Dream on, dreamer.

Disclaimer: Do you honestly believe that I am even going to TRY to claim characters I could only dream of owning? C'mon. Get out of town.

Autumn. The Forbidden Forest was always a pretty sight to look at during this time of year. Orange. Gold. Red. The leaves that scattered the forest ground were damp with rain from the previous night, creating a sparkle in the morning sun. Silence. Broken by the sound of rushing footsteps. The trees in the forest were a blur as I ran. Not from danger, no. I looked back and I saw a beautiful boy running behind me, gaining speed with every laugh that escaped his soft lips. I stoppedrunning, as he whizzed by me, skidding to a stop further down. He grinned a gorgeous smile. As slow as ever, he walked towards me, the sound of his shoes making a soft crunch noise against the leaves. Crunch. His arms were around me. Crunch. He pulled me closer, crushing his body against mine. Crunch. We leaned closer to each other, our lips an inch away...

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch... CRUNCH. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

My eyes flew open, focusing on the first thing that my brain took in; which happened to be my brother, sitting at the foot of my bed, munching on a huge bowl of cereal with my barn owl, November, perched on his shoulder. When the creature spotted me awake, she flew to my side, nipping my ear in affection before soaring out my open window.

Turning my attention back to my sibling, I glared at the sight of him.

"Just what do you think you're doing here? Get out!" I yelled, throwing a pillow at Hugo, which he swiftly and easily dodged. Stupid Quidditch reflexes.

Unfazed, he continued spooning large portions of cereal and shoving them in his mouth. Ignoring the poisonous glares that I emitted, he pulled out 2 letters from his pocket and threw them onto the bed.

''At's 'or 'oo," he managed to say with a full mouth.

Hugo remained on the bed, and knowing it was useless asking him to leave, I sighed and turned to my mail. The first one I recognised straight away from the emblem on the top right-hand corner.

Not totally exciting or urgent. Placing it aside, I picked up the second one, which felt bulky and uneven. Puzzled, I ripped it open to find a picture, a small velvet pouch with gold drawstrings and a letter.

Dearest Rose,

How are you my beautiful one? Enjoying your holidays (even though the teachers thought it would be funny to give us holiday homework)?

Because of the success of my Dad's previous case, we scored ourselves a trip to Europe! It was SO cool. We got to see Italy and Paris! You should have seen Mum in the plane. Thought it was the slowest thing in the world. Lucky we gave her the lowdown on what to expect, so she wasn't a complete fish out of water.

I have also enclosed your birthday present for last week. I passed by it during my stay at Paris, and it just screamed you. Hope you like it.

Meet up at Diagon Alley in one week with April and Justin? That's where I am right now. We decided to take Dad on a little tour of Diagon Alley, and he loves it. I got myself an owl too, a lovely Snowy. He's gorgeous, and I still have to name him...

Reply back soon.

Love always

Annabeth.

I put aside the letter and looked at the picture. It had Annabeth and Mr and Mrs Jackson, waving furiously at the camera. I smiled.

Annabeth Jackson was a half-blood, her dad being Muggle born and one of the most well-know solicitors in Britain, with her mum being a witch and the Head of the Department of Misuse of Magic. It was good to know that her dad didn't freak and go running for the hills when he found out that her mum was a witch.

I picked up the small pouch and undid the drawstrings, tipping the whole thing upside down. And out came a silver necklace with a small silver rose dangling from the chain. In the middle sat a diamante which sparkled in the light. My eyes widened. It looked beautiful. It also looked expensive.

Hugo had finally finished eating and inched forward to see what I got. "Hey. Pretty. Annabeth gave you that, right?"

She also happened to be rich.

I put the necklace on and reached for the letter I had previously ignored; the letter from Hogwarts.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was where I studied magic. It was my second home, and I loved it there. I was in 5th year now, the year of the O.W.L's; my mum had yet to give me the test pep talk.

I noticed that the letter was a little thicker than usual.

After reading the usual information —that I had to catch the Hogwarts express from King's Cross station on September the 1st — and my list of books, I took out an extra letter that was included:

Dear Miss Weasley,

I am delighted to announce that you were chosen as one of two prefects representing Gryffindor this year.

As Prefect, you are required to:

Abide all school rules and regulations

Wearthe uniform correctly at all times.

Set an example to the school

Lead the 1st Years to the common room on the night of arrival.

