SPOILER!!: comments

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefan

*is now a Scorp fan*

Moooorrre! Moooore!!! *enthusiastic clapping and such*

Well here's some more of him for you then!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimist

I think I got too much of a kick out of Shacklebolt yelling "She's not his girlfriend"...because honey, she's not yours either.

*sassy snaps*

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurange

Have I mentioned that this stuff is practically written in gold? I had SUCH a laugh reading this. Thanks, guys.

PAMS?

Aww this one isn't as funny but I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thank you so much for continually supporting us! It means a lot!

4.1 In The Slytherin Common Room
Saturday afternoon and Scorpius had homework to do already. For a moment or two he seriously entertained the idea of not doing it. After all, even if the season hadn't quite started yet, weekends were for Quidditch and then, when Slytherin won all their games, for celebrating in style. As Apollo had pointed out that morning, It had been a while since the last really big party; the trashy sort where girls woke up with regrets, while Scorpius somehow woke up with more clout for his ever-growing and grossly over exaggerated reputation. Apollo had been kidding around when he mentioned it, but it was true enough. Sometimes Scorpius felt a bit like the other Slytherins were molding him, making him some sort of figurehead. Silly thought maybe, and Scorpius was well able to stand on his own two feet, but the niggling feeling remained. Maybe it was ego to think anyone was that interested in him (and of course he had a fair bit of that like any Malfoy) but it was also tempered by a depth of feeling that most wouldn't believe he was capable of showing. Then again, maybe that depth of feeling was a Malfoy thing too. An ego thing.

Most of the stories that surfaced about him were pure rumour but Scorp never denied a thing. it was okay by him that the bloody school built up a picture of how they thought the Malfoy heir conducted himself. As long as in the grand scheme of things he was following his own moral code and the rumours didn't get in the way of his every day life, what did it matter? He mulled over this thought as he walked the dungeon corridor. It was kind of funny in some ways to see people believe whatever story they were fed. In Scorp's case, the reputation that resulted from the stories about him caused different reactions from house to house. He was popular in Slytherin, he could count more than a few Ravenclaws among his friends, and had even dated a Hufflepuff the previous year. Scorpius actually had a lot of good friends. People he laughed with, cared about, joked with, spent holidays with. He wasn't lonely, and while he had introspective moments, Scorpius was generally outgoing and confident. His Malfoy swagger sometimes turned towards arrogance, but was coupled with a genuine, easy smile more often than a sneer. It went without saying that he did not have any real friends in Gryffindor. It wouldn't be so bad, he reflected, to have a friend or two in that house, but it had just never happened. He was too Malfoy for any of them to accept him easily.

It was good that he was used to it now, Scorpius reflected as he spoke the password in front of a blank stretch of stone wall and subsequently made his way into the common room. When he was younger he'd had a secret burning desire to be liked. Not that it had been much of a problem exactly, he had friends and a loving family, it was just that he'd found it hard to pretend like he didn't care about the whispers and the assumptions about his character. Everyone knew who the Malfoys were. Not everyone approved, even if his father and grandfather had gone out of their way to restore the family's good name, some people insisted the Malfoys had never had a good name to begin with. Throwing money at St. Mungo's and showing support for new, prejudice-free legislation within the Wizarding World wasn't enough. There were too many who remembered. Too many who held their own prejudice close to their hearts. Weasleys, mostly. There bloody were enough of them to form a majority. Bred like rabbits.

At this time of evening, before dinner, the common room was bustling. He always felt an odd burst of satisfaction when he entered, a feeling of belonging. There was nothing like the Slytherin dungeon and the greenish glow of the lanterns always welcomed him. There were always a few first years who felt ill when first confronted with the common room, either as a reflection of the green tinge which bathed everything in the shared space, or because the concept of being under the lake spooked them, but Scorpius had instantly taken to the place. It was always warm, even if sometimes it could be a little bit damp, and it was at least as grand as home, and yet there was always someone around, resulting in a sense of community that the Malfoy Manor lacked. It made sense when there were more than seventy kids sharing the Slytherin quarters, and it wasn't as if Scorp's family was large enough to warrant a comparison of numbers. There were a lot of empty rooms at home, and besides, nothing could beat going to sleep with the sound of water at your windows. Scorpius even had a little charmed globe at home which made water noises to help him sleep during the holidays.

