Everything belongs to Queen Rowling, I'm making no money off this.
This is just a quiet day in the run-up to Christmas in which Rose and Lily meet in Hogsmeade. Rose Weasley has graduated from Hogwarts and is currently living in a flat with Scorpius Malfoy (one of my favourite pairings), while Lily Luna Potter is in her seventh year and has just started going out with another canon character. Nothing exciting happens in this piece, but I just wrote it one day out of boredom and I wanted to share it. I like to think that Rose and Lily share this sisterly relationship. I hope you enjoy it :)
The door of the Three Broomsticks swung shut and Rose Weasley shivered, pushing her hood down so that flurries of snow flew out of the folds in the fabric. She attempted to smooth her wild red curls before ambling up to the counter. 'Two Butterbeers, please, Hannah,' she said to the barmaid.
'Sit down, Rose, I'll bring them over,' smiled the woman, brushing a strand of blonde hair out of her blue eyes.
Rose did so, picking a seat at a table as far from the draughty door as she could. After a moment, the curvy, smiling barmaid, Hannah Abbott, approached her with a tankard of Butterbeer clutched in each hand. She set them down on the table with a chink and sat down opposite the brown-eyed, freckled young woman.
'How are things, Rose?' asked Hannah.
'Fine,' shrugged Rose. 'Yourself?'
'Not bad, not bad at all. How are your mum and dad?'
'Yeah, they're good. They're on holiday in Egypt at the moment, Dad's been wanting to take Mum for ages. They'll be back tomorrow, though, and we'll be spending Christmas at Dad's mum's house.'
'That's nice,' smiled Hannah. 'And the rest of your family? The Potters?'
'I haven't really heard from them in a while,' replied Rose. 'I've been away with Scorp and his family – we went to Ireland, to visit his grandparents. That's why I'm here, actually, the Hogwarts students have a Hogsmeade trip today, I'm meeting Lily.' She paused. 'How's Neville?'
'He's fine,' she replied cheerfully. 'He's coming down here to see me soon.' She patted Rose's hand. 'Well, I'd better get back to work, it's always busy on a Hogwarts day, I shouldn't keep my customers waiting. I'll talk to you soon, dear.'
''Bye,' smiled Rose.
Just then, the door to the pub creaked open and a teenage girl appeared in the doorway. She had sleek, straight red hair that fell halfway down her back, big brown eyes and freckles. She resembled her mother almost eerily. Spotting Rose sitting alone at the far table, her eyes brightened and she waved.
'Hi,' she grinned, sitting down opposite her cousin. 'Is this for me?' She indicated the second Butterbeer.
Rose nodded, smiling. 'Yep. How are you, Lils? It's been forever.'
'Never mind that,' said Lily Luna Potter, waving her hand in disdain. 'Tell me about your holiday!'
Rose laughed. 'It was hardly a holiday. It rained all weekend and Scorp's grandparents were just as horrible as I anticipated.'
The younger girl frowned. 'Elaborate.'
Rose sighed and took a sip of her Butterbeer. 'Well, we arrived at Dublin airport on Friday evening and Apparated to Scorp's grandparents' house—'
'Are his grandparents Irish?' interrupted Lily.
'No, they moved there after the Second Wizarding War,' replied Rose, shrugging. 'Probably something to do with the fact that most of the wizarding world hates them. Mind you, they're hated over there, too, so it was a bit of a redundant move.' She paused. 'Anyway, we arrived at Malfoy Manor—'
'Malfoy Manor?' repeated Lily incredulously. 'Could they be any more pretentious?'
'You haven't heard the worst of it,' laughed Rose. 'So, we arrived, and the most horrible house-elf you could possibly imagine answered the door, muttering about Mudbloods and disgraces to wizardry under its breath as if we couldn't hear it…' She sighed. 'It led us through to the sitting room where Scorp's grandparents were waiting for us. Lucius and Narcissa, they were called. Ridiculously prim and proper – they were almost medieval. Narcissa sat there like she had a poker up her backside, spoke only when spoken to like a nice, respectable lady…and as for Lucius…' She scowled. 'Questioning me all about my parents, and all the while the house-elf in the background was muttering about blood traitors and vermin…I almost lost it.'
'Your dad warned you,' Lily pointed out. 'Said the Malfoys were prejudiced bastards who'd write you off the second they heard your last name.'
'Scorp's parents weren't too bad,' replied Rose defensively. 'Actually, his mother was really sweet and his father…made an effort. He was a bit awkward, you know, obviously he thought I wasn't good enough for Scorp or whatever, but he tried not to let it show. His grandparents, though…' She scowled again. 'I suppose I could stand his grandmother, but his grandfather was just awful. Dad made Draco Malfoy out to be the worst man on the planet, but I think he'd be a nice guy if he hadn't been brought up by that.' She sighed.
'So, were there any fights?' asked Lily, sitting up in anticipation. 'Did you tell his grandparents what you thought of them?'
