September 1st, 2021. Dear diary.

September 1st Wednesday ‘21

Scorpius tapped his foot on the mat of the car as it drove to King's Cross station, outside the window he watched as the buildings, people, trees and other cars rush past in a hazy blur, only the grey clouds in the sky seemingly able to keep pace with the speeding car, so his eyes followed the clouds, his eyes tracing the silver linings. He tried making out shapes of things the cloud looked like, but he couldn't concentrate on a single thought to get anywhere, struggling to ignore the pang of anticipation that ran through his nerves every time he saw a sign of what street they were on.

Scorpius's heart was beating in his ears, the tips of his fingers and most likely his ear were a shade of baby pink as the blood in his system rushed in and out of his heart. His fingers tapping on the green leather messenger bag on his lap. He was alone in the car, aside from the chauffeur in the front. His father insisted on bidding him goodbye at the train but the last thing he needed was to have his father get emotional in public in front of his soon-to-be peers or worse, if his father was overly proper, addressing him in a more neutral way then Scorpius was used to to keep his own reputation intact. He regretted not taking his father up on the offer to at least accompany him in the car. The silence of having to endure the long journey to the train station was worse than he thought.

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Scorpius's nerves only heightened when the car stopped in front of the train station. Scorpius looked in awe as he took in the outside of Kings Cross station. His train of thought, or lack thereof, was broken when the chauffeur opened the car door, Scorpius got out of the car, pulling a hood over his head.

Scorpius was always proud of his hair as well as his appearance, his hair was the same shade of silver as the fur of an arctic fox, his skin the same shade as milk, his eyes were the same colour as his hair. His features were similar to his mother's, her soft rounded nose, plump maroon lips, and sleek fox-ish eyes, aside from some edges along his nose and jaw that he inherited from his father, for all intent and purposes he could pose as a girl. They used to say Scorpius had gotten his father's eyes and hair or else they couldn't tell him apart from his mother, of course that was when he was much younger, when he was first born they thought that Scorpius's silver hair would eventually develop a yellow hue but of course it never did.

The chauffeur loaded the two large suitcases onto a trolley and pushed it inside the train station, Scorpius followed behind him, fixing his hood as he sped up to keep with him.

“I'll take it from here, thank you.” He dismissed the chauffeur. Scorpius never noticed how soft he was until he spoke in a public setting for the first time

Scorpius felt as if he might go deaf. The loud whistling of trains, people chatting loudly, the thunder of hundreds of rushed feet as people ran around or the sound of the creaking of wheels on the ground but the worst part of it all was the heartbeats, the hundreds of heartbeats that seemed to echo off the walls. Scorpius watched as the chauffeur left, taking a few minutes to compose himself, he kept taking deep breaths as he started walking, his grip tight on the handles of the trolley.

Scorpius tried focusing on his own breathing, trying his best to ignore the different heartbeats. He tried distracting himself, digging his index fingernail into his thumb's nail fold.

He had gifts, as his mother called it, they made him special, she used to say.

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“It's a part of our blood, sweetheart,” She explained, a loving smile on her face. “Everyone that is born into our family are given a special gifts, mine is that I have a special voice, it makes me sound very pretty and people tend to listen to me when I use my special voice”

Scorpius, who must've been maybe 3 or 4 at the time, nodded, intrigued at the idea of having special gifts. He was sitting on his father's lap who was holding him close to his chest.

“But not all gifts are great, I have another gift, it's the reason I don't use a wand, because my magic flows differently so when I use a wand, nothing happens” she further added.

Scorpius tilted his head, confused at how something that was supposed to be a gift would make someone's life harder.

“You have these gifts too, my sweet baby,” Scorpius's mother reached out to gently hold the boy's face, cupping the toddler's chubby cheeks in her hand “but yours are different from mine” she said, her reassuring smile faltering for a second.

Barely a second but Scorpius noticed it.

