A/N: Awesome! I got another chapter posted. I'm so glad that writer's block is done with because now I'm on a roll! I feel like writing 5 more chapters! Woo-hoo! I feel like a I just drank 2 gallons of coffee (which is only a gallon less then what I usually drink...just kidding). I'm so excited! I'm starting to get to the good part of the story. Yes, I have already planned out what I want to happen in the 6th year (just the main idea, not every detail). So I hope you guys are as psyched as I am! R&R!
Rosaline's POV
I slowly opened my eyes, feeling the sunlight hit my face. I rose from my bed and stretched my tired arms. I could here muffled voices in the other room, which made me leave my room to check it out. I found Harry, Ron and Hermione in the room a few steps above me.
"Good morning," I yawned.
"Morning," Hermione smiled.
"So what are we talking about?" I asked as I sat down in the bed Harry was sleeping in.
"Hogwarts has got a new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts," Ron sighed.
"Not surprised," I shrugged, "Who is it?"
"Some guy named Slughorn," Ron said, "Harry met him last night. So, what's he like?"
"He looks a bit like a walrus," Harry described Slughorn, "And he used to be the Head of Slytherin." He then glanced over at Hermione and asked, "Something wrong Hermione?"
I looked over at Hermione and saw that she had a strange look on her face; she looked like she was waiting for Harry to explode or something. But then she changed her expression into an obviously fake smile.
"No, of course not!" she said, "So did Slughorn seem like he'll be a good teacher?"
"Don't know," Harry shrugged, "He can't be worse than Umbridge, can he?"
"I know someone who is worse than Umbridge," a new voice said.
We all looked over at the doorway and saw Ginny standing there. She looked very irritated, which made me realize what was wrong.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked.
"It's her," Ginny groaned, sitting herself down next to me, "She's driving me mad."
"What's she done now?" Hermione asked.
"It's the way she talks to me," Ginny rolled her eyes, "You'd think I was about three!"
"I know," Hermione dropped her voice, "She's so full of herself."
"Tell me about it," I sighed, "Yesterday she asked me if I ever considered dying my hair a 'more civilized color!' Honestly, she doesn't know how to shut up!"
"Can you three lay off her for five seconds?" Ron asked angrily.
"Oh, that's right, defend her," Ginny snapped, "We all know you can't get enough of her."
Harry was confused by the entire conversation. He must of thought we were talking about someone else.
"Who are you -" he started to ask, when he was suddenly interrupted by the door flinging open.
And there she was; Fleur. She came sweeping through the room gracefully, her long silvery blonde hair flowing behind her. She had a tray, filled with breakfast foods, in her arms.
"'Arry," she smiled, "Eet 'as been too long!"
Mrs. Weasley then popped into the room, with an annoyed look on her face.
"There was no need to bring up the tray," she said crossly, "I was just about to do it myself!"
"Eet was no trouble," Fleur said, setting the tray on Harry's lap and then kissing him on the cheek, "I 'ave been longing to see 'im. You remember my seester, Gabrielle? She never stops talking about 'Arry Potter. She will be delighted to see you again."
"Oh," Harry said awkwardly, "Is she here, too?"
"No, no, silly boy," she laughed, making me want to gag, "I mean next summer, when we - but do you not know?"
Fleur's eyes widened and then she looked over at Mrs. Weasley, who was pretending to be occupied by watching the ceiling.
"We hadn't gotten around to telling him yet," she said coolly.
"Bill and I are getting married!" Fleur squealed when she turned back to Harry.
I tried so hard not to roll my eyes or gag, so I looked down at my hands to avoid eye contact with anyone (preferably Mrs. Weasley, Hermione or Ginny).
"Oh," Harry blankly said, "Wow. Um - congratulations!"
Fleur thanked him with another kiss on the cheek.
"Bill is very busy at ze moment, working very 'ard" she sighed, "And I only work part-time at Gringotts for my Eenglish, so he brought me 'ere for a few days to get to know 'is family properly. I was so pleased to 'ear you would be coming - zere isn't much to do 'ere, unless you like cooking and chickens! Well - enjoy your breakfast, 'Arry!"
