Sixth Year was a blessing. Well, maybe not all of Rose's fellow students would've agreed with her about it because it did have a heavier homework load than the years before. Still, it was a respite between the stress of O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s. All she wanted to do was take advantage of the (relative) calm before the storm before the insanity of Seventh Year kicked in.
Her plan went along without a hitch until early December. There weren't any big, screaming warning signs going off to alert her that the calm was ending. She was studying in the Common Room like any other day. Well, no, she had more company than usual. In fact, most of her roommates were there. Mary MacDonald was there to get help with a Defense Against the Dark Arts paper. Marlene McKinnon was there too with Ceri Cauldwell, though they didn't seem too interested in school work. They were far too busy trying to get Nina Fisher and Rose's best mate. Cait Michelakis to spill about catching one of the Hufflepuff Chasers with his trousers down (literally). Nina seemed to be enjoying the attention but Cait looked like she wanted to hex all of them. As entertaining as Rose would've found that, she hoped Cait wouldn't. It'd cause a scene and Marlene would pout questioned. A pouting roommate was not conducive to revising Transfiguration.
In hindsight, she should've known something was going to go wrong. She rarely spent time with her roommates and for good reason. While she liked each of them well enough individually, she tended to find the group of them taxing in large doses. Mary had the disposition of a wounded kitten most of the time and Ceri was one of the biggest gossips that Hogwarts had ever seen. Paired with Marlene's need for dramatics and Nina's need for attention, Rose would usually rather spend the time with a Devil's Snare after about a half an hour in.
The relative peace was shattered when the portrait hole swung open and an irate Lily Evans came storming into the Common Room with James Potter short on her heels. Like always, James' mates, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew followed close behind him.
"How many times do I have to say 'no' for you to get it through your thick skull, Potter?! I'm not interested!" Lily exclaimed, her flushed cheeks nearly the same shade as her ginger hair. "Not this Hogsmeade trip, not ever! Never!"
This wasn't the first time Rose watched Lily reject James. This wasn't even the most public or humiliating time she'd watched. In fact, it was at least the third time that week. The only thing Rose could see in the pair of them that suggested they'd make a decent couple was that they were both obscenely bullheaded. He'd been chasing Lily since they were twelve and she'd been rejecting him vehemently just as long.
"Evans, I don't think you're being reasonable," James told her, being as much of an idiot as usual. "You can't turn me down forever. Why won't you just consider it?"
"No!" Lily snapped and Rose wouldn't have been surprised if she didn't whip out her wand soon. "Never, Potter! I'd rather go with the Giant Squid!"
"There goes my date," Cait muttered, causing Nina and Ceri to titter.
James eyed the offending parties contemplatively, as if deciding whether to jinx them for laughing at him. He must've decided against it, though, as his attention went back to Lily. "You aren't being fair about this," he insisted.
Rose couldn't help but roll her eyes. She'd been listening to the same argument for nearly four years. It'd been months since Lily or James used new material in this little sessions like this. It would likely dissolve into childish name-calling that Rose has come to expect whenever the pair was in the same room for too long. It made her think neither of them were mature enough for any kind of romantic relationship, no matter who it was with.
"This isn't primary school. I don't have to have a play date with you just to spare hurting your feelings, Potter," Lily retorted.
Ceri giggled behind her hand but it wasn't enough to stifle the noise.
James narrowed his eyes at her. Apparently he could write off being laughed at once but his ego couldn't handle it twice. "Something funny, Cauldwell?"
Ceri blanched. James Potter was not the kind of person you wanted as an enemy. Lily was likely the only person who could insult him without fear of retaliation. Maybe Sirius or Remus but Rose wasn't entirely sure about it.
Ceri seemed to shrink under James' gaze, undoubtedly thinking of his reputation for pranking and humiliating people who offended him. He usually stuck with Slytherins but it wasn't exclusive. His reputation as a duellist probably didn't help calm her either.
Rose, however, didn't have the same sense of self-preservation. "Of course it's funny, Potter," she informed him with an air of disinterest, turning the page in her textbook. "It's always a laugh to watch you make a prat of yourself."
Cait snickered while Nina and Marlene giggled. Lily didn't even bother to hide her pleased smile. She wouldn't have been surprised if Lily got her a bar of Honeydukes Finest for the show. The ginger seemed to do that sort of thing when someone took on James' ego.
His attention turned to her, though it was more hesitant than with Ceri. She did have a reputation of her own as someone not to cross. While it may not have been as popular of a topic as his, it was hard to ignore.
Lily spoke while he was obviously mulling over it was worth threatening Rose. "That's it," she announced, green eyes bright.
He looked at her with interest, "What is?"
"I'll go on a date with you if you convince them you're worth dating," Lily announced, nodding to her roommates who seemed to all have given up on studying.
Rose's eyes nearly hit her hairline as she realized that she was included in the "them". "I beg your pardon?!"
James and Lily ignored her. "Convince all six of them before graduation and I'll go on a date with you but you don't get to ask me out until you've convinced them. No sonnets, no pet names, no chocolates, no inappropriate proclamations, no following me around. You either convince them by graduation or 'no' will always be my answer. Final offer."
