Chapter One
Rose Weasley didn't turn out to be what everyone expected, that much was pretty obvious.
Mind you, she wasn't a bad egg. She just wasn't perfect. And everyone in the Wizarding World expected her to be perfect.
It just made sense. After all, not only she was the daughter of two thirds of the Golden Trio, but she was also the daughter of Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her time, the first woman to ever be promoted to Head of the International Cooperation Department.
Rose at the very least should have been able to measure up to her mother, one way or another. It was genetically impossible for her not to be at least a smart cookie. Or a funny one. Or.. whatever that vaguely resembled her parents.
It all started out pretty great, actually. As a kid, she did appear to be the child prodigy she was supposed to be: she could conjugate verbs at three years old, she learned to write at barely four, she insisted on reading by herself instead of having her mother read out loud for her. Basically, the dream child. She even won a National contest for fastest mental arithmetic, kids edition.
She was polite, well-mannered and -quoting the article 'The New Generation' by Jane Roth, released by the Daily Prophet on August, 2009- possibly the cutest child throughout all Britain. As Hermione herself had stated behind close doors, that was hardly true but as Ron had reminded her, the Prophet could have done way worse than compliment their daughter,if it had wanted to. So they had both let it slide, quite happily, actually. It wasn't that bad to have such a precious and likeable daughter.
Rose, with her wide blue eyes, her reddish brown hair and her puffy rosy cheeks, made everyone around her instantly happier. It was like she was made to make the world better. Just like her parents and relatives did before her.
She fit right into that flawlessly pretty family picture the rest of the world had drawn for her.
Things changed when she turned ten.
To everyone around her, it seemed gradual, they just passively stood by as they watched her slowly losing interest in her passion for books, singing, and pretty much every thing they knew she'd always liked.
She also started to behave less and less like herself. What once had a conscientious, witty, active, jovial young girl, was now a careless, lazy, short-tempered, undisciplined one.
By the age of eleven, the Prophet had already abruptly changed its mind and had made sure the rest of Britain did too. It took two more years for everybody to get used to her not-so-new-anymore self. At some point even the press stopped caring enough to write about it.
It was safe to say that now, at seventeen, one whole year from Graduation, Rose was living her best life.
Well, not in the specific moment our story starts, but, you know, it hadn't been the worst year either. So far.
"Take a seat, Miss Weasley". McGonagall said from across the table, sliding a little bowl full of large biscuits closer to where she stood. Rose instantly grabbed one and stuffed her mouth with it.
McGonagall didn't seem to appreciate the gesture.
Rose gulped. It was serious, she could feel it in her bones. If stares could kill she would've drop dead the moment she entered the Headmistress' office.
She obeyed.
"So..." McGonagall started, not even bothering to look her in the eyes, flipping instead through what seemed like some sort of journal. "Do you have the slightest idea why I called you here today?"
She knew exactly why she was there.
She cleared her throat and rapily wet her lips.
"No, Professor, I don't." She answered, too ashamed of her knowing just how stupid she was. She never meant to take it this far. Time was a bitch.
McGonagall wasn't really hard to read, she had her disappointment written all over her face.
"So, you're telling me that you have absolutely no clue why I could possibly have called you in my office a few months from your N.E.W.T.s in your current, no offence, despicable situation?" She insisted, leaving Rose very little room for excuses.
The girl sighed.
"Well, now that I think about it.. I do think that I could know why I'm here..". She bit her lips.
McGonagall frowned briefly. Rose wandered whether she was unsure about what words to choose or unsure about what Stunner to pick.
"And what do you think, when you think about it, could be the reason your referring to, Miss Weasley?". She shifted in her chair and slightly laid back.
"I-I.. -Rose stuttered- may have come across a few issues this year.." she started, but had no time to even formulate her thoughts before being interrupted by the Headmistress.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Rose! It's not even Christmas and you, young lady, are already failing most of your classes. What has gotten into you? Have you lost your mind? Wasn't last year enough? I-I.. don't know what to say to you anymore! Do you even care about graduating at all?"
Rose stilled. To have the Prophet blattering about her being a failure was one thing, having McGonagall shouting it at her face was another entirely.
She didn't know what to say. She knew it was bad. She didn't think it was that bad already. It was just a couple of months since school started, she still had plenty of time to sort things out. Hadn't she?
It was fair, though. She had gotten a T in Divination that very morning. She was never at the top of her classes, but that was her first T nonetheless.
"I'm sorry" she managed to say feebly, gazing down to her feet. This was too embarrassing to be handled with dignity.
"You don't have to apologise to me. You have to take this year seriously. Your future is at stake. Depending on your knowledge, skills and yes, even on your grades, are job opportunities and, really, your whole career from now on. You can't afford last year's grades, Miss Weasley."
She sighed, took off her glasses and started rubbing her forehead.
Rose almost choked. She had never seen McGonagall so sincere and dejected.
"You have to grow up. Believe it or not, Hogwarts has always cared about its students, and, I know this is totally inappropriate, but I do care about you and about your future, Rose. Don't do this to yourself. Whatever reason you have for your behaviours, in a year or two you're going to regret not taking this seriously."
