CHAPTER ONE

Rose Weasley woke up on the first Friday of June with a throbbing headache. She felt for her reading glasses and put them on. Today she had her History of Magic exam, which was the last of her OWLs.

She got ready quickly and raced down the stairs with a textbook in her hands, her best friend Yasmin sleepily sauntering down behind her. They met Albus and Lorcan in the common room and then walked out of the portrait hole and made their way down to the Great Hall, where they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Rose was too nervous to eat. Instead, she propped the textbook against her glass of pumpkin juice and read through chapter sixteen (The Wizards' response to the Goblin Rebellions in the Fourteenth Century) for the twelfth time that week. After breakfast, she followed the rest of the fifth-years to the chamber off the side of the Great Hall.

She was still mumbling important names and dates to herself when they were called back into the Hall, which now had many small tables all set in rows instead of the usual house tables. She took a seat at her usual table behind Jenny Wang of Ravenclaw.

'I will now hand out the papers,' announced an aged examiner with candyfloss-like tufts of white hair sticking out from both sides of his head from the front of the Hall. He raised his wand and pointed it at a mound of papers on the five-legged table next to him. The papers divided themselves into smaller stacks and glided down the spaces between the rows of tables, handing themselves out to the fifth-years. Anti-cheating quills were handed out next.

'The last exam of this year's OWLs will begin,' said the examiner, looking down at his watch, 'now.'

Rose scribbled her name on the front of the exam paper, and turned the page.

Question One, she read. Who led the goblin rebellions in the eighteenth century? Give reasons why both a goblin and a wizard would a) support the rebels or b) be against the rebels.

Rose sighed in relief. If the questions were this easy, then maybe she could just scrape an O. She bent over and wrote the answer in her neatest writing.

'Yes! They're over,' sighed Lorcan, stretching his legs out across the sun-dried grass.

'Finally,' agreed Albus, walking towards Lorcan to join him and relax under the warm sun.

Now that the OWLs were finally over, nearly all of the weary students were outside on the grass near the lake, enjoying a bit of well-earned freedom. While most fifth-years had just lain down on the grass or sat themselves against a tree, the Ravenclaw boys had gone a bit further and dived into the lake.

Rose peeked over the top of the new edition of Which Broomstick? and smiled; Jenny Wang was laughing as the Giant Squid swallowed the rolled up parchment that she had thrown at Tom Corner's head. Shaking her head with a smile, Rose returned to her magazine.

'I completely failed History of Magic,' fretted Lysander, running a hand through his wavy hair as he always did when he was worried or stressed. 'It was impossible. I mean, seriously, how on earth am I supposed to know who Eargit the Ugly was?'

'He's a goblin, duh,' said Yasmin, rolling her eyes.

'Well obviously,' said Lysander impatiently. 'But I mean, what was he known for?'

'He was the goblin representative to the Wizard's Council in the fourteenth century,' piped Rose, looking up from her magazine.

'Damn! I wish I rem–' Lysander began, but was interrupted by Yasmin's laughter.

'Honestly Sandy, you worry too much,' she said, reaching a hand out to ruffle his hair. 'I mean, who cares? It's just History of Magic.'

'Would you stop calling me that? It's getting annoying,' snapped Lysander, hitting her arm away.

'How about Lice?' asked Rose, smirking at her sandy-haired friend.

'Not better,' Lysander said, but a small smile had begun to tug at his lips. 'And seriously,' he rounded on Yasmin, 'I don't understand why you're so relaxed about the exams. You hardly revised; you just did loads of Quidditch practise. And still lost to us in the final, might I add.'

'Oh don't get her started about Quidditch!' said Albus from where he was lying. 'She won't shut up about the Euro if she starts talking about it.'

'Yeah,' agreed Lorcan, somehow managing to yawn at the same time. 'We deserve some peace and quiet. I haven't been able to relax like this for weeks! Just use a Silencing Charm on her or something if she opens her mouth.'

'I have a name, you know,' said Yasmin, faking a sniff.

Rose tuned the rest of her friends' conversation out and tried to focus on the page about the new Nimbus Velocity 3000, but just at that moment, she saw a group of popular Slytherins joining the Ravenclaws by the lake. Pushing her glasses further up her nose, she watched Jeff Hudson and Greg Smith kick their shoes off and wade into the lake. Josh Tate, she noticed, chose to stay on the bank with the girls.

Rose looked back down at the page she was reading.

The Nimbus Velocity 3000 will be on sale in most Quidditch supply stores from the beginning of July.

Rose felt a stab of annoyance when she saw Holly Parker, the Slytherin bully, casually throw her arm around Josh.

It has an acceleration of 0-80mph in 4.3 seconds, breaking the record of the Swiftbrush e250 by 0.6 seconds.

A short moment later, Josh stood up, said something in Parker's ear then swung his bag onto his shoulder.

The Japanese National Quidditch Team have ordered seven Nimbus Velocity 3000s. It looks like Japan will definitely be taking place in the World Cup of 2024 in India.

