As the Hogwarts Express drove on, Rose Weasley rested her head against the window. She was lost in her own head, absent-mindedly drawing circles on her knee with her index finger, a habit she'd had since childhood. But she was, as always, still very aware of her surroundings. Albus Potter, her cousin, to her right, talking loudly to Alice Longbottom, her best friend, and Todd Macmillian across her, trying to turn some miserable frog purple. It was an unusually sunny day, and the group were sitting in a train compartment on the way to their favourite school, Hogwarts. The landscape outside was exquisite, and the sunbeams that came trough the window cast a warm light over Rose, turning her fiery red hair to glistering copper.
"Rose," Albus said suddenly, with that gentle curiosity to his voice.
Rose quickly turned her head, the unruly curls that were sprouting from her head flying everywhere as she did so. Her eyes locked with Albus's, and even though she'd seen his face so many times, she was astounded by how alike his father he was. Sure, James had the hair and the face shape as well, but Albus was the only Potter to inherit Harry's startlingly green eyes.
But while Albus was a miniature Harry, James facial features had a tinge more of aunt Ginny in them. Of course, both of them we're incredibly handsome – but different – young men. Different in the way that when James was mischievous and a bit mad with a good portion of daredevil, Albus was humble, stubborn and righteous (although a big flirt when he wanted). The jet haired brothers both mastered the talent of charming grins and messy hair, which made girls in school to go mental with frustration about the strong attraction they felt towards the Potters. Come to think of it, they had a lot of pleasant looking boys at Hogwarts these years. Rose focused on Albus, realizing she'd been daydreaming again. "Sorry, what?" She asked, grinning slightly. "Come on Al, you're boring me here." He grinned back, that lopsided grin that had girls swooning. "What's on your mind?" he asked.
"Uh, nothing," she said, shrugging. "Just came to think of how many cute boys there are in the school." And it was like that with him, she didn't need to hide her thought from Albus, most of the time he already knew them. He wasn't even shocked, he made a mocking grimace at her. "And girls," he sighed dreamily. "Honestly, I don't understand how you can only have eyes for guys when all these wonderful girls are skimping around all year." Rose laughed and gave him a light nudge in the ribs. "Girls?" Todd piped up, his interests now peaked. Looking at them he let the frog run free on the seat beside him. His mission of turning it purple had failed horribly, and the poor creature was now a strange blueish and greenish colour. "That's not right," Rose commented and gestured to the frog. "That's animal abuse."
"Oh shut it, no harm came to him." Todd grunted, waving a dismissing hand. Todd was not such a bad looking bloke, actually. Golden blond hair, light blue eyes, a tall muscular body... No, nothing wrong with his looks at all. He had a charming smile as well, and was rather funny in a way. The lack of charisma was, however, not so attractive. He had no personality, he loved quidditch and girls and that's the most there was. He was a charmer without having to try, the looks did it all for him. He liked fooling around and had never really gotten serious with a girl. Rose had more than once scolded him on how he spoke and viewed women. Nonetheless, he had grown into quite an appealing guy. "You were talking about girls?" He urged, the topic clearly a favourite of his. "Heavenly girls," Albus said and smiled, for he was mocking Todd over his obsession with females. "Did you see the Veela sisters on the platform?" Todd asked, his voice distant, as though he was picturing them in his head. "Our cousins," Rose reminded, amused. Todd didn't seem to hear her. "Roxanne and Molly, all of your god damn cousins are bloody gorgeous." He said, clutching his hair, like he was utterly distressed over this matter. "What about Rose?" Alice spoke up, tearing her eyes off the book about Herbology in her lap. Her father, Neville Longbottom, was the teacher in the subject, and she was set on getting the best grades in his classes. To make him glad, yes, but mostly so she wouldn't get a punishment at home. Rose had always considered Alice as pretty. Nor beautiful, but pretty. Doe eyed with short dark brown hair and a skiing sloped nose, pale and skinny, shorter than Rose and a generally attractive girl. "Rose?" Todd repeated, aghast, and glanced shyly at the redhead across him. A light pink blush spread over his cheeks. "I- uh.. um," He awkwardly stroked his arm. He refused to look at her, thinking she'd be mad. Rose only laughed out loud, a girlish and cute giggle. Yes, of course it stung that he hadn't counted her in the list of gorgeous cousins, but the way he'd looked so embarrassed and awkward caused a fit of laughter to rise from the pit of her stomach. "Merlin, Todd, am I really that hideous?" She joked and lightly kicked his leg. It didn't really matter to her. She knew she didn't look like a Veela, but she also knew that she wasn't completely grotesque.
