The platform at King's Cross was as crowded and bustling as it had been the previous year, but it felt different to Rose. Of course, it wasn't her first year going to Hogwarts, so she wasn't as wide-eyed as she had been, and there were people even younger and smaller than her getting ready to go on the train. Hugo was a year closer to being able to attend, and he was talking eagerly with Lily about how close it felt to when they would get to go on the train. Rose hadn't gone to the station before her first year, not even to see James off, and she almost envied the younger ones.

"There's a pair of Ravenclaws over there," her father said, looking at the two. "There are a lot of kids around here. Hermione, were there always this many students when we went to Hogwarts?"

"People are having more children now. The world's safer than when we were in school." Rose's mother kissed the top of her head and gave her a quick hug. "Now, don't let James convince you to get into trouble this year."

"James is too busy with his dancer girlfriend," Rose said, wrinkling her nose. Lujayn was nice, but she was trying to turn James into someone who would follow the rules, and that just felt strange. "Besides, he didn't get me into trouble last year." She didn't bring up that she could get into trouble just as well on her own. It was likely the exact opposite of what her mother would want to hear.

"Don't get into any trouble on your own, then," her mother said, and Rose made a face.

"You and Dad got into trouble all the time when you were my age," Rose said. "Why do I have to be better than you were?"

"Because that's how things are," her mother said. "Children should be better than their parents. The world needs to become a better place, and that's the only way it can happen." She was smiling, but there was something a little sad in that smile, as though she knew a story that she wasn't about to tell. The only thing Rose could think of was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, who had apparently been so much worse than any parents anyone could have that people were still nervous to talk about him, even those like her who had been born after it all ended.

"Besides," her father said, clapping a hand on her shoulder, "we had a good reason for getting in trouble. People were in danger, and we helped them."

"What if there are people in danger this year?" Rose asked. "Can I help them, even if it gets me in trouble?"

Her parents shared a secret smile, and her mother said, "You're a clever girl, Rose. Use your best judgment. I'm sure you'll make the best choices."

The train whistle blew then, and after a few last good-byes to everyone who wouldn't be going to Hogwarts, Rose gathered up her trunk and the cage for her barn owl, Hellebore, and got onto the train. It started moving soon after she boarded, and she worked her way through the aisle, trying to find a compartment with people she knew.

Along the way, her thoughts kept going back to the year before. She had been too interested in making sure she could do better than Scorpius Malfoy at everything to break any rules or have any proper fun, but she had liked comparing her exam scores with everyone and seeing that she had done the best of her year, except in Charms. She'd beat him this year, she knew, but she'd also try to make some time for other things. She hadn't decided whether she would try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but if she thought she had the time, she might at least see if they would accept her as a reserve player. She'd find time to explore, and maybe to see if there were any troublemakers aside from James who would mentor her. She knew that James would in an instant, but it might be best to learn some tricks that came from outside the family.

She'd also have to find time to do some reading. Even though Albus had told her over summer that the princess who had come from another world was gone, Rose still wanted to know everything she could about what had happened. A lot of the transdimensional theory was beyond her, though each time she read about it, she understood a little more, and she'd been reading and rereading all through the summer. Maybe she could carry some books around while she explored. There had to be some hidden nooks that were good for illicit studying.

Halfway down the train, Rose spotted Ruby sitting in a compartment with Albus. The two of them were chatting excitedly, and even though she had spent the summer with her cousin, Rose was eager enough to see Ruby that she slipped into the compartment and set her trunk in the rack above them.

"I hope you don't mind if I join you," Rose said, sitting down next to Ruby. Her friend seemed tanner than the year before, and taller, and there were stickers on her trunk from various different countries, including the United States and Mexico.

"Of course not!" Ruby said, flinging her arms around Rose in a hug that nearly toppled her. Rose hugged her friend back and spared a quick smile for Albus, who looked a bit lost in the middle of the reunion. "It's so good to see you again. I'm sorry I didn't write more often, but my parents dragged me around the world on a trip to find magical creatures." She didn't sound at all annoyed about taking the trip; her blue eyes were alight, and she was grinning widely.

"Did you find anything?" Rose asked, wondering whether a pair of Muggles, even with a magical daughter, would be able to track down something magical.