He started to walk away from the Ravenclaws and Slytherins and towards the Hufflepuffs near the trees.

It has reached our ears that the Indian Ministry of Magic is planning on building a brand new stadium, with new additions 'that have never been seen nor heard of before'.

When Rose next looked up, she was surprised to see Josh looking directly at her. Once they had made eye contact, he changed course and made a beeline towards her and her friends instead. She couldn't believe her eyes; though she was respected and generally well-liked, she was probably the least popular of all her cousins apart from Molly (and she preferred that to being friends with the bullies who were somehow well-liked, or so she always liked to think to herself) and Josh Tate was the boy of every girl in fifth year's dreams. She wouldn't really describe their relationship as anything more than just classmates, so why did he want to talk to her now, out of class?

Rose felt her cheeks growing warmer. She put the magazine back into her bag just as Josh arrived and sat down next to her.

'Hey guys,' he said, relieving his shoulder of his bag.

Yasmin stopped her argument with Lysander mid-sentence ('At least I actually have a life Sandy, unlike–') and turned her head to say hello back to Josh. Albus, Lorcan and Lysander merely grunted their greetings.

'So how do you think you did in that last paper?' Josh asked.

'Umm, I suppose I did ok,' said Rose in a small voice. 'Better than Sandy anyway.'

Lysander slapped Rose around the head with his bag, much to Josh's amusement.

'Ouch!' she said, massaging her temple. 'How many books have you got in there?'

'Quite a few,' Lysander said wryly. He turned back to resume his argument with Yasmin.

'I take it Scamander didn't do too well, then,' Josh whispered, smirking, so that only Rose could hear.

'He probably got an Outstanding,' said Rose. 'He always pretends that he didn't do well.'

'Well, I think I passed,' said Josh. 'Anyway, guess what?'

'What?'

'Jenny Wang told me that Jo Carter and Nate Jordan just broke up.'

Rose felt Yasmin's eyes on the two of them, obviously listening to their conversation.

'Really? When?' Rose asked.

'Dunno. Sometime during the exam period. Anyway, what are you doing in the holidays?'

'I'm stuck at home with my crazy brother,' Rose sighed, wondering why he even cared.

'Shame. I'm going to Spain to watch the whole of the Quidditch European Cup.'

'Lucky!' said Rose. 'Everyone apart from me is going somewhere interesting this year. Yasmin's going to watch the Euro as well. The Scamanders are going to Lithuania to find some kind of animal that I've never heard of before. The Potters are going to Cyprus. And I'm staying in Godric's Hollow for 2 months!'

Wow! she thought, that's probably the most I've ever said in front of him.

'Whoa, calm down,' said Josh, smiling. 'You can always just Floo to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade or something when you get bored.'

'True,' said Rose. 'In fact, I'll probably do that every day until I go to the Burrow.'

'Do you go there just for the last two weeks?' Josh asked.

'Yeah. I love going to the Burrow. It's always busy and full of interesting people.'

'Right,' said Josh, getting up. 'Well, I think I'll be going now. I need to send a letter. Bye.'

'See you!' Rose called after him, with a small smile on her face.

Yasmin looked at her inquisitively. Rose shrugged in reply.

She didn't even know what was going on herself.

The rest of June passed in a haze of sunshine. When the day of the Leaving Feast finally came, Rose was ready to leave Hogwarts and return to her home in Godric's Hollow.

What she had to Josh was a lie; she loved spending the holidays with her brother, though she would never tell him that. She would just read all morning in the garden while he played on his Muggle games console, then after a very late lunch, they would stroll along the streets of Godric's Hollow, hanging out with the Muggle teenagers who lived there. Hugo had such a fun and playful personality that contrasted so much with her serious and studious one that they got along together extremely well. So it was true – opposites did attract. And when her parents got home from work, they would spend some quality family time together; something that Rose greatly missed when she was at Hogwarts.

Stomach rumbling, she ran down the last staircase, entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table between Albus and Lorcan, who were both complaining about their hunger. They fell silent when the headmaster stood up on top of his chair. He was so tiny that this didn't make much of a difference, but the chatter in the hall ceased nonetheless.

'And so we have come to the end of another interesting year at Hogwarts,' he said in his squeaky voice. 'To our seventh-years: I hope you've enjoyed your seven years of magical education and I wish you all good luck in your futures after school.

'And to everybody else: I look forward to seeing you again next year, fresh and ready to learn.

'That will be all. Let the feast begin!'

And with a flick of the wand, the plates on the four house tables and the High Table were filled with food. Rose watched Lorcan piling potatoes, chicken, carrots, peas, and then even more chicken onto his plate.

'How on earth are you going to eat all of that?' Rose asked him, once again wondering how he could eat so much without gaining weight.

'Sixth year better be good,' said Lorcan, choosing to completely ignore her.

'Ew, don't talk with food in your mouth.'

