Rose appeared on the platform, grinning and searching the crowd for her aunt's flaming red hair. Finding it, she headed over towards them with Hugo following closely behind. She called out, "Hey!" And everyone exchanged their greetings and hugged. Then James said, "Hey Rosie, do you know who the Head Boy? I am personally glad that it isn't Albus. He's too much of a goody-two shoes anyway." Rose rolled her eyes and said, "No, I don't know who the Head Boy is."
"I can bet ten galleons that it's that Malfoy kid: Scorpius." James said, winking.
"What do you know, James?" Rose said, tiredly.
"Nothing! I just happened to walk by the Malfoy family and my gaze just happened to fall on the Head Boy badge! Honest!"
"I suppose you also just happened to stop and ask him whether he had Confunded McGonagall." Albus said, joining into the conversation. Rose let out a laugh and James glared at his brother. "What?!" Albus said, innocently. Albus Potter wasn't actually the huge goody-two shoe everyone saw him as. He did get drunk on Firewhisky once (once) and took off his top and his jeans (thankfully leaving his underwear on) and turned on the radio and danced to one of the songs by The Weird Sisters. Rose had found it hilarious. But he made her swear not to tell anyone.
"Al you promised!"
"But is it true? Is Scorpius really the Head Boy?" Fred II asked, looking at James curiously. He was also in his seventh year. Lily Potter was in her fifth year. So were Roxanne and Lucy. The Scamander twins were in Rose's year, though. Although they were both in Ravenclaw. The others were in Gryffindor. The Weasley tradition continued of everyone being in Gryffindor.
"Yes he is, young wizard. I speak the truth. Ugh, Rosie, you'll have to spend your time in a separate common room with Scorpius. You poor soul." James said, putting a hand over his heart. Then he said, "But if that little prick gives you any trouble, you write to me and tell me, OK, Rose? I'll come there with Teddy and make him sorry for even thinking that he could mess with you!"
"I think I can handle myself just fine, James." Rose said, flushing a little at his protective older brother act.
"On the other hand, if you fall in love with him-" Lily began.
"Our Rosie? Falling for Scorpius Malfoy? Don't be ridiculous, Lily." Hugo said, rolling his eyes at Lily, who rolled her eyes right back at him.
"It could happen." Alice Longbottom II piped in and Fred rolled his eyes at her in response. There was a lot of eye-rolling and Rose just stood there, wondering whether Scorpius Malfoy's appearance had changed over the summer. Just then, the train whistle blew and the wizards and witches, excluding James, all got onto the Express.
Scorpius stepped onto the platform, Draco and Rebecca right behind him. He nearly ran into someone but they didn't even notice. He recognized the flaming red hair: it belonged to Rose Weasley. She didn't even turn around and look at him. He hadn't expected her to. He was engrossed in his own thoughts when he heard someone call his name: Charles Zabini. He smiled at Charles warmly and said, "Charles."
"Hey Scorpius." Scorpius could hear the cool, clipped voice of their parents exchanging news in the background. Then he turned to Charles and said, "Do you know who the Head Girl is?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. It's none other than Rose Weasley." He said, pointing in the general direction of all the redheads on the station. Scorpius blanched and stared at him, his eyes wide and pupils dilated.
"Why does it have to be her?!" Scorpius said. Rebecca heard this and pulled her attention away from the Zabinis, "What is it, Scorpius? Did you find out who the Head Girl is?"
"Yes mother. It's Rose Weasley." Scorpius said. Of all the people who could have been chosen as the Head Girl, it had to be Rose Weasley. He perfectly understood why though. She was top of the class. She had received all Outstandings in her OWLS and her hand was forever up during class. Scorpius, on the other hand, had received one Exceeds Expectations and Outstanding in the rest which brought him down just below her. He had received Exceeds Expectations only in Divination. He figured that that was why he was made Head Boy.
"A Weasley? A Head Girl?" Draco said, with a slight sneer in his tone. Old prejudices between the Malfoys and the Weasleys hadn't been completely put out just yet. Scorpius rolled his eyes at his father's tone. He didn't like Rose Weasley- or any Weasley- but he didn't speak of them the way his father did. First of all, he couldn't, unless he wanted to be killed for speaking against one of the "Saving Families" and second, he just didn't feel any dislike towards the family.
"Yes father. She is top of the class, after all. I wouldn't expect McGonagall to make anyone else the Head Girl." His father's face dropped a little at this and before anything more could be said, the train whistle sounded. Scorpius and Charles said goodbye to their families and Rebecca embarrassed Scorpius by planting a not-so-subtle kiss on his cheek. He complained very loudly but didn't rub his cheek. They got onto the Express just before it started to move and Charles led them to an empty compartment. They sat down there and waved to their parents quickly. Once the platform was out of sight, Scorpius opened his mouth to say something to Charles but they were interrupted by the door of their compartment sliding open to reveal Rose standing there. She was already in her school robes, her Head Girl badge proudly pinned to the front and she looked annoyed.
"We need to patrol the corridors. Make sure none of the students begin hexing each other in the train. Especially the underage wizards. Meet me outside in a few minutes." She slid the door close and leaned against the strip of wall beside it, letting out a sigh. She had rehearsed saying that so many times in her head, it sounded foreign to her. Thankfully it didn't sound foreign to him but she didn't think she would ever be able to look him in the eye and talk to him. He was way too attractive for his own good. Little did she know that Scorpius thought the same way about her. Inside the compartment, his jaw was hanging and he looked at Charles and said, in a hushed tone, "Is that Rose Weasley?"
