Chapter Eleven-Dominique, Molly, Lucy, Roxanne, Lily
If Rose Weasley knew one thing for certain, it was that she was, without a doubt, not a morning person. No, mornings were most definitely not her friend.
But did Victoire care about that? No, she most definitely did not. Because if she did, then why in Merlin's name would she have scheduled a dress robe fitting for eight o'clock in the morning during the first week of the summer holiday when many people, Rose included, were still recuperating from final exams?
Rose put it all down to the fact that it was because this was a fitting for robes to be worn in Teddy and Victoire's wedding. And of course, since Victoire was the bride, whatever she said was law. Personally, Rose found that completely ridiculous. But that could have just been her still-waking-up brain talking. Whatever the case, though, all Rose knew was that she was quite a bit less than happy to be waking up so early.
"Just wait until the day of the wedding," Hermione told her daughter, kissing her on the top of the head as she made her way to the floo and past where Rose was sitting, half asleep, at the kitchen table. "If you're all getting ready together, I'm sure Victoire will want everyone there at the crack of dawn to make sure that you have plenty of time for every conceivable disaster to take place."
Rose really didn't know why she ever bothered getting up in the morning.
"Rose," Hermione called, sticking her head back into the kitchen just then. "Lily is here. You two should really be going soon; you don't want to be late."
"Yes, mum," Rose replied, sounding rather lethargic, just as Lily made her way into the kitchen and dropped into the chair across from her older cousin. "Have a nice day at work."
"Have fun, girls," Hermione told the two apparently lifeless cousins before stepping into the floo.
"I think Vic hates us or something," Lily announced, her voice just a bit muffled, as her head had immediately dropped onto the table after she had taken a seat, too tired still to do anything else.
"She'll probably hate us more if we're late for the fitting," Rose replied, slowly getting to her feet. "Why does she even want all of us in the wedding? Aren't we a bit old to be bridesmaids?"
"Didn't she have that American pen friend?" Lily questioned, standing up as well. "Clearly she was a terrible influence; we could still be sleeping right now if it wasn't for her and her need to share her American customs with Vic!"
Rose merely shook her head in reply, and gestured for Lily to follow her into a back corner of the garden. Once the two were safely beyond the wards, the younger redhead grabbed onto Rose's arm and the pair disapparated to the Leaky Cauldron.
"That really isn't the most comfortable sensation," Lily commented lightly, smoothing out her muggle clothing.
"Neither is getting on the bad end of the blushing bride," Dominique stated from where she was seated a few feet to the right of her newly-arrived cousins. She quickly finished off her still-steaming cup of tea before rising to her feet. "You're late."
"We've still got ten minutes to spare," Rose contradicted, glancing at her watch.
"Like I said," Dominique responded, "You're late; haven't you ever met my sister? But come on, everyone else is already over at the shop. They're attempting to spare poor Madame Malkin from the full wrath of Victoire."
"Why did Victoire insist on going to Madame Malkin's?" Lily asked as the trio made their way through the opening in the brick wall behind the Leaky Cauldron. The three of them appeared to be some of the first customers of the day in the just-coming-to-life alley. "I mean, she does to robes for all occasions and whatnot, and they are very nice, but Victoire always seemed like her style was more high-end."
"My sister is a hopeless romantic," Dominique said with a shrug. "Apparently, Vic went to get new robes when Tante Gabrielle got married and Teddy happened to be in there picking something up with Uncle Harry, and he saw her trying them on, and he told her that she was beautiful for the first time."
"And how old where they?" Rose asked after a slight pause.
"Vic was about five, so Teddy was probably seven," Dominique replied. "Young love…"
Lily giggled slightly, but nothing more was said on the matter as they had just reached their destination.
"Dom!" Victoire called almost immediately upon seeing her younger sister and Maid of Honor. "Finally! Madame Malkin is almost done with Molly and you're up next. Rose and Lily, go try those robes on. I swear you've grown since the last time I saw you, Lil."
"Which was last night," Lily murmured out of the bride's earshot.
Victoire was sitting on a stool next to the large mirror along the back wall, which Madame Malkin was currently standing in front of, putting the finishing on Molly's robes. She had indicated a nearby rack that had three sets of dress robes left on it, and which Lucy, Roxanne, and Victoire's friend Joscelind were all standing next to.
"You two were cutting it a bit close, weren't you?" Lucy questioned, as Rose and Lily went to remove their respective robes from the rack.
"It's not even eight yet, Lucy," Molly called to her younger sister. "Cut them some slack."
Lucy merely frowned disapprovingly, showing an intense resemblence to her father, and went back to the copy of the Daily Prophet that she had brought along, having planned ahead for time spent in Victoire's company this close to the wedding. Rose and Lily both sank to the ground, still tired from what they considered an obscenely early morning. Dominique, meanwhile, easily joined in on Roxanne and Joscelind's discussion of the upcoming Quidditch World Cup; Joscelind played for Scotland's National team while Dominique was a reserve for France.
"Astoria Malfoy is a genius," Lucy suddenly announced, still hidden behind her paper.
Rose started slightly out of her sleep-deprivation induced stupor at the sound of her boyfriend's mother's name, but would not otherwise have brought any attention to her connection to the newspaper reporter. She'd get around to telling her assembled cousins about her boyfriend eventually, but she was just too tired right now. Victoire, however, was anything but tired at the moment, and was rather in a bit of a frenzy due to her fast-approaching wedding.
