Scorpius turns and looks at Albus. "Are you sure I don't need any scarves? How warm is it at your house?" He was nervously packing some clothes for the day and night they'd be at Albus's for his birthday. He was overthinking everything, even bringing scarves in case it was freezing- which Albus assures him that they kept the house warm. What if they ran out of firewood? Or the thermostat stopped working?
"Look not all families keep their homes the temperature of the manor. I know you're use to the Slytherin dungeons, but my house is always warm. You might want to bring tank tops." Albus suggests.
"Now I think you're just trying to convince me to wear the bare minimum clothing." Scorpius responds. He'd normally find this charming but he frowned. Scorpius was actually serious and very nervous. He liked that he would see where Albus lived and meet his parents- well he's met them before. And Harry Potter especially knows about him. But that's not the point. He didn't meet them officially like this. As Albus's boyfriend. It was a big deal, wasn't it? Would James be upset? And what if his little sister Lily didn't like him? They hadn't ever talked directly.
"Trust me Scorpius Malfoy," Albus walked over to him and set a hand on his waist, prompting the blonde to turn towards him. "When I want to see you naked, I'll just ask."
"Oh, you think it's easy to get me naked do you?" Scorpius smiles flirtatiously. Albus thinks about his answer before replying.
"If it's me asking, then yes." He scans his eyes up and down Scorpius, who flushed under the attention.
"I'm not that whipped." Scorpius defends himself, but couldn't help to laugh.
"'That whipped?' Of course not. How dare I say something of that nature about the Straight Malfoy Prince™️?" Albus mocks.
"Merlin's beard." Scorpius groans. "Don't call me that."
"It's too late. Straight Malfoy Prince™️ is you. That's what you are." He joked, putting clothes into his bag.
"Actually," Scorpius thinks about it. "I'm none of those things. More like... Gay Slytherin Heir." There's some silence and then their both laughing for no real reason.
"You're not gay gay. You're bisexual gay." Albus specifies.
"I'm with a boy. That's gay."
"You're still attracted to females. Your bisexual."
"Who cares?"
"Okay fine. You're gay with me. You were straight with Christine." Albus gives up. Scorpius sits by his half-empty bag, facing Albus who was deciding which book to take with him.
"Speaking of Christine. Do you really think I kiss like a coward?" Scorpius wonders. Albus laughs and shakes his head no.
"We just poke fun at you. You're the most skilled person over ever laid my lips upon." Potter tells him.
"That's poetic Potter."
"Piss off Malfoy."
"So how many people have you kissed then?" Scorpius wonders. "If I'm the most skilled." Albus gave a half-hearted shrug, like he didn't really know. "Seriously, I'm curious."
"Ever heard the phrase Curiosity killed the cat?" Albus offered thoughtfully, sitting on his own bed across the small area.
"Of course. I watch muggle entertainment, I understand most phrases. But I'm not a cat, and even if I were, I'd have nine lives." Scorpius replies.
Albus rolled his green eyes. "Whatever." He tapped his fingertips on the surface of his phone and then adds on. "I don't know how many. A couple I guess."
"Less than me?" Scorpius said, disbelieving him.
"Maybe a few more. It's not like I count who I kiss." He pulls a jumper on over his tee shirt.
"Well I know about me, and I know you probably kissed Luke. And you kissed Calum during Truth or Dare. Who else?"
"Why do you care?" Albus wonders, fixing his hair after the hoodie messed it up.
"You know who I've kissed." Scorpius begins, counting on his fingers as he lists them. "Oliver, Christine, you."
"I don't know, honestly. I've kissed a few Gryffindor girls. Polly Chapman. But that was last year-"
"That's absolutely disgusting." Scorpius cuts off his words. Albus laughs.
"I was confused and she was throwing herself at any Slytherin boy around. I just happen to be there, okay?"
"Okay. So Polly Chapman. And?"