"Yes. She is. She also happens to be the Head Girl."
"She's really good looking now! Last year she had so many pimples. Now she looks... gorgeous!"
"Don't tell me you're developing a crush on a Weasley, Scorpius." Charles said, leaning back. Scorpius rolled his eyes and said, "Definitely not. I'm just surprised that she has gotten... for lack of a better word, hot."
"Right OK then, Head Boy. You should probably go fulfill your duties with your... erm... partner." Charles said, clearly fighting back laughter. Scorpius rolled his eyes and stood up to leave the compartment. He exited the compartment and found Rose standing next to the door. He hoped she hadn't heard anything he had said about her. She obviously hadn't because she looked at him, seemingly studying him, for a few moments before she said, "We should go in opposite directions. We'll meet back here in an hour or so."
"You know, Weasley, I honestly think it's better if we go together." He said, before he could stop himself.
"Why Malfoy? Don't think a witch who has gotten Outstandings in all her OWLS can handle herself alone?"
"No, I just don't think a witch can handle it if five wizards and witches turn on her because she tries to break up a fight that's taking place."
"I'm touched by your concern, Malfoy." Rose said, rolling her eyes at his explanation. But secretly she agreed that she would rather leave in one piece. "Come on then." She said and started down the corridor. Scorpius followed. They reached the end and met with nothing when they heard someone shout Petrificus Totalus behind them and then a thud of a body falling. They followed the sound and saw that it was a fourth year and another fourth year. Gryffindor and Slytherin. Rose took a deep breath, calming herself. Then she turned and glared at the second year Gryffindor (who was still standing) and said, "What do you think you're doing?" The prefects, who were also on patrol duty, came there. The prefects stood at a distance when they realized that they were in the presence of the Head Girl and the Head Boy.
"She was being annoying." The fourth year Gryffindor said, her voice wavering slightly.
"And I suppose you thought it would be fun to shut her up using a Full Body-Bind Curse?" The fourth year looked around helplessly. A lot of people had peeped out of their compartments to see what was going on.
"Aren't you a Gryffindor?" The fourth year asked, when she realized that no one was actually planning to speak up.
"Yes I am."
"Then why are you taking the Slytherin's side?!" The fourth year still sounded more scared than enraged.
"Are you asking me to be biased because I'm a Gryffindor Head Girl?" Rose asked in a softer tone than she had used before. The fourth year sensed danger and said, "No, I'm not."
"You're lucky the school hasn't started. I can take points away. And you're also lucky that I don't have the power to hand out detentions. Don't you dare hex another student and expect me to be biased because I'm a Gryffindor." Rose said and turned around and reversed the spell on the Slytherin fourth year. She sat up, looking dazed for a second and then stood up with a little help from Scorpius. The fourth year Gryffindor nodded and retreated into her compartment, muttering under her breath.
"As for you all. Just because Malfoy and I have patrol duty doesn't mean that you don't have yours." She turned her attention to the prefects. They nodded and the Slytherin prefects went into the Slytherin fourth year's compartment. Scorpius watched this entire scene in awe. He could instantly see why McGonagall had chosen Rose Weasley. She (McGonagall) knew that she (Rose) wouldn't be in the least bit biased towards her own house. Scorpius realized that if he had been faced with a similar situation as Rose and it was Slytherin, he would have probably taken the situation lightly. He shuddered at the thought of what Weasley would have done to him if she ever found out about the taking lightly.
"Are you alright, Malfoy?" He zoomed back to the train when he heard Rose's voice.
"What?"
"You just shuddered for no apparent reason. Are you feeling alright? As you just witnessed, I can clearly handle patrol duty on my own." She said.
"Oh um nothing. I was just… thinking."
"Something important?" Rose had already started down the corridor and Scorpius hurried after her quickly.
"No. Nothing that would interest you."
"Go on, Scorpius. Speak your mind." Why was she walking so fast?! Had she heard something that he had missed?! He half walked, half jogged to keep up with her pace. Her hair was red and bushy and bounced on her back when she walked. Then he suddenly stopped short. He realized that she had just referred to him by his name.
"Keep up, Malfoy. What's wrong?" She turned around to look at him and realized that he was staring at her.
"You called me Scorpius." He said.
"Did I?" She thought back and realized that she had. For a moment, she felt embarrassed and then calmed herself. She said, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was such a big deal. I'll refer to you as Malfoy and you can refer to me as Weasley, alright?"
"I didn't mean… nevermind. Alright, Weasley." Scorpius said, emphasizing the last word. She nodded and said, "Now, what was on your mind?" She had begun her ridiculously fast walking again.
"Well I was just thinking about the way you handled the situation back there."
"What of it?"
"I wouldn't have handled it that way." She stopped walking abruptly and Scorpius had to apply brakes on his pace so hard that he nearly fell over. But it was necessary to prevent collision.
"Are you saying I didn't handle it well?" He could hear the coolness in her tone.
"No! I'm saying you handled it much better than I ever could! I would probably mess it up! I would probably be biased." He added the last part in an undertone but Rose caught it. She was taken aback by the obvious compliment. From what she had heard, the Malfoys didn't easily compliment people. Unless it was each other.
"Is that a compliment, Malfoy?" She said, half expecting him to turn red and deny everything. She was taken aback when, instead, he said-
"I believe it is, Weasley."
