Disclaimer: See chap. 1
The Unicorn and the Stag
Chapter 14
Rose stretched out her red and gold canopy bed with a pad of paper. She needed to plan for her party! It was going to have red and gold decorations, of course. She had already made the food list. The house-elves had been very happy when they saw how long it was. She still had to get the presents for her guests. She always gave presents to her guests. She had started when she read the Lord of the Rings and found out hobbits gave presents to the guests at their birthday parties. She generally gave little things like Bertie Bott's or quills, but this year she had made a family history book for everyone coming. Most of them were in the same family, so it was quite easy. But the Patils' and the Bernards' had been rather difficult. She stacked the books in a box and took them down to the Great Hall. She threw out the Weasley twins, who were charming the Slytherins' table to make it match Malfoy's hair.
The next thing on her list was her "parents." She needed to get them their invitations. She whistled, and Heartsong came soaring through her window. Rose gave her letters to Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sirius, and tried to send one to Madame Pomfrey, even though she knew that she couldn't come. She always had to deal with Slytherins cursing off the Gryffindors' ears or something. So she sent the family history book down, too. Finally. Done. She went down to the library.
She browsed for a while before she found what she wanted. The book was called Phoenix Families: How to Trace Them. She took ten points off Slytherin for the two making out behind a bookshelf and dropped it on a table. She wanted to know Starsong's children's ancestry. She managed to find evidence that Fawkes was a descendant of Rojas, the pet phoenix of Godric Gryffindor. That was interesting. Heartsong was a descendant of Gryffindor's wife's phoenix. Luckily, Rojas and Goldilocks, Mrs. Gryffindor's phoenix, never mated. Otherwise, Fawkes couldn't have mate Heartsong. Their mating was a powerful bond. Her children were very strong. Rose frowned. But only if they were cared for correctly. She'd better go check on her egg.
*~*~*
Harry was bored.
Ron and Hermione had gone on their date and he couldn't find Rose. So he'd messed with the phoenix egg he had gotten from Hagrid for his birthday and read his phoenix book, which he discovered had a little countdown clock to when his phoenix to hatch. According to it, his phoenix should hatch in about half an hour. Suddenly, his day became very interesting. He decided to try and find Rose again. Luckily, she was in her room when he checked.
"Rose!" he said. "The phoenix eggs are supposed to hatch in (he checked the clock) fifteen minutes!"
Rose grabbed her egg and raced through the portrait hole. It took them another thirteen minutes to get Ron's and Hermione's eggs and get back to the fifth year boys' dorm. They watched the four eggs anxiously. Suddenly, there was a sharp cracking sound. The shell on Rose's egg broke. It seemed to be a signal to the other phoenixes. Each of them pecked a hole in their shell and climbed out. Rose's and Harry's seemed to know their owners. They crawled onto their outstretched hands and fell asleep. The others fell asleep where they lay.
"Mine's a girl," Rose announced. "Lemme see yours, Harry."
She gently picked it up. "It's a boy." She checked the other two. Ron's was a boy and Hermione's, a girl. Harry and Rose put their phoenixes in their nests and did the same for the other two. Ron found Harry stroking his sleeping phoenix's back idly with his finger an hour later.
"Is that a phoenix?!" he said. Harry nodded. "Wicked!"
"Yours, Mione's, and Rose's have hatched, too. Mine's a boy, Rose's is a girl, yours is a boy, and Mione's is a girl. What are you going to name it?"
"Uh...Plumor."
"Plumor?"
"Plume or is French for gold feather. What's yours named?"
Harry smiled. "James."
*~*~*
Hermione squealed as soon as she saw the tiny phoenix sitting in the nest on her bed.
"Parvati. When did it hatch?"
"I don't know. Professor Creek came in and said it was going to hatch in about sixty seconds and took it to the common room. She came back with it a few minutes later. She says it's a girl."
"Can I hold her? What are you going to name her?"
"Plumaroa. Pluma roja means red feather in Spanish."
