Say hooray for quick updates! (Although I will probably not be able to keep up this rate)
It's also not the best chapter I've ever written, but oh well.

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Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. JK Rowling owns most of it.


TWO

Eloise is all Happy Face as the class has ended. Apparently I've managed to make my first friend at L.W.U., because she's currently joining me for lunch. The eating hall is as big as the one in Hogwarts, but just like the rest of the complex, a lot more modern. There are also a lot more tables than the four in the Great hall, and not everyone has to eat at the same time. I'm really, really glad I have a French sidekick as an accessory, because I have no idea where Albus is.

(Although my first guess would be in a girl's knickers.)

"I'm actually really looking forward to this year," Eloise says excitedly, when we sit down somewhere. "I mean, think of all the interesting things we're going to learn!"

Now that's a girl who can speak right to my heart.

"Exactly! And that professor seemed really good, don't you think?" I sincerely participate in the enthusiasm.

Eloise nods virulently. "Uhu. Our classmates seemed likable too, didn't they? That Malfoy guy – he's really hot. Like the hottest person I've ever seen."

Great.

There goes the enthusiasm. Flying outside the window. I'd actually forgotten that fact for about ten minutes, probably because Scorpius – or no, I'm going to refer to him as Malfoy again – was seated as far away from me as he possibly could and I did everything in the world to refrain myself from looking at the boy. I was doing a pretty good job at ignoring him, but leave it to the rest of the world to remind me that my fantastic academic year has just been crushed by the fact that Malfoy and Violetta are attending the same university. I can't seem to decide whom I hate more.

"Did I say something wrong?" Eloise asks, noticing my sour expression. "Do you have something against Malfoy?"

My lips pressed into a thin line, I utter: "Oh, no. You read that all wrong. Malfoy is my personal bundle of joy and happiness."

"What did he do to you?" She looks curious, not thrown off by my unintended biting sarcasm.

I pick up the serviette next to my sandwich. "You see this?" I slowly tear the serviette in two. "This is a nice plastic metaphor to express what he did."

"He broke your heart?"

I sigh, realising how melodramatic that sounds. "Well, that's an eloquent way to put it."

"Were you guys a couple, then?" She inquires, obviously fascinated by my love life – or current lack thereof.

"For eight months, to be precise," I mumble. "Funny you're asking, though. All the rest of the world already knows."

Eloise takes a sip from her coffee before answering. "You're in the papers a lot? Because your parents are so famous?"

"Usually it's okay in my case, but when it got out that Malfoy and I were together," I shake my head a little, "there was this huge fuss. Countless headlines about us being the incarnation of Romeo and Juliet – shit like that."

"Romeo and Juliet?" Eloise repeats incredulously.

"The Weasleys and the Malfoys have been living in this feud forever. The Weasleys on the 'light' side and the Malfoys on the 'dark' side," I explain. "You know the Order of the Phoenix?"

"We learned about that in school, yeah."

"Well, my grandparents, parents and my aunt and uncle were part of that. Malfoy's father, Draco, and grandfather, Lucius, were both Death Eaters. Although," I can't help but add with a smirk, "uncle Harry saved Draco's life."

"Talk about enemies." Eloise is clearly into my family history, but she's hardly the only one. "So how did your parents react to your relationship, if you don't mind me asking?"

I chuckle slightly. "My dad didn't talk to me for a week after he found out. My mum, always the sensible one, told me she was fine with whatever I did as long as I was happy. The reactions of my cousins were mixed, but nothing too extreme. Malfoy's grandfather wasn't exactly thrilled either – which is an understatement, trust me – but strangely enough, his father let it slide fairly quick. His mother was even supportive."

I'll never forget the day Malfoy and I received a Howler from his grandfather and my dad respectively.

