A Snake Among Lions Ch. 2

The boys' first meeting in year 1 had seemed forever ago when they saw each other again on the platform. Both were about to board the Hogwarts Express to take them to their sixth year and both had grown into handsome young men since then. Scorpius was tall and lean, and had developed a strong frame and a firm jaw. His white blond hair hung loose in his ash-grey eyes and his all black suit emphasized the fact that he came from wealth.
Albus was tall and thin as well, and he was quick on his feet from all his previous years running from James after doing something to annoy him. His messy black hair stuck up in odd directions and his emerald green eyes shown with excitement when he saw his best friend.
Scorpius was letting his father adjust his tie when Albus came bounding up to them, "Hey Scorp!! Hi, Mr. Malfoy." Albus said.
"Hello, Albus." Draco Malfoy smiled down at the boy who'd spent so much time at the Manor over the last 5 years, "How was your summer?"
"It was great! And thanks again for taking us to Venice! I had a lot of fun." Albus smiled.
"It was my pleasure." Draco smiled back at the 16 year-old.
"Where's your dad?" Scorpius asked. He really liked Albus's dad; he thought he was neat.
"Speak of the devil!" Draco cried as Harry Potter walked up to join the conversation, "Hey Harry." He said casually and the two men shook hands. They had realized that they had things in common and their petty rivalry was put behind them once their sons had become friends. You wouldn't say the two men were as close as their sons, but they were friends enough to have their families get together once a month and have dinner.
"Hey Draco!" Harry said with a smile. Then he ruffled Scorpius's hair and said, "How was Venice, Scorpius?"
"It was great, Mr. Potter! We had so much fun." The two boys laughed and high-fived, remembering their antics in the foreign city, "And the big barbeque at your house was a lot of fun, too." Harry had held a barbeque with the Malfoys, the Weasleys, the Longbottoms, and, of course, his whole family, and all the families had fun laughing together, and the adults were able to reminisce and tell stories of their Hogwarts days to the kids. It had been an altogether fun experience, once Ron had gotten over Draco's presence and Draco had stopped apologizing to Hermoine. She'd forgiven him after the first time, and then threatened to punch him again after the eighth time.
"I'm glad you had a good time. Albus," Harry turned to look at his son, "If I leave you here, you'll get on the train in time, right? I have to go make sure Lily is settled in. It's only her third year."
"I'll be fine, dad. And so will Lily. She's thirteen and capable of handling herself." Albus said, giving his dad a hug goodbye.
"I know, but I want to make sure." Harry pulled out the hug, "Be good; I'm tired of receiving letters from Headmistress McGonagall and from Aunt Hermoine that you and Scorpius are being rambunctious."
"We'll be good Mr. Potter," Scorpius said, smiling.
"I wish I could believe that," Draco said, ruffling his son's hair and finishing up fixing Scorpius's tie, "You two are too much like your fathers. Granted, we caused more trouble against each other than together, but we still ended up in detention more times than either of us could count."
Harry laughed, "Of course, I would've landed in detention more often if I hadn't had my Invisibility Cloak."
"It's comments like that that make me wish I had been friends with you in school." Draco nudged Harry.
Harry just shrugged and said, "See you at work tomorrow, Draco. Nice to see you Scorpius, and remember to be good, both of you." Harry waved and went to find his wife and daughter.
"Hey, Al, watch this!" Scorpius exclaimed; pulling free from his dad's perfecting hands. Draco just sighed and gave up; turning to talk to another Ministry colleague. Scorpius set his jet black owl, Draconis's cage on the ground and pulled out his wand. He pointed it at the cage and said, "Coloronis Exime!"
Albus watched in wonder as the black owl turned electric blue, "Whoa! That's so cool!"
Scorpius turned Draconis back to his initial black color, and then turned to Albus with a sneaky smile, "Now watch this." Scorpius pointed his wand at his father, who was starting to make his way back over to the two best friends. Scorpius whispered the spell and Draco Malfoy's hair turned from elegant white-blond, to a brilliant hot pink.
Albus Severus and Scorpius Hyperion were doubled over, trying to suppress their laughter as Draco stopped in front of them, confused, "What's so funny, you two?"
"Uh, nothing, dad." Scorpius said, still trying not to laugh.
The witches and wizards strolling along the platform were staring at Draco as they passed, and those who knew him tried not to laugh. Draco, confused as he was, just said, "Let's get you on the train, before you miss it."
Then he helped the two 16 year-olds load their trunks onto the Hogwarts Express. Harry Potter came over to wave his son goodbye, but he stopped short at the sight of Draco. Harry stood there, shocked, before he doubled over in laughter, "Draco!" He said through his laughter, "What the bloody hell happened to your hair?!"
"What do you mean 'what happened to my hair'?" Draco scrambled around, looking for a reflective surface. When he found one, he let out a yell of surprise, "PINK?!" Draco gaped at his appearance.
Scorpius and Albus fell over onto the floor of their compartment, holding their sides and laughing until their faces turned blue. The Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station, leaving the still-laughing Harry and the pink-haired, red-faced Draco yelling at Scorpius behind in its dust.
Albus finally caught his breath and looked at his best friend through the messy black hair that'd fallen in his eyes, "That was the best, Scorp!"
"Oh yes!" Scorpius flashed his pearly smile and rolled onto his back to catch his breath. Both the boys lay on the floor of the compartment, staring at the ceiling and smiling. Finally, Scorpius sat up and said, "Al, we're 16, almost done with school, and we're starting our N.E.W.T. year. I think this is going to be our best year yet."
"Agreed, Scorp." Albus sat up as well, "As long as we're together, we'll always have the best times!" He nudged his friend.
"Well, well, well," A jeering voice came from behind them. Both boys turned to see 7th year James Sirius Potter smirking at them from the door to their compartment, "Isn't this cute?"
"What do you want, James?" Albus rolled his eyes and stood up. James teased him non-stop about being in Slytherin and being friends with Scorpius.
"Oh nothing… Just an invitation to your guys' wedding!" James and his buddies laughed cruelly.
Albus turned red with anger, "Shut up, James!" He yelled, balling his fists in rage.
Scorpius put a hand on Albus's shoulder and said coolly, "It's OK, Al. James is just jerk because he's compensating for a certain 'small body part'." Scorpius smirked in the way only a Malfoy could do.
James blanched. He stammered a bit, then turned red and said, "Whatever, let's go." And he turned and left, taking his friends with him.
"Quick thinking, Scorp!!" Albus high-fived Scorpius and they both sat down to finish their train ride with jokes and laughter and plans for all the pranks they were going to pull.