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Rose stood before him a moment, smiling, before she sprinted to the compartment door and threw it open with equal enthusiasm, startling Al nearly out of his seat, and making him drop his Quidditch magazine.

“Al, come help me get this trunk!” she said, giving Scorpius a smile from the doorway. Though his expression was full of alarm, he managed to giver her a grimace of a smile.

“What trunk?” Al asked, not looking inclined to move any time soon, and picking up his now very wrinkled periodical.

“Scorpius’s,” Rose said with a vague wave towards a very still Scorpius.

“Wait. Scorpius Malfoy?” Al cried rather loudly, trying to poke his head out the door and get a look at the infamous Malfoy spawn. Startled at her cousin’s rude outburst, Rose gave a great ‘shh!’ before pushing Al back into the compartment and shutting the door between them. Rose suddenly realized she could have handled the situation with more delicacy.

Scorpius determinedly stared out the window.

“It’ll be just a moment!” she said in a forcibly cheery tone.

Scorpius gave her a quick nod, but did not bring his eyes to meet hers.

Rose entered the compartment and quickly shut the door. Biting her lip, she turned around too face Al, who was giving her a perplexed look.

“Now, why do you want a Malfoy in here?” Al asked.

“Because he’s all alone and he’s rather nice,” replied Rose, giving her cousin a pleading look. He stared at her for a moment, his mouth a tight line, his expression grim.

“Please, Al?”

Al took this as a cue to open the door, despite her protests, and go into the hallway.

“So, you’re Scorpius Malfoy?” asked Al in his gravest of voices. He only used this in the most serious of circumstances, and the fact that he was using it now made Rose become quite nervous.

“Yes. And you’re Albus Potter,” said Scorpius, not budging an inch.

Al nodded.

Again the boys fell into silence and stared at each other. Rose half expected curses to fly from the other at any moment. Scorpius had a weird, solemn little look on his face, for Al looked like he had come to a conclusion.

“Right…Well, let’s get that trunk, then,” Al offered, giving Scorpius a tight smile that clearly said he was going to forcefully ignore his last name.

Scorpius smiled back.

Rose stood to the side a bit flabbergasted as the boys worked together to move the heavy trunk, but soon she was smiling from ear to ear. Never could she have imagined an easier introduction happening between a Potter and a Malfoy.

The boys managed to get the trunk into the compartment, but couldn’t quite manage to get it in the rack above the seats, and instead opted to use it as a makeshift footrest and table. Rose offered to try a spell, but they decided that the possible effects of a backfired charm involving a very heavy trunk in such a small space were not worth it.

Scorpius had a chess set they played with for some time, and he was quickly beating the other two multiple times. Al found it amusing, and Rose found it annoying. She couldn’t stay too mad about losing, though, as Scorpius was always very humble about his wins, and his glee over winning was almost imperceptible. He then tried to help her beat Al, which made Rose forgive him for his superior skills in chess. She, of course, refused the help, as a win didn’t count unless earned completely on her own, but the act definitely put him fully back in her favor.

They were about to play another round when the witch with the trolley of food came by. Scorpius and Al bought a titanic amount of sweets, which Rose tutted at. She was told not too eat too many sweets or she’d ruin her teeth and spoil her appetite. She was quite set on only indulging in only one sweet, but when faced with the variety of choices offered, she quickly threw that plan to the wind and ate every bit as much as either of the boys.

They merrily ate until they were so full Rose thought they might have to be rolled into the sorting ceremony. Unable to eat the last of their chocolate frogs, they decided to race them down the hallway. Rose’s was in the lead when a passing third year Ravenclaw accidentally stepped on her frog with a sad, squelched croak.

“Sorry!” said the boy, examining the bottom of his shoe in a wobbly fashion.

Rose glared at the boy for ruining her first perfectly sound win of the day, while the other two retrieved their own frogs.

“You should watch where you’re stepping!” exclaimed Rose, crossing her arms and fixing the tall brown-haired boy with her fiercest of stares. He looked mildly familiar to Rose. She thought she had seen him before in Diagon Alley at Dad and Uncle George’s shop, and was fair determined to try and get him banned.

“Really, I am sorry. I’m a bit clumsy at times, I’m afraid,” the boy said with an apologetic look, using a spell to clean up the chocolate from his shoe, and siphon out the brown smudge from the carpet. He searched about himself, looking in several pockets, but finally found what he was looking for.  He reached into his inner robe pocket and handed Rose a replacement frog.

“You first years?”

“Yes,” Rose answered in a clipped tone for the group. She was still put out over him spoiling her race.

“I didn’t think I recognized you. I hope you have good luck with your sorting…” he trailed off waiting for a name.

“Rose Weasley.”

“I’m Brandon Bradley,” the boy smiled. His dark blue eyes seemed to twinkle of their own accord. Al coughed a bit, which startled Rose out of her distraction.

“Oh! And this is my cousin Al Potter. And our friend Scorpius Malfoy.”

The two waved in a bored fashion, clearly not caring to talk with the boy who ruined their game.

“Oh!” a glimmer of recognition was in Brandon’s eyes. “You’re James Potter’s brother, right?”

