Chapter 15

Three months later the girls had had enough and they banded together to gang up on their desolate cousin and friend, "Rose, you have to get out of here," they shrieked in unison one Saturday morning.

"Whether you want to or not we are going into Diagon Alley today and tonight you're going to put on something pretty and we are off to the Three Broomsticks for a drink, we won't let you wallow in this house any longer," Holly added looking at the lonely girl sat yet again in the squashy armchair by the fire. She had barely left the house except to go to work since the day Salamander had broken up with her, she was turning into a recluse and the girls had tried everything they could think of to coax her round. Holly had given in and moved into the thin terraced house in Hogsmeade to comfort her friend, taking residence in the back bedroom where she listened to Rose sobbing into her pillow night after night. She had always taken break ups badly but this time it was extreme, she barely ate or drank and Holly struggled to even get a conversation out of her at times. Dominique had been equally worried about her cousin and had aided Holly in trying to give Rose some life for the last three months but the night before, after she had gone to bed at nine o clock as always, they had put their heads together and decided that drastic action needed to be taken and they wouldn't be taking no as an answer.

"Come on Rose," Dominique added in a demanding tone, "get out of bed, get some clothes on and we're going, no is not an option, I've invited Annemarie along as she's spending more time with the family and she needs to get to know the real Rose Weasley." She glared at them angrily from her bed as it was the last thing that Rose felt like doing. All she had managed was getting herself into work each day for the last few months as she had never felt as lonely before in her life. She knew that she had been and still was desperately in love with Salamander Longbottom and no matter how had she tried she just could not motivate herself to do anything. It felt as if she had lost a limb when Sal left her and in a strange way some part of her had definitely gone with him.

"Rose, get up!" Holly shouted dragging the covers from her friend and forcing her to get out of bed, "get dressed and we'll be downstairs waiting for you, you can't stay here forever and we won't let you," she finished heading to the door to give her some privacy, "ten minutes and we're off!"

Rose appeared in the living room doorway about twenty minutes later, her hair was scraped back into a pony tail and she wore baggy jeans and a quidditch shirt which had once belonged to Salamander, the girls were tempted to tell her she couldn't wear it but decided that she had made one step and they didn't want to send her backwards now. "Come on then," Dominique announced standing up and grabbing hold of her cousin's arm, "I said we'd meet Annemarie in the Cauldron at ten," then she jumped into the floo and disappeared in a whirl of green flames.

"Hey girls," Annemarie said when she saw them step out of the fire in the pub one at a time, Rose looking solemn but still moving forwards.

"Hey," Dom replied, "ready for a bit of shopping?"

"Always!" Annemarie replied chuckling.

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Two hours later the foursome returned to the Leaky Cauldron for a well earned rest and a hot chocolate, they had managed to coax Rose into buying some new robes and a pendant for her neck but she still was not smiling. The others had purchased a variety of things from the weird and wonderful shops along Diagon Alley but they all felt like taking a long nap before dragging Rose out again in the evening. Tom, the barman, had just served them all enormous steaming mugs when the door to the pub opened and Salamander walked through it, Rose had her back to the door but at the gasp which escaped uncontrollably from Dominique's mouth she turned her head to see what it was. Her face fell and she moved her shaking cup back to the saucer it had some from as she continued to watch Gloria walking in behind him, her slightly swollen stomach leading the way, though it was not as big as she had expected it to be. Salamander froze on the spot when he noticed her and the girls and his companion almost walked into the back of him. When she saw what had caused him to stop she took hold of his arm and giggled furiously saying in an overly loud voice, "Oh Darling I almost fell over you then, come on let's get to the bar so I can rest my weary feet, it is tiring buying all these baby things." Sal heard her speak and turned to look at her before walking over to the bar carrying the multitude of bags which they had with them. He dropped them onto a barstool and ordered two drinks before whispering something in Gloria's ear to which she laughed heartily and then with a curious look on his face he headed into the toilets at the far end of the bar.

