A/N: Hi, and thanks for checking this out! If you like this story, you can also check it out on my Wattpad account! Enjoy!
"Finally," said Rose, stepping into the train station in London with her family. She had been waiting the whole summer to get back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She did love summer break when there were no classes and she could spend her days chatting with Albus and playing Quidditch, but Hogwarts was like a home to her. Not to mention, she would be entering her 5th year as a Prefect. She wasn't sure who the male Gryffindor Prefect was since Albus pulled off too many shenanigans with his older brother James (who was a 7th year) to earn the title.
As she entered Platform 9 ¾ with her parents and her 3rd year brother Hugo, she scanned the room for any sign of Albus, but since there weren't many people yet, she supposed they were a bit too early. Her mother Hermione liked to always be a bit too early.
"I can't wait for Albus to get here. This year will be the best one yet," said Rose excitedly.
"You say that every year, Rosie," retorted Hugo, who rolled his eyes.
"Well Hogwarts is just that amazing, I guess," replied Rose happily. Suddenly, she heard a voice calling her name and immediately recognized the person who called her.
"Al!" Rose exclaimed, turning and hugging her cousin tightly. "This year is just going to be the best!"
"I know! Wonder why I'm not a Prefect though," said Albus, who pretended to be disappointed while hiding a grin.
"Maybe if you didn't explode a toilet last year, you would be," said Rose with a giggle.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Albus, rolling his eyes. "I wish I could sit with you on the train."
"I wish I could sit with you too, but alas, I don't have a choice," said Rose with a sigh. Being that she was a Prefect, she had to sit in their compartment on the train, although she would rather sit with her friends Ellie and Abby (Ellie was a Hufflepuff and Abby was a Ravenclaw) and her cousins (who were all Gryffindors).
"Don't worry though, I'll keep Ellie and Abby company," said Albus with a wink. Albus got along very well with Ellie and Abby, almost as well as Rose did. Rose also suspected Albus had a little crush on Abby, but he wouldn't admit it to anyone.
"I am sure you will." Rose gave Albus one last tight hug. She didn't want to let go, but she knew she had to sit with the other Gryffindor Prefects. She walked towards the front of the train where the Prefects' compartment was and entered. Most of the other Prefects were there except the other 5th year one.
"Rose!" Rose turned to see a 6th year girl she recognized as Olivia McMarley. Olivia smiled at her warmly. Rose didn't know Olivia all that well, but she knew that she was nice. "I knew I would be seeing you in this compartment. Do you know who the other Gryffindor Prefect in your year is?"
"Sorry, Liv, I don't," said Rose. "I guess it will be a surprise."
At that moment, a boy with platinum blonde hair and blueish-silver eyes walked in. He sat down in the empty seat next to Rose and looked around at the others as if he didn't think he was supposed to be there.
"Hi," he said in a tone that suggested he was trying to sound confident despite feeling very shy. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy."
"Hey Scorpius," said Rose awkwardly. She hadn't really thought about the possibility that Scorpius would be the other Gryffindor Prefect. He was usually reading quietly by himself. Even though he what Rose thought was one of the most handsome Gryffindor boys, he never really seemed to mind being alone. Rose almost felt bad for him, but having such a large group of friends, she hardly ever got alone time to talk to him, so she never approached him. She used all the alone time she got to study, as Rose strived to be as good a student as her mother.
"Oh, hey Rose," said Scorpius with a shy smile. He brushed his bangs out of his face with his hand. "I guess we're the new Gryffindor Prefects this year."
"Awesome," said Rose. She was hoping that the two of them could be friends since she didn't think anyone could be happy being that lonely. She remembered on the day of her sorting, the Gryffindors hadn't been too happy to accept Scorpius in their house, but she thought that was nonsense.
The whole train ride, the Gryffindor prefects chatted happily, although Scorpius was awfully quiet, and when Rose tried to talk to him directly, his responses were minimal. When they had come close to arriving, the compartment emptied out so they could go and put on their robes. Rose had missed wearing her Gryffindor robes.
When they arrived at Hogwarts, Rose turned to Scorpius and smiled a friendly smile. "Do you wanna sit with me in the Great Hall?" Scorpius seemed to look at her with an expression of slight shock and shook his head with a polite smile, but Rose thought she saw a hint of disappointment as he refused her offer. As if he had wanted to say yes.
"That's okay. You already have people to sit with," Scorpius started to walk away, but Rose ran after him.
"Wait! My friends won't mind. I don't want you to have to sit alone. Please?" Rose begged him, and Scorpius's smile got a little bigger.
'
"If you insist," he said, no longer trying to walk away from her, but instead walking with her to the flying carriage. "Thank you." The two sat next to each other, and to Rose's shock, Scorpius said something without her saying something first. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
"I haven't said or done anything for you that you don't deserve," said Rose with a smile. She was glad Scorpius seemed to be coming out of his shell a little bit. "I just noticed in years past you seemed a bit… lonely?"
"Yeah, I guess I was," said Scorpius shyly.
"You can always hang out with me now, though," said Rose. She then felt a little bit guilty. "Sorry I've never really went out of my way to be nice before. Nobody deserves to be alone."
