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Maybe I Don't Hate You.

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Summary: Since her very first day at Hogwarts, Rose Weasley had been told not to associate with Scorpius Malfoy. And now that they were in their 6th year, they still hated each other just fine. But then, her best friend and cousin Albus Potter suddenly began to hang out with their archenemy. Great.

A/N: So this is, obviously, a NextGen HP fanfiction, so of course I had to imagine myself how the characters could be like only according to a few lines of clues we were given, but I'll still try to remain as faithful as possible to the original universe, and I hope my characterization of the next generation won't seem wrong to you.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Harry Potter's whole universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.

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Chapter 1:

A young girl with long wavy red hair and blue eyes was looking in every compartment of the train, obviously looking for something. Along with her was a boy who was just a little taller than her. He had mid length untidy dark hair, green eyes, and a thin stature and face.

Those two were respectively Rose Weasley and Albus Potter, and they were in the Hogwarts Express, searching for a compartment to stay in.

"I swear I saw Lena hop in the train before us. She must be in one of them," Rose exclaimed, looking through the nth compartment window, and finally found her, "Ah, see, she's here!"

Inside the compartment was a girl around their age, reading a book. She was about the same height as Rose, had a fair skin, blue eyes and long brown hair she often tied in a high ponytail.

"I didn't say anything you know," Albus commented even though he knew her cousin wasn't listening to him. She'd already opened the door, greeting her best friend.

"Hey Lena, how are you?" She beamed at her. Lena Reynolds was a sixth year student, and belonged to the House Gryffindor, just like Rose and Albus. Rose and Lena met each other on their first night of school as their beds were next to each other, they immediately hit it off and have been best friends ever since.

Lena put her book down, happily surprised to see her friends, "Rose, hi! I'm great, it's good to see you two, we didn't get to see each other much during the holidays." She smiled back as Rose sat next to her and Albus across them. She turned her head and greeted him too, "Hey Al'"

"Hey Lena," He greeted back with a smile.

"Sorry about that, but you know how we're always busy on summer holidays, since like half our family is born during the summer. And you know that makes a lot of people," Rose apologized to her friend.

"Don't worry I know, I'm used to it now. But usually we manage to meet at least a few times. The point is, I missed you so much!" She hugged Rose tightly.

"And you didn't miss me?" Albus feigned being offended.

Lena looked at him and smiled playfully, "What, do you want a hug too?"

"No thanks, I like to be able to breathe," he retorted, watching Rose's condition after the said hug.

"Don't be a pussy!" She hugged – or more attacked – him too.

He was struggling and barely managed to say, "Stop it, Lena!"

She went back to her seat and smiled in victory, "Hey, you're the one who asked for it. By the way, shouldn't you two go in the prefects' compartment?" She realized.

"And not do the trip with you even after not seeing you for months?" Rose asked rhetorically.

Lena smiled brightly, "You're so adorable! Thank you so much, to be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to doing the whole trip alone with Peter. Last year was enough. That's why I took this with me," she showed them her book.

"And then there were none by Agatha Christie," Albus read out loud. "What does it talk about?"

"Oh, I read this one," Rose said, "It's a Muggle mystery novel. I loved it, too."

"Don't say anything! I'm only at the second chapter. Anyway, I don't need this anymore since you're here to keep me company," she smiled while putting the book aside.

"By the way, Peter's still not there?" Albus asked just before someone opened abruptly their compartment door.

"I made it," the boy was totally out of breath. He slowly closed the door and slumped on the couch, next to Albus.

"Well, hello to you too, Peter," Rose remarked, her eyebrow raised and her arms crossed.

"Yeah, right, hey guys," He replied, slightly waving his hand at them.

Meet Peter Crawford, Albus' best friend also since their first year at Hogwarts. He wasn't really tall, but not small either, he had brown hair and brown eyes, and a cute face too. He'd probably be popular, if only he didn't talk or move. You see, Peter's also kind of known as the clown of Gryffindor as he often makes a fool out of himself and doesn't even really care.

Albus looked at him and chuckled, "You know, after six years, people would think you would know how to avoid being late for the train."

"I wanted to be on time and not have to run, but my body didn't agree with this plan and made me oversleep."

