Rose stood on the platform; her insides flipping over, her heart beating so fast you could only hear a hum. Today would be the first day of real school – her first day at Hogwarts.
I wonder what house I'll be in, she wondered. Hopefully in Gryffindor with James, and maybe Al, if he gets in, too . . .
"Dad . . . where are they?" her brother, Hugo, asked, interrupting her train of thought.
Ron Weasley ruffled his son's hair reassuringly. "Oh, they'll be here in a second, don't worry. Probably just . . . parking or something."
"But the train's leaving in twenty minutes!" Rose exclaimed.
Ron looked at Hermione, who gave him a knowing grin. It seemed like just yesterday when he and Harry had driven – flew, rather – his father's beat-up Ford Anglia all the way to Hogwarts on account of the fact that they'd missed the train in the beginning of their second year.
"Doubt they'll miss it, dear. And even if they did, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny would find a way, wouldn't they?"
Just as he uttered the words, the Potters appeared through the smoke on the platform. Harry and Ginny were trying to calm down a tearful Lily as James elbowed Al (who looked extremely nervous) in the ribs.
The two families spotted each other immediately. Al ran over to Rose. "Hi," he said.
She smiled. "We were so afraid you weren't going to make it!"
"Yeah, well . . . we would've been here earlier if Mum and Dad didn't have to stop the car in the middle of the road to tell James to quit scaring me about Hogwarts."
James popped up behind Albus and pulled him into a playful headlock. "Oh, stuff it, Albus! You were being such a bloody wimp, anyway."
"James, I think you're choking him."
James gasped in mock surprise. "ROSIE! I didn't see you there!" He gave her a rather painful bear hug. "How's my favorite cousin?"
Hugo, who was standing silently by them the entire time, gave James a kick in the shin. "What about me?"
"Oh, yes, you're my favorite cousin, too, Hugo. In fact, you're all my favorite cousins!"
Hugo and Rose burst out giggling. James could be so silly sometimes. Al and Lily simply rolled their eyes.
The little group began discussing houses and who would probably end up where when Ron nudged Harry and whispered a bit too loudly, "Look who it is."
Rose turned around to find Scorpius Malfoy looking right at her. He turned away immediately. Behind him stood his parents, Draco and Astoria Malfoy. They were a rather elegant looking family, all tall and blonde and, well, pointy. Only Scorpius had a restless look in his eyes, as though he was wondering what would happen next.
Probably excited like the rest of us, Rose thought to herself. She looked away immediately. Her parents would probably kill her for even thinking about a Malfoy.
Her thoughts were confirmed when her father tapped her shoulder and whispered, "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains." Rose sighed. There he goes again.
To her surprise, her mother protested, "Ron, for heaven's sake! Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!" Ron smirked and held up two hands in defeat. "You're right – sorry."
Rose stole another glance at Scorpius' direction. He and his parents had just turned away to walk back into the smoke, towards the Hogwarts Express.
"But hey –" Ron said, recapturing her attention. "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."
"Whatever, Dad." Rose snorted. "Sure."
In a few moments, they were all in the Hogwarts Express. At last – they were on their way to Hogwarts. Rose rolled back and forth on the balls of her feet. Al was biting his nails so hard they would probably start bleeding. Even James kept chewing his lip, looking back at the tiny pinprick of the train station in the distance. They were all nervous.
"Rose, sit down! You'll throw the bloody train off balance," James snapped.
"Alright, alright! Can you blame me if I'm nerv-"
Just then the compartment door slid open, interrupting Rose mid-sentence. Scorpius Malfoy stood in the doorway, his gray eyes pleading.
"Um . . . hi."
The cousins stared at him in astonishment.
Seeing that he obviously would have to explain himself, Scorpius cleared his throat. "I, er . . . well, the only other compartment . . . they don't want me in, so, er . . . I was wondering, could I, well, you know, stay, um . . . here?"
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Rose piped up, "Oh, sure. Uh . . . you can sit here, if you like," She pointed to the seat next to hers.
As Scorpius turned to shove a small rucksack in the overhead compartment, Albus and James shot her confused looks. She shook her head, mouthing the words, "Not now!"
Rose and Scorpius plopped down on their seats at the exact same time. Rose giggled. Scorpius gave her a half-hearted smile and opened the book on his lap.
James leaned forward. "Is that Quidditch Through The Ages?"
Scorpius looked up from his book and grinned. "Yeah. Have you read it?"
"No, not yet," he replied, shaking his head. "I do play, though. I'm usually the Seeker -"
"- I mostly play as one of the Beaters," Albus interrupted, grinning at Rose, "And Rose is always the Keeper."
"Oh, really?" Scorpius raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I'm usually the Keeper, too!"
Rose blushed. There was something about the way his face lit up that made her smile. "It's the best position in the entire game, isn't it?"
His eyes shone even brighter. "It's the funnest!"
As the three cousins and their newfound friend chatted animatedly about Quidditch, Rose smiled to herself and thought, so being friends with a Malfoy isn't that bad after all.