Chapter 4- Madam Rosmerta

Town gossip? Me? That's what most people would label me, but I don't think they have the same definition of gossip. I know a lot that goes on around Hogsmeade, but it's a rarity that I actually tell anyone what I hear, and it is always on a need-to-know basis. I'm more the secret-keeping type, that's why I know so much.

Minerva is always telling me the going-ons of the school as well. I knew about Rubeus being half-giant long before it was spread by that awful Skeeter woman. Now there's a gossip for you. Rita was always spreading rumors based on some dumb piece of information at school. I remember when she'd come into the Three Broomsticks and hide herself in a corner. She once tried to write an editorial in the school paper entitled 'Rosemerta: Sweet or Sinister?'. It was based on the idea that I had come from a long line of banshees. Absolutely ludicrous.

I think she had overheard Phil, the cook at the time, say something about my temper. He had been discussing with Professor Sinistra about a few nights prior when I decked a guy for trying to pinch my arse, excuse my French. That's another common misconception, that I want attention from the male population just because I put on a bit of makeup and look nice when I wait on people.

Of all the things I heard throughout the years, however, the most logical was when I learned that Remus Lupin was a werewolf. Werewolves have sweet personalities, despite what most people think. I kept that secret when he was a student, and when he started working at the school. I had been walking past the Shrieking Shack, that's what Brian (the town's biggest drunk), had deemed it, when I heard a familiar voice. Remus's friends and him were always so much fun to have at the pub, daring one another to flirt with me. I think I shocked the little blond boy, Peter, one day when I flirted back.

It wasn't long after I heard Remus talking to himself that I heard howls in the night. I looked up into the sky and saw the bright moon shining down and it all came together. The prior month's visit to Hogsmeade had been just days after a full moon and Remus didn't look too well, though he insisted he would be fine.

Every so often I would go just before full moon and leave a bottle of butterbeer, after enchanting it to stay warm, or a book to keep his mind off of things for just a bit longer than usual. That's what always worked with Jeff.

Jeff wasn't like most guys, I could tell that right off. He had come into the pub I was working at during that time, Grundles, with a bunch of friends. It was in a small town and I had just moved there to take care of my ill aunt, but I worked on the side. Most of the boys hooted and hollered-- in a joking manner of course-- but I was used to it. What caught my attention, though, were his kind comments and polite requests.

At that time in my life, I enjoyed singing and did so at the pub for a little bit every night. We had the WWN, but my boss wanted me to give some live entertainment for those that came. I wrote a few of my own songs from time to time, and I sang one of them that night. It was called 'Lucky for Me'; just a silly little ballad.

When I finished singing it, I went back to wipe down the bar and Jeff came over to me. "I think you're better than Celestina Warbeck," he told me. Celestina had just started her career then and everyone was talking about how she was the next big star.

"Thanks," I blushed, and I never blushed. That was because most things guys said to a girl in my line of work were just used to pick them up.

"Would you care to dance?" Jeff asked, holding his hand out to me. My boss urged me to do so. He had it out for me and Jeff from the start.

It only took a few months of dating before I started to figure out what Jeff was. "Is there something you want to tell me?" I asked him after one full moon.

Jeff went paler in the face than he already was a gulped. "I...I don't know how to tell you this," he said. He went on to explain to me about how and when he was bitten, and he started apologizing for not telling me sooner. I told him it wasn't that big a deal, and as long as he was the same Jeff that I met, I would love him just the same.

I think that was the convincing factor for Jeff. He proposed a week after that. My mum thought I was plumb crazy to be marrying someone I had known less than a year. "It'll happen either way, Mum," I told her when she scoffed at me. I knew I would win her over when I introduced her to Jeff, and I did.

I suppose it wasn't meant to be, though. Gossip is a terrible thing. One of his so-called-friends had noticed the same pattern of disappearance that I had, but he wasn't nearly as accepting. Paul started to distance himself, but I didn't notice until it was too late. He was a bit thick, not knowing sooner. Especially since Jeff and Paul had been friends for just over two years. Paul was supposed to be his best man. He went along with it for quite some time, helping with wedding plans, talking about how drunk he was going to get Jeff at the bachelor party.

A silver bullet was all it took. One silver bullet, but that wasn't enough for that village of idiots. I tried to stop them, begged them to, but they wouldn't listen to me. Paul had found out where Jeff went to every month and told them. His best friend sold him out. It still makes me sick to think about it. More than sick, my heart is still broken over loosing Jeff.

I told Mum that he was murdered, which was true, but the Ministry wouldn't do anything about it. Nothing, just because he was a werewolf.

I couldn't live there anymore, there were just too many memories there. That's how I ended up at the Three Broomsticks, and that's why I refuse to gossip.

Remus reminds me a bit of my Jeff. One night he and Sirius had come just as I was getting ready to close for the night, and I decided to play a bit. I never sing for costumers anymore, and I didn't at that time either, but that night I played 'Lucky for Me' once again. "You're good Madam Rosmerta, you should go professional."

I smiled slightly, remembering that first night I met Jeff.

No matter what people say, I'm not a gossip. I don't like to hurt others, and that's all it does.

A/N: Sorry I posted another one so quickly but this idea jumped into my head, and it wouldn't leave. This is probably the first one I've written one on a character that people actually like. Please review and tell me what you're thinking.

OK, reposting this one AGAIN, because people seem to be having trouble accessing it. Please read and Review!!!

Thank you:

JamieBell: I'm sorry to do this to you, but it is now my goal to put you in tears....jk. Thank you for that long indecisive feel, and just to let you know Filch is probably just exaggerating on how sweet she is, or she's not as sweet to other people, or she's angry that the students treat him so poorly. That's your explanation. Thanks, as always and I hope you like this chapter.

Hermione30: Thank you for Beta reading all of this and helping me out!