Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Well Met on the Hogwarts Express

Rose stood in the corridor at the window of the train watching her cousin watching his father walking then running alongside the departing train. She turned and caught a last glimpse of her own parents not paying the train any attention, just standing in a group talking with her aunt.

Uncle Harry passed out of her field of view as the train sped up and she heard Albus sigh behind her. The train turned a corner and all vestiges of their old lives disappeared behind them. Before she could say anything reassuring to him she was interrupted.

“Hey, what are you two doing?” they both turned to see James, his head and shoulders sticking out of a compartment door a few doors away. “If you two don’t get moving you’ll never get a seat together. The compartments fill up pretty quick.”

They both started to drag their trunks towards him.

“No, not here; not in this one, we’re full up. You’ll have to find your own one somewhere else.”

Sighing, the two of them kept manhandling their trunks along the passageway outside the compartments. As they passed the one James was in they could see it was chock-a-block full. James was on a seat facing towards them with his nose in the air, regally waving them on; like he was a king or something. Fred was on the floor playing cards, presumably exploding snap (his favourite) with some boy she didn't recognise. She caught a flash of blond hair behind the press of bodies, none of whom she recognised; she wasn't sure but the blond head she saw was probably one of the Scamander Twins or maybe one of Uncle Bill’s kids. Just before she moved beyond his sight, James stopped the waving and gave her a big toothy grin.

They made their way past compartment after compartment but everywhere was full: of noisy kids jumping from seat to seat; quiet ones with kids just talking; even one where every kid had their nose buried in the same copy of Witch Weekly; and everything in between. But none with space for two first years and their over-large trunks.

They tried the next carriage with similar results. Rose saw Dom in one and Lewis in another with his arm around a girl! Even more salaciousness for James she thought, wait till he finds out about this. So that must have been one of the Scamander twins back with James, she thought, it did seem to be all boys in his compartment upon reflection.

They went to the next carriage and it started to yield better results but still not enough room for them both. Halfway down though was a compartment with only one occupant, who was on the far side of the compartment up against the window. Rose wondered why, in a train so full of students, there should be one compartment almost empty – what was wrong with the resident? As soon as Rose looked in at who it was she understood and she passed it straight by. She’d recognised the platinum blond hair though the face was quickly hidden behind a magazine. It wasn't the strawberry blond of Uncle Bill’s kids nor the honey blond of Auntie Luna’s boys. No, the colour of this head of hair was the white of paper with an almost silver tint and it belonged to a person she’d never seen in her life before today when her dad had pointed him out to her on the platform. Albus pulled up behind her, “What about this one?” he asked. Rose shook her head emphatically but silently and Albus didn't push the issue knowing she must have some sort of reason.

They made it to the end of the carriage but the compartments only became fuller. The city had started to thin out and the view through the windows became less urban and more rural with each passing minute.

“This is ridiculous,” Albus said, stopping in the hallway, “Unless you can give me a good reason why not, I'm going back to the one with only one guy in it.” He looked at her interrogatingly.

Rose had no good reason, just her father’s general dislike of the boy’s father. She was too fair to slam or rubbish someone on so flimsy a basis, so she shrugged her shoulders and followed Albus back. No matter that her father had warned her not to ‘go making friends with him’, she decided she would make up her own mind and give him a fair go.

They went back and opening the compartment door, Albus asked, “Do you mind if we come in and sit here?”

The Magazine twitched down slightly and Rose could see two eyes which widened in recognition before the magazine flipped back up again. There was a mumble which could have been, ‘I suppose so.’

Albus turned to Rose and raised his eyebrows at the boy’s actions. Rose returned it with a shrug. They entered and heaved their trunks up into the luggage racks. Rose eschewed Albus’ help in doing so with one raised eyebrow. He gave her a funny look and half stuck out his tongue. He was well aware that ‘Rose Didn't Need Help With Anything!’ She had to smile back at him once she was done and they both sat down. Albus sat next to the window and directly across from the boy. Rose was on the same bench seat as Albus but on the opposite end, up against window in the carriage door that looked out into the hallway. The other boy hadn't moved a jot, his face was still covered by what she could now see was Quidditch Today.