“You can't eat food the way normal people can, you don't drink water, you say it makes you sick right?” She asked, her voice soft as her hands pulled away.

Scorpius nodded, it was a problem he's had since he switched to solid food, everything made him vomit, aside from anything that was made from bread or bread base. Liquids fared better, they didn't make Scorpius vomit but he still felt sick, lying in bed for hours complaining about tummy aches.

Scorpius's mother took a deep breath, “okay” she stood up from her kneeled position on the floor, “I'll be right back” she smiled before leaving the room for a few minutes.

Scorpius looked up at his father, whose hold on him seemed to tighten “hello sweetheart…” his father looked down, his voice a little shaky as he kissed the top of his head. Scorpius leaned back into his father's chest, his father's chin resting on his head.

His mother soon came back, carrying a small cup of dark red liquid. Scorpius could smell it, it smelled metallic, like copper, and it made his mouth water. His mother approached and gently handed the glass to his father, “Try drinking this okay?” His father said softly, holding the glass of the copper smelling liquid up to Scorpius's lips.

So he took a sip, then another, and another, then a gulp and another, then he finished the glass. His father took the glass away, setting it aside. Scorpius looked up at his parents who looked a little worried “How do you feel baby?” His mother asked softly, bending down so her dark brown eyes met Scorpius's silver ones.

“No tummy aches…” Scorpius answered, he enjoyed the taste of the liquid as well but the look of concern on his parents made him feel as if he should keep it to himself. Scorpius's mother took a deep breath “okay… okay.. good good” she nodded along, kneeling in front of Scorpius again.

Her eyes met with her husband's. Scorpius couldn't see his father's face but he assumed that the flicker of emotion also flashed in his father's eyes as it did with his mother. She looked down to Scorpius, gently taking his small hands in her own, taking a deep breath before speaking.

“Do you want to learn about my side of our family?”

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Scorpius sighed, pushing the trolley, trying to look for Platform 9¾. Finally after what seemed like an eternity he saw a family with a large trolley and an owl cage run into a wall between platform 10 and 9. Scorpius copying what he saw, he ran into the wall as well.

After a brief second, he felt as if he had just entered a nice warm house from a cold thunderstorm. There weren't as many people in platform 9¾ as there were in the usual area of king's cross.

The first thing he noticed was how much more quiet it was, of course he could still hear a plethora of things including the heartbeats of the other patrons but it wasn't as loud as it was before. Scorpius went to one of the gates, he wasn't sure what to do with his luggage so he sort of just watched another family and did what they did.

After his luggage was handed, he slung his messenger bag across his shoulder, heading inside the train and looking for an empty compartment. After a bit he found a compartment that seemed unclaimed, he went inside and took a seat by the window, taking a deep breath as he realised that he was truly on Hogwarts express, about to head to Hogwarts, as a third year.

Scorpius sat there for a few minutes leaned against the window, hood over his head, covering his eyes enjoying the silence, the background buzz outside the compartment. He then heard two heartbeats approach, then he heard footsteps and then voices. The compartment door slid open, Scorpius didn't move, hoping the two would think he's asleep and leave.

“There's a spot here, you can sit here” One of the voices said, it was a boy, from what it sounded like an older boy too.

“There's someone here, what if they're saving a seat?” the other voice responded, a younger boy, maybe his age, Scorpius guessed.

“Just sit down, I'll be where I usually sit” The older boy said and left. An audible groan followed by the sound of the compartment door sliding closed and someone sitting across him.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Scorpius looked up to see a boy around his age sitting across from him. He had black hair, a hint of a curl at the ends of it, bright brown eyes, his features were unremarkable, or at least that's what Scorpius thought at first glance.

The boy's eyes met with Scorpius's, holding contact for a moment before looking away.

“Oh uh hi, you're awake?” The boy asked a bit awkwardly. It was nice to know at least he wasn't the only one uncomfortable with the situation.

