2. Party at the station
There's gonna be a certain party at the station,
Satin and lace, I used to call funny face.
-Mack Gordon
The platform was beginning to fill with families. Half an hour before departure time, the space was already gathering noises of excitement, owls fluttering in their cages and people waving to each other. Scorpius stepped toward the train, intending to drop his luggage in the prefect compartment before coming out again to look for Al.
Then he heard a voice call, "Oi, Scorpius!" and turned to see his second cousin, Teddy Lupin, with Victoire, whose blonde hair looked like moonlight in the night sky next to Ted's dark blue.
"Apparated here on your own this year? Congrats on being of age," Ted said, clapping Scorpius on the back.
"Congratulations on your first anniversary last month!"
"Thanks. It's the best, being married." He gave Victoire a kiss on the forehead, "but have you still never gone through the barrier?"
"No, Mother or Father always brought me straight here by side-along apparition. It's much easier than dressing up and going through muggle London."
"Aw, but running through the brick wall is a rite of passage," said Victoire, "You have to trust that there is a magical world behind it, and then you go to begin learning at Hogwarts!"
"Well, I guess for us the magical world has always just been the normality. Anyway, Ted...why are you here?"
"Emilia Weasley is going to Hogwarts this year, so we are all coming to the station to see her off."
"When you say, 'we all,' do you mean—"
"The Weasleys, Potters, a few other friends..."
"—squads of Aurors, the Minister of Magic, and a trail of reporters. I'd better hurry and get on the train."
"What? Are you scared of a few Weasleys?"
"A few means less than five."
"Fine, run away then. Have a good term!"
"Good to see you, Ted, and you too, Victoire."
Scorpius strode toward the closest door, catching several glimpses of red hair as he hurried past. Once aboard, he carried his things through the narrow corridor towards the front of the train.
The Hogwarts Express was still mostly empty, a compartment here having a couple of fourth years playing exploding snap and another there with a tiny first year fiddling with her pink hair ribbons. The train had its indissoluble smell: coal from the engine, oiled steel, pasty crumbs and chocolate ground into the red and brown carpet. This would be Scorpius' last start-of-year ride on the train. The thought that after this year, he might never smell that smell again struck Scorpius as impossibly strange.
He arrived in the front carriage, directly behind the engine. Unlike the cars with small compartments along the main stretch of the Express, this car was one large open compartment, with seats for twenty-four: six red, six blue, six yellow and six green. Scorpius was not the first prefect there, one boy in shabby Hogwarts robes was already sitting on a yellow seat.
"Hi, Malfoy," he said, looking up from his Transfiguration textbook.
"Dolohov, you're a prefect?" Scorpius said in surprise. Tony Dolohov had never seemed like the ambitious prefect type, but then, he didn't have much competition in Hufflepuff.
"Yeah..."
"Ok, well, welcome. How was your summer?"
"Good. I worked with my Mum in our greenhouses," Tony said. He and Scorpius had almost nothing in common except for the seldom-spoken fact that they were the only two students at Hogwarts who were children of Death Eaters. "I visited my friend Umar Grymmion."
"Yeah, I know Grymmion. Where does he live?"
"A really nice hut in a marsh..." said Tony generously, "They have a good vegetable patch."
Scorpius managed not to laugh. "Is it his mum that's a hag, or—"
"His grandma."
"I see."
"And I visited the Potters a couple of times too," admitted Tony bashfully.
Scorpius could have rolled his eyes. Lily Potter had made a project of being friendly to Tony Dolohov, presumably because she felt sorry for him, but it really wasn't very kind because he had a pitifully obvious crush on her. Her friendliness would only make it harder for him when she eventually had to break his heart. Tony was definitely not in Lily's league—not because of his Death Eater father or his soil-stained clothes—but because he was shy, dim, and no good at magic, or Quidditch, or any of the things that Lily was good at.
A couple years ago James and Al had tricked Tony into saying aloud that he loved Lily. If she were ever going to start dating him, she would have then. Instead, she just kept being 'nice' and he kept being pitiful.
"Sounds like a great summer, Dolohov." Scorpius said, and looked out the window. The platform was even more crowded than usual. The whole Weasley extended family (which was as extended as a family could get) was gathered around their youngest, Emilia, hugging and laughing.
