Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.
Author's Note: Thank you for the interest! Reviews definitely motivate me to keep working on finishing the story (which I'm close to doing) and to go back and review these chapters for you guys.
Shopping with Carmen was always hard, but usually we were only shopping for Carmen. So when her focus shifted to me and finding me a dress I found out just how scary she could be. Unfortunately she already had a dress for the Yule Ball that her Mom had sent, so she only had me to worry about on this shopping trip.
Currently I was trapped inside a dressing room with piles of dress robes and muggle dresses surrounding me. So far I had decided that I didn't want to wear dress robes because I liked the style of the muggle gowns a lot better. Of course once I told Carmen that, she had begun to throw numerous muggle gowns over the top of the door.
"Find one yet Rose?" Carmen called from the other side of the door.
"No."
"Good, because I think I found the perfect one for you. Now before you automatically reject it, you have to try it on."
"I don't like the sound of that."
"Promise me that you'll try it on and show it to me."
I sighed, "Fine, toss it over."
As soon as the dress was in my hands I could understand why Carmen had forced the promise out of me. This dress was not one I would have picked out myself. First of all it was black and in my experience black was best saved for school robes, not dresses. Besides that it was strapless which Carmen knew made me paranoid to no end. My Mother had once told me about a muggle girl from her neighborhood whose breasts had been exposed when her strapless dress had slipped at a muggle school formal. I wasn't too busty, but I still worried about it. And on top of those two factors it looked skin tight through the top down to the hips where the dress fanned out into bustled portions marked by rhinestones which were mirrored at the bust in a v-like pattern.
"Just try it Rose, I think it's going to look gorgeous with your body and hair."
I sighed and shed the dress I was currently wearing. It didn't take me long to work my way in the black dress and when I called in Carmen to zip me up the rest of the way she gasped when she took her first look at me.
"You look brilliant!" She screeched. "Look at yourself!"
I turned to look in the mirror and was surprised at what I saw reflected back at me. The dress showcased my small waist line and pushed up what breasts I had into a modest display. The black brought attention to my pale skin, but against the black fabric my snow white skin actually looked appealing rather than sickly. With the white of my skin accentuated against the dark fabric, attention was drawn to my auburn hair; which both of my Grandmother's had always told me was my crowning glory.
"What do you think?" Carmen asked hesitantly.
"I think I'm going to get it."
"You have to Rose!"
I already had the shoes that Scorpious had provided me with so there was no need to buy another pair, especially after I had become so used to dancing in those. So after I purchased my dress, Carmen and I left the store with my dress bag shrunk and placed into my purse, and headed towards the Three Broomsticks for a quick drink.
After we were settled into a booth with two butterbeers before us Carmen started going on and on about her recent letter from her Mom which asked for her opinion on baby names.
"It's obvious she wants to make up for not naming the twins in a cutesy fashion. Ella and Hannah dodged a bullet with that one. So now she wants to name them Alex and Alejandro. I guess I can be thankful that the names don't rhyme."
"Alejandro?"
"It was her abuelo's name." Carmen replied. "At least I won't be the only one without an English name now—oh my gosh is that your brother snogging Daisy Zabini in the corner!"
As I was in the middle of taking a sip of my butterbeer I immediately spit it out at what my best friend had just said. I quickly wiped my mouth, not caring that those nearest to us had just witnessed my embarrassing moment, instead I turned towards the corner she was referring to and saw my brother snogging Daisy Zabini. Was he nuts? Not only was she a fourth year, which wasn't too bad considering he was just one year ahead of her, but she was Derek's little sister and he had made it clear from day one that she was off limits.
"He is nuts? If Zabini finds out, he'll kick his arse." Carmen hissed.
"Apparently. However, I'm not about to let Zabini beat up my little brother."
Carmen's eyes shot to the doorway at that statement, "I hope you were serious about that, Rose, because Zabini just walked in and he looks really angry."
Sure enough there stood Derek Zabini in the doorway, staring daggers at my brother who was still lip locked with his little sister. Scorpius stood behind him but did nothing to stop him as he charged over to where our little siblings were snogging.
Without thinking about what I was doing, I jumped up and raced over the corner, throwing myself in front of my brother as Zabini pulled back his fist to punch him in the face. In retrospect, that was not a good idea as his fist slammed into my face instead. I heard a scream as I staggered back and into my brother's lap as well as some Spanish curses followed by a loud slap.
"You complete arsehole! You just punched Rose!" Carmen screamed.
"That's it Zabini, no one punches my sister in the face!" Hugo yelled as he tried to maneuver me off of his lap.
"Shut up Weasley, the only reason I punched her was because she stupidly jumped in front of your face. But get up and I can finally finish my task."
"Stop it Derek!" Daisy screeched from beside Hugo and I. "Isn't hurting Rose enough?"
"No!"
"You aren't sorry you punched her?" She asked.
"Well yeah, but she threw herself in front of him for Merlin's sake!"
"Enough!"
It only took one word from Scorpius Malfoy to shut the entire pub up. At this point everyone's attention was on our little group in the corner and there was no doubt in my mind that everyone at the Castle would know what had happened here today by the time we got back. This would not look good considering both head boy and girl happened to be present at the scene of the crime.
