Tuesday August 31st 2021:
Rose was comfortably perched against the headboard of her bed, thumbing through the pages of what appeared to be a giant portfolio — inside were in-numerous moving photographs. The photos that she was concentrating on contained bygone events with her and her once closest cousin. The one that she was exceptionally having trouble deflecting her fixed stare from was an image of her first birthday; she had a Devil's food cake flavoured cupcake made for her by her parents. Her and Albus were digging their palms into the pastry to eat, and they swatted the specks of cake at each other from their sticky chocolate hands.
Rose grinned fondly, and soon after, her fixed stare guided to another photo; this one was the two of them being caught hand reaching into a cookie jar. She was the one helping Albus up, and Albus being the one hand caught in the cookie jar. Both of them resembled deer in the headlights turning their heads around to face the couple: being her aunt and uncle. Harry and Ginny were agitated, but they apparently agreed that it was too precious to not at least recapture the cute moment between them. Followed by Ginny nagging them while Harry hid the cookie remains inside of a high-reaching cupboard, secured with a spell-accessible lock on the handle. That way both of the inexperienced five-year-olds would be unable to access it themselves.
Browsing each different photo lengthened for a long period, until Rose bit her bottom lip and sealed the book shut. She considered herself strong and not exactly the emotional sappy type. She was kept to herself, but she found that after losing her once best friend Polly, she had been alone. She had some other friends, but not chummy enough to send any owls to. Every now and then, she would write a letter to her ex-boyfriend, Scorpius. Her bond with the Malfoy was unrivalled compared to others she would abide with, he was the only person she knew who would go on and on about what he has learned and what he would want to learn, much like herself. Nevertheless, her guilt for the way she had treated the tenderhearted Malfoy for such a protracted amount of time was relentlessly clinging to her conscience.
She and Lily would regularly write to each other, and Roxanne, Molly, and Dominique would send her a letter every now and then, but with the drama going on in Dominique's state of mind, her letters were excessively short and limited for the sending process.
Relatives aside (Scorpius being an exception), she had no true friends. She reminisced about that night prior to her trip to King's Cross Station; her mother used her mystic maternal psychic powers to see through Rose when she assured that she was not distraught about anything. She perceived Rose to be anxious at the possibility of nobody liking her, so she enlightened her that for her first year of Hogwarts it took some time to make friends. From her story, Rose was intrigued by the fate of her parents not only meeting on the train, but also her Uncle Harry! Even before they actually became friends!
With that bit of useful knowledge in mind, she was set on discovering the ideal compartment to make friends for her first year. In the compartment she selected was a sharp-witted and fierce blonde triumphantly performing the Softening Charm on her copy of Magical Theory. She was Polly Chapman... but what a mistake that was.
Rose currently yearned to make things right and decide on her friends more cautiously, and Albus was the perfect person to start with. He was her first best friend after all.
Now she felt that she needed a second opinion. The only two people in the house with her at that very moment was her brother and father — her mother had been wrapped up in work (to her usual dismay). Hugo was the absolute last person she would request advice from, so reluctantly she sought out her father. He did not give much advice, but when he did, she took it to heart. He may have not been the brains of the family, but he had a strong moral centre that she admired.
Halting in her spot to go through everything in her head, she eventually made up her mind and marched downstairs for her search.
Hugo whisked past her as she reached the final step of the staircase, chasing their family tabby cat throughout the house — it was their little bit of "fun", at least on Hugo's part.
Rose rolled her eyes, but with luck thereupon her side she located her father through the glass-panelled door leading to the backyard. He appeared to be swishing his wand, his movements synching up with the trimmers as they spruced up the hedges of their garden. She smirked; it was well known to her that her mother disagreed on her husband's often lazy tactics when it comes to yard work or chores in general. But despite arguing that it was efficient, he would listen, at least, when she was not home.
She slowly swung the door open with the noise immediately causing her parent a slight jolt and the hedge trimmers virtually flying up in the air.
"Dad?"
"Hey, sweetheart," Ron said, catching his breath from the unexpected intrusion. His yard work carried on properly again. "Do you need anything?"
"Yes, actually," Rose responded, "but first I must warn you that Mum is suspecting you of using your magic for work around the house, so she told me to tell her if you've been doing so. And our neighbours, the Charles, as well."
Ron gasped, followed by his head slouching to the side to make sure the coast of their magic-folk neighbours was clear. At first sight it seemed that way, until his eyes wandered over south-east of their well-kept flourished yard to spot a boy just Rose's age tending to their own ripe cherry tomatoes next door.
"No need to worry, sir," Dominic said. "My folks are out, and I don't care what you do, so..." He shrugged.
