Teehee. So, I've already written a story entitled Hermione's Cinderella Story. Well, due to lack of inspiration, I decided to create one for Rose. I believe every girl should have a fairy tale story. I myself have yet to have my own. (I guess you could say I had an original Grimm's telling-esque fairy tale. But that makes me sound bitter. Heh.) One day, though, one day my prince will come. Ha… ha…
By the by, this story has nothing to do with the Hermione one.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Rose's Cinderella Story Part I
Pink. What could she have been thinking when she had decided that pink was a good idea. Of course, she liked pink; what wasn't to like? Pink is a pretty color, and it is nice to feel and dress like a girl every once in a while. Pink isn't a bad color, but that did not change the fact that pink did not compliment Rose Weasley's fiery orange hair very well at all.
"Are you going to come out and let me see it, Rose?" Alice, her best friend called into the dressing room.
"NEVER," Rose called dramatically. "Pink was a terrible idea."
"I suppose it was worth a shot, though. Get changed and get out here quickly. I want you to see the one I'm trying on right now."
Rose complied, hanging up the hateful pink garment, and threw on her own clothes before beginning the inspection of Alice's dress. She took one look at the dress and said "Yes." Alice wore a violet dress that hugged her curvy figure flatteringly before fanning out at the knee. It looked perfect against her dark hair and complexion.
"You're sure it isn't too tight?" Alice was always worrying about her weight, especially around Rose. Rose stood nearly a head taller than her friend and so had a more slender build. Alice was more plump, but in all the right places. She had one of those perfect hourglass figures.
"Not at all. With the right shoes, you'll look simply stunning," Rose smiled with adoration evoking a satisfied look from Alice.
"Outstanding," Alice sighed as she looked into the mirror. "Now all I need is for an attractive boy to ask me out and we're good to go to the ball. I'd even settle for a semi-attractive boy. You're lucky," she redirected her speech to Rose. "Andrew is probably the most attractive boy in our year."
Rose beamed as she thought of her boyfriend of eight months. Yes, Andrew was quite agreeable to look at, his only fault that he was a terrible flirt, but Rose was slowly getting over her jealousy. Very slowly. Like, turtle with one broken leg and a muscle cramp slowly.
"Yes, you have a gown but no escort, I have an escort but no gown. How perfect for both of us, don't you agree?"
"We'll find you a dress yet. Don't give up. Now, I'm going to change and give this dress to the lady behind the counter to hold for me. Then we're going to go back out there and attack every corner of this store until we find something that measures up to Her Highness's standards," Alice mocked jokingly. Rose was a bit picky when it came to clothing.
They moved throughout the store, looking at every single (not pink) dress. "How about this one?" Alice held up a cobalt blue dress.
"I like bottom, it lays beautifully, but I'm not too fond of the bodice."
"And this one?"
"The top part is gorgeous but what in Merlin's name is going on with those ruffles? Are those feathers?"
"This one is absolutely fabulous."
Rose looked and laughed. "Yes, and I bet you ten galleons it would look lovely on you," she commented about the violet dress that Alice had just tried on.
"This one would go great with your eyes," Alice exclaimed about an emerald green gown.
"That would look terrible on me, though. It's not made for my body at all. It seems none of these dresses are."
"Well of course they aren't made a girl who could pass as a half-blooded giant with no waste to speak of. They make them for we average girls."
Rose pondered this for a while. "You're absolutely right. Damn my mother for having that affair with that giant," she jested. "She should have known that I'd never be able to fit into proper clothes like the other girls. Worry not, mother, for your daughter accepts her fate as a giantess. Come along, Alice. We're going to buy fabric and I'm going to make my own gown. Let's just hope that they have enough material in Europe to cover such a large girl. Now, speak up when talking to me. The wind up here is howling and I can barely hear your tiny voice."
Alice was doubled over with laughter by this point. "Okay, okay. You've made your point. I'm going to go and buy my dress. It wouldn't be a bad idea for you to walk around and try to get ideas of what kind of dress or at least what color you want."
Rose did as her friend suggested and decided to combine aspects from several of the dresses she looked at; long, slim fit, off the shoulder, corset back. Yes, she could create a dress that would look good on her.
"Now," Alice interrupted her thoughts. "About shoes."
XXXX
It was the weekend of the ball. Alice was still waiting for a handsome boy to ask her out. Rose used whatever free time she had to work on her dress.
