Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or generally Harry Potter. (I'm not going to write that again)

Thanks' for all the reviews and your good words. I'm glad you like the story.

So, school has started for good both in the story and my life... But it's ok, let's calm down. Or maybe that's not such a wise decision. Why? Because when you cross the lines, break the rules and your name is Weasley or Malfoy I don't see any good results in it, do you?

Friendship comes....

(Erin, I owe you!)

Crossing the Lines, Breaking the Rules

Saturday, October 14th, 2023

Hogwarts Gardens, 12:08

Beatrice Wood was Oliver Wood's and Alicia Spinnet's only daughter. Before going to Hogwarts she used to travel a lot because of her father's job as a Quidditch player and that made her a very shy and quiet person.

She wasn't extremely smart or extremely beautiful. However her cagey character gave her a strange charm and an air of mystery. Quite a good student, Beatrice was mature and very down to earth, able to read people easily. She was also Rose Weasley's best friend.

The two girls had met during their first year at Hogwarts. Both Gryffindors, they immediately became friends. Beatrice was the perfect person to stand Rose's frequent outbursts and Rose was ideal to cheer up her shyer friend.

That morning the two of them were sitting by the lake, finding a gap between the classes that had started and the lessons which they had yet to attend. The first month of school had passed quickly, leaving students surprised about how fast they had returned to their daily routine. But there were two students who hadn't found returning to school that easy. I'm sure you can guess who they were.

"I hate Malfoy." Rose repeated for the millionth time since the beginning of the year.

"I know, Rose." Beatrice smiled to her friend. "It seems to be your favourite occupation these days." Seeing Rose's angry look she added; "Hating him, I mean."

She sighed. "Let's talk about something else. I'm pretty certain I'm getting on your nerves." She smiled and added carelessly. "Have you seen Al, this month?"

Beatrice snorted. When someone was referring to Albus Potter, they would have the opportunity to see a rare phenomenon; Beatrice Wood angry.

"Enough with that joke, Rose." she stated with irritation. "You know there's nothing between me and your "I'm not Slytherin enough to not smile like an idiot" cousin. The guy probably hates me since I've seen he can be normal, but when he talks to me…"

"Come on…" Rose managed to say through laughter, "He doesn't hate you, B…" Far from it actually. "He's just shy. Give him a chance."

"Why don't we go back…" to Malfoy. But before B being able to bite back, Michael Finnegan, appearing out of nowhere, interrupted them.

"Hi, Rose." he greeted with a wide smile. "Beatrice."

"Hi!" Beatrice smiled meaningfully, when Rose snorted. "I'll be in the library." Rose shot her a killing look but she ignored that. She has to get over Malfoy somehow.

Meanwhile, the other two were walking towards the castle. "So, what are you doing today?" Finnegan asked.

"Today? I have patrol, a couple of essays, to write to my parents, a meeting to co-operate with the Headmistress, oversee a couple of detentions- some first years were trying to go into the Forbidden Forest, can you believe it? Why do they call it forbidden? That's about it I think. Aw, no, wait. I have to kill Malfoy, also." she finished glaring towards a blonde tall figure they had just passed.

"In your dreams, babe!" Scorpius shouted, listening to what she had said.

"Dreams become reality." she murmured angrily pulling Michael away from the bunch of laughing Slytherins.

He laughed. "Busy schedule, huh? Do you have time to eat with all those stuff?"

"What? Yeah…" she answered looking at him curious.

"I'm asking because we can eat together. At Hogsmeade?"

She smiled. "Look… Michael, I'm really busy, as you see. If something changes I'll let you know."

He sighed. "Very well, then. I'll see you around, Rosie."

"It's Rose." she said abruptly. "Rosie is… for family."

He smiled, obviously disappointed and left. Immediately, Beatrice appeared.

"What have you said to the poor boy, Rosaline? Merlin!"

Rose simply snorted.

Heads Dormitory, 13:26

When she returned to her dorm, she found her mother's owl waiting for her. She smiled and took the letter. Finally. She was going to find out what was going on with Lavender Brown.

Rose had been very annoyed with the Headmistress' behavior towards her, so a week ago she had written to her mother asking about the mysterious woman.

Hermione thought a lot before answering, talked with her husband and finally decided to tell her daughter the truth, unable to know where this truth would lead her sweet and innocent- as she thought- daughter.

