blood boil, but this wasn’t the time to start a fight. 

Albus arrived at the front door just as Ginny did. He stepped aside as she pulled it open. 

Scorpius stood there with a small bag on his shoulder. Draco Malfoy stood beside him stiffly. His face was stern, but Scorpius exuded enough joy to fill a cathedral. 

“Hey Albus! ” he squealed loudly. 

Draco shook his head slightly and quietly whispered in a warning tone, “Scorpius.”

“Oh, sorry,” Scorpius modulated his volume and turned to Ginny. “Hello Mrs. Potter. Thank you for inviting me.” He stuck out his hand. 

Ginny shook his hand graciously and smiled. “Hello, Scorpius. We are happy to have you.” She turned to Draco. “Thank you for bringing him.” She did not offer to let him come in or a hand to shake. 

Feeling the awkwardness, Albus shook his hand instead. “Thanks for letting Scorpius stay, Mr. Malfoy.”

He nodded, but his eyes caught the hole in Albus’s shirt. The side of his mouth curled wickedly. 

Ginny colored. During the entirety of her school days, Draco had tormented her family for being poor. True, Ron had received the brunt of it, but Ginny was never far out of earshot and heard many of the snide remarks. Draco’s father had made a mockery of her parents, and Draco had carried on the family legacy of looking down upon the Weasley clan. All she needed was for him to think that she couldn’t afford to properly clothe her children. “You know how hard boys play,” she deflected quickly while casting Albus an annoyed glance. 

“Hmmm, I suppose.” Draco looked away from Albus and back to Ginny. He cleared his throat nervously. “I was hoping…is your husband home? I need to speak with him.”

Albus and Ginny exchanged curious looks. 

“I’m sorry…um Draco…Mr. Malfoy…Harry isn’t at home.” She shifted on her feet. Generally, Ginny didn’t let anyone unnerve her. She never had much dealings with Draco, but she was thrown more off guard by his unsettled demeanor. She more wished to see his flamboyant bullish behavior that she remembered from their youth. That was something she could handle. His request to see Harry might have not bothered her as much if he had been demanding or rude. “Is something wrong?” she asked with growing concern. 

Draco cleared his throat again. “It’s really something I need to talk to him about…privately. Do you know when he’ll be in?”

She shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t. I’m expecting he’ll be away all week, but I can write to him and let him know you need to see him.”

He nodded curtly. “Please do, Mrs. Potter.” He turned to Scorpius and put his hand on the back of his neck. Giving it a gentle squeeze, he said, “I want you to be on your best behavior for the Potters, and, er…” he stammered slightly. Albus noticed the flicker of embarrassment in his eye. He understood. The Malfoys had always been trained to be refined and stoic. They weren’t supposed to betray sentimentality in public. Draco finally just composed himself and said, “And have fun.”

Scorpius looked at him with abject admiration. “Bye, Dad. I’ll miss you. I love you.”

Draco patted his arm and very quietly said, “Love you, too.” He nodded to Ginny and said his polite goodbyes before leaving their porch and heading to the apparition point just off their property. 

Albus grabbed Scorpius’s arm and dragged him into the house. Ginny chuckled a bit while she closed the door. 

“Do you want anything to eat, Scorpius?” she asked. 

“No, thank you, Mrs. Potter,” he returned politely. 

“Okay, well, there’s fruit and snacks in the kitchen. You can help yourself whenever you want.”

“Thank you.” Scorpius smiled. 

“Have fun boys. If you go out, be back before six.”

“Okay, Mum,” Albus said. Turning to his friend he asked, “Want to see my room?”

Scorpius nodded enthusiastically. 

As Albus led the way up the stairs, they walked past James who was leaning against the banister eating an apple. His slender frame made the fourteen year old seem even taller than he was compared to the two friends. The addition of a pompadour gave him another set of inches as well.  At school, he was admired for his brains and respected among not just the Gryffindors but the majority of the other houses, too. He earned the most points for his house each year. He could be intimidating when he wanted to be, for he also carried that fiery Gryffindor spirit always about with him. Albus was dwarfed by him both physically and metaphorically. The one he could never live up to, in addition to his savior father. To Albus’s greatest annoyance, everyone seemed to love James and always overlooked when he said or did anything that bent the rules. 

“Hi, James!” Scorpius greeted cheerfully.

James nodded back. “Malfoy,” he returned politely but with much less enthusiasm. 

Albus rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Scorp.” He pulled him by his arm up the stairs. He whispered under his breath. “He’s been so insufferable this summer. I think he might have a girlfriend. He spends forever in the bathroom that we all have to share.” He giggled. “That’s like the thirteenth hairstyle he’s experimented with this summer. He looks ridiculous!”

Scorpius shrugged, “It wasn’t… that bad.” He made the mistake of looking Albus in the eye because then they both erupted into giggles. 

“Shhhh…” Albus tried in vain to shush him while ushering Scorpius into his room. “So this is it. It’s kinda a mess. Believe it or not it was worse.”

“Oh, I believe it, mate.” Scorpius bit his lip. “Sorry, Albus… I wasn’t trying to be–”

“Nah, I know. I know.” Albus brushed it off. “As you can see my Dad had high hopes for me.” He gestured at his maroon and gold comforter on his bed. “Actually it was James’s. My Dad passed it down to me last year when he let James redecorate his room.”

“That’s cool,” Scorpius observed. 

Albus wrinkled his nose, “No, it’s not. I never get anything new. I just get all of James’s cast offs. And then Lily gets all new stuff because she’s, well, you know, a girl.”

“I dunno. I would think it would be kind of special to share things. All your stuff has history.”

Albus rolled his eyes. “Of course you would like that idea.”

Scorpius started to scan the room. It had a lived-in quality that appealed to him. His own room was required to be kept so pristine that it felt stark and cold compared to Albus’s inviting disorganization. Instead of feeling like an antiseptic hospital, it had a sense of true warmth despite the messiness. There was a hodgepodge of piles and half started projects in just about every corner. Scorpius picked up canvas with what looked like the beginnings of a dragon painted on it. He raised his eyebrows and looked over his shoulder at Albus. “What’s this?”

“Nothing.” Albus tried to take it from his hands as his ears grew pink from embarrassment, but Scorpius held on firmly.  “I should throw it out. I thought I’d try painting, but I was terrible at it, so I gave up.”

Scorpius set it gingerly down. “Don’t throw it out. If it’s just your first try, it’s not going to be perfect.”

“I already lost interest in it. I’ve already moved onto the next thing.”

“Mmmm, okay.” Scorpius scanned the room. He saw a potion set gathering dust, a gem collection with just four stones, and a camera that he guessed had more than half a roll of film left. “So which one of these is your thing now?”

Albus collapsed on the bed. “All of them…and none of them. I don’t know, Scorp. I’ll think that something is really cool, and I want to go all in on it. But…I don’t know. Something’s probably wrong with me because I just can’t stay interested. Probably why my Dad just gives me all of James’s stuff now. They don’t want to waste any more galleons on my ‘half baked ideas,’ as my Dad calls them.”

