Chapter 2
Teddy and Victoire’s wedding was all anyone could talk about for the next week. The entire Weasley-Potter family delightedly praised Grandma Molly’s baking, laughed over memories of Albus and Uncle George trying to invent new dance moves, and exchanged teary-eyed memories of Teddy’s parents.
Vic and Teddy left for their honeymoon the day after the party, waving goodbye and accepting kisses and hugs from everyone before Teddy apparated them to Morocco. Once they had gone and the marquee was taken down and the remaining food packed away in the kitchens, the remaining cousins settled into their usual patterns, spending their days flying through the orchard and lounging across the various rooms of the house and eating up all the leftover treats Grandma Molly had made. All too soon, though, they all began to take their leave.
Dom was first, leaving two days after the wedding to return to Egypt. She kissed Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur goodbye, gave Rose and Lucy each a squeeze, and stepped into the fireplace with a final wave and a flash of strawberry blonde hair.
Louis and Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill followed soon after Dom, Aunt Fleur still sniffling as she smoothed Louis’s hair.
Lucy and Molly left the next morning for Ireland, where they would join their mother for the remainder of the summer. Rose hugged Molly and gave Lucy a quick squeeze as they stood in the front room.
“I don’t know why you even bothered coming down,” Lucy said with a shake of her ponytail. “We’re going to see each other in about two weeks.”
“I know,” Rose rolled her eyes. “But it won’t be the same. Who am I going to read With Weekly with? Al?”
“I’m sure he would,” Lucy giggled, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “You know he looks through them for recipes sometimes.”
“But he doesn’t appreciate the clothes or the hair potions,” Rose groaned. “And he’s hopeless at charming my hair.”
“Maybe this is an opportunity to teach him,” Molly suggested, running a hand through her own annoyingly smooth curls as she smiled. “It might be nice for you, Rose, to have someone else at school who can do it.”
Rose and Lucy both snorted.
“Can you imagine?” Rose giggled at the image of Albus sitting in the common room with Rose at his feet, just as she and Allie usually sat, his wand moving gently over her wild hair.
“He could do the boys’ hair before trips to the village,” Lucy laughed. “Merlin knows they could all use it.”
They laughed anew at this, and Rose suddenly had an image of Nathan and Scorpius sitting at Albus’ feet, their hair done up in elaborate plaits and knots.
“Luce, we really need to be going,” Molly said, putting a hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “Nan and Grandad were expecting us ten minutes ago.”
“Fine,” Lucy flipped her hair again and turned to give Rose an apologetic look. “I’ll see you in Diagon with everyone in a few weeks, yeah?”
“Mhm.” Rose nodded. “Save any Witch Weekly hair spells you think we should ask Allie to try at school.”
“Of course.”
“Alright, I’m heading out,” Molly said over her shoulder, stepping into the grate and grabbing a fistful of floo powder. “Try not to stay too much longer, Lucy.”
Lucy nodded as Molly threw down the floo powder and disappeared into the green flames.
“Have fun in Ireland,” Rose said, stepping forward and once again wrapping Lucy in a hug.
“Try not to kill Lily,” Lucy responded, her fingers tightening on Rose’s shoulder.
Rose snorted again as they broke apart. “Only because I think Aunt Ginny would kill me .”
Lucy laughed again, and Rose watched as her cousin stepped into the fireplace and took a pinch of floo powder in her fingers. Lucy dropped the powder, firmly said the name of her grandparents’ village, and was gone.
Lucy’s departure limited Rose’s options of companions, but was tempered by the knowledge that they would be reunited shortly. Fred’s departure, a week after the wedding, came with no such comfort.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving,” Rose mumbled, tears already breaking through her lashes as she hugged him tightly.
Fred returned the hug slowly, and when he spoke Rose thought she could detect a slight waver in his voice. Whether from nerves or emotion, she didn’t know. “I’ll be back for Christmas. Really, with you going back to school, you won’t even know I’m gone.”
This only made Rose cry harder, as she thought of the prospect of returning to Hogwarts without Fred or James. No mealtime conversations, no quick waves in the corridors between classes, no exploding snap tournaments in the Gryffindor common room.
“It’s going to be so strange there without you,” she sniffled.
Fred squeezed her shoulders. “You’ll be just fine, Rosie.”
“I-it won’t b-be the same.”
Too soon, Fred released her and stepped into the fireplace. Rose watched as he called the name of his house and disappeared into the emerald flames, quickly followed by his parents and Roxanne.