"As always," the three other teenagers concluded in unison, shaking their heads.

"At least I never miss it, it's already something."

"And you are right to be proud of that," Lena mocked, the other two laughed.

Someone then knocked, "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

"Perfect timing. Yes, I'll take some chocolate frogs, they're good for energy," Peter said.

They each bought some candies, and the lady was about to close the door when a boy's voice came from behind her, saying, "Well, if this isn't the people I absolutely didn't miss during the holidays. And the whole gang's there."

Here was Scorpius Malfoy, harboring his famous smirk, the one he inherited from his father. No need to say it wasn't the only thing he'd inherited from him: he had his hair, his eyes, his arrogance, his wits, the same Slytherin emblem on his cloak, and of course, the same... let's say unfriendly behavior towards anyone who would have Weasley or Potter as their last name. He was also a prefect, just like Albus and Rose. Though, if you asked the two cousins, they wouldn't be able to tell you why he had been chosen as one.

"Really? Because we absolutely missed you and your remarks, so much that sometimes I dreamed about it. Oh wait, those were nightmares," Rose retorted.

"Oh, Rose Weasley thinking so much about me it invades her dreams, I'm honored," Malfoy placed his right hand on his chest.

"I believe she said nightmares," Albus defended his cousin.

"Same difference. I torment her nights, that's enough for me," he smirked again.

"You wish," Rose scoffed.

"I'm sorry but, unlike you, I don't have the time nor the desire to think about anything involving you, Weasley," he responded acidly.

"Then why do you waste your time talking to us, huh?" Lena said coldly, tired of hearing him talking to her friends like that.

"I don't even know why. Thank you for reminding me, Reynolds, it seems you can be of use at times," he agreed and looked respectively at the boys, "Crawfish, Potty. I reckon we'll meet again soon," before switching his attention back to Rose, "And I know it'd be hard for you, Weasley, but try not to dream too much about me, it creeps me out to be honest." And without giving them the time to say a word, he left.

"He's so infuriating," Albus fumed.

Rose shrugged, "That's Malfoy for you. At least he had the decency to close our door."

"Yeah, give that boy a prize for showing an ounce of good manners," Lena concluded sardonically.

"Crawfish, seriously? It's a bad pun and not even true, my face never turns red!" Peter complained loudly.

"Since when Malfoy's insults are good or even true, huh?" Albus said.

"Right, but still. After all this time he could come up with better ones." Peter commented.

The others just shrugged and began to eat their candies, forgetting about that unpleasant encounter.

xxxxx

"So, on today's class, we'll learn a spell that will allow you to imprison something," Professor Hoddes, the Transfiguration teacher began to explain. He took out a bird from his cage and said, "You just have to point at the creature and say in-car-si-fors." And a perfectly adjusted cage appeared around the bird. "Come on, who wants to give it a try? But for now only on objects, it can be dangerous for the animal if the adjustment isn't done well." He looked around, "Miss Weasley, would you?"

She smiled, "Of course." She pointed at her Transfiguration book and said the incantation. It worked flawlessly.

"Well done, Miss Weasley," he congratulated her.

"Thank you," she beamed proudly. Even though she did well it all her classes, her favorite was the Transfiguration class and she was always more pleased to do a transfiguration spell right than any others.

"Thank you," Malfoy grossly imitated her in a high-pitched voice. "First class of the year and already licking the teacher's boots. She conjured up a cage for a book, what an achievement indeed." The other Slytherins next to him snickered.

"Then, try and do the spell, Malfoy! We'll see if it's as easy as you say," Peter stood up and dared him.

Malfoy's smirk flattered slightly at Peter's provocation – he looked really pissed and uneasy for about a nanosecond – but it came back quickly, "No problem, but let's make it more challenging then," he quickly pointed his wand at Peter and said the incantation. An immense cage appeared all around the Gryffindor boy, who was now raging.

At the sight of his friend like that, Albus saw red and immediately stood up even before Professor Hoddes could react, pointed his wand at Malfoy, and exclaimed, "Melofors!"

A pumpkin was now encircling Scorpius' head, who was struggling in order to get it off.

