Push & Pull

Chapter 1

Longbottom Laboratory

With one resounding pop, a short witch walked glamorously into her workplace with two large coffees, her heels clicking on the linoleum. She wore her usual work ensemble: long dress pants, a flowing blouse, her white lab robe, and her hair tied back tightly into a no-nonsense ponytail that swayed when she walked.

The interior building was slick and modern, redwood panels and metal accents adorning a long hallway. It was unusual to see the attendant's desk empty. Usually her favourite pencil pusher was there with his charming smile to beep her into the building. She didn't dwell much more on his absence as she pushed her pocket to the door and scanned in, the technology synced to her wand's unique signature.

"Alright, back to business," her voice cut through the dull chatter of the conference room. A tall willowy witch to her left gratefully reached for the second coffee.

"Thanks Rose," she beamed. Settling down at the head of the table, Rose finally noticed that her small team was in various states of disarray. Papers were scattered on the table. One wiry haired older witch bickered relentlessly with a younger boy, who was clearly flustered.

Rose looked to her dark haired friend, a brow raised in question. She received a dismissive shrug in response. It was no matter, there was work to be done. "Alice, do you have the updated resilience tests for me?" Rose's sunglasses were off, her quill was out and she was in for the count. The four workers in front of her snapped to attention, updating her on the various states of her lab. They were making good progress, but average was never good enough for Rose. She was just getting the finer details of their stocks when a head popped in.

"Sam, there you are!" Rose exclaimed, greeting her missing desk worker, but was put out by the boy's expression. He was always a cheerful kid, just a few years younger than her and straight out of Hogwarts. Gorgeous blonde boy, sculpted like a statue, confident and bright. Which was why the apprehension in his gaze while he addressed her threw Rose's flow off.

"Yes Miss Weasley, sorry for not being present for your arrival," he was curt and professional, "Mister Longbottom would like to speak with you at your earliest convenience," he nodded, all business.

Rose threw a questioning glance at Alice, who had nothing but a clueless shrug to return. This unsettled her, but Rose was used to keeping a good face.

"Sure. Tell him I can do a lunch meeting," Rose waved a dismissive hand, making a note on her sheet, "Does eleven work?"

"Just fine, thank you Miss Weasley," he departed, closing the glass door behind him. It was as if the sealing of the door closed in the fear of the workers in the room, leaving the table vibrating with energy. Rose gazed over them, finally gauging the tension of the room.

Alice Longbottom, a long friend of Rose's sipped on her hot coffee. Five creams, five sugars. Alice was in Rose's class at Hogwarts, and was always so much more organized. It was because of this that Rose had asked Alice onto her staff, though of course there was no objection since it was her father's research facility. Alice was tall and thin, her dark hair cropped to her chin, and large brown doe eyes offsetting the sharpness of her features. She was quick, intelligent, and the perfect assistant. Her dark eyes stared down at her coffee, seemingly oblivious to the room around her. Rose knew better.

Arthur Gallagher sat next to her, his long hair tied back into a short ponytail. He had large rimmed glasses that gave a more mature look to his baby face. The boy was a pureblood wizard of good wealth who had stumbled into her care as a favor of her potioneering mentor. He didn't have incredible instincts, but gave fresh ideas, and was learning quickly what it took to fit in at the industry. He flinched as Rose's gaze came to him, and she paused in her assessment, surprised by the reaction.

Millie Williams was a round older woman, a treasured lab technician with years of experience. Her place was at the other end of the table, a few seats away from Arthur. Her dark hair was dyed light to try and hide the graying roots. She came in to get the job done, and went home to her husband and teenage sons. Millie was an invaluable member of Rose's lab, with no other wishes than to take home her paycheck at the end of the week and have a laugh with her labmates. She was staring to the older man to her left as if waiting for a response to a question.

Augustine Bradley, better known as Auggie, sat to Rose's right. His white hair stood against dark skin, seemingly worn by ages of having his nose in books. He was Rose's essential consult on textual references, helping with her publications. He was as usual, writing away furiously, though the urgency of his writing was less enthusiastic than usual.

Rose leaned slowly onto the table, drumming her fingers lightly on the wood.

"What, the hell," Rose started, her voice quiet, but resounding in the now confining conference room, "is going on?" The question rung in the silence, unanswered for several long heartbeats.

"Uh," Millie cleared her throat, shifting in her chair. Her response had Rose's attention immediately, her curly ponytail flipping from her quick turn of the chin.

"I don't know for sure, but I've heard rumors of a buyout."

Alice fumbled with her cup, coffee spilling out of her mouth onto her white blouse. Rose pulled out her wand and, with a flick of the wrist, summoned napkins for her friend.

"Does anyone else have confirmation or speculation?" Rose replied, her voice flat and eyes narrowed. Based on the unsurprised reactions of the room, her team had all acknowledged the possibility.

"Alice?" Rose turned to her peer, and noticed the room pause, all attention on the heir to the Longbottom legacy. Rose eased a little at the response, it meant that nobody had sure confirmations of such a large change.

