"Well, I never imagined that it would be this..." Ginny said, not able to find the proper words to described exactly how she felt about the bedroom the Scorpius led her into.

"It's gaudy," Scorpius filled in as he put Ginny's trunk at the end of the bed. "I know. The entire place is like this."

"Yeah, well, it's impolite for a guest to say something like that the first time coming into someone's home."

Scorpius laughed. "Then I guess Father shouldn't have taken it seriously when Albus said that this place must have arisen from the depths of the Netherworld to house the cruel on this plane."

"Yeah, well, Albus is a sadistic little ass," Ginny said as she flung herself into one of the high backed black leather chairs in front of the marble fireplace. She gestured for Scorpius to sit in the other chair.

"Here for five minutes and already acting like the queen you are, huh?" Scorpius joked as he sat down. "And as far as sadistic little asses go, being friends with Albus is still probably worth it, even if it is just to see the faces he can make Father make."

There was silence between them for a few seconds before Ginny burst out laughing. "Several years ago, I would have probably punched anyone who seriously said that one of my children was crazy, but Al is just special."

Scorpius grinned. "People like Albus are the reason why there's that saying that some people are nicer when you get to know them. Did you know that he likes to cuddle?"

Ginny's eyes widened in shock. "No! Please, do tell."

"Yeah, I discovered it in the middle of 3rd year. It was before he started really being expressive, if you want to call it that. Some Gryffindors were trying to bait him into one of the fugue states he would have back then. Al didn't go into a fugue, but he came back to the dorm as I was about to go to sleep and just slipped in and cuddled me. It's been a ritual ever Thursday evening ever since."

"So that's why the rumors of your two dating started popping up!"

Scorpius nodded. "I didn't really mind. Being the only non-Potter that Albus trusted made me feel special. Plus, if there were going to be rumors of me dating someone floating around Hogwarts, I'm glad it was Albus. It elevated my popularity with the ladies when I didn't deny the rumors. I don't know why, but Albus seems to have a fan club at school who actually like his near-sociopathic behavior."

Ginny chuckled. "Yeah, I've definitely heard. Lily the president of the fan club."

"Seriously? I wish I was filled in on that. I would have been able to pass along some serious information if I knew!"

Ginny was about to respond when a House Elf peaked his head through the door.

"The Master wanted Tipsy to inform the young Master Malfoy and the Honored Guest that the evening meal will be served promptly at seven," Tipsy squeaked.

"Thank you, Tipsy," Scorpius said. The House Elf left.

"Tipsy?" Ginny said. "Who came up with that?"

"I did," Scorpius said with a smug look. "There's a reason why I'm still Albus's friend."

ZZZ

Out of all of the Potter children, Astoria knew the least about Lily. James and Albus seemed to spend at least half of his summer at Malfoy manor. James and Scorpius would often go to concerts together (and drag Albus along). Seeing the three in there perfectly tailored clothes was something to behold, and Astoria wasn't surprised that both Potter boys had fan clubs. From what Astoria experienced at dinner, she doubted that Lily would actually let up any actually information about herself directly.

The first dinner Astoria had with the Potters was undoubtedly the most interesting one. James and Mr. Potter were both competent conversationalist and often were able to bring Mrs. Malfoy into whatever topic they were talking about. James talked about the upcoming concert he and Scorpius were going to; Mr. Potter would often bring up what was going on at work, which brought many eye rolls out of James and Lily. Unless someone was specifically talking to him, Albus never actually said anything, but would nod in agreement occasionally; when someone did say something to him, they were lucky if they got a response. It was quite different from the way he acted at Malfoy Manor. When Albus shared meals with her family, Astoria was quite impressed by his knowledge of what was going on in the world around him, and he always seemed to pair ever event with some amusing quip about the people involved. Astoria knew that kids usually acted different around their parents and rarely told them everything, but she thought that Albus took it to the extreme. She also found that it seemed that James was in on everything that happened in Albus's life, because he steered the conversation away from Albus at least twice that Astoria noticed. The way the brothers interacted when they came to visit Scorpius let Astoria know that the two were close, and that Albus was grateful for what his brother did.

Astoria discovered that Lily loved talking about other people. Astoria discovered that one of Luna Scamander's sons was apparently pinning after her and the other one was going after Albus. When Lily asked Albus how he felt about it, he just shrugged. When James asked what Lily thought about being the "light of someone else's eyes," she just laughed and said that it was a secret.

Overall, Astoria thought hat things were going well. She quite like Mr. Potter, and he was able to convince her to call him Harry before she finished half of her meal. He seemed so proud of his kids, and would look at the fondly when James and Lily would banter back and forth and Albus would nod along with what James said. All in all, it was quite a lovely scene, one which Astoria wished that she could experience more often.

That was until the light fixture fell into the middle of the table.