With a loud pop, Rose Weasley materialised back into existence, yellow feathers covering her shoulders and tangled into her bushy, red hair.
"Who did that? Which one of you?" she shouted, furiously swiping at the feathers that blanketed her. The four other teenagers in the compartment were howling with laughter; Lily Potter, clutching her sides; Albus Potter, wiping away tears; Hugo Weasley, chuckling as he brushed feathers off of his lap; and Roxanne Weasley, shaking with silent laughter and pointing at Rose, who scowled adamantly at the lot of them.
"You should be more careful, Rosie", Albus managed, regaining his composure, "You're Head Girl now- there could be a prank on you at any time! You're a prime target." He snorted with laughter again. "You might consider hiring a House Elf to taste all your food, and check round every corner for you!"
Rose shook her head at him, picking a sweet wrapper up from the floor of the train. She examined it closely- the outside was from a Fudge Fantasy, her favourite from the new line at Honeydukes, but the inside of the plastic was tinged yellow, a tell-tale sign of Canary Creams, the best-selling prank sweets from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
"You know how I feel about House Elves." Rose said huffily, balling up the wrapper and throwing it into the corner with the remnants of the last few hours of snacking, now a sizeable pile of multi-coloured wrappers and discarded Chocolate Frog Cards. Rose could see a few Wizarding celebrities staring up at her and she nudged them further under the detritus with the edge of her foot.
"Sorry Rose, but I really couldn't help myself," Albus said, smiling as he gestured at her with open hands, "I needed to highlight this key security issue. Can't have our Head Girl turning into a canary at every feast, can we?"
He grinned wider at her, and Rose reluctantly cracked a smile. "Don't do it again, Al, or I'll put you in detention and you'll miss the first Quidditch practice of the year," she teased.
His face dropped immediately. "Nothing funny about missing Quidditch, Rose. I've got a commitment to my team."
She smirked back at him, before Hugo spoke up from near the door. "Speaking of commitments," he checked his watch, "We'd better get going, Rose. You need to give your speech to the Prefects any minute now."
She nodded, standing up and straightening the bottom of her long school robes. "As if I could forget. I've been practising since I got the badge in the post."
Hugo let out a laugh. "Oh, I know. I've heard you muttering it to yourself in your sleep."
Rose blushed a little, pushing him out into the corridor. "Nothing wrong with being prepared."
"Over-prepared a little didn't you, big sister?" He walked backwards down the corridor, laughing as she blushed again. They continued down the train, stopping only to reprimand a couple of Fourth years whose Exploding Snap game had gotten a little too rowdy, and to help a tiny Second year with her cat, which had decided to spend the train journey hissing at her from the luggage racks.
The Prefect carriage was at the very front of the train, and as Rose slid open the door she shined her Head Girl badge absent-mindedly. It was the fruition of her years of hard work, building a reliable reputation amongst the school's many Professors and the students in her own year. Rose smiled to herself, briefly entertaining the idea that her future daughter would follow in her footsteps, just as she was following in her mother's. The famous Hermione Granger had been a Head Girl too, when she had returned to Hogwarts to finish her education after defeating Lord Voldemort.
The Prefects of Hogwarts turned as she entered, and silence fell over the compartment as she moved down the central aisle. Rose had already spotted her male counterpart that year- not only was his silvery blonde hair unmissable, but he also had a few inches on everyone else in the room.
"Scorpius," she said, trying to make her voice sound authoritative and firm.
He spun to look at her, his eyes flashing quickly to the badge on her robes and then back to her face, "Rose." His tone matched hers.
"Shall we start, then?"
He nodded his agreement, well aware that the carriage was still totally silent. She moved to stand next to him, becoming increasingly aware of how much taller than her he was.
Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley had a history, and everyone knew it. In their first year at Hogwarts, both had been so determined to one-up the other in their classes that allegations of potion spiking had been made- Rose had sworn that Scorpius had swapped her ground beetle eyes with charcoal powder, while he had been adamant that she had added an extra clockwise stir to his potion as she passed his cauldron on her way to the ingredients store-room. Neither had been able to prove anything, but this had been the start of an enduring competition between the two students.
During a Slytherin-Hufflepuff Quidditch match early on in second year, Scorpius had pretended to lose control of his broom and crashed straight into the Gryffindor stands where Rose was sitting. After having to spend a night in the Hospital Wing and losing out on time to prepare for a test in Charms the next Monday- Rose suspected that this had been the reason behind Scorpius' 'accident', as there was no way he could've beaten her test scores had she been able to study- Rose had enlisted the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which comprised mostly of her cousins, to help her get an appropriate revenge. Scorpius found himself the sole target of the Gryffindor beaters, Lucy and Dominique, and, after being nearly knocked off of his broom five times in one match, conceded to apologise to Rose the next morning.
