A/N: Third year! Thanks to everyone who has been reading, especially you reviewers! :)

As Rose and Scorpius rush to embrace each other at the platform, the Weasley and Malfoy families reluctantly shuffle closer together. After the two third years pull away from each other, Rose grins at both sets of parents.

"Mum, Dad!" Rose exclaims. "This is Scorpius!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley," Scorpius smiles. "Rose has told me so many stories about you both."

"It's great to meet you too, Scorpius," Hermione tells him.

"Yes, the world was in dire need of another Malfoy," Ron adds sarcastically.

Rose glares at her father, and he says nothing more.

"I was just telling Rose last time that she's welcome to visit," Draco says, breaking the awkward silence. "Anytime."

"Malfoy, I'll—" Ron begins angrily.

"Gladly accept the invitation," Hermione interrupts, with a forced smile. "We will let you know when Rose will be over, Draco."

Rose and Scorpius grin in delight, not noticing the smirk that Draco sends Ron.

"I knew it," Draco murmurs to his wife. "It's easy to push Weasley's buttons, and I suspected inviting his surprisingly lovely daughter over would do the trick."

Meanwhile, Ron fumes.

:::

Scorpius sighs, regretting his decision to wait outside the Gryffindor common room; Rose is never on time.

"Hey, you!" a voice exclaims.

Scorpius looks around, only to see a redheaded boy yelling at him.

"Malfoy!" the boy says. "You're friends with my sister, right?"

"Are you Rose's brother?" Scorpius asks.

"Yeah, I'm Hugo," the boy replies. "You're in love with my sister, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not," Scorpius laughs. "We're friends, mate."

"Well, don't snog her or anything!" Hugo tells him. "That would be disgusting."

Before the shocked Scorpius has the chance to respond, Rose bounces out of the portrait hole.

"Sorry!" she exclaims, before noticing her brother. "Oh, Hugo, stop bothering Scorpius! Go inside and do your assignments, will you? First year."

Rose grabs Scorpius's arm, and they begin to walk, but they don't get far before hearing Hugo again.

"I've got my eyes on you, Malfoy!" Hugo calls.

Rose turns to Scorpius curiously.

"What's that all about?" she asks.

"No idea," Scorpius shrugs.

:::

"Hogsmeade!" Rose grins. "James has told me all about it! I'm so excited. Where do you want to go first? Honeydukes? The Three Broomsticks? How about—"

"Will you give me a chance to answer?" Scorpius interrupts playfully. "We can go wherever you want first."

"But there's so many choices!" Rose complains. "Come on, Scorpius. That's not fair."

"Well, how about Honeydukes then?" Scorpius suggests. "Maybe we'll find something sweet enough to glue your mouth shut, and I can finally have some peace."

He laughs, and Rose giggles along with him.

"You're mean, you know that?" she tells him.

"Oh, have I hurt your feelings?" Scorpius smiles. "Alright, Honeydukes is on me today."

"You're the best!" Rose says, smiling back at him.

Scorpius narrows his eyes.

"Did you do that just so I would pay?" he asks suspiciously.

"Why, did my feminine wiles persuade you to?" Rose retorts.

They look at each other, snort, and burst out into laughter again.

:::

"This just isn't fair," Scorpius sighs. "It wasn't our fault that two of our star players were taken out!"

"Yes, that was our fault," Rose smirks. "The Beaters were fantastic today, weren't they?"

Scorpius frowns at her but cannot disagree.

"At this rate, I'll have to get out there and win the match myself next year," he chuckles. "Anyway, out with it. What do you want me to do?"

"Well, you've just said it!" Rose replies, with a mischievous grin. "Scorpius, you are going to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team next year!"

Scorpius sends her a horrified look, and Rose laughs.

"You'll be brilliant!" she assures him. "I know you're good already. You're just too scared to tell anyone. Besides, your Seeker is in his last year. It could be your chance! Take it. And if it goes as badly as you seem to think it will, I'll get to laugh at you during tryouts. It's perfect!"

Scorpius still looks worried.

"Slytherin's star Seeker, Scorpius," Rose giggles. "Now that's a mouthful. Come on, Scorpius. It's not all bad. I might even cheer for you if you're lucky."

"Well, that decides it," Scorpius says, with a smirk. "If you're going to cheer, I can't let you down."

"Not during the Gryffindor game, mind you," Rose clarifies.

"We'll see about that," Scorpius grins. "You're going to swoon when you see me play, Rose Weasley."

