DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rose, Scorpius, mutual friends, arguments, or strange relationships.
I don't own the 'sometimes' theme, the credit for that idea is all Eienvine's.
I also don't own the cover art, that was done by BncaRes on DeviantArt.

Sometimes.

Sometimes, Rose wondered how much longer they could do this back and forth thing until one of them explosively snapped. :Rose/Scorpius NextGen:

PART ONE

Sometimes, Rose Weasley woke up and wondered what the hell was wrong with her life.

June, 2022

"Rose …?" Scorpius's voice was bewildered, and Rose glanced up with bleary eyes to see the tall, sixteen year old, standing in front of her in the corridor. Blimey, was that the moon shining through the window?

"Oh, my god, what time is it?" she moaned, rubbing her eyes.

"Nearly nine – have you been here all evening?" Scorpius asked, snorting with laughter at her.

"Ever since classes ended," Rose admitted. If she'd had the strength, she might have snapped at him to go away. She really didn't have the patience for his teasing comments at the moment, and her arse hurt from sitting on the cold, corridor floor, for the past several hours.

"Holy shit, Rose!" Scorpius' face was unbearable now, grinning as he folded his arms. "You know that there's this place called the library, right? I believe I once said it was the love-child of you and Madam Pince!"

"You are not in the least bit funny, dickhead," Rose grumbled, clambering to her knees with a groan and starting to collect her books and notes. "I needed to get out. The silence was doing my head in."

"You look like shit."

"No kidding," Rose pointed out, standing warily. "Transfiguration is a bitch and is totally going to kill me."

"But, I thought you were the top in Transfiguration!" Scorpius grinned, gasping in mock horror. "You are in everything else!"

"Shut up–"

"Oh, well, I guess you could just ask the actual top of the class to help you out," he continued, as if she'd never spoken. "I forget, who was that again …?"

"You know, I really would hit you for that," Rose pointed out, since they both very well knew that Scorpius was the top in Transfiguration. He'd only been giving her hell for it their entire past five years at Hogwarts castle. "but I'm so tired I can't even be bothered throwing my book at your face. So forgive me if I don't retaliate and simply walk away now."

"Aw, c'mon, Rose – ROSE!" Scorpius yelled after her, doing a half run, half skip next to her as he tried to keep up as she strode away down the corridor. "God, you're hilarious when you're sleep-deprived and grumpy–"

"I'll give you grumpy–" She swore under her breath, making a mental note to Albus to never forgive him for becoming friends with Scorpius in the first place. If they'd never have met on that first ever train ride to Hogwarts, then they never would have become inseparable, and she would have never been forced to talk to him at all for his cousin's sake, let alone spent the worst parts of the last five years hanging out in the same group as him.

Rose didn't get it. The guy was a loud, arrogant arsehole; why the hell was quiet and calm Albus friends with him? Unfortunately for her, Scorpius and Albus seemed to be joined at the hip, like conjoined twins. In fact, he was around her cousin so often that, sometimes, Rose actually wondered if Albus waited until he was there before seeking Rose out. Ever since they began Hogwarts, Albus had been wishing that his two best friends would get along. Hell, he hadn't exactly been subtle in hinting that he thought they would even make a pretty brilliant couple; he'd gone so far as to shut them up in the same room at one point!

Those results hadn't been pretty.

As a result, Rose had had far too much interaction with Scorpius Malfoy for her liking.

"Look, I get it!" Scorpius jumped in front of her now, effectively cutting her off and she growled. "Despite all your book smarts, you suck at Transfiguration. And our exam is tomorrow."

"Do you have a point?"

"As much as I enjoy witnessing a good Weasley Panic …" Scorpius pointed out. "Come with me."

They found an empty classroom and studied until midnight. He quizzed her excitedly, yelling out, "Ring-ding-ding!" noises when she got something right, and hitting her over the head with her text book when she was wrong. At one point, the stress of the past week got to her and she fell asleep on the floor, head resting against his thigh. He teased her mercilessly when she woke.

They had left that classroom with barely a 'good luck' exchanged, though she did end up passing her Transfiguration O.W.L. in the end (barely, but still!).

Albus wasn't at all surprised when Rose refused to speak to Scorpius Malfoy for the rest of the school year.

