Rose Wealsey wandered the Hogwarts Express, looking for a place to sit. James went with his friends, and Albus found a compartment that was "boys only", according to the other boys in there. Albus offered to stay with Rose, but she said he could stay, her friends weren't there yet. Her long, wavy dark red hair fell in her face. Finally, Rose found a compartment with only a boy in it. He had blond hair, and was staring out the window. Rose opened the door "excuse me, may I sit here? Everywhere else is full." Rose asked the boy.

"Of course," Scorpius said nervously. "Have a seat anywhere, I guess." The boy had been infatuated with the Gryffindor since his first year, but he had never said anything to her. In fact, until today, he wasn't even sure if she knew that he existed. "Would you like an acid pop? I've got Bertie Botts, too," he said awkwardly.

She laughed, "Sure, and thanks." She entered the train car, and sat down across from him. "You're Scorpius right?"

"Yeah," he said. "We've had most of our classes together for the past six years."

"I know. You just never talk to me so..."

"It's nothing personal!" Scorpius said, trying not to ruin his chance. "To be fair, I'm not good at people." He made a bit of an awkward face as he realized how weird that sentence had sounded. "I mean...I'm not...yeah..." he trailed off.

"You're not a people person?" She asked, understanding what he was trying to get her to understand.

"Exactly!" he said with a smile. "I mean, not that I have anything against people. I think that people are excellent, you know?!"

She laughed, "I do know. So Scorp tell me about yourself."

"Well," he said, thinking, "there's not all that much to say, I guess. I have a pet owl named Hydra, I collect wizard cards, I'm slightly allergic to walnuts...yeah. Why don't we talk about you instead? Your life seems MUCH more exciting than mine."

She laughed, "You sound pretty interesting to me."

Scorpius blushed and looked down. "Nah, you're a lot more interesting," he said. "I mean, if the rumors are true, you were just named the new Quidditch captain for your house's team! I could've sworn that Albus Potter would have taken his brother's place!"

She smiled, "Yeah, that was fun to see Al's face."

"Is he terribly mad at you?" Scorpius asked, slightly concerned. Although he knew that the two cousins were best friends, it was more often than not that he witnessed them bickering with one another during potions and charms.

She shook her head, "No he was happy for me. Proud even."

"Well, I'll be cheering for you," Scorp said with a smile. "Unless you're playing my house, of course..."

She smiled, "You're house is going down." She teased.

Scorpius laughed. "Probably," he admitted. "Your team has been a powerhouse for the past few years. Although now that James Potter is gone, maybe the other seekers will have a chance at the snitch." He felt proud of himself to be talking about sports with people. It just seemed so...so normal.

She laughed "Not possible, seeing as I'm the seeker now."

"Who's your new beater then?" Scorp asked, mentally praying that he had gotten her previous position correct. He knew seeker and keeper, but he always confused chasers with beaters. "Do you have somebody lined up? Or do you have to hold auditions?"

"We're holding auditions for the beater, and chaser since she graduated too."

Stranger: "I'm pretty sure that Hufflepuff is mostly sixth and seventh years this year, and we didn't graduate anybody out, so maybe we'll finally have the upper hand!" he said with a chuckle. "Ah, who am I kidding? Hufflepuff hasn't beaten Gryffindor at a game of Quidditch since 1994."

She laughed, "Yeah you aren't the best. No offense, but you need some new players." She looked down, She really liked him, but she didn't know if he felt the same.

"We've always got the upper-hand in gobstones, though!" Scorpius said, trying to keep a serious face. "You should have seen the final round last year. From what I heard, there were a whole four people watching the tournament!" Now that he was getting Rose to laugh, Scorpius was feeling his confidence grow, finally allowing the girl to see his personality.

She giggled, "Teachers don't count by the way." Teasing him.

"Do ghosts?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure that the Fat Friar showed up for awhile. But I guess he left after the first round in fear of dying of boredom."

She giggled again, "No, no they do not. Though, I think animals do."

"Ah, well, I don't even think that the spiders showed up," he said with a smile. "So what did you do this summer? Go on any holidays?"