"How was yours?" Tony asked politely.
"Fine...I played the piano, and things."
The door opened and two more prefects hauled their trunks through, talking to each other.
"...trays of fried shrimp, cake, an' dancing." said the boy, tossing his mop of strawberry-blonde dreadlocks out of his eyes.
"Truth. If they had shrimp, cake an' dancing, then it would be a proper party." agreed the girl, with a smile that showed unusually sharp teeth.
Scorpius had guessed that the Seonnay twins would be appointed the fifth year prefects for Slytherin; Sebastian and Viola were cleverer than anyone else in their year by a fair margin. They drew attention, perhaps because they looked more alike than fraternal twins naturally should. Ignoring Tony Dolohov, they levitated their things up onto the luggage rack and greeted Scorpius.
"Ahoy, Malfoy."
"Seonnays, good morning."
"An it has been a bonnie warm morning. Did you see the festive company on the platform?" asked Viola, and Sebastian added, "We were wishing they provided refreshments."
"Yes I saw them, and as for refreshments, it looks like they are sharing a bag of Every Flavour Beans." Scorpius watched out his window as Al made a retching expression and Hugo and Roxanne laughed at him.
"Egh, I don' much regret missing that," said Sebastian.
Scorpius smiled, "so, which one of you is Quidditch captain?"
"I am," said Viola, "but I thought it should ha' been you, Malfoy."
"No, I didn't want to be captain. In fact, I told Madame Hooch last May that one of you would do better."
"Did you? We're flattered. 'Twas cruel of Hooch to retire now, though...do you know who's replacing her?"
"Yes. Someone named Terence Higgs; he'll be head of House too."
"Beautiful!" laughed Viola, "he'll want Slytherin to win, sure; he'll let us get away with piracy on the pitch."
The door opened again. "Higgs had better not let you get away with anything," said Zhi Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker, "or the rest of us will make sure he gets fired!"
"Too right, we will," agreed two more Ravenclaws that came in with Chang.
Sebastian nudged Viola with an elbow. "I'll bet you a galleon he's harder on us, making sure it doesn't look like he favors us."
"Bet taken." She snapped her fingers.
More prefects arrived in ones and twos until the seats were about half full. A clock in the station began to chime and Scorpius could hear the coal popping in the engine as steam built up.
Gerald Portobello and Cristine Burke rushed into the carriage, out of breath, then looked around. "Oh, I guess we aren't late..." said Portobello.
"Where are the rest?" asked Mabeuf Fortescue, of Hufflepuff.
Scorpius looked out the window again, "They're coming."
The Weasley-crowd parents were hurrying their students onto the train. Rose and Emilia were aboard and waving out a window, but Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were jumping into a door, followed by Molly. Lily was giving a last hug to her Grandmother, Al was helping Lucy, who was having trouble with her trunk, Roxanne was trying to catch her cat, and Hugo was struggling to get out of the headlock James Potter had him in.
The clock chimed 9...10...11...and the train began to whistle.
"That family is so ridiculous." whispered Burke.
"Mental," agreed Portobello, and Burke giggled as if he had said something terrifically witty.
On the platform, James finally let go of Hugo. The last one left, Hugo dashed to the train, leapt on just as it began to chug into motion, and his father Ron sent his trunk flying through the door after him.
The train was away from the station and pushing through London before the prefects they were waiting for filed into the carriage. Scorpius looked at the floor, his lungs feeling suddenly constricted when Rose carried her trunk and owl in, wearing the head girl badge; he had not been in the same room with her since June, and although they had spent most of their fifth and sixth years steering around each other with icy civility, he still wasn't used to it. The reality that they had sat in the library and talked for hours, laughed, kept each other's secrets, held hands, and once—kissed, sat like an erumpent in the middle of the compartment.
Rose stowed her things on the rack and took one of the empty Ravenclaw seats, along with her younger cousin Lucy and friend Lysander.
The last Hufflepuff seat was filled by Molly, while Hugo, Roxanne, and Lily went to Gryffindor.
