-AN I tried to upload chapter 4 yesterday, but it didn't go through properly. I'm still trying to navigate the mechanics of FF. If you missed the last chapter, the jump in action won't make sense. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy!
Rose groaned and laid her head down on her crowded desk. Mountains of letters from Professor Faso had accumulated informing Rose about the Uagadou students' progress in their animagi transformations. Rose was beyond frustrated because she had yet to discern any sort of pattern of why some students successfully transformed and others were unable. One unfortunate student had become permanently disfigured when they transformed into a falcon- barracuda hybrid. Luckily, Professor Faso was able to intervene and return the student to an almost human form. The poor boy would likely live with scale-like feathers covering his limbs for the rest of his life. And Rose was no closer to solving the mystery of the animagi and preventing future catastrophes like that from occurring.
Rose couldn't help but feel a bit defeated after the last few weeks. Her work was at a virtual standstill and she had managed to alienate most of her friends.
St. Mungo's had cleared Rose for release at 11am on New Year's Eve with strict orders to ease herself back into her routine. An entourage of her friends and family had escorted her home. Scorpius and Lily had teamed up to dictate Rose's actions. She was allowed to attend the annual New Year's Eve bash at Albus's flat, but not allowed to eat, drink, or otherwise be merry. Further, they insisted that she return home at only 9pm. When Rose refused, Lily forced the issue by slipping a few drops of dreamless sleep potion into Rose's sanctioned herbal tea. She awoke at 8am the next morning ready to spit nails.
Alice arrived about an hour later. Apparently, her friends believed that Rose was least likely to maim Alice in a fit of rage. Alice escaped unscathed, but not without a warning to the others. Rose was more than capable of taking care of herself. Sure, she'd just been released from the hospital after being in a coma for five days. She thought it was perfectly reasonable to tell her friends and family to back off.
Unfortunately, her friends did not heed her warning. Rose barely had a moment of peace over the next few days as they visited non-stop. She knew that they meant well, but she felt smothered. Rose exploded on the sixth day when Hugo took a cup of caffeinated tea out of her hands and told her that Lily had ordered Rose be on decaf only for the next week.
In a feat of rather impressive wandless magic, Rose threw Hugo out of her flat. She disconnected her floo, retracted admission through her wards, and sent out an angry howler to Lily. She emphatically proclaimed that she did not need a baby sitter and that she was more than equipped to care for herself.
Rose knew that her family and friends were only trying to help because they loved her, but she needed space. A few days later, Rose had calmed down and sent her owl, Ulysses, off with letters to say that she was sorry for her reaction. She received frosty replies from almost everyone. Lily was miffed that Rose had disregarded her sound medical advice. Alice was hurt that Rose felt that she couldn't confide in her. And Hugo was downright pissed because he'd ripped his pants when Rose threw him out the door. Without his wand or access to Rose's flat, he'd had to walk through Diagon Alley to use the floo at The Leaky Cauldron with his bare arse visible for the world to see.
The only person who had seemed happy to be back in contact with Rose was Albus. Rose was thankful that he had gotten over his self-loathing and stopped groveling for forgiveness for the accident. He had agreed to have his black eye healed the day Rose was released from the hospital. He assured her that the others would come around soon.
Rose never received a response from Scorpius. She hadn't seen him since New Year's Eve.
In the present, Rose pushed back from her desk and abandoned the piles of letters, charts, and tables that seemed to lead to nothing. She had to leave to meet Lily and Roxanne to search for bridesmaid dresses. Rose hoped that she and Lily could get past their hostilities and wouldn't put poor Roxie in the middle for an afternoon of stunted conversation.
She bid ado to Unspeakable O'Brien as she walked to the floo, where she was magically transported to the Leaky Cauldron. From there it was a short walk to Madam Malkin's. It was easy to locate her cousins upon entering the shop; Lily stood out like a beacon in her flamboyant green robes and Roxie was practically glowing with happiness.
"Hi girls," Rose said gently. "Listen, Lils, I didn't mean to push you away. I know you meant well, but I never had a break! I was feeling suffocated. You know I would have followed any advice that you gave me. There was no need to give everyone orders of what I should and shouldn't do when you could have just told me yourself."
