A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the long time in between updates, I was just having a small writers block. I just realized that a few times in Chapter Two instead of Astoria I said Narcissa, which is totally wrong. Can you imagine Draco being married to his own mother? *shivers* Anyway, thanks for sticking with me through the time and that really weird writing error. As always, please tell me if I've made any mistakes. R and R and enjoy chapter four!

-Smoke

Chapter Four

Apparating to King's Cross was no easy task. It wasn't easy for Scorpius to admit that he wasn't the best at it, his apparating giving him headaches and sometimes dizziness. But now that he was here, on Platform 9 ¾ he felt a little bit better.

His mother kissed him on the cheek, wishing him luck in school and reminding him to write often, while his dad reminded Scorpius to try to not let him down, and that Scorpius was a Malfoy. Scorpius knew that in order to not let his father down, he would have to sit next to Rose. If that wasn't a problem enough, he would probably have to be next to Albus, whom Scorpius was more than eager to give him a good punch in the face.

Climbing onto the train, he stopped by his regular car, not hesitating to pull Carly and Liam from their usual booth.

"Where are we going?" Carly said once he released their wrists, obviously annoyed that she was being dragging around the train.

"To Rose." he answered simply, not wanting to think about the other people he would have to sit with. Carly casted him a suspicious sideways glance, and Liam just nodded understandingly. Scorpius had sent an express letter to him through his owl, Messina.

"The cabin where Rose sits is a few cars down, I think." Liam said, stumbling at the jerk of the train starting to move.

They reached the cabin where Rose was. Scorpius moved to the side to let Carly knock, figuring it would seem the most natural if she appeared as the ringleader.

Rose slid open the door instantly, grinning when she saw Carly.

"Carly! I wouldn't imagine seeing you here," she examined the threesome, smiling when she saw Scorpius and Liam.

"I brought guests," Carly coolly pointed a thumb at the boys.

"Cool with me. Welcome to Cabin 42, guys. Come in!" Scorpius noticed that her group of friends was pretty large, consisting of a close to even number of boys and girls. He realized that it was going to be hard to fit with that many people in there. Liam and Carly blended in perfectly, not pausing to sit down and talk to their friends, the other group of their friends, the group Scorpius was pretty sure he would never get to know closely, until now. Only Rose and Scorpius were standing.

"Let me introduce everyone. That's Alice Longbottom, a gryffindor, who's unusually close to Albus… ALICE!" Alice and Albus looked up from the conversation they were having, and Alice blushed profusely, but still waved, smiling warmly.

"No wonder everyone likes Alice. Believe me, once you get to know her the overflowing kindness might get a bit annoying." Alice laughed with Rose, and Scorpius smiled.

"Renee Goyle. Hufflepuff. One of the funniest people I've ever met in my entire life. But don't get me wrong, she can probably kick your arse in seconds." Scorpius must have looked worried because Renee grinned from her spot in the corner of the cabin. The last name sounded familiar, and he searched his mind feversishly. Ah, Goyle, one of his father's old friends. This must be his daughter.

"I would never do that! The strength is just from genetics, honest." Renee replied. Rose mouthed, She works out, don't let her trick you. He gave Rose a tiny smile, and she smiled back.

"That's probably the first time I've ever seen you smile this year."

"Well, seeing the fact that the school year only just started, you should be surprised. I only smile in June, when school is about to be let out," he joked, making her laugh.

"Don't we all? Agh, you're getting me off track!" she exclaimed, lightly slapping him on the arm. At this, Scorpius felt slightly confused. Did he do something upsetting that made her hit him?

"I was playing, I'm not mad or anything," she ensured. Scorpius Malfoy, confused? That made her want to laugh, but she figured that he wouldn't like that if she did. You always have to be careful around a Malfoy, her dad has once told her. After, her mum flicked his forehead, saying that Astoria Malfoy was one of the nicest woman she's ever met and Draco Malfoy was nice once you got to know him. And Scorpius, little did he know, her mother gushed about him often, saying how genuine he was and how he was the best example of how Rose's generation had really changed from her parents' generation. What she had heard from Albus about Scorpius was everything but what her mum said. As she introduced the rest of the group, she realized how excited she was to get to judge him for herself now.

