"Bye Mum. Bye Dad," Scorpius said as he hugged his mother and shook his father's hand. Draco Malfoy was just not the type to hug in public.
"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," he called out to Rose's parents as he hopped onto the scarlet train. "Bye Mr. and Mrs. Potter," he waved as Albus hugged his parents.
The three friends chatted excitedly as they scoured the train for a suitable compartment. After a couple of minutes, Albus found one with only three seats left. In it were Lorcan Scamander, a Ravenclaw third year and family friend, Meena Patil, a shy but extremely nice Hufflepuff, and Jacob Thomas, who was a year younger than the trio. Both Scorpius and Albus glanced at each other before sprinting toward the window seat. Albus who was smaller, nimbly ducked under Scorpius and dived into the coveted seat.
"Victory! Thank you, thank you," he exclaimed to the amiable laughter of the other students.
Scorpius picked himself off the floor, turned his nose up arrogantly, and brushed some dust off his clothes. He looked down at Albus with mock disdain.
"Oh swallow your Malfoy pride and sit down you albino," Rose scolded. The others chuckled good-humoredly and watched Scorpius plop down in the middle seat with a humph.
A couple of hours later, Scorpius was staring over Albus' messy black hair to look out the compartment window, when he heard a stifled yawn. He saw Rose's head nodding forward out of the corner of his eyes.
"Hey there, sleepyhead," he whispered to her.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm just so tired," she yawned, trying to keep her eyes from drooping, "I got so caught up in a book last night and didn't get enough sleep."
"You know, I'd ask Albus to switch seats with you so you could lean on the window, but he looks almost dead," Scorpius said, bewildered that his best friend could sleep with his trainers on the window and his head hanging off the seat. Knowing Albus, he was most likely playing Wizard Chess by himself late into the night.
Rose giggled softly, "It's okay. I can just sleep like this."
"You are not going to fall asleep that way. It'll hurt your neck," Scorpius refuted protectively. "You can lean on my shoulder if you'd like."
"But everyone will think we're boyfriend and girlfriend," she replied, knowing that he was right anyway.
"We can just tell everyone we're just friends," he said, as she laid her head down, her red curls cascading down Scorpius' shoulder. He chuckled lightly and continued staring out the window.
The fire in the library crackled merrily as the three second years scribbled furiously on their respective parchment, each of them cursing Professor Lennox for giving them a 12 inch essay on the properties and uses of bezoars. Several books lay scattered around their table. Only an occasional question like "Which page was it that mentioned how bezoars were discovered?" broke the silence.
Another ten minutes and Albus gave up. Dropping his quill and standing up to stretch, he bid his two friends good night. Drowsily he left the library, muttering about how Professor Lennox must be completely bonkers and that his eyes were getting crusty.
It was another half an hour before Rose broke the silence with a very unladylike grumble from her stomach.
"Hungry?" Scorpius smirked.
"Famished, actually," she smiled sheepishly.
"How about we sneak down to the kitchens and get us some brownies. What do you say?" Scorpius gave her his best grin, wanting to spend some non-studying alone time with Rose.
"I don't know. It sounds risky."
"Come on. We'll be sneaky, and I'll walk you back to Gryffindor Tower," he insisted. "Personal bodyguard is included in the Scorpius friend package."
"Won't everyone-" Rose started.
"It doesn't matter what they think. I only care that we're best friends," he stated firmly, staring straight into her brown eyes.
"Well, brownies do sound pretty inviting right now," the red head said reluctantly. "Fine, let's go."
Scorpius linked their arms and led the way to the kitchens.