Letters

'The train's getting close to London,' remarked Al. He pulled out his wand and began to tidy the train compartment. Scorpius tore his gaze from Lily, and began to stuff his school robes into his trunk.

'Lily?' he said in an undertone.

'Hmmm?' Lily was packing her chess set. It was old and somewhat battered, having belonged to her father when he was in school. She had been trying to beat Hugo, but like Ron, Hugo was nearly unbeatable at chess.

'Can I write to you over the summer?' Scorpius asked in a rush.

Lily didn't look up, but her cheeks went rosy. 'If you want,' she replied in seeming indifference, but a smile blossomed on her face.

The train pulled into King's Cross. Scorpius could see his mother waiting on the platform, next to Lily and Al's parents. Lily, Al, Rose, Hugo, and Scorpius spilled out of the train in a jumble of trunks, schoolbags, and owl cages. 'Bye, Lily,' Scorpius said.

'Bye,' she said, smiling at him. 'Hope you have a good summer.'

Scorpius watched as Lily's parents took turns to embrace her and Al, then Rose and Hugo, before turning to his own mother. 'Mother,' he said, somewhat formally. Malfoys did not indulge in public displays of affection.

Daphne Malfoy beamed at her son, 'Scorpius.'

'Where's Father?' he inquired. Daphne's bright smile faltered. 'No matter, Mother. Let's get home. I'm starving.'

'When are you not?' she laughed. She took Scorpius' schoolbag from him, and slung it over her shoulder, leaving him to grip his trunk. 'Ready?' When he nodded, she took his free hand, and they Apparated to Malfoy Manor.

*****

-Dear Lily,

Father didn't come to the station again. He was home for dinner, but didn't talk much, beyond asking about my exams. I don't think he really wanted to know.

Why do you think it doesn't bother my mother than I'm a Gryffindor, but it irritates my father so much? They were both in Slytherin, after all.

We studied the War in History of Magic this last year. I learned a few things about my father I'm not very proud of. And my grandfather Malfoy. He won't speak to me, either. Unlike my father and grandfather, neither Mother, nor Grandmother Malfoy pays attention to blood status anymore. I asked Grandmother about it one day, and she said it had all been a mistake. A horrible mistake. But that's all. Anything I've learned about my family's involvement has been through History of Magic, and my parents won't tell me anything.

Does it sound like I'm a whinging child? It does to me. I mean, I've got plenty of money, a roof over my head, a mother who loves me, and some of the best mates a person could ask for, but the not knowing feels like an empty space inside me.

Didn't your parents tell you everything before you started school? Do you ever wish they hadn't?

I'll take my Apparition test soon. I can't wait. I hope I pass the first time.

I hope to hear from you.

Scorpius

*****

The owl tapped Lily's bedroom window. She recognized it as Mrs. Malfoy's owl. She let the owl in, and gave it a few Owl Treats and some water from the glass next to her bed. Her owl, Darcy, didn't like to share his water dish. The owl held out its leg so Lily could untie the letter, and flew back to Wiltshire.

-Dear Scorpius,

We really need to find a good nickname for you. 'Scorpius' just sounds so... pointy, and you're anything but pointy!

Not that you're pudgy, either...

Okay, forget I just wrote that. But you are rather nice to look at...

Maybe we could call you 'Peter Parker' - Spiderman's alter ego? You remember Spiderman, don't you? I think you, Al, and James must have watched it about five times last summer when you came over that week your parents were in France.

What's your middle name? You've never said...

So to answer your questions...

All my family has been in Gryffindor. All of them. Literally. Until my cousin Parker was Sorted into Hufflepuff. We all thought Uncle Percy was going to die of embarrassment. But no. Uncle Perce didn't care. He really does love his family, even if he does come off as a pompous windbag half the time. I think Parker felt he had to make up for it, so that's why he was at the top of his class.

You don't sound like a child. You sound like someone desperate for answers.

