Chapter One:

In the crowded platform, I could see nothing but the steam emanating from the scarlett train in front of me. Lily was supposed to be meeting me here, yet she was probably off somewhere in a passionate clinch with her most recent boyfriend, Matthew. Hugo had already gone off to chat to his gang, so he wasn't my responsibility anymore. I sighed, but immediately regretted it, as I inhaled some of the strong fumes the Hogwarts Express was sending off. It was so like Lily to be late - she was only a fifth-year, but was already one of the most popular girls in school, and she had most of the boys in my year lusting after her. Although she wasn't the most popular with the girls, Lily was certainly popular with the boys. Not that her parent's knew about that - as far as they knew, she was still their baby girl.

I leaned back against a stone pillar, crossing my arms against my chest. This would be my last year at Hogwarts. I had to admit I would miss it - a lot. James, my other cousin, had left two years previously, but Albus was in my year; although he'd never admit it, I knew he was really going to miss Hogwarts.

Suddenly, I felt my hair shifting slightly, tickling my ear, as if a breeze was trickling through it. But it wasn't a breeze. I groaned in annoyance. It was breath, and I knew who's.

"Scorpius, go away." I muttered, looking down, so that my flaming red hair covered my equally red cheeks.

"And why would I do that?" he laughed - even though I couldn't see his face, I knew he was grinning.

"Because you haven't been here ten seconds and you're already annoying me. I don't know where Albus is, if that's what you want," I said, tipping my head even further forward. Why can't Lily get here now so I can leave?

Scorpius laughed again. I got the impression he had leaned in very close to me. "Actually, that's not what I came for. I came to talk you, Rose." he murmured in my ear, his words making the hair around my ear tickle my skin. I blushed again, and closed my eyes, breathing in his scent accidentally.

"Scorpius, you're embarrassing yourself." I said, trying to move away - but his cool fingers had already snagged themselves under the cream lace sleeve of my top. Don't react, don't react, don't react...

"I just wanted to know what books you had this year," he chuckled, releasing my top and moving in front of me, thankfully keeping his distance this time. I shifted my head upwards to meet his eyes. Big mistake.

Every time I caught sight of him, I couldn't help but marvel at the flawless mask that was his face. His features were chiseled to perfection, his lips in startling contrast to the rest of his icy skin, were a deep red, and even though I didn't want to, I thought about kissing them. His hair was amazing too - soft, shiny blonde. It swayed effortlessly whenever he moved, and it was the kind of hair that you could just tell wasn't styled - just naturally perfect. If only he had a different personality.

When I'd first met Scorpius in the my first year, we'd actually been friends. He'd been funny, sweet, and desperate not to be in Slytherin, thus seemingly deserving of his family's sinister reputation. I'd been warned about him by my father; apparently it was necessary for me to best him at everything, although it was immediately apparent that it was not possible - Scorpius and I were of equal prowess at almost everything we tried our hand at - although I was better at Potions.

We'd remained friends well into our fourth year, good friends even - much to the distain of my father - yet then for some reason he began to distance himself from me, never talk to me unless absolutely necessary. I'd originally confronted him about this, but after many attempts at extracting a response, I gave up, accepting that we wouldn't be friends anymore.

He began acting oddly about a year later, just after I turned sixteen. Teasing me, creeping up behind me - even getting his best friend, Albus, my cousin, to give me strange little notes from him. I put this change down to the fact that he was probably trying out some flirting techniques, before he put them into practice with Holly, the Ravenclaw Seeker, who constantly had boys following her around and meeting up under the willow tree - but not the Whomping Willow - the last time two people rendezvoused there, both of them ended up in the hospital wing with severely broken bones.

I gradually learned to ignore Scorpius' jibes, yet for some inexplicable reason I found myself constantly craning my neck to see him, listening intently for news about him from the Slytherins, and paying attention to Albus whenever he began talking about him. No, Scorpius Malfoy has not gone unnoticed. Whenever I caught sight of him, my bones would turn to jelly, my heart would start pounding like a racehorse and my head would start to spin - but then he'd open his mouth, and the magic would be gone.

