"Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all."

-The Princess Diaries

The first thought that had crossed Rose's mind when she met Heir Apparent Draco Lucius Malfoy, Scion to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy was, 'Why the bloody hell does everybody in the Wizarding World look like supermodels!'

Her cousin had stood proud and tall (at least a half a foot taller than her). His platinum blond hair that looked to be as soft as silk had been expertly styled with a few strands of hair left perfectly dangling along the sides and front of his face. His skin was pale and perfect and his eyes were prettier than Marvolo's even! They were a lovely shade of Mercury- capable of turning into dangerous storm clouds or as hard as steel in a matter of moments. He was dressed in only the finest of the finest clothes, all sewn by hand to fit him perfectly. His features were gorgeous, sharp and regal. He truly looked the part of the Noble he was.

Then, she actually talked to him. And by God, she wished she hadn't. She liked him much more when he stood still looking pretty.

Draco and her were at constant disagreements and always at each other's throats regarding even the smallest of matters. He was arrogant, rude and bigoted.

But after throughly checking her family tree and confirming that they were cousins, she decided that she loved him anyway. He was like an annoying sibling, (although ALL siblings were actually annoying) but deep deep, deep down, he was sweet and caring.

Rose couldn't deny that for all his faults, Draco Malfoy was a bloody good teacher.

In the one week that she spent with him, he stayed at the Manor practically the entire day -arriving at nine in the morning and staying till nine in the evening- and taught her step by step all the important spells, potions and lessons about history.

And when they were not screaming each other's brains off, she found out that she liked him dearly. It was along the same principle she loved Dudley- didn't know why but still did.

Speaking of Draco, Rose looked at his currently unreadable face with a guilty look on her own.

"Are you mad? You look mad." She said nervously.

"I am not mad." He replied calmly.

"Your face is screwed up like you're mad." She pointed out.

"I'm perturbed, not mad." He replied, still calm.

There was a few moments of silence before Rose opened her mouth, "You still look mad."

"I am NOT mad! But I will be soon!" He replied, finally showing emotions. "Must you have asked my father which shampoo he uses because his hair looks 'like a pretty tinker bell?'"

Rose gave a slight grimace. "Yeah, definitely not my best idea."

"Really?" asked Draco sarcastically, before giving a small amused smile at the younger girl. "I don't think I have ever seen such an expression on him, to be honest. He looked torn between being angry, embarrassed and proud."

"Does he even know who Tinker bell is?" asked Rose with eyes filled with mirth.

"Muggle, obviously. But by the tone of your voice, definitely a compliment." replied Draco, smiling. "The fact that you asked him this question in front of the Dark Lord was the cherry on top. "

Rose giggled.

"So congratulations, Rose. You now hold the record of making the top of my father's hate list in the least amount of time." mused Draco.

"Well, thank you. Thank you very much." said Rose doing a very bad imitation of Elvis Presley (not that Draco would know who he was). "I am known for doing the impossibly amazing things."

"I'm not going to disagree with you on that." commented Draco with a smile. "Come on. I am going to give you a short quiz today based on what you learnt this week."

Rose groaned. "This is revenge for the Tinker bell thing, isn't it?"

"Maybe." came her reply.

The next day:

It was on a beautiful mid-summer morning that the disbelieved screech of one Rosalie Dorea Potter could be heard across the Slytherin Manor.

"I'm sorry, what?!" she asked loudly, eyes wide and arms in mid air.

You couldn't exactly blame her.

The greatest Dark Lord of all time had just asked (ordered) her and Draco to go and negotiate with a bunch of people in a tribe who were famous for rearing huge fire-breathing dangerous dragons, to either side with them or be neutral in the war.

Hence, you could probably understand her turmoil of feelings at the moment.

Draco, she could understand.

He was cunning and had a silver tongue. He was (grade wise) second best in his year at Hogwarts (the first being Hermi-something) and had a wide range of spells and charms at his disposal, both light and dark.

Then there was her. The girl who was supposed to be the Saviour of the wizarding world, but had learnt of it's existence a little less than a month ago.

