A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Word Count: 1947

There were several reasons Rose Weasley hated Scorpius Malfoy. The first was that he was just as smart as she was. It was completely infuriating when she saw his scores listed right next to hers on the runner.

"You're cheating," she stated, glaring at him with her copper brown eyes.

"I am not, you're just jealous my hair isn't some giant frizzy ball of fluff," Scorpius countered. Rose had nearly punched him in the nose. Her hair was a sensitive subject, even her mother was unable to tame Rose's mess of curls.

"At least I'm not a Malfoy," Rose snapped. Scorpius only laughed.

"Maybe that insult would have worked once upon a time, but I'm not like that, and we both know it. Maybe if you'd study a bit harder, Weasel, you'll have the top score," he commented before walking away leaving Rose standing in the middle of the hallway, her small hands balled into fists. Rose took his words to heart and threw herself into her work. She was already smart,but now she started pushing the boundaries of herself. Soon, she was staying up later and later in an attempt to show him up.

"You need to sleep," Roxanne commented one morning when Rose fell asleep at the breakfast table. "You're never going to beat Scorpius if you're too tired to actually take the tests or write your essays, or make your potions. I mean, you're going to just end up blowing something up."

"That would at least be something to write home about," James commented, causing several people to laugh. Rose, however, was not one of them. She did heed Roxanne's words. Soon she'd managed to find a balance between studying and living. Her grades soared.

"Looks like I'm in front of you now," she commented, smirking at Scorpius. He only laughed.

"For now, Weasel, for now," he shrugged.

Another reason Rose hated Scorpius was his confidence, like nothing bothered him. She knew he had to have something that made him tick, something that would annoy him to no end. She thought she'd figured it out their third year. Quidditch. Scorpius was on the Slytherin team. Rose tried out to play for Gryffindor despite being terrified of heights, despite not being very good on a broom. She failed to make the team. Part of her expected Scorpius to mock her, to tease her about the fact he could fly and she couldn't.

"It's not the end of the world, Weasel, I mean, not everyone belongs on a broom," he'd commented, giving her a smile. Rose tried to ignore him, ignore the fact that her hatred for him burned in her chest. She'd written her mother about these new feelings, that and the fact she wanted to beat Scorpius into a bloody pulp every time he opened his mouth. Her mother's advice hadn't been helpful, so Rose had ignored it.

Fourth year brought yet another reason to hate Scorpius. The school was once again hosting the Tri-Wizard tournament and fourth years were allowed to attend the Yule ball. Scorpius asked one of the Slytherin girls causing Rose to throw a fit in a jealous rage. It wasn't like she liked, no, she hated him with every fiber of her being.

"What's it matter then?" Lily had asked. She was too young to go on her own and no one had invited her.

"I... you wouldn't understand," Rose snapped, before accepting James' pity invite. She spent most of the evening glaring at Scorpius and whining to James that he'd ruined her evening.

"Would you care to dance?" Scorpius asked as the ball started winding down. Rose looked at him.

"Not if you were the last wizard on Earth," she'd answered, ignoring the flushing of her cheeks. Scorpius was about to say something, but Rose pushed past him and rushed from the Great Hall.

Fifth year brought more competition between the pair. Rose was determined to show Scorpius that she could do anything he could. She'd been named a prefect, same as him. Now, she wanted nothing more than to be headgirl.

"You know, burn out is a real thing," James commented as they walked. "You could burn yourself out and then what?"

"I'm fine, James," Rose snapped, not wanting to let him know the pressure was getting to her. She knew she needed to make the grades, it was important.

"You look tired, Weasel," Scorpius stated one morning. Rose simply raised her head to glare at him. He smiled at her. Rose pretended his smile didn't start her heart pounding. She knew hate was strong, her hate for him was strong enough to get her through all of this, strong enough to make sure she ended up on top. She turned her attention back to her books. She'd been trying to study before breakfast. She couldn't help but glance up at Scorpius.

"It's no fun if you don't fight back," he added, giving her yet another one of his perfect smiles. Rose snarled at him, grabbing her bag and storming from the room. Scorpius only stared at her and shook his head.

"Rose, are you alright?"

Rose raised her head. She'd gone to the library to study after dealing with Scorpius in the Great Hall.

"Wha?"

"You fell asleep, missed dinner. I brought you a roll," Scorpius said, pulling something wrapped in a napkin out of his pocket. Rose took it and set it on the table.

"Thanks," she muttered. "Doesn't meant I'm not going to win," she commented.

"I know, you're a hard worker, a brilliant witch, anyone else would have caved by now. Want to place a bet?" he asked.

"What kind of bet?" Rose was all too familiar with the kinds of bets her uncles and father made. Usually it ended up with one of them having unnatural colored hair.