"ENOUGH!" The professor yelled, before making the cage and the pumpkin disappear. "Mr. Malfoy! This is madness, what if the cage you made was too small, Mr. Crawford could have been really hurt. And Mr. Potter, I am disappointed in you, I didn't think you would stoop to using such low tricks. That would be 25 points from Slytherin and 15 from Gryffindor. And detention for both of you."

Albus sat again, looking a little guilty for losing his temper. But still, that ferret had totally deserved it.

"I've always loved taking class with the Slytherins, they're real peaches," Rose, who was sitting next to him, muttered with a sigh.

Albus couldn't help but chuckle at her remark.

"Miss Weasley, I don't think it is proper of you to make jokes and encourage Mr. Potter in his actions. 5 more points from Gryffindor."

"But I didn't say anyth–" She tried to protest.

"Enough, I said! One more word and you'll get detention, too."

Once Mr. Hoddes turned around and wasn't paying much attention, Malfoy taunted, "Good luck in getting in his good books now."

"Oh, shut up Malfoy," Rose blurted angrily. But maybe a little too loudly.

"Miss Weasley, that's it. I'm sorry, but you'll have a detention too."

"Great," she was fuming. All of this was because of that prick. But she didn't say anything for the rest of the class, afraid of getting sanctioned again. Mr. Hoddes did seem on edge today, and she just paid the penalty of it.

xxxxx

"I would so strangle that prick if I could," Peter raged in the dorms.

"I am so disappointed to have missed Pumpkin Malfoy," Lena said.

"I am so gonna make him pay for that," Albus added.

"You are so going to do nothing about it. We just both had a detention because we responded to his taunting, remember?" Rose rebuked.

"I don't even get why we had the same sanction as him. I mean, yes I went overboard and lost my temper in class, but Malfoy could have freakin' killed Peter!"

"Come on, he wouldn't have done it if he wasn't sure it'd work. Even though it's hard to admit, he is one of the best students of our year," Rose tried to calm his cousin down. "He probably already did that spell before."

"I wouldn't be so sure. I think he may have been overconfident about it, but didn't care if it'd work or not," Albus argued.

"Come on, Al', he's a total prick, but he's not completely out of his mind," the girl insisted.

"Why are you even defending him? You just got a detention because of him. You. On your first Transfiguration class of the year."

"I'm not defending him, I'm talking some sense into you so you won't attack him again and get another detention," Rose retorted.

Peter and Lena just watched them arguing, shaking their heads.

"And here I am, the main victim, and nobody cares about me," the boy complained.

"Oh, I care," Lena put her hand on his shoulder in a comforting way.

"Thank you," he smiled at her, touched.

"For once you're not the reason of your looking like a fool in front of everyone. That's progress, believe me," she went on, now smirking.

Peter's eyes widened at the realization of this betrayal, "You're even worse than them, Lena! It's not fair. Al' was telling the truth, I really could have died!"

"Come on, you're overreacting," she laughed.

"Fine, I could've been really badly hurt! But I get it, nobody gives a crap about it. Feels good to have friends, indeed." He was now pouting.

"Of course we give a crap, Peter. Me giving a crap is the reason of my detention, remember?" Albus suddenly intervened, apparently finished arguing with his cousin.

After a moment of reflection, Peter finally smiled and replied, "Right, thanks, mate!"

xxxxx

"At least our detention is with Hagrid. We probably won't get bored," Albus commented as he was walking with Rose and Scorpius.

"Yeah right, he'll make us go into the Forbidden Forest, I'm sure of it. Of course we won't get bored, we'll be too busy running for our lives," Scorpius retorted, obviously not sharing his enthusiasm.

"Hagrid will be with us, there should be no problem," Rose told him before smirking, "But I guess it doesn't mean much for a scaredy-cat like you."

"I am not a scaredy-cat. I'm just talking from experience. It is not called the Forbidden Forest for nothing, I never understood why they still make students go in there when they named it like that."

"You say that, but all I hear is 'I'm scared, mommy help meee!' just like you did once," Rose mocked.

"Come on, enough with that story! It was in first year and that was because a forest troll was chasing me in that bloody forest! And I certainly did not scream that! You weren't even there, you only repeat what people say," Scorpius defended himself. "When a creature will attack you and you will be the one screaming, don't wait for me to save you, Weasley," he scoffed.