"Doesn't look too red right now," Lavender said doubtfully.
"That's because it's a newborn, smarts."
"Shut up, Parvati."
"Both of you shut up!"
They did.
"Now does either of you idiots know where Professor Creek is?"
Parvati nodded. "She's in her room."
Hermione jumped out of the dorm and nearly ran Ron over. "Harry already told me," Ron said. "What'd you name her?"
"Her name's Plumaroa."
"What does that mean?"
"Pluma roja means red feather in Spanish. What did you name yours?"
"His name's Plumor. Plum or is French for gold feather."
"So we have red feather and gold feather. No one needs to guess very hard at our house, do they?" They laughed. "Come on, let's see the Professor's!" They jumped out of the portrait hole and started banging on the door.
*Professor Potter!* Hermione switched to telepathy so no one would hear them call her by her real last name. *It's Ron and Hermione!*
*~*~*
Rose was awoken from her nap by a loud banging on the door.
*Professor Potter! It's Ron and Hermione!* Hermione's voice said.
*Coming, Hermione. And call me Rose,* Rose said. She rolled out of bed and stumbled to the door. Ron and Hermione nearly fell onto the floor.
*When did they hatch?* Hermione asked. *Where's yours? What's her name?*
Rose mentally laughed. *About an hour ago, in its nest, Lily.*
*Mine's Plumaroa, Ron's is Plumor. He is so weird.*
*Hey! It's better than Plumaroa.*
*Want to swap?*
*No!*
*Come on!*
Rose grinned. She knew how to stop their squabbling. *So...you two had a date?* They shut up fast.
*Oh...uh...it was just a little trip...not really a date.*
Rose laughed again. *Don't worry. I don't take points off for student romance.*
*Good. Because Fred and George are going to miss your party. So are the Bernard twins.*
*They went on a date?! Oh, I'm going to get them, they never told me anything about that!*
They chatted and played with their phoenixes for a few hours. It seemed like only a few minutes later, it was time for the party. Rose sent Ron and Hermione back to their rooms so she could change. She put on a red skirt, a shimmering gold peasant blouse, her ruby-and-gold phoenix necklace, a matching bracelet, and the ruby-and-gold earrings she had worn the night Bill proposed to her. She took a deep breath and went down to the Great Hall.
*~*~*
Bill was waiting for his fiancée to come to her party. Everyone knew she would be the last one there. She always was.
He looked around. There was a very wide assortment of guests. All of Rose's godparents were there. Her brother and his friends were there. Fred, George, and the Bernards would be late, so Bill had to hold their presents to her. The boxes kept jumping suspiciously. All of the professors had turned up, even Professor Dumbledore. There were a few students there, and Rose's friends from the American national Quidditch team had turned up. Bill's parents were there, too. The only person missing was Rose.
Just then, she came into the Great Hall. She looked beautiful. The candles glinted off her gold blouse so that it looked like she was glowing. The smile on her face almost was. She had braided her auburn hair into a complicated knot at the back of her head. The gem on the ring on her right hand was cleverly hidden so no one would ask questions before they made the announcements. She came over to Bill.
"Rosie, you look beautiful," he told her. She blushed.
"Come on, Bill, I need to introduce you to some of my friends." She dragged him over to the group of American Quidditch players chatting in the corner.
"This is the Keeper, Jillian Anderson, these are the Chasers, Katie Brown, Elizabeth Hart, and Chelsea Johnson, the Beaters are Alex and Ally who are off on their date with your brothers, and here's the Seeker who took over for me, Emily Grumman." All of them seemed to be very tall, very pretty, and either blonde or brunette. Except for Jillian, who had wavy red hair like Rose.
"Girls, this is Bill Weasley, my boyfriend." They all said hi. "Come on, Bill, I've got to give you your family book. I made one for everyone here." She dragged him over to a large box in the center of the table. "Let's see.here it is!" She pulled a large, leather-bound book from the bottom of the box. "I charmed the pages to update at every marriage, birth, or death." They sat down, ordered, and the food appeared on their plates. "So, do you like the decorations?"