Rose returned to her room, still sniffing slightly though the tears had stopped. She snatched a book from the floor without bothering to look at the cover to see which it was and threw herself onto the bed she now shared with Lily. She opened the book and glanced at the first page, recognizing it quickly as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and began to read.
“Rose!” A shout came from the doorway and a heavy mass landed on the mattress beside her. Rose peered over her book to see Albus sprawled beside her.
“Hey, Al,” she said, turning back to her book.
“Put that away,” Albus said, reaching out and shutting her book with a flip of his hand. “Your mum told me to come up here and make sure you weren’t moping.”
Rose rolled her eyes and tugged the book back towards her. “I am not moping.”
Albus didn’t say anything, but raised a dark eyebrow as he surveyed the room. “So you’re just reading in your room by yourself during a day that’s perfect for flying?”
In spite of herself, Rose glanced out the window and saw that the conditions did look excellent for a fly around the orchard. Damn.
“See?” Albus grinned, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “Come on, go get your broom. James is helping my dad and Grandpa Arthur with something in the shed so he can’t crash.”
Rose paused, but only for a moment. With a small huff she shoved the book aside and swung her legs to the floor, trotting downstairs after Al.
They retrieved their broomsticks from the yard, not bothering with jackets given the windless summer air, and kicked off towards the orchard.
“It seems so quiet here now,” Rose mused as they circled the Burrow, their brooms hovering low in the air. Her eyes floated to the spot that the marquee had occupied a week earlier, now nothing but empty grass. The Burrow itself seemed to have stilled over the last few days as its occupants slowly left, the usual vibrant buzz of life slowed to a gentle hum.
“Yeah,” Albus nodded beside her, his eyes following hers across the yard and then back towards the house. “Grandma’s a little sad everyone’s leaving. She likes when we all are here.”
Rose felt a small pang reverberate across her chest as she thought of Grandma Molly, always bustling to knit sweaters and make food and cluck over her children and grandchildren. It must be so hard for her to see them leave each year, Rose thought. Especially now with Vic and Teddy getting married, Dom and Molly and Fred and James out of school with their own jobs. The visits inevitably became more infrequent and less lengthy as they all got jobs and started families.
“What does she do when we’re all gone?” Rose asked, brushing stray strands of hair away from her face.
Albus shrugged. They both turned away from the house and flew towards the trees. “I think she just knits and makes treats to send to all of us and our parents. She mentioned that she wants to make Fred a batch of cookies and some fudge to send to Romania. And there’s always sweaters to make.”
Rose nodded, smiling as she thought of the sheer number of handmade sweaters her grandmother managed to create each year by Christmas.
“We’re going to try out a new trifle recipe tomorrow if you want to join,” Albus said brightly, leaning to the right to avoid a tree. “It’s a fun citrus one with lemon custard! I found the recipe in a special edition of the Evening Prophet.”
“Ooh,” Rose sighed. “That sounds lovely. Though, are you sure you’d want me in the kitchen? You’ve seen the times I’ve tried to help with Christmas dinner.”
Albus paused, mouth half open with a response. After a moment he closed it and shrugged. “Good point.”
Rose shuddered at the very thought of trying to make herself useful in her grandmother’s kitchen. “I don’t know how you bake for fun. It reminds me too much of Potions.”
“I like Potions.”
Rose snorted and shook her head. “I know you do. It’s bloody weird.”
Albus turned to face her, steering his broom with his right hand as his left dragged through his hair, leaving it even more tousled than before. “Are you dropping it this year?”
“I—what?” Rose frowned at him.
“Are you dropping potions this year?” Albus asked again, turning his shoulders so he faced the orchard in front of them.
Rose bit her lip and studied the ground below her. “I hadn’t thought about it. I mean—we haven’t even gotten our exam results back.”
“So,” Albus shrugged. “Nathan’s already said he’s dropping Runes.”
“Oh?” Rose cried out. “I don’t understand why he and Allie dislike it so. I think it’s the best class by far.”
Albus laughed, flexing his wrist so his broom shifted to the left. “We know, Rosie. You’re barmy about it. Nathan says you do extra homework just for fun.”
“It’s not extra homework, it’s just a few extra translations that continue the stories set up in earlier ones—”
“And if you dropped a class then that would mean you’d have even more time to do all the Runes translations you wanted.”
“I—are you dropping any classes?” Rose demanded, feeling rather flustered with the turn the conversation had taken.
