This is a super long chapter by my standards, I kind of just wrote, and then wrote some more, and then wrote some more. I'm sorry it's so late, I was gone all of last week camping with no internet so I wrote most of this on my iPod and didn't get the chance to post it and sorta edit it until now.
Also, a guest who reviewed the last chapter asked about Rose's wand, and how Ash could be the wand wood if it was a powder-like substance .. so I thought I'd explain. Ash is also the name of a type of tree. I chose the wand by looking at Pottermore wand wood and core descriptions.
Funny story - I searched the wand combination I'd chosen today because I was going to put the description for it on here, and found out that the wand I chose for Rose was the exact same combination as Ron's first wand was (Ash & Unicorn Hair) and I legitimately had no clue ... what a coincidence! lol there are about 38 different types of wand wood and 3 different core options, so it really is an amazing coincidence that I happened to pick the exact same ones! :)
Dinner with the Weasley's was never without a few surprises. On this particular night we were having Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny over for dinner. Our house was nowhere near big enough to have the whole clan over at once, but the Potter's were our regular dinner guests. When my parents were at Hogwarts they had been best friends with Uncle Harry, some people liked to refer to the three of them as the 'Golden Trio'. Uncle Harry married my Dad's sister, knitting our two families together even further. We were all just very close, which explained why they were over here way more often than any of our other relatives.
Things were still a little tense between Hugo and I. He was no doubt a little bitter about my almost-hex and I was pissed at him for getting me in trouble and for being such a prat. I made sure to pass him a few good death glares across the table when Mum wasn't looking. "So what's new with everyone?" Uncle Harry asked, looking around the table, probably sensing the tension still hanging around in the air.
"Nothing much." I grumbled still staring daggers at Hugo, I wasn't the best with forgiveness, at least not when it came to my brother. Really, I was just angry in general, and I couldn't help but take it out on him. Afterall, he was the reason I didn't have a wand to make some more anti-nausea potion. Alice gave me the ingredients and instructions, but it required some basic magic as well. I'd likely be vomiting tomorrow morning and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.
"Rose." My Mum warned sharply, "That is enough. If you have a problem, you are free to leave the table." I scowled, staring down at my plate and biting my lip. I could feel the tears pricking at my eyes for no reason, freaking hormones. Everyone was staring at me like I had two heads and my cheeks were flushed the colour of my hair. I pushed my chair back noisily and fled the room, making a bee-line for the washroom.
I stared at myself in the mirror, I had to get a hold of my emotions before I convinced everyone that I belonged in the loony bin. I still wasn't looking so healthy, I'd read that pregnancy was very becoming on some people, making them feel and look fantastic, the so called 'pregnancy glow', but it seemed like the exact opposite for me. I felt gross all the time, I was so tired and everything just hurt.
There was a hesitant knock at the door, "Come in", I whispered tearfully.
I was surprised to see that my visitor was Aunt Ginny, she didn't normally get involved in family conflicts, she hated drama.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked cautiously, closing the cloud-painted door behind her.
I shook my head, sitting down on the toilet seat, my head in my hands.
"Boy problems?" she asked.
"No." I half snorted, I wished that the cause of my distress was petty boy problems, but a boy was the cause of my problem I guess, even if he wasn't the problem.
"Well, kind of." I admitted, twisting my hands together with a sigh, "It's complicated ... really complicated."
She nodded, obviously realizing I wasn't about to share anything more on the matter.
"Well, if you ever need someone to talk to about this complicated problem, I'm here." She smiled warmly and pulled me into one of her irresistable Aunt Ginny hugs. They reminded me so much of Grandma Molly's hugs, warm, strong, safe and understanding. Ginny didn't throw away hugs quite the way Grandma did though, her hugs were reserved for moments when true comfort, love or welcome was needed, not just a casual hello or goodbye.
"Hey, Aunt Ginny ... can you tell my Mum I'm just feeling a bit off and decided to go to bed?" I really didn't feel like facing the rest of my family right now, I was overcome by exhaustion from the day of traveling and unpacking - even normal everyday stuff made me tired, so today was just a bit too much for me.