"Zabini, go back to the castle and take your sister with you." He ordered, at that moment not caring that Derek was his best friend. "Carmen, please take Hugo back to the castle after they've been gone for a ten minutes. In the meantime, I'll take care of Rose."
No one questioned his orders and instead jumped to do what they had been ordered to do. Once I was out of my brother's lap, Scorpius cupped my elbow and led me to the bathroom in the back of the pub.
"What were you thinking jumping in front of Hugo like that?" He asked calmly as he wet a towel and pressed it to my throbbing face. I flinched as it connected with my already swelling eye. Great…I probably had a black eye. If it stuck around for the Yule Ball I would punch Hugo in the face.
"I have no idea, but I wish I hadn't."
Scorpius nodded as he pulled out his wand and used a few simple healing spells on me. One to reduce the swelling and one take away the pain. A quick look in the mirror confirmed my suspicions of a black eye; it seemed Scorpious had no knowledge of a spell for that. Neither did I.
"Unfortunately you'll have to wear a black eye for a couple days." He sighed. "That should remind you to let the boys handle their own affairs."
I scoffed, "By throwing punches you mean?"
He nodded, "It's something Zabini has to do to declare dominance. I'm sure after he punches him he'll consent to letting Hugo and Daisy date. His punch will be a reminder to Hugo as to what happens when he displeases him by hurting his sister."
"That is ridiculous."
"That's how it works."
"How do you know?"
He quirked a brow at me, "In case you didn't notice, I'm a guy."
"I mean, you don't have a little sister to practice this barbaric ritual yourself."
"That doesn't mean it's not a well known fact amongst men, Weasley."
"Ridiculous. Men never cease to amaze me with their barbaric ways. "
With that said the two of us headed out of the Three Broomsticks and made our way back to the castle. It was late in the day and ahead of us we could see other groups of students heading back for the day, their laughter trailing along with the cold wind.
"Did you get a ball gown?"
"Yeah." I replied.
"Let's see it then."
"I don't think so, Malfoy. You'll see on the night of the Yule Ball."
"As your dance partner I should have a right to know."
"You're just my dance partner, not my date. A date would have the right to know."
"So who is your date?"
"Carmen and I decided we'd go together."
"Which is code for no one asked you."
I drew in a breath, "For your information I was asked, but I saw fit to decline to all of them."
"In other words you were asked by fourth and fifth years."
"Shut up."
"Ha! I knew it!"
"There isn't anyone I'm interested in anyway, so I might as well go with my friend and have a good time. What about you? Are you going with anyone?"
"I've gotten quite a few offers, but I haven't seen it fit to ask anyone myself."
"I bet most of those offers were from fourth and fifth years as well."
"Maybe." He scoffed. "Maybe I'll just go stag; no pressure, I don't have to worry about offending some bint by dancing with you at the beginning."
"As if you dancing with me would offend someone," I scoffed, "everyone knows it is our duty as head boy and girl."
"Well maybe I feel the same as you. There's no one I'm interested in, so I might as well go alone and enjoy myself."
"Good, so you can't tease me about it then."
"Just don't embarrass me when we have to waltz."
Xxx
Rose,
We were very upset to hear about the recent incident involving you and your brother. Right now he is probably about to open the howler I sent for him. I hope your eye is alright, sweetheart. In the future please refrain from becoming involved in this aspect of your brother's life, especially if the result is you getting hurt. All I ask is that you make sure he is not hurt too severely and make sure his girlfriend is not distracting him too much from his studies. He is a Weasley after all, and if you remember the story I told you about your Father and a certain girl with two colors for a name, there will be no talking sense into him. It's best to let him take his own punches because he probably deserves them anyway, Rosie. Also, make sure to take pictures at the Yule Ball and bring them home on break. Until then!
Love,
Your Mother
"HUGO WEASLEY! HOW COULD YOU LET YOUR SISTER TAKE A PUNCH FOR YOU? YOUR FATHER AND I ARE SEVERELY DISSAPPOINTED IN YOU! IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE SATISFACTORY OWLS THIS YEAR THERE WILL BE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES, YOUNG MAN. REMEMBER THAT THE NEXT TIME YOUR SISTER HAS TO THROW HERSELF IN FRONT OF YOU WHEN YOU SHOULD BE STUDYING!"
I almost felt bad for him, but then I caught a glimpse of myself in the large serving bowl on the table and suddenly I didn't feel too bad anymore. While I felt no pain in my eye, there was still a slight de-coloration that drew all sort of unwanted attention from everyone in the castle. Now it was his turn to garner unwanted attention from the rest of the castle.
"You look entirely too pleased by your brother's howler." Carmen chuckled from beside me.
"She must be pretty mad; she's acting like my Grandma Weasley. She was infamous for sending howlers." I smirked. "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask. Was that slap I heard you slapping Zabini?"
"Of course it was! He had just punched my best friend!"
"And he didn't say anything about it?" I asked skeptically.
"Not a thing, of course he was a little busy addressing everyone else in attention."
"So he did nothing?"
She looked thoughtful for a second, "Well he did stop, hold a hand to his cheek and look at me with burning eyes. For a second I was afraid he was going to punch me or something."
"Or something?"
Carmen blushed.
"Out with it, Davies."
"Well…he actually looked like he was about to grab me and kiss me…but that's ridiculous right?"
"Stranger things have happened."