Bill grinned. They were in red and gold. "The only person who wouldn't like the decorations is a Slytherin. Speaking of which, did you know that Malfoy's hair is still red and gold? My brothers made it so that anyone who tries to reverse it to green and silver gets the gold and red, too. So now Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, and Blaise Zabini all have red and gold hair. They skipped classes all day and hid in their rooms."
Rose laughed, which made Bill smile. His fiancée had the best laugh, like bells. Must be the Evans laugh. Dumbledore must have decided that it was time for everyone to sit down, because Bill heard him talk over the chatter.
"Please, everyone, take your seats." Everyone grabbed a chair and sat. "We are here to celebrate the birthday of our professor, fellow teacher, friend, and sister, Rose Lily Potter. (Everyone there knew that she was Harry's sister). Today she celebrates her twentieth birthday." He paused to let everyone clap. Bill saw Rose blush again. "If I am not mistaken, I believe Miss Potter would appreciate it if I stopped my yammering and allowed her to make a few announcements."
Rose stood on her chair. "I would like all of you to know that each of you has a present from me to you in this box." She pointed at the box holding the books. "Secondly, please welcome my friends from America, the American National Quidditch team!" There was thunderous applause for them, who simply smiled and waved. "Thirdly, Bill Weasly and I would like to make an announcement." She grabbed Bill's hand, and he stood up next to her. "I would like to announce that on May the fifteenth, William Joseph Weasly and I will be getting married."
Everyone clapped, even harder than for the Quidditch team. Molly Weasly started crying. Rose revealed the beautiful stone on her right hand, and the girls around her immediately began asking to see it. She looked up at Bill and smiled.
*~*~*
Hermione and her friends Parvati, Padma, and Lavender knew what they were going to do. They began a countdown.
"Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Contact!"
Bill's and Rose's lips connected in front of half the school. The girls squealed. The boys groaned.
The Unicorn and the Stag
Chapter 14
Rose stretched out her red and gold canopy bed with a pad of paper. She needed to plan for her party! It was going to have red and gold decorations, of course. She had already made the food list. The house-elves had been very happy when they saw how long it was. She still had to get the presents for her guests. She always gave presents to her guests. She had started when she read the Lord of the Rings and found out hobbits gave presents to the guests at their birthday parties. She generally gave little things like Bertie Bott's or quills, but this year she had made a family history book for everyone coming. Most of them were in the same family, so it was quite easy. But the Patils' and the Bernards' had been rather difficult. She stacked the books in a box and took them down to the Great Hall. She threw out the Weasley twins, who were charming the Slytherins' table to make it match Malfoy's hair.
The next thing on her list was her "parents." She needed to get them their invitations. She whistled, and Heartsong came soaring through her window. Rose gave her letters to Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sirius, and tried to send one to Madame Pomfrey, even though she knew that she couldn't come. She always had to deal with Slytherins cursing off the Gryffindors' ears or something. So she sent the family history book down, too. Finally. Done. She went down to the library.
She browsed for a while before she found what she wanted. The book was called Phoenix Families: How to Trace Them. She took ten points off Slytherin for the two making out behind a bookshelf and dropped it on a table. She wanted to know Starsong's children's ancestry. She managed to find evidence that Fawkes was a descendant of Rojas, the pet phoenix of Godric Gryffindor. That was interesting. Heartsong was a descendant of Gryffindor's wife's phoenix. Luckily, Rojas and Goldilocks, Mrs. Gryffindor's phoenix, never mated. Otherwise, Fawkes couldn't have mate Heartsong. Their mating was a powerful bond. Her children were very strong. Rose frowned. But only if they were cared for correctly. She'd better go check on her egg.
*~*~*
Harry was bored.
