"Dad, how does your driving get worse the longer you drive? Aren't you meant to improve?" grumbled Hugo, looking pale after the less than comfortable drive to London Kings' Cross.
"I think the drive was perfect, Ron," countered Mum and accompanied that with a kiss on the cheek, making Dad blush bright red. I would probably find it cute that 21 years into marriage they were still so madly in love with each other if I wasn't their daughter. Nonetheless, they were my parents so I grimaced at their display of affection and Hugo mimicked throwing up.
"Take care of yourselves you two, don't get into too much trouble," chuckled Dad, directing the last sentence more towards Hugo than myself, who responded with an innocent looking smile. His pranks could be, well, interesting. He was lovely, but if you messed with someone he cared about you would not leave the year without having been publicly humiliated- it was a known fact. I still remember when Gregory Brown cheated on one of his closest friends, Azalea Longbottom, last year and Hugo decided the appropriate way to react would be to make his manhood a bright pink colour for 3 months. Brown tried everything to remove the colour, including going to the Hospital Wing, but Hugo's colour change was fool proof. I still suspect George Weasley worked on it with him; he was always fond of the Longbottom's youngest. Hugo got 2 months' worth of detentions because he point-black refused to give them any information about how to remove the colour, only saying it was harmless and temporary so they wouldn't suspend him. Let's just say that put many girls off Brown, even after the charm wore off. He hadn't forgiven Hugo since- not that Hugo cared.
"They shouldn't be getting into any trouble, I'm still surprised that you even became prefect Hugo and you'd better not lose it," scowled Mum. Hugo scoffed.
"Thanks for your kind words," he replied, sarcasm dripping from his words. Dad ruffled my hair, and I grinned at him.
"It's your last year, Rosie- enjoy it," advised Mum and I smiled back at her.
"Oh, so Rose gets a nice goodbye, it's just me who gets the cruel words. I'll just forever be the overlooked child," moaned Hugo melodramatically and I laughed at his acts. Mum rolled her eyes but pulled him into a tight hug regardless. "Mum, get off me," mumbled Hugo, noticing some fourth years looking over at us.
"Oh, I see how it is, you won't hug your mother because you're too cool for her," sniffed Mum. "You clearly don't need me anymore."
"No, Mum it's just-" began Hugo, hesitantly trying to comfort a quietly sobbing Mum, trying to avoid attracting attention as more people began to look towards us. Mum then stopped her sobs immediately and whacked Hugo on the back of the head with her hand. "Ouch!" exclaimed Hugo, rubbing the back of his forehand, disgruntled. "What was that for?"
"To show you what it's like having to deal with you being a drama queen," muttered Mum, head held up high. Dad let out a snort and Hugo shot him a glare for taking Mum's side.
"It's okay, Hugo, I'll take you away from these mean people," I comforted mockingly.
"Thanks Rosie, I knew I could always rely on you," sniffed Hugo, and I took him in my arms- slightly difficult considering he was half a foot taller than me- and we walked off, waving to our parents behind us. As we approached the train, I spotted Lily and Albus walking in the same direction. A quick glance behind showed me Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny had approached my parents and they were deep in chatter. Lily and I shared a smile before Hugo struck up conversation with her. They were both immersed in updating each other on recent happenings, particularly some news about Azalea getting a new boyfriend which Hugo didn't seem too impressed with. I wouldn't normally mind them both ignoring me, if it wasn't for leaving Albus and me in an uncomfortable silence. He quickly strode past me, both of us avoiding eye contact.
