Rose Among The Thorns: The Third Evans Sister
By Jedi Blu, Lady at Large
DIS CLAIM TO FAME: Found in Chapter One of this story.
NOTICE: Time traveling is about to begin, and YOU, the reader, will find yourself back in the 1970's with all our favorite (and not so favorite) characters from yesteryear. :-)
Apology: As you may have noted, Chapter Five was somehow called Chapter Four in the posting. Pay no heed to that, it was my mistake and I was too lazy to fix it. Terrible, right?
*Denotes Memories*
'Denotes Thoughts'
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CHAPTER SIX: The Proposal
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Rose collapsed onto her bed, not sure what to really do with herself. Severus had left quickly after their meeting, leaving her reeling in shock—he had been summoned by the Dark Lord...or some of his higher-ranking minions at any rate. He had left, giving her one quick kiss on the cheek, a gesture she had not completely expected. He had never kissed her goodbye before...but then, never before had she known when he was leaving; he would just disappear.
Their marriage had begun strangely, a few years already into the terrible war with Voldemort. Severus had been out of Hogwarts for two years by the time she had graduated, and so he had already come in contact with the Death Eaters, joining them. She had been standing on the train platform, waiting for the Hogwarts Express to return home, when he shortly appeared....
~*~ FLASHBACK ~*~
Rose Evans sneered at all the students crowding underneath umbrellas and the pavilion of the train station, doing their best not to be wetted by the rain. It was storming something terrible, which probably accounted for the tardiness of the train. She was put-off by the whole thing, of course, but rain had never hurt anyone. So there she stood, alone, in the middle of the platform as the rain hit hard upon the hood of her cloak, soaking her through-and-through.
She was a pretty-enough girl, or could have been if she ever allowed a pleasant expression on her face. Her hair hung in a long, auburn braid most of the time, the curls tamed by her tight weaving of it. Her eyes, the same deep green as her charming sister's, were always cold and unreadable. Her frame was delicate; she didn't at all look like she had just finished her seventh year but rather her fourth if size alone was considered.
Those who knew the Slytherin girl knew she had only become as cold as she was after her fifth year, when her sister had graduated. It was odd; people always assumed her mood had been because of her sister, never because of the one student she had actually spent time with. He had graduated two years ago as well, and she had hardly heard a word from him since. She would drop him a letter now and then, trying not to attract attention to the fact she did so, and could usually count on a reply. But he only replied, he never wrote to her first. She accepted that. That was how he was.
Her thoughts traveled to her last letter from him...it had been sketchy, and had arrived the day of graduation. She had studied it for hours, trying to make sense of it. There were only a few lines penned, and they were cryptic. He had written something about receiving a mark, hoping she would do the same, congratulating her on her endurance of the tiresome school and its Headmaster, and told her to look for him soon.
'Look for him,' she thought, bitterly. 'If only I knew where to begin looking. Or am I just supposed to keep an eye out for him? Will he find me?'
The train had pulled up then, and she climbed on, going towards her usual end of the locomotive. There was one compartment in the back that had a smaller window and wasn't as well lit as the others. It was also quieter back there. Most of the Slytherins sat towards the back anyway, but that compartment she usually had to herself. For the past two years she had sat there alone, anyway.
She pushed the door open and came in, trying to take off her soaking wet cloak as she did so. Her attention was focused completely on her clasp, which seemed to have stuck, so when a pair of hands came up to assist her with it she started and jerked her head up in surprise.
Cold, emotionless, black eyes met hers and she froze completely under their gaze. His fingers, stronger and surer than hers, had the clasp undone quickly and without trouble. His hands then reached for her hood, which he pushed back, before he took the cloak completely off her shoulders. He folded the soaking wet material, and with a wave of his wand popped it out of existence. He motioned for her to take a seat, which she did slowly, her eyes never leaving his. He shut the door to the compartment and then took a seat opposite of her.
"You seem surprised," he said, his voice cool, his tone low. "I told you to look for me."
"Severus," she said, her eyes taking him in. He had changed in two years...his shoulders were broader, he was more sure of himself, and there was a fire beneath that cool exterior...she could feel it. His hair was longer, held back by a black leather strap, he wore long sleeves—expected in the cold weather, but he was holding his arms differently, and there was just something very odd about him. He carried an aura of…something… about him. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon, or on the Express for that matter."
He smiled, and she caught a glimpse of the school-boy in the smile. "Expect the unexpected, Rose." She found herself smiling a little as well, it had been one of his favorite things to tell her back when he had been in school. His expression changed, becoming unreadable again. "I have come to ask of you something. You are on your way to your sister's home, are you not?"
"Lily invited me to stay, yes," she said, carefully. "But she is hoping to give me a 'change of scenery,' and of mind. I have no wish to go to her so that she can manipulate me. I was going to go to Petunia, but she has recently married a Muggle--" her nose wrinkled with her distaste "—who can't stand magic, and so I was going to return to the home of my parents long enough to gather things and strike out on my own. The house has been kept locked up since…since I left for school last year." The Evans parents had died, a very tragic death, in an automobile accident that left the three sisters stunned. But Lily had taken up guardian ship of Rose until Rose turned seventeen, but the youngest Evans wasn't fazed by her sudden thrust into adulthood. After all, she had been offered several posts by different apothecaries and even a few clinics, but St. Mungo's had turned her down....