For most of third year the rivalry had avoided coming to a head: both Rose and Scorpius had tactfully avoided and ignored each other, despite being in many of the same classes. However, this peace was broken when Rose, who had been practicing a hex shown to her the previous Easter by Teddy Lupin, spotted an unsuspecting Scorpius crossing the grounds in front of the Black Lake with a slim Slytherin girl in tow. One flick of her wand, and Scorpius was hanging in mid-air, suspended by his ankle and bellowing at the top of his voice. Rose's laughter revealed her hiding behind a tree, and Scorpius shot a choice few hexes her way, before the pair of them were pulled back to their Common Rooms by their respective friends.
Fourth year saw Rose open a chapter of her mother's charity- SPEW: the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare- at Hogwarts, hoping to build her profile within the school by promoting this cause and encouraging her fellow students to involve themselves in this key debate within Wizarding society. Scorpius retaliated by organising a peaceful march of the Hogwarts' House Elves through the Great Hall, where they surrounded an unsuspecting Rose and chanted at her, shaking their tiny fists.
The start of OWLs had forced a mutual truce of sorts between the exceptional pair- both were wildly studious and decided they didn't have the time to fight for the sake of fighting. They continued to compete fiercely, a past time made worse by the fact that they were taking all the same classes. Their professors admired the academic drive and passion that Scorpius and Rose showed, not knowing that each student spurred the other on, pushing them to do better and achieve more than the other had managed. When Rose heard that Scorpius had written double the amount on Shrieking Spells than Professor Prewitt had asked for, she wrote triple. When Scorpius overheard Professor Thompson praising Rose for using a pen to write her Muggle Studies essay, he endeavoured to write his next on paper, instead of parchment.
In sixth year, Rose and Scorpius had silently agreed to divide up the library between them. Scorpius had jurisdiction over the desks at the back, while Rose got the ones next to the windows. The rows of bookshelves were neutral territory, but should they meet in the same aisle neither would make eye contact with, nor even acknowledge the other. Both had been made Senior Prefects, and neither could doubt the brilliance and success of the other.
And so when, a few weeks previously, Rose had received her Head Girl badge by owl, there was a sinking feeling in her stomach as she scanned the Hogwarts embossed parchment for the name of the new Head Boy. It was no surprise to her- he was just as revered as she, and on top of that a Quidditch star for his House team. They would inevitably have been paired together to preside over and unite the students of Hogwarts- the fiery redhead from Gryffindor and the icy blonde from Slytherin.
"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. I'd like to extend a special welcome to the new Fifth year prefects- congratulations on joining the team. It's reassuring to see that you've all turned up on time for this meeting." Scorpius smiled at the new faces hiding at the back of the assembled group, and a few scared smiles were returned.
"I'm sure you've all seen by now that we are your new Heads," Scorpius continued, "And I don't doubt that you already know our names-"
Rose shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. This seemed an awfully arrogant thing to say, but what had she expected from him? "Typical," she thought to herself.
"-but it's a pleasure to have been selected by the staff and students to represent you all this year. I'm sure many of you have aspirations to stand where Rose and I are now, and I must say it has been a journey-"
Rose cut him off, having grown too impatient to listen to an acceptance speech. "Let's get down to business. There is still a blanket ban on all Weasley's Wizard Wheezes merchandise-" Rose felt a little guilty, thinking of the stack of products that was certainly residing in Albus' trunk as she spoke, "-and it is very important that we all set an example with regards to this. I don't want to hear of anyone confiscating items and then using them themselves." She stared pointedly at Hugo for a second here, and he pulled at the collar of his robes sheepishly.
"One of the key aspects of our leadership this year is inter-House unity. I'd like to see all Prefects encouraging friendships between Houses, especially when Quidditch season begins. I've already spoken to Professor McGonagall, who has agreed to allow-"
"You spoke to McGonagall without me?" Scorpius hissed at her, turning away from the group to talk directly to her.
Rose lowered her voice, "Yes. We exchanged a few owls last week."
"And left me out of Head business?"
Rose took a deep breath and spoke pointedly. "It didn't concern you." She turned back to the Prefects, who had been watching the exchange with increasing interest.
"McGonagall-"
Scorpius interrupted her then, his face stony.
"Professor McGonagall."
"Professor McGonagall-" Rose continued, ignoring his tone, "-has agreed to allow students to mix between tables during breakfast and lunch, in order to encourage friendships to form between Houses."
Her words were met with stunned silence.
"What?" A Sixth Year Slytherin spoke up after a few seconds, "Non-Slytherins can sit at the Slytherin table?"
