Disclaimer - I own nothing as per.

Anonymous POV

I ran, and as scared and alone as I felt, I knew I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Rose's POV

I would never forget how I felt on that first day of August every year - with platform 9 3/4 stretched out in front of me; the steam from the train rising above everyone's heads and with that mixed up feeling of anxiety and excitement pounding inside of me. This scene marked the start of another school year at Hogwarts - our last year in fact.

I quickly hugged my parents, avoiding the forever present worry present in my mother's eyes, and dragged my brother, Hugo, towards the ever growing mass of children and luggage.

We soon spotted Albus, our cousin, standing by a group of Fourth Years and Hugo ran up to them, leaving me to find the girls alone.

The girls - god, I hadn't seen them all summer. The thought of seeing them all again made me smile like an absolute loon.

It was then that I heard it, that familiar squeak at the end of a tinkle of a laugh. That laugh, if I was not mistaken, belonged to Juno - the louder member of our group. She got into endless amounts of trouble with the professors at school, and even more trouble when it came to boys. She had a harshly stunning face, with eyes so brown from a distance they looked black. Then again, you were usually lucky to see her face clearly as it was often hidden behind her dark brown hair that had blonde dip dye at the very end. I was used to seeing her in her Hogwart's robes but was not surprised to see her in her usual outfit of skin tight jeans and leather jacket. It wouldn't surprise you to know that she scared the majority of the other students in our year. From first glance, you wouldn't have thought that such a baby laugh belonged to this bad-ass girl, but those who actually took time to know her would know she happened to be one of the sweetest of all of us.

Next to Juno was Tallie. Her full name is actually Talulah but she thinks that's too "girly" so anyone who calls her that is soon found in the Hospital Wing after being stunned in their sleep. Tallie happened to be one of the most unique people I had ever met. She had so many quirks that I had to ask her once if she knew whether or not she was any relation of my Aunt Luna. She was pretty enough to be noticed by boys, and loud enough to be remembered if her odd nature didn't scare them off first. Today she wore a flowery dress that was light blue and white in patches, it reached her knees but I did have to stifle a laugh when I noticed the pink fuzzy slippers she wore to accompany the outfit. She later justified this to me as being the best way to fend off any unwanted Higroaks (whatever they may be).

That was when I noticed Marina, already lying across several suitcases, feigning sleep - undoubtedly she believed that this was too early in the morning for any sort of acceptable behaviour to be expected of her. This was a philosophy she had held strongly for her entire duration at Hogwarts, skipping the majority of her morning classes to sleep. This usually went ignored by the professors as she had never been awarded less than an E in any paper or exam she had completed. Marina was the only blonde in our group, with cropped hair that barely reached her shoulders. She was often called the "cute" one of our group as she had the most angelic and innocent looks. However, anyone who believed that pretence was either stupid or had a death wish. Marina had been in more detentions than any of us for some sort of prank on a Slytherin.

Then there was Rowan. Pretty much everyone in our year questioned her presence in our group. And I completely understand why they would think that. I mean, Rowan had long brown hair, wore minimal make-up, had a sensible, flowing skirt on, pumps and she was clutching her cardigan. I could see the Head Girl badge hanging loosely from her cardigan pocket, just by her arm - I could tell she didn't want people to see it just yet. She was horrendously shy and quiet around most people and had an adorably awkward charm. She was clumsy - hilariously so. And yet, we counted ourselves blessed every day that she was placed in the same dormitory as us in First Year. You see, Rowan was one of the sweetest and kindest people in our year. She was quiet, yes, but only around most people. Despite almost everyone in the year liking her, she believed that she would rather have a small group of friends who she could tell everything too than a large group of acquaintances. Despite the fact that we all believed she was pretty and would tell her so - she refused to believe it. She still had yet to be kissed. She never received less than an O in anything at school. All of this, I'm sure, has described her as the dream Head Girl. However, around us she was completely herself. She was loud, feisty and completely insane. She was the mastermind behind the majority of our pranks, despite her making us promise beforehand not to be too mean with them. She was the best friend we could have asked for, which is why we told anyone who doubted our friendship to stuff it where the sun don't shine.

As I approached my girls I remembered all of these things about them - but most of all, I remembered how they would never treat me differently because of my surname. Most of Hogwarts saw me as this golden girl, daughter of two members of the Golden Trio, destined for great things, yada yada yada. In reality - yes, I had brains, but I also had a fierce temper, one of the worst school records. I was messy and rude to most people. But these girls knew all of that, but loved me anyway. They accepted me for me, not for my family history.

