Of Onions, Malfoys, Bed Sheets, Hogwarts Robes and other such items with Layers.
The sun was too bright. Of all the things Rose Weasley was undoubtedly sure of, this was at the top. The sun was always too bright in the morning. She squinted her eyes, defenseless against the offensive rays. A sound resembling a roar escaping as she stretched. In the cot across from her Lilly's eyes fluttered open, startled at the violent sound.
"Merlin Rose!" She rubbed her eyes. "You sounded like a chimera." Rose rolled her eyes.
"Happy Christmas to you too Lilly." She drawled. A realization passed of her cousin's features.
"Presents!" She said at once. The very petite but strong figured and vibrant redhead threw off her covers and ran to the door. "Wait!" She said turning around. "Do you think the others are up yet? What time is it?" Rose looked at the alarm clock beside her. 7:30.
"Probably." Lilly jumped into the air and hurriedly made her away into the hall. The footsteps stopped abruptly.
"Rose aren't you coming?" Rose looked around the now empty bedroom, she wished she could say no.
"In a bit, just give me a minute." This seemed to satisfy Lilly, as thuds could now be heard on the staircase, and then incessant girl squealings. It was enough to drive anyone mad, a Weasley holiday. There were no secrets, no time spent alone to read and ponder. And quite plainly Rose wished she were back in her compartment. Four days had passed, slowly and excruciatingly. Rose had discovered that Albus had been right, not only was Hermione not disappointed with her mark, but she had also been pleasantly surprised.
"Oh I floundered in that class, it was just awful. Lucky girl." And she had patted her daughter's head and asked her to set the table for dinner. Confused she had complied. Now she struggled to pull herself from her bed sheets, tangled in the many layers that held her hostage, well maybe she was consenting to it. But soon she realized if she did not make her way downstairs they would find her up here, and they would drag her down and Rose Weasley did not like to be dragged.
So she crept, as lightly on each stair as possible down to the tree that held about a hundred gifts, two or three for each of the Weasley-Potter members. Her grandmother was showing her muggle grandmother how to prepare Wizard tea, her father was sprawled groggily on the sofa, and her brother ripping through wrappings as if they were old bandages. Her mother walked over to her and kissed on the forehead.
"Good morning Rose." She smiled, true that it was hard to please her mother, but never had she felt neglected or unloved. James, she noticed, was being forced into wearing an oversized sweater with the letter J on it by his mother, while his father sat by and laughed cheerfully. She winked at Albus, who had his gifts opened and organized in the opposite corner. He nodded towards a package with plain brown wrappings that was hidden beneath the mess that Hugo and Lilly were making, the thirteen year olds giddy to receive gifts.
"That's for you." He said as she approached it.
"From us Rose dear." She turned to see her mother was now sitting on her father's lap, and both were smiling encouragingly at her.
"Well go on Rosie, open it!" Her father was becoming impatient in seeing her reaction. Slowly she opened the paper and then she felt her heart skip, the Journal was leather bound with a cover that conveyed the time of day it was, through a transparent film around its binding. As it was dawn, clouds covered a bright blue sky, snowflakes pouring down into the unknown of the scene unshown.
"Oh it's lovely!" She exhaled great pleasure towards her parents, and hugged them both tightly. She would write every thought she thought to think in that Journal, she would fill it with her life, no matter how minute of a life that happened to be.
Dinner smelt delicious, more than delicious even. A roast with carrots and celery, sweet potatoes on the side with brown sugar and cinnamon, butterbeers all around a pumpkin pie for dessert. She ate greedily despite the looks she received from her cousins, she was starving. She had neglected her hunger for days due to James remarking that she " Was a bit heftier, or maybe that was just her sweater…"
She was basking in the glow that was the Journal she had received from her parents. She was pleasantly contemplating the uses of her boil bread she'd gotten from her Uncle George. Calculating the hours that it would take for her to complete the four novels she received from various family members, and cradling the bracelet her aunt Ginny had jinxed for her to show her exact and precise mood at every hour of the day. Today was the first day in perhaps a week that she had been truly happy. She was just about to dig into a slice of pumpkin pie when their was a slight knock on the Burrow door.