“Er—no—” Albus leaned back and slowed his broom. Rose quickly shifted to match his speed, sitting up straighter and turning to face her cousin.
Albus shifted on his broomstick, running his hand through the back of his hair again. “I don’t think I can drop anything,” he said finally.
Rose raised her eyebrows. “You can just say you don’t want to drop any of them,” she said. “I won’t call you a swot or anything.”
“No,” Albus looked down, “it’s—er—I need all of them if I want to—that is, to be accepted to auror training.”
Rose’s eyebrows shot so far up her forehead she could feel the skin around her eyes stretching. She brushed her hair away from her face and leaned forward, peering at Albus as though she hadn’t properly seen him before as she searched for something to say.
“I didn’t know you wanted to be an auror.”
Albus gave a noncommittal shrug, a scarlet blush blooming over his cheeks. “I haven’t really told anyone except my dad.”
“Right.” Rose nodded, watching as Albus glanced up at her. “Well, you’ll make a brilliant auror, Al.”
“Really?” He looked at her in surprise. “I thought for sure you would all take the piss out of me for it.”
“Nah,” Rose gave her best approximation of a casual shrug, hoping Albus couldn’t see how much the confession had surprised her. “You’ll be great at it.”
“Well—” Albus paused, his broomstick idling in the orchard, “thanks, Rosie. I’m just really hoping I get the marks I need to continue Transfiguration.”
“You’ll get it,” Rose said with an airy wave of her hand. “Honestly, Al, you’ll be brilliant.”
Albus responded with a small smile. “Thanks. So, er—” he glanced around the orchard, his fingers flexing on the handle of his broomstick. “Do you want to race back to the yard?”
Rose nodded, returning his smile. “Only if you’re ready to lose.”
They set off, and Rose let Albus take the lead quickly. She darted through the orchard, dodging trees and hedges, all the while turning over her conversation with Albus.
It wasn’t that she had thought Albus wouldn’t be a wonderful auror. It was that so much of Albus’s life, especially since they had started at Hogwarts, had been a contrast to his father’s. It had seemed like ever since the sorting hat put him in Slytherin, Albus Potter’s great claim to fame was that he was nothing like Harry Potter.
It had never occurred to Rose that Albus, her perpetually friendly and goofy cousin who spent holidays making trifle with Grandma Molly, would want to follow in his father’s footsteps to become an auror.
The trees opened up to reveal the Burrow and its surrounding gardens. Rose dove down, her fingers tightening around her broomstick handle as she glided to a halt next to Albus, who stood windswept and grinning next to the garden.
“That was just sad, Rose,” he admonished as her feet hit the ground. “Were you even trying? I’ve seen Lucy fly faster than that.”
“Shut it.” She gave him a good-natured shove as she stood and shouldered her broom. “I was just going easy on you. If you crashed I’d have to help Grandma Molly in the kitchen.”
“Mhm, sure,” Albus rolled his eyes as they began the walk back to the Burrow.
They locked their brooms away and walked through the front door of the house together, kicking off their shoes.
“Well,” Albus said, shaking his hair from his eyes, “I’m going to find Grandma.”
“Okay.” Rose began to climb the stairs up to her room. “I’m going to go back to my book which you very rudely interrupted.”
“Oh, come on,” Albus scowled, “you had a good time flying. Just admit it.”
“It was tolerable.”
“You’re just tolerable.”
“Good one,” Rose drawled sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she went up another step. But she looked over her shoulder and let Albus see the smile on her face. “It was great, Al. Thanks.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he huffed, putting his hands on his hips. “Any time, I guess.”
Rose laughed as she turned and scampered up the stairs, jumping onto her bed and retrieving the forgotten novel. For a few hours she let herself get lost once again in the story of the Pevensie children and the magical, wonderful world they found themselves in. She read until her mother rapped on the door to tell her that dinner was ready and to come join everyone downstairs.
Rose joined everyone, shaking off the small pang that hit her as she took in the small number of people around her. She loaded her plate with potatoes and lamb chops, laughing at James’s grumbling over the chores he had to do that day and rolling her eyes as Lily chattered at Hugo about some fourth year Hogwarts gossip.
The trifle that evening was excellent.
Rose was back at home with her parents and Hugo when Hogwarts letters arrived in late July. The owl holding Rose’s letter also held a separate envelope addressed to her, which Rose realized with a sinking feeling held her O.W.L. results. Holding her breath, she tore into the envelope and exhaled heavily as she scanned the page and found that she had managed not to fail anything. A list of Os greeted her, punctuated by an E in Herbology and an E in Potions.
