Rose Weasley's Story

Scorpius followed his mother onto Platform 9 3/4 ready for the new year, a wheeled luggage carrier being pulled behind him by his left hand and a bird cage with his owl in his right. Astoria walked with dignity, her stride showing nothing but confidence. As the pair worked their way through the crowd, Scorpius eyed some of the younger students looking out for possible candidates for the Quidditch team. Gylfie flapped her wings excitedly in her cage.

Coming to a stop not far from the train, Astoria turned to face her son. "You're the spitting image of your father," she said with a delightful smile. Scorpius rolled his eyes in response. He had heard that too many times before. With a sigh and now a look of minor frustration she continued, "Your father loves you very much. You shouldn't condemn him for past sins. He's different now than he was when he was your age."

With a shrug Scorpius replied, "I would love to believe that, mum, but I just can't." Propping up his luggage and setting the birdcage on top, he stepped up to his mother. "Maybe it's true, maybe not. Can we just drop it? I'd rather not talk about it right before I leave."

"Oh, all right," she sighed. Wrapping Scorpius in a strong hug, she said, "I love you, Scorpius. Don't give you're dad too much trouble, okay? And try to spend some time with him."

"I love you too, mum," he said pulling away. "I'll try. For you. The train's gonna be leaving soon. Best get a seat before they're all gone." As he reached for his things, Astoria gave him one more hug and kiss goodbye.

After making his way onto the train, Scorpius placed his luggage up on the luggage rack and sat down in an empty seat in an empty compartment, placing Gylfie and her cage next to him. Across the hall was a group of Slytherins. They sneered at him before closing their door. With a slight laugh, he opened up the window and waved to Astoria as she left the platform with an urgent look on her face. "Must have something to do with work," he said as he opened up Gylfie's cage. Delighted, the owl sprang out and flew to the seat across from Scorpius.

Not a moment later, someone's luggage was shoved into Scorpius's compartment. Gylfie jumped and flew to him in surprise, landing on his shoulder, hiding her face in behind his neck. "Well, that was rude," he said to himself. Quickly, he shot up, Gylfie still on his shoulder, and looked down the corridor. He saw a flash of red hair leaving the train and instantly had an idea who it was. To confirm his suspicions, he checked the name on the luggage. "Rose Wealey. Thought so." Unsure of what to do next, he decided to go after the girl. Stepping off the train, he spotted her pulling Eden Longbottom back to her feet after shouting at a laughing crowd.

Feeling somewhat concerned for his fellow Hufflepuff, he decided to approach. "Everything all right?" he asked, not really directing the question to anyone specifically.

Ginny laughed at Lily's interruption of her embarrassing her oldest child. "Oh, alright," she says with a sigh and finally let him go.

James Sirius stumbled out of her grasp and immediately began straightening his clothes and rubbing kisses off his cheeks. He cracked a smile as Lily promised she'd make the boys write and not get into too much trouble. She'd been using that as a goodbye line since her first year. Granted, thanks to her James and Albus did remember to write but...as for staying out of trouble...

"Do try, sweetheart," Ginny mumbled, trying to ignore the smirk on James' face as she hugs her only daughter goodbye. After that she waved as Lily climbed onto the train.

James Sirius glared at his mother--all in good fun--before hugging his father. Then he gave his younger brother a playful little shove towards the train.

"Ah, Sirius, cut it out," Albus complained as he stumbled away.

---

Eden wondered that if she stayed silent enough and didn't move...would she disappear? She was magic right, so she could do that...all it'd take was a great bit of concentration.

"Sod off, you prats!"

Eden looked up a little, she recognized that voice. A shaky little grin covered her face as Rose Weasely came into view, and she stuttered out 'thank you's' as she was helped up onto her feet. She stumbled for a moment, then gained her balance and dusted her pants off.

Was she okay?

Before she even had a chance to answer, another voice joined them.

"Everything alright?"

She brushed her dark curls out of her face to see Scorpius Malfoy. Fellow Hufflepuff. She sighed a little and nodded, feeling ridiculous and highly embarrassed.

