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 7: Opposites are enough.

"… I'm sorry, what happened?" Rose asked once more, mind completely disbelieving.

"Those bastards got caught!" Albus cried, his face one of absolute triumph. "The Aurors got their real names and they were stopped trying to cross the channel! Apparently, they were going to take an illegal Portkey over, but we were waiting for them."

Rose let out a huge breath that she didn't realise that she had been holding basically ever since Lily had cried out, "It's your brother."

It had been a week since the attack and in all that time, not one hair had been seen of the four men who had attacked Hugo. As a result, security had been placed on Hugo's room at St. Mungo's and Rose was forced to hand over her wand every time she wanted to go see him. Hugo had been able to give pretty good descriptions and a lot of details about the men he used to hang with, but unfortunately he only knew them by nicknames and the men had apparently proven to be pretty good at living life on the run. There had been worry that they would try come back and finish the job. Rose hadn't just been scared for her brother in the end. What if they went after anyone who got in the way? Her entire family could have been in danger!

To hear that the evil bastards had been caught …

She couldn't be thankful enough for whoever managed to get their names.

"Albus, you're absolutely sure?" Rose insisted.

"Oh, yeah," Albus grinned. "Your dad is practically spewing fire, because my dad banned him from interrogating them himself! Something about a 'conflict of interest'."

Rose let out a shaky laugh, despite all that had happened over the past week. "So, those two will be pissed off at each other for the next month or so, then," she commented with a grin.

Albus laughed with her. "I give them a few days," he said. "Our dad's will be appealing to the Wizengamot for their sentence together in no time!"

Rose was so joyous, she felt like she needed to sit down! She collapsed onto her sofa, Albus joining her, even though she was supposed to be making her way to the hospital before her shift at work started. Rose had never thought her tiny, messy flat looked more homely. The sofa they sat on was probably at least fifty years old and once belonged to Albus and Rose's grandmother with ripped cushions covered in crocheted blankets and springs poking in all the wrong places, but it was good enough for curling up on and gossiping like the good ol' days before … well, everything.

Rose was starting to think that 'everything' didn't just include what happened to Hugo anymore. In fact, she was pretty sure she was only saying the word because she didn't want to think, let alone say, the name that was almost always ringing through her head.

Albus seemed to have caught the look on her face – he always did – and she glanced up reluctantly as he asked, softly,

"So … have you heard from Malfoy, yet?"

"No," she said shortly. It was the same answer she had been giving since the first time Albus had asked it a week ago.

"You know," Albus said, shrugging and trying to give her a supportive grin. "You did say that you would go see him. Didn't you?"

"Yeah, but come on! It's pretty damn obvious that the bloke is avoiding me," Rose said, exasperatedly. "I haven't even seen his stupid face around the office since he said goodbye to me at the festival! The International Events corridor isn't big, the only reason we wouldn't have bumped into each other is if he was running away every time he saw me …" She sighed. She was frustrated because this silence was killing her, and then she got even more frustrated at herself because of the fact that it was killing her in the first place!

When the heck had this started? Her, feeling all these … things! … around him?

"It can't have been as bad as you're making it out to be," Albus snorted.

"All he said was, goodbye, Rose," she said, putting on a harsh, monotone voice for her imitation. "His face was just … blank. It was like, as soon as he found out about Hugo, and how our family was now caught up in some dramatic scandal … he wanted nothing to do with me."

"Dramatic scandal?" Albus repeated. "Really, Rose?"

"Al," Rose said. "Your cousin was literally a murder target up until this morning, with the rest of our family in the crosshairs. There was 24 hour security on him, several of our family members were questioned by the Aurors and my baby brother is going to have to go through intense counselling in order to get over his emotional breakdown."

Albus seemed to reconsider.

"Well, when you put it like that …"

"Exactly," Rose said, leaning herself against the back of her sofa. "So it's clear: he wants nothing more to do with me. Serves me right, too."

"Oh, for god's sake," Albus scoffed at once. Rose smiled at his indignation, leaning over and nudging his side.