Rose couldn’t help but admire Brandon for not mentioning their parents. Most people couldn’t wait to bring up their famous parents the moment they met. She also liked how he was also already wearing his neatly pressed school robes. It was hard to remember why she was mad at him.

“Yeah, James is my brother,” Al responded blandly.

“Hoping to be in Gryffindor with him?”

“I dunno,” Al said with a shrug, looking suddenly agitated.

“Well don’t let it worry you if you’re not. All the houses are really great. I was the first Ravenclaw in my family in generations, but I wouldn’t want to be sorted anywhere else.”

“Oh,” said Al, looking both worried and mad. “Rosie, I’m going back to the compartment. Nice to meet you, Bertley.”

“Bradley,” Brad responded, not letting Al’s rudeness dampen his smile. “Nice to meet you too, Al.”

Al gave a short nod before retreating back into the compartment.

“Well, I’d better be getting back to my friends before they think I’ve fallen from the train or something,” said Brandon, a small grin pulling at his mouth.

Rose laughed. Scorpius didn’t. Brandon shook hands with both of them before returning to the cabin he’d come from.

“Enjoy your frog, Rosie.”

Brad gave her a wink, which made her ears burn.

Scorpius was looking at her as if she had just been dancing to get rid of wrackspurts (a pastime often enjoyed by a friend of the family Auntie Luna, according to her dad.)

She went back to the compartment, making sure to ignore Scorpius’ inquiring look.

Al offered to play Exploding Snap, which was answered with a resounding chorus of ‘No!’ from Rose and Scorpius, who both dissolved into laughter.  Al didn’t seem to be very amused by this. Instead of laughing he crossed his arms and stared out the window.

For the next few hours Al didn’t have much of anything to say. Rose's other cousin, Dominique, stopped by to say hello, but was quickly called off by her gang of boys. Scorpius and Rose had a lot of fun talking about the different Quidditch teams they liked, what subjects they thought they’d enjoy most, and what sort of pets they had. Scorpius had an owl named Artemis who would be meeting him at the castle, as he didn’t like the thought of keeping her in a cage the whole train ride.

“Though I’m sure some owls don’t particularly mind it,” amended Scorpius, eyeing Al’s owl. “What’s your owl’s name, by the way?”

When Al failed to answer Rose piped up, “Kegan.”

Each time they entreated Al to speak he grew more sullen. Rose was set to ignore him entirely, but Scorpius seemed quietly determined to try including her unpleasant cousin, despite Al only deigning to add the occasional grunt or shrug to the conversation.

It had finally turned to night, the countryside had changed drastically, and the random sounds of conversations and explosions were a bit more subdued than they had been earlier in the day. Al had nodded off, and Rose was so hungry that her stomach kept making embarrassing sounds that Scorpius had the decency to ignore.

“Rose Weasley, what happened to your hair?” asked a feminine voice from the door.

In their doorway stood Rose’s cousin Victoire, looking pretty and well manicured, her long strawberry blonde hair hanging in enviable loose waves. Rose suddenly recalled the state of her hair from all those games of Exploding Snap. She had met Brandon Bradley looking like that?

“Augh!” Rose let out.

“Exploding Snap,” translated Scorpius.

“Ah! Well, here, let me help you with it,” Victoire said in her usual mothering way.

“Thanks Victoire,” Rose said in a small voice.

Victoire spelled away the burnt ends, and re-braided Rose’s disheveled hair, Scorpius determinedly looking out the window as if he had been caught watching something indecent.

“You and Al need to get your robes on. We’ll be at Hogwarts within minutes,” said Victoire to Scorpius. He nodded before waking up Al, and they both excused themselves to the bathroom to change. Victoire gave Al’s hair a gentle mussing as he left.

“So, who was the quiet little boy with you?”

Rose responded with a slight cringe, “Scorpius Malfoy.”

If Victoire was surprised she certainly didn’t show it.

“Hmm, well he seemed very nice,” said Victoire. She tied the blue ribbon onto Rose’s now pristine hair and stood back.  “Here, let me fix the robe.”

With a quick wave of her wand, Rose’s robes were once again impeccable.

Victoire clucked at some other children in the hall to stop running, and told another first year to change into their robes already. It was no wonder Victoire had made Headgirl. The silver pin shone brightly, almost unnaturally, making Rose suspect Victoire had recently spelled it to shine.

Rose gave her a quick hug as the train began to slow.

“You’ll do us all proud, I’m sure,” Victoire said with a smile.

“So will you,” Rose grinned back. Victoire blushed a bit, before heading off for her compartment.

The train pulled into the Hogsmeade station, and Rose grasped her robes around her tightly. The cold wind from that morning was much more biting in the night. She got off the train by herself, and followed the booming voice of Hagrid.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years, this way!” he called into the night, waving a great lantern. The mere sight of her half-giant friend made her feel warmer.

“Hi Hagrid!”

“Rosie!” Hagrid nearly shouted with his enthusiasm. “How are yeh doin’? Where’s Al?”

“He’s with one of our friends somewhere.”

