Hgeocities.com/crystalangel0105//tiobam11.htmgeocities.com/crystalangel0105_/tiobam11.htm.delayedxWJ1=OKtext/html8L=b.HWed, 12 Sep 2007 01:27:26 GMTMozilla/4.5 (compatible; HTTrack 3.0x; Windows 98)en, *WJ= Harry Potter - Title: The Inconveniences of Being a Malfoy (11) Title: The Inconveniences of Being a Malfoy
Summary: Scorpius' life has never gone well, but lately it's really done a turn for the worse. He blames Albus.
Disclaimer: I dont own Harry Potter.

Now beta-ed, once again, by therealjuliet who has far more patience with me than I would have... er, with me. All mistakes still mine, because I tend to be an idiot.

(11)

It would be easy to say that he was bitter when he discovered, unsurprinsingly, that the welcome he received when entering Diagon Alley was infinitely warmer with the Potters than when he entered with his father, but he wasn't. He just accepted it - he hadn't expected much else, after all.

Yet, Scorpius had to bite his lip as someone else 'accidentally' stepped on his already abused toes and he wouldn't be surprised if later they had turned black and blue. He'd almost forgotten about the animosity against Malfoys in the warm, forgiving bubble that was the Potters and Weasleys - even Ron Weasley's ire didn't compare to the cold fury of most other people, his grudge against his father seemed more personal and petty than anything, not just a cold anger or avoidance against him on principle.

"You jerk," he nearly jumped when Albus shouted at the man's back, "Picking on a little boy, I hope you're proud of yourself-"

"Albus," Scorpius hissed, slapping his hand over Albus' mouth, glancing around to see if anyone had turned to look at the two of them, he didn't want any more attention drawn to himself-

Albus wrenched away, frowning deeply at him. "Why?" he demanded, and Scorpius shrank back, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, even as Albus said, in what Scorpius felt was an unnecessarily loud tone, "You're not better or worse than any of these people, they shouldn't treat you any differently than they treat anyone else-"

There were people turning to look now, raised eyebrows and suspicious looks turning their way - looking at the two young boys standing in the middle of Diagon Alley, apparently arguing.

"That's the Malfoy boy, isn't it?" Scorpius could almost see a woman whispering to her friend, and someone answers in the same hushed tone - "Looks just like his father, it's too bad really, he was so handsome but he's a Malfoy-"

"Harry Potter's boy, isn't that?" a man hissed, "What is he doing with a Malfoy, that makes no sense-"

"It must be pity," the first woman reassured him, "You know those Potters, too kind-hearted for their own good-"

Scorpius heard this all with a sinking heart and stared at Albus, who was wearing a despairing look. He wished he hadn't agreed to walk the streets with Albus - but Rose and her mother, who had taken some time off in her busy schedule to spend with her daughter ("Thank heavens for Susan Bones," Hermione had sighed, "What in the world would I do without that woman? Some days I think she'd do my job better than I do-"), had bored them all to tears as they discussed the merits of hardcover versus paperback textbooks to the point that Scorpius might have agreed to anything.

Scorpius dropped his eyes to the ground and tried to avoid looking anyone directly in the eyes as he desperately wished that Albus' parents hadn't decided to take Lily and Hugo for ice cream and leave the two of them to their own devices, no matter how awkward he felt around them.

"Let's go," Albus said unhappily, and tugged Scorpius' sleeve to lead him away. Scorpius tugged his arm away, still staring down at his shoes. Albus gave him an exasperated look and pulled on his arm again. "Come on, Scorpius," he insisted, and Scorpius was surprised at the disappointed feeling that came with his full name. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to follow him - but he had his pride. He didn't want to become known as the little Malfoy boy who was the Potter's pity case.

"No," Scorpius mumbled under his breath.

Albus stopped tugging, and Scorpius kept his eyes pinned to the floor just in case Albus was wearing what he had dubbed the 'kicked puppy' look. "Scorpius?" Albus asked, sounding small and meek.

