When Opposites Don't Attract

From an outsider's perspective, Ron and Hermione Weasley's marriage was perfect. They were opposites but, as stated in Witch Weekly, 'opposites attract'. Apparently it was great that Hermione lived for knowledge whilst Ron lived for Quidditch, and that she was thoughtful and tidy whilst he was a bit thoughtless and very messy, that she adored complexity whilst he liked to keep it all simple.

Rose Weasley, the daughter of the 'golden couple' knew differently, that some traits simply weren't remotely compatible. For as long as she could remember, she'd been witnessing what happened when opposites didn't attract.

Rose's childhood memories partly consisted of lying awake at stupid hours just listening to their marriage break down. The worst part, though, was the next day, when all was still and quiet and her parents tiptoed around each other but shot each other horrible looks when they thought she and Hugo couldn't see and Rose knew she had to keep her little brother distracted with games and toys, trying to prevent his innocence from slipping away prematurely the way hers had. But the next day would be slightly brighter, her parents would smile tentatively at each other, before suggesting that one of them took Rose and Hugo out for the day whilst the other stayed home and 'worked'. When she was really small, Rose assumed that all parents did this; that nobody went out with both of their parents at the same time. It hadn't taken her too long to realise that this wasn't the case. Just like how, at the age of seven, she knew her parent's marriage was not normal, not happy. And that was far too much for any seven year old to know.

When she was ten, Rose realised that the silent angry days often outnumbered the calm days and completely chased away the now almost fictional happy days when both her parents laughed together. And Rose knew that love wasn't supposed to be this way, but she just assumed that after a while this was what happened when opposites stopped attracting. She knew that her parents had once been in love, and the fact that they no longer seemed to be proved that love didn't last forever. Nothing lasted forever. These were all lessons that Rose had learnt long before she should have learnt them.

And then she went away to Hogwarts, leaving Hugo with them and knowing that soon her baby brother would grow up too fast without his big sister to distract him from the sadness that seemed to consume both of their parents when they got that sad, resigned look in their eyes that told anyone who bothered looking past the fairytale that they'd given up on their love. And there was nothing she could do to shelter Hugo from this, or to prevent the growing resentment she felt for both her mother and her father building up, especially when they put on that 'happy couple' act in front of everybody else.

When they were on the Platform waiting for the Hogwarts Express, her father voiced a prejudice against the Malfoy family, Rose was even more determined to befriend the scared looking boy with the blond hair and the father people whispered about. And they did become friends, best friends. Rose was surprised to find that the best thing about being at Hogwarts wasn't the being away from home, but was actually having Scorpius by her side.

Having a best friend to talk to felt amazing, despite the fact that she preferred to solve her own problems and sadness, it was nice to know that she had someone who'd listen should she change her mind. He made her laugh when she was down and she did the same for him when he felt sad. They were inseparable and having him around just made everything happier and brighter.

Scorpius was the only constant in her life as she grew older and her parents grew angrier and sadder and she resented them more and Hugo rebelled and Rose worried about him and her parents shouted at each other all the time and even the rest of the family stopped believing in the power of her parent's love and it just hurt all the time. But then things got kind of strange and sad and worrying and scary... At times he would look at her, and that look would unnerve her because it reminded her of how her daddy had once looked at her mummy on the really good days. And she couldn't stand that look because it reminded her of the impermanence of love and how it eventually broke people. And that was why it scared her when Scorp looked like that- she and Scorpius couldn't break like her parents had, they just couldn't. And that was why she never gave him the chance to break her, or the chance to break him.

That is, until Scorpius asked for more, then used the 'L' word. And Rose quite calmly stated the truth: that love didn't last and that it only broke and ruined people. And he kept trying to convince her and change her mind. And she either couldn't or didn't want to. Yet he carried on asking and trying. And she kept telling him it wouldn't work and never would. Then she looked around at what had been a beautiful friendship and was now not really there at all. And that was how she knew that love ruined everything. And eventually, he stopped asking. And they stopped speaking. And she knew she'd been right all along: love broke everything and love didn't last.