As she said this, Scorpius and Al emerged out of the crowd of students. Hagrid beamed at Al, and gave a polite nod to Scorpius, who stared at the giant man with wide eyes.

“Yer all comin’ to tea Friday evening, still, righ’?” asked Hagrid, looking a little worried.

“Of course,” said Al, with a large smile.

“We wouldn’t miss it,” Rose said in a placating manner.

“Yer little friend is welcome to join us too,” said Hagrid, giving an inclined head to Scorpius. “Best be gettin’ in the boats, though.”

Scorpius nodded, and the three of them found a boat to get in.

“FIRS’ YEARS, THIS WAY!” they heard Hagrid Boom one last time.

As the last of the first years arrived and boarded the small boats, they began to glide across the lake. The ride felt a bit perilous to Rose, given how the blustery wind made the little boats churn and sway on the water, but as soon as the sight of Hogwarts was before them, all thoughts of doom seemed to Apparate away.

“Woah!” exclaimed Al.

Rose smiled, and turned to Scorpius who had a deathgrip on either side of the boat. They exchanged excited smiles for a moment, but Scorpius seemed more concerned with the possibility of falling into the depths of the lake than the exciting prospect of seeing Hogwarts for the first time.

When they finally reached land, Scorpius was the very first to get onto firm ground. Rose and Al laughed as they entered the castle’s large doors along with all the other first years. At the top of the stairs was—

“Uncle Neville!” Rose cried, running the rest of the way up the steps.

“Hello Rosie,” said Neville with a kind smile. “But it’s Professor Longbottom during term, eh?”

“Of course,” said Rose, giving him a hug. She hadn’t seen much of him over the summer, as he had been in Madagascar during the summer months, collecting samples of rare plants. His wife Hannah and daughter Magnolia had joined him, leaving the Leaky Cauldron in the understaff’s hands. It was quite odd being there without the sight of the Longbottom family.

“Welcome to Hogwarts!” Neville said, as the rest of the first years joined them. “I’m Professor Longbottom.”

Many of the first years started gasping and whispering amongst themselves at this. Neville had become a bit of a legend after defying Voldemort and beheading the snake with the sword of Gryffindor nineteen years ago. Neville gave them a moment to compose themselves before he began again.

“Through these doors is the Great Hall. You’ll get to sit and enjoy the start-of-term banquet after you’ve each been sorted into your houses. The houses don’t define who you are, but they are much like a family. You’ll eat meals, share your dorm and common room, and will take classes with your house.  As you all probably know, the four houses are Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin.”

Al bit his lip and stared at the ground.

“Each has a long history of great witches and wizards, and each is very special in their own right. You’ll all earn points for them with your triumphs, which will help your house in winning the house cup at the end of the year. Try not to get into too much trouble, because that will cost your house points,” Neville concluded.

“So! Ready to get sorted?”

The first years gave a feeble ‘yes.’ Neville gave them a fond look before opening the doors of the Great Hall. “Then, follow me.”

Rose gasped as she looked up to the ceiling. She had been told about it, and had read about it, but never could she have imagined how amazing the sight would be. The night sky’s stars twinkled with excitement, and the crescent moon seemed to be smiling down at the Great Hall.

The crowds of chatting older students turned to look at the procession of first years. James and their cousin Fred were seated at the front of the Gryffindor table laughing. James gave a flick of his wand and pelted the back of Al’s head with spitballs. He and Fred seemed to find it immensely hilarious. Rose helped Al get them out of his hair, both giving the pair of giggling boys angry stares. As the last of the first years arrived at the front of the hall, Neville stopped by James and Fred and whispered something in their ears. The two instantly stopped smiling.

Neville took what at first looked like a rag used to clean the inside of an oven and placed it on the lone stool. Rose nearly yelled out in surprise when the nasty rag started to sing. The idea of the sorting hat being so nasty and sitting on her head made Rose cringe a little. In all its use, had they never washed it? She was so fixated on the notion that she missed listening to her first sorting song, much to her chagrin.

And so the sorting started. All Rose could hear was her own heartbeat. The first years seemed to nervously cling to each other as one by one they were called to the crispy hat and their fate was announced before the hordes of clapping students. Was she the only one feeling dread? Was the room only spinning for her?

“Malfoy, Scorpius!”

Hearing his name seemed to jerk Rose out of her torpor. There were loads of whispers coming from the students. Rose held her head high and gave James a stern look when she heard him loudly utter “Slytherin for sure.”

Scorpius had a somber, almost resigned look on his face. Unlike some of the other eager children who had run up to the hat to be sorted, Scorpius held back. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and then erectly walked to the stool.

He made an expression of quiet revulsion as the dirty hat was place upon his head, but his face became a mask of stoicism as he waited for the hat’s decision. The hat sat upon Scorpius’ head for a long time, but finally it gave a shout of “SLYTHERIN!”

Rose felt her chest collapse, and a breath left her she hasn’t realized she was holding. The Slytherin table gave a smattering of applause, and Scorpius schooled his eyes to the ground as he slowly made his way to his house’s table.

Rose wanted to go up and protest. There was no way he could be a Slytherin. He was kind, shy, modest: he didn’t resemble any of the Slytherins she had met before, and didn’t resemble the ones she had heard about. How could the hat had made such a decision?