"This girl named Rachel back home. She's a muggle but she use to come around and play with James. She was older than me and- yeah anyways." Albus gave a nervous look that conveyed the emotion yikes in it's entirety. Scorpius started counting.
"So me, Luke, Calum, Polly, Rachel- For Merlin's sake, is there anyone you haven't snogged?"
"I haven't snogged Raven. I did kiss Christine as a goodbye. But that's normal gay behavior."
"Did you seriously just say gay behavior? I can't hear anymore, this is making my ears bleed, Al." Scorpius shakes his head.
"Are you upset about Christine? I didn't think it was a big deal-"
"Oh shush up Potter. I'm not jealous that you kissed my ex girlfriend. You're gay. I know you both are friends. I'm not that kind of guy who makes it a big deal." Scorpius reassures him. Albus lets out a breath of relief. "Plus I know she's not your type. She doesn't dye her hair white and have daddy issues for one." He recalls Albus's previous words on that, throwing them back into his face.
"I only said that because you were upset over Lysander!" Albus blushes. "You're a dick."
"I take pride in it." He grins.
"In your dick?"
"You would too if you saw it."
"You're dirty Scorpius. Dirty mouth. You should be ashamed of yourself." Albus scolds but he couldn't help blushing furiously.
"You're sixteen now, I'm allowed to say dirty things." Scorpius jokes.
"Oh so yesterday it wasn't okay but now I've become mature?" The sarcasm dropped off his words like honey.
"Yes that's exactly how it works." Scorpius agrees. There's some silence that passes between them. "So your parents are trying to work things out. They'll both be there?" He wonders. Scorpius hasn't really thought much about he and Albus's conversation about traditional magic. But with the sudden recent shift in Harry Potter's behavior- where he's now back at home with Ginny- has brought forth questions that Albus probably doesn't want to answer. However the boy managed it, Scorpius didn't know if he should be impressed or disappointed.
Impressed because it worked- which means he convinced someone to help him with it. Impressed because he basically told Scorpius he'd do what he wants, and did. But disappointed because these things never end well and Albus just used a temporary solution that would definitely not work out in the long run.
"Yes they are both there. And James and Lily is coming too. It'll be nice. Just the family." Albus beams.
"Didn't Rose insist on coming? Are you two still in bitter disagreement?" Scorpius looked at him.
"Oh yeah, she'll be there. No we worked it out. But how does it feel, for a Weasley and Potter to fight over you?" His joke was followed by some silence and then Scorpius found a good comeback.
"It feels like Hermione Granger." The tease was off-color so Albus just held an open palm to his chest in mock pain.
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry." He tells him.
"It's weird though. That your Mum took the cheating ass back at all." Scorpius continues. Albus's shoulders tense a little and he tries for a shrug. "She doesn't strike me as the type to forgive so easily."
"Maybe she's just being nice because it's my birthday." He replies pointedly. He was trying to say you should be nice too Scorpius. But what was he really expecting? This was Scorpius Malfoy.
"Or perhaps it's because you used magic to get them back together." Scorpius offers innocently. Albus shoots him a sideways glance, expecting judgement. "I'm not going to lecture you. I already explained why traditional magic is a bad idea. But since then Aries has started training me in other magic Hogwarts doesn't teach." He scratches his chin. "Just be careful. You might not get what you were expecting."
"I know. But so far everything seems good." Albus tells him.
"Who helped you with the magic?"
"Why so that you can lecture them? I'm not going to tell you."
"Fine." Scorpius zips up his bag, pulling it onto his shoulders. "Is it going to be weird? To have me at the house? I mean what if they bring up my father? Or... or Lucius? I do not want to hear consolations from someone who never liked him to begin with."
"Lucius Malfoy forced his son to do Voldemort's bidding. Turned him into a child soldier. I'd say the hate towards Lucius is justified." Albus defends them. Scorpius felt annoyed.
