Heheh, I'm updating about an hour and a half after chapter ten. Yay me!
"Phew, that was the bomb, wasn't it?" Belle said enthusiastically over the rest of the music.
She was looking tired and pink-faced, though her face betrayed the fact that she had the time of her life in the dance.
Heathis looked at her with eyes narrowed accusingly, but a grin on her face.
"What?" "Pettigrew!? You're with Peter Pettigrew?" Heathis exclaimed incredulously.
Belle grinned widely in a teasing fashion, then stood up. "I think I'll grab a drink." She said, excusing herself from the table.
Rose turned in the hall and stopped in front of her destination.
She made sure to lock the door behind her, and then looked at the old bathroom mirror, taking out her picture of 'Mare'.
She morphed easier than before, using more memory than the picture for reference.
Soon, with her hair a clean shining silver and her face changed, she took out her wand and cast the spell on her dress robes, turning them silver along with the sash.
"Ooh, what an interesting trick! What has our flower have to hide, hmm?" Whipping around, Rose saw Moaning Myrtle sitting on the wall of a cubicle, looking at least a little less negative.
"Hello, Myrtle. I guess you know, huh?" She said, as the ghost swooped down beside her.
"Well of course, seeing as you said we're on friendly terms, I thought you should tell me more, friend." Myrtle emphasized maliciously, tugging at Rose/Mare's silver hair.
"Stop it. Anyway, we have to come to an agreement: Nobody must know about my morphing!!!!" Rose said sternly.
"Oh, but that's no fun!" Myrtle pouted.
"Well… You can tell the ghosts, EXCEPT PEEVES, and… Well, you can tell whomever you like once I graduate after the next Hogwarts year." Mare muttered.
"Oh, alright then, seeing as this is a fair enough thing. Oh, but it gets awfully lonely here. Maybe you should check on me everyday to make sure I don't squeal." Myrtle said with an evil gleam in her eyes.
"Everyday visits? Fine. Just… can I go to the ball now?" Mare said anxiously.
"Right, well go right ahead to your little party. I'll see you after break." Myrtle said bitterly, diving back into one of the toilets.
Draping the now silver sash over one of her shoulders and stylishly tying it about, she let loose her silver hair and entered the great hall, the same sound of a grand time welcoming her.
Then the sudden stares of some students seemed to make her want to back out.
She pretended that she noticed nothing and moved into a large crowd where she hoped not to be noticed, when she found the table Sirius sat at.
She flinched slightly when she heard some mutterings, inclusive of things like, "Does she even go here?" Or, "I've never seen her around before".
But then, the next thing she heard put her at ease.
"Mare! You're finally here." Sirius came over to where she stood and she grinned.
"Sorry I'm late. A little busy." She said, letting him pull her into a one-armed hug.
She stifled a laugh when she saw that James was staring wide-mouthed, as was Peter, and Remus' eyes were as wide as an owl's.
"So, do you want to dance now, or do you plan to stare until midnight?" 'Mare' said in a playful voice, making Sirius blush.
"Check the Silver Star-Princess! Who is that girl? I don't think I've ever seen her around here." Rita Skeeter appeared out of nowhere and pressed at Belle's shoulder while gossiping to Heathis.
"No, I haven't either. Maybe it's the effects of a potion of something." Heathis shrugged.
"Ooh, if it is, we should learn who it is, considering morphing potions are virtually illegal around Hogwarts." Rita said with a wide smirk.
"Metamorphmagi aren't illegal." Belle pointed out, then was shocked at what she let slip.
"Oh, you're right! She must be a metamorphmagus!" Said Amelia Bones who sat with them.
"Hmm, interesting." Rita said.
Oh, I am SO dead. Belle thought to herself.
At times, if not one, then two boys would ask her to dance every few seconds while Sirius went to get drinks.
She'd graciously refuse until, thankfully, James told them to "Bugger off" and she sat in peace.
"So, Mare, I don't think I've seen you around Gryffindor before." Remus said politely.
"No, I'd been told not to reveal my… well…" She stopped.
"Ah, well…" James said absently, looking over to where Lily and her date were sitting.
"For the record, Peterson is afraid of centipedes." Mare said to James, giving him an 'encouraging' (hehe) look.
Peter's eyes darted back and forth on all of them, especially Mare, then he distracted himself by looking over to where Belle was sitting.
"Sirius is taking a bit long." Mare noticed, looking over to where the drinks were.
And lo and behold, Rita Skeeter seemed to be trying to flirt (interrogate) and get closer (get the dirt on) to Sirius.
"Ooh, the Rita storms coming in." Belle appeared beside her, muttering out of the corner of her mouth so nobody would suspect that they knew each other.
Mare stood up subtly and approached, tapping Rita Skeeter on the shoulder.
"Why hello there! Hey, you wouldn't happen to be a metamorphmagus, would you?" Rita whipped around and asked casually, as though it was a normal question to ask people.
"I'm sorry, I'm not entitled to answer your question. Goodbye now." Mare said in a highly annoying, highly perky voice, which was almost identical to Rita's, as she pulled Sirius away.
