A/N: Here it is! Sorry for the wait; I lacked a little inspiration for this chapter. There was no big scene or point that was needed, and you could say I had a bit of a mental block about what to include. Question to my readers - do they sound like 12 year olds? I'm afrsid I'm making them act older, but I just don't know. By the way, I wrote about half this chapter on my phone; I'm sorry if there are any mistakes, but please let me know (pm or review) if you find any big ones.

September 1, 2018

"I can't believe I'm a seventh year!" Molly said as we pulled into the station. Both Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey hadn't been able to get off work, so Mum and had picked Molly up to take her to the station.

"How about the fact that Vic won't be in school with us…." I said. "I'm going to miss her terribly," I said.

"She and Teddy are so happy, though," Molly said blissfully. "Man, I wish I could find a guy to make me that happy!"

"What about Ryan Wood?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Molly, you like Katie and Oliver's son?" Mum said from the front seat.

"NO, Aunt Hermione," Molly said through clenched teeth. "I've told Rosie a hundred times, it'd never work between the two of us. Besides, he's been dating that Johanna girl since fourth year. There's no way he'd pick plain me over sexy Johanna"

"Molly, you're very pretty…" Mum said.

"No I'm not. I'm fat, and I've got this pasty skin, and…" Molly sighed. "It's never going to happen."

"Molls, you're not fat," I said. "Okay, sure, you were a little chubby when you were little, but you have a great body now. As for your skin, at least you can tan. You got that gene from your mum. I roast in the sun. It's just red, and then peals back to white."

"Rosie…" Molly said.

"What? You're beautiful. I've got this bushy red hair, thanks Mum, and you have such sleek auburn hair," I said. Molly flushed.

"You're so pretty, too, Rosie."

By this time we'd just about reached the station. Mum pulled into the crowded parking lot, carefully maneuvering it to an empty space.

"Come on, girls, we're running a bit late…" Mum said as we got out of the car and grabbed our trunks.

We quickly hurried to the station, Molly and I dragging our trunks behind us. Molly had an owl, Martha, which had been a gift from her parents when she became a Prefect. Now that she was Head Girl (talk about following in your parents' footsteps) Molly had gotten a turtle, too. Hugo was going to be taking care of the turtle during the school year, though because the rules didn't allow turtles at school.

I had my trunk and brand-new kitten, Mischief, on my trolley, and several little Muggle girls stopped me to look at Miss.

"Rosie, darling, we need to go or you'll miss the train…" Mum said, hurrying in front of me with Molly.

"I'm coming, Mum!" I said, steering my trolley away from the Muggles and over to the barrier. As casually as possible, I leaned against it and slowly slid across to Platform 9 ¾.

"Rose!" Al said, rushing over from Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry. "James, Fred, Roxie, Lys, and Lorcan are already on the train in a compartment. I was told to wait for you."

"Are Di and Bridge here?" I asked. I really would rather sit with them… Dianne Thomas and Bridget Finnigan, were my best friends at Hogwarts, and Liam Finnigan was friends with Al.

"Yeah, I saw them…" Albus said. "But James really wants us in with them."

"James wants us?"

"Well… They all want us, but James told me I had to sit there or they'll prank us."

"Of course," I said, rolling my eyes. "That's your brother for you."

"C'mon, Rosie. It's just for one little train trip," Al pleaded.

"I'm not going to say no," I said, grabbing Mischief's cage. "Grab my trunk and let's get on the bloody train."

Albus did as I said, and soon enough we were in the crowded compartment with James, Fred, Roxie, Lysander and Lorcan.

"Hey, Lor, you ready for your first year?" I asked.

"Yes, Rose, I'm quite excited," he replied dully. Once again I found myself wondering if Lorcan was for real. He had a lot of his mother and grandfather's dreamy, kooky qualities.

"Finally," James said before I could reply to Lorcan.

"Finally what?" Albus asked.

"You're finally here," James said. "Now we can get to planning."

"I'm not helping you prank," I said plainly.

"You're no fun, just like Aunt Hermione was…" Roxanne complained.

"I'm fun!" I protested. "I just don't like getting into trouble."

"You only get into trouble if you get caught," Olivia Wood said as she entered our compartment. Albus seemed to get grumpier as she entered. For some reason, he and Olivia couldn't stand each other.

"I don't care; I don't like playing with the line for no reason," I replied. Olivia rolled her eyes at me.

"Don't you go picking on Rosie!" Albus told Olivia.

"I wasn't going to," she replied snottily.

"Sure you weren't," Albus said.

"Whatever. James, does your puerile little brother really have to plan the prank with us? He's obviously to juvenile to be of any help," Olivia said, groaning slightly.

"I'm the puerile one!?" Al protested. "Are you guys hearing her? Are you seriously for real?"

"Albus, get out," James said, shoving his standing brother. "You're the git here; Liv's my best mate."

"The irony!" Albus said as he stormed down the hall. I rolled my eyes and followed. He was muttering under his breath when I caught up to him.

"Al?" I said carefully.

"The ass! I'm the git? I'm the childish one? She was the one making fun of us! She always starts it!"