"Albus Dumbledore turned your father into a child soldier too. And instead of recognizing that, Harry names his son after the guy." His words had Albus tossing the book down from his hands, turning and fixating his eyes onto him. Yeah okay so Scorpius didn't have to use that kind of attitude; it just slipped out demeaning.
"I think it's dumb I was named after Albus Dumbledore. I think it's dumb I was named after Severus Snape. Who treated my father terribly at Hogwarts. But it's certainly not your place to judge my father's choices." Albus's tone was stern, on the verge of anger but it came out as passive aggression. "I know you don't like my Dad. And that's fine. But if he brings up Lucius it's not because he liked him. It's because he's trying to consider how you might feel about losing him."
"I know." Scorpius snapped in return. "I just hate hearing shit like that. I've been hearing it my entire life from people who don't care, Al. It looses its meaning. It's just words."
"Okay." Albus walked over to him, reaching out and caressing the blonde's cheek. "You're worrying for no reason."
"No I'm not." Scorpius grabbed his outstretched hand, removing it from his face. "You think your Dad will let me into the house no problem. Open arms. Even if I'm not his favorite person. Fine. Let Scorpius Malfoy inside. But if he knew I was Cypress's son? He'd judge that. He wouldn't let in Salazar Black."
"I told you he's not that kind of person. We've had this conversation."
"Yeah and you're still naive enough to believe that he-"
"Just shut up. I'm so tired of hearing your bullshit." Albus snapped, cutting off his words. Scorpius's anger rose, and he was frustrated. So was Potter, because he pulled his arm out of Scorpius's grip. "Stop pretending you know my family better than I do. You don't. Get off your fucking high horse." His voice loud in the empty room. Scorpius clenched his jaw tightly. Oh this boy was driving him up the fucking wall- and using that tone with him? The audacity.
"Yell at me again, and I'll give you a real reason to scream." Scorpius retorts in as calm and level of a voice he could muster. His heart rate skyrocketing. They both realized what he had said at the same time.
"Fuck you." Albus tells him, but his loud voice had faltered slightly. Scorpius stood up, but Albus didn't move, so it resulted in closed distance between them. "You're so damn frustrating sometimes."
"Touché." Scorpius replies. Albus pushes against his chest, making Malfoy step back. His legs hit the side of his bed and he ends up sitting on it again. Potter steps closer to him, pushing him onto his back. He climbs onto the bed, straddling Scorpius's hips between his legs. Heat travels down Scorpius's body to his groin, and his face reddens. "I didn't mean-"
"'I'll give you a real reason to scream' was pretty obvious what you meant." Albus cuts off his words, and leans down to kiss him. It wasn't slow and tender it was harsh and feverish. Angry. Scorpius pulls his bag off his shoulders and then raises his arms around Albus as they kissed. He felt a sting as Potter bites his bottom lip, and give a groan in response. "I hate that I'm obsessed with you." Albus hisses, grabbing Scorpius's hair in his hands and pulling on it to tilt his head back on the blanket.
Scorpius reaches down and pulls Albus up closer, their growing erections pressed against one another through the fabric of their pants. "For the record," Scorpius begins softly, his lips lightly touching Albus's. "I think it's hot when you cuss."
"I'm still pissed." Albus says against his lips, noses touching while their breathing increases.
"I'm sorry." Scorpius's voice cracks with the words. "You just drive me crazy." And then Albus kisses him again.
—-
Scorpius slung his arm across Potter's shoulders as they started to the bridge, where James and Lilly and Rose were waiting. Albus entwines his fingers with the boy's. Scorpius's hair was in disarray from the heated make-out session. And Albus's lips were a little puffy and pink. Despite the short argument, they both had content expressions as they approached the Potter's and Weasley waiting. "I thought you were bringing your secret boyfriend." James rolled his eyes when he sees Scorpius.
"He is." Scorpius speaks up, and met James's brown eyes unflinchingly.