"Whoever gets the most O. , has to take the loser out for food," Scorpius answered. Rose wrinkled her nose. The idea of sitting across the table from Scorpius, the idea of them eating together, she smirked.

"Fine," she answered. "The winner gets to pick the place too though, right?"

"Sure, we should probably head back to our dorms, it's almost curfew."

"Right," Rose said, packing up her books. She grabbed the roll Scorpius had brought her and shoved it in her pocket. There was no way she was going to lose this bet. There was this sushi place in the muggle world that she loved and she loved the idea of Scorpius being forced to eat raw fish. Still smiling she made her way to her dorm, knowing she could do this, she could get more O. than Scorpius.

The resulted arrived during the summer holidays, along with the Head Girl badge. Rose let out a scream as it fell from the envelope into her hand. She'd done it!

"We're so proud of you, Rose," her parents had said. Rose knew at least her mum was telling the truth. Her father had never seemed too interested in her academic successes, but she was fine with that. Immediately she wrote Scorpius, bragging about the six O. she'd gotten, almost perfect grades, she'd only gotten an A in potions, but she didn't care! She must have gotten more than him!

Rose waited eagerly for Scorpius' owl to return, instead, he showed up on her doorstep, his letter in hand.

"You came all the way here?" she asked.

"I did, that way you couldn't accuse me of cheating," he answered. "I mean, I am a Malfoy after all, aren't I?" he asked, smiling at her. She took the letter from his hand and nearly punched him in the nose. He'd done it! He'd gotten all Os, including in potions. Rose stared at him, sinking to the ground.

"You won," she whispered, "I...I was so sure," she added.

"It was a good fight, Weasel," he replied. Rose noticed a little bit of the bite had come out of her nickname, it was a little softer, a little sweeter when Scorpius said it.

"So, when are you picking me up for dinner?" she asked.

"I thought we could go tonight, you know, get it over and done with? I'm sure you're looking completely forward to sitting across from me," Scorpius teased.

"Let me ask my parents," Rose said after a moment. She knew they'd say 'yes'. They rarely ever told her 'no' on things that weren't stupid or dangerous. This wasn't either, not really. Rose really hoped they'd say 'yes', she was starting to look forward to eating dinner with Scorpius, not that she'd ever admit it. Once she had their permission, she returned to Scorpius, who was currently sitting in the living room.

"Well?"

"They said I could go. Um, what should I wear?" Rose asked, her heart pounding. She'd just bought this cute little sundress. It was a soft peach color and complimented her bronzed skin tone nicely.

"Something casual. I promise, I'm not taking you somewhere fancy where there's a certain fork for every course," Scorpius teased. "You'd probably use a salad fork on the meat course."

"I would not!"

"I'll see you at seven then!"

Rose watched him leave, her stomach fluttering. She hated him, didn't she? The way he joked about things, the way he was so confident, the way he'd grown since she'd first met him, yes, she hated those things, didn't she? She shoved those thoughts from her mind. She did put on the sundress, let him see how beautiful she was, let him see what he'd missed out on at the Yule ball. She put a bit of blush on her cheeks, a bit of shadow on her eyes. Dominique had shown her how to do something called a smoky eye, and it looked amazing.

Scorpius arrived at exactly seven. He stared at her.

"You look," he started to say, pausing to find the right words. Rose simply nodded.

"Ready then?" she asked.

"Yes, I think you're going to like the place I have picked out, you've got no problem with muggle restaurants, do you?"

"Why would I?" she asked, smirking at him. "You're the one with the pretty blood status," she added. Scorpius just laughed.

"Good, because this is going to be fun," he said, leading her out into the muggle world. Rose glanced around, wondering where he could have picked. She blinked realizing the streets were familiar, the shops were familiar. No, there was no way he could have known about this place, no way he could have known it was her favorite! There was absolutely no way Scorpius Malfoy could enjoy sushi, but yet, there they were, stopped in front of the Jade Crab.

"Sushi?" she asked, staring at him in disbelief.

"My mum loved it, brought me here all the time. It's one of my favorite places, they have these dragon rolls-"

"Which are tempura battered and served with a lovely ginger," Rose finished. They stared at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"I was going to bring you here if I'd won. The idea if you eating sushi..."

"I would have loved every minute of it."

"Shall we go inside?" Rose asked.

"In a moment, there's something I've been wanting to do for a while now, may I kiss you, Rose Weasley?"

"Yes," Rose whispered, her heart pounding as she realized just how much she wanted him to kiss her. He brought his lips to hers, their noses bumped and they pulled apart giggling.

"I think, we should try that again?" she suggested.

"I agree," he said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her in for a kiss, the sushi momentary forgotten.