Her school letter, to her relief, held no surprises this year. Rose set her exam results on the kitchen table to scan the list of required textbooks and supplies, wondering again if she ought to continue with all her classes.
Thoughts of schoolwork and the volume of beetle eyes required for N.E.W.T. level potions students quickly evaporated, however, as Rose realized that the arrival of school letters meant it was finally time to meet up with her friends in Diagon Alley.
After four hours of hurried letter exchanges, a very tired Aslan nearly biting Rose’s finger off, and Hermione Granger’s shout upon realizing her daughter’s exam results had come in and nobody had informed her, the plans were set. Rose and her friends would all meet in Diagon Alley the day after next to buy their school supplies, ogle new broomstick models, and catch up before the term started.
Rose felt supremely grown up as she selected her outfit the morning of the outing. There would be no parents accompanying them to the alley, though Rose had grudgingly agreed to let Hugo make the floo journey with her so he could meet up with Simon Longbottom and Lily to fetch his school supplies. But other than that she and her friends would be just like the cool older students that Rose had so admired in her early years at school; they would be like Vic and Dom meeting up with friends in the alley to get an ice cream and exchange stories of their summer without any parents’ prying ears.
Rose pulled on a pair of jeans and a soft blue top that left the tops of her shoulders bare, smiling at her reflection in the mirror. She had already decided that sixth year was going to be a new chapter, a new beginning of sorts. There would be no more silly fights with friends, no more crying over boys who didn’t deserve her affection. She was a N.E.W.T. student now, and she was determined to carry herself with the same carefree confidence as Dominique.
Her outfit finalized and her hair somewhat tamed, Rose called for Hugo and marched down to the fireplace. Hugo ambled into the room, his letter sticking haphazardly out of his jeans pocket, and Rose stepped into the fireplace.
Maren stood waiting for her in front of her father’s office, just as they had agreed. She gave a shout when she saw Rose and Hugo approaching, running towards them and wrapping Rose in a crushing hug.
“You’ll never guess, you’ll never guess!”
“What?” Rose choked out amidst the crush of arms and Maren’s hair. “What? What? What happened?”
“I’m captain! ” Maren shrieked, jumping up and down slightly and pulling Rose’s feet up with her. “I’m the quidditch captain! I’m in charge of the Ravenclaw team! I’m captain!”
Rose gasped and tore herself away, her face splitting into a grin as she looked at her friend’s face. “You’re captain!”
“I’m captain!” Maren cried again, nodding furiously. She stuck a hand into her back pocket and fished out a gleaming silver badge that Dom had once worn. Rose took it in her hands and stared at it, looking back at Maren with wide eyes.
“Maren! You’re the captain!”
“I know!” Maren shrieked, pointing at the badge. “I opened my letter and that just fell onto the table!”
“Let me see,” Hugo demanded, craning his neck over Rose’s head to look down at the badge. “Oh, wow,” he breathed. “Way to go, Maren.”
“Thanks, Hugh.” Maren beamed at them.
“Hello,” a voice chirped behind them. Rose turned to see Allie and Lucy walking towards them, closely followed by Nathan, Scorpius, Albus, and Lily.
Hugo gave a shout and ran towards Lily, grabbing her by the elbow and scampering down the walkway towards the Leaky Cauldron.
“What’s that you’ve got, Rose?” Nathan called, his eyes locking onto the silver badge in Rose’s hand as Hugo and Lily disappeared. “Are you—”
“No!” Rose said hurriedly, shoving the badge back at Maren. “It’s Maren’s! Isn’t it wonderful!”
“Oh, Merlin,” Lucy shook her head, though Rose could see her lips twitch in a small smile. “We’re never going to stop hearing about quidditch now, are we?”
“Not for a second,” Maren replied, still smiling brightly as she launched herself at Allie and Lucy for hugs.
“She’s going to be worse than James,” Lucy said to Rose when Maren released her.
Rose laughed and shrugged. “Well we like her better than James, so it’s okay.”
“I thought for sure it would be you,” Nathan said, looking towards Rose.
“Nah,” Rose waved the idea away, as though the same thought had not once occurred to her. “They wouldn’t do that with me already being a prefect. And anyone who’s been to one of our practices knows that Maren’s way more qualified.”
“It’s true,” Scorpius nodded. “She taught me and DeMarco how to do the quarter-turn pass last year. Well done, by the way,” he turned towards Maren and nudged her shoulder. “Just remember what you said last year about never having another Saturday practice.”