You have to remember I was only nine when my parents told us everything. Al and Rosie pelted Mum, Dad, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione with owls until they agreed to tell us everything. I think they preferred for us to learn about it from them instead of other people. I wish they had waited until right before I went to Hogwarts, but with James and Al at school, and me at home alone, if I had questions or nightmares, Mum or Dad was able to help me with them without too many interruptions.. I'm glad they told me, though. We always knew there was something they weren't telling us. Rosie would have found out sooner or later anyway.

I hope your father comes to his senses soon and realizes what a wonderful person you are. With my dad being an orphan, you realize how important family is. Even people who aren't related to you, but that you consider family.

Speaking of that - Teddy and Victoire are finally getting married this summer! Uncle Bill wanted Victoire to finish her training as a Healer. She just finished her training in May. Maybe you could come to the wedding? It's at Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's house in Cornwall.

Wow. It's three in the morning.

Good luck on your Apparition test! Let me know how you do.

Lily

*****

-Dear Lily,

My middle name is Edmund. My grandfather Greengrass' name. My great-grandfather Greengrass, it seems, had a fondness for a Muggle poet called William Shakespeare. My grandfather and all his siblings were named for characters in the plays Shakespeare wrote.

But don't call me Ed. Or Eddie. Edmund is fine. But just for you.

What's yours?

Scorpius

*****

Dear Eddie,

It's Nymphadora. For Teddy's mum.

Lily

*****

Scorpius dashed into his bedroom and flung himself into the chair behind his desk. He rummaged through the drawer for a quill and parchment. He felt like he could fly without his broomstick. What he was about to do would earn yet more disappointment from his father, but Scorpius was beyond caring. After six years, disappointment from Father over the recipient of a letter was little more than a flicker of hurt. His father had barely spoken to him since he had been Sorted into Gryffindor. The disappointments had only snowballed from there - from not wanting to play Quidditch to earning an Outstanding OWL in Herbology and Muggle Studies to having Albus Potter as his best friend. Scorpius never mentioned his romantic feelings for Lily.

Dear Lily,

I hope your summer has been good. And no, my father still isn't really talking to me. I wonder if it's habit by now. I know I've told you before, but Mother told me he was livid when he got my letter after the Sorting. I always wondered why he never sent a Howler. Maybe he just didn't care enough to bother.

Enough about him. I'm not writing to talk about my father.

I went to take my Apparition test today. I passed! On the first try, no less. Mother was pleased. She took me to Eeylops and I got to pick out an owl for my very own. It's a tawny female. I think I'm going to name her Cassiopeia. Or maybe Cassi, for short. You know how owls are with names. You'll see her when she brings you this letter.

So, Lily, I know your birthday is coming up soon, and I was wondering if I could maybe take you out or something? Maybe we could go see one of those Muggle films? I blame your father. He has an insanely large film collection. I think Al and I stayed up for three straight days last Christmas watching some of them.

I'd really like to see you before school starts.

Scorpius

Scorpius went to the bright-eyed owl, sitting on a perch in the corner of his bedroom. 'Cassi?' he ventured. She turned her head, and cocked it to the side, listening. 'Could you deliver a letter for me, please?' Cassi held out her leg. Scorpius tied the letter to it. 'Take it to Lily Potter. She lives in Godric's Hollow.' The owl hooted softly and gracefully took flight into the July afternoon.

*****

'But Dad,' Lily wailed, 'you're being completely unfair!'

'I am not, Lily. You're only fifteen. You're too young to go on a date with anybody!'

'I am the same age you were when you took Cho Chang on a date in Hogsmeade!'

'Ouch. Low blow, Lils,' whispered James. Scorpius' letter had come last night, and Lily asked Harry if she could go out with Scorpius at breakfast. Lily was in the process of working herself up to a genuine Weasley tantrum, and Harry was in much the same mood.

'That was different!' Harry shouted.

'How?' Lily demanded.

'It just is,' he insisted.