A While Later

"Malfoy? Would you mind coming over here for a while?"

Scorpius took his eyes from the book he was reading and looked at his dormitory's door, from where Rose's voice was heard. He got up and opened it. Of course she wasn't there. Shaking his head, always with a smirk, he moved towards her room and opened the door.

"Have you just invited me to your room?" he asked giving her a questioning, but also ironic look.

She ignored that and got straight to the point; "I wrote to my mother about her. And you won't believe it; she wrote me a very interesting story about her and my dad. It looks like she wants revenge."

Scorpius looked at her sceptically. "I wrote to my father too, you know. Asking if she was a betrayed girlfriend or something. All he said was that she was a stupid, naïve girl when she was younger and that he wasn't me at my age." He smirked at those last words.

"Well Malfoy," Rose started ironically, "it looks like even your own father knows what a bastard you are."

He didn't lose his smirk even for a second. "What about your mother, Weasley?" he said in a low voice. "Does she know what a bitch you are?"

Rose decided to play his game and not fall in his trap. "Why would she know that? I'm daddy's little girl and mummy's pride and joy. They don't have to know anything else." she said innocently.

He continued smirking. God, she thought, will he ever stop that?

"That's what you do to your parents and they believe you are an angel? Waggling your eyebrows and talk with that innocent voice?"

She smirked too. If you want to play Malfoy, we'll play.

He looked at her intensely; trying to figure out what was she was thinking. Is Rose Weasley actually smirking?

"For goodness sake, Weasley. I just said you are a bitch not that you are extremely pretty or something."

"I don't know… It's just that her 'bitchiness' - to make you understand me - …"

"Turns you, on?"

Still smirking at him and moving seductively on her chair, she giggled. It wasn't a girly, silly giggle. It was ironic but mostly sardonic.

"I quit." he said, raising his arms in a surrendering movement and headed to the door.

"Good." I won, Malfoy.

He smirked sardonically towards the door of his room. You thought you won? Funny. 'Cause I'm not done with you yet. Then, with a determined expression he turned and walked towards her. Oh, I won't let you beat me at this.

When he reached her he cupped her face and kissed her ferociously. Rose froze at the beginning but then surprised him; he didn't expect her to respond and for a second he forgot his purpose. But his mind took control again and he let go with a triumphant smirk.

"I'm a better player than you, Weasley." he whispered, pulling back.

"Oh, yes - you definitely are" she answered breathing hard; and pulled him closer to her again.

What is she doing? was the last coherent thing he could think, because that moment his mind stopped working. He pushed her down on the bed where she was sitting and forgot everything about games, players, names, vendettas; and it seemed she had also forgotten. He'd always had a thing for Rose, but never realized it was that strong. All that mattered was the feeling of her lips on his that made him lose control of what was happening, while her hands were unbuttoning his shirt.

Scorpius' mind was a whirlwind of thoughts,Wow. I have finally –almost - got in the little bitch's knickers. Without even having any intention to. I know Albus will kill me. I know there will be consequences. Rose isn't any girl I could just screw and then forget about. She was Rose Weasley and suddenly everything about her that I knew about her for certain, changed. This couldn't be anything but harmful. But at the moment I don't give a shit about anything else. I just care about her lips on mine and the feeling of her hands on my chest and her body which was flushed against mine.

Meanwhile, Rose seemed to have the same problem,I don't know what's happened to me. I didn't see him kissing me coming; and when he did, I lost control. This was definitely not one of the "100 Things I Have To Do Before I Die" nor one of the "Things I Have To Do Before I Leave Hogwarts". "Lose your virginity to Scorpius Malfoy - biggest asshole in the world" was actually in the list with the "100 Things I Should Never Do". But I had no intention of stopping even though I know I will probably regret this.

But there were others who had many intentions to stop them; although they had no idea what they would be stopping.

"Rosie? Scorp?" Albus voice was heard from downstairs.

"Dammit!" Rose murmured when Scorpius unwillingly fell next to her at the bed. This was exactly my opinion on the matter.

"Guys, where are you?" he continued.

"Remind me why we let him come in our room?" Rose asked after catching her breath.

"That's a good question. Why the hell have we thought it would be boring just the two of us?"

She chuckled and got up. "Merlin, Malfoy." she noticed disappointedly.

