October 10th, 2027

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Rose glared at the clock on the wall, ticking and tocking her precious time away. Midnight had just struck, marking the sixteen hours left until her Microbiology midterm.

That meant she was still missing a plethora of infections, each one more convoluted than the previous. She still hadn't reviewed all Fungal Infections and the ones caused by Protozoa, not to mention Bacterial Skin and Wound Infections. She could probably get away without cramming the Foodborne Diseases too hard - Healer Choi, the head of Magical Bugs hadn't been that keen on them in class, odds were he'd be equally dismissive in the exam.

Still, between the Fungal, Protozoa, Bacterial Skin and the stupid, stupid Blood-borne Bacterial diseases she had her hands full.

As Penny Nicholson might say, she was rightly fucked and not in the fun way.

The only thing that could conceivably save her from an Exceeds Expectations or, Merlin forbid, an Acceptable was a miracle.

The universe could probably cook up one for her. In fact, the universe probably should. She was the byproduct of two-thirds of the Golden Trio, that had to count for something. And it wasn't like she was using this miracle for something useless or superficial, no. Unlike her dragon loving sibling, she had noble goals.

The healing of the masses.

The curing of the sick.

An Outstanding in Microbiology.

Rose stared blankly at the hands on the clock.

Nothing happened, of course. There was no miracle, no divine intervention to be had. The only thing that happened was that she had wasted five minutes of her precious, ever trickling time.

She was fucked, plain and simple. Royally and utterly screwed.

She told herself to breathe, in and out. In and out.

She could do this. She'd pulled it off before, with less time on her hands. Then again, she'd done it for Anatomy and Physiology, which was Flemming's department. And Flemming was far nicer than Choi, who was an absolute beast. The man never smiled, which could be awfully convenient some days when one didn't have the energy to actually smile back and equally terrifying the next, when one had to face him in an oral exam.

Maybe she should review Foodborne Diseases after all.

She heard the door to the study room creak open, but didn't look up.

"How's my favourite cousin in the whole world doing?"

Rose still didn't look up. Her shaking hands were still frantically shuffling through the endless stack of papers, desperately trying to find her notes on Foodborne Diseases.

"I brought you coffee."

She didn't need to look up to know it was Albus Potter. She didn't need to look up to know he was smiling obnoxiously at her. She didn't even need to look up to know he wanted something from her.

It was the worst time possible for this.

"What do you want?"

"Can't I just check on my best friend?"

She could see a paper cup being waved on the very edge of her peripheral vision. From behind a precarious pile of books and notes, twenty-one year old Rose Weasley finally looked up and scowled at the intruder.

"Cut the crap, Al." She carefully took the cup of coffee from his hands and set it down on the floor, lest it disrupt the impossible physics that were holding her books aloft. "What. Do. You. Want?"

Less than sixteen hours left before her exam and this was what the universe had come up with? Family bonding?

Some other time this might have been nice, considering how she didn't see enough of Albus on a good week, much less when she was drowning.

Now, however?

She wanted to scream. Creature of poor impulse control that she was, scream she did.

"WELL?"

"I'm-getting-a-flat-and-I'd-like-you-to-move-in-with-me."

He said it all in one go, as if it was only one word. One of Al's most extraordinary capabilities, which he shared with Lily, was the ability to say a million words in under ten seconds.

Rose crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back against her rather uncomfortable chair.

"No."

"Come on, just think about it before you dismiss it!"

"No."

"Just for one second!"

Rose sighed. She didn't have the time for this. More accurately, she didn't have the energy for this.

Nonetheless, as she looked at her cousin's earnest, hopeful face, she decided against just kicking him out of the room. She'd have to do it the hard way, the time-consuming way.

"You want me to think about it?"

"Yeah," Al replied, his lips curling into a wide smile. "But really, really think about it. I personally think it's brilliant."

"Okay." She looked up at the ceiling, her eyes fixated on a single point and silently counted to ten, in what she hoped was an accurate mimicry of her in deep thought.