Draco, bless him, had somehow managed to squeeze in all the theory part needed until the O.W.L.S into her mind and had also managed to teach her all the practical spells and curses of a Third Year in what turned out to be a very long and tiring week.

So while she was not entirely useless, she was practically useless.

Marvolo looked at her cooly, "I do not like repeating myself, Rose."

She opened her mouth to answer exactly how she felt at his statement when Draco interrupted her, "Of course, My Lord. It would be an honour to serve you. We will not let you down." He said calmly while lowering his head.

Marvolo smiled, "Yes... Thank you, Draco. You and Miss Potter shall take the day off, to rest and prepare yourself. You will be leaving tomorrow after breakfast." He replied before allowing them to exit the room.

Rose was in a dilemma of sorts. She didn't know who to be angry at more- Draco or Marvolo. She settled for angrily glaring at the ground for a few seconds before storming off to talk (rant) to Nagini.

The next morning:

"Are we there yet?" asked Rose tiredly.

"Be quiet will you? I cannot think with all your whining." Replied Draco.

Rose looked at him in surprise. "You can think?"

Draco glared in response before letting out a look of frustration.

There were anti-apparation wards placed all around the tribe, which was –much to the dismay of both the teenagers- located at the apex of a hill. The two magic users had thus, apparated to a nearby jungle and were now trying to find their way to the mountain, from the past thirty eight minutes.

Six of those minutes had been used by a nauseous Rosalie throwing up while Draco, being the gentle man he was (sometimes)- held her hair up and out of her face. You couldn't exactly blame her though, as it was only her second time apparatating.

This did not stop the young heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy from wondering why on Salazar's underpants did the Ancient Dieties seem to hate him and were punishing him by giving him such a weirdly annoying yet somehow amazing cousin.

Draco shoved a map to Rose's arms. "Make yourself useful and try navigating for a change."

"No, no, no Draco. Trust me, you do NOT want me navigating. I'll accidently navigate us off a cliff." Said Rose giving the map back to him.

Draco sighed again before taking out his wand.

"Point me, Draconus Tribe." He said clearly.

Rose looked at him in anger and disbelief. "You could not have done that earlier?!"

Draco smiled in response, "I could have. But then I would have missed your face turning this lovely shade of red." He said before walking away swiftly.

Rose heavily glared at his retreating figure.

"Do not kill him, otherwise nobody would be there to apparate you back." Muttered Rose quietly and repeatedly to herself before proceeding to follow him, while making a mental note to herself to ask Nagini whether blond arrogant heirs would ruin her appetite.

33 minutes later:

"This is my life now." Said Draco as he blew a stand of blonde hair away from his face. "I have climbed this hill and now I will die upon it."

"Shut up, Draco! We've only been properly hiking for twenty minutes." Said Rose tiredly. The rest of the minutes had indeed been taken up by the two of them arguing.

On the plus side, they probably scared away all the animals due to the loudness and intensity of their extremely petty arguments. (Not that either of them would admit to their argument being petty. They had much more pride than that).

"Well, I am a Malfoy. Walking and doing such menial labor is peasant work, Potter." He huffed before continuing to walk.

2:02pm; unknown location:

Finally finding the tribe was a moment of absolute bliss.

The tribe was located on a picturesque landscape, with clear valleys between snow- capped mountain tops and rare and exotic flowers and herbs. There were little children running around and playing while woman and men alike talked and walked together.

Every single one of them had either black or red hair, multiple freckles and deeply tanned skin. This made Draco and Rosalie stand out even more as outsiders, much like a flamingo would in a field of pigeons, thanks to their pale skin and light hair.

The actual meeting with the Chief of the Draconus Tribe, Chief Arda could not have gone worse. Apparently, some bloke named Charles Weatherby or something (you see what I did there?) , had been quite close to the Chief and had already enlisted their support in the war.

The mission was doomed from the start, not that they had known.

So when Draco had presented them with their choice, their answer had been to not only release a dragon at them, but also pick up their wands and chase them.

