There's a fine line between love and hate...

Summary: Everyone knows that Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley hate each other. They really, really hate each other.

Author's Note: I know that there are many Scorpius and Rose stories out there that start off with them hating each other and then progress into something more. I just couldn't help putting my own spin on that theme. Hopefully it's something different. This is my first fanfiction story...I have had many ideas floating around in my imagination but have never actually been motivated enough to put pen to paper (or fingers to keys, whatever the case may be). I was bored and procrastinating one day when I stumbled across Rose/Scorpius fanfiction and I just cannot get them out of my head.For some reason, these two just won't leave me alone.

I really hope that you enjoy! I'm planning on posting a new chapter every week, probably on Fridays, but if I end up getting them written faster, I'll update more quickly. If there isn't much interest, I probably won't keep going past the first few chapters but here's hoping! Please review with constructive criticism, I'd appreciate knowing what you think! And without further ado, here is...

A Fine Line

Prologue:

The sounds of brutally dueling wizards brought more and more students running towards the third floor corridor that had once been home to Fluffy, the three-headed dog. Excited cries and nervous whispers gradually increased in volume, providing a rumbling backdrop to the fierce battle being waged before the gathering audience. Members of every house hurriedly began laying bets on which combatant would come out on top this time and how quickly the fight would be broken up. Half of the rapidly growing crowd cheered as Rose Weasley was catapulted backwards, her shoulders hitting the wall with a sickening thud and then groaned as she quickly jumped back onto her feet, causing the other half of the spectators to call out in support. She raised her wand, firing spells at her opponent while simultaneously charging him, having tired of the physical distance that dueling allowed. Scorpius Malfoy lowered his wand as she reached him, bracing himself for impact, and used her momentum to spin her body around and pin her to the wall. He relished the feeling as he overpowered her, enjoying the legendary Weasley temper that always resulted in her need to challenge him physically despite the fact that he towered over her five foot seven frame by nearly eight inches.

Rose gasped as Scorpius's hand closed around her throat, his fingers tightening until she found it difficult to draw breath. Gathering her wits, she brought her elbow up and around his arm, breaking his hold through one of the self-defense moves that her muggle-born mother had insisted she learn. (Of course the naturally rule-abiding Hermione Granger-Weasley had most likely never envisioned this particular situation when she ensured that her daughter would be able to defend herself should a moment arise when she could not count on magic to protect her). Twisting her body sideways, Rose brought her elbow back, jabbing it upwards and smirking wickedly when she felt the crunch of bone as it came into contact with Scorpius's nose.

As Scorpius stumbled back in pain, Rose landed a solid kick to the side of his knee, dropping his much larger body to the ground at her feet. The sound of their audience had long since faded for her, becoming a distant hum that could do nothing to distract her from her focus which, at the moment, was fixated on the boy currently sweeping his leg towards her feet in an attempt to bring her down with him. Despite her best efforts, Rose was unable to avoid his impressive reflexes and found herself tumbling down on top of him. He caught her as she fell, wrenching her beneath him and pinning her arms above her head while attempting to position his legs between hers in order to prevent her from using her knee to unman him. Rose flexed her hips upwards, ignoring the intimacy of the pose, and somehow managed to roll them so that she was staring down into the icy grey of his eyes. She pried her wrist from his grip and managed to land a jab to his stomach, taking advantage of his momentary breathlessness to struggle to her feet, grabbing her wand as she scrambled backwards and away from him.

Scorpius had also succeeded in reclaiming his wand from the floor and turned back to her just in time to deflect the dive-bombing canaries that Rose had summoned, another lesson from her mother that Hermione would be appalled to see used in these circumstances—although Rose had it on good authority from her father that he had been on the receiving end of those pointy little beaks more than once, as Hermione had been known to use the pretty yellow songbirds for more than just innocent diversions. Scorpius returned her attack with a disarming charm, which she quickly repelled. She knew that their time was running out and a small part of her mind tuned back in to her surroundings, waiting for the inevitable, while she and Scorpius carefully circled one another.

Over the shoulder of her adversary, Rose noticed the sea of students beginning to part as Headmistress Minerva McGonagall purposefully strode towards them. This was the moment Rose had been waiting for. She locked eyes with Scorpius, raising an eyebrow in challenge. His subtle nod was all the cue she needed before raising her wand and screaming,

"Sectumsempra!"

