When the trio of Hogwarts owls arrived at the Burrow four days from our return to Hogwarts, Grandma Weasley nearly has a conniption. 'Nearly' because Mum is there to murmur a charm and Uncle George is there to catch her and carry her to her favorite chair – Plush and squishy with a blooming floral design. Once she settles, it's really quite alright, though Mum and Grandpa still hover.
At their incessant tapping I let the owls in and offer them strips of bacon that they gobble gratefully. Though I dread what's to come. The reason for the almost-conniption is obvious. There are three eligible grandchildren – six actually if you count Himani, Lysander, and Lorcan, which everyone does – and only two available positions for Head Boy and Head Girl.
Five grandchildren, I hope. Head Girl is something I don't want, but everyone expects. Of course the family also thinks I'm taking a Ministry job after I graduate – kind of a tradition now – but I don't want that either. Sighing drearily as I count off seven of Knuts into each owl's sack – honestly, the prices have gone up and they make a killing off my family – I take the stack of letters, sending the already hectic kitchen into mad house conditions. I toss the letters in the center of the table, narrowly missing a splotch of apricot jam - pity - and slink back next to Al and Uncle Harry – he at least seems to understand my plight and smiles sympathetically – trying to fade into the background with my cousin.
"Avada me please." I mutter, pulling my shirt from my skin, cursing the humidity that makes my thighs stick to the chair. The hair band on my wrist is immediately put to use to turn my ponytail into a bun and the slight – very slight – breeze that tickles the nape of my neck is somewhat relieving. Al's lips twitch in the beginnings of a wry smile.
"Let them have their fun. It'll be over in a minute."
"No, it won't. As soon as Mum finds out I'm not Head– hey! Molly let go – Hugo! – argh!"
We protest as the younger set of cousins – might as well rattle them off now: Fred, Hugo, Lily, Louis, Lucy, Molly, Jolie, Eugene, and Quillan, the last three being Uncle Charlie and Aunt Delphinium's – yank us from our chairs and push us to the room's center. I trip over someone's foot and barrel head first into Lysander, who playfully throws an arm around my shoulders, steadying me.
"Careful there, love." He says with a cocky grin and tugs on one of my curls escaping around my face, using it to tickle my nose. I scowl darkly, batting his hand away. Seeing my father watching us with steadily rising eyebrows, I pinch his arm off as though it's the plague, squeezing between Dominique and Himani. The last thing I need is for Dad to get the wrong idea about us – Mum and Dad would be thrilled, I think, if Mum's hinting is anything to go by. Lysander is everything they'd want in a sun-in-law. Charming, handsome, and on a one way trip to Minister of Magic with his qualifications - But there is no us. Lysander flirts with just about anything that moves and has gone out with nearly every girl in 7th year. 'Nearly' because Himani, Dom, and I are immune to his wiles and point blank refuse to. Someone has to set an example for the younger girls.
"I'm not your love, thank you one very much." The younger set begins chanting and circling around us – six-year-old Quillan's feet leave the ground twice as they speed up.
"O-o-o, looks like somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."
"Make him leave me alone." I mumble into Mani's shoulder. Laughing, she pats my head and waggles a finger at him.
"You leave my Ro alone mister, or I'll hex you."
"I will if she goes out with me."
"Absolutely not." I roll my eyes, ignoring Lorcan and Al's chuckles. Dom grins and nudges me with her elbow. Even Himani cracks a grin, showing dimples that leave most guys dreaming. Though they're not aimed at him, Al blushes.
"Aw, why not Rosie?" Lysander gives me twinkling blue puppy eyes – a look many a weak woman have succumb to. I pride myself in being made of stronger stuff.
"Don't call me that. And, uh, let's see," I pretend to think, "because you've snogged about every girl in our class, maybe?"
"Not you." At least he didn't try to deny it, I suppose. That's something...not. "Besides, I think you'd like snogging me." Lorcan snickers at the disgusted growl that gurgles up from my throat until I spear him with a glare that sends him fiddling with his glasses. The cousins start chanting louder and, out of the corner of my eye, I see Aunt Audrey approaching with the dreaded letters. Please oh please oh please!
"Give it a rest. Why don't you bother Himani for a change?"
"Because you're the only one playing hard to get."
"I am not –" Pausing, I spin around and look up at my best friend, who has the shame to look slightly abashed. Slightly. "Wait," I squint at her suspiciously. Did you? Oh tell me you didn't –"
"Oh, she did." Dom smirks, tossing her silvery hair over her shoulder. "It's just you and me now Ro."
"Exactly why am I that last to know about this?" I stare at Mani like I've just met her. She actually kissed Lysander?
"Look, he kissed me. Not the other way around." Himani protests, her cheeks blooming with a maroon that complements her dark complexion.
"You certainly snogged me back sweetheart."