Anyway, this led to their current situation of hiding behind one of the houses and trying to be in the blind spot of the dragon and the angry men (or barbaric savages, in Draco's words).

"I think we are safe." Rose whispered, slightly peeking from the hiding place.

"For now." Draco added from beside her. "I think we are safe, for now."

Rose turned to Draco, only to look at Draco's nose with wide eyes, "Is that blood?"

"No?" he replied.

"That's not a question you're supposed to answer with another question." She said before taking out her wand, pointed at Draco's nose and saying Episkey, just like how her dear cousin had taught her a few days ago when she had scrapped her knee from walking too close to the wooden potions table.

He must not have realised that his nose was bleeding due to the adrenaline hormone that had been released from his body when they were (quite literally) running for their lives.

There was silence for a score of seconds, before it was broken by Rose.

"So? What now?" she asked worriedly.

Draco stayed silent, trying to think of an answer that he wouldn't be scared to say out loud.

"I don't know." He said finally. "We are being chased by a bloody dragon and there are five savages trying to kill us right now, so-"

"-Actually, it's more like eight." Interrupted Rose.

"Oh, sorry I wasn't specific enough!" he whispered angrily.

A blanket of silence engulfed them again, before it was broken by soft giggles, courtesy of Heiress Potter.

Draco, looked to his annoyingly amazing cousin with a perfect eyebrow raised in question of her sudden laughs.

"Sorry- it's just that, you know. No offence, but you scream like a girl. When you saw the dragon that is..." She answered, giggling. "Draco being afraid of a draco. It's quite funny if you think about it."

He scoffed in response, "I am a Malfoy. I do not scream like a girl."

"Well, you sure did a high pitched scream." she replied giggling lightly.

"I did not scream in the first place." sneered Draco.

"Oh yes? So what is it you did?" asked Rose with a raised eyebrow.

"That was merely me trying not to have a heart attack with a little dignity." He replied looking straight ahead and avoiding her eyes.

She rolled her eyes with a fond smile on her face.

"You are scared, aren't you?" She asked Draco.

"No, Rose. I have this terrified look on my face because I am having So. Much. Fun." Replied Draco dryly.

They heard clatter of metals in the distance. So, the conversation between them came to a startled holt as the Heirs immediately ran swiftly in search of another hiding place. It was due to Morgana's grace that they found a pit (dug out for a well, probably) without any water.

Rose jumped into it quickly. Draco, although reluctant to go in such a place where there were visibly numerous health and safety hazards (and he was not even going to think about what his mother and father would say if they saw his devilish attire at the moment, considering he looked no better than a common muggle), saw that he had absolutely no other choice and jumped in to the well as well. (pardon the pun)

There was an uncomfortable quietness that engulfed the two which Draco decided to spoil.

"You have a crush on him don't you? The Dark Lord?" asked Draco casually.

"What?! No. I don't. You're mad." She replied with a scoff.

"Rose, it's pitch black in here and I can still see you blushing." Said Draco slowly and pointedly.

"Alright. Maybe." She mumbled. "He's handsome- like a movie star. It's a celebrity crush, nothing more. It will fade over time..."

"You sound sure of yourself." said Draco.

"That's because I am. It's like when I had a crush on James Dean for three months- then, nothing. It's just a teeny weeny little bitty crush simply based on physical attraction." She answered.

"Who is James De- never mind. We need to think of a way to get out of here. I'm open to ideas." Said Draco.

"We could always negotiate or bargain." Said Rose after a heartbeat.

"Great idea Potter, but the last time I tried that, a dragon almost set my hair on fire. So have you got any other brilliant ideas to share?" sneered Draco.

Despite herself, she giggled, "A Draco getting burnt by a draco. Funny, isn't it?"

"Extremely." commented Draco dryly.

There was another burst of silence as both cousins tried to think of a way that would NOT turn them into road kill or road burn, in this case.

Draco turned to Rose with a weary face, "You have that look on your face, what is it?"

"I had a thought." Rose confessed.

"Oh no. The last time you had an idea the-"

"-I swear it's a good one this time!" she defended.