Without one ounce of realisation of what she was doing, Rose chuckled. When the realisation ultimately caught up with her, she exchanged the chuckle for a cough. Dominic blinked, just as befuddled as Rose herself was from that express of enjoyment. Though he hated to admit it, the sound of her chuckle was nice, and abrupt heat warmed his face that had nothing to do with the sun rays beaming down on him.
"Don't worry, Dad. I won't tell Mum either. At least, just this once," Rose said.
"Ah, so you're a rebel now, are ya?" Dominic called out, picking the fruit without even looking at them. "Might not work well with you being a prefect and all."
"I'm not a prefect," Rose said.
"You're not? But you're the perfect person to be one!"
"Which is why McGonagall chose me, but I turned it down. Too much responsibility for my taste."
"Huh. I admire that," Dominic complimented.
While Rose approved of the genuine compliment, she did not approve of the extra company when she was in need of advice. "Anyway, Dad, can we go inside?"
"Sure," Ron said instantaneously, not approving of the longing look the teenaged boy was fixing his daughter with. He set down the trimmers and sheltered his wand in his pants pocket.
"I would like your advice on something," Rose said as the sliding door closed behind them with a steady clink.
Ron's expression was stumped and astonished all in one go. "My advice?" Then his expression changed to comprehension. "Oh, it's because your mother isn't here, huh? Unless ..." His blue eyes widened in such a way that Rose was almost convinced that he suddenly saw her as a spider. "You need the advice for boys--"
"Well, it is about a boy, but not in the way you think."
"Good!" Ron said, encouragingly steering her towards the living room couch.
They sat down, but before discussing, Rose craned around in case Hugo was about to run into the room still chasing the cat, or was hiding behind a chair, eavesdropping on them. Confirming that he was nowhere to be seen, she started. "It's about Albus."
Ron comprehended right away. "Are you two still not getting along?"
"Well, better than we have been the past few years since starting Hogwarts..."
"You did apologise to him, right?"
"Sorta."
"What do you mean "sorta"? Ron pressed.
"Well, I-I spoke to him more, and I apologised to Scorpius. Aka: his best friend--"
"But you didn't apologise to him?"
"N-No, but I thought my actions were enough."
"Rose," Ron said, more courteous but still stern. "We talked about this. It was wrong of you to shut out your own cousin like that just because of a dumb house sorting--"
"That's precisely what I wanted to talk to you about," Rose interrupted. "I want to make it up to him, but he is more pig-headed than Scorpius to talk some sense into. What should I say for him to believe me?"
"Well, are you really sincere about all of this?"
"Of course."
"Then show it, so he knows you really mean it."
"Hmm, seems simple enough. Thank you, dad."
She hugged her father, but he held her tighter. Ever since becoming a teenager he hugged her in such a way like if he were to let go, she would leave forever.
"Oh, and I need a favour," she managed to say from being squeezed so tightly.
"Hm?" Ron asked, his one eye peaked open to look at Rose while in their embrace.
"I would prefer to get this done before we head off to school tomorrow. Can you bring me to the Potter's today?"
"Sure," Ron replied, finally letting go. He got to his feet to prepare for the short trip by broomstick ahead, and as he did he heard the pitter patter of little feet closing in on him. The source of these steps were their tabby cat scampering past his feet with Hugo in pursuit. He circled the table in front of the couch so he would not knock anyone down, and vanished as quickly as he appeared.
"For goodness sake, Hugo! Enough already," Rose demanded.
"Serves the furball right, waking me up at six in the morning," Ron mumbled, fiddling with his pockets in search of his keys.
"That's the time you're supposed to wake up anyways," Rose said.
"Not weekends," Ron corrected.
XXX
Ron rapped at the door of the Potter's home when arriving with Rose, and they heard Lily's energetic voice from inside yelling, "I'll get it! I'll get it!" Accompanied by her footsteps drawing closer and closer. "It's Rose and Uncle Ron! I told you I knew that knock!"
"Are you waiting for our permission? Open the door already!" They heard James say.
Lily mimicked her brother under her breath and flew the door open. "Hi Rose! Hi Uncle Ron!" She squeezed them both with her hug and let them in.
"Your hair is growing very well," Rose flattered.
"Thank you! I was hoping it would," Lily said.
Lily's radiant auburn hair typically brushed the top of her shoulders, but now it draped down to her chest.
Harry was the only parent who seemed to be home, and to both of the Weasley's surprise, Draco Malfoy was seated across from him. They were drinking firewhisky and actually grinning, and it in no way seemed to be fake or forced. The two men peered over at the visitors.