“Yes…” Scorpius responded, his voice so soft it was almost a whisper, Merlin's beard, he sounded so meek, he wanted to hit himself in the head.

“okay… cool… so.. I don't think I've seen you before… What house are you in?” The boy asked, the question seemed to be more out of conventional social niceties rather than genuine intrigue.

“This is my first time at Hogwarts. I haven't gotten sorted yet… I'm a third year though…” Scorpius answered, trying to sound a bit more confident but in truth his heart was beating in his ears.

“Oh, so you're a transfer?” the other boy guessed.

“I guess…” Scorpius mumbled, pulling his hood down. Scorpius noticed the boy's eyes going wide for a few seconds before returning to normal.

“Right uh… so I'm Albus Potter” He introduced himself, his hand stretching out in a friendly gesture.

Scorpius took his hand, shaking it lightly “Scorpius Malfoy…” He introduced himself in return.

A look of recognition flashed across Albus's eyes as he immediately recognised the name.

“Wait wait wait, like the Malfoy's? Famous pure-blooded wizarding family?” Albus asked, leaning forward with his hands on the seat under him.

“Yea… that Malfoy…” Scorpius confirmed, nodding a bit before looking down at his feet. Scorpius felt something in the pit of his stomach resembling embarrassment, why? He loved his family, why was he suddenly so embarrassed?

“Wow,” Albus said, stunned, he sounded more surprised than anything. Scorpius looked up, meeting the black haired boy's brown eyes “I-I do-don't mean it like it's a bad thing-” Albus immediately tried backtracking “I just didn't even know the Mafloy family had an heir-” Albus desperately explained.

Scorpius could sense that Albus was genuine in his attempt to not be offensive or rude “well I'm sitting right here” Scorpius shrugged , offering a small polite smile as an acceptance of Albus's apology.

The trip seemed to be easier after that awkward icebreaker, the two of them having found some common ground with wizard's chess.

“Really? Never lost a single match?” Scorpius asked genuinely shocked.

“I'm being serious, in my entire family, never lost to anyone, even my older brother” Albus admitted proudly, his elbow that was on the windowsill propping up his head.

“That's just not statistically possible -” Scorpius sighed, clearly not believing him.

“What would convince you?” Albus asked.

“How ‘bout we have a match when we get to Hogwarts?” Scorpius suggested.

“Sounds good, what house do you reckon you'll be in?” Albus asked, eyeing Scorpius curiously.

“Is there any chance of me going anywhere besides Slytherin?” Scorpius retorted, a bit confused why Albus would ask a question with such an obvious answer.

“I s’pose that's the obvious answer but the obvious answer isn't always what happens,” Albus shrugged.

“What house are you in?”

“Slytherin.” Albus answered.

Now it was Scorpius's turn to be shocked “you're having a laugh, a Potter in Slytherin?” He questioned.

“Yea yea, I was just as surprised as everyone else” Albus leaned back in his seat, arms crossing over his chest “the Sorting Hat had to yell it twice before we realised that it wasn't joking”

“Wow… your parents must've gone mental.” Scorpius tilted his head.

“Not as much as my brother, he wouldn't talk to me for the first two months” Albus sighed.

“That… must've been tough…” Scorpius's expression fell a little, feeling some assemblage of sympathy for him.

“We're alright now, he's over it.” Albus dismissed with a wave of his hand, “we're on speaking terms now so that's good.” He tried to sound reassuring but Scorpius felt that wasn't the whole truth.

“That's good at least… So can you tell me what it's like? Hogwarts I mean, the classes, students, teachers, that sort.” Scorpius pivoted the conversation, his foot tapping on the carpeted floor of the train compartment.

“Well…” Albus started, looking out of the window, the grassy plains of Scotland speeding by “it's brilliant honestly, the castle itself is just- it's hard to describe, you'll see when we get there, as for the people, well the Professor's are nice if you keep out of trouble and students are a mixed sort but the majority are fine.”