Al, in the middle of a long draught of orange juice, sputters and both Lorcan and I have to smack his back a couple times to keep him from choking. Eyes watering, Al grunts out a muffled thank you and retreats to the glass of water Aunt Angie passes him, not looking at any of us.
"Perhaps we should open up those letters now?" Mum suggests, getting up to worriedly smooth Al's messy hair. He waits for her to cease with the kind of patience I can't fathom.
Somehow the letters end up back in my hand and I pass them out, trembling, glowering at Lysander when he purposely holds my hand longer than necessary. Discreetly I press my combat boots onto his bare toes until he yelps – and blink innocently up at Mum when she glances at me sharply.
Holding my breath but knowing it'll be easiest just to get this over with, I slit mine with my pocket knife – why does a witch carry a pocket knife, you may ask? Because it's sharper than a wand, that's why – and pull out the thick parchments, one baring a list of my supplies and the other…
"Albus is Head Boy!" James crows, filching the gleaming badge before his younger brother can react. "Aw, wittle Ally. It's so cute!"
"Shut it James." Al grumbles, his voice thin and his eyes wide like a deer in wand light.
"Congratulations Al." I say, truly happy for him, and poke his shoulder. He's stunned – frozen.
"Oh, honey, that's wonderful!" Aunt Ginny wraps her arms around him as Uncle Harry ruffles his hair. So much for Mum's fussing.
"We're proud of you." He says quietly.
"Does it say who the Head Girl is? It's Rose isn't it. I bet it's Rosy-Posy." In true Chaser style, Lily manages to duck under my half-hearted smack – half-hearted because I'm dying to know, terrified to know.
Al's speechless when he looks over at me, shrugging.
Frantically I open my letter, muttering one last prayer and…
Miss. Rose A. Weasley, you have been chosen to be Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain this year. Please be aware…
Happiness blossoms in my chest and I'm suddenly as light as a Wingardium Leviosa'ed feather.
"I'm captain!" I gasp, laughing. Himani squeals and she and Dom smother me with a hug. "They made me captain!"
"Rose, I thought you said you were going to be Head Girl." Reproachfully, Uncle Percy shakes his head. Mum obviously thought so too, but she tries not to show it.
"That's wonderful sweetheart."
"So this means–" Grandma starts, disappointment evident.
"That my daughter is the best Quidditch player in the school!" Reaching into the circle Dad suddenly picks me up and spins me round and round like a top, like he did when I was little. I'm giggling dizzily when he finally sets me down.
"Whoa Dad, I wouldn't go that far." I say, blushing when I notice Lysander watching me.
"Best Seeker then." Shrugging, I grin.
"Sounds about right."
"Who are the other captains?" Lily demands, looking over my shoulder and we both skim.
Mr. Isaac U. Fletcher – Hufflepuff
"But didn't he fall off his broom last year?"
"Lily, all Hufflepuffs fall off their brooms."
"Yeah, but Beaters kinda have to stay on them."
"Again, he's a Hufflepuff."
Miss. Ming Lu – Ravenclaw
"Figures. Ravenclaw nearly beat us last year. Wasn't her mum really good Dad?"
"Um..."
"Your father was much better dear."
"Oh yeah, she's the really pretty one Ro."
"If that's supposed to make me jealous, it isn't working."
"Your words, not mine."
"Who's trying to make who jealous?"
Neither one us respond to Hugo's raised brows. Cheeks growing hotter by the second, I find the last name and my jaw drops.
Mr. Scorpius H. Malfoy – Slytherin
My heart flutters. Why Fate, just why? Is there no blasted end to your cruelty?
"Are you bloody kidding me?!" Lily fumes after I finish groaning, balling her fists. "Him?! I swear anybody but that stupid, son-of-a-Death-Eater –"
"Lily Luna Potter, how many times have I told you not to use that word?"
"Oh, give it a rest Ginny." Dad's blue eyes have turned stormy, like they do whenever they talk of the Dark Days. Which is my cue to leave. "It's what he was. His son is headed the same way. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
"Ron, don't start now."
"It's the truth Hermione."
"Scorpius is his own person dear. It's wrong to judge him by his father."
"But according to Rose, he's exactly like Malfoy."
I try to catch Himani's eye, motioning subtly towards the door to the back garden. She gives no impression of noticing me, but as I slip out into the hall, I see her willowy form slowly disappearing under the table, inch by inch.
"And that concludes another once-in-a-lifetime Weasley-Potter breakfast at the Burrow." I sigh, eyes trailing Saoirse, my barn owl - incidentally pronounced SEAR-sha – chase after a flock of swallows swooping overhead. They dip and dive in a synchronized ballet as Himani and I stroll along the dirt road that winds around the hills surrounding Grandma and Grandpa's home. Gusts of warm breezes tease the countryside, whispering hints of autumn, and then scorching the wilting blades of grass when they least expect it.