"Oh." James takes a moment to process, looking from Rose to Albus, as though expecting some sort of explanation. He didn't get one. "Oh. Right. You're- you're dating my brother."
"More like commit felonies in the middle of the night. But yeah let's go with dating." Scorpius shrugs. Albus scoffs and elbows him playfully. James looks between them, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
"You don't seem gay, though. You- you dated Christine."
"I had absolutely no idea that I had to wear a dress to be gay, this is news to me James." Scorpius points out. And this sentence gets James to straighten up a little, realizing that he was being stereotypical right now.
"Jeez. I'm sorry. That was rude. Guess I'm just surprised. This isn't a joke then?" James clarifies, almost expecting Scorpius to make some punchline like Haha you seriously bought that? But it didn't come.
"It's as real as my boobs, James. Can we go already?" Rose snorts at her cousin's foolishness.
"Was that a Supernatural reference?" Scorpius asks the red-head. Rose's face lights up.
"Yes! Yes it was." The girl was overly excited about that. She was just becoming a tad bit obsessed with the Winchester brothers, it's seriously not her fault. We've all been there. Lily finally speaks up. She was a couple years younger than Scorpius and Albus, at thirteen. Third year.
"That's so cool." She tells Albus, and then turns to Scorpius. "I'm Lily." She had short red hair like Rose, and her eyes were brown like James's. She was significantly shorter and smaller than her siblings.
"Nice to finally meet you." Scorpius replies softly. Albus gives his hand a soft encouraging squeeze.
"Okay, let's go, I'm ready for lunch already." Albus leads the way to Hogsmeade where the group would leave from.
Scorpius didn't know what he expected the Potter's home to look like. But he still found himself standing in front of it, marveling at the ordinary appearance. It was like the other houses on the street; large enough to fit a full family. But also small to be in a neighborhood. It was in Godric's Hollow. The place Harry Potter's parents lived, and where Voldemort was first defeated. Scorpius suspected they lived there because it's where his parents lived. It was a small community. "I can't believe that Dad's here." James breaks the silence, crossing muscles arms over his chest. "Isn't it weird?"
"I think we should be happy. Perhaps if your parents stay together then my family will come together too." Rose points out. "Besides. It's Albus's birthday. It's worth putting the drama aside for the day."
"He betrayed Mum." Lily turned cold eyes onto her cousin. "There's no putting aside anything." There was a certain determination in her voice that reminded Scorpius of Raven. Something deep and vendetta-driven. He admires the young girl for it. Despite her age she clearly understood the situation, the feelings of her mother. And she was viciously protective.
"We don't know what we're walking into. If they start a row we can go down to the pub." James offers.
"You don't think they'll set aside their differences for Albus?" Scorpius wonders, looking over at the older brother.
"And what? Get a Best Parents of the Year award? They ruined Christmas. I doubt they'll care about Albus's birthday." James's sarcasm wasn't lost on the boy.
"I think they'll act like nothing ever happened." Rose muses.
"I agree." Albus nods. "Shall we? We probably look strange just standing here in the street." He leads the way towards the house. The four others follow him. Scorpius was finding it hard to suspect how Ginny and Harry would be acting, and even more so since their under the effects of traditional magic. There was just no way to know. Albus didn't bother with pulling out his house key, and instead just rang the doorbell. A few moments later, the door opens to reveal a fresh-faced Ginny Weasley-Potter. She beams when she sees her children, and pulls Albus into a hug.
"There he is! My birthday boy." She gushed. Albus flushed and pushes her away after a brief hug.
"You're embarrassing me Mum." He mumbled, face growing redder. Scorpius can't help but grin. Ginny stepped back to let them inside, and as soon as they enter Scorpius realized that he definitely didn't need his sweaters or hoodies he packed. It was as warm as summer and just as sticky. They all started to take off their hoodies and Albus gestures to Scorpius to hang it up on the hooks beside the others along the wall. It was in the entryway, and coats as well as shoes were there. Ginny greets her kids one by one and then her niece Rose. Finally her attention lands to Scorpius. "Mum this is Scorpius Malfoy." Albus introduces them.
