The Red Rose That Has Green Thorns

“I wonder who the Head Boy and Head Girl are,” Al mused. “I figured it would be you two, with the whole ‘overcoming extreme differences’ thing going for you, but I guess not…”

“I am Head Boy!”

“I am Head Girl!”

Scorpius and I glance at each other, as we had blurted those things out at the same time. I couldn’t help but chuckle, and Scorpius grinned in good humour.

“WHAT?!” Al cried, shocked. “And you didn’t write me? Or, Scorp, I was with you practically all summer and you didn’t tell me?!”

“Sorry, Al. I figured you’d find out eventually. Sooner or later.” Scorpius shrugged.

“Yup. Same here.” I mirrored his shrug. “How about Wizard’s chess, Scorp? I think we should give Al some time to compose himself.”

“I agree. Wizard’s chess sounds great.”

“What about me?! Guys!” Al pouted.

“You’ll just have to play the winner,” Scorpius waved his wand and his trunk popped open.

Another wave and his Wizard’s chess set was all raring and ready to go on the floor of the compartment. “After all, Wizard’s chess is a two person game, not three.”

Al huffed. “What a way to tell me I’m the unwanted third wheel.” he mumbled.

Scorpius and I laughed as we slid to the floor to our respective sides of the board. It was my turn to be white and his turn to be black. Al quickly got over his annoyance and settled down to watch our match with interest. He always swore up and down that Scorpius and I should’ve been in Ravenclaw, but that our genetics kept us out.

“Checkmate,” was proclaimed by Scorpius with a trademark Malfoy smirk.

“Right you are.” I sighed, then grinned and offered my hand. “Good game.”

We shook, and he replied, “The same to you.”

“Your turn, Al.” I stretched, picking up my abandoned book and laying across the seats on one side of the compartment.

“What?! I haven’t got a chance! You two just battled it out for an hour and a half!” Al whined, wide-eyed.

“The game will be that much quicker, then. Won’t it, Al?” Scorpius shrugged, using the ‘you’re-a-chicken’ route to get Al to play.

Al sighed, but he settled in my vacated spot nonetheless. I stifled my giggle and once more immersed myself in the spellbinding aura of Eragon.

“Rose! Snap out of it!” Scorpius said loudly, breaking my trance. “Hurry up and change, we’re starting to slow down!”

“Oh, crap!” I let my book fall from my grasp as I lurched up to reach my trunk. I grabbed the topmost set of robes and pulled them over my head. I took my Head Girl badge and pinned it to the front of my robes, where I used to pin my Prefect’s badge. Just as I had done this much, the train stopped, and I stumbled into something.

“Oh, sorry, Al,” I said when I’d realized it was him I had stumbled into and, consequently, knocked to the ground.

“It’s okay.” He grinned, then something seemed to occur to him. “Hey! Weren’t you supposed to have a prefect meeting and patrol the train?!”

Scorpius and I exchanged glances, and then we laughed.

“No,” said Scorpius, quite calmly. “There’s a new policy. Our first prefect meeting is tomorrow before classes, and as for patrolling? They’ve established new sensory charms to detect whether a harmful spell is being used or not.”

Al looked almost as if he hadn’t understood a word, and merely said, “Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’.” I laughed. Something else seemed to occur to him.

“Wait! Don’t you - as in the Head Boy and Head Girl - get an exclusive dorm? Like a whole common room to yourselves and everything?!”

We exchanged glances, until I broke the silence. “Wow. I’d completely forgotten about that.” Was the casual remark I spouted.

“Me, too.” Scorpius chuckled. “Of course, the tradition is only two years old, so maybe that would be the explanation as to how we forgot.”

“Maybe,” Al muttered, astonished that we could forget.

“Ah, lighten up!” I laughed at my cousin. “Look, let’s get a carriage or we might very well be forced to walk all the way up to the school!”

Scorpius hid his laughter as Al scurried up from the floor and voiced his shout of agreement.

“Simmer down,” I laughed at him again. “You’re acting like a complete nutcase! You’re seventeen, for Merlin’s sake!”

“Loosen up, Rosie-Posy!” Al retorted. “You’re too strict for your age. You just turned seventeen, ‘for Merlin’s sake!’”

“I can tell that you two are family,” Scorpius remarked, striding past us. “Now, let’s go!”

And, without further ado, he grabbed us by the necks of our robes like we were naughty children and he pulled us out of our compartment.

“Waaah!” Al mocked. “Waaah! I’mma tell my Daddy on you, ya big bully!”

“I think your Uncle Ron is a bit more of a threat, actually,” Scorpius remarked wryly, without missing a beat.

“True, true,” Al grinned good naturedly, and I just shook my head. You could say it was in disappointment at my father’s lasting impression.

As soon as we were off the train, Scorpius released us - much to the amusement of the crowd that had followed us - and we set off for the carriages. I had Nira in my arms. I don’t care about anyone who sees her, I just wanted her with me. I wasn’t going to leave her with my things, like a piece of luggage! I was going to make sure she got well-fed, like the
Gryffindor she is! Er, well…belongs to, that is. I wondered absently whether or not she’d like the treacle tart.

“So…” Al said once we’d settled in the carriage he’d chosen. “What now?”

“For starters, we wait for the carriage to move.”

“I didn’t ask for a smart-ass comment, Rose!”

