An Apple From A Tree

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: This is my first entry for Fire the Canon's 'Snakes and Ladders Challenge'. I rolled a 4, so my character was Scorpius Malfoy. Enjoy!

The apple never falls too far from the tree, or so they say.

That's what they say about me, anyway. My father was a coward, a Death Eater and an almost-murderer. Why should I be any different?

Except I am different, completely, though rarely does anyone give me a chance to show it.

I spend most of my days alone, wandering the Hogwarts grounds with thoughtful eyes and roaming legs. I have no cronies, or even regular friends, like my father did in his day. I prefer to exist in solitude, where I don't have to rely on others for my strength. I know my own weaknesses, and know how to avoid them. I'm not like my father.

My father used to bully and sneer, to intimidate others to make himself feel better. He was a horrible friend, and a worse enemy. He tried to hide the stories of his school days, but the kids at school never let me forget it. Their own parents were his victims, or they were his accomplices. Myself? I only ever offer kind words and smiles, even though they are often rejected. Still, I give them out anyway. I'm not my father.

I would never dream of hurting another person, let alone consider murdering them. He was going to kill Albus Dumbledore, to take away the life of a brilliant old man. He was going to drain away his soul and watch as life left his eyes… How could anyone ever think I would be capable of even thinking about doing that? I'm nothing like my father.

I believe in goodness, and the side of light. Perhaps that makes me different from any other Malfoy that has ever lived, but I don't care. They are my thoughts, and I will cling to these beliefs until the day I die. If ever a dark wizard rises again, I will fight against them, supporting those who I know are fighting for the right reasons. If I had been in place of my father, I know I would've befriended Harry Potter and fought beside him, not against him. I'm not my father.

Yet every day, I'm tarnished with his name, forced to make up for his stupid choices, and deadly mistakes. No-one will talk to me, or give me the time of day. They hear only the name 'Malfoy' and assume it means I am as bad and pathetic as him. But they're so wrong. I wish people could see me for me, and not him. I know, though, that it'll always be a problem. I just hope it won't ruin my life. Not that it matters too much, as I have the confidence that I'll make a new meaning for the name 'Malfoy'.

Yes, I know that my father worshipped his own father, and that he would never have thought the kind of thoughts I think about him, about my grandfather. But why should that stop me? I don't hate my father, but I hate the legacy he's left behind for me.

He's trying so hard to change, though, and I can see the strain in his expression. But it's too late to make up for the worst. His only salvation is that he raised me in such a way that has made me think differently to his own narrow-minded, pure-blood-supremacist father.

My father watched one of his best friend's die, almost killed someone, and pledged himself to the evil Lord Voldemort.

He even had his family fall to ruin around him.

But I vow to change that.

I will make the Malfoy name great again, but not in the same way it was before. We will be accepting of everyone, pure-blood or no, and we'll always fight against evil.

There's this small detail that everyone, these days, always seems to forget about me, you see.

I am not my father.