"As if I'd ever expect you to help me. I'd rather trust a troll."

"Nobody will be in danger. And if something really happens, Hagrid will help us. And Malfoy, stop being a wimp. We're here anyway so you don't really have a choice," Albus concluded once they were in front of the door.

"I am not a wimp and you better not call me that again or…" Malfoy stopped when he noticed they weren't listening to him anymore, already busy greeting their big friend.

"Albus, Rose! Nice ter see yeh two! I was glad ter hear yeh'll serve yer detention with me. Well, not glad yeh have detention o' course, but glad ter see yeh," he happily welcomed them with a slight hug.

"We're happy to see you too," Albus said as they smiled back at him.

Then, Hagrid finally took notice of Scorpius' presence, "Oh Scorpius, right, yeh're here too."

Of course he didn't show the same enthusiasm for him. He didn't mind the boy, but he didn't particularly like him, either. He was less arrogant and less wary of magical creatures than his father (from what Hagrid could see during his Care of Magical Creatures class), but he still had his way to find some annoying comments to say.

"Please don't be so enthusiastic, it makes me uncomfortable," the boy deadpanned. "So, what do we have to do? Let's do it quickly so I can go sleep," he added with his arms crossed in a condescending manner.

Yep, that was the kind of behavior that made Hagrid not like him very much.

"Tonight, yeh'll help me feed some friends o' mine. It'll be fun, I promise," he was really looking forward to showing them his friends.

"What kind of friends?" Rose inquired.

"Yeh'll see. But don' worry they're not dangerous as long as yeh're gentle with 'em. If yeh're like yer parents, there shouldn' be any problem," He assured the two Gryffindor teenagers, and then looked at Scorpius, "I hope yeh're not like yer father, though. He doesn' have a good history with their kind."

With that he left them a moment to get something. When he came back, he handed them buckets full of dead birds and other little mammals, "Here, take two buckets each. They shouldn' be too heavy."

"And that is why I had a bad feeling about this. Why do I have to carry dead animals?" The boy said with a disgusted expression on his face.

"Stop complaining all the time," Rose preached as they were heading towards the Forbidden Forest, "This is your fault we're here in the first place."

"If you think about it, it's that clowny friend of yours' fault because he provoked me, and he didn't even get a detention."

"If you think about it, it's your fault for making him want to provoke you," Rose retorted.

"Why did he even have to stand up anyway, I wasn't talking about him, but about you," Scorpius was getting angrier.

"I don't know, maybe because you were being a prick and insulting his friend," she responded, "But I I shouldn't expect you to understand the notions of friendship and loyalty."

"Children, stop it, yeh'll irritate the animals," Hagrid warned them.

Both scoffed at the other.

While walking, Albus approached Rose and whispered jokingly to her, "So much for not fighting with Malfoy, huh?"

"I didn't say anything about arguments without physical violence," Rose replied.

Hagrid halted, "That's the place." He whistled, as if he was calling a dog, and a dozen of hippogriffs popped out from the woods.

"Your friends are hippogriffs?" Scorpius exclaimed before making a face, "Why am I even surprised? But now I understand why you said my father's got a bad history with them."

"Be careful when yeh approach them, they aren' used ter seein' that much people so they're a lil' shy. You don' have ter get too close ter feed 'em anyway, so it should be okay."

"They're beautiful," Rose commented, advancing really slowly.

"Rose don'," Hagrid began, worried, but stopped after seeing she knew what she was doing. She was bowing to the grey and slender hippogriff that was the closer to her. But its stature, it was probably a female.

"Don't worry, my mother told me about hippogriffs, I believe I can get close to one," she explained softly, waiting for the hippogriff to bow in return, and that's what it did. She smiled and got slowly closer to it, until she could caress his head.

"I'm impressed Rose, Becky isn' usually good with humans."

"So, your name is Becky, huh?" She asked the animal with a gentle smile.

Becky made a small sound, as if she was agreeing.

Rose laughed and threw a bird at her, which she happily caught in her beak.

Hagrid clapped his hands together, "Okay, now it's yer turn boys, yeh don' have to go as close as Rose, just throw the food at 'em."

