The silence in the room was penetrated only by the sound of quills running along parchment, and a boy close to the back of the room sat idly gazing around.
"Five minutes," the droning voice of their professor came from the front of the Great Hall. The boy followed the voice now, and his eyes caught his professor's, who gave him a stern look, which he knew was because he had not written anything for his exam in the last half an hour.
He hated History of Magic, always had, even if his father did feature in one of the main topics. He had heard the story so many times, not so much from his father; he didn't like to mention it. Mainly because he was a coward in those days, and was embarrassed by it now. No, it was mainly from others witches and wizards that still talked about it constantly; the Second Wizarding War was something that was not going to be forgotten soon.
Plus, Professor Binns did not make it exciting. Both of his parents had failed to mention how incredibly boring the ghost teacher was, probably because they knew that he would not attend even a single lesson if they had forewarned him. Well, they would have been right. These days, he attended the lessons for an entirely different reason.
"Please put down your quills," the droning voice of Professor Binns broke through his thoughts, and he glanced quickly down at his exam. He knew he would be lucky to get an 'Acceptable' at best, but he couldn't bring himself to really care. "Please leave quietly; your end of year exam is now over. Except," as he was rising from his seat, the ghostly professor appeared by his desk, "for you, Mr. Malfoy."
He rolled his eyes, and flicked his blonde fringe out of his eyes, before facing his teacher head on, "Yes, Professor Binns?"
"I couldn't help but notice that you finished your exam surprisingly early," Binns was saying, but his attention was elsewhere, on a girl that had just risen from her seat and was making her way gracefully towards the door. "I should warn you that if you fail this exam-"
He cut in, "I know Sir, I know, and I did my best. But right now I've got to go; another exam!" And with that he all but ran after the girl. He reached her just outside the door, and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped slightly, but smiled in a friendly greeting when she turned to face him, "Hey Rose, how did it go?"
She scrunched up her nose and shrugged, "I don't know, Scorpius. I studied so hard, but it was like a curse had been placed on me! Honestly, I didn't even know what I was writing half of the time, and I grew up with that story." She rolled her eyes, "My Dad never stops talking about how awesome my Mum was in that war, but I just couldn't remember the facts. And that question on the goblin rebellions was awful!"
"You will have done fine, Rosie, you always do." He smiled at her, and he felt happier when he saw the smile she sent back in his direction, "So where are you headed now? Maybe I can walk you there?"
She shook her head, and pulled her robes tighter around her as we passed the open door that led out of the entrance hall and into the grounds; "I'm going to Gryffindor tower. Strictly no Slytherin's allowed, remember." She winked at him and then smirked, placing one foot on the bottom stair of the staircase. He laughed, and watched her as she climbed the rest of the stairs. He didn't know exactly where the Gryffindor common room was, or the Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff's either, but he knew that the Gryffindor one was upstairs somewhere.
He turned away from the staircase, and then a thought quickly flash through his mind and he spun back around. "Rose!" He yelled, stepping around the stream of students that had arrived on the stairs. She spun round, her wavy red hair whipping around her shoulders in a way that framed the beauty of her face perfectly. Scorpius momentarily forgot what he had shouted her for, and shook his head to collect himself again, "Good luck...with the prefect thing!" He added, when she threw a confused look his way.
She grinned, and waved, before continuing up the staircase. She spotted a dark haired boy at the top of the staircase, who turned and waved at her. She walked towards him, "Hey Albus; are you excited to be going home?" She asked, even though the question and the thought of home made her feel slightly sad.
He nodded, "Yeah, we're going on holiday this summer! And we're going the muggle way! Dad says he wants us to have as many normal experiences as possible so..." he shrugged. "I am pretty excited. Lily is nervous though, so is Mum."
Rose tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled, "Aunt Ginny only likes flying when she's in control. I wouldn't be surprised if she kicks the pilot out and flies it herself."
"Or apparates right out of her seat and meets us at the hotel."
"I'd love to see Uncle Harry explain that one to security, how they lost one person from the plane whilst in the air." She giggled, and then glanced around as she was nudged by the steady stream of students that were heading down the stairs, and the sudden claustrophobic feel of the area encouraged her to say goodbye to her cousin, and continue the walk to the Gryffindor tower, and then her dormitory.
Her dormitory looked like a bombsite; all five of the girls had been attempting to pack their trunks in the short breaks they had between exams. Now, they had all finished the exams, and the other four girls were there packing when she entered. Harriet, Carly, Tegan and Kaya were attempting to make some sense of the mess.
Rose noticed a pair of her own pyjama bottoms on Tegan's bed, the one nearest to the door, and she picked them up quickly, before slyly tossing them onto her own bed opposite before anyone noticed she was there. Then she announced her arrival, "Hey!" She smiled, dropping her books, and then herself, down onto her bed. The other girls in her dormitory turned and offered their greetings, asking about her exam, as they continued to pack, and eventually she sat up and joined them in the act.
She couldn't help thinking about her Mum then, Hermione Weasley née Granger, who had never really fit in with the girls in her dormitory. Her best friends had been boys, and although Rose understood, Scorpius was one of her best friends and he was in a different house completely, she couldn't imagine being at Hogwarts with anyone other than the girls she shared this dormitory with.
After packing, they made their way down to the Great Hall together, for the end of year feast, giggling and gossiping as they did, and the hint of sadness that Rose had felt earlier infused more deeply with the opposite one of excitement, at the thought of boarding the Hogwarts Express tomorrow and heading home, leaving the castle behind for another long summer.