The water below me was dark and bottomless. What kind of things would lurk in its depths? I wondered, as I trailed one hand over the side of the boat. Inside the boat were a collection of first years, including my cousin Albus and my other cousin Roxanne. There was also two blond haired twins staring into space and discussing something under their breath. I catch a snatch of conversation as I lean forward to look into the water again.

"...Giant squid in here..."

"Giant squid!" I said suddenly, startling them both. "There is a giant squid in here!?"

The taller of the two turned around and answered, "There's all sorts of things in this lake. Grindylows, mermaids, Fringles..."

"Fringles? What are they?" I ask, intrigued. "I'm Rose by the way. And my cousins are Al and Roxy."

"Lysander Scamander..." He said. "Rose Weasley?"

"Uh...Yeah?" I say. How does he know what my last name is?

"Our parents were friends. They fought many battles together." Said the now-slightly-creepy-Lysander.

"Mmhmm..." I said, looking him up and down. "And who were they?"
He smiled and looked directly at me. "Maybe you'll find out one day. But I want you to get to know me yourself before you decide how I should be."

"Challenge accepted," I grinned. "You said there is a giant squid in here?"

"Apparently," He grinned back, "But you only see it if someone is in the water, according to my mum."

"Mystery mum," I joked. "Does it eat you? Is that why it comes up?"

"Nah. Its friendly. Unfortunately."

"Would you care to test that?" I said cheekily, and winked.

"You mean, jump in? Who would be mad enough to do that?" Wondered Lysander with the mystery mum.
Behind me, Albus clapped his hand to his forehead. "Oh God..."

"Just one person," I said as I stood up and walked to the edge of the boat, "I hope you like your giant squid!"
And, like the crazy, reckless person I was, I jumped into the dark, freezing depths of the lake.

Down here, it was a dark green, eerie, and silent. Long, strange tendrils of seaweed waved lazily nearby. I craned closer, and was satisfied to see some shadows flitting in and out of the clump.
But no giant squid! Annoyed, I swam deeper, trying to ignore the red-hot band of pain around my lungs. I need air, I need air, I need...
Little spots were now appearing in front of my eyes, obscuring my vision. I tried to swim to the surface, but I was too deep, if I breathed out now I would sink, I would drown, I would die...
Splash!
Water shifting-
Arms grasping-
Being pulled-
I let go of my breath-
I begin to black out-
My head breaks the surface.
*Gasp* Gasp* Gasp* Splutter*
"WHAT. *gasp* WERE. *Gasp* YOU. DOING!?"
I open my eyes and look at my shouting saviour. A vision that mostly consisted of wet and blonde hair was also spread-eagled at the bottom of the boat, trying to cough up all the lake water from his lungs. I looked closer, and saw his pointed face and his steely grey eyes that marked him as...

"A Malfoy?"

To my surprise, he sighed. "Thought I would have left you to drown do you?" He put on a business like voice and held an invisible microphone to his mouth. "How do you feel Scorpius, when you were accused of being an arrogant prat who wouldn't lift a finger to save a soon-to-be classmate drowning?"
He put on his normal voice again, and inclined his head to an invisible speaker. "Well Scorpius, according to Miss Weasley here, I am a Malfoy through and through and therefore should be extremely rude like she is"

"All I said-" I retorted hotly, but was cut off by the microphone thrust in my face.

"Can you tell Scorpius, Miss Weasley, what the hell were you doing swimming in the lake?!"

"It's none of his business," I said, then pushed his hand away. Dad's words to me were echoing in my head. "Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a Pureblood."

"And the name's Rose, just for the record. I see you have already stereotyped me as a Weasley."

"Well," he said, a glint in his eye, "Red hair, freckles, your attitude, says it all really."

"What is wrong with my attitude?" I fired up. Self-consciously I tried to smooth down my mane of red hair, already wet. My hair wasn't just bushy like my Mother's, oh no. My hair had a life of its own, a mass of red curls that, if it was any shorter, would be an afro.
Malfoy just chuckled and looked away.
We sat in silence for a few minutes while I fumed. But here is one fact about me. I can never sit still, be quiet, and be a good girl. It's just... Impossible. Improbable. Unthinkable. I'm always up and about, trying to discover new things in the most adventurous way possible. People think that I lock myself in my room each day with my book like my Mum, but they are misled. Sure, I like reading, but it I have to read up a tree, or hanging from a broom, or under my covers with a torch. I need that sense of daring, it keeps me feeling alive.
So it was impossible to hold my tongue.

"I suppose you'll be expecting Slytherin," I blurted out.