Alice swiped furiously at her button up, wiping more and more coffee onto her outfit, "Honestly Rose, if I had heard anything you'd be the first to know, I swear," she swore, tossing the darkened napkin onto the table.

Rose stood straight, feeling the corners of her vision pull away from her.

It's probably nothing. Just another complaint about how fast we've been through our angelweed stock…

But as Rose motioned for the day to continue, she knew in her gut it wasn't true.

…

Each glance at the clock reminded Rose of the anxiety churning in her gut. Sure, she was just running a quality check on the mushroom stock, and that required moderate attention, but the small indicating crystals in front of each specimen would hold the test results until she cleared them, so there was no real worry if she wasn't timely. Her attention, instead, kept flicking up to the large clock installed above the lab door.

Okay, Rose reasoned with herself for the tenth time that day, Worst case scenario, your company is bought out, your lab dissolved, and you go back to school. Though she knew deep down it wouldn't be that bad. She was a fantastic, innovative researcher who just developed a more effective blood thinning serum from the poison of a river leech. She had three new projects that her lab was working on, mind children of Rose's, and they all seemed promising. No witch or wizard in their right mind would fire Rose, and she held onto that nugget of pride with a last sweep of her wand as she completed the quality check.

Just in time too. She discarded the expired or contaminated stock with a word to Arthur on proper storage of the new materials before heading to the door. She felt all eyes on her as she hung her lab cloak, and though she knew her team might need a rousing speech before she left to hear their fate, she couldn't find it in her.

Lunch meetings with Mister Longbottom were usually lovely. Before he was her boss, he was her friend's father. She walked into the Three Broomsticks, heels clicking once again on the hardwood floors. She let the sound fill her with strength, tilting her chin a little higher as she approached the booth that she used to occupy with her young friend every Hogsmeade trip.

Mister Longbottom stood as she approached, reaching out a hand professionally, then pulling her in for a hug.

"Alright Rose, we have quite a bit to go over. I've ordered your favourite already, so all you need to do is take a seat," he motioned to the booth and she froze in place.

Sitting across from Rose Weasely and Neville Longbottom were two blonde wizards that she hadn't seen in years. Ones that cause the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up, not because of their names, but because of what they represented: the Longbottom Lab's greatest rivals. She'd only ever truly known one of them, and she fought the urge to turn heel and bolt for the door.

Rose was thrown back to Hogwarts.

…

"You broke his bloody arm!" Rose yelled, pushing out of the Gryffindor Common room entrance into the dimly lit hallway. It wasn't yet past curfew, but emerging from a celebration made the corridor feel eerily empty.

"He was touching you!" A tall bloke shoved through the portrait hole, pursuing her down a staircase. Rose made no move to lose him, but pushed on all the same.

"We won the match Scorpius, John has a fucking ego, and I know how to take care of myself!" she turned quickly, barely running into her cousin's tall blonde best friend.

They stopped abruptly, chests heaving from the pursuit. Rose could feel how wild she must have looked, her hair falling out of its ponytail, fire in her eyes from the fight. Scorpius wasn't wrong, they'd all had some firewhiskey, and John got a little too handsy in the common room.

"Most girls just say thanks," Scorpius mumbled, finally gaining some humility now that Rose was removed from the situation.

"Thanks." she snapped, still glaring at him.

The situation changed faster than her mind could follow. One minute, Scorpius was meters away, approaching with apprehension, and the next, the air between them flickered with electricity. As he came closer, Rose felt the space around her close in, give away, until it was only them. And for the life of her, she couldn't remember why she was angry, only that her head was fuzzy, and she had never noticed the way his face softened when he looked at her.

"Are you okay Rose?" he whispered, so close now that the air from his mouth brushed against her forehead. She shivered, recognizing this moment for what it was. It was her seventh year, and Rose was not a virgin. She had been here before, the calm before the storm, but never like this. Never with her cousin's best friend, the unsaid burning in the last inches between their skin.

"No," her voice escaped, a hoarse sound from deep within her throat. Before she could stop herself, her lips closed the distance between them, and she could feel Scorpius tense in response. It was only a brief moment, and then he was spinning her, forcing her back against the wall of the corridor.

The kiss was not a light reassurance. It was grounding. Rose felt a need unlike anything she'd known flow through her, forcing a fire into her movements that she hadn't thought possible. Everywhere Scorpius' stupid lips touched her sang, her skin cold where he left teasing kisses. She moaned as his teeth grazed her neck, a firm touch that she didn't anticipate. He pulled back in response, eyes blazing with the same passion he'd had as he came to her rescue moments before.

She was moving before she knew where she was going, pulling him to the closest classroom.

…

Rose's cheeks burned as she took her seat across from Scorpius Malfoy and his father of Malfoy Industries.

Author's Note: Hey! Fireflies here, thanks for picking this up. I'm basing it off of a romance novel I read, but mostly this story is the fill the void of the best Scorpius/Rose fanfic I just read. This isn't going to be perfect, but there will be lots of sexual tension/activities with plot between. All suggestions/comments are encouraged! I LOVE feedback and rewrites, so just let me know what you'd like me to fix or what you'd like to see next!