She nodded, "Yeah we went to Ireland, and mainly hung out at the burrows with the whole family. What about you?"

"Um..." Scorpius began, trying to think up something to say that made it sound like his family did normal summer things, "We just kind of...you know...I got caught up on my reading," he said. Truth was, ever since he was sorted into Hufflepuff, his parents barely paid him any attention. During the holidays, he mostly kept to himself to avoid the condescending remarks from his family.

She nodded, "What were you reading?" She asked, honestly curious, she loved to read. It was the second favorite thing she did, first being playing Quiditch.

"This one great book series about a teenage boy who's an animagus of a fly. He uses his talent to spy on people, solve crimes, and figure out what people think about him. It's called 'Fly on the Wall.' Have you heard of it? There's about five of them so far."

She laughed, "Yeah, I've read all of those. What else, those are a quick reads, have you read any muggle book lately? There are some really good ones."

He shook his head. "My father won't allow me while I'm living under his roof," he said honestly. "He's a bit anti-muggle, telling me that I should spend my book money to help the wizarding community." He realized that Rose might think that he was this way, too, so he quickly defended his own case. "But I've read a few while I was at school!" he quickly added. "I think that The Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest trilogies of all times! And I used to read Holes almost every week when I was younger!"

She laughed, "You know you don't have to defend everything you do. I won't judge you, and those are really good ones too. I have some if you want borrow them."

"Which titles?" he asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"The Hunger Games, The Chronicles of Narnia, and, uh...some others I can't remember all that is in my book case."

"Oh, I started reading the first of The Hunger Games!" Scorpius said with a smile. "Then, um, my cousin borrowed it and never returned it," he said. Truth is, his grandfather had taken it from him and burned it, telling him not to read such muggle rubbish.

She nodded, "You can borrow mine if you want."

"Thanks," he said with a grateful smile. "Maybe we could, uh, read them together sometime?" Did that sound weird? Oh god, that sounded weird.

"Sure, like out loud?"

"I don't know," he quickly said, looking out the window. "It's starting to get dark," he said, changing the subject again. "How much longer until we're back at school, do you think?"

She looked outside, "Six hours, at the minimum, maybe more."

"So..." Scorpius said, trying to think about something else to say to the girl. "What's James up to, now that he's graduated?"

She laughed, "Trying to get a job, working at the ministry, since his mum won't let him play Quiditch for a living."

"Pity," Scorp said with a chuckle. "He would've been Britain's best chance of winning at the World Cup next year."

She laughed, "Yeah as far as I know they aren't talking right now."

"What's his dad saying about all of this?" Scorpius asked. It was a known fact that Harry Potter was one of the greatest Quidditch players in school history.

She laughed, "He's even more strict about it! James is going insane, they burned his broom."

Scorpius's jaw dropped a bit. That was downright cruel! "That's awful!" he said in disbelief. "I mean, James is of age, right? Can't he just leave?"

"He could, but then there would be no income, food, clothes, roof. He's got it set, they just want to make sure he doesn't pull a James."

"Living up to his namesake," he said with a small smile. He felt a bit sorry for James and Rose's families. Since they were so famous in the Wizarding world, nearly everything about his family was public knowledge. Then again, as a Malfoy, he had a feeling that the public knew a lot about him and his family, too. "So what are you going to do when we graduate?" he asked her.

She smiled, "Become a world famous seeker."

"And your parents would allow you to do that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She nodded, "Yeah, I have already been recruited for a team, and my dad loves that I can."

"What team?" Scorpius asked, curiously. He'd known that Rosie was good at Quidditch, but he didn't know that the 16 year old was already being recruited for the pro's!

She grinned, "The Irish team!" It was her favorite team since she was a little girl, and when she got the letter she nearly ran nine miles.

"That's excellent!" Scorpius said, genuinely excited. "It's nearly impossible to get to play for Ireland!"

Rose practically vibrated with happiness, "I know, I was so excited, and it made James so mad, and my dad bought me a new broom, and my mum wanted to frame the letter... Sorry I'm rambling..." she grinned at him.

