Hello everyone!
Let me start by saying I'm so so so sorry this has taken me this long to update. A lot has been happening these past weeks and this story sadly had to fall to the bottom of the list. However, I hope to be posting on a quicker schedule now that my life has a bit more order to it.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I really love suggestions about where you want the story to go or what things you would like to see in it (along with what you already write, because that is fabulous as well). Coolcarissa11, I loved your idea so I put it in this chapter. Hope you like it!
Enjoy :)
Chapter 14
The eve of Christmas Eve was always one of the best parts of winter holiday for the Weasley kids. They would all gather on the highest floor of the burrow to talk and play games all night long. It was one of the few times in a year that they were all in one room together, and it was one of Rose's favorite traditions.
This Eve of Christmas Eve was no different. The children all excused themselves from Grandma Weasley's delicious dinner a little early, claiming to be very tired after a long day of playing quidditch and helping to decorate the burrow. Once they brought their dishes to the kitchen they went upstairs to Teddy, James, and Louis room where they shrank all the furniture and moved it to the sides of the walls. The sat in a circle, now varying greatly in height and age (because Vic and Teddy were still adamant about being included in the circle). Fred (because he was the youngest) and Teddy (because he was the oldest) began their annual ceremony.
"Member's of the Weasley family, we welcome you to the Christmas Circle." Fred began. "We will start with our eldest, as we always do, and work our way around the circle. Teddy, the floor is yours." The tradition was to start every ceremony by going around the circle and telling everyone what you have been up to recently. This was actually where Teddy and Vic announced their engagement to the rest of the family not too long ago.
"Well, I think I might be promoted this year to a higher position in the auror office, so that's exciting." Teddy said, shifting in his seat on the floor to get comfortable.
"Congratulations!" Fred said.
"Thanks Freddie. But I've been working a lot lately though, so there isn't much else to report. Sorry." He said with a shrug of the shoulders.
"That's ok. Roxanne?" He said, going around the circle.
"Hm, well we pulled off a good Halloween prank, and our Thanksgiving prank was decent as well, but I have yet to figure out a start of term prank, so I'm open to suggestions."
"Rox, we told you. We have an idea for the prank." Hugo said.
"Yes well, we all agreed that it was too boring. We need to get more creative." She said as Hu rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm thinking about putting some purple back in my hair like I did last summer. I liked how that looked. And I got new combat boots," she said, sticking out her foot to show them. "I don't think there is really much else to say with me.
"Purple Rox. Really. I thought Mum told you not to do stuff like that without their permission." Fred said.
"No no, that was about the nose stud. Besides, it so small you can hardly see it." Fred rolled his eyes, "Molly, how do you like first year?"
"First year is great. I've made loads of new friends in Gryffindor. I'm getting really good grades. I'm considering joining a chess club. It's been really wonderful." She concluded with a smile.
"That's great Mol, really. Ok Lily, give us your semester."
"A lot of quidditch. Tons, but we're really good this year, thanks to Al's wonderful coaching." She laughed and continued, "Classes have been getting harder though, it's been a little tough, but not bad."
"And she got a boyfriend," Hugo interrupted. Lily shot him a glare so cold it could have frozen the tropics.
"You have a what?" James asked, incredulous.
"I have a boyfriend, his name is Collin." Lily said stiffly, clearly not wanting to have this conversation.
"How long as this been going on?" He demanded, his face beginning to get red with anger.
"Since the beginning of term, why do you care?" She asked defensively.
"You're too young to have a boyfriend!" He spurted out.
"That's ridiculous, you dated that idiot Clarissa in your 4th year!"
"That's completely different."
"No, it's not!" she fired back.
"Guys…" Fred said, "Cool down."
"Why should you have any say over who I date?" Lily insisted, getting more furious.
"Because I'm your older brother! I don't want you dating some tool whose going to use you." He said, straightening up.
Her face started getting redder, "Oh, so I can't chose who I date?"
"Guys! Relax!" Albus said.
"Look, you're my little sister, I'm just trying to look out for you." He said, quieter now.
"James, I'm not a child. I can look out for myself." She replied.
"Fine, then who is he? Hm?"
"He's a Ravenclaw. He's a very nice bloke. And if you would just trust me, then I'm sure you guys would get along. It's not even that serious."
"That's not exactly comforting." James said.
"He really is a nice guy James." Al said. "Trust me, I talked to him once they started dating."
"You what?" Lily turned to him. "You promised you wouldn't give him the big brother speech Al!" Lily said, quickly growing furious.
"Now listen, Lily. I know what you said, but I just wanted to talk with him. So I just spoke with him in the library one day, it was no big deal. I just wanted to make sure he was a good guy. And he is." Al defended himself.