Finally, she left the room. Mrs. Weasley shut the door behind her as she left, making some sort of sound that said 'she irks me.'
"Mum hates her," Ginny giggled.
"I don't hate her!" Mrs. Weasley defended herself, "I just thing they've hurried into this engagement, that's all!"
"They've known each other for a year," Ron said.
"Well, that's not very long!" Mrs. Weasley said, "I know why it's happened, of course. It's all this uncertainty with You-Know-Who coming back, people think they might be dead tomorrow, so they're rushing all sorts of decisions they'd normally take time over. It was the same last time he was powerful, people eloping left, right, center -"
"Including you and Dad," Ginny interrupted.
"Yes, well, your father and I were made for each other," Mrs. Weasley said, "What was the point in waiting? Whereas Bill and Fleur...well...what have they really got in common? He's a hard-working, down-to-earth sort of person. Fleur is..."
"A cow," I finished for her, "An airhead."
"But Bill's not down-to-earth," Ginny added, "He's a Curse-Breaker, isn't he? He likes a bit of adventure, a little glamor...I bet that's why he's gone for Phlegm."
I giggled at the nickname Ginny had given Fleur. But Mrs. Weasley didn't approve of it at all.
"Stop calling her that," she said sharply, "Well, I better get on. Eat your eggs while they're still warm, Harry."
Then she left the room. I had finally noticed that Ron looked...odd. But I knew what he was so tipsy about, and so did Harry.
"Don't you get used to her if she's staying in the same house?" he asked Ron.
"Well, you do," Ron said, "but if she jumps out at you unexpectedly, like then..."
"It's pathetic," Hermione crossed her arms furiously.
"Do you really want her to stick around forever?" Ginny asked him, which he reply with a shrug. "Well, Mum's going to put a stop to it if she can, I bet you anything."
"How's she going to manage that?" Harry asked.
"She's been inviting Tonks to dinner a lot lately," I said, "I think she's trying to get Bill to fall for her before it's too late."
"Like that's likely," Ron scoffed, "No bloke would fancy Tonks when Fleur's around. I mean, Tonks is okay-looking when she isn't doing stupid things with her hair -"
"Excuse me?" I interrupted, raising my eyebrows at him.
Ron stared at me wide-eyed, remembering that my hair was electric blue. He tried to stutter out an apology, but failed miserably.
"I happen to like Tonks's hair," I snapped, "She's just expressing herself. So what if her hair is a different color every day?"
"I-I didn't m-mean anything t-towards you," Ron nervously answered, "It's l-looks great on you."
"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, "I'm going downstairs."
I glared at him as I walked past him and out the room. I could here Ginny giggling madly at Ron's terrified look, and then Ron's sigh of relief once I was gone.
As I came downstairs I saw Fleur sitting at the table, dreamily gazing out the window. Mrs. Weasley was frying up something on one of the several pans on the stove.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Mrs. Weasley?" I asked.
"Oh, sure," she smiled, "Could you dice those tomatoes?"
"Okay," I smiled back.
I turned to the counter and saw a large pile of tomatoes by the cutting board. My eyes widened at the small red mountain in front of me.
"Uh, what are you making?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing much," Mrs. Weasley shrugged, "Just a couple of meat pies, onion soup, roast chicken, and onion-garlic mashed potatoes."
"Are we having a family reunion?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
Mrs. Weasley laughed, thinking that I was joking.
"It's only lunch and dinner," she sighed.
That's a lot of food for only lunch and dinner.
I shrugged off the thought, and grabbed the cutting knife to start dicing tomatoes.
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs, "Come down here and help me with lunch!"
"I'm talking with this lot!" Ginnny shouted back.
"Now!" Mrs. Weasley ordered.
I could here Ginny stomp her way down the steps and then walked over to my side.
"How many tomatoes do we need?" she asked when she saw the pile of red on the counter.
"I don't know," I said, "She never told me how much."
Suddenly I heard a rushed set of footsteps running down the stairs. I looked over my shoulder and saw Hermione...with a black eye.
"Holy crap," I said loudly, "Where did that come from?"