"So, how are we explaining this? Because contrary to you; I'm a complete mess. Look what you've done." He said, pointing at his undone tie and unbuttoned shirt. As for her, her clothes were a bit messy; as was her hair but she could handle it.

"Oh, poor baby." she mocked. "Let me show you…" She took the tie off his neck and hid it under the bed. He tried to protest, but she gave him a look while buttoning his shirt.

"Ready!"

"You know Weasley," he started protesting as she pushed him towards the door, "I never go out without a tie."

"Time for you to learn." She said, and pushed him of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Hey Scorp, what's going on?" Albus, who had by then reached their rooms at the second floor of the tower, asked him - surprised to see Scorpius coming out of Rose's room.

"Nothing. I just needed some help with potions which of course the woman denied giving me." He gave Albus a disappointed look and pushed him slightly towards the stairs.

"But…, Albus protested, Rose is not good at potions."

"I'm good at everything, Potter!" Rose's angry voice was heard from inside the room.

"I meant that he's better than you…" As soon as he said that he realised it was a mistake. Scorpius' face took a pained expression as Rose opened her room's door with frustration.

"What is he?" she yelled to her cousin.

"Ummm…" Albus started.

Scorpius smiled and grabbed Albus by the shoulder. "Look, Rose we have to go for Quidditch. You can kill him later, ok?"

She shot both of them a killing look, went to her room and noisily shut the door behind her.

"You owe me."

"I know." How could poor Albus know that actually; Rose was the one who owed Scorpius? He simply couldn't and that caused a smile of relief.

Head Girl's Dormitory, 13:44

After shutting the door behind her, Rose sighed with relief. She sat in her bed and considered the situation. She couldn't find any coherent reason for responding like this to Scorpius' kiss. Maybe it was the way she felt when he was looking into her eyes, when he was whispering her name through their kisses, when he touched her passionately but yet kindly.

She shook her head to banish the thoughts. What's wrong with me? What was I thinking? What am I thinking? I'd better forget about it. She sighed. I can't forget about it! I bloody hate the bastard for that! She shook her head again. Well, not only for that. Anyway. I'd better leave everything the way it is and see what will happen. I don't need to always have a plan, right?

Right. But was she able to not have a plan? Was she willing to forget her prejudices and open her eyes to see the real Scorpius Malfoy? And was he willing to reveal his true colours?

Great Hall, Slytherin Table, 14:09

The truth was that he didn't know what he was willing to do nor what he wanted to do. Rose hates me. That's obvious. As for myself; I can't say that I hate her, but neither am I fond of her. And what happened before… It could destroy us both. Our reputations. Our badges. Our families.

There's no reason for me to be thinking what I feel. Whatever it is. It doesn't matter. A month ago I was so damn certain about what I wanted, about what I felt. And now… No. It doesn't matter. I shouldn't think about it. All I have to do is return to my usual behaviour towards Rose.

And it's not Rose. It's Weasley.

Heads Common Room, 22:28

"And that's you talking? I really don't know what's in your damn mind when you act like this! Like you don't care about anything!"

They were returning to their dormitory after a patrol and were again arguing intensively - this time about their characters, both pretending to have forgotten that morning's events.

He didn't bother to answer. She would never understand, anyway.

"Maybe it's because of that happy family of yours…"

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "You'd better wash your mouth before talking about my family, Weasley."

"Why? What's so pure and innocent there?"

He was obviously losing control. "You have no idea…" he took a deep breath before continuing his sentence. "My family is my family. If I can't change it, I just have to accept it." He seemed so indifferent at those last words. But inside, he was boiling, wanting to grab her, sit her down, and explain to her that when your name is Malfoy you just don't show weaknesses because people will destroy you!

"You know Malfoy, it's not bad to be human sometimes!" she continued "And I know that even you are human, that there is more than the silly cover you show to the world. Why do you pretend to be something that you are not?"

"Oh, really Weasley?" he said with sarcasm obvious in his voice. "And what makes you believe I am pretending?"

"Albus." she simply stated.

He looked at her, and he felt like he had never despised her so much, that he would never, ever hate anyone more than Rose Weasley. He wanted to accuse her, to scream at her like it was all her fault, because he finally wanted to explode.

And so he did; "You know what, Weasley? It's not my god damn choice. You think I can do something different, that I can be something different? Well, you are wrong. I can't! We live in two different worlds. And your stupid world, your stupid perfection, yours and your parents' and of course the great Harry Potter are responsible for this, for what you see. People like you, interested only in the cover, in the name, in the family and the past. It's all your fault!"