On Friday morning, Rose sat and listened to her best friend's plight. "I don't think I can go if I don't have a date. That would be so embarrassing."
"You'll have a date," Rose assured her.
"The ball is tomorrow."
Rose turned and looked down the table. "Albus," she called down to her cousin. "Who are you going to the ball with?"
"I promised to take Tara," he said with a shrug. Tara was his ex-girlfriend. They broke up because, apparently, one boy was not enough for her. And yet, Tara absolutely adored Albus, he was a good friend to have, and so she insisted that he still take her to the ball.
"How about you, James?"
"I don't know yet. Hold on," he turned the other way and shouted down the table. "Nichole? Do you have a date for the ball? No? How about going with me?" He turned back to Rose. "I'm going with Nichole."
"Splendid," Rose muttered, slightly exasperated. "And you, Xavier?"
"I'm taking Emma."
"Oh, that's enough, Rose. Why don't I just advertise that I'm looking for a date in the Daily Prophet?"
"Now there's a productive idea," Rose said with a huge smile. "Honestly, Alice, for all they know I'm just curious for no apparent reason."
Alice huffed as she stood. "See you in Potions. I left my homework in the room."
"I promise you'll have a date by lunchtime!"
XXXX
Rose took her usual seat next to Scorpius Malfoy and went about setting up the ingredients for today's lesson. She smiled at the boy as she sat down. "How's it going?"
"It's going," Scorpius answered. "I'm just ready for the weekend."
"Can't wait for the ball?"
"Can't wait for the ball to be over."
Rose laughed. "Who are you taking?"
"I'm going with Leslie," he pointed to the Slytherin girl sitting a couple rows ahead of them. "And you? I assume you're going with Andrew?"
"First of all, yes. Of course I'm going with Andrew," Rose tried to contain her giggle, "B of all, that isn't Leslie. Her name is Laurie."
"Laurie. Right, I knew that. Er, then who is Leslie?"
"Leslie's her sister. She's a year ahead of us. Head Girl. Ring a bell?"
"Oh, that's right. They look a lot alike."
"Hey, Scorpius, are you sure that you're going with her?" Rose pointed at Laurie. "Not Leslie?"
Rose watched as his face fell. "Oh no."
"Scorpius Malfoy! You are terrible, even for a boy. Which one did you ask?"
"I didn't ask either of them! One of them asked me!"
"Really?" Rose remarked. "Well, was she wearing the Head Girl badge?"
"She wasn't wearing anything," Scorpius started then blushed as Rose's jaw dropped. "I mean, nothing school-related. Of course she was wearing clothes, but not her school robes."
Rose shook her head. "Settle down. I'll help you out," Rose leaned over to the table beside her and whispered to Albus. "Hey Al, I need you to do me a favor. Go up to Laurie and tell her that a friend of yours is curious if she has a date to the ball. If she does, ask who it is."
"I thought you were going with Andrew," Albus teased and winked before getting up.
The great thing about Albus is that he would do anything Rose told him to without a second thought (a sarcastic comment from him was a small price to pay).
"Hey. Malfoy," the boy sitting behind him tapped his shoulder. He stole a quick glance at Rose. "I heard something interesting last night. I think I should tell you. After class."
"No problem."
The boy sat back and seemed suddenly overly interested in his Potions book. Rose wondered if he read all of his books upside down. Wait, no, he finally turned it right side up.
"She's going with Blake," Albus reported.
Rose looked to Scorpius who had a strange, smug expression on his face. "What?"
"Well, then, I was right. I am going with Leslie."
XXXX
Alice walked with Rose to Charms. "It's an hour closer to lunchtime."
"Hungry?"
"No, I'm just saying that I don't think I'll have a date before the ball, let alone before lunchtime."
"Settle down. We have our next class with Hufflepuff. I'll ask Andrew if he has any available friends."
Just at that moment Andrew's friend Thomas walked up to them. "Hey there," he said with a smile just for Alice. "Mind if we talk for a bit?"
Alice's cheeks turned pink but she didn't say anything. Rose jumped in. "Of course. Hey, Alice, I'm going to head to class. See you there?"
Alice nodded and Rose beamed as she walked away.
"Rose!" Scorpius called after her. She stopped and waited for him to catch up to her. "I need to talk to you about something. Can we hang out tonight?"