He threw himself on his favourite couch, a dark green leather thing, claiming the entire stretch of it with his length despite the fact it was made to comfortably sit three. His entry did not go unnoticed but Scorp ignored the younger students and their whispers about Saturday's Quidditch try outs in favour of the greeting thrown at him by his older cousin, Acantha Zabini.

"Malfoy." The Head Girl intoned, somehow managing to put affection and a greeting into her voice as she named him. Scorpius tilted his head back and smiled at her, but didn't move. She looked like she was handling working with the Head Boy quite well in the sense that she no longer appeared as if she was going to implode at any given moment as he had suspected she might just a few days ago. The dark-haired girl examined him for a moment and then stood up, her movements sinuous and controlled. Nothing Acantha did was unintentional and her every movement was designed to draw the eye. She'd inherited her father's high cheekbones, darker skin and almond shaped eyes, but her eyes were the same startling green of her mother, the whole effect was rather exotic and the contrast with Scorpius was in turns complementary and jarring, depending on how much the casual observer liked or disliked one or the other of them.

Scorpius watched her approach. His cousin was someone he admired and even counted on. Acantha was formidable, most were wary of her, but she never seemed to break any rules. It was the opposite really, Acantha was a firm believer in rules, and entirely too adept at bending them and finding loopholes. She was a smart girl, but relied more on her looks than she needed to in Scorp's opinion. She really wasn't much like her younger sister at all. As the thought occurred to him, Scorpius sat up a little and glanced around for her.

"Where's Nera?"

"Scorpius, playing favourites?" Acantha gave his feet a shove with one knee and pouted at him. "Can't you just pretend I'm your favourite cousin for one day? Move your feet, oaf."

"When you talk so sweetly, how can I resist?" Scorpius answered dryly and then laughed, sliding his feet off the couch and sitting up further, though he remained comfortably and gracefully slouched, the embodiment of lounging. Nearby a group of first and second years were carefully pretending not to be listening. The Head Girl and the Quidditch Captain both ignored them entirely.

"Where have you been? I was looking for you earlier." Acantha crossed her legs carefully, and fixed her cousin with a look. Her eyes were calculating, though Scorpius knew there was warmth there too.

"Just around." He shrugged. Scorpius liked a little bit of time for himself, time where he could be alone with his thoughts. As an only child, and despite his social nature, the sixteen year old enjoyed some privacy. It was something you had to give up to at least some extent at Hogwarts. Even if his housemates tended to appear to be leaving each other be, in reality ears were up and everyone was listening and watching for anything that could be of benefit to themselves. It was the nature of things and Scorp didn't begrudge it, but he did often wander about on his own. He'd explored the entire castle in its entirety by the end of his fourth year, and he was sure that was something most students couldn't brag about. Not that Scorpius tended to brag, but his memory was uniquely suited to such undertakings. Any Slytherin learned early on if they wanted directions to anywhere in the castle, to ask Malfoy, who could not only explain in the most simple of terms, but provide shortcuts and obscure ways which would allow a careful student to venture almost anywhere undetected.

Unnoticed by Scorpius, Apollo and Nera stepped into the common room, chatting idly.

"Around." Acantha repeated in a fondly teasing tone. She nudged his knee. "Anyone would think you're going off with a Weasley, as secretive as you are."

Scorpius gave her a wide-eyed look and instead of sneering at the idea as one might expect from a Malfoy, he laughed. Did that even need words to explain how absurd the idea was? Clearly Acantha had heard about that whole potions thing and his appearance at the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts, but that had only been about irritating Yates Shacklebolt and the Weasley element was practically irrelevant. and even if Scorpius had played along, he'd maintain that stance until his dying days.

"Eww." Nera's voice. "Can you imagine? The babies would have pink hair." It was a tired joke. She ruffled Scorp's own blond head and moved around the couch to take a seat in an armchair, tucking her feet up and resting her chin on her knee. She regarded her cousin and sister from behind her glasses, her expression serious. Scorpius knew the glasses were an affectation. It wasn't as if the Zabinis didn't have the money for Nera to get her eyes fixed, but the girl enjoyed wearing them, both for fashion and as a supposed statement against the pureblood status quo, which, while Nera was fond of appearing to be against all the blood purity stuff, actually mattered a great deal to her. She thought good breeding was especially important, and was very, very proud of her wizarding heritage, even if her own father's exact lineage was unknown. The green, rectangular frames suited Nera and gave her an intelligent look which luckily was backed by a prodigious intellect. Not that Nera was one to put her brain to use in the traditional sense, usually she only scraped by with average marks, something that baffled the professors. Nera preferred to spend her time researching her own interests or entertaining herself with the subtle manipulation of their peers. She was less physical than her sister, preferring to use her mind to gain power, rather than her body. Where the eye was generally drawn to Acantha, Nera was the opposite. As striking as she was, somehow the eye often forgot to notice, and slid over her. At least until she spoke. Her voice was a weapon and she could be very convincing where she had reason to be. Apollo perched on the arm of her chair, as co-prefects they were often together now, though it was Scorpius who they had in common and Scorpius had always thought they mostly just coexisted and tolerated each other for his sake.