"Oh no, by all means, keep on talking!" Scorpius said with a smile. "In any case, it proves my point from earlier that your life is MUCH more exciting than mine is" he said with a playful wink.

She laughed, and blushed when she winked. "I'm actually pretty tired."

"I won't be offended if you fall asleep," Scorp said. "Have you brought a pillow or anything?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm going to bed so tired if I don't sleep."

"Come again?" Scorpius asked his sleepy friend with an amused smile. The girl was so exhausted that she was speaking gibberish!

She looked at him, "I'm going to...can I use you as a pillow?" she asked suddenly.

Scorpius inwardly gasped in surprise, but was somehow able to physically keep it cool. "By all means," he said, extending his arm so that the girl of his dreams could fit underneath it.

She smiled, and crawled under his arm, laying on him. "Thank you."

"I'll wake you up when we get close to school," Scorp said, wrapping his arm around the girl's shoulders. "Sleep well," he added gently.

She nodded, and slowly began to drift off to sleep, "Oh...I tend to...talk in my...sleep..."

"I won't judge you for it," Scorpius said softly.

She smiled, and wrapped her arms around his body, before falling asleep completely.

With Rose Weasley tucked safely underneath his arm, Scorpius Malfoy couldn't help but beam. So often he prayed that he would have the chance to have but a short conversation with the girl in the corridors. And now, out of nowhere, she was resting underneath his arm. Perhaps the Weasley-Malfoy rivalry didn't matter to the girl as much as he had suspected. She mumbled a few things under her breath as she slept, and she snuggled closer to him. Enjoying the warmth he was giving her. Scorpius noticed a few people walking past their compartment giving the two of them strange looks and whispering to one another behind their hands. 'So let them talk,' Scorp thought to himself. 'See if I care.'

Rose smiled in her sleep, and gave a mumbled "Scorp...Scorpius"

Scorpius stiffened up, hearing Rose say his name in her sleep. "Y-yes?" he awkwardly whispered back to the girl, unsure of whether or not she could even hear him.

She didn't reply, seeing as she was sleeping. She mumbled a few unimportant things under her breath before quieting for the rest of the time she slept, although she did say his name in her sleep. Something she would be embarrassed to hear later on. Scorpius continued to hold Rose, watching her half of the time and the people walking past their window the other half of the time. It seemed that the news that they were sitting together had reached the entire school by now, and several people, including Rose's younger brother Hugo, were pressing their nosy faces against the glass in order to get a better look.

Rose stirred in her sleep, and she awoke finally, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She sat up and gave him a smile, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Scorp said with a smile. "We're going to be at school in about half an hour, so we should probably get our robes on."

She nodded, "Sounds good," she looked over to see people watching them, "Have they been watching us the whole time?"

"That's an understatement," Scorp replied, rolling his eyes. "This will undoubtedly be the hot gossip during the opening feast tonight."

She groaned, "Oh lord this will be fun to deal with."

"Careful," Scorpius warned her as he tightened up his black and yellow tie, "Hugo probably stared the longest."

"I'll jinx him if he starts any rumors, and he knows it too."

"It's moments like these where I'm thankful that my parents only had one child," Scorpius commented.

She playfully glared at him, "I don't even know how to reply to that." She stood up and shut the curtain, so that people wouldn't be able to see them any more.

"I'm sorry," Scorp recoiled, unable to read whether or not her rebuttal was playful or serious. Damn his lack of social skills!

She laughed, "It's a joke, babe." She smiled and pulled out her robes.

Scorpius blushed. Babe? Did she just say babe? "Sorry," he said, smiling bashfully. "I'm not good at people, remember?"

She nodded remembering, "Yeah, oh and I call everyone babe. Just in case that made things awkward."

"Oh, no, not at all!" Scorpius said. "So does my aunt, actually."

She nodded, laughing. "Some people freak out when I do that."

Scorpius shrugged with a smile. Just then, he felt the train jolt to a stop. "Here we are!" he said, beaming. "Back to goblins, ghosts, and magical feasts!" Ever since his family had all but disowned him, Scorp had thought of Hogwarts as being his true home.

