A/N: So i said i wouldn't be able to stay away from fanfic very long since finishing Black's Brother, and here i am, back with something new! honestly, this is really new for me. the marauders era has been my comfort-zone for fanfic writing for years, but now i'm moving away from that and trying out the future generation...woo!

Now, this story has a little bit of a twist, not sure how much this idea has been explored previously, but, Rose Weasley is a SQUIB. *shocked gasp*. i know, i know. how could a daughter of Hermione possibly be magic-less... but yeah. she is. and this story will be based a lot around how she copes with life and being so different from everyone she knows and loves and care for her. so hopefully you'll give this story a go and see where i'm going with all this! i have a few ideas up my sleeve that i hope you might like in the future, but the plot isn't yet concrete or anything, and i'm having new ideas everyday.

I've actually already written a couple of chapters, but i didn't want to post immediately and then find that the story goes nowhere. But i'll probably be a rubbish updater as i'm busy as hell most of the time, so being a few chapters ahead usually works well so i can update even if i havent had time to write.

anyway. i've rambled enough, now i'd love it if you'd go ahead and read the chapter, and then if you're feeling generous, drop me a review and tell me how the very first chapter sounded to you!

Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once in this story, as it got a bit tiring writing the same thing every chapter with Black's Brother... so here it is. I do not own any of Harry Potter. I don't have any OCs (yet...?) that i can claim to be my own, so everything i write about is purely the property of the (wonderful, godlike) JK Rowling. Cheeeeeeeeers.

Chapter One

Rose Weasley brushed away a stray red curl as she met her own stare in the mirror, fastening the top button of her shirt and tightening her tie. Somewhat satisfied, she stepped back from the hallway mirror and grabbed her coat and school bag from the peg.

"Goodbye mum, bye dad." she called, not waiting for a reply before she shut the large oak door behind her. Her feet left a path across the green grass that was still heavy with dew, as she crossed the front garden to take her bike from against the tree. Grasping the handlebars she wheeled it out of the gates, before swinging her leg over and beginning to pedal. This was her favourite part of the day, she'd decided years ago, cycling the same journey into the nearest town to the local muggle comprehensive. Year eleven, she thought wistfully. Her fifth year in the rotten place.

The narrow country lane that passed by the Weasley family farmhouse reached a junction, and Rose took the road to the right directing her into town. She pushed herself now as she did every day, peddling at a speed to almost match the cars whizzing past along the A-road. The sun was low in the sky obscured by morning mist, and the air was chill. For a second Rose allowed herself to imagine she was flying through the sky on a broomstick, her hair streaming out behind, eyes watering from the sheer speed and excitement, the way she'd once heard her father describe to her younger brother Hugo.

"Imagine it Hugo. It was the first match of season, the sky was grey and the rain had begun to pour down. You have never experienced bad weather until you've felt it from the sky - felt the rain soak through your robes, painfully cold, making your hair stick to your face; the wind whip around you, tugging at your clothes and threatening to knock you off your broomstick. All below us the sea of Gryffindors, Slytherins, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were shouting and cheering our names over the howling of the wind and thunder of the rain."

Hugo's little hands were clenched tightly around the edges of the blanket listening to his father's thrilling bedtime story. This was the last one he'd ever hear before he arrived at Hogwarts and experienced it all for himself.

"The match was almost over, and the scores were tied: Gryffindor 120, Slytherin 120. But no one on either team would settle for a tie. I waited by the goalposts, watching the Quaffle fly from Slytherin to Slytherin, to be intercepted by a Gryffindor, to be violently reclaimed by a Slytherin, hurtling towards me..."

From the bedroom door Rose heard Hugo's breath catch in his throat; he was caught up in the excitement of the match like he was right there beside his father hovering next to the goalposts.

"Of course the pouring rain was making it terribly difficult to see, but the Slytherin Chaser approached and I watched his arm pull back and launch the Quaffle towards the ring to my left and I shot to one side, thrusting out my hands and saving it with the very tips of my gloves!" Ron Weasley ended the story in a whisper, grinning at his son who stared back in amazement and pride.