“Well, my mum says–”

“‘I just have to find my thing,’” Albus recited the oft repeated phrase. “I know. So…um…how is your mum?”

Scorpius swallowed and looked down at his feet. “She’s okay. It was a tough summer. She’s okay now.”

“You know, Scorpius, if you want to talk about it–”

“She’s okay,” he echoed. 

Albus nodded. “Okay,” he whispered quietly. He didn’t want to push his friend, but he knew that Scorpius really needed to talk to somebody. He shouldn’t have to carry all that fear alone. He knew it had to be crushing him, but Scorpius always put on a happy face and tried to convince everyone that nothing was ever wrong. 

Just then Lily swept through the door, breaking the tension just in time. “Hi!” she trilled. “Remember me? From the train station?”

Scorpius brightened. “Hi, Lily. Nice to see you again.”

She looked at Albus. “What are you going to do today? It’s so boring up here,” she added. “Let’s go to the pool!”

“Ummm…well…” pondered Albus. He wasn’t sure Scorpius was ready for not only a Muggle hang-out, but a very unsophisticated public pool. It was only recently starting to dawn on Albus that his friend came from a very different social class than his own. What if he is absolutely appalled , worried Albus. 

“That sounds great!” agreed Scorpius. 

“I don’t know if you’d like it, Scorp. It’s just a neighborhood pool. A Muggle pool.”

“Yeah, sounds great! Let’s go!”

Lily whooped. “I’ll see you downstairs in five minutes.”

“You sure about this, Scorp?” asked Albus. 

“Sure, why not.” Scorpius shrugged. 

“What would your Dad say?”

“Probably nothing. I mean, I don’t think he’d like it himself, but…you’re not worried about me getting in trouble, are you.” It wasn’t a question. “You don’t want to go.”

“No, I mean. It’s fine.” Albus absentmindedly poked at his side. “I mean, you really want to hang out with my kid sister all day?”

“Yeah, it sounds great.” Scorpius’s eyes were lit up like a glow bug.

“You’ll discover that baby sisters are super annoying.” However, he knew it was futile to try to dissuade Scorpius from going. Especially with that tactic. Of his entire family, Albus nearly only sang praises of Lily. “Okay, then, let’s go.” He eyed Scorpius’s suitcase. “I don’t suppose you brought anything you can swim in?”

“Hmmm…” Scorpius opened it up. “I mean, I have some shorts.”

Albus shook his head. “No, they are kind of strict. It has to be specifically for swimming.”

“You have some I can borrow?”

Albus looked at his friend. He was far more slender and taller despite being over half a year younger. “Ummm…” He sighed. “I guess I can ask James. Hold on.”

It was closer to ten minutes when they finally joined Lily at the bottom of the stairs who was impatiently waiting in her bright yellow swimming costume. “Finally!” she cried exasperatedly. “I almost left without you.” She held out towels she had fetched for the boys while she was waiting. 

They began the walk to the community pool. It was just over a 3km walk, so Lily had an opportunity to chatter about just every subject. Scorpius didn’t seem to mind though Albus grew annoyed. I haven’t seen my friend all summer and Lily is being such an obnoxious tag-a-long . She bombarded Scorpius with questions about Hogwarts. 

“Albus never wants to talk about it. And when he does, he makes it sound so miserable.”

“Because it is,” grumbled Albus. 

Scorpius arched an eyebrow. “You really think so? It’s not that bad, mate.”

Albus was always surprised that Scorpius could stay so chipper when he had it worse than he did. While Albus experienced some bullying, Scorpius was the victim of absolute hatred and vitriol from students and teachers alike. Yet somehow he spoke fondly of the school that Albus viewed more like a seven year prison sentence than an educational institution. 

When they arrived at the pool, they were asked to rinse down with a hose before getting into the water. 

“You’re going to have to take that off, kid,” said one of the junior lifeguards pointing at Albus’s t-shirt. “No street clothes allowed in the pool.”

“Why’s that?” Scorpius whispered while taking off his shirt without being asked. 

Albus shrugged.

“Because the cotton fibers clog the filters. And the detergent suds up the water,” answered the lifeguard. 

Lily had already performed an Olympic perfect swan dive and was in the pool talking to a few local kids she knew from her Muggle school. 

Albus was still standing awkwardly with his hands around the hem of his shirt.

Scorpius neatly folded his shirt and set it with their towels on an empty shelf provided for the swimmers. He glanced over at Albus and frowned. “Something wrong?”

Albus tugged at a loose thread on his shirt. “No, not at all.” But Albus had dreaded this moment. He had grown so self conscious of his body lately. Maybe it was James’s constant needling about his height or his Uncle Ron ribbing him that he was starting to grow soft in the middle, but Albus’s heightened sense of perfectionism kicked in and he had started to find a million little flaws. His arms were scrawny and he was certain his chest was sunken. Yet, still he pinched at his sides convinced he had love handles. He felt lopsided like a misshapen dwarfed ragdoll. Once he made the mistake of mentioning his concerns outloud. It just gave James more fuel to tease him with, his mother insisted he was perfect, and his father laughed and said only girls were obsessed with their appearance like that and he needed to get over it. Albus never said anything aloud again, but the nagging thoughts still plagued him. He could usually hide his body under baggy clothes, but this was his worst nightmare. 

Scorpius, while he could tell something was bothering his friend, came to the wrong conclusion. “Do you not like swimming? I’m sorry, Albus. I should have realized this wasn’t what you wanted to do.”

Albus’s fingers clenched tighter around the hem. The sound of water splashing and Lily’s laughter blurred around him. It felt like everyone at the pool had stopped to look, even though he knew that was ridiculous. He could feel the fabric of his shirt clinging damply to his chest. “No, it’s fine,” he said too quickly—and yanked the shirt over his head before he could talk himself out of it. And he barrelled toward the deep end of the pool and leaped in before he could draw any eyes on him. Everyone is staring at me, he convinced himself. 

Scorpius followed Albus to the edge of the pool, but he sat down and eased himself over the side carefully instead of jumping in. 

Lily swam over and playfully splashed them both in the face. “Took you long enough!”

As the afternoon wore on, Albus’s insecurities were able to subside enough for him to have fun with his sister and best friend. For Scorpius, it was a truly amazing experience. He had never been exposed to so many kids outside of school before. Unlike the Potter children, he didn’t attend a Muggle school before attending Hogwarts. It was his first real exposure to Muggles and their culture. He was truly fascinated. It fed his super buried desire to break down the walls of magical secrecy between the groups. Such a radical idea that he had to hide it from his family whose bigotry ran deep. Albus was the only one he had ever shared his unconventional ideas with before, and even he had not seemed too keen on the suggestion.  