“Potter, Albus!”

Another bout of whispers began to sweep the hall.

“He looks just like Harry Potter!”

“Where will it put him?”

Albus looked pale, as if he would faint at any time. He needed a prod from Rose before he stepped forward.

The hat slipped onto his head and within seconds shouted, “GRYFFINDOR!” The Gryffindor table applauded with great fervor, and Al looked tremendously relieved until the realization that he would be stuck in the same house with James seemed to strike him. He sat next to James who grabbed him around the neck and mussed his already untidy hair, which made Albus considerably less enthusiastic about his sorting.

It wouldn’t be long before Rose would be sorted as well, but she wasn’t sure that she trusted the hat to put her in the right house. She felt a pair of eyes on her and looked back to the Slytherin table. Scorpius quickly looked back to the hat as her name was called.

“Weasley, Rose!”

She was the last first year to be sorted and was feeling quite alone. Neville gave her a smile before placing the smelly hat on her head.

“Let’s see… Let’s see…” she heard a small voice in her ear. “Lots of loyalty… Ambitious… Very intelligent… Brave and passionate… Where to put you…”

Rose felt incredibly angry at the hat. First it had put Scorpius in the obviously wrong house, and now it didn’t even know where to put her? Perhaps it was just to old to make the decision and needed new charms.

“And a large temper!” the voice laughed in her ear.

Rose gasped and nearly flung the nosy thing right off her head.

“Better be… ‘GRYFFINDOR!”

Rose tore the thing off her head and smacked it onto the stool with a great ‘fwump!’ before running away to the Gryffindor table where her family cheered, and the lions yelled with equal enthusiasm.

Neville moved aside with the sorting hat and stool, before the headmistress, Professor Sprout, stood at the table and said, rather grandly, “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!”

With a clap of her hands the empty dishes before them were laden with a sumptuous feast. Rose laid into it with the usual fervor she did at any fine meal. Announcements were made by Professor Sprout about banned items in the hallways, Quidditch tryouts, and had the students applaud a reluctant group of elves for their wonderful job with the feast.

Finally the students were lead in a chorus of the school song before dismissed to bed. Two prefects started escorting the first year Gryffindors up the marble stairwell. Rose spotted the blonde hair of Scorpius and ran to catch up with him.

“Scorpius!” she called.

He turned and gave her a dubious look.

“What is it Rose? We need to get to our common rooms.”

“Yeah, I know, but… I just wanted you to know, that I don’t care if you’re a Slytherin, I’m still going to be your friend,” Rose said, offering her hand to him. She wasn’t sure she was being truthful when she said she didn’t care, but decided it was the best thing to say.

Scorpius didn’t take her hand. She was surprised to find him glaring at her.

“You care,” he said very quietly.

“N-no I don’t,” she said, shaking her head.“Well, maybe I care a little, but—”

“Then why didn’t you say so? Gryffindors are terrible liars,” Scorpius said with a scowl.

“Don’t bother yourself, Weasley,” he snapped, before pushing past her and heading towards the corridor his prefects had headed down.

“Weasley? But- but we’re friends! We raced frogs together!” Rose said in a shaky voice.

“Why would I want to be friends with a stupid, lying Gryffindor? I’m a Malfoy. You’re a Weasley. We’re not supposed to be friends, right?” he spat.

“Well then you- you really do belong in Slytherin… I thought the h-hat was wrong about you, but it wasn’t…”

“That’s right, I am a Slytherin,” Scorpius said, more to the ground than to Rose.

He looked like he would say something else, but instead turned and ran after his prefects who had gone ahead down a corridor.

Rose felt tears begin to well in her eyes, and her cheeks began to flush an embarrassing red. She looked around to find herself alone. She had no idea how to get the her common room. She knew it was a tower, but she didn’t know where it could be. There was a dizzying amount of staircases shifting above her, and no students around. She sat and stared at her shoes, for how long she wasn’t sure.

A hand touched Rose’s shoulder, and she looked up to see the pretty figure of Victoire.

“Come on, Rose. Let’s go to our common room,” she said kindly, leading Rose up the stairs.

“He-he called me Weasley…” Rose mumbled. “I thought we were friends…”

Victoire nodded before saying a password to an obese portrait and gently pushing Rose through.

“There you are!” cried Albus. “Where’d you go? We turned around and you were gone.”

“I’m tired… Goodnight Al. Goodnight Victoire,” Rose said, not waiting for a response before heading for the stairs and pausing.

“Uh, which way do I go?” Rose asked sheepishly. Al and Victoire silently pointed the way to Rose.

She opened the door to find all but one of her roommates asleep. The noise of one of the girls still brushing her teeth resonated from the bathroom. Rose changed into her pajamas and quickly got in her bed, which thankfully ended up being next to a window.

She twisted the covers around herself and tightly shut her eyes, the sound of her roommate’s teeth brushing lulling her to sleep, and the disturbing image of Scorpius glaring at her making her stomach churn.

Her father had been right. She should have known better than to trust a Malfoy.