"Why are you all so concerned about me? Don't you realize that Al is now in a serious relationship with Olivia and Rose had her first boyfriend this year," to which James also raised an eyebrow at Rose, "and lots of other people my age are in relationship and are perfectly fine. It's not that big a deal."
"We're just trying to protect you," James said.
"Well I'm really happy, so I don't need your help." She responded, calmer now.
"Well, I'm happy you're happy Lil." James said.
"You should be." She said, now letting just a bit of a smile show.
"So Rose got a boyfriend?" Fred asked amusedly.
"Thanks a lot Lily," she muttered before facing the group. "Yes, his name is Ben. He is also a Ravenclaw. We're no longer dating. Yes, it was a shortish relationship. No, he didn't do something wrong, I just didn't feel a connection. No, it wasn't a nasty break up. Yes, I'm really ok that it ended." Rose gave her monologue and then looked to the group for questions. "My grades are good, I've been keeping up with my work. It so much harder though now, I sometimes wonder if I'll scrape with decent grades." The whole circle rolled their eyes or snorted in disbelief. "Hey! I don't always do perfectly well in school." She defended herself, trying not to sound like a nerd.
"Have you gotten a Poor on anything Rosie?" Hugo asked.
"Well, not exactly no…" She muttered.
"Then I think you'll be just fine." He said, humor in his voice.
"Anything else Rose?" Fred asked. Anything else? Yes, she was secretly dating an incredibly attractive Slytherin who told her frequently that he loved her and she missed him far more than she was willing to admit.
"Nope. Pretty basic semester." She lied.
"Ok, Lucy, your turn."
The conversation continued to go around the circle for the next hour, then a game of truth or dare (which you should never ever play if a Weasley is daring you) that Rose nearly missed a question about who her secret crush was (although she wouldn't have answered it truthfully anyway) and then played a very intense game of exploding snap before going to bed. As Rose walked down stairs she reflected on other Christmas' past. It was strange to think she was almost out of school, almost off in the real world. How could she possibly prepare herself for that?
She thought about writing to Scorpious before going to bed, but she was too tired. She simply closed her eyes and fell back into a restful sleep.
Rose woke up to the sound of shrieking. Which in the Weasley household was never a good sign.
"Oh my god! What have they done to my hair!" The distinct voice of Roxanne bellowed as she ran down the stairs, banging her feet against the wooden boards. "I am going to kill you when I get down there!" She yelled, passing Rose's floor. James, Albus, and Hugo (normally with a little help from Fred or Roxanne) always do a prank of Christmas Eve to a random Weasley family member. Unfortunately, the chosen one this year was Rox, and she was not pleased.
"I said I was considering making it purple, not REVOLTING SHADE OF GREEN!" She roared at them as she clearly got to their room. Rose was sure she started hearing a slew of curse words from Rox and some well-done hexes before she began her climb up the stairs again. By now the entire house was probably awake, no one could have missed that show. "Victoire!" She yelled as she came up the stairs. "Help me fix this!" She groaned as she knocked against the door.
Rose could hear Vic get up in the next room, "I'm coming I'm coming." Rose heard the door swing open. "Oh dear Merlin. That color is just…" even Victoire was lost for words.
"Wretched? Yeah, I know. Is there anything you can do it fix it?" She asked, clearly very concerned.
"I would have to know if it was a spell or a potion they put on your hair." Victoire concluded, probably sorting through her options. She heard Roxanne turn on her heals and march back down stairs.
"Was it a potion or a spell? Answer me Albus Severus Potter!" She said, probably with her wand at his throat. He muttered something she couldn't hear and then Roxanne made a loud clanging noise. There was some other muttered speech and then she heard Rox coming back up the stairs.
"It was a potion they mixed into my hair last night. Here's the bottle." By now Rose decided just to get up and try to go help, so she slipped on her slippers and walked to the next room. However when she got there she stopped short.
"Merlin's beard… oh Rox I'm so sorry." It was truly the most disgusting color of…well… greenish that she had ever seen. No wonder Roxanne was so upset. Victoire was examining the bottle. "I can't figure out how to get it out. You're going to have to try and disguise the color until the potion wears off."
"Well, how long will that take?" She demanded.
"It says here anywhere from 6 days to two weeks." Victoire said apologetically.
"Two weeks! That can't happen! I'll be back at school in two weeks!" Roxanne collapsed in a chair.
"Well, I could try and change the color of your entire head of hair, but I'm not really sure if I'm qualified to do that." Victoire said. "That's actually quiet hard to accomplish and get a somewhat decent natural looking color. I'm not very good with complicated color spells."
"Oh please Vic! Just try, it can't possibly get worse than this." Roxanne begged her. It was hard to refuse given the look in her eyes.