"C'mon, it's impossible to deny that I was horrible to him," she said, choosing to stare at their hands, rather than Albus' face. It was easier to remember what was said in her office what seemed like a lifetime ago (though, in reality, was barely a month ago). "When he first told me how he felt, I yelled at him! I couldn't have been harsher. Now, after getting to see the real him during the festival … I know that I was too harsh. And perhaps I shouldn't have been so hasty in rejecting him."

Albus was looking at her with a pitying expression, she knew, so she kept her eyes firmly on her fingers curled around his. That is, until Albus tugged his hand away to take hold of her chin and lift her gaze to his.

"Rose Weasley," he said, determinedly. "You made a mistake. That's it. We all make mistakes. Hell, even Malfoy has made a mistake in not talking to you! The only thing is, are you going to learn from your mistake, or are you going to wallow in self-pity for the rest of your miserable life?"

Rose considered for a moment.

"… well, wallowing does have a lot of appeal–"

"Rose!"

"For god's sake, Albus, it's not that simple!" Rose cried, pulling her face back from his hand. "I can hardly just go up to him and say, 'hey, I was wrong, we're totally not opposites, in fact, I'm madly in love with you and want to get married before riding off into the sunset!' Not only is that a lie, but he clearly doesn't want to see me!"

Albus considered her for a long moment.

"… which part of that was a lie?" he asked, a sly hint in his voice.

Rose simply glared. She wasn't sure how the conversation had been driven to these dangerous waters, and it was becoming increasingly hard to backpedal, now. She considered just throwing everything out on the line, but she knew that Albus would never let her hear the end of it, and she just wasn't quite ready for that yet, so she instead answered,

"It doesn't matter. My brother's more important at the moment, anyway. Come on," She stood up from her sofa, holding out a hand to reluctantly help her cousin up. "I need to get to the hospital now if I want to make it to work on time. You coming with?"

"I'm going to call in later on my lunch break," Albus answered, thankfully accepting her avoidance of his question, but the look on his face clearly stated that she hadn't heard the last of it. This was so going to bite her on the arse later. "Tell Hugo for me?"

"I will – love you," she added. She had recently figured that she should start saying it more often.

Albus, despite all her faults, grinned and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. "Love you, too," he answered.

"I know!" Hugo cried with delight when Rose told him of his attackers' capture. "Security told me just last night, then Uncle Harry came in this morning to explain what happened! I mean," his face dropped slightly and Rose, sat at the end of his bed, placed a hand on his leg from on top of his blankets. "I know that's not all. I know there's … other stuff to work through," He smiled, though. "but hell, I'm glad that the worry is over."

"I am too, Hugo," Rose told her brother. Then, to try and ease the tension, she grinned back and said, "For a moment there, I was worried I would have to hire a bodyguard!"

Hugo seemed to appreciate it as he laughed, though it died down quickly. Eager to change the subject, Rose struggled to come up with something to say. Everything of relevance to them and their new, somewhat delicate relationship, had to do with recent events, which didn't help when you wanted something else to talk about. WAM was out, along with most of their family and things that had happened in the past.

That left … well, work.

She could do work.

"I have to go back to my old, boring job today," Rose said, then.

"Oh, really?" Hugo asked. Despite his still pale face, his eyes were bright and he didn't have to struggle to sit up anymore in anticipation.

"Yeah, what with the festival being officially over now–" Rose almost berated herself for bringing it up. For god's sake, even her job wasn't completely safe! Nevertheless, she ploughed on before she could work her way into another corner, "Um, well, the last of the paperwork was submitted at the end of last week. We're officially moving onto bigger and better things!"

"Didn't think there was anything bigger or better than WAM," Hugo said.

"It is admittedly the biggest part of our job," Rose said. "and I honestly love it every year. But when it's over, it is so relaxing to just collapse, especially in your own bed! You know I spent almost the entire last week leading up to it sleeping in my office?"

"I thought only Mum did that?" Hugo grinned.

"Oh, no, your older sister had to get it from somewhere," Rose said back, shifting a foot up onto the bed with her so she could wrap her arms around her knee. "You'd be surprised, though, the floor in my office is surprisingly comfy!"

"You like your job, right?" Hugo asked then. It surprised her slightly, so she found herself answering truthfully,

"Yeah," she said, shrugging slightly. "It's demanding sometimes, but I love the pace. It's intense weeks of work at a time, followed by a long, slow reprieve before being shoved straight into it again. It's kind of how my own energy levels operate, so I think it suits me."

