Gryffindor Princess

The Hogwarts Express

Rose and Albus quickly found a compartment and set their trunks down. They sat down on the cushioned seats, sitting across from each other.

"Do you think James is going to sit with us?" Rose asked, looking at Albus.

"Probably not. He's too busy with his friends. And a girl he refuses to tell he about." Albus said, laughing at the last part. "He's been 'subtly' discussing her all summer, but when we mention her, he clams up. All I could get out of him is that he met her last year."

Rose grinned, "I wonder who we'll meet this year. Our parents all became friends early on in their years at Hogwarts, and look where they are now. I wonder who we'll end up being friends with."

"Yeah," Albus replied, glancing out the window. "I've been thinking about that a lot."

"Well, we'll just have to sit and find out," smiled Rose, taking a spellbook out of her trunk and began to read.

Rose hadn't been reading for more than ten minutes when the compartment door slid open and someone walked inside. The same boy, Scorpius, walked inside, his blonde hair tousled and dragging his trunk behind him.

"Do you mind if I sit in here?" Scorpius asked anxiously. "All the other compartments are full."

"Sure," Albus smiled, patting the seat next to him. "Sit here!"

Rose frowned slightly and went back to reading her book. She tried not to judge anyone, but she didn't know what she thought about Scorpius. She had heard awful stories of the Malfoys...

"My name's Scorpius Malfoy," he said. "And you two are Albus Potter and Rose Weasley, right?"

"Yup," Albus said. "You have no idea how many people have come up to me and say 'you're Harry Potter's son, right?'"

"Yeah," Scorpius laughed.

The boys laughed and talked together for a while, and Rose buried her face further into her book. After a while, she looked up, and noticed Scorpius staring at her. When he noticed her looking, Scorpius quickly looked away and continued to talk to Albus.

Rose shook her head and continued to read. She learned a few new spells, although she didn't try them out. She didn't want the Malfoy boy to see her fail at anything, in case she did mess up.

An old witch with gray hair poked her head into the compartment. "Would you like to buy anything from the trolley?"

After Albus, Rose, and Scorpius bought enough sweets for the train ride, they settled down into their seats.

"Would you like a chocolate frog? I mean I know... I mean I know you already bought some, but---" Scorpius stammered.

"I'd love one," Rose smiled, and a relieved Scorpius handed one over to her. Rose smiled to herself as she ate the chocolate and read her book.

Why would the Malfoy boy be so flustered by talking to her? She was just Rose Weasley. And no matter how nice that Scorpius was, she didn't want to trust him too much.

"Rose, it's time for us to change into our robes." Albus announced. "We'll be arriving at Hogwarts in less than half an hour."

Rose, who was already wearing her robes, left the compartment to let the boys change and packed up the books she'd been reading. As she set the rest of her candies inside and closed the last clasp of her trunk, the train screeched to a halt and everyone began to depart the train. Rose quickly left the compartment and took Albus by the hand, dragging him out of the train too.

"First years!" She heard a familiar voice shout. "First years, over here!"

Rose and Albus navigated their way through the crowds and made their way to Hagrid. Rose threw her arms around the family friend.

"Hi, Hagrid!" Rose exclaimed. "I'm so excited!"

"I am too," Hagrid smiled. "Go on, you two, get in one of the boats."

Rose and Albus sat in one of the boats and were soon joined by Scorpius. Rose tried not to look a bit frustrated, because she didn't want to offend him. But she also didn't want to be known as Scorpius Malfoy's best friend.

The water was serene and slowly moving, but it definitely wasn't storming, with high waves. She had heard of years where the storms were so bad, people fell into the water.

"Can I join you?" Asked a voice behind Rose. She turned around to see Jessica Longbottom, the daughter of Neville and Hannah Longbottom.

"Of course," Rose said, happy to have another person to befriend. "Sit here!"

"Alright," Hagrid yelled. "Ready to go to Hogwarts?"

A cheer erupted from the crowd of eleven year olds, and they began to row their boats across the black lake.