"Protego!"

"Impedimenta!"

Rose and Scorpius were both thrown backwards by McGonagall's spell, landing against the wall on opposite sides of the hallway. Their chests were heaving as they struggled for breath, their gazes locked, grey to blue. The crowd of spectators was quickly and silently dispersing in the face of the headmistress's simmering rage.

"Mr. Malfoy! Miss Weasley! My office! Now!" McGonagall screeched.

Both Rose and Scorpius winced reflexively at the sound of the cold fury in her voice, slowly getting to their feet. The headmistress stalked over to Rose and pried the wand from her fingers before doing the same to Scorpius. She did not say another word but turned on her heel and set off angrily down the hall, secure in the knowledge that she would be obeyed. Rose took a deep and somewhat shaky breath before trailing along behind the elderly yet imposing McGonagall, beside the boy she had been sworn enemies with since her first day at Hogwarts six years before.

Rose and Scorpius followed the headmistress through the third floor corridors to her office, their heads bowed and their mouths shut. The students and teachers they passed glanced at them briefly before resuming their activities as if nothing out of the ordinary had transpired. Seeing these two particular teenagers headed towards McGonagall's office, covered in bruises, their clothes tattered, and with blood dripping from scrapes and broken noses was a regular occurrence by this point in time. Most of the other occupants of the castle had learned to accept and ignore the battered pair as just another quirky aspect of living at Hogwarts. First years quickly adapted to the idea that two of their upperclassmen were known for attempting to murder each other on a regular basis and, once the shock and/or novelty had worn off, learned to ignore the evidence of yet another brawl.

McGonagall muttered the password to her office when they reached the gargoyle concealing the spiraling staircase. Rose and Scorpius ascended the moving stairs in her wake and then waited silently just inside the entrance as the headmistress moved to stand behind the solid wood of her desk. The portraits of the former headmasters of Hogwarts were whispering to one another, seemingly unsurprised by the fact that these two students once again found themselves in this situation. Albus Dumbledore lounged in his frame, somehow managing to look stern and amused at the same time, while Severus Snape sat quietly, his dark, intense gaze fixed upon Rose. She shifted uncomfortably and forced herself to look away.

McGonagall grabbed two pieces of parchment and quickly scrawled out a brief message on each before bringing them over to the large Great Horned Owl perched by the window. "They're urgent Zeus. See that the recipients open them immediately."

Once the owl had taken flight, McGonagall turned to the students who still stood with their heads bowed in front of her. "Sit down."

They sat, wincing as some of their bruises came into contact with the padded leather chairs.

"I have just sent letters to both of your parents asking them to come here straightaway. You have taken this little rivalry of yours too far. You're both of age, for Merlin's sake! You are entirely too old to not realize the consequences of your actions. Miss Weasley, are you even aware of what the last spell you attempted to use does?" she demanded.

Rose raised her eyes to the furious woman before her, doing her best to look ashamed. "I'm sorry headmistress. My father mentioned it and I thought it would be appropriate."

"Appropriate?! It could have killed him! And Mr. Malfoy! Would you care to explain why Miss Weasley has bruises around her throat?!"

Scorpius merely shrugged his shoulders, his gaze still aimed at the ground a few feet in front of McGonagall's desk.

"I have put up with your ridiculous behavior for far too long! It has become apparent that your parents have been unable to talk some sense into you and frankly…" She trailed off at the snort that came from both teenagers at her statement. "Do you find this amusing?" she growled, straightening her shoulders and raising herself up to her full height.

"No ma'am," Rose quickly answered. "It's just…our parents hate each other. Do you honestly believe that they've tried very hard to dissuade us from fighting?"

"My dad looks proud every time he hears about me winning one of our little skirmishes," Scorpius added, ignoring the sneering look of disgust that Rose aimed at him.

McGonagall sighed, shaking her head with disapproval. "Well frankly, I'm at the end of my rope. I have had it with you two and it has become clear that it will take something drastic to alter your behavior before one of you ends up dead. So here is what we are going to do. You will be serving detention every Saturday for the rest of the year and are prohibited from participating in any extra-curricular activities. And yes, this means no Quidditch for either one of you." She nodded contentedly at the involuntary gasps this statement drew from the students.

"In addition to this punishment, you are hereby placed on probation. If you even so much as think about harming one another, be it magically, physically, or psychologically, you will be expelled and out of this castle before you have the opportunity to follow through. Do I make myself clear?!"

