Rose woke up late on Saturday, and nearly panicked, thinking that she was late for work. Lily walked into her room sleepily.
"What's the commotion, Rosie? You woke me up," she whined.
"Sorry Lils, it's nothing. Go back to bed," Rose told her. Lily shook her head, her dark red hair falling around her shoulders.
"No thanks," Lily mumbled, stifling a yawn. "I've got a hair appointment in an hour and I need to shower and get ready before I go. That reminds me, would you mind going to the food tasting for me? I didn't really feel like going anyway and I've got my hair appointment." Upon seeing Rose's uncertain look, Lily hurried to reassure her. "Don't worry, you won't be alone! Rog will be there too, of course!" Just what I need. Rose thought glumly. Rose hesitated before saying;
"Actually Lily, I don't think I ca-" Lily didn't seem to be listening.
"Brilliant, you're the best Rosie! Tell me about it later okay?" Rose wondered if Lily had blown her off, or had sincerely missed Rose's refusal. Rose sighed; it wasn't like she could just bail now. Lily was expecting her to go. Checking the time, Rose realized that she only had fifteen minutes to get over to the fancy hotel that Lily and Roger (well, mostly Lily) had chosen for the wedding. Quickly changing into a floral patterned peach colored skirt with a formfitting white silk halter, she ran a brush briefly through her short hair. She checked her reflection in the mirror, too fancy? She wondered to herself. But it would have to do; if she changed into another outfit she'd be late. With one final glance at herself, she apperated into a secluded area that was only a block or so away from the hotel. The hotel itself happened to be a muggle establishment and they had to pull a few strings in the Ministry of Magic to get their magic authorized for the wedding preparations. Rose herself had seen to it that no muggles would accidently stumble into the party by using spells similar to those protecting Hogwarts from any muggle wanderers.
Strolling into the hotel's grand dining room, she immediately picked out Roger and made her way over to him.
"Hi!" she said when he saw her walking over. He smiled at her.
"Rose, thank you so much for being able to come. Lily told me that she was busy, so I'm really glad that I'm getting a second opinion here. I'm not much of a connoisseur when it comes to food. Rose giggled.
"Don't worry. I've been to more food tastings than anyone I know. You're in good hands." Roger clapped his hands together once and the waiter came striding over.
"Great, why don't we get started," Rose and Roger each took a seat at the small table. The waiter brought over a tray and picked up four dishes.
"These are the appetizers that we have chosen for your wedding. We do hope they meet your expectations. The first is a baked brie with a gourmet raspberry sauce. Simple, yet elegant. The dish to the left is a Tapenade, made with black olives, capers, garlic, olive oil and lemon. We have pepper if you would care for some. Most guests prefer some on theirs." Both Rose and Roger sprinkled a generous sprinkle of pepper onto their samples. "Out next dish is a little less traditional for weddings, but your fiancée mentioned on the phone that she was partial to it," the waiter told them, gesturing to Rose. Roger looked confused and then surprised.
"No, no, she's not my fiancée. This is just my fiancé's cousin, Rose." Just my fiancées cousin. Rose thought, crushed.
"Oh, my apologies. Anyway, as I was saying. Our next dish is a cheese fondue with various breads, fruits and vegetables to dip in." Rose looked a little puzzled.
"No meat? Lily usually…" just then, Rose realized what she was about to say. "I mean, even though Lily's a vegetarian and wouldn't eat it herself, she usually would think to set it out, in case others wanted some," she concluded lamely. Roger reached across the table and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"It's so nice that you're thinking of the guests, Rose, but don't worry, there will be meat in some of the main courses."
"Oh, er right." Rose said awkwardly, she couldn't believe that she had almost spilled Lily's secret! After the waiter showed them the last appetizer Rose and Roger dug in.
"Mmmm this is delicious. Did you try the baked brie?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, Merlin that was good."
"It is. Who picked out the food? You?" Rose asked.
"No, it was Lils actually. Gotta love her. She's great, you know. I really feel like I can connect with her, and we've just got so much in common." Roger looked at her almost shyly through his long eyelashes. "This might sound corny, but it's like she's my soul mate or something." Rose felt the corners of her eyes sting, but thankfully her eyes didn't water up.
"I don't think it's corny…" she said, then trailed off. Roger had to know that Lily was playing him the way Rose herself played chess. Rose debated whether or not to tell him throughout not only the main course, but dessert too. Finally, she summoned up the words.
"Look Roger…" she began uneasily. Roger looked at her curiously. She took a deep breath, but just couldn't say the words. "I-I just wanted to tell you how happy I am that you and Lily are so well suited for each other."
"Thanks Rose, that means a lot," he told her sincerely, taking her hand in his. Rose blushed crimson and smiled at the contact. All of the sudden, Roger took his hand out of hers and looked up.
"Hey Scorpius! What are you doing here, mate?" Roger called. Scorpius, who looked like he had just been leaving, turned around at the sound of his friend's voice. When Scorpius' eyes met Rose's, she couldn't keep herself from feeling disappointed that Scorpius had interrupted her lunch with Roger. The blonde sauntered over to their table.
"Hey Roger, Rose. Fancy seeing you two here," Scorpius said in a cheerful sounding voice that Rose could tell was false. Roger didn't seem to notice, he was a little oblivious sometimes.
"What are you doing here?" Rose asked, barely managing to keep the annoyance out of her voice.
"I'm here for the article," he told her, looking almost apologetic. He directed his attention towards Roger. "Did you just finish up? I just need to know which foods you're going with." Roger showed him the meals that they'd chosen. Scorpius sampled some of them too when the waiter wasn't looking.
"Alright, I think I got what I need. Are you and Rose staying around for dinner?" Scorpius asked casually. Roger shook his head.
"Actually, Rose and I need to visit a linens store in Oxford soon." Roger glanced at his watch. "Damn, Rose can we make this visit quick? I have to meet my parents for dinner in about an hour. Can we drive to Oxford and back that quickly?" Rose frowned and shook her head. Scorpius looked puzzled.
"Why would you drive? Wouldn't it just be easier to apperate?"
"We're driving because it's a muggle store, Scorpius. Muggles get suspicious if we apperate. Besides, we need to pick up lots of napkins and tablecloths, so we wouldn't even be able to carry everything," Rose explained. Scorpius nodded in understanding.
"That would make sense. Just out of curiosity, why is everything so muggle? I mean, you chose a muggle hotel, muggle linens and I checked out the florist; they're muggles too. What gives?" Rose raised an eyebrow at him during his questioning. At this Scorpius hurriedly added on; "Not that I'm prejudice or anything, I swear. I was just curious."
"I didn't think that you were prejudice," Rose told him honestly. "It's just that I like doing things the muggle way, my mum's muggle-born and Hugo and I grew up doing loads of things the muggle way. I even went to muggle schools before Hogwarts," Rose said proudly. Scorpius looked intrigued.
"Look Rose, sorry to interrupt, but we need to get going. I'm already going to be late to dinner with my folks," Roger said, looking a little anxious.
"You know what Roger, I can go with Rose to pick out linens, you should just go to dinner," Scorpius suggested. Rose looked appalled.
"It's okay Scorpius, we can make it there and back in time. Roger and I'll be fine."
"Actually Rose, if you and Scorpius don't mind, that'd be great." Rose looked a little angry, but quickly said goodbye to Roger and stalked to the parking lot with Scorpius in tow.
"So," Scorpius drawled, sounding a little angry himself. "Does Lily know how you feel about Roger?"