Patrol the train and corridors after curfew in accordance to your schedule.

Please meet at the Prefect's carriage on the Hogwarts Express promptly after departure for a debriefing session with the Head Boy and Girl.

You are also awarded the privilege of the private use of the Prefect's Bathroom, located four doors to the left of the portrait of Boris the Bewildered.

Password: APPLEBERRY

Sincerely,

Professor Marie Teferance

Head of Gryffindor.

I gasped and I turned the envelope upside down. Sure enough, a red and gold badge tumbled out and onto my bed.

Hugo gaped.

"Hang on... that's a-"

'-prefect badge!' I screamed in delight, attracting my Mum into the room. She came rushing in through the door in her bathrobe and slippers, her face full of concern.

I beamed at her. "I got Prefect!"

Mum's worried expression melted and was replaced by joy and pride.

"Oh, congratulations sweetie! I'm so proud of you. Justin got Prefect too! What do you want? You already have an owl... But, where's your father? Ron? RON?" She looked towards the door, but the only response she received were grunts and snoring from the room down the hall. She rolled her eyes and smiled at her daughter.

"Well, you'd better get changed anyway. Justin and April are already downstairs eating breakfast. We're going down to Diagon Alley and they've decided to come with us. You can choose what you want whilst we are there. And you," She pointed sternly to Hugo who looked at her in surprise. "What did I tell you about eating upstairs? Go put the bowl in the sink and brush your teeth."

And with that, she bustled outside, clearly the happiest Mum in the world. Hugo poked his tongue at me, to which I retaliated by proceeding to return the gesture, before he walked out of the room.

After having the quickest shower in the history of showers and throwing on a pair of jeans and a black jumper, I ran downstairs to the smell of fried eggs and bacon. My puppy Labrador, Maxi, barked, grabbing the attention of the two teenage kids at the table.

"So she finally decides to wake up," commented a boy with windswept light brown hair, check tee and black jeans, currently digging into egg on toast. "If Hugo didn't wake you up, which is saying something, I was going to send Maxi to lick you to death."

Justin Lucian was a full-blood wizard, living with his granddad next door after his parents were mauled by werewolves. Between being a brainiac, a Quidditch player and the fact that his Grandfather was a famous scholar, he was most likely one of the most popular guys in my grade.

On cue, Maxi ran up to me, jumping up and down on my legs. I picked up the adorable pup and sat down next to a girl with long black hair, wearing a brown leather jacket and skinny jeans, complete with a black beret.

April Chase, who lived on the other side of our house, was Muggle born; her parents, Robert and Allison Chase, being both doctors. Although they had a rough time adjusting to the fact that April had magical blood in her, they eventually accepted it and allowed her to study at Hogwarts. They still expect good grades from her, magic or not. You kinda get that with Asian parents.

April grinned over her cup of hot chocolate. "Your Mum told us that you got Prefect, which isn't a big surprise. What surprised me was that this boy—" she poked at Justin cheekily. "—got Prefect. Who, in their right mind, would give him that much responsibility?"

Justin rolled his eyes and swallowed hard. "Who, in their right mind wouldn't make me Prefect? It's obvious. They just couldn't ignore my pure awesomeness."

"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night..." April went back to her hot chocolate.

I laughed and ruffled Maxi's fur. The three of us have been best friends ever since we were six years of age. Attending the only magical school in our district, we became quite close. Of course, the bickering still occurs. It's pretty much a tradition.

After breakfast, as we were all huddled together around the fireplace in the living room, Dad came trudging into the room, clearly disgruntled. He tousled his already messed up hair and stifled a yawn as he tried to explain what we need to do.

"Well, yeah. You know the drill. Floo Powder, fireplace, say the location and- and-" he yawned again. Clearly, my dad wasn't a morning person.

"And yawn?" I asked innocently. My dad gave me a sarcastic smile.

"Yeah, that's real funny, Rose the Prefect. Go on, your cousins are already waiting for you." And with that, he settled into the nearest armchair and dozed away.

"I wonder what he was doing last night that made him so tired," wondered Justin, giving me a seedy wink as I stepped into the fireplace.

"Good to know where your mind is at, Justin. Good to know," Grabbing a pinch of Floopowder, I threw it at my feet. 'Diagon Alley!'

April and Justin's laughs died away as the green flames enveloped me, and I soon found myself standing the fireplace of Flourish and Blotts.