"Oh don't be like that. You've been grumpy ever since last night." Mani says, flicking my shoulder. There's a sheen of sweat on her warm brown skin that she somehow makes look attractive – a trait I can't help but envy. Exertion causes uneven red splotches to appear on my cheeks and droplets of sweat to drip from my chin. Not charming in the slightest no matter what way you look at it. "Besides it wasn't all that bad. I think they're wonderful. You've seen what meals at my house are like."
"Yeah, nobody screams." Dinners at the Patil house - Lemmesplain, there are few surnames in India as it is and the number in the Wizarding world is significantly less - are perfectly charming. Everyone sits straight in their chairs, speaks in their very best inside voices, passes dishes to the left with genuine smiles, and no one ever, ever bickers.
Besides, Indian food is to die for.
"Because they're all as stiff as Charity Beauregard." Rocks skitter along the path as Himani starts skipping, proving she is as unlike Charity as a butterfly is to a slug. "I bet she's Head Girl." She calls as I run to catch up to her - the evil witch of the long legs. "God, she'll be even more insufferable than usual. Poor Albus. She'll be all over him that moment she sees him." An ugly truth to be sure. Starting sometime around third year, Charity decided that she would marry my cousin one day and had been stalking him ever since. It was rather horrifying and Al had taken to hiding in the Owlry with Saoirse and Aragorn – his albino great horned – to escape her clutches. "Who does Al like anyway?" She suddenly asks. "He never tells me when I ask him."
There's a reason for that…
Feigning breathlessness, shielding my eyes from the sun's glare, I look down the road to where a part of the forest begins. A group of Muggles our age amble towards us, likely from Ottery St. Catchpole. I frown, recognizing some and wonder what they're doing this far from the village. There are spells for that...
"Let's go this way." I take Mani's arm and pull her down a lane running perpendicular to the one we're on. The grass is higher here and scratches at our legs as we march on. "I don't particularly want to talk to Muggles today. They ask too many questions."
"You know, don't you?" It's not so much a question as it is a statement. I flash her a mysterious smile and clasp my hands behind my back, innocently whistling a lively Irish reel that adds a bounce and skip to my step. "Ro, tell me." She whines, hanging onto my arm.
"I promised not to." Al may very well Avada me if I ever told.
"But I'm your best friend in the whole wide world."
"So is he."
She huffs, crinkling her nose at me. Ducking under a low hanging pine bough that sprinkles needles into our hair, we enter the woods. The shade that falls in dark shadows instantly cools us. The wind shifts so it's blowing the wet strands of hair from our faces, soothing the sun in our cheeks. Saoirse suddenly alights to my shoulder, her long talons digging into the leather patch I'd sewn together after too many shirts ruined by pinpricks of blood dotting the front. She pecks affectionately at my ear, cuddling into my neck. I stroke her head, shifting my fingers to that I'm scratching the underside of her chin.
A half-hour passes as we hike in silence – Himani could have filled it with gossip, but she's learned to respect my love of quiet – with only gibbering sparrows and clucking squirrels to fill the void our voices normally would. Skirting around briar and brambles, clambering over moss-strewn boulders, and hoisting ourselves over the ridge, we make our way down to Alastair's Pond. Spring fed and tumbling down a waterfall of rocks into O'Malley's River, the water's always clean and fresh. Once on the bank, mud squishing between our toes, and shielded by the thickest bushes and trees, we undo our shoes and strip to our underclothes – it's only weird if you make it. Once you do it enough, it's just like wearing a swimsuit. Saoirse flutters to an overhanging pine bough as we splash in, submerging to our necks and swimming around like nixies. Himani flips over to her back and treads water, pointing up at the fluffy clouds and naming creatures – toad, gargoyle, Crumpled-Horn Snorkack. Long auburn hair furls and unfurls around me as I dive under, swirling and tangling around my waist. All around is a murky world of fractured sunlight and fluttery reeds that brush my bare stomach with slimy fingers. Angling deeper my hands sink into gushy silt that oozes from my fist when I push upward, kicking for the surface.
We stay in the pond for as long as we dare – the boys are sure to come down here sometime after breakfast and I do believed I'd die of mortification if Lysander, or any of the boys for that matter, saw me in my current state of dress – and stretch out on the light drenched rocks – fully clothed mind you – soaking up the sun. Saoirse swoops down and perches on a branch just over my head.
"Okay, who do you like then?" Himani asks just as my eyelids are beginning to flutter drowsily, reminding me how my nerves and unstable hormones kept me up half the night – and Lily and Molly's giggling. I smacked them with a pillow when I slumped downstairs early that morning to curl up on the couch.
