Within a split second, Albus made it through to the platform, surrounded by chaos of Hogwarts students and families saying good-bye for the term. Albus surveyed the area looking for a cluster of redheads.
"Al!" cried out Scorpius, waving him down. "Over here!" Albus pushed his cart over to where Scorpius stood and once they were together, they walked over to the rest of the family. Scorpius were able to see the Granger-Weasley family by noticing Hattie sitting on Ron's shoulders.
" 'Spius!" cried Hattie, waving her little hand.
"Hey, sprog!" shouted Scorpius, waving back.
"There you are!" huffed Rose, as Scorpius purposely bumped into her cart. "Honestly, you're acting like a second-year!" Just then, the whistle from Hogwarts Express blew, meaning that the students had to board soon.
"Right, go give your sister and brother a cuddle, bug," said Ron, placing Hattie down from her shoulders and directing her towards Hugo.
"Let us know when you've settled in," said Hermione, hugging Rose.
"Yes, Mum," said Rose and Hugo.
"And that goes for you too, Scorpius," said Hermione, hugging Scorpius as well. "Please let me know when you've settled in." Although this gesture surprised Scorpius, it was nevertheless welcomed by him as he was secretly envious of the other students whose parents were around to send them off.
"I will, Ms. Granger," said Scorpius.
The second whistle went off and now the students had to get on the train. Hermione hugged Hugo against his grumblings while Rose picked up Hattie, leaving Scorpius and Ron to awkwardly stand on the platform.
"Um," said Ron, reaching his hand out to shake Scorpius's hand. "Good luck, mate."
"Thanks," said Scorpius, shaking his hand. Just then, Rose suddenly jumped in and enveloped her father into a hug, catching Ron by surprise and slightly losing his balance. However, hugs from his oldest were rare and few these days.
"Have a good year, love," said Ron, as he returned the embrace.
"C'mon, we're going to miss the train!" said Hugo, as he picked up his stuff and quickly hopped on the train. Scorpius and Rose gave their final farewells and followed Hugo onto the train. The train's final whistle went off and Ron could see the three teenagers make their way to a comportment to wave at the family. Another year had officially started for everyone. The fact that Rose's last year was only a year away made Ron sentimental about the past when she was younger. At that thought, Ron felt his eyes well up slightly at the sight of his children growing up.
"Ron," asked Hermione, as she held an enthralled Hattie. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, love," said Ron. "Just, smoke in m'eyes."
"Ah," said Hermione, knowing he was lying but going along with it.
Rose, Scorpius, and Al sat in a comportment on the train, eating sweets and chatting about the upcoming school year. Al managed to find Rose and Scorpius in the comportment while Hugo went off to find his best friend Finn
"So, Mr. Prefect, how are you going to handle being second-string to Kyra Killjoy?" asked Scorpius, popping a lemon sherbet in his mouth.
"He's not second string to Kyra," retorted Rose. "If anything, Al's responsibilities have increased this past year since Kyra is totally irresponsible!"
"Thanks for reminding me of how much work I have to do during school," groaned Albus.
"Oh, stop whinging, Al," said Rose, slightly kicking him. "You know you can do it."
"Well, speaking of second string," said Al, grabbing some marshmallows. "Are you going to be second in the class again, Scorpius?"
"Really, Al?" sighed Rose. "This again? Scorpius doesn't care about his rank."
"Says who?" scuffed Scorpius. "I've been trying to be first in the class since second year."
"It's not that big of a deal," said Rose, rolling her eyes.
"Easy for you to say, Miss First-In-Our-Class," said Al.
"Oh, shut up!" said Rose, throwing an empty Chocolate Frog box at Al, as he and Scorpius started to laugh.
"Knock, knock!" boomed a voice that made Al, Rose, and Scorpius suddenly turn their heads to the door. Standing outside of the door was Troy Charmer, co-captain of the Quidditch team with his relatively charming looks of perfectly coiffed hair and blue eyes with long eyelashes. Next to him was Kyra Ballington, Al's co-Prefect with straight blonde hair and a sculpted nose; Stanley Steward, a boy with flappy ears and freckles bursting on his cheeks; and Bruno Tugg, whose beady eyes appeared to be encased by his face. The four seventh-year Gryffindors hated Scorpius for being a Malfoy, Al for being a Potter, and Rose for being a Weasley.
"I say, did we interrupt a snogging fest between you lot?" asked Stanley, receiving an encouraging nudge from Troy.
"You know that's illegal to do it with your cousin, don't you Rosie?" asked Kyra.
"What are you doing here?" asked Scorpius, annoyed by their presence.
"Actually, I'm doing my job and patrolling the carriages," said Kyra, looking directly at Al. "Why aren't you, Al?"
"Because it's not my shift yet," said Al. "We have specific times for that, Kyra."
"Oh? Did you hear that, Kyra?" asked Troy. "Apparently Potter doesn't take his Prefect duties seriously!"
"What a shame," said Kyra. "Al's been stuffing his face with lollies, while I've been patrolling for the past hour."
"I'm pretty sure you just forgot how to read a clock, Kyra," retorted Al, resulting in Scorpius snorting with laughter.
"What's so funny, Blondie?" asked Bruno.
"Al's joke," said Scorpius "I laughed."
"You know what else is a joke?" asked Troy. "The Ministry protecting your snake scum of a family."
"Watch it, Troy!" said Rose, jumping up from her sit to attack. Scorpius had to keep his laughter to himself when he saw Troy step behind Stanley and Bruno while Al held Rose back.
"Your snake-loving family should watch it," threatened Tory.
"You need to leave, all of you," said Al firmly..
"Or what, Potter?" asked Bruno, getting in Al's face.
"Nevermind, Bruno," said Troy, pulling him back. "This train is too small. Wait 'til we get to school where there will be more space." With that, Bruno walked back and the gang walked away, with Troy flipping them off as he left.
"Merlin's beard I hate that lot," said Rose. "Why does Jay even like him?"
"Jay can't see past the charisma," said Al, referring to his brother James.
"What charisma," snorted Scorpius.
"And Troy is not afraid to kiss his arse," added Al.
"Al, that's a horrid thing to say!" said Rose, surprised by Al's statement.
Unlike Al, whose only friends were Rose and Scorpius, James was friends with practically everyone. James and Troy were best friends in their first year and remained friendly with each other. despite the change in friends. None of the other Weasleys and Potters like Troy because they saw him as nothing more than a bully and coward. For some reason, James was willing to look past these flaws, which bothered Troy's primary victims, Rose and Albus.
"Scorpius?" asked Rose. "Are you okay?" Scorpius remained sitting with a solemn look on his face and his hands balled up.
"Yeah," he said, softly with no conviction.
"Rose, don't," said Al, as Rose was about to say something.
"I'm trying to help, Al!" whispered Rose.
"He'll be fine, Rosie, please," said Al. "Just leave him."
Rose sighed as she leaned her head against the window. At a glance, she knew Scorpius was tense based on his eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. Taking a deep breath, Rose tried to forget the unpleasant encounter. It always bothered Rose when people made assumptions about Scorpius before getting to know him. Part of that was due to her own experience judging Scorpius at first due to his name before getting to know him. When she looked over at Scorpius again, she tried to hide her smile, thinking about how dull her life would be without him.