"Hullo?" The voice was sheepish, timid, and also very recognizable but who…
"Scorpious!" Albus shot out of his seat to let his housemate in. For an odd second Scorpious Malfoy looked actually afraid, an awkward silence poured over the kitchen.
"Dad said it would be alright…" Albus began unsure of himself. Her Uncle Harry stood up slowly, walked square up to Malfoy and extended his had.
"It's a pleasure Malfoy, I'm Harry Potter." Rose's eyes bugged out of her head, how could Albus, how could he? Scorpious looked as though he had loosened up a bit.
"It's nice to meet you Mr. Potter, Albus and my father have told me many stories about you. I envy you quite a bit." Rose had never heard Malfoy so sincere unless it was regarding an insult.
"Well, Albus has told me what a respectable wizard you are, and my son is an excellent judge of character, wont you have a seat, we're just cutting the pie…" Her pie, her pie!? Her pie was going to be fed to Malfoy. Of course, how had she been so naïve as to believe the day could just have gone smoothly? Scorpious was still looking a bit shaken as he took a seat on the bench opposite Rose, but as he sent her a wink, she had a hard time believing he was all that intimidated. Her father also looked quite abashed.
"Tell me Malfoy? How is your father?" She had never heard her father speak to anyone like that, pure hate running out of his lips. Malfoy blushed, a color Rose had never thought to see on him.
"Well…he's fine really, I don't speak very much to him." The kick aimed at her father from her mother hit her instead, she gasped, rubbing her shin in pain.
"Very well then Malfoy, welcome to the family." Her father now smiled the lack of bond Malfoy shared with his father fueling the bond between Malfoy and hers.
Left alone to tend to the dishes while her family and Albus's guest as she had taken up to calling him were in the sitting room with tea and biscuits she finally had the time she wanted to, to think. She was furious, betrayed, embarrassed, and still hungry. She scrubbed the dishes a bit harder than maybe necessary, but the fact that her mother liked her to do them by hand in the presence of her muggle grandparents seemed to only fuel her distaste. Footsteps lingered behind her. She turned, visibly annoyed at the interruption.
"What? Malfoy?" She rolled her eyes. "Haven't you already hadyour fill of my family's pie, I barely got any thanks to you!" He smirked, his gray eyes flashing wildly.
"Didn't seem like it Weasley. Seemed as though I'm lucky I got here when I did or you would've hoarded it all into your big mouth." Disgusted she snorted.
"Aren't you leaving yet?" She pondered. His grin disappeared.
"I brought you a gift. But of course if you don't want it, then yes I will be going…" She bit her lip and shifted her feet, scared she say something to scare off the gift.
"What is it?" She finally said, some emotion filling her gut. He rolled his eyes.
"Knew you wanted it Weasley. Honestly though, you'll have to earn this gift." She snorted.
"Then I don't want even want it." She turned back to her already completed dishes, now she looked stupid. She turned back to face him, thinking wildly of a comeback, of any comeback what so ever.
"Oh what's the matter Weasley not up for a bit of a challenge eh?" She was insulted.
"How little you know me, I'm always up for a challenge."
"Very well then, follow me." He led her out into the yard and he stared up at the stars, he waited and then pointed at a constellation.
"That's me." He stated simply.
"What's you?" She bit back, holding in the impatience.
"That constellation, it's Scorpious, the one that looks like a scorpion." For a moment she looked confused. "It's my namesake Rose, it's what I was named after." She squinted at the grouping of planets.
"Oh…well very nice I suppose." In all honesty Rose just wanted her present, the suspense was quite unnerving.
"Listen to me Rose, this is for you." He handed her a chain, she inspected it carefully, on the end of it a small charm resembling the tail of a scorpion hung limply.
"Now hold it up and look through it." She did as she was told, for a moment forgetting whom she was complying with. She saw the constellation through a small window on the fat part of the tail.
"It's lovely." He smiled back at her looking her dead in the eye.
"Wear it when it suits you, but it's quite useful. I think." His facial expression turned devious and a smirk replaced his rare smile.
"See ya around Weasley." He opened the gate and walked through it, into the darkness and beyond the Burrow. When she arrived back inside she was undoubtedly sure that she was no longer undoubtedly sure about Malfoy.