Description
Rose stood before him a moment, smiling, before she sprinted to the compartment door and threw it open with equal enthusiasm, startling Al nearly out of his seat, and making him drop his Quidditch magazine.

“Al, come help me get this trunk!” she said, giving Scorpius a smile from the doorway. Though his expression was full of alarm, he managed to giver her a grimace of a smile.

“What trunk?” Al asked, not looking inclined to move any time soon, and picking up his now very wrinkled periodical.

“Scorpius’s,” Rose said with a vague wave towards a very still Scorpius.

“Wait. Scorpius Malfoy?” Al cried rather loudly, trying to poke his head out the door and get a look at the infamous Malfoy spawn. Startled at her cousin’s rude outburst, Rose gave a great ‘shh!’ before pushing Al back into the compartment and shutting the door between them. Rose suddenly realized she could have handled the situation with more delicacy.

Scorpius determinedly stared out the window.

“It’ll be just a moment!” she said in a forcibly cheery tone.

Scorpius gave her a quick nod, but did not bring his eyes to meet hers.

Rose entered the compartment and quickly shut the door. Biting her lip, she turned around too face Al, who was giving her a perplexed look.

“Now, why do you want a Malfoy in here?” Al asked.

“Because he’s all alone and he’s rather nice,” replied Rose, giving her cousin a pleading look. He stared at her for a moment, his mouth a tight line, his expression grim.

“Please, Al?”

Al took this as a cue to open the door, despite her protests, and go into the hallway.

“So, you’re Scorpius Malfoy?” asked Al in his gravest of voices. He only used this in the most serious of circumstances, and the fact that he was using it now made Rose become quite nervous.

“Yes. And you’re Albus Potter,” said Scorpius, not budging an inch.

Al nodded.

Again the boys fell into silence and stared at each other. Rose half expected curses to fly from the other at any moment. Scorpius had a weird, solemn little look on his face, for Al looked like he had come to a conclusion.

“Right…Well, let’s get that trunk, then,” Al offered, giving Scorpius a tight smile that clearly said he was going to forcefully ignore his last name.

Scorpius smiled back.

Rose stood to the side a bit flabbergasted as the boys worked together to move the heavy trunk, but soon she was smiling from ear to ear. Never could she have imagined an easier introduction happening between a Potter and a Malfoy.

The boys managed to get the trunk into the compartment, but couldn’t quite manage to get it in the rack above the seats, and instead opted to use it as a makeshift footrest and table. Rose offered to try a spell, but they decided that the possible effects of a backfired charm involving a very heavy trunk in such a small space were not worth it.

Scorpius had a chess set they played with for some time, and he was quickly beating the other two multiple times. Al found it amusing, and Rose found it annoying. She couldn’t stay too mad about losing, though, as Scorpius was always very humble about his wins, and his glee over winning was almost imperceptible. He then tried to help her beat Al, which made Rose forgive him for his superior skills in chess. She, of course, refused the help, as a win didn’t count unless earned completely on her own, but the act definitely put him fully back in her favor.

They were about to play another round when the witch with the trolley of food came by. Scorpius and Al bought a titanic amount of sweets, which Rose tutted at. She was told not too eat too many sweets or she’d ruin her teeth and spoil her appetite. She was quite set on only indulging in only one sweet, but when faced with the variety of choices offered, she quickly threw that plan to the wind and ate every bit as much as either of the boys.

They merrily ate until they were so full Rose thought they might have to be rolled into the sorting ceremony. Unable to eat the last of their chocolate frogs, they decided to race them down the hallway. Rose’s was in the lead when a passing third year Ravenclaw accidentally stepped on her frog with a sad, squelched croak.

“Sorry!” said the boy, examining the bottom of his shoe in a wobbly fashion.

Rose glared at the boy for ruining her first perfectly sound win of the day, while the other two retrieved their own frogs.

“You should watch where you’re stepping!” exclaimed Rose, crossing her arms and fixing the tall brown-haired boy with her fiercest of stares. He looked mildly familiar to Rose. She thought she had seen him before in Diagon Alley at Dad and Uncle George’s shop, and was fair determined to try and get him banned.

“Really, I am sorry. I’m a bit clumsy at times, I’m afraid,” the boy said with an apologetic look, using a spell to clean up the chocolate from his shoe, and siphon out the brown smudge from the carpet. He searched about himself, looking in several pockets, but finally found what he was looking for.  He reached into his inner robe pocket and handed Rose a replacement frog.

“You first years?”

“Yes,” Rose answered in a clipped tone for the group. She was still put out over him spoiling her race.

“I didn’t think I recognized you. I hope you have good luck with your sorting…” he trailed off waiting for a name.

“Rose Weasley.”

“I’m Brandon Bradley,” the boy smiled. His dark blue eyes seemed to twinkle of their own accord. Al coughed a bit, which startled Rose out of her distraction.

“Oh! And this is my cousin Al Potter. And our friend Scorpius Malfoy.”

The two waved in a bored fashion, clearly not caring to talk with the boy who ruined their game.

“Oh!” a glimmer of recognition was in Brandon’s eyes. “You’re James Potter’s brother, right?”

