Rose had lost Al, somehow, in getting on the train. He was probably with James, she guessed.

Rose pictured herself walking through the train, looking for Al and James in every carriage. She really wasn't in the mood to be that social, she decided. Instead, she sat down in the empty carriage, and pulled a book out of her pocket.

The door opened, and the boy she'd noticed earlier poked his head round. Scorpius, she remembered, the one her father had warned her against. Rose examined his face; the blond hair, and the cheekbones which already looked finely sculpted, even at eleven. His expression seemed haughty, but when his eyes met hers, he flushed pink. He looked like he might say something, but, instead, made his way to the seat opposite without looking at her.

Rose felt embarrassed, too. She never quite knew what to say to strangers.

He took a book from his pocket too, a battered paperback. Rose went back to hers, but couldn't help but try to read the cover of his. Jack Williamson, she made out, but she couldn't see the title.

The carriage remained quiet for the rest of the journey. After the first hour, Rose had looked up, and met Scorpius' eyes. She'd smiled, shyly, feeling awkward again.

"What are you reading?" He asked. Silently, she held up her book, so he could read the cover. He did the same.

Alice in Wonderland. Darker than You Think.

Rose felt her pale skin flush again, and felt an irrational hatred towards her father's genes. Stupid pale skin. She felt embarrassed over her choice; it seemed so babyish.

"May I see?" he asked, reaching for her book. She nodded, and asked for his.

She'd never heard of the book before. It was a muggle book, as far as she could tell, and although Rose had often been exposed to her grandparent's library, it was one she'd never come across.

"This is a muggle book?" Scorpio asked. She looked up.

"Yes," she said. "It's a classic. Everyone's heard of it."

He looked down. Rose regretted her comment, as she realised he might have taken it as a criticism.

"Everyone in the muggle world," she added, hurriedly. "I wouldn't expect a wizard to have heard of it."

He looked up then, his blue eyes vulnerable. She'd understood him, then, in that moment. Like her, he hated to feel stupid, about anything.

"I've never heard of this," she continued, holding his book up, offering her own ignorance as a gift. "Is it a muggle book, or a wizard book?"

"It's a muggle book," he confirmed. She'd suspected as much; it was science-fiction, as far as she could tell, and wizards went in for that even less than muggles did. "I found it in our attic."

Rose wondered why his family had had muggle books in their attic, until she opened the book, and saw the name written inside the front cover. Severus Snape.

Rose knew of the history of her family, and of the Malfoys, and of Severus Snape. She'd guess that Scorpius' father had inherited, or otherwise taken possession of, Snape's belongings. She wondered why Draco Malfoy had never disposed of them, but she knew her history well enough to realise she should avoid the subject. She handed the book back.

"Do you like it?"

His face lit up. He'd explained to her then, about the world in the book, the way magic worked there, how fascinating he found it. She'd made him promise to lend it to her when he'd finished rereading it for, what he told her was, the seventh time. After that, he'd asked her about Alice, and she'd told him.

They both loved stories of magic, it turned out, any kind, as long as it was different from what they'd grown up with. She'd told him about Three Hearts and Three Lions then, knowing he'd understand the appeal, something her family never had. Her mother shared her love of reading, of course, but what her mother loved was books about real magic. She'd never understood why Rose liked fantasy and science fiction. Her grandparents hadn't either, but they'd been happy to take her to muggle bookshops whenever she'd visited.

She'd realised that, what Scorpius loved about Darker was the same thing she loved about Three, and other books. Magic, in those books, worked scientifically, had an explanation she could understand logically, even if they were merely pseudo-science. Even if she knew that that wasn't how magic worked.