The boy was dressed stylishly and neatly from what could be seen that wasn't hidden behind the magazine. He had slacks on, not jeans, or they could even have been suit pants, with a perfectly pressed pleat running down the front of each trouser leg. He had his legs crossed which Rose found strange for a boy to do. He was wearing a jumper of fine, grey worsted wool over a white shirt – she presumed it was white, even though she couldn't see the collar, the cuffs that poked out of the jumper sleeves were white. She thought that he’d been wearing his school robes on the station and that’s when she noticed the robes neatly folded and placed upon the seat beside the boy. In Rose’s extended family there were many people of the ‘male’ persuasion and she didn’t know a single one who folded their worn clothes – at least not without being told to do so by the various mothers of the family.

Albus looked towards the boy and back at Rose quizzically. Rose just shrugged. Albus mouthed something into the silence which could have been, ‘this is stupid.’ He stood up and went to approach the boy, but as he moved the train lurched and so did he; causing him to nearly fall into the still seated boy.

Before he could apologise, the boy flung up his hands, the magazine forgotten and crushed between them. He cowered into the corner. “Don’t hit me.” he said.

Albus was astounded and frowned in agitation, but Rose couldn't help letting out a grunt of amusement. Albus turned on her and silenced her with a glare. Turning back to the boy he said, “Why would I hit you? I wasn't going to hit you. Why would I want to? I don’t even know who you are. I was just going to introduce myself and the train lurched, sorry if I scared you.”

The boy opened his eyes to see Albus smiling down at him with his right arm outstretched for him to shake.

“I know who he is,” said Rose, who just couldn't help showing off when she knew something that someone else didn't, “His name is Scorpius.” She expected that to provoke a reaction in Albus but his expression remained unchanged.

“Well, Scorpius, I'm Albus and this is my cousin Rose,” Albus said, still holding out his hand. Rose thought she could see the magazine trembling slightly. Perhaps it was just the motion of the train or it could be her imagination because surely the boy couldn't have been scared of them, could he? What was he thinking, was he coming to school with prejudices against them, from his father as she was from hers? This sort of introspection didn't suit Rose’s personality so she stopped it as she observed what was still happening between the boys.

Scorpius could detect no duplicity in Albus so he tentatively reached up, dropping the magazine, and grasped the proffered hand.

“… and his last name is Malfoy,” Rose finished saying, with a hint of maliciousness in her voice. ‘There,’ Rose thought , ‘Albus must react to that.’

Albus felt Scorpius’ hand tighten on his own and saw his eyes shut and what little colour there was in his face drain out. Albus just kept shaking his hand, “Well pleased to meet you Scorpius Malfoy. Is that a Muggle name because I've never heard it before?”

Rose’s smirk vanished off her face but it wasn't seen by either of the boys, so intent were they upon each other. Scorpius’ eyes had shot open and his mouth was an O of surprise. Before he could stop himself, Scorpius blurted out, “Y-You've never heard of Ma-Malfoy?” he stammered.

“Nope, Should I have?” Albus answered.

Scorpius just couldn't stop himself, “Your dad, Harry Potter, has never told you about the Malfoys or Draco Malfoy?” Scorpius looked over at Rose and could see the same disbelief upon her face as well, Rose obviously knew about him or of him and there should be no way that Albus hadn't.

Rose couldn't believe it either. She knew that Albus hadn't been paying attention on the platform when her dad had pointed out the Malfoys to Uncle Harry. Rose had turned to share with Albus this revelation of a person who her father had always mentioned though she had never seen before, but she had found Albus staring up the platform to see where James had gotten to.

So she knew that Albus hadn't seen Scorpius on the platform. But to not know the name of Malfoy at all …? Surely that was impossible considering what Draco Malfoy had been to their two fathers.

It wasn't a topic of constant conversation in her house, but her dad had bad-mouthed Draco Malfoy often enough. Especially when they did anything or got anything fancy. Money wasn't tight while she was growing up, but it wasn't plentiful either so when they got something nice her dad would say ‘Good enough for Malfoy Manor, this is.” Or if something was bad or went wrong, it would be, “I bet the Malfoys don’t have to settle for this.” As a small child, in the way kids make funny assumptions, Rose had thought the Malfoys ate off gold plates and lived in a castle made from diamonds. She’d said as much over a family dinner one day and her father had laughed till gravy came out his nose, but her mum had scolded him for ages afterwards. Even so he still mentioned the gold plates to Rose every now and then. ‘We could be eating off gold plates couldn't we Rosie?’ he’d say and give her a wink.

“Wait a sec, did you day Draco? Is that your dad? ” Said Albus and Scorpius nodded, the fear starting to return to his eyes. “Oh yeah I know of a Draco, he’s an old school mate of my dad’s. So that’d be him then, the same Draco?”

