Rose Weasley is an ex-auror turned private investigator. Scorpius Malfoy writes murder mysteries. When his father is murdered in an incident strangely identical to the plot of Scorpius' new novel, he enlists Rose's help to find the killer. T for mild language and violence.
I'm so sorry I haven't updated my other fic-I haven't had any time to write. (I just whipped this out in the last 30 minutes.) I HAD to write this down, because the idea would NOT stop bugging me. So this was sort of an exercise in maintaining my sanity. If any is left, which I doubt. Enjoy! And review, please!

"Good morning, Rose," Roxanne chirped, looking, Rose thought, altogether too fresh-faced and awake for eight on a Monday morning.

"Morning," Rose sighed, taking a generous sip of her scalding coffee.

"You've got a prospective client coming in at eight-forty today," Roxanne continued, shuffling through the papers scattered on her desk. "I know it's early, but they insisted on seeing you as soon as possible."

"Thanks," Rose said as Roxanne handed her a rolled newspaper. "Did you recognize the name?"

Roxanne shrugged. "He wouldn't give his name, but apparently he knew you at school."

Rose raised her eyebrows and unfolded the paper. "That's a bit shady, don't you think?"

"Perhaps. But we need the money, so I said whatever suited him, and you'd see him at eight-forty."

Rose hid a smile at her young cousin's business-like tone. "Something mildly exciting, at least. After my last three jobs..."

"Your last three jobs," Roxanne snickered. "You sound like an professional assassin."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Forget assassin. Even the title 'Private Investigator' makes my job sound much more exciting than it actually is."

"It makes you sound so much more exciting than you actually are," Roxanne teased. "I never understood why you left the aurors for this. It must seem so boring in comparison!"

"Yes, well," Rose said, forcing a laugh. "Um, just show our Mystery Man in whenever he arrives. And send the Crawleys their bill...I'm never taking another case like that."

"Okay," Roxanne nodded, turning back to the pile of papers on her desk.

Rose slipped into her office, where she collapsed into a chair and ground the heel of her hand into her forehead, hard. Roxanne's remark had triggered an influx of unwelcome memories.

Determinedly ignoring the ghostly twinge of pain in her abdomen, Rose sucked the rest of her coffee down, choked on the dregs, and whipped open the newspaper violently.

Malfoy Murderer Still on Loose

Rose skimmed the article, frowning. Draco Malfoy had been violently murdered the week before, and the media was having a field day with the event, dredging up his family's unsavory past and making up foolish theories.

Rose crumpled up the news-less newspaper restlessly and tossed it in the rubbish bin. She missed.

Bloody bad aim. There was a reason Rose had been a seeker and not a chaser while she was at school. She dismissed the paper littering the floor and began to stack the case notes scattered haphazardly around the desk into a neat pile. As she turned and began to file them, the door creaked open. Rose whipped around, her wand held out in the classic defensive position.

The tall man standing in the doorway raised his eyebrows. "Still have those auror reflexes, I see."

Rose stared at him astonishment and hastily set her wand down on her desk. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

Scorpius Malfoy stepped inside her office, closing the door softly behind him. "Professional consultation," he answered easily. He gestured towards a chair. "May I?"

"Oh," said Rose stupidly. "Yes, yes, of course. Have a seat."

"Surprised?" Scorpius offered when they had both taken a chair.

"Very," answered Rose dryly, having recovered some of her senses. "Why on earth wouldn't you tell my secretary your name?"

He shrugged. "Element of surprise? It doesn't matter. By the way, you look very like your secretary."

Rose pursed her lips. "Very odd, I would say, considering she's my cousin."

"Ah," said Scorpius. "I forgot you're related to nearly every redhead in wizarding Britain. Which one is this?"

"Roxanne, my Uncle George's daughter. She just graduated a few months ago," Rose said, wondering why she felt the need to explain her employee choices to him. "She didn't have any particular aspirations, but her parents insisted she get a job, so I offered her secretarial work."

"Mm." said Scorpius, and didn't seem inclined to say anything else.

Rose held back a sigh of frustration. "Do you require my services, Mr. Malfoy?"