Albus and I had an interesting history. We were friends growing up. I was a little distant because of my illness and him not knowing about it, but despite that we got along well. As I began to understand and tackle my illness more, I started to consider telling Albus. My family weren't going to be at Hogwarts and I needed someone who knew. Albus was reliable and caring, albeit a little hot-headed, and was going to be in my year- it made perfect sense. By the 1st of September, I had decided I was definitely going to tell him no matter how nervous I was. I walked down the train, looking in different carriages to try and find him. Would he hate me for not telling him before? Would he find me strange and not want to talk to me anymore? Questions streamed through my head before I eventually found him. I expected him to be alone but he was sitting chatting to a blonde-haired boy who my Dad had said was Scorpius Malfoy. Dad had told me to beat him in every test- I wasn't really sure why but I assumed he didn't like the boy much. I was slightly annoyed Albus wasn't alone to talk to, but I was sure if I asked he'd come out for a chat. I was wrong.
"Hi Albus, do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?" I asked politely, opening the carriage door.
"Sure, what's up?" he responded, barely paying attention and still engrossed in showing Scorpius his Chocolate Frog card collection.
"Can I talk to you alone?" I muttered, Scorpius looking at me with prying eyes.
"Well, no. I'm with Scorpius right now," he snapped. My mouth dropped open and Scorpius himself looked surprised at Albus' reaction.
"I just… it's something important," I said, quieter now.
"Couldn't you have told me last week at the family meet if it was so important?" asked Albus.
"I didn't know I was going to tell you this thing then," I snapped back, getting frustrated with his sass when I had spent so long trying to build up the courage to tell him about the illness.
"Well, I'm not just here at your mercy for you to tell me things when you please. I'm busy, tell me later," said Albus, dismissively. Scorpius was looking between us silently with wide eyes.
"Albus- it's important," I snarled. I understood he was with a new friend, but as my cousin he should have had the decency to come out if I said it was important.
"No," retorted Albus, simply.
"Albus, you can go, honestly-" began Scorpius, before he was interrupted by Albus.
"No, Scor. She needs to learn that she can't always demand to get what she wants when she feels like it. She doesn't have a clue what its like to have a hard life- not like you, Scor, who's had to deal with so much." I felt tears stinging up in my eyes. I didn't cry at much unless I was having an episode, but the fact he thought I was just a spoilt brat and had no idea what a hard life was like… The irony was cruel. I slammed the door shut as tears began to spill out of my eyes. I hated crying but I felt like my only hope of someone at Hogwarts understanding what I was going through had gone.
"Rose! You forgot your trolley," yelled Scorpius, down the corridor. "Are you okay?"
"Just go to your new best friend, Malfoy, I'm clearly not worth his time anymore," I replied, trying to wipe away my tears so he couldn't see them. I quickly walked away, grabbing my trolley, before he had a chance to respond.
I was snapped out my flashback by a familiar and incredibly welcome voice. "Rose!" exclaimed Sonali, the closest friend I had ever had. After the argument with Albus 6 years ago, I had ran into the nearest carriage, occupied by one first year- Sonali Patil. I was sobbing, she asked me what had happened and I told her everything- from my diagnosis to my argument with Albus. We were both sorted into Ravenclaw and since then we had been inseparable. She had been there for me though every night seizure, every tremor attack or anger episode and was one of the few people I was comfortable depending on. I felt guilty sometimes of how much I burdened her, but she insisted I did as much for her as she did for me.
"Sona!" I grabbed her into a tight hug and we trundled down the train, searching for a carriage. "How have you been, love?"
"You saw me last week, man. Since then the most exciting thing thats happened is my mum gave the lead writer of one of her rival magazine's a product that made the lady's poop go green at this gathering she had," snorted Sonali.
"You could almost say the lady was… green with envy," I quipped. There was a moment of silence between the two of us as Sonali digested the pun.
"Never again," she said, staring me dead in the eye, before we continued scouring the train. I thought it was good.
"Bit hypocritical after your pun whilst we were watching the Quidditch the other day," I retorted. One of the players on the Pakistani Quidditch team (who were playing England) was called Afridi and Sonali yelled 'we aren't Afraid-i of you' at the screen. It still makes me crack up and I could feel the corners of my mouth turn up as I thought of the joke.
"You're thinking of the pun, aren't you?" smirked Sonali.
"Oh shut up," I muttered, still trying to hide my grin, before I noticed Hugo walking in the opposite direction to us with Azalea. "Where you going Hugh?"