"Zabini, come over here would you? Settle an argument." Montague called from where he was sitting at a cluster of tables. Acantha had been sitting with him moments before joining her cousin. Both Zabini girls looked up, Nera looking away again in apparent boredom when she saw who it was and realised she wasn't the one being addressed.

Acantha sighed and stretched like a cat. "My people await." She blew Scorpius a kiss and stood up, sauntering back to the tables and leaving the three sixth years be. With her leaving, the younger students went back to their own conversations, less interested now that the head girl was gone and nothing exciting was being discussed.

Nera was watching Scorpius again and he turned his head to look at her but didn't give her the satisfaction of asking what she wanted.

"That potions essay, seriously its like Sato wants to bore us to death." Apollo was saying and Scorpius took it as a natural progression of the conversation considering the Weasley Incident. Nera smiled and raised one eyebrow at Scorpius. "I wonder if he even reads the bloody things. I mean, surely he gets bored too? Who cares about... what was it?"

"How the phases of the moon affect the harvest of water plants and the subsequent effects on a potion." Nera supplied automatically.

"Could it be more convoluted?" Scorpius commented, deciding that Nera's staring was even more pointed with those glasses she wore. Like when you angled a magnifying glass so that the sun was concentrated through it. If she wanted something, he hadn't managed to decipher what it was.

"Can you think of a more straight forward way to say it?"

"No and I'm not about to try." Scorpius wagged one finger at Nera. He'd known her since they were babies but whatever motivated Nera often remained a mystery to him. He eyed her, noticing that she had her hair tied back today, barely enough of it to stay in a ponytail. Her hair could be a little on the kinky side, but she kept it smooth, tamed and glossy with charms and potions and maintained a fringe which only served to emphasize her glasses and the same green eyes her sister boasted. Nera's skin was lighter than Acantha's, but not by much. Her face was more heart shaped, her bone structure resembling that of her mother's more so than that of her father's. She was slimmer than Acantha too, and yet softer, less muscled. Nera cared little for exercise and was unfit enough that she'd dropped all the classes held in classrooms located above the sixth floor as soon as she'd been able to, something Scorpius would tease her about if only Nera would react. Really though, who chose their academic pursuits based on the location of each class in the castle? She didn't care what he though, and met any such teasing with a cool look and a calculating smile that made you wonder if it was all part of some grand scheme and she was the one who ought to be laughing.

"How about 'The relationship between moon phases and water plant harvesting in regards to potion brewing.' Or something like that." Apollo suggested, fussing with his tie and not looking up at either of them.

"How about who cares?" Scorpius made a face and adjusted one of the cushions at his back to a more comfortable position. Nothing worse than getting a kink in your neck or your back from slouching, not that he'd sit up except when his grandfather or father insisted on it. It was hard work to drape yourself in a manner that appeared careless while also protecting your spine.

Scorpius actually liked potions, and was always getting excellent marks but the term had barely begun. If this essay was an indication of how NEWT prep was going to be, Scorpius wasn't looking forward to the rest of it. Without looking at Apollo, Nera gave her co-prefect a nudge, pushing him off balance so that he stood up. Looking as if he was tempted to hiss but couldn't quite work up the energy, Apollo glanced at her, and then at Scorpius who shrugged and indicated that the other boy could join him on the couch. Apollo took the other end, then used his wand to move a foot stool close enough for his use, lazily kicking his feet up and crossing them at the ankle, expensive boots on display. His head was turned and he was watching a game of Wizard's Chess through heavy lidded eyes.

"I might go and scope the library before dinner, get a start on this thing." Scorpius was already standing up even as he spoke and Apollo looked back at him, clearly not inclined to come over all studious himself.

"I'll save you a seat, mate." He answered in dismissal.

Scorpius nodded and, absently pulling his robes around him a little tighter, strode from the common room. He could feel Nera's eyes on his back and the feeling remained the entire way to the library.