The Brothers Malfoy (Sneak Peak)

Chapter 1

Two weeks.

Fourteen days, six hours, and thirty-two minutes.

Er, thirty-one minutes. thirty-one minutes as of a couple of seconds ago. But that's beside the point.

What was important was that my eleventh birthday was within reach, and with it, a new chapter in my life. What it meant was I would be receiving my Hogwarts letter, and I would finally be going to the one place that I had been dreaming of since I could remember.

I wasn't the only person excited about this. My entire family had been talking for weeks about this moment. Dad probably the most, and even mum seemed anxious. And not even in her normal, anxious-about-every-aspect-of-life sort of way. She was actually happy and talking about me with everyone. I mean, she was that way with Scorpius as well. Nevertheless, she was happy for me, which was nice to know.

Mum and I were never really that close. She tried to be, but she wasn't good at it. She always said that I had come as a great surprise for her and my father, which I suppose meant that I was an accident. We often disagreed on a lot of things, too. Of all the interests that we had, I was certain that we shared next to none.

Dad was another story altogether. He and I were always close. When Mum was too emotional to help with my pre-Hogwarts schooling, it was always Dad and Nana who stuck with me and made sure I was learning everything I could. I couldn't really blame her; she had a lot of things going on. Still, I wondered why she had even bothered. Most of my problems were handled by Dad, most of my good days were spent with him, and I really appreciated that. If anything, I would have rather been like him. He was much more level-headed, much more ambitious, and much more open.

I still wondered what I would be learning when I did get to Hogwarts. I had an idea from everything Scorpius was doing from his first three years there. He told me about the professors there, the cool spells they taught him to cast, the magical creatures they showed him... it sounded like the most exciting place in the world! And I was going to be there! I would be getting my letter soon enough.

I looked at my little silver pocket watch that Mum and Dad had given me as an early birthday present. Fourteen days, six hours, and... twenty-eight minutes.

This was going to take a while.

"Vincent Colin Malfoy!" Nana called from my bedroom entrance. She wore her normal green housecoat with her ever-greying hair tied back into a neat bun. She sat on my bed and and put her arm around my shoulder. "You must stop opening and closing that watch all the time. You're likely to break its hinges off."

I grinned. "That's fine, Nana! If I do break them, I can just fix it back with magic!"

She hesitated, looking away and giving a small smile. "I suppose so, but you really should show some responsibility. Pocket watches are usually gifts for seventeen-year-old wizards. You got that one because you asked for it enough."

"It looks just like dad's, see?" I showed her the shiny silver timepiece, with its ornate fleur-de-lis design and its small, serpentine bow.

"It is lovely, just like Draco's." She hugged me a bit tighter. "Have you heard from your brother lately?"

I shook my head. "Scorpius and I will get to talk when he gets back, so neither of us have written any letters since October."

"I see."

"And he's busy with school work. He says he wants to try harder this year."

Nana sighed. "That's good to hear. Heaven knows he needs it."

I knew that Scorpius tended to slack off in a few of his classes. Sarah Beth Carter, a friend of the family and a professor at Hogwarts told Mum and Dad that Scorpius was doing excellently... in a few of his classes. Evidence showed or parents that he had a laziness problem that threatened his grades in nearly half of his classes. "Nana, I'm going to be top of my class. Just you wait. I might even be able to help Scorpius with his homework!"