Rose nodded. She knew McGonagall was right. She only meant for a couple of tests to go wrong, not to fail almost all of her classes. She had to get back to it and right her wrongs.
I light knock on the door broke the frankly embarrassing silence that hanged over them.
"Come in!" yelled McGonagall, putting her glasses back on her nose and sitting up straight on her chair.
That was the moment Rose began to think that all of that might actually have been all a terrible nightmare.
Standing up a couple of steps from the door, was her detention. One she knew reasonably well.
Scorpius Malfoy entered the room, moving right next to her.
"You wanted to see me, Professor?" he asked, politely and pleasantly enough to make Rose sick.
What was worse, is that she knew exactly what his presence meant. McGonagall was going to punish her by making her spend another whole day with that obnoxious excuse for a human being, pretending that was going to somehow fix all her problems. And, when she would eventually pass her tests he was going to take credit for it 'cause for a couple of stupid hours his perfect, magnificent, golden boy ass had granted her a couple of stupid words on a couple of stupid subjects.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, please take a seat." McGonagall answered.
Scorpius seated beside her.
"Would you like some biscuits?" offered McGonagall, moving her bowl of biscuits in front of him.
"Oh, no, Professor, I'm good, but thank you very much" he declined, smiling broadly.
Why did he always have to be a stuck-up jerk? Why did he feel the need to make everyone around him look stupid and gross for accepting those damned biscuits?
McGonagall returned a skight smile.
"I called you here, because it has come to my knowledge that you were looking for extra credits and applied for the Tutor Program, am I right?"
How the hell was he able to keep up with all of the stuff he had to do?
Merlin, she didn't even have half of it and she felt exhausted at the thought of putting actual effort in any of that.
And, for God's sake, could anyone tell her what did he need extra credits for? He was already at the top of every class they shered (which, unfortunately, was almost all of them), he was in the Slytherin Quidditch team, and he was also Head Boy.
What was he aiming for? Being Minister for Magic at twenty years old?
She already felt bad about the whole situation, but now that he was there, radiant, looking like some shitty, aristocratic version of superman ready to save the day, she felt downright awful.
"Yes, Professor, I did apply" he answered. Boy, he was pleased with himself.
"Good -McGonagall started- I have to be honest with you, at first I wasn't planning on accepting you in the Program since, you have to admit, Mr Malfoy, you sure know how to keep yourself busy. Buy..." she looked over Rose almost sympatheticly. He followed her gaze.
Rose spent a good minute fighting herself to keep her fists from his precious, porcelain face.
"Miss Weasley needs your help with the utmost urgency. It would be wonderful if you could help her through this year"
Rose froze on the spot.
No. No. No. No. No. No.
Absolutely not.
That was not going to happen.
It was bad enough one day, but one year? Nope. Not bearable. Not for her.
"There's no need for Malfoy to waste his time on me, Professor. I-I absolutely agree that my behaviour wasn't the best and it really wasn't my smartest idea. But I'm going to fix it!" She said, speaking for the first time since Scorpius had entered the room.
McGonagall frowned, surprised by her outburst.
"Please" she muffled, in addition.
Scorpius didn't look at her, but with the corner of her eye, she could see a tiny, practically unpercievable smirk.
'Merlin, help me find the strength' she thought, clenching her fists again.
He was finding her miserable. She bet he thought that mess was funny, didn't he? Watching her begging like that.
But it was worth it, last time had been a nightmare. She was perfectly capable of ruining her life herself, she didn't need Scorpius Malfoy to make it worse.
She didn't mind people talking about her, she was used to it. But the way people talked about her the weeks following the day he tutored her, was different. That shit hurt. Plus, he was insufferable.
"That's what I said, Miss Weasley. You are indeed going to fix it, and to do it, you need help." She said calmly.
Rose was desperate.
"I can do it on my own!" She argued.
"Really? Then why didn't you do it sooner?" McGonagall didn't seem angry, but her voice betrayed a hint of bitterness.
'Because I didn't want to' was the only truth she had. But, of course, she couldn't really say that, could she?
She remained silent.
At her side, Scorpius wasn't moving at all. Was he uncomfortable? Was he human enough to be uncomfortable?
"That settles it, then. Mr. Malfoy, if you would be so kind to come back tomorrow morning I will explain to you how our tutoring program works, so you two can start as soon as possible." said McGonagall, turning towards Scorpius.
"Of course, Professor" he answered.
"Good, now you can both go back to your classes, have a good day" McGonagall dismissed them.
They stood up at the same time. Rose felt close to fainting.
She turned, catching his glance.
Right there, looking through those piercing silvery eyes, she knew immediately that year was going to be an absolute living hell.
A/N: Hello everybody! Welcome to my first story ever on this website!
Little disclaimer: I'm Italian and English is not my first language, so if you were to come across any mistakes, feel free to correct me. There's always something new to learn. I did reread this like a billion times before posting it, but something could have slipped anyways.
That being said, I would appreciate it if you let me know what you think about it!
Thank you for making time to read this, see you hopefully next time! (By which I mean probably in a week or so)
XOXO