We'd been a couple for about two weeks until it leaked out to the press. Even though we were stuck in the middle of the winter, everything seemed sunnier and shinier than it actually was, and I'm pretty sure that my then-boyfriend shared my sentiment. That morning I was sitting at the Slytherin table, in between Malfoy and Stephano – who had become a good friend – discussing something trivial, like our upcoming Potions test. Neither of us expected anything special to happen, until suddenly the Owls flew in and dropped one Witch Weekly on my plate, accompanied by an angry letter. Needless to say, it was mouse-still in the Great Hall by the time my dad was finished ("He'll break your heart! He's using you! Malfoys don't have human feelings!") and granddaddy Malfoy was about to start ("Such a disgrace to your pure blood-line! She comes from a filthy family, Scorpius, what were you thinking?") I felt like crawling under a rock, but Malfoy apparently didn't. He made a great show of putting his arm around me, kissing my cheek, and whispering: "I'm not using you, and you're definitely not filthy."

What a fucking joke. And a bad one at that too.

"So what happened in the end?" Eloise breaks me out of my reverie. "I mean, if you were together for eight months under those circumstances, you must've been pretty strong, right?"

"Naive is more the term that comes to mind," I roll my eyes at my own former stupidity. "He's the biggest bastard on the planet. He – "

And then suddenly I'm interrupted.

"Well, well. Look who we've got here."

See?

Another bad joke. Worst joke of the year probably.

"Sod off, Violetta," I snap, facing the Chinese girl who's smug expression makes me want to hex her. "Go spread your STD bacteria elsewhere."

The idiotic cow leans forward and puts a perfectly manicured hand on our table. "Good plan! I should visit someone, like, I don't know, Scorpius maybe?"

There's a slight tightening in my throat, but I won't give her the satisfaction. Forcing on the most fake smile I can muster, I clap my hands together cheerfully. "You totally should! Exchanging Chlamydia and genital herpes – how utterly romantic!"

Eloise snickers loudly, nearly choking on her coffee. Violetta notices, and her smugness instantly changes into a very, very sour look. She grants Eloise the evilest of eyes, snaps at me: "How nice. You've made friends already to add to your own freak show. Congratulations, Rose."

"You know, your actions here prove a lot," muses Eloise thoughtfully in return, after swallowing her coffee properly. "You do realise that it's your own insecurity you're currently projecting on Rose?"

A girl that can speak right into my heart, indeed.

"And how is this any of your business?" The colour of Violetta's face is slowly growing red.

Eloise opens her mouth to say something undoubtedly fun, but we're interceded once again. This time it's actually a nice surprise, as Albus all of a sudden puts a rough hand next to Violetta's, obviously coming straight from the Quidditch field.

"I think we've got a bug in here," he remarks coolly, eyeing the girl next to him in distaste.

He's all Camp Rose, but can you blame him?

"Go away," she says in a shrill voice. "You look disgusting!"

He then gives her The Grin. "I beg to differ."

"So do I," adds Eloise. "And please leave. I think it's fairly obvious you're outnumbered here."

We all glare at her. I'm, of course, the worst, because I'm, naturally, the president of The Anti-Violetta Club. After a few seconds she realises she really is outnumbered, and that her task here is done. With an arrogant huff she turns around, unintentionally admits defeat, and walks away with swaying hips. I briefly ponder about what she's trying to prove here – seeing as we already know she's cheap – but am happy she's gone all the same.

"That was the girl you were talking about earlier?" Eloise guesses rightly, while Albus sits down next to her at the table.

"Yeah," I confirm. "Quite a doll, isn't she?"

"She must be miserable," Eloise says. "It's clear as plain day-light she's jealous of you."

I'm about to snort, but then Albus clears his throat. "Hello, Rosie. Care to introduce me here?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," I apologise quickly. "Albus, this is Eloise Moreau. She's in my class, French, and way out of your league." Albus' grin falters a little, and Eloise laughs. "Eloise, this is Albus Potter. He's my cousin, best friend, and he'll probably flirt with you, so beware of his charm."

Albus hits my shin-bone with his foot under the table, before extending a hand to Eloise. "Hey! Don't mind Rose – she's just bitter."

