Saying good-bye to Dad had been harder than she would have thought. Mum always called him a great soft git because Rose was Daddy's princess. Now she was leaving, and her father's eyes were misty and wet as she gave him one last kiss and climbed aboard the train.
He tousled his curly red hair, blinking the tears out of his eyes. Her mum came up to him and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek, and smiled at him sadly.
Teddy put a comforting arm around Rose and called out the window, "It's all good Uncle Ron, Rosie's safe with me." Her father nodded, at a loss for words as Hugo hung off his arm like a monkey chanting "Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy". Her father waved at Rose sadly and swung Hugo up on his shoulder. Her mother clutched at her father's hand and blew a kiss up at them while Aunt Ginny wiped a tear from her eye, whispering a silent goodbye as Albus ran up to join Rose and Teddy on the train.
Rose just smiled and waved back. Nothing could make her sad on this day. The excitement blossomed in her as the train whistle screamed. The train began to chug forward, slow at first. As her heart beat faster and faster, the train began to gather speed. She watched her family start to slip out of sight, and she stuck her head out the window, just watching as they grew smaller. She felt a small pang of sadness, but a huge burst of excitement
She looked over at Albus and grinned. He smiled back, his lips quivering with nervousness.
It was startling, the likeness he held to his father. Striking green eyes, messy black hair that just naturally fell all over the place, and an extremely thin stature. The only resemblance he held to his mother was somewhat around the mouth, with a sprinkling of freckles across his nose.
"Well you lot," He winked at Rose "I'm going to go find Fred and James. I'll see you at the feast." Teddy said cheerfully. He gave Albus a clap on the shoulder and strode off down the narrow hallway.
Rose watched silently, her heart sinking as her favorite cousin left them standing alone in the hall. As much as she liked Al, sometimes he was too serious for her taste. She liked being around James, Teddy and Fred, they always had so much fun.
"We probably should find some place to sit...shouldn't we?" Albus said uncertainly, he flattened the hair at the top of his head, his nervous habit. Rose nodded, but looked at him curiously, what did he have to be so nervous about?
"Are you-" she began but Albus cut across her.
"I'm fine Rose, I just had a talk with my dad about something before we left." He said quickly, flattening his hair again. Rose decided it was best not to press him, so she just shrugged and started to walk down the long hall towards the back of the train, dragging her trunk behind her.
They passed several full compartments, but at the very end of the train, there was one, empty except for one person. He had long hair that grew straight and thin to the tops of his ears, and his pale blue eyes were bright and hopeful. He smiled at Rose and Albus through the glass door, and gestured for them to come join him.
Rose wasn't sure about this boy, but they didn't have any other options. She raised her eyebrows at Albus, and pulled open the door, carefully maneuvering herself so she wouldn't slam her owl, Ophelia, into the wall. She set down the cage and quickly made herself comfortable. The blond boy jumped to her aid, to help her lift her trunk into the holding shelf. After that was done, the two of them helped Albus. After much sweat and struggle, they all sat, staring at one another expectantly. It was quiet for a minute, but Rose was simply about to bust open with all of her caged energy, and couldn't contain herself any longer so she burst into speech.
"Hello….I'm Rose Weasley, and this is my cousin Albus Potter" Albus flinched when she said his name. He didn't like it when people knew who his father was, not that people couldn't figure it out. Rose paid him no mind. "We're in our first year at Hogwarts and we'll both be in Gryffindor." Albus flinched again, this time Rose didn't understand why. Everyone knew that all the Potters and Weasleys would ultimately be sorted into Gryffindor, save Lucy who was just an odd ball that didn't fit the norm. "Who might you be?" She asked excitedly.
The blond boy looked slightly overwhelmed but he smiled shyly. "I...ummm." He scratched the back of his neck. "My name is Scorpius, I'm a first year too." He glanced up at Albus cautiously. "You're Harry Potter's son?" He asked, addressing Albus, who looked as if he had been slapped in the face. Scorpius blushed. "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to be offensive!" Albus shook his head, his eyes slightly clouded.
"No, no it's quite alright…" He paused. "yes. Yes my father is Harry Potter." Albus whispered. Rose wasn't sure what had hit Albus. Normally he wasn't quite THIS gloomy, but now he just seemed frightened and upset.
Scorpius paused, watching Albus with wide eyes.
"Oh." He said softly. "You must be very proud of him. He's a hero." Albus nodded glumly. Rose glared at him frustratedly, and then turned to smile at Scorpius.
"I'm so sorry...my cousin isn't normally like this. He's very very proud of his father….AREN'T you Albus?" She said, elbowing Albus in the ribs.
"Ow- I mean….yes of course I am, but we don't need to talk about him. What do you think about Hogwarts?" Albus recovered a bit, and did his best to sound interested, but she could tell he was faking, which just frustrated Rose all the more.
Scorpius brightened and scooted to the edge of his seat.