"Oh yes, we met once before. But it was several years ago. Do you remember?" Ginny asks Scorpius. He nods.
"Yes at one of our Christmas Parties, I think." Scorpius felt a little awkward, so he stood just to the side of Albus.
"He's Albus's boyfriend." James boasts. Albus inhales sharply and then chokes, breaking off into a coughing fit, then recovering. Scorpius felt a blush cross his cheeks and despite the shock Ginny was feeling, she tried not to embarrass them further.
"Well then, welcome to the family Scorpius." Ginny gives him a soft smile, and turns, leading them into the kitchen. Scorpius gives James a harsh glare as he passes and James snickers.
"Are you okay?" Scorpius asked Albus, who was clearing his throat from the coughing. "Don't die on me and leave me here alone with your family." He jokes, and Albus grabs his hand.
"Thanks for coming."
"Don't get mushy Potter." Scorpius gave him a soft peck on the cheek, and follows after where the other siblings disappeared. The house was small compared to the Manor. It was two stories. And the entry opened up to the kitchen to the left and dining room, and to the right was the living room with a large window showing the front of the house. The stairs probably lead up to bedrooms.
The house was decorated lightly for Albus's birthday, with a stringer hung up the smell of home cooked food meets Scorpius's senses. His mouth watered and stomach growled. He noticed that it was Harry Potter in the kitchen with Ginny, but it looked like he had been doing most of the cooking. For some reason the scene unfolding before him; Harry Potter cooking in the kitchen was so ridiculously mundane that Scorpius had to take a moment to process it. What was he thinking? That a celebrity like Potter would have food made for him? Kind of, yes. But truth was that he was ordinary like everyone else. Scorpius went ahead and sat at the table by James, who leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head supporting it. The Gryffindor boy wore a basic tee shirt, and he watched his parents in the kitchen talking and smiling at one another. "I can't believe this."
"What?" Scorpius wonders, looking at where Albus greeted Harry and Ginny, being hugged by his Dad. James makes a snorting noise.
"Honestly I'm more shocked about this-" he gestures to the kitchen. "Than I am about you and my brother."
"Are you really that surprised I'm dating Albus?" Scorpius wonders curiously, watching as Lily sneaks a freshly baked cookie from the tray on the counter as the parents are preoccupied talking to Albus. Lily looked around to see if anyone saw her, and she met gazes with Scorpius. She gave him a smirk kind of like what? Are you going to tell on me? He just tried not to laugh, and turns to face James.
"I'm more surprised he's dating you. Albus doesn't usually date. He's made his opinions on Hogwarts relationships abundantly clear to everyone; it's a waste of time. He told me that when I started dating Christine." James explains. "But I suppose it kind of makes sense. You and him." Scorpius leans on the table propping himself up with his arms, waiting for him to continue. "You guys are both complicated."
"I don't find him complicated." Scorpius replies, almost defensively.
"Of course you wouldn't. That's the point. You guys just have that chemistry. You know?" James prompts. Scorpius was thinking something along the lines of No I don't know, why not explain it to me? But he was quiet, not knowing what to say.
"Honestly their lovesick fools if you ask me." Rose Weasley chimes in, sitting across from James. Casting her blue eyes towards Scorpius. "Here I was, thinking that I'd get Scorpius onto his knees for me. And instead my cousin pops along-"
"You're ridiculously vindictive for a Gryffindor, Rose." Scorpius cuts off her words, but he was grinning. Rose laughs, rolling her eyes. "Who says I'm on my knees for anyone?"
"Isn't that how it works?" James asks, insinuating something that Scorpius couldn't piece together fast enough. But their conversation is cut short as Harry comes over to join them.
"Feet off the table James." He requests. James doesn't move. Harry gives his eldest a stern expression.