"Not like I got any thing better to do. Well then, lets hear it, dear cousin." Sighed Draco.

"It's fool proof, and it will give us more than enough time to escape. Although, you might not completely like it." She said.

Draco scoffed, "Rose, as long as your plan gets me back home today, -without being completely bodily broken and bruised- I am willing to try it out."

"Alright then, I have a solution." Rose said finally.

"Thank Merlin!" exclaimed Draco.

"It involves fire." she said pointedly

"Absolutely not!" shouted Draco.

That was when Rose decided to bring out her ultimate weapon. Not even Marvolo could resist it's super natural power's completely- the ultimate Puppy Pout.

Rosalie widened her emerald eyes hugely and parted her ruby lips by a centimetre. Then, she very cutely tilted her head thirty degrees to the left and made an extremely innocent face.

Seventeen Minutes Later:

"Small fire! I said to start a small fire! This is not small!" screamed Rose hysterically as she once again ran for her life.

"There are at least seventeen different ways that this could have gone better. Literally. Like, I am counting them right now, you despicable idiot!" shouted Draco in frustration as he ran along-side her.

7:09pm, Slytherin Manor:

When the two teenagers finally entered the mighty Manor, they were greeted with the beautiful face of Lady Narcissa Malfoy nee Black, (who acted as Rosalie's personal baby-sitter whenever Marvolo wasn't around. The Potion's incident made it quite clear that the Potter heiress needed supervision to survive).

After making sure the two teenagers were seated comfortably on an expensive sofa and had a piece of pastries each, Narcissa Malfoy let her eyes fall over her dear son's dirty and slightly burnt and completely wet attire, slightly singed hair, grumpy and angry face and the way he was biting his fork so hard that she was afraid he would hurt his teeth.

She then allowed herself to look at her dear niece's sparkling eyes, smiling face, dirty, burnt and wet cloths along with the broken heels of her shoes.

"So," started Lady Malfoy. "How was the mission?"

"Weasley had already talked to the Chief." answered Draco with a scowl.

"Ah!" exclaimed Narcissa. That explained her son's moodiness. "And you, Rose?"

"Great! I got to practise a Episkey on Draco!" Rose replied happily.

"That sounds lovely." commented Narcissa. "Although I feel obliged to ask, what happened to your clothes?"

"A dragon." came the simultaneous reply of the Heirs.

"Oh..." said Narcissa. It was expected. They did go to Draconus tribe. "Did Draco get burnt by a draco?"

"That is exactly what I said!" exclaimed Rose happily.

Narcissa let a fond smile spread on her face. Rose was a lovely girl. Unique, but lovely. Having grown up with two sisters, Narcissa felt it was nice to have another girl in the otherwise male dominated Manor again. (Alecto Carrow didn't count and Bella was hardly interested in anything feminine anymore) "I simply must ask, why are your clothes wet?"

Rose glared at Draco in response before saying, "Well SOMEONE *cough* Draco *cough* thought it would be a brilliant idea to throw us both -quite literally- off a CLIFF"

"I threw us into a LAKE because SOMEONE *cough* Rose *cough* thought it would be a bloody brilliant idea to set the entire village on fire!" screamed Draco, manners forgotten.

"How many times must I tell you? IT. WAS. AN. ACCIDENT! Get over it and stop pointing fingers and being such a tattletale! Besides, I said SMALL fire. You had one job, Draco. ONE JOB!" shouted back Rose.

Draco scoffed, choosing to ignore the last part, "Oh so now I am being a tattle tale? What are you? 3?-"

"- and it's not like you had any better idea-"

"- I am pretty sure I could have thought of one that did NOT involve us being roasted alive-"

"-so judgy all the time. All you do is shout and whine all the-"

"-so annoying and reckless-"

"-arrogant and peacock like-"

"Manners." came the stern and scolding tone of Narcissa Malfoy.

The response was immediate and effective as both children gave each other one final glare before letting out a "Sorry Aunt Cissa" and an "Apologies, Mother."

Lady Malfoy's face broke into a smile at the two teenagers and their antics, reminding her so much of her's, Bella's and Andi's back in the day.