The question takes me so off guard that I cringe. Inexplicably – stupidly – the image of tousled, messy, white-blonde hair and smoldering charcoal eyes and an infuriating smirk appears in my mind's eye before I shove it under the proverbial rug were it belongs. None of that nonsense. But my cheeks betray me and, sensing weakness, Himani pounces and startles Saoirse, who lets out a screech and ruffles her primaries indignantly.
"Oh my gosh, you do like somebody! Who? You have to tell me! This is huge Rose!"
"Grr off me Mani! I don't have to tell you anything considering you failed to tell my about the whole Lysander affair." I shoot back, mentally scrambling for the list of guys-I-thought-were-cute-at-some-point-in-my-stay-at-Hogwarts filed somewhere in my sub-cranium – my sub-conscious really needs to clean this mess one of these days. Well… I kinda had a crush on Breckin McGuiness 5th year. But he's dating Zephyrine Valjean – a gorgeous transfer from Beauxbatons.
I suppose there's Graham Fletcher, but seeing as Lily's been swooning over him lately...
"Stop being dramatic. It wasn't an affair. We only kissed."
I snort unladylike. "Only kissed." Honestly, that's why Lysander's flirtations bothered me so much. He can't have possibly had meant it with every girl he snogged, so he couldn't possibly mean it with me. Maybe it's just me – I can be awfully old-fashioned. A genuine prude, Dom calls me – but I want my first kiss to mean something.
Jesse Weston, maybe? He's nice, I guess. Polite, considerate, classically handsome…
"It's not like either of us were serious about it."
"Then why did you kiss him in the first place if you don't actually like him?" Utterly mystified, I throw my hands up in exasperation.
"I told you." Himani stretches her long legs into the air, pointing her toes to the sky as though trying to step between the clouds. "He kissed me."
"Details?" Rolling to my side, I prop up on my elbow, resting my chin on my arm like a cat. Himani Patil isn't just one to snog any cute boy who presents himself. She has her standards. I just didn't know those standards included Lysander Scamander. Though I'm one to talk considering that I…um…
Cheeks burning, I decide I don't want to finish that thought.
She fans the bottom of her bright red blouse, flipping it up to tan her stomach. "On the train last semester, when we were almost at the station. I went looking for Al remember, cuz he up and disappeared for an hour?" I nod, leaving out that Al left our compartment because Lysander had been flirting with Himani and he hadn't wanted to watch. I didn't blame him, but I'm surprised Mani noticed. "So I'm walking down the hall near the front of the train when somebody spins me around from behind and obviously it was Lysander and we just started talking I guess and then…" Slowly a smile curls her lips and she giggles. "He just sorta kissed me."
"What? So you just kissed him back?" Staring at her, I shake my head. "Why?"
"Rose Weasley, I don't think you understand just how good of a kisser Lysander Scamander is." Lazily she makes circles in the air with her toes. "God, it was dreamy. That boy has skills."
"I could guess." I retort, grumbling. "He's evidently has had a lot of practice." She smirks for a moment before her legs drop and she studies me intently. "What?" Fingers running through my hair, I gather it into a loose bun.
"He likes you." She says it with such certainty I'm suddenly uncomfortable. Scoffing, wave it off.
"Yeah, just as much as he likes every girl in our grade."
"No, I mean he really likes you. As in, he's loony for you." Her brown eyes are far too serious and I force myself to laugh, sitting up and scooting closer to the water edge.
"Yeah right. That's why he has like fifty girlfriends at a time every year." Splashing my dangling feet in the icy pond water, I roll my eyes. To say I'm not Lysander's type is an understatement. He tends to like girls who undo one too many buttons on their blouses and hike up the skirts of our school uniforms. Girls who are brainless and giggly and oh-so-pathetically shallow – Himani being an exception to the rule, of course - I'm the sort who buttons every button, tugs the hemline to her knees, keeps her hair rigidly back in a chignon. The sort who's too smart for her own good, who's temper has seen better days, and murders her opponents on the Quidditch pitch. See? Perfectly incompatible.
"He's just trying to get you to notice him." Himani plops down next to me. Raising a single brow, I say,
"We've been friends since before we were born. I think I'm aware of his existence by now. Now can we please stop talking about this?"
She sighs, likely thinking I'm wasting a perfectly good opportunity. Does she even know me anymore, I wonder? Do I know her? Finally she slaps her thighs and stands up from her pretzel-like position.
"Okay. Fine." She says slyly, pulling me up with her. "Believe what you will. But don't say I didn't warn you."
A/N: So I lied. This was supposed to be in 3rd person, but it wasn't going anywhere so I switched to 1st and bam. Ch.1 done in record time. So yeah, this'll be in 1st person and I'll deal with chps with other characters when we get there. Countless thank yous to GreenDayIdiot, morganna12, A Curious Bee, Guest, AriaMoon15, and Evelyn McKay for your super awesome reviews! You guys rock! And for the rest of you, please review. It really doesn't take that long... Saffy Pen over and out.