SPOILER!!: comments!

Firstly thanks you guys for giving this a go! Secondly, disclaimer, we did write most of this in 2011 so there are some things that don't match up with POTTERMORE canon, ie the quidditch world cup. But we're not changing anything like that in case it changes things further along. Anything NEW we write will be pottermore compliant though!

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Originally Posted by Casey O

I am…speechless. After so long with you guys talking about this…you finally posted it!!! I am SCREAMING (not literally).

A couple things I LOVE:
-Scorpius being a lil bit of an angsty 16 year old (something I know too well)
-Vincent Nott … you guys are GENIUS!!!!
-I'm picking up on slight Albus/Scorpius vibes…just saying.

To quote fanfic commenters of old: PAMS!!!!!!!!

Oh see now the worry is that all the talking has built it up too much lol. I hope you continue to enjoy it Caserole.

a) He's SO angsty. He's so sixteen.
b) haha either genius or supremely uncreative, who really knows?
c) get on the #scorbus

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

So excited about this!! Love it!

Glad you like, hope it keeps your interest!

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Originally Posted by Optimist

I love this <3

And we love you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

This is awesome guys. I'm loving it so far!

Fingers crossed that you'll keep reading even after we bullied you to read the first time right? Lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samia

First things first, you guys write so good. T__T

I loved reading this, I really really did. And I can't wait for more.

PAMS!

Thanks so much <3 Means a lot coming from you! HERE'S MORE:

1.3 The Slytherin Carriage
Once they had boarded the train Nera went on ahead, leading the boys to the middle cars. They'd given up snagging a private car back in third year, generally preferring to take over one of the larger shared spaces. At first it had just been Scorpius, Nera, Apollo and Takeshi Haneda, but soon enough the majority of their Slytherin year mates, and a few others in the years directly above and below, had migrated to the centre of the train too. It was a definite snakes nest now; it didn't take long for younger students from other houses to get uncomfortable and move up the train to look for somewhere a little bit less intimidating. There were definitely more than a few brutish types currently residing in Slytherin after all and besides which, it did get rowdy so anyone looking for a quiet moment before arriving at Hogwarts was entirely out of luck. Scorpius preferred the social side of it all, especially after a summer spent with just his family. It was Nera's job to flush people out of their chosen seats and as usual she managed it with a few words and an acidic flick of her fingers. Nera wasn't intimidating to look at, she appeared to be the bookish type. Liam Pucey had once referred to her as the 'sexy librarian snake' and gotten himself thoroughly hexed for his troubles. Nera did not exude anything resembling a threat unless she spoke and even then only when she wanted to. While she wasn't particularly physical, she was no slouch with a wand, partly because she had no compunctions about being ruthless, and had her own agenda and set of ethics to go along with that. Underestimating her was most unwise but someone inevitably did and the results always amused Scorpius to no end.

Scorpius took his usual seat right in the middle of the long compartment, his back against the window and his legs across a seat wide enough to comfortably seat two. From there he could see the entire car and nobody could sneak up on him. The back of his seat and the one in front of him served as armrests and he relaxed by slow degrees, enjoying the sense of familiarity that came with going back to Hogwarts coupled with a sense of pride over his achievements the previous year. He could bask in the glory of having led the Slytherin team to an admittedly spectacular Quidditch victory in his first year as captain. Even now, just thinking about it made Scorpius smile. It wasn't the stereotypical smug smile of a victorious snake, rather it was the genuine smile of a boy recalling how proud his father had been of him. His grandfather had been proud too, though Lucius Malfoy had been much less vocal about it, and had simply made a deposit in Scorp's account at Gringotts. His mother had fussed of course but she did that no matter what. Astoria Malfoy was very loving and always proud of him, so it was nice to have actually done something that gave her reason to be proud instead of just that whole motherly thing of loving your children just for existing.