Ruby shook her head. "They've been looking for magical creatures for years, and I guess since I'm magical, they thought I might lure them out of hiding. It didn't work, but I think they're planning another trip next summer." Her eyes lit up even more. "We might even go to Australia!"

"I wish I could travel to other countries," Albus said wistfully. "The best I get is from listening to Uncle Charlie's stories."

"At least they're interesting," Rose said. When Ruby looked between the two of them, confused, Rose explained, "Our Uncle Charlie does work with dragons on the continent. Whenever he comes over to visit, he tells us about what he's been doing and shows us his new scars." He didn't always have new scars, of course, but this time he'd lost a joint from one of his little fingers, and all the cousins had gone over to stare at it. "Sometimes he brings over something interesting."

"I wish I had an uncle like that," Ruby said with a sigh. "My parents were both only children, and so am I."

"Siblings are all right," Rose said, hoping to cheer Ruby up a little. They were going back to Hogwarts, after all, and for their second year. She shouldn't start it off by moping about something she couldn't change. "They're not great, though. I love Hugo, but he was a brat when he was younger. He'd throw a tantrum whenever he didn't get his way." She'd only ever gotten him to shut up by shouting at him, and that had landed her in trouble, too, which was even more annoying. At least he'd gotten calmer over the years.

"Lily wasn't that bad," Albus said. "Older brothers are annoying, though. You should be glad you don't have any of those."

"What didn't you like about James?" Rose asked. "He's kind of annoying sometimes, but he's still lots of fun." She'd always gotten along with James, much better than with any of her other cousins, sometimes even better than with Albus. Albus was her favorite, because he was quiet and kind, but James was the one who could always guess what she was thinking and always understood what she wanted. Sometimes the family joked that she and Albus had been born to the wrong families; she should have been James's sister, and Albus should have been Hugo's brother.

"You don't have to live with him," Albus said, making a face as though that was the end of the argument.

It might as well have been. After all, he was right. The closest she had ever come to living with James was when they stayed at the Burrow together – and even then, Rose shared a room with Lily while the boys all ended up together – and now that they were both Gryffindors, but even in Gryffindor Tower, they didn't see each other too often, since they had different classes and the dormitories were separated by gender and year. Even with those distances, Rose had to admit that she still sometimes got annoyed with James, though not as much as Albus probably did. She, at least, was the sort of person James would get along with more easily. "Well, you won't have to hang around him this year," she said. "You get to live with Scorpius again."

Albus's face lit up, and Rose nearly laughed at the joy on his face. "What?" he asked, frowning but unable to keep from smiling. "Rose, what are you smiling about?"

"Nothing," she said, but couldn't resist adding, "You like him more than you like us, don't you?"

"No!" Albus said quickly, and his flustered look only made Rose break out in giggles. "I love you, and James, and everyone else. You're my family. It's just that Scorpius is my best friend, and I haven't seen him in months. You missed Ruby, didn't you?"

"I did," Rose admitted. "And I'll admit that I missed Scorpius a little too. Things aren't as much fun without a rival." Now that she was going back, though, she could have something to do. Life was more fun when she had something or someone to prove herself against, and she was eager to get back to her fight against Scorpius. "Are either of you trying out for the Quidditch team?"

Ruby shook her head, and Albus nodded, a bit reluctantly.

"I'm not very good at flying," Ruby said, "and I want to focus on my work. Scorpius is probably going to want someone to study with, and if I end up studying with you, too, then I won't have any time for sports." She didn't sound at all put out by that, as though it were little more than a minor inconvenience.

"There aren't enough people on the Slytherin team," Albus said. "The captain made Scorpius and me promise we'd try out."

Scorpius was going to be on a Quidditch team. A sudden, irrational burst of competitiveness burst up inside Rose, and she decided right then and there that she would try out for the Gryffindor team. She would be a Keeper, and she would be the best Keeper the team had ever seen, even better than her father had been. A moment later, she realized that there wasn't any certainty that Scorpius would make the team, and that she would need time to beat him in her classes. That was, after all, their true battleground. Quidditch would only be secondary, if it was a competition at all.

They passed the hours until they reached Hogwarts with talking about their summers, and when they reached the school, the three of them found a carriage to share. Albus left once they reached the gates, and Rose and Ruby had to part at the Great Hall to go sit with their houses. Rose found a good spot among a few Gryffindors of her year that she'd befriended, and together they waited for Zahradnik's start-of-year speech.