Scorpius suddenly became serious. "I want to hire you," he began. "To investigate my father's murder."

Rose frowned. "Aren't you enstranged from your father?" She ventured without really thinking.

"I was," acknowledged Scorpius. "It doesn't mean I don't care about bringing his killer to justice, though."

Rose bit her lip in embarassment. "Of course; I'm sorry. However, this isn't exactly a private. The Ministry has half the auror department working on it."

Scorpius sighed tiredly. "I know. But it's taken on a rather personal...aspect."

"I'm not quite sure I understand," Rose said cautiously.

"Look," said Scorpius, "what I'm about to tell you-you can't tell anyone."

Rose drew back. "If it's important to the case, I can't promise I would withhold it from a government official."

"I know you want to make this very business-like," Scorpius said desperately, "but I'm asking you this as a friend, not a client."

"We haven't seen each other in nearly six years," Rose said sharply. "And we were never very close to begin with."

"We lived together for an entire year. Worked together," Scorpius sighed. "And I'm sorry we've lost contact. But you don't understand-I need you to help me."

Rose closed her eyes. "Explain yourself, Malfoy."

"I need you to take on my father's case," Scorpius said evenly. "You know what I do, I suppose?"

Rose opened one eye and her lips quirked slightly. "You write crime thrillers."

Scorpius ignored her slightly derisive tone and continued. "Well, I was working on my newest project. I had it typed up on my desk, ready to send to my editor, and the next morning, it was gone."

"I'm a private investigator," Rose said, sounding affronted. "It's rather insulting for someone to hire me to look for a lost book. And I thought you wanted me to work on your father's murder?"

Scorpius dropped his head into his hands for a moment. "Let me say it plainly," he finally began. "My book was stolen last Monday. The next day, my father was murdered-and every aspect of the crime matched the story I had just finished."

Rose paled. "What?"

Scorpius jumped up and began to pace her small office. "I don't know what to do. It might mean something, mightn't it? But if the aurors find out-wouldn't it incriminate me? Not only that, but my editor's expecting a book; I obviously can't give him this one; in the end, it's going to come out. I need you to catch whoever did this."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Rose asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked, looking baffled.

"What if you killed him?"

Scorpius' jaw dropped. "Honestly? You think I killed my father? God, Rose, I never thought..."

Rose jumped up and grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry Scorpius, I know you better than that." She hesitated a moment. "I don't trust easily anymore, I'm afraid."

Scorpius collapsed back into his chair. "Should I ask why?" he sounded defeated.

"No," said Rose, voice hard. "You shouldn't ask. I'll take the case."

Scorpius looked simultaneously relieved and conflicted. "I have a condition."

Rose stared at him. "You're making a condition? Do you know how much trouble I would be in if my dad or uncle found out I was taking this case? Technically, this is in the Ministry's jurisdiction. I can't believe you're making terms!"

Scorpius held up a hand to pause her lecture. "I want to work with you."

"Not happening," Rose replied immediately. "I have the training. You write books. Any dangerous situation you've ever been in was hypothetical!"

Scorpius winced. "It was my novel. I can help," he argued.

"Fine," Rose said after a moment. Then, "I can't believe I just agreed to this."

Scorpius looked relieved. "Where do we start then?"

"We start with you writing me a big, fat check," Rose announced. "I'm barely making rent on my apartment, let alone this office."

Scorpius wrote the check.

"And now?" he inquired politely.

Rose sighed. "I beg, borrow, or steal the case file from my father."

Hey, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this. This is probably going to be a mid-length fic, maybe 20-30 chapters? I usually write short (5-8 page) chapters, so it won't actually be that long. I adore mystery novels, but I've never written anything along those lines, so we'll see how this turns out! Please leave a review, especially one with criticism, suggestions, and other nice things. By the way-nothing you recognize belongs to me, but to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.

So what do you think is with Rose's auror past-what's the secret and why did she quit?

By the way...Rose and Scorpius are in their mid-twenties.

Can't think of anything else! Please review, it makes my day and helps me write more quickly! (Simply because I think there are people who actually want another chapter-if I'm just writing for myself, there's no rush.:)