"Come on Malfoy, we don't want to miss breakfast. Might be the last decent one I get for the next two months."

"Chill, Danny boy," Jack drawled, slamming the lid of his trunk shut. He didn't understand the big rush. It's not as though food were ever to run out in this place.

Giving his reflection a quick once over in the mirror, taking a moment to push his thick mane of dark curly locks back from his chiselled cheeks and square jaw, he slowly sauntered across the dormitory to where his friend was anxiously waiting in the doorway, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Jack threw him a half-hearted smile and playfully cuffed him on the shoulder. He liked Daniel, he really did, he was one of his closest friends. But man, he needed to learn to chill a little.

"Any plans for summer?" Jack asked casually as they made their way down through the hallways of the castle, the delicious waft of bacon greeting them as they neared the Great Hall.

"The old man has finally agreed to buy me a car," Daniel answered, shaking back the blonde fringe from his eyes, "providing I get decent results in my end of year exams, that is."

"Sweet," Jack chuckled, "don't forget to swing by the arcade, I'm sure Mum'll be gutted if she misses out on a good old Muggle road trip."

Jack didn't miss the blush creeping to his friend's cheeks, and he chortled under his breath, shaking his head.

Everyone had the hots for his mum. Actually, everyone had the hots for his dad, too. They were both undoubtedly beautiful, very much carrying their looks into middle age. And the fact that they ran a Muggle arcade seemed to make everyone swoon even more (as apposed to them literally saving the world).

Jack personally didn't understand why they did it. They didn't need to work. And he could tell that the customers were getting to his mum by the things she wrote in her letters ('Spat on me simply because he didn't get the toy he wanted! The overgrown piece of shit.").

It was the only thing that he could never remain chill over - the thought of anyone treating her badly. It made him want to beat the absolute crap out of them. They had no idea what she had been through, what she had done for them all.

His mother was a queen and he would fight anyone who would dare challenge that fact.

And his father... well, he loved him, obviously. But there was something not quite right between them, something Jack couldn't quite put his finger on.

He thought of the Scottie dog which sat at the bottom of his trunk, nestled next to his Fantastic Mr Fox book which his father used to read to him back in the Underground days.

Jack's eyes automatically glanced to the window they were passing, which happened to overlook the Whomping Willow.

"Come on," he mumbled, trying to ignore the sudden tightening in his chest, "let's go and enjoy our penultimate 'last' meal of Hogwarts before we miss the train."

One year left of Hogwarts. He couldn't believe it had all gone so quick.

******

Six years previously - Jack's Sorting

"Malfoy, Jack!"

Jack held his breath as he tentatively stepped towards the stool, praying that he would get put into Slytherin even if he really didn't feel like one.

The hat was having it none of it, however.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Jack felt his heart plummet as he shakily got to his feet. He squeezed the Scottie dog in his pocket whilst stumbling to the table filled with splashes of maroon. Sorry, Dad.

He sat through the rest of the Sorting in silence, his chest tight with fear as he tried not to look directly at his fellow Gryffindors. He could sense them nudging one another and pointing in his direction, but he kept his eyes remained firmly on the stool and watched as more first years got Sorted ("Rossi, Matteo!" Gryffindor! "Storm, Veronica!" Gryffindor!).

His thoughts quickly turned to his mother, his wonderful, beautiful mum whom he missed so much already. She wouldn't be mad. In fact, he knew his middle name was after a Gryffindor. Neville, the bravest one of all, his mum always said.

Yes, he would definitely start his letter with that. And he'd address it only to his mum. After all, his dad was so fixated on Lyra that he'd probably not even notice that he hadn't written to him.

Now Lyra was definitely a Slytherin, without a doubt. Jack loved his sister deeply, she was adorable. Her dark brown eyes just like their mum's had them all besotted, making them all putty in her pocket. Although not quite to the same extent as their father.

And then there was Scorp. Would he make it into Slytherin? Jack hoped not, he didn't want to be the only disappointment. Perhaps Scorp'd be a Gryffindor like him, but Jack wasn't sure. He suspected his little brother was more like their father and maybe even a little of his birth mother who they were not allowed to talk about even though Jack remembered how she had saved his mum's life.

When the Sorting had finished and the feast had begun, Jack finally allowed himself to look up at his table.

"Hey, girl," the raven haired boy next to him said in an accent that Jack couldn't quite place, "pass the potatoes, would you?"

Jack felt his face grow hot as he reached over for the bowl, not sure whether to correct him or not.

"Actually my name is Jack, Jack Malfoy." He said shyly as the boy relieved him of the potatoes with a wink.

"Oh." A pause as the boy looked him up and down, his eyes slowly widening. "Aren't you the Underground kid?"

"I, uh- I suppose." Jack answered unsurely. "Um- yeah."

The boy quickly turned to his neighbour, a red headed girl whom reminded Jack of an older Rose.

"Ronnie," the boy hissed, nudging her with his elbow, "the Underground kid, it's him - he's in our house!"

"I told you Matt, it's Veronica!" She spat fiercely. "Just because you've known me for little more than five minutes, doesn't mean you can start nicknaming me!"

The boy called Matt held up his hands in mock protest. "Sorry, Veronica. And uh- it's actually Matteo."

"Whatever," Veronica muttered in a bored tone before turning her attention on Jack.

She had fierce blue eyes which pierced into his and Jack found himself swallowing nervously, the confidence of this fellow first year intimidating him.

"So, the Underground kid, huh?" She said, beginning to pick at her teeth with a steak knife. "I thought your name sounded familiar. Would have picked you for a Slytherin like your parents though. Must be a first for a Malfoy?"

"Um, yeah," Jack answered quietly, trying to ignore the squeeze of his stomach. "I- I think so."

"Nice hair," Veronica continued, glancing at his long dark locks. "Gotta be a bugger to comb, though."

Self consciously, he tugged at it, noticing that the other boys all wore theirs short. But he loved his hair because his mum always said it was what made them special - where his dad, Scorpius and Lyra had startling white-blond hair, he and her had thick long wavy locks. It was their thing.

A lump formed in his throat and tears stung behind his eyes. He suddenly longed to be back home, snuggling up to his mum on the sofa whilst they watched their favourite tv quiz shows together.

Jack shyly shrugged his shoulders but Veronica's attention was already lost as she turned to start yelling at the girl with the lazy eye opposite for looking at her funny.

By the end of the first night, Jack had made friends with fellow dorm mates, Matteo (a half blood Italian who seemed quite taken with Veronica) and Daniel (a Muggle-born Liverpudlian who was convinced he was on a hidden camera show and that the rest of them were all paid actors).

By the end of the first week, Jack had made even more friends, with everyone clamouring around him to hear his story of the Underground and how his parents had saved the world.

By the end of the first year, he had formed a tight friendship group with Matteo, Daniel and Veronica, and - much like his mother - was increasingly becoming one of the most easy going and much liked pupils Hogwarts had ever entertained.

By the end of sixth year, he was officially the 'coolest' student ever to grace the grounds. No, he wasn't made prefect or even bothered with Quidditch, but he was popular and clever and passed his exams with results which made his aunt Hermione beam with pride.

*****

Present Day - Summer 2016

Jack stepped off the train, his eyes searching the crowded platform, not resting until they landed on the shining face of his beautiful mother.

He was home.

*****