DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rose, Scorpius or Pride and Prejudice!

Opposites Attract.

He's just awkwardly confessed his love for her. She's just turned him down. They have nothing in common … he decides to prove her wrong. :Rose/Scorpius NextGen:

Chapter 6: Opposites don't matter.

St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries had been having a reasonably quiet night, considering the festival and the amount of accidents that usually happened each year. There were your usual bangs and scrapes from young children's magic getting away from them due to all the emotions, the occasional family argument getting out of hand, perhaps someone getting pushed into the odd bonfire and naturally, tonnes and tonnes of Quidditch accidents. But all things considered, the hospital was having a quiet night!

… until the waiting room was suddenly overrun with Weasley's.

Rose had never liked the hospital. It was the smell: it was too clean, too sterile, too … hopeless. The Artefact Accidents waiting room outside the emergency department probably wasn't that full in reality, but with so many red-heads panicking, it certainly felt like it was packed to the brim.

Rose sat next to Albus, holding his hand tightly and staring at their fingers. If she glanced anywhere else, she feared she might tip over the edge. Lily was on her other side, Roxanne sat on the floor in front of her. Lily was busying herself with plaiting Roxanne's dark, frizzy hair, which she had protested at first, but had soon given into when she had seen the look on Lily's face. She wasn't a girl who needed to sit still, Lily needed to be doing something. All things considered, Rose thought her younger cousin was doing remarkably well. Lily had always hero-worshiped Hugo, held him on a pedestal, and now her hero was lying in hospital with god knows what done to him.

James was about as silent as Rose had ever seen him, not far down from Albus next to his father. Uncle Harry didn't say a word. He currently held his glasses in one hand and his head hung as he pressed his other palm into his eyes.

When Rose had finally arrived, a little bit behind her parents, it was to find that Hermione Weasley was already accosting the poor Healer on duty, demanding to know where her baby boy was. After trying to direct her to the maternity ward ("He might be twenty five, but he's still my baby, you insensitive imbecile!") the duty Healer was now trying to calm Hermione down by hastily answering any/all questions she fired at him.

Ron was simply angry. No one dared approach him, not even Rose herself, who could usually counteract even the worst of his moods. He paced the length of the waiting room in a rage, hands constantly switching from being held behind his back, to twisting angrily in front of him. He muttered and swore under his breath and snapped at anyone who tried to speak to him.

Her other uncles and aunties were mostly there. Grandma Molly, bless her, was currently bustling around with the largest tray of teacups Rose had ever seen. Insistent on feeding people in a crisis, Molly'd had to work with what she had. Rose and Albus each took a cup of tea, thanking their grandmother gratefully, though Rose knew for sure that she wasn't going to be drinking any of it. Still, it was nice to have the steaming mug in one hand and Albus in the other.

The Weasley's all reacted in different ways whenever there was a family emergency. Rose vividly remembered a few years ago, when Uncle Percy had gotten violently sick with a magical disease that Rose couldn't pronounce the name of. She'd hadn't liked the hospital then either, trying to give comfort to Molly and Lucy, even though she wasn't entirely sure if she was even helping. Some of them just panicked – lord knows that Auntie Audrey was being more of a hindrance than a help as she freaked to her husband about blood loss – but like Ron got angry and Grandma Molly fed everyone, others in their family got quiet, or loud, or even simply started crying.

Rose didn't know how she should be reacting. She knew that she should be expressing something … but she was currently finding it easier not to dwell on it.

They had been waiting for over an hour, during which the only update they had received was that Mr Hugo Weasley was in theatre being attended to by five different Healers. Her tea now cold, Rose leaned forward to place it on the floor gently, before turning to her best friend.

"… how did we get here?" she asked with a faint smile.

"I have no idea," Albus answered. He nudged his head against hers and Rose leaned in, resting against his shoulder. "Is it just me, or do you also not want to think about all this right now?"

"I would like nothing better," Rose admitted.

"Then tell me," Rose could practically hear the smirk in his voice and she almost regretting giving him the licence not to talk about her brother. "what happened with you and Malfoy?"

Yep. Rose groaned. "Al, I really don't want to talk about it," she insisted.

"You just said that you wanted to talk about something different!"

"Ok, new rule: we do not talk about Hugo, or Malfoy."

"Aw, c'mon," Albus raised his shoulder, nudging her head in a persistently annoying manor. "You were dancing together! I didn't think that bloke would move in time to music for all the money in the world."

"I managed to convince him," Rose said, absently. She immediately cringed and, sure enough, Albus leapt on her comment.

"I bet you did!"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Rose," Albus chided her. He nudged her once more, making Rose look up at him in irritation. His eyes were mischievous, but surely weren't backing down any time soon. "You're falling in love with the man, aren't you?"