Scorpius soaked in all he could in an afternoon, learning some of their games and slang. Lily laughed, but was thrilled to have a chance to play teacher. He hung on her every word as he knew it was likely the only chance he would have to learn about the world outside the wizarding realm. His grandfather had strictly forbade him from taking Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, threatening not only a sound whipping but to cut off his family financially. They desperately relied on the Malfoy family money to pay for his mother’s healing care. His father’s name was tainted so much that it was difficult to find honorable employment in the wizarding world, so living off his grandfather’s investments and “generosity” was their only choice. As much as Draco wanted Scorpius to grow up without the same prejudicial values with which he had been raised,  they were still beholden to the wishes of Lucius Malfoy, and Draco warned Scorpius to always be sure to “stay in line.” He probably would have disapproved of Scorpius’s day at the Muggle pool.  Draco had not fully dismissed the ideals he had been taught in his youth, and probably never would completely. Scorpius realized he had better not tell his father about the outing and knew he had better take the best advantage that he could of the opportunity to learn about the world that had been kept so foreign to him. 

The end of the day drew near as the sun grew lower in the sky and the pool closed for the day. Albus pulled his towel tightly around him as they padded back down the road toward the Potter home. Scorpius glowed from the joy of the day as well as a mean sunburn. While Lily and Albus’s more olive toned skin just looked sunkissed, Scorpius’s originally pale face was a deep crimson, especially under his eyes and on his nose. His shoulders and back also appeared to radiate like fire. However, he was too filled with excitement to notice. A deep satisfied exhaustion settled over the trio as will naturally follow a day of swimming. Lily chatted less and they walked in a (mostly) contented silence. 

“We’re home!” announced Lily cheerfully as she entered. 

“Perfect timing,” called Ginny from the kitchen. She strode into the foyer. “Dinner’s about ready. Go on upstairs and change.”

Lily was up the stairs in a flash. 

“Whoa, hold on. Come here, Scorpius,” said Ginny. 

Scorpius obediently shuffled over to her.

“You are scorched. Don’t you have any anti-sun elixir?”

“Er, no,” he answered. 

She whistled. “Well, your father isn’t going to appreciate me letting you get burned like this. Come with me. I might have an ointment that can help. I don’t think I know any healing spells for clearing up burns, but I have a few things in our potions cabinet that might alleviate it a bit. We might have some essence of dittany.” She turned to Albus. “Go on upstairs and change, Al. I’ll send Scorpius up after I treat him.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Potter,” apologized Scorpius. 

“Don’t be silly. It’s not your fault,” she soothed as she led him toward their downstairs lavatory.  “I should have made sure you had protection. You’re so fair.” Her voice trailed off as they went down the hallway. 

Albus smiled to himself. It looked as though he wouldn’t have to worry about his mother accepting Scorpius. Here she was already in full parent mode taking care of him. Way to go, Mum!

At dinner, she loaded up the unsuspecting Scorpius’s plate for him. The Potter children exchanged glances. They all knew better. Their father generally did the cooking for the family. It was never Ginny’s gift. 

“How is it, Scorpius?” she asked. 

He nodded politely. “Oh, it’s very good, Mrs. Potter.”

Lily stifled a laugh, then poked at her food when her mother noticed and furrowed her brow at her. 

“These ones,” Ginny gestured at her kids, “seem to think my cooking is terrible.”

A chorus of “No, Mum” and “We would never say that” and “It’s the best” echoed around the table, but it didn’t sound very convincing. 

“Is your mother a good cook?” asked Ginny.

Scorpius looked down at his plate and pushed the food around nervously. “Well…umm…sometimes when she has the energy to cook…she makes good pastries.” Scorpius grinned to himself thinking of his mother’s sweets. 

“So does your father do the cooking then? Albus’s father really cooks for us most of the time,” Ginny confessed. 

“No.” Scorpius shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “We …er…actually have someone who makes our meals.” If his face hadn’t already been so red from his sunburn, they would have noticed he was blushing fiercely. Scorpius couldn’t help but be embarrassed by his family’s wealth, especially since it was old family money. He didn’t feel it had really been earned. And the parts that had been earned had been acquired through less than savory means. 

James raised a judgemental eyebrow. “House elves,” he accused. 

Scorpius’s head shot up, “No. My grandparents are always trying to get my father to own–employ–have a house elf, but he insists that we can afford to pay for our services. We have a hired housekeeper,” he fervently explained. 

Ginny patted his arm. “It’s okay, Scorpius. You don’t need to defend yourself. No one is on trial here.” She shot a warning look to James who shrugged and went back to picking at his food. He said nothing more, but it made the remainder of the meal rather awkward until Lily at last began chattering about her Hogwarts questions. Albus groaned, but Ginny and Scorpius together answered what they could. 

After dinner, Albus finally got some time alone with Scorpius while they played wizard chess up in his room. They made some more plans for the next four days. Scorpius was interested in what Albus would believe to be so mundane. But Albus needed to remember that Scorpius spent the majority of his life isolated in his home that was like a sterile hospital. He had never interacted with other children growing up. There was always a fear of bringing possible germs into the home that could make his mum sick. Now Scorpius just wanted to experience everything he possibly could. They finally settled on going into the city and going to some of the fun Muggle teen hangouts. Scorpius’s mind was practically boggled by the idea of an arcade. Albus tried his best to explain it to him, but he knew it was just something he had to see for himself. 

“It sounds like fun!” agreed Scorpius while digging through his suitcase. “Here it is!” He pulled out a bag of sweets. “My mum packed a little extra for you because she knows your family doesn’t have candy in the house.” He poured some of the packaged sweets into his hands and held them out of Albus to select one. “Take one…or four.”

Albus just stared at them uncomfortably. “I…I don’t know, Scorpius. I don’t think I should.”

Scorpius’s face fell a bit. “Why not? Will you get in trouble?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just…I think I need to lay off sweets. My Uncle Ron says I’m looking pudgy.”

“Pudgy?” Scorpius raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “No way, mate. You don’t at all.”

“But I know I do. I can feel it.” He pinched his side again. 

“Well, I don’t believe that, but I won’t eat any either.” Scorpius began to put the sweets back into his suitcase. 

“No, no please. I want you to. You need something after my mum’s dinner anyway,” he chuckled. “Besides, I can enjoy watching you eat them.”

Scorpius looked uncertainly at Albus. 

“Honest!”

Scorpius unwrapped just one sweet and put the rest away. “Okay, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure!”

Scorpius timidly ate his cockroach cluster, but he really wished Albus was having one with him. 

Ginny gently knocked on the room and entered holding some spare blankets in her arms. “Boys. You should get some sleep now. How’s your sunburn feeling, Scorpius?”

“I feel okay, thank you,” he assured. 

“Okay. Let me know if you feel any pain.” She took one of Albus’s pillows from his bed and transfigured it into a second mattress for Scorpius. She set the blankets on top.

“Thank you, Mrs. Potter.”

“Don’t stay up too late talking,” she said knowingly. 

“We won’t, Mum,” Albus promised. 