Sometimes, Rose thought their relationship was rather screwed up. It was always one step forward, several steps back …

December, 2023

Daniel Kingswood cheated on her, and Rose had never felt so humiliated.

She'd honestly thought things were fine. They say that the woman always knows, but Rose simply hadn't seen this coming. Surely there were signs?

She drew her legs into her chest and tried to keep the tears from causing sobs that echoed down the corridor. She could no longer hide in her dormitory. Not with reminders of Valerie all over the place, from her bloody perfume, to the entire contents of her wardrobe strewn across her bed. And the Gryffindor Common Room was completely out; not with Daniel and Valerie snogging over every inch of it. An absolute, collosal douchebag, that's what he was! And Valerie, well, everyone knew she was a Class A Slut.

Who was she kidding? Of course there were damn signs!

She'd just been so caught up in the whirlwind of first loves and intense fireworks exploding behind her eyes that she'd refused to open up and see them.

She wasn't even surprised when Scorpius showed up. She didn't expect Albus; tears scared the heck out of the poor boy, and since Scorpius had caused a few of them over the years (which she only admitted reluctantly) he was a bit more accustomed to handling them. She had already half-thought that her cousin would send his best friend to go and do his dirty work for him.

"… so you found out, huh?" he said bluntly, sitting next to her in the alcove.

"Thanks mate," Rose sniffed, hastily turning away and wiping a sleeve across her eyes. "I had completely forgotten about it, but needed that reminder!"

"Just saying," he shrugged. There was still half a metre of space between them, which Rose was thankful for. She didn't want to say it – she didn't even particularly want to think it in her head – but she was a little glad that he was there with her. Having spent the last seven years teasing and mocking him, that thought was definitely enough to terrify her. So space … space was good. Space was what she needed.

She could work with that.

"Go on, then," she said darkly, still talking to the empty corridor. "Tell me that I had it coming, or how could I possible not tell, or whatever comment you've got for me. I can't exactly get more pathetic than this, right? So whatever it is, I can take it!"

"All right then," Scorpius said. She turned to face him and hated the fact that idiots were always cursed with good-looking faces. Was life ever fair? Scorpius stared back at her and, just for a second, she thought she saw something other than his usual derisive smirk. She thought his look might have even been a bit … protective.

But, of course, she was just going crazy, that's all.

"Daniel Kingswood is an effing bastard and deserves what's coming to him."

And that was all he said before punching her on the shoulder and striding away.

The next day, Daniel was put in the hospital wing by a pack of fellow seventh-year boys; it was never officially said by whom, but judging by the sudden detentions handed out, Rose guessed that Albus, Hugo and Scorpius had been a part of the scheme.

She never said thank you. In fact, the incident was never ever mentioned again.

Sometimes, Rose wished that he didn't secretly care so damn much. It was far less complicated that way.

November, 2024

Rose Weasley had never had a worse day.

She'd been excited at first, to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She was going to be paid absolutely nothing for the first six months, but she didn't care; it was a foot in the door, and it was exactly the type of career she wanted! Who got that, straight out of school? The fact that it was her mother's department did nothing to deter her. She knew Hermione Weasley was a professional. Just because she was her daughter meant nothing (a statement that Rose sometimes thought was true at home as well, but please, let's not get into that right now). She'd be treated like any other unpaid intern.

Well. She regretted that almost the second she walked through the doors.

It didn't help that the interns were treated like your typical homeless dog; no one got close to you and instead, yelled insults to get you off their garden. Rose had started at the same time as two other interns: first, a woman called Agatha, who at forty, was apparently 're-discovering her career' and fit in slightly better with the workers who were more her age. The other, a young dark-haired girl named Eve, was treated along the same lines as Rose, being nineteen and rather timid at first impression. Rose had quickly bonded with the girl, protecting her from the hurtful comments and teasing, and as a result, she'd made a new friend.

Friends were nice. She'd lost contact with most of the friends she'd had at Hogwarts, and they'd barely been out one summer.

But Rose wasn't just an intern; she was the boss's daughter. So, naturally, that meant she was getting a leg up the corporate ladder, so to speak.

She'd never been more furious at her mother for letting her department act like this.

"I'm sure that Mrs Weasley didn't mean it like that," Eve was insisting, the two of them thankfully leaving the Ministry after an extremely trying day. "I thought the report was fine."

