As I woke the following morning the discussion from last night lunged into my mind, making my stomach twist with worry. I tried the hardest I could to push the memory to the back of my mind. Friday, I thought. I can worry about it Friday. I tried to interact normally with my parents but I simply couldn't shake the feeling that they were practically selling me. However, I did harbor a secret hope that none of the Weasley boys would be interested in me . . . and perhaps my parents and Lucius would give up the cause . . . or sell me off to another family. I thought, my hopes fading in my chest. Besides, I didn't want my family to live in misery and disgrace. Frisday finally caught up to me with a rushed forcefulness and the preceding night filled me with an uncomfortable swell of anxiety in my chest. Needless to say I slept little that night and was rudely awoken the following day my sister's screeching voice.
"Get up, Ro!" I looked up at her practically through my eyebrows, my scowl being so pronounce. "I've been given the task of making you look as subtly alluring as possible." She looked me over as she said this, apparent apprehension on her face.
"So," She said lightly as she threw open my closet. "I've done some research on these Weasley boys, compliments of your cousin. " She wrinkled her nose at my heavy, winter themed, attire hanging in a thick line. "The eldest is married to a tall french blond who was a Triwizard Champion while Draco was in school. Fred Weasley dated a chaser who went on to be Gryffindor Quidditch captain. And Ronald Weasley is currently dating Hermione Granger, I'm sure you know who that is." She looked at me expectantly. I nodded numbly as I sat up in my bed feeling cranky. "So . . . Intelligent, athletic, attractive . . ." I instantly shrank back into my cover. I had a lot to live up to. "Oh, no you don't!" Edwyna glared at me as she yanked my covers from me. "We'll work on the attractive aspect first. Oh, and I thing it best you don't mention your age. You'll have to pretend that you're older and by the time I'm done with you, you'll look it." She pulled me into the bathroom.
By the time I walked downstairs a transformation had taken place. I was clothed in a smart black pencil skirt topped with a burgundy blouse that hugged my chest but flowed loosely around my arms. Edwyna had done quite a job on my makeup. My maple hair was piled atop my head in some sort of greek fashion while I had allowed (as if I had a choice in the matter) Edwyina to gloss my lips in a mahogany shaded lipstick and coat my lashes in a color only slightly darker than my hair. I had to admit, I looked years older. As I gave my mirror the famous Malfoy sneer I could almost see my mother sneering back at me. I turned to see my uncle nodding approvingly at my appearance "Do try to keep that sneer off of your face, Roisin. You'll give yourself away." I twirled to face him, a biting retort waiting on my lips. "Time to go!" Edwyna interrupted cheerfully as she shoved me into the fireplace, forcing an ashtray full of green powder into my hand. I sighed, grabbing a fistful of the stuff, let it sift through my hand into the tickling fire at my feet and growled "Hogsmead."
I appeared in the Three Broomsticks in a muted crowd of somber colors. I brushed myself off and strode outside. The street was filled with a slow line of Thestral drawn carriages carrying people from the station. Most of the villagers were simply walking to Hogwarts, I joined them. As I arrived at the edge of the Black Lake I was overcome by the number of people there. There was sparse seating in the front for the veterans of the battle everyone else stood somberly. Half an hour later the ceremony began. I listened attentively to every speech. I had not been in England during the war and little about it reached me in the remote location of Durmstrang. Finally the last speech was about to be made. I barely heard the announcement of Harry Potter as I watched a thin, black-haired man with round glasses approach the stadium. He looked at the crowd determinedly and began his speech.
"Today will always be one of the most joyous days of Wizarding history" He began. I thought I must have misheard him. Did he say joyous?
"Yes, that's right. Joyous." He continued as if anticipating my thoughts. "For today is the day that the war ended. And yet, today is also one of the most tragic days as well. And though we may rejoice in the victory we claimed that day, it doesn't make our losses any easier to bear. We cannot give parents back their children or families back their siblings or spouses back their partners. We cannot resurrect our friends. And I will not try consoling you by telling you they died for a noble cause. They never should have died. But I want you to consider, when you see a child smile at her father or a young man holding hands with his lover. Send up a silent prayer of thanks these fallen, it is because of them that it is possible." And he stepped down as everyone began to raise their wands in their honor.
The Three Broomsticks was a sight to behold after the ceremony. The pub was crowded with soberly dressed people making numerous toast to the fallen of Hogwarts. And I began to see that in a bit their clothing choices would be the only thing one would be able to describe as sober. I had caught sight of a small crowd of redheads at the ceremony but as soon as it had ended I had been unable to attain sight of them again. It seemed that the majority of people were heading to the Three Broomsticks so I followed the crowd hoping that I might catch sight of them there (though I had to admit to myself that the if I were them I wouldn't want to be with the majority of people). I sat down in a dim corner and ordered a butterbeer. I always liked the stuff, it was much gentler than what they served at the Staggering Adlet. I gulped down my butterbeer greedily. I saw a dark figure approach through the bottom of my now empty tankard. I put my glass down to see an astonishingly handsome man smiling down at me.
"Mind if I join you? You look lonely." He asked as he pulled out a chair.
