Hello guys! I'm updating the first chapter again with a few improvements. This is my first fan fiction and I figured that if I'm doing this, I should do it properly. I hope you guys enjoy the story. This is how see Rose and Scorpius together. I will also be a bit late with updates, so I apologize in advance for that!

Of course, all characters are owned by J K Rowling.

Hope you enjoy the story!

10 Years Back

Rose was about to tell her friend Alice that she was in no mood to go for the party in the Slytherin dungeons. But Alice, sadly, knew her too well. Rose knew she'd be dragged eventually. So she started getting ready. A few drinks and a bit of dancing with her friends wont kill her, would it? She already knew she'd run into Andrew, but decided to suck it up and have fun. The whole time she was trying to not think about how Andrew thought it would be a brilliant idea to keep shagging even if he wasn't ready to call her his girlfriend or go cheat on her and tell her its not technically cheating if they're not officially together.

Rose was still fresh from the final rejection. She made a firm decision that no matter how much he begs or how much he tells her that they are meant to be together, she will not give in. She thought of those days when Andrew used to treat her like the sun rose and set with her, even though they had decided not to name their relationship and rather remain "friends with benefits". She could not pin point when the problems started. What she did remember was the day Andrew walked up to her and told her that he liked Emily. He expected her to be "cool" with this new piece of information. Rose couldn't fault him in liking her. After all, Emily was her dorm mate and a good friend. She was beautiful, intelligent and a nice person. But that was the day Rose realized that she was walking towards a disaster waiting to happen, because she was in love with Andrew. Even if they hadn't said it to each other, she thought it was implied. She knew that was quiet childish of her. Of course he would go for another girl after he was done with her. She felt used and cheap which was followed by self doubt. Was she not good enough? Not pretty enough? Maybe she wasn't good in bed? One thing good about the situation was that she grew closer to Alice, who was always there to tell her how wrong Rose was to think such things.

Rose then decided to move on and started keeping her distance from Andrew. But life was not done being cruel with her. He kept coming back to her. Again and again. After being rejected my Emily or after screwing some random slag, it was Rose that he came back to. To cry and tell her that she's the best and that he'll never leave her again. Rose knew it was wrong to hope in such a situation, but she couldn't help herself. Because for some reason she couldn't not love him. She came to a compromise and decided that if he's coming back then it has to be for good and has to be made official this time. Not because she was just there. She was done being taken for granted and she was done being the one who got hurt every time. She told him that its either all the way through or they were over for good. Andrew however wasn't very happy with the change of pace. He told her that he wasn't ready to be in a relationship, specially after Emily.

Rose was putting her shoes on when Alice walked in. "Damn girl! You look hot!", Alice said. "Andrew will be shitting his pants once he sees you." "I don't care what he thinks. I cant go on thinking about him when he clearly does not care", Rose said. "He can go fuck himself. We on the other hand are going to have fun and be the age we are supposed to be and not the mopey 30 year old's we are becoming", replied Alice. "You are hardly mopey Alice" "well, I'm not exactly jumpy either, am I?" "Jumpy is overrated. Come on, lets go", Rose said.

The party was in full swing and Rose was on her 2nd drink when she ran into Scorpius. "Well well well, look who finally got out of the library", he threw his arm around her. Scorpius was a good friend. They didn't hang out as much as they used to. But still usually had a good banter every now and then. "You left the library after me today, Scorp, I think you should just accept that you're the bigger nerd here.", Rose said, "Even if you score less than me", she added with a smirk on her face. Scorpius's smirk however fell from his face. "That's just 3 subjects, and its only by a few marks Posie" "Don't get your knickers in a twist Scorp, i know its difficult to match up to the awesomeness that i am", she said. "Oh really, is that why you hide and make out with your Andy boy? I wonder how Albus would feel about his cousin being tainted by the dickhead", there were so many emotions Scorpius had unknowingly hit with just one sentence. Rose did not bother correcting him. She started thinking of a response when Andrew walked in. Not alone. Emily was hanging onto his arm so tight, it didn't leave a doubt in Rose's mind. She couldn't think of a bigger insult at the moment. Scorpius also looked in their direction and realized his mistake. He decided to keep shut before Rose slapped him instead. Rose threw back her drink, and then another, and then another and soon she lost count of the number. She danced, but it was an attempt to drown out the pain. She just couldn't wrap her head around this whole situation. In the end she pulled Andrew aside and into a deserted corridor to confront him. She was quiet drunk at the time and the only saving grace was that so was Andrew.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS ANDREW?", she demanded. "You were not in any position to date anybody Andrew. and that anybody was apparently only me?"

"I cant date you Rose"

"YES THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE! PLEASE, DO GO ON!"

"LISTEN! You are too close to me. I cant lose you. Emily isn't special. She's got nothing on you."

"FUCK! Andrew you do not make sense at all! I'm too close to you, that's why you cant date me? So you'll screw whoever possible till the time you decide to settle down. When you do decide to settle down, I should be jumping up and down with happiness. And till that time I'm supposed to watch you go through your fair share of women?"

"That's not what I meant!"

"Oh really? So you didn't mean to tell me that Emily isn't special? Still you were crying on my shoulder over her day in and out? You're wrong Andrew, you've already lost me!"