It was then that Rose realised that apart from her dad, she’d never heard the name of Malfoy anywhere else. She’d never read it in the papers, or heard it on the Wizarding Wireless or even on the few wizarding TV stations. Now that she was thinking about it she remembered the only other time she’d seen the name Malfoy had been in a book about the history of the Second Wizarding War. Albus wasn't a big reader and he certainly wouldn't read something as dry as a History book; so he wouldn't have read the name Malfoy there. And not just that, once she’d overheard a conversation between her father and her Uncle where his name had come up. During the whole conversation her dad had been ‘Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy’ whereas her Uncle had only said Draco. So his dad may not have ever said the name 'Malfoy' in his son’s presence. Rose was astounded but she was beginning to think that maybe Albus Potter had never heard the name Malfoy before in his life.

Scorpius looked up at Albus in disbelief, at the earnestness in his face … and started to cry.

Rose scoffed when she saw, Scorpius didn't hear or notice, but it was loud enough for Albus who shot her a look. He sat next to Scorpius, patting him on the shoulder, saying, “Hey mate, it’s OK. I'm sorry I haven’t heard of your dad.”

Scorpius laughed at Albus’ perhaps deliberate mistake and the tears (such that they were) dried up. “No it’s not that, of course, it’s just that … my father hated yours whilst they were at school and set about to make his life a misery. I just thought …” he shrugged his shoulders not knowing what more to say.

“Well you see, that’s the thing about my dad, he doesn't really hold grudges … except for someone called Umbridge, he doesn't like her very much.”

Rose laughed in agreement and Albus looked over at her. A grin appeared on his face and both he and Rose said at the same time, “Poisonous old cow!” They both rolled about laughing, obviously their dads said the exact same thing about the woman.

Scorpius looked on bemusedly. He couldn't ever recall having heard the name of Umbridge before, but he knew she hadn't been a Death Eater. So there was someone Harry Potter disliked more than Death Eaters? It was almost unbelievable, what could she have possibly done?

“Is that what your dad calls her too?” Rose managed to stop laughing and say.

Albus nodded as he calmed himself down, “You know, she was the one who gave him those scars on the back of his hand?”

Rose had a look of amused discovery upon her face, “Not the ‘I must not tell lies’ ones?” she asked.

“Yep the very same.” He turned to Scorpius who obviously wasn't following what they were saying, “Carved onto the back of Dads right hand are scars which spell out, ‘I must not tell lies’. And what he does…” Albus laughed

Rose interrupted, “Does he still do it then?” she was also grinning.

“Yep.” Albus nodded back, but addressing Scorpius explained, “What he does is, when he catches you out not telling the truth or doing something wrong, he sits you down and holds up his hand, and his face goes all serious ...”

Rose interrupted again, “And he doesn't say anything.” She burst into giggles.

“Yeah, just holding up the back of his hand, usually in a fist and just … just staring you out. And you always crack.”

“And, and,” Rose added, “He does this thing where he leans his face in so all you can see is his scar. So it’s like, look at all the stuff he went through and there you are lying about eating all the biscuits or something petty or stupid.”

“Yeah.” Albus shook his head slowly and said almost to himself, “and you always crack …”

He was staring off into the middle distance, but he pulled himself together and turned to Scorpius, “OK, how about this – do you think, from stuff people know about our two dads, that nobody would ever think we’d be friends?” At Scorpius’ nod he continued, “Well let’s just prove them all wrong and be the best of friends!” He stuck out his hand.

Scorpius looked at it and back up into the trustworthy face of Albus Potter. A grin appeared on his face, “I would esteem that highly,” and they both shook on it.

Rose was looking on with disdain, what sort of kid their age uses a word like ‘esteem’? His whole manner: his diction; his vocabulary; the way he was dressed; his whole bearing; spoke of an upper-class upbringing that Rose had no experience of and really no truck with. Rose was trying to be fair as to her regard for the boy, but he was making it really difficult for her.

Considering the friendship that was to develop between these two, a shaft of light should have illuminated the handshake while heavenly choirs sang. Instead the only witness was a slightly put out girl who rolled her eyes as they grasped each other’s hands and grinned.

“Now, I couldn't help but noticing,” Albus said as he released Scorpius’ hand and picked up the magazine which had fallen to the floor,” but do you like “Quidditch?”

Scorpius nodded enthusiastically, “Oh yes indeed, I try to practice every chance I get – I just wish first year students were allowed to join the house teams.”

“Same here,” Albus agreed enthusiastically. “Most of my cousins play, so family get-togethers always become big Quidditch matches. Between us all we can basically field two teams. How about you?”