Rose's heartbeat had quickened already and she was feeling flustered, should she speak to him or ignore him? What would he think and what would Gloria think if she did either? The other girls at the table looked at her waiting with baited breath for her reaction, they had all seen her face fall back into that grimace which was almost permanently in place when Gloria had walked in behind Sal and they were as clueless as she was about what to do now. However they were saved from making a decision a few moments later when Salamander walked out of the toilets and headed purposefully towards their table. When he reached it Dominique glanced over at Gloria who had an angry look on her face but Sal did not seem to notice or worry as he said, "Girls," and nodded at them each in turn. His gaze lingered on Rose who tried in vain to smile at him, "How...how are you?" he asked quietly determined to have a conversation even though he could feel Gloria's eyes burning into his back.

"We're good," Holly replied on behalf of all of them even though she knew the question had been aimed at Rose. "Just been on a little shopping spree before our big Saturday night out!" she chuckled and the other girls, except for Rose, beamed at him and nodded their heads in an uncomfortably exciting way.

"Oh...oh good, glad to see that-"

"Sal," interrupted a sickly sweet voice from behind him and they all peered around to see Gloria waddling towards them. "Sweetheart," she went on taking his arm and stroking his hand, "I've changed my mind about the drink, I think we should just get back to the flat I need to lay down and perhaps you could rub my feet?" she smiled sweetly at him and then turned her piercing gaze onto Rose who simply smiled back as best she could.

"I was trying to catch up with-"

"I know you were Honey, but I'm tired and I need to go home," she interrupted once more smiling through her teeth at him. "Sorry to drag him away girls," she continued falsely, "but it is so wearisome being pregnant, if the truth be told I can't wait until we have our little baby here to spread the joy and make us a little family," she smiled again and the girls returned it with a grimace. One glance at Salamander's face showed that he was not in agreement but she grabbed tight hold of his other arm as she finished and practically dragged him away. With an angry look on his face he turned to walk with her but swung his head back around and gazed directly at Rose as he said, "Good to see you looking...well," and then he smiled at her and allowed Gloria to guide him to the barstool where he picked up all the bags and walked to the fireplace. Gloria insisted that he floo out first and before she left the bar herself she turned to look at Rose and gave her a satisfied glare which clearly expressed that she was the winner and Sal would not be going back to her foe.

"So," Dominique coughed uncomfortably, "anyone for another drink?" she asked draining the mug she had been hugging during the entire conversation. The other girls shook their head as their attention turned to Rose who was now staring into her own mug of dark brown liquid as if it was bottomless.

"She kept calling him Darling and Sweetheart," Rose mumbled sadly and Annemarie who was sat beside her started to stroke her arm affectionately.

"She does," Annemarie explained, "but…but he doesn't. She's trying to get him in her bed but Sal is adamant that it won't happen until he knows the child is his."

"They don't sleep together?" Rose asked.

"No," her new companion replied shaking her head, "Sal stays on the sofa or in James' room when he stays over with me, he won't have anything to do with her in that way at all even though by all accounts she keeps trying to seduce him." The other two girls shot her a wide eyed look as she said this but Rose continued to look at her with a curious and slightly brighter expression on her face.

"Seduce him?" she asked.

Annemarie looked at the other two for confirmation to continue and they nodded at her sighing, Rose wanted to hear it and there was little they could do to get her off the topic now. "A...apparently so," she went on, "she tries to dress up for him, I think James walked in on her once in the living room wearing a tight thing and a camisole which revealed her protruding stomach, he said it wasn't pretty but Sal just pushed her away and made himself a drink! He drinks a lot, once Gloria is in bed and especially when her parents have been."

"Why then?" Rose asked curiously.

"They keep giving him grief because he won't marry her," she explained.

"Oh?" Rose replied.

"Well she won't tell them that the baby might not be his so of course Sal is coming out as the bad guy because he refuses to propose until they have had the blood test, which they can't do until the baby is born," she continued wryly.