"Sorry, I can't. I have to finish my dress."
"Please, Rose. I really need to tell you something."
"I can't, I'm sorry. I even blew off Andrew, again, so I could finish my dress. How would that look if I didn't have time for him but had time for you."
That was another sore point in their relationship. Apart from Andrew's compulsive flirtatious behavior, that is. Andrew could not stand Scorpius for a myriad of reasons. First and foremost, Scorpius was in Slytherin. Andrew hated Slytherins but, when asked about it, could not produce a sound reason as to why that was. Second of all, before Andrew and Rose began dating, Scorpius and Rose had been really close and spent almost all of their time together. In fact, all of Hogwarts (including even the teachers) were surprised by Andrew and Rose's sudden relationship. And, thirdly, Rose and Scorpius were still close and still spent a good deal of time together.
Despite Rose's assurances that the two of them were just friends, which was the honest to Merlin truth, Andrew never liked Scorpius.
"Rose."
"Scorpius."
"Rose. Really."
"Why don't you just tell me now."
"Well, I just heard about it. I want to try to get all the facts before saying anything, but we definitely need to talk."
"Rose, hey, glad I found you," it was James this time. "Rosie, there's something I need to talk to you about," Rose had never seen him quite this serious before.
"What's going on? First Scorpius and now you," Rose pondered aloud. There was giggling coming from the classroom they stood in front of. "Sounds like someone's having fun before class," Rose commented. They then heard another voice, deeper than the first, and slightly familiar to Rose.
It was as if Scorpius and James had already expected this as they exchanged dark looks. James reached for the doorknob, pushed the door open, and walked in followed closely by Scorpius.
"Potter, Malfoy, what the hell?" The deeper voice said.
"Well, it looks like I just got all the facts," Scorpius said to Rose.
She gave him a look mixed with confusion and understanding all in one. Disbelievingly, she peeked over his shoulder and into the classroom.
Her face fell. "Andrew."
XXXX
Rose could not speak. She left them in the hallway, could hear the audible rip as James tore Andrew a new one, sat down in her seat in the Charms classroom, and did not say another word to anyone until after her last class of the day.
Alice walked solemnly beside her as they returned to their room. She could only watch as her best friend gently placed her bag down on her bed, walked slowly over to the window, pulled herself smoothly onto the windowsill, and looked on impassively at the outside world. Miss Anne Thrope, Rose's temperamental old cat who had been curled up on a chair, stretched herself out and then leaped to sit on Rose's lap.
Rose looked down and scratched the grey cat behind her ears. "Hey, Miss Anne. How was your day today?" She purred in appreciation then hissed as Alice moved closer. Like always, Alice ignored the angry old cat. That darn thing didn't like a single person other than Rose. She put a hand on Rose's shoulder.
"Why did he do that?" Rose finally spoke. "I mean, if he wanted to sneak around with other girls in the cloakroom he should have bloody well told me instead of lying about it and making me find out this way. I feel like a damn fool. Did you see the looks people gave me in class, at dinner, in the hallway? How dare he embarrass me like that?"
"You didn't deserve that," Alice reassured her friend.
"Thank you," Rose finally uttered. "I really appreciate that."
Alice placed a light kiss on her friend's forehead. "You want to be alone, don't you?"
Rose gave a bitter laugh. "You know I can't very well cry with someone else watching. Ali, you know me far too well."
"It happens after you live with someone for six years. Anyway, I'll be around when you're ready to talk. In the meantime, is there anything I can get for you?"
"I don't suppose you could get me a particular boy's head on a silver platter?"
"Would you settle for a bag of some sort? I think I might get in trouble if I carry around a head, you know?"
"A silver bag?"
"If I can find one, sure. If not, do you need anything else?"
"Could you actually bring me something around dinner time? I don't feel like leaving my room tonight."
"Now that I know I can do. I'll see you then, okay?"
Alice left the room and Rose let her tears flow freely.
XXXX
That's it for the first installment. I know, not much has happened yet. All the sappy stuff happens in the next part. It's just… it was about fourteen pages in Word when I finished it, and so I split it up so that it'd be easier to digest.
The good news, though, is now you can give me some feedback halfway through! I have the second part finished, but if I have to change the rest based on what someone has to say, I can. So you, my dearly beloved reader, are part of the writing process whether you knew it or not. So leave a lovely review and I'll see what I can do for you.