'Oh, come on!' said Ron Weasley, banging the dashboard in frustration, as the lights turned red, again. They'd been stuck in that same spot for at least ten minutes now, and Rose's father was fast losing patience. The Hogwarts Express would leave the platform in exactly forty minutes. As Ron began to curse the vast numbers of people crossing the road, and the vast numbers of cars that surrounded them, the other ten passengers groaned.

Their vehicle of choice, Harry Potter's new Honda Civic, had been magically stretched on the inside to allow a few extra people. There were so many Weasley children attending Hogwarts this year, they decided it would be easiest if they travelled together, to save money on petrol or transport fares. In the back seat sat Rose Weasley, her little brother Hugo, and her cousins Dominique, Albus and Lily. In the front sat her parents, and her uncle and aunt. In the boot, curled up with a can of ginger ale on a pile of school trunks, was her elder cousin James Potter (there simply wasn't enough room to put him anywhere else). He smirked at the people in the seats in front, and playfully tugged at one of Rose's curls, with her giving him a withering look in return. Even though the car journey had been frustrating so far, they were secretly very happy to be going back to school.

Eventually, they reached the station. James eased himself out of the boot and walked around slowly for a while with a pained expression on his face, stretching his legs. They each dragged their trunks into the station and through the magical barrier. Rose's eyes closed as she felt the wall's surface melt away into nothing, and they were suddenly surrounded by wizarding families and their children. They had been lucky, as the train was due to leave in a minute or so. Hermione drew her two children close, and kissed the top of their heads.

'Now, I want you both to write to me as soon as you get there, ok? Do all your homework, Hugh, I don't want to be getting letters from your teachers…Rose, you need to start studying right away, you've got your OWLs this year -'

'Get of me, mum, they're laughing at me -'

'I've already been revising all summer - !' Rose began, but the train whistle cut her off. She hugged her mum, kissed her father on the cheek, and went swiftly towards the train, with her brother following close behind. He soon dashed off with a few of his friends, leaving her alone in the corridor. She had been chosen as a prefect this year, so she wouldn't be able to spend very much of the journey with the others. Her cousin Albus had been chosen as well, so at least she would have him for company. She made her way to the end of the train, where the prefects' compartment was.

Albus had reached it in front of her. He smiled at her, and she sat opposite him. Albus, like his father and brother, was rather short of stature, and considerably skinnier than his brother James, who was quite thickset. He wore glasses, but only when he was reading, and was very kind by nature. Rose was very fond of her cousin; they were the same age and had grown up together. Being naturally shy, they had preferred each other's company rather than that of their more boisterous siblings and cousins. There was a brief silence while they sat at ease, taking in their surroundings.

'Do you know who the other prefects are?' Rose asked, after a short time.

'I'm pretty sure Lorcan and your friend Estelle Mayhew are for Ravenclaw. I heard that Lindsay Macmillan is one as well, but I don't know about the others…' He drifted off, and turned his head to gaze out of the window. The train was picking up speed; the other prefects would be there soon.

'You can bet Malfoy's been made one, though.' he finished. Rose sighed. She usually left the job of fighting with Malfoy and his associates to her more assertive relatives – Hugo, James and Lily, and occasionally Albus, sparred with him on a daily basis. Even her rather distant cousin Dominique had sent a couple of hexes his way (though, naturally, he had never been caught. His unfair share of good-looks and cool, calculated manner kept him entirely out of trouble). But Rose simply avoided him. Not that she didn't feel like teaching him a lesson once in a while, especially when he insulted her Muggle-born mother, but she didn't want to end up against his entire circle, and he was just one of those people who never went anywhere alone. Her refuge was the school library – he never went in there.

On cue, the rest of the prefects entered, and at the front of the group was Scorpius Malfoy. She wasn't surprised to see Lorcan, Estelle and Lindsay among them, either. Estelle was short, with her long, sleek dark hair pulled away from her face in a high ponytail. She was fearless, as far as Rose knew, and was the sort of person that everybody seemed to like. Even the Slytherins found it hard to criticise her, sometimes. She was the Seeker for the Ravenclaw team, and Rose knew for a fact that Albus fancied her. He blushed as she took the seat next to him, but she was facing the door, watching the people file in. Lorcan sat himself next to Rose – he was very tall and gangly, with straight, fairly long, slightly greasy straw coloured hair that hung around his ears. He had a few spots around the edges of his face, and a little stubble had appeared on his cheeks since Rose had last seen him.

His large grey eyes joined Albus' in staring out of the window. Lorcan was a complete oddball, no doubt about it – he helped his grandfather write the Quibbler magazine during the holidays, and frequently talked to people about strange little inventions he had made, such as shoelaces that tied themselves (these took a long time to perfect – they kept getting stuck) and invisible glasses, which, when offered to him, Albus had turned down, insulted. Nargles were also a favourite subject of his, and according to her uncle Harry, this was due to the influence of his mother. They also were said to look terribly alike, but Rose had never met her as yet. Still, Rose liked Lorcan; he didn't have a negative side as far as she was concerned, she had never seen him to be angry or rude, or things like that…

There was little room in the compartment for all of them, and Scorpius stood leaning against the doorframe, and surveyed the others with a slight smirk on his face. His eyes found Albus and Lorcan. He glanced in Rose's direction briefly, but settled his eyes on her cousin.

'Alright, Potter? I bet you're feeling very pleased with yourself, am I right? Being made a prefect and all, your parents must be proud!' he said, and Rose had the distincy feeling that there was worse yet to come. Albus sighed quietly, but made no reply.

She was right. 'Sitting next to Estelle Mayhew, too…I bet that's the shortest distance yet between you two, very entertaining. Keep up the effort, Potter, she might even sit on your lap next -'

'Oh, leave off, Malfoy, you're such a pain in the neck!' Estelle snapped, as Albus' neck flushed pink. This made him smirk even more, and was about to make another retort when the young Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Weatherstone, appeared in the corridor. Malfoy, glancing casually behind him, reluctantly moved aside to let him enter. This was the Professor's second year teaching at Hogwarts; he was in his mid-twenties, with a handsome sort of face and a very eager disposition. He began chatting amiably with the others, and then launched into the start of term speech regarding their new duties.

'As you know, you have been selected as prefects for your respective houses, and as well as gaining a little more status and responsibility than your peers, you will also be able to enjoy privileges such as the prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor. Of course, you will be expected to do prefect duty both in your house common rooms and in the corridors at lunch and morning break on certain days in the school week. Tomorrow morning, Mr Filch will provide you with a list of rules that you should make sure people around you are sticking to, and of course, a list of items that have been banned from the Hogwarts grounds, such as Fanged Frisbees, for example…'

Rose lost interest pretty quickly, and was content in staring out of the window along with the rest of them. She knew what prefects were supposed to do, they had all seen them around…however, the bathroom was absolutely fantastic, according to her uncle Harry…

Her face warmed by the early autumn sunshine, Rose drifted into a light sleep.