Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine but JKRs. I make no money from this. Only the plot is mine.
Rose Weasley had a pretty perfect life.
She was the daughter of two war heroes, giving her a good name and immense respect in the wizarding society. That wasn't all she inherited however, getting her quick wit and thirst for knowledge from Hermione 'the brightest witch of her generation' Weasley nee Granger her mum, and her shock of gorgeous red hair and a knack for breaking rules from Ron Weasley her father.
Her horde of cousins uncles and aunts had given her a well protected, nurtured and nourished childhood, inculcating the best habits and culture, well as best as you could expect from a bunch of Weasleys anyway.
One of her Uncles dealt with dragons, the other was a curse breaker, yet another was in running for Minister of Magic soon, one of them owned the most successful business in the wizarding world, having started it with his twin at the age of 17, and her aunt was a retired International Quidditch player now reporting for the Daily Prophet. Oh and not to forget, Harry 'the boy who lived twice' Potter was her parents' best friend, and her favourite uncle.
Growing up in this family, so varied, insane and maddening at times; but still so down to Earth and loving, had indeed given Rose an ideal childhood. Sure there had been intense competition between the cousins at times; and during the holidays, someone always felt a little left behind, it was but natural in such a huge family. It was also an extreme pain shopping for Christmas presents, and remembering everyone's birthdays. Their over protective nature too got on her nerves at times. But, all said and done, they were still her family at the end of the day, and she loved them to bits.
Rose was some sort of a Golden girl, even in this family of extraordinares.
She was exceptionally brilliant, with a brain to match her mother's. Unlike her mother however, she excelled in Quidditch too. Flying was second nature to her, as it was to most of her family, and she played Chaser on the Ravenclaw team. She had gotten her prefect badge as expected in their fifth year, and the Head Girl's honour in the seventh. She had made Quidditch captain too, but had graciously given the post to fellow housemate Georgina Rivers as she couldn't possibly handle so much.
The teachers all adored her, her peers respected her and her juniors pretty much worshipped her.
She was good looking as well, not overly so, but pretty enough to catch the attention of quite a few boys at Hogwarts. She had had her fair share of boyfriends and experiences as well. Not too many because of said over protective family, but a few nonetheless.
She was practical, level headed and mature. Extremely independent and out going. She made friends easily. She was kind, generous and respectful not to mention fun loving and spontaneous. She was a good friend, stable as a rock, someone who would go to any lengths to help you if you needed it. She had played a few pranks too, not one for being a spoilt sport, and had gotten away with it too.
With these charming qualities how could you not love Rose Weasley?
Her parents were proud of her, her grandparents showered her with all their love, her uncles and aunts compared their kids to her, singing high praises, her brother like most brothers fought incessantly but loved her all the same, cousins older than her looked out for her, and those younger looked up to her.
Generally loved by all, and spoken high of by everyone, Rose Weasley did have a perfect life.
All except for one thorn constantly at her side, pricking and prodding her every step of the way. He was the exact opposite of her. The black to her white, the arctic to her toasty warm, the Malfoy to her Weasley.
Scorpius 'prat extraordinaire' Malfoy was her rival, in every sense of the word.
From the minute they came face to face they had tried to out do the other.
He was her polar opposite, an anti-Rose if you will, but he matched her word for word, flight for flight. She came out on top most times, being the hard worker that she was, but he was not above using under handed means to get what he felt he deserved, the top honour.
They were much too alike in many ways, but they failed to see what to the others was obvious.
He instilled in her the grit and determination, the passion to excel, do one better than him.
She drove him insane with her perfection, giving him reason to show to the world that she was not what they believed, what she portrayed. In his mission to see her down fall he himself rose steadily to the top, being the best he could be to expose her worst.
Unknowingly becoming eachother's incentive and inspiration, they fought hard whether it be on the field or in the classroom. Teachers were both amazed and frightened of this brilliance, the spectacle that was the Rose-Scorpius rivalry.