"Alrighty then. I'll just behave myself so we can pretend to be one big happy family." James finally gives in, his words edging into fighting territory. Lily waves her wand, and the magic pushes James feet off the table, throwing him off balance in the chair and he is forced to readjust. Harry Potter ignores the words, clearly trying to keep things civil. He turns green eyes to Scorpius, who was nervously watching Albus and his mother talk in the kitchen, willing the boy to come over here and play buffer.
"Scorpius, I'm pleasantly surprised to hear you're dating Albus." Harry gave a smile, even though James rolls his eyes at the words with an attitude. Scorpius knew it wasn't because of what his father had said, just that it was him that was speaking. Scorpius was convinced that Harry could've brought up the weather and James still would've given the same response.
Scorpius was about to reply but the words caught in his throat. The images of his dreams flashing back to him all over again, Harry Potter's and Voldemort's memories crushing him under the weight of sleep. Or was it just Voldemort's memories he saw? It was harder than he thought it would be to see Harry now. Even though he knew the mistakes he's made in his adult life- knew the kind of damage he's done to his family and kids. But how was Scorpius supposed to blame him, after he witness firsthand what Harry was forced to go through at such a young age? He had no childhood, it was stripped from him by death and evil. And while Scorpius's own life didn't compare, he could at least sympathize. So he couldn't respond.
Not when he looked at Harry and saw those recurring dreams. Not when he watched as a young boy screamed out because his friend died in that cemetery. Or the pain that lashed at him as Sirius Black died. Scorpius must've seen that through Lucius's eyes, he guessed. Wherever the memories were coming from, they plagued him like a sickness he couldn't be rid of.
"'Pleasantly surprised'? What a joke." Lily snorts, the fearlessness clearly running in the family. Her voice snapped the blonde out of his thoughts and into the present moment. "I've heard you tell Albus many times to not even speak with Scorpius and now you're pleasantly surprised?" Scorpius felt awkward, like maybe he shouldn't be here- when tensions were so high. Especially since he didn't really know what to say about any of this.
"Why? Because he's Draco's son?" Rose immediately jumped in, in Scorpius's defense.
"He's a bad influence." Harry Potter gently tells the girls, like Scorpius wasn't there at all. "It has nothing to do with being Draco's son."
"Well actually I think his tendency to break the rules has been to Albus's benefit. Scorpius was there to stop Daniel from killing him when I wasn't." James brings up. Scorpius felt heat come to his cheeks. It's not that big of a deal. He wanted to say, but held his tongue. "Malfoy may suck on the Quidditch field-"
"James I will lay your ass out." Scorpius finally spoke in reply, and James smirked.
"-but at least he cares about Albus when no one else does."
"I heard my name." Albus walked into the dining room, and Scorpius just about breathed relief. He met Albus's gaze, silently urging him to sit beside him. Somehow Potter knew what he wanted because he walked around the table to sit beside Scorpius. "What's going on?"
"James was talking about how Scorpius broke Daniel's nose for you. Even though fights are against Hogwarts rules." Lily explains.
"Oh that. Breaking rules is Scorpius's idea of flirting." Albus snickers. Scorpius wanted to crawl into a shell and die, because Harry mutters.
"Why am I not surprised?"
"You shouldn't be. Considering all the rules you broke at Hogwarts." Albus hears his father's words and can't help but be defensive. "Pot, Kettle." James sent a look of amusement his way.
"Actually, considering that you broke most of said rules with Aunt Hermione, it seems like it's your way of flirting too, Dad." Lily uses her words to hit where it counts. But instead of being angry, Harry just looked hurt. Scorpius had the good sense to not laugh at that, even if James didn't.
"Lily that's enough." Ginny scolds.
"Why Mam? Just because you took him back doesn't mean I have to." Lily may be small and young but her words had the others silent.