All of a sudden the train slowed down, and Alice hopped out of her seat. "We've arrived!" she exclaimed and grabbed her wand and her owl. All of us did the same, only I'd gotten a cat, like my mother had when she went to Hogwarts.
Rose sighed with content as she stepped out on the platform. It was her sixth year at Hogwarts, and it had just begun. This year was going to be great, she could feel it. She had a small but wonderful group of friends, and nothing could stop her from getting her grades among the top students again this year. As her father always told her, Thank god you've inherited your mother's brains. And thankful she was, for she was just as set on beating him as on her first day. Nothing gave her more pleasure than seeing his stupid – yet quite endearing – grin being twisted into a grimace of annoyance and defeat. This boy was, of course, Scorpius Malfoy. She didn't hate him, not at all, but did she sometimes want to kick him in the groin out of pure annoyance? Yes. Very much so. Her father had told her to beat him at every test, and she had. Since day one. As on cue, she felt someone bumping in to her. "Sorry, my bad-" The boy began to say as he turned. Their eyes locked, and Scorpius's words died in his throat. "Oh." He simply said as it dawned on him who he was facing. Rose looked up at him, and couldn't help but feel a little twist in the gut. He was breathtakingly handsome. Neatly combed pale blond hair, although it was now ruffled by the wind, a few strands falling over his forehead. With the acute and angular features and the sharp jawline, matched with high cheekbones and a straight nose he looked somewhat like a marble statue sculpted to perfection. The pale skin helped give that impression, and even though tanned boys made Rose's heart flutter, the ivory complexion of Scorpius Malfoy was inordinately attractive. He was a good head taller than her, and she wasn't that small, so his tall frame always seemed to loom over her whenever they stood face to face. He was muscular, she knew that, but not the robust kind. He was lean, and slender and towering. But it was the eyes that always unnerved her. Steely grey ones, intense and mind fogging. Stormy, and sharp with intelligence. She didn't like standing so close, because she often found herself getting lost in his eyes when he looked at her too intently. And even though he annoyed her to her very core, she had to admit she'd developed a bit of a schoolgirl crush on him. He was never genuinely mean to her, he just knew how to argue and to press her button. Every single one of them. Of course, the disdain she felt towards him was stronger than this insignificant crush. She could never imagine being anything more with him than this strange frenemy (leaning more towards enemy) relationship they had going on.
"Rose." He said curtly, merely a recognition of her existence.
"Scorpius." She responded with the same blunt tone.
He wrapped the black coat around him tighter. The green Slytherin scarf went well with.. well, with him. Green made his eyes seem even more grey. He sidestepped her and walked away, leaving a whiff of cologne after him. It smelt, without exaggerating, completely wondrous, and made her feel a little light headed. After she knew he'd put a bit of distance between them, she whipped her head back, glaring after him. At the very same second, Scorpius did the same, turning hi head shooting her a daggering glare. As this was quite an amusing encounter between the two, they both flashed a grin at each other. His smile was thoroughly dazzling, and she could only hope she looked as pretty.
In a second, the smiles disappeared. He pressed his lips together, turning his face to a stone mask. Rose responded with narrowing her eyes and pursing her lips. Then they turned away from each other, and Rose had to restrain herself from smiling again, the giddy feeling in her stomach making her warm all over. For now, she could imagine being friends with the git. But she knew that as soon as they were back in the classrooms, shouting at each other and making a ludicrous scene, none of them willing to yield, she would be back on the murderous thoughts. Scorpius Malfoy was the bane of her existence, the very reason she studied so hard. In a way, he kind of fuelled her. Nonetheless, he was no good. He was venom.
"Rose!" Alice shouted, already on her way to the carriages "What're you doing? Come on." She groaned. Albus and Todd stood beside her, along with others and a few of their cousins. Rose shook her head, swatting away thought of Scorpius like multiple annoying flies, and hurried over to her friends. Together, they headed towards the Thestral driven carriages, towards a new year at Hogwarts.