“Mmmhmmm,” she skeptically noted. “Night, Al.” She hugged him goodnight. Albus groaned embarrassed. Scorpius looked on longingly with a pang of guilt in his heart for being away from his mother. Ginny turned to Scorpius and observed him carefully as if trying to determine if she should give him a hug, too. She smiled warmly and after a moment’s hesitation, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and soothed, “Good night, Scorpius. In the morning, you can use our owl to send a letter home if you like.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Potter. Good night,” Scorpius smiled. 

They stayed up for at least another hour talking excitedly about their plans for the week until at last they drifted off to sleep. 

The next morning after breakfast, the boys headed out for the city. There weren’t but a few steps out their door when Lily came running after them. 

“Wait! Wait! I want to come, too!” she cried. 

Albus said, “No, Lily” at the same time that Scorpius said, “Sure, join us.” Albus grimaced and gritted his teeth. “Fine. But don’t be a pest.”

They wandered around in the hustle and bustle of foot traffic dodging those on their way to work. It was a more gloomy morning with clouds obscuring the sun, but it didn’t dampen their spirits. They went in and out of shops garnering wary eyes from owners who dreaded teens and the usual destruction they would cause. The trio of course were not like those kids, but shop owners cannot always tell the difference between the good ones and the bad ones, and they certainly breathed a sigh of relief when they left again. 

Mid-morning one of Albus’s favorite arcades opened, and he introduced Scorpius to a brand new world. Albus, like most teenage boys, had quite a love of video games, but his parents did not encourage the habit. Not because it was a Muggle pastime, but because they valued scholarship and athletics. He wasn’t exactly forbidden to go to the arcades, but they had vowed they would never let any such nonsense be allowed in their home. Scorpius stood motionless, wide-eyed at the flashing lights and jangling music. There was even a faint smell of burnt popcorn and metal in the air — like nothing he’d ever known.  He stood awed for an extended while just taking it all in. Albus guided him through and taught him to play some of his favorite games. 

As Scorpius grew more comfortable, he ventured off to try some games on his own. In the process, he met a couple of brothers near his age. They hit it off right away. Scorpius tried at first to hide his awkwardness and zealous enthusiasm, but like Albus, they didn’t seem to mind. The nice thing was for the first time in his life, he was around people who didn’t know who he was. The name “Malfoy” meant nothing to them. He wasn’t a villain in their eyes. He was just another kid. Scorpius began to understand a little more why Albus said he preferred the anonymity he had at his Muggle school versus everyone knowing who he was at Hogwarts. Scorpius began to experience the comfort of acceptance, and he loved it. A few times he didn’t understand things they said, but he was able to admit to being new to gaming, and they graciously explained things to him. 

“There you are!” Albus said as he walked up to them with Lily close at his heels. “Having fun, Scorp?”

Scorpius beamed from ear to ear. “Yeah, this is the greatest.” It wasn’t the games he enjoyed but the feeling of just being an average kid. “This is Luke and David. They taught me how to play the mutated turtles game.”

Albus held back a laugh and introduced himself to the two boys. 

“We could use a fourth player,” said David. He seemed like he was about James’s age. 

“Well, we also have my sister. She was ready to leave…” he turned to Lily who was now blushing and staring shyly at the younger brother.

“Hi, Luke,” she coyly greeted. 

“Hi…uh, Lily, right? You were in Mrs. Davidson’s class, weren’t you?”

She nodded. “Mmmhmm.” The usually loquacious Lily was nearly struck dumb. 

“Yeah, I remember. You play lacrosse, right? You’re brilliant out there.”

Lily giggled, “Thanks.”

“I’m starting at Regent this year,” Luke continued. “You're going there next year then, huh?”

Lily shook her head. “I’ll be … going to another school next year.”

“Bummer.” He did look disappointed, too. 

Albus stared suspiciously at him. “Well, we better get going,” he announced. They all said their goodbyes and headed out of the arcade. 

Once outside, Albus admonished, “Lily, you are way too young to start liking boys.”

“Am not!”

“You certainly are. And a Muggle boy at that!”

Lily stamped her foot. “What’s wrong with that?”

“He seemed really nice,” chimed in Scorpius. 

Albus glared at his friend. “I don’t care. He’s too old for her.”

“He’s only a year–”

“I don’t want to hear about it, Lily.” Albus’s voice softened as he looked at her angry scowl. “I just don’t want you to grow up so fast. You’re my baby sister.”

“I’m not a baby!”

Albus sighed. “I know. I know. I’m sorry. I … I won’t lecture you anymore about boys.”

Lily beamed. 

“I’ll just tell Dad and let him do it,” he muttered under his breath. 

Their next stop was a bookstore. It was by Scorpius’s request, of course. Although he was an avid reader, Muggle titles were not allowed in his home, so every book was new to him. It seemed he was determined to pick up just about every book from the shelf. 

“Have you read this one?” he asked Albus a least a dozen and a half times, getting a negative response to each question. “Have you read any Muggle books?”

“Sure, a few.” He shrugged. 

“And?”

“Look, Scorp, I don’t know if you noticed but I’m not really good at reading. It’s hard for me to concentrate. I haven’t really found any books that I’ve ever thought were interesting.”

“That’s not true,” piped up Lily. “There was that one book that you couldn’t put down. There could have been a dementor attack and you’d still be reading that book. You know the one about robots or time travel or something? It had the two boys on the cover and a red looking sky with something falling from it. I should remember. Your face was buried behind it for a week.”

Scorpius looked at Albus curiously. Albus quickly explained, “I only sort of remember what she’s talking about. Probably something I just picked up at school once. I don’t remember the name. I doubt it’s something you’d like anyway, Scorp.”

“What’s a robot?” asked Scorpius. 

““It’s like… a metal person? Kind of. Some are smart. Some try to destroy the world. It depends on the book. It’s hard to explain. But it’s sort of the opposite of what you like to read, mate.”

“Hmm…” and Scorpius went back to exploring every book in the shop. He gravitated naturally toward the nonfiction section and picked up a large volume on the history of medieval England. It was gorgeously illustrated. The type of book that one would display on a coffee table but never actually read. Unless of course, they were Scorpius Malfoy. “Whoa! Look at this!” he cried. 

Albus shuffled over and read the title. “But Scorp, you’ve read tons of books on that topic.”

“Not from the Muggle perspective.” Scorpius flipped gleefully through the book. “It’s like a whole new history. There are things in here that aren’t in our books at all.”

Albus shrugged. “Because most of it is wrong.”

Scorpius tore his eyes away from the book and looked intently at Albus. “How do you know it’s not our books that are telling history wrong?”

“Well…I…I don’t,” stammered Albus. “But we have carefully trained historians who–”

“So do they,” interrupted Scorpius. 

He’s serious , thought Albus. I sure hope he never has said that in front of his family . “Okay, you got me there.” Albus reached out and gently flipped the book in Scorpius’s hand to view the price tag on the back. He whistled. “Forty pounds.”

“Is that a lot?” asked Scorpius. 

“More than I’ve got,” admitted Albus. 