"Sure thing, Rose." She answered without hesitation, heading back into the warzone, aka our dining room.
Maybe stomping off wasn't the best decision I'd ever made, my room was boring and sleep was eluding me yet again. I felt restless. I'd actually considered climbing out my window. It was only 8:00 in the evening, and the Potters were still downstairs in the livingroom. I kind of wished I hadn't bailed on dinner, now I was both frustrated and hungry. Just as I felt like I really was going to climb out the window and run off to God knows where, my door opened and Albus walked into my room. God bless him, he brought food.
"Not so fast." He chuckled, "You tell me what's going on, and I'll give you the food."
If I'd had my wand I probably would have just used the full body bind or something and taken the food without having to pertain to any of Albus' silly requirements, but alas, I did not have my wand.
"I'm just tired." I lied dully.
"But yet, you're not sleeping." He said pointedly, "Look, Rosie, you've been avoiding direct contact with pretty much everyone lately, except for Scorpius, which is crazy since you were completely ignoring him up until a few weeks ago. You're acting like a complete bitch all the time every time I turn around you're crying your eyes out ... That's definitely not the Rose I know."
"I'm ... well you see, I'm ..." I stammered, my face getting redder with each passing moment.
"You're what? Just spit it out already" Patience was not a virtue that Albus practiced.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I'm pregnant." The confession kind of shocked me too, I hadn't planned on telling Albus yet.
"Fuck." he exclaimed, staring at me like I had two heads, "fuck." He repeated again.
"I know" I said flopping back on to my bed.
"Thats ... that's why you've been puking everywhere, and acting like a crazy woman!" he spluttered still standing dumbly by my closed door with the plate of food in his hands.
I gestured for him to hand over my prize, I definitely needed food at a time like this, he handed it over somewhat reluctantly.
"It's Scorpius isn't it?" He growled, balling his hands up into fists, "That little shit, I'm going to kill him."
"Albus!" I warned between mouthfuls, "I have enough problems without you killing the father of my child."
"Why, of all people, did you have to choose him? He's my best mate. You could've picked someone a bit less controversial at least. Someone I could beat up without feeling bad about"
"Sorry." I muttered sarcastically, resisting the urge to flick one of my peas at him.
"I don't understand though, you aren't even dating Scorpius ... since when do you two, you know ... hell, since when do you do that with anyone? I thought you were still a virgin!" He looked offended that I didn't let him in on my change of status.
"If you must know, I was a virgin, until about 3 months ago, and now I'm pregnant." I answered dryly.
"Fuck." He said for the third time in the space of a few minutes.
"Look, Al, you can't tell anyone, this is between you, me, Alice and Scorpius. No one else can know yet. OK? I'm still getting used to the whole thing myself."
"Wait you told Alice before you told me?" He looked offended again, I rolled my eyes. I'd just told him I was pregnant and he was more upset about me keeping secrets from him than the fact that I was going to be a Mum in a little more than 6 months time.
"Sorry, but this is more of a girl thing." I said wrinkling my nose a bit, "Plus, you're my cousin, I couldn't really risk you blabbering to your parents."
"You know I wouldn't do that Rosie." I gave him a look that clearly said yeah right. "OK, maybe I would accidentally tell Dad." He admitted reluctantly. Al sucked with secrets, he was just way to honest for anything like that. He could keep a secret for a while, but soon enough it would just be too much for him and he'd have to tell someone.
"I won't tell anyone until you're ready to tell them yourself, so don't worry. You won't be able to hide it for much longer though", he said, pointing to the little bump visible under my nightgown, "You're starting to look a little pregnant."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah" I muttered grumpily, crossing my arms indignantly. I wasn't that fat ... yet.
"ALBUS!" Lily shrieked from the bottom of the staircase. "It's time to go, Mum says we need to get home to feed Sparky!"
Sparky was their elderly Dalmation, they got him shortly after Lily was born. I remember being so jealous when I was younger, all we had for pets were a few cats, nothing as exciting as a huge black and white spotted dog.
Albus pulled me into an unexpected hug, "Everything is going to be just fine Rose", he said softly smiling, "I'm going to be an uncle!"