With that the conversation moved onto other topics, they surprisingly had a lot of common ground. They both were fond of potions and Albus seemed to have enjoyed reading Hogwarts: A History, Scorpius found it amusing that apparently everyone in his family was forced to read through the whole thing at least once.

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The train finally arrived at the station after what felt like an eternity. Scorpius got up, pulling his hood over his hair and picked up his things and bags.

“What's with the hood, it's like 7pm?” Albus questioned as he gathered his own things.

“Point at one other person with silver hair and I'll put the hood away.”

Albus seemed to accept that answer as he exited the compartment, Scorpius followed behind him as he exited the compartment.

Scorpius wished he had brought a pair of ear mufflers. The sound of hundreds of students rushing out the doors wasn't as bad as King's Cross but the thumping of heartbeats were somehow even louder. Despite the overwhelming background noise, Scorpius found some solace knowing that at least it seemed everyone was as anxious about Hogwarts as he was.

Scorpius was about to follow Albus but someone came up to him, it was a girl with tight curly hair, she was wearing the Ravenclaw uniform with a prefect pin on her robe, “hello there, you're the new third year right? Come with me.” Her voice was kind as she spoke with a soft smile. Scorpius nodded, waving a small bye to Albus, pulling on his hood as he followed the Ravenclaw prefect.

He followed her over to a line of carriages being pulled by what looked to be malnourished winged horses, as they got closer he saw the horses in more detail. These creatures were tall, dark leather-like skin that wrapped around the bones, bat-like wings that were currently closed, the face of the creature reminded Scorpius of a lizard.

“Thestrals…” He mumbled as he realized what these creatures were.

“You can see them?” The prefect asked as she turned to look at him.

Scorpius simply nodded, looking down at his feet as he continued following the prefect.

She didn't ask anything else. Scorpius was thankful. She led him to one of the prefect carriages and got in, inviting him inside. The ride was quiet, the other prefects didn't ask any questions or try to speak with him which Scorpius was thankful for.

The carriages soon got to the castle, it wasn't a long ride but it was enough to make Scorpius's nerves build up. The prefect girl from before led him somewhere separate from the other students.

She led him to a room “Headmistress, it's prefect Ramona.” She said, straightening up her posture as a voice on the other end of the door responded, “Come in!”.

The prefect, Ramona, opened the door to reveal a small room. There was an old woman in robes sitting at a desk, her grayish brown hair pinned into a tight bun on top of her head.

“Thank you Ramona, you may join the rest of your peers in the Great Hall.” The Headmistress dismissed Ramona who nodded, bid farewell and left “Good evening, Mr. Malfoy” she turned her attention to Scorpius. He pulled his hood down, looking the Headmistress in the eyes “Good evening, Headmistress McGonagall” He bowed, a habit his mother had instilled in him when they visited her father quite regularly during Scorpius's younger years.

“It's good to finally have you at Hogwarts,” She smiled warmly as she stood up, “Before anything else, I must discuss the…” she paused, thinking of what choice words to use “the list of warnings, your father has sent for you to be followed by the staff and Prefects.” She decided to say. Scorpius wanted to die, of course his father would go so far as to send an actual list of things Scorpius was banned to do.

“I think it'd be easier if you read it.” She said as she handed him a folded piece of parchment. Scorpius sheepishly thanked her and took it before opening and reading it.

Dear Headmistress McGonagall,

As you are aware my son, Scorpius Akito Malfoy, will be joining Hogwarts for his third year as a student.

As his father and guardian, as such, it is my responsibility to insure his safety while he isn't under my supervision. I apologize to bother but it is my concern that for his own safety, he has some restrictions placed on him during his school year.

These restrictions are listed on the other side of the parchment.

So Scorpius turned the piece of parchment over and continued reading.

