If somebody had asked me at the age of 11, "where do you see yourself in 10 years time?" I certainly wouldn't have answered with "I see myself walking down the aisle, on the arm of my father, towards the man I love... Scorpius Malfoy." So what happened in those 10 years? How did I come to fall in love with the son of an ex-Death Eater, and the bane of my father's existence?

In the beginning

It was September 1st, and I was 11 years old. Finally, it was my turn, Rose Weasley's turn, to go to Hogwarts! A day I had been looking forward to since Teddy, Al's brother, (well kind of), had disappeared off to a strange place, and Al and I had started bombarding our parents with question upon question about where he had gone, and why we couldn't go with him. For their own reasons, they were a little reluctant to tell us too much. Of course as we grew older, we pieced together a lot of our parents' history, and I can understand their reluctance more now, but to a couple of kids, the inadequate answers were more than a little frustrating. Fortunately, when Teddy returned in the summer, he was more than willing to tell us all about his year at school, and all the new friends he had made outside the Weasley/Potter family. Al and I were extremely jealous, but as my mum pointed out, it would be our turn soon enough.

So there I was, stood on platform nine and three-quarters, flanked by my parents and little brother Hugo, desperately searching for my best friend and cousin Albus through a heavy cloud of smoke. I was practically quivering with excitement and a slight twinge of nerves, though on seeing Al's face, I decided I was nowhere near as nervous as Al clearly was. I barely registered the conversations the adults were having; I was too busy worrying about not getting on to the train in time. Eventually, I switched on in time to catch my dad gesture towards a small boy with platinum blonde hair who was the perfect image of his father. Dad said something about making sure I beat him in every test, which I thought wouldn't be too difficult. I had inherited intelligence akin to one of the brightest witch's in the country after all. My mum, Hermione Weasley was one of the most sought after ministry brains in England, yet she still insisted on putting elf rights first. I suppose her efforts had resulted in fair pay and holiday time for the elves, but half the time it's like she's fighting a losing battle. I mean the elves just refuse to accept the equivalent of a wizards wage; they say it is an honour for them to serve wizards, and it isn't right for an elf to accept payment in the first place (or something daft like that).

Anyway, back to the blonde boy. I recognised his dad. I'd seen him in the Daily Prophet quite a few times; attending ministry functions; donating money to various charities, and of course speaking about several unsolved cases the Aurors were currently working on. Yep, much to my father's chagrin, Mr Malfoy worked in the Auror department along with him and my Uncle Harry. Dad often asked Uncle Harry why he insisted on employing a Malfoy, and he always received the same reply "because everyone deserves a second chance Ron, and besides he's a good Auror". My Uncle Harry is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He is a firm believer in giving people a chance to make up for the mistakes they have made, because according to him, he's been given too many chances to count, and it would just be hypocritical of him to refuse others their own second chance. My dad always replied to Uncle Harry's explanation with "but Malfoy lost his right to a second chance when he threw Dumbledore's offer of protection back in his face in sixth year". I think my dad has some issues when it comes to letting go of the past.

Before I knew it, we were being ushered on to the train and I leant out of the window in time to catch my mum trying to hide the stray tear running down her face. I shouted out to her "it's ok mum, I'll be home for Christmas!" She just smiled and blew me a kiss. By this time, Al had joined me looking a little less green than he had earlier; trust Uncle Harry to have the perfect words to cheer him up. We both waved to our family, and chuckled as Hugo and Al's sister tried to keep up with Uncle Harry's long stride as he walked along with the moving train. Once the train rounded the corner, we sat back in our seats and grinned at each other. We were finally on our way to Hogwarts!

We sat in silence for a minute before I finally cracked, "so Al... Why have you looked like you're about to be thrown in a snake pit all morning?" Al glared at me.

"James has been going on about how my personality traits fit perfectly with Slytherin requirements".

I laughed. Al could be so gullible sometimes. "Come on Al, you should know better than to listen to that brother of yours. How many times has Aunt Ginny had to reprimand him this summer alone for trying to wind you up?" He hung his head and muttered something to himself, but I didn't get chance to ask him what he said because the compartment door opened and in walked the blonde boy from the platform. He stopped in the doorway and looked from me to Al, then back to me.

"You're a Weasley," was all he said, a little rudely if you asked me.

"Well observed there Malfoy, ten points to Slytherin," was my retort. Both Al and the intruder raised their eye brows at me.

