Before anyone knew it, a month flew by since the start of the term.

 "How do you like Hogwarts so far, Rose?" James asked.

 “Oh, it’s quite nice,” she replied.

 “Rose is brilliant,” another Gryffindor first-year added. “She scores top in every class. And she was the first to lift her broom in Flying class yesterday.”

 “Would you happen to be interested in joining the Quidditch team someday?” Marigold asked Rose.

 “That sounds fun, but maybe not this year. I heard it’s hard for a first-year to get into the team,” she replied. “You’re the Gryffindor Seeker, aren’t you?”

 Marigold nodded.

 “James told me how great you were. I’ll be looking forward to the first match.” Rose said sweetly.

 “Thank you,” Marigold replied, smiling.

 Albus joined them, sighing as he sat down.

 “What’s wrong, Al?” James asked.

 “I just got a lot of Charms homework,” he complained. “It seems like I just can’t do any of them right.”

 “Hey, Slytherin Squib.” Parkinson quipped at Albus as she passed the Gryffindor table. “I heard you couldn’t even lift your broomstick. And I thought you were the famous Harry Potter’s son.”

 “Shut up, Parkinson.” James snapped as she walked away.

 “I can help you with your Charms homework,” Andrew said.

 “Really?” Albus asked. “Professor Longbottom already agreed to help me, but sure. I can really use some extra help.”

 “That’s very kind of him,” Marigold said. “My dad told me that he helped Professor Longbottom when he taught at Hogwarts for a year. It’s nice to know that Professor Longbottom is helping another student now and returning the favour.”

* * *

 Although she didn’t interact with him much, Marigold found Scorpius quite nice, unlike most Slytherins. But most Hogwarts students, including Rose, and even the other Slytherins, didn’t seem to see Scorpius the way Marigold saw him.

 Once, Marigold happened to notice another Gryffindor, Simran Patil, and her Ravenclaw friend, Isabella Miller, whispering amongst themselves.

 “I heard Malfoy’s Voldemort’s son,” Miller whispered.

 “And his father and grandfather were both Death Eaters,” Patil whispered back, making a face.

 Marigold glanced at Scorpius, who was visibly upset; it was obvious that he heard them whispering about him.

 “Shut up,” Marigold snapped at them.

 Miller and Patil laughed, then started whispering amongst themselves again. Marigold, who assumed that they were talking about her this time, rolled her eyes at them.

* * *

 Marigold arrived early to wait for Scorpius, whom she had promised to meet at the library; a few minutes later, she saw him coming.

 “Scorpius!” she called out, waving at him.

 “Marigold!” he waved back at her.

 Marigold pulled up a chair for him to sit down and pushed her stuff to the side. Scorpius took a seat next to her and put his stuff down.

 They worked in silence for a while, until Scorpius finally opened his mouth.

 “It’s nice to find someone that doesn’t hate me,” he said.

 “What about Professor Longbottom?” Marigold asked. “And Albus? Where is he, anyway?”

 “Andrew is helping him with Transfiguration,” Scorpius replied. “It seems like you and a few others are the only people at Hogwarts who don’t hate me.”

 “What do you mean?”

 “The other Slytherins don’t like me because my mum and dad aren’t pureblood supremacists anymore,” he said.

 “Parkinson and her cronies are just bullying gits. They hate everyone.”

 “And everyone else hates me because my dad and my grandfather were Death Eaters, and they think I’m just like them. It’s not fair.”

 “That’s terrible,” Marigold said. “You know, I heard Ron Weasley, you know, Rose’s father, telling her about how she should beat him in every test.”

 “Oh,” Scorpius said. “I didn’t know.”

 “Rose made it seem like your family and hers are enemies.”

 “Well, my dad did tell me that my family and the Weasleys have some kind of long-lasting rivalry. Like the Montagues and the Capulets,” he replied. “But that’s not my fault. Why should Rose hate me because of that?”

 “Just ignore her,” Marigold said.

 “I can’t,” Scorpius said, sighing.

 “Why not?”

 Scorpius turned red; he didn’t say anything in response.