“Forget that,” Maren shook her head. “We’re practicing every weekend. We’re practicing holidays. We’re going to practice until no other team even thinks about beating us.”
“No,” Rose groaned, tipping her head back and squeezing her eyes shut. “It’s too early for you to do this. Dom and Winkle at least waited until after Easter to lose their minds.”
“You’re not going to make us practice on weekends, are you?” Nathan asked, turning to glance at Albus.
“What? ” Rose cried, head whipping up to look at her cousin, who rather looked like he wished he’d stayed home. “Al, you’re captain?”
“Erm—yeah—” Albus mumbled. “I got the badge with my letter.”
“That’s incredible!” Rose cried, beaming. “Are you excited? Was your dad excited? Was you mum excited? Oh Merlin, what did James say?”
“Everyone’s excited,” Albus rolled his eyes. “Though James said he wouldn’t help me.”
“Who needs his help,” Lucy said with a wave of her hand. “You’re going to be marvelous.”
“But also,” Nathan broke in, looking back at Al, “no Saturday practices?”
“Not if I can help it,” Albus shook his head, grinning at Maren. “Mum just gave me a whole speech about the importance of morale.”
“Quality time with teammates can boost morale,” Maren sniffed.
“What about quality time with non teammates?” Allie asked, frowning.
“Thank you, Allie,” Rose nodded. “See, our Saturdays are very important.”
“We’ll see,” Maren said with a toss of her hair. “I’ve big plans though, just so you all know.”
“Oh?” Rose arched an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Maren nodded. “I’ve decided we’re going to rebrand Ravenclaw house. Granted that you two and other prefects don’t get in the way.” She shot a pointed look at Rose and Scorpius.
Rose saw Scorpius straighten, eyebrows raised as he eyed Maren. “Rebrand how?”
“We’re going to be one of the fun houses,” Maren said. “We should have a party after the first match of the year, and not wait for a big win at the end of the year.”
Scorpius’s brow furrowed. “You want to have a party after every match, Thomas?”
“Not every match,” Maren hedged, shuffling beside Rose. “You won’t have to spend every weekend hiding away the first years.”
Rose wrinkled her nose. “I certainly hope not.”
“But with your cousins gone we won’t be able to go to Gryffindor as often,” Maren continued, “and a good party is great for morale, which means we’ll play better, just as your Aunt Ginny said.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “I don’t think—”
“And then everyone will know that Ravenclaw is fun,” Maren said fiercely.
Rose bit her lip to keep from laughing, looking from Lucy’s frown to Allie’s raised eyebrows to Nathan’s blatant look of amusement. Behind Nathan, Scorpius caught her eye, the hint of a smile on his face. He raised his eyebrows and glanced towards Maren, who was scowling at all of them.
Rose merely shrugged and looked away.
“Okay,” she said, putting an arm around Maren’s shoulder and nudging her. “So we’re rebranding Ravenclaw.”
“We’re rebranding Ravenclaw,” Maren confirmed with a firm nod.
“Now that we’ve established that,” Nathan said, “should we get moving? I’d quite like to get into some shops.”
“Great idea,” Lucy trilled, looping her arm through his and turning towards the walkway.
They set off down the road, an unruly band of teenagers set loose upon the alley. Rose walked with her back straight, hair flying behind her shoulders as she sauntered past the shops. Beside her, Maren hooked her arm around Rose’s as they pushed through the crowded walkway.
The Leaky Cauldron came into view and Rose spotted Hugo and Lily lounging by the entryway, Simon Longbottom standing beside them. The pub teemed with people, from wizened men with missing teeth and crooked noses to dapper looking young professionals enjoying their lunch hour.
One such young professional peered out the window as their party passed, and promptly hurried to the door, a hand rising to cup their mouth as they shouted.
“Oy!” the voice followed Rose down the alley, the familiar friendly tone echoing against the cobblestone. “Weasleys! Potter!”
Rose turned and felt a smile bloom upon her face as she caught sight of Zeno Aylmer jaunting towards them.
“I didn’t know you lot were going to be around today,” Zeno said, throwing an arm around Rose’s shoulder as he approached and sending a friendly wave towards the others. “You should have told me. I would’ve waited to take lunch so I could see you.”
“Well, you’re seeing us now,” Rose laughed, looking over her shoulder to catch his eye. “So you’re at the Prophet then?”