I couldn't help but laugh, "Night Albus!" I called after him as he trotted out of my room and down the stairs.
I rolled over and snuggled under my blanket. I knew it was stupid, but I kind of missed Scorpius. I hadn't went more than a few hours without seeing him for weeks now. I'd blame it on the baby wanting it's Daddy around, but I think it was mostly just me. I fell asleep with thoughts of Scorpius running through my mind, and I swore I could even smell him.
I was awoken by the midmorning sunlight streaming through my window and on to my face. I must have looked like a complete mess. My sheets were in tangles around my legs, my hair was everywhere and I had most definitely been drooling. That being said, I hadn't slept so well in months. I didn't even bother fixing myself up a bit before heading downstairs, the smell of bacon and pancakes was irresistable and I was drawn to it like a moth to the flame. A hungry pregnant lady to the pancakes ... that could be a new saying.
My Mum smiled at me when I entered the kitchen, barefoot and disheveled. "Well there's the sleepyhead! Rose Weasley, sleeping past 8am for once, I think you may be turning into your Father." She joked. Dad was the king of sleeping in, in fact, he probably wasn't even up yet & it was 11:30am.
"I know." I replied, happy that everything seemed to be back to normal. Last night's tension was nowhere to be found.
She slid a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of me, and I thanked Merlin that I wasn't having any of my usual morning sickness, otherwise that combination would've been lethal.
"I'm taking Hugo to Diagon Alley for some last minute Christmas shopping, and I also I have some books that I want to pick up, do you need anything? You could come along if you'd like, but you'd have to hurry, we're leaving in a half an hour." She glanced at our clock, it was identical to the one hanging at our grandparents house, only with our names instead of theirs. Dad's hand of the clock was "at work" the joke shop was insanely busy at this time of the year, Hugos
I weighed my options carefully as I chewed my food. I wasn't anywhere near presentable, I needed to shower and I definitely needed to do something about the pimple starting to form on my chin. On top of my dreadful appearance, my room was already in a colourful dissaray of clothes, books and various other things, so a good clean-up was in order. On the other hand, I hadn't even started Christmas shopping yet, and Christmas was in a couple days. I could always transfigure a few things to make-do, but I couldn't do that for everyone ... I had a LOT of people to shop for. That was probably the biggest downside of having a huge family, too many people to buy for. I finally decided that I'd leave the cleaning up for later and focus on getting ready for Christmas - so much to do, so little time.
My Mum gave me a look, seeing my slightly overwhelmed expression, "Please tell me you've at least started your shopping?"
I smiled sheepishly at her, "Sort of, kind of ... not really." She gave me that look she always used on Dad whenever he did something stupid, 3 parts annoyed, 1 part amused.
"Rose, we've talked about this time after time. You can't leave things until the last minute, it's not responsible or adult-like, and you are an adult, so it's about time you start acting more like one."
I rolled my eyes, Mum could be a bit touchy when it came to organization, schoolwork and pretty much anything that had to do with responsibility. She cared about Hugo and I alot and she wanted the absolute best for us. I was considered 'gifted' but according to my Mother, I didn't apply myself enough.
"Sorry, I'll finish my shopping today, OK?" I answered stiffly. I hated when she pulled the 'you're an adult' card on me. She opened her mouth to continue her lecture, but quickly closed it again, shaking her head. "You are a lost cause, Rose Weasley." she said with a laugh. I finished my breakfast quickly, avoiding any more problems and ran upstairs to change.
Honestly, I preferred muggle clothing to the traditional wizarding robes and pointed hats, but of course, most people wore their robes when going out anywhere in the wizarding world, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, The Ministry, you get the picture. I decided on my light shimmery blue Robes, they matched my eyes and they didn't clash too much with my hair.
I was as ready as I'd ever be.
Diagon Alley was the definition of true chaos. Witches and Wizards of all ages from all over the world came here to shop, it was the best shopping centre in the Wizarding World, which also made it the busiest.