One…

Two...

She then lowered her eyes to meet Al's expectant face. "It's still a 'no'."

"You're making good money, you're practically a Healer!" Al's grin had been wiped clean at this point, the ever-mounting frustration growing in him. "Don't you want a place of your own?"

"No, I don't." It was shocking really, how little she gave a fuck about her independence at this one moment in time. "And I'm a Healer-In-Training, not a Healer yet by any reasonable measure."

"But-"

"No." Rose glared at him, anger starting to bubble in her stomach. "It's a no, Al. Now bugger off, I need to study."

Her despair seemed to register on the boy's brain. He hesitated for a second, his gangly body swaying back and forth. Unfortunately, he seemed to be in no hurry to leave.

"Al, I swear-"

"We can't make rent on our own," he spluttered with a sort of dogged determination on his face. "Scorp-"

"Wait, 'we can't'? 'Our own'? Is that plural I hear?"

He at least had the decency to look guilty.

One thing was to barge into her study room on the eve of an important exam. Another thing entirely was to barge into her study room in the eve of an important exam to ask her to move in with Scorpius Bloody Malfoy.

"Well, yes," Al fidgeted, blood rushing to his cheeks. "Scorp and I-"

"Are you insane?" From the looks of it, he might be. There was an entire ward in St. Mungo's dedicated to cases like this and from the looks of it Al was a prime candidate, the Head of Janus Thickey would be thrilled to find such a perfect example of absolute and utter delusional madness. "You actually expect me to move in with Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Yes, but you'd be moving with me. Ignore Scorpius, you'd hardly even notice he's there."

That was doubtful. Scorpius Malfoy was and had always been an obnoxious wanker. Age had done little to improve on his condescending manner and unfortunately for poor, dear Al, him and her were a little like oil and water.

Also, there was the fact that they couldn't stand each other, no matter how much they tried for Al's sake. Even on their best behaviour, there were curses and swears and infantile name-calling.

Whenever she ran into him, it was like they were eleven years old all over again.

"Have you even mentioned this to him?"

"Yeah, of course. He's all for it."

Scorpius Malfoy might be a lot of things, but he wasn't a lunatic. Which meant Albus must have pestered him to the point of lunacy, which in turn meant he intended to brainwash her as well.

"No."

"Just hear me out!" Al slammed his hands on her work table, causing an earthquake of disastrous proportions. "Goddamnit, I swear sometimes-"

Books shuddered and collapsed to the ground, followed by a steady stream of her notes and papers. Rose leaned against her chair, a hand covering her mouth.

Shit.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Al removed a wand from his pocket and gave it a few flickers. "Look, I know this is a bummer." One by one, the papers, the notes, the books floated back up, aligning themselves far more perfectly. "I know you need to study but I wouldn't bother you if I didn't think this would be good for you."

"Al, I have an exam of massive proportions tomorrow. I'm trying to wrap my head around a million diseases of all shapes and sizes and they're not penetrating my thick skull. Can't this wait?"

"I haven't seen you in a bloody month, so no, it can't wait."

Her blue eyes met his and she chewed on her lower lip.

"You have five minutes to convince me," she uttered slowly, as if he were a little dimwitted. "After that, I'm kicking you out."

"Okay, so we found-"

"Ask Lil!" she groaned, her entire core shaking at the word 'we'. "Fuck, ask James!"

"That wasn't five minutes!"

"No, it wasn't! But you have other people, for goodness' sake!" Her tone of voice rose a few octaves higher. "You can't ask me to... to..."

If Albus had wanted her to move in with just him, she would have been glad to. She'd have been nothing short of ecstatic, though, honestly, she wished he'd picked a better moment to ask her than the eve of an exam.

However, with Scorpius Malfoy in the mix, there was just no bloody way in hell it was going to happen.

Ever.

The very thought of sharing a living space with the git made her anxiety skyrocket.

