Rose Dursley: The Girl Who Lived

6. The Goblet of Fire

Rose arrived at platform 9 3/4 to take the train to Hogwarts for her fourth year. She had not seen Ron and Hermione over the summer, as she had been in France, and they had gone to watch the Quidditch World Cup.

As Rose walked along the platform, she bumped into Draco.

"Oh, sorry, Draco," said Rose.

Draco turned round angrily, but calmed down and smiled when he saw it was Rose that had bumped him. "Hey," he said. "You're looking good. Nice tan, did you go away anywhere nice."

"Yeah, we went to France," said Rose. "I was on the beach for most of the time."

"That sounds nice," said Draco.

"Yeah, it was great," said Rose.

Lucius Malfoy came walking down the platform and spotted Draco talking with Rose. "Draco," he hissed loudly at his son.

Draco saw his father glaring at him, and his expression changed to one of worry. "Sorry, I need to go," said Draco.

"That's okay, I'm just looking for Ron and Hermione," said Rose. "Bye."

Rose turned and went back to walking along the platform looking for her friends. Draco walked over to where his father was glaring at him. Lucius grabbed his son's arm, and pulled him to the side of the platform.

"Why are you talking to that mudblood?" Lucius asked.

"I wasn't really, just saying hello," said Draco.

"Stay away from her kind," said Lucius. "Even when they are pretty girls."

"Yes, sorry father," said Draco.

Rose walked further along the platform, until she saw Hermione up ahead. Rose sped up until she was jogging along the platform.

"Hermione," she cried out, and leapt into a hug.

Hermione wrapped her arms around Rose and gave her a squeeze hug. "Rose," she said. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," said Rose.

"How was France?" Hermione asked. "Did you meet any cute french boys?"

"Err, yeah, I guess," said Rose. "I talked to a few."

"Hey, Rose," Ron called out.

Rose turned around and saw Ron walking towards her and followed by the rest of his family. As he got closer, Ron slowed down until he was moving with an awkward shuffle. He thought about giving her a hug, but backed out of it with one arm already lifted up. He tried to style it out instead, and went for a first bump.

Rose gave him a puzzled grin and bumped fists with him. " Hi, Ron," she said.

"You look good," said Ron. "Err, I mean with the sun tan you've got."

"Thanks," said Rose. "How was the Quidditch?"

"It was amazing, you would have loved it," said Ron. "The Bulgarian seeker was amazing, right Hermione?"

Hermione blushed at the mention of him. "Umm, yeah. He was okay," she said.

Ron's little sister, Ginny, came over to join them. "Hey, should we get on the train now?" she said.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," said Hermione.

The four of them went onto the train and walked through until they found an empty compartment. Rose went in first and sat by the window. Ron sat down next to her, and Hermione and Ginny sat opposite.

"So Rose, why didn't you come with us all to watch the Quidditch World Cup?" Ginny asked.

"Well my parents are muggles, so they didn't know about it," said Rose. "They booked us a holiday instead."

"That's unfortunate," said Ginny.

"Yeah, I would have loved to come with you guys," said Rose. "But my parents wouldn't let me."

"It's a pity you missed it," said Ron. "The final was great to watch."

"It wasn't just the quidditch that was fun to watch, right Hermione," said Ginny.

Hermione giggled and blushed. "Shhhh," she said.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked

Ginny had a big grin on her face. "We met one of dad's friends from work, Mr Diggory," she said. "And he brought his son Cedric with him."

Ron groaned and rolled his eyes. He knew exactly where this conversation was going. Ginny stuck her tongue out at Ron, before she carried on with what she was saying.

"He's a Hufflepuff, in year seven," said Ginny. "And he's really cool."

"He's not that cool," Ron muttered.

"Yeah, and pretty cute too," said Hermione.

Ron mumbled under his breath. "Not that cute."

"Oh yeah, definitely cute," said Ginny. "We could introduce you to him if you want?"

Ron groaned and rolled his eyes again at that suggestion.

"Err, no, that's okay," said Rose.

Ginny and Hermione looked at each other and giggled.

"Why not? Is there another boy who you like?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know, not like that," said Rose.

Ron sighed, which made Ginny nudge Hermione with her elbow. Hermione covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself laughing.

The woman with the sweet trolley came down the corridor. "Anything from the cart, dears?"

Ron took the opportunity to change the subject. "Can I get a licorice wand?" he asked her.

Ron took a bite of the licorice. "Anyone else want anything?" he asked, with his mouth full.

The others shook their heads and said no.

"We are going to arrive soon," said Hermione. "We should get changed into our robes."

Rose stood on the seat to reach her trunk down from the overhead compartment. When she did, her jeans lifted slightly, and Ginny could see the boots she was wearing.

"Cool DMs," said Ginny. "Are they new?"

"Thanks," said Rose. "I got them for my birthday."

"They look tough," said Hermione.

"Yeah, I guess," said Rose. "But I like them."

"They look good on you," said Ginny. "Don't you agree, Ron?"

"I dunno, I guess so," said Ron.

They all finished putting on their robes and sat down again. After a little while longer, the train arrived at the station.

Ron stepped off the train first and made a path through the younger children for the girls to follow. Then they all made their way towards Hogwarts castle.