Rolling my eyes, I rummaged in my bag for my booklist. Brushing my curly locks of hair away from my eyes, I looked him in the face. "If I tell you, will you leave me alone?" I asked, keeping an eye out for Lily. Scorpius said nothing, only nodded. He held out his long, pale fingers, and I got the sense he wanted to read it, not listen to me recite it. I passed him my booklist, and as his emerald green eyes scrolled down the page, I couldn't help but remember how nice he used to be - how when he laughed a gold spark would seem to appear in his eyes, his mouth would curl up into a shape that only Scorpius Malfoy's lips could make. I do miss my friend, I thought. It's such as shame he's here anyway.

I realised I'd been staring off into space for a very long time, deep in though. Scorpius was looking at me like I was mad - no change there, then. I blushed as scarlett as the train in front of us, and snatched my booklist back from him, just as Lily from the smoke, bounding toward me.

"Are you finished?" I snapped at Scorpius, angry that he could make me blush so easily.

Scorpius grinned that special smile of his. "I suppose I have to be, don't I?" he muttered, just as Lily arrived.

"Hey, Scorpius, looking good! Rose, Leanne and Mara and looking for you, plus entourage. They say they have big news for you," Lily said, grinning up at me from under her dark lashes. Lily wasn't especially beautiful - she was pretty, of course, but what made the boys fawn all over her was her confident nature - she knew just how to play them right. This was also what made her unpopular with a lot of the girls - she had a tendency to go out with other people's boyfriends- but Lily didn't seem to care about them. We looked very similar, Lily and I, as we both had inherited the Weasley colouring. Our skin was very pale, so pale it almost glowed, our eyes both light shades of brown, and our hair was the exact same shade of red, except that Lily had hit the jackpot and got the straight hair. I was left with the curly, wild hair. Now I was older, I learned how to tame my fiery mane, so that it was now just waves that 'cascaded like burning lava down my back' - as Leanne described it - yet even so, I wished for Lily's naturally straight, swingy locks.

I smiled at the mention of my friend's names. Leanne and Mara were twins, and probably the most popular girls at Hogwarts - funny, smart, and my best friends. We were always together, usually with a few of their fans. They made me popular by default, but to be honest I couldn't care less for the third years that copy our clothes, and the first years who follow us around and try to look cool.

"Great! Where are they?" I asked.

"Oh, I just told them to find a carriage and we'd join them there. I didn't want to keep them waiting," she said, airily.

I frowned. Sitting with Lily on the Hogwarts Express wasn't exactly a chore, but it wasn't something I'd do if my mother didn't tell me to. Not that I didn't enjoy having Lily around - sort of - it was just that my friends had secretly confided in me that they found her annoying and self-centered, and I really didn't want them badmouthing her to anyone. She had enough talk about her as it was. As it was, I couldn't physically force her to sit somewhere else.

"Come on then," I sighed. I turned around to say goodbye to Scorpius. He was looking at me in a strange way. However, this odd face vanished the second I noticed it, and he smiled at me again. Not his fake, cool-guy smile. His real smile. The smile that made me wish over and over again that he wasn't such a jerk.

"See you there, then." he grinned, extracting one hand from his jean pocket and holding it out in front of me. Does he actually want to shake hands? Who does that anymore? Bewildered, I extended my hand too, and he clasped it in a firm handshake.

He was probably just being friendly, if a little formal. Yeah, as if. Scorpius Malfoy, friendly?

Suddenly, I felt something being pressed into my hand. Confused, I pulled my hand away and looked at it contents. There was a small piece of folded up parchment in my palm. I looked up at Scorpius to ask him what the hell he was doing, but he had already swaggered off to meet up with his fellow Slytherins.

As I walked towards towards the train, I quietly unfolded the parchment. There was something written in Scorpius handwriting.

Meet me at the One Eyed Witch Passageway before the Feast. There's something I want to talk to you about.