"If Weasley can do it, I can do it too," Scorpius protested, already moving towards another hippogriff, an inky black one.

"Scorpius, don', they're really prideful creatures, yeh don' wanna get 'em in a bad mood!" Hagrid warned him.

"I know, my dad told me about it, don't worry I won't get injured unnecessarily," the boy assured, as he slowly bowed to the animal, smiling in victory when the bow was returned to him.

He remembered very well how he heard about this story. His mother was teasing his father about it one time, when he was about 7.

"You know, your father acts all tough now, but there are stories about him that don't tell the same thing. One time, he was slightly hit by a hippogriff and wept like a little baby," Astoria mocked, pointing Draco with her thumb while looking at her son.

"Eeh, seriously?" Scorpius couldn't believe it. He'd always pictured his father as strong and courageous.

"Hey, don't tell him things like that! And for your information, I really was badly hurt, I had to be taken to the hospital and all," Draco tried to defend himself.

His wife crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow while smiling, "That was your own fault, offending a hippogriff right at its beak."

Draco sighed, "You're right. I wasn't really smart back then, but I genuinely thought that thing couldn't really understand a thing I was saying. Guess I was wrong," he then looked at his son, "Scorpius, never, ever insult a hippogriff. I mean it, those things are smarter than they look, and definitely as proud as they look."

Scorpius smiled at the memory. His father could be strict and cold, but he could also show good sides of him, especially to his wife and son.

After cautiously making a few steps towards the magical creature, Scorpius' hand reached its head.

"Eh, yeh're quite good too, Salamander seems to like yeh. Good job!" Hagrid acknowledged.

Albus looked at his professor and friend, "Can I try, too?"

The adult smiled, "'Course, go on. Try with Spicytail over there," he pointed at one that had chestnut feathers, with some red in it.

Albus succeeded too. Seeing how each teenager respectively gained the trust of one of their kind, the other hippogriffs approached too, and accepted being fed by them.

"See, told yeh it'd be ok," Hagrid happily exclaimed while throwing some food.

"I have to admit, this detention isn't as unpleasant as I'd thought it would be," Scorpius said while petting Salamander.

"Wow, Malfoy actually admitting something and not complaining, that's a first," Rose declared.

"Well, it is the first time I come here without getting attacked by something, you know. And I only complain when there's something to complain about. It's just it happen a lot more when you're around, Weasley. Weird, huh?"

"Come on, I should be the one complaining when you're around me," she retorted.

"Guys, let's not break the mood and be civil with each other, ok?" Albus said.

"Albus is righ'. The hippogriffs sense anger and they migh' become agitated if this go on," Hagrid added.

"Fine," both said without much conviction.

Once every hippogriff was fed, Hagrid said, "Let's go find the others now."

"There are more of them?"

"Yeah, some are missin', but they must be close."

"But this forest is giant, it'll take forever to find them," Albus commented.

"If they're not here, they mus' be drinkin' some water at the river, and they usually go ter only two different places. So, let's split up and it'll be even faster. Rose, yeh come with me, Albus an' Scorpius, yeh take the other way."

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"Come on, we've been walking for 10 minutes, and I still don't see a river anywhere," Malfoy said.

"It must be close, now," Albus was also trying to convince himself.

"I hope, 'cause I still don't like staying too long in that forest," Scorpius added, looking all around him, waiting for something to jump on him anytime soon.

Albus, who was walking in front of him, stopped and turned around, "Come on, stop being so scared, we'll hear it if something comes at us."

Suddenly, the Slytherin boy's eyes widened in fear and he slowly pointed his finger over Albus' head, "I bet you didn't hear that coming."

"What?" the young Potter asked before looking over him, and he saw an acromantula getting closer to him. "Okay, let's stay calm, and it probably won't attack us," he said warily and very quietly, while trying to slowly move away from it.

But then, the big spider made its move at once and jumped on him. Thankfully, Albus had had the time to take out his wand and use it against it, so the acromantula was thrown a few meters away.

"We're lucky it wasn't too big, it must be a baby," Albus reasoned.

"But if a baby is here, that must mean…" Scorpius began to say as they were looking at each other, realizing what it meant.