Exemption from flying class.
No Hogsmeade Trips
No activities that could lead to physical injuries

As well as a plethora of other things that made no sense to Scorpius, when he finished reading, he handed it back to the headmistress, “So you understand how your father wishes for you to proceed with your stay at Hogwarts?” She asked, taking the note back. “I understand.” He said softly. He didn't know if he should bring up that the handwriting of the list was his mother's.

“As you're starting your third year and not your first, I'll have you sorted before the batch of first years arrive, if you'll follow me.” She explained as she headed to a door on his left. Scorpius followed behind her, he felt his heart beat in his ears again as they left the room, entering the Great Hall through a side door next to the teacher's table that was on a platform at the end of the Great Hall.

The conversation died down as the students all turned to them, first looking at the headmistress before focusing on him. Scorpius felt like throwing up, there was a pit in his stomach that threatened to travel up his throat. Scorpius swallowed as he simply stood next to the Headmistress who stood at a podium

“I offer a warm welcome back to all the students who are returning for another year at Hogwarts,” she started, her voice held a sense of warmth that made it clear that she did care about all her students, it didn't seem as if anyone was listening, everyone's gaze was fixed on Scorpius; “before the new students who will be beginning their journey at Hogwarts arrive, I must introduce a new student who will be joining this year.”. There was a ripple of murmurs throughout the student body. Scorpius couldn't make any of it out but he didn't pay much mind to it or tried to.

“Meet your new classmate, Scorpius Malfoy.”

The second that his name left the Headmistress's lips the entire Great Hall went dead silent, the silence seemed to bounce off the walls as everyone just stared, trying to make sense of how. Just how could there be a Malfoy? Scorpius's hands were clasped behind his back, the nail on his index finger digging into the nail fold of his thumb, trying to distract himself from the overwhelming thundering of heartbeats.

Headmistress McGonagall then cleared her throat “He will be joining us here at Hogwarts for his third year.” She explained “So I expect his housemates to treat him as any other student.” She stated, there was a murmur of agreement among the students.

She then led Scorpius to a stool where he sat down and the Sorting Hat was placed on his head.

Headmistress McGonagall hadn't even let go of the hat when it yelled:

“SLYTHERIN”

The Slytherin table broke out in a roar of cheering, as Scorpius stood up and made his way to the Slytherin table on the right edge of the room, he could feel everyone's eyes following him. Scorpius spotted Albus who was sitting alone and quickly took a seat next to him.

“Hey mate, welcome to the house of snakes.” Albus smiled at Scorpius, a playful grin. Before Scorpius could say anything, three girls who looked about their age and were sitting a bit further on the opposite side of the table slid closer, taking a seat opposite to Scorpius and Albus.

Scorpius looked up at the three brunette girls, directly in front of him was a tall girl with dark brown curls that went up to her elbows, she had a pointed nose and thin lips, her eyes reminded Scorpius of obsidian.

On her right was a shorter meek-ish type girl, she had brown hair that resembled the same shade as the sapwood of a pine tree, it was pin straight and ended a bit past her shoulders, her features were sharp with a rounded end, her eyes looked like pine bark.

The third girl, sitting on the left of the curly haired girl had wavy hair the same colour as milk chocolate that was tied back into a ponytail, her features were standard, conventionally pretty, nothing about her facial features seemed to strike out to Scorpius, but what did catch his attention were her brilliant aquamarine blue eyes, it was like looking into the lakes his mother would paint. Scorpius glanced at Albus who seemed a bit uncomfortable.

“So, Malfoy huh?” The girl in the middle started “and you're a third year?” She continued.

Scorpius simply nodded. She continued “well it's nice to know it's not just us, our year has the least amount of students.” she smiled.

The girl with light brown hair elbowed her “ouch- I'm getting to it for Merlin's sake-” the one in the middle huffed before turning back to Scorpius “I'm Cassandra Parkinson, this-'” he gestured to the shorter girl “I'm Lyrin Greengrass.” The shorter girl introduced herself, “and I'm Daphne Lestrange.” The third girl smiled.