"Albus," I said a little harsher. "Calm your nuts. Let's go find Di, Bridget, and Liam." Al continued to mutter the rest of the way to our friends' compartment.

"Oh my gosh!" Dianne Thomas said, sliding open the door. "If it isn't our two favorite famous kids!"

Bridget Finnigan's head popped up over her shoulder. "Rose! You're hair looks so much redder than I remember!" she squealed. Through the window I saw Liam wave at us.

"Can we please be let in to sit?" Albus asked, still sounding quite irritated.

"What's got his knickers in a knot?" Di asked me as we entered the compartment.

"James and Olivia," I said plainly. Bridget nodded.

"Sometimes that girl can be a right bi-" she started to say, before Di cut her off.

"Bri! No swearing, remember?" Di scolded.

"I'll say it for you Bridge," Albus said, before muttering the swear. Dianne looked appalled. Well, we couldn't all have beautiful French mothers that taught us elegance and grace. Sometimes you grew up with swearing gnomes in the back garden.

"But... guys!" Di said.

"What, Di? Don't you have the balls to cuss?" Liam spoke up.

"A lady doesn't swear," she explained.

"A lady don't have balls, either," Albus joked. Dianne scowled.

"They don't talk about private parts, either," Liam said, mocking how she talked. Albus high-fived him.

"Guys, stop..." I said. "Di's got class and high culture. She's cooler than all of us put together."

"Rosie, I'm one of Harry Potter's kids. I'm the coolest one in the bunch," Al said.

"Al, I'm Hermione and Ron Weasley's daughter. I'm the coolest, but I say Di is the classiest."

"Can we please change the subject!" Di said loudly. Bridget chuckled.

"Of course, Di," she said. "So, how 'bout them Cannons?"

"Bridge, the Cannons suck," Liam said.

"So? Didn't Katie Bell start out on the Cannons?" Bridge pointed out. "Before she joined Captain Ginny Weasley on the Harpies." She nodded at Al.

"Well, yeah, but as a whole the Cannons stink up the pitch," Al said.

"Hey, don't go picking on my favorite team!" I said. "Just because your mum was the youngest captain the Harpies ever had doesn't mean that you have to badmouth everyone else!"

"It's the truth, Rose. Just admit it."

"No way," I said, shaking my head. "The Cannons will become the amazing team they once were! It's going to happen..."

"Rose, the team motto is 'Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best' which isn't the most encouraging..." Liam pointed out. Just then there was a knock on our compartment door as it slid open.

"Hey you lot," Axton said, smiling as he inserted himself between Bridget and I. "What are we debating this time."

"Rosie here is a Cannons fan..." Albus said.

"Rose, Cannons suck," Axton said, unknowingly repeating Liam's earlier words. "The Montrose Magpies, however..."

"You support the Magpies? Really?" Bridget questioned.

"Yeah, why?"

"Despite being the most successful team in the League, the Magpies aren't all that great anymore."

"What? We have fans worldwide."

"Come on now," Albus said, shaking his head. "The Harpies are the best team. The end."

"Potter, I have to say you're biased," Axton said, shaking his head.

"You mum was one of the best chasers the club had..." Liam pointed out.

"Still, she doesn't play anymore. There just a good team, and the fact that it's all women is a cool concept."

"Let's all agree to disagree," I said. "Besides, I think we're going to be at school soon. We may want to put on our robes. . ."

"You know, I kind of wish we always rode the boats," Albus said as we rode in the carriage to school.

"I don't know... I almost fell out last year," Liam said.

"How'd you manage that?" Axton asked, only sounding half surprised. In all honesty, I had to admit that it didn't surprise me all that much either. Although he was less accident prone than Uncle Neville, Liam was quite clumsy.

"Well... I honestly think the kid was trying to push me out. He was sorted into Slytherin..." Liam said.

"Come off it, Liam! You were trying to get a look at the giant squid. If that Avery boy didn't grab the back of your robes, you would have fallen in!" Bridget said. Axton chuckled.

"Look! We're almost there!" I said, stopping the oncoming argument.

"It's breathtaking from every angle, isn't it?" Dianne commented. Axton chuckled.

"Maybe to you. To me, it's just school," he said.

"Right, so you've been around places with this kind of architecture all your life then?" Bridge retorted.

"No, but... There was a major bloody battle here twenty years ago. It's kinda hard to romanticize something like that," Axton said with a shrug. Sadly, I had to agree.

"Well there's more to Hogwarts than their deaths," Albus said. "It's where Rose's parents finally got together. It's where our parents met. It's where Hagrid lives, where Dumbledore is buried. There's a wealth of emotion here."

"That's deep," Liam said, and just like that the conversation jumped topics.

"Sasha!" I said, giving the girl a huge hug as I entered our dorm later that night. "Oh-my-gosh, how are you?"

"I'm okay. Mum finally left Dad over the summer, and yeah." Sasha said, blushing slightly.

"That's great!" Bridget said, coming over and giving her a little hug. "At least you're both safe now..."

"Hopefully..." Sasha muttered.

As I fell asleep that night, I couldn't help but wish for another great year here at my home away from home.