Rose stepped off the train and headed to the nearest carriage, but was disappointed to find it was full of 2nd years. Sighing, she climbed in to discover that one girl, who was tall and well built for a 12 year old, and wearing Slytherin robes, was taunting a smaller and skinnier boy.
"Your Mum's a nutcase!" The Slytherin shrieked in laughter, "And if you can't admit that, then you must be as crazy as she is!" Rose noticed that the girl had two wands in her hand, not just her own. She must have stolen the boy's whilst she taunted him, so he couldn't defend himself. How cruel. Before Rose could intervene, another girl from the corner stood up. She had light brown hair, which reached her waist in thin strands, and hazel eyes. She was short and skinny, just like the boy. In fact, they had the same shade of hair and same coloured eyes, and it dawned on Rose that they were brother and sister.
"Don't you dare talk about our mother like that," The girl's voice was calm and steady, but full of danger and hatred. Despite her delicate appearance, she was clearly not one to be messed with.
"Oh, I forgot about you, Alice!" laughed the stockier girl cruelly, "And I forgot how loyal you are to your dearest brother. That's a stupid Gryffindor quality. But, if I were you, I'd sit down and shut up, unless you want darling Frank here to have an extremely bad start to the year..." her voice had become dangerously quiet.
The skinnier girl – Alice – raised her wand, but before she could hex the Slytherin, the latter sent a curse across the carriage with one wand, keeping the other trained on Frank. But Alice was quicker. She cast a Shield Charm with one swift arm movement, no words involved, so the jinx returned towards the Slytherin, and would've hit her, had she not ducked and let the Ravenclaw boy behind her take the blow. He suddenly sprouted antennae, and, cursing under his breath, tried to aim a Jelly-Legs Jinx at the Slytherin girl, but she avoided it again, and the curse hit a cage with an owl in, causing the bird to break free and fly around the carriage in excitement.
"Tarantellegra!" exclaimed the Ravenclaw, and this time the curse hit his target. The Slytherin started dancing uncontrollably, dropping the two wands as she did so. Frank picked up both, and attempted to Stun the stocky girl. However, he clearly wasn't the best trained with a wand, so all it did was trip her up, whilst she continued to 'dance' on the floor of the carriage. A fellow Slytherin boy from the corner threw a jinx at Frank for attempting to hex his house-mate, but Alice intercepted the curse with a cry of "Protego!" and the Slytherin boy became a toad.
The others in the carriage all looked scared stiff as Alice glanced round, as if to check for anyone else who wanted to jinx her or her brother. The Ravenclaw's eyes met hers, and he gestured to the antennae.
"Sorry about that." She said, and performed the counter-curse, before picking Frank up off the floor, and Stunning the Slytherin girl. The students noticed Rose for the first time, and looked terrified at the prospect of a 4th year sat with them. Or they were scared stiff that Rose'd get them all into trouble for what she'd just witnessed. Rose neither smiled, nor told them off. Instead she just pointed her wand at the owl, which was still flying above their heads in circles, and, with a squawk, it zoomed back into its cage and the door clicked shut. She then took a seat.
"Who's that girl?" she asked, pointing to the unconscious Slytherin in the floor. The 2nd years exchanged nervous glances, as if reluctant to grass. "I'm not going to tell anyone," she reassured them, "I just want to know if she has any particular reason to hate you two." The Ravenclaw boy opened his mouth to answer, as the carriage began to move, when a shout from outside was heard:
"WAIT!" The carriage stopped. Rose opened the door to see Scorpius running to reach them, dragging his trunk behind him. He climbed inside, panting for his breath, but Rose didn't bother to ask for an explanation to why he took so long. Instead she contented herself with rolling her eyes, and turned back to the Ravenclaw.
"You were saying?" she asked him.
"Oh, yeah. Her name's Penelope Creston and she only gets along with other Slytherin's, like him." He gestured to the toad, who croaked in agreement.
"And you are?" Rose asked the Ravenclaw.
"Matthew," He said, extending his hand "Matthew Douglas." Rose shook his hand briefly, before turning to Alice, who had her arm around Frank's shoulders protectively.
"So, you're Alice, I take it?" Rose confirmed, and Alice nodded. "And Frank's your brother?" Another nod. All Alice's former confidence seemed to have vanished with the end of the fight, as if her loyalty to her family was the entire reason she behaved the way she did. 'Maybe it is,' Rose thought, 'who says that all Gryffindors have to be outgoing all the time?' Frank and Alice reminded her of someone, but she couldn't place who... Then it clicked.
"You're Nev- I mean- Professor Longbottom's kids!" Rose exclaimed "He has me for Herbology, and he's really good!" She wasn't just saying that to be polite; Frank and Alice's Dad was one of Rose's favourite teachers.
Frank sat up, not looking scared for the first time, but proud "Yeah, he's our Dad!"
There was a noise from the corner. Scorpius.
"What is it, Malfoy?" Rose asked impatiently.
"Oh, nothing much, but is your mother that crazy 'Luna' woman, by any chance?"
Frank, Alice and Rose all tightened their grips on their wands "Yes." replied Alice, "Except she's not crazy. In fact, she's just as sane as I am." Frank and Alice exchanged a knowing smile.
"Well that doesn't-" Scorpius began, but Rose stopped him.
"Careful, Malfoy. You've already had your fair share of jinxes today, and you haven't seen what these two are capable of."
"If you think that I'm going to be scared of a couple of 2nd years, Weasley, you've got another think coming." But Scorpius shut up anyway, as the others lowered their wands.
As the carriage creaked to a halt, Rose thought better of leaving the two 2nd year Slytherins in their current state, and Rennervated Penelope, whilst Scorpius returned the boy back to his human form. Rose stood to the side, and let the 2nd years get off first, but then she saw her friends and cousins heading towards the school, who seemed to be having a worried discussion. Rose realised that she'd said she'd get their carriage, but had forgotten, and had instead climbed in the nearest one. They hadn't seen her since they'd left her on the train with Malfoy.
Rushing down the stairs to catch them up, she tripped and fell out of the carriage and onto the ground. A few people turned and looked worriedly, as if debating whether to come over or not, but most were intent on getting inside out of the cold. Scorpius, however turned around, and offered her his hand.
Rose looked at it carefully. This was Scorpius Malfoy offering to help her. They hated each other! Surely there would be a catch? But, despite her better judgement, she took his hand, and allowed him to pull her to her feet.
"Thanks." She muttered.
"Truce?" He asked.
Rose looked him up and down. He was serious. He thought that helping her up once, could make up for all the names he'd called her and her family, all the times they'd fought, all the hatred between the Weasley's and the Malfoy's that went back generations.
"No chance." She told him and rushed off into the darkness, leaving Scorpius standing alone.