"Thank you." He said, relieved.
"As if I'd let anyone get cozy with you but me." She smirked.
"… Or perchance, when the last little star has left the sky…" Belle sang quietly under her breath, bored as hell.
"… will we still be together with our arms around each other, and shall you be my new romance?" She continued dully.
She was already done bothering Peter as well as having fun hugging him, and now all she could do was watch as fewer people danced to the slow music.
Sure, it was nice teasing Peter about the way he reacted to her canoodling, (A/N: Hehe, I just love that word. Look it up if you don't know what it means) but other than that, her source of fun, namely Mare, had disappeared somewhere.
"I wonder where." She muttered.
The moon was shining over the lake that night, making the tree shimmer over the two of them.
"Well, I'm feeling good." Mare said, breaking the silence.
"Good to know. Hey, listen…" Sirius started, but Mare cut in.
"I'm sorry. Every time I try to muster up the courage to tell you about who I am, I get cold feet." She said dejectedly, but she laughed out loud when Sirius rubbed her feet jokingly.
"Okay, I get it. But then, I still can't tell you…" Mare drifted off, looking to the lake.
"I'm fine with that. As long as I still get to stay with you as long as possible." Sirius said seriously. (No pun intended. -)
"Thank you for that." Mare whispered, tears streaming from her face before she could stop them, and she got up and ran off as fast as possible.
Sirius tried to go after her, but as soon as he got to the staircases, they changed as he saw the silver- no, gold-clad figure disappear into the hallways.
The next day, one could hear rumors and mutterings about the incident last night, as well as the Silver girl that had taken the spotlight.
And then, there was Sirius.
"What do you mean you weren't able to get a proper answer?! If I go back to my parent's house…" Sirius said angrily.
"Calm down. Let me handle it." Remus said, going down to the common room as Sirius finished packing the last of his belongings.
"Hey, Remus. I guess it's okay if Black comes along." Rose said, getting ahead before Remus could even say a word.
"Thanks so much, Rose. I'll tell him." Remus said.
"What do you mean, 'tell him'? You mean to say he doesn't know he's going with me?!" Rose demanded, but Remus had already gone up the dormitory again.
"She said yes!" Remus burst into the room, only two minutes after he'd left.
"What, you finally scored a date? Kind of late for that, isn't it?" Sirius muttered.
"No, the one who I asked to bring you actually said yes. And I thought she'd refuse a second time." Remus said.
"What? Refuse a second time-? Moony, what the bloody hell are you talking about?" Sirius demanded.
"Oh, Rose Harper was the only one who I could convince to help, so she agreed to letting you stay for Christmas." Remus said.
"What?! Harper? I never agreed to that." Sirius said.
"Well, either her or your parent's house. Listen, Sirius, just give her a chance. She just has a temper, but she's really a good person." Remus said sincerely.
"Right, well…" Sirius made no more argument afterwards, but still wondered how he landed himself with Harper of all people.
Right before noon was when they went into the Hogwarts express and the whole student population started away from their school, some waving to, surprisingly enough, the ghosts and teachers that watched them until the train was out of view.
"Funny, you'd think we were never coming back." Belle said quietly, getting her hand in after waving to the fat friar and others who were bidding them goodbye.
"Don't say that and just have a better holiday than me." Rose said.
"How come?" Belle wondered.
"I have to drag Sirius around for the holidays, seeing as he has nowhere else. I mean, other than that madhouse the Blacks call a home." Rose said as the food cart pulled up.
"Anything off the carts, dears?" The lady said sweetly.
"Umm… Ten chocolate frogs, two Bertie Bott's, two pumpkin pasties and Cauldron Cakes each, two packs of the licorice wands, and a Drooble's please." Rose said, giving a ready amount of money even before she'd finished her sentence.
"You're certainly packing." Belle said, about to order for herself when Rose stopped her.
"Hello? I'm sharing with you, of course." Rose said, taking a Chocolate frog.
"Oh. Hey, you're being awfully nice." Belle said warily.
"Just a simple thank you for giving me friendship. I never actually got to do this with anyone before." Rose said.
"What?" Belle asked, taking a pack and biting a licorice wand.
"I never got to share this sort of thing with anyone before." Rose explained, biting off the head of the special chocolate frog she got, the one with strawberry filling that moves around in your mouth.
"It's nice to know. Hey, I'll keep sending you owls this holiday. How about giving me your address?" Belle said eagerly.
"Well, you'd probably send an owl to spy on me if I didn't tell you anyway. Okay." Rose said, taking Belle's hand and writing on it with a muggle pen.
"Ooh, a muggle pen. I've seen one of those before. It's called a ball-pen, right? But I don't see any ball on it." Belle said excitedly.
"Yes, wonderful." Rose said dryly, stifling a laugh at Belle's obliviousness to muggle things.
"Keep it. I've got more, and I'll probably have to teach you about muggles when we see each other again." Rose said.
The two had fallen asleep for the trip, and woke up when someone knocked on their compartment.