"Rose," Al hissed at me, "be nice!" Yep, definitely Uncle Harry's son. He turned then and stuck out his hand "Albus Potter, it's very nice to meet you." Malfoy shook Al's hand and replied "I'm Scorpius, and as you obviously already know I'm a Malfoy." He chose to ignore my Slytherin comment.

"This is my cousin, Rose Weasley. She isn't normally this rude." I glared at Al, but chose not to start an argument and turned to look out of the window.

Apparently there weren't any other compartments free, so Scorpius sat in the corner of ours and got one of his school books out to read. It was tempting to strike up a conversation about the book as I'd obviously already read it from cover to cover, but I resisted, and Al and I talked about the Cannon's recent loss at home to the Holyhead Harpies instead. I was a diehard Cannon's fan just like my dad, where as Al was always loyal to his mother's old team.

We chatted until the lunch trolley arrived, closely followed by James and our cousin Freddie. We bought a whole lot of food, sat in a circle on the compartment floor and shared it out between us. To our surprise, Scorpius had brought Sandwiches from home and didn't raid the lunch trolley like we did. I could see Al looking at him thoughtfully and tried to catch his eye to stop the inevitable. Unfortunately it didn't work.

"Hey Scorpius, fancy joining us?" Scorpius looked up in surprise at Al's words.

"It's ok thank you Albus. Mum insisted I eat the sandwiches she made me."

James snorted, "I thought Malfoys were waited on hand and foot by their many house elf slaves?"

Scorpius turned slightly pink and mumbled something about his mother liking to look after her own house. I could see Al glaring daggers at James out of the corner of my eye. I must admit, I felt a bit guilty about my rudeness earlier, but really, how did Al expect me to compete with this boy academically if he insisted on making friends with him?

Al tried again, "Come and sit with us at least. We might be large in numbers, but the Weasley family isn't that scary, trust me." Too nice for his own good my cousin is. Scorpius finally relented and came to sit with us on the floor. Conversation was slow at first, but eventually he got in to a heated debate with Al and James about whether or not Victor Krum was the best Seeker to ever walk the planet. Al insisted Uncle Harry was better. I rolled my eyes and turned to Fred. "So, how's Uncle Charlie? Dad said you'd been to see him in Romania last week." And that's how conversation carried on pretty much until the sky began to darken and we decided it might be a good idea to get changed into our school robes.

It was just Al, Scorpius and I left in the compartment now, and it was very quiet. Al had turned a little green again (before leaving, James had made sure to wish him luck trying to convince the hat he didn't belong in Slytherin), Scorpius had turned even paler than his normal skin tone, which I hadn't previously thought possible. I sat and watched as we pulled into the station, then jumped up and pulled Al out of the compartment behind me.

Out on the platform we weaved through the crowd of students towards a large figure at the other end swinging a lantern in his huge hand. "Hagrid!" We shouted in unison.

"Well, if it ain't me two favouri' firs' years!" Hagrid said, dragging us both into bone crushing hugs. Once he finally let us go, he gestured for us to follow him and began bellowing "firs' years! Firs' years this way!"

We followed Hagrid off the platform and towards a crowd of small boats waiting for us at the side of a large lake. We scrambled in and waited for the other boats to fill up. At this point we had no idea where Scorpius had gone, but only Al seemed to be fussing about it. I was too excited to catch my first glimpse of Hogwarts. Mum had always said that the most memorable image she has of Hogwarts is that first view from the lake as they floated across in first year. A few minutes later I found out why. The castle was breathtaking. Every window appeared to be lit up, and it was beautiful. Every first year gasped in awe as they caught sight of their home for the next seven years.

About twenty minutes later we were stood in front of a large oak door behind Hagrid, who lifted his huge hand to an equally huge door knocker and knocked loudly. Within a minute, the door was opened, and there in front of us was the tiniest man I had ever seen. It certainly was a sight to see him stood in front of Hagrid, the half giant.

"Ah Hagrid, I see you managed to get them here in one piece." The tiny man squeaked in greeting. "Hello children, my name is Professor Flitwick and I am here to welcome you to Hogwarts. Please follow me." We followed Professor Flitwick in to a grand entrance hall with ceilings as tall as my house. Many of the other children were gazing around the room with awestruck expressions on their faces. I looked over at Al and noticed he didn't seem to be paying much attention to his surroundings, and was more concerned with keeping down all those sweets he ate earlier.