There was nothing like a good panic to take your mind off the things you should be panicking about.

"I–! We're not … I mean, I don't …" she gaped.

"You know it's ok, right?" Albus asked.

"No, it most certainly is not!" Rose insisted, tugging on Albus' hand for emphasis. "We wouldn't work, Al! We don't work."

"But you said, with Lulu–"

"I only said that I was starting to see that it was ok that we are different," Rose pointed out. "Yeah, I like him. I like talking to him. I like being around him. I keep wondering what might have happened if I had stuck out trying to get to know him all those years ago, instead of giving up. He might have one day gotten the courage to say something back. I brushed it off as arrogance and pride, but he's neither of those things. He's shy and a bit awkward, but I don't believe that we could never get along anymore."

"I sense a 'but' in there …" Albus pointed out.

Rose sighed. "Oh, I don't know," she told him. "A relationship … it's so much different than a friendship. It's so much more. You're not just sharing your life with someone else, you're giving a little of yourself to them. If you don't have at least something in common, then how on earth could you ever be compatible?"

"You know the way I see it?" Albus said, thoughtfully. "If you were exact carbon copies of each other, then wouldn't that be bloody boring? What if you both liked to take charge? You would clash all the time. What if you were both laid back? Your relationship would probably never go anywhere. A few differences, I dunno, they seem healthy to me. You can learn and grow from each other's qualities. He could learn how to become more comfortable in a crowd around you. You might just learn to appreciate the benefits of solitude every once in a while," he added with a teasing grin. Rose just rolled her eyes, though she didn't want to admit that Albus' thinking had sometimes sneaked into her head over the past week. "Having some similarities is good, don't get me wrong … but I think you, Rose Weasley, are seriously underestimating the benefits of having some differences as well."

"Since when did you become a Relationship Guru?" Rose snorted.

Albus might have been about to reply in a joking retort, but that was when a Healer entered the waiting room and approached the family. The man's expression was serious and Rose's attention immediately went to the imprint of the blood stain that he hadn't quite managed to vanish completely from his sleeve.

"… Ron and Hermione Weasley?" he asked the group at large.

Rose's happy fantasies of talking about other things had come to an end.

Time to face reality.

Rose stared at her baby brother's face, wondering where the hell she went wrong as a sister.

Hugo Weasley was finally relaxing in a bed on the ground floor. Due to the nature of, and the circumstances surrounding, his injuries he had been placed in a private room, where the Magical Law Enforcement could talk to him about what had happened. Rose had heard the story second hand from nearly every family member so far, but the only person she wanted to hear it from was currently pretending to be asleep so he wouldn't have to face her.

Rose just kept thinking that perhaps, if she hadn't have given up on her brother, he wouldn't be here right now, lying in a hospital bed, three days after intense surgery to counter broken ribs, a failed kidney and severe blood loss due to a deep cut across his chest. Rose had nearly thrown up when she had first been told what had happened to him. But it was her own fault. If she had just tried, tried to actually get to know her baby brother, then maybe he wouldn't have ended up like this. Maybe he wouldn't have felt the need to make friends with the most seedy of London's back streets. Sometimes, Rose honestly thought she got caught up in the idea that magic could fix everything …

… she often forgot that most of the time, it causes all of the problems, too.

"You're such an idiot, Hugo," Rose muttered, leaning an elbow on the edge of his bed. The chair she was in was only comfortable because her mother had placed what felt like half a dozen pillows on it, since he had barely left her son's side since he was admitted. However, that day Hermione had been forced to work, trying to defuse the publicity surrounding Hugo's attack. Ron, as far as Rose was aware, had forgotten that he'd retired from the Aurors years ago and was busy tracking down the bastards who had done this. He currently had half the Auror office on it, but Rose knew that there was more to the situation than just that.

"I …" Rose knew Hugo was listening, so she continue in what she hoped was a calm voice (it wasn't. It was stuttered, shaky, and sometimes, she barely knew what she was saying). "I thought I knew how to be a sister, Hugo. An older sister, who looks out for her younger siblings. As it turns out, I have no idea. I always thought you were just being a stupid younger brother, and I totally judged you for it …"

Because she had, hadn't she? All these years of her just waving off Hugo's crazy antics as acting out for attention, that he was being deliberately stupid, she judged him. Instead of perhaps trying to figure out why he wanted attention, she just yelled at him, tried to change him. Threw anonymous help groups at him and she remembered money once vividly, but did she ever actually DO something over the years?

Taking a shaky breath, she continued. "… the signs were there and I didn't listen," she felt her voice break, but she forced herself on. "You needed me, needed your big sister, and I've done nothing but tell on you, lecture you, refused to bloody SPEAK to you. So this is all my fault, and you nearly died, and – and –"

And I can't hold it in anymore.

