Chapter 8

It was almost a week later before James tried to talk her around again, the usual Thursday evening family supper at the Burrow had been moved to Saturday lunchtime as it was Arthur and Molly's wedding anniversary and the Weasley wives along with Ginny had insisted that Molly sit back and relax while they prepared the feast. James had only been able to show his face for an hour as he was working and did not want to give up the opportunity to go back out into the field but after having a drink with Uncle Charlie and his brothers and stuffing a sandwich hastily down his throat he had managed to corner Rose. "No, James," she stressed in hushed tones at the end of the garden, "I've thought about it and you're wrong, he ran out on me and that is that. It's fine, I'm fine, nothing ever started and that's the way it will stay."

"But Rose," he had pleaded but she had glared him down and walked away without a backward glance and he had not had chance to hassle her again due to their Grandmother wanting to hug him and say how thin he was getting before pushing mountains of trifle and pudding onto his plate which she insisted he eat. Rose hid away upstairs until he had gone and tried to avoid Dominique too who was giving her equally knowing glares from across the room.

By three o clock most of the family had gone their separate ways and after helping to clean everything away Rose agreed to walk across the field to visit Luna and Neville with her mother, James had told her Sal was at work so there was no chance she would run into him at his parent's house and she thought it would be quite nice to see Consuella for an hour too. They bid goodbye to the family and trekked across the hard ground to the small house at the bottom of Xenophilius' garden where the Longbottom's lived. They knocked on the door and were greeted by Luna, "Oh Hermione, Rose how nice to see you," she blurted as if she had not been expecting them, even though Hermione had sent an owl to check that they would be in and Luna had returned it immediately to say yes. "Come in, come in, can I get you some warm elderberry tea?"

"That would be lovely Luna," her mother answered for them both as they took a seat in the haphazard living room which was filled to bursting with pictures of Salamander and Consuella, showing their lives in moving images. Rose felt her stomach do a little flip when she saw one of him taken recently which showed his deep dark eyes and masculine physique, the picture had been torn and Rose suspected it had been one of him and Gloria.

"Consuella tore that one," Neville explained as he came into the room and greeted them both warmly, he had seen where Rose's gaze had fallen and then he indicated a few more ripped pictures now containing just Salamander, "she went on a bit of a spree one day and well..." he gestured around the room.

"Where is she?" Rose asked.

"She's out shopping in Diagon Alley with some old school friends," Luna explained as she walked into the room carrying a tray with a paisley patterned teapot on it. The teapot was surrounded by five vibrantly patterned cups and saucers none of which matched and Rose had to suppress a giggle at Luna's bizarreness, sometimes she was amazed that Salamander had turned out quite normal. "Salamander's outside collecting some firewood," she went on and Rose's heart leapt into her mouth, "Ahh here he is now," she added at the sound of the front door opening.

"Mum, where do you want this lot?" he called from the hallway, "In the house or on the stockpile?"

"Wherever dear," she replied dreamily, "Come on into the sitting room, we have guests," she added waiting for him to open the door. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Hermione and Rose and seemed speechless for a moment.

"Hi," he managed to stutter.

"Why don't you two go off to the river?" Luna suggested looking from her son to the girl who was desperately trying to stop her cheeks from glowing red.

"Mum, we're not ten anymore you know," he said referring to the days when the children would be packed off to play by the river while the adults caught up with each other, "I'm sure Rose doesn't want to be out in the freezing January weather when she could be warm and cosy in front of the fire.

"Nonsense," Hermione shrieked, "a bit of bracing air might put a smile on her face, I can't remember the last time I saw one! You two could have a good catch up too without us oldies listening in, I heard you had quite a time New Year's Eve!"

"Mother!" Rose shrieked, who had told her and what had they said?

"Rose we all know you were drinking dear! Why else would you not come home? You didn't want me hassling you with a hangover in the morning did you?"

"She didn't come home?" Luna asked as if it was alien for children not to come home even though they no longer lived there. "Where did she go? What happened to you?"

"I'm sure it is no concern of yours Mother where she went, back to her own house I would imagine!" Salamander interjected for her, "perhaps we should go for a walk if this is the kind of teasing you are going to get," he went on, "if...if you care to?" he finished sounding a little nervous.

"Go on Rose, it'll be good for you, get some fresh air on those cheeks!"

"Yes mother," she replied not feeling the slightest bit amused by the outcome of their visit. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to be alone with Salamander but if the alternative was being quizzed about New Year's Eve the walk was definitely the lesser of two evils.

"Well stay warm won't you, Salamander be a gentleman and offer her your cloak," Luna beamed.

"I'll...I'll be fine, honestly," she said looking from Luna to Salamander as she pulled her own cloak tightly around her neck and headed to the front door.

"Well be careful it's slippery out there, make sure you look after her Salamander," Luna called as he closed the front door behind them both.

"Sorry about her," he said straight away as he gestured for her to walk ahead of him towards the river, "she doesn't know...anything," he coughed.

"No..." she coughed back at him, "Neither does Mum. So how come you're not at work? James thought you would be," she asked trying to change the subject hastily.

"We finished early today and I'd promised Mum I'd come and sort out some wood for her, but James knew that I told him I'd be down here till later," he explained as they treaded a path along the river bank.

