A/N: So here it is, Scorpius and Rose's complicated history in a series of one-shots. They will be in both POVs, and if you haven't read A Scorpius' Sting, some of it might not make much sense... hint, hint. ;) Anyway, enjoy!

Scorpius

First Year, First Term

Five days into my first year and it was official. People in Hogwarts hated me. I didn't quite know what happened... one minute, I was talking and laughing on the train with two people who just might have been my friends, and the next minute I had sat on a stool in front of an unfriendly audience, had a hat jammed on my head, and all of a sudden everyone was treating me like a pariah. The worst part was, I knew this would happen. I had been prepared for it when I got on the train, and then Rose and Albus had come along and been all nice, and I had forgotten. I had forgotten that people would whisper, and that everyone would skirt around me in the corridors as though I was a bad smell.

So that made it all the worse when they did. It was really nasty, a lot of the stuff. They started subtly, whispering, sniggering. Then it became 'accidentally' tripping me up on the way to class. The Gryffindor fourth years threw puking pastilles at me as I passed.

It was a blessing in a curse that I was put into Slytherin. Whereas the rest of the school hated me, all the Slytherins treated me civilly, while some even treated me with some sort of reverence. They almost looked up to me because of my family's sordid past, in a sick way. It was almost as bad as the bullying, but at least they would smile.

I dashed into Herbology a few minutes late – some fifth year Ravenclaws had 'mislaid' my map – and was dismayed to find that the rest of the class had filed in without me. They were in the process of taking seats, and as it was Slytherins and Gryffindors, I sighed and dragged my feet towards the back desk. It was two a desk, and Sarah Pucey and Sophie Avery would always sit together, and so would Celestica Montague and Rowan Flint, Ferdinand Goyle and Dashell Nott.

That just left me. Me and the Gryffindors. And there was no way in hell any of them would sit with me.

Or so I thought.

There was someone waving enthusiastically at me. A ginger, freckle-nosed, wide-smiled, pretty, Gryffindor someone. Rose Weasley.

I checked behind me to make sure she was really waving at me. She was.

"Scorpius!" she called, gesturing frantically to the empty seat at her side. I blinked stupidly, but the mirage of a friendly face didn't vanish. She was still beckoning me over.

"Oi, mate, are you coming over here or what?" I spotted Albus, sitting behind Rose with a sandy-haired boy I didn't know. I decided that they actually must have been speaking to me, so, ignoring the astonished gazes of the Slytherins burning a hole in my back, I sidled over to Rose and dropped my books onto the vacant space at the table.

"Hi, Scorpius!" Rose greeted me cheerily, as if I had made her day by coming to sit beside her. "This is Kian Finnigan, I don't know if you've met him. Aren't you excited about taking Herbology?"

Truthfully, I wasn't excited about anything, but Rose's enthusiasm was contagious. I grinned at her, and replied, "It will be fun."

"We have to sit together for the whole year, okay?" she said, almost glaring at me in her attempt to be commanding. I nodded.

"Okay, that's fine." It was a bit more than fine. At least I had somewhere to sit for one of my lessons.

"Do you have Defence Against The Dark Arts with us?" she asked brightly, checking her own timetable. "Ooh, good, yes, you do! And..."

"Rosie, jeez, let him breathe," Albus laughed, and Rose turned scarlet, shutting up instantly. I felt bad. Poor Rose was only trying to be nice, and I really was appreciating the eagerness to be my friend. It was a rare thing.

"It's okay," I whispered to her. "Ignore him." She raised her eyes to meet mine and smiled widely. She really was very pretty when she smiled.

"So, Scor..." Albus dragged out my name, and I was secretly thrilled that he'd nicknamed me already. "Tell me... are you gonna try out for Quidditch?"

"Hell yeah," I responded, twisting round in my seat to grin at him. "I can't wait!"

"Seeker?" Kian guessed. I nodded.

"You're trying out for Chaser, right?" He looked the right build. He nodded eagerly. "And you're going for Seeker, too?" I asked Albus. Albus grinned.

"That's right, Scor... and I'm gonna thrash you in our first match. Slytherin is going down!"

"Whatever, Al. I could fly circles around you!" I scoffed.

"Ooh, fighting talk!" he razzed me, and we both burst out laughing. "I dunno if I could be as good as Teddy though," he allowed, ducking his head.

"Are you joking? You're a Potter! Quidditch is in your blood!" Kian told him, clapping him on the back. Albus grinned cheerfully.

"Yup, I s'pose."

I turned to Rose, suddenly becoming aware that she might be feeling ignored.

"What about you, Rose? Are you gonna try out?"

She stared at me for a few seconds with wide, deep blue eyes, not answering my question. Then she slowly shook her head.

"No," she sighed. "I'm no good at Quidditch. I inherited my mother's gene."

"Aw. Well, what are you good at?"

"Reading, pretty much," she admitted, looking embarrassed.

"What are you reading at the moment?" I asked, interested. I liked reading, too.

"Um... it's a muggle book... Lord of the Rings?" she seemed to be asking for my approval, but I didn't hesitate to give it to her. I loved that book.

"Which book are you on?" I asked, leaning forwards again to show I genuinely wanted to be a part of the conversation.

"The Fellowship Of The Ring..." she said slowly, and then her eyes hardened slightly. "But I only just started."

Instantly, a piece of her character clicked into place. She was competitive.

"That's cool," I replied, deciding not to inform her that I had read the trilogy already. "Have you read The Hobbit?"

Her eyes lit up, and I knew I had made the right move. "Yes, I loved it! It had so much adventure, and it's so clever because..."

But why it was so clever I had no idea, because at that point, the gangly professor entered the greenhouse, spotting Rose and winking at her.

"Good morning, ladies and gents. I'm Professor Longbottom, and I'm..."

"The guy who cut the head off You-Know-Who's snake!" one of the Gryffindors bellowed, and a cacophony of shouting followed. He held his hands up for quiet, laughing.

"Yes, yes, but apart from that, I'm your Herbology teacher."

As we settled down into our Herbology lesson, I found it very easy to talk to Rose. I just had to avoid making anything a competition. We laughed and chatted constantly as we worked.

By the end of the lesson, I had made my first friend.