"Oh, Rosie, just so you know, I sent the entire Malfoy family an invitation since I already had to find a place for Scorpius," Victoire informed the younger girl. "An extremely last-minute invitation, I might add. I do hope they'll forgive my previous oversight."
Dominique paused in the middle of a sentence to Joscelind, and turned to her sister. "Why does Rose, specifically, need to know that you've invited Al's friend's family to the wedding? Actually, why have you invited them at all?"
"They're Teddy's family," Victoire commented in an offhand way, her concentration more focused on the menu she was supposed to be finalizing than the conversation she was having with her sister. "And it's her boyfriend's parents, after all…Do you think Grand-père would be too upset if there wasn't any bouillabaisse at the reception? Maman isn't very fond of it, and I'm almost positive that he's the only one who ever eats it…"
"I like it too…wait," Dominique cut herself off. "Did you say that Scorpius is Rose's boyfriend? Scorpius Malfoy? Rosie is dating Scorpius?"
"He was that cute blonde midget on Slytherin's Quidditch team, right?" Joscelind questioned thoughtfully. Roxanne and Lily merely exchanged smiles with each other.
"He's also our cousin Al's best friend," Dominique replied. "And a Malfoy. Uncle Ron can't be happy about this."
"But he's a Quidditch player," Molly chimed in now, sounding as if that simple fact made everything better. "And we all know that Quidditch players are always prime boyfriend material."
"Rosie," Dominique rounded on Rose, now, who sighed lightly. This was the end of her attempt to take a nap, that was for sure knowing her cousins. "Rosie, are you really dating Scorpius?"
"Yes," Rose said lightly.
"And he's coming to the wedding?" Dominique continued.
"Oh he had better be, after everything I've had to rearrange for him," Victoire muttered darkly, glaring at the dinner menu.
"Yes," Rose said again.
"And Uncle Ron knows?" Dominique's questioning was neverending.
"Yes," came the steady reply.
"And you're still alive?" Dominique responded, but didn't bother waiting for a reply as the evidence was clearly seated on the ground before her. "I'm impressed. I guess if Uncle Ron approves, then that means I have to approve, too."
"But that's only as long as you keep beating him in all of your subjects," Lucy cut in, lowering her paper. "You are about to start your N.E.W.T. year, you know."
"Oh Lucy…" Molly sighed, removing her new dress robes as she spoke, and placing them back on the rack. "There's more to life than school and tests."
"I know," Lucy replied, lifting her paper again. "There's also doing well on all of your tests and beating everyone else so that you get a good job after school."
Molly merely rolled her eyes at her younger sister.
"So, how long have the two of you been together?" Joscelind questioned.
"Um…a year," Rose replied.
"A year?" Roxanne repeated, her eyes widening in disbelief.
Rose nodded. "Or thereabout."
"Does Uncle Ron know that?" Lily questioned.
Again, Rose nodded.
"If there was any doubt before about how impressed I was with Uncle Ron and his ability to allow Rosie to have a boyfriend, I'm pretty sure it's gone now," Dominique stated as she made her way over to where Madame Malkin was waiting patiently before the mirror. "Wait…I've just had a sudden thought. Clearly you're still alive, Rosie, but is Scorp?"
"Yes," Rose said patiently. "Everyone is still alive. Dad didn't die of shock and he didn't kill my boyfriend. And clearly everything is fine with the Malfoys, because Mrs. Malfoy is still going to work and doesn't appear to be traumatized by the untimely death of her only son if Lucy thinks what she's writing is brilliant."
The group then descended into a silence that was only broken by the frantic sound of Victoire's quill against the parchment, until Molly suddenly spoke up.
"I still can't believe you have a boyfriend," she said, shaking her head slowly. "You're growing up so fast."
"I'm seventeen," Rose stated, inwardly cursing Scorpius and his small family by this point. Didn't her cousins realize how very early in the morning it still was? "And I've had boyfriends before."
"None that you've brought to family events," Molly pointed out.
"And for a good reason," Rose muttered. Then, louder, "You've all met Scorpius before, though. It's not really a big deal."
"I'm sure that's exactly how Uncle Ron felt about it when you told him," Roxanne said, a grin spreading across her face.
"You people are impossible," Rose declared. "Do we really need to keep talking about all of this? I, personally, would love a nap."
"Naps are good," Lily murmured from where her head had drooped onto Rose's shoulder.
"I don't know how you can sleep at a time like this," Victoire informed her younger cousin, shuffling through her sheaf of parchments once more. "I still have so much to do for this wedding…"
"Speaking of the wedding," Lucy began suddenly, lowering her newspaper once more, "I trust the boys know about you and Scorpius, Rose? Or were you planning to surprise all of them at the wedding?"
Rose shrugged. "I think they all know already. Hugo and Al know for sure, and you know how hard it is for either of them to keep a secret."
"Well in that case," Molly stated, "I really can't wait for this wedding. I'm sure the boys would love to give Scorpius a proper induction into the family…"
"Good grief," Rose muttered, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the wall, intent and catching up on her sleep. "It's not as if we're getting married."
"Yet," whispered Roxanne.