“I have money,” said Scorpius as he reached into his pocket. 

Albus stopped him by putting his hand on his arm. “Muggle money, mate. You can’t use your money here.”

Scorpius stared forlornly at the cover, tracing the title with his fingers. Disappointment was etched into his face. He clutched onto the book for a moment longer before forlornly setting it back onto the shelf.

“Maybe we can find a copy at the library, and you could borrow it,” suggested Albus. 

Scorpius perked up, “You think so?”

“We can try at least. But we better hurry if we want to get there before they close.” He looked around the store and called out, “Lily! Lily, we’re leaving!”

Lily came skipping out of the teen romance section. Albus rolled his eyes, but said nothing. 

They raced to the library, but though they made it on time, the library did not have the book Scorpius wanted, unfortunately. 

“Sorry, Scorp.”

“It’s okay,” he said, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. 

They began the journey home. Lily insisted on doing cartwheels and showing off her acrobatics. At one point she did a back handspring and collided with an old man in a tweed coat walking his dog. He was none too pleased, but Albus and Scorpius laughed about it the rest of the way home. 

The next two days were spent in a similar fashion. They visited the arcade again and the library (on Scorpius’s insistence of course). On Friday, Lily woke up with what Ginny called “a summer cold.” 

“It’s not serious, but she should stay in bed so she can be well for when school starts next week,” Ginny observed. 

While Albus would never wish his sister ill, he was secretly a little relieved. It was the last day before Scorpius was going home, and Lily had shadowed them every day that week. Finally, he could have his best friend to himself. 

They spent the morning just walking around the neighborhood. Scorpius waved enthusiastically to everyone he saw. Some waved back. Some gave him funny looks. But none called him a “Death Eater spawn” or moved to the other side of the pavement to avoid an evil presence. It was the most free he had felt in a long time to just be himself without fear of judgment or reproach. 

The morning waned into early afternoon and they had circled back near the Potter home. Practically behind his house was a Muggle school. 

“This was my primary school,” explained Albus. 

Scorpius gripped the fence and looked on with awe. To anyone else’s eye, it would seem quite common and drab. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the state school, but to Scorpius it seemed exotic. 

“You went to school here? With the Muggles?”

“Yep,” Albus shrugged. “My parents both worked, so no home school for us. Plus, my Dad thought it was important to ‘be socialized’ or something like that. There aren’t really any wizard primary schools, so this was it.”

“What was it like?” Scorpius asked, his voice dripping with curiosity and fascination. 

“I dunno. It’s school. What do you expect? No different than any other school, I’d bet.”

Scorpius just continued to stare through the fence intently as if staring would somehow transport him into the classroom and he could experience all that Albus had. He would have given his right arm to attend school with all the other kids.

“What’s that?” he pointed at the edge of a swing set poking its head out from behind the main building. 

“Oh, that’s the playground. Here we can walk around to it. It’s practically in my backyard. See,” he said after they circled the school. As they stood facing the playset Albus pointed to his house which was just a few meters away. “Sometimes Lily and I would come out here and climb the fence to play.”

“Oooo, can we do that?” urged Scorpius. 

“I mean we were kids,” argued Albus. 

Scorpius laughed. “We’re still kids. C’mon, can we?”

Albus looked dubiously up at the fence. “Yeah, I guess so. School’s still not in session yet, so it’s fine.”

“Yea!” cheered Scorpius. “Here, I’ll give you a boost.” He interlocked his hands together. 

Albus furrowed his brow as if offended. “I can climb the fence without help,” he said irritably. 

Scorpius’s face fell. “I’m sorry, Albus. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Yep,” was all Albus said in return as he jumped and began to climb. Scorpius followed after him. 

When they were both safely on the other side, Scorpius apologized again. “You aren’t mad at me are you?” 

Albus’s face softened. “No. I guess I’m just edgy because of James’s short jokes all summer. I know you didn’t mean anything. I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

Relief washed over Scorpius’s face. “It’s fine.” He looked around not knowing where to go first.

“You’ve never been to a park or playground before,” Albus stated matter-of-factly. 

Scorpius shook his head. “Not that I can remember.”

“C’mon.” Albus grabbed Scorpius’s hand and introduced him to real physical play for the first time in his life. 

By far the favorite was a mini-obstacle course, with balance beams, a rope course, and climbing wall. Scorpius and his unfortunate clumsiness struggled the most with balance, and Albus fell half a dozen times trying to scale the wall, but they were having fun . There was never any judgment between them which was a blessing because they were already hard enough upon themselves, a ramification that often came with being a Slytherin. 

By the time the sun started to drop lower in the sky, flirting with the horizon, they had quite exhausted themselves and retired to swaying lazily on the swings. 

The conversation had turned to school, and Albus groaned. “I really don’t want to talk about school.”

“But we go back in less than a week,” reminded Scorpius. 

“I know…and I don’t want to think about it till then if I can help it.”

Scorpius chuckled. “It’s really not that bad.”

“Not that bad!” cried Albus. “Scorpius, you must have a selective memory. Have you forgotten how everyone treats you like dirt? Having to dodge Selwyn and Rowle? How many black eyes did they give you last year? Life is terrible there! Everyone expects me to be the next superhero and mocks every little mistake. I can’t pass any of the classes,” he ranted. “Everywhere I go, I get called squib or…” he dropped his voice and averted his eyes, “other things.” Sighing, he concluded, “There’s no part about Hogwarts that’s good.”

Scorpius looked at his feet and kicked up some dirt. “Geez, Albus, when you put it like that.” But he wasn’t convinced. As miserably as everyone treated Scorpius, he found real joy at Hogwarts. It was his life’s dream to go to school and make dozens of friends. Of course, the dozens didn’t really work out, but in the end, he found that all he really needed was one. 

Albus regretted his outburst instantly. “Sorry, Scorpius. There is one good thing about Hogwarts.” He grinned at his friend. Scorpius smiled back, but it faded when he saw a uniformed man walking up to the fence.

“Hey,” called the man. “What are you kids doing there? The school is private property.”

“Sorry, sir,” Scorpius called back as he scrambled out of the swing. “We didn’t know.”

Albus’s guiltily followed suit. “We’ll leave right now, officer.”

“You’ll come right over here, young man,” he sternly commanded. 

“Are we in trouble, Albus?” Scorpius whispered as they walked back to the fence.

Albus gulped. “Mmmhmmm.”

Scorpius’s face turned even redder in addition to his recovering sunburn. His lip quivered as they approached the officer standing on the other side of the fence. 

“Um, how should we get out?” asked Albus. 

The officer eyed them menacingly. “How did you get in there?”

“We…er…climbed the fence, sir,” Albus confessed. 

The police officer crossed his arms, “That should have been your first hint, young man, that you shouldn’t be in there.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t think it’d be a problem. I live there,” he pointed to the back of his house. “And I went to school here.”

The officer just grunted in reply. 

“Erm… should we just climb back over?” Albus asked. 

The officer didn’t say anything. 