To his surprise, Scorpius had had a nice time with Rose, laughing and talking with her for most of the train ride. She was everything Minister Granger had said about her, nice, open, positive, clever, smart, and a little quirky, to name a few. He still had his suspicions, since it was almost weird how nice she was to him, but he decided to ignore that for the time being, figuring he should be open too. The best part was, he didn't have to say a word to Albus.

"You want to sit with us for dinner tonight?" Rose asked him as they walked off the train. Scorpius was stunned. He had only talked to her for a few hours and she wanted him to join her group? Also, Scorpius knew, Rose and her friends were one of the most popular groups in school.

"S-sure?" he stammered, knowing that what he said sounded more like a question than an answer. Rose laughed.

"Bring your friends, if you don't feel completely comfortable with us."

"Why are you asking me?" Scorpius said, and then bit his tongue. "Sorry, that's not what I meant. At all. I mean, we've only talked for two hours and suddenly you want me to eat with you?" He quirked an eyebrow at her out of habit.

"Why?" She turned her eyes from the train station to him. "I have three reasons. One: Scorpius Malfoy, you seem nice enough that I think we can be friends. Two: I think we should all join and all be friends, Malfoy's, Zabini's, Potters, Longbottom's, Weasley- Granger's, etc. I'm sick of this awkwardness even after all of these years, There's a reason they call us the New Generation. And three: Because I said so, and no boy would be stupid enough to say no to me. I can't believe I'm doing this, but obviously since you're still unconvinced of my true intentions…" Scorpius saw Rose reach for something, a paperclip, out of her robe and dropped down on one knee, in front of the entrance to Hogwarts. He felt some blood rushing to his face, and Rose looked at him, amused. She had fashioned the paper clip into a ring.

"Scorpius Hyperion, don't ask me how I know your middle name, Malfoy, will you make me the happiest girl in the world and have you and your friends kindly join me to have dinner?" A group of students from all years had crowded around them, awaiting his answer. If he said yes, the two most popular groups in school would join together as one. That didn't seem very important, but it also meant he would dissolve the last of house and blood prejudice, something that was unimaginable to many people.

"Yes, I accept." The courtyard erupted into deafening cheers. Apparently the other students knew what that meant too. Cameras flashed as Rose put the ring on his thumb.

"My thumb?" he said, glancing down at his ring.

"You other fingers are kind of small, and I figured the ring might only fit on your thumb. If it make you feel better, I can adjust it at dinner to fit your ring finger, you highness."

"I would feel so much better if you did. By the way, I have a question."

"Yes?"

Scorpius prepared to raise his voice.

"Does anybody have any objections? If so, please speak now."

Nobody spoke, and the duo contently walked off into the Great Hall.

"I don't want to move!" Francesca Chang, a Ravenclaw Seventh Year, complained from her spot on the table. It had been ten minutes and she was the last of Scorpius' friends to get up. Rose and her entourage were starting to stare at them. Chesca stubbornly sat there while Scorpius and Liam were trying to persuade her to stand. Carly, Damien Jordan, and Ethan Nott had already left to snag a good spot at their new table.

"They're not going to curse you or anything, I'm sure they don't bite," Connor Wood, one of the Hufflepuff Head Boys, protested rationally. Besides Liam, Connor was known as the second most logical person in the group, partly because he was a year older than Scorpius and some of his other friends. The only reason why he stayed, Scorpius knew, was because everyone liked him, even Chesca, who was known to be sometimes hostile towards boys.

"I agree with Connor, Chesca, you have to get up. They're no scarier than we are," Camryn Finnigan, Chesca's best friend and also a Hufflepuff, reasoned. If Scorpius could, he would have left Chesca sit here all by herself and eat dinner on her own, but he knew how cruel it was to leave anybody behind.

"Chesca, I'm going to have to drag you over there if you don't come, and I will make sure Camryn and Connor help me. I really don't want you to eat alone, what would Headmistress McGonagall think?" Scorpius asked her. As a Prefect himself, he knew that authority is what scared students the most, including his friends.

