"This is stupid," grumbled James as they waited in a clump to board the Hogwarts Express. "We're wizards. We can Apparate."

"Not until we're of age," Rose reminded him. They wouldn't be learning Apparation until their sixth year.

"We can fly."

"For hours? With all of your school things?"

"I fly nearly every day," James pointed out, "and I would much rather do that than spend the day on this sodding train again. Really, we don't have a better way to get back from school yet?"

He followed Rose as she slid into an empty compartment and set her bag down, hoping that Selena would be comfortable in the pet compartment. After so much time away from her owl, she couldn't help but worry.

"And it doesn't even make sense," James continued. "What if you live in Scotland or something? Why would you travel all the way to King's Cross just to get to the train?"

Rose regarded him oddly as Lysander, Lorcan, and Albus entered.

"Say that again?" she prompted.

"Why would someone in Scotland go all the way to King's Cross just to catch the train?" repeated James, confused. "It's so much extra work!"

Lysander stared at him, then began to laugh, shaking his head.

"James," he said, "you know there's more than one way to get to the platform, right?"

James stared at him blankly.

"Think about it," said Rose, trying desperately to be patient, "if everyone at Hogwarts was coming in from King's Cross Station, wouldn't you see more people you know there? But you don't. You see maybe one or two other students, that's it."

"We can't all show up at one Muggle station," said Lysander with a frown, "it would be a logistical nightmare. I mean, all of us coming in from the Grange is probably a big enough headache for the Ministry. I think that's why our parents try to pool us together as much as they can, so it's not all of the children and all of the adults. No, everyone goes to whatever station is closest to where they live. Hogwarts opens up jump spots everywhere."

At this point, James' eyes were practically bulging out of his face.

"Huh," said Albus simply, "make sense."

"You really didn't know that?" asked Rose incredulously. All James could do was shake his head in wonder. "Anyway. Where's Scorp?"

"Dealing with some Slytherin crisis," said Albus with a shrug. "Said he'd be over later."

"Probably hexed some first year," muttered James sourly.

"James," said Lysander reproachfully, "need I remind you of the time you tried to hex Scorpius?"

"Times," corrected James, "multiple. Sorry, old habit. I'm sure he's fine."

"As long as the problem isn't Lily," said Albus with a yawn, "I can't make myself care. Wake me when the snack trolley comes."

Scorpius arrived a few minutes after the snack trolley, bearing his own small bag of sweets. He squeezed in next to Rose, making sure not to step on Lorcan, who had taken his usual spot on the floor.

"Sorry," he said, pulling a taffy out of his bag, "thought Lily was going to try to murder one of the girls from her dorm. Again."

Albus groaned, closing his eyes again.

"Never mind," he said, "going back to sleep. Not enough sleep to prepare for this summer."

"She didn't follow through," said Scorpius, as if that made the situation significantly better. "So. There's that."

"I didn't know she was having issues living there," said Rose, frowning with concern.

"It's not the fact that she's in Slytherin," said Scorpius with a sigh. "It's not like she's being excluded or anything. I genuinely can't tell if all of the first year girls hate each other, or there's some underground prank war going on that the rest of us simply don't understand. It might be both."

They filled their trip with talking about the new Headmistress, the Scamanders' upcoming summer trip, and how they had done on their final exams. Rose had nothing to complain about, except for the nagging voice in the back of her head which kept complaining about Lorcan and Lysander leaving for so long. Particularly Lysander. But also Lorcan.

"You'll be back in time for the wedding, right?" said Rose suddenly, remembering Victoire and Teddy's impending nuptials.

"Of course," said Lysander, "we wouldn't miss that."

"You're missing my birthday," said Rose grouchily. When Lysander didn't reply, she looked up from her book and saw that he was frowning at her, looking rather serious. "It's fine," she said quickly, "just joking with you."

"Maybe Mum and Dad will finally let me come," said Scorpius with a grin. "It's a little less crazy than Christmas, right?"

"A bit," Rose allowed. "And we will be down a set of twins, so there's certainly room to spare."

By the time they reached the station, Rose realized that she was very much looking forward to her summer holiday. She had had another stressful year, and it would be good to spend some time relaxing with her family. Even with the twins gone, she was sure that there would be plenty to keep her on her toes. After all, Teddy and Victoire were getting married, and Taylor was going to be visiting for a little while. There would be people talking about more than the next big Quidditch match, or bugging her to do her classwork. It would be, she was absolutely certain, a perfectly wonderful summer.

And for the most part, she was right.

Well... sort of.