Rose couldn’t help but admire Brandon for not mentioning their parents. Most people couldn’t wait to bring up their famous parents the moment they met. She also liked how he was also already wearing his neatly pressed school robes. It was hard to remember why she was mad at him.

“Yeah, James is my brother,” Al responded blandly.

“Hoping to be in Gryffindor with him?”

“I dunno,” Al said with a shrug, looking suddenly agitated.

“Well don’t let it worry you if you’re not. All the houses are really great. I was the first Ravenclaw in my family in generations, but I wouldn’t want to be sorted anywhere else.”

“Oh,” said Al, looking both worried and mad. “Rosie, I’m going back to the compartment. Nice to meet you, Bertley.”

“Bradley,” Brad responded, not letting Al’s rudeness dampen his smile. “Nice to meet you too, Al.”

Al gave a short nod before retreating back into the compartment.

“Well, I’d better be getting back to my friends before they think I’ve fallen from the train or something,” said Brandon, a small grin pulling at his mouth.

Rose laughed. Scorpius didn’t. Brandon shook hands with both of them before returning to the cabin he’d come from.

“Enjoy your frog, Rosie.”

Brad gave her a wink, which made her ears burn.

Scorpius was looking at her as if she had just been dancing to get rid of wrackspurts (a pastime often enjoyed by a friend of the family Auntie Luna, according to her dad.)

She went back to the compartment, making sure to ignore Scorpius’ inquiring look.

Al offered to play Exploding Snap, which was answered with a resounding chorus of ‘No!’ from Rose and Scorpius, who both dissolved into laughter.  Al didn’t seem to be very amused by this. Instead of laughing he crossed his arms and stared out the window.

For the next few hours Al didn’t have much of anything to say. Rose's other cousin, Dominique, stopped by to say hello, but was quickly called off by her gang of boys. Scorpius and Rose had a lot of fun talking about the different Quidditch teams they liked, what subjects they thought they’d enjoy most, and what sort of pets they had. Scorpius had an owl named Artemis who would be meeting him at the castle, as he didn’t like the thought of keeping her in a cage the whole train ride.

“Though I’m sure some owls don’t particularly mind it,” amended Scorpius, eyeing Al’s owl. “What’s your owl’s name, by the way?”

When Al failed to answer Rose piped up, “Kegan.”

Each time they entreated Al to speak he grew more sullen. Rose was set to ignore him entirely, but Scorpius seemed quietly determined to try including her unpleasant cousin, despite Al only deigning to add the occasional grunt or shrug to the conversation.

It had finally turned to night, the countryside had changed drastically, and the random sounds of conversations and explosions were a bit more subdued than they had been earlier in the day. Al had nodded off, and Rose was so hungry that her stomach kept making embarrassing sounds that Scorpius had the decency to ignore.

“Rose Weasley, what happened to your hair?” asked a feminine voice from the door.

In their doorway stood Rose’s cousin Victoire, looking pretty and well manicured, her long strawberry blonde hair hanging in enviable loose waves. Rose suddenly recalled the state of her hair from all those games of Exploding Snap. She had met Brandon Bradley looking like that?

“Augh!” Rose let out.

“Exploding Snap,” translated Scorpius.

“Ah! Well, here, let me help you with it,” Victoire said in her usual mothering way.

“Thanks Victoire,” Rose said in a small voice.

Victoire spelled away the burnt ends, and re-braided Rose’s disheveled hair, Scorpius determinedly looking out the window as if he had been caught watching something indecent.

“You and Al need to get your robes on. We’ll be at Hogwarts within minutes,” said Victoire to Scorpius. He nodded before waking up Al, and they both excused themselves to the bathroom to change. Victoire gave Al’s hair a gentle mussing as he left.

“So, who was the quiet little boy with you?”

Rose responded with a slight cringe, “Scorpius Malfoy.”

If Victoire was surprised she certainly didn’t show it.

“Hmm, well he seemed very nice,” said Victoire. She tied the blue ribbon onto Rose’s now pristine hair and stood back.  “Here, let me fix the robe.”

With a quick wave of her wand, Rose’s robes were once again impeccable.

Victoire clucked at some other children in the hall to stop running, and told another first year to change into their robes already. It was no wonder Victoire had made Headgirl. The silver pin shone brightly, almost unnaturally, making Rose suspect Victoire had recently spelled it to shine.

Rose gave her a quick hug as the train began to slow.

“You’ll do us all proud, I’m sure,” Victoire said with a smile.

“So will you,” Rose grinned back. Victoire blushed a bit, before heading off for her compartment.

The train pulled into the Hogsmeade station, and Rose grasped her robes around her tightly. The cold wind from that morning was much more biting in the night. She got off the train by herself, and followed the booming voice of Hagrid.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years, this way!” he called into the night, waving a great lantern. The mere sight of her half-giant friend made her feel warmer.

“Hi Hagrid!”

“Rosie!” Hagrid nearly shouted with his enthusiasm. “How are yeh doin’? Where’s Al?”

“He’s with one of our friends somewhere.”