"You know as well as I do that Lil has the attention span of a goldfish and can't hold onto a job to save her life," Albus scoffed, as if the very idea of moving in with her was absurd. "And James is planning on moving in with Holly and having a million babies so I can't well ask him now, can I?

But asking her to move in with Malfoy was any less ludicrous?

What was he on?!

"I can't Al," Rose protested, a hint of earnestness breaking her cool. She didn't want to hurt him over something like this. Then his face brightened up with what seemed like hope and she crushed all good intentions, growling: "I won't."

"You're my best friend!"

"Yes, Al, I am. And the primary reason why I remain your best friend is I don't live with you." Rose rolled her eyes and flickered her wand, floating a chair over to him. "And you usually leave me the fuck alone when I'm studying!"

"Look, it's a great place," Al reasoned, taking the chair with a grin and straddling it. Making himself comfortable, the wanker. "It's two steps away from St. Mungo's, your place of employment. High ceilings, fireplace, large windows, the whole enchilada."

Trust Al to compare a flat to food when she was certain she hadn't eaten for more than eighteen hours. The mere thought of it made her sick.

"It sounds great," she started, willing her stomach to settle, "but-"

"Look, it has enough rooms you can set an office."

"I have a study at home." She did, but she didn't use it. She just hoped he didn't know that. "And if this conversation is any indication of the hell our future lives will be together, then I want no part in it. Now bugger off, I honestly can't remember anything I read since you walked in."

"But the office isn't yours, Rosie. And don't pretend you can study at your parents' place. That's why I always need to corner you in a library or a study room because you're physically incapable of absorbing knowledge at home."

And he knew. Of course he knew.

"Al…"

She could feel herself getting annoyed. From the feel of it, her cheeks were turning a lovely shade of puce.

"Oh, could you just listen before you shit all over my plans, you jerk?"

Now Al was starting to become annoyed. He might not have gotten her dad's angry tomato flush, but Aunt Ginny's genes were starting to flare a little. They both eyed each other levelly, each silently gauging the level of irritation the other was at. From the looks of it, Al was about to bust a fuse if she didn't let him have it out.

He was the sort to hold a grudge and from the looks of it, if she didn't let him air his grievances, he'd run away and hide at Yardley's for at least a month.

Rose sighed. "Will you leave me the fuck alone if I don't?"

"No, I will not leave you alone," he replied, with the self-satisfied look of one who knew they'd won the battle. "I will continue pestering you until you listen."

Sigh.

"Will you leave me the fuck alone if I do?"

"Eventually, yes." Al gazed at her earnestly. "I'll make it quick."

Rose sighed for the third time. She brushed a hand through her already dishevelled hair (her 'study hair' as her brother called it) and rubbed her temples.

"Fine. Pitch."

She could feel him getting excited again, boyish exuberance flowing with every word. She was determined that, no matter how he'd won this particular battle he would not win the war. After all, Scorpius Malfoy? What did he suppose was going to happen, the three of them would just walk into the sunset, one smiling happy family?

She doubted he even knew how to smile. He knew how to smirk and glower and a series of other things that could be passed off as smiles, but never an actual grin.

"Now, here's the thing. Malfoy has his allowance and his laughable income from his reserve position at Puddlemere."

Rose sniggered. Yeah, he did, the spoiled brat.

"I have a stable salary from my internship at Gringotts. The house is amazing, it's one of Scorp's dead relatives. Pureblood trash, but amazing windows and high ceilings. The owner is his third-degree once removed or whatever cousin and he's renting it to us far below market value. If we—"

His tirade was interrupted by the door creaking open again. From behind it emerged the spoiled brat in all his blond glory. "Convince her yet?" He languidly leaned against the door frame, not even bothering to say 'hi'.

Rose glared at him.

If only looks could kill. Or maim, she would settle for maiming.