"One of Fred and George's stupid pranks," she snapped, "I accidentally squeezed a telescope and it punched me!"
"Oh goodness," Mrs. Weasley said, "Come and sit down. I'll fix it in a jiffy."
"Did any owls come yet?" Hermione asked nervously.
"No," I said, "Why?"
"Harry said our O.W.L.s results were coming today," she bit her lip.
Mrs. Weasley pulled out her wand and a copy of The Healer's Helpmate. She tried a few spells, but the black eye wouldn't go away. Harry and Ron then came down the steps with a half-empty tray.
"It just won't budge," Mrs. Weasley said, referring to Hermione's black eye, "This has always worked before, I just can't understand it."
"It'll be Fred and George's idea of a funny joke, making sure it can't come off," Ginny said.
"But it's got to come off!" Hermione said, "I can't go around looking like this forever!"
"You won't, dear, we'll find an antidote, don't worry," Mrs. Weasley said in a soothing voice.
"Bill told me 'ow Fred and George are very amusing!" Fleur smiled.
"Yes, I can hardly breathe for laughing!" Hermione said sarcastically as she shot up from her seat at the table.
She started to pace around the kitchen, nervously pulling and fiddling with her fingers.
"Mrs. Weasley," she squeaked anxiously, "you're quite, quite sure no owls have arrived this morning?"
"Yes, dear, I'd have noticed," Mrs. Weasley said. "But it's barely nine, there's still plenty of time..."
"I know I messed up Ancient Runes," Hermione muttered, "I definitely made at least one serious mistranslation. And the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical was no good at all. I thought Transfiguration went all right at the time, but looking back -"
"Hermione, will you shut up!" Ron shouted, "You're not the only one who's nervous! And when you've got your ten 'Outstanding' O.W.L.s..."
"Don't, don't, don't!" she said, "I know I've failed everything!"
"Calm down, you two!" I snapped, "Jesus Christ! Hermione, you'll do fine. Ron, don't be jealous because some people are smarter than you."
Hermione shyly blushed and continued to pace back and forth. Ron looked at me with a confused look.
"What?" I asked.
"'Jeezus Cries' who?" he asked.
"Never mind," I sighed, rolling my eyes, "You've annoyed me enough already."
"What happens when if we fail everything?" Harry asked, changing the subject.
"We discuss our options with the Head of House," Hermione explained, "I asked Professor McGonagall at the end of last term."
I sighed, remembering that I had left before O.W.L.s started, so I basically failed everything. I hated imagining sitting in the same room with Professor Flitwick, trying to explain why I left suddenly and didn't come back until next year.
"At Beauxbatons," Fleur butted in, "we 'ad a different way of doing things. I think eet was better. We sat our examinations after six years of study, not five, then -"
She stopped talking when Hermione suddenly let out a scream. She was pointing at the kitchen window, which revealed three black specks flying towards us.
"They're definitely owls," Ron groaned.
"And there are three of them," Harry said.
"No shit," I muttered, which gave me a glare from Harry.
"One for each of us," Hermione whisper fearfully, "Oh no...oh no...oh no..."
"Hermione," I said, "Calm down."
She didn't listen to me though. She was too busy staring at the owls that were coming even closer to the Burrow.
"Oh no!" she shrieked.
Mrs. Weasley moved past them and opened the kitchen window. One by one, the owls came soaring in, dropping off the envelopes and then went flying back out the window. Harry, Hermione and Ron grabbed each of the envelopes and opened them to see their results. It was dead silent in the kitchen for a few minutes.
"Well?" I asked breaking the silence.
"Only failed Divination and History of Magic!" Ron said happily, "What about you, Harry? Here - swap -"
They switched papers and read them.
"I knew you'd be top at Defense Against the Dark Arts," Ron smirked, "We've done alright, haven't we?"
"Well done!" Mrs. Weasley said proudly, "Seven O.W.L.s; that's more than Fred and George's combined.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked, "How'd you do?"
"I - not bad," she said quietly.