Albus and Scorpius looked nervously at each other and awkwardly climbed over the fence. It was one thing when it was just them and no one was watching. It was quite another when they had the glaring eyes of the police boring into them. Albus’s hands were so sweaty, he slipped and fell on his face. Scorpius didn’t fare much better and landed on top of him. 

The officer sighed and helped the boys to their feet. “Just what were you boys doing in there?” he demanded. 

“Just…playing, sir,” squeaked Scorpius. 

“Playing? Not vandalizing the property?”

“No, sir,” they said in unison. 

“Hmmm…we’ve been finding inappropriate messages and pictures spray painted on the school equipment. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” He eyed them carefully. 

They both shook their heads. “Honest, sir. We were just playing. I was showing him around because I used to go to school here. You can ask anyone!” claimed Albus desperately. “We’d never do anything like that.”

The officer looked from one to the other and grunted again. “Perhaps not, but there is still the issue of being on private property.” He whipped out his notepad. “I’m going to take down your names. And your parents’ names.”

The boys gulped. They had quite a time of convincing the man that they were really giving their true names. He seemed very skeptical even after Albus volunteered to show him his birth certificate. The officer rolled his eyes. “So you say you live in that house there?” He pointed and Albus affirmed. “And what about you, young man?”

“I’m just visiting. I don’t live too close,” answered Scorpius. 

The officer turned back to Albus. “Is there anyone at home in your house? Your parents?”

“Yes, sir. My mum.”

“Very well.” He flipped the notepad closed and put it into his back pocket. “Let’s take a walk. I’d like to talk to her about this.”

The boys hung their heads, and the officer asked Albus to lead the way to the front of the house. He shuffled his feet as they walked around the side alley toward their front door. 

When they arrived, the officer knocked and stood behind the boys on the porch.

“Will your mum be mad?” whispered Scorpius. 

“A little, but not as much as my…Dad?”

The door had opened to reveal not Albus’s mum, but Harry Potter himself standing in the doorway. At first he seemed happy to see Albus, but his eyes caught the officer standing behind his son, and immediately his face was painted with worry. “What happened? Are you hurt?” He reached out and tugged at Albus, put both his hands on the boy’s shoulders, and  looked intently into his eyes. He then looked at the dirt and grass stains on Albus’s shirt that he obtained from his fall from the fence. 

The police officer cleared his throat. “No, Mr. Potter. The boys aren’t hurt; however , I did catch them trespassing on private property.”

Harry tightened the grip he had on Albus. “What’s this?” he asked angrily. 

“Dad…I’m sorry…we were just on the school playground.” Albus pointed in the direction of the school. 

“Albus, we’ve told you not to climb that fence.”

“I…I…” Albus stammered. 

“It’s my fault, Mr. Potter,” interjected Scorpius. “I asked Albus if we could climb over to the school.”

Harry shifted his gaze to Scorpius and narrowed his eyes. Shaking his head, he let go of Albus and held out a hand to shake with the officer. “Thank you for bringing them home. I assure you, my wife and I will see to it that it doesn’t happen again.”

The officer returned the shake, but replied. “We’ve taken down the boys’ names, sir. You see, there has been some vandalism at the school lately. We may have some questions in the future for the boys.”

Now Harry directed his anger at the officer. “My son would never do anything of the kind. And you will not be asking him any questions without me and legal counsel present. Now good day to you.” 

The officer nodded to Harry and said, “Stay out of trouble, boys” as he left the doorstep. 

Harry glared after him for a moment or two before looking back at his son. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about this, but there will be consequences. Get inside, both of you.”

Albus quietly scooted through the door. Scorpius looked up at Harry as he walked past and meekly eked out, “I’m really sorry, Mr. Potter.”

Harry shook his head. “Seems like every time we meet, Scorpius, you are getting my son into trouble.”

“Dad! That’s not fair!” argued Albus. 

Harry rubbed his temples. Albus suddenly noticed how tired and worn down he appeared. “I don’t have the energy to deal with this right now, Al. You two just go up to your room. We’ll talk about it later.”

“I’m sorry, Albus,” whispered Scorpius as they trudged up the stairs. 

“It’s my fault. I knew we shouldn’t have been in there,” he replied. 

At dinner, Harry had still not spoken another word to the boys. They all stayed silent at first. Ginny flashed Albus a disapproving glance letting him know that his dad had already told her all about it. 

Thankfully the dinner didn’t remain quiet, as in between sneezes, Lily filled their father in about all the things she had done while he was away. James kept trying to ask him questions about work, but Harry deftly avoided answering any of them. 

As they were finishing up, there was a knock on the front door. At first Albus’s throat tightened as he was certain the police had returned to drag him to prison. Then he remembered that Scorpius was going home that night, so it was probably just his father to collect him. 

Sure enough, it was. Harry had opened the door. He and Draco stared coldly at each other for a few seconds. “I’m here to take Scorpius home,” Draco dryly announced. 

Harry nodded. “Albus! Scorpius!” he called. He turned to find they were already standing directly behind him. “Albus, go upstairs and help Scorpius pack his things.”

Draco cleared his throat. Harry turned back to him. “I have a few things I need to discuss with you, Potter. Privately. May I come in?”

Harry drummed his fingers on the door jam a few times. Then he opened the door wider. “Yes. I have a few things to discuss with you, too.” He shot the boys a disappointing look as he said so. “Come into my office. It’s just down this hall.”

Draco and Harry walked past the boys. Harry looked at Albus and pointed upstairs. Then he and Draco stepped into his office room. He lazily pushed the door behind him, but it didn’t latch and remained slightly ajar. 

Albus’s eyes widened. He silently signalled to Scorpius to draw nearer to the door to listen in to the conversation. Scorpius looked nervously in the direction of the stairs instead. Albus shook his head and again made a “come here” motion with his hands. Scorpius crept quietly over and whispered, “I don’t think we sh–”

Albus held his finger to his lips. Scorpius sighed and huddled closer to Albus as they listened in to their fathers’ conversation. The door was cracked so little they could only see shadows crossing over from movement in the room, but they could hear almost perfectly.

“--told me you wanted to talk, but I don’t know why it had to be in person,” Harry was saying. 

Draco returned, “It’s a very delicate matter, Potter. I couldn’t have an owl accidentally be intercepted.”

There was a rustle of clothes as if Harry had crossed his arms. “Well, then. What is this super, private matter you were so desperate to discuss?”

“Look, Potter, it pains me to have to ask anything of you, but I have no choice.” There was a cold edge to his voice. “I need to know…what have you told the ministry about my … association with the Death Eaters?”

“What do you mean?” Harry returned. His voice was clipped.

Draco sighed, “I mean, who knows that I have…the Mark? Of course my father’s involvement was well known, and he served his time in Azkaban. I half expected a fleet of Aurors to come for me, too, when they took him. But they never did. I know that you … you know about it. I assumed you didn’t tell anyone.”

