Chapter 1

Rose

I sigh as I finish packing my trunk, looking at the Polaroids on my wall of my friends. They're going to a Muggle boarding school and I'm heading back to Hogwarts, even though I'd much rather be with them. I'm a muggle-born Slytherin, which means my housemates regard me with cold indifference at best and pure hatred at worst, and the other houses ignore me. It results in pretty lonely school years. Any time I've asked my parents to homeschool me or let me go to Muggle school has fallen on deaf ears though. They say I'm too young and untrained to be able to control my magic. It's ridiculous! I'm 14. I know how to control my magic.

"Rose, let's go. We're going to be late!" My mum audibly sighs as she calls up the stairs. I groan, take one last look at my room, and close my trunk.

"Coming, Mum!" I holler down the stairs, and with a heavy thump, I pull my trunk off my bed, then grab my owl, Gandalf- I know, I know. Lord of the Rings? But hey, I'm a Muggle born witch who grew up on it. I lug my trunk down the stairs to my parents who are waiting. My dad grabs the trunk and goes to load it in the car, groaning as he does so, and my mum chuckles.

"We can't wait until you can use magic to load your trunk yourself," my dad hollers from the garage. I chuckle as Mum and I walk out to the car.

A short, 30-minute drive later and we've arrived at King's Cross. Dad goes to get a luggage cart while I get out of the car and stretch. I glance at Mum, and she has her typical misty eyes that she gets every time she drops me off.

"Mum, come on. It's just until Christmas," I say, ignoring my initial desire to push her to homeschool me again. Even if she wanted to, it wouldn't happen because she doesn't understand the magical world, and a tutor would be expensive.

She's about to reply when Dad comes back with a trolley. I help him load my trunk and Gandalf in his cage onto the trolley, and then the three of us walk onto Platform 9 3/4s together.

I head to put my trunk with the other luggage in the train and glance back to make sure my parents are with me when I feel the trolley bump into something and hear a boy call out "Oi, watch it!"

I curse under my breath and turn back, my cheeks burning bright red, thanks to my ginger hair. "I'm so sorry. I just turned around for a second and-" My apology is cut off as I look at the boy I just hit.

He's burly and tall with wide shoulders, thick bushy eyebrows, and gentle brown eyes. It's Oliver Wood. A Gryffindor. Not just any Gryffindor, the Quidditch team captain.

Great. I've just created another enemy, I think as I walk around the trolley to inspect the damage.

Oliver stares at me as I walk closer to him, seemingly in a trance. I can only assume he's thinking of how to get revenge on me.

He shakes his head as I get closer and extends his hand. "No worries. I wasn't paying attention either. I'm Oliver."

I half smile and take his extended hand, shaking it once. "Rose."

Oliver's about to say something when my parents come up behind me. "Rose? Who's this?" Dad asks and I feel my face burn again.

"No one, Dad. I bumped into him. Let's just go," I say, turning the cart to walk past Oliver before my parents can embarrass me any further. I don't turn around to look back until I'm on the train. When 've settled in, I have a good vantage point of Oliver with his family. He hugs his parents and then gives his mum a kiss and turns towards the train.

I glance at my wristwatch. 11:00- the train jolts. Right on time, per usual. I take a deep breath and pull out my book, trying to distract myself from the fact that I have a good 6 hours ahead of me by myself… followed by a year of that. You'd think I'd be used to it by now.

Right as I get comfortable and involved in my book, a sharp knock on the door distracts me. I jump up, and glance out. It's Oliver. My heart pounds… partly because I had just gotten comfortable and the knock startled me, but also partly because my mind is racing a mile a minute. What could he want? Would he want to attack me for bumping into him? Is he angry? A million other thoughts race through my head as I take deep, steadying breaths, and gesture one second as I stand up.

I walk towards the compartment door and open it partly, not letting him in but enough to hear him. "What do you want?" I ask, more accusatory than I planned. Oliver gives me a lopsided grin and runs his hand through his hair.

"Do you mind if I join you?" he asks, throwing me completely off guard. "Everywhere else is full."

I stare at him for a minute. Surely he's joking. I'm a Slytherin. No one wants to be with me. My heart pounds as I stare at him, trying to figure out his ulterior motive.

"Rose?" Oliver prompts, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Oh. Umm… I guess?" I say, standing to the side as he enters. He takes his spot on the bench opposite to where I was sitting, and I go back to my spot, pulling my jacket tighter around me, and pulling my feet up onto the bench. Oliver smiles widely at me, and I try to smile back but it comes out as more of a grimace.

"You can relax," Oliver says. "I'm not mad, really."

I chuckle sardonically, but force myself to unravel and put my feet down.

"What year are you?" I blurt out.

"What house are you in?" Oliver asks at the same time.