To get his father to be proud enough to brag about him and arrange a special father-son celebration was something out of the ordinary, and Scorp suspected it might even be Patronus worthy since the passing thought alone made him warm and happy. They'd gone to see the Quidditch World Cup final in Japan during the summer and Scorpius had been lucky enough to see the English victory over the Peruvian team, a glorious repeat of the clash during the 2002 World Cup, which his father had reminisced over with boyish enthusiasm. To Scorp it seemed like all the adult witches and wizards knew where they were and what they had been doing during the 2002 victory. It had been the first World Cup since the Second Wizarding War, and England had throttled the Peruvian host team. It had been a narrower victory over Peru this year, but Scorpius had found it all the more exciting because of it and he and his father had both gone half mad with the excitement of it. Joyous Malfoys weren't a common sight, but Scorpius was pretty sure he'd even seen his father hug a Muggleborn in the heat of the moment. That's how amazing it was to have been there.

Nera was carrying on a conversation with Nott, and Scorpius looked up at the arrival of Takeshi. He'd seen last seen the Japanese boy at the World Cup, since the Hanedas had gone along too and shared a box with the Malfoys. After Japan had been knocked out of the competition by Peru, Takeshi had been cheering for England just as loudly as Scorpius and Draco. More reserved by nature than Scorpius, as Slytherin's Keeper Takeshi clearly held the same pride in the Slytherin cup win as Scorp did, and the English victory in the World Cup was just icing on the cauldron cake. By contrast, Apollo thought Quidditch was a waste of time except as a tool for controlling the masses, something for which he'd gravely thanked Scorpius's 'contribution to the cause'. He'd come along and watch, just to support those of his friends that did play, but Apollo Burke had never shown any interest in playing for himself. He could barely fly a broom but maintained that was because he didn't want to rather than because he wasn't capable.

"Greetings, Malfoy." Takeshi sat down in the seat across from Scorp, and Apollo, who returned at that moment after taking a detour to the food trolley to get some snacks, clambered over Takeshi to claim the window seat. Scorpius tried not to laugh at the uncharacteristic scowl Takeshi directed at the prefect..

"Do you not have a meeting to get to?" Takeshi addressed Apollo in a tone that would have been acidic coming from any other Slytherin, but from Takeshi was excruciatingly and measuredly polite.

Someone tossed a chocolate frog which arced over Scorp's head. Peripherally he saw Nera catch it and wave it at whoever had thrown it but he was more interested in Takeshi and Apollo's antics.

"I don't have to go yet. A minute more. Nera will probably want to go soon though." Apollo answered, and bit into a cauldron cake. That hadn't been Takeshi's point and Apollo knew it. He grinned at the other boy. "You could of course choose to stand up when I decide its time to leave."

"You mean when I decide." Nera corrected, leaning over Vincent and discarding the chocolate frog wrapper in his lap. "We'll move when the train does." She extracted the chocolate frog, eyed the famous witch and wizard card in distaste and then frisbeed it over at Takeshi. Scorp knew it was probably meant to be a consolation, since the Japanese boy collected them religiously, but to a casual observer it would appear almost violent. Takeshi caught it neatly and turned it over to take a look.

"Ron Weasley."

In a move that appeared practiced, Apollo obligingly stretched up to open the window even as Takeshi stood up and spun the card neatly through the gap. Both boys and several other Slytherins on that side of the train laughed when the five pointed card hit a younger student in the eye and Scorpius, who had leaned forward enough that he could just glimpse what had happened exchanged a smile with Nera, who rolled her eyes and bit the head off her chocolate frog.

"You know," Apollo observed as they sat down again, "I think that kid's name is actually Patch, and now he's gonna need one." Poor kid. Scorpius watched out the window from across the aisle as one of the Hufflepuff prefects rushed to the boy's aid.

"Hey Scorpius." A dulcet voice came from the seat behind him and the blond turned his head warily, Patch forgotten.