"No," Scorpius said, louder, and turned around and walked away, fighting the urge to run away. He could feel the eyes burning through him - Fine, he thought viciously, Maybe now I'll be in the news, the little boy who turned away from the son of the Harry Potter, and he crushed the feeling of disappointment that maybe he'd never be able to be a part of that warm family again.

A fresh wave of titters broke out through the many bystanders (Don't any of these people have their own lives? Scorpius thought nastily at them, feeling angry at these people and angry at himself) and he turned the corner and nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw there was barely any people on this street.

But, as he looked around, he realized that everything had taken a turn for the worse - the streets were littered with dirt and other indiscernible stains and garbage; the shops all looked shady, their windows boarded up, and most of the doors had signs saying 'no longer open' hanging on it.

Scorpius jumped when someone hissed in his ear, "This is Knockturn Alley - we shouldn't be here!" He turned to look into wide green eyes.

"Albus!" he hissed back, "Why are you following me!" Scorpius was rather disappointed in himself for not feeling more surprised. Gryffindors were so predictable; he shouldn't have expected the foolish, but annoyingly endearing Potter boy to just let him walk away.

Albus frowned at him, and crossed his arms stubbornly. Scorpius thought he even saw a pout. "I told you," he grumbled, "You can't get rid of me, no matter what. I know you're just being an arse, and I don't care." He paused, and then amended his statement, "Okay, I do a bit, but I sort of understand your pigheadedness, and I forgive you." Albus punched him lightly on the arm, grinning at him.

Scorpius shook his head at him, exasperated and relieved all at once. "Albus," he sighed.

"Scorpius," Albus mimicked him, his eyes glittering with humor, and he threw his arm around Scorpius' shoulders. Scorpius made a face at him, and Albus simply made one back, contorting his face strangely and sticking his tongue out.

"Oh," Albus began to laugh as he pulled Scorpius back to where they had come from, "Did you see the papers? Apparently, the reason Lan and James couldn't come with us today was because at the game, they got into a fight with the other team's Chasers, that's hilarious, there's a quote in the paper from Lan, something along the lines of, 'alright, maybe we provoked them, but grown men should know better to control themselves, their team should be ashamed of them.' Mum always says that she needs to learn to keep from saying everything on her mind, some days she gets into more trouble than James- Scorpius?!"

"Mmrgh!" Scorpius shouted back, his mouth muffled by the large hand covering his mouth, the matching hand wrapped around his throat.

"Now who is this, little heirloom of the Malfoy failures?" a voice purred into his ear, sending a familiar feeling of fear tingling up and down his spine.

The tip of a wand pressed into his neck, and when he tried glanced down at it, he recognized it - feeling cold, he tried to recall the last time he had seen his own wand, and remembered Narcissa standing in the hallway with his wand raised and her face paler than usual.

"Doesn't he look familiar," Lucius mused, "So very much like Harry Potter, now doesn't he?" The wand slid up from his neck to his temple, mockingly. "And, oh look at this," Lucius continued, "Foolishly brave, same as all the others Put that wand away, boy, before someone gets hurt."

Albus had drawn his wand, his hand shaking, and Scorpius tried to mouth, 'run, Albus, run,' but the hand around his throat tightened painfully, and he gagged.

"Father!" someone shouted as Scorpius' vision began to blur and dark spots appeared, "What are you doing-" There was a blob of black and yellow, and it sounded suspiciously like Scorpius' father-

"Accio wand!"

Scorpius was vastly relieved when the tightness loosened around his neck and Lucius' wand flew out of his hand and into the free hand of a man trailing behind his father, and someone he recognized from before - George Weasley.

"For heavens sake," George huffed, eyeing the situation warily as he grabbed Albus' wand arm and then yanked it down. "You Malfoys, always getting into these stupid situations - I blame the Potter blood here too," he informed Albus, seriously, "Honestly, why in the world would they let the two of you wander around on your own-"

Lucius began to chuckle, and it was a low, dark noise with no warmth in it. "So," he said, sounding coldly amused, "Not only has the Malfoy family been shamed, but they now associate themselves with Potters and Wealseys - tsk, tsk, they have fallen low, haven't they?"

George's mouth fell open. "Why, you," he growled, furious.

"Father," Draco interrupted, looking bewildered, "What in the world is going on?"