"She didn't have to rip it apart," Rose moaned, rubbing at the prickling in her eyes as she thought about when the report had come back that afternoon. After constant ribbing about her mother giving her unfair help, she'd at least been able to take it – she would have deserved it – if she knew it were true; but after reading her mother's ruthless comments about what needed changing on the report, she'd hit the last straw. She was being treated so unfairly and she couldn't see a way out of it.

"I'm sorry, Rose," Eve said then, as the lift opened with a clatter out into the Atrium. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I'll cook, and we can complain together about our co-workers?"

"Eve, you are amazing, but I think this is a night where I just need to wallow in solitude," Rose said, giving her new friend a grin. "I'll see you tomorrow, though. Time in Hell: 84 days down!"

"Only another 46 to go!" Eve answered with a small smile. "Have a good evening, Rose."

Rose wished the same for her friend, but doing so was another thing entirely. Once Rose reached her cold, empty flat, she starting wishing she'd taken up Eve's offer. While angry, Rose was definitely best left to let out her frustrations on her own. However, now, she was just upset, and if there was a time she really needed other people to reassure her, it was then.

She didn't want to disturb Eve from her evening (and secretly, she didn't want to drive Eve away with her emotional dramas; she'd only just made friends with the girl, after all!) but Albus was currently out of town for his own new job at the Ministry. She couldn't go to anyone in her family, lest her frustrations get back to her mother.

That left only one person.

"… holy shit, Rose?" Scorpius was right to look god-smacked. She hadn't been able to hold back her tears on the way here and now, he'd answered the door to find her sobbing on his door-step.

"I … I had a bad day …" she sobbed. "Can … can I have a hug?"

He half looked like he wanted to make fun of her for it. If it had been seven years ago, he certainly would have. But for some reason, despite all the things he'd done to prove that she hated the man, she knew that she … kind of cared. She wouldn't call him a 'friend', but he mattered to her like a friend did. She would never ever admit it on this side of the grave, least to all to Albus, who would have given an arm and a leg to hear her say it, but for all his faults, Scorpius was generally … not that bad. He got under her skin, but sometimes … it was in a good way.

And sometimes, this weird back-and-forth thing they had kept her grounded. She knew that he cared about her as well, but for anything that happened, she was glad to take the step back. It kept her sane.

Scorpius just snorted at her as if to say, 'Of course, here we go again,' but he still held out his arms. She threw herself into them for what she realised was probably the first time their entire lives. His arms smelled musty and boyish, like he'd been holed up in his room all day and hadn't showered, but he also felt warm and safe.

All she came for was the hug. She left soon after.

They didn't speak to each other for another seven months.

Sometimes, Rose wished she didn't care.

June, 2025

Scorpius got engaged and Rose almost laughed when Albus told her it was called off only four months later.

She had no idea what possessed him to think it was a good idea; it wasn't as if she and Scorpius really had open, heart-to-heart chats whenever they were forced together, after all. Unfortunately, she was extremely curious in nature, and her head simply wouldn't leave her alone until she found out. Was it something he did? Something she did? They had been together less than a year and c'mon, Scorpius was barely nineteen years old! Baring in mind that this was all according to Albus's gossip … oh, who was she kidding? The only question that needed answering was what on earth had led to him proposing in the first place?

"… and I can't pretend that I'm not leaping for joy, either!" she grinned as Scorpius just glared at her. "C'mon, even you have to admit that Leah was a raging bitch!"

"So you got on well, then?" Scorpius scowled.

"Aw, c'mon," Rose rolled her eyes. "I think it was fairly obvious that I hated the woman. Even Albus hated her, but of course he was too nice to say so. At least I wasn't!"

"I'm painfully aware," Scorpius muttered. Geez, if he was that messed up, Rose didn't know why he'd even bothered to come to Albus's for dinner. Her cousin insisted on it every few weeks or so, mainly to catch up with each other and maintain the friendships that had been between them for so long. While Albus was typically one of those people who could become friends with anyone and keep them close forever, the friends Rose had exchanged odd letters with straight out of school had eventually tapered out (not that Rose had had many of those; most of her classmates had been under the impression that she was a little bit insane. Most of the friends she'd had, had been friends with Albus first). However, Scorpius Malfoy, Rose grudgingly admitted, was the one person who she'd remained reluctantly in contact with.

