A/N: A seven part story, all chapters should be fairly short like this one, probably shorter. Everything is JKR's.

When Rose's dad told her to stay away from Scorpius Malfoy, and to beat him in every test, she took the words to heart. She couldn't have Granddad Weasley hating her, could she? As for marrying the boy, even Rose knew that was a joke.

Fuelled by her dad's encouragement, Rose was sure she'd be way cleverer than the Malfoy boy – Teddy had told her stories about Scorpius' father and Rose didn't think he was the kind of man to have an intelligent son. And anyway, aren't all girls cleverer than boys?

Rose had gasped along with the rest of the school when Scorpius was sorted into Ravenclaw. She'd had him pegged as an easy-to-beat Slytherin, but the Sorting Hat obviously thought different, which wasn't good news – especially when Rose was sorted into Gryffindor. Did the hat not think she was as smart as Malfoy? She bristled all the way down to Gryffindor table, and it was only when she sat next to Albus that she felt any better. Her mum hadn't been in Ravenclaw, and she was the smartest person Rose knew.

In her first day of lessons, Rose dragged Albus to the front of every classroom, where the latter watched his cousin's very diligent (to a point of obsessive) note-making. On the second day of lessons, Rose found herself sitting with Francesca Longbottom, as Albus had blatantly refused to sit at the front any longer. At first, Rose was put out by her cousin's betrayal, but soon became best friends with the equally as diligent Francesca.

The first time the Hogwarts first years were graded was a foot-long Charms essay. To her delight, Rose was awarded an O. Casually glancing behind, she noted that Scorpius – was that Albus sat next to him? – got an E. Pride filled Rose; she'd show her dad, show everyone, that Rose Weasley, a Gryffindor, could beat Scorpius Malfoy, a Ravenclaw.

Francesca leaned over and whispered in Rose's ear. "Scorpius doesn't look happy."

"What?" Rose asked, looking back again. Francesca was right, Scorpius looked fairly angry with a hint of something else in his expression, and he was looking straight at her. Rose turned back around quickly, feeling her face inflame.

"He must've seen you look at his grade," said Francesca, "you weren't very subtle about it."

Rose frowned. "Was I not?"

Francesca rolled her eyes. "Not unless subtle is staring at his E with a massive grin on your face."

Oh. Rose realised what else was in Scorpius' expression: guessed that now, Scorpius would try and beat her. Well, Rose wasn't going to let herself be beaten by a Malfoy. Her dad would practically disown her! And that's where the fierce rivalry between Rose and Scorpius began.

The first time Scorpius beat Rose was in Transfiguration, two weeks after the Charms incident. Rose just couldn't wrap her head around levitating and the words 'Wingardium Leviosa' sent her running for the hills. So it wasn't surprising when her essay on the proper technique, incantation and effect of the spell barely scraped an A. Scorpius tried to be discreet when looking at her grade, but she knew what he was doing, because she'd done it to him many times before. She was humiliated, especially when Albus brought it up again later at dinner.

She didn't tell her dad about the times that Scorpius beat her, but she did write home almost every time her grade exceeded his.

At Christmas, her dad took her aside and said, "You know, Rosie, you don't have to tell me every time you beat the Malfoy boy, I'd be so proud of you even if you lost miserably to him every day."

Rose hugged her dad and thanked him for what she perceived as the biggest compliment he'd ever given her. But she wasn't going to give up on beating Scorpius – that would just mean he' d won, and there's no way she'd give him the satisfaction.

Both her cousin and her best friend often questioned Rose on why she was so eager to beat Scorpius, and every time her answer was the same.

"I don't know, I just don't want him to win."

Francesca nodded knowingly every time she got this answer, but still asked every now and again, though the answer never changed.

"You don't mind when anyone else gets a better mark than you," Albus always replied. "Francesca beats you all the time."

All the time was a bit of an over-exaggeration, but Rose replied with the truth. "Yeah, but she's not a Malfoy. Plus, I actually like Francesca."

This led on to Albus demanding why she didn't like Scorpius, but Rose always severed the conversation there. It wasn't as if she just didn't like Malfoy, he just couldn't win. The rivalry between her and Scorpius was second-nature; it wasn't as if one day she'd just think 'I'm going to stop this stupid rivalry now'.

Throughout their first year, many death glares, snide smirks and derisive laughs passed between the two, with Francesca and Albus (the latter, for whatever reason, had become friendly with Scorpius) as unwilling witnesses. However, by the end of the year, Rose and Scorpius still had yet to utter an actual word to each other.