"Idiot, you have to make the team first," Rose reminds him, grinning back.

Scorpius shrugs that concern away.

"With you at tryouts, I'll have to," he points out.

"Scorpius!" Rose exclaims, blushing.

"See, you're swooning already," Scorpius laughs.

:::

"Will you two shut up?" Rose hisses. "Some of us are trying to study over here."

Al and Scorpius roll their eyes.

"You already know everything there is to know about third year transfiguration," Scorpius tells her. "Live a little."

"She's just annoyed because we're talking about Sheila," Al laughs. "You don't like her, do you?"

"What's there to like?" Rose asks. "She's all giggly and pretends to be stupid all the time so that boys will like her."

Al clears his throat.

"Observe," he says, covertly pointing to the girl in question. "Long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a perfect figure."

"Not to mention that beautiful smile," Scorpius adds. "What's not to like, Rose?"

"Boys," Rose groans, shaking her head. "You're idiots, both of you. Could you at least whisper? I have work to do."

They turn away but don't see her pulling at her wild red hair. For once, Rose wishes she didn't look like such a Weasley, but Scorpius is too busy looking at Sheila to notice her discomfort.

Rose looks away and sighs, only to catch the eye of Thomas Brown, a dark-haired Ravenclaw in their year. He smiles at her, and Rose returns the smile, thankful that at least someone in the library realizes that she's there.

:::

"What's it like?" Scorpius asks suddenly.

Rose looks at him in confusion.

"What?" she says.

"Having a family like yours," Scorpius replies. "Your parents and your uncle are all so famous!"

"I could ask you the same question," Rose points out. "Not like the Malfoys are exactly common people."

"But it's not the same," Scorpius says. "My parents didn't stop a war. It just happens that they're both pure-bloods. So, what's it like?"

Rose shrugs.

"It's not very exciting," she answers. "Sometimes it's nice, I suppose. They have the greatest friends, like Aunt Luna and Uncle Neville. And they do tell great stories. Sometimes, people will even give us free things, knowing who our parents are."

"It's only nice sometimes?" Scorpius laughs. "It sounds like it's nice all the time."

"It's not," Rose tells him.

When she doesn't elaborate, Scorpius starts to worry.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"My mother is brilliant," Rose says shortly. "And my father is one of the bravest people I know."

"So what?" Scorpius says. "You're the most amazing person I've ever met. And I've met both of your parents."

"Flattery does not suit you, Scorpius," Rose informs him.

"It's just the truth," he shrugs.

Rose finally breaks out a smile and puts her hands in the air in a gesture of surrender.

"Ladies, watch out," she giggles. "Let me introduce Scorpius Malfoy the charmer."

"Oh, stop it," Scorpius laughs. "You know I'm just being honest."

Rose's smile widens.

"I know," she replies. "I know."

:::

"Scorpius, I've just got a letter from my mum!" Rose shouts, running after him. "She says she's sending me over in the middle of the summer to come visit! She and your mum worked it out, and Al's coming too!"

"Rose, are you badmouthing me again?" Al yells, running after her. "What are you talking about me for?"

"Can you two come over here so we can talk like civilized people?" Scorpius asks, stopping at one side of the corridor. "And Al, you're both coming to visit over the summer!"

The two cousins walk over to Scorpius with huge grins on their faces.

"Scorpius, this is going to be awesome!" Al exclaims. "We can play so many pranks on Rose."

"You can work on your game with us!" Rose points out. "You'll need to improve before tryouts, of course."

"With Al?" Scorpius laughs. "He's rubbish at Quidditch."

"Hey!" Al says. "I take offense to that even though it may or may not be true. And I'm not the one you'd be practicing with. After all, Rose is the budding star of the family. You should see her and Uncle Ron and Dad together, not to mention James."

Scorpius looks at her, dumbfounded, and Rose simply grins.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" he asks.

"A girl has to have her secrets," Rose tells him. "My dad's had me and Hugo practicing pretty much since we were born, Scorpius. You don't stand a chance against me."

"I'm not going to go easy on you, Weasley," Scorpius threatens. "No Gryffindor is going to beat me."

"Oh, we'll see about that," Rose smirks.

With every word, they've been inching closer and closer to each other, so Al finally decides to step in between them.

"Well, that was tense!" he says cheerfully. "Can't wait for the summer, Scorpius! Come on, Rose. Don't scare the poor boy."

Al starts to drag his cousin away but turns around to warn Scorpius as they leave.

"You better practice," he whispers. "She actually will beat you, mate."

Scorpius gulps.