Mum made Hugo and I promise to meet her back at the Leaky Cauldron in 2 hours, that meant I only had 2 hours to shop for my gazillion cousins, which sounded worse than it was, as most of my family and friends were pretty easy to shop for. I bought a book of Quidditch Jokes for Fred, a pair of unicorn earrings that would gallop back to you if you lost them for Alice and some assorted candy for Lily, she had an insane sweet tooth. Hugo ended up with "All You'd Ever Need to Know About the Peruvian Vipertooth" and I bought Albus a pair of red and gold socks that warmed or cooled according to the temperature around you from Twilfitt & Tattings. I got Dominique some colourful guitar picks with her favourite bands on them, they were supposed to 'rock along' if your music was good, and cover their ears if it was crap. I wasn't sure exactly how well that would work out, but the weird salesman seemed to think they were pretty cool. On my way towards Gambol & Japes to pick up the Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks I'd ordered for Anne, I ducked into the Magical Menagerie. I had planned on visiting with my furry friends and instead ended up buying Lucy a snuggly grey and black kitten. Lucy got lonely a lot since both of her parents had high-ranking jobs at the ministry and her sister was always so busy with schoolwork or one of her other many responsibilities. I figured a cat would do her good. Finally I was left with only Victoire to shop for. Every year I found myself in this same predicament, what to buy Victoire. Last year I'd made the mistake of buying her a pack of beautifying potions from Madam Primpernelle's beauty shop. I could tell from the look on her face that she thought I was mocking her, when in reality, I just had no clue what the heck else to buy her. Out of all my cousins Victoire was the one I spent the least time with. I had to admit, her effortless beauty and unfailing ettiquette made me feel a bit uncomfortable. She was the picture of perfect, literally. If you looked up perfect in the dictionary Victoire would probably be the first entry. Although she could be a little snobby at times, I had nothing against her, we just had absolutely nothing in common. I wandered towards the Junk Shop at the end of the mall, I doubted I'd find anything for Victoire there ... but I loved looking around in there. Everything in there was kind of broken in some way or another, it made me feel at ease. There were lopsided scales, books missing pages, broomsticks that would probably be classified as unsafe to ride. A pretty silver mirror with a matching brush caught my eye amidst the shelves of junk. It was perfect for Victoire, and I was sure that was one present she simply couldn't not appreciate ... even I could tell it had beautiful workmanship. It was likely goblin made, what it was doing in this shop was beyond me. I quickly purchased it for a few gallons, and headed on my way, satisfied that my shopping was complete.
I was about to go back to our meeting area, despite having finished a bit early, when I passed the Magic Bump a quaint baby store. I'd never paid much attention to it before ... but now that I was pregnant I felt the unsqaushable urge to go in and look around. I looked up and down the cobbled road to make sure no one I knew was around before casually walking in. I lightly touched some tiny green booties that were sitting on a shelf next to stuffed animals that sang lullabies. A round middle aged woman with grey streaked bright orange hair bounced her way over to me. "Need any help, miss?" She asked brightly, looking me up and down.
"No, Thank-you, I'm just browsing." I replied as politely as possible.
"Now, Now dearie! No need to be shy!" She exclaimed, laughing heartily, "Just let me know what you need, I'm a veteran when it comes to pregnancy, and after all, I am here to help!"
I was about to lie and correct her saying that I was in fact not pregnant at all, when I caught sight of a familiar blonde haired figure browsing in the baby book section. It was Victoire! What was Victoire doing in a baby store? I guess she could've been shopping for a friend ... but then why did she have a hand resting on her stomach? I quickly excused myself from the way too enthusiastic saleslady and all but ran out of the store. I didn't really want to explain my presence in a baby store to Victoire, and I doubted she wanted to explain hers either. Her and Teddy weren't married ... they weren't even engaged. My situation may have been worse than hers, but boy was her Mum going to flip. Aunt Fleur was very religious and she made it very clear that she believed sex before marriage was unacceptable.
So I guess Victoire and I were kind of in the same boat, but I would definitely be the one to accidentally sink it.
I really wanted to have someone else pregnant at the same time as Rose to create a bit more drama within the family and to give Rose someone to talk to later on, the only reasonable option was Victoire ... so now we've got two babies on the way! lol Sorry about the lack of Scorpius in this chapter ... the next chapter is chock full of him though so don't you worry! :)
REVIEW! :) xox