Word count this chapter: 3184
A/N: I'm sorry it's a bit late. Sometimes it just takes a while to get the ideas flowing, you know? But anyways, this chapter was a bit longer than usual. Sorry. I'm planning to have 1/2 chapters per year at Hogwarts, just so you know. Hopefully this story won't be dreadfully long... But anyways! Here you go!

"Just forget about him, Rose," Caitir Finnigan says dismissively about Scorpius Malfoy for the hundredth time. "He's trying to make you upset."

"And succeeding," grumbles Rose.

"He's just being a git," Albus tries to console her. "Remember Uncle Ron's face when he talked about him and Mr. Malfoy? How it was so obvious he didn't like him? There was a reason. Scorpius is going to be in a different house than us, we'll barely have any classes with him, so you don't have to worry."

"Yeah, well," Rose sighs, "I s'pose you're right, but that doesn't make me dislike him any less."

The train begins to slow and a calm voice announces that they will reach Hogwarts in five minutes. Rose stares at Al and Caitir, eyes wide. "I know I've been excited for years but I'm more than a little nervous now," she confesses.

"Why?" Caitir asks. "Your parents will be proud of you no matter what house you're in."

Rose opens and closes her mouth a few times. "Well- I- I don't- I mean, I'm nervous about… classes, and… getting lost in the school, and…"

"You'll get over those things," replies Caitir, waving a hand. "You needn't fuss."

"She's right," Albus adds. "I've got to say, she's right."

"Thank you, Al, you're being very helpful," snaps Rose. They sit in terse silence for a few moments.

All three of them abruptly stop talking as the train slows to a halt. "This is it, then," Rose tells them. "Now I s'pose we'll find out if I have a right to be nervous or not."

"Well, everyone's nervous, but you've got to be nervous in a healthy way. You don't want to make yourself sick," Caitir chides. "I remember me mam and dad, telling me about their ceremonies. Mam`s whole family had told her about it and she wasn`t so nervous, see, but me dad, his dad was a muggle and his mam was a witch, and she was a bit of a prankster and fed him all sorts of lies about the sorting ceremony. They both lived to tell the tale and they're fine now."

Rose has realised that Caitir actually does talk quite a bit once you've gotten to know her and decides she rather likes her. Albus looks amused by her pointless anecdote. As they walk down the corridor, she says, "I think you're going back on what you said earlier, Caitir. Now you're saying you've got to be a little nervous."

"Weasley!" A voice calls from down the corridor. Rose whips her red head of hair around to find the owner of a voice. Some ten metres ahead, her eyes lock on a certain blonde boy.

"Scorpius Malfoy," she mutters under her breath, voice laced with contempt. Albus laughs at her obvious annoyance.

When Rose has filed off the train, she asks him, "What do you want?"

"Given the sorting ceremony any more thought?" He asks brightly, as a voice calls, 'First-years! This way! O'er 'ere, first years!'

"Why should it matter to you?" Rose replies.

"Only I was thinking," Scorpius says, "That it would be funny if you got into Slytherin. After all that talking with Potter and Finnigan about how keen you are to get into Gryffindor house. I would laugh."

"No you wouldn't," Says Rose curtly. "It'd mean you'd have to share a house with me."

"Well, not that it matters," Replies Scorpius. "It's not as though you're going to be accepted into Slytherin anyways, a house that only takes true wizards."

In response, Rose scoffs. "I am a true wizard, Scorpius, as much as you arrogant, narrow mind would like to think otherwise."

"You mother wasn't."

"Why do I even talk to you?" She asks. "All you are is a little-"

Suddenly, there's Albus, tugging Rose away from Malfoy. "Come on, Rosie, he's not worth your time," her cousin tells her firmly.

"I said, firs' years over here!" A very tall, large, old man says, holding a lantern up in the air. "Come on, now if you want to take the boats-" He stops to peer at Rose and Albus.

"Say, is that… is that Albus Potter? And Rose Weasley?" He asks, squinting and holding the lantern closer to the pair.

"Er… yes, it is… Mr. … Sir…whatever your name is…" Albus says apprehensively. Rose narrows her eyes as she sees Scorpius Malfoy approach her but doesn't want to cause a fight in front of a teacher, not before she's even reached the castle.