"I'm not sure if I could pull off the Weasley Red though. That's got a lot of high lights and low base colors that I just couldn't duplicate."
"Ok fine. Make it purple." Rox said plainly.
"Purple? You want me to make your hair purple?" Victoire asked skeptically.
"Just until the green wears off. It will be easier for you to duplicate anyway." Roxanne told her.
"Ok, I'll try." Victoire grabbed her wand, "What shade of purple do you have in mind?"
"I don't care, just pick what's easiest for you to envision."
Victoire bit her lip, "Ok, here is goes." She winced as she muttered the incantation. Rose was surprised at how well the transformation went, it actually was a nice looking purple color. But it reminded her of the only other person she had ever seen with purple hair.
"You look like Tonks." Dominique said. "It's a little scary actually how similar you too look once you have the hair. I mean, your face is different, and so are your eyes. But the rest of you looks… extremely similar."
"You're right! Oh no, I must have been subconsciously thinking of the old picture of Tonks when I thought of purple hair. I can try and change it if you want Rox." Victoire offered softly, all of them now remembering the mother-in-law that Victoire never knew.
"No. I want to keep it. I like it, it reminds me of her." Roxanne said, combing her fingers though it. "Now I'm off to go kill your brother Rosie. Well, along with his cohorts." Roxanne stood up, her boots clomping against the wood floor. Rose laughed as Rox winked at her on the way out before going down stairs.
"I'm getting dressed." Rose said, rolling her eyes but still smiling as she left the room.
"I'll see you at breakfast!" Vic called over her shoulder.
Breakfast on Christmas Eve was very similar to breakfast on Christmas morning, which meant it was delicious. It was far too much food then you would think you would need, and yet all of it was consumed. Rose was watching Fred drown his pancakes in syrup when Roxanne came downstairs in front of a very timid looking Hugo followed by equally timid looking Albus and James. Clearly Rox had done something to mess wit them, but what?
"Ok Weasleys, be good. I want everyone to look nice for the family photo tonight, so that means I don't want anyone getting hurt during quidditch or" Mrs. Weasley took a surprised breath, "Good heavens! What in Merlin's name did you do to your hair Roxanne?"
"Oh, I didn't. Someone else did it for me." She said smugly.
"You wanted to turn it this purple color?" She asked disbelievingly.
"No, this color was a mistake. As was the amount of it in my hair." She continued to smile pleasantly, causing the three boys to shrink into their seats.
"Well, I suppose we can try and cover it with a hat for the photo. Anyone else plan on changing colors? Orange skin for you Albus?" Mrs. Weasley asked, causing Al's face to become very white.
Roxanne smirked as sat down in her seat. "Hugo, do you want some surup?" She offered, a kind smile plastered strangely on her face.
"No!" Hugo almost screamed, as if not wanting surup on his pancakes wasn't unusual enough. Mrs. Weasley eyed them skeptically but brushed it off and continued fiddling about in the kitchen.
After breakfast the Weasley clan gathered in the garden to try and take their annual family photo.
"Ok Weasley's listen up!" Rose's grandmother practically shouted. "I want the adults in the back row and the children in the front row, try to get it in height order." The group was a mess as always. Fleur was complaining about the cold, Fred was trying to make sparks come out of someone's stolen wand, Lily was arguing with Louis about quidditch, Ron had refused to wear his Weasley sweater for the picture, George was no where to be found, and Mr. Wealsey was still trying to convince Molly to use a muggle camera for the picture instead.
"Merlins beard!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed in frustration. "Percy, you're in charge." A look of pure glee spread across Percy's face as he sprang into action.
"Ok, you should be here, no no. I meant here." He started taking people by the shoulders and dragging them to different parts of the garden. There were often cries of protest in being picked up and moved or told to stop doing whatever was distracting them from taking this picture. It took him ten minutes, but he managed to put everyone into place.
"Ok Weasleys, are you ready? One, two, three." The flash went off and Rose smiled brightly, trying to look her best in this one captured moment. She smiled like the rest of them, she made a silly face for the next picture like the rest of them, she drank butterbeer with the rest of them afterwards. But there was a part of her that felt like it wasn't truly there. And that part of her was left with Scorpious.
It was hard keeping a secret that big from her entire family. They all noticed a slight change in her that none of them could place. On one hand she wanted to tell them, wanted them to know how happy she was. But it wouldn't have the result she wanted. The image of James' furry over Lily even having a boyfriend was enough to give her a taste of what telling her family would be like. They wouldn't understand.
So she smiled. Because for that one moment, immortalized forever in a photograph, she was Rose Weasley. No secrets. No lies.
For that moment she could be only herself.