"Come now, quickly," said the grumpy bookstore owner, gesturing me towards him. "There's soot going everywhere."

I hastily stepped out of the fireplace and off to the side as he waved his wand briskly at the broom leaning on the wall, which leaped to life and began magically sweeping up the soot into a dust pan. Wish I could do that at home, I grumpily thought to myself. Apart from the fact that I was still under aged, Mum wanted me to do chores the Muggle way to 'experience life without magic', much to Dad's chagrin.

"Hogwarts?" he asked. I nodded. "I thought so. There's another girl from Hogwarts here too." He pointed lazily to the corner of the store, where a girl in a black coat and dark jeans stood, her nose in a book. I smiled and handed my list to the owner, who started to rummage through the shelves in search for my books while I walked towards the girl.

"Of course, out of all stores, you'd be in here," I teased, gently lifting the book from her hands. Annabeth looked up and the flash of annoyance across her face disappeared as she squealed and leapt on me, giving me a bear hug.

"Gash! It's so good to see you! Where are Justin and April?" Right on cue, Justin came into view from the fireplace ("There's more of you?" exclaimed the storekeeper) and a few seconds later, April ("I just had these floors cleaned!").

She squealed again and hugged the two of them at the same time. "Dudes! I wasn't expecting you guys until next week."

April pulled away from the hug and shrugged. "Eh. Surprise visit."

"Or maybe they were just hoping that you wouldn't be here, Jackson," sneered a cold, familiar voice.

I closed my eyes and prayed it wasn't who I thought it was. I opened them, and sure enough, standing behind my three friends, was Scorpius Malfoy, dressed in his usual designer clothing.

We never really got along. Ever since 1st Year when we found out that he was a Malfoy and he discovered that I was the daughter of one of the Golden Trio – one of his parent's "arch nemeses" -, rivalry and hatred was all that was ever known between us. Our parents never encouraged it. Then again, they never discouraged it. Our teachers tried endlessly to break us up from continuous bickering, and in James' case, dueling during class, but to no prevail. I always looked at it as the Montague's and the Capulet's from Romeo and Juliet, one of the many play books Mum made me read by some guy called Shakespeare. Only, there was definitely no sign for either of us falling in love – especially not with his pale face, white blonde hair slicked back and tall figure factored in.

"Don't you have somewhere else to go, Malfoy? Or has Knockturn Alley finally rejected you?" Behind me, I could hear the shopkeeper stop looking for books, watching us cautiously.

"You better watch it half-blood," he said warningly. "I have people on my side that aren't exactly the best to get in a fight,"

Justin snorted. Malfoy's cold, grey eyes snapped towards him. 'Something funny there, Lucian?'

"Nah, not really. I'm just amused how you have to have back-up in order to fight us. Then again, lowly people like you aren't built for fighting."

"You're right. I don't need back-up. But, maybe your parents do. Well, too late now. It would be a waste to give my duelers to them when they're lying 6 feet below the ground-" Malfoy's taunts were broken off as Justin grabbed his neatly pressed collar and pinned him roughly against the bookshelf, causing several books to fall.

"I'm warning you Scorpius, one word about my parents and you'll be as dead as them," Justin hissed through gritted teeth, pulling out his wand.

Scorpious let out a harsh laugh "Oh really? You happen to have a pack of werewolves up your sleeve?"

Before Justin could say anything back, slow footsteps entered the store.

"Put your wand away, boy. The poor shopkeeper has enough drama for today," drawled a voice.

I looked around, and saw a tall man with a pale heart-shaped face and white blonde hair, dressed similarly to Scorpious. Justin hastily let go of Scorpious, who straightened his attire and joined his father. Just then, my mum stepped out of the fireplace. Dusting the soot off her jacket, she looked up, her face going blank.

"Hello, Draco,'" she greeted.

"Gra- Hermione," Mr. Malfoy said in return, nodding stiffly. "Let's go, Scorpius." And with that, they walked out, slamming the door behind them.

After paying for our books and being shoved out the door by a traumatized shopkeeper, we strode into the sunny streets of Diagon Alley.

It's been a while since I last tried to complete a FanFiction. Didn't end well. So, any thoughts? Criticism?

Also, I'm writing up another Harry Potter FanFiction with my loser of a buddy (I'm kidding), Tiah – All I Ask Of You. Check it sometime.