"Prefect meeting," answered Hugo. "Come on, you're meant to be the responsible one!" Oh, bugger.
"Don't worry, I'll take your stuff and go to a different carriage, I think I saw Melinda in the next carriage along," assured Sonali, and I mouthed a thank you before dashing off to get to the Prefect's carriage in time. I slid in just before our scheduled meeting time and was surprised to see Scorpius slide in after me- he had never been a Prefect before.
Once I spotted Adam Wood and Halley Finnigan standing at the front, it clicked into place. Adam Wood was the previous Gryffindor prefect and as he was now Head Boy, Scorpius was his 7th year replacement. I already was aware Halley was Head Girl as I had replaced her as 7th year prefect for Ravenclaw. Headmistress McGonagall had asked me at the end of 4th year if I wanted to be Prefect, but I decided I'd rather spend my time pouring over books in the library or a cauldron in the dungeons whilst managing my illness. However, as I grew older so grew my control and this year I was pleasantly surprised to receive the badge.
I was glad Halley of all people got Head Girl. The whole year found me a little strange and avoided me, because as much as I tried to hide my symptoms it became very difficult at times. The few symptoms therefore that let slip to the rest of the year came across as me just being a weird character, hence I became more reserved and it led to people thinking I was even stranger. I could have a civil conversation with most, but my only actual 'friend' per say was Sonali. I shared my dorm with Sonali, Halley, Melinda Howard and Patricia Boot. Halley and Melinda were incredibly kind to me considering what the rest of the school thought of me, so I was very appreciative of them. We bonded over our mutual love of learning- so stereotypically Ravenclaw, I'm aware.
I scanned the room and gave a quick grin to Hugo and Azalea, Hugo shaking his head at my forgetfulness. At least I had an excuse, my brain was literally degrading. Other family members present were Dominique Weasley, acting as Gryffindor's 6th year prefect and Lucy Weasley, acting as Ravenclaw's 5th year prefect. I was always quite fond of Lucy as the only other member of my extended family in Ravenclaw. She was quiet, but incredibly intelligent and sweet. Dominique on the other hand was quite the character; her veela blood made her a force to be reckoned with, but we got along well enough.
"Alright, guys, I'm Adam and this is Halley, my beautiful co-star in this whole Head Boy and Girl thing," introduced Adam, making Halley go bright red. Oh, they were so going to get together, how cliché. Adam was your standard Gryffindor: chivalrous, charismatic with a dash of conceitedness. Halley was a typical Ravenclaw: intelligent, inquisitive with a hint of introvert. Put them both as Head Boy and Girl together and you have a fairytale story.
Excuse me whilst I upchuck at my own thought process.
"So we've already got the rota sorted out based on commitments people informed us of over the holidays. If anything has changed just let us know and we'll see what we can do! We decided to stick with the tradition of patrolling within houses and years," explained Halley. That wasn't too bad. Lysander Scamander was the other 7th year Ravenclaw prefect and apart from being a little nutty at times, he was good company. "It works out for now, but again, if there any problems let us know. So, here is a list of the Hogsmeade dates and other events planned…"
Halley's voice faded out as the room began to spin. My head felt like someone had binded a rope around it and now was pulling it tighter, compressing my skull. The pain and loss of control of my senses reminded me I had forgotten to take one my potions this morning. Luckily, I kept this potion in an empty bottle of pumpkin juice so I could take it in public. I tried scavenging in my bag for it, but my vision was going blurry and it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus with the banging feeling in my forehead. I knew if I didn't find the potion soon I was going to start attracting attention to myself and that would not be a good way to start the year. I suddenly noticed a hand holding my bottle and I quickly took it and drank a sip that amounted to the correct dose. My vision and hearing began coming back to me, but the throbbing feeling was still present- the potion didn't do much for that. I shoved my bottle in my bag and was ready to thank whoever had given me my bottle. Of course I couldn't thank them so much they got suspicious of just why I was so desperate for some pumpkin juice, but I still felt it was right to appreciate them considering the embarrassment they just saved me from.