"Oh, I've been waiting for this all my life. I'm an only child...my life has been awfully dull, but now I can finally do magic." He said excitedly. Rose knew exactly how he felt, to so desperately want to learn how to do magic. This boy knew what it was like.
"This is going to be fantastic, we get to learn all sorts of things. My mum told me all about it. How to turn hats into rabbits, how to make a potion that gives you all the luck in the world, how to turn your worst fears into things that are funny."
"How to make things fly, how to ride a broom." Scorpius wondered out loud. Albus smiled at the two of them, daydreaming about all the magic.
For the next few hours they told stories about their first magical signs- Scorpius's father had found him levitating in his crib-how funny! They exchanged favorite quidditch teams, favorite candies, their worst fears about Hogwarts- Rose was endlessly fascinated with her new friend. Albus chimed in now and again, but most of the time he just seemed lost in thought, looking out the window for long periods of time.
The light stretched across the compartment, until it began to fade, and the lights in the train began to turn on so the students wouldn't get lost in the dark.
Around 5:30, someone rapped on the door, Molly and Roxanne. Rose jumped up and opened the door.
"Hey guys!" Rose exclaimed. Molly looked at her smiling, until her eyes fell on someone else. The corners of her mouth dropped unhappily. Rose lowered her eyebrows confusedly.
"What's wrong?" She asked, slightly less cheerful than before. Molly grabbed her wrist and started to pull her outside while Roxanne called into the compartment;
"We'll be arriving in about an hour, you guys better get ready." Rose was about to repeat her question, but Molly had already yanked her out the door, the door slid shut behind her.
"What the bloody hell- I need my robes if I'm going to go get ready." Rose exclaimed, reaching for the door handle. Molly shook her head, looking solemn.
"Not now. Walk." She grabbed Rose's arm and dragged her down the hall. Rose squirmed, outraged.
"Let GO Molly! What the hell-" she yelled slapping at Molly's hand. Roxanne hurried along behind them.
"Stop saying hell Rosie, now stop." Molly said furiously, releasing Rose's wrist. Rose whipped around and glared at Molly angrily.
"What was THAT all about?" She shouted. Molly sighed.
"Rose don't be so stupid." She said frustratedly. Rose opened her mouth to make a vicious retort, but Molly cut across her. "No. Listen to me." She took a deep breath. "Do you know who that was?" Rose arched an eyebrow.
"Who WHO was?" She asked. There was a moment of silence. "Scorpius?" Molly nodded seriously, and Rose paused a beat, feeling a little uncertain for once. "Who...who is he?" Roxanne looked at her pityingly.
"He's Draco Malfoy's son." Molly said quietly. She almost looked sorry, but more smug.
And then Rose remembered. When she was young, or younger at least, her father had sat in one of the worn living room armchairs with a newspaper in his hand.
"'Draco Malfoy finished with probation and all, free man at last' my arse." He grumbled, crumpling the paper in his fists.
Rose perked her head up curiously and ran over to her dad, jumping into his lap.
"Who's Draco Malfoy Daddy?" She had squeaked. Her father stroked her head and cuddled her close.
"A bad man. I'll be damned if he ever becomes a good man." He said viciously. Her mother poked her head into the room, wand behind her ear, her hair tucked into a round, curly bun.
"Ronald, you and I both know Draco is a good man. He just made some mistakes. Remember to tell our daughter that." She said, looking pointedly at Rose. Her father smiled grimly.
"Yes dear." But once his wife was out of earshot; "Don't forget what I said Rosie. Mr. Malfoy is not a good man, nor an innocent one. Remember that."
Rose looked at Molly, now with shock.
"But...he can't be." She murmured, not wanting to believe that this boy who had so quickly become her friend could have come from someone as horrid as Draco Malfoy.
"But he is Rosie. Stay away from him. If you want you can come into our compartment." Molly offered. Rose thought for a moment, but politely said no, and started on her way back to Albus and Scorpius Malfoy.
As she walked she pondered. Scorpius seemed so kind...he couldn't be as bad as his father. So what if his father was a bad man? That didn't mean Scorpius was bad too….
She had just about made up her mind, until she arrived back at her compartment. She looked through the glass sliding door at Scorpius, and as he turned towards her and their eyes met, all she could see was the cold, pale face of Draco Malfoy staring at her.
She opened the door and Scorpius's face split into a smile.
"Oh good you're back! Albus and I were just about to start a game of exploding snap!" He said happily. "Want to join?" Rose felt hot all over, and without thinking she reached up and grabbed the handle of her trunk, swung it down onto the floor, and grabbed Ophelia in her cage.
Scorpius's face fell. He looked rather confused in fact.
"Wait, what are you doing? Where are you going?" He asked as she ripped her trunk through the doorway, Ophelia hooting in a rather startled manner. Rose felt anger, and she dare not admit it, fear, sitting like acid in the pit of her stomach. She sneered at Scorpius cruelly.
"You never told me you were a Malfoy." She spat. Scorpius's mouth dropped open as she wrenched her way through the door and walked briskly down the hallway and out of sight.