“Can I help you?” a voice said, interrupting her thoughts with aristocratic precision.

The man had turned around during Ginny’s mental battle and was staring at her with cold, gray eyes. He hasn’t aged a day since he left school, Ginny thought, still gazing speechless at the face of her childhood enemy. His hair looked different, falling almost delicately around his face, somehow softening the pointed features. Ginny supposed that was because he was no longer applying near-lethal amounts of product like he did when they were younger.

“Excuse me…?” the man said again, uncertain of the silence that greeted his previous question.

No, it was not just the lack of gel that made him look different. His face was softer, lacking the hard, pointed features she remembered. And his eyes weren’t gray at all but instead a light blue-green color. Maybe she just never looked at him close enough in school to notice these things.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ginny muttered quickly, hoping he didn’t think she was a complete idiot for just standing staring at him for the past few moments. She waited for the sarcastic comment that was surely on the man’s lips.

“It’s fine,” he answered. Ginny was shocked to hear no mockery in his voice. "Although you might want to purchase another cup of tea seeing how the majority of you cup is on the floor.”

“Oh.” Ginny could feel the hot blush of embarrassment creeping up her cheeks as she noticed that she indeed had spilled a great deal of tea on the floor. This couldn’t be the same person she went to school with. It was impossible. His voice remained polite and almost kind though Ginny was quite certain she had made an absolute fool of herself. The Draco Malfoy she knew would have verbally ripped her to shreds by now. “I just thought… well,” Ginny started, figuring if he hadn’t figured out who she was by know, she might as well ask. “I thought you were someone I went to school with.”

To her surprise, the man smiled. Not a smirk. Not a leer. Not a grimace. An actual smile with some hint of warmth and humor behind it. “I think you might be mistaking me. Unless you left Hogwarts a few years ago, that is. In that case, it would be very possible.”

Ginny laughed in spite of herself. “No, I left that school quite a long time ago. I was there during the war, actually.” Ginny knew this gave away her age, but this smiling man did not seem to mind as he took a seat next to her. It convinced her that she really must have been mistaken. After all, just because someone had money and blond hair didn’t make him a Malfoy.

“Really? That is fascinating,” he said, sounding truly interested. “I have tried to learn all I can about the final battle there but Hogwarts very much wants to forget what happened that day. I’ve mainly learned what I know by first-hand accounts. It’s a shame that even my own fa-“

“Scorpius,” a cold voice said from somewhere behind Ginny.

The young man stopped mid-sentence and smiled apologetically. There was something familiar about that name though Ginny couldn’t quite place it.

“Well, who do we have here?”

That voice again. Ginny was sure she heard it somewhere. Maybe work? One of Harry’s associates? A parent of one of the children’s friends—

Ginny’s eyes widened in shock; it all fell into place. She swiveled on the barstool slowly, finding herself face to face with one who could be none other than Draco Malfoy. His skin, pale enough to match his white-blond hair, showed few signs of age and his twisted sneer was the exact same as it had been in school. Though he was dressed in muggle clothes, the dark navy slacks and white button up seemed to look perfect on him. His eyes, dark and mocking, took a quick assessment of Ginny’s appearance, from her jeans and sweater to her slightly worn wool jacket to her tangled mess of red curls. After finishing, the grey orbs were alight with mockery.

“I feel I should introduce you, but I didn’t catch your name…” the young man, Scorpius, Draco had called him, said expectantly.

“Ginny Weasley,” Draco said, taking the hand that was not holding the mug and bowing over it rather extravagantly. “Or, I suppose, Potter now.” The cold smirk never left his face.

“Draco Malfoy,” Ginny said, hoping her voice held the same cold contempt that his had. “Or is it Goyle? Did you decide to take your husband’s name? I can’t remember.” She knew it was immature and childish to resort to petty insults like they were teenagers again, but something in his haughty tone made her blood boil. Or maybe it was just the mentioning of her husband.

“Glad to see your wit is still intact,” Draco replied scathingly. “I see you have met my son. I hope you have taught him firsthand how utterly vile you Weasleys are. I’m afraid, however, that he must leave your company now.”

Scorpius looked from his father to Ginny, confused by the sudden violence of the exchange. When his father made his way to the back exit, Scorpius dared to give Ginny a small smile, his eyes asking the questions he could not. At least, not with his father within earshot. Ginny, smiled but kept her eyes on her empty cup. As polite as the young Malfoy was, she had no intention of trying to make him stay.

Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, spared no backward glance toward the redhead sitting at the bar and made straight for the exit, enjoying the cool wind on his face. She certainly looked like a wreck, which pleased him to an extent. She must not have had a decent night’s sleep in weeks. He tried to smile at that, ignoring the depth of sadness that he had seen in her eyes.

Author notes: Thank you to the first three reviewers! I hope this update was soon enough for you. :)