"At least now we know that Dumbledore has gained the trust of the Draconus Tribe. The Tribe though powerful, has a lot of rivals. My enemies enemy is my best friend. The other Tribes are much larger in number and will without a doubt join us. Excellent work, both of you." said Narcissa with a soft tone and smile.

Both the teens smiled at that, feeling a little proud. Lady Malfoy was the honestly the best. Rose personally felt that the three Malfoy's were the only things she truly felt happy about and loved in the Wizarding World. Aunt Cissa especially. She had mixed feelings about the Uncle Lucius and Cousin Draco. Marvolo, she disliked currently.(Her feelings toward him changed based on his behaviour toward her).

"Thank you, Aunt Cissa. But the real treasure of the mission was the memories that we made along the way." She said happily.

"I almost died!" screamed Draco.

"Ah yes, that was my fondest memory." mused Rose.

Narcissa giggled at the two of them- her darling son and the girl who was very quickly becoming the daughter she never had.

"You're impossible." said Draco standing up. "I am going to go and inform the Dark Lord about the mission and wait for further instructions." He spoke.

Narcissa turned her attention to the young blonde after Draco exited the room.

"So what exactly happened on this mission?" asked Lady Malfoy as her eyes roomed over Rose's attire.

Rose let out a nervous laugh, "It's a very funny story, actually." She started slowly, trying to stall.

"I love funny stories." spoke an amused Narcissa Malfoy, her blue eyes fixed on emerald ones.

Rose inwardly cursed Draco. Damn you Draco for giving her the harder job.

She would without a doubt take bi-polar Dark Lords over an angry Aunt Cissa any day.

7:16pm; Lord Slytherin's Personal Study, Slytherin Manor:

The Dark Lord Voldemort took one look at Draco's state of clothes and hair.

"I am assuming that the cause of your... state involves Miss Potter and fire?" he asked with a mental sigh.

"Yes, My Lord." replied Draco.

8:38pm; Rose Potter's room, Slytherin Manor:

Rose thanked every single holy being above that Aunt Cissa was in a good mood that day and she was somehow still alive and in one piece.

After eating a quick dinner, she had given a hug and wished Aunt Cissa good night and had practically ran to her room, changed her clothes and took a bath all in record time. She was just about to finish reciting the mission in detail again to Nagini when a knock was heard on her door, which opened to reveal a handsome face with icy eyes.

"Oh, you're still alive." Said Rose with a sad sigh.

"Don't sound so disappointed, I might think you don't like me." Said Tom dryly as he entered the room. "Besides, should it not be I who asks you such a question after today's events?"

Rose shrugged in response.

"It was fun." she said. "Besides, it's not like my death would affect you or anything."

"No, it would not. It would be a minor inconvenience at the most." replied Marvolo cooly, choosing to not tell her about the fact that a part of his soul currently resided in her body. He instead, chose to glared at her in frustration, "If you pull such a stunt again, I will throw you out the window you- what are you doing?"

"Checking how high the drop is, to see if it's worth it." shrugged Rose casually as she walked towards the window pane.

"Accio Rosalie Potter." spoke the wizard cooly and expertly caught the wide-eyed Rose as she zoomed to him in an instant.

"Do not perform such dangerous stunts again. Understand?" said Marvolo sternly, as he looked directly into her pretty eyes and repeated each word slowly, his eyes blazing.

Rose nodded mutely, a little afraid.

Marvolo let go of her sides, and looked at her again.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"Yes." she replied, just as soft.

Honestly, Marvolo was definitely bipolar.

He nodded at her response, and after an exchange of good night's, he left.

Rosalie then proceeded to dramatically fall onto the bed, like she had seen a couple of times in the telly.

Nagini slithered toward the girl and then laid down on her stomach, all cuddled up into a coil.

"You know, Rose," started Nagini. "you're going to break his heart if you pull a stunt like this again."

"He has a heart?" scoffed Rose.

Nagini looked at her for a few seconds before replying, "Fair point."

And with that the two of them slept soundly in the same position.