Not that she ever did, y'know, contact him. She'd thankfully survived her Internship from Hell and earned a permanent position as a training member of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol, along with Eve (Agatha, thankfully, deciding to apply for the Administrative Registration Department which, yes, was as boring as it sounded). Since her training started in full-force, and she was working along-side twenty others all in the same boat, work had finally become a place she wanted to go.

There was no need for Scorpius's hugs, anymore.

Not that she, y'know, wanted them.

"Look, you got a little screwed in the head," she said. "Doesn't everyone at some point? You made a mistake, time to move on!"

"Rose, have you ever been in love?"

The question threw her off guard and for a moment, she simply stammered at him.

"I … uh …" God, how to answer that question? "I thought I had. But I was sixteen. What did I know, really?"

"Exactly," Scorpius glanced up at her then and she got her first, really good look at him since the whole Leah thing blew up in his face. His eyes were tired, his entire demeanour giving off the idea of defeated. The man in front of her wasn't the one who had made fun of her the past eight years that they'd been unwilling 'friends'. He was a ghost of himself. It kind of scared her.

"I honestly loved her," he said, quietly. "and I thought that would be enough. Yes, I got screwed in the head, but that doesn't just make it magically ok."

"Whatever, geez!" Rose huffed. "Where's Al with the food? I'm bloody starving–"

"Oh, for god's sake!" Scorpius scowled. Rose made to dash off, but Scorpius caught hold of her arm, forcing her to come swinging back in front of him. "Would you just stop going on and listen to me? I'm trying to have a moment, here!"

"Oh …" Of course, the second the words came out of his mouth, she didn't know what to say. Scorpius Malfoy never needed her. She'd only ever needed him!

This was … new.

"I thought I was in control," Scorpius said quietly, not looking at her. He was still holding her arm at the elbow, however, and it was starting to get rather uncomfortable. He was staring intently at the ground, so Rose had no idea if he'd even realised that he was still touching her voluntarily. She considered pulling away, but that would do nothing but draw more attention to the fact that he was holding her in the first place! After a quick panic of internal debating, Rose decided to join him in staring at the floor.

"I thought I was handling it, but the feelings just got away from me. I was caught up in the idea that she actually liked me and showed it. I've never really had that before … this time, I was putting a ring on her finger before I even really knew what it meant."

"I hope you got it on sale."

"It was actually a family ring," Scorpius admitted. "Thankfully, she threw it at my head before storming out."

"Charming girl. So what led to the ultimate ring-throwing incident?"

"Everything!" Scorpius admitted. If anything, his grip on her arm seemed to tighten, much to her horror. "It started with little things, like not believing her when she said she'd been out with her friends, or being afraid to ask her questions, because I thought she might lie in answer. It got worse over the months. The last straw was when she wouldn't be an equal tenant with me on our new lease. Wanted me to be the one to sign it and be financially responsible for the flat. That started the huge argument that ended everything."

"You didn't trust her," Rose realised.

Scorpius glanced up at her then. "I didn't," he agreed, then suddenly, he glanced at his hand on her arm. He let go almost as quickly, as if her skin had electrocuted him. She breathed a sigh of relief that her insides were now no longer twisting and turning and making her feel like she was going to throw up. Thankfully, Scorpius didn't say anything about it, just continued, "After all that time, after putting my heart out on the line for her, I realised that I may trust you and Albus with my life, but I didn't trust her with five Galleons. It would never have worked."

"That … that sucks."

"Had no idea, Rose," Scorpius scowled.

But his comment had hit her hard; he trusted her. He didn't trust his own fiancée, but he trusted her with his life, despite the fact that every interaction between them was a hurtful comment or an argument.

So she slapped him on the shoulder and said she trusted him, too. Then, she promptly refused to go to one of Albus's dinner parties for the next six months.

Sometimes, Scorpius Malfoy confused the hell out of her. And she didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

July, 2028

It was her first murder case, and Rose was starting to feel its effects.

