"The dresses!" Rolanda repeated theatrically, lifting up the hem of her robe and making a funny little curtsy before her friends' astonished faces. It wasn't as if any of them noticed, anyway.
Serena stared and stared. The silence didn't even feel weird, for once- even though Rolanda Hooch was in the room and Rolanda Hooch never equalled silence.
It took her a few moments to realize that her friend and notorious partner-in-crime was expecting her to say something, since Minerva obviously wasn't likely to regain her breath and be able to utter anything soon.
But she didn't know what to say. She'd been prepared to speak all sorts of improbable excuses, of muttered remarks- she'd prepared to say about everything except… except that the dresses were beautiful. Because that they were. They were short and kind of- modern, and yet they were just very, very pretty, and in their way timeless too. Reaching just above the knee- at least, Sera thought so, judging them on what she could see- and leaving the shoulders bare, but not too bare, Serena realized that this must be this one occasion out of thousand where things turned out better than you expected them to.
"Ro-" she began, but she was stammering.
"Ro, they are- gorgeous!"
They were. Three beautiful dresses in nothing less than radiant colours. One emerald green- meant for Minerva, of course, it would go perfectly with her big, dark green eyes. One light blue- for Rolanda, the colour of the sky. For Rolanda, flying even with her feet touching the ground. And one, the last one, of a deep, yet bright purple- her own favourite colour, the colour of the faraway star-sprays of the midnight sky.
"They really are-"
"… my creation, so naturally stunning!"
The serious enchantment of the moment was somewhat broken by that so very Rolanda remark, and Sera smiled. For once, the so often used "proverb" was the utter and single truth. They were stunning.
"You're right for once, they are stunning." she acknowledge with a fine smile on her thin lips.
"Now which one is supposed to be mine? The purple one?"
Rolanda grinned and rolled her eyes.
"Naturally, Sera- but you're going too fast. We have heard the opinion of Tabbycat no 2, but we have not yet heard the opinion of Minnie herself!"
It was true, Serena realized. Minerva had not yet said a word, and when she turned around to look at her friend, she knew why. Minerva looked as if she'd just been frozen. Her face was pale to the degree of grey, her green eyes were big and filled with honest surprise, her mouth with the familiar, thin, pinkish lips opened in astonishment.
Sera, always the more observant one, immediately understood that that didn't necessarily mean that that reaction was a negative one. On the contrary- she knew her friend, she knew very well that if Minerva had thought the dresses horrible, that she would have said it, like she always spoke out what she thought. She realized this- but Rolanda did not. Of course she didn't.
Rolanda Hooch had never been a stupid witch, or an ignorant one, but she'd never managed to really read the depths of other person's characters, ever not those of her best friends. So of course she translated Minerva's expression the obvious way.
"Minerva?" she muttered.
When the black-haired witch didn't respond, a sort of uncharacteristically guilty expression crept into the Flying Instructor's eyes. All triumph slid off her flustered cheeks.
"Do you- you don't like the dresses?"
The vulnerable, hidden side of merry, tomboyish Ro was once more shown as she stepped closer to the taller of her two oldest friends.
"Minerva- I am so sorry."
It is very well possible that Rolanda received the worst shock of her life on that moment- as Minerva grabbed her shoulders and hugged her- and oh damn, was that a giggle escaping her lips? It was Rolanda's turn now to look nothing less than dumbfounded, as her now laughing aloud friend released her from her wild embrace.
"M-Min?"
"Rolanda Elaine Hooch…" Minerva began semi-sternly, but the wide grin on her lips totally gave her away.
"If that emerald green one over there is my dress, then they are absolutely beautiful."
Only sheer moments later the meaning of that sentence poured through Rolanda's foggy mind. Three words, three magical words, the words every single student at Hogwarts wanted to hear about their exam essays.
Minerva likes it.
And Minerva did like it.
"Do you really think they are? I mean, really really really?"
This last, comical remark broke the seriousness a little, and Minerva chuckled.
"Really really really really, Ro- even though the prospect of showing my legs to an enormous lot of students isn't exactly a childhood dream of mine."
"Uh-uh." Rolanda nodded, a wicked grin on her now back-to-normal face.
"But showing them to Albus is one, isn't it?"
Her yellowish hawk-eyes twinkled so evilly at that remark, that both Minerva and Serena knew there was only one thing they could possibly do.
