A/N. Written for turn out fine's Story Beginnings Challenge, using the sentence It's a bit cliché, but most love stories are.
Cliché
It's a little bit cliché, but most love stories are. She supposes her's is a triple cliché – father forbids friendship with a boy, daughter dates him; girl has two guy best friends, she must marry one of them; girl has a brother or male cousin? Well, bring on the best friend then! And, as she is so often reminded by people who only know her as the daughter of the Brightest Witch of Her Age and Harry Potter's best friend, she is following in her mother's footsteps. You know, the whole marry the guy whose best friend is practically your brother thing. But really, it doesn't seem so cliché to them. In truth, their story is anything but cliché.
When they first met, she had every intention of following her father's wishes. Rose wasn't stupid, she had read all the history books before her Hogwarts letter had even arrived, and she knew full well what the Malfoy family was like. Well, she thought she did. She learnt the hard way that just because your parents are one thing, doesn't mean you are too. Really, she should have remembered it, hadn't she been taught that fact her whole life by family members that felt almost guilty that she and her cousins had to be subjected to their fame?
Once Albus befriended him, she knew she really had no choice but to at least be civil. She and Albus were practically joined at the hip, there was no way she could avoid his new best friend, even if she tried. It only took a couple of weeks though before she discovered that Scorpius really wasn't that bad. He was smart, funny, and actually kinda sweet when he wanted to be.
Soon, the trio were inseparable. They were in different Houses? Didn't make a difference. Sheer luck meant that Ravenclaw and Slytherin had multiple classes together, and really, there wasn't a rule anywhere saying you couldn't bring friends into your Common Room. By third year, Rose honestly could not tell you where she finished and Scorpius or Albus began. Normal teenage boy/girl rules didn't seem to apply to them. They hugged, pecked each other on the cheek and held hands without giving it a second thought. When Molly found the three of them sleeping in a jumbled heap on the floor of the Ravenclaw Common Room she didn't even bat an eyelid, instead covering them with a couple of blankets and threatening to hex anyone who dared say anything bad about them.
In all honesty, she should have seen it coming. But she was never one for clichés- they belonged in books. Her parents' lives had broken all the normal stereotypes and laws of possibility, so why should hers conform to it? When it did come, it came with no great epiphany, or with nights of crying herself to sleep or with weeks of teenage awkwardness. One day they just happened to be sitting in the Common Room – Slytherin this time – staring at the Christmas tree, when she gently took his hand and quietly whispered "I think I fancy you Scorpius." What followed was not a dramatic proclamation of undying love and affection, nor a heated snog session on the couch, but rather two best friends quietly talking about this new discovery. Because really, to her that's what it was. Another part of life that she had yet to explore and analyse, and she couldn't think of anyone else she'd rather discover it with.
The meet-the-parents bit was understated too. A simple introduction on the platform as they readied themselves to go home for Christmas. It was without formality, nor was there any big blow up by either father. In fact, if anyone had been watching, they would have had no idea that these two families were meeting for the first time in over twenty years.
She supposed there was that one cliché they fulfilled – they fell deeply and madly in love at only sixteen, never breaking up or even thinking about loving another. That was a sudden discovery, out by the lake in early October of their sixth year. They had just been laying quietly side by side, watching the sunset, when suddenly it came crashing over her, just what this boy next to her meant in her life. As the shock hit, she sat up suddenly, gasping for air, and when questioned, she turned to him with an almost wild look in her eyes and cried "I love you!" She guessed that was where the cliché ended though. She found herself suddenly being carried by a pair of strong arms and dumped unceremoniously in the lake. She eventually resurfaced to see her boyfriend laughing hysterically at her, and when he finally caught his breath, all he said as he wrapped her in his dry robes was "took you long enough."
They were engaged straight out of school – she realised that was probably a cliché as well. Both sets of parents had too, but they had just finished a war and were still learning that they didn't have to live day-by-day, that they could actually plan weeks, months, even days into the future. She and Scorpius had never had that worry, they had grown up in undisputed peace. But still, what was the point in waiting? They knew what they wanted, and neither of them was one to let go of their dreams.
But really, she mused as she looked down at the tiny baby with strawberry-blonde hair that had just been placed in her arms, it didn't matter if they were made of clichés or not. All she knew was that the past eighteen years were the best of her life, and the only thing she would tell her eleven-year-old self as she stepped onto the train would be to give that Malfoy kid a chance from the beginning, because an extra few weeks never hurt anyone. Ok, maybe it was a little cliché – girl meets boy, girl decides to hate boy, but they end up best friends within weeks. Girl falls in love with boy, they marry, have three children and live happily ever after. But she wouldn't have it any other way.
A/N. So, I've read a bunch of fics that portray Rose and Scorpius as the next James and Lily - she hates his guts for years then suddenly falls in love. And I like those fics, but somehow the Rose and Scorpius in my head turned into something a bit different to all those portrayals. I hope you like this version of them as much as I do. Please review and let me know what you think, and as always if you want a specific event/character/paring etc in an upcoming chapter, let me know. I've also started posting my timeline for post-battle of Hogwarts, so if there's something there you want extrapolated on, let me know. Thanks for reading! NG.