"Hi, Madeleine." He addressed the fifth year and took immediate note of the shiny new prefect badge she sported on her uniform. He also took note that she'd grown her hair longer and styled it in attractive waves, a style that was remarkably similar to that which this year's head girl wore as a trademark though Madeleine's hair was the same yellow as straw and not the dark glossy looks which Acantha sported. Still Scorpius took note that Madeleine had gotten a bit pretty over the summer. She was currently smiling at him with a noticeable sort of intensity, a smile which widened when he'd answered.

"How was your summer?" Madeleine asked. She leaned against the back of his seat, her arms folded and very carefully just touching Scorp's own arm. She was doing rather well at pretending like she hadn't noticed, he reflected.

"Great, went to the World Cup got to see the final." Scorpius answered, and at that, Takeshi leaned across the aisle for a high five, which Scorpius obligingly returned before lounging back against the window again.

"Oh I didn't go. I only follow Quidditch when you are playing, Scorpius." She said, all fluttering eyelashes and heaving breath. She pressed her arm against his with more insistance, being sure that the prefect badge on her chest was still visible. His friends were sniggering. Scorp didn't need to turn his head to know that one snort had come from Nott or that Apollo was probably doing a simpering physical reinactment of the dialogue Scorp and Madeleine were exchanging right about now.

"Well I'll be playing this year so I expect you to keep track of my stats." He was kidding but he said it with complete sincerity of both expression and voice. He certainly wasn't prepared for the response.

"Oh I do. You scored fourteen times with six assists last year, and in each game you scored within sixty seconds of gaining possession of the quaffle. Its so impressive Scorpius, especially that time when the bludger hit you and you scored anyway." Madeleine was all avid eyes and gushing speech and while she was pretty, Scorpius decided he liked her better when she wasn't talking. "I always cheer for you." She added. He was more worried about the fact that someone who didn't play could sum him up so easily. If she had made the observation that he was quick to score, chances were that someone else had too.

"For the Slytherin team you mean." Scorpius eased his arm off the back of the seat, reclaiming it for himself and tried to look nonchalant but he was distinctly aware of the gagging noises coming from Nera and the mockery his friends were exhibiting in general. It was always funnier, he reflected, when it was someone else. He disliked having an audience.

"Oh yes. For them too." Madeleine shot a dismissive look at the nearest Quidditch players and returned her focus to Scorpius.

"So. Prefect." He tried to change the subject, aware that she clearly wanted him to notice the prefect badge anyway and the sooner he did so, the sooner the conversation would be done. "Congratulations."

"Oh I know right? Its so fantastic. I'm so pleased." And now the girl was gushing over herself. Nera's gagging grew more pointed and finally Madeleine deigned to take notice, doing so with a glare that actually went further in her obvious quest to impress Scorpius than all the flirting had. It took a lot of guts to face down a Zabini, he knew. Probably that was part of why she actually did get prefect this year. Who was her co-prefect? He wondered this idly but had no interest in voicing the inquiry. He'd find out at some point.

The train lurched and began to move.

Takeshi eyed Apollo and stood up, gesturing imperiously for the prefect to get a move on. Apparently he didn't much like being climbed all over. Who knew? Nera managed to control herself and stood up too.

"See you later Scorpius." She smiled at him and ignored Madeleine. The sixth year turned on her heel and marched towards the prefect compartment. Apollo wasn't far behind, still eating his cauldron cake. Montague and Urquhart followed too. Ah. Scorp nodded to himself. Urquhart. There you go. The other new prefect, obviously.

"You better go." He told Madeleine, giving her an encouraging smile. He could flirt a little too, it wouldn't hurt anyone. She did stand up and made quite the show of it before giving him an entirely unnecessary wave goodbye.

"I'll see you later, Scorpius." Her words echoed Nera's but her tone was loaded with innuendo. He absently noted Madeleine's very short skirt as she left the carriage and wondered idly how long it would be until their head of house, Professor Atra, would call her up on it. With the train moving and half their group gone, Scorpius took out a book and began to read, losing himself in the pages and ignoring the general hubbub in the carriage. As long as he was pointedly reading, nobody would disturb him for the duration of the journey.