Hello, and welcome to my first ever Rose and Scorpius story! It is my sincerest hope that this story will entertain both your imagination and your heart. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the first chapter.

A big thanks go out to the fabulous ObsidianEmbrace for betaing this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and will not receive any monetary gain from my writing. All Antarctica facts are from Wikipedia and an assortment of YouTube videos.

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Antarctic Love Story

By Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 1: The 'Errplain' Ride

MALFOY AND WEASLEY: FIRST WIZARD AND WITCH TO JOURNEY TO ANTARCTICA

Potions Ingredient Breakthroughs are Anticipated

BY RUDOLPH SKEETER

LONDON - For the first time ever, a wizard and witch are going to set foot on the Earth's seventh continent, Antarctica. These two are none other than England's own Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley.

Yesterday at noon, Minister of Magic Obadiah Chaplin escorted the two well-known English Potioneers to an international portkey, which took them to Christchurch, New Zealand. From there, they are scheduled to take a Muggle flying device called an 'errplain' to Antarctica.

While stationed at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Malfoy and Weasley will be studying the flora of the Antarctic, which includes many varieties of lichens, algae, fungi, and bryophytes. They hope to identify the uses of several specimens, which will potentially revolutionize healing potions within the next five years.

"We are notoriously several steps behind Muggles when it comes to fields of science," said Weasley in a recent interview. "Muggles have been studying the plant-life in Antarctica for nearly a century now. It's time for us to step up and start looking at the healing qualities of the plants they've discovered. Who knows how these new ingredients might revolutionize the world of potions?"

These thoughts are similar to those of the International Wizarding Science Academy, which is sponsoring the two wizards' journey into the unknown.

"Truly, they are journeying into the unknown," comments I.W.S.A. president Olof Wallenberg. "They are not only going to have to adapt to a new continent and climate, but also to a Muggle lifestyle."

When questioned about living like a Muggle for a year, Malfoy replied, "I will no doubt miss the amenities the wizarding world has to offer. However, it is a small price to pay to advance the world of potions into its next era."

All of the staff at the Daily Prophet wish the two all the best as they embark on their journey and look forward to their return a year from now, on October 18, 2035.

From where he was sitting, Ron felt Hermione's fingers squeeze his shoulders and heard her sigh deeply from above him. She had read today's article over his shoulder at the breakfast table and Ron could already sense that she was worried for the well-being of their eldest child.

"She's going to be fine, 'Mione," he said in a lame attempt to quell her fears. "She's 27 years old and smarter than the two of us put together; she's going to be just fine over there."

Ron put down his morning edition of the Prophet just in time to watch his wife start pacing the length of the kitchen, her arms crossed with discomfort. "I know, but she's practically as far from us as she can possibly get without leaving the planet… and it's so cold over there, so terribly cold. How could a mother not worry?"

"She'll always bundle up and be safe—she's always done that, being the responsible child around here and all. If it was Hugo who was going, then I'd be worried, but Rose? That girl couldn't step a toe out of line even if a Death Eater's wand was pointed at her head."

Mentally, Ron cursed to himself as Hermione gave him the 'you-are-being-so-insensitive' look that he had grown accustomed to over the years. He didn't know what she expected though; she had told him very early in their relationship that he had the emotional range of a teaspoon and he was certain that it hadn't changed much over the many years they'd been together.

Trying to right his wrong, Ron stood up and crossed the room until he was standing behind his wife. Gently, he set his hand on her shoulder as he admired how the early morning sunlight cast a golden glow in her slightly-graying hair. "Seriously, she's going to be fine. Why don't you go and write her a letter—maybe that'll make you feel a bit better. That, or you could go into work and check your kumpyooter for an i-mail."

"E-mail," she corrected in a teary sounding voice. She turned around to face him and Ron felt a pang in his chest when he saw the look on her face. "Aren't you worried at all, Ron? We aren't going to see our little girl for a whole year!"

Immediately, Ron embraced his wife, nuzzling his nose into her hair until he could smell the remnants of the strawberry shampoo she was fond of using. "Of course I'm worried; I just trust that she has a good head on her shoulders. If anyone is capable of doing this, it's our Rosie."

Pulling back, he watched his wife wipe away a few stray tears and smile sadly back at him. "I'm sorry, dear. It was just so hard to see her go…"

"I know…" he replied gently, before leaving a peck on her cheek. "I know."

Both silently returned to the breakfast table and resumed eating their rashers and eggs. Ron picked up the paper once more and scanned the article about his daughter a second time before Hermione needed reassuring again.

"You're sure they'll be fine out there?" she asked, her voice laced with anxiety.

Ron folded the paper down so he could look at her as her shaky hand brought her cup of tea up to her slightly-chapped lips. "Hermione, she's going to be fine there, I promise. If anything, I'm more worried about her spending the year with that blasted spawn of Malfoy's. I honestly don't know how those two are going to spend a whole year together without killing each other."

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"Attention passengers, this is Captain Irving Norton speaking. As winds are picking up, I would ask that you please remain in your seat with your seatbelt on. We will be experiencing some turbulence. I repeat, please remain in your seat with a seatbelt on until further notice."

"Again?" Rose whispered under her breath with disbelief. She was already on the verge of reaching for her 'complimentary barf bag' from the last violent shake the plane's twenty passengers had experienced. Bracing herself for the worst, Rose wrapped her long fingers around both of her armrests and clung to them as if they were two lifejackets on a sinking cruise ship.

Quickly, her eyes scanned the eight occupants in the small, Muggle aircraft. Most were sitting calmly, bundled up in heavy, multicolored winter gear like her. Only one of the Muggles looked like he was about to sick-up like herself, and he was too far from her to talk. It was sad, really, as Rose figured that having someone to relate to would make the horrifying experience a little easier on both of them.

"Pop quiz, Weasley," a sly voice said from her left side. "What is the lowest ever recorded temperature in Antarctica?"

Rose closed her eyes to prevent herself from rolling them. Exasperated by both the plane and her seat neighbor, she sarcastically replied, "Do I look like I give a shite, Malfoy?"

"No, but you look like you're about to take one in your seat," Scorpius replied as he set down the book he was reading and pushed his black glasses from the tip of his nose back up into a normal position. "Honestly Weasley, you need to calm down before you make permanent finger indentions on there," he said, looking down at her hands.

"I don't like flying, you arse…especially not in this Muggle deathtrap," Rose hissed, taking a deep breath of the thin air in the plane's unpressurized cabin. The whole explanation of cabin pressure before the flight had gone over both of their heads, but it was very clear that it wasn't as easy to breathe in the plane; nor was it helping Rose's nervous stomach as high winds rattled the plane.

Suddenly, a crazy thought hit her. "Why aren't you nervous about this, Malfoy? I'm sure you've never been on a Muggle plane before," she accused, narrowing her eyes at the attractive blonde who was sitting in the seat next to her.

"Simple, I've got a backup plan in case we crash," Scorpius replied, then did a quick scan of the room to see if any of the Muggles were looking their way. They were either looking out the windows or reading; none were turned their way. Satisfied, Scorpius reached into his coat pocket and started digging around for something.

"Ah-hah. There it is," he said and pulled out a shrunken broomstick.

Immediately, Rose broke out in a boisterous fit of laughter, causing several of the plane's occupants to look their way. Quickly, Scorpius clutched his pale hands around his racing broom so that the Muggles couldn't see it and glared at Rose.

"Rose…" he started, sounding a bit upset.

"You expect to… oh, that's hilarious!" Rose boomed out, actually letting go of one armrest so she could wipe a couple of tears out of her eyes. Really, she knew it wasn't as funny as she was making it out to be, but the laughing was relieving the horrible tension she was suffering from and so she continued until she could laugh no more.

"Care to share what this is all about?" a brunette Muggle man asked, looking amused from his seat a few feet away.

"Inside joke," Scorpius said, then turned back to Rose, who was still suffering from a few lingering giggles. "What's so funny about that?"

It took Rose a second to answer. "Don't you know how fast the winds are out there? You'd never make it, you berk!" she whispered in a mocking tone.

"Oh, well if you have any better ideas, I'd sure like to hear them…" he replied, looking away from her at the clouds through his window. "Good luck trying to Apparate to a continent you've never been to before."

His subtle sarcasm was not lost on Rose and she scowled at him. "It just had to be you, didn't it? Of all the people in the world who applied to go on this mission, it just had to be you."

Rose could not believe her misfortune. Here she was, on a flight to study brand new plants that would surely modify and improve potions all over the world and she was stuck doing it with the most selfish and annoying wizard on the planet.

"Yes, it did," he replied with a wily grin that most witches would melt at the sight of. "I was probably the only other applicant who was qualified-

"Humph," Rose replied in her snootiest voice. "I sincerely doubt that. If your head gets any bigger, we could use it to get the plane to safety; we'll just tie you to the top of this contraption and it'll float to Antarctica like a hot-air balloon!"

"A hot-air baboon?" Scorpius asked, looking a bit confused. Naturally, this irritated Rose even more.

She sighed heavily before replying, "Never mind; I forgot that Muggle references would be lost on you."

After that, they were silent for a long time. Rose looked down and studied her heavy black snow pants as if they were a fascinating discovery. When she glanced over at Scorpius for a moment, she could tell by the look on his face that he was still musing about a large-headed, air-filled, floating monkey.

How did he qualify to go on this trip again?

After about ten minutes of staring at the nothingness outside his window, Scorpius turned back towards her and said, "You know, Weasley, you didn't even let me finish my sentence before jumping to conclusions. I was trying to compliment you and you automatically assumed the worst."

Rose's head shot up from her fluffy pants and stared into his grey eyes suspiciously. "How in Merlin's name does saying that you were the only other qualified person for this job compliment me?"

"Well, if you're going to act like that, I don't think you deserve it!" he shot back, clearly trying to wind her up. "And after that comment earlier, you can kiss your spot on my broomstick goodbye as well."

"Yes, because you'd get so far and all…" Rose said, rolling her eyes and turning away from him.

"How would you escape then, Weasley? Really, I'm dying to know…" he said, pushing his glasses up again, as they had descended down his nose yet again.

"I don't know…" she said absently, picking at the skin around her fingernails as she looked around to see what the Muggles were doing. In her head, she had to admit that he had thought this through more than she had. Her excitement about the research that she was about to undertake had clouded thoughts of the trip to and from the continent. Now that she was on the plane, she wished she had taken the time to figure out how to deal with a flying emergency.

When she looked back over at him, she was surprised to find his deep eyes still trained on her, waiting expectantly. "I said I don't know, Malfoy," she said quietly. "We're less than an hour out now and the plane has gotten us this far; I'd say that I've simply put my trust in their machine."

"Indeed," he said, looking down at her hands, which were both still clamped down on the armrests.

And with that little remark having been said, irony decided to rear its ugly head.

The plane started to shake. A few "oh's" of surprise could be heard from the Muggles around them. They were clearly shocked and unhappy about what was going on, but none were quite to the point that Rose was, who started to hyperventilate in her seat.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" she squeaked in a high-pitched voice that was very uncharacteristic of her.

"Rose… calm down," Scorpius said, setting his hand calmly on top of her closest one, even as he clutched his own armrest with his other.

It didn't help though. In fact, Rose barely noticed at all, as she was too busy thinking about what would happen if the plain couldn't fight off the wind. Surely no one could survive such a drop… Oh dear Merlin!

Vaguely, she heard someone ask, "Is she going to be alright?"

"Yes," Scorpius replied for her. "She's just a nervous flier."

Rose somehow managed to nod her head shakily in response. Really, she just wanted him to look away from her, as she knew she was humiliating herself with the display she was making. For whatever reason though, she just couldn't seem to get herself under control.

The man looked at her with pity on his face and gently said, "It shakes more than any other plane I've been on too. I think it's the small size—it blows in the wind more and it's mighty windy down here, you know. We're almost there though, so try not to worry too much, alright?"

"Too late for that," she heard Scorpius murmur as the man turned back in his seat.

A few minutes later, the plane stopped shaking so violently, much to the relief of Rose. It was only then that she noticed his pallid hand was still on her own freckled one. From there, her eyes traveled up his blue and white goat until they rested on his ashen face. He looked concerned for her, very concerned.

Swallowing her own vomit once more, Rose moaned, "Why did I apply for this? Hell, why did you apply for this? I know you hate the cold! Why in Merlin's name did you want to come here?"

It was a question that she had been wondering for months, ever since she found out that he would be accompanying her on the journey. She had not had the courage to ask him yet and was somewhat relieved that it had slipped out now.

"Well, to answer your first question, you applied because you're the best-known Potions Master in Europe and this topic fascinates you. I, on the other hand, applied because my grandfather-"

Rose immediately felt her disposition towards him change when Lucius was mentioned. "Yes, and we couldn't have dear old grandpa die from Merkel's Disease, now could we?" she questioned nastily. "You'd be doing the world a favor if you just let that bloody bastard die!"

"Rose…" he said, suddenly looking tired.

"If you want to leave Antarctica with your todger still in tact, you had better not bring him up again," she said, ripping her hand away from his violently.

"We are ten minutes away from landing at Amundsen-Scott Station, I repeat, we are ten minutes away from landing. Please make sure your seatbelts are fastened for the remainder of the ride," the pilot announced in a chipper voice. Rose imagined that he was probably just as anxious to get off this machine from hell as she was.

Picking at her thumb, Rose sat in silence once again, trying to ignore all thoughts of Lucius as best she could. It wasn't working—his snide face kept popping into her head now, over and over, repeating those fateful words he'd said three years ago.