"I think we should go to the pub after all." Albus elects softly, standing back up and offering a hand out to Scorpius. He takes it, feeling eyes watching him. "Come on guys." Lily was already out of her seat and heading back to the door. That was short lived. And she probably knew it was because of her comments.
"We'll be back when you put the dog out." James tells his mother, casting a glance in his father's direction. Scorpius almost felt bad for Harry. Almost. Ginny looked conflicted, wanting to keep her kids here but also trying to make it work with Harry. Turns out that even if they were together; Lily and James would hold a grudge. At least for now. As they stepped back outside in the air, and the front door closed behind them, Lily gestured to wait. And after a few long moments, Scorpius could hear the beginning of yelling inside the house. "That lasted all of five minutes." James snorts, zipping his jumper. "I wanted a butterbeer anyways. Let's go." He leads down the sidewalk as their ears pick up on the shattering of glass.
"Ginny's not in danger, right?" Scorpius couldn't help but ask.
"No, but Uncle Harry is." Rose clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.
"Maybe this is good." Albus muses. "Maybe they will work things out."
"I hope you're right." Scorpius tells him, slinging an arm across Albus's shoulders as they walked, a gesture of comfort. "Even so, it'll be fun to see the little town you guys grew up in." He says, looking at all the Potter's. At the mention of the town, Lily's face glowed, the issues of her family forgotten.
"We'll show you everything!" Lily boasts.
—-
The pub reminded Scorpius of the cafe he frequented in Wiltshire. Though the pub was warmer inside and had fewer windows. More dimly lit. They were seated at the table and the waitress that walked over to take their orders obviously knew the Potters and Rose well because she started into smooth conversation with them. Scorpius didn't really hone in on the words, he busied himself reading the carved in names to the wooden table, some of them looking like they were carved in hundred of years ago, and others more recently cut. "This place has been around for awhile." Albus tells him from the pace at his side, noticing the focus on the tabletop.
"Is this-"
"Grindelwald. The dark wizard." Rose nods, finishing his sentence as the waitress walks away.
"Right. Aries mentioned him once. We learned about him briefly in Hogwarts. Why is his name here?" Scorpius traced his fingers over the name curiously, as though he could maybe get an image of the guy. He didn't.
"Well he came here with Albus." James chimes in, then clarifies. "Dumbledore obviously. They were pals."
"They weren't pals they were lovers." Lily rolled her eyes at her eldest brother.
"How do you know this?" Scorpius asked her. Lily gave him a smirk.
"A witch never reveals her secrets."
"Lily stop acting mysterious we all know you read it in Aberforth's work." Albus laughs, then turns to his boyfriend beside him. "Dad has the complete collection of the books Aberforth wrote. I can lend them to you if you want."
"Won't he notice their gone?" Scorpius wonders. Albus just raised an eyebrow at him, as though trying to remind the boy how easily he steals things from his family without them even knowing. The invisibility cloak, for instance. "Well I'm always looking for more books to read."
"Speaking of books, I watched that video on Twitter. Where you were talking about Atticus Michell and what he says in his books. You have them?" Lily clarifies. Scorpius didn't know what video she was talking about until it clicked into place. When he got into trouble for making some sort of anti-Ministry speech. That felt like years ago, even if it had only been some long months.
"Yes. He was distantly related to my mother's family. So she gave them to me." Scorpius nods. "The books are outlawed because it was rather radical."
"If you ask me, outlawing books are in poor taste. As though the written word could spark a rebellion or something." James says as the waitress leaves chips at their table. He crunches on one as he talks. "Only people who feel threatened would waste time with outlawing books. Hitler did it too, you know."
"Many places did it during World War II." Albus corrects gently, "It's not about threatening, it's about adding to the unrest."
"There's always unrest. We're humans who can't agree on anything." Rose points out. "Books aren't the issue, people are." Scorpius liked that approach and decided to push the issue with a casual joke of his own nature.
"Are you suggesting genocide?" There was silence for a moment as they all looked at the platinum haired boy, and saw the smirk cross his features. Then they were laughing too.
