Chapter 5: Rose vs. Scorpius

"Oh, hi!" Merope said nervously.

"Hello!" said Rose cheerfully. Even though he hated himself for it, and hated admitting it too, Albus thought she was quite brave to do that. Her name was a coincidence! Probably.

"Do you by any chance know the way to our common room?" asked Rose.

"Oh, you go back up, take a turn, and on the seventh floor corridor is the Gryffindor common room. The password is 'bubotuber pus'," replied Merope.

Rose beamed at her, "Okay, thanks. Just out of curiosity, where are you going?"

"Headmaster's office."

The two smiled at each other before walking off in the different directions.

Rose now led the way, the two boys trailing behind her.

"It is a really good thing we met Merope on the way!" said Rose looking back at the two boys as they walked.

"You mean it's a really good thing we found out the way to the common room ANDthat the daughter of Lord Voldemort is going to the Headmaster's office when she doesn't even know where it is!" said Scorpius darkly.

"SCORPIUS!" Rose yelled. Scorpius jumped back out of surprise. Rose then went on with her newly started rant, "How could you say that? Merope is a very nice and timid girl, and about the Headmaster's office, she must've consulted someone that knew before! It's not like you know anyways! May I also bring to your attention that she's in Gryffindor!" snapped Rose angrily. "You know what; you're just like any other Malfoy! Prejudice without thinking! I never should have stood up for your lies about not being prejudice! It might not be about blood status, but you're still prejudice and I can't believe I thought otherwise! You're a Malfoy! You'll always be nothing more than a Malfoy!"

All this time, Albus was quiet watching his cousin and new friend feud. Feud about a so-called 'certain Dark wizard's daughter'. Personally, he believed in Rose's theory. After about a minute or so, Albus was too lost in thoughts to notice Scorpius' hurt face as he ran off to the common room muttering the password.

"Oi, really girl? Don't you think that was a bit harsh?" snapped the Fat Lady who was the portrait of Gryffindor Tower.

Rose clamped a hand to her mouth, "Scorpius, wait!" She reached out her hand and gasped. Albus ran after her.

All of his thoughts were lost when he saw the Gryffindor common room though. Merlin! It was an extravagant circle-shaped room with gold and red all over it. It had cozy cushions and comfy armchairs filling it up. He knew he was going to love it!

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the prefect from the train, "Oh! Here you 3 are! I was told that you had gone to the Owlery and to make sure you got back okay. Yes, I should've waited outside there though, I didn't think about it before." She pointed at Scorpius and Albus, and then smiled, "The boys dorms are that way." She motioned towards the spiral staircase on the right. "You will be in the dorm that way," she said to Rose pointing at the other stairs.

Albus and Scorpius walked up, and as they did, they caught a glimpse of Rose darting up the stairs in tears.

When they got to their dormitory, they weren't surprised to see 3 other boys already unpacking on their beds that they had chosen. Albus recognized them from the Sorting, Brody Bradies, Gary Jambles, and some Mack guy whose full name he couldn't remember. They all looked at Albus and Scorpius curiously. Albus didn't blame them; they had come in about 20 minutes later than everyone else.

"Hello! I'm Mack Lenskin!" said Mack, a skinny boy with brown hair.

"Brody Bradies," Brody greeted smiling. He was a shy-looking boy who had blond hair that covered his left eye.

"I'm Gary Jambles!" piped up Gary who had black hair that just stayed nice and neat. Albus thought that was quite odd, considering the Potter men's hair was straight in a line of untidy black hair! He wasn't an exception.

"Scorpius Malfoy!" said Scorpius not so cheerfully. He was still sore from Rose's harsh words. "Before you jump to conclusions, I am NOT a crazy pure blood fanatic," he said plainly and calmly. The rest of the boys just nodded.

"Hi! I'm Albus Potter," smiled Albus. "Well, I'm pretty slee―" started Albus, but was cut off by Mack (which he was expecting… and dreading) who exclaimed incredulously, "Potter? Your father is Harry Potter!"

Albus chuckled nervously and muttered, "Er, yes, I knew that actually."

"Mack! You're overwhelming him! He must have to hear that all the time!" Gary said shooting Mack a look. Albus assumed that they knew each other before coming to Hogwarts.

"Well, as I was saying, I'm pretty sleepy now. A Sleepy Gryffindor, that's me!" Albus yawned.

The boys went on (or started) unpacking. Albus pulled out his Holyhead Harpies poster, (his mum used to play for them) and stuck it on his wall beside his four poster bed on the far right side of the dormitory.

Once everyone was settled in, they got into their beds and closed their eyes to go off to sleep. Albus drifted into the Land of Dreams immediately. His dream wasn't about sliding down rainbows with his friends. It showed Rose and Scorpius shouting at the top of their lungs and pointing all over the place. Coming out of their mouths were bubbles showing 2 different images. Both images of Merope. From Scorpius, images of Merope casting the Dark Mark came out. From Rose, images of Merope smiling cheerfully. It was kind of a bummer that the dreams that filled Albus' night on the first day of Hogwarts weren't exactly brilliant…