Henrietta Potter And The Slytherin Child - (A 'Henrietta Potter' sequel) || D.M

14 - Scorpius

"I need you to set me up on a date."

Hermione, who was prepping carrots, almost chopped her finger off in the complete shock of my 'out of the ordinary' request.

"What? Oh, Etta - finally!" Hermione's face beamed, "I honestly don't think I've ever felt so excited!"

Poor Ron.

"I don't care with whom," I said, peeling the potatoes next to her. "I just need a male, same-ish age, not a complete idiot, and most importantly - not married."

"Not being funny, Etta," Ron muttered, tossing his empty mug carelessly into the sink, making me wince. "But there's not many of them left at our age."

"Well, there must be one unmarried, non-idiot out there, surely?"

Shit. I knew it. I had left it too long. I was going to die all alone and surrounded by cats.

And I fucking hated cats.

It was Sunday, and Ron and Hermione were helping me to prepare lunch in my kitchen. Albus, along with Scorpius, Rose, and Hugo, were all outside in the garden, making the most of the fine, sunny weather.

"Well..." Hermione said pensively, "there may be someone I know from the Ministry who'd be willing to date you. He's single, slightly older, and seems rather eligible."

"And just who is this eligible bachelor that you've obviously taken notice of, Hermione?" Ron retorted furiously, slamming the fridge door behind him as he helped himself to a beer.

Hermione rolled her eyes, sighing heavily as she threw the chopped carrots into the saucepan.

"For Etta, Ronald. And it's about time she stopped moping over You-Know-Who."

"Voldemort?!" Ron spluttered.

"No - the other Dark Lord," Hermione muttered.

"Oh, him," Ron nodded darkly. "Well. It's about bloody time. The ferret never was good enough for her."

"You know, I'm right here." I muttered, scraping the potatoes into a pan full of spitting fat.

"Speaking of which," Ron said, dropping his voice as he looked over his shoulder, "how is it having his other mini-me under your roof?"

It had only been a couple of days since Draco had dropped Scorpius off, and already I had grown to love him. He was good for Albus, he made him happy. Scorpius was sensitive, funny, and kind. He lacked that mean streak that his father always had. I could only guess that he took after his mother. Astoria.

"Scorp is actually a lovely, polite, friendly house guest," I answered truthfully, "and it's a pleasure to have him here."

"Blimey, are you sure he's Malfoy's?"

"You could probably say the same about Albus," I muttered under my breath.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look, involving highly raised eyebrows, which did not go unnoticed by me.

"What? What was that look for?" I asked indignantly.

"It's just that- well... Albus does have a tendency to- to... you know..." Hermione tailed off, going beetroot red under my furious glare.

"What Hermione is trying to say, Etta," Ron spoke loudly, "is that Albus can be a bit grumpy, stubborn, surly and stuck up. In other words, he's a startling accurate combination of you and Malfoy."

"Ron!" Hermione gasped.

"What?" Ron shrugged, belching on his beer. "I'm just stating facts."