A/N: This is something that's going to be short and sweet. I've been wanting to read a story about how Rose and Scorpius bring their relationship to their families, and the events that follow when the families try to interact. Sadly, I just couldn't find one, so I decided to write one instead. This chapter is something of a prologue, and I won't spend much time on Rose and Scorpius coming together - the bulk of this story will be the humorous clashing of the Weasley and Malfoy family.

If any of you know a story that's something like what I said, please give me in the info for it in your review so that I can check it out!

Enjoy!

~Maya

Time Bomb

Chapter 1

Family was something of which Rose Weasley had never been unfortunate enough to know the absence. Never once had she experienced the feeling of being alone; she'd spent every minute since her birth in the company of a close family member or friend. For Rose, the constant presence of loved ones was not something to notice. Put simply, it was routine, and she'd grown quite accustomed to the comfort. Once in a while, she'd appreciate her huge family when she truly needed them (every teenager did have her fair share of angst, after all), but her need was never anything intense. Overall, her life as a teenager had been very easily happy, normal, and uneventful. But that all changed the day she bumped into Scorpius Malfoy—and dropped every single book she was carrying.

"Oh, Merlin, I'm sorry!" Rose cried, dropping instantly to her knees to grab the books as quickly as she could. "I really don't know why I don't keep them in my bag. Everyone says I should, but for some reason I just carry them with me everywhere. I'm always going to classes—I've got the busiest schedule, you should really see it, bloody hell, Double Charms, Double Potions, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Transfigur—oh, but that's not important! I'm so sorry I bumped into you like that!"

As she'd spluttered her apologies in the most flustered manner a boy like Scorpius Malfoy had ever seen, she'd been unaware that he had gathered all her books and was now standing with the heavy stack in his extended arms.

"Here you go," he said unperturbedly. To Rose, he appeared to be the coolest thing there was; it wasn't often that someone ran head-on into a Rose-rant and kept his calm. In truth, however, Scorpius hadn't the slightest idea how to react to such brazen behavior, and his only solution was to act as he would act to any other dull incident.

With a sheepish laugh, Rose turned a color that was only just lighter than her hair. "I'm sorry," she said again, looking him in the eyes this time. For a moment, she forgot just what she was saying. His eyes were so gray, so piercing. "I really should put them in my bag."

"Well, would you like to hold your bag open so I can dump them in?" Scorpius suggested.

"Er…that-that's all right," she said, smiling. "I'm kind of late for class, so I'll just take them and get on my way. I'll put them, er, in my bag later." Again, she smiled awkwardly but warmly at him before taking the mountain of books from his arms with a 'hmphf' and continuing quickly on past him.

Almost unconsciously, Scorpius turned and watched her go, her full, red curls bouncing. The whole concept that he had just had a conversation with Rose Weasley and he had been casual was a thought that apparently existed somewhere outside his brain, for if it was something he had been consciously processing, he'd surely turn into some sort of crazy jelly animal.

Scorpius Malfoy never spoke to the Potters or the Weasleys. His name had given him a reputation that, even after six years at Hogwarts, he simply could not seem to shake.

During Scorpius's first year, he'd realized exactly what his father's warning words had meant— "Just be careful, Scorpius, right? Don't let them get to you, because they will try." And try they did.

In an almost revolutionary manner, his classmates had taken it upon themselves to make this Malfoy boy's life miserable in the name of anti-Dark Arts. Though he had, every so often, seen someone mistreat his father, Scorpius had never been on the receiving end of that sort of prejudicial torment, and it hurt. It hurt far more than the bruises he'd sustained or the minor scars he'd acquired from the number of hexes people had thrown at him. It hurt because he was not what they said he was.

Eventually, Scorpius learned to accept the hand he'd been dealt and make the most of it; he studied hard, kept out of the way of the particularly rowdy bullies, and learned how not to defend himself. He also learned to take various precautions based on predictions he made. He went for meals during the busiest hour or not at all; people generally didn't notice him when students teemed the halls. Studying was for his bed or the darkest corner of the library because any other place always contained a small group of bored students—his worst nightmare. Owls to his parents needed to be saved for before sunrise or after curfew so that nobody would harass him for keeping his "Death Eater family" updated about his "latest Dark Arts achievements." And above all, Scorpius made sure to avoid the war hero families.

This precaution was not based on any particular experience, only on his father's grim warning. Nobody could wholly believe and hate his Death Eater reputation more than a group of Gryffindors who were children of the most famous war heroes. So he went wildly out of his way to avoid them. Until now.

Granted, it had been her fault, not his, that they had interacted, but he seriously doubted that the famous family would see it that way. Cringing, Scorpius thought about how much his struggles would now increase because of that fateful incident, and cursed himself for walking directly in the redhead's path.

He glanced at his watch; he was going to be late for class, and the jeers and stupid Death Eater comments would never stop if he showed up for class late. Trying to shake the memory of Rose Weasley's disconcerted babbling, Scorpius rushed off.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Please leave me your feedback! It'll give me a reason to continue. If you have any ideas for what you'd like to see when the Malfoys and Weasleys collide, please let me know. I'd love to see how I can incorporate what you want into what I write!

~Maya