"Are you okay?" asked the person who had given me the bottle. Those words from that particular voice took me back to that memory of my argument with Albus and I turned to see none other than Scorpius Malfoy. We had exchanged nothing more than the odd greeting since our first year, and that question was probably the longest phrase he had said to me. We had had no need to talk- not the same House, shared very few classes and avoiding Albus had the side effect of avoiding him because of all the time they spent together.
"Yes, thank you, just got a bit thirsty," I muttered, forcing a light chuckle. Scorpius didn't look convinced but turned away nonetheless and I spotted Hugo looking at me concerned. I gave him a glance to assure him I was fine, but he didn't look convinced either. Boys.
"So Rose, how was your holiday?" asked Lysander and I was glad he distracted me from the awkward situation that had just occurred.
"It was good thank you! What about your own holiday? Do anything fun?"
"Yeah, actually. I went on a trip to Egypt to go see the Sphinxes." Sphinxes had the head of a human but the body of a lion and were superbly intelligent beings. There were some domesticated versions that were used for public events, for example Uncle Harry said that there was a Sphinx in the Triwizard Tournament's maze challenge back in 1994, but I had always wanted to see one in it's native habitat. According to some Magizoologists, their riddles and demeanour was almost entirely different when in their home country of Egypt.
"That's incredible! Did you find any?"
"Yes, I did in fact. I also answered a riddle," boasted Lysander, rightfully so. Their riddles were complex and often had terrifying consequences if answered incorrectly.
"With bravery like that, you could be a Gryffindor," I laughed, winking. He upturned his nose at the thought. His twin brother Lorcan was a Gryffindor and they were very close, but completely different personalities and I can imagine Lysander wasn't impressed at the thought of being similar to him.
"No thanks, I'll stick with being in a house with a combined brain cell count of over 10," joked Lysander. I let out a loud snort at that, attracting Adam Wood's attention.
"Are you slating the good house of Godric Gryffindor?" remarked Adam, looking appalled. "Scor, my man, the nerds are slagging us off!"
"Oh, nerds are we?" asked Halley, cocking an eyebrow at her fellow Head Boy. He had the decency to look abashed being confronted by his 'beautiful co-star' so Scorpius decided he had to save his House from being slandered.
"Well, you do all speak like it's the 20th century," contributed Scorpius.
"Speaking in a proper grammatical sentence doesn't make you ancient," I retorted. "It simply means you are intellectual."
"We Gryffies have bravery you'll never have," replied Scorpius.
"We don't need it, because we're too intelligent to get in the stupid situations that you do," I defended.
"You calling us stupid, Weasley?"
"You can use the few brain cells you have to understand what I was implying."
"Well, I think Hufflepuff is the best house," declared Hugo, interrupting me and Scorpius. The carriage turned to look at him and anyone not in Hufflepuff (and potentially a few in Hufflepuff) burst out laughing. "Oh piss off," grumbled Hugo but he didn't seem too caught up about it when Azalea put her arms around his waist and gave him a comforting squeeze.
"Do the Slytherins not want to defend themselves?" smirked Adam.
"Our defence will be us inevitably winning the House Cup at the end of the year," responded a familiar voice. It was Louis Weasley- I must have missed him on my scanning of the carriage. A bit of a dark horse in the family, he was a Slytherin 5th year and was one of the slyest relatives I had. You wouldn't think him and Dominique were related, let alone brother and sister, what with Dom's outspoken nature and Louis' cunning.
The Slytherins cheered at Louis' comment, and Scorpius scowled. "The Cup will be ours."
"Not with how many points Gryffindors lose for being outspoken and pretentious," retorted Lucy. Scorpius looked slightly surprised at being sassed by quiet little Lucy and I gave her an approving grin, which she returned.
"The Quidditch Cup though will definitely be ours this year," insisted Azalea, as a chaser on the Hufflepuff team.