"There's enough good people where the bad can be dealt with." Rose finally decides.
"Debatable." Albus retorts. "Good and bad are subject to opinion and bias."
"That's true." Scorpius voices his support, eyes scattering to other people in the pub. There were very few of them in there. An old man, a woman tucked into a corner by herself with wise eyes on a young face.
"...Snape was good in the end according to Dad." James argues, and Scorpius honed back into the conversation. They were categorizing the dead into good and bad. "Which is why he named you after him." He tells Albus. But the smaller boy wasn't keen on those words.
"He's biased. The man spent a life of misery pitying himself over a woman who didn't love him back. And somehow that makes his actions acceptable as to treating people horribly?"
"He didn't treat my father horribly. For the record." Scorpius chimes in, trying to sizzle down the agitated voices of the boys.
Lily decided to counter it, "That's because they were both bad." Albus gave her a warning look across the table. "What? It's true."
"My father was forced to do things on the account that he'd die if he didn't." Scorpius shrugs.
"He could've fought back." Lily didn't yield. Scorpius honestly didn't know why he was defending Draco- after all he agreed with her. The man was a coward. Not when it came to protecting Scorpius though; the son that wasn't even his. Perhaps he deserved more than the hand he had been dealt.
"We weren't talking about him- we were talking about Snape." James redirects the topic again. "And if he could produce a patronus than that means he's good." If people judged others based on if they could produce a patronus; then at least Scorpius would be able to say he was a good one. Especially if that was the standard. Low as it may be.
"Why do we care, anyways?" Rose mutters, picking at the napkin in front of her like the conversation was boring- or irritating. It was hard to tell from her facial expression alone.
"Maybe because we're subject to hear about it all the time, because those who lived it always feel the need to bring it up." James was loud when he replied. "To excuse their own behavior like being a sucky father." He raises his voice a little mockingly. "'I never had a father in my life to show me the way-' Excuses. Absolute bullshit." Wrath knit his eyebrows together, in a kind of expression Scorpius had only ever seen on the Gryffindor during a Quidditch match. Albus was gentle when he spoke directly to his older brother.
"He's trying to make things better. Doesn't that count?" A hint of desperation there; for someone to say yes, it counts. So that maybe Albus's spell and magic wouldn't have been for nothing, so that maybe it would work and his family would go back to how it use to be. That's what he wanted, what he craved. Even if how it use to be wasn't exactly perfect- especially when he got the short end of the straw. Scorpius could feel that, understand what that desperation felt like, the yearn for normalcy. He'd had that feeling since that day he saw his name on those letters. When he wished he could take it all back.
"No." Lily spoke when it was clear that James didn't know how he wanted to answer that question. Rose was quiet, looking sad. She shared the look Albus had, and even looked at him, gauging his reaction. "For all I care Dad can leave and never come back." Regardless of the distant detachment of her words, she withdrew to herself, pulling out her phone and trying to avoid the rest of them. Probably on the verge of tears but she wouldn't show them that. Scorpius just recognized it; he could recognize that silent pain. Because he'd seen it on Raven's features too often.
When the waitress brought the food, everyone's uneasy moods seemed to slip away. "Oh Scorpius I have to tell you about this time when Albus caused a fire in here." James loudly announces, and Scorpius beamed as the smaller boy beside him groaned.
"Why must you strive to embarrass me! I've done nothing wrong." Albus pleads softly, giving a mock sob. But James leaps into the story with zest only he could muster. And even though the event was probably not that interesting- his retelling had all of them laughing. That was until he said something off about Lily's hair- which she flung food at him in response to. That opened an entire other problem. In a matter of minutes they were throwing what was left of their food at eachother.
Scorpius wasn't going to get involved, finding food fights trivial. But then James taunted him with a, "I see your aim is only good on the Quidditch field then?" A piece of broccoli flew across the table in action.
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