A/N: This story has been up on HPFF for a few months, and I decided I'd post the first few chapters here. Reveiw and let me know what you think!

Rose POV:

I sighed and tried once again to get the collared shirt under my blue jumper to lay straight and not bunch up. Who was I kidding? That wasn't going to happen. I'm still trying to wrap my head around why McGonagall thought making us trade robes for the 'traditional' (read: muggle) school uniforms she adopted in my Second Year would promote kinder feelings toward muggles. As I slipped out of the bathroom and down the corridor the compartment my cousins were coming and going out of, I still gave one last desperate tug on the white shirt. Yes, it looked fine, and it would feel fine…but not for another 30 minutes, probably. It was what I hated the most about the new uniforms …getting everything to lay right and feel comfortable was a nightmare, and if Albus' complaints were anything to go by, the boys uniform wasn't much better with it's mandatory tie. Then again, the boys had ties with robes, too, so I'd probably be listening to him bemoaning the clothes we were forced to wear no matter what.

"Hey Rose…can you help me with my shirt?" Lily Potter asked me as soon as I walked in, "I've tried everything, and it still won't work. I always loose the hang of it over summer break!" Nice to know I'm not the only one with that problem. Lily was a Fifth Year, and more like a little sister to me than any of my other cousins, probably because Albus and I spend so much time together, and when she was younger, she always wanted to be where her brothers were.

"Sure Lil. I can't stop messing with mine either," I assured her, and made as face at Roxanne before she could say something smart-alecky, more than likely about our lack of self-control and what that says about us. Yes, I've heard it all before, and I saw the big intake of breath that always preludes a comment from a Weasley. Molly sniffed indignantly at the two of us as Lily held her jumper in place and I tugged the shirt down, but she was quickly in the same place we were when Lucy came in crying over her shirt and Molly had to help her.

No sooner had Lily sat down than Louis strangled in, shirt unsuccessfully tucked halfway into his pants, tie hanging around his neck only partially done up. Ah, the two babies…er, First Years. I remember when we were that little and naive…then we got shipped to Hogwarts with Fred and James…

The poor boy had barely said "Can you he-" to no one in particular, before we descended on him-I was holding his jumper while Dominique fixed his shirt and Al did his tie.

"Oi, are you trying to strangle me?" Lou shouted, much louder than necessary in the small compartment. Auntie Fleur would have had a fit if she'd heard him…or seen him a minute ago, for that matter.

"No, I'm not," Al informed him, "I'm just trying to do your tie right."

"He's never worn a tie before?" I questioned Dom, unable to believe my Aunt had let her son go eleven years without being dressed up.

"Oh, he has…but Mère or Dad always do it for him," Dom explained, then her voice got musing, and she went on, "or Tori, now that she's had practice…"

Victoire had, after being caught snogging Teddy at the beginning of her Seventh Year, (finally) married him two years ago, and they'd moved into the cutest townhouse right in the middle of the sea-side village her parents and my family lived just outside of.

Through all this my brother had managed to sit in the corner, leafing through The Quibbler, and absent-mindly chewing a liquorish wand. Trust Hugo to find a way to stay out of the craziness that is our family, even when nine of us were shoved in a compartment meant for six, and a crammed six at that. While I'd always embraced the insanity, he preferred to stay away from the busyness.

"Girlie, you gotta go!" Dom said suddenly, half an hour later. I blinked over at her from behind my book, and the blank look on my face must have said it all, because Dom clarified with "Your Head's meeting? Don't you want to know who you're living with for the year?"

"No, I don't care at all," I deadpanned, then snapped my book shut, reminded Lily about the Prefects meeting in half an hour, and made my way to the Head's car…

And ran right into Scorpious Malfoy, Hogwarts resident heartbreaker…he had to be the only guy in Hogwarts history who broke girls' hearts by not going out with anyone.

"I'm sorry!" he said, ever polite. Usually. While his father was reformed for the world to see, most people knew he was not a totally a changed man, as some of the old prejudices Draco had grown up around still slipped into his actions, and were passed on to his children. His son seemed to try, but once in a while the old ways of the purebloods slipped into his speech or actions. Scorpious's mother, Astoria had been a good woman and intervened, doing her best to counteract some of the teachings her husband was unknowingly passing on to their children. Unfortunately, she'd died two winters previously in a muggle car crash. St Mungo's could do a lot, but not if you died on the scene before other wizards even got there.

"No, it's fine, I was rushing, got lost in my book, and I've got a meeting…" I trailed off, realizing too late I'd said more than I needed to…again. But Scorpious flashed me a smile and I couldn't help smiling back. As a Malfoy, people almost make more assumptions about him than they do about everyone in my extended family combined, but he could be a nice guy, when he wanted to be, and he thought no one was looking. And those Malfoy genes also meant he was coolly handsome, although his mother's DNA was clearly evident in his hair, which was a darker shade of blond than his father and grandfather sported, and his blue eyes that would make a summer sky look washed out.

"What meeting are you rushing so fast to?" He asked, his eyes…twinkling? I looked around and realized we were alone outside the door to the heads car. Well, that explained the how, but not the why.

"Um…" I wasn't sure why, but I was feeling slightly uneasy about this…"I'm Head Girl…"

Scorpious looked a bit shocked, and then a smile ghosted over his face. Uh oh. He opened the door and held it for me. Double uh oh. Then came..."I'm Head Boy,"

I still wasn't quiet trusting my ears by the time I got to the castle, having managed to get through the initial Head's meeting, and the Prefects meeting, which included a few shocked family members, since Dom and Al ware returning prefects, and Lily and Hugo had gotten the spots for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, respectively. They didn't hate the youngest Malfoy quite like the older generation hated each other, but not everyone was buddy-buddy with him, either. Okay, so no one was buddy-buddy with him.

I was in a carriage to the castle with Dom and some other Seventh Years, unfortunately not including Al. I had my nose back in my book, and was catching snippets of idle gossip they'd picked up. I didn't like to take part in gossip, it always seemed to come back and bite you, but no one but Dom would be able to tell I wasn't still reading, and I liked to listen sometimes.

"Did you hear about Aphrodite?"

"She had her baby over the summer, a little girl."

"No…Malfoy's sister? When did…I mean, she's…not…"

"She got married the summer before their mom died, remember? Kevin Hill?"

"Oh, that's right. They got together in Seventh Year, and then they had a summer wedding two years later. My brother was there."

Huh. So Scorpious was a new uncle. Who'd have thought? I wondered lazily what kind of uncle he'd be, thinking over my considerable knowledge of different kinds of uncles, since I had seemingly one of each, at least.

Then someone, predictably, brought up a member of my family, and my thoughts drifted back into my book, knowing nothing I didn't already know was going to be said.

The sorting went well, no one had any meltdowns over which house they were sorted into like Ashleigh Wood did when I was a Fourth Year. It was hard to believe some of the last Weasley babies from this generation had been sorted-Louis into Gryffindor, and Lucy joined her sister and I in Ravenclaw. There was a confusing moment at the end of the feast, however, when Headmistress McGonagall asked Scorpious and I to come to her office as soon as possible, but I shrugged off the questions of my friends and family and tried not to get to worried.

Turns out, I should have worried more.