Cassandra Parkinson, Lyrin Greengrass and Daphne Lestrange, Scorpius repeated in his head. “We're the only other students in our year besides- him” Cassandra simply pointed to Albus, not even looking at him “and now you.”

Scorpius nodded, he wondered why there were so few students in his year but just decided to accept it as maybe luck being on his side.

The girls continued talking to Scorpius, completely ignoring Albus's existence but Albus didn't try to insert himself into the conversation either. Soon enough the first years got sorted, Scorpius wasn't paying much attention but he saw that 6 new Slytherins had joined their table.

The food appeared on the table and Scorpius had to hold back the urge to gag, the food smelled good, or it did to everyone else he assumed. Scorpius sat there quietly as everyone else ate their meals. Scorpius took out a metal bottle from his messenger bag and placed it on the table, occasionally taking sips.

“Not eating?” Albus asked, seeing Scorpius's empty plate in front of him. Scorpius shook his head “nerves.. no appetite…” he tried explaining as he took another sip from his metal bottle. Albus didn't press further as he continued with his own meal.

They finished soon enough and the Slytherin's were led to the dungeons. Scorpius was also introduced to the prefects.

The fifth year Slytherin prefects were Calix Parkinson, Cassandra's older brother and the younger twin brother of Cedar Parkinson, the other fifth year prefect was Hera Rosier, the younger Rosier child with a brother who had already graduated.

The sixth year prefects were Edward Nott the sole heir to the Nott family and Maxine Macmillan, the middle sibling with an older brother in Hufflepuff and a younger sister in Ravenclaw.

There was also the head boy and head girl, Arron Zabini and Marie-Ann Dawson. From what Scorpius gathered, Arron was a pure-blood and Marie was a half-blood but he had stopped paying attention at that point.

They told everyone the password to the Slytherin common room. Diddlewano. Scorpius leaned over to Albus when he heard that, “what sort of password is that?” He whispered, although his voice was so soft he could've spoken in his normal volume. “That's how all passwords are, random made up nonsense, they change every year too.” Albus explained as the pit of Slytherins all went down. The prefects made everyone head to bed, Scorpius didn't have to be told twice. He simply followed Albus to their dorm room after saying goodnight to the girls who waved before leaving to head to the girls dorms.

The room was larger than Scorpius thought it would be. The walls and floor were made of dark stone, there was a window to the left of the room, it led to a view of the water under the lake, although currently it was pitch black, in the absence of any natural lights there were two lanterns on the walls. There was a large circular green rug on the floor, there were two beds pushed up against the circular walls , the beds had dark wooden frames with a canopy draped with dark green curtains, and on the wall opposite the bed there were two closets lining the walls. Their trunks were in front of the beds, Scorpius's were in front of the bed further away from the bed and assumed Albus's trunk was in front of the other bed.

“Huh.” Albus said “guess they added a new bed since you're here.”

“Were there not two beds before?”

“Nope, I had this room completely to myself, to be honest it was kinda scary as a first year.” Albus admitted.

Scorpius could see why an 11 year old would be scared of sleeping alone in a room like this, he nodded, “well I'm here so yay…?” He said awkwardly as he went to his suitcase, taking out some sleeping clothes before looking at Albus.

“Mhm! I'm excited to have a roommate, getting that full Hogwarts experience y’know?” Albus said happily as he also took some clothes out. “Can't wait for our first Hogsmeade Trip, I was so excited that September 1st was so close to the weekend!” Albus continued as he turned to Scorpius, a genuine smile on his face.

“I'm not allowed at Hogsmeade, father didn't sign the permission slip.” Scorpius explained, he wasn't particularly upset about not being allowed to go to Hogsmeade.

“WHAT!?” Albus yelled so abruptly and loudly that Scorpius actually jumped, “How!!? Why!? How could you not be allowed to go to Hogsmeade! That's the best part!”

