Bury the Hatchet

Disclaimer: All characters are © JK Rowling, NOT ME!

To be perfectly honest, Scorpius Malfoy didn’t understand exactly what his father wanted from him. He’d been told all his life that though Draco had hated the three most famous wizards in the Wizarding World all throughout school, they’d managed to save his life on several occasions. But it wasn’t as if they were always coming around to have tea, either.

So when his father had approached him and told him very vaguely that he may run into a couple of their children when he went to Hogwarts, he was mollified.

“What do you want me to do about that?” he’d asked.

“Just look for them,” Draco had said, his grave face pulling down into his conservative and somewhat arrogant expression of dismissal.

“Well, do you want me to be friends with them?”

“It may work out that way,”

“Huh?” But before he could get a more informative answer out of his father, Draco had Dissapperated to work.

So of course, by now, he was royally confused, sitting on the train as it puffed away from Platform 9¾. As much as his father seemed to respect Harry Potter, he did not seem to like him immensely. So what if he did meet the child- Alfonse? No, it was something else, Albert? He mulled for a moment as he sat in the corner of the compartment, a couple of other first-years huddling together away from him near the window. Albus. Yeah, it was Albus. If he decided to befriend this boy Albus, would his father object? He sat in thought, wondering, but could find no definitive yes or no, only possibly.

What was so interesting about this Albus kid anyway? He scowled and dragged his large luggage case and the cage with his new black and brown owl, Oswald, out of the compartment, ignoring the relieved looks of the other first-years. He trudged down the hall and poked his head in the compartments, looking for a boy with messy black hair, green eyes, and possibly some owlish glasses. Sure enough, there was a boy who fit the description in one near the front of the train, accompanied by a girl who must’ve been a Weasley, because her hair was ginger and her face somewhat freckled. There was also another boy, a slightly older one, who somewhat resembled Albus. Scorpius hesitated, his hand on the handlebar of the sliding door, but they were already looking at him. He took in a deep breath and composed himself, sliding the door open slowly.

“You mind?” he asked, and his voice seemed a little higher than it should have been.

“Uh… no…” stammered Albus, looking confused and somewhat awkward. But the Weasley girl was looking at him with a mixture of surprise and disgust. He squared his shoulders and came in anyway, sliding his stuff up on the racks.

“Er, nice to meet you, I’m Albus Potter,” said the boy, extending his hand tentatively.

“I’m Scorpius Malfoy,” he said, trying to give a somewhat convincing smile, shaking Albus’ hand shortly.

“What are you doing in here?” asked the girl, sounding like she might have found a rat in her kitchen.

“Sitting down?” Scorpius offered, trying not to be offended by her tone.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because… I want to?” he said lamely, somewhat confused.

“Rose, cut it out,” Albus said to the girl. Rose, he thought. He couldn’t help but think she was kind of pretty.

“Why?” she asked, and this time looked at Albus in surprise. “Al, he’s a Malfoy. You know what my dad said about them,” Scorpius felt his cheeks burn.

“So?” challenged Albus. “My dad says that doesn’t even matter anymore,”

“Oh sure,” said the older boy suddenly. “Not now that dad’s saved Malfoy’s life a couple dozen times,”

“He told me about that,” Scorpius interjected. They all looked at him in surprise. He swallowed and continued. “He said that he was going to serve Lord Voldemort, but he was really mean and threatened to kill my grandparents…”

They were all ogling at him now.

“…and that Potter saved his life, so he changed his mind,” he finished meekly,

shrinking from their stares.

“Dad says that he’s still a mean old rotten Malfoy,” said Rose snidely. The older one laughed behind his hand. Scorpius glared at her, his anger bubbling in his chest.

“Dad is not rotten,” he growled.

“Oi! Cut it out,” Albus interrupted. “It’s not like Malfoy’s trying to become the next Dark Lord or anything,”

“You just said that because Mum says that,” Rose said.

“No, my dad says that too,” Albus said to Rose, glaring at her. “What does it matter anyway? There’s no Dark Lord anymore. Not to mention Malfoy obviously did exactly what our parents did and settled down and had a kid,”

“Yeah,” added in Scorpius, smiling at Albus, who smiled back. Rose snorted.

“Doesn’t change that your dad was a bully,” Her face was crinkled in anger at Scorpius.

“Maybe he was, but he’s not anymore,” he replied, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, Rose, didn’t you see him bow his head at my Dad?” asked Albus. The older boy was beginning to look bored as he gazed out the window.

“So what?” countered Rose.

“So… maybe he likes Dad now… or something,” Albus stammered.

“Oh come on, Al,” she snorted again. “You’re being ridiculous,”

“No I’m not,” said Albus flatly.

“Fine, I’m going to sit with Victorie, at least she’s got some sense,” And with that, Rose stood up with her arms crossed and left the compartment with a frown on her face.

“Blimey, she’s ill,” laughed the older boy. “I’ll go see if I can find the trolley…” Then he left as well, leaving Albus alone with Scorpius.

“Sorry about them,” muttered Albus.

“It’s fine,” shrugged Scorpius. “Seems like nobody likes me on the train,”

“You’re alright,” the black-haired boy offered, giving him a half-smile.

“Thanks,” said Scorpius, smiling back at him. They were silent and awkward for a moment. Scorpius mulled over something to say.

“Albus…” he began, but he was cut off.

“Call me Al,” Albus said with a grin.