He looked at me like I had just crawled out of the lake, which I supposed I have. "What makes you say that?" He said coldly, steely grey eyes drilling into my defiant gaze. "Oh, this is about the whole Malfoy business isn't it?"
I had evidently been prodding a sore spot. "Malfoy business?"

"Everyone expects me to be the perfect image of my father." he said, looking down, "They never see that I am a different person. I just want people to see that I'm different!"

"Well I know all about that," I said offhandedly. "Everyone expects me to be just like my mum. Which I am not, by the way!"

He made a noncommittal noise and looked away. I glared at the back of his head. Fine, be that way. I poked out my tongue at his spiky blonde head, revelling in my immaturity. It was actually quite tempting to push him out of the boat...

"Why did you do it?" He asked, back still turned.

"What?" I snapped out of my fantasies of pulling him out of the dark water so we'll be quits. If he was choking perhaps mouth to mouth resuscitation would do... I once saw a muggle life guard doing it to this drowned woman... "Oh! Well..." I trailed off, embarrassed.

"Well...?"

"I wanted to see the giant squid!" I said hotly. "Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything," He said amused, a smirk plastered across his face.

"You were thinking it." I said darkly.

"Thinking what?" He was acting innocent, and it made me mad.

"That I'm just another stupid Weasley, doing the dumbest thing imaginable! Who in their right minds would jump into the lake to find a monster, you'll have to be as thick as a brick-"

"Actually," he broke in, "That wasn't what I was thinking at all."

I was stumped. What could he mean by that?

"Are you going to tell me what you were thinking?" I said.

"No." He decided, smiling at my fury. What a git.
Defeated, I looked across the water again, only to gasp and grab (Subconsciously) Malfoy's arm.

"Look! Look! It's Hogwarts!"

Mum had often told me how grand and majestic the castle was, but it still didn't prepare me for the beautiful sight that was to be my home for the next seven years. The castle loomed above, a great stone structure with spirals and turrets, its windows lit in a friendly way, as if saying, "Come in! Come in!" It looked warm and cosy and... Homely. This was weird, because it was massive!
Suddenly, I realised that I was still holding onto Malfoy's arm. Sheepishly, I let it go, trying to avoid his gaze. But he too was staring the school with rapt wonder on his face.
The boat was drawing nearer to the lakeside now. We were one of the last boats to come in, I could see the dark silhouettes of Professor Hagrid, and my cousins Al and Roxy with two others I presumed were Lysander and Lorcan. For some reason, they were all feverishly scanning the crowds of first years, looking terrified as they yelled something which I couldn't make out.

"Tell me," Said Malfoy, looking at them too, "Does your cousin actually know that you are alive?"
I clapped a hand to my forehead!

"Merlin's beard! They all think I've drowned!" I am so stupid! Quickly, I raised my wand in the air, and without thinking, shot red sparks over the water in the hope that they might understand...

"Urgh this stupid thing!" I cursed, shaking it. They would never comprehend that! I somehow need to send them a message... Frustrated, I tapped my wand on the side of the boat impatiently. Sparks shot out of its tip once more, and to my horror, they landed on the dry wooden bottom of the boat.
And caught fire.

"Abandon ship!" I screamed, and grabbed Malfoy's collar, dragging him along behind me as I jumped off the side of the burning boat and into the dark water one more.

Looking back, I thank Merlin that we were near the shore, because I doubt that both I and Malfoy wouldn't be able to survive another swim in those bottomless depths. So when we leaped off the boat, we hit the stony bottom, and splashed our way over to the other First years.
When Hagrid saw me, he roared in relief as he scooped me up for a back-breaking up, only putting me down when Al and Roxy proceeded to both hug me and murder me.

"Whoa, calm down guys!" I said as I fought off Al who had me in an affectionate headlock. "It's OK, I'm alive."

"Good, because I didn't want to write to Uncle Ron and tell him that his only daughter had drowned before she even got to Hogwarts!" Said Al, almost yelling in frustration. "We thought you had died! I tried to swim after you-'"

"But Al, you can't swim!" I cried, aghast.

"-Lysander got me back in, Roxanne started having a row with the boat, trying to get it to turn around, and Lorcan tried to tell us all that it was OK, that the Fringles would save you! Why do you have to keep pulling stunts like this, why?!"

"Just to keep your lives interesting," I joked, winking.

Roxanne couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.

"Roxy!" Said Al. "You're supposed to be supporting me!"

"Sor-ry!" Chuckled Roxy. "But think about it. Rosie set fire to her boat and jumped into the lake twice, and for what?! To find the Giant squid! Your name is going to go down in Hogwarts history as the most idiotic first year there ever was!"