"Well, I'm Hagrid, ain't I?" The man asks, pulling Rose and Al in for a –literally – bone-crushing hug. Once the two manage to relieve themselves from Hagrid's grip, Rose notices the man is a little teary-eyed.

"I remember when Harry and Ron and Hermione were jus' first years like yerselves," He smiles nostalgically. But the reminiscence doesn't stop there. "And yer Uncle Fred, Rose... you never got to meet him, but… well, I remember the adventures your parents would go on and-"

"With all due respect, Mr. Hagrid, I think we're a little cold," Albus remarks timidly, shivering in the evening air. "Mum and Dad say we take boats to get to the castle, and-"

"Right ye are," Hagrid says, shaking his head. "Firs' years, follow me teh the canoes! This way, firs' years! We're takin' the boats to the castle, come on, this way!"

"So is this how it's going to be?" Scorpius Malfoy asks curiously, tagging along behind Rose. "Are you and Albus going to be looked at in awe by all the teachers and students for the rest of your school career?" He's grinning maliciously – Rose can tell this, even in the dark – and it makes her want to explode.

"Is this a pattern?" She asks coolly, though her ears are going red. "Are you just going to follow me around, making jabs at me, my family, and my parents, until I burst? Because I believe I'm starting to notice a pattern. I really do."

Scorpius gives a laugh, but he clearly doesn't know how to respond to that. (Luckily for him,) He's saved from having to say anything when Caitir intervenes.

"I'm not going to put up with arguing between you two," she says, "And as Albus and I can see that you two getting along isn't ever going to happen, I've decided to make sure you stay apart. Come on, Rose."

The two walk ahead to a boat, where Albus already stands. "Four to a canoe, now," Hagrid instructs. "No more, no less."

"If Scorpius comes into our boat with the sole purpose of irritating me I'm going to kill him," says Rose in a deadly voice.

"Why did he choose you to pick on?" Albus asks curiously. "Honestly, I mean, out of all the half-blood first-years to pick from, he goes for you, the one who won't put up with any harassment. I'm only saying, it seems a rather stupid decision on his part. I'm kind of nervous you'll tear his head off."

"I guess he's just not very smart," says Rose airily, turning her head towards a commotion coming from the boat next to her.

"I said, four to a boat!" Exclaims Hagrid, looking very annoyed at a certain blonde boy sitting with his friends.

"But the only other option is to sit with them -"Scorpius nods disapprovingly towards Rose, Caitir and Albus – "And there's no way I'm going to do that."

"Malfoy," says Hagrid menacingly, "I never did care for yeh dad much, but I promised I'd be open-minded for yeh. But then, I'm a teacher, and yeh're a student. So I'd watch yer tongue."

Pouting, Scorpius clambers out of his canoe and into Rose's. She gives a melodramatic sigh, praying with every fiber of her being that Scorpius will fall into the lake on the way over. That, she thinks, would make her very happy.

"Joy," she says dully. "It's you again." Albus stifles a laugh.

"Because Rose is so funny, right, Potter?" Scorpius asks moodily as the canoes begin to move on their own. Hagrid, who has a boat of his own, leads the group.

"Funnier than you, at least."

"Oh, shut up, Potter," he sighs. "I'm not going to take insults from you."

"You're pathetic at coming up with responses to anything," Rose remarks.

"If this whole boat ride is nothing but you three arguing, I'm going to jump into the lake and swim to the castle," declares Caitir, "So I suggest you stop now, because I really don't want to have to do that."

"Who're your parents?" Scorpius asks curiously. Rose thinks she hears something else in his voice. She thinks what he's really saying is, "What's your blood status?"

"What's it to you?" Demands Rose.

"As far as I know, I was asking Finnigan, not you," says Scorpius coolly, "And there's no need for you to get upset. I was only curious. Our parents might have been in the same year."

"Me dad is Seamus Finnigan. Me mam is Lavender Finnigan. She was Lavender Brown. But your father wouldn't have associated with them because me dad's a half-blood. And they're Gryffindors."

"You're right," He replies. "Never mentioned either of them."