Seeing her eyes flow with tears, he continued in the same angry and hurting tone; "Am I hurting your feelings, Weasley? Oh, wait, I don't care!"

She pressed her lips together until they became a thin white line in her red - from hours of screaming - face, trying to hold back her tears. "You know what, Malfoy?" she whispered. "I am not as perfect as you accuse me of being, nor as senseless as you want to believe I am. I'm a human too! I have weaknesses. And it's not bad to be weak, Scorpius - you have to be weak sometimes. Otherwise you will explode!"

She was truly, ready to cry, then. And he felt bad for being the reason behind this, because he knew he was wrong in what he had accused her of before.

So, he was about to apologize. But a cold, ironic voice stopped him; "And it's definitely not bad to be restrained, Ms. Weasley - you have to be restrained sometimes. Otherwise you may lose your badge."

Rose hadn't even turned to look at Headmistress. She'd just stormed out of the room with a sob, heading to the stairs, toward her room. This has to stop.

Lavender looked at the place where Rose stood moments ago, sceptical. What could she do? Follow her? As a Headmistress she should take some points from their Houses and leave. But as a person… The Headmistress sighed, turning her attention to Scorpius.

She had studied the two students and had asked for them, feeling guilty, believing she had judged them too fast, being a severe critic as people were with her. She knew Scorpius Malfoy couldn't be the easiest person in the world to get along with. Especially when concerning Rose Weasley.

He was standing there, looking at the floor, and Lavender was unable to guess what he was thinking. If she were someone else, she would go check on Weasley. But she knew she wouldn't do that. She couldn't do that.

So, she nodded to Scorpius, who was then looking at her, and left, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Sunday, October 15th, 2023

Heads Common Room, 21:34

Scorpius got back to the Heads' common room after a tiring day full of Quidditch practice. He found Rose sitting on the common room's couch reading her potions textbook. They hadn't met all day and he felt a sudden urge to apologize for what had happened the previous night.

So, he sat near her at the couch, trying to find something to start with. But Rose surprised him, raising her head and looking into his eyes with a questioning look. "We have to talk." she said with certainty in her voice.

He was taken aback, so much so that he forgot what he wanted to say and just nodded.

"Look… Scorpius," she started hesitantly, "I've thought a lot about… us. You know… as Heads. And it's obvious, I think, to both of us that we can't continue like that. You know, fighting like that. We… we risk too much."

"Uh - huh. I understand and… I… agree." he said feeling a bit uncomfortable, probably for the first time in his life.

She sighed and looked at him. "So… I thought…. that we'd better make a truce."

He was looking at her silently with an unreadable expression, which made her even more nervous.

"You know… umm… pretend that we are friends…" She was extremely nervous, afraid of his answer.

Scorpius looked at her sceptical. "Well, if I have to, I will… with pleasure."

Rose made a face at his words and to his surprise - smirked.

"Friends with Rose Weasley," he continued, "I would've never expected that…"

"Hey!" Rose said a bit annoyed. "I haven't talked about true friendship, ok?"

He looked at her with an expression similar to boredom; "So what Weasley? What's the problem with giving it a shot?"

"That's not possible. Think of who we are, of our families, our…" she tried to protest.

"Oh, come on, Weasley," he cut her off. "Why not? Truly. Is there a reason? No. If we want to, we can. No one will stop us. It's what they want us to do, after all. Be normal with each other."

Rose didn't tell him that what they expected them to do was what she proposed, not what he had. Be civilized, not friends. She tried to find a kind way to deny his proposal, even though she was pleased by it - she may have decided to deny it, but knew that it would help them be civilized. But then…

"Wouldn't it be fun to break the rules once again?" he regretted the 'again', at the exact moment he'd said, it but tried to go on coolly without looking at her. "We can't snog, nor can we fight. We have to find the middle ground in this. Just give it a shot, Rosie. I won't let you down."

Forgetting what she had to say, speechless from his last words, and unable to remember what her decision was; Rose shrugged her shoulders and took her eyes from his, trying to think clearly. It truly can't be that bad…she thought and returned to her book.

So? What do you think? Leave your opinion, by pressing the button!

Next chapter; What's the aftermath of such a decision??? (not of reviewing! Of a Weasley and a Malfoy becoming friends! :P)