Harry chuckled darkly, “I don’t like you that much, Malfoy. I told authorities at the time what I knew. They took your age and circumstances under consideration. You were under careful watch for several years. There’s an extensive file on you.”

“How do you know this?”

“Because I’m in charge of that file now. Just as I am with all former Death Eaters.”

“Who else has seen this file?” There was a note of apprehension in his voice.

“Well, certainly the chief Auror before me, and probably several associates. It is not an active file anymore, so I’m the only one with access now. You can rest assured that your family is not being watched if that’s what’s got you worried.”

“How very comforting,” Draco spat sarcastically. “Clearly that file is not as confidential as you say. I’m not here about myself, but for Scorpius. The kids are tormenting him at school. They call him all sorts of names about being the son of a Death Eater. I know he’s been hurt by the other kids though he won’t admit it to me. In fact, he won’t tell any of this to me. But he’s told his mother, and we are both very worried about him. So I ask you again, who else has seen that file? Because how would all the kids at the school know about it?”

Scorpius put a hand over his mouth. He closed his eyes tightly to force back tears. His father was never supposed to know about that. Albus put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Harry sighed, “I assure you that only a select few Aurors ever saw it, and no one but me has access to it now. The kids are probably just speculating. Your family association with Voldemort isn’t a secret. Never has been.”

“Destroy it.”

“What?”

“Destroy the file,” Draco insisted. 

“I can’t do that,” Harry returned firmly.

“Please,” Draco pleaded with a note of desperation. “It’s not about me. If that file were to fall in the wrong hands, it would destroy my family. It’s not fair that Scorpius should be punished for something he didn’t have any part of. He’s such a good boy–” Harry interrupted him with a cold chuckle, but Draco continued, “He has such a good heart, and I can’t bear to see him hurt by my mistakes.”

“Well, that’s how things work, you see. Our actions have consequences. And they can affect so many other people. I’m always telling Albus–”

“Why? Why, Potter? I don’t understand. If it’s a dead file, then just destroy it.”

Harry was silent for a moment. Then he very quietly replied, “I never said it was a ‘dead’ file.”

Albus’s eyes widened. Maybe we shouldn’t be hearing this . He gestured to Scorpius that they should leave the door. This time, it was Scorpius who shook his head. He planted his feet firmly and moved closer to the crack in the door, pushing it just a couple centimeters wider. 

“What does that mean?”

Harry walked past the door. They could see a sliver of him now. He was wringing his hands slightly, massaging his knuckles, and Albus recognized it as one of his mannerisms for when he was extremely stressed. 

“There’s more than just information on you in that  file. It’s anyone you and the other Death Eaters were ever connected with. It’s the whole network…well as much as was pieced together. Your file connects to several others still considered ‘active.’ In case other threats arise, we know the places and people to start with.”

“I’m not a threat,” growled Draco. 

“You certainly were in the past. And your father has been out of Azkaban for some time now and is definitely still considered a potential danger.” Harry chuckled cynically, “Guess it pays to be able to afford the best legal counsel in Britain. But I wouldn’t write him or any of the others off as a threat.”

Draco mocked, “You just crave to play savior, don’t you, Potter. There are no threats. The Dark Lord is gone. But you want to pretend he’ll still come back so you can be the hero. You need there to be an evil to fight. Otherwise your pathetic little two-sickle policeman life is so boring and meaningless. You’d fade into mediocrity and no one would remember your name anymore.”

Harry laughed, “You couldn’t be more wrong, Malfoy. I’d give anything to have a ‘boring little life.’ I’d love to think my kids could grow up in a nice, safe world without any threats to them. That’s why I do what I do. And yes, you are right, Voldemort is gone. But his ideology lives. His followers live. What’s worse, it’s been so long that people who either weren’t alive or were too young to remember the Second Wizarding War have started to romanticize his reign and his ideas. I’ve spent this entire summer chasing a new … I don’t know what it is exactly. But it’s growing.”

“I’ve not heard anything.” Draco sounded skeptical. 

Albus started to feel a growing fear. His father sounded more than worried. He thought his father wasn’t afraid of anything, and hearing the alarm in his voice made Albus tremble. 

“You will. They’ve taken Voldemort’s ideals of supremacy and domination and repackaged it into something that sounds logical and alluring. Even compassionate at times, but it’s all just manipulation and lies. There’s no telling if it’s one person behind it or a group. It seems like it is an entire organization. They call themselves the Corpus Vitalis. The Living Body. And they are networked all throughout Europe. I’ve spent the summer chasing lead after lead trying to find the Heart, but they were all deadends.”

“The Heart? The leader?”

“Maybe. Who knows. Like I said, there doesn’t seem to be just one person in charge. This isn’t like Voldemort. It’s an entire movement. Like a religious revival. There’s the Mouth whose golden words twist what sounded dark and evil to seem enticing and good. There’s the Brain who comes up with the ideas and plans. The Feet that carry those messages wide. And worse of all the Hands. The Hands that do the building. The grunt work.  They are the shapers and designers, finding the ways to make the network stronger. And they are used to grab new members.”

“Why are the Hands the worst?”

“Because the Hands are spreading into the schools. They’re kids, Draco.” He rubbed his temples. “Kids who weren’t there the first time. So when they read Voldemort’s words and ideology, they don’t remember the horrors and atrocities. They weren’t there. So they revere him. He is their god and idol. And my guess is surviving Death Eaters who either escaped sentencing or have since been released have capitalized on this, and used these kids to rebuild their dark reign of terror.”

Albus and Scorpius looked at one another. Scorpius had grown so pale, Albus feared he would pass out. 

“We think most members of the CV are under 30 years old, but they are so elusive.”

“So how do you know all this? When did this start?”

“It’s crossed our desks only in the past three years, but they may have been around for longer. We caught one of the Hands this week. A sixteen year old at Durmstrang. We had him waiting in an interrogation room for questioning, but when we entered the room…he was gone.”

“Gone? Where did he go?”

Harry’s voice dropped lower, “I mean gone as in…dead.”

“Dead?”

“We still aren’t sure if it was self-inflicted or if someone else … but how someone could have infiltrated into our interrogation room…I could have gone my whole life without seeing another dead teenager, but if we don’t stop this thing, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Especially since the target is to gain followers among the youth. This is growing, Malfoy, and we have to keep tabs on all those former Death Eaters just in case.”

“Including me.”

“Yes.”

“So why are you telling me all this?” Draco asked suspiciously.

“Well,” Harry began, walking past the door back to his desk. Albus and Scorpius pulled out of sight from the crack in the door just in time as he strolled past them. “I was hoping you could help me. Tell me if you’ve heard anything. We could use someone with knowledge of the inside–”

“This is the first I’ve heard about any of this.”

“Maybe some of your old friends–”

“They are not my friends,” Draco raised his voice menacingly. 

“Maybe you could get in touch with–”

“No. No! You don’t know what you’re asking. Absolutely not.”

“That’s funny. I thought you wanted my help just a few minutes ago, but you’re not willing to do anything for that help.”