"Pfft, as if Albus will let that happen, we won it last year under his reign and we're going to win it again," said Scorpius.
"Now Sonali's captain of Ravenclaw I wouldn't be so sure of that, she's planning a whole team revamp," I threatened, knowing Sonali wouldn't take her position lightly. She was a keeper and leader of the highest calibre and she would take intense pleasure in beating Albus for the Cup. She was hoping for a Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw final, just so she could lift up the cup right in front of his eyes.
The heated house discussion was interrupted by Professor Longbottom entering the room. "Is everything okay in here?" he asked, looking around suspiciously. "It was getting quite loud."
"Everything's a-okay Prof," answered Adam, who was thoroughly enjoying the debate. "Just some light house rivalry." Light, sure Adam. Professor Longbottom didn't believe him either but left the carriage nonetheless. "Anyways, scatter you lot," ordered Adam. "Just keep an eye out for people causing trouble on the way, other than that, your duties start when the Sorting finishes." Everyone made their way out, aside from me, Scorpius, Adam and Halley. Halley was going to be joining Melinda who was with Sonali so I was waiting for her and I assumed Adam and Scorpius were going to join a carriage with Al and the other Gryffindor 7th years, so Scorpius was waiting for him. "I still think we should have made them all get tattoos," muttered Adam, directed at Halley. She shook her head and I looked at her inquisitively.
"Adam thought we should take a leaf out of the Death Eater's book," began Halley, and Adam looked like he was about to object before she continued. "He said we should all get tattoos and then when we touch them, their tattoo burns and everyone knows they have to come to a meeting. I said it was a stupid idea."
"That's brilliant!" exclaimed Scorpius.
"Yeah, brilliant to you maybe, it's a silly idea," I said, defending Halley.
"Ouch, Weasley. You 'Claws really hurt my feelings sometimes," sniffed Adam, and Halley rolled her eyes.
"Let's go, Rose," she laughed and I followed her out of the carriage accordingly. I couldn't shake the feeling though that a pair of eyes were staring straight at the back of my head as I left. Probably just the potion wearing off.
"This dessert is devine. I hope I don't get one of those stupid tremors now," I whispered to Sonali, putting as much food in my mouth as was possible. The children had been sorted with some eager looking Ravenclaws joining us, we had feasted on splendid mains and were now finishing off with the sweetest of desserts.
"You'll be fine, we can come back and eat dinner in the kitchens if anything does happen, promise," she assured comfortingly. I grinned at her, to which she mock turned her head around in disgust. I could imagine the half-chewed bits of chocolate cake visible were not a lovely sight, but oh well. Sonali loved me at my best and my worst, the latter of which she saw a lot of. "Oi, another question, why has Malfoy been glancing over this way throughout dinner?" I choked temporarily on my cake, before looking towards the Gryffindor table to indeed see Scorpius looking my way. Rather than moving his stare, he continued staring me dead in the eye, forcing me to look away.
"With his curiosity, he should have bloody been a 'Claw," I grumbled and then continued to explain for a confused Sonali. "I had a minor episode on the Prefect's carriage and he noticed me scrambling for my potion in my bag, so gave it to me. It was hidden as pumpkin juice," I added hastily on Sonali's worried glance.
"He gives me the creeps. It doesn't help every time I turn to look at him and make sure he's not watching us, I have to see Potter and that always puts a downer on my day," moaned Sonali. She really did not like Albus. Part of it was the argument with me in first year and another reason was the Quidditch rivalry. If it wasn't for Albus bashing Ravenclaw's seeker with a bludger, allowing the Gryffindor seeker to catch the snitch with minimal difficulty, Ravenclaw could have won last year. Sonali's keeping had been so pristine that she had only let three goals in over a lengthy match and that was definitely not because Gryffindor's chaser attack was lacking. Two more goals for Ravenclaw and they would have won, regardless of who caught the snitch. The match was probably a big reason why they put Sonali as Captain and not Patricia, Ravenclaw's seeker and our roommate. That, and Patricia was a horrible human being. The furthest thing from a team player there was, she rarely cooperated and was only kept on the team last year because of her impressive track record and lack of a better seeker.