Lily had the good sense to look sheepish, "I get that now Rose. I just wanted to help. I overstepped."
Roxanne slung an arm around each of her cousins' shoulders, "Now that the awkwardness is over, let's get this show on the road!"
The shop staff had pulled what looked like hundreds of dresses for Lily and Rose to try. It was going to be a long afternoon.
Thankfully, Roxie was an incredibly decisive person. She immediately nixed more than half of the dresses. "No long sleeves," "Too much sparkle," "Have you seen the color of their hair?! No orange!" "Too whorish; I want my wedding to be classy, not look like a brothel!"
Once the pile was pared down to eight dresses, Lily and Rose were sent into the dressing room and told to strip to their knickers. Rose thanked Merlin that she had the forethought to wear a pretty, nude colored silk and lace bra and thong set that morning. It wouldn't have done to be caught in her laundry day undergarments.
The fitting witch entered with the first dress. It was a pretty mint green gown with an empire waist that fell to her knees. Rose shrugged and exited to stand in front of Roxie for judgment.
"Absolutely not!" Roxanne declared. "You're such different heights that short dresses look ridiculous." Rose glanced at Lily and noted that next to the petite witch, the hem lines looked mismatched. "Only keep the long dresses." That eliminated two more gowns.
The next three dresses were also quickly discarded. Lily lacked the chest to pull off a plunging neck, Rose couldn't wear a style that would require her to forgo wearing a bra, and neither witch could pull off a leather studded dress.
The next gown was a beautiful crimson. The strapless dress clung to Rose's torso and flared out around her hips. The fitting witch applied the finishing touch of a golden sash around her waist. Truthfully, Rose felt quite pretty in this dress and thought it might be the one.
"Hmmm, I like it," Roxie considered, "but it might be a tad bit too Gryffindor. I don't want Lysander to feel as if he's been shoved into the lions den."
Rose understood. House loyalty and pride extended long after graduation for many witches and wizards. A loyal Hufflepuff such as Lysander might feel out of place at his own wedding surrounded by so much red and gold.
"It's the top dress for now," Roxanne said. She turned to the shop assistant and asked, "If necessary, could we have these dresses charmed a different color?"
"Of course we could do that!" the sales witch guaranteed.
"OK, I'll keep that in mind, but for now there's one dress left. Off you get," Roxie shooed with a smile.
As soon as Rose caught sight of herself in the final gown, she gasped. The beautiful gown was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. The bodice what corseted and laced up the back. The satiny material clung to her bum and cascaded to the ground where it ended in a short train. The deep amethyst color, which Rose noted was a dead ringer for her Christmas sweater, made her features pop. Oh, Rose liked this dress very much.
In a rush to show Roxanne the dress, Rose flung the dressing room door open and barreled out. She collided with a tall body and felt herself falling. Her descent was halted by a pair of firm hands; one gripping her waist and the other wrapped around the back of her neck. Rose was pulled into a strong chest.
"Steady there, love."
Rose felt like her body was on fire. Heat was radiating from Scorpius's hands and penetrating Rose's blood. She shivered. "Thanks for the save, Scorp," Rose whispered.
Roxanne, who had been watching the interaction, grinned like the cat who ate the canary. "Hey Scorpius, what do you think of Rose's dress?" she prompted.
Scorpius pushed Rose away from his chest and held her at arm's length. Rose could feel the hot trail his eyes left as he scanned the gown from head to toe. "She's stunning," Scorpius confessed. Rose blushed as red as her hair. She observed Scorpius's eyes follow the downward path of the blush and saw that he lingered on the neckline of her gown where the flush surpassed the fabric.
His trance was broken when Lily exited her dressing room. Roxanne took one look at her and happily declared that these were the perfect gowns. Rose, who felt like her skin was burning from the intense looks Scorpius was giving her, fled back into the safety of the dressing room to change into her regular clothing. She called out to Scorpius and asked him to hang around for a few minutes.
She emerged wearing her jeans, black sweater, and suede boots. "What are you doing here, Scorp?"
"Oh, I told my dad that I'd pick up an order for him," Scorpius said and held up a small package that hadn't been in his hands earlier. "How have you been, Rose?" He raised a hand and grazed his fingers along her temple.
Rose flