Hi everyone !

This is my first Harry Potter fiction, and it's about one of my favorite new-generation pairings : Rose and Scorpius. I hope you enjoy it !

The title of the chapters are lyrics from songs I've been listening to while thinking of this story. This is also an tribute to Hyacinthian, one of my favorite fanfic authors here. You can guess which songs they're taken from – I'll dedicate later chapters to you if you find out ;)

Disclaimer : Wish as I may, I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does. I don't own the songs and the lyrics I'm quoting in the titles of the chapters either.


What on earth am I supposed to do ?

In this crowded place there is only you

The first time I saw Scorpius Malfoy, we were both eleven years old, we were both surrounded by our families – mine so much more numerous, noisy and read-haired than his – and we were both about to get on the Hogwarts Express, which would take us to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and seven years of magical education. I was so excited to finally be here, to follow the steps of my bigger cousins. I wasn't paying much attention to the people around us on the platform, until the train engine blew some steam a few feet from us and I turned around to see where the noise came from. Behind the veil of steam stood three people, one of which was small and looked certainly as excited and bewildered as I did at that very moment.

Something in Scorpius Malfoy immediately caught my eye – maybe the fact that he was so blond, with hair almost silver-white in the automnal light of King Cross, while I was so used to the red hair of almost every member of the Weasley clan, me included – maybe the fact that he looked so alone, alone between his mother and father, more alone that I had ever been – so different from me indeed, that I just couldn't keep my eyes off him.

I noticed my father and Uncle Harry glancing intently towards Scorpius's father, who met their gaze, nodded cooly and looked away. How come they knew each other ?

Then my father said under his breath, loudly enough so I could catch it: 'So that's little Scorpius'. I flinched, his name was so unusual – so different again, beautiful – 'Make sure you beat him at every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains.'

My mum hit him playfully on the shoulder, frowning in disapproval yet looking amused. She told him not to turn us against each other before we'd even started school. Then she comforted me : my father was joking, of course, she said. I had nothing to worry about, I could make the friends I wanted to make and get the grades I'd manage to get and she would still love me.

But something inside me told me that if my father had warned me, even as a joke, there had to be a reason ; maybe Scorpius Malfoy was dangerous somehow, and I shouldn't come too close to him during my stay at Hogwarts.

This idea slightly brought me down : I was strangely attracted to this lonely boy. He looked so different from me that I had immediately felt curious about him, and I wanted to know him better. But it would never happen, and I would have to make other friends.

Thank God I have Al, James and all my other cousins to start with, I thought. I couldn't imagine how scary it would be to go through the journey, the Sorting, the welcome feast, without some friends to support you. And after a last glance to the mysterious blond boy who would have to do all this on his own, I got on the train.

It would take me six years to get past my newly-acquired fear of Scorpius Malfoy.

Only when I got off the train at Hogsmeade did I see the red-haired girl again. The one who was standing a few feet from me and my family on the platform back in London.

I couldn't help but feel attracted to her. Something about her fascinated me. The moment I laid my eyes on her I realized she was everything I wasn't. Full of life, an excited bright smile on her face, red hair gleaming in the feeble London light, surrounded by half a dozen brothers and cousins – when I was alone with my parents and quite apprehensive about my first day at Hogwarts without any relatives or friends to laugh and joke with.

I tried to stare at her without her noticing, but I guess my father saw what I was doing, unless he was simply acknowledging the group standing around her. He crouched down and whispered in my hear :

'You see the two families over there ? These are the Potters and the Weasleys. You've already heard about them, haven't you, Scorpius ?' I nodded hesitantly, a little shocked. I didn't realize the group was composed of such famous wizards. But then my expression darkened : the fact that they were so famous only reminded me of the less than glorious role my family had played during the last War. This realization also brought another one : I would never be good enough for the red-haired girl, she would never agree to be friends with me.

My father certainly noticed who I was looking at, because he took me by the shoulder and walked with me a few feet away from my mother. He nodded towards the girl and told me :

'This girl – it's Rose Weasley. I can only give you two pieces of advice : one, beat her at every test – a little revenge on her mother – and two, try not to get too close to her – personal grudge against her father…'

Terrified by these irrevocable orders, I barely dared look at the group when I boarded the train. When I was in, I looked for a relatively empty compartment to sit in. I found one which was only occupied by a silent boy and a reading girl, and I went to the window. I sat there to wave at my parents – and to wait until I managed to suppress the tears filling my eyes. This was going to be a harder day than I expected.

When the train was outside London and the landscape outside the window was green and empty of any trace of civilization, I sighed and turned around to take a look at my neighbours.

The boy was beautiful, very confident-looking and a little intimidating. The girl was very pale, dark-haired, and looked shy even when absorbed with a book.

'Hi', I introduced myself, 'I'm Scorpius Malfoy.'

'Oh. Nice to meet you Scorpius,' said the boy, 'I believe our fathers were Hogwarts friends : my name is Leopold Zabini.' The name didn't ring a bell, but again, my father had tried to cut out of his life all his former Hogwarts friends, who knew his past as a Death Eater. I could understand why he felt ashamed of having been a part of it. But I told myself not to be prejudiced, because after all Leopold wasn't his father – just like I wasn't mine.

'And I'm Agnès Hysler' said the girl, turning pink. Saying only these few words must have been terribly hard for her. I immediately felt sympathy for her.

I smiled at them, wondering if these would be my new friends. Not as interesting as Rose Weasley, I thought, sighing. But they were nice and friendly, and that was a start.

And I watched the landscape unroll along the window, fighting the desire to get a glimpse of her again when we would get off the train. But even if I did – which inevitably happened because I couldn't help not notice her – that would change nothing. She was out of bounds, and I'd just have to deal with it.

How was I supposed to know that all of this wouldn't matter six years later ?


AN : So, what did you think ? Comments, suggestions, mild criticism (and even praise if you feel like it) appreciated ! I'll try to update soon and often…