As she said this, Scorpius and Al emerged out of the crowd of students. Hagrid beamed at Al, and gave a polite nod to Scorpius, who stared at the giant man with wide eyes.

“Yer all comin’ to tea Friday evening, still, righ’?” asked Hagrid, looking a little worried.

“Of course,” said Al, with a large smile.

“We wouldn’t miss it,” Rose said in a placating manner.

“Yer little friend is welcome to join us too,” said Hagrid, giving an inclined head to Scorpius. “Best be gettin’ in the boats, though.”

Scorpius nodded, and the three of them found a boat to get in.

“FIRS’ YEARS, THIS WAY!” they heard Hagrid Boom one last time.

As the last of the first years arrived and boarded the small boats, they began to glide across the lake. The ride felt a bit perilous to Rose, given how the blustery wind made the little boats churn and sway on the water, but as soon as the sight of Hogwarts was before them, all thoughts of doom seemed to Apparate away.

“Woah!” exclaimed Al.

Rose smiled, and turned to Scorpius who had a deathgrip on either side of the boat. They exchanged excited smiles for a moment, but Scorpius seemed more concerned with the possibility of falling into the depths of the lake than the exciting prospect of seeing Hogwarts for the first time.

When they finally reached land, Scorpius was the very first to get onto firm ground. Rose and Al laughed as they entered the castle’s large doors along with all the other first years. At the top of the stairs was—

“Uncle Neville!” Rose cried, running the rest of the way up the steps.

“Hello Rosie,” said Neville with a kind smile. “But it’s Professor Longbottom during term, eh?”

“Of course,” said Rose, giving him a hug. She hadn’t seen much of him over the summer, as he had been in Madagascar during the summer months, collecting samples of rare plants. His wife Hannah and daughter Magnolia had joined him, leaving the Leaky Cauldron in the understaff’s hands. It was quite odd being there without the sight of the Longbottom family.

“Welcome to Hogwarts!” Neville said, as the rest of the first years joined them. “I’m Professor Longbottom.”

Many of the first years started gasping and whispering amongst themselves at this. Neville had become a bit of a legend after defying Voldemort and beheading the snake with the sword of Gryffindor nineteen years ago. Neville gave them a moment to compose themselves before he began again.

“Through these doors is the Great Hall. You’ll get to sit and enjoy the start-of-term banquet after you’ve each been sorted into your houses. The houses don’t define who you are, but they are much like a family. You’ll eat meals, share your dorm and common room, and will take classes with your house.  As you all probably know, the four houses are Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin.”

Al bit his lip and stared at the ground.

“Each has a long history of great witches and wizards, and each is very special in their own right. You’ll all earn points for them with your triumphs, which will help your house in winning the house cup at the end of the year. Try not to get into too much trouble, because that will cost your house points,” Neville concluded.

“So! Ready to get sorted?”

The first years gave a feeble ‘yes.’ Neville gave them a fond look before opening the doors of the Great Hall. “Then, follow me.”

Rose gasped as she looked up to the ceiling. She had been told about it, and had read about it, but never could she have imagined how amazing the sight would be. The night sky’s stars twinkled with excitement, and the crescent moon seemed to be smiling down at the Great Hall.

The crowds of chatting older students turned to look at the procession of first years. James and their cousin Fred were seated at the front of the Gryffindor table laughing. James gave a flick of his wand and pelted the back of Al’s head with spitballs. He and Fred seemed to find it immensely hilarious. Rose helped Al get them out of his hair, both giving the pair of giggling boys angry stares. As the last of the first years arrived at the front of the hall, Neville stopped by James and Fred and whispered something in their ears. The two instantly stopped smiling.

Neville took what at first looked like a rag used to clean the inside of an oven and placed it on the lone stool. Rose nearly yelled out in surprise when the nasty rag started to sing. The idea of the sorting hat being so nasty and sitting on her head made Rose cringe a little. In all its use, had they never washed it? She was so fixated on the notion that she missed listening to her first sorting song, much to her chagrin.

And so the sorting started. All Rose could hear was her own heartbeat. The first years seemed to nervously cling to each other as one by one they were called to the crispy hat and their fate was announced before the hordes of clapping students. Was she the only one feeling dread? Was the room only spinning for her?

“Malfoy, Scorpius!”

Hearing his name seemed to jerk Rose out of her torpor. There were loads of whispers coming from the students. Rose held her head high and gave James a stern look when she heard him loudly utter “Slytherin for sure.”

Scorpius had a somber, almost resigned look on his face. Unlike some of the other eager children who had run up to the hat to be sorted, Scorpius held back. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and then erectly walked to the stool.

He made an expression of quiet revulsion as the dirty hat was place upon his head, but his face became a mask of stoicism as he waited for the hat’s decision. The hat sat upon Scorpius’ head for a long time, but finally it gave a shout of “SLYTHERIN!”

Rose felt her chest collapse, and a breath left her she hasn’t realized she was holding. The Slytherin table gave a smattering of applause, and Scorpius schooled his eyes to the ground as he slowly made his way to his house’s table.

