APOV
"Move it Lou!"
"Rosie stop pushing!"
"You stop!"
My favorite cousins were still fighting for space by the steamy windows of our compartment when i took my seat beside them. They were waving and shouting their goodbyes only to have their calls drowned out by the strident scream of the train's whistle.
"See Lou, you made me miss them!"
"Me? You're mental Rosie! Its clearly your fault!"
Across from us my trollish brother James had already settled in. He'd somehow managed to start a wild wrestling match with Connor Finnegan that threatened to spill over onto our side of the compartment. 'They were all so… normal' I thought to myself as I watched the scene from a far away place in my mind.
As the train pulled free of the station, I couldn't help but resent how easy it was for everyone to break into conversation. It was all i could do to sit staring worriedly off into space, actively hating how effortless normalcy was for them. My thoughts wandered elsewhere when James' laughter shattered my daydreams and brought my focus back to earth. I happened to peer absently into the hallway just as an unmistakable coiffed head of blond hair strode quickly by.
"Hey Scor! Why don't you join us!" I belted into the corridor, glad for the distraction from my family that my new friend would provide. How much of my life might have been different had I simply let him walk past without saying anything?
A nervous Scorpius came back into view, breaking into a radiant smile as soon as he realized who had called out to him. There was something pleasantly remarkable about his smile. My initial impression of the blond had been that he rarely ever lost control of his composure.
The few times i'd actually seen him smile, they had almost exclusively been fake. A sort of upper class mask designed to hide his boredom and disinterest.
Scor was about to enter the compartment when he froze cautiously at its entrance. He was eyeing the other occupants inside with such fearful skepticism that I thought he might turn around and run at any moment.
SPOV
"Hey twerp, what did you just call him? How on earth do you know the evil Malfoy spawn?" Albus's brother asked, shifting a suspicious eye disdainfully back and forth between me and Al. His rudeness had been overwhelming. How strange that they were brothers. They seemed nothing alike.
"Quiet Jamie, speech is for the more evolved members of society. Don't mind my idiot brother, just come in."
I had to smile at Al's dismissiveness. He hadn't so much as glanced at James while waving him off. I was about to enter the cramped compartment as Albus had insisted, when 'James' continued his brash rudeness.
"I'm sorr—but you are not inviting this snake in here with us!"
"Fine then, If you are going to be a royal prat to my friend, we'll just have to find our own compartment. Rosie, Lou, I'll catch you both up a little later yeah?" Albus shot angrily in a flurry of rushed movement. No one had ever stood up for me the way he had just done. I was surprised that Al would dismiss his family so quickly to come to a Malfoy's defense.
I suddenly remembered why had I missed the green eyed boy so much. Summer had been dreadfully boring and it was mostly comprised of the memory of our weird meeting in the department of Mysteries. Stranger still was the letter i'd received from my enigmatic new friend. The neatly scripted parchment explained that Al had indeed decided to come to Hogwarts after all. Father was confounded when I'd snatched the envelop with the Potters seal right from under his twitching eyes. "That one's for me Father."
He always had involuntary tics that told me he had recently been dealing with a Potter or Weasley for work.
"What's your damned problem Al!" James barked, grabbing his brothers slender arm as though to detain him. "I knew you were already gearing up to be a sneaky little Slytherin, but hanging around a Malfoy! Do you have any idea how many kinds of sick that is?"
I was about to retort with a witty insult when Albus surprised me by continuing to defend me.
"—First of all." he began, removing his brother's hand theatrically as though it were a dirty dish rag that he had come into contact with by mistake. "His name is Scorpius, you uncivilized troll. Second, even if he were remotely as malign as you make him out to be, his last name isn't a disease. I'm not simply going to catch evil from talking to him for the length of the train ride, halfwit. Third, he is actually already my friend and a good deal better company than you, you obnoxious, ill mannered, garden gnome."
It was hilarious how quick Al's tongue had danced circles around his brother. This time Al had grabbed my arm in preparation to leave, although much more delicately than had his brother.
"Rosie, I had this spell I wanted to run by you later. Come find me when you get a minute." With those last words to his bewildered cousins, Al all but dragged me from the room.
I had to admit that for an eleven year old Weasley-Potter, Albus certainly was already as easy with insults as any well cultured (or ill cultured) pureblooded adult. As we settled into our newfound compartment that thought had me suddenly worrying that Al might not be so happy about the result of his sorting after all... Slytherin for sure...
APOV
We were beyond lucky to find an empty compartment near the back of the train. I didn't want anyone else giving us trouble and had hoped secretly that I might have some time alone with him anyway. We deposited our fancy suitcases delicately above our seats, settling in to stare across at one another. A smile erupted along both of our faces.
"Sorry about my brother Scor... He can be a git. I wouldn't pay any attention to him if i were you. I certainly never do."
"Are you sure that was wise? I wouldn't want to come between you and your family…" Scorpius started carefully, his smile fading.
"Hey, I am my own person. As much as I love my family I don't let them dictate to me the course of my life. Besides I was hoping to run into you. Well I mean… I wasn't sure how the incident affected you over the summer... and I… erm… wanted to make sure you were ok. I would have written to you again... but I doubt either of our parents would have liked the idea of that… and you know… they would have asked how we knew each other." I felt ridiculous for my bumbling speech. I couldn't control my incessant chatter around him.
"Still… thanks all the same. I was also… hoping... for lack of a better word, to run into you too. Father has kept me mostly out of the public eye so you really are one of the only people I know going to Hogwarts aside from my friend Aurora. Or at least that I was actually looking forward to seeing there. I just thought that… well… that once in public you wouldn't want to be seen with a Malfoy."
This Scorpius spoke much too meekly for the charismatic boy I remembered at soirées and dinner parties. The blond had this way of engaging with me. He was much too open for anyone I'd ever imagined being raised in an obscenely rich and old family like the Malfoys. Scorpius had always seemed so measured and in control when speaking to adults. I wondered why he had decided to talk to me so… freely.
"I knew who you were at the DoM and I didn't mind." I countered cheerfully. Scorpius began to protest when I stopped him. "I promise… Even if there had been other people around I wouldn't have acted any differently" At that the blond seemed to relax. His nervousness returned immediately as he struggled to find the right words. I eyed him as he considered an approach to whatever he wanted to say, my confusion and curiosity growing by the second.
"I never got a chance to tell you… If anyone had ever hurt my sister the way you described... well I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing you did." Scorpius blurted awkwardly. "I don't think that makes you evil or anything remotely akin to it…"
Now I understood why he felt so free around me. I guess trusting him with my secret, was what had gotten him to open up as well. I wasn't sure how I felt about him knowing that story. That I had lit another child on fire had been a horrible chapter in my memory. My family had gone to extreme lengths to cover up the scandal. An unknown impulse had caused me to share the tale with him in the ministry. I would never have told that to anyone else. Certainly never to a stranger. There was no way the fountain wasn't responsible for it.
"Thanks..." I offered back simply, not knowing what else to say to him. There had always been a distance between myself and the rest of the children my age. I had always felt alien, isolated, alone. I must have known that day, from the way he stared into the fountain, that he was just like me. He was special... or... different... depending on your point of view.
"You know, we're much too serious for children." I started with a smile. "I hope a respectable pureblood wouldn't mind a distracting game of exploding snap with an eleven year old commoner." I smirked, withdrawing a colorful box from my bag.
"Certainly Albus, as long as you not pretend that that's even remotely what you are. Marquess Peverell is it?"