"I've never actually asked about your job before now," Hugo pointed out.

Rose considered. "… I've never asked about yours," she admitted.

Hugo snorted. "Good thing to, because most of the time, I don't have one," he said. "and when I do, I'm usually working in a bar or shop or something else like that. I've been working at a pub in Diagon Alley the past few months, The Flash Dragon?"

That hit Rose rather hard. "I went out there only a month back," she said, softly. She remembered that night quite plainly: the pressure of WAM being so soon, along with the consistent anxiety of wondering whether … he … would show up. If Hugo had even been working that night, she would not have noticed at all.

"Hey," Hugo cut into her thoughts. "It doesn't matter. It's in the past now, what's done is done."

"Wow," Rose smiled. "I see that the counselling is making an influence already."

"I already feel enough of a mental patient as it is," Hugo rolled his eyes. "I might as well get something out of it."

"You know you're not actually mental, right?" Rose was sure to ask.

"I'm having trouble seeing it, but I know," he nodded.

The brother and sister were silent for a few moments as Rose glanced at her watch and Hugo absently peered through the (most likely fake and magically designed) window. Then, just as Rose was about to say that she should start heading off to work now, Hugo said,

"You know after all this, I think I need to send that Malfoy bloke flowers! Or, I dunno, does that seem too girly to you?"

"Malfoy?" Rose suddenly blurted out. It seemed that that was the only word that had registered in her mind.

Hugo wrinkled his forehead. "Yeah," he said, seeming confused at her reaction. "He was … oh, shit," Hugo cut himself off with a groan.

"What? What's wrong? D'you need more painkillers?" Rose asked, trying hard not to panic as Hugo let his head fall into his hand.

"No, no, I'm fine, Rosie," he said at once, almost smiling at her concern. "No, it's just – he didn't want his name as public knowledge. You're not allowed to tell anyone I told you!"

"I …" Rose shook her head. "I don't understand – we are talking about Scorpius Malfoy, right?"

"Yeah, he was in your year at school – wait, don't you work with him?" Hugo asked.

"Um …" Rose wasn't entirely sure how much she should give away. "Yes, yeah, I work with him. But I don't know him well, which is why I'm so surprised. How in god's name does he come into this story?"

"He recognised one of the attackers, apparently," Hugo's eyes turned downcast at the mention of the men who'd been his friends, but he was quick to gloss over it. "You know, how they put their pictures in the paper. Uncle Harry told me 'cause he looked up his criminal record and needed to confirm with me that it was definitely him. But at Malfoy's request we're not allowed to say it was him who turned him in. Turns out he used to be mates with one of them, like before Hogwarts. Real name was George Wickham, I think."

Rose remembered that story. She remembered every detail of climbing that Quidditch tower, hearing the story of how the only friend he'd had as a child had abandoned him once they reached the castle. It was in that moment Rose realised that despite what she'd told her brother … she actually did know Malfoy quite well. She had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to react to that.

"That's incredible," she ended up saying.

"I'm just thankful," Hugo told her. "He didn't have to say anything. I knew these guys and I think a lot of people were afraid of selling them out. But he came forward!"

"But … why?" Rose's brain couldn't seem to think of anything else to say.

"Why else would anyone?" Hugo snorted at her. It didn't seem to be a big deal to him. "Because it was the right thing to do? I dunno, Rosie, I won't pretend to know what his motives were, but what I do know is that if it wasn't for him, those bastards could have been halfway around the world by now."

Rose had no idea how she was supposed to go to work in this state. Scorpius Malfoy. By sheer luck and coniencidence, he had recognised his childhood friend from the papers. He could have chosen to keep quiet but instead, he risked his own safety to help Hugo and solve a crime. A very small part of her (which danced and cheered in her head) kept screaming that maybe, just maybe, he'd done it for her. But c'mon! If he had, wouldn't he have at least told her? Or, you know, said anything to her since the end of the festival?

Exactly! So she shouldn't read into this. He was just being a good samaritan. Really. Really.

