Uploaded sooner than I had planned, but I figured why not? Chapter 3 though, I can promise won't be published until chapter 4 is done and 5 started. I want to stay ahead of myself :) Don't worry though, 4 has been started and is nearly done I think. The plot keeps gradually changing on me, things being added and taken out. The characters and the story have taken on a mind of their own!

Minerva McGonagall looked up at the sound of a knock on the door to her office.

"Come in."

The new Head Boy and Girl, Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley, entered and sat themselves in front of her. She smiled at each of them, pleased to see that Rose had returned, looking happy and healthy, from her year abroad. If someone had told her twenty years ago, she mused, that a Weasley and a Malfoy would be co-Heads and friends, she would have had Madam Pomfrey check to see if they had been Confunded.

"Welcome back to school," she began crisply as she handed them each a sheet of paper. "These are the names of this years' prefects, although I'm sure you already knew. Please draw up a patrol schedule as soon as possible." They both nodded, and continued studying the list. Professor McGonagall was silent for a minute before continuing, "I would like the two of you to put together something for the students this year, a dance or a festival or something along those lines. The Prefects will help you as well. And Miss Weasley…delighted as I'm sure your family is to have you back, I have some unfortunate news."

Rose tensed, and Scorpius reached over and squeezed her hand, furrowing his brow.

"Apparently, there is some hostility towards you from your other dorm-mates, and they have requested that you not rejoin them, the exception being your cousin Roxanne. In light of this, I have seen to it that an extra room has been added onto the Heads' Common Room, fully furnished for you to stay in."

At the professor's words, Rose relaxed. She hadn't been looking forward to moving back into her old room anyway – other than Roxanne, who was her best female friend and favorite cousin other than Albus, the other girls they lived with all detested Rose. Some of them resented the fact that while they could date and even shag Scorpius, none of them were ever as important to him as she was. Lavender and Seamus Finnegan's daughter especially resented the fact that it was Rose's family remembered by history, and the others were simply small-time heroes, hardly ever mentioned.

"That's really all. Mr Malfoy, you of course will be returning to your dorm in Ravenclaw Tower. And Miss Weasley, I better not catch wind of any…visitors to your room. It may be private, but that privilege only extends so long as you respect that rule."

Blushing, Rose nodded and followed Scorpius out of the office when Professor McGonagall waved them away.

The pair walked in silence down the hall towards the Heads Common Room and Rose's new dorm. They reached a statue of Elizabeth I, who looked down at them imperiously and arched her eyebrow.

"New beginnings," they recited. The statue nodded and stepped to the side, revealing an arch in the wall. They walked through a short hallway and into their new Common Room and paused, looking around.

It was furnished with a loveseat, two chairs, and a couch that Scorpius promptly flopped onto and pronounced to be more comfortable than the couch in Ravenclaw Tower. The fireplace crackled merrily, but gave off no real heat, for which Rose was thankful. Underneath the windows to the left of the fireplace were two desks and two chairs, each with a quill, inkpot, and stack of parchment sitting on top. To the right of the fireplace was a mahogany door that Rose presumed lead to her room. She walked across to it, past Scorpius, who was now perusing the titles on the bookshelves, and pulled open the door.

"We really need to change the password," he said from behind her, causing her to jump. She turned around and playfully smacked him before turning back to inspect her room.

Her four-poster had deep blue bedding with gold pillows. The window looked out over the lake and part of the Quidditch pitch, and her trunk was already at the foot of her bed. Rose deposited her wand on the nightstand and turned back to face Scorpius, who was looking interestedly in her bathroom. She shoved past him gently to look herself.

It wasn't as impressive as the Prefects' bathroom by any means, but it was still nicer than the one she had shared with five other girls for five years. The shower was spacious and already stocked with Rose's favorite bathing essentials, and she had a large vanity mirror and sink all to herself. There wasn't a tub, but she didn't mind making her way to the Prefects' bathroom for the occasional soak.

Scorpius whistled. "Wow, Rosie, you sure are set up here. I wish my dorm-mates hated me so that I could live on my own." He grinned at her, but promptly stopped at the look she was giving him.

"Where's Nott?" She asked flatly.

"Probably in her dorms with all her insufferable friends," he replied, hoping the last comment would at least get a smile out of her. The most he got was a twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"When do you want to set up the patrol schedule?" she asked abruptly, not really wanting to talk about Nott anymore and regretting the fact that she had even mentioned her. The two of them slowly walked back out of Rose's room into the Common Room.

"I guess we should go ahead and do it now, then have a meeting with all the Prefects sometime this week."

"Yeah," Rose replied, running a hand through her hair, "That sounds good. Any preferences on who you would like to patrol with?"

Scorpius arched his eyebrow as he looked at her. "You, of course. Aside from the fact that we are the Head students, I'm not overly fond of many of the other Prefects and I don't think I could survive two hours or more with them."

Rose nodded distractedly and didn't even crack a smile. Scorpius frowned.

"Is everything alright?"

"Hmm?" Rose looked at him and snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, yes everything's fine, I'm just thinking about what we need to get done, and I have some letters I need to send after you and I finish up."

"Letters?" he asked curiously. "To who?"

"The family I stayed with in Greece. We got really close and so I promised I would write them occasionally."

