Chapter 22

Roman jumped out of the fireplace quickly and held out his hand to Rose who took it hesitantly and stepped out into her front room, "Thank you," she said withdrawing her hand quickly from his and walking over to the doorway. Back in her own house she took another look at the friendly man who had floppy brown hair which hung over his dark eyes and down the back of his neck. He was not overly attractive but had a soft face and a kind nature which had helped Rose to warm to him quickly, though she had only known him a few hours she felt comfortable and safe around him. She had discovered that he was twenty six and had been at Hogwarts when she was in the first year, something which had made her chuckle as she thought back on her first encounters with the tall and scary eighth years. They could not remember each other of course but at the mention of her cousin Victoire who would have been in her seventh year then he had given a small smile and whispered, "We all fancied her!" He had not been at all surprised to learn that she had married Teddy Lupin who he also remembered as being head boy when he himself had been in his seventh year.

Muffled churlish screams could be heard above and Rose rolled her eyes as she disappeared up the stairs taking them two at a time while Roman looked around the small living room and waited until she reappeared. "I cast muffliato at the door," Rose chuckled as she closed the living room door behind her, "she never has been the quiet type! Coffee?"

"Yes, thanks," he replied still standing beside the heavy oak fire surround.

"I'll pop the kettle on," she smiled, "have a seat," she went on gesturing to the small two seater sofa, "when we've had a drink I'll find some bedding you can use." Rose watched as he sat down then she went into the kitchen and made them both deep steaming hot mugs of coffee, when she returned to the room he was gazing around at the pictures of her family which adorned her walls and he indicated one or two of them asking which of her family they were. She took a seat in a chair opposite him and began to explain her enormous family again.

During their conversation in the bar Rose had learned quite a lot about Roman and his family, unlike her he was an only child, his parents had given up hope of ever having children and were in their forties when he was born. They were elderly now and lived above an apothecary which they owned in a small Gloucestershire town called Bourton on the Water. After leaving school and travelling around for a year Roman had gone back to run the shop hidden from the muggles in the middle of the town. He had told her that it was down a short alleyway behind the local school, along with a tea shop and a Madame Malkins outlet, the alley, like the Leaky Cauldron, could only be seen by witches and wizards. When Roman had moved in with his girlfriend his parents had extended the shop and turned his old bedroom into a store room which was the reason why he could not live with them again, there was simply no room. As his parents had also been only children themselves he did not have scores of Aunts, Uncles and cousins like Rose did who would be happy to put him up for a while which was why he had had to approach his oldest friend.

"And that's me with my brother, Hugo," she explained finally pointing to the last one over the fireplace which depicted she and her younger sibling on the old rope swing at the Burrow, it had been taken a few years ago and her mother had insisted she take it with her when she moved into her own home.

"It must be amazing having such a vast family," he said sipping his coffee slowly and watching her face intently, "I mean to have lots of people there for you when life changes or takes a bad turn. At least you wouldn't be stranded, having to scrounge a sofa from a pretty girl!" he chuckled and she blushed furiously.

"No," she whispered in reply looking down at her knees, "but they can get intense too, on the other hand when life changes or goes wrong they won't leave you alone either!"

He laughed and she noticed that he had a cute smile which lit up his face and his perfectly straight teeth shone bright white from his mouth as he turned the laugh into a grin. "Well I suppose there are pluses and minuses with any family! Goran's have always been good with me and taken me in," he went on, "you know having me round and inviting me to family gatherings, they're not quite as big as yours but it's nice to be included."

"Yeah, we have a sort of extended family like that," she explained, "Remember Professor Longbottom?"

"Oh...yes...the herbology teacher with the crazy wife?"

"Eccentric," she chided softly, "that's my Aunty, well sort of, we've always included them as part of our family and their children were good...friends," she coughed feeling a slight lump form in her throat as she mentioned Salamander.

"Sorry," he replied, "eccentric wife! Are his children the same?" he joked but she looked away and did not answer his question so he did not push it any further sensing that she might have been offended by his question. "It's nice of you all to take them in," he continued instead, "I know it makes my parents happier to know that if anything happened to them I wouldn't be completely alone. They always worry about that and I think they were more upset than I was when I split with Angeline, they'd been hoping we would settle down and start our own family!"

"How did you meet?" Rose asked trying to steer the conversation away from the Longbottoms, she wasn't sure why she had mentioned them really but the words had left her mouth before she'd thought about it. "Were you at school together?"

"No she didn't go to Hogwarts," he explained, "we met when I was travelling. She's the same age as me and was born in England but her mother was from Belgium and wanted her to go to Beauxbatons, as she had done. She was staying with family on her way around Europe and we met in a small cafe in Madrid, we actually ended up doing the rest of our tours together and moved in more or less straight away when we came home to England."

"So what happened?" she probed gently.

"Like I said, we just grew apart. We were in love for a long time but we just fell out of it I suppose, we both knew it and decided to go our separate ways. We stay in touch and will always be good friends I think but our relationship had run its course."