The tears came before she could stop them. A sob burst out and soon, she was hiding her face in her hands, elbows resting on the blankets of Hugo's bed, crying about pretty much everything. It was ridiculous, because if anyone deserves to cry it was her brother and she tried to tell herself to snap out of it, but … She just kept thinking about the things that she should have said. The things she and Hugo could have done. The life she might have had … the people she could have been with …

But it was useless. She had almost lost her brother through no fault but her own, and she didn't think she would ever forgive herself. It took almost ten minutes before she realised that a hand was running though her hair.

Glancing up, she realised through blotchy eyes that Hugo was no longer pretending.

"So you finally decided to wake up," she said, harshly.

Hugo let his hand drop to his side. Rose's brother was normally cheeky looking, a mischievous smile on his face and his lanky body always ready to spring into action. But today, he was pale, his freckles standing out in a way that almost scared her and his red curls, usually exactly like her own, were lifeless. While the Healers had managed to magically seal the cut on his chest and the bruises were slowly fixing under thick paste, there was still a lot of healing to do.

"I didn't know how to face you," he admitted in a quiet voice.

Yelling at him earlier in the week seemed so long ago. Before that, she didn't think she'd seen him in person since the previous Christmas. She knew those 'friends' of his had been bad news. She had almost opened her mouth to say so, until she realised it was comments like that that was probably why they were here in the first place.

"… what happened?" she whispered. Her voice couldn't manage anything else.

They were both silent for several moments, Rose just waiting. Then, when it became clear that Hugo wouldn't (or couldn't?) speak, she added,

"I know … look, I know your friends were gamblers …"

"Some friends," Hugo said, bitterly. "Look, Rose … I don't want to tell you this."

"I need to hear it," Rose said at once.

"You didn't cause this–"

"Don't tell me that," Rose snapped. "Hugo, I–"

"–didn't force those blokes to attack me," Hugo cut over her, brown eyes piercing. "Rose. Come on."

"I don't care. Tell me."

Hugo stared hard for several more moments, but probably soon figured it would be easier just to tell than to argue more about it. "… you know what sort of people I hung out with," he began, his voice suddenly incredibly tired. "They all had issues. I never tried to fix them, they never tried to drag me in. But during the festival, I got too arrogant, too stupid. I bet that our family would make it into the Quidditch finals, and even further, that we would take away the trophy," he gave his sister a slight smile. "I won, right?"

"Almost," Rose answered. "We never made it to the final game. The Harpies played against the Tornadoes instead when we had to forfeit."

Hugo swore. "And Uncle Charlie was so sure this would be our year."

"No one cared," Rose pointed out. "The second we heard, no one cared about anything other than being here."

"You shouldn't have."

"Hugo, you were left for dead on the bloody road!" Rose suddenly yelled. Then, her throat closed up at the thought and she had to pause as she choked down more tears. "Don't–"

"Do you want to hear the rest or not?" Hugo cut in, abruptly.

Rose didn't argue, only nodded.

Hugo seemed to sit up straighter with difficulty. Rose wasn't sure whether to help him or not, but when she finally got the courage to, he had already managed, collapsing against his pillows. "They were more than eager to take me on," he said, quietly. "They thought I was done for, since we had never even got past the semis before, and we were still one of the best teams out there. I should have been able to tell from the start that it was going to end badly, 'cause I knew that they used force to get people to pay out. I knew that sometimes they got into trouble themselves and had to run. When we got through, I laughed … hell, I made bloody jokes about it," he seemed angry, bitter with regret about that now. "You are right, I was so stupid. I had figured, since we were all mates, there was no way I was in any danger. But when I asked for my money, they said no. They said they weren't actually serious, that they had only been humouring me. I insisted on getting my money. It got to the point when I threatened to turn them into the Magical Law Enforcement, to get them locked up for the things they had done to people …"

Rose didn't like this story, even more so when she remembered where it was heading. Sure enough, Hugo's pale face went even more white when he muttered, "I tracked them down, trying to run from the festival. I caught up with them just before they reached the Apparition point. I didn't think it would get so …" He swallowed. "Well, rather than go to Azkaban, they decided to just get rid of the problem instead. I don't know if the plan was to actually kill me, or whether they were just going to beat me up a little. Either way, if Lily hadn't have called out my name, I would probably be dead."

Rose had no idea what to say. She had never seen her brother look so vulnerable before, nor had she loved Lily Potter so much than in that moment.

"So that's the story," Hugo said, faintly. "That last part, I tend to block out."

"Hugo, you can't … you can't joke about this," Rose said, almost out of breath.

"Why not?" he asked. "Makes it easier."

"Because this is serious!" Rose cried. "Life isn't one of your stupid little games anymore, this shit just got real! Hugo, you nearly DIED because of it!"