Bidding goodnight with a smile, he tucked the covers around his son and switched off the light, knowing there was no way Hugo would be able to sleep tonight with the excitement of what tomorrow would bring. When he caught sight of his daughter lingering in the shadows outside the door, he couldn't help the shadow of guilt that crossed his face before he hastily replaced it with a smile.

Rose snapped out of her daydream. She wasn't on a broom. She wasn't a witch. And she didn't attend Hogwarts School For Witchcraft and Wizardry. No amount of guilt or sympathy on her parents part could make up for that. There was nothing anyone could do about it, Rose Weasley - the only daughter of the famous Ron and Hermione Weasley - was a Squib. A Squib. Magic-less. Two-thirds of the Golden Trio had produced an anomaly, a freak.

Rose had often pondered the question whether she'd have just been better off born a muggle, and knowing nothing of the Wizarding World. As a Squib, she she knew the Wizarding World like it was her own, yet it could never be hers and she'd never belong. A world without that knowledge would be a world without pain. She could have grown up a normal muggle girl, gone to school, made lots of friends, not cared much about school work because she'd know she had nothing to prove to anyone and nothing to make up for. She might even have got the odd detention – maybe she'd be one of the loud and confident ones, who answers the teachers back. Or maybe she'd wear lots of makeup and jewellery and nail varnish with her school uniform, despite being told every day by every teacher who passed her way to remove it. She could've turned out as one of the popular girls, the beautiful ones with all the attention from the boys, who held parties at their houses and were driven to school by pretty mums in nice cars.

But Rose never pondered this question for long, because deep down she knew the answer. She couldn't live without magic. She may not be able to do magic herself, but the Wizarding World was to her, simply wonderful. She spent hours simply dreaming of lifting up a wand and being able to pick any spell from the depths of her mind and upon uttering it and waving her wand, be able to do anything. She'd seen her mother point her wand towards the dishes after dinner and set them about washing themselves. She'd seen her father red-faced, de-gnoming the garden by blasting the little things into oblivion and throwing them as far from the garden as he could. And when Hugo was home from Hogwarts for the holidays, she hung on his every word as he told her stories of lessons stirring cauldrons of pungent potions, transfiguring household items into small animals, peering into crystal balls, or getting into 'near-death' situations with all manner of magical creatures.

The Wizarding World truly was Rose's idea of heaven; of utopia. It was – literally – magical. Most days she could manage her feelings of isolation and alienation, and the pain of being so unbearably different, because she told herself she was thankful that she at least knew this world existed, and could experience it in her own detached way.

Because of this, her happiest times were in the school holidays. Not only was her brother home from Hogwarts, but all her cousins too. Her aunts and uncles and grandparents and numerous cousins visited regularly – her parents loved to have a houseful. Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny visited lots during both term time and the holidays, as did Granny Molly and Grandpa Arthur, Uncle George and Auntie Angelina and their daughter Roxanne who works in Weasley Wizard Wheezes, the family shop George and his late twin brother Fred set up while they were still in Hogwarts.

Fred died during the Battle of Hogwarts when her parents were just eighteen, and that was why Roxanne's brother was named Fred in his memory.

Oh the Battle of Hogwarts was a thrilling tale Rose often begged to hear, when she was as young as three, right through to now as a fifteen year old. Sometimes she forgot that it was all true, and got caught up in the suspense and drama and the emotion and the tragedy and all the fighting and battle... and then when she remembered that it all really happened, it made her breathless. To think her father, mother, and Uncle Harry, and all the rest of the family had gone through all of that... to think they fought the most dangerous dark wizard in history, defeated him, and survived to tell the tale to their children, all cozy in front of the fire or tucked up in bed for a bedtime story! It really was amazing. Rose could never imagine giving up all that. Being part of such a wonderful family with such a noble and exciting history – even though she knew she would never be the same, and could never experience anything like it – just being a part of it was enough to keep her clinging on to the Wizarding World with all she had.