"Oh, come off it!" Ron scoffed, snatching the paper out of Hermione's hands, "Yep - nine 'Outstandings' and one 'Exceeds Expectations' at Defense Against the Dark Arts."
I giggled when I saw Ron's expression towards Hermione; half-amused, half-exasperated.
"You're actually disappointed, aren't you?" I laughed.
Hermione shook her head, but Harry and I laughed even more.
"Well, we're N.E.W.T. students now!" Ron cheered, "Mum, are there any more sausages?"
"Seriously?" I said, "Do you ever stop eating?"
"What, I'm hungry," he said defensively.
Since I chose not to go "Gurdyroot-picking" with the Lovegoods, I decided to make it up to them by giving them another visit. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley thought it was nice that I was hanging out with Luna; Ron thought Luna would brainwash me and make me as mental as she was.
All I wanted to do was get out of the house, mostly because Fleur was torturing me. Every time we were in the same room together, she would suggest something for me to change; my clothes, the books I read, the makeup I use, especially my hair. Last time, she suggested that I dyed my hair blonde! Blonde! Fleur is 5 feet and 9 inches of snobby, annoying hell. So I basically do whatever I can to get away from...Phlegm.
I knocked on the door, which immediately opened. Luna smiled sweetly at me and hugged me hello.
"I'm sorry I missed Gurdyroot-picking," I smiled sympathetically.
"It's quite alright," Luna sighed, "You can come next time. Come in, Daddy's making tea."
We went straight to the kitchen, where Mr. Lovegood was stirring a few oddly shaped plants into the kettle.
"Daddy, Rosaline came to visit," Luna said.
Mr. Lovegood looked up and smiled at me.
"Good to see you again, Rosaline," he said.
"Hello, Mr. Lovegood," I said.
"Well, take a seat," he kindly said, "The tea is almost ready."
Luna and I sat down on the tiny stools that stood against the wall.
"Harry moved into the Burrow a few days ago," I said.
"Oh, that must be nice," Luna said in her usual melodic tone.
"Well, it's better for him here than it is at his aunt and uncle's," I sighed.
"I think that there's good in everyone," she said, "They couldn't be that bad."
I shrugged. Maybe there was something nice about Harry's aunt and uncle; if you looked deep down. When I say 'deep down' I mean if you look way deep down, past China, you might find something nice about them.
Mr. Lovegood handed us each a small cup of tea. The liquid had an odd gray hint and a few floating pieces of what I was told was Gurdyroot. I took one sip and almost choked. I quietly coughed and politely smiled, pretending to enjoy the tea. Luna had no reaction at all to the tea; I'm guessing she was enjoying it.
"So how did you do on your O.W.L.s?" I asked.
"I got six O.W.L.s," she smiled.
"That's good," I nodded.
"What about you?" she asked.
I choked on my tea again, but this time not because of the horrid taste. Did she even notice that I wasn't there for the rest of the year after the D.A. was discovered? She really doesn't pay attention to her surroundings, does she?
"I...uh," I paused, "I did pretty good."
"That's good," she nodded.
I finished off the rest of my tea with a rough cough and then placed the empty cup on the counter.
"I have something for you," Luna smiled.
She took my hand and took me upstairs to her room. She walked over to the nightstand that sat by her bed, and pulled one of the drawers out. Out of the drawer, she pulled out a necklace. It looked a lot like the one on her neck, except instead of a corkscrew, it was an old bottle-cap.
"Here," she said, "It's for keeping away the nargles."
I chuckled and put the necklace around my neck.
"Thanks, Luna," I said, "Well, I have to go. Bye."
I gave her a hug and waved goodbye before going back down the stairs.
"Bye, Mr. Lovegood," I called behind me as I walked out the door.
"Goodbye," he replied.
While walking back, I looked down at the necklace Luna had given me. From the whole time that I had known her, I had never seen her give away "protective charms" for the creatures she believed in; mostly because no one took the time to listen to her. Ever since I started visiting her over the summer, I learned so much from her. Luna didn't care if people thought she was weird or laughed at her, she still saw good in them. She cared about her friends, and wanted to protect them. So in a way, the necklace said I was her friend. I liked being Luna's friend.