Title: Hot Chocolate In Summer?
A/N: For chewinggumandpencils' Hot Chocolate Competition
The cat was a hateful creature. It had scratched her when she was five, stolen her lunch when she was nine, and now it had broken her wand.
Her mother was no help.
"Oh Rose! Now we'll have to go into Diagon Alley again. You shouldn't leave it lying around," she berated her, before returning to writing her potions report. Rose glared at her, and ran off to her room.
Two hours later, and her mother had dragged her out of bed and apparated to Diagon Alley. Rose wished her father was home – he was less stressed, and more likely to be sympathetic. Her mother was working on a very important paper to secure her promotion, and she needed peace and quiet, as she'd told them all many times.
It was stupidly cold in Diagon Alley, especially considering that it was August. Rose shivered, half running to keep up with her mother.
Ollivander looked down at her, adjusting his glasses. He had been old when her parents had started Hogwarts, so he must be ancient by now, but he showed no signs of retiring.
"Ahh. Miss Weasley, again. Another wand, I presume," he waved his own wand and a plain wooden box landed on the table in front of Rose. She picked it up gingerly, hating it already. It wasn't her wand. It didn't feel right.
Twenty wands later and nothing had worked. Maybe she was a Squib? She told herself not to be stupid. She had been doing magic for five years, Rose couldn't be a Squib.
Her frustration reached its peak after number thirty. Rose ran to the door and out into the rain that had begun to fall. She was soaked to the bone before she made it halfway down the street. She could hear her mother calling after her, but she ignored it.
Another voice came, from in front of her this time, and someone caught her arm. She struggled for a moment, before realising who it was.
"Rose? What are you doing?" Lorcan asked, looking confused. She pulled him into a side street.
"I- my wand- it broke," she muttered, looking down at her shoes and trying desperately to hold back tears. "I needed a break from wand waving."
"Come on then," Lorcan shifted his grip to her hand and lead her along the street to a little coffee shop. It had a hand painted sign depicting a cup of steaming hot chocolate with a happy face.
They sat down at a table, and Lorcan ordered for them. Rose decided to just go with it.
"It's the best hot chocolate in the country," he grinned at her.
"Hot chocolate in summer?"
"Have you seen the weather out there? Yes, hot chocolate in summer. It's delicious chocolatey goodness."
At that moment a waitress set two glass mugs down in front of them. The drinks were topped with a truly enormous mountain of whipped cream with tiny pink and white marshmallows stuck in it, and chocolate grated on top. She returned moments later with a plate of biscuits.
"Come on Rosie, drink up. It'll make you feel better," Lorcan nudged it towards her. She pulled a face at the childhood nickname, but obediently scooped cream into her mouth. He watched, smiling slightly at the blissful expression on her face as she reached the chocolate itself.
"Okay, wow. You were right," Rose dipped a biscuit into the remaining hot chocolate. Lorcan gasped dramatically.
"Rose Weasley is admitting that I'm right? Someone take a photo, so I can remember this moment forever!"
Rose jabbed at him with her spoon, and he returned to his own drink. The next time he looked up, she burst out laughing.
"You've got a bit- just there- no, up a bit," Rose tried to direct him to wipe the cream moustache off.
"Right," Lorcan spoke once he'd finished drinking. "We'd better go find your mum before she loses it completely.