"I think she's hoping to get him ensnared before then but Sal is resolute, he will do what she needs for the baby, you know buying things, taking her to St Mungos and making sure she eats and drinks properly but in terms of a relationship it's non-existent until they know."

"I...I see," Rose replied.

"James says it's terrible over there and he's practically living with me at the moment! I said he could move in for the time being but he doesn't want to desert Sal either, so he keeps going back and supporting him even though he can't stand the sight of Gloria. Although he does say it's amusing when Consuella comes to visit!"

"I bet," Dominique interrupted.

"Oh yes, she flatly refuses to speak to her and directs everything she wants to ask about the baby to Sal, Gloria just gets more and more worked up and starts to shout at her but Consuella acts as if she isn't even there and totally ignores the hissy fit she's having in the corner! Sal gets plenty of earache about it when she goes but he doesn't care, he is only caring when it comes to the baby! ...He asks about you a lot," Annemarie added quietly glancing at the girls again.

"Me?" Rose asked.

"Yes," the worried girl went on quietly, "he hates to think of you wallowing away without him and he pleads with James all the time to make sure you go out and have fun, maybe...meet...someone," she finished tentatively.

"He does?"

"Aha," Annemarie nodded seeing a curious smile cross Rose's face. Of course deep down she knew that Sal would be saying that, that he would be thinking about her and not himself in all of this. Suddenly she realised that she was not alone in her misery but also that she needed to get up and out of the house, for Salamander if not for herself, if he knew she was trying to get on then she would be one less thing for him to worry about.

"So what time are we out tonight?" she asked sounding ever so slightly brighter and the other three girls dropped their jaws in astonishment.

"Er...er...half seven at yours?" Dominique asked.

"Half seven," Rose sighed knowing it still wouldn't be easy but also knowing she had to stop wallowing and try.

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"Four vodka and pumpkin juices please," Dominique said leaning over the bar at Madame Rosemerta. They had drunk a few at Rose and Holly's house before venturing out into the village and all four girls were feeling a little bit merry as they sat in a small booth and waited for their drinks to arrive. They didn't last long and Rose soon found herself at the bar ordering another round of doubles to keep her friends happy. She had made herself dress up and try to come out although now she was actually out there she realised it was going to be a lot tougher than she had first imagined, saying it and actually doing it were two completely different things.

She was tapping her fingers on the bar in impatience when someone approached her and held out a hand, she turned to look at the person proffering it forward and saw a short man dressed in muggle clothes smiling at her. He was just taller than she was with short dark hair and deep blue eyes, "Hi," he said in a deep voice, "I'm Mike, sorry to disturb you but I saw you with your friends and we," he indicated two other men sat at a table near the door, "wondered if we could buy you all a drink?"

"Oh...th...thank you but...but-"

"She'd love it," interrupted Holly from her other side as she dropped her hands onto her best friend's shoulders. They had seen the man approach Rose and all three pairs of eyes had widened, this could be just what their friend needed and sensing that she would turn him down Holly had jumped up to ensure that that didn't happen. "Why don't you join us too?" she asked confidently, "I'm Holly," she went on extending her hand "and this is Rose," she finished raising her eyebrows at her friend as she took the freshly poured drinks from Madame Rosmerta and headed back to their table. Rose picked up the other two drinks and followed her knowing that it was a bad idea but she could not turn them away now so she sat back in her seat as Mike beckoned for his other two friends to join them. "This is Annemarie and this is Dominique," Holly explained excitedly as the three young men approached and Mike introduced his two companions as David and Simon. "Pleased to meet you," Holly went on extending her hand to the two newcomers, "why don't you sit here with Dom and I? And Mike there's a seat next to Rose," she said demurely smiling at him and her friend.

"Do you mind?" Mike asked looking directly at Rose and she shook her head as she glared angrily at her friend. Holly just smiled back and lifted her eyebrows before turning to engage in conversation with the man sat beside her. Annemarie joined in the conversation and before long Rose found that she and Mike had been virtually left alone as the other five developed a deep and witty exchange together. "So," Mike said quietly, "I know it sounds corny but do you come here often?"