As I cringe a bit, Eloise shakes the hand. "It's okay. I'm not bitter at all, so! I like almost everyone and everything – except etiquettes, then."

"I don't like etiquettes either. But we can elaborate on that very extensively later on, when," he puts an emphasis on the word, "you two are coming to this Beginning of the Year party tonight!"

"Oh, that seems fun! We can meet new people!" Eloise beams.

Alright then. "Where?"

"Basement of the dorms. But I got to go. See you in our dorm at eight or something?" Albus asks me while shoving his chair backwards to leave.

"Eight it is."

"Great!" He grins again. Then, just before he turns around, he winks at my French sidekick. "See you later, Eloise."

She waves, still beaming, as we watch him walk out the eating hall. "He's nice," she mentions casually.

I give her a meaningful look. "Careful, honey."

But she just keeps smiling – which is kind of contagious – and in spite of Malfoy and Violetta, I'm pretty happy about where I am now.


Funny to say, but for this evening it actually was Albus who put a great number on Eloise and me. Eloise came over to our dorm, bringing the majority of her outfits with her. Albus functioned as a judge while Eloise tried at least twenty of them – and in case you're wondering, no, I did not suddenly turn into Lily, I just don't want to look like an epic failure on my first L.W.U. party. Of course Eloise, in all her messy long-haired glory, looks five times as good as I do, sporting a worn mini jean skirt, loose red top and old ladylike sandals. You know those people who look great effortlessly? Yeah, well. She's even taller than me. Unfortunately she's all lovable and lent me her green summer dress, so I can't even hold a grudge. The dress goes way too perfectly with my heels.

(Yes. Heels. I'm a woman now, remember?)

On the other hand, I've been told that I'm pretty plenty of times, so I don't feel entirely inadequate as Eloise, Albus and I walk into the basement of the dorms. Once again, I can feel like stares burning on my back, but am determined to pay it no heed. The basement is quite crowded and apparently nothing like the parties in the spacious common rooms at Hogwarts. Luckily there are these charmed air-cleaning machines planted at the ceiling, for otherwise I'm sure we'd all choke on lack of oxygen. There are also a few couches – to "rest", I assume – and a whole table with big bowls of what looks like Firewhiskey.

"Shall I get you ladies something to drink?" Albus proposes smoothly, winking at Eloise again.

I roll my eyes at his predictable antics. "Yes, we would like something to drink."

Eloise chuckles softly, but Albus pretends not to notice my little quip. He turns around and goes for the drinks. Meanwhile, my new blonde friend pulls at my arm.

"Let's dance! I love this song!"

I don't actually know the song, but the beat's great all the same. Drawn by Eloise's free spirit, I start shaking my hips too. The music has a nice rhythm, quickly getting me on the right track. Eloise's not always in sync, but that's hardly a problem. She puts an arm around me and I'm sure there are a lot of horny teenage boys in this room whose thoughts are now getting derailed.

"Here you go." Albus hands us the drinks and then puts his arms around both of us.

We joyfully clink to our new year and friendship, emptying the substance in one sip. It's quite burning, to be honest, and it's obvious that we'll have a pretty wasted student body later on. But then again – can you blame us? We can even drink legally now!

"This university is the best place on earth, I'm telling you," Albus says lazily, after taking his wand and making it refill his cup.

"What about the Côte d'Azur?" Eloise offers.

I stand by her: "Yeah! Not that we've actually been there, but that must be so- " Suddenly something changes in both their expressions. "Guys? What's wrong?"

And then, before either of them has the possibility to reply, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I refuse to think it's who I think it is, but this is awfully familiar. With a racing pulse and praying thoughts, I turn around –

and look straight into Malfoy's piercing, metal gaze.

"Well, well. If it isn't Rose Weasley."


Alright. I know. There's hardly any Scorpius/Rose interaction, but next chapter will make up for that.
Please review anyway though :)

-Josephine