Rose chuckled, cupping the tankard of Butterbeer in both hands. 'I'm not you, Lils. I wouldn't have the guts.'
Lily exhaled, slumping back in her seat again. 'You mean you didn't say anything?'
'Well, I didn't exactly want to confirm their belief that all Weasleys were good for nothing, so I acted respectable. I was the bigger person. Scorp said I was brilliant, said he would've flown off the handle if it were him,' she added, smiling reminiscently.
'So would I,' muttered Lily, rolling her eyes. 'I can't believe you just took it!'
'I'm glad I did,' shrugged Rose. 'Anyway, the rest of the weekend wasn't too bad – I kind of kept out of their way. Well, we had dinner with them every night, and that was horrible, but other than that…' she smiled dreamily. 'Scorp took me sightseeing. Ireland is absolutely beautiful. And the house itself was gorgeous – they had an amazing library, and all the books looked as if they'd never been touched!' Her eyes were shining at the mere thought of it. She leaned towards her cousin, lowering her voice. 'I may have smuggled a couple of books home in my trunk. I mean, it's not really stealing...I'll technically be part of their family soon, and they never read them anyway…'
'Wait,' interrupted Lily, sitting up sharply. 'You'll technically be part of their family soon? Does that mean what I think it means?'
'Oh,' groaned Rose. 'We weren't going to tell anyone yet…but, I suppose, it's only you…but you can't tell anyone!'
'You're marrying him?' gasped Lily. 'Oh, that's so sweet! When?'
'We haven't picked a date yet,' smiled Rose. 'He proposed on the last day of the trip – he took me to this mountain, and there's a tiny little beach that you can only get to by scaling these cliffs…well, if you're a Muggle. We Apparated there, and it was amazing, and then…' She held out her left hand and Lily grabbed it greedily, examining the ring she wore on her finger. It was silver – Rose had never liked gold, she found it ostentatious – and set with a diamond with so many angles and facets that it became breathtakingly iridescent, casting rainbows all around wherever the light touched it. Silver swirls wrapped intricately around the stone, looking almost like frozen liquid holding the diamond in place.
'Oh, it's beautiful,' sighed Lily in a hushed voice.
'I know,' smiled Rose, staring almost hypnotically at the ring, too. She sighed. 'I love him so much, Lils. I've read about love, in books and stuff, but I never thought it would feel like this. Everything feels good, like nothing bad can happen in a world where I have him with me.' She stroked the ring. 'It sounds so stupid, but…'
'It does sound pretty stupid,' smirked Lily. 'But I know what you mean...it's sweet.'
Rose smiled, blushing slightly. 'So, what about you?' she asked. 'How are things at Hogwarts?'
Lily sipped her Butterbeer as she contemplated the question. 'Not really,' she said slowly.
'What does that mean?'
She hesitated. 'Well. I'm sort of going out with Lysander Scamander.'
Rose gasped. 'Really? Luna Scamander's son? Oh, that's so nice – when did that happen?'
Lily was smiling distantly. 'A few weeks after the start of term.'
'How do you tell him and Lorcan apart?' giggled her cousin.
'It was really annoying at first,' frowned Lily. 'Lorcan kept pretending to be Ly and trying to get me to tell him stuff. But about three weeks ago he pretended to be him and went to kiss me, purely to spite Ly…but Ly happened to come across us at the last second and he started yelling at him…anyway, I gathered that Lorcan was faking again and I got really pissed off, so I hexed him. They got rid of most of the effects in the hospital wing, but he still has a little orange tentacle thing sticking out of his neck. So now I can tell them apart.'
Rose was doubled over with laughter. Lily started giggling too. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, both half-smiling as they drank their Butterbeers.
'Well, I'd best be off,' said Rose finally. 'I told Scorp I'd be home by five, and I have to go to Diagon Alley first to collect some robes from Madame Malkin's.'
'Yeah, I should probably go too, I'm supposed to meet Ly in a few minutes,' smiled Lily.
They both stood up and hugged each other tightly. 'I'll see you over the Christmas holidays,' said Rose as they broke apart. 'You're all coming to Granny and Grandad Weasley's, aren't you? Scorp's coming, too.'
'Of course,' replied Lils. 'I'll see you then.'
Rose placed a Galleon on the table and they left the pub together, one Apparating to London just outside the door, the other racing off to meet her boyfriend outside the Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
Snow drifted lightly from the slate grey sky, making Hogsmeade look like a Christmas postcard. The world was at peace.
I hope you liked this. I've always imagined Lily and Lysander would get together, and for some reason I don't think Lorcan would be quite as likable as his brother. Anyway, like I said before, it's not the most interesting fanfiction story out there, but if I captured the way this scene went in my head right I think it could be quite touching. I'm going to write more on Rose/Scorpius and Lily/Lysander later, but for now I hope you like this. Please review and tell me if you liked it or where I went wrong. Thanks :) ~K x