Severus nodded, his black eyes deep in thought. "I would like to ask you to reconsider your plans. Come with me," he invited, and she thought she might have heard his tone soften...but that couldn't be, Severus was never soft anymore. "I have need of your talents...you and I used to work quite well together."
She thought about this for a moment, and then nodded. "You'll explain what you have in mind for us to work on later, of course."
"Of course." He leaned back, his arms spreading across the back of his seat. "I will tell you this much now, I believe it's safe enough to reveal here." His eyes took on a look she recognized...it was the nearest thing to a twinkle of mischief that Severus allowed himself. He put a hand in a pocket of his robes, withdrew a small box, and tossed it onto her lap. "You're expected to wear it."
Arching one eyebrow up at him in curiosity, Rose looked down at the box in her lap and slowly opened it. Both of her eyebrows shot up, she stopped breathing for a moment. Inside the little black box, sitting on a tiny silk cushion, was a ring. The ring was some strange mettle she at first could not identify, and then she decided it was Mithril, the strongest mettle known to mankind, mined countless centuries before when dwarves still held the ancient secrets in high esteem. Settled into the ring was a single gem, a black diamond, nestled in the carved jaws of a dragon. It was beautiful, and priceless she well knew.
She had seen the ring once, in a battered photograph Severus had. His mother had been wearing it...it was her wedding ring, and had been her only real treasure besides her son.
Apparently she had been staring at it for too long, Severus cleared his throat—an uncharacteristic sign of nervousness—and said, "If you don't like it I'll get you another."
Her eyes darted up to his, she shook her head slowly as she slipped the ring out of the box and onto her left-hand ring finger. "I like it. Another wouldn't ever do."
Satisfied, Severus allowed himself a small smile as he leaned towards her. "Good. We will have much to discuss when we leave this train."
Rose leaned forward as well, her own cool smile in place. "I can tell."
Their lips met in a kiss, calm, almost cold. But, for all their coolness towards each other and everything around them, that kiss soon was warm and ignited a fire in each of them...a fire that filled both with power and fear....
~*~ END FLASHBACK ~*~
Rose sighed and looked at her ring finger...there was nothing there. She had sent the ring back with the Sundering papers. Now she wondered if she would get it back...if she should get it back. What had he even done with it? Was it in the same trunk as those papers?
She didn't know exactly on what ground they stood.
Closing her eyes, Rose curled herself up in her bed, hugging her pillow to her chest. A tear slipped down her cheek as she fell to sleep, into her nightmares of the past. The tear could have been for a lot of things—her lost years, her lost innocence, lost childhood—but it was only for one man, and how much she ached to have him hold her once more. But could it ever be?
How had they ended up in such a terrible mess in the first place?
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I had to throw this in, and I promise you you'll be seeing this memory again, as it occurs, through the eyes of the Serpent. :-) I'm tempted to split this story in half, so part of it is under this title and the other half under another title. It's hard to tell anyone why without giving away a few key points I hope to develop. Hm. We shall see.
To My Readers:
LilyJamesP: Hope my review to your own fic was appreciated. Everyone here does know I'll be more than happy to read/review other fics if I'm asked, right? Every little review counts! But anyway, hope you like this shout-out as much as the other one. And I'm VERY glad I managed to surprise you!
Your Worshipfulness: I feel the sudden urge to give thee a courtly bow. That's some name, and I like it. Did it derive in any way from Star Wars? (Han constantly calling Leia that.) I haven't had the chance to read any of your stuff yet, but I'm impressed by the variety of genres you write fic in. Awesome. Hope my story continues to be a surprise and delight!
Loretta: I'm always more than happy to point out another author's fics. Check out my favorite stories link, there's some good stuff there—there are only one or two fics I don't really enjoy as much, I just keep for getting to take them down. May you unstick yourself from your own DREADED Writer's Block!
Lysaandi: A web…me weaving…. Hm. Spiders give me the creeps (except for Daddy-Long-Legs, those are fun!), so I prefer to see this as a tapestry I weave, borrowing a few threads (okay, maybe an entire PATTERN) from Ms. Rowling. It seems I've surprised several readers! I'm thrilled to pieces about that. Yay!
Rae Roberts: Anything for you, dahling. Seriously, thanks for the continued reviews. Sorry I've been neglecting doing so for your own fic, but allow me the opportunity to say that I'm still lovin' it, and Alex is one of my favorite OC's ever. I once wrote a Harry Potter fic with an Alex Hamilton in it but she was romantically attached to Sirius while her sister Crys was in love with our sour Snape. Alas, I got 'Blocked' half-way through it and never again touched the fic. So sad. But enough about me—one with the story!
-JB-