“Yup,” Zeno nodded, puffing his chest out slightly. “Just started a few weeks ago. It’s been grand. Long hours and I’m dead tired at the end of the day, but still grand.”
“I’m so glad,” Rose grinned.
“Have you gotten to do any investigations yet?” Maren asked.
“Nah,” Zeno shook his head. “I have to get through training before they let me out in the field. But that’ll come soon enough.”
“Wow,” Albus said, eyes wide. “You’ll be right on the scene if anything happens.”
“That’s the hope,” Zeno said cheerfully. He removed his arm from Rose’s shoulder and checked his watch. “I’ve actually got to get back to the office for the afternoon, but I’m glad I ran into you.”
“I’ll let James know he missed you,” Albus replied.
“Please do,” Zeno snorted. “And say hi to your folks for me.” He gave a wave to Lucy, Maren, and Allie. “Girls, always a pleasure.” He turned to Rose and grinned at her. “Rosie, make sure you keep in touch. I’ll be wanting news about Ravenclaw quidditch and Ancient Runes.”
“Of course,” Rose rolled her eyes but nodded. “I’ll make sure you get all the news before James or Fred.”
“Excellent.” Zeno clapped his hands together. “Well, that’s me off. Have fun today.”
“Good to see you, Zeno,” Rose waved as he turned and walked away down the alley.
“Well that was fun,” Allie said as they fell back into step. “You know, I’m rather going to miss those Gryffindor boys this year.”
“I know,” Rose sighed, running a hand over her hair and tucking a stray piece behind her ear. “It’s hardly going to be the same without them, will it?”
“Speak for yourself,” Albus grumbled. “I’ve been waiting for James to graduate since first year.”
“Well it’s not just him I’m going to miss,” Rose said. “It’s the whole group. The castle is going to seem so boring this year without them.”
“We’ll have to play exploding snap by ourselves,” Maren added. She stopped abruptly at one of the storefronts, nearly ripping Rose’s arm out of its socket as she did so. “Oh! I can’t believe we almost passed it!”
“Passed wha—”
“The new Comets!” Nathan cried, detaching himself from Lucy to join Maren at the window, his jaw dropping open.
“Oh!” Rose stumbled forward to join them, hearing Albus and Scorpius join them. “Is there room inside? I want to at least see one before we leave for school.”
“What is this?” Lucy asked from behind her.
“New Comet 770s,” Rose heard Scorpius explain. “They were just released this week.”
“Of course,” Allie said. “Here, Lucy, you and I can pop into the beauty shop while they look at brooms. We’ll meet you all back at Flourish and Blotts when you’re done, yeah?”
“Yeah, great,” Nathan called over his shoulder, hardly looking away from the broomstick in the window. “We’ll see you there.”
Rose heard Allie and Lucy turn and walk away, their footsteps growing quieter as they went.
“Let’s go inside,” Maren said, taking Rose by the elbow and dragging her through the doorway.
Quality Quidditch Supplies was packed with people gazing at the new brooms, their bodies so close together that the two girls had to fight their way to the perimeter of the room.
“Ultrafine bristles that have been reinforced to resist winds up to 200 kilometers per hour,” Maren read from the plaque beside the display, “a custom mahogany handle which self-cleans and self-polishes, and a built-in navigation system with a self-steering option. Oh, Merlin.”
“It’s beautiful,” Rose nodded, her eyes raking over the broomstick, its handle gleaming and each bristle perfectly in place.
“It’s a bloody masterpiece,” Maren sighed. “A work of art. One of the wonders of the world.”
“Do you think anyone at school will have one?”
“There’s no way,” Maren shook her head. “Even if people could afford it, the wait list is eight months long. All the professional teams are putting in orders, and then there’s all the broom collectors.”
“Ugh,” Rose groaned. “That would have been amazing if we could have one of these on the Ravenclaw team. Imagine what we could do with our scoring if you or Malfoy had this.”
Beside her, Maren raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of,” she said, her voice noticeably higher and lighter as she cocked her head to the side, “how are things with you and Malfoy?”
Rose shrugged, unsure of how to answer. “I dunno. Okay I guess? We’re not friends but he doesn’t seem to hate me this year.”
Maren snorted. “No, he definitely doesn’t hate you.”
Rose frowned and turned to face her friend, who was watching her with a sly smile. “What does that mean?”
“Oh, nothing,” Maren said with an unconvincing wave of her hand. “Nothing at all. Did he write to you at all this summer?”