They heard branches crack, turned their head and exclaimed at the same time, "that the parents aren't far away!" And they began to run for their lives, while still managing to hex the arachnids. But since they were much bigger than the first one – and very pissed on top of that – they were having a really hard time trying to get rid of them.

After a lot of running, hexing, and running again, they finally managed to shake them off.

Once they were certain the creatures wouldn't come back, Scorpius let himself fall on the ground, "See, going in the Forbidden Forest, never a good idea," he concluded, still out of breath.

Albus was still standing up but holding his hip with one hand, "For once, I agree with you, Malfoy." Then he looked at his right, and smiled, "Hey, at least we found the river." They were on the top of a cliff and the river was at the bottom of it.

Scorpius stood up, "Really? Maybe we misunderstood the acromantulas, they were just trying to show us the right way. Remind me to thank them next time," he joked.

"Yeah, well then, let's hope we don't need their help again," Albus said. "Anyway, let's go, I think this is the way down." He began to walk again, but a little too close to the edge, and it seemed quite unstable.

By the time Scorpius realized what was happening, and yelled, "Potter, watch it!" the latter put his foot on the wrong place and the ground where he was standing on started to fall apart.

Fortunately, he managed to hold on the ground that was still steady, but it didn't stay steady for long and was about to go down just like the rest, and Albus was close to follow the rocks and fall off the cliff. Scorpius ran and extended his right hand to him, "Take it, I'll help you up!"

Albus Potter grasped Scorpius Malfoy's arm with his two hands just after starting to fall, but it was hard to pull him up since the other boy had been dragged along the way and half his body wasn't in contact with the ground, either.

"Don't you dare let go of my arm, Potter!" He exclaimed, seeing that Albus was losing his strength after some time staying like that. Scorpius tried to gather more strength but it still wasn't enough.

"Albus? Malfoy? You're here?" They suddenly heard Rose screaming from afar.

"Rose! Here! We need help, fast!" Scorpius yelled as loud as he could.

"Boys! We're comin', don' worry!" Harry replied as he popped out of the woods along with Rose. When he saw the situation they were in, he immediately gave them a hand. Of course, he was able to pull both of them effortlessly and put them far from the edge.

"Albus! Are you ok?" His cousin worried, kneeling next to him.

She did not pay attention to Scorpius who was lifting his eyebrow, his face saying 'Right, don't worry about the one who just saved your precious cousin, girl.'

"Yeah, thanks to Malfoy. If it weren't for him, I would've been lying at the bottom of that cliff, unconscious or worse," Albus slightly smiled, casting a sideways look at Scorpius.

Rose just seemed to remember Scorpius' existence thanks to her cousin's words, and stared at him, surprised.

He just shrugged and looked away, "I didn't want to have his death on my conscience, that's all."

"Thanks," she simply told him, looking straight at him.

This one word and that look from her made him feel a little weird. He wasn't used to that kind of thing coming from her.

Then, she noticed something, and exclaimed, "Malfoy, your arms are bleeding!"

He hadn't even noticed himself, "Oh, that must be because of the friction against the ground when I was trying to pull him up. But it's just a few scratches, that's why I didn't even feel them."

Rose told Hagrid, "Let's get them out of here."

The gamekeeper agreed.

"Hey, what about the hippogriffs?" Albus suddenly remembered.

"We found 'em an' fed 'em just fine."

"That's why we went looking for you," Rose added.

"Too bad you weren't faster, we wouldn't have had to run like hell and almost fall from a cliff," Scorpius said.

"Why run?" She didn't understand.

"Acromantulas," this word alone from Albus was enough.

"Did I tell you I didn't like going in the Forbidden Forest?" Scorpius underlined.

"Yes, you did, Malfoy," the redhead rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything else. She couldn't really blame him this time.

xxxxx

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I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!

Feel free to review, I'd love to get some feedback and know what is good or bad so I can get better at this. (:

Also, I'm French, so English isn't my first language. So if you see some big mistakes, or even small but recurrent or annoying ones, I'd be thankful if you told me :) I know I really dislike reading something with a lot of mistakes in it, even more when it's a story, and I don't want you to have that kind of feeling while reading mine.