"I love you Rose! I really do!", Andrew said. This last sentence completely broke Rose. How many times had she imagined Andrew say those exact words. But never like this. She could never have imagined this in a thousand years. Hurt and anger was brewing inside of her and it was almost like an impulse when she raised her hand and slapped him. Andrew obviously never saw this coming. His specs went flying and he backed off two steps. Rose was going to turn and storm off, but before she could do that Andrew surprised or rather shocked her further. He slapped her. Right across her cheek.

Rose had never felt so weak in her life. So broken. She had lost the will to fight, to stand, to think, to walk. Whatever happened after that, all happened in a blur. She saw Alice come out running towards her, cursing Andrew. She helped Rose to their dorm and put her to sleep. Which was pretty pointless since she couldn't sleep a wink. She didn't know where to go from there. How was she supposed to not think of all this? How was she supposed to not love him anymore? Would she be able to love anyone like she loved Andrew? What was so wrong with her? On and on her flight of thought went.

Rose got out of bed the next day and decided to never think about the whole episode again. Decided that she will only live for herself from then on. Decided that love is a myth, and people who believed in it were outright idiots. And the further she is from such delusional feelings, better it will be. Threw away all the romance novels. Jane Austen will have to find a new fan.

And so in their last year at Hogwarts, she pulled her head out of her arse and poured herself into the books. worked hard to be where she always wanted to be, that is before Andrew distracted her. No Rose, we are done thinking about him! So, she eventually got into the healing program she always wanted to pursue. All throughout the course, she did not even once think about any kind of romantic involvement. She kept herself so busy that she would never even realize if any classmate or a senior was hitting on her. Few of them even tried asking her out. Obviously, they were out-rightly rejected.

However, it would get difficult as well at times. But Scorpius was always there with her since he was in the same healing program as her. It was good to have a friendly person around. So, with only being in contact with a select few people and of course, her family, who were pretty difficult to ignore since there were so many of them, she came out of the healing program with flying colors. She worked at a few different hospitals for a while because she wanted to treat people for a change rather than read just about it. She also worked for a few non-profit organizations and helped with different camps all across Europe.

But, she also missed home and felt like going back to the stability that home and people who loved you provided. People back at home didn't help the matter. Her parents and friends (who, lets face it, were only Alice and Albus) would constantly complain about her absence. "Would you look at that? Another Christmas for which you were not at home, Rose! I hope at least those children loved the red haired Scrooge they got instead of Santa.", her mother said. However far Rose might be, Hermione's sarcasm would never die down. "I'm not Scrooge, mom! I don't hate Christmas" "Honey, it sure seems like you do! Anyway, I wanted to tell you about Teddy and Vic, since you were not here to celebrate their news with them. They are getting married in June!", said Hermione. Rose did not miss the sarcasm in her mother's tone. She was also shocked. "They're getting married? Wow! I figured they must have moved on from each other. Last I heard, they were fighting about something", said Rose. "I honesty don't understand your pessimistic attitude, Rose. Specially when you have such a loving family with so many happy couples! People who love each other, also fight with each other and they make up." "You know you never spoke about Andrew with anyone. You can talk to me whenever you want honey.", she added softly.

"There is nothing to talk about mom. It was a lifetime ago and besides, I was just a kid back then. Anyway, I'm happy for Vic and Ted!", Rose said dismissively. She was contemplating if she should tell her mother about how she was thinking of moving back to London. "Errr mom, There's something I wanted to tell you." "Yes, tell me? Are you okay?", said Hermione. It wasn't every day that she heard rose say "I want to tell you something". "Its nothing to worry about mom. Its just, I was thinking of moving home. I even-" "OH MY GOD! Rose this is not just "something". I've been waiting for you to say those words for so long! Oh thank god! Ron will be so happy. So will your grandma and Albus and Alice!", "Mom", "When are you moving back?", "Mom", "Where will you stay, but of course I'll prepare your old room." "MOM!" "Yes honey, why are you shouting?", Hermione asked. "I've applied for a surgical residency at St. Mungo's and if I get accepted, then I'll start my residency by the end of February. That'll give me enough time to look for a place. So don't worry!

"Oh! Alright. That's well thought out. Well, you are my daughter after all. I'm really happy Rose!"

Rose ended the call that night with the satisfaction that she put a smile on her mother's face for a change. That made her feel like doing it more often.

When she got up in the morning and checked her mail, there was a mail from St. Mungo's saying "CONGRATULATIONS!", well, that usually meant good news!

And so it happened that Rose entered St. Mungo's on a nice Monday morning and met the Head of the Department, who seemed quiet strict. But, Rose guessed that they had to be. No big deal, she could handle it. After that, the second person she met was none other than her old friend, Scorpius.

Well he might have been an old friend, but he looked all brand new! He was no longer the tall gangly teenager that she remembered from those long study sessions and late night coffees. He was wearing lime green scrubs which stretched over his broad shoulders and, muscly arms. His blond hair were short, but not very short. And his grey eyes were looking at her with as much assessment as rose just gave her. She bet he could not have assessed her as much as she did him. When did he gain all that muscle? And lets just wait a minute and ask the main question which is who looks that hot in lime green scrubs? Will she also have to wear that hideous colour? It'll clash so horribly with her hair. This is so unfair!

"Well, hello Rose! I see that you finally decided to join us mortals!", said Scorpius.

Thank you for all your patience and for reading it! Please do write a review! Constructive criticism is welcome!

-L