His name was Scorpius, and he was forbidden.

Ever since her start at Hogwarts, Rose was absolutely certain of one thing: she was not to associate with Scorpius Malfoy. She knew the stories of what his family had done, and upon hearing said stories, she wrote him off from even being an acquaintance. And when she first saw him, she knew she'd have no trouble staying away from him. She could see his platinum hair from a mile away, and his hair became a warning of him getting nearer. Every time she'd see that messy platinum hair, she'd turn her course elsewhere. It was sometimes very tough considering they were both sorted into Ravenclaw, but Rose managed. When they both became prefects, she had to pull some strings, managing to still keep away.

And then one unfortunate day during sixth year, she happened to get paired for prefect duties with a boy with messy platinum hair. But for the first time, she didn't see him coming. She'd just been studying in the library, reading a particularly fascinating passage about bezoars, when suddenly,

"Er, Rose Weasley, right?" Rose jumped in her seat, clearly startled by the interruption. And when she looked to see who was speaking to her, she only got more startled. Grey eyes stared blinking back at her. "Oh, my apologies, my intentions weren't to frighten you." Platinum hair. Sharp features, muscular build. She'd never really looked at him before, but now she felt she could understand the hype. Scorpius Malfoy was fit. And he was still waiting for her to respond.

She closed her book quickly, before looking back. "Oh, yes, no, it's alright. I wasn't exactly expecting company." She said quietly, trying to avoid directly staring at him.

And the git just stood there smiling. "Alright, well, I just wondered if you'd like to start patrolling, unless you would like to finish your studying. Preparing for the exam tomorrow, yeah? Seems like it could be quite the challenge, but I'm feeling pretty well about it." God, he talked quite a bit, didn't he? And she'd never have guessed that his voice was that deep. How was it that she'd never heard his voice?

Oh, yes, she was supposed to respond. "Right, patrolling, let's get on with it then." She quickly moved from her seat, grabbed her things together, and followed him out. Standing next to him, she realized that he was quite tall. She had to be at least seven inches smaller than him. Was he always this fit? "So… Scorpius, how has your day been?" She could do small talk.

He smiled happily down at her, "It's been absolutely pleasant! The headmistress informed me that I'm tied for number one in our class. Can you believe it? I nearly died when she told me; my father was so excited. I owled him when I got the news, and he absolutely just died, said he was so proud."

She gawked at him. Tied for number one? That would make him her equal. Her father would die if she told him; she was supposed to beat Scorpius. And had he stated that Draco Malfoy was happy? That couldn't be possible! She knew the stories! Draco Malfoy was mean and uncaring. "Oh, wow, tied? That's…brilliant. Really brilliant." She mumbled, deciding to end the small talk from then on.

Her name was Rose, and she was confusing.

For the first moment in his life, Scorpius Malfoy felt as if he'd said something wrong. He'd never spoken to Rose Weasley before, so he understood if he'd done something off. Come to think of it, he couldn't properly remember ever even being in the same vicinity as her. How curious. From others, he came to understand that she was intelligent, pleasant, and beautiful. The first two, he did not know, but the third was certain. She had that iconic ginger hair, freckles covering her cheeks and nose, and pretty sky blue eyes. And she certainly had a lovely figure, but Scorpius felt it wrong to comment on that.

"I'm sorry, Rose, but have I said something to upset you?" He questioned, but she only shook her head in response. "Just checking; you've gone rather quiet. While I don't dislike silence, I can't help but feel as if I have indeed said something wrong." They turned a corner then, walking down another empty corridor. Scorpius was very curious about this girl. She'd started off very polite, and now she was ignoring him.

That was, he'd thought he was being ignored. "Tell me about your family." She stated abruptly, and he wasn't sure what prompted her to ask about his family, but he did not mind.

"Not much to tell really. I've got my father, and he's very supportive. He was a bit miffed when I decided not to play quidditch, but he's gotten over that by now, ever since I promised to play with him during summers. And then there's my mum, and she's the loveliest. Makes the best cookies in the entire world. She always sends me some during holiday. I've got my Granddad and Nan, of course, but I don't see them much. And that's it. It's not much, but that's alright." And suddenly, he was hoping his mum would send cookies soon, because he missed them an awful lot. When he looked down at Rose, he noted that she seemed a bit shocked by his statements, and that made him a bit hurt. "They're not like the stories, y'know. At least, they aren't now. They're good people, but everyone's still stuck in the past, as are you apparently." He added the last part just to watch her reaction.

Yet she only rolled her eyes. "Well, mister, seeing as I am a Weasley, of course I would already have opinions about you and your family. My mum punched your father third year, did you know that? And don't even get me started on how much my father hated your father. Just to spite him, he told me to beat you in every test. And here I am, tied for number one, so that's gone down the drain." Ah, he'd finally got down to the bottom of why he'd never had a conversation with Rose Weasley before. Simply put, she hated him. Everything started to make sense now. No wonder she always went running whenever he came near her.

"I could fail tomorrow's exam if you'd like." He offered with a grin. Her reaction was priceless, and her jaw dropped, absolutely outraged.

"No! I would like to beat you fairly!" She shouted, stomping her foot down as if she was throwing a tantrum.

She was so confusing. She'd obviously like to be number one, and he was offering it to her, but she'd declined. "Well, miss, you'll have to settle for number two then. No way am I letting you win now." This wasn't very gentlemanly of him, but at the moment, he didn't care, because watching her expressions was hilarious.

From then on, they continued their patrol, chatting about anything that came to mind, both quickly realizing that they had quite a bit in common. By the end of the patrol, they were friends, and that friendship carried on.

And when Rose owled her father about being tied for number one, much to her relief, he was ecstatic.

And when Scorpius told his father about his new friend, much to his surprise, Draco was delighted.

And when Rose owled her mum about a small crush she was developing, much to her dismay, she received a howler from her father.

And when Scorpius owled his mum, asking her why Rose suddenly was avoiding him again, all he got was cookies.