"Uh, sure." Who could say no to those beautiful dimples?
"Dean Thomas." He said, taking my hand . . .and kissing it.
He stared at me expectantly. "Rose M-" I stopped myself.
His eyes sparkled as he asked "Rosem? Strange name." I blushed furiously. "Sorry. It's just Rose." I laughed nervously. His grin widened revealing rows of perfect teeth. I was having a hard time not drooling into my empty tankard.
"Are you waiting for someone?" He asked before sipping at a small glass of red wine keeping his dark eyes on my face all the while. "No," I managed to say without salivating into my glass. "You?" I asked innocently.
"Just waiting on an old friend." He smiled at me again. "Were you here for the service?" He asked curiously.
"I was." I said looking at the bottom of my empty glass. He stared at me awhile before finally asking. "Sorry, but what year were you in?" I looked at him. "Sorry?''
"At Hogwarts? It's just, I don't remember you . . ."
"I didn't attend Hogwarts." I said quickly. He stared at me confusedly. "I attended Durmstrang." I clued him in before I realized why that wouldn't make sense. "My Aunt was in the Battle of Hogwarts." I added. Then I made a mental note to slap myself when I got home. My Aunt WAS in the battle of Hogwarts. Both of them actually. And it wasn't the smartest thing to say because the only Aunt that had died was Bellatrix Lestrange . . . not something that was going to exact sympathy. Dean's frown cleared as he said "Oh, I'm sorry." I wanted to strangle myself for the concern that shown in his eyes as he said those two words. Instead, I shrugged. "Nearly everyone here has lost someone to that battle." I desperately wanted another drink. Now was about the time I started missing those Shaman Shots at the Staggering Adlet. "True . . ." He conceded. "So Durmstrang, eh?" He seemed to sense my discomfort, obviously mistaking it for grief. At this point I was ready for some famous Adlet Absinthe.
"Yeah-" I started brightly before being interrupted by a tall man sporting a head full of dreadlocks.
"Dean!" He boomed cheerily. "What are you still doing here, mate?" He asked glancing curiously from Dean to me. Dean grinned at the man before saying.
"I was waiting for Ron but I ran into this lovely lady and we've been having a bit of a chat." He winked at me. I smiled.
"Rose." I held out my hand to the man.
"Lee." He shook my hand vigorously. "Lovely to meet you." He flashed me a smile before turning back to Dean. "I actually saw Ron not too long ago . . . Lemme see if I can- Oi, Fred!" He called out across the pub. I turned to see who he was calling to as they made their way over but all I could make out was a mop of flaming hair. My heart began to sink to my stomach. I had been so preoccupied by Dean that I had forgotten the task at hand. Not that it mattered. It seemed my prey was coming to me. I snorted at myself for describing myself as a predator. If I was the predator why did I feel so damn scared? Finally the ginger burst through the crowded pub to our table, clapping Dean and Lee on the back. "Wossup, mates?" He looked from Dean to Lee and then finally to me. He had a thin, angular face with a pretty enough nose that had quite a smattering of freckles across it. His eyes were a pretty hazel and his flaming hair framed his face handsomely. Dean cleared his throat. "Fred. this is Rose. She went to school at Durmstrang." Fred smiled widely at me and took my hand saying "Well, hello there. Durmstranger." Lee shook his head. "Just terrible, Fred." Dean nodded in agreement. "You can do better than that. I hope your merchandise isn't as cheap as you lines." He teased. Fred swatted the two of them. I forced myself to smile. "You didn't just call me over here to make fun of me making fun of people, did you?" He faked a hurt look. "Right. Dean was waiting for Ron." Lee said. "Thought you might know where he is?"
"Ah." Said Fred, looking like he was about to break some bad news. "I'm afraid he had a sudden urgent meeting he had to attend to."
"What?" Dean looked taken aback. "Where?" Fred shrugged "The loo." he plopped down in a seat between Dean and I and turned a twinkling eye upon me.
"So . . . are you allowed to tell us where Durmstrang is, or do the make you take some sort of unbreakable oath not to tell?" I shifted uncomfortably under his expectant gaze.
"I'm not at liberty to tell you . . ." I trailed off as Fred opened his mouth to voice his indignance, then thought better of it.
"What if we guess?" He asked excitedly. I shrugged.
"I'm not going to tell you if you guess it right." Fred grinned wickedly and responded,
"But I'll know if you're lying." I narrowed my eyes at him. "C'mon boys." He said cheerily. "Lets make a game of it while we're waiting for Ron." Dean shook his head disbelievingly at Fred but Fred was already making wild conjectures.
"Is it in Bermuda?" I rolled my eyes but could not suppress a smile. "Ok, not Bermuda." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Tibet?" I gave him a look that belied my opinion on his sanity. "No? Not Tibet? Hmmmmm . . . New York?"
I stared at him before "Are you daft?" Tumbled out of my mouth. I mentally kicked myself. I had just crumpled my amicable façade. I was supposed to be making nice with the Weasleys yet here I was insulting one. I was surprised however to see Fred's grin widen at my impolite question.