When I reached my group I barely managed a "Hi" when I was attacked by them all. We all lay there in a giggling, failure of a hug on the platform, remembering how many other times this had happened over the years.

When the whistle of the train blew we all hurried on the train and found our usual compartment right at the back.

"So, how were your holidays despite the lack of me," said Juno, smiling to herself.

"Exhausting as per - you know how Dad gets about "family time" in the Summer. I mean - I love my family - but there's so many of us, it's hard to keep up with everyone" I replied.

We then began a deep discussion about our next prank - aimed ideally at Scorpius Malfoy - a prick in Slytherin who had a bad habit of picking on myself because of the fact I used to be slightly chubby.

Rowan soon had to leave to have a meeting with the Head Boy and prefects in their assigned compartment.

Moments after she left, we were blessed with the very presence of Scorpius *sense sarcasm*. He strode into our compartment and sat himself down between myself and Tallie.

Scorpius - you must understand - despite his good looks, is essentially a knoblord. He treats anyone he considers to be beneath him as if they were shit at the bottom of his shoe, and believe me, he looks down on many people. He has blonde hair that he always moulds back slightly, with piercing grey eyes and stunning features. But as they say, the devil is beautiful. He is usually followed around by these equally mentally challenged cronies from Slytherin that I swear he must have Imperius'd because they do his bidding like a lost puppy. These said cronies were standing outside the door of our compartment, looking quite lost without the immediate presence of their "master".

As he sat between Tallie and I, he pulled out a cigarette, lit it and began to take deep drags from it.

"Ah, if it isn't my favourite girls." He said, breathing out a cloud of smoke into my face.

"Juno, you should really consider joining our carriage some time, you really would enjoy our company more." He said, smirking over at her.

"She wouldn't ever want to breathe the same air as you Malfoy, piss off" I said, trying to nudge him off his seat.

"Let the girl speak for herself, weasel." He whispered to me, shooting a threatening glare.

"Trust me, Scorpius, I would rather work at Madame Padifoots than be considered as a member of your "company,"" Juno sneered at him.

He shrugged and turned to me, "Now, piggy, was that so hard to let the poor girl speak for herself. Not all of us have the same opinion as you, you know. God your ego is almost as big as your fat arse."

"Malfoy, I'm not the one with the inflated ego. You have just been rejected - it is customary to slink off to your cellar after such a thing. Please, feel free to leave"

He blew one last cloud of smoke into my face as he got up to leave, kicking Marina's feet out of the way as he did.

Just when he reached the door, Rowan managed to burst through the crowd of his cronies into our compartment, crashing into him. Her cheeks flushed red as they only do when she feels her most awkward. She quickly moved away from him and backed towards me and Tallie. Unfortunately, he managed to catch her cardigan before she reached us.

"I wondered where your little mudblood friend had gotten too," he said to us.

"Please don't call me that, Malfoy," Rowan piped up.

"Oh, did I offend your little friend, I'm sorry but the sooner you embrace your status the better." He pushed her away then but as he did so his hand brushed against her badge.

"What's this?" he mocked, "Head Girl? Oh, that's sweet, they've taken pity on your poor soul. Well, I for one won't give you that level of sympathy" he spat out at her.

"Back of ferret" I said, standing up against him now. "You're not wanted here"

He gave Rowan one last look of disgust before he swept himself out of our compartment.

"I'm so sorry, Rowie. He should never have said that, are you okay?" Marina said, pulling Rowan down to sit between herself and Juno.

"No, I'm fine, really. I would have appreciated being told, however, that the Head Boy just happened to be JAMES POTTER"

Oops. I probably should have mentioned that Rowan had a die hard crush on my cousin, James. They'd been friends for years, but he failed to see her in that way. Or any girl for that matter. It's not like he was gay - he was just never been interested in anyone like that. It's like he was asexual or something.

"It's not like I would have made a move or anything, but a bit of warning would have been nice" she groaned, holding her head in her hands on her lap.

"At least you'll get to share a dorm with him this year," Juno winked at her. That got a small smile out of Rowan. I really did hope that this year would be good for Rowan, I didn't think she could handle another year of Scorpius bullying her.

My thoughts were interrupted suddenly, by a cloud of black smoke shooting down the hall of the carriage. A few shrieks were heard from down the hall and a familiar blonde haired boy went sprinting past our door, being chased by bats. This was undoubtedly a bat boogey hex. And who did we all know who got an O in Defence Against the Dark Arts?

We all turned to face the sly smile of Rowan Parker.

"Woops", she giggled.

I knew then, that this would be a good year.