'It should be,' said Albus, purposefully spraying pieces of potato on Rose's arm. 'We get free periods don't we? And we don't have to mess up our sleeping patterns for Astronomy.'

'You two are disgusting,' said Rose, wiping the potato off her arm with a tissue that was floating in mid-air. She turned to talk to Yasmin opposite her, but Yasmin seemed to be too immersed in her conversation with Nate Jordan to hear her. Looking around the hall, she caught the eye of Lysander, who was sitting next to Tom Corner at the Ravenclaw table. Understanding the situation, he gave her a sympathetic smile.

'And you won't have to do Divination anymore, will you?' Albus asked Rose.

'Yeah,' she replied, breaking the eye contact. 'No more sitting in that stupid stuffy room with Trelawney telling everyone that they're going to die in a horrible accident every week or so.'

'I don't see why you chose it anyway,' said Albus. 'Didn't both of your parents tell you that it was rubbish?'

'Yes, they did.'

'So... why–'

'That's why I picked it.'

'Because you were told not to?'

Rose nodded.

'Rebel,' smirked Albus.

'No... It's just I have this thing where I do things that people tell me not to do. It makes me curious when I'm told that I shouldn't do it.'

'Whatever,' said Albus, and turned back to his half empty plate.

The rest of the feast passed quickly, and all too soon, it was morning, and Rose and her friends were going down towards Hogsmeade station in a horseless carriage. Being one of the first to get on the train, they found a compartment to themselves fairly easily and settled down. The train ride went swiftly as well, and they were in London before the sky had even started losing its light. Dragging her trunk behind her, Rose stepped off the scarlet train with Yasmin at her heel.

'You will write won't you?' asked Rose. Hopefully, Yasmin would remember her best friend amidst all the excitement of the Quidditch matches.

'Sure,' replied Yasmin. 'Well, if I can remember,' she added.

'Well thanks for being such a great friend,' said Rose sarcastically.

'Sorry. Ok, I promise I'll write.'

'So you're definitely not coming to the Burrow for the last two weeks?'

'Naa, I'll be busy, sorry. Anyway, this way, you'll miss me more,' said Yasmin, pulling Rose into a hug.

'Bitch,' said Rose, but she still smiled as she hugged her back.

'Anyway, I can see my mum there... bye!'

'Bye,' Rose said, watching Yasmin heave her trunk to where her mother stood attracting the looks of many of the people on the platform. Even though many years had passed since she had left the team, Gwenog Jones of the Holyhead Harpies was still a very well-known woman.

'Oi ginger,' said a voice behind Rose.

She turned around to see Lysander standing in his favourite blue hoodie with his arms outstretched. Rose threw herself into them.

'See you at the Burrow,' she said in a thick voice. As she let go of him, she felt a hand ruffle her hair. Turning around, she saw Lorcan with his hand on his hip, smirking at her.

'Aw, don't I get a hug?' he asked in a teasing tone.

Rose laughed as she hugged him. Then, reaching her hand out, she pulled his hood down and ruffled his hair in return. 'Have fun in Lithuania trying to find... erm... what were you trying to find again?'

'Some different species of the Snorcack,' said Lorcan, pulling his hood back up and sweeping his dirty-blond hair out of his eyes. 'I think it was the hornless type.'

'Do they even exist?' Rose queried. Though she loved her a lot, Rose thought Aunt Luna could be quite crazy sometimes. She and her husband Rolf were a perfect couple; both were interested in strange plants and animals, both were slightly strange yet incredibly bright, and they both were very imaginative.

'Dunno. Well, we'll find out soon though, won't we?'

Rose stayed talking with Lorcan and Lysander for a few more moments, and only parted with them when Hugo came up to her and told her that he was hungry and wanted to go home.

'Where's Al?' she asked.

'He's gone home. Said he was hungry.'

'Well we'll see them before they go though, won't we?'

'Yes, now come on! I want to go home.'

Rose said goodbye to the twins and followed her younger brother to the spot where her parents stood. Her mother looked tired; there were bags around her eyes and the wrinkles that usually appeared only when her brow was furrowed were becoming a more permanent feature of her face.

'Hi Mum,' she Rose, putting her trunk down next to Hugo's.

'Rose!' said Hermione, eyes brimming with tears as she pulled her daughter into a tight embrace. 'You've grown!'

'Erm, yeah, I suppose,' Rose muttered.

'Er, Hermione... you're going to break her ribs,' said Ron.

'Oh don't be silly, Ron,' said Hermione, but she let go of her daughter all the same.

'Hey Dad,' Rose said, hugging her father, who didn't look as though he had aged at all since she had last seen him.

'How's your year been?' asked Ron.

'Good,' said Rose. 'I'll tell you more at dinner.'

'Yes, ok, have you finally sorted all your child-and-parent-ey crap out now?' asked Hugo irritably.

Rose and her parents frowned at him.

'What?' he defended himself. 'I want to go home. I'm hungry.'