"Eh, you can get the Ravenclaw team on track for victory and you'll enjoy seeing the look on his face then," I chuckled and Sonali smirked, a glint in her eyes at the sound of victory.
"You can bet we're going to absolutely destroy them, no matter what it takes," she responded, maliciously. I was almost concerned for Albus, but then I remembered he was a bellend of the highest order.
"Careful or you'll start sounding like a descendent of Salazar," I commented, and Sonali simply shrugged.
"It's Quidditch, it means too much to play nice. Even the Gryffindors don't and they're meant to be all noble- you saw Potter smash Boot off her broom, not that I haven't been tempted to do that in the past…" she muttered, trailing off at the end.
"Say something, Patil?" questioned the devil herself. She must have heard her name being mentioned from across the table; how couldn't she, being the narcissist she was.
"Nothing for you to worry about," replied Sonali, returning the glare Patricia was directing at her.
"If it's about that last match, I think you should be thankful- it's the only reason anyone would put you as Captain. I still think it's a stupid decision," sneered Patricia.
"Watch your tongue, jealousy doesn't look good on you, not that many things do," I retorted. She huffed and returned to discussing something most likely meaningless and pretentious with a few sixth years. I really loathed that girl.
"I fucking hate that bitch." Well, that's another way to phrase it, courtesy of Sonali and her eloquence.
"I hear you, sister," I affirmed.
"Shall we leave?" asked Sonali, as I licked my lips post my final cake bite. "You're lucky you never had to do the tragic job of taking the first years to the dorms and trying to explain the riddle-knocker concept." Fifth year prefects were responsible for escorting the first years and they were always a little frightened and puzzled by the idea of answering questions to gain access to your dorms, so asked millions of questions about it. The knocker was quite clever. It assessed your age so gave you age-appropriate questions, but you soon learnt its tricks. I guess it was similar to an exam, in the way that you definitely should know the content but you need to know how to word things and play the game to get the higher end of the marks.
"Let's go," I agreed, heavily amused by Hugo's struggle at the other end of the Hall to keep all his 1st years in check.
We made our way down the windy corridors and hazardous staircases, till we reached our tower. I answered the riddle, Sonali grumbling about how she still hadn't got the hang of them and never would, and we quickly trundled up the starts to reach our new dorm. The seventh year girls dorm was the highest in Ravenclaw tower, therefore having one of the best views and was also bestowed with the best bathroom, beds and furniture. It was something many a young Ravenclaw looked forward to, and it was ours. We opened the door hesitantly as the first ones to arrive and gasped. The carpet was a deep blue, similar to the common room, and there was a small French window leading onto a balcony with just enough room for one person. The curtains were a royal blue with patterns in golden thread, and the Ravenclaw emblem was embossed on the ceiling. The walls were a faultless white, lined with vintage, engraved wooden chests and wardrobes. We explored the bathroom, which albeit much smaller, had the same aura as the Prefects bathroom I had visited on the way to the Great Hall earlier. A gorgeous white bathtub, with two shower cubicles, 3 toilet cubicles and 4 sinks with mirrors attached to each. Naturally, we took beds next to each other, myself taking the one closest to the bathroom so I wasn't adjacent to any other beds aside from Sonali's.
We were joined soon by Halley and Melinda, with Patricia only coming in to sleep. The rest of us unpacked and chattered regarding the events of Summer, till we began drifting off to sleep. I quickly muttered the 'muffliato' charm so if I did have an episode I wouldn't risk waking the others and got away with performing the charm by using the excuse that I was a terrible snorer. As I wrapped myself in the soft cotton sheets, I felt perfectly at ease. My mind was clear, my body was comfortable and it was time for a peaceful night. This year was going to be the best and most successful one yet, I was going to make sure of it.