'Oh, I see,' Lily said quietly. Al and James looked at each other, grabbed their toast and beat a hasty retreat to the back garden. Lily was like Ginny in that when she shouted you didn't worry. When she got quiet, you found a good hiding place. 'You don't mind him being friends with Al, but the second he wants to take me out, all of a sudden, he's Draco Malfoy's son.'

'Well, he is Draco Malfoy's son!'

'He's also a bloody Gryffindor, Dad, or has that escaped your notice?'

'Don't use that language, Lily Nymphadora Potter!'

Outside, James and Al exchanged another look. 'Oooh. He used the full name,' James whispered. 'She's really in trouble now.'

'I hate you!' Lily screamed, and stomped upstairs to her room, and slammed the door.

Harry stared after his daughter, chest heaving. 'What?' he snapped at his wife, who sat at the opposite end of the table, calmly drinking her tea.

'Harry, I've been married to you for twenty-two years. I've known you for over thirty. And you've always had an irrational hatred for any Malfoy. Except perhaps for Narcissa, but she did save your life,' Ginny pointed out. 'We've had Scorpius as a guest in this house almost every Christmas since his first year and countless days and nights during summers.

'He is not Draco. And never will be. Like Lily said, he is a Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes.

'Now, you need to go fix this mess you have created.' Harry stared at Ginny in open-mouthed shock. 'After she's calmed down,' Ginny added. 'She's almost as good as I am with a Bat-Bogey Hex.' Ginny swept from the kitchen and collected Al and James before Apparating to the Burrow, leaving Harry and Lily alone.

-Dear Eddie,

I hate my father right now! He won't let me go out with you! Bloody stupid hide-bound -'

The point of Lily's quill snapped she was writing so hard and blotted her parchment. She threw it across the room, and flopped onto her unmade bed, fuming. Dad could be so... so... 'Idiotic,' she said out loud.

Harry stood on the other side of Lily's closed door, leaning his forehead against the wood. He knew Ginny was right. But damn it, nobody was good enough for his little girl. Problem was Lily wasn't a little girl anymore. She would be of age in two very short years.

Harry thought about what Ginny had said before she left. If Harry had to put Draco and Scorpius to a side-by-side comparison, he knew Scorpius had not made the same choices with his life Draco had. In fact, if Scorpius reminded him of anyone, it would have been Sirius - another Gryffindor from a long line of Slytherins. But that's where the comparison ended. Where Sirius had been a prankster, Scorpius was a quiet, studious boy, who hated to draw attention to himself.

He sighed, and knocked on Lily's door. 'Lily?' he called through the door. No answer. Harry took out his wand, and tapped the doorknob. It didn't click open. He tried turning the doorknob, and the door swung open, revealing Lily, crying into her pillow. Harry sat on the edge of her bed, and she threw herself into his arms. 'Lily, sweetheart... I'm sorry. Your old dad's just not ready for his baby to grow up.'

Lily sniffed and swiped her sleeve across her face. Harry conjured a handkerchief and handed it to her. 'Okay... I'll let you go...'

'Oh, thank you, Dad!'

'On one condition,' he said.

Dear Eddie,

Dad says we can go out on a date.

But before you get too excited, we have to take James and/or Al with us. And no ditching them somewhere. Besides, you know Dad. He'll have some bloody Auror trailing us. Total abuse of his job as Head of the Auror Department, but when you're Harry Potter...

Lily

*****

Scorpius Apparated back to Wiltshire after seeing Lily home to Godric's Hollow. He walked into the mansion with a dreamy smile on his face. James and Al kept to themselves for the night, giving Scorpius and Lily something resembling privacy. He got to put his arm around her shoulders at the movie, and held her hand as they walked to an Apparition point. She even kissed him on the cheek before dashing inside the house.

Too keyed up to sleep, he pulled out a piece of parchment.

-Dear Lily,

Wow.

Love, (is that okay?)

Eddie

*****

The letter lay at Lily's place on the breakfast table when she ambled down sometime after noon the next day. She read it, and blushed.

-Dear Eddie,

It's okay. More than okay.

Love,

Lily-