Chapter Two
Six years later
'Thank God it's another year until we have to see them again' muttered my brother Scorpius as we both climbed onto the train. He was of course talking about our delightful family which had included both Narcissia and Lucius last night for dinner, an evening which had descended into shouting from our grandparents and from Scorpius and me in retaliation.
I laughed, carefree as I always was once on the Hogwarts Express and said goodbye to my brother who jogged down the train to join his friends.
'Vic!' someone bellowed from behind me. I grinned as I recognised the voice and turned round just as James Potter crushed me into a bear hug which was made all the more painful by the fact that both of us were still holding our broomsticks. We broke apart laughing warmly and I glanced at my closest friend. He'd grown a lot over the summer, not only in height but in stature; his muscles which had always been pretty impressive from the hours he spent on the Quidditch pitch were now clearly visible even through his shirt. He was tanned as well, from spending a month with his Aunt Fleur's family in the South of France and his eyes seemed even deeper than usual as they danced with laughter. I mentally scolded myself for noticing these differences because James was just my friend and both of us were quite happy with it staying that way.
'How was your summer?' he asked as we wandered down the corridor looking for a compartment.
'Oh it was pretty much the same as usual, arguments with my parents, sneaking out, playing Quidditch with Scorpius.'
'You rebel, who'd guess that's the same girl who's top of the year?' he teased gently.
I elbowed him, 'hey! You know being stuck at home brings out the worst in me! Anyway, how was France?'
He grinned sheepishly, 'Oh it was cool, the girls…'
He trailed off as he noticed my amused expression and simultaneously realised that I was not one of his guy friends. James never changed, I thought, he was so confident, he could have everyone swarming around him even if he wasn't Harry Potter's eldest son.
Suddenly a door was pulled open and two pairs of hands yanked us inside.
'Hello!' exclaimed Fred and Anna at the same time.
This was directed at me. Fred had been in France with James and Anna had seen them both because she was a family friend- and her parents weren't psychos.
I hugged Anna first, my best girlfriend and noticed she too had grown over the holidays and had now apparently decided to style her glossy hair into ringlets; I had always been envious of how perfect she always looked.
Fred barged her out the way and embraced me tighter than James had.
'Alright Malfoy?' he winked, 'Looking pretty sexy I must say.'
I laughed out loud knowing he would have said the same thing to Anna a few minutes ago since he was the biggest flirt Hogwarts had ever seen, even with his two best friends that he's known for six years. Not that he was short of female attention. Like I'd predicted six years ago, he'd become ridiculously good looking and had a new girlfriend every week. Not that anything lasted long; I'd always thought he had a thing for Anna but he'd never admitted to it.
We all sat down and began an animated discussion about our holidays which only empathised how rubbish mine had been. If I didn't have Scorpius I'd have gone insane years ago. Anna was just in the middle of a funny anecdote about her holiday in Spain when the compartment door slid open and three figures slipped inside. It was not, as I would have hoped, one of our other friends. Not Becky Thomas, the Scamander twins or one of the many Weasley cousins but the only three people who I have feelings of near hatred for. Emma Thornberry, Hannah Whitlock and Jean Meyers.
Emma is stunningly pretty and knows it. She all thick blonde curls and pouty lips and when she sets her sights on a boy she rarely fails, except for with one. She's made her crush on James obvious since fourth year and hangs around him so much its desperate yet so far he's ignored her advances because although he can be a bit of a player he doesn't go for girls like Emma, who actually found it funny that she got twelve trolls in her OWLs. But it seems like she's not giving up on her mission to snare Harry Potter's son this year as she squeezes in between me and James on the bench, making sure I receive an elbow in the ribs. Hannah and Jean also take seats and begin their usual pouting and batting eyelashes routine. I notice Jean seems particularly interested in Fred at the moment; Anna is frowning deeply.
'Hey James' breathes Emma in what she probably thinks is a sexy voice.
He looks slightly uncomfortable, 'Erm hi.'
'How was your summer?'
'Yeah, it was alright, yeah.' He's mumbling now, unsure what to say.
Anna shoots a look at me and we both roll our eyes to show our annoyance. As I watch Emma fawn over James and a weird sensation hits me. I hate that she's stroking his forearm and leaning so far towards him. Oh my god, I shouldn't care about this! It should just be funny to me. Do I like James? I think of the six years I've known him. The endless flying practice, the chats in front of the common room fire, the butterbeers in Hogsmede and the comforting letters he sends me when I'm stuck at home. But he does that with Anna too, doesn't he? I think about it for a moment. Okay Anna doesn't play Quidditch so he can't do that with her. But they talk a lot. Or do they? They're rarely alone together, not like me and James. My heart pounds slightly as I try to deny what I'm now certain of.
Suddenly James speaks again.
'Sorry Emma but Vic and I have to do our prefect rounds, so maybe you should go and find your other friends?'
She masks her annoyance well for him but shoots a glare at me which I return gladly.
'Alright', she sighs and rises from her seat which Hannah and Jean take as a signal to do the same.
Then she turns to me just before she leaves, 'It's so good they made you a prefect Victoria, I mean your father was one too wasn't he? Hmm they obviously think you share the same attributes.'
I freeze as she struts off down the corridor, flanked by her cronies. Anna shakes her head and Fred rolls his eyes.
'C'mon, Vic' says James quietly, 'we'd better get to the prefect's compartment.'
He takes my hand and squeezes it tightly.
Yep, I'm falling for James Potter.
Shit.