"Everything's fine," she murmured in a soft voice that didn't at all condone him from asking, but matched the blush creeping up on her cheeks. "I just...fell."

Imagine that. Ickle Longbottom fell down again.

She frowned down at her knee as it began to throb a little, but otherwise she didn't feel hurt. "Thanks," she murmured to both of them then turned around.

And immediately groaned.

All of her belongings were scattered on the ground, her crates had popped open and everything was everywhere. "Why is it always me?" she whined as she dropped to her knees to scrape everything back together. She didn't even care if it wasn't in the right spot, she just didn't want to miss the train.

As Scorpius approached, Rose greeted him saying, "Hey Malfoy." With a slight turn she asked, "Have a nice summer?"

Scorpius replied with a shrug, adding, "More or less." She didn't seem to hear him because she realized Eden was picking up her belongings. Sounding frustrated, Rose pulled out her wand and took care of the clean up for Eden. Gylfie still perched comfortably on his shoulder. Before Scorpius could say anything else, the whistle echoed across the station. Gylfie jumped in surprise of the whistle as Scorpius looked to the train.

Rose went to gather the cats and said something to Scorpius that he didn't quite catch. Figuring it was something about the train, he let out a sigh and turned to make his way back to the train. Pausing, he looked back over his shoulder. "Better hurry," he said. "I don't think they have any more flying cars here." Satisfied with his little joke, he made his way back onto the train and to his compartment.

When he arrived, he stopped at the door. In his compartment sat Lily Potter. He had to admit to himself that he was not expecting this. "Hey, Potter," he greeted her as he took the seat across from her.

Once James was on the train, he went off in look for his godsibling, a smile playing on the corners of his mouth. He was in an oddly chipper mood...which only meant one thing. Somewhere, somehow, trouble was coming...

---

Eden, sitting on her knees, just dropped her head as Rose's wand came out. For heavens sakes...sometimes the poor girl just forgot she was a witch. Granted, with her luck, she probably would have blown everything to pieces.

She nodded quickly at Rose's words, mumbled a quick thanks, and climbed to her feet. Rose had Nala safely in her arms with Crooshanks, thankfully, so she just gathered her things back to her arms and prayed for everything good in the wizarding world that she did not trip again.

"I don't think they have any more flying cars here."

Eden cracked a grin. Even she knew the story about that one, she'd heard it many times from Harry and Ron themselves when they were over at her house. Each time, her father laughed so hard he cried.

After awhile, both girls were on the train, searching desperately for a place to sit and where Rose had stashed her luggage. Eden passed by Scorpious, sitting with Lily Potter, and was just going to stick her head in to thank him again for coming when she fell, but then the name on the luggage laying on the ground caught her attention.

"Rose!" She called behind her, "I found it!"

Slowly, she stepped inside and lowered herself into the seat next to her fellow Hufflepuff. "Do you mind...?" She asked, looking at both current occupants. "Everywhere else was quite full..."

Sadly enough, if they did, Eden would most likely get up and go sit...in the hall if she had too.

Scorpius smiled nodding at Lily's first question as Gylfie hopped down, and onto his lap. Looking down at the little owl, he scratched her behind her wing and she let out a quiet, happy little shriek. "How was your summer, Scorpius?" Lily asked as she set her book down.

Scorpius looked up and shook his head a little. "Pretty boring, really," he said. "Only so much you can do with Professor Malfoy breathing down your neck." He said his father's name with distaste. "What about y-" He was cut off by the loud thud of Eden hitting the floor outside the doorway.

"Rose! I found it!" The girl exclaimed. Scorpius couldn't help but let out a little chuckle. She always was a bit of a klutz. Before Scorpius could offer a helping hand she was up and sitting down next to him with Rose in tow, looking somewhat relieved.

When asked about the seating, Scorpius shrugged, adding, "Go for it." Rose went ahead and took the seat across from Eden grumbling about the cats. Her arms looked a bit scratched up, but it didn't look too bad.