Rose and Scorpius were staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the furious woman in front of them. They had not expected something quite this harsh but did not dare protest. Instead, they both gulped and nodded their heads in silent acquiescence.

"Good. Now get out of my office. Head down to the hospital wing and get yourselves fixed up and then get back to work. If I am not mistaken, you have NEWT level classes that you should be studying for."

McGonagall sat and picked up a quill, effectively dismissing them. "Your parents should have arrived by now. If they are outside, please send them in."

They descended the stairs to find both sets of parents in the hallway, their fathers glaring at one another. Draco Malfoy cut an imposing figure in crisp black robes, a stark contrast to his pale blonde hair and even paler skin. Beside him was his wife, Astoria, her hair pulled back into a severe bun and her pointed nose raised in the air. Ron Weasley stood across from them, one hand on the small of his wife's back, the other resting on the wand in his pocket. Hermione was the only one of the four to turn when their children emerged from the headmistress's office, shaking her head resignedly at the injuries she saw.

"Oh, Rose," Hermione sighed. "Aren't you two getting a bit too old for this kind of thing?"

"McGonagall said to go on up," Rose told her, pointedly ignoring her mother's question and causing the other three adults to break their staring contest and glance over.

Draco and Ron were making no effort to hide the fact that they were assessing the injuries of the other's child in an attempt to determine the winner of the day's confrontation, each looking satisfied with the damage their respective progeny had inflicted. Astoria looked on in disapproval, concern flickering across her countenance as she took notice of the blood coating the front of her son's robes and the crooked set of his nose.

Finally Ron spoke up, "Come on 'Mione, let's go see what McGonagall has to say this time. You'd better head on over to the hospital wing, Rosie. Have Madam Pomfrey take a look at you."

"Yes, Scorpius, you too," Astoria instructed her son in a wispy voice. "That nose doesn't look good."

Both children nodded as their parents turned and headed up the stairs to McGonagall's office, Draco and Ron still shooting hostile glances at one another. Sighing, Rose gestured to Scorpius and they made their way towards the hospital wing.

At the first empty classroom they passed, Scorpius grabbed Rose's elbow and hauled her inside. In an instant, he had her pinned against the wall, his fingers once again wrapped around her throat, this time gently stroking the marks he had left there. Rose looked up into his face and saw the agonized concern etched on his features as he examined her.

"I'm sorry, baby. I know you said to make sure I made it look good, but I didn't mean to…"

"I'm fine. Redhead, remember? I bruise easily." She raised her hand and gently stroked a finger down his damaged nose. "I didn't think I elbowed you that hard."

"You didn't. You would have landed a glancing blow off my chin but I accidently leaned down."

Scorpius lowered his forehead to hers, taking in a deep, shuddering breath as he ran his hand from the base of Rose's throat and down her arm until his fingers were linked with hers.

"I was so worried that you wouldn't put up your shield charm quickly enough. I know we practiced it but I couldn't help imagining you lying on the floor bleeding out," Rose whispered, bringing her free hand up so that she could wrap her arm around his neck.

"Well it worked. Now we just have to hope that the rest of the plan goes as smoothly. Although I'm not exactly happy that McGonagall took away our Quidditch privileges."

"Yeah, well, it's not as if our captains didn't expect us to get banned at some point. They keep reserves for just such an occasion. In fact, I'm surprised that they keep letting us on the teams to begin with."

Scorpius smirked, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "We're just that good."

Rose let out a snort of laughter. "Right."

She pulled her head back, looking up at him. "Do you think it'll work?"

"I don't know. Hopefully. I think the fact that you used that spell will make McGonagall take the animosity between our parents more seriously at least."

"Let's just hope this will make them reevaluate the way that they see us. I am so ready to stop hiding the fact that I'm in love with you, Scor."

"Me too." Scorpius placed a gentle kiss on Rose's hairline before giving her hand one last squeeze and releasing it. "Come on. We should go get ourselves fixed up."

Rose nodded, giving him a brief smile before following him out of the classroom.

The beautiful cover image can be found on deviantart. It is called "Undisclosed Desire" and is drawn by ~BncaRes. She is an incredible artist who has created several renditions of Scorpius and Rose, as well as many other characters from Harry Potter and several other fandoms. You should check out her work.