"Rosie, are you all right?" Hugo asked then, looking concerned. "You've gone kind of pale …"

"I'm fine!" Rose squeaked. "No, really–" She gave a hasty cough before forcing out in a much lower voice, "–I'm fine."

"… you know I don't believe you, right?"

"You shouldn't," Rose nodded in resignation, but glancing at her watch once more, she was forced to stand up. "but I'm afraid I don't have time to go into it. I have to get to work."

"You promise to give me the full story later, right?"

Rose sighed exasperatedly before leaning down and kissing her brother on the cheek. "I promise no such thing," she said. "but I love you. Albus says he'll come by during his lunch break, ok?"

"Cheers, Rosie," Hugo grinned. "See you later, yeah?"

"Of course."

She was pretty sure that, had the Muggle man not grabbed her arm and yanked her back in time, Rose's hazy mind would have resulted in her becoming a grease stain on the front of one of London's many buses.

She had absolutely no idea what to make of the information drilling into her head. She had been well resolved on the idea of never speaking to Malfoy again in her life! Him avoiding her was actually starting to become something she was thankful for! Yes, she had been hurt by the silence, but she was willing to put that aside in favour for never having to struggle through another awkward conversation again.

(She tried not to think about the fact that near the end, their conversations hadn't have been that much of a struggle).

But then she found out this. It was obvious that she wasn't supposed to find out and that Malfoy certainly hadn't wanted her to, but she couldn't just ignore it, could she? The man had risked his own safety to help her family, potentially saving her brother's life, if she was being overly dramatic. It hit her that perhaps, that was the reason she hadn't seen him around their offices that much: because he had spent his time up on level 2 in the Auror Office, giving his statement, signing paperwork, and helping identify the men they brought it.

She couldn't just pretend that never happened.

Striding into her corridor that morning, Rose was now determined. She would find that man and demand an explanation. She might even go so far as to tell him that she liked their developing friendship and didn't want to lose him. She had refused up until this point to admit to herself how much she missed him and despite how late she already was, made the snap decision to make a detour on her way to work. She ended up practically bowling through the doors and burst into her corridor barely on time, calling out a quick hello to the eyebrow-raising receptionist along the way.

She noticed that the hallways were a lot quieter, now that WAM was over. She only saw Nathan out and about, apparently on his way to an interview with an Irish representative, his arms full of notes and holding the largest cup of coffee Rose had ever seen.

"Hey!" he called out with the air of trying to seem cheerful.

"You look like you've had one hell of a night," Rose commented, pausing to say hello.

"Woke up late, forgot about this bloody interview!" Nathan gave up all pretences of being happy and practically wailed at her. "Normally Malfoy leaves a list of things to do on my office door before I've even come in for the morning, but naturally, I don't get that anymore! Never thought I'd actually miss the bloke."

Her stomach gave such a violent lurch at the casual mention of his name that she almost thought she might be sick. Gripping the parcel she'd bought earlier on her way to work tightly, she said, "Why, where's he gone?"

"Didn't you hear?" he said. "It's all over the office! His transfer request was finally approved – he's working admin now, I think. He was out of the office most of the past week, which I don't blame him for, but he came in yesterday to clean out his office, saying that he was switching departments. He's still in International Events, but he's not being forced to work with people anymore. Have to say, I think it suits him much better."

"But …" Rose couldn't believe this. He was gone. He did something spectacular, something amazing, and then he just …

… left?

"Oh, hey, I also heard about your brother," Nathan added, manoeuvring his notes and coffee to reach out and squeeze her shoulder. "I'm sorry. He's ok, right?"

"He's – he's not perfect, but he will be eventually," Rose managed to say, thankful at least for the words. They might not have been coming from the person she wanted, but she would accept anything at this point. "Thanks."

"No problem," Nathan said, nearly dropping his notes as he tried to take a sip of his coffee. "Oh, you don't happen to know what time it is, do you?"

Amazed that she was still keeping it together, she glanced at her watch. "Just gone nine?"

Nathan's eyes went wide. "Effing shit!" he exclaimed, nearly burning his tongue as he practically inhaled several hasty gulps of coffee. "Jessie's gonna have my head – I'll talk to you later, Rose!" he yelled over his shoulder as he dashed off.