Just being around Scorpius again for the last five hours had been hard enough, but to now think about Lucius and all of the history between them was like being trapped in a living hell. A living hell that would last for an entire year…

How in the name of Merlin was she going to get through this?

Desperately, she closed her eyes and wished that when she opened them, a different Potions Master would be sitting beside her. Alas, when she opened them, Scorpius was still there, staring at her like he still cared. He probably did still care, but clearly it wasn't enough.

It just hadn't been enough…

"Rose…" she heard from her side. "I'm sorry."

"It's too late for sorry; you should have said that years ago," she murmured.

"But-"

"I said it's too late!" she exclaimed, earning a few odd looks from the Muggles closest to them. Lowering her voice, she continued, "Now, if we're going to get along here, we're going to have to just let it go! I'm not going to be able to work with you if you keep bringing it up!"

She stole a glance at him, only to find an exasperated look on his face. "Do you really think we can just ignore something like that and work together, Rose? We're going to have to talk it through sooner or later—it's irrational to think otherwise!"

"Then I guess I'm irrational," she stated strongly, crossing her arms in a moment of bravery. "Say it."

"Fine!" he said, giving in. "I won't bring it up on purpose, but don't come crying to me when it doesn't work out!"

Rose was about to counter him with a nasty retort, when the plane started to plunge downwards, at which point no thoughts other than 'wanting to live to see tomorrow' were in her head.

Scorpius watched as fear flooded her face, then swore under his breath when she grabbed his hand and squeezed it unexpectedly. "Bloody hell, Weasley! You're going to break my hand!"

That little detail was not important to Rose though. Her hand was so tightly ensconced around his own that he feared she might break it before they landed on solid ground. Luckily, it happened sooner than Scorpius thought it would.

With a couple of head-banging jolts, the contraption hit the snowy ground and rolled for what felt like 15 minutes before it slowed to a halt. Then and only then did Rose let go of his abused hand. Neither of them said anything about it, not wanting to provoke an argument at this point in time.

Finally able to think coherently once more, Rose found herself pushing Scorpius away from the plane's window so she could glance out it. There was white, white, and more white, as far as the eye could see. In fact, it was almost as thought they'd transferred into a universe where there was no other color than white.

"Wow…" she muttered to herself, astonished that she was somewhere no other witch or wizard had ever been. She let the feeling sink over her and through her; even Scorpius' unwanted presence couldn't ruin this moment for her.

She was in the unknown!

She was making history!

She was… being left behind by her traveling companion!

"How did you get over there?" she asked in shock. He couldn't have gotten out of his seat without her getting up first, unless…

He held up his wand and smiled like the sneaky predator he was.

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" Rose hissed, getting up and scolding him as she pulled on her gloves. "You can't just Apparate in public like that—there are Muggles everywhere!"

"What do you think will happen, hmm? The ministry only monitors Great Britain; there's no country established here, Rose. No one will ever know."

"So, you're willing to put our world at risk just for some flight of fancy—you absolute fool! I cannot believe you're here!" Rose exclaimed, infuriated by his flippancy. A year with a fool; how divine!

How in the name of Merlin was she going to do this?!

"Calm down, Weasley—the Muggles all left the plane five minutes ago. What did you expect me to do, sit there all day while you gawked at the snow out the window?" he asked, pulling on a heavy hat over his soft platinum tresses.

"You could have just asked me to get up and I would have—dear Merlin, I hope you aren't going to act like an eleven year-old with his first wand the whole time we're here!"

Rolling his eyes, Scorpius waved his hand in front of him, shooing her towards the doorway that led into the expanse of white. "Ladies first."

"And selfish bastards last," she muttered under her breath as she passed him and hurried to the door.

Face to face with the white, Rose took a tentative step off the plane and breathed in a hearty breath of fresh air. It smelled just as fresh as she had imagined it. With the blanket of snow in front of her, as well as a plethora of exciting new opportunities, Rose stepped off the plane.

The wind bit at her nose and cheeks, but she loved every minute of it! Finally, after years of hoping to be the one to do this, she was finally here!

"Merlin's balls, it's fucking cold out here!" exclaimed Scorpius from behind her, ruining the moment.

"What did you just say?" a blonde Muggle asked with an odd look in her brown eyes.

"I-uh… I said 'Sherwin's balls!' That's right, my friend Sherwin, who I went to university with, lives here and he took some of my sports balls! I'm finally going to get them back! Woohoo!" Scorpius stammered, trying his best to smooth over his huge cock up.

A likely story, indeed… The Muggle sure didn't look convinced and Rose knew she certainly wasn't.

It was going to be an interesting year.

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Thanks for reading! Please take a moment to let me know what you think. All comments are welcome. Have a wonderful day!

-P.G.