Scorpius’ face fell slightly, “No we don’t have a very big family.”

“So no brothers or sisters then?”

Scorpius shook his head, “I do have a cousin though, on my mum’s side, but she goes to Beaubaxtons. She plays, but it is hard to have a proper game, or even practice together, when there is only two of you and you both play such different positions.”

“Oh yeah, what position do you play?” Albus asked.

“Seeker,” said Scorpius, only to have his new friend burst into laughter. Scorpius noticed, though, that Rose was scowling at him from her corner, “What is so funny?”

“What do you think the chances are of three potentially great house seekers to meet up in the train on their very first day? That’s what me and Rose play too, don’t we Rosie?” He turned to see Rose scowling at them. With a laugh he said, “What’s that for?”

She ignored Albus and focused her attention upon Scorpius, “What house do you want to be sorted into?” Scorpius flushed and stopped smiling. With almost a nasty sneer Rose continued, “I bet you want to be a slimy Slytherin just like your dad?”

“NO!” Scorpius said with vehemence that shocked the other two and Albus began to get an inkling of some of the enmity between Scorpius’ dad and his own. Albus was taken aback by Scorpius’ tone as was Rose – it wiped the smirk right off her face.

“I don’t,” he continued, “anything but there. I’d even prefer to be in Hufflepuff than there.”

“So where do you want to go then?” asked a slightly more subdued Rose.

“I don’t know, probably Ravenclaw because I don’t really want to be in Hufflepuff either.”

“What about Gryffindor?” Albus asked.

Scorpius laughed a mirthless chuckle, “They’d never accept a Malfoy, even if the hat did sort me there.”

“My dad,” Albus began, “Said that the hat takes your preferences into account when you get sorted. James has been teasing me all summer about how I’ll be sorted into Slytherin, but my dad said the Sorting Hat takes your wishes into account – it did for him. So just ask to be in Gryffindor with us, you’ll have at least two friends there in us, won’t he Rose.”

Albus was concentrating on Scorpius so he didn't see the look on Rose’s face, but Scorpius did. Scorpius wasn't so sure he’d have two friends in Gryffindor.

Scorpius flicked his gaze back to Albus and slowly a grin appeared on his face’ “Alright, I will give it a try.”

“Well that’s just going to be fine isn't it?” said Rose, “I suppose two of us will just have to live with the disappointment then, wont we?”

At Rose’s words Albus turned around and with a frown said, “What do you mean by that and why are you being so nasty?”

“We can’t all be seekers for Gryffindor can we?”

Albus’ face fell, “I hadn't thought of that, Oh well, we’ll just have to fight for it won’t we Rosie?”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. She didn't mind Albus calling her by her childhood pet name, but she didn't want anyone else to. Especially not Malfoy.

“Or maybe,” turning back to Scorpius, Albus said, “we’ll still be best mates yeah? But I go into Gryffindor, you go into Ravenclaw and perhaps Rosie becomes a slimy Slytherin?” and he turned a mischievous smile back in her direction.

“I told you,” Rose shouted angrily and leaned forward in her seat.

But what she was going to tell them never got said because they were interrupted by the compartment door opening.

A goblin girl popped her head through the opening and Rose could see a much smaller girl goblin beside her, half hidden behind the doorway.

“Do you mind if we come in and sit with you?” the older goblin said.

Authors Note: So here is the start to my first Rose/Scorpius fan fiction. This was originally posted on the HPFF site, but I am porting it here.

The plot will very loosely follow the plot of Pride and Prejudice. So anyone who is familiar with that great work of fiction will remember that at first Lizzy is neutral towards Darcy but soon begins to dislike him. That dislike turns to distaste and even downright loathing by the middle of the book. It is only three quarters of the way through the book that she even begins to like him.

My story will follow a similar path especially since they are all eleven when they meet and I don’t think any romance/relationship should start until much later. So there is plenty of time for her to develop her dislike for Scorpius, but don’t worry eventually she will work out how much he means to her and fall in love, eventually.

Until then there is a lot of world building to be done because I have a few wrinkles on the setting that I don’t think have been done before. Most notably …

If any of you are wondering what goblins are doing on the train you should read my other story – Harry Potter and the Final Year. It is set just post-Hogwarts and starts the world that this story is so clearly a continuation of. There are spoilers in the next chapter of P&S which may spoil the second and third chapters of HP&TFY, so I would recommend that everyone read all my stuff. (See what I did there?) Or at least the second and third chapters of the other story.