“Well, you got one. Lucky you, it’s not every day I give them out!” I grinned at Al.

“Yes it is!”

“No it is not. My smart-ass comments only come out every few days!”

“Liar!”

“I’m appalled at you, Albus Severus Potter! Calilng me, the respectable Head Girl, your cousin, Rose Weasly…a liar?!”

“Yes, I’m calling you a liar!”

“Hmm…” I pretended to pause and think. Teasing him was so fun. “That’s a bad call.”

“Liar!”

Scorpius, at this point, was turning a bright red from containing his laughter.

“And there he goes again!” I threw my hands up in mock fury.

“Don’t act all dramatic, Rosie!” Al cried.

“Are you calling me a drama queen now, Albus?!”

“Maybe I am!” he was huffing and puffing, like the big bad wolf.

“Hmm…” I pretended to think again. “That there’s a good call.”

“Hey, I - wait! Good call?! You’re not a drama queen! On, like, any occasion at all! You’re never over-the-top!”

“Now you’re calling me a liar…again?!”

Scorpius was now rapidly turning purple from suppressing his laughter for so long.

“Wha - I - Rosie!” Al whined pitifully.

“Oh, no, Al! what have you done now?!” I cried frantically, mentally grinning at this new scheme of mine. “Breathe, Scorpius, breathe! Although your face has become a very attractive shade of purple, breathe! It’s an essential thing, air!” I pretended to be in hysterics.

And that’s what did it, too. Scorpius burst into a fit of laughter, and I smirked.

“I knew he couldn’t hold it in forever.” I stated smugly. Al started laughing at this and the carriage jerked into motion. I used this time to watch my idiots of friends look like total nutcases. Not that it really made a different what those two acted like.

“Oh-kay…” Al said after a little longer. “Now that that’s over - we’re moving?!”

“Yes, Al. We are.” I said quite calmly, yet a grin was tickling the corners of my mouth. I was inwardly laughing at him when I glanced at Scorpius and he was gasping for breath.

“Oh. Okay, then. I wonder who our new Potions professor is, since Slughorn finally retired for the second time last year. You got any idea?” Al asked hopefully, already on a new subject.

“Nope. Not any clue whatsoever. You know, you could be an Auror, what with your N.E.W.T. classes.” I said, tickling Nira under her chin.

“I don’t want to be an - ”

“We know, we know, you want to be a Healer.” I sighed. Scorpius choked on one of his regaining-his-breath gasps and laughed.

“Al, you want to be a Healer?! Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“He’s embarrassed,” I answered for him. Al was flushing to much to really notice anyway. “Only the women in the family know about it. He’s afraid it’ll make people think less of him, being the son of the great Harry Potter, but that’s just silly of him, isn’t it? I mean, a Healer is a perfectly respectable career for anyone, even the son of the boy who lived - heck, why don’t I just say especially if it’s the son of the boy who lived? Isn’t that so?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Scorpius readily agreed, long over his initial reaction. “And besides, it doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks, it’s what you want and what you believe in.”

“I - I guess so,” Al murmured sheepishly. I couldn’t help but grin, and yet I still wondered when Scorpius would take his own advice. He secretly wanted to be an Auror, but his father was still a bit touchy about that. After all, Aurors are dark wizard catchers, and the Malfoy family has had a history of producing dark wizards. What a good friend I am, sneaking a peek at Scorpius’ old journal back in fifth year. But, like he said, it’s what you want and what you believe in, and I personally think he’d make a great Auror someday.

I guess I’m really a bit of a let down. I’m tied at the top of the class with Scorpius (surprise surprise), yet I have no clue what I want to do or be. I don’t guess it’s important right now. I’ve got a year to figure it all out. And we’re pulling up to the Hogwarts entrance now.

“Here we are!” Scorpius said happily, then he sighed under his breath where we weren’t supposed to hear it and Al didn’t, “Home.”

It startled me to think that he would call Hogwarts his home - but then again, it didn’t. It was Scorpius. He was bound to like Hogwarts more, but his father had been loosening up a bit…it’s all so confusing, I still don’t know what to make of it.

“Yeah, here we are!” Al cried, seemingly already over his little moment of embarrassment and totally oblivious to the ‘home’ comment Scorpius had just made.
Scorpius and I just kind of laughed at Al’s actions and walked ahead of him, talking.

“Hey! Wait up!” Al scrambled to catch up to us and he joined in our conversation. All too soon, however, Al and I had to split off to go to the Gryffindor table and Scorpius had to go to the Slytherin table.

“Welcome back to Hogwarts for another lesson-filled year!” the headmaster, Professor Collins, opened his arms wide in welcome. He was probably the most normal last-named headmaster in Hogwarts history, and the youngest - he was only starting to get a few grey hairs at age forty-seven. “To those of you who are new first years, welcome to your very first year at Hogwarts! Before we eat, our newcomers must be sorted into their houses. Professor Longbottom, if you will?”

“Right away, Henry,” Neville said to Professor Collins cheerily. Some of the older teachers looked at him in disapproval for addressing another so casually in front of the students. “We start our sorting with Abercrombie, Melissa!”

When Melissa was sorted into Hufflepuff, the sorting continued.

It seemed like a long time before all the first years were settled at their tables and the headmaster stood up once again.

“Once more, I open my arms in welcome to you all! Now, let us eat and enjoy our first meal of the year together!”

And everyone did just that.