"I see," she smiled. They sat for another half hour mulling over their careers and Roman shared his desire to re-open the shop in the muggle part of town where they could use it as well. Most of the remedies he made and sold were what the muggles called old wives' tales but he knew they worked and thought they could expand and increase their business if they opened for those people who still believed in the traditional old cures and tinctures. He explained that his parents were old and unsure but he expressed his desire that one day he would make a bigger name for Botsworth and Son in Bourton on the Water. She could tell he was proud of his business even if it was still only small and his passion for his work impressed her a lot.

Eventually she yawned widely and glanced at the clock on the mantle piece which showed almost three o clock, "Merlin I can't remember the last time I stayed up this late," Rose chuckled standing up and stretching tall, "I'll go and see what I can find for you to sleep in."

"Thanks," he replied, "can I use the bathroom?"

"Straight up the stairs and to your left at the top," she told him gesturing to the doorway.

"Cheers," he returned standing up and walking out of the room. Rose gathered up the two cups and took them into the kitchen before heading upstairs to a cupboard at the top from which she extracted a couple of soft blankets. She quickly flicked her wand at her friend's doorway and was relieved to hear that all was silent behind it so she lifted the muffliato spell completely. Trotting back down the stairs she dropped the striped blankets onto the edge of the sofa and walked back into the kitchen to clear away the cups.

After washing them and placing them back in the cupboard she blew out the candle plunging the room into almost total darkness and was turning to leave the room when she heard a meowing sound at the back door. "Hey Tanner," she crooned softly walking over to the back door and lifting the heavy fluffy cat into her arms, he squirmed a little and covered her in fur as she did so. "Do you want to go out hunting young man?" she whispered into his ear opening the lock on the back door and pulling it back slowly. "There you go," she chuckled watching him disappear into the darkness before locking the door again and walking out of the kitchen into the living room to head up to bed.

She stopped stock still in the doorway as she saw by the faint glow from the hallway Roman's sleek, toned body. He had returned to the living room and assumed by the darkness in the kitchen that Rose had already retired to bed. After stretching the blankets across the sofa he had removed his shirt and was standing with his back to her by the side of his makeshift bed. Her eyes continued to stare at the curve of his shoulders and she followed his white skin all the way down to the bottom he was now revealing as he unfastened his trousers and dropped them to the floor. He turned and sat on the sofa to remove his feet from the leg holes and gasped as he saw her standing there watching him. "Oh shit," he said grabbing the belt loops and swiftly pulling them back up, "I'm...I'm sorry I...I thought you'd gone up," he went on jumping to his feet and pulling up the zip, he had not been wearing any underwear and Rose had seen everything.

"No...I...I was...I was just putting the cat out," she stuttered lifting her gaze up along the smooth hairless chest and finally coming to rest on his gentle gaze. "I...I should go up," she continued trying to move her suddenly weighted feet.

"Is everything alright?" Roman asked walking over to her side and gazing down into her eyes.

"Yes, yes I'm...I'm fine," she felt like her whole body had stopped working properly and she couldn't explain why. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen a naked man before and this one was not as attractive as some she had seen but after feeling lonely for so long she saw a strange attraction in just looking at him.

"Are you sure?" he asked putting a hand on her shoulder and she gasped.

"I...I..." he continued to gaze into her eyes and then ever so slowly he moved his head closer to hers and kissed her soft supple lips with his own. For a second she returned the kiss but then as her thought processes kicked in she jumped back from him and his hand fell from her shoulder. "I...I'm sorry," she whispered, "I...I really should go...to...bed," she repeated but her feet still would not carry her. He tried to move forward and kiss her again but she dodged him and swung to the side, "Sorry but...but I...I recently broke up with someone and...and I...I wasn't ready for something like this...it's not that it isn't...nice," she looked apologetically at him feeling that she had somehow led him on to this, "it's just like...like being in a comfortable bed and not being able to sleep in it."

He looked at her curiously trying to work out her strange analogy and with a breathless whisper he said, "why not try sleeping on a sofa instead?" She looked up at him with an equally curious expression as his hands slid up to her shoulders again and he planted another strong and urgent kiss on her lips. This time she leaned into him and allowed herself to kiss him back, it was different and exciting even though it did not seem quite right. After a moment or two they broke apart and Roman lifted her up into his arms and carried her over to the sofa where he stood still and kissed her again. Putting her gently onto the blankets he looked down at her and smiled softly trying to reassure her as he could still sense her hesitancy. "I won't bite," he whispered and she smiled as he sat down beside her and leaned forward to kiss her again. This time his tongue began to explore her neck and she felt one hand slide along her thigh and up to her breast which he gently massaged as he leaned over, forcing her to lie back against the arm of the seat. She lifted one hand up to touch his bare back then and gasped at the feel of his soft skin on her palm, moving his hand away from her breast he began to unbutton the blouse so he could reach inside and touch her bare flesh. She felt a tingle at his fingertips as they grazed her waist and slid slowly upwards towards her nipples which were becoming erect with excitement. They were still kissing and he was getting closer to her when they both heard a whooshing sound come from the fireplace.

It took her a few seconds to realise what the sound was and as she pushed Roman away from her to see who the visitor was her mouth fell open as a hoarse voice croaked, "Rose?"

"Salamander?" she gasped in reply tugging her blouse closed and jumping to her feet.