It hadn't been particularly gruesome or close to home – a husband was hit with a Killing Curse so the wife could collect his life insurance – but getting to the actual culprit was mentally draining. The Law Enforcement Patrol didn't handle the actual investigation of murders; they were more the clean-up crew, handling the analysing of evidence, crime scene investigation, and doing the grunt interview work that took far too much time and effort for the Aurors to do themselves. Naturally, it couldn't have been as easy as the wife doing the killing – oh no! Of course, she'd hired a hit-man to do it for her, and since she'd paid in a roundabout transaction of Galleons and Muggle money, it had taken forever to get the account traced back to her. Rose had spent the past three days pouring over bank files, looking for any anomalies until she'd hit the jackpot.

And, of course, after all her hard work, she hadn't even gotten some of the credit!

"It's not too much to ask, is it?" she said over the largest glass of wine she could find, Eve sitting next to her. "I helped put this woman behind bars in Azkaban, and the bloody Aurors get sung all the high praises! How the hell is that fair?"

"I know it's not," Eve said, gently. "We've only been fully qualified for two months, though. Other officers are noted for their dedication. We just need to keep working."

"I feel like I've been working for the past three years and gotten absolutely NO WHERE!" Rose cried. "I've got all these qualifications, and nothing to show for it! It's no wonder my own mother thinks I'm a bloody joke …" It wouldn't normally bother her; she'd refused to let it bother her, her entire life. But there came a point when Rose simply felt like giving up, because there wasn't any reason to keep going any more. Why work hard, when you don't even get what you deserve? Rose felt like she'd been working her arse off for years, and to have this shoved back in her face …

"At least we're being allowed to work on the homicides, now," Eve tried to grin. "Remember back when we were forced to answer calls about break ins and burglaries?"

"Ah, the good old days," Rose smiled back. "At least they got interesting every once in a while! That case where the bloke hid in the house and tried to duel us on his escape?"

"He deserved to be put in hospital for a week," Eve pointed out. "That diamond necklace was worth millions of Galleons! I felt honoured just to hold it! But you see?" she added to Rose. "Our time as a Patrol Officer hasn't been that horrific so far. And …" she seemed reluctant to mention whatever was coming next, but she forced herself on, "Rose, I wouldn't worry too much about your mother. I know she's tough to handle sometimes, but she's not your direct superior anymore. We've got our own bosses to worry about, now."

Rose just snorted at that. "You are forgetting that Hermione Weasley is head of the entire department," she pointed out. "But … you are also right, thank god. I'd rather take Falsetto Joe over her, anyway."

"Yes, I agree. Sometimes, I even forget that men can scream that high. Then I hear Falsetto Joe, and I'm reminded," Eve laughed.

Sometimes … Rose had a lot of sometimes thoughts. Sometimes, she wished that she and her mother were closer than they were. Sometimes, Rose wondered that maybe if she hadn't been such a stubborn teenager, Hermione wouldn't have felt the need to keep her in line as an intern and therefore treat her even more harshly than normal. She wondered that, if they were closer, would Rose have ever had the guts to tell her mother how her employees treated each other, and how disheartening it was for those at the bottom of the food chain? How she'd hated coming into work and had started counting down the days since the first week.

But to be closer, Rose and her mother actually had to want that kind of relationship. And there had never been two people less alike than Rose and Hermione Weasley.

"Well!" Rose cut in over her own thoughts as cheerfully as she could. "I think more wine is needed, here! You sure you don't have anywhere to be tonight?"

"My flat is cold, damp, and I'm fairly certain that my flatmates are growing drugs out of their rooms," Eve pointed out. "Trust me, if I have the option of not going home, then I won't."

"Why don't you just move out, if you hate it so much?" Rose asked from the kitchen. She had to have another bottle of wine somewhere.

"The rent is cheap, and where would I go?" Eve asked, sighing. "My sister offered once to let me stay with her, but she's ten years older than me and at a completely different stage in life. It would just be awkward living with her, her husband, and two kids. And I feel really bad saying this, but there is nothing on this earth that will make me live with my parents again."

"Hear, hear!" Rose agreed with a laugh. After locating the wine (thank god) and darting back into her tiny lounge to join Eve once more on the sofa, she let the wine pour and their glasses were once again full. "I forgot that you had a sister," she said. "Jasmine, right?"

"Yes," Eve nodded. "I love her dearly, but she's always been more of a cool aunt than a sister. I do love having a niece and nephew, though," she added with a smile. "I get to spoil them."

