My Girlfriend is a Veela: A Collection of Stories

Father and Son

It was almost noon by the time Draco managed to reach the entrance of Scorpius' primary school that afternoon.

He was a little out of breath, having just walked a mile from the nearest apparition point to get there on time, so he stopped by the gates beside a few other waiting parents and took a few minutes to rest. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long before the school gates swung open, and he looked up to see a small crowd of uniformed children rushing out of the building.

Draco recognized his son's pale blond hair almost instantly and moved toward him, but he stopped when he noticed the heavy slump in the young boy's shoulders.

"Hey buddy."

He waited until Scorpius looked up and noticed him there before he greeted the young blond with a warm smile.

"How was your first day of school?"

To Draco's surprise, the frown on Scorpius' face only seemed to furrow even more at his question. Instead of answering him, Scorpius just let out a disinterested grunt, followed by a careless shrug before he took Draco's offered hand and allowed him to lead him back down the street towards the direction of the nearest apparition point.

They walked for about ten minutes in tense silence until eventually, Draco glanced down at Scorpius' glum face again in concern.

He knew right then and there that something had happened.

Draco remembered how, just that morning, Scorpius had been so excited about going to primary school for the first time. The young blond had burst into Draco and Aria's bedroom, jumped up onto their bed and shook his groggy parents awake with such energetic exuberance that, despite their rude awakening so early in the morning, neither Draco nor Aria could find it in themselves to get angry. And even after Scorpius finished his breakfast and Aria managed to wrestle the bouncing kid into his uniform (only for Lily to hurl a bowl of mashed potatoes on it and thus prompt her brother to throw a fit until Aria managed to clean the uniform again with a quick scourgify), Scorpius continued to chatter excitedly the entire time Draco dropped him off.

"Scorpius."

Draco finally let go of Scorpius' hand and stopped walking. He waited patiently until Scorpius turned around and reluctantly lifted his big green eyes up to look at him.

"What happened at school today?" Draco asked gently.

"It's nothing." With a huff, Scorpius lowered his gaze again and scuffed his shoes lightly against the sidewalk pavement. "Maybe I was wrong about school. I think I don't like it after all." He admitted under his breath.

"What do you mean?" Draco pressed further.

"My classmates were all being stupid." The scowl on Scorpius' face deepened and he shrugged to himself before looking away. "They didn't want to talk to me. And no one wanted to be my friend."

Draco stiffened, and he felt his chest constrict painfully when he heard the dejected tone of his son's voice.

"Why?" He asked.

"They said I was a dark wizard because I'm from a family of Death Eaters." Scorpius sniffed.

"That's just bloody—" Draco cut himself off before he cursed and clenched his jaw instead. He drew in a harsh intake of breath.

"Did any of them hurt you?" He asked sharply.

"No." The corners of Scorpius' lips tilted downward miserably but he shook his head. "They told me that they were scared of me. None of them even wanted to go near me." He said meekly.

With a heavy sigh, Draco placed a gentle hand on Scorpius' shoulder and crouched down so that he could meet the boy's eyes more easily. It took a few minutes, but eventually Scorpius hesitantly lifted his chin again and met Draco's soft gaze.