"It's not your fault. People are just kinda scared of me, to be honest," said Scorpius with a sigh. Rose was about to ask why anyone would be scared of him until she realized for herself.
"Well that's not fair of people to judge you," said Rose as the carriage came to a stop.
The two newly appointed Prefects walked into the castle together and approached the Gryffindor table. She sat across from Albus, and Scorpius sat next to her. She saw Lily chatting happily with Ellie and Abby, and James was seemingly plotting schemes already. Abby and Ellie were excited to see Rose, who they had only seen a little bit over the summer, so they snuck over to the Gryffindor table.
"Hey Rosie, who's your friend?" Albus glanced up and down at Scorpius. "You didn't find a boyfriend already, did you?"
"Albus! Scorpius is not my boyfriend, he is my fellow Prefect and my friend," said Rose. Scorpius seemed to get a little embarrassed, and Rose and Albus laughed light-heartedly. "I'm sorry about him, Scorpius."
"What? He kinda took my job, anyway," said Albus. He pretended to glare menacingly at Scorpius.
"Please, Albus, they'd give the male Prefect job to a random girl in Slytherin before they'd give it to you," said Rose with a giggle. This made Scorpius laugh too. She realized she had never heard him laugh before. His laugh was cute and it made her smile.
"I would argue for you, Albus, but we all remember how furious Headmistress McGonagall was when you exploded that toilet with James," said Scorpius, who seemed a little less shy.
"Haha, it's not the job for me, I guess. I'm too busy with Quidditch. Fiern graduated, and I really hope I'm selected as the new captain."
"I'd say you're fit for the job," said Rose with a smile. She wasn't even joking; her cousin had mad Quidditch skills, and he was sometimes better at planning strategies than the old Quidditch captain, Lucy Fiern.
"Agreed," said Scorpius with a grin.
McGonagall soon called for the attention of the students in the Great Hall, and the first years were sorted. Rose cheered for all of them, especially for the new Gryffindors. Rose and her friends spent the ceremony chatting and catching up on things that happened over the summer. Rose tried her best to pay special attention to Scorpius, because it had almost become an ambition of hers to make sure he felt as welcomed as possible in their friend group. However, she was also eager to catch up on things with Abby and Ellie.
After dinner, Rose let the rest of her family go ahead as she waited to lead the first years to the common room with Scorpius.
"That was the most ruckus I've been part of in forever," said Scorpius. He looked slightly confused but mostly amazed. "I liked it."
"You can be one of us now," said Rose with a grin.
"I mean, I hope we can get along as Prefects, but I don't know how much longer I can go on like this… My father… You already know about him. I don't know how he is gonna feel about us hanging out." Scorpius sighed.
"Oh well, that's his problem. Besides, he doesn't have to know about any of this. He can't force you not to have us as friends if he doesn't even know what you're up to," said Rose.
"Are you implying that I should lie to him?" asked Scorpius, who looked slightly bothered but also intrigued.
"Yes," said Rose. "I'm not much of a rule-breaker myself, but you are my friend now, and some silly past rivalry shouldn't prevent that. My parents will probably feel the same way, so I might not even tell them yet… but I want to be friends with you."
"I guess you are right. I just wish things were different when he went to school, because he really is a different person now." When they arrived at the common room, they let the first years in, smiling at them as they walked by.
"Keep in mind, the password is Bertie Botts!" Rose called after them. She then turned to Scorpius before crawling in herself. "I understand. Just don't let the past control your life. You're at Hogwarts, and you deserve to have some fun."
"I guess so. Anyway, I'm tired, and I have to go work on a letter for my dad to send first thing tomorrow morning anyway. He gets worried if I don't write him at least once a week. See you tomorrow, Rose," said Scorpius. He walked away, and Rose sat with Albus, who was on one of the couches in the common room. She couldn't help but overhear a group of 4th years gossiping, since Albus was going on about Quidditch and Rose wasn't paying attention.
"Did you see that Malfoy kid hanging with the Potters and Rose Weasley? Weird."
"I know, I thought he would never get friends, let alone the most popular kids in school."
"Maybe if his dad wasn't such a-"
"Rose, are you listening to me?" asked Albus, pinching her arm.
"Yes, yes, I'm listening to you!" replied Rose, rubbing her arm where it was pinched.
"Really? 'Cause if you were, you would have heard it when Professor Dunlop just walked over and assigned me the role of Quidditch captain!" said Albus, half excited and half annoyed at his cousin not paying attention. Professor Dunlop was the head of Gryffindor house, and she was a young woman with very long brown hair that was always tied in a ponytail. She was usually a cheerful person, and it took a lot to make her angry, but once you made her angry, she was the scariest professor in the school.
"That's awesome!" said Rose, hugging her cousin. "You should probably tone down the troublemaking, though, or she will change her mind."
"Goodness, of course that is your first thought, you're so uptight," said Albus, rolling his eyes.
"I'm just saying," said Rose. "Anyway, I'm going to bed. I'm tired." Albus called after her, saying something about missing fun, but she didn't stop to listen.
Rose changed into her pajamas and almost immediately fell asleep when she stretched out on her bed.