Immediately, she made for Malfoy's office – or what used to be his office – not far down the International Events corridor. The door was wide open and she stood on the threshold, trying to find the bravery to move beyond into the empty space. She had never been inside his office when it was occupied and now, she would never know what it used to look like for seven years. Did he have photos up on the wall of his family? Drawings from little cousins, nieces and nephews, like her, or did he not have any? She had never asked. Perhaps he had hidden snacks in his drawers, and maybe that scuff mark on the floor was from skidding his chair back and forth as he thought, that intense gaze on his face.

But the room was stark, the walls bare, the desk cleared and the chair tucked neatly behind it. He had left nothing out of place (that was so him). Steeling herself, Rose walked forward and quickly, before she could lose her resolve, placed the wrapped book she'd bought on the desk. There was hastily written inscription hidden on the inside of that front cover in there:

Malfoy –

You wished there was a book about how to talk to people … turns out, there is. You better appreciate it because I was almost late to work in order to get it.

(Thank you. For everything).

Rose.

She was moping.

After she'd left that book in Malfoy's old office, Rose had spent her entire shift trying not to think about him. It hadn't exactly worked, so once she had finally trudged into her flat at the end of the day, she'd had every intention of just crashing and not getting up the entire weekend. Sure enough, she'd spent the last two days watching bad Muggle films in her underwear, eating her body weight in cheesy snacks (and it was fantastic).

Ahem. Not that she would ever admit to that.

Unfortunately, Monday had rolled around and she'd been forced to make herself presentable and get out of bed. But it was the end of her shift and now nothing, not even the prospect of Hugo being released from St. Mungo's today, was going to move her from her cocoon of blankets on her sofa, now watching old, vintage TV shows on the television that she had bought at a Muggle car boot sale for twenty pounds.

"What the hell, Mary?!" Rose was yelling at the two characters on the TV. "The man might be in love with you, but c'mon, his fiancée is watching – SHIT, DON'T KISS HIM–!"

"Should I be concerned at the amount of enthusiasm you have for a fictional couple?" her brother's voice suddenly said.

"Hugo!" Rose cried, jumping to her knees and immediately pausing the show, Matthew and Mary now frozen mid-forbidden-snog. "No longer in the hospital, I see."

"Barely," Hugo shrugged but he was grinning, hands in his pockets and standing just inside the entrance to her lounge, clearly watching her agitation with interest. He still looked pale and the worst of his bruises were only just starting to yellow, but Rose knew for a fact that the cut on his chest had healed to its fullest extent and that her brother would be back to his usual cheeky self in no time.

Immediately, she had to remind herself that actually, Hugo wasn't a necessarily cheeky person.

"Still," she answered him. "You're not chained to a bed anymore."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Hugo said, moving forward to join her on her decrepit sofa. "I'm staying at home and Mum seems pretty determined that I will never leave the house again."

"Bet she went spare when she realised that you had done a bunk to come see me," Rose grinned.

"Shhh. She doesn't know," Hugo's face was a deadpan, but Rose could see the mischievous sparkle in his eyes. Deep down, she figured that her brother was ultimately a funny bloke who could make people laugh, but she was sure to remind him sometimes that he didn't have to pull stupid stunts to do it. She knew it would take some time before the real him came out completely, but there were always moments like this when Rose knew that she would meet that person eventually.

"… so why are you lying in a comatose state, screaming at the TV?" Hugo asked her.

"Technically speaking, if I'm comatose, I wouldn't be screaming."

"You know what I mean," Hugo snorted.

Rose eyed the TV once more. Despite the hardships the on-screen characters had faced – engagements to the wrong people, forced separations due to world wars, potential infertility and life-threatening injuries – Rose sometimes wondered whether she hadn't been through something just as trying.

"What do you know about Scorpius Malfoy?" Rose asked, hesitantly.

Hugo was clearly taken aback at her words. "Nothing, really," he said, shrugging. "I only know how he helped us. Why?"

In the past, Rose never would have dreamed of telling her younger brother about her love life (or, in this case, severe lack of one) but she had learned recently the love and compassion Hugo had for those he cared about. Hell, she knew nothing about his life. Maybe he had been through something similar, she had no idea! So, she ended up telling him everything, from the moment Malfoy had awkwardly strode into her office, asking to speak to her, to when he had told her goodbye in that stilted voice of his at the festival.