"Oh, he did?" Rose uttered almost under her breath sensing that James knew before hand that her mother was going to come down here and ask her to come too. "He must have forgotten," she said through gritted teeth as they reached an open glade where the river meandered through the woods at the end of the garden. The Weasley, Potter and Longbottom children had all played around here when they were younger, swimming in the river in the summer and playing games on the open expanse of grass beside it. It was sheltered from the elements somewhat but had also been a perfect place for sunbathing when they had grown a little older and Rose smiled as she remembered happy days of laying here with her female cousins talking about boys while her male cousins rode their brooms and pelted them occasionally with water balloons from Uncle George and Uncle Ron's shop.

"Something made you happy," Salamander said when he saw the smile.

"I was just remembering the days we used to spend down here," she replied smiling again and Sal noticed how it made her face brighten and her eyes light up beautifully. He felt a sudden urge to kiss her again then but he restrained himself remembering what had happened in the Leaky Cauldron. "Life was so much easier back then, no worries, no hassles," she added.

"Has Chris been hassling you again?" he asked concernedly.

"No," she chuckled shaking her head, "I just meant life in general!"

"Rose I..." Salamander stuttered as they stopped next to the water's edge, "I'm sorry about what happened in...in the bar last week, I shouldn't have done that to you I...I'm sorry."

"Forget it," Rose replied looking down at her feet so he wouldn't catch the look of disappointment in her eyes, she had been right all along. "I have," she added shivering suddenly as a blast of icy wind swept past them.

"You are cold," Sal said noticing the shiver, "Here take my cloak," he went on untying it from his neck and walking towards her.

"Honestly I'm fine," she whispered, "I..." but she paused as he flung the cloak around her and caught her arm with his hand, she gasped and stopped talking as he looked at her in much the same way he had before they had kissed in the Cauldron the previous Friday. They both stood frozen to the spot and stared at each other for a few seconds as he tied the cloak around her neck and rubbed her arms vigorously to try and give her more warmth, when he stopped he didn't take them away and Rose found herself searching for something else to look at instead of his deep brooding eyes. "That's where Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry got together," she coughed indicating a very weather beaten love seat by the edge of the river a little further up from where they had stopped.

"How do you know that?" he replied still not taking his hands away from her arms.

"Lily told me once, it was at your parent's wedding apparently," she explained breathlessly, she could almost feel her heart beating where Salamander's hands were and she turned her head to look back at him, "Sal," she whispered almost inaudibly.

"Hmm?" he returned gazing into her brown eyes and feeling his heart leap, he did not want to move his hands from her arms and felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her again, she did not seem to be resisting his touch but he was afraid to lean down and place his lips against hers.

"When...when you kissed me," she asked quietly, "was it...was it because...because of Gloria?" she finished before looking down deathly afraid that the answer would be yes.

"A part of me," he whispered, and she deflated, "but…" he went on and her face tilted up to look in his sincere eyes, "not to make her jealous. To…to show her that there was someone better out there, someone more worthy," he looked shyly away at his words but he was determined to explain himself even though his heart was beating wildly against his chest as he began to feel that Rose may have wanted the kiss as mush as he did. "I hadn't thought about her since we...slept together but when I saw her she made me angry so I knew that I must still love her deep down and I was mad at myself for that. But then when I was talking to you and I remembered why I had stopped thinking about her I just wanted to...to..." but instead of finishing his words he leaned down and showed her by finally and crushingly placing his soft luscious lips onto hers and kissing her gently but with a passion which she gave into immediately. His hand moved up to hold her head and they deepened the kiss as Rose tugged his cloak around them both and locked her own hands around his back.

After a few moments they parted naturally and leaned their foreheads against each other as they breathed irregularly and smiled, "...kiss you," Sal concluded and they both giggled. "Was I wrong to do that?" he whispered moving his hands around her back and pulling her close to him.

"No," Rose replied breathlessly, "but if that is what you really wanted then why did you leave, last time?"

"Because of what you just asked me, if I had done it because of Gloria, which you did, we had agreed to forget New Year and there I was kissing you but I...I couldn't help myself. I saw everything in you that Gloria wasn't and everything that I wanted but I was so angry about her and I didn't want you to be a rebound girl and I certainly didn't want you to think that you were."

"Like James thought."

"James?" Sal asked quizzically, "What does he have to do with it?"

"He thinks that we like each other and on Friday he and Dom had arranged to meet us late in the hopes that we would get talking and admit how we were feeling."

"Oh!"

"He was also on at me today at the Burrow which is why, I'm guessing, he said you'd be at work. I'd told him that I wasn't going to pursue it because you must not be over Gloria."

"But I am, I swear, I didn't think I was at first but now I know."

"So I'm not...a rebound?"

"No," he hushed, "no Rose honestly. I realise now I wasn't angry because I still care about Gloria I was angry because she thought she could snap her fingers and have me back and...and stop me from being with someone else...with someone I was developing feelings for...with...you?" he asked hopefully. Instead of answering his question she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and placed her lips softly against his kissing him with the same degree of hope and passion that he had shown in his first kiss mere minutes before.

"Rose," called a voice from afar and they parted swiftly as she pulled a grimace, "I'm ready to go back to the Burrow if you are dear," her mother added and Salamander grinned at her.

No she thought to herself but being the dutiful daughter that she was she called, "Coming Mum," before turning to look apologetically at Sal who just smiled at her as he hugged her close.

"Tomorrow night," he whispered in her ear as he let her go.

"What about it?" she asked looking into his face curiously.

"James is on nights, come to the flat let me cook for you!" he suggested and she smiled in response.

"I'd love to," she whispered turning to see her mother waving from the top of the hill.

"Seven o clock?" he said quietly.

"Tomorrow at seven," she said breathlessly ruing her mother as she left without kissing him again and feeling unsure of whether she or he wanted the world to know there was something going on just yet.