"Rolanda Hooch!" they yelled, and two very similar pillows hit the Flying Instructor straight in the face
Serena stared and stared. The silence didn't even feel weird, for once- even though Rolanda Hooch was in the room and Rolanda Hooch never equalled silence.
It took her a few moments to realize that her friend and notorious partner-in-crime was expecting her to say something, since Minerva obviously wasn't likely to regain her breath and be able to utter anything soon.
But she didn't know what to say. She'd been prepared to speak all sorts of improbable excuses, of muttered remarks- she'd prepared to say about everything except… except that the dresses were beautiful. Because that they were. They were short and kind of- modern, and yet they were just very, very pretty, and in their way timeless too. Reaching just above the knee- at least, Sera thought so, judging them on what she could see- and leaving the shoulders bare, but not too bare, Serena realized that this must be this one occasion out of thousand where things turned out better than you expected them to.
"Ro-" she began, but she was stammering.
"Ro, they are- gorgeous!"
They were. Three beautiful dresses in nothing less than radiant colours. One emerald green- meant for Minerva, of course, it would go perfectly with her big, dark green eyes. One light blue- for Rolanda, the colour of the sky. For Rolanda, flying even with her feet touching the ground. And one, the last one, of a deep, yet bright purple- her own favourite colour, the colour of the faraway star-sprays of the midnight sky.
"They really are-"
"… my creation, so naturally stunning!"
The serious enchantment of the moment was somewhat broken by that so very Rolanda remark, and Sera smiled. For once, the so often used "proverb" was the utter and single truth. They were stunning.
"You're right for once, they are stunning." she acknowledge with a fine smile on her thin lips.
"Now which one is supposed to be mine? The purple one?"
Rolanda grinned and rolled her eyes.
"Naturally, Sera- but you're going too fast. We have heard the opinion of Tabbycat no 2, but we have not yet heard the opinion of Minnie herself!"
It was true, Serena realized. Minerva had not yet said a word, and when she turned around to look at her friend, she knew why. Minerva looked as if she'd just been frozen. Her face was pale to the degree of grey, her green eyes were big and filled with honest surprise, her mouth with the familiar, thin, pinkish lips opened in astonishment.
Sera, always the more observant one, immediately understood that that didn't necessarily mean that that reaction was a negative one. On the contrary- she knew her friend, she knew very well that if Minerva had thought the dresses horrible, that she would have said it, like she always spoke out what she thought. She realized this- but Rolanda did not. Of course she didn't.
Rolanda Hooch had never been a stupid witch, or an ignorant one, but she'd never managed to really read the depths of other person's characters, ever not those of her best friends. So of course she translated Minerva's expression the obvious way.
"Minerva?" she muttered.
When the black-haired witch didn't respond, a sort of uncharacteristically guilty expression crept into the Flying Instructor's eyes. All triumph slid off her flustered cheeks.
"Do you- you don't like the dresses?"
The vulnerable, hidden side of merry, tomboyish Ro was once more shown as she stepped closer to the taller of her two oldest friends.
"Minerva- I am so sorry."
It is very well possible that Rolanda received the worst shock of her life on that moment- as Minerva grabbed her shoulders and hugged her- and oh damn, was that a giggle escaping her lips? It was Rolanda's turn now to look nothing less than dumbfounded, as her now laughing aloud friend released her from her wild embrace.
"M-Min?"
"Rolanda Elaine Hooch…" Minerva began semi-sternly, but the wide grin on her lips totally gave her away.
"If that emerald green one over there is my dress, then they are absolutely beautiful."
Only sheer moments later the meaning of that sentence poured through Rolanda's foggy mind. Three words, three magical words, the words every single student at Hogwarts wanted to hear about their exam essays.
Minerva likes it.
And Minerva did like it.
"Do you really think they are? I mean, really really really?"
This last, comical remark broke the seriousness a little, and Minerva chuckled.
"Really really really really, Ro- even though the prospect of showing my legs to an enormous lot of students isn't exactly a childhood dream of mine."
"Uh-uh." Rolanda nodded, a wicked grin on her now back-to-normal face.
"But showing them to Albus is one, isn't it?"
Her yellowish hawk-eyes twinkled so evilly at that remark, that both Minerva and Serena knew there was only one thing they could possibly do.
"Rolanda Hooch!" they yelled, and two very similar pillows hit the Flying Instructor straight in the face