Chapter Two

The train journey was, mercifully uneventful, except for James and a couple of his mates bursting in on us to inform us that delightfully, he had managed to hex Francis Macmillan into a molerat. I then banished him from my sight, lovely boy that he is.

I turned to my friend, Maria Jones, who had joined us in our compartment and was looking adoringly at the space that James had just occupied and snapped my fingers in front of her face.

"Ria?" No response. "Ria?" She looks at me vaguely and then turns back to said spot.

"Yeah?" she replies mistily

"When you've finally gotten your head out of the clouds, I want to talk to you"

"No, talk, I'm listening."

Sure she is, but I continue anyway:

"Okay, so I was wondering if this year, we could all go and get completely pissed and then graffiti the school with pictures of McGonagall naked?"

"Yeah such okay" she mumbles. "Sounds good"

"Great!" I say with huge amounts of sarcasm.

"Wait, what?" She says finally hearing what I said.

I laugh "Just trying to see how long it would take you to get out of your James space, honey" I say shaking my head as the rest of the carriage laughs.

The door slides open.

"Made a joke Weasley?" Malfoy asks "I didn't think you had a sense of humour" He continues, strolling into our carriage and sits next to Al. The tension rises, he's walking on fine ground, calling me Weasley when there are so many of us sitting in the compartment.

"Sod off Malfoy." Says Fred, coming to my rescue, see this is why I love Fred he shares my animosity of Malfoy, unlike the rest of my family members who have the indecency to tolerate him.

"I'm here, to see my friend Al."

This is my biggest problem with Albus being in Slytherin. Everywhere he goes, that Merlin-awful boy follows. Although, looking at him now, he's not really a boy anymore, he's filled out over summer. And I'm not going to lie, he doesn't look bad. Not that he didn't have any problem with the ladies before. Every lesson last year, I had to sit in front of him and Al, watching him flash knowing looks at his friends and having them mutter covertly and disgustingly about his latest conquests.

I realise, I've been staring too long.

"Like what you see, Weasley?" he asks, smirking again. Is that all this boy can do? Smirk?

"Just trying to work out what that thing is, on your face." I reply snappily, "oh wait, it's just that ugly look you constantly have, sorry Malfoy, didn't mean to offend. Must be an occupational hazard of being the spawn of a death eater?"

The others in my carriage try to hide their sniggers. Not that my remark is particularly witty. They just enjoy my feuds with him even though some of them actually enjoy his company.

Shit, I think I may have crossed a line he looks mightily pissed off.

"You bitch." he says standing up in my face. "How dare you speak to me like that? How fucking dare you" His voice raises. He looks slightly intimidating and now I'm hugely glad that the clan is here. Something flashes across his eyes, an emotion I don't recognize on him.

"Back off Malfoy" Fred says standing up too. Malfoy looks into his eyes for a moment as if evaluating whether or not a fight is worth it. Al tugs him back.

"As if I'd want to be here with you lot," he says haughtily.

"See you later Al." He leaves.

Fred sits back down, "You all right Rosie?" he asks.

I don't answer thinking about that look in Malfoy's eyes.

"Rosie?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. You know he'll get over himself. We're always arguing." I refrain from mentioning the weird emotion I saw in his normally masklike face.

"We better change into our robes." Al says. He looks disgruntled. He has attempted, on many occasions to make me and Malfoy friends. However, in six years, no such luck on his behalf.

"You know, the two of you are really similar, if you just took the time." He has said to me on multiple occasions and I have always retaliated with some sarcastic remark about Malfoy's looks or personality, or just something degrading about him.

Dom looks at me, trying to read my face, I wonder if she can tell I'm thinking about Malfoy. She gets jealous, of our, 'relationship' because she has a mega thing for him. Everyone knows it. She feels that its unfair that he gives me so much attention (I frequently point out that its not 'good' attention, or the type of attention she wants from him.) But barely bats an eyelid in her direction.

"What Dom?" I ask. As she refuses to stop staring at me. "Something on my face?"

"Probably." A voice laughs from the door that Malfoy left open.

"Lorcan!" I get up and hug my friend. Lorcan, is amazing. He is the life and soul of every room and party. He's so happy all the time. Dom and I think it's something to do with being Aunt Luna's son. His twin, Lysander on the other hand is a complete bastard all the time. I don't understand it. I would say he was adopted, but they're identical, so definitely not the case.

"There is nothing on my face, I'll have you know. Dom's just trying to work out the secrets to all my success in life, cause she has none."

Dom coughs and it sounds suspiciously like "bitch." Ah, I do love that girl, we're so similar sometimes it's ridiculous.

"Hey Domi," Lorcan disentangles himself from my arms and goes to sit next to her. Only Lorcan gets to call her Domi, no one else. If I did, I'd wake up with five foot long toenails and green hair or something disgusting like that. "Good holiday?" He asks.

"Eventful." She says. "We all stayed with Grams and Gramps. The whole family."

"No one died then?" He asks.

"Rose nearly." She says smiling knowingly at me.

He looked at me questioningly. "Malfoy visited." I said darkly.

"Ah, surprised your still with us then." He laughs.

"Can we please regain from talking about Malfoy?"

"What would you rather Rosie?" Fred asks.

I think, trying to look as cryptic as possible. "We could be here for a while folks, if Rose is 'thinking'" Laughs Al, "Exploding Snap anyone?"

He whips out his cards and we begin a game. It was going well until Lily ran in and it exploded everywhere. Singeing Mia's eyebrows.

"What Lily?" Dom asks exasperatedly. While I fix Mia's eyebrows.

"Malfoy is..."

"Stop right there, I don't want to hear it." I groan. Seriously, back on Malfoy. What is with him and his ability to get into the very cracks of every conversation.

"Rose!" Mia exclaims. Whoops her eyebrows are growing rather rapidly and have turned a nice shade of orange.

"Sorry." I giggle. "And Lily, we don't care about Malfoy, well all of us except Dom." Dom turns a slight pink colour. I notice Lorcan looking at her, he looks upset.

"Lily go away." Says Al abruptly.

"Thats no way to talk to your sister Albus Potter!" She says haughtily and storms out of the compartment. Mia sighs as I fix her eyebrows properly.

"We should change into our robes. We're nearly there." She says. And in a sudden flurry of movement, I forget all about Scorpius Malfoy.