"I was about to ask the same question myself." A witch that I hadn't noticed was standing off to our side observing the group. Fred turned to her and snorted.
"Women." He grinned at me again. "What have I done now, Hermione?" She rolled her eyes at him.
"Well it's rather obvious, isn't it?" She pulled up a seat. "At least eighty percent of their student popular is eastern european and their uniforms are very obviously designed for cold weather. Which means it's probably somewhere up North, maybe Russia." She shot a questioning glance at me but Fred distracted her.
"You only pretend to know so much about because dearest Victor has probably already told you its whereabouts!" Hermione opened her mouth to retort when we were interrupted by yet another redhead with a snub nose and a dark expression on his face. "Why are you all talking about Krum?" He narrowed his eyes as he finished the question.
"Well," started Fred. "Hermione, here, just wont shut up about him, y'know." Fred continued, encouraged, no doubt, by the fact that Ron's face was steadily growing darker. "She just kept talking about the various ways in which those Durmstrang students handle cold weather. They're quite creative, really. I'm sure Hermione knows from first hand experience, of course. Then she started talking about his uniform and how comfy it is, you would almost thought she'd worn it at one point the way she goes on about how thermal it is. But that might be due to the fact that it had recently come off a sweaty quidditch player-"
"Fred!" Hermione was staring daggers at him. She turned to Ron. "Fred, here was speculating, rather miserably if I may add, as to the whereabouts of Durmstrang."
"And Durmstrang obviously leads to Krum." Fred finished for her. Hermione rolled her eyes at him. Ron made a face and sat down at our now overly crowded table.
"I should like to know where that bloody school is." He muttered "So I can hex the gits to pieces." I raised an eyebrow in Ron's direction. Fred look tickled to hell.
"Now, now Ron." He smiled wickedly. "You wont have to look far, there's one of those . . . ah, gits . . . no offence, Rose . . . sitting right across from you." Ron's ears burned in embarrassment as he stammered at me. "Oh- I . . ."
"Thats quite alright." I cut him off. "Though I'm sure you know Durmstrang does focus many of its classes on martial magic. I imagine you'd have a hard time hexing any of us. Not to mention we'd probably just confound you with our superior Quidditch skills." I smiled arrogantly at him. Goddamnit, I had to keep those Malfoy expressions off of my face. Fred gave a hearty laugh then noticing my empty tankard offered to get me another drink.
"Oh, that's alright." I smiled at him "I can get one myself."
"I think you'll have a hard time doing that." Fred pointed out. I frowned at him then realized that I was virtually blocked into the corner at the overcrowded table. "So, why don't we all relocate to a bigger table while I grab drinks?" Fred suggested brightly. Everyone nodded in agreement as they all made to get up. I hesitated to follow before, seeing my uncertainty, Fred shouted far too loudly "COME ON, ROSE!" I scrunched my face at him before poking out my tongue at him and following the others. We found a spacious table in the middle of the room and made ourselves comfortable before Fred came back with the drinks, depositing them around the table before placing mine before me as he took a seat to my right. He stared at me as I took a healthy swig. I raised my eyebrow at him, still nursing my draught. He smiled before he said
"Alaska?" I choked on my beer and his grin widened as I fell into a fit of coughing. "Aha!" He looked elated. "It is, isn't it?!" I took a couple deep breaths before saying. "What?"
"Y'know. The location of D-"
"Huh?" I interrupted him.
"Durmst-"
"Hmmmm?" I hummed loudly before frowning at him. "Sorry, didn't hear you."
He pouted at me before continuing. "That's not even in Eastern Europe!" He exclaimed accusingly then brightened up, "I finally get to tell Hermione she's wrong!" I rolled my eyes at him. Fred looked excited, "Do you see a lot of penguins?" He asked, reminding me of a small child who has had too many sweets.
"Oh yes!" I said animatedly. "And if we want to visit Santa Clause, we just ride some narwhals over to his island factory! And we have polar bears to keep us warm cause we don't light fires in the school due to the fact that it's just one massive igloo." Fred narrowed his eyes at me as I started laughing at his bewildered expression. "Penguins live in the South Pole, Fred. Not in Alaska."
He stuck his tongue out at me. "Very funny, Rose, I know for a fact that Santa doesn't live on an island!" I started cracking up at his deadly serious expression. The rest of the night was spent laughing at Fred and unintentionally flirting with Dean. Percy Weasley came by long enough for me to know for a fact that he wasn't an option. I was still holding out to observe the other two brothers whose names I had forgotten but Fred said they were off somewhere in Diagon Ally. I found myself a bit disheartened as Dean and Lee departed and Ron started making suggestions of returning to "the Burrow" (whatever the hell that meant). As the remaining party got up to leave Fred turned to me.
"So are you in London then?" I nodded tiredly. "Well, you should come around our shop sometime. It's Weasley Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Ally and maybe you can come out with me, my brother, and Lee. You seem like a lot of fun once you've had a few drinks in ya." He winked at me. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding before smiling sweetly.
"Yeah, maybe I'll come around one day before you close and we can all go to the Leaky cauldron." He grinned at me before following his brother. "See ya then!" he called. Mission accomplished.