Ron and Hermione had gone on their date and he couldn't find Rose. So he'd messed with the phoenix egg he had gotten from Hagrid for his birthday and read his phoenix book, which he discovered had a little countdown clock to when his phoenix to hatch. According to it, his phoenix should hatch in about half an hour. Suddenly, his day became very interesting. He decided to try and find Rose again. Luckily, she was in her room when he checked.
"Rose!" he said. "The phoenix eggs are supposed to hatch in (he checked the clock) fifteen minutes!"
Rose grabbed her egg and raced through the portrait hole. It took them another thirteen minutes to get Ron's and Hermione's eggs and get back to the fifth year boys' dorm. They watched the four eggs anxiously. Suddenly, there was a sharp cracking sound. The shell on Rose's egg broke. It seemed to be a signal to the other phoenixes. Each of them pecked a hole in their shell and climbed out. Rose's and Harry's seemed to know their owners. They crawled onto their outstretched hands and fell asleep. The others fell asleep where they lay.
"Mine's a girl," Rose announced. "Lemme see yours, Harry."
She gently picked it up. "It's a boy." She checked the other two. Ron's was a boy and Hermione's, a girl. Harry and Rose put their phoenixes in their nests and did the same for the other two. Ron found Harry stroking his sleeping phoenix's back idly with his finger an hour later.
"Is that a phoenix?!" he said. Harry nodded. "Wicked!"
"Yours, Mione's, and Rose's have hatched, too. Mine's a boy, Rose's is a girl, yours is a boy, and Mione's is a girl. What are you going to name it?"
"Uh...Plumor."
"Plumor?"
"Plume or is French for gold feather. What's yours named?"
Harry smiled. "James."
*~*~*
Hermione squealed as soon as she saw the tiny phoenix sitting in the nest on her bed.
"Parvati. When did it hatch?"
"I don't know. Professor Creek came in and said it was going to hatch in about sixty seconds and took it to the common room. She came back with it a few minutes later. She says it's a girl."
"Can I hold her? What are you going to name her?"
"Plumaroa. Pluma roja means red feather in Spanish."
"Doesn't look too red right now," Lavender said doubtfully.
"That's because it's a newborn, smarts."
"Shut up, Parvati."
"Both of you shut up!"
They did.
"Now does either of you idiots know where Professor Creek is?"
Parvati nodded. "She's in her room."
Hermione jumped out of the dorm and nearly ran Ron over. "Harry already told me," Ron said. "What'd you name her?"
"Her name's Plumaroa."
"What does that mean?"
"Pluma roja means red feather in Spanish. What did you name yours?"
"His name's Plumor. Plum or is French for gold feather."
"So we have red feather and gold feather. No one needs to guess very hard at our house, do they?" They laughed. "Come on, let's see the Professor's!" They jumped out of the portrait hole and started banging on the door.
*Professor Potter!* Hermione switched to telepathy so no one would hear them call her by her real last name. *It's Ron and Hermione!*
*~*~*
Rose was awoken from her nap by a loud banging on the door.
*Professor Potter! It's Ron and Hermione!* Hermione's voice said.
*Coming, Hermione. And call me Rose,* Rose said. She rolled out of bed and stumbled to the door. Ron and Hermione nearly fell onto the floor.
*When did they hatch?* Hermione asked. *Where's yours? What's her name?*
Rose mentally laughed. *About an hour ago, in its nest, Lily.*
*Mine's Plumaroa, Ron's is Plumor. He is so weird.*
*Hey! It's better than Plumaroa.*
*Want to swap?*
*No!*
*Come on!*
Rose grinned. She knew how to stop their squabbling. *So...you two had a date?* They shut up fast.
*Oh...uh...it was just a little trip...not really a date.*
Rose laughed again. *Don't worry. I don't take points off for student romance.*
*Good. Because Fred and George are going to miss your party. So are the Bernard twins.*
*They went on a date?! Oh, I'm going to get them, they never told me anything about that!*
They chatted and played with their phoenixes for a few hours. It seemed like only a few minutes later, it was time for the party. Rose sent Ron and Hermione back to their rooms so she could change. She put on a red skirt, a shimmering gold peasant blouse, her ruby-and-gold phoenix necklace, a matching bracelet, and the ruby-and-gold earrings she had worn the night Bill proposed to her. She took a deep breath and went down to the Great Hall.