Hugo took this all in with barely contained shock and amusement. "I'm being ridiculous, right?" Rose asked, then.

"I think," Hugo chose his words carefully, before breaking into a grin. "that Mum and Dad are SO going to kill you!"

Rose just huffed, shoving Hugo on the arm. Her brother breathed in slightly and she worried for a moment that she had hurt him, but he was quick to reassure her that only sudden moments sparked a hurtful twinge. "Come on, our parents have to be over the prejudice against the Malfoys by now," Rose insisted. "Because, honestly, what Mum and Dad think has been the least of my concerns."

"You clearly haven't been home in a while," Hugo pointed out. "Dad takes any opportunity to complain about Draco Malfoy! But you're sort of right, I think it's more for the sheer novelty of having someone to complain about. He loves to hate him, if you get what I mean."

"In another universe, I sometimes think that would have been Malfoy and I," Rose admitted. "If we had been forced to talk right at the beginning, forced to work on the same project perhaps, I would have grown to hate him. I didn't have any idea what he was like and I judged him something awful. It was no wonder that I thought he hated me. Now …"

"Look, I know you seem to be having fun sulking," Hugo said, gesturing to her sea of blankets and small side table full of heart-attack-inducing food groups. "But if this is killing you so much … why don't you just go TALK to him? This isn't the 1800s!"

"Because …"

She gaped, suddenly realising that there were no words. She had absolutely no response to that, because he was right, wasn't he? She stared at her brother for a moment. Then, she snapped.

"Hugo!" she suddenly yelped, standing up. "I have to go do a thing!"

Hugo grinned. "Go, go!" he said. "But if I can make a suggestion – you might want to put some trousers on first."

He had to still be at work. Please let him still be at work … Rose realised she'd probably never arrived at the office looking so casual before, currently in an oversized jumper and old tracksuit bottoms that she'd hastily thrown on before grabbing her wand and racing out the door. She tore down the International Events corridor, doging around her curious-looking collegues as they all filed out for the evening. She thanked Merlin when she noticed Nathan just leaving his own office.

"Nathan!" she yelled.

He turned and raised an eyebrow. "Rose–?"

"Malfoy!" she cried, skidding to a halt next to him. "Malfoy, I need to know where his new office is! I need to catch him before he goes home, I swear I'll explain later, please, do you know–?"

Nathan just shook his head in bemusement. "Admin corridor, that corner office practically hidden around the staircase, I think it's number 16?"

"Thank you!"

Rose didn't think she'd ever ploughed through three sets of doors and down two corridors faster in her life than she did that evening. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, jagged and disordered in her mind. She barely even knew what she wanted to say first – thank you, I'm sorry … I love you … anything! – and her heart was pounding not just from the run, but from the thought of seeing him again for the first time since that pain-inducing night at the festival.

She was certain that the receptionist, currently packing up for the night, got one hell of a shock when Rose just called out a hasty apology and burst into International Events Administration without so much as a backwards glance. The woman called after her, but Rose didn't stop, afraid that if she did, she would actually think rationally. If she wanted answers, she couldn't afford to think rationally! She hurtled around the door that led to the stairwell and stormed for office number 16. Without knocking, she threw open the door.

"Why did you do that for Hugo?!" she cried.

A/N: I know, I'm sorry. But it could've been worse. In my original draft for this, Rose apparently wanted to wallow in self-pity for at least another chapter! I told her to shut up, haha. And yes, Rose was watching Downton Abbey. No, I totally haven't seen every episode. Noooooo.

On a personal note, in a few days I'll be attending my university graduation ceremony! By the time the next chapter comes out, I'll have gotten to wear a cap and a gown and gotten my max 20 seconds walking across the stage to receive my degree! Since many of you were there at the end of WJML when I technically finished all the work and graduated, I thought you might be interested in an update. :)

And lastly, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH for all your reviews! Your encouragement honestly means so much to me. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot left to this story. It'll either be 1 or 2 chapters left, depending on how nice to me the characters are, haha.

Please review and let me know what you think. :)

Until next time -

- Moon. :D