After telling Eden to just take the seat and asking Lily about Sirius, she turned to Scorpius and explained what had happened. She ended with, "Do you think you'll survive?

Scorpius laughed, surprising Gylphie who fluttered in response. He went on to say, "Oh dear me. Surrounded in a closed spce by three girls? What ever will I do?" Still slightly laughing, he scratched the back of his head. With a sly smile he added, "I'm sure we'll find something to do."

James twisted around on his heels the moment his name was called and a wide grin appeared on his face as he watched his cousin make her way over, waving and all. "Hey Roxy!" he replied happily, then nodded at her question. "Yeah, down with Ethan and Alby. We got room for you."

Ethan was another Gryffindor chaser. He didn't know him so well off the pitch, but tended to get along with him nonetheless. "Imagine you, being late, never happens," he mentioned, sarcasm thick in his voice.

If possible, his grin only widened even more the moment the words 'I've brought' fell out of his cousins mouth. It was no secret George Wesley was his favorite uncle, so by default Roxanne usually found herself in his favorite cousin category as well. "'Might be able to help test them out'?" he repeated with a slight eyeroll.

He jogged over to her then nodded his head back towards the compartment he'd come from. "Let's have a look then."

---

Eden sank down into her seat a little more comfortably when Rose told her just to sit. She cursed herself mentally--her father was always telling her not to just automatically do what others told her to. But...it was Rose after all. Not like the girl would intentionally tell her to do anything wrong.

The thought fell out of her head when Nala hopped into her lap, pushing her paws around on Eden's legs before deciding she was comfortable enough to lay down on. She gave one little huff, curled up, and then was fast asleep.

Eden looked up again and smiled slightly at Lily. The redhead was the only Slytherin--ever--to not make her feel like she needed to bolt as fast as she could. Granted, she had a feeling knowing the Potter's and Weasley's from a young age had something to do with her tolerance.

She had to admit, she was glad to finally be off her feet. Walking was such a stressful thing when the likelihood of falling flat on your arse was about 100% every three steps.

She blinked a bit in surprise as Rose suddenly noticed the seating arrangements. In fact, poor Scorpius was surrounded by girls. Eden was already halfway out of her seat, about to say she could go if needed, when Scorpius suddenly laughed. She plopped right back down as if she'd never moved.

That sly little smile on his face made a bit of a blush appear on her cheeks. Granted, everything he'd said was completely innocent, but...

"Oh dear," she muttered, then laughed a little.

Lucy sat in the private car her father had reserved for her. She understood the need for safety and was glad her father cared enough to make sure she was taken care of, but that didn't make her any happier about not getting to ride the train with the other students. While her thoughts swirled, a mix of anger and sadness at her seclusion, even just for a few hours, her face remained blank and seemingly attentive to her mother as she made excuses for her father, yet again. "Now dear, you know your father is a very busy man. He has a lot on his plate, especially now. The political climate still isn't very friendly toward those of us who are Pure-blooded. There are things going on that you don't know." Lucy sighed and turned from the darkly tinted window to look at her mother. "I know, Mother... I'm not angry." she lied. The truth was, she was furious, she was just too well bred and too much a lady to say so. She turned back to the window, looking out into the grass waving in the late summer breeze and drifted away.

She knew that her mother would not be staying once Lucy was out of the car. Her mother would apparate back to her father's side as soon as they were out of Hogsmeade's 'no apparating' limits. Her parents were very busy. She placed her thumb under her chin and covered her mouth with her palm, the closest she ever got to sulking. She loved her parents. She really did... but sometimes it was so hard not to be angry, not to be a teenager. She physically shook the thoughts from her head and leaned back against the seat, dozing off, the last thought going through her head being that she wished she could open the sunroof on the town car and remove the barrier between herself and the rest of the world.