James scanned over the six "jurors" before nodding twice, "I agree."
"I don't," Rose argued, watching her hopes of a quiet Sixth Year burn in front of her. She didn't want his obsessive attention focused on her. He didn't even like her enough to not try to hex her into agreement.
"Lovely," Lily drawled, ignoring her protest. The ginger disappeared up the stairs, escaping before he could change his mind.
Rose gave Cait a "can-you-believe-this-bullocks" look, which earned a shrug in reply. "Agreement or not, I'll still hex you into oblivion if you harass me," Rose informed the boys airily as she collected her books. "Cait?"
Cait nodded, gathering her own books. "Good luck," she smirked at the boys before following Rose out of the Common Room and through the portrait hole.
Rose threw up a Shield Charm before someone managed to hit them with a jinx. "Amateurs," she muttered as she heard it bounce off the Shield, making Cait smile.
They found their way to the Hufflepuff Common Room, muttering to each other about self-serving gingers and arrogant berks the whole way. Rose continued mumbling as they plopped down to her brother on a golden couch, much to Sebastian's amusement.
"Something wrong?" he questioned as Cait threw her bag on the ground and Rose pulled out her Transfiguration textbook.
"Did you finish memorizing the ingredients for a Memory Potion?" she questioned, refinding her page.
"Erm no."
"Then I'll answer that question when you have," she replied evenly.
Cait snorted, "If this is the way you treat your brother then I'm glad I'm an only child."
"You know, Rosie, when I asked for your help to study I really wasn't looking for you to become my drill sergeant. I just wanted you to quiz me and maybe help me with a couple charms."
"Shut up and study," she told him dismissively. "This is your Seventh Year. You need to buckle down."
He sighed and she saw him roll his eyes in her peripheral vision. "Memory Potions it is then."
"Please tell you don't plan for becoming a professor. I would hate to have you in a class," Cait told her.
She rolled her eyes and chose to ignore the comment in favor of focusing on her studies. She was content to study in silence with the familiar warmth of Sebastian next to her. It reminded her a little of hiding in the Attic with him and Aggie while their parents had one of their particularly bad arguments. She almost felt bad for leaving Aggie in the Ravenclaw Tower instead of inviting her to join them but their little sister was worse at studying than Sebastian. Aggie was an almost wickedly smart Second Year who hasn't learned to study yet. She got away with talent and good memorization skills. Rose might've been able to get away with not studying Charms or Defense Against the Dark Arts but Transfiguration and Potions definitely required extra attention. She wasn't sure how well Herbology would go without studying but she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.
"You're really not going to tell me until I memorize this stupid potion?" Sebastian questioned skeptically, eyeing her over his textbook. He'd only lasted twenty minutes.
Cait took pity on him. "You know how James Potter is always chasing after Lily Evans?"
He snorted and nodded, "Everyone knows that, Caitie."
"Well what everyone doesn't know is that she and Potter entered an agreement half an hour ago that she'll only date him if he convinces every one of her roommates she should."
He laughed, brown eyes dancing with amusement, "Really? Why would she have done that?"
"He isn't allowed to ask her out or write her poetry or stalk he or pretty much anything he's been doing since Second Year," Cait explained.
"Apparently she's decided she's tired of him harassing her so it's our turn," Rose added bitterly.
"Well that's rubbish but it doesn't have to be," he pointed out. "Come on. You two are too smart to just let them drag you through this. Potter can only give you trouble if you play along with their game. Just tell her to date him. If he's got your recommendation then he doesn't have a reason to bother you."
Rose gave him an unimpressed look, "I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be loyal. That doesn't sound like very loyal advice. "
"You're my sister. I want you to be happy more than anything. Besides, I don't think Hogwarts would survive you going to war with the Marauders. This way keeps the peace. You don't owe her anything," he shrugged.
"She might be your sister but what about me?" Cait challenged.
"The future mother of my children, of course," he informed her with a grin.
Rose made a retching noise, "Don't start that up again. There are rules about brothers flirting with their sisters' friends in front of them."
"What is it that you always say? 'Hang the rules'?" Cait teased.
"Not this rule. I like this rule," she replied before pausing. He was right, though. She felt a little wrong even entertaining the idea of giving into James. It didn't necessarily feel as wrong as spending the next year and a half with the Marauders chasing after it. It was pretty close, though. "Disgustingness aside, Bas, I guess you can be smart about some things sometimes," she admitted to him. "Now shut up and study."
Author's Note:
Surprise, I'm back! I never thought I'd come back to the world of writing Harry Potter fan fiction. I really thought I was done with this part of my life but then I would a couple of old notebooks from my high school years with snippets of badly written fan fiction and well… I guess it made me remember how much I missed it and it made me want to see how much I'm improved. Also, I missed my old readers who I left in the lurch when I abandoned my older stories before… Sorry! I have the next chapter and a half written with a clear idea of where we're going so I will do my best to get this up as soon as possible (and before I forget about it).