Harry Potter One Shots

Mandrakes and Mudbloods

All rights belong to the author, Silver Sailor Ganymede

Scorpius Malfoy hated Herbology. He had hated Herbology ever since Professor Longbottom had announced that they would be tending to the mandrakes for the rest of term, even though this was something traditionally done by the second years, not the first years. And he hated it even more than ever that day because he had somehow ended up working with Rose I-know-everything-Weasley and Albus I'm-too-good-for-Slytherin Potter. On top of that, it had to be the one day where they were tending other plants which could be used to improve the mandrakes' growth, so they had no need of earmuffs and thus he had to listen to Potter and Weasley senselessly natter about nothing. Life just couldn't get worse.

Scorpius was of the opinion that the standard of the Slytherins had really gone downhill since his father had been in school. There were nine of them this year, and no muggleborns, which was good. But they weren't exactly the most pleasant bunch of people Scoprius had ever met. Demeter Coldwater had established her place as the leader of the girls, and Celestine Drayton and Luciana Fenn seemed enthralled by her every word. Julius Coldwater and Augustine Lovell mostly stuck to themselves, but Tiberius Selwyn and Cassius Yaxley stuck so close to Albus-bloody-look-at-me-I'm-in-Slytherin Potter that Scorpius wondered whether he had them under the imperius curse or something.

This arrangement, of course, left Scorpius rather on his own. No matter how ancient and noble the House of Malfoy was no one seemed to want to be even remotely associated with it now: not even the Malfoys themselves if his father's attitude was anything to go by.

It was ridiculous in Scorpius' mind though; as soon as he'd been sorted into Slytherin it was as though everyone assumed that Malfoys could never be good and Slytherins were still evil. And then, not even five minutes later, Albus Potter had somehow become a Slytherin and people started viewing Slytherin completely differently. Slytherin, yes, but not the Malfoys, and Scorpius hated it.

Yes, the sorting that year had been both unsurprising (his own sorting into Slytherin, for example) and shocking (it had produced a Slytherin Potter and a Ravenclaw Weasley, both of which seemed completely incongruous to Scorpius), but it had been the most interesting thing to that had happened so far that year. Scorpius had found himself shunned by his housemates, and so had taken to spending extortionate amounts of time in the library; more time than even the Ravenclaws, who were astonishingly stupid bunch this year so far as Ravenclaws went, he thought with distaste as he looked around the greenhouse. Perhaps that was how Weasley had been sorted there?

On the topic of Weasley, she had started on another one of her rants, he noticed with dismay.

"Honestly, Malfoy, you're supposed to hold your shears like this, not like that," Weasley was babbling. "Have you not been listening to a single word Professor Longbottom's said all term? Either that or you really are completely useless at Herbology."

"No one asked you, did they, you irritating little mudblood," Scorpius snapped, not wishing to put up with being insulted by Weasley of all people.

At first it had the desired effect; Rose Weasley shut up and moved away from him. After that, however, things began to go wrong. Matthais Belby's hand crept towards his wand, and only failed to curse Scorpius when Thomas Elkin and Rodney Vines grabbed him and literally held him back.

While that in itself was disturbing, his fellow Slytherins' reactions disturbed him more. Albus Potter was looking at him in shock, Tiberius Selwyn and Cassius Yaxley's faces had totally drained of colour, and Luciana Fenn's lip curled up in absolute disgust.

"You're Death Eater scum, Malfoy; just like the rest of your family!" she hissed.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "What are you on about, Fenn? That insult's completely over the top – and I'll have you know that my family were not Death Eaters, thank you very much!"