"Not yet, I was getting there." Al protested, getting up to his feet and smacking his best friend - his other best friend - on the chest. "I was mid-pitch. You ruined it."

"Alright, good. Don't mind me, kids," he said, offering one of his smirks. Not a smile, mind you. Smirk. "Just pretend I'm not here."

"Oh for the love of—" Rose groaned, burying her face in her hands. This was going to take twice as much time now with Malfoy's inevitable running commentary. "Why the fuck is he here?!"

"Because I have a deep and personal interest in this conversation, you dishevelled harpy."

"Shut up Scorp." Albus stood between them as he had a million times before. He had probably noticed her hand instinctively reaching out for her wand just as she'd noticed Malfoy's hand reaching into his own pocket. "Drop your wand Rose, we're adults."

Albus glared at Scorpius. The prat glared right back at him.

Rose could practically read the silent conversation between them. The gist of it was 'don't poke the bear, we need the bear to want to move in with us' interjected with a few protests of 'but I want to poke the bear'.

In the end, Albus was apparently successful, because Malfoy leaned back against the wall again, shut his trap, smirked and pretended to lock his mouth and throw away the key.

She needed to ask Albus to teach her how to do that. A quiet Malfoy was a pretty Malfoy, that is, if one was into entitled, pasty blonde wankers.

Albus cleared his throat. "Like I was saying… if you pitch in with your almost Healer salary, that house could be ours. You could have a room of your own and another room that we would turn into a study into which we solemnly swear we would never, ever, ever step foot into."

"Unless you die from all that studying, in which case we'd need to pry your cold, lifeless body from it." Scorpius added helpfully.

Albus threw him a dirty look and ignored him. "You could have all your books available, close by, and not have to lug them around whenever you need to study. It would do wonders for your back Rosie."

"The man has a point. Your posture is kind of shit, Rose."

"Oh, fuck off Malfoy."

"Yes, fuck off," Albus hissed at Malfoy between gritted teeth, before continuing his tirade. "On top of that, we could make you coffee in the morning. Or not if you don't want us to."

"But..." It was tempting. It really was. "Al... come on, you can't be serious."

She looked around at the dingy, poorly lit room whose only benefit was not being inside her house.

She hated leaving the house to study.

She hated having to go back home after an all-nighter.

She especially hated all the wasted commute time.

"Pipe down, Weasley." Scorpius looked intently at her, almost as if he were aware of her train of thought. "Let Al finish."

Unfortunately, his voice was a cold reminder of the one reason why the whole concept was simply absurd. A pipe dream.

"We would be stellar flatmates," Al said, seemingly encouraged the unexpected support. "You wouldn't have to put up with your dad barging into your room to see how you are doing or your mother worrying about how you haven't eaten in days when you're on one of your crazy study binges or your brother messing up your study when searching for things that aren't even there. We would leave you all to your lonesome."

"Yup," interjected the prat, apparently all up for this... 'leaving her alone'. "We couldn't care less if you starve yourself. We'll just remove you from the premises when you start to smell."

"That all sounds lovely but—"

"Rose, please? Pretty please?" At this point, Albus had resorted to pleading. He looked miserable. "If you don't do it for you, do it for me. I need this. I need independence."

'Independence' in Al's particular case meant a place to hide out from his parents when he was having one of his adolescent fits. Up until now, that had translated into him holing himself up at Yardley's place whenever something happened to peeve him, which in Al's case happened frequently and for the most varied reasons. It was childish and he really should grow out of it at some point, but it was who he was. She couldn't expect him to change overnight.

From his corner of the room, Scorpius guffawed. "Yeah, do it for the man child Weasley, before he cries."

The problem with this was that if Al moved in with Scorp and she didn't, she'd never be able to visit. She knew herself and there was no way she'd Floo into a house where she might encounter... urgh. Him

"I've been working so hard and all I wanted was—" Albus ignored him and continued appealing to her sentiments, which was rather wise of him considering this entire endeavour didn't have a leg to stand on other than her affection for him. "Rose, I mean, I know he's a git but-"

Rose had already made her decision. She was going to regret this, wasn't she?