When she awoke, they were pulling up to The Hog's Head Bar and her mother was shaking her lightly, then she turned away, giving her daughter privacy to uncrease herself. Lucy tried to smooth the wrinkles from her full skirt, knowing with a crinoline under it, any wrinkles would show, and it would not do for the daughter of the Minister to be wrinkled. Unable to press the creases out manually, she withdrew her wand from the fashionable purse she hated sitting next to her. Casting the spell, she felt herself release the stressed breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. She smoothed her hair back and tucked a couple of stray pieces into the french twist she had, after six years of practice, perfected. She was ready. Ready to be an extension and ambassador for her father.

Lucy and her mother entered the dark bar and Lucy had to force herself not to squint as her eyes adjusted to the loss of her precious sun. From over in the corner, in the place they had surely agreed on previously, was close personal friend of the Weasley-Potter Clan, and Herbology instructor at Hogwarts, Neville Longbottom. She would wait with him until the other students arrived and then ride to the school in the carriages with the others. This was the compromise she had made with her father. She would miss early fraternization in exchange for the safety her father worried about, if he disturbed her ability to fit in with the other students as little as possible. She greeted the professor, "Good afternoon, Professor." and smiled at him, a genuine smile, not the one she practiced in the mirror for political events, she liked Professor Longbottom. She turned to her mother and took a deep breath. "I love you, Mom." she said, and hugged her, no more and no less than the acceptable 3 seconds, and then watched as her mother walked out the door. Taking a seat across from the Professor, she made her self comfortable. It was going to be a long wait.

Eden's eyebrows raised slightly at Lily's scoff of an answer to Rose's seemingly innocent question. Slytherin's, she thought absentmindedly, then wondered for a moment if that was a biased and prejudice thought.

Before she had time to dwell on that, Lily was teasing Scorpious about being converted into a girl. Eden herself had to smile at the Hufflepuff's response—leave it to him to compare Care for Magical Creatures and girls together.

When attention was brought onto her, she instinctively sank back into her seat. “Oh...you know...just a summer...”

What was she supposed to say? Mum and dad were fighting again...about who got me for the vacation... She supposed she should feel special, that she was so loved and her company so desired that grown adults would argue...but she didn't. She felt sad. She loved them both dearly...she didn't want to take sides...she didn't want them fighting either.

She shook her head slightly to get her thoughts off of sad things and focused again on the girls in front of her. Rose was talking about an annual Weasley-Potter Quidditch match. A smile appeared on Eden's face. She understood why her family was so depressingly small—but sometimes, she wished it was large like the Weasley clan. Filled with smiling faces and close ties...

Back to Quidditch. Scorpious was talking again. Eden's eyes went wide as she realized what about. “Oh shoot I forgot about recruiting! Surely we will get some good fresh blood in...”

Eden loved the game. Everything about it. She usually tried her best to do the commentary whenever she possibly could. She was well studied enough in the sport to make her professors scoff at her for not spending as much time on her studies as a game she was 'too damn clumsy to play anyway.'

There was some sort of sound off in the distance, like a truck had fallen from it's compartment. Eden had absolutely no desire to get up and check it out. None at all.

Rose stuffed her wand back into her pocket, satisfied that the scrape had healed well. She was planning on being a future medic so she tried to practice whenever she could. Having Albus as a brother really afforded her countless valuable opportunities, at least.

"So what do you suppose the Sorting Hat will say this time? I heard Albus trying to figure out a way to bribe it; they tried bewitching it last year, but that... erm, that didn't work out. I'm kind of afraid of what they'll do at the feast today." Rose sighed wearily, feeling a headache coming on when she thought of the damage control she'd have to do as a prefect.

Another thought popped into her head--"Hey guys," she said suddenly, straightening. "We're having a ball this year, did you hear?" Normally Rose wasn't much of a gossip, but she figured the news would leak out anyways so she might as well give her friends a heads up. "Better start reserving dates now, before all the good ones are gone." Having said that, Rose immediately turned to Eden and grabbed her hand in both of hers, batting her eyelashes. "Would you do me the honor, Eden?" She joked.