"I used to," she replied remembering the days before she went out with Salamander when she and her friends frequented the Leaky Cauldron on Friday nights and the Three Broomsticks on a Saturday, "but then I...I stopped for a while."

"Oh?" he queried.

"I started seeing someone and sort of...well stopped."

"Ah," Mike sighed, "are you still seeing someone?" he asked hopefully.

"No," she replied shaking her head and he seemed to sense that she did not want to talk about it.

"This is the first time we've been up here since we left school," Mike went on, "been travelling around the world on muggle relations with different Ministries," he explained.

"You work in muggle relations?" she asked relaxing slightly as she realised they at least had something to talk about, "I work for our ministry in the muggle relations department."

"Oh," he replied, "yes I was always interested in their ways and wanted to go into the field when I left school but there were no openings when I left, perhaps you had the last one?" he chuckled. "Although I would say that I'm a bit older than you! Did you go to Hogwarts?"

"Yes," she replied "I left three years ago."

"Ah definitely younger than me then, I left seven years ago so I must have missed an opening while I was out exploring the world!"

"Seven years? Did you know Teddy Lupin?"

"Yes I did! Teddy and I were good friends, I take it you know him?"

"He's married to my cousin, Dominique's older sister in fact, they're about to have a baby," she added suddenly frowning as she remembered they were not the only ones about to have a baby, "any...any day now."

"Woah, that's very grown up! I take it you are talking about Victoire Weasley?" he asked, "At least I hope so, they were ridiculously in love at school and I doubt anyone else would have been able to snare him away from her!"

"Yes, Victoire is my cousin."

"What a small world," he chuckled relaxing and sliding down in his seat, "another drink?" he asked noting that her glass was already drained.

"I...I suppose," she tried to smile and he left the table to replenish their glasses. It was easy conversation and she knew her friends would make sure she talked to him for the rest of the night, at least they had something in common to talk about but she vowed now that in the morning her friends would pay.

"I took the liberty of buying a bottle of firewhiskey!" Mike chuckled as he returned to the table with the bottle and seven shot glasses, Rose's heart fell as she remembered the last time she had drunk firewhiskey and she longed to be able to wake up in bed with Salamander when the night was over. Her friends took the shots gratefully and the glare that they gave her dared her to refuse so she poured herself one and downed it quickly wincing and wiping her mouth as Mike refilled the seven vessels with more amber liquid. "So what made you go into muggle relations?" he asked sitting back in the seat with Rose.

"My grandparents are muggles," she explained suddenly feeling a little lightheaded from the alcohol, something she had not tasted for a good few months. "My Mum was a muggle born so we always had a lot of muggle stuff around when we growing up and my Uncle was brought up by muggles even though he was a wizard and didn't know until he was eleven."

"That would be Harry Potter I presume? Teddy's godfather."

"Aha," she nodded downing another shot of firewhiskey and wincing, it may have tasted bad but it was making her forget her troubles for a while and she felt strangely like she had done in her old days before she had fallen in love for the first time.

"Didn't he have a muggle cousin or nephew or something who turned out to be a wizard too?"

"Yeah, my cousin Vernon, although he isn't really a cousin but I suppose we have had a lot of muggles around us in our time!" she chuckled as she poured one more shot of firewhiskey and drained the glass again. Feeling it burn away her pain she turned to look at the man who had started to chat her up, on closer inspection he was quite attractive, his blue eyes were piercing and he had a strong masculine jaw line which made him instantly appealing to the rather tipsy Rose. He wore loose fitting jeans and a t shirt bearing the name of a muggle band she had heard of while working at the office, he had clean white trainers and a soft brown leather bomber jacket which gave him a confident look which Rose seemed suddenly drawn to.

"What made you want to go into muggle realtions?" she asked fluttering her eyelashes a little and leaning towards him as he poured her out another shot of firewhiskey.