Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Series is not mine.
"Bye Mum!" I shouted over my shoulder barely even glancing back at her call wishing me a good term. I dart down the corridor, dodging past students mingling in the corridor eager to reach the compartment I've ridden in since the beginning of Hogwarts. Bursting into the compartment near the end a smile widens across my face as the blond boy inside it stands. I throw myself into his arms, and a laugh shakes him as he holds me closer. Still smiling I take a step back.
"Rose it isn't like we haven't seen each other in three months." Scorpius says shaking his head with a small smile on his face. My blue eyes widen. "Two weeks! That's a long time to not see my best friend." I whine. Normally he spends most of the summer with my family. For whatever reason his father insisted on him coming home that last two weeks of holiday this year.
"Why did your father want you to come home anyways?" I ask curiously sitting down. I see his eyes darken a bit.
"Never mind!" I say quickly. I'm not quite ready for Scorpius to close himself off.
A few seconds later Carra slid into the compartment. Carra was a seventh year Gryffindor like Scorp and I. She was more quiet and reserved, but often a voice of reason in our group. Which was normally a little larger. I assumed that Dom and Will- fellow Gryffindors- were at the prefects meeting. I snapped back to reality as Carra pulled me into a hug I hadn't been expecting.
Pulling away she smiled brightly at me."You changed your hair!" I squeaked pulled. Her normally brown locks were now a light auburn. She nodded, the grin still on her face.
"I took full advantage of being able to do magic at home. Mum wasn't pleased, but she whisked us away for holiday in France for the entire summer so she's swallowing her unhappiness." She chirped lightly. She dropped down in a seat by the window.
I sat across from her, and Scorp sat down next to Carra. THey started up a small conversation about France, which Scorop had visited last summer. I stared out the window as the train slowly roared to life. I smiled waving out the window at my family as the train picked up speed whizzing by them. I started out the window as the compartment grew dark for a few seconds before emerging back into light.
"How's Al?" Carra asked, jerking me out of my mindless window watching. I turned back to the conversation with an exasperated sigh.
"Ehh you know. Pining after his latest muggle crush." I say with a laugh. "Unfortunately he seems to have already dated most of his muggle neighbors, and scared the rest of them off." I continued lightly. As much as I loved my cousin it was hard for me not to roll my eyes as his 'hobbies'.
It's hard to believe how different Al is from Uncle Harry, aside from being carbon copies of each other they are completely different. Al sees every girl as a plaything, and goes through them like well ... like playthings. Albus is even in Slytherin.
Not that Al isn't a good person. Most of the house walls had dissolved anyways. I suspected his unwavering ambition to make his own name is what sorted him into Slytherin. He told me once the house gave him a choice - and in a second he chose to be different. The first Potter in Slytherin in…well as long as anyone could remember.
"Well I'm sure he'll have plenty of uhh...options once we get back to Hogwarts. Now that we're in seventh year." Scorpius says awkwardly shifting on his seat. I laugh and he shoots me a disgruntled look. I know how uncomfortable Al's treatment of girls makes him. Of course Scorpius has had his fair share of girlfriends, but as far as I know nothing serious.
At that moment Al bursts into the compartment. Three sets of eyes snap to him as he spins around closing the door. After pulling the blinds down over the small window he collapses into the seat beside Scorpius. "Oh hey guys." He says as if just spotting us. I burst into laughter and a small smile flashes across Scorpius face. "What was that about?" Scorp asks raising an eyebrow at the blinds.
Al sighed, and stares up at the ceiling for a few seconds, then he glances nervously at the door again. "Well?" I ask staring at my cousin. He appeared to be turning a little green.
"Violeta Carter." He whispers, glancing between the three of us. Scorpius raises both his eyebrows.
The tall blond girl had a bit off a reputation for being a little obsessed with Harry Potter. "What is she bothering you again?" I asked reaching into my knit bag to pull out a book.
I flipped through the pages looking for my spot before glancing up at Al again.