“That’s extortion,” cried Draco.

“No, Malfoy. That’s called a favor. I saved your life, remember.”

“Yeah, after you split my entire chest open with that wretched curse, or do I need to show you the scar I have that stretches from my collar to my navel to jog your memory.”

“I do recall you trying to hit me with the Cruciatus at the time,” countered Harry hotly. 

“I could have died , Potter! And would have if Snape hadn’t intervened. You’re no saint. You saved me from that fire to assuage your guilt, nothing more.” 

Harry said nothing. There was a long silence. 

Albus and Scorpius sat frozen not able to look at one another. Albus couldn’t believe what he heard. Can it be true? Did Scorpius know about this? It can’t be true. Dad would never curse someone.

Finally Draco muttered, “Fine. I’ll see what I can find out. Was that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

Harry sighed. “No, actually. I was going to tell you about the police fetching the boys off of some private property and bringing them back over here this afternoon. Seems your Scorpius put Albus up to it because my son knows better than to do that. Your son is always getting him into trouble.”

Now Draco was seething. “That’s funny, Potter, because I could say the same about your son. Scorpius wouldn’t dare put one toe out of line.”

“Afraid of you, is he?”

“No. He’s a good kid. He hates being in trouble. If I just give him a stern look, he crumbles. He’s…sensitive. He doesn’t break rules. That’s not his way. He’s like his mother.” Draco’s voice cracked. 

Scorpius shrunk down as though embarrassed, but Albus risked it to whisper, “It’s okay.”

“I seem to recall him cheating for Albus last year and getting them into a whole heap of trouble. I’d call that breaking the rules.”

Draco pounded his fist on the wall making both Albus and Scorpius jump. “That was completely cleared up, and you know it. You are just holding a grudge against me. I get it, Potter. I was an arsehole in school, okay. I probably still am. But you can’t put that on Scorpius. It’s been twenty years. You need to let it go, for our boys’ sake. Albus is the best thing to ever happen to Scorpius, and if you do anything to destroy that, so help me, I’ll…”

“You’ll what, Malfoy?” Harry took an intimidating step towards Draco blocking the view from the door crack. 

“I’m not going to fight with you, Potter. I’ll talk to Scorpius. But I tell you, I do not believe he would intentionally go looking for trouble. I know my son. It seems to me you don’t know yours!” He pushed past Harry and strode toward the door. 

Albus and Scorpius moved out the way and flattened themselves against the wall just as he marched out furiously. Draco looked over his shoulder and saw them standing there. 

“You better get upstairs and grab your things, Scorpius.”

Scorpius nodded fervently and rushed up the stairs. 

Draco stared at Albus for a moment, then turned and walked out toward the front hall. Albus followed him. 

“Mr. Malfoy,” he said weakly. 

Draco looked down on him. His face was stern. “You boys were listening?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Malfoy. That was my idea. Not Scorpius’s. Also…about the thing with the police. We weren’t doing anything bad. We were just playing at my old school. But, it’s true. We shouldn’t have gone onto the property. My parents have told me before a few times not to do it. Scorpius wouldn’t have known that. I did, but he didn’t. Please don’t be upset at him.”

Draco sighed and squeezed Albus’s shoulder. “You are an honorable friend, Albus. Far more than I was at your age.”

“So you won’t be upset.”

“Oh, I will be upset.” His mouth was set in a firm line and worry was written on his brow.

“But…Mr. Malfoy…”

“Albus, Scorpius needs to learn that he can’t go along with what other people tell him to do. He needs to use better discernment. It’s dangerous to be a follower and just do what other people convince you to do.” He rubbed his forearm absently as he spoke. 

Albus gulped. “You think I’m dangerous?”

Draco’s eyes softened. “No, Albus. But there are others that will be. And he can’t always trust all people are like you. Even people that are supposed to be friends…or family…can lead him down a dark path. I know.” A shadow seemed to cross his face. 

Albus thought about what his father had said about the next dark wizards having members in the schools. He shuddered. “I promise not to get Scorpius into any more trouble, Mr. Malfoy.”

Draco smiled. It was very small and almost undetectable, but it was still a smile. “Oh I suspect you’ll both find more trouble. I haven’t completely forgotten what it was like to be a teenager. You’ll look out for him, Albus. He’s…he’s going to need you.” The smile faded and a sadness filled his eyes. 

“I’m ready,” Scorpius said in a still, small voice behind them. 

Albus spun around to see his friend and wondered how long he had been standing there. A few paces behind, his father was leaning against the wall in the hallway also watching the conversation. 

Draco nodded. “Let’s go, Scorpius.” He flashed a look back towards Harry, but said no more words to him. 

“See you next week, Scorp,” said Albus. 

Scorpius nodded. “See you soon, Albus.” He looked back at Harry. “Thank you for letting me stay in your home, Mr. Potter. I had a nice time. Er, can you tell Mrs. Potter thank you for me.”

“I will,” Harry replied. 

“And I’m sorry about today.”

Harry nodded in acknowledgment. 

“Let’s go,” Draco repeated. 

Scorpius and Albus gave each other one last look before Draco and Scorpius headed out the door. 

Albus walked over to Harry. “Dad, I was listening at the door.”

Harry breathed out slowly. “Yes, I realize that. There were a lot of things you shouldn’t have heard.”

“Dad…all that stuff…do you think it’s happening at Hogwarts?”

“I…I don’t know if it’s spread there yet, but I’m going to make sure it doesn’t. You just be careful who you hang around.”

Albus shot his dad a nervous glance. “Not Scorpius, though, Dad.”

Harry shook his head. “All he’s ever brought you is trouble. I would forbid you from being friends with him if it wasn’t for your mother, so you better thank her for letting him stay in this house. But you better prepare yourself for a time when this friendship must end. He is exactly who will be targeted in this movement. With his family connections and name, he’s going to be recruited, and I can’t have you be around that. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

A fear took hold in Albus’s heart. Would his dad one day force them not to be friends? “I promise you, Dad, that Scorpius would never be part of that stuff. He just wouldn’t. I know him.”

“I…I can’t argue with you right now.” Albus looked up and saw the dark circles around his father’s eyes. He seemed so exhausted. He must be if he doesn’t want to yell at me . “I’m just going to tell you to be careful and leave it at that.”

Albus nodded. 

Harry sighed, “An early bedtime is in store for tonight after everything, don’t you think?”

“I guess so.”

“You guess so?” Harry raised an eyebrow. 

“I mean, I know so.”

“Okay. Straight to bed.”

“Yes, Dad.” Albus shuffled slowly to the stairs. He stopped at the bottom step to look back over his shoulder at his father. Harry was hunched against the wall. He had removed his glasses and was rubbing the bridge of his nose, another one of his habits from stress that Albus recognized. “Dad?”

Harry straightened back up and replaced his spectacles. “Yes?”

“I’m glad you’re home safe,” he replied. 

Harry smiled wearily. “Me, too. Good night, Al. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”