Scorpius nodded slowly and took a seat in one of the chairs by the fireplace. Rose pulled a piece of parchment and a quill from her desk and sat down across from him.

An hour later, the schedule was done, and they were satisfied that not too many people would complain about their partners or request a change. Rose and Scorpius had already decided that anyone wanting to trade would have to sort it out amongst themselves and only notify the Heads afterwards to make sure of their approval.

"I guess I'll leave you to your letters," he said reluctantly. "Enjoy all your privacy." For one of the first times that evening, Rose smiled.

"Believe me, I will."

They stood there for a moment before Scorpius opened his arms for a hug. Still smiling, Rose stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his chest. They stayed like that for a moment, Scorpius dropping his chin to rest on the top of her head.

Rose reluctantly pulled away and turned towards her desk, already pondering what to write to her friends, if only to keep her mind away from her best friend.

"Bye," Scorpius called over his shoulder as he exited the Common Room. Rose gave a half-hearted wave and sat down to write.

Dear Amber,

Here it is, your first letter from England, as promised!

Anyways…so how are you? How are your mum and dad? Tell them I said hello, and give them hugs for me!

I'm back at Hogwarts, and I'm this year's Head Girl, which puts me in charge of a lot of things. The Head Boy is my best friend Scorpius – I'm sure you remember me mentioning him once…or twice…or a million times, whatever. I think we will work pretty well together.

But speaking of Scorpius…

He has a new girlfriend. I know that this shouldn't be much of a surprise, based on what I've told you about him, but this one is a real bitch, and more likely to hold onto him than the others. Caroline – that's her name – and I already don't get along, and so this year is just going to be peachy.

Enough of my rambling though. How has your year been so far? Are you going to actually get up the courage and ask out Michael this year? Or at least drop some hints so that he asks you out? Please do, for the sake of our sanities, because you talked about him nearly as much as I talked about Scorpius.

I expect a nice long letter back!

Love,
Rose

P.S. My parents said it was okay for you and Nikolas to come visit for Christmas holidays. I think it's time you were exposed to some snow.

Satisfied, Rose rolled up the parchment and sealed it with a tap of her wand. She turned her attention to a blank piece.

Dear Nikolas,

She hesitated, not knowing what to write once the obligatory 'Hello, how are you' type of things were out of the way. What do you say to a guy who is a really good friend to you, but is also essentially your former shagging buddy?

How are you? Have you found a job yet?

I don't have a lot of time – I used most of it writing your sister – but I just wanted to reassure you that I haven't forgotten about you. Ha, I'm just kidding.

I know you aren't really a fan of writing long letters, but please try to write me back something!

I also know that you aren't very interested in the monotony of my day-to-day life, so I'll keep it short. I'm at school, I'm Head Girl and classes start tomorrow. Oh, and I have my own room now! I forgot to put that in Amber's letter, so will you please tell her?

Oh, and my parents said it was alright for you and Amber to come stay for the Christmas holidays. You really need to see what cold feels like, and I think it will be a pleasant surprise!

Nothing else really to say. Write back!

Love,
Rose

She skimmed over the letter again, pleased with what she had managed to come up with. Surprising, really, how much harder it was to write to someone that in person you could have a perfectly normal conversation with.

Scorpius peered around the corner, praying that he could make it back to his Common Room without running into Caroline. He liked his girlfriend, he really did, but she could be a bit clingy and she already didn't get along with Rose.

He realized what he must look like, creeping through the halls and peeking around corners. Scorpius rolled his eyes at himself and stepped confidently into the hall. Ravenclaw's Common Room was only two corridors away. He wasn't even sure Caroline knew where the Common Room was.

Breathing a sigh of relief when he was safely ensconced in Ravenclaw Tower, Scorpius made his way up to his dorms. Opening the door, however, he wished he'd stayed in the Common Room just a bit longer.

The breathy moans and screams coming from Jonathon Thomas's bed were a clear sign that someone had forgotten their Silencing Charm. Scorpius looked across the room to where Al was laying on his bed, a pillow over his head in a futile attempt to block it out. Smirking, he waved his wand towards Jonathon's bed and instantly the room became silent to those outside his bed hangings.

Al shot up in bed, the pillow falling into his lap. Looking around, he spotted Scorpius and gave him a grateful look.

"I was beginning to think they would never shut up. It's only the first day back!"

"Al," Scorpius said patiently, sitting on his bed, "why didn't you just do the Silencing Charm yourself?" He took off his shoes and stared at his best friend with a hint of amusement.

Al gave a sheepish smile. "I had already put my wand in my nightstand, and I'm just too lazy. I was just praying they would stop sometime soon."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and flopped back onto his bed, trying to decide if he was looking forward to the first day of classes tomorrow or not. On the one hand, he had always been good at school and got along fairly well with him other classmates and teachers. On the other hand…

He and Rose and Caroline had pretty much all the same classes together. That, he knew, was going to be nothing short of torture.

A loud snore informed him that Albus had fallen back asleep, and Scorpius tried to do the same.

Still more development than actual story, I know, but some little hints have to be dropped so that you know there is more going on than what it appears :)
Anyway, review? I love that people are favoriting and story-alerting, but I would really appreciate the reviews! Let me know if you like my characters, hate them, if they're believable, or if you have already lost interest, or if you hate my rambling A/Ns! Anything PLEASE!
Review? :D