"I know what you mean," Rose agreed. "My eldest cousin, Victoire, she's just had a baby recently with her husband. They haven't picked a name yet, but he's the most adorable thing in the universe! Kind of wanted to steal him and take him home with me, but then I figured, that would be kidnapping … plus we've got plenty more years for that, don't we?"

"Do we?" Eve said, then.

Rose frowned at her. "What d'you mean? I'm twenty two, you've only just turned twenty four!"

"But everyone I know is settling down!" Eve told her then, something like worry in her dark eyes. Rose had never even considered the idea until now. "I'll admit that I don't have many friends. But the ones I do know, like my sister and cousins, my flatmates, they are all either married, engaged, or having children. But we're still only young, isn't this the time of our lives when we're supposed to mess up and make mistakes?"

"It is," Rose said, absently. Her mind was miles away since now that she thought about it, nearly all of her cousins with in some type of relationship, even if it was just Albus who was always swept up in some new whirlwind romance with the 'love of his life' (which would probably only last a couple of months or so). Hell, even Scorpius had been engaged, once!

Rose's last boyfriend had been Jeremy Hinks, a Magical Maintenance intern who she'd gone out with for the six months of her internship. Once they had earned their respective jobs, they'd had literally no time for each other and simply parted ways. She hadn't even been entirely upset about the whole ordeal, either!

Great. Not only was her career going nowhere, but there was something wrong with her love life, too!

"Oh, god …" Rose groaned, leaning her head against the back of the sofa. "I love you, Eve, I really do, and you're the sweetest person I've ever met, but you really do know how to look on the negative sides of life, sometimes."

"I apologise," Eve said at once. "It is something I have been trying to work on, I promise!"

"Don't worry, you don't need to change yourself," Rose tried reassuring the girl that that certainly wasn't what she meant, but it appeared that Eve was having none of it.

"But I do! I want to!" Eve insisted, putting her wine glass down hastily and taking hold of her hand. "Life is hard at the moment, and I've always failed at trying to have a positive outlook. It's just not natural for me, but I've always hated the fact that I can't think positively!"

Rose thought for a moment. Then, it came to her, and she squeezed Eve's hand. "I should introduce you to Albus!" she said. "You're both so sweet and lovely, but Albus has the tendency to think too positively. Sometimes, he just doesn't realise that not all people are good – once, he went out with this one girl who ended up stealing from him – but I reckon you'd get on like a house on fire!"

Ok, maaaaaybe, Rose just wanted to let out her inner matchmaker. Eve didn't need to know that!

While Eve's tone was joking when she agreed, Rose thought that she could detect a hint of interest in her tone. She might be shy, but Eve had come a long way since that timid, unconfident girl who had first started her internship. Rose was almost certain that Albus and Eve would be a match made in heaven. However, before she could start scheming over much more wine, there was a sudden knock at her door.

Both Rose and Eve turned to face the hallway.

"Who would that be?" Eve asked.

"I have no idea …" Rose said, honestly. It was far too late for conventional visitors, and Albus would only ever drop by unannounced if it was a real emergency. It could have been her little brother – Hugo had a strange sleep cycle, which basically involved sleeping at work and partying during the night – so she'd formed that idea in her head as she went to answer the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming – I'm NOT coming out with you tonight, Hugo–!" Rose yelled, wrenching open the door as the bangs continued. However, it was not a tall, lanky twenty year old with red curls like his sister who fell through the doorway and into her flat.

It was Scorpius.

"Finally!" he said, straightening and dusting himself off. "Took you long enough!"

"What in the world …?" Rose shook her head, slamming her front door shut. "Scorpius, what the HELL are you doing here?"

He simply shrugged. "Got bored. Needed to do something. Ooh, alcohol!" he said excitedly, having dashed down the hallway and noticed the bottle of wine still sitting on Rose's coffee table. Eve's eyes were wide as Scorpius threw himself down where Rose had been sitting, taking hold of the wine and drinking straight from the bottle.

"Um, Rose …" Eve began tentatively, leaning away from Scorpius.

"God, who the hell d'you think you are? You can't just barge into my house!" Rose cried, storming forward.

"You call this a house?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow at the tiny, one-bedroomed flat, located on the eighth floor of a large building. "… it's quaint."

"Seriously, I'm kicking your arse out of here–!"

"Name's Scorpius," he cut over her, holding out his hand to Eve next to him.