They had their own set of friends, running in different circles. After all he was Slytherin while she was Ravenclaw, and inter house rivalry was far from eradicated.
For seven years they saw the house cup and quidditch cup travel back and forth between the two houses. If one took the quidditch cup the other was rest assured to win the house cup. They fought for words of praise from the professors, for house points, for the quaffle, for bathroom time while sharing the Heads dorm, for more OWLs, NEWTs, the list would go on and on.
Both were excellent students, having picked up a few spells even before starting Hogwarts they immediately rose to the top of the class.
The insults were kept to a bare minimum in their first year while both were finding their footing.
But as time progressed and the competition grew so did their dislike for the other.
At first only words were thrown about while passing each other in corridors. One day a line was crossed when he dared to utter the dreaded, awful 'm' word. Though not specifically applicable to her Rose took the insult personally, retaliating by calling him a death eater. They were uncalled for, being part of a history they both didn't fully comprehend. But once uttered they couldn't be taken back however remorseful one felt. That had started the hexes and jinxes.
Sometimes they were harmless, sometimes quite lethal.
But brilliant as they were, the two were always quick with their shields, guarding before the enemy had a chance to strike. If at times one of them slipped up the other would gloat in the glory of the others fall. That would set them on course for revenge which would be of a much higher magnitude.
Neither understood how they were sharpening each others skills, how much they had learned from one another by trying to take them out. If only they realized how well they would work as a their time at Hogwarts had come to an end and they went their separate ways, not a glance in the other's direction, quite happy to be rid of one another.
It was assumed that Rose would head to becoming a Healer, dedicated and caring as she was, and that Scorpius would follow his father's footsteps to becoming a businessman.
They were not wrong as that was exactly what happened.
Settled into her role as a Healer, Rose was now living in an apartment of her own, close to her parent's place as well as the burrow. She had just gotten out of a long relationship with Frank Longbottom and was looking to enjoy her new found status as a single woman.
Despite her initial excitement at her job and what it entailed, now after having climbed the ladder to Head Healer in lightening speed, there was only one word with which Rose and her extensive vocabulary could describe it - boring.
She was bored, there was no other way around it.
It was drab and dull, with absolutely no thinking required anymore. It was run of the mill and it didn't intrigue her as she had hoped it would.
At 22 she expected to have accomplished so much more with her life, and this just wasn't good enough anymore. It was during one of these self reflecting moments that she had the epiphany.
She handed over her resignation the very next day and decided to do something with her life.
To say her family was surprised would be an understatement.
They were downright flabbergasted by her decision and it took her a while to convince them that she knew what she was doing. That was because she had absolutely no clue herself.
For the first time ever her perfect life showed a few cracks. Confused and now not nearly as confident as she had been when she had put in her papers, Rose made an earnest effort to find a job.
She thought that she had found the perfect one when she found an ad in the Prophet.
They were looking for someone as an adviser to the owner of Falcon Enterprises, the biggest company now in the Wizarding and Muggle worlds alike. Started by a young entrepreneur the company had risen in its size and stature in a matter of 10 years. They had expanded their initial line to accomodate all possible Wizarding requirements before moving onto an area yet unexplored by any wizarding enterprise- the muggle markets.
A multinational corporation, at its peak was now looking to hire some fresh blood for their think tank, and Rose thought herself extremely qualified for the job.
She met all the requirements stated as not many would, and realized it was her chance to do something big, make a difference.
So that's how she found herself on the 42nd floor of the grand Falcon building, in her most formal attire holding her portfolio, waiting for what would be the interview of her life time.
She was slightly nervous but overly excited about the job and its prospects, which is why she found herself extremely annoyed when faced with a smug Scorpius Malfoy, dressed impeccably as ever, holding a portfolio similar to hers.
She raised one shaped eye brow at him before giving him a death glare, hoping to send the message across loud and clear - she was contending him for this post and she was not going down without a fight.
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