A Hufflepuff girl shrieked, pointing to the last figure that entered the carriage, and Scorpius burst out laughing. He couldn't help himself, all the tension in his gut from seeing Rose again made him jumpy, and Al had made a spectacular entrance.
Al was already in his Hogwarts robes, his badge had been enlarged to double its normal size, and he was headless.
"The Head Boy, everyone," Scorpius announced, getting his own laughter under control as everyone else caught on to the joke.
"Seriously, Albus?" said Rose, shaking her head but smiling. She stood up, plucked his headless hat off, and said to her now-visible cousin, "now that you have everyone's attention, do you want to start the meeting?"
"Meeting, commence." he said, and sat down.
"Where's your luggage?" Rose asked.
Al pointed his wand at the luggage rack above him, and his trunk and ferret cage appeared. "I hid them." A few fifth years "ooh"ed, but Scorpius knew that disillusionment charms were barely the beginning of the magic Albus Potter could do.
Rose proceeded to call out the prefects' names from an alphabetical list, from Chang down to Zonko.
"Only Zivian Zonko isn't here..." Rose said, making a mark on the parchment.
"She lives in Hogsmeade; she has no reason to ride the train," said Scorpius defensively.
"I know."
"You aren't taking points from Slytherin for a missed meeting, are you?"
"No, I'm just making a note of it. You'll inform her of this meetings' assignments, right, Scorpius?"
"Yes...Rose," he said. That was strange; he couldn't remember the last time she had called him by name.
"I'm glad all of the rest of you are here. I am looking forward to a great year at Hogwarts, and you prefects play a significant role in taking care of the school and everyone in it. This is a unique year with a new headmistress, two new teachers, and for me in particular, being my last, and the first year for my sister Emilia. I know I'm biased, but I really think she's the sweetest girl in the world and if this isn't a perfect first year for her, I will hex someone." She laughed. Hugo nodded.
Rose doesn't usually talk like that, Scorpius thought. She must be serious.
"Just kidding, of course," said Rose, "but it is important for us to look after the younger students and do everything we can to help Professor Vector and the other professors. Al, do you have any thoughts to start the year with?"
"Just this motto: Refuse fusion with un-irrefutably defused refuse. That's not to be confused with indefatigably infused refuse, with which I would also suggest refusing to fuse."
"That may be refutable." Said Rose with a straight face, and Scorpius had to look away to keep from laughing and making a fool of himself. The Hufflepuff girl that had shrieked when Al came in was looking distressed.
"It's okay Alberta," said Al, "you won't be tested on that. Rose and I are looking forward to a great year and we will do our best as head students."
"That's right. For any of you fifth years who don't know us, my name is Rose Weasley. I like Arithmancy and I spent the summer with my Uncle Bill, working in Turkey for Gringotts."
"Have you decided to be a curse-breaker?" asked Lysander.
"I don't know, but I definitely want to work with goblins."
Cristine Burke sneered, "ew, why would you want to work with goblins?"
"Because I admire their ingenuity and ability to organize. Al, do you want to introduce yourself?"
"Sure. I'm Albus Potter. I found a bright green beetle in my salad at lunch a few weeks ago, and I took it home. It was a green tiger beetle—Cicindela campestris. So if you like beetles, go for a ministry job—their cafeteria is an entomological trove."
Rose grinned. "In other words, he did an internship in the Department of Mysteries, and he likes memorizing irrelevant information."
"And my favorite color is green. So, Rose and I are in charge of prefects' assignments and meeting with the teachers. If you need to discuss anything you can come to us as well as your Head of House.
"There are several things that we need to do today," Al continued, "first, to keep things in order on the train. It's usually calm until we pass the Yorkshire Dales, then third and fourth years start going wild. You know who the hooligans are in your houses, so keep an eye on them."
He looked at Rose and she seamlessly took up where he left off. "When we arrive in Hogsmeade, Al and I are supposed to ride in the front carriage. You can ride wherever you like but I think we ought to have prefects in the last one too...maybe seventh years..."
Other seventh years looked at each other, until Scorpius said, "I'll take the back."
"Thank you Scorpius."