“No,” Rose scoffed. “Why on earth would he? We’ve never written to each other.”
“Just wondering,” Maren shrugged.
Rose furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to reply when Albus appeared between us.
“These are incredible, aren’t they?” he asked, gesturing to the broomsticks. “I just heard the Comet representative say that they can fly themselves from London to Prague nonstop.”
“Wow,” Rose turned back to look at the broom. “Pretty soon they won’t even need people on the brooms anymore.”
“Cool, isn’t it?” Albus nodded. “But come on, it’s too crowded. Nathan and Scorp are outside and we’re going to meet the other two at the bookstore.”
Rose obliged, practically dragging Maren out of the shop as she went.
They found Lucy and Allie in front of Flourish and Blotts, their arms full of brightly colored packages from the beauty store.
“They have the brand new eyelash extension potion from DoxieGirl,” Allie exclaimed as they approached, brandishing one of the packages at them. “If it works like it’s supposed to we’re all going to look divine in Hogsmeade this year.”
“Can’t wait it,” Maren said over her shoulder. “Is it easier than the charm you do?”
“Loads easier,” Allie nodded. “And there’s so much less room for error with the potion.”
They walked into the bookshop and Rose took a deep breath, letting the scent of old leather and new parchment and fresh ink settle over her. She felt her shoulders drop and her heartbeat settle, a sense of calm and joy settling over her like dust on the shelves.
She followed the others around the main floor, picking up the books listed in her letter. When all the required books were selected and safely behind the counter with the obliging sales clerk, she meandered about the shop, running her fingers along leather spines as she read the various titles.
With her friends occupied with their own respective corners of the shop, Rose wandered up the staircase to the second floor, and found herself facing a small but clearly marked shelf of muggle books.
She smiled as she examined the shelf. It was clear from the organization that the shopkeepers didn’t know anything about the books’ contents, and had simply ordered them by author. Rose shook her head as she noted a biography of Margaret Thatcher sitting next to a Kurt Vonnegut novel, wondering if anyone would mind if she rearranged the shelf for them.
Footsteps sounded from the stairs and Rose could feel someone coming to stand behind her.
“I never knew this was up here,” Scorpius said.
Rose turned and let out a small squeak as she found his chest inches from her face, his chin tilted up over her head as his eyes flickered across the titles. Rose swept her hair over her shoulder and turned determinedly back towards the bookshelf, ignoring the heat spreading across her face and neck.
“I guess Flitwick knew what he was on about,” she said, thinking back to her career advising session months before.
“Have you thought any more about working here?” Scorpius asked, still standing behind her. He reached out, his arm sliding past Rose’s shoulder, and picked up a James Joyce novel from the shelf. She heard the spine wheeze as he opened the volume, and heard the rustle of flipping pages.
“No,” Rose shook her head, keeping her eyes forward as she responded. “It still seems rather early to be thinking about that.”
She heard Scorpius’s feet shuffle and saw him out of the corner of her eye as he came to stand beside her.
“I was looking into different positions they have,” he said. “I didn’t realize how many international locations they have.”
Rose nodded. “Flitwick said something about them expanding into international markets.”
“Hm.” Scorpius nodded, tapping this thumb against the cover of the book in his hands. “I wonder how long they’ll keep expanding for.”
Rose shrugged, but then paused as the thought hit her. “You know,” she murmured, looking over her shoulder towards Scorpius, “I can probably ask Zeno to keep an eye out for any news about it that comes through the Prophet. I’m sure he’d write to let me know right away.”
There was a pause, and for a moment Rose thought Scorpius had walked away without her noticing. Finally he replied, his voice taking on a bored drawl. “I didn’t know you were still that friendly with Aylmer.”
Rose flushed, memories of the Victory Ball and the broom cupboard flooding her mind. “We said we’d keep in touch,” she said in what she hoped was a sufficiently casual tone.
She became aware suddenly of just how closely she and Scorpius stood; if she took a step to the right their arms would touch. She bit her lip and stepped away from the shelf, her hand running through her hair.
“Well—” she stammered, “I’d better—I wanted to look at the Runes section before we go.”
Scorpius nodded without looking at her, his eyes glued to the shelf in front of them.
“So, I’ll—I’m gonna—” Rose didn’t finish the thought. She turned, feeling rather clumsy on her feet, and ambled away, letting out a shaky breath as she did.