Pop. The sound came from behind Scorpius, and he collapsed to the ground as suddenly Lucius' hands released him completely.

"Unhand me, simpletons!" Lucius was snarling, "The likes of you are not fit to touch me, I am a Malfoy-"

He turned weakly on the ground and saw two harassed looking men manhandle his grandfather into a submissive position, and the taller one pointed his wand at Lucius, muttered something under his breath, and suddenly Lucius was on the ground, looking furious and struggling against invisible bonds.

"Sorry, mate," the taller one said, tipping his hat at George, "He escaped somehow, but we'll be taking him back now. Man, Harry's going to give us hell" He put a hand on Lucius' shoulder, and the three of them Disapparated away.

Draco squatted next to Scorpius, prodding him experimentally.

"I'm fine," Scorpius grumbled, and twisted away from his father.

"Scorpy!" Albus cried, and wrapped his arms around Scorpius' head tightly, shoving Scorpius' nose into his bony chest. Scorpius pushed him away, rubbing his nose. When between his fingers, he saw his father grimace at the nickname.

"I'm fine," Scorpius repeated, making his voice louder.

Pop.

"Potter," Draco said, sounding even more displeased.

"Malfoy!" Albus' father said, sounding surprised, "I hadn't thought you'd make it, you hadn't responded to Molly-"

"Shut up," Draco interrupted, "And explain." His eyes narrowed. "Now."

&&&&

Scorpius stared across the table at his father, who had put his head into his hands and was groaning. He felt the need to say something reassuring.

"It's not that bad," Scorpius offered, "I'm still alive?"

Draco's head hit the table and he wrapped his arms around his head, making Scorpius feel as if his father was attempting to hide from the world.

"Dad," he heard hissed in the booth behind him, "You told us to let them bond or connect or whatever, and they're not doing it! Can we stop hiding now?"

"Now, Albus," Harry Potter's voice said, calmly, "Now, be patient, I'm sure they can do it, we just need to wait-"

"Rose, stop stepping on my toes," Ron's voice whined unhappily, "You kids grow up too fast"

"Dad!" Rose's mortified, high-pitched voice came out, "Are you calling me fat-"

"Honestly, Ron," Hermione's voice muttered, "It's nice to know that more than twenty years after leaving school, you're still an idiot around girls-"

There was a shriek of horror. "Mum!" Lily cried, "Hugo ate the last of my ice cream-"

"Too much sugar's not good for you anyway, darling," Ginny said, but Hugo insisted over her loudly that "I wasn't me, Mum, you've got to believe me-" and, frustrated and annoyed, even as he fought the feeling of amusement, Scorpius grabbed his glass of ice water and threw it over the back of his seat, eliciting shouts of surprise and undignified sputtering.

Draco peered over his arms, and grinned at Scorpius.

Scorpius smiled back, carefully. "Where's Mum?" he asked timidly.

"Oh," Draco straightened up, biting his lip and Scorpius automatically started steeling himself, "She couldn't make it, she had work-"

"No, no, it's fine," Scorpius interrupted, squashing the feeling of disappointment that managed to leak through.

Albus stuck his head over the seat, abandoning any pretense of not being nosy. "Scorpius has a mother?" he asked, interested. There was a snort of amusement from behind the seat.

"No, Malfoy produces asexually," Ron said seriously, and someone slapped him. "Ow! Leave me to my delusions, I don't want to imagine Malfoy -eegh, now I'm imagining it, Hermione! Help!"

"You're imagining what?"

Scorpius' father looked a bit green and the look on his face was hilarious - Scorpius could almost imagine the same expression on Ron Weasley's face.

"Ha," Scorpius said, "Hahaha. Ahahaha-" he doubled over in laughter, hardly able to breathe.

"Rose, Scorpius is laughing!" Albus shouted, and leaned so far over the seat in an attempt to see, he almost tumbled forward.

"It can't be," Rose retorted, popping up over the seat and leaning over too, "This is Scorpius we're talking about- Oh my."

Tears ran down his face as Scorpius continued to laugh, almost hysterically, and he wondered what was so funny.


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