*~*~*
Bill was waiting for his fiancée to come to her party. Everyone knew she would be the last one there. She always was.
He looked around. There was a very wide assortment of guests. All of Rose's godparents were there. Her brother and his friends were there. Fred, George, and the Bernards would be late, so Bill had to hold their presents to her. The boxes kept jumping suspiciously. All of the professors had turned up, even Professor Dumbledore. There were a few students there, and Rose's friends from the American national Quidditch team had turned up. Bill's parents were there, too. The only person missing was Rose.
Just then, she came into the Great Hall. She looked beautiful. The candles glinted off her gold blouse so that it looked like she was glowing. The smile on her face almost was. She had braided her auburn hair into a complicated knot at the back of her head. The gem on the ring on her right hand was cleverly hidden so no one would ask questions before they made the announcements. She came over to Bill.
"Rosie, you look beautiful," he told her. She blushed.
"Come on, Bill, I need to introduce you to some of my friends." She dragged him over to the group of American Quidditch players chatting in the corner.
"This is the Keeper, Jillian Anderson, these are the Chasers, Katie Brown, Elizabeth Hart, and Chelsea Johnson, the Beaters are Alex and Ally who are off on their date with your brothers, and here's the Seeker who took over for me, Emily Grumman." All of them seemed to be very tall, very pretty, and either blonde or brunette. Except for Jillian, who had wavy red hair like Rose.
"Girls, this is Bill Weasley, my boyfriend." They all said hi. "Come on, Bill, I've got to give you your family book. I made one for everyone here." She dragged him over to a large box in the center of the table. "Let's see.here it is!" She pulled a large, leather-bound book from the bottom of the box. "I charmed the pages to update at every marriage, birth, or death." They sat down, ordered, and the food appeared on their plates. "So, do you like the decorations?"
Bill grinned. They were in red and gold. "The only person who wouldn't like the decorations is a Slytherin. Speaking of which, did you know that Malfoy's hair is still red and gold? My brothers made it so that anyone who tries to reverse it to green and silver gets the gold and red, too. So now Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, and Blaise Zabini all have red and gold hair. They skipped classes all day and hid in their rooms."
Rose laughed, which made Bill smile. His fiancée had the best laugh, like bells. Must be the Evans laugh. Dumbledore must have decided that it was time for everyone to sit down, because Bill heard him talk over the chatter.
"Please, everyone, take your seats." Everyone grabbed a chair and sat. "We are here to celebrate the birthday of our professor, fellow teacher, friend, and sister, Rose Lily Potter. (Everyone there knew that she was Harry's sister). Today she celebrates her twentieth birthday." He paused to let everyone clap. Bill saw Rose blush again. "If I am not mistaken, I believe Miss Potter would appreciate it if I stopped my yammering and allowed her to make a few announcements."
Rose stood on her chair. "I would like all of you to know that each of you has a present from me to you in this box." She pointed at the box holding the books. "Secondly, please welcome my friends from America, the American National Quidditch team!" There was thunderous applause for them, who simply smiled and waved. "Thirdly, Bill Weasly and I would like to make an announcement." She grabbed Bill's hand, and he stood up next to her. "I would like to announce that on May the fifteenth, William Joseph Weasly and I will be getting married."
Everyone clapped, even harder than for the Quidditch team. Molly Weasly started crying. Rose revealed the beautiful stone on her right hand, and the girls around her immediately began asking to see it. She looked up at Bill and smiled.
*~*~*
Hermione and her friends Parvati, Padma, and Lavender knew what they were going to do. They began a countdown.
"Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Contact!"
Bill's and Rose's lips connected in front of half the school. The girls squealed. The boys groaned.