"Another year." I chirped excitedly, pulling my heavy trunk onto the train.
"Enjoy it, kid." James grumbled from behind me. "One more year until you get to drive yourself mental studying for OWLs."
I laughed. James wasn't exactly the type to knock himself out studying for anything. It seemed unlikely that he'd start now.
The two of us boarded the train in search of Albus, who'd volunteered to save us a compartment. After a few seconds of awkwardly glancing through the windows of each compartment, I finally saw the familiar scruffy black head, right next to a clean cut blond one.
"Scorpius!" I squealed, throwing open the compartment door and practically jumping on him. Al groaned and rolled his eyes, but I didn't care. My best mate had been in Moscow for the past two months! I was allowed to be excited to see him!
Al, Scorp, and I sat down, but James almost immediately ditched us to find some of his other friends. He was, however, kind enough to leave his trunk to take up all our space. Real thoughtful, that one.
"So how was Russia?" Al asked Scorpius.
Scorp rolled his eyes. "Mum complained incessantly about how heavy the food was, and Dad was working half the time. Other than that, though, it was great. Amazing, actually. And I even learned a little bit of the language."
"Really?" I asked. "Say something."
Scorp proceeded to say something completely unintelligible to me and Al. Knowing him as I did, though, I was sure it was absolutely filthy.
"Scorpius Jane Malfoy!" I cried, feigning outrage. "How could you say that in the presence of a lady?"
He looked confused. "You understood that? And also, that's not my middle name."
"No, of course I didn't." I laughed. "But it seemed like a safe bet that whatever it was, it would be offensive."
"You know me too well."
The train lurched, sputtered, and finally took off. The three of us glanced out the window to wave a last goodbye to our parents.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, suddenly remembering something. "I promised Mila I'd go find her once we were on the way." The train had been moving for less than a minute, but I knew I was in for a lecture about how "Well, you certainly took long enough" and "I was sure you'd forgotten me." She was my roommate and closest female friend, but Mila Denkova was not a patient woman.
I didn't make it three steps outside the compartment door before I collided with somebody. I stumbled backward, muttering a mortified apology to whoever was unfortunate enough to end up in my path.
"Careful, Weasley. Wouldn't want you getting hurt before Quidditch starts up." My eyes widened when I saw that the speaker was none other than Drew Abberley, an extremely attractive seventh year Ravenclaw on whom I'd had a massive crush since I was twelve. He also happened to be a rival Beater.
"Yeah, I'd hate to miss my chance to kick your arse. Again." I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt.
Drew smiled at me. At ME! I felt the telltale Weasley blush creep up to my cheeks.
"Good luck." He said, patting me on the head. It was an extremely condescending gesture that would have been completely infuriating had I not found Drew so charming and irresistible. "See you around, Rose."
Drew returned to his compartment, and Mila immediately ambushed me.
"Rosie!" She squealed, hugging me. "How was your summer?"
"Good, good. I read this really fascinating book about a newly discovered use for Gillyweed, and-"
Mila cut me off abruptly, as was her habit. "Brilliant, really, that's fascinating. What were you and Drew talking about?"
"Nothing important. Just Quidditch. And then he asked me to marry him." I quipped. Mila rolled her eyes.
"Your jokes do not amuse me, Rose. Anyway, where are you and the boys sitting? I want to say hello before I have to go back." She said, gesturing to the compartment that her parents had forced her to share with her sisters, who were both about to begin their first year.
"We're right in here." I said, pointing to the two feet away from us. I really hadn't gotten far.
Mila, drama queen that she is, threw the door open with a flourish. "Okay, okay, you can stop missing me. I'm here!"
Al laughed. "Good to see you, Mil. How was your summer?" I was glad he no longer stuttered like a bewildered troll in her presence. That was quite embarrassing for all involved.
"Quite lovely. And yours?"
"Well, I spent most of it with Rosie. How good could it have been?"
I smacked him on the back of the head, feigning offense. "Screw you, Al. I'm delightful."
"And abusive."
"Shut up."
Mila cut in, already weary of listening to mine and Al's bickering. "And you, Scorp? How was your visit to my homeland?" She said, taking the opportunity to remind us that she used to live in Russia, and was therefore exotic and interesting.
"Brilliant. I learned to say offensive things in a different language." Scorp answered, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Yes, and we're all so proud." I said, elbowing him in the ribs.
Mila sighed. "Well, as much as I'd love to stay, and believe me, I would, I'd better go sit with Nina and Vera. I'd leave them on their own, but I really don't fancy the idea of starting every day with a howler from Mum."
She left, and Al relaxed visibly. "So, anyone fancy a game of Wizard Chess?"
"Hold on, Al." Scorp said, in his usual drawl. "I feel I should regale Rosie here with tales of my romantic exploits in a foreign land."
"Oh, no, please don't." I whined. "What if it doesn't live up to my fantasies?" I was kidding, of course, but that didn't change the fact that I truly did not want to hear about how Scorpius snogged some strange Russian girl on holiday. It was weird.
"Okay, Rose, that was too gross to be funny." Al said, digging through his trunk for his Chess set. I settled back into my seat, counting the minutes until we arrived at Hogwarts.