He had gone very green, and now resembled an avocado. Scorpius was staring at Al in disbelief. "What? Wait...Al...you didn't?" I asked my eyes slowly widening. Al buried his head in his hand. "ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER!" I shrieked.
"I know. I know. But I thought she'd forget about it. It was the last day of school. Nearly three months ago." He moaned into his hands.
Scorpius sighed, and scooted away from Al to look out the window. He practically radiated disapproval. "Of all the stupid things...why did you have to sleep with her? You know she's completed obsessed with Uncle Harry...and by extension you." I scolded.
"Oh drop it, Rose. I know it was stupid, but she practically threw herself as me. It's unfortunate you're not a prefect. I could find out her schedule for patrols..." He trailed off, and I rolled my eyes turning away.
Al could scheme all he wanted. On top of that I didn't need a reminder of the disappointment of fifth year. Not being made a prefect hadn't surprised me. One could only do so many pranks before facing the facts of not being a role model. Mum's disappointment had been hard to swallow. Fortunately Dad didn't care as long as I was on the Quidditch team.
"Hey...Scorp. I could use a favor." Al said brightly.
"I'm not asked Will for Violeta's prefect schedule." Scorp said without looking at Al, still giving him an irritated look. Will, our friend was head boy this year and would have all the schedules.
"No, I was wondering if you'd ask Violeta out." Al said, still with the same bright tone. I sighed at Al's latest plan.
"No." Scorp said exchanging a look with me. I know he doesn't really like Al, but he seemed in a worse mood than usual. Carra was watching the exchange with a look of mild interest.
"Ah come on. Scorp, just for a few weeks. Just to take the heat from me. Everyone wants a piece of the dark brooding Malfoy." Al whined. I raised an eyebrow again watching my best friend. A flush spread across his face.
"You know he's right Scorp." I said teasingly, but I couldn't stop the small surge of jealousy at the thought of him dating anyone.
"Just drop it okay? I don't want to ask her out." Scorpius said angrily, mostly directing his statement at me. He stood with a start before storming out of the compartment.
The door slammed behind him. Carra, Al and I exchanged a look. In a second a stood up. "I better go after him, I don't know why he's in such a foul mood today." I said quickly. Carra nodded in agreement and Al just shrugged.
In anyone could find out what was wrong with Scorp I could. We were best mates after all.
"Scorp!" I yelled, charging down the corridor after him. I saw curious heads popping up in the compartment windows. I ignored them, and pressed on finally catching up to Scorpius.
I caught his hand, and he flipped around eyes flaring. "I told you...Rose." He said angrily, his tone fading as he saw it was me some of the irritation faded out of his grey eyes.
"Who else?" I scoffed dropping his hand, and ignoring the faint tingling I felt in my palm. "What was that about?" I asked, looking up slightly to meet his eyes.
It wasn't like him to storm out like that. Albus was irritating, but Scorpius had put up with him the last six years so I didn't see why he'd stop now. Maybe I was being insensitive. He'd clearly been on edge since getting on the train. At my question a shudder ran through his body.
"Hey..." I said, taking his hand. He shut his eyes quickly. "Tell me." I said gently, resisting the urge to touch his cheek. I leaned in, closer to his face. His eyes flickered back open, and I suddenly realized how very close our lips were. He started to lean forward when -
"What are you guys doing?" A male voice asked. Scorpius and I jumped apart, and I looked to see the messy brown hair of Will, the new Head Boy, and one of my best friends. Dom was slightly behind him, her strawberry blond hair pulled back into a bun. It was obvious they were coming to join us in our compartment. The meeting must be over.
"Nothing." We both replied back in unison. I shot Scorpius a glance, but he wasn't looking at me. He appeared more troubled than before. I mean it wasn't anything. We'd had almost...kissed, but it didn't mean anything. He was my best friend!
"Oh okay. You two heading back to the compartment?" Will asked. That was something I liked about Will. He never asked too many questions. He shrugged past me to walk beside Scorp while I fell in beside Dom. Unlike Will she was one to asked questions.