Anyone else might have scarpered for their life, but never Eve. She was much too polite for that. Nevertheless, she was hesitant as she shook his hand, muttering, "Eve Taylor …"

"Nice to meet you, Eve Taylor!" he said, cheerfully. "Though what in god's name you're doing with Rose beats the hell out of me."

"She's my friend," Eve said, then.

"Which you aren't," Rose said, exasperatedly. She leaned down, snatched the bottle of wine from Scorpius's hand before he could take another swig, and grabbed his ear. He yelped and hastily stood as she tugged on it. "So out you go!"

"No, seriously!" Scorpius cried as she started leading him back towards the hallway. "Look, I know I'm always an arse about it, but I kind of need to talk tonight!"

"Oh, really, about what?"

"Leah's getting married!"

That made Rose stop. She let go of his ear.

"Leah's getting married?" she repeated, aghast.

Scorpius nodded, face unreadable. "To a fifty-three year old bloke named Rodger who owns four boats and a mansion in Italy."

Shit. Rose turned to face Eve, who was still watching with interest from the sofa. Rose held out her hand for her, and helped Eve to her feet.

"I hope you don't mind," Rose said quietly to her, standing far away from where Scorpius waited impatiently on the other side of the room. "but Leah's his ex-fiancée. He won't admit it, but he'll be crushed. We can finish our bitch session tomorrow?"

"Of course," Eve said at once. She gave Rose a tight hug and Rose pressed her face into her dark waves, thankful that she had a friend like this.

"Remember, I'm totally introducing you to Al," she reminded her just as Eve was about to leave. Eve only laughed, but Rose knew it was certainly going to happen, and before the front door had even really closed behind her, Scorpius was already rounding on Rose.

"Introduce her to Al?" he repeated.

"Trust me, they'll be married within a year," Rose said at once. "Now is this a wine conversation? Or do we need something stronger? 'cause I think I might have some vodka left over from Albus's last cocktail night …"

"Vodka. Now."

By the time Rose wondered if this really was a good idea, she was already too far gone to even sit back on the sofa. She and Scorpius bitched about Leah together, sitting on the floor in the kitchen instead. When Scorpius had got all his frustrations out, Rose found herself rambling about her own worries.

"I'm tired, Scorpius! Just so tired," she said. "of working and getting nowhere! I feel like I'm about to collapse every minute of every day!"

"Go ahead, I won't blame you," Scorpius said in answer, handing her the bottle. Perhaps they shouldn't have been drinking it straight like this. "Your mum's a total bitch!"

"I'd protest that," Rose said, leaning forward; her crossed legs bumped into Scorpius's in front of her. "but you're right!"

"She and Leah should make a club!"

"The We R Bitches club!"

"And we'll have a We Hate 'Em club!"

And they drank to their new club, Scorpius insisting that they wouldn't be official until they had t-shirts, and Rose unable to remember how to put a t-shirt on, let alone make one. Blind drunk didn't even cover it at this point, and in the end, they had both passed out right there on the kitchen floor.

That was the first time Rose Weasley ever slept with Scorpius Malfoy.

When she woke, wincing and almost crying at the pounding in her head, Scorpius was already gone.

She became completely resolved on avoiding him for the next several months.

Sometimes, Rose thought her life was heading nowhere … but occasionally she would look up, and he would be in her way. She was still trying to interpret that.

July, 2028

Eve's words got to her.

We just need to keep working.

She was tired of working; what she really needed was a break, just a week off at least, to refuel and regain a better perspective on life. Besides, there's only so much you can handle before you really go off the deep end.

But it was heading into summer, and like things got silly around Christmas, bodies kept dropping all throughout July and August. Time off wouldn't have been granted, even if she'd tried. So instead, she figured it was about time to grit her teeth and just do it. Work even harder and get the recognition she deserved. She threw herself into her job, basically living and breathing each case as if it solely rested on her to solve it.

People kept telling her that she wasn't doing herself any favours, but what did they know? Eve ended up meeting Albus by accident without Rose's matchmaking at all, since they had both arrived at her flat at the same time. Both had come to deliver the same warning: that she was only hurting herself by becoming so invested in her work.

Rose didn't listen. She didn't listen to anyone.