Most of the ride is spent with a stony silence from Rose and Scorpius, sending spiteful glances at one another, while Caitir and Al chatter non-stop. Rose doesn't think it fair that Al has already made a best friend out of Caitir while she's made an enemy out of Scorpius.

"Rose," says, Caitir, tapping her friend's shoulder, "Wake up! I said look, the school's ahead."

Momentarily forgetting all her anger, Rose looks up in awe. Above the group of first-years looms a huge castle with countless towers, bridges, turrets and brightly-light windows. Everyone, including Scorpius, who's supposed to be above everything, looks amazed. "Wow," Rose says. "Wow."

"I think 'wow' sums it up pretty well," Al agrees cheerfully.

"Wow," She says for a third time.

"You're rather simple-minded, aren't you?" Scorpius asks, genuine curiosity in his voice. "It's just a building, Weasley."

"Yes," Rose says dramatically, "Because you're so above everything, aren't you, Scorpius?"

"I'm above you, at least," he replies cockily. Rose feels like she's a time bomb, and each word that comes out of Scorpius's mouth brings her one minute closer to exploding.

"Ha!" She replies, voice steady. "In what way? Please do explain."

"Oh, look," Caitir says suddenly through gritted teeth. "Time to get off the boats now." Rose looks up to see that they are, indeed, drawing towards a cave with long willowy branches that tickle their faces as the canoes float up onto a small, secluded beach. Up the sandy path some twenty feet is a huge double-door.

"Thank God," Rose and Scorpius say in perfect unison. They then proceed to glare at each other for a solid ten seconds.

Albus seems to find this all very amusing, and stifles laughs as the first-years walk up to the castle. Caitir's determined to make sure she doesn't have to witness another argument between the two. Rose is determined to put Scorpius Malfoy in his place before the day is done.

Well, she thinks, he'll get sorted into a different house than me, so it doesn't matter anyways. I'll only see him for lessons. And he'll have is own friends.

Hagrid knocks on the door and within seconds, it is opened by a stern-looking woman in purple robes. "Thank you, Hagrid," She says. "You can go to the feast, I'll take them from here." The first years, all glancing at each other apprehensively, make their timid way into the castle. Rose, curious to see Scorpius's reaction to the building, whips her head around, only to find that he's gone over to his friends.

Well, I wouldn't have expected him to stay here tormenting me, she thinks. Still, it would have been nice to see something other than arrogance etched on that pale little face of his.

After everyone has crowded into the hall, the teacher proceeds to explain the rules of the sorting and the school. "The house you are sorted into will be like your family while you are at Hogwarts. Good behavior will win you house points, while the opposite will lose you points. The house with the most points at the end of the year will win the house cup," she explains. Rose zones out for a few moments. "You will put on the sorting hat and it will tell you which house you are best suited to: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin."

The lecture continues and anticipation rises in Rose's stomach. Get on with it, she thinks impatiently, bouncing up and down on her heels. "I'll leave the room for a few minutes," the professor concludes, "And let you smarten up a bit while I get the sorting hat."

The first-years shift around nervously until the professor returns to take them into the Great Hall. Rose can't help looking in awe at the decorations. The entrance hall alone is probably the size of Godric's Hollow. She can tell Albus is uneasy too, from the way his eyes dart from Caitir, to her, to toher students, back to her. She can't help squeezing his hand for comfort. "You look like a scared animal," Rose informs him. "Calm down, Al."

"Thanks for being so helpful," he mutters, giving an eye roll. "Besides, you were all nerves a few minutes ago."

"Was not," she shoots back as the first years trail into the hall. Everybody turns around to look at them and Rose feels as if she's in a spotlight. There are too many people staring at her and she wants to hide behind Caitir (the girl is pretty tall), but reckons that it might make them stare even more.

The first-years line up at the front of the hall, peering around in wonder. The four long tables seem to stretch on forever. The ceiling is enchanted to look like the night sky and candles hover above the tables. The crowd in front of them is a sea of pointed black hats. Everything is so great (which is probably why it's called a great hall, she thinks).