"Yes," Rose said firmly, "And vice-versa. Hogwarts is supposed to be about learning and sharing knowledge, not cliques and hierarchies."
"Why not just integrate all the tables all the time? Why is dinner any different?" This came from Hugo, and Rose smiled at him.
"Good question. Houses are still your Hogwarts family, and Professor McGonagall thinks it's important to keep everyone together in their Houses for the dinner feasts." A few Prefects nodded at this, although some murmurs had begun to permeate the previously silent carriage.
"Well, that's all I have to say. Scorpius?"
He didn't look at her. "Let's have a great year everyone. Live up to the legacy of those badges."
Rose began to move away from Scorpius and towards Hugo, when she felt a hand close around the arm of her robes.
"A word, if you please," he muttered through clenched teeth. She exchanged a glance with Hugo, and followed Scorpius to the very back corner of the carriage.
"Yes?"
"I don't appreciate you going behind my back and making big decisions without me. We're supposed to be a team."
Rose shrugged once, guiltily remembering that Professor McGonagall, Hogwarts Headmistress, had asked her to fill Malfoy in on the plan the previous week. She supressed a shudder at the thought of making her family owl fly anywhere near Malfoy Manor, with it's high gates and air of dark magic.
"We both need to accept that we're in this for a whole year, Weasley."
"Oh, so I'm Weasley now, Malfoy?" She tucked a stray piece of her hair behind her ear as she glared at him.
"Yes," he retorted, "If you're going to leave me out of things instead of being partners."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm just as put out by this situation as you are."
He matched her expression. "I highly doubt that. My life would be much easier if they'd made someone else Head Girl."
"Well my life would be much easier if I had a different Head Boy!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
They stood, almost touching, Rose's hands balled up into fists and Scorpius clenching and unclenching his jaw in fury.
"This is ridiculous, Malfoy," Rose stepped backwards, "See you at the feast. Don't be late." she said crossly, as she turned and walked out of the Prefect's carriage. Behind her, Scorpius was grinding his teeth.
"When have I ever been late?" He called after her, raising his voice and attracting the attention of a few other students.
"There's a first time for everything," she shouted back over her shoulder, before slamming the sliding door loudly behind her.
Hugo was waiting for her outside the door. "What was that about?"
Rose shook her head, fuming silently as she stalked off down the corridors. She hated Scorpius, with every fibre of her being. He had caused her nothing but trouble ever since they'd first been sorted- and the injustice of him being made Head Boy, after all the problems he'd made for her! The nerve of him!
Hugo pushed open the door to their compartment, and Lily looked up as they entered.
"What's up with you?" she asked Rose, who was still seething with rage. Rose said nothing.
Lily turned to Hugo, "What's up with her?"
"Malfoy," Hugo replied. Lily nodded, turning back to her chess game. The rivalry was infamous, and the whole Weasley-Potter family had suffered through Rose ranting about Scorpius for years.
Rose stared out of the window, wondering how her day had fallen so far so fast. She had really expected Scorpius to grow up this year.
"You three should really change into your robes soon," said Hugo, elbowing Roxanne when she didn't look up.
"What?" she replied, lowering the magazine she had been reading and staring at him pointedly. He shook his head, laughing.
"What are you reading that is so incredibly riveting?"
Roxanne blushed, trying to push the magazine into her trunk before he could see. "Nothing. Just a silly article."
Albus tried to grab it from her, but before he could manage it Lily's hand swooped out and snatched it out from his reach.
"Mind your own business, Alby," she said, sticking her tongue out at him and folding the magazine under her arm, "Besides, it's mine. Roxie was just borrowing it."
A loud whistle from the front of the train signalled that they were nearing Hogsmeade Station. Rose watched as they rounded a corner, Hogwarts appearing dramatically from behind a cluster of trees. She could just make out Gryffindor Tower on one side of the castle's impressive silhouette. Her heart leapt painfully, reminding her that this would be her final year, her last journey in on the Hogwarts' Express. Albus came to sit next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders and squeezing a little.
"I know how you feel," he whispered, "I don't want to leave either."
Rose sniffed a little, her emotions suddenly becoming overwhelming. As tears welled up in her eyes, she leant her head back onto Albus' shoulder.
"I don't feel ready to leave," she whispered back, raising her hand and wiping a little at her eyes.
Albus smiled and squeezed her again, "None of us do. It happens anyway."
Rose nodded. At least this year she could make her mark on Hogwarts forever- her legacy carrying on through her decisions as Head Girl.
"It's going to be a good year," Albus said.
Rose nodded. She would make sure of it, and nothing would stand in her way this year- especially not Scorpius Malfoy.