James Potter and the New Marauders ~ A Harry Potter Fan-Fic

Chapter 1: In Which Underage Wizards Wander ~ Scorpius & James ~

"Looking for trouble, he'd say. You're gonna look til you find it.

Trouble is the looker, she'd answer. It keeps looking till it finds you. Might as well find it first.

Why do you want to die?

I don't, she'd say. I just want to live."

- Victoria Schwab

Chapter 1

In Which Underage Wizards Wander Where they Shouldn't and Get Tangled in Strange Situations

~ Scorpius & James ~

Shopping in Diagon Alley should have been the most thrilling activity of August; and it was for most young witches and wizards, but Scorpius Malfoy was not one of them. He had been to Diagon Alley countless times. The shops filled with magical objects and fascinating ongoings that were a daily occurrence there, familiar and expected to him. Hence he was impervious to the cloaks that ranged from Egyptian cotton to Chinese silk, he didn't bat an eyelash when concoctions erupted and produced different smells and results and certainly didn't ask foolish questions about the magical world.

He was Scorpius Malfoy, and he was on his way to a prestigious school where the darkest wizard attained his knowledge, the greatest Headmaster in all the magical world had once taught and where one of the greatest battles was fought. All this he knew by reading The Twentieth Century, a History and from his own father, of course who had firsthand accounts of this great battle.

That fateful day, his parents accompanied him to buy the required supplies for first years. In front of Amanuensis Quills his mother, Astoria Malfoy, took out the yellowed envelope with emerald writing, which contained his acceptance letter and his list. She reached for the list, tapped it with her wand and handed it to Draco. He removed a pouch from his pocket and along with the list, he offered them to Scorpius.

Intrigued Scorpius took them, marveling at the item that landed with an audible thump in his open palm. Among the to's and fro's of the lively wizarding community, his father had given him one of the family's heirlooms. He looked at his father, just to make sure he was certain of giving it to him and not about to snatch it back on the pretext that he made a mistake.

It jingled with any slight movement; it was filled with money. 'Flying broomsticks, my father gave me the pouch full of money!'

"It's yours, son. There's enough money to buy your school supplies and have some sickles left over for your term." Draco's gaze was a soft one, his words were anything but. "I suggest you use it wisely." Sometimes, like now, he never truly knew if his father loved him. Did that mean he trusted him, or was he just trying to keep him busy with the money instead of having to give him more attention?

He nevertheless nodded, "Aye, sir."

"Good. Your mother and I are going to pick up some décor for the manor. You are free to go." His mother's gaze filled with love and pride.

Given free rein, Scorpius went out and about, visiting all the shops that caught his attention to collect all the required things from his list. Soon after his first purchase, he saw a tick, a faint brush of dark ink onto the paper, next to the word Inks on his list. He realized Astoria enchanted his letter, so that every single thing he bought was marked with that same tick afterward.

His shopping progressed quickly, thanks to Penny, the house elf loyal to the Malfoy family, who waited for him outside each shop, relieving him of the weight of his shopping bags, which she transported back to the Manor. Shopping came to an end quickly, but he didn't want to look for his parents just yet. Content to just cruise around, he was left to wander aimlessly, straying away from the widest and most crowded alleys and ending up in some long forgotten, dirty and utterly deserted by anything animate.