Rose wanted to go up and protest. There was no way he could be a Slytherin. He was kind, shy, modest: he didn’t resemble any of the Slytherins she had met before, and didn’t resemble the ones she had heard about. How could the hat had made such a decision?

“Potter, Albus!”

Another bout of whispers began to sweep the hall.

“He looks just like Harry Potter!”

“Where will it put him?”

Albus looked pale, as if he would faint at any time. He needed a prod from Rose before he stepped forward.

The hat slipped onto his head and within seconds shouted, “GRYFFINDOR!” The Gryffindor table applauded with great fervor, and Al looked tremendously relieved until the realization that he would be stuck in the same house with James seemed to strike him. He sat next to James who grabbed him around the neck and mussed his already untidy hair, which made Albus considerably less enthusiastic about his sorting.

It wouldn’t be long before Rose would be sorted as well, but she wasn’t sure that she trusted the hat to put her in the right house. She felt a pair of eyes on her and looked back to the Slytherin table. Scorpius quickly looked back to the hat as her name was called.

“Weasley, Rose!”

She was the last first year to be sorted and was feeling quite alone. Neville gave her a smile before placing the smelly hat on her head.

“Let’s see… Let’s see…” she heard a small voice in her ear. “Lots of loyalty… Ambitious… Very intelligent… Brave and passionate… Where to put you…”

Rose felt incredibly angry at the hat. First it had put Scorpius in the obviously wrong house, and now it didn’t even know where to put her? Perhaps it was just to old to make the decision and needed new charms.

“And a large temper!” the voice laughed in her ear.

Rose gasped and nearly flung the nosy thing right off her head.

“Better be… ‘GRYFFINDOR!”

Rose tore the thing off her head and smacked it onto the stool with a great ‘fwump!’ before running away to the Gryffindor table where her family cheered, and the lions yelled with equal enthusiasm.

Neville moved aside with the sorting hat and stool, before the headmistress, Professor Sprout, stood at the table and said, rather grandly, “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!”

With a clap of her hands the empty dishes before them were laden with a sumptuous feast. Rose laid into it with the usual fervor she did at any fine meal. Announcements were made by Professor Sprout about banned items in the hallways, Quidditch tryouts, and had the students applaud a reluctant group of elves for their wonderful job with the feast.

Finally the students were lead in a chorus of the school song before dismissed to bed. Two prefects started escorting the first year Gryffindors up the marble stairwell. Rose spotted the blonde hair of Scorpius and ran to catch up with him.

“Scorpius!” she called.

He turned and gave her a dubious look.

“What is it Rose? We need to get to our common rooms.”

“Yeah, I know, but… I just wanted you to know, that I don’t care if you’re a Slytherin, I’m still going to be your friend,” Rose said, offering her hand to him. She wasn’t sure she was being truthful when she said she didn’t care, but decided it was the best thing to say.

Scorpius didn’t take her hand. She was surprised to find him glaring at her.

“You care,” he said very quietly.

“N-no I don’t,” she said, shaking her head.“Well, maybe I care a little, but—”

“Then why didn’t you say so? Gryffindors are terrible liars,” Scorpius said with a scowl.

“Don’t bother yourself, Weasley,” he snapped, before pushing past her and heading towards the corridor his prefects had headed down.

“Weasley? But- but we’re friends! We raced frogs together!” Rose said in a shaky voice.

“Why would I want to be friends with a stupid, lying Gryffindor? I’m a Malfoy. You’re a Weasley. We’re not supposed to be friends, right?” he spat.

“Well then you- you really do belong in Slytherin… I thought the h-hat was wrong about you, but it wasn’t…”

“That’s right, I am a Slytherin,” Scorpius said, more to the ground than to Rose.

He looked like he would say something else, but instead turned and ran after his prefects who had gone ahead down a corridor.

Rose felt tears begin to well in her eyes, and her cheeks began to flush an embarrassing red. She looked around to find herself alone. She had no idea how to get the her common room. She knew it was a tower, but she didn’t know where it could be. There was a dizzying amount of staircases shifting above her, and no students around. She sat and stared at her shoes, for how long she wasn’t sure.

A hand touched Rose’s shoulder, and she looked up to see the pretty figure of Victoire.

“Come on, Rose. Let’s go to our common room,” she said kindly, leading Rose up the stairs.

“He-he called me Weasley…” Rose mumbled. “I thought we were friends…”

Victoire nodded before saying a password to an obese portrait and gently pushing Rose through.

“There you are!” cried Albus. “Where’d you go? We turned around and you were gone.”

“I’m tired… Goodnight Al. Goodnight Victoire,” Rose said, not waiting for a response before heading for the stairs and pausing.

“Uh, which way do I go?” Rose asked sheepishly. Al and Victoire silently pointed the way to Rose.

She opened the door to find all but one of her roommates asleep. The noise of one of the girls still brushing her teeth resonated from the bathroom. Rose changed into her pajamas and quickly got in her bed, which thankfully ended up being next to a window.

She twisted the covers around herself and tightly shut her eyes, the sound of her roommate’s teeth brushing lulling her to sleep, and the disturbing image of Scorpius glaring at her making her stomach churn.

Her father had been right. She should have known better than to trust a Malfoy.