Harry Potter is the property of the incredible J K Rowling (hurray for her!).

----Back of the Mind----

Her favorite classes were, well, everything. Even History of Magic was fascinating—she’d never known some of that before! Albus did not share her enthusiasm.

“It’s too much work and it’s all so boring! Who cares who founded what and tortured whom or which things the Ministry has outlawed and why?”

“Oh, History is very important,” she informed him as they worked together over their essays in the common room. “If you don’t learn the past, how will you prepare for the future?”

Albus pondered this.

“Ask Dad,” James advised from his good chair near the fire. “That’s enough history for anyone.” James grinned and tapped Victoire on the head with his wand. She was sitting on another chair, immersed in a book for one of her classes.

“Don’t you poke me,” she snapped, and smacked James over the head with the book.

“You’re acting very much like first years,” Rose simpered, both James and Victoire started to laugh. Albus smiled nervously and bent back over his essay.

She’d never felt so free. At home, she’d been constantly reminded of her duties as Oldest Child and Big Sister. At school, she could put all her effort into just immersing herself in her books and notes and it was fine. Of course, her parents had always been open to learning, had even strictly enforced it, and Mother was always bringing her work home with her to discuss, but at school it was all learning, all the time. No breaks to chaperone Hugo or clean dishes. She had Albus in all her classes, Niza in half, and her older cousins to help her out when needed. School was wonderful, and Rose loved it. She couldn’t imagine a better place to grow up.

They finished at least half the essays and put the rest aside for later, as it wasn’t due for a week.

“Albus, James says you’re excellent at chess,” an older boy informed Albus. “Want to play with me?” Looking surprised, Albus nodded and went to his dorm to collect his chessmen. Victoire got up, grumbling that the common room was too noisy to read in, and retreated out the portrait hole to the library, so Rose took the vacant chair next to James.

“Who do you know?” she inquired. James grinned and pointed people out.

“That’s Fred Jordan playing chess with Al over there; he plays Quidditch over the summer with us. And that girl with the long red braid, over there? That’s Tasha-Ann Springer, world’s coolest prefect. My friends are in detention tonight, so they’ll be back late.”

“Already? It’s only a few weeks into term!”

“Well, Tyler and Jacob thought it’d be fun to pour ink into Binah’s cauldron in Potions, so Professor Knox sentenced them to helping her pickle frog livers till curfew.”

“That’s gross. What did Binah do?”

“Oh, she didn’t do anything. They just wanted to tease her. She’s probably in her common room right now telling the other Hufflepuffs to bake them cookies or something. Binah’s such a wimp.”

Rose and James chatted absently over the next hour, while Albus and Fred duked it out on the chessboard. Eventually, Fred won, but it was very close, and quite a few upperclassmen were eyeing the scrawny Potter first-year with newfound respect. Tasha-Ann, the prefect, took him aside to ask about Chess Club, and then Albus went to bed. Rose went up to her own dorm shortly afterwards. There were only two other first-year girls and they were such close friends that they hadn’t paid Rose much attention. They were both back in the common room, so Rose curled up under her covers with a book borrowed from Niza and read until they came in and downed all the lights to sleep.

She liked it all. Each and every moment of her day. The only thing missing was…

----Back of the Mind---

--A/N----

A chapter about nothing, really, but see? I updated in a week! (If you don’t count the holidays.) Please send in theme/character requests. I know you can’t really request characters too much, but situations would be great. I need the write-on-demand practice.