Then, the case happened. The young man who was killed was the same age as her – 22-years-old – with scruffy black hair and a round, oval face. At first glance when she appeared at the scene, she nearly fainted, thinking it was Albus. She had to force herself to get over the initial shock and to realise that the man only bore a striking resemblance to her cousin. Someone – she thought maybe her boss, Falsetto Joe – asked her if she was ok and she waved them off. She managed to cover her area of the street, asking for witnesses, her face growing paler with each person she spoke to. Eventually, she couldn't help it: she succumbed to the fear that had grown inside of her since she'd seen that body, and she ended up spewing her guts out in the alleyway, across from where the body had been found.

Naturally, she was sent home.

Rose should have seen this coming. Not that it wouldn't have shocked her, but if she hadn't been throwing herself into each and every case, making everything personal the way she was taught never to do, in hopes that she could catch every clue, analyse every piece of data, she might not have been hit so hard by this particular case.

As it was, she barely lasted the day by herself.

Come evening, after she'd drunk so much wine she couldn't think straight and could still remember the horribly blank look on the poor man's dead face, she knew she needed to see him. Just see him, and reassure herself that Albus was, in fact, all right.

She knew she should hardly be Apparating, but nothing was going to stop her. She was at his flat, banging on the front door within twenty seconds.

However, it wasn't her cousin who answered.

"… good lord," Scorpius said in alarm.

"Where's Al?" she asked at once. "I need to see him–!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? And he's in Spain, didn't he tell you? He's the official liaison for–"

"He's gone?" Rose couldn't care less about the official liaison for whatever. All she wanted was her cousin. She remembered Albus coming over last week to tell her something, but honestly, she hadn't really been listening. She realised she hadn't been listening to a lot of people, recently. She'd been in the middle of a huge case at the time, and anything else kind of ended up taking a backburner. That might have included eating and sleeping, which apparently, Scorpius was noticing.

"Geez, I know that you're a workaholic as a general rule, but hell, have you eaten at all?" Scorpius asked in general disgust. It wasn't in concern. It never was.

"I …" Rose just stared at him for a moment, trying to come up with an answer that didn't sound dangerously pathetic.

She couldn't. So, naturally, she burst into tears.

"Oh, great …" Scorpius muttered, letting her cry into his chest and shutting the door behind them. Rose barely noticed as she bunched up his shirt in her hands and she knew that the sounds she was making were ridiculous, but this certainly wasn't the first time she'd cried in front of Scorpius, and despite her wish for otherwise, she knew it probably wouldn't be the last. She wasn't even supposed to be talking to him; as far as she was aware, she was still avoiding him from last time they'd had a somewhat close moment. But she'd sort of lost track of the days (or was it months?) and she could hardly remember the time they had gotten drunk together on her kitchen floor.

Rose didn't even think to ask what Scorpius was doing at Albus's flat in the first place, if her cousin was in Spain. Scorpius didn't bother explain; he simply bent and wrapped an arm under her knees, picking her up and bringing her to the sofa. He sat down with her, her legs draped over his lap, and he simply let her cry into his shoulder.

Eventually, sometime in between her getting all of her sobs out and calming down, Rose fell asleep. When she woke in the morning, it was to find herself curled up on the sofa, practically in Scorpius's lap with his arms wrapped around her. The man had to be extremely uncomfortable since he was stuck in a sitting position, his head lolling back, as he slept awkwardly. It was clear that he hadn't wanted to move once she was asleep.

Why did she feel so comfortable in his arms?

She left without looking back. This time, she really did avoid him … for the rest of the year.

Sometimes, Rose would look at herself in the mirror and wonder whether someone could see the pounding in her heart. She didn't know where it was coming from … she also didn't know how to stop it.

A/N: Oh my god, I really have no idea where this story came from. It just ... exploded out of my keyboard into something that I hope is at least somewhat coherent.

I know that I took the 'sometimes' thing from a Pride and Prejudice/Lizzie Bennet Diaries fanfic that I read, which was 'Some Days' by Eienvine (which you should all read if you like that fandom, it's awesome). A bit different, since I used the word 'sometimes', rather than 'some days', but the theme is still the same, so credit for that goes completely to Eienvine, and thank you for giving me permission. :)

I hope you all enjoyed this, and sorry for the insane length! This is only part one of three. The next will be up soon. I really don't know how to write a oneshot anymore.

Please review and let me know what you think. :)

Until next time -

- Moon. :D