I glanced over to met her light blue eyes. She raised an eyebrow at me. "That didn't look like nothing. Looked like a whole lot of something to me." She whispered, low enough so that Will and Scorp couldn't hear.
"Later!" I whispered back with a glance at the blond and brown heads in front of us.
Unsurprisingly when we reached the compartment Al had vanished. More than likely to join his own friends. I grinned as the 'usual crowd' as my Mum called it dropped into various seats. I resumed my seat, putting my book safely back in my lap.
"How was your summer Carr?" I asked brightly. We had written of course, but I asked anyways. The last two weeks I hadn't heard anything from her. She shrugged glancing away. Everyone was acting odd today.
"Same old. Same old. Mum was crazy, Dad was protective." A glimmer had entered her eyes. Even if she complained about her family constantly I knew she missed them when she was at Hogwarts. I couldn't imagine not seeing anyone in my family for months on end.
"Still must be better than my house. I swear every Weasley was at the Burrow celebrating the beging of the year. Plus everyone's friends. I wish you had been able to come." I chattered quickly. It had become something of an event, a 'Back to Hogwarts celebration'.
"I bet it was awesome. I wish I had been able to come, but we were still in France." Carra replied looking at little irritated that she'd been unable to attend. I knew that she should have been back by the party, but her mum had prolonged the trip.
At that point I noticed Scorpius was still being oddly quiet. I was used to him being a little stoic, but he was being more reserved than usual. I turned to him, and found him almost completely zoned out. I jabbed him in the arm, and he refocused on me. "What's wrong?" I asked quietly, lowering my voice so no one else would hear.
"Later." He said quickly, glancing around to make sure no one else had heard. At that point Will decided to abandon his conversation with Dom, and scoot down to join us. Dom followed him. A smile was still spread across his face, and I couldn't help the smile the flashed across my own.
"So what's the big secret?" Will asked his eyes flickering between the three of us. "Nothing. We're just talking about the party. Which I seem to remember you disappearing during?" I asked my statement changing into a question.
"Well I uh. Had to go home you know." Will mumbled looking down at his shoes. He obviously wasn't telling the entire story, but I wasn't going to get into it now. It seemed everyone had a secret - one that no one was sharing.
"So Rose, what pranks are you planning this year?" Dom asked with a sigh, shaking her head. Dom didn't approve of my...shenanigans. It was her opinion if I focused more on schoolwork I could be the top of the class.
"Ahh, you know. I'll have to think of something new. I've lost my partners in crime now that James and Fred have left school." I said leaning back with a sigh. I leaned forward, suddenly having an idea. "Oh I know I could -" I said excitedly.
"Umm mind you don't discuss your plans for school vandalism in front of the Head Boy?" Will said, looking at me with unease. I laughed, and gave him an evil grin.
"You'll certainly have your hands full Will. I can create just as much havoc as James and Fred could together. On top on that I'll come out with all E's on my N.E.W.T.'s!" I declared glancing around the group. Carra smiled slightly, still looking out the window. Scorp laughed, looking at the disgruntled expression on Dom's face. It amazed Dom to no end that I'd managed to pull out all Exceeds Expectations and two Outstandings in Transfiguration and Potions after rushing through all my work and hardly studying for O.W.L's. It was a talent.
"Oh come on Dom, we all know you are the top of the class." I said leaning, back hoping she'd lighten up. Dom shrugged leaning back, but I knew how much her marks meant to her.
The rest of the ride was filled with laughter. But I couldn't shake the feeling that this would be the last normal moment. Little did I know I was right, and a member of my family was harboring a secret, one that couldn't stay hidden for long.
A/N: Hello everyone I'm back. If you are still following this story sorry its been a while. I made a lot of changes, and I like the set-up better now.I deleted the first three chapters and combined them into one that flows better. I promise I'll be updating every two weeks at least as of today 1/31/2016. If you are new to the story- welcome. :)
~Wish