I couldn't help it either. Soon, we were all laughing, arms around each other, just like at the Burrow. We were always the three who got into trouble. Albus was the sensible one, Roxanne was the cheeky one, and I was the daring one. Together, we somehow managed to get into more trouble that Fred and James, which I can tell you, is no easy feat. (But to be fair, the reason for this is because we often get blamed for what they've done. So unfair.)

I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and suppress my laughter, I turned around, ready to endure another earful of scolding. But to my surprise, it wasn't Professor Hagrid who stood behind me, hands sheepishly in his robe pockets. It was Lysander Scamander.

"Oh... Hey!" I said, breaking out in a relieved smile. "Look, I want to thank you for saving Al. He can't swim you know, and... Well thanks." I finished lamely.

Lysander smiled in a distant kind of way. "That's alright. I'm just annoyed that I didn't act fast enough and pull you out. And I'm sorry. It was my fault that you dived in in the first place!"

"Nah," I said, "I'm always doing dumb things like that. Al deserved it more than me."

Suddenly, I realised how strange this sounded. "Uh, I mean, he is such a good person-"

"I'm sure you're a very nice person-" He said at the same time.

"It wasn't a sacrifice or anything-"

"I didn't mean to choose between you-"

"I was stupid-"

"I was dumb, I just froze-"

"MERLIN'S BEARD!" I yelled, cutting short our babble which neither of us could hear. "Look, we were both idiots. But we're all here right? All alive?"

"Apparently," smiled Lysander. "Hey, I was going to ask,"

"Mmm?"

"Did you actually see the Giant Squid?"

It took me awhile to comprehend what he had said. When it finally filtered through my non responding ears and into my brain, it was difficult to keep the giggles in.

"Oh! Unfortunately not,' I said. "My leap of destiny was all for nothing, I'm afraid."

"That's a shame," Grinned Lysander. "Cause after you disappeared, Albus decided to take a gallantry jump into the water, me following. And guess who turned up!?"

"You are kidding." I said. "The Giant Squid?"

"It lifted me and Al out of the water and back into our boat," said Lysander happily. "You should've seen it! Its tentacles were as thick as the Whomping Willow, but half as violent. It was all rubbery, and its one, amber eye peered at us before it swam away."

"Wow!" I said, picturing the scene. "I wonder why it didn't save me. It must be afraid of redheads!"

"Gingerphobia." Agreed Lysander. "I must admit, your hair is pretty scary.'

"Oi!" I laughed. "You better watch out, or it will attack you!"

"I'd like to see it try," he joked.

As I laughed, I gazed along the row of students, and found it settling. A pale boy with wet blonde hair was staring out on the lake, watching the last of our boat burn. He was standing a little awkwardly, away from the rest of the students. He was clutching his arms as though he was cold, hunched over a little, as if he was a turtle, hunched in his shell. As I watched, a brutish boy I recognised from the train came over to him. What was his name? Boil? Hoyal? Goyle? Yes, that was it. Goyle tried to drag Malfoy over to his other thuggish friends, but Malfoy refused. Goyle shrugged, and wandered off, swinging his arms like a baboon. Malfoy turned, and to my surprise, looked straight at me. He noticed my intrigued look and glared at me. He shot me a look that seemed to say; 'What are you looking at?'
I raised my eyebrows and shot back; 'Fine. Be that way.'

"Who are you looking at?" Asked Lysander placidly. I snapped back to attention.

"Oh, that's Scorpius Malfoy. He pulled me out of the water, and I set his boat on fire as a way of thanks." I replied idly.

"Sounds like a start of a beautiful relationship." Remarked Lysander dryly.

I looked at him, eyebrows raised. "I seriously doubt it."
He shrugged, and turned his attention back to Malfoy. "What was he doing which made you so interested?"

"He turned away Geoffrey Goyle"

Lysander looked confused. "And that is significant how...?"

"Well," I said, trying to explain, "Their families have always been friends, haven't they? And the Goyle's are a well-known Slytherin family, like the Malfoy's..."

I trailed off, still confused. Family ties, friendship problems, and we haven't even been sorted yet! No wonder Lysander had refused to tell me who his Mum is. I must seem really prejudiced to him. Not how I want to introduce myself!
Suddenly, the mass of first years fell deadly quiet. As one, we turned and looked up the lake shore to a tall, imposing figure standing in front of the Hogwarts gates.

"Is that-"

"I think so!"

Whispers filled the ranks as the figure strode forward. Slowly, she came into view, revealing a stern, weather-beaten face, and grey hair drawn back into an iron hard bun. She was dressed in a majestic green robe, and, for some reason, was wearing a tartan scarf.

"First years, come with me." Said Professor McGonagall. "It is time for your sorting."