Any embarrassment felt by the disconcerting conversation with Scorpius quickly dissipated as Rose ensconced herself in the Runes section. She had been in this part of the shop before but it never disappointed her; her eyes roamed over books that looked older than Hogwarts itself, their spines dusty and crumbling, their pages full of careful inscriptions.
Rose had spent nearly twenty minutes with the Runes books, her arms full of titles that sounded interesting, when Allie found her to say they were all leaving to get ice cream at Florean Fortescue’s. After another ten minutes of furious internal debate Rose narrowed her selection down to the two most fascinating volumes and followed Allie to the front of the shop.
“I always forget how heavy these things are,” Nathan said when they arrived at the ice cream parlor, setting his packages down with a grunt. “It’s a right nightmare getting them all home.”
“Might not be a bad thing,” Albus said contemplatively, dropping into the seat beside Nathan. “Think of it as extra practice for quidditch.”
“Don’t even start with that, Potter,” Nathan laughed. “I can’t have you going the same way as Thomas.”
“There is absolutely not room here for two nutty quidditch captains,” Lucy agreed, setting a large sundae down in front of Albus and handing a towering cone to Rose.
“The two of you will have to create a schedule,” Allie said, handing over a sundae to Maren.
Scorpius walked in behind Allie, handing a cup of ice cream to Nathan and taking the seat on the other side of Maren.
Rose laughed as she licked the top of her ice cream. “So Maren can lose her mind Tuesdays and Thursdays while Al loses his on Mondays and Wednesdays?”
“Precisely,” Allie sniffed. “And then we all know which one to sit with.”
“You can’t abandon me on the days I’m worried about the team,” Maren scowled over her raised spoon. “That’s just cruel.”
“Nobody’s abandoning you,” Scorpius said, “Weasley can sit with you.”
“How come I’m the one that has to do it?” Rose demanded. “You’re on the team too.”
Scorpius shrugged. “You spend more time with her. You’re likely used to her.”
“Who’s going to sit with me?” Albus asked from across the table.
“Nathan,” Rose said, just as Nathan said “Rose.”
Albus frowned. “I’m not sitting by myself.”
“Nobody will make you sit by yourself,” Lucy said, taking a small bite of ice cream.
“Rose, are we on for our bet this year?” Nathan asked.
“Mhm,” Rose nodded, licking around the base of her cone trying to stop an imminent drip. “Of course. Now that Davies is gone I reckon it’s between you and me for the best keeper in the school.”
“How is Davies?” Allie asked, smirking at Rose over her ice cream. “Has he written to you since he went to New York.”
“Nah.” Rose shook her head and took another lick of her ice cream. “But I’m not too bothered.”
“Really?” Allie asked, eyebrows raised. “You don’t care at all?”
“Nope.” Rose shook her head resolutely. “I’ve rather decided I’m done with boys this year.”
“Wow, Weasley,” Nathan said with an exaggerated pout. “I thought we were friends.”
“Other than you lot, obviously.” Rose rolled her eyes. “Friends and cousins are alright.” She looked around the group. Albus merely shook his head at her and Nathan looked like he was about to laugh, while Scorpius stared at something on the table.
“Glad I made the cut,” Nathan chuckled. “It would’ve been rather hard to keep our bet if we couldn’t talk any more.”
“So no boys this year?” Lucy asked, giving Rose a quizzical look. “No Hogsmeade? No Victory Ball?”
“None of that,” Rose said. “It’s just not worth the trouble.
“Not even if it’s the perfect boy?” Maren asked.
Again, Rose shook her head and smiled. “The only way I’d change my mind would be if Mr. Darcy himself came to Hogwarts.” She paused and shrugged. “Or Gilbert Blythe. But that’s it.”
“Great,” Albus said. “So no boys for Rose this year. Anyone else have any grand announcements they want to make while we’re here?”
“Just that Ravenclaw is going to destroy Slytherin on the pitch,” Maren grinned.
Albus threw his napkin at her. “Good luck, Thomas. You’ll need it.”
Maren picked up the napkin and threw it back at Albus, who dodged it but spilled strawberry ice cream onto his jeans, and they all dissolved into laughter as he gave a yelp.
Rose sat back in her seat and ate her ice cream, her cheeks beginning to hurt from smiling. Yes, she thought, there would be no boys this year. No crying over someone not asking her to the Victory Ball, no arseholes spreading nasty rumors about her throughout the school. Sixth year would be a good year with no unnecessary drama.
Rose licked her ice cream and swept her hair over her shoulder, looking around the table at all her friends. She didn’t need to snog any boys this year. She had all the people she needed right here.