Scorpius, Rose, and Albus were in the Great Hall eating their school dinner while preparing for their afternoon Divination lesson.
"Rose, have you even touched your jacket potato?" asked Scorpius, concerned that Rose was focusing more on her books that on her appetite.
"Honestly, who cares about birds!" huffed Rose, slamming her book shut so loudly that others around the table jumped. "Who cares about Ornithomancy? They're just winged rats!"
"I do!" protested Al. "My patronus is a crane, so I quite like birds!"
"Hello, nerds!" said a cheerful familiar voice belonging to James Potter.
"What do you want, Jay?" groaned Al.
"Well, hello to you too, brother," said James, patting Al's shoulder. "I just wanted to congratulate Rosie on becoming a big sister again."
"Thank you, Jay," said Rose. Rose was taken by surprise when her mother had facetimed to tell her and Hugo about the pregnancy. Needless to say, Rose didn't know very many kids who were sixteen going on seventeen with mothers expecting a baby. However, once the shock of it had worn off, both Rose and Hugo were over the moon at the prospect of a new sibling. Moreover, both were excited at the notion that perhaps they will have a little brother this time around.
"What are you reading, Rosie?" asked James.
"Divinations," said Rose, who had the same disdain for the class as her mother.
"Yeah, that stuff is rubbish," said James. "I can't believe you're still actually studying for those exams. You can literally write anything that sounds half-decent and Trelawney will give you an acceptable grade."
"Some of us still care about our classes, Jay," retorted Al, who had reached his maximum tolerance level for his brother.
"Jeez, Al, did something bite you in the arse this morning?" said James, take back by his brother's cold tone.
"They're both a bit stressed out about Divinations," said Scorpius, trying to diffuse the tension. "I've had to deal with this all morning."
"Well, better you than me, Malfoy," said James. "I guess I'll let you nerds get back to work, then. I'll see you on the Quidditch rounds later, Malfoy."
"Cheers," said Scorpius, who awkwardly saluted back at James.
"What is your problem, Al?" countered Rose, after James had gone a few feet away from them. "He was actually being nice!"
"Whatever," mumbled Al, clearly in a foul mood. Before Rose could press him even more, Scorpius cleared his throat to get her attention. When Rose looked towards Scorpius, he nodded his head which Rose understood to mean that she should leave Albus alone for now. With a heavy sigh, Rose went back to studying her lessons.
Meanwhile, Al continued to stew among his negative thoughts and memories regarding his brother. Unlike Al, who was quiet and awkward, James was gregarious and easy to get along with. Whereas Al was uncomfortable with the attention he received for being Harry Potter's second son, James relinquished in being the eldest child. James never missed an opportunity to mention his famous father. It didn't help that James managed to use his charm to squeak by in his classes and win over professors, unlike Al who took his lessons seriously and had to work to get noticed in his classes. What annoyed Al even more was other Gryffindor students relied on James for advice, despite Al being a prefect.
When Al entered Hogwarts, James had already made a great impression amongst the Gryffindor students, which only made Al an easy target for bullies as being the shy and sullen Potter brother. Because James only saw the good in people, it made it difficult for Al to depend on his brother to defend him, especially since the bullies tended to be other Gryffindor students. If Al didn't have Rose and Scorpius at his side, Al's life at Hogwarts would be more miserable.
"Ready to go, Al?" asked Scorpius, as he and Rose packed up their books to head to class.
"Yeah," said Al, still in a fog of his own thoughts. "Sorry about that earlier."
"It's fine," said Rose, reassuring her cousin. Rose was aware of the tension between James and Al, mainly because she saw it going up at family gatherings. Her parents were the closest to her Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, so Rose spent a lot of her time with James and Albus when she was little. Before they were primary school age, James was known for trying to get a reaction out of Albus, whether that was wrestling or chasing him or trying to take a toy away from Al. Often times, Rose would have to interfere at a young age in defense of Al. As they grew older, sometimes James and Al would engage in verbal jousting, often with the timid Al feeling defeated by the more confident James.
Unlike Al, Rose recognized that James really did love Al. She just wished that James wouldn't be so thick and see that Al needed an extra boost of confidence from him. As they left the Great Hall, Rose knew she had to leave behind the drama of the school dinner and focus on the idiotic bird assignment that laid ahead.