Okay. Okay, breathe. Just breathe, Rose, breathe.
Rose Weasley took a deep breath and picked up her quill, then stared down at the paper on the desk in front of her.
O.W.L Examination - Theory of Charms
Rose turned over the first page and stared at the text, trying to make it sink in, but it just wouldn't. The scratching of the quills around her was like thunder.
1)The charm "incendio" is used to conjure what?
Rose nibbled the top of her quill, then wrote in her sleek writing, "fire". Then it sunk in, that this exam was easy, and Rose began to write.
An hour and a half later, and Rose was laid back on the grass by the black lake with her closest, and favourite cousin, Albus. He was twirling his wand round like a baton in his fingers.
"Did you get question seventeen, Rosie?" he asked, absently. His wand fell from his fingers and he sighed, retrieving it from the grass.
"Can't remember," said Rose quietly, the pretty clouds above her were distracting her. They were swimming about in the blue sky. They were so pretty…
Then, without warning, her little cousin, Lily, landed on her from somewhere to her left. Her red hair was a state, with twigs and bits of leaves in it.
"JAMES!" She wailed, pushing herself up of Rose and lunging forward at her brother. "I HATE YOU!"
James was cackling away, like some kind of mad man. Lily aimed a punch at James' jaw, but he pulled back and her fist brushed thin air. She aimed another punch, this time, at his stomach. James swore, then grabbed Lily by her hair, tugging as hard as he could until a clump of fiery hair came away.
"YOU ARSE HOLE!" She screamed, kicking hard at James' crotch. James let go of her hair and fell back onto the grass.
"Aw man. God. Lils… didn't it ever occur I might want to have kids one day?" He moaned, rolling around on his back.
"With WHO? Josie, Megan… or would it be Annie? Which one would you choose… lets not forget Xena, or Brooke either!" Retorted Lily, counting off each one of James' recent girlfriends on her fingers.
James got up and glared at his sister, before going and sitting next to Albus.
"What was that all about?" Al asked, shaking his head as Lily stormed off, presumably to find away of growing back her hair.
"I caught her snogging some Ravenclaw behind these bushes, so I decided to put on the invisibility cloak and push her over into the bushes… but of course she knew it was me, so…" He grinned "It was worth a kick in the balls, the look on that boy's face! Priceless,".
James was never one to appreciate other peoples' privacy. Rose rolled her eyes at him.
"Sounds like you've had fun," said Albus sarcastically, flipping his wand in the air and catching it again.
James laughed tactlessly.
"Yeah, I have," He smiled as he lay back next to his brother, running a hand through his dark red hair.
Suddenly uncomfortable, Rose sat up and squinted at her two cousins, then before she could speak, there was a little cough from behind them, the kind that made Rose's blood boil, it was the cough of Scorpius Malfoy.
"Scorpius!" Smiled Albus at his fellow Slytherin, and best friend.
"Hey, Al," Came Scorpius' reply. Rose's blood was burning through her veins.
Ever since he first spoke to her, she had hated him. He was so full of himself, so stuck up. So… Malfoy! Rose looked round at the blond-haired Slytherin, his pale skin was white as a sheet in the sun. Malfoy had a way of acting as though he was royalty around anyone, so he ignored her. The two boys were now well and truly involved in a deep and very important (apparently) conversation about quidditch. James, the one that didn't achieve as much, wasn't involved in quidditch. He was apparently trying to pull a worm from the grass. Rose rolled her eyes and turned onto her side, opening a copy of Hogwarts: a history (revised edition).
The second wizarding war - 17th June 1996 - 2 May 1998
The second wizarding war was officially announced by the ministry of magic on th-
The book disappeared from under Rose's nose, frowning, she spun round and saw Malfoy, holding her book, reading. He raised a white eyebrow.
"This book is… complete…" He laughed spitefully "shit,"
He tossed the book back at Rose, and it fell on it's side, pages collapsing as it landed. Rose grabbed her book and stared at the creased pages. Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn't want to seem stupid… but it had been such a beautiful book. She wanted to tear Malfoy's eyes out. Cause him as much pain as she could. Sniffing, Rose got to her feet and walked off, before she did something unforgivable. Her wand felt hot in her pocket.
The only thing Rose could hear was Scorpius' gloating laugh, mixed with Albus' sniggering. He was so mature it hurt.
"Rose? Rosie?" came James Potter's voice.
Rose continued walking, tucking her book under her robes.
"Rose, slow down," moaned James from behind her.
Rose turned to face her cousin and looked into his face. It was amazing how similar his looks were to her own, they had the same face, almost, and the same eyes. They could pass for brother and sister let alone cousin.
"What do you want?" sighed Rose. She wasn't in the mood for James' annoying antics, jumping all over the place and tripping up first years whilst wearing the invisibility cloak. Uncle Harry shouldn't of given him it.
"Same as you," shrugged James whilst shoving his hands in his pockets.
Rose thought it over, there were a lot of things she wanted. A new cauldron, Zander Rickworth's new book, a sparkly headband. She couldn't imagine James wanting any of those things. Yet, there was one thing she wanted more than anything.
"Malfoy dead?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You're a Ravenclaw for a reason," smirked James. "But yeah, something like that," He continued, his smirk fading.
Rose studied James' face. It was hard to tell what he was thinking at the best of times, he never gave away anything with his body language, unlike Rose who was an open book, easy to read. There was nothing that Rose could tell about his face other than that he was thinking about something.
"Why do you care about Malfoy?" she quizzed, raising her eyebrow higher and tilting her head in a questioning way.
"He gives you shit and he's changed my brother," He said simply, his mouth setting into a thin line.
Rose looked sympathetically at James. As much as he was an idiot, he did have a point.
Albus and Rose had been best friends as long as she could remember. As children they had played together and raced each other on toy brooms, they were always together They were inseparable. Even now, as sixteen year olds, they were best friends. Nobody could come between them. Nobody, perhaps, except Scorpius Malfoy. Five years ago Albus potter shared a compartment on the Hogwarts Express with Scorpius Malfoy, and decided he would quite like to be in Slytherin. Within a few hours he was in the Slytherin dungeons, in a cosy bed with green hangings and covers. Ever since then he had changed. He had been more full of himself, so sure he was always right. It was as if the more time you spent with Malfoy, the more you acted like him.
"That was the first time he's spoken to me this year. But he's changed Al, definitely," Sighed Rose. The truth hurt.
James nodded.
"Yeah. Little Al's all grown up," He said, a little bit of a grin playing on his lips.
Rose laughed in spite of herself, Albus was two days younger than she.
"So do you want to go and find Lily, maybe I could wear the invisibility cloak, and scribble on her bald patch…" He smiled darkly, his eyes sparkling in an odd way.
Rose shoved him playfully, grinning slightly at the image of Lily sitting in her dorm trying to grow her hair back. It would grow back in the night. It always happened when Hugo pulled our her hair when they were fighting.
"You're so horrible!" giggled Rose, giving her cousin a stupid grin.
James shrugged, smiling too.
"What can I say? I grew up being babysat by George Weasley."