Nowadays her favourite cousin was Albus Potter. She could barely even call him a favourite when she loved every single one of her cousins alike, but Rose almost felt like he was different from the others, a little like her maybe. He was quiet and studious like she was, and he seemed to understand her. Many of her cousins felt awkward around her, sometimes unsure what to say, sometimes hesitant to mention magic or Hogwarts in case it might upset her. And honestly, for a little while it did, in the beginning when she was first left behind while the other cousins her age went off for their first year at Hogwarts... But Albus was different to the others. He never hesitated to mention Hogwarts, he didn't try to hide his wand, and he wasn't afraid to ask Rose how she really felt. Albus was sensitive and he was kind.

By the end of Albus' first year, he and Rose had a wonderful friendship that hadn't been nearly as strong before it was discovered Rose was a Squib, and Albus had joined Hogwarts. They wrote letters all through term-time, and when Albus returned home for holidays, he brought books loaned from Hogwarts Library, textbooks on his various lessons, and the odd magically moving photograph for Rose to pore over. Albus – along with her own brother Hugo – were Rose's best connections to Hogwarts.

Sometimes Rose thought that maybe somewhere inside, Albus really was different from the rest of her cousins, because he was the only one of all of them to be Sorted into Slytherin. At first he was devastated. He had always worried he might be Sorted into Slytherin, the House that was renowned to be full of pure-blood-maniacs and dark wizards in the making. But as his father reminded him, he was Albus Severus Potter. One of the wizards he was named after was in fact a Slytherin, and he was a very great wizard. He was a hero. It didn't take long for Albus to settle into Slytherin, and in his letters to Rose and home to his family, he explained that it actually wasn't that bad. He even joked with Rose that the emerald Slytherin colours complimented his green eyes much better than the scarlet red of Gryffindor. Well secretly Rose thought she'd much rather be in Gryffindor, but she never said that to Albus. She'd read 'Hogwarts: A History' countless times, and Gryffindor Tower sounded like a much more pleasant place than the Slytherin dungeons. Plus she would much rather be assumed to be brave than to be evil – as the house stereotypes tended to be.

Rose stopped peddling, and let the bike wheel her down the little road into school. All around her car doors opened and school-kids got out, teenagers on bikes and scooters thronged through the gates, and over by the doors teachers stood, watching the students piling into the building. She climbed off and pushed her bike the last way to the bike sheds, feeling her spirits dampen. Another day at school. Another day doing same old Chemistry, same old maths, same old geography... same old, same old. Muggle school was boring. Not one of the lessons was exciting or interesting, not one had elements of fear or danger. Not one allowed you to do anything remotely magical, and that – to Rose – made each and every lesson completely pointless.

Rose locked the padlock on her bike and let herself drift with the crowd into the building. Whether she wanted to be here or not, this was where she was, and she had to make the most of the pointless education she was getting. Someday she would have to get a muggle job in the muggle world, and earn muggle money. She couldn't live off her parents forever, and she couldn't keep dreaming of being something she's not. And, Rose decided, she could do it. If this is what she was – as good as a muggle in most respects – then she was going to do it, and do it well. She would pass her GCSEs with flying colours at the end of this year, and then she would go to college, and once again do very well. She might even go to University after that and really excel. Rose was determined to show the world that despite what she was, she wasn't a complete failure.

A/N: So that was the first introduction into Rose's life as a squib. sounds tough huh. it'll get better i promise, good things are in store for Rose!

For anyone who read my other story Black's Brother, my main character was called Roe, and i keep finding myself writing Roe instead of Rose, and it's quite weird. something to get used to, i suppose. I've also switched to writing in 3rd rather than 1st person... fancied a change, no particular reason for it.

Next chapter will introduce you all to Scorpius and Albus. They are two of the other main characters in this fic, i'm already learning to love both of them very much!

I'd love love love some reviews on my very first chapter, let me know what you think pretty please!

-DaizeeG