New Year's Kiss
Author Note: Am I Joanne Kathleen Rowling? Nope. It's not mine, then. I know it's actually 2nd January now, but this just exploded in my brain yesterday and was finished today. So here's a little celebration of New Year.
2020 was closing in fast. Rose was feeling a bit down.
"Rosie dear, what's wrong?" Albus asked. Rose looked into her cousin's green eyes. She sighed.
"Oh Albus, I'm worried I'll start off the decade horribly." she moaned. Albus stayed silent. "No, seriously Al. Look at it from my point of view. This time ten years ago..."
"You have vague memories of 2010. You were only four. So stop complaining." Al replied. Rose saw the Potter's logic.
"Al..." she said, fighting the grin that threatened to crack her face. "Well at least I can start off the new year fine." she finished. The clock flipped over to 11:59.
"One minute." Albus beamed, and Rose saw something incomprehensible in the emerald eyes she'd known for so long. Out of the corner of her own blue ones, the redhead saw Lily dancing away - that little twelve-year-old had just experienced Butterbeer for the first time, and loved the magical drink. Typical Lily thought Rose. She turned back to her favourite cousin in the world.
"Rosie..." Albus started. Rose knew he wanted to say something, so she motioned for him to go on.
"Yes, Al?"
"Kiss me at midnight." he exhaled, his green eyes turning the fierce colour of Floo Powder, and burning just as much.
"The drink's gotten to you, Al. Aunt Ginny!" Rose called, but Al shushed her fiercely. As the redhead faced her best friend again, blue met green and Rose felt something weird inside her. Just a New Year's kiss one side of her thought. You're fourteen... and he's a guy... another side thought. It's just Albus the first side thought. Only Albus, hmm? the second side thought. Rose decided to mix the two sides of her brain, and fight the pain in her forehead. Thirty seconds to midnight.
"Rosie-Posie?" Al pondered. Rose flushed. He knows how to get to me she thought coherently. She nodded weakly. Albus grinned immensely. He put his hands on Rose's slender waist and pulled her close. Merlin, her tiny frame fits perfectly against me Al thought as Rose lent her head against his collarbone. Al hugged Rose's thin body and stepped back, still holding her at her sides. Twenty seconds he thought, smiling.
"Hey Al? Something to help you ring in the New Year!" a familiar voice called, tossing him a bottle of Blower Surf Nigh, his favourite drink from the Leaky Cauldron. He grinned and caught it.
"Thanks Aunt Hannah!" he called. Hannah Longbottom smiled - she'd been watching the two cousins from afar that night and she could see Albus was getting anxious around Rose, and it was the anxiousness the former Hufflepuff used to get around Neville back when she was a Prefect. Hannah laughed - she could hear Hermione Weasley née Granger's voice now in her head. Hannah Abbott! How dare you slip my nephew alcohol! The blonde laughed again - Hermione would likely use Hannah's maiden name. The two of them had been the female prefects for their houses in their time. "I don't think alcohol's the problem Hermione." Hannah whispered as she walked over to Neville, her eyes still subtly on Al and Rose. "Ten." she counted.
"Nine." Neville continued, facing his wife with a schoolboy ecstasy. Six more seconds were chanted around the Burrow where family and friends were invited for the New Year's bash.
"Two..." Rose counted, her blue eyes fixed on Albus' green, glowing madly.
"One." Albus whispered, leaning in. Rose beamed and kissed him as echoes of 'Happy New Year' sounded. The cousins broke apart.
"Happy 2020, Rose." Albus grinned.
"Happy 2020, Al." Rose blushed - the heat in her face was from how surprisingly deep Al's kiss had been. Al thought he could hear a soft 'Awww' from Hannah.
"Blower Surf Nigh, Rosie?" he pondered, passing his cousin the bottle. Hermione looked around the Burrow to see how people were doing. Her eyes first landed on a grinning Al and Rose, the latter with drink in hand, a beaming Hannah Longbottom giving Al a secret thumbs-up, and Al catching Hannah's eye and giving her a smile, gesturing at Rose. Hermione's honey-coloured orbs followed this pattern once more and it dawned on her. The aforementioned orbs flashed. She strode over to the Longbottoms.
"Hannah, we need to talk." Hermione said, her voice icy.
"Happy New Year to you as well, Hermione." Hannah beamed cheerfully. Hermione sighed. She was getting nowhere with the bubbly blonde.
"Hannah. Was that alcohol bottle from you?" she asked, tone still frosty as the Arctic.
"My New Year's gift. Al ought to start the decade with a spark!" Hannah smiled.
"Seriously Hannah. You know what I'm really referring to." Hermione proclaimed.
"Look Hermione, over the summer I started to see that Albus fancies Rose, so-"
"WHAT?" Hermione exclaimed, drawing a fair bit of attention.
Neville, who had been silent during the discussion, ushered the two outside to a secluded spot.
"Al - fancies - Rose?" Hermione stuttered out. Hannah nodded.
"Can't you see it? The light in his eyes when he looks at her? New Year's kiss or not, Al has a soft spot for your little flower." the blonde grinned. Hermione thought fast.
"Yes, they're close, but... Rose and Albus are cousins. Cousins, Hannah. You may have been pushing them along a bit, but it is the right thing to do?" the bookworm asked. For the first time that night, a look of mixed emotions appeared on the bartender's face. "Oh." Hannah said, monotone. Hermione suddenly felt regret.
"It's not that Al and Rose... look, I know my nephew, and daughter especially. Let's just see where that incident goes and see if Rose loves Al back in that way." she finished. Hannah's smile reappeared.
"I know when passion comes from the heart or from alcohol, Hermione - I'm a landlady, after all. And I know that Albus' passion comes from his heart." she said, waving.
Neville held onto her and they Disapparated. Hermione was left there in the dark, pondering the situation. Suddenly she heard footsteps.
"Aunt Hermione! Oh - um..." Al's voice became incoherent and embarrassed. Hermione turned around and faced him.
"Look Al, Hannah told me. And I know she gave you a thumbs-up after that kiss you gave Rose. If you really do like her, if it wasn't just a New Year's one, you have my blessing. Just see if she likes you back first, alright kiddo?" she asked. Al beamed.
"It's easy to see where Rose gets her loveable bookworm nature from." he smiled. Hermione patted his shoulder.
"Just remember what I said. Your flower is in sight, though." she laughed, but there was true sincerity in the speech as well. Al raced off to find Rose. Hermione gazed into the distance as she thought about her nephew's comparison about bookworms. She remembered she had once said to Harry. Books and cleverness? There are more important things. Friendship and bravery.
"Friendship, bravery, and love." she whispered, following Al's trail back into the house.
AN: More in-depth fluff than I planned, but it was for the best. Thank Merlin Hermione could see past logic and give in to faith - that's always been her fatal flaw. As for Hannah taking on a Cupid role, that was a flash of inspiration. And of course, I ADORE Al/Rose! Blower Surf Nigh is an anagram of something mentioned in PoA. But what? Ah, that's for you to wonder and possibly figure out.