"Hey, Ron. What's up?" Harry asked airily, as if his former arch nemesis was not sitting opposite him.
"Err--"
"I wanted to talk to Albus, if that's alright," Rose said.
"Sure. He's upstairs in his room with Scorpius," Harry said.
"Won't take long," Rose told her father, making her way upstairs.
Ron joined his best friend in a glass of firewhisky, trying his best to get over Draco sitting right there.
While striding down the hallway, heeding the laughter and talking of the duo of friends, she could not help but wait by Albus' door, listening to them. Something that she would never admit to anyone was a very crucial reason her and Scorpius broke up; yes their bickering became more constant and there was no romantic connection as they initially thought, but there was something else… her boyfriend fancied someone else. Though Molly had told her in secret that Scorpius obviously had feelings for his best friend, she brought up that she had a hunch. She was not upset as she should have been, but it's because she knew that they had something special.
Interrupting her thinking, Rose rapped on the door while Scorpius was still laughing over something. Albus asked cautiously (obviously afraid of the unwelcome visitor being James) "Who is it?"
"It's Rose."
It took a lot of time for Albus to open the door, but once he did, he quizzically stared at her for some time. "Um, hi? Are you here to talk to Scorpius?"
"No, I wanted to speak to you," Rose said.
Albus blinked.
"Scorpius, what day and month is it today?" Albus asked, turning his head towards the inside of his room.
"August thirty-first?" Scorpius answered, perplexed from the question.
"So, it's not April Fool's Day?" Albus said.
"Nope," Scorpius said, finally catching on.
"And what day is Opposite Day?"
"It's not really a specific day."
Albus turned to Rose again.
"You must be serious then," Albus said, gobsmacked.
"Yes," Rose said impatiently.
"I'll leave you guys to it. Just going to check on Dad," Scorpius said, strolling out of the room.
"What do you want? The only time you ever want to talk to me is when you would lecture me," Albus grumbled.
"Sit down, please," Rose demanded, proving Albus' point.
Albus hesitantly sat on his bed, not looking forward to their little pep talk.
Rose handed Albus a few photographs.
"Remember these?"
Albus shuffled the moving photos one by one. Every one of them contained him and Rose. Not only did he feel nostalgic from reliving these memories with only one glance, but also heavy hearted from the loss of them.
"Yeah," Albus said heartily.
"So, I have a proposition," Rose said.
"Okay?"
Rose straightened herself up. "Since we've been in Hogwarts we have been growing further apart. I realise that it is my own fault, and not yours."
From the way Rose was speaking to him, Albus could have sworn she had rehearsed all of this. Her speaking was pristine, and she didn't stumble over her words once.
"Before that happened, we have always been very close, and I often reminisce about those days and miss them," Rose continued. "Therefore, my proposition is this: I won't interfere with your own life and choices and I treat you the way a cousin should, and you don't ignore or scold me when I try to do so." She extended her hand forward, waiting for Albus to shake it.
While Rose did not utter the words "I'm sorry", Albus knew that this was her way of genuinely apologising.
As stuck-up as Rose always was, Albus missed her company regardless. She was the type of person who would just enjoy having fun without the competition, which was always a relief with his dreadful performance in sports, and she would frequently think up the most ridiculous scenarios when they would play (although not considered ridiculous at the time as kids.)
Most importantly, because of Rose's pretentious and stubborn nature, not many kids would want to hang out with her. Albus was also stubborn, but also shy, and had interests that were considered weird to most others. They both felt like outcasts in their own ways, so they always felt better and appreciated when they had each other.
With those memories fresh in his mind, seeing the sincerity in Rose's eyes, and taking a glance at the photos, Albus shook her hand.
On Scorpius' brief trip up the stairs, he worried about what he was going to find when returning to Albus' room. He was expecting to open the door and see Rose storming out. So far he did not hear any raised voices, which was already a good sign. When he warily opened the door that was ajar, the scene playing out before him was jarring: Albus and Rose were talking... with smiles on their faces!
"Scorpius! Check these out!" Albus said eagerly.
"No! I don't want him to see those!" Rose opposed. "I resembled a boy at those ages."
"All in your imagination, Rose," Albus said, handing the photos to Scorpius. Rose went red.
A pleasantly surprised Scorpius sat next to Albus, flipping through the photographs. The first one he looked at was a young Albus and Rose (seemingly preschool age), running around a playground with twigs, flapping them all over the place, pretending that they were wands.
Scorpius giggled gleefully, and was happy when Albus and Rose clarified the context behind each picture, but not as happy as he was from seeing them bond together.