Professor Flitwick led us in to a room off the entrance hall that was significantly smaller.

"In a few minutes, I will be taking you in to The Great Hall where you will be sorted. There is no need to be afraid, the sorting is a simple process, and the Sorting Hat has never failed to choose the right house yet. Remember, your House will be your home for the next seven years, so the sorting isn't a process that is taken lightly." The room was completely silent, and several faces now mirrored Al's worried expression. "Follow me children!"

We all walked in to the Great Hall, and the previous hum of chatter disappeared immediately. I must admit, this is where the fear finally settled in. The next half an hour seemed to be a haze to me. I barely registered the Sorting Hat's song at all. I finally became aware of my surroundings when a slight murmur spread across the hall. I looked up to see what could have caused it and saw Scorpius walking up to the stool with his head bowed shyly. I watched as he picked the hat up and placed it on his head before sitting down on the small stool in front of the teacher's table. At this point I noticed Hagrid sitting alongside the other teachers and grinned at him.

It must have been a full five minutes before the Hat finally opened its mouth and shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" The Hall because eerily silent as everyone let that one word sink in. I could almost hear their minds thinking the same as mine, "a Malfoy? In Gryffindor? Surely not!"

I watched as Scorpius pulled the hat from his head and looked around nervously, then all of a sudden the Gryffindor table erupted in to applause, led, I'm pretty sure, by James and Fred.

This seemed to be the confidence Scorpius needed because a small smile appeared on his lips, and he hopped down from the platform and walked over to his new House table; settling himself beside Freddie and across from my other cousin Victoire.

I watched the rest of the sorting, awaiting my turn. It was such a pain being a Weasley at times. I would no doubt be last in line. I watched as Al barely refrained from vomiting over himself when his name was called and a similar ripple of chattering filled the Hall. He needn't have worried though, within seconds of the hat touching his head it had shouted "GRYFFINDOR," and the biggest smile I had seen on Al's face all day appeared out of nowhere.

Eventually it was my turn. I lifted my chin up and walked to the stool, putting on a show of confidence that nowhere near mirrored how I felt inside. I sat down, placed the Hat on my head and nearly jumped out of my skin when a small voice began to whisper in my ear.

"Ahhh, another Weasley." I rolled my eyes at this, "I've had quite a few of you to place in recent years, though none quite so challenging as you. Now... I see you have inherited your mother's thirst for knowledge. Yes. Very clever... However, is that a hint of mischief I see? And a strong desire to prove yourself; separate yourself from the rest of your family."

"No, I can't be separated from my family!" I found myself thinking desperately.

"Are you sure? You would do very well in Ravenclaw? Well... I suppose it is your choices that matter most... Better be GRYFFINDOR!"

I barely registered the route I took to the Gryffindor table, only that I somehow ended up sat beside Al, who was grinning widely at me. I must have grimaced back because Al frowned, but didn't say anything.

I had been the last to be sorted. The headmaster, Professor McGonagall stood to welcome the new students and declare the feast open.

I looked down as the empty plates in front of us suddenly filled with the most delicious looking food I had ever seen. I almost forgot the Hat completely as I dived for the roast potatoes, but Al wasn't letting me get away that easily.

"OK Rosie?" he asked as he nudged me with his elbow.

"Yeah, just thought for a minute there I'd end up in Ravenclaw."

Al raised his eyebrows at me, but it was Scorpius who replied.

"Look at it this way. At least it wasn't almost Slytherin." I gave him a funny look and he seemed to realise I needed more of an explanation than that. "Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin... Finally decided that any Malfoy requesting to go anywhere but Slytherin must be brave enough for Gryffindor." He smiled at what must have been a shocked expression on my face. Al almost choked on his pumpkin juice.

"Well that explains why you're here then mate!" Al finally spluttered. "Know what your parents will say?"

Scorpius seemed to think about this for a moment before replying, "My parents will be proud. They're not as bad as everyone seems to think they are. I bet Dad will secretly be pleased, he'd have loved the chance to rebel. I know my Grandparent's won't be happy, but I don't have to see them too often anyway, so who cares what they think?"

I was beginning to think that maybe this Malfoy boy wasn't as bad as Dad would have me believe after all.

Damn it!

How's a girl supposed to compete with someone she's quickly deciding she'd quite like to be friends with?