"Right, because I'm always stupid!" Hugo countered, wincing when he tried to lean forward in agitation. "Stupid Hugo Weasley, never on par with his brilliant cousins and successful and beautiful older sister!"

"Would you stop that, you know we don't think of you like that."

"I've never known that!" Hugo yelled. "You don't get it, Rose – you're always that bright, bubbly girl, who everyone loves and thinks is amazing! I'm just the goofy younger brother who nobody notices because I'm not smart, I'm not hot, I'm not funny, I'm not a million other things that you are!"

"Then you should have SAID," Rose yelled back. "How dare you lie there and think that no one loves you? I'm your sister, of course I do–!" Jesus, she could feel a headache coming on. Rose pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes warily. "… clearly you didn't know that. Merlin, Hugo, all these years you just needed someone to show that they care and I've done nothing but judge you …"

Hugo was staring at her, tears threatening to stain his face. Rose didn't think she'd seen her brother cry at all since he was six-years-old, when he had accidentally burnt his hand on the fireplace back home. Back then, Rose had been the one who found him sobbing hysterically on the rug and she had immediately run off to find their mother.

She thought that that was probably the last time she ever made it clear how much she loved her brother.

"Rose, this isn't your fault," he said, voice cracking. "This is mine. I'm the one who did idiotic things. You didn't make me deal with those blokes in the first place. You didn't make me join their group. I trusted them, even though it was obvious that I shouldn't have. Hell, I did more than join them, I became one of them. I became a gambler, all of my own free will, and that's all on my own head, not yours."

"Hugo–"

"No – no!" he quickly brushed her off as Rose sat up slightly, almost reaching out for him, only for Hugo to pull his arm away from her comforting hand. "I – I don't need – I don't deserve – this happened because of me, and I don't want you sitting there blaming yourself …"

"I've been a shit sister, Hugo," Rose said quietly, her eyes starting to sting. "Let me fix this."

"You shouldn't need to fix this."

"Fine, I don't need to!" Rose said, roughly. She got to her feet so she could sit on the edge of Hugo's bed, her eyes in line with his. "But I want to. Because you are my baby brother and that is what older sister's do. We've both been wrong, Hugo, and you have been gutted and left raw from this …" She tried not to imagine how scarily real that statement could have been, staring at his hospital gown-covered chest, almost imagining the healing cut underneath it, ripped open and spilling blood. Her brother's blood. "You joined that group because nobody else was there for you and they were. They are the monsters – not you."

"Rose–"

"Listen to me!" Rose said, fiercely. She reached out and took his hand tightly, despite him trying to tug it away. "Hugo, you are important. You matter. We are Weasley's, we're one of the largest Wizarding families in the UK! You have so many aunties and uncles and cousins who adore you, and while this conversation is incredibly overdue, you should never ever have to feel like you need to gain our attention by doing stupid things. Because we love you–" She had to take a moment, breathe. "Hugo, I love you."

He was crying and her brother suddenly lurched forward and caught hold of her shirt, sobbing into her neck, his curls tickling her chin. Silent tears falling onto his hair, Rose immediately swung her arms around him, rocking him close to her like he was that tiny six-year-old again, hurt and in pain, waiting for someone to come and fix him, because he didn't know how to do it on his own. He had needed his sister back then to kneel behind him and throw her arms around his neck while their mother healed his burnt skin, and he needed her now, murmuring softly, "I love you … I love you, Hugo …"

She was sure that he had to be hurting from leaning forward, but she didn't think she could bring herself to loosen her hold and Hugo only gripped her collar tighter every time she moved slightly from her rocking back and forth. She only wanted her brother to be ok again, and she knew that this wouldn't fix everything, that there was more to it than simply breaking down in her arms, but this could be a good first step.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into his hair. "I'm sorry I was there for you. I'm so sorry–"

"I love you, Rosie," her baby brother choked, voice breaking. Rose reached up and run her fingers through his curls as he continued, "I love you and … I – I'm sorry, too …"

"It's ok," Rose said. "I know. It'll be ok."

They remained that way, her arms protectively around her brother until he didn't have any tears left in him. Rose knew eventually, the Healer in charge was going to knock on the door to come check on Hugo, her mother was going to take a lunch break to come sit with him, and she herself needed to go back to work soon, but for now, real life didn't matter.

All that mattered was being the sister she needed to be for her baby brother.

A/N: A moment between Rose and Hugo was needed. And I'm so sorry it took forever. I've discovered that I've never been so self-conscious about a story before! For some reason, there's just something about this story that had me procrastinating this chapter because I was so nervous to post it! I don't even know why. In the end, I told myself, "Screw it Moon, JUST POST THE BLOODY THING!" so I apologise for there being no Scorpius and hope that it was ok. :)

But thank you so so much for all your support so far. It seriously means a lot. I love you all!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D