all the whispers of the possible become clear

Chapter 1: 1st Year

THIS IS NOT MY STORY, I TAKE NO CREDIT

He envied her.

That was the truth of it, plain and simple. Others thought he hated her, because of his name, his family and his house, all of which were evil and diametrically opposed to the shining goodness of the Weasley-Potter clan.

And in a sense, he did hate her, but only because she had everything he hadn't.

He looked across the Great Hall to where she was sitting at the Gryffindor table with countless cousins, apparently laughing at something that James Potter had said. A white-hot stab of jealousy seared deep in his gut as he observed their friendly banter.

His father was an only child – which was a good thing, when one considered how many more offspring Lucius Malfoy could have messed up – and his mother only had one older sister with one daughter, whom Scorpius only saw at the annual Greengrass family dinner.

To be honest, it had never occurred to him that he was missing out on having a big family – after all, being the only child meant that his mother and paternal grandmother were absolutely devoted to him, and that he could have anything he wanted without having to share. (His father was strict in his upbringing, though Scorpius knew his father loved him without question.)

That was until that day when he arrived at the Hogwarts platform for the first time, and saw a ridiculously large group of redheaded adults and children, along with a few non-gingers crowding the platform and making an awful lot of noise. His father had stiffened slightly when he saw them, and Scorpius knew this must be the famous Golden Trio and their relatives, whom his father's family had opposed during the War.

His father had already appraised him of the events of the War, being rather brutally honest about the House of Malfoy's contributions to the Dark Lord's reign of terror in a conversation that Scorpius would never forget. His father had also described Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and their family, ultimately warning him not to make any unnecessary enemies for himself.

All these thoughts had been running through his blond head as he stared at the Weasley clan conversing animatedly with one another. Then he noticed her – obviously a first-year as well, redheaded, and looking almost as nervous as he was about being separated from his parents for the first time. But then a dark-haired boy came up to her with his trolley, and her expression changed to one of such immense relief that Scorpius couldn't help but envy her at that moment.

And then they were joined by an older boy who looked like the first one, then a few more students who were all boarding the train. There was a large round of hugs being distributed to the children from all the adults, and Scorpius suddenly felt like the grand total of two parents he had to hug him was pitifully lacking in comparison.

He blinked as the memory faded, his gaze refocusing on the aforementioned girl across the dining hall – Rose Weasley. Almost never at the centre of attention in her big family, and yet never out on the fringe of it either. She wasn't a popular prankster like Fred Weasley or James Potter, or a beauty like Victoire or Dominique Weasley. As he observed each of them, he saw how they individually had their own characteristics, adding their own colour to the group while undeniably remaining united as a family.

Maybe if his father had had ten other cousins to support him too, he might not have become a Death Eater. Maybe if Scorpius had any cousins to be friends with, he wouldn't constantly feel like he was missing out on something huge. Maybe he would always have family to save him a seat at the dining tables, family to go to for help, family to confide in, and family to make sure he was never lonely.