Belle opened it and was surprised to find Sirius standing there in muggle clothes: jeans and a black shirt, a sweater ready, and he said, "We're almost there. You two should change already."
Belle nodded groggily and closed the door, waking up Rose.
"Alright then. I'm up." She said, bringing out one of her bags and pulling out some clothes.
Sirius could never live it down if anyone knew what he was thinking about.
He was blushing madly at the moment, standing outside the girls' compartment still, an old memory rekindling in his mind.
A certain incident concerning a black dog and a rose bath.
"I guess this is it, huh?" Belle said, hugging Rose tightly.
Rose flinched a bit but smiled and hugged back. "Let's go." She said.
Sirius stood outside barrier, watching students come out.
He spotted his brother meeting up with his parents and to his regret, they spotted him as well, looking at him venomously as though expecting him to walk over to them.
He didn't, and actually sighed with relief as Rose came out. And then he gasped.
As much as he hated to admit it, she was looking REALLY good.
She wore a thick sweater over a red shirt and tight pants with fluffy ends, and boots matching her clothes.
She was waving to Belle who was making her way to her parents, and then approached when she spotted Sirius in the crowd.
"Hey! Shall we go?" She said, looking pink-faced from the cold yet happy as she gave a last wave to her friend before turning to face him.
"Right." He said, a bit new to her 'happy side'.
He looked over his shoulder and saw that his mother was looking at Rose with narrowed eyes, but not with disgust as she usually did. This time, it was with some sort of suspicion.
"Hey, come on. I hope you don't mind but we're taking muggle transport." She said, pulling him by the arm.
It was dark already, and the two dragged their trunks out of the station and Rose hailed down a taxicab, and they made their way to wherever Rose was taking Sirius.
After a while, they stopped and took the underground, Rose always leading the way and Sirius just following whatever she told him to do.
For him, it was a strange situation to be in, but Rose didn't even seem to notice.
It was as though the past year of negativity didn't exist outside Hogwarts.
"Hey, this is our stop. Just a short walk." She said as they got out of the warmer underground into the cold outside.
They walked about a block when she stopped outside a tall building, which looked like…
"Here's my apartment." Rose said, entering the front door as Sirius followed silently.
There was a counter there with a gothic looking lady in her forties, smoking while someone put a letter in one of the many mailboxes across the table on the wall.
"Hey, Linda, I'm here. Two weeks at most." She called out to the lady, who looked up and hastily put away her cigarette.
"Hey, Rose, it's not everyday you have friends over. Who's the man?" She said in a drawling voice.
"Linda, he's a friend from my school, and for the record, he doesn't get stoned, high, or drunk for the heck of it." Rose said casually.
Sirius looked at her questioningly, but kept silent.
"Oh, then he's fine. His type is rare. Happy Christmas kid, I got a letter from St. Mungo's, they said it'd be good for you to go there as soon as possible. I heard about the going on in Hogwarts. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure it's just for the holidays." Linda said, getting back to the magazine she was reading.
"Thanks. Happy New Year." Rose said, going up the stairs, dragging her trunk along.
"Is she a witch? How'd she know about Hogwarts and St. Mungo's?" Sirius asked as they stopped in room fourteen on the third floor.
"She's a witch who deals with muggle affairs and relations. A friend of my dad's." Rose said, fumbling with her room key.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to stay?" Sirius asked suddenly as she managed the door open.
"Hmm? Well, of course it's okay. I couldn't very well have you sent back to your old house. And I don't really mind; don't be fooled by my misplaced aggression at school." Rose replied as she dragged her stuff into the dark room.
"How do you know so much about muggles?" Sirius asked as she switched on the light to reveal a normal-sized apartment, the kitchen right by the entrance and the bed and living room only separated by a simple wooden half-wall.
"My foster parents are muggles and since my parents were nearly always busy, I lived with them most of my life. I like them since they're nice, but they are utterly boring.
"They gave me the freedom to my own apartment when I was fifteen, and I get to visit my mum a lot, so it's been okay." Rose finished, sighing as she plopped onto the bed.
"Maybe." Sirius muttered, looking at her with more understanding than before.
There was a lot he didn't know about Rose, and for the two weeks, he planned to know at least a bit more.
"So, do you want to unpack now, or do you plan to stare until midnight?" She laughed, getting up.
It shocked him to realize how alike she and Mare were, what with saying almost the same thing.
Then it struck Sirius.
"You said you knew Mare, right?" He said rather excitedly.
She looked at him while tilting her head and smiled.
"More than you know." She said.
Hehehe. Next bit has Sirius and Rose struggling with the new aspect of 'roommates'. This has been a long chapter for the record. Anyway, Sage, (first one to care about me story enough to review) thanks for waiting.
Oh, and this has been a long way coming: Once again, I own nothing but Rose and Belle and the storyline. The song Rose sang in the evening, that too, but none of the other songs. Nanne Gronvall sang 'Hall om mig'.
I disclaim, for my sheep told me so. R&R!!!