She laughed, "I love it here!" She jumped up grabbing her things, and his hand. She pulled him out of the train car and towards the closest exit. Making sure they had every thing before they left.

"Want to catch a carriage to the castle with me?" he asked his new friend. Friend? Rose Weasley was his friend? "That is, unless you'd rather ride with your friends or something..."

She shook her head, "Nahh, they aren't coming the usual way today. I'd love to ride with you!"

"Heeey must be the monaay!" Scorp sang. "Sorry, some American muggle song from 20 years ago." He climbed into a horseless carriage and held out a hand to help Rose in.

She laughed, and took his hand, allowing him to pull her inside.

"You know, this is our sixth year here, and I STILL get creeped out by these carriages," Scorpius said as he looked at the invisible harness in front of them. "The magic at Hogwarts is just so POWERFUL, you know?"

She gave him a confused look, "Can you not see them?"

"See what?" he asked, squinting his eyes in the direction of the invisible horses.

"The horses...oh...I know why you can't see them..."

"Why?" he asked, honestly confused.

"You have to lose someone you love in order to see them, so no one you love has died."

"But my grandmother died a few years ago, and I was extremely close with her," Scorpius said, confused. "What kind of creatures are these?"

"Thestrals, did you see her die?"

"No, she died while I was at school," he said. "Thestrals...I think I remember Hagrid saying something about that. They're the ones that you can see if you've watched somebody die, correct?"

She nodded, "Yes, that's right."

After a moment of realization, Scorpius's face fell. "I'm sorry that you can see them, Rose," he said softly to the girl.

She nodded, "It's okay, I just miss him...that's all." She looked out the window for a moment, falling silent. Before she looked back at him a gave him a small smile.

"May I ask who?" Scorpius asked, "Or would you rather we change the subject?"

"No, it's alright. One of my best friends died one summer when we were messing around on some broomsticks, he lost control of the broom and smashed into the ground. It was awful though, it wasn't quick, he made me promise that I would keep playing, for him. Which is the only reason I play anymore." She wiped a tear from her cheek.

"I'm so sorry," Scorpius whispered, lightly touching the back of the girl's hand in an attempt to comfort her.

She nodded, tuning her hand over and giving it a light squeeze. "Moving on, new subject."

"New subject," he agreed.

"So...what do you want to be when we graduate?"

"I haven't really decided yet," he admitted. "My father wants me to be a healer like he is, but I've never really been good around blood."

"Then don't be one. Do what you want to do."

"I'll figure out what I want to do when I get there," he said with a half smile.

She nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

The carriage slowed down and came to a halt in front of the school doors. "Ready?" Scorpius said, hopping out of the carriage and extending a hand for Rose to take again.

Rose took his hand, and exited the carriage. "Well, I guess I'll see you when I see you."

"I mean, we're sure to have classes together, right?" he said, still holding the girl's hand. "And, I mean, we can always do homework together or something..."

She nodded, "And anyways, I have to let you borrow those books, remember?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "I've been dying to know why Peeta decided to join the Careers instead of sticking with Katniss."

She laughed, "Oh and Peeta dies at the end." She laughed, trying to mess with him.

"What?!" he said, a shocked expression on his face. "I mean, I figured he would, seeing as how there can only be one victor and the trilogy is told from Katniss's point of view, but...you suck, Rosie!"

She grinned, "As does Katniss! Oh, Cato wins the whole thing too!"

"Okay, you HAVE to be messing with me."

She shook her head, "You'll just have to read it," She pulled it out of her bag, "Here."

"Thanks," Scorp said, graciously accepting the book. He looked at the droves of students entering Hogwarts. "We should probably get going," he said, staring at the mockingjay pin on the book's cover. "But I just wanted to say that I've had the nicest day talking to you. I'm happy that I've finally gotten the chance to know you, Rose Weasley."

She grinned, "I also enjoyed this day Scorpius Malfoy." She began to climb the stairs to the castle, not waiting to see if he followed her or not.