SPOILER!!: comments

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

Another chapter that's easy to visualize. And I'm glad she got her knife back. Plus, the fact that Scorp is forbidden fruit is lol.

Parents are so mortifying amirite?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paintbrush

Ooooh wonderful chapters! Fantastics family interactions! I'm liking Rose more and more. And aah James must be so frustrating to her he can be so dense! But what's happening with Scorp...?

Rose is a delight. And that IS a good question

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Originally Posted by Optimist.Prime

Ah forbidden fruit...

So awkward. Can you imagine your mum saying something like that?

8.2 The Past is History

"Didn't you miss your parents?" Apollo asked as he walked with Scorpius to their History of Magic lesson first thing on Monday morning. It was the first day back for most of the students, and the first day of classes after the holiday. The Sixth year Slytherins and Gryffindors who happened to take the subject were unfortunate that their first lesson of the week was one that the majority had trouble staying awake for in the first place. Scorpius was looking forward to it.

"Well, of course." Scorpius nodded to emphasise his answer. The Malfoys were a closely knit family. Something which often surprised those who did not know them. They sort of had to be though, especially since the war. His father had explained it by posing a question, something he often did in order to get Scorpius to think about it and draw his own conclusions. 'Who else but family?' True, their family was growing now: with the Greengrass and Zabini connection, and Scorpius was close to both sets of grandparents, as well as his Aunt Daphne and Uncle Blaise, but any loyalties beyond the Malfoy family were just that. Beyond.

"You won't see them again until the end of term?"

"No, father said that he and mum would try to attend a Quidditch match while Slytherin are playing." Scorpius was a little bit worried about that. The last game, they had lost. He'd not played terribly but he'd been distracted and Scorpius felt he'd led badly as a result. A leader couldn't afford to be distracted. A Captain couldn't afford to be distracted.

He'd written his father about it, and Draco Malfoy had written back detailing a game where he had played Seeker against the one and only Harry Potter and lost. Scorpius wasn't sure if it was meant to comfort him, since there hadn't been any overt words of comfort in the owl, but he'd felt better anyway. It had felt like commiseration at least, and a subtle reminder that pride could be a downfall. One thing for sure, James Potter wasn't half the Seeker that his father had once been, and really should be playing a different position. If James Potter had been on Scorp's team, it would be as a beater. Not knowing that, and being prideful in his choice to play Seeker meant that he wasn't as good of a Captain as Scorpius was: Scorpius who had led his team to victory the previous year. He could do it again, he just had to find a way to retain his focus. His mind was wandering again even now and he had to blink and concentrate on Apollo sharing what he'd been doing over the Christmas break.

"So I pretty much just helped out in the store and I have no idea how many times I had to restock the shelves but it would have been a heck of a lot easier if I could have used magic. One more week!" Apollo headed into the class in front of him, pushing past a couple of Gryffindors who were reluctantly hovering in the doorway as though crossing the threshold would be on par with a trip to one of those tooth-pulling doctors that muggles went to. Apollo didn't pay them any mind but Scorpius waited for them to move before he followed his friend inside.

One more week.

Apollo would be seventeen and therefore be of age and able to use magic outside of school, whereas Scorpius had to wait until the summer before he'd be of age.

Binns actually began droning before the students had even finished filing in. It was as though he had some kind of internal ghost clock to which he ran his classes, he certainly didn't seem to care whether or not the room was full.

Scorpius watched as Rose and Albus hurried in and claimed the table just in front but in the next row over from where he and Apollo had settled. He tried to be subtle about it and startled when Apollo nudged him roughly. Scorp focused on Binns again as shiny new text books were distributed to the students and he wasn't the only student in the room to freeze up at the introduction of the topic.

"This most recent turn of the century was a violent era, one fraught with peril and brimming with prejudice towards those with Muggle blood running through their veins. The mid to late nineteen-nineties in particular is what we shall focus on for this next topic for your NEWT level preparation. This is the first year in which the events of the second war against Lord Voldemort have been included in the curriculum. -"

Scorpius noted that this was possibly the first time that he had seen the entire class pay attention to the monotonous and terribly paced words of the ghostly Professor Binns and he wasn't the only one to shoot speculative looks towards Rose and Albus... and he was aware of that uncomfortable prickling sensation on the back of his neck that suggested he was attracting such looks himself. Professor Binns made no comments whatsoever on the fact that his class included several children of the very people who had been central to the Second Wizardng War, he just continued to introduce his lecture.

"-Some suggest it is a fallacy to label the First and Second Wizarding Wars separately, and maintain that the second was simply a continuation of the first, that the fight was not over, only delayed by The Boy-Who-Lived, now the most estimable Head Auror in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Harry James Potter."

Scorp's eyes trailed sideways and he watched Albus Potter sink low in his seat, Rose shifting closer to him in support. Nobody was taking notes. He opened the text book reluctantly, careful not to damage the spine as he tentatively flipped pages until he found the section concerning his family. He gaped at the pages and then flipped quickly to the front of the book, looking for the publication date. Christmas day! The books were a little more than a week old and already part of the curriculum? He glanced towards Rose again, noting that she was looking determined and had picked up a quill. Presumably she was taking notes and he couldn't imagine why she would, on her own family. It was so strange hearing a story he knew, but hearing it from such a dispassionate and alien point of view. There was rather a lot missing, Scorpius thought. Whoever had written it was very, very pro-Potter.

Apollo nudged him again, gently this time, pointing out the silvery script on the cover which indicated the book had been published with the support of the Ministry of Magic and approved by Kingsley Shacklebolt. Scorpius turned in his seat and looked directly at Yates, who was smiling. Pride? Pleasure? Enjoyment? Scorp couldn't tell and he turned around again, trying to pay attention and mentally sort what was apparently the official, historical account from what he'd been told. He wondered if Rose had heard this version of events? How different could it be? Surely this business was the version she knew already? Why was she still taking notes? And how had Binns been convinced to update his material? Had he ever covered anything 'new' in his life? Or his afterlife, for that matter?

When the lecture reached its end, Professor Binns assigned 10 Inches of parchment detailing 'How the Chamber of Secrets had come to be opened during the 1992-1993 school year'. And Scorpius shot an uneasy look towards Potter's back. There wasn't much in this text book about the things he knew, very little about cursed diaries or how Ginevra Weasley had come into possession of the one belonging to Tom Riddle. Naturally there weren't any quotes from his grandparents or his father in the book. The Malfoys had decided early on that silence was the best policy regarding certain events. Had they known about this book? Scorpius wanted to go and owl his father immediately to ask. Apollo nudged him again, looking concerned this time.

"Class is over." He pointed out, and then, in an attempt to be comforting, "hey. It's no big deal. The assignments will be a breeze, right?"

Sure. A breeze.

Scorpius nodded and looked at the other table again, but Rose and her cousin had already left. It was a shame actually. Scorpius realized that he'd wanted to say something, though he couldn't think of what that something might be. Sometimes recent history was safer not to talk about with his peers.

"Are you going to the library again?"

The question startled him as he packed his things up. He'd been planning to. Or, well, he hadn't been planning to exactly but... well it had become a habit. Scorpius had free time until his afternoon lessons began just after lunch. He hadn't realized it had become a noticeable habit, that was all. "Yes, I suppose so."

"I'll come with you." Apollo offered.

"No." Scorpius spoke too quickly and he watched Apollo frown at him. He backed up towards the classroom door. "You don't have to that is." Scorp added, too casually. "I'll see you later."

"Suit yourself then." Apollo answered quietly and Scorpius practically fled from the empty room and his friend's speculative gaze.