“Best part of?”

“Hogwarts!”

“I think you're overreacting… it's not a big deal…” Scorpius tried to reassure his new roommate.

“Absolutely not! It's a travesty of the Hogwarts experience!”

“I'm really alright Albus, I don't mind, I didn't care much for exploring anyway.”

“Oh come on, you're just saying that! There's a secret passage! I'm sure I could sneak you in.”

Scorpius was aware that the castle held many secrets, including rooms and passages, he planned to explore the castle but not exactly sneak out, “Albus I honestly don't want to go to Hogsmeade anyway, it's not the end of the world.” He said a bit more sternly although his voice wasn't helping.

“Fine, but my offer still stands, whenever you want we can sneak out.” Albus held his hands up in defense.

“Noted.” Scorpius nodded, glad that their conversation about Hogsmeade was over. With that they boys changed into their nightwear and headed to sleep.

·͙⁺˚•̩̩✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩ ✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙·͙⁺˚•̩̩✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩ ✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙·͙⁺˚•̩̩✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩ ✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙·͙⁺˚•̩̩✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩ ✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙·͙⁺˚•̩̩✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩ ✩•̩̩˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩✩•̩̩

It was dark, damp, Scorpius was a 10 year old again, standing behind the wall watching his parents dance.

They looked happy, they always looked so happy when they were together. His mother laughing, a glass full of peach-ish clear liquid in her hand and her husband's wand in her other hand.

Then a flash and the crash of glass breaking and the thud of his mother dropping to the floor.

Scorpius was frozen, his grip on the door frame tight as he stared into his mother's dull glossy eyes. Scorpius wanted to run away, to cry but he was just frozen, watching as his father fell on his knees to the floor, sobbing as the realisation of what had happened sunk into both of them.

Scorpius had never heard his father cry before, but the sounds of his broken sobbing and pleading were engraved into his brain forever. The lights in the room seemed to dim. Scorpius felt something cold hit the back of his neck. He wanted to turn around and see what it was but he was petrified, unable to move as the cold air slowly enveloped him.

Scorpius's eyes shot open, he was out of breath, despite being under blankets his body felt as if it was freezing. Scorpius stared at the stone wall in front of him as he tried catching his breath.

“You okay?” Albus suddenly asked starling Scorpius who turned in bed to look at his roommate. “Yea… you're not asleep?” Scorpius tried pivoting the conversation. “I was trying then you and your asthma attack jump scared me.” Albus said light-heartedly before turning more serious again “seriously, mate, what's wrong?”

“Just nightmares…” Scorpius sighed.

“Get them of’en…?”

“Past two years…”

“Oh… how do you usually deal with ‘em…? Do you want a glass of water or something…?” Albus sheepishly asked, trying to be helpful.

“No no… uh.. nevermind it's ridiculous…” Scorpius pulled the blanket over his face.

“If it helps you it can't be ridiculous, I promise I won't judge.” Albus said earnestly, “I'll help in any way I can.”

Scorpius took a deep breath and pulled the blanket off his face, he sat up on the bed, clutching the ends of the blankets in his hand, “when I have nightmares… I usually go to sleep with my parents… it's just easier for me to fall asleep when there's someone with me… look I know I'm too old-” before Scorpius could continue he saw Albus get up from his bed wrapped in his blanket as he went to Scorpius's bed. “Can you move a bit, mate?” Albus asked and so Scorpius scooted to his left.

Albus got on the bed and layed down, Scorpius laying next to him. The mattress had sunk a few centimeters under the weight. Scorpius found it oddly comforting.

“Thank you… you really don't need to-” Scorpius was cut off, “I don't need to, I want to.” Albus smiled at him.

“Goodnight Scorpius.”

“Goodnight Albus.” Scorpius closed his eyes, slowly falling asleep, listening to Albus hum a song he didn't know.