Summary: AU. Scorpius Malfoy had always been curious about what happened to his best friend's cousin, but every time he asked him, Albus Potter's reply was always the same -Rose Weasley had passed away from a high fever before she turned 11. Scorpius never believed him, so when he meets a girl named Rosalie Newton in a muggle shop the Christmas break of his seventh year, he can't wait to figure out the enigma that is her.

Chapter 1

Rosalie Newton hoisted her bag onto her shoulder as she hurried towards the front door of the apartment. She could see snow flowing steadily towards the ground through the apartment window, and grabbed a hat for extra measure.
"Bye Caitlin, I'm heading to work," she called out, pulling on a pair of gloves.
Caitlin poked her head out of the kitchen, her light pink hair falling over her shoulder. "I thought you had school today?" she asked with a frown.
"Jamie is sick today so they needed someone to take his shift. I could do with some extra money, and besides, I only have math and biology today so it's not like it's anything important," she replied with a roll of her blue eyes.
Caitlin pointed a warning finger at her. "Just because you don't think you'll need those subjects in your future career as an author doesn't mean they're unimportant."
"Yes mom."
"Now go, you don't want to be late. I'll be home late tonight; got a date with Kyle," a dreamy sigh followed her words.
"Use protection," Rose smirked, leaving the apartment quickly with a protest behind her.
Rose had lived in London her whole life. She had started out living in a small house with her parents - Mary-Ann and Tobias Newton - but they had passed away in a car accident a few months after she had turned eleven. The memories of them still hurt, but not as much as they used to. Now she could focus on the good memories rather than the sad - her parents reading her bed time stories (usually involving a trio that defeated all sorts of evils - she couldn't remember exactly what, but she had a fuzzy memory of giant snakes, or perhaps it was spiders), listening to football with her dad on the radio, watching romantic movies with her mom, listening to her mom as she talked about her favorite books and subjects in school (Rose couldn't remember which ones they were anymore).
After her parents had passed away she had been placed in a foster home until she was sixteen. After that she had moved in with her two friends Caitlin and Amy, both 19 years old at the time. Somehow along the way she had gotten a job at a costume store. Not exactly her dream job, but it paid well enough to balance her studies and it was surprisingly fun. Not to speak of the fact that her colleagues were some of the most fun people she had ever met.
The costume store was placed only a few blocks away from her apartment, so she didn't need any transportation to get there. Her walks to and from work was one of her favorite parts of the day, but during the winter time she didn't enjoy them as much due to the cold.
The bell chimed as she walked through the door of the shop, and she shook the snow out of her fiery red hair and hat before taking it off.
"Hello," she called out, taking off her gloves as she moved towards the personnel room. The shop was quiet except the distinct sound of someone brewing coffee.
"Morning, thanks so much for coming Rose, you're a star," Jocelyn sighed dramatically and gave her a hug as she came in through the door, tucking away her jacket and hat. "I don't know how I would do this without you."
"No worries," Rose grinned in reply. "I'm happy to be here. Would pick this place over school any day."
The middle aged lady frowned. "I'm getting worried about you missing so much school; it can't be good for your studies."
"It's okay," she shrugged. "It's not like I need biology anyway. I'll be fine."
Jocelyn made a disapproving sound but let the subject go. "I reckon we'll be getting a good share of wizards this month."
"Really?" Excitement bubbled in Rose's stomach. She had never met a witch or wizard herself - they had very few costumers of that kind, and they usually preferred to have their costumes delivered by owls - owls, of everything! - rather than coming into the store themselves. Rose loved to listen to Jocelyn and Jaime's stories about them, but very few people knew they existed, so she couldn't talk to Caitlin or Amy about it. Apparently wizards called people like her muggers or muggles or something along those lines - wasn't that a crocodile? - which she found very interesting.
"So they'll be coming here? Like, actually into the store?" she asked.
"Yes, but no funny business. They're people just like you and me, so just because they've got a fancy stick is no reason to look down on them or treat them any differently."
"Why would I look down on them?"
"Some of us non-magical people think that they are freaks, abominations. Ridiculous, if you ask me, but I suppose we're all entitled to our own opinions, even if they're wrong," Jocelyn sighed, pouring two cups of coffee.
"How will I know if a wizard walks in or not?"
"You probably won't. They'll most likely be dressed just like you and I, so you won't notice anything weird. Unless they're uneducated, then it'll be obvious."
"Why do you think there will be a lot of wizards coming in now? I mean it's nearly Christmas, so people usually dress up as Santa or something. It's not Halloween anymore."
"Their school is having a Muggle costume party next term."
"How do you even know that?"
"Oh, I'm friends with one of the teachers there," she smirked, sipping her coffee.
Rose followed suit with narrowed eyes. "Friends or friends?"
"Friends – just friends!" She said quickly. "I'm not ready for another relationship just yet."
"Too bad, I could have used it as blackmailing material to stop you from trying to hook me up with your son again."
"You would be such a lovely couple though! And such a lovely daughter-in-law," Jocelyn pouted.
"But there's no chemistry between us so it would probably just end in an ugly divorce," Rose pointed out and finished her coffee. "Let's not go through that."
Jocelyn looked like she wanted to argue, but was interrupted as the bell by the door chimed. "Let's get to work then. This conversation isn't over yet," she added, leaving to greet the customer.
Rose rolled her eyes and put away their cups before joining Jocelyn.