Rose checked her notes. "After the feast we all have assignments. Fifth years, you lead the first years in your houses to your common rooms. Sixth years, go to the library and check in with Mister and Madame Filch, they usually have a few things they need help with..."
"Cracked old squibs," muttered Gerald Portobello to only the other Slytherins, "if they can't take care of things themselves, why haven't they been fired?"
"Perhaps Vector will have them replaced." whispered Sebastian Seonnay hopefully.
"...Al and I have to stay and meet with the staff," said Rose, "but the other seventh years are responsible for seeing that the rest of the students go straight to their dormitories. Does everyone know what to do?"
All the prefects nodded. Mabeuf Fortescue asked, "who are the new teachers, then?"
"The flying instructor is someone named Higgs. I don't know anything about him." answered Al.
Scorpius spoke up, "Terence Higgs. He played Chaser for the Falmouth Falcons. He's Head of Slytherin."
"What about Arithmancy? asked Tino Allegri, a Ravenclaw.
"That will be taught by Rose's mum," said Al, and there was a stir.
A younger Gryffindor said, "Then all your family will be at Hogwarts except your dad?"
"They've found a little house in Hogsmeade," said Hugo. "Dad will probably be in and out of the school sometimes too, which is annoying, but it will be good for Emmie."
"Whatever's best for Emmie." agreed Molly Weasley.
Rose's cousins all nodded with understanding. It seemed like the whole Weasley family would go to the ends of the world for their youngest.
Fortescue pronounced, "I see! Hermione Weasley is leaving the ministry—that's why she arranged the Leading Committee for Communication and Cooperation with Magical Beings."
"Yes, the committee that your uncle Enjolras is on," agreed Rose.
"And our dad," added Viola Seonnay, "which takes him farther south from our island off the Outer Hebrides than he e'er has been. He claims London is too hot and dry," she glanced out the window at the sunny sky.
"And it makes the first time Atlantic Merfolk have had a designated liaison in the Ministry," said Rose with satisfaction.
"What position is your uncle in, Fortescue?" asked Lysander.
"He's the werewolf representative. He was bitten as a little kid, during the war, and he has always advocated for rights," answered Fortescue.
Cristine Burke shuddered, "bitten by a werewolf...that's horrible!"
Scorpius nodded, "I think I would rather just die quickly than be turned into a werewolf."
"Scor!" Al admonished, "that's a rotten thing to say. You don't mean that?"
"I don't mean anything against anyone with lycanthropy! I agree with werewolf rights and everything, I'm only saying that I personally would hate to be one."
"Even when wolfsbane potion is so available and effective?" asked Lily Potter. "There have only been one or two people bitten in Britain in the last twenty years, because the werewolves' transformations are safe with the potion."
"One," said Rose. She wore a disapproving expression but didn't say anything else. Scorpius didn't understand why they were so offended.
"Anyway, think about that a bit more, Scor," said Al. It wasn't the first time in their friendship that Al had told Scorpius to think more about something.
Fortescue and the others were watching Albus and Scorpius, perhaps expecting more of an argument, but Al turned to the Seonnays.
"A liaison to the Atlantic Merfolk, though, I find very exciting. How do you two think that will effect the wizarding world?"
Viola and Sebastian smiled and looked at each other, but the Hufflepuff girl spoke first. "It doesn't seem as important as werewolf support. I mean, werewolves are part of our community; merpeople are in their own separate world. Do they need to be part of the ministry?"
Rose replied, "Alberta, a generation ago, most werewolves lived in an isolated group. They are members of the community now, because they have become so. If we connect to the merpeople, theirs is a whole world we could open up to learn from."
Sebastian leaned forward. "Weasley is right. 'Tis not a matter of need, but of gain. There are treasures and secrets under the ocean that you have never dreamed of, Alberta Peasegood," he said with an almost predatory smile. Peasegood instinctively clutched Tony Dolohov's arm.
Suddenly, there was a roll of thunder and a rapid pounding of rain on the roof of the carriage. The sky had become dark. The ground rumbled, and the Hogwarts Express careened back and forth on shaking tracks.
Notes:
Thanks to lindahoyland for beta reading!
I threw a lot of new characters at you in this chapter. Don't worry about keeping track of them.