Rose stares at the plain black hat sitting on the stool in front of her and the fellow first years. The professor told them about it, but it still seems odd that this talking hat is going to dictate her future years at Hogwarts, possibly her path in life.

"D'you reckon we can find Dominique in the crowd?" Rose asks, craning her neck around to search for her favourite cousin. "Or Molly or Fred or Roxanne or-"

"I dunno," Albus cuts her off. "I'm sure we'll be able to see them in a minute. They were probably sitting with James on the train, otherwise we would've seen them."

"Why didn't we look for them?"

Albus shushes her. After a few introductory words from the Headmistress, an extremely old and stern-looking woman, the first student is called up to be sorted; Eloise Bishop is sorted into Hufflepuff. There are claps and cheers from the table second from the right and the girl runs over, cheeks flushed with excitement. The procedure continues. Daniel Creevy is the first Gryffindor.

Eventually Caitir is called up to be sorted and Rose is bouncing on her toes, like she always does. Albus gently presses a hand to her shoulder, motioning for her to stop. She shoots him a glare.

Rose can't see Caitir, but she can feel the girl's excitement radiating off her when she's sorted into Gryffindor.

"Fawcett, Thomas!"

Thomas Fawcett sits with the hat on his head until it yells, "Ravenclaw!"

Eventually, Scorpius is called up. "Three guesses on which house he goes to," Rose mutters.

Scorpius sits with the hat on his head for a long time. A very long time.

"What's taking it so long?" Demands Albus in a hushed voice. Rose shrugs.

"Gryffindor!"

Gryffindor?

Gryffindor? Scorpius Malfoy was just sorted into Gryffindor? Did she mishear the hat?

Apparently Malfoy thinks he misheard the hat too, because he doesn't take it off, until the teacher who had led them into the school says pointedly, "Next!"

Rose is barely even paying attention when Albus got sorted into Gryffindor house. She's just thinking about how Scorpius got sorted into Slytherin's rival house and how everyone makes such a huge deal about the sorting.

"Weasley, Rose!"

Stomach jittery with nerves, she sits on the small three-legged stool provided and pulls the large black hat onto her head.

"So, a Weasley," A voice mutters into her ear, making her jump.

Yes, she thinks.

"Well, I know exactly which house you want to be put in… but what about Ravenclaw? You've got the brains."

No, she replies firmly. It's got to be Gryffindor.

"Well…" the hat replies slowly, "Well, I must say that I fully agree."

Really? That was easy.

The sorting hat doesn't reply to her, but instead yells to the whole great hall, "Gryffindor!"

It takes all Rose has not to give a shout of happiness. Instead, she sets the hat down carefully and (tries to) calmly walk over to the Gryffindor table. She seats herself on a bench with Roxanne, Fred, Victoire, James, and Albus. Sitting with them is Caitir, a girl named Alice Wood and a boy who introduces himself as Marvin Thomas. To everyone's delight, the gold plates fill up with food in front of their eyes and the student body is told to 'dig in!'. Rose is content to stuff her face with food and talk animatedly to her cousins until she notices Scorpius sitting alone, picking at mashed potatoes.

She slides her plate over to him, although she isn't sure why. "Not so sure of yourself now, are you, Scorpius?" Rose asks cheerfully.

"Go on, then, Weasley," he says with a dull laugh. "Make fun of me. But you're the one who's going to have to put up with having me in your house."

"Who says I was going to make fun of you?" She asks defiantly, feeling a fleeting stab of guilt.

"Well, when you start a conversation with 'Not feeling so sure of yourself now, are you, Scorpius'-"

"Okay, I'm sorry," she mumbles. "I was going to say that you might want to make some friends while you're at it. You're going to be a part of this house for the next seven years. I'm not sure why exactly, but you are, and there's no changing it now."

"Thanks a lot for that, Weasley," he says sullenly, but when he glances up at her, she swears she can see a trace of a smile on his lips.

"Yeah, well," she says. "I'm not hinting you should become friends with me-"

"-As if," He scoffs, cutting her off.

Rose rolls her eyes. "See you," she says, before they can start fighting again, still pondering the fact that Scorpius Malfoy is in her same house.

Which means she's going to have to make some sort of effort to get along with him. Merlin forbid.