A/N: Entered in:

Cheeky Slytherin Lass' Word Count Game Challenge Week Eight, word count 1000 (stuck to it very precisely!) and prompts 6,7,8,11,14

turn out fine's story beginnings challenge, prompt: 'A Malfoy and a Weasley were never supposed to be best friends.'

reminiscent-afterthought's The A-Maze-Ing Race Challenge, prompt: bicycle

Defying Tradition

A Malfoy and a Weasley were never supposed to be best friends. It was one of those rare, unwritten norms of the Wizarding world that were actually followed a little too faithfully with absolutely no questions asked.

Generation after generation of Malfoys had condemned the Weasleys for being blood-traitors, and scores of oft-ginger Weasleys had equally despised the Malfoys for being purist fanatics.

So it came as a rather nasty shock to poor Ron when his only daughter's very first letter from Hogwarts went thus:

Dear Mummy and Daddy,

Hogwarts makes me so happy – there's so much to learn and so much to do out here. I've been sorted into Gryffindor, as you may already know by now. I've made a new friend, too! His name is Scorpius Malfoy and he is the only one who knows as much as I do in History of Magic. He may also be a little better than me in Potions. Rest assured I will do everything possible to expand my knowledge and make you proud of me.

Lots of Love and Hugs,

Rose.

Hermione had cooed with pleasure at her daughter's erudition and her capacity to throw aside old prejudices to carve out her own identity. Needless to say, Ron wasn't the happiest and would prefer to imagine his daughter and the Malfoy spawn on opposing ends of a classroom with Rose's brilliance outshining Malfoy at any given second. This was not the case, however, and Ron felt that an intervention was in order.

Hermione disagreed. As did Harry and Ginny and Bill and pretty much most of his family, so he had little say in the matter.

Ron had just begun to accept the budding friendship between Rose and Scorpius in the hopes that it would soon die out. After all, your first friends weren't always your last, were they? He was quick to forget that his best friend of nearly three decades and his wife were pretty much his 'first' friends at Hogwarts.

Ron recognised Rose's excited owl as it tapped away at his window and a bundle of nerves began wreaking havoc on his composure. He unfolded the letter with clammy hands and promptly yelled out for Hermione.

"What is it this time, Ronald?" She asked with mock-annoyance, hugging his waist from behind. He shrugged her off and turned to face her, waving a piece of parchment like a battle flag.

"This!" He roared, and Hermione stifled an urge to laugh.

"Is that from Rose?"

Ron only nodded in affirmation.

"Will you read it to me?"

He shook his head violently and thrust it out to her. "Here. Please read what our daughter has to ask of us."

Dear Daddy and Mummy,

The summer is almost here, and I am so excited to be coming home for the vacations! I have so much to tell you all. I'm also really happy that Hugo will be joining me to Hogwarts next year, I simply cannot wait!

I have a request for you. Remember my friend Scorpius Malfoy? Well, he is my best friend at school actually and I was wondering if I could go and visit him during the summer. He stays rather far away, in Villa Grennara but I can always Floo over. He has promised to teach me how to ride a bicycle. I'd also like to invite him home for my birthday.

See you in two weeks!

Love, Rose

P.S: Professor Longbottom says hello. He should be sending you an owl soon, dad, regarding a summer visit along with Uncle Harry.

Hermione laughed then, an exuberant laugh that drove Ron half mental.

"Hermione, our daughter is going and fraternising with the bloody enemy!"

"Enemy? Fraternising? They're children, Ronald, for Merlin's sake!" Hermione was exasperated that her husband still felt sore about things that to her felt like another lifetime.

"This isn't going to end well. Trust me." Ron was being adamant.

"End? They're friends and I personally see nothing wrong with it."

"Ugh. I can't even bear to look at you right now! And even if young Malfoy - " here, Hermione interjected rather forcefully.

"His name is Scorpius."

Ron's face turned puce.

"Ron." Hermione's voice was as sharp as it was soothing and was like a splash of calming elixir to her husband's fraying nerves.

"We haven't had the best memories with Draco, and we don't even know who Astoria is. However," she added warningly. "We simply can't attribute Draco's flaws to his son; Draco was also going through horrible circumstances, - "

"He was a bloody coward, Hermione! There's nothing more to it!"

Hermione didn't even bat an eyelash as she barrelled on. "Yes, but his son isn't one."

"It would take a miracle for that to happen."

"Come on, Ron! Don't you trust your daughter's judgement?"

That silenced Ron. He loved his daughter more than he could express through mere words and it only just hit him how unfair he was being to his daughter.

"Okay," he finally relented with an audible gulp.

"Okay what?" Hermione sounded stern as she hid her smile.

"If Rose thinks that the Malfoy spawn - "

"Scorpius!"

"If they're best friends, I guess I can't do anything about it. But if he does one little thing to hurt her, and I swear on Merlin's flowing beard - "

"Then we will always be here for her." Hermione placed both hands atop her husband's stiff shoulders and kissed him softly. Ron sighed, drawing Hermione close to him as he kissed her back.

"She will be okay, won't she?" Ron asked, rather dejected.

"She's our daughter, Ron. Of course she will."

Three days later, Rose received a letter from Ron:

Dearest Rose,

Congratulations on doing so well at Hogwarts, sweetheart. See you home soon!

Lots of Love,

Dad

P.S: Tell Scorpius to be on his best behaviour. I'll always be watching. You can spend some time there as long as the Malfoys are at home, and he can attend your birthday."

Hope you enjoyed; if you made it till here, please do leave a review on your way out :)