"Fine."

"What?!" Both Albus and Scorpius sputtered it out at the same time, like the well-oiled idiot machine they were.

"I said fine," Rose replied quietly, closing her eyes. Her brain was like a freight train at this point, working feverishly on the chaos that would ensue. She would need to move. Her mum would be proud, her dad would be worried, Hugo… well, Hugo probably would think it was neat. "Fucking fine."

She was going to regret this, wasn't she?

"I'll move in with you. Now leave me the hell alone before I change my mind."

"Yes, oh Merlin, yes, we'll leave!" Contented puppy that he was, happy that he had gotten what he wanted, Albus made his way to the door. "Come on Scorp."

Just before he went reached it, however, Scorpius stopped him, one of his arms barring the door. "How do I know you're not just trying to get rid of us?" he asked, grey eyes narrowing at her.

Now he was just riling her up. Which was rather immature and frankly unwise considering Al had just spent the better part of an hour convincing her to overcome the fact that she hated his guts and wanted him to burn in hell.

"Malfoy, get out," she spat, glaring back at him. "I said I would, I can change my mind."

"Ah, see? That's precisely what I was afraid of, considering just how completely unreliable you are." He smirked, taunting her without any presumption of innocence. "Can I get your consent in writing before we go?

She knew he was doing it on purpose. Regardless, she could feel the anger boiling in her as it always did, whenever he actually talked to her. Ten years of poorly contained anger had somehow boiled down to this: coexisting under the same roof.

It made her sick to her stomach.

"Malfoy, I swear to god if you're not out that door in three seconds…" She picked up her wand and pointed it directly at him, ignoring the fact that Al was standing between them. "Three-"

She was certain she could hit that blonde hair from a mile away, even if Al were hugging him. After all, she'd had years of practice.

"You may develop a convenient case of amnesia—" It was like he wanted her to hex him. "Or just plain change your mind, like you just threatened."

"One… Petrificus Totalus." She pointed her wand at the sniggering asshole. There was a cruel sort of pleasure tugging at her as she felt the spell connect and he dropped like a fly. She got up from her chair and peered thoughtfully at her handiwork.

"You didn't actually need to hex him, you know?" Al was looking down at Malfoy's glazed face with an amused look. "You'll have plenty of time when we're-"

"Don't... say it," she interrupted. "I don't think I'll be able to go through with it if I think about it, which is why I'm going to pretend this conversation didn't happen until it's actually time to start moving."

"Fair enough. Can I de-hex him here or should I-" Al gestured inquiringly between the blonde tosser and the door, looking rather unfazed by the whole business.

After so many years, he had some experience with levitating Malfoy far the hell away from her.

"Just... do it far from here, Al, or I'm bound to do it again the second he opens that stupid trap of his." Rose picked up the now cold cup of coffee Al had brought her and her nose crinkled as she downed it. She coughed a little, a shiver running up her spine as what tasted like cold, sewer mulch went down her throat. Still, coffee was coffee and she still had a few hours ahead of her. "We'll talk about this when I don't have a theoretical exam from hell in sixteen hours."

Al's wand flickered and Malfoy's limp body was levitated toward the door. When he was about to leave, just stepping out the door, he stopped.

"You know I'm really glad you're doing this, right?" Al's smile was warm and somehow worth every single second she'd wasted. "I've missed you."

"I know." Rose bit her lip and smiled back at the gangly brunette boy. He was about to turn and leave when she cried out: "Al? Make sure he hydrates when he wakes up."

There was a smile on her face as the door closed.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Edit: Welcome to the nonsense that I've been writing for the past two years. If you do enjoy it, leave a note since I live off external validation ❤️ Cheers!

As of Oct 6 2020, Chapters 1 and 2 have already been edited and proofed, which means chapters 3-8 are still in progress.