Chesca huffed, and then finally stood up, glaring at the threesome before stomping off to Rose's table.

"That's the last of them, yeah?" Camryn asked, and Scorpius nodded.

"Wow, that girl can sure be stubborn!" Connor said and bumped Scorpius on the shoulder. He agreed and bumped him back.

"Totally, but at least everyone has successfully been moved. We're going to get really bad spots for the Sorting Ceremony though," Scorpius realized. To his left, Camryn broke into a dash, yelling,

"Race you!"

Connor nodded in mock disgrace and started to walk faster. "I can't believe she's in my house. I'm deeply ashamed of her. If she wasn't a Hufflepuff I would have already taken off points. But… it is the first day and I guess it wouldn't be a problem," Scorpius suddenly found Connor five feet in front of him, "I get a head start since I'm older!" he screamed, running across the Great Hall. Scorpius was well on his heels in seconds, and the two of them banged on their destination, their new table, at the same time. Albus' butterbeer cup shook from the impact and butterbeer went splattering all over the table.

"You spilled butterbeer all over my new robes!" he accused angrily, and Connor and Scorpius exchanged amused looks with a knowing Camryn. Liam looked over from his spot of the table with Ethan and Chesca.

"You must be forgetting we're witches and wizards, you weirdo," Carly, whose was sitting next to him, reminded him, easily fixing his robes with a flick of his wand. Albus slumped a little in his seat, obviously embarrassed.

"Scorpius!" Rose called out to him, waving her hand from the end of the table.

"Are you guys dating?" Connor asked into Scorpius', before laughing and walking off to the other end with Camryn at his side.

"I'm going to curse you into oblivion!" he said after him, and even though Connor's back was turned, he could imagine him smiling. He was lucky to be close friends with Connor. Sure, he wasn't as good friends with his as he was with Liam, but he came close.

Taking his seat across from Rose, she stared at him.

"Yes?" he looked back at her. For some reason, he was forgetting how to talk. Eye contact! He wanted to play with his ring, but that was rude and he didn't want to offend her. He didn't want to screw up with her now, with his father looming over him like a dark cloud, but everything he did around her made him feel like he was wandering deeper into the woods.

"You did it. I can't believe it."

He nodded, not really knowing what else to do. "Yeah, I did. But you should have seen Chesca, she wouldn't move for the longest time!"

"Oh, Chesca Chang? That girl is just crazy. She hates anybody that gets close to Ethan. They're not dating either; everyone must know at this point that she likes him!" She stuffed a dinner roll in her mouth, chewed for a while, and then swallowed.

"Sorry, do Malfoy's not eat?" she examined his empty plate.

"No, we do." He couldn't believe Rose was still hungry after all of the candy Carly had bought for everybody on the train. He had four chocolate frogs, and they were huge. He had given the fifth one back to Carly while trying not to make it obvious he was clutching his stomach.

"Eat something!" she commanded, throwing another bread roll at him. He opened his mouth to reply, but instead the roll came in instead of words coming out. He gingerly swallowed the portion of the bread in his mouth.

Rose sank from his view, and little bangs shook the table, followed by her hysteric laughing. He looked underneath the table, to see her banging her fists on the bench.

"Hello, students!" A loud voice boomed, and Rose instantly sat up, suddenly sobered. Headmistress McGonagall stood at the podium. She started to give her standard speech, the one she gave every year on the first day, and the Sorting Ceremony began.

As names were called up, Scorpius slid his ring across the table. Rose picked it up and looked at him, not sure what to do with it. Making twisting motions with his hands, he then pointed to his ring finger.

"Can you adjust it to my ring finger?" he mouthed. He really didn't need it fixed, but knowing Rose, a Weasley- Granger, would have little to no patience for sitting through the Ceremony, she needed something to do. If anything, Malfoy's knew the virtue of patience. He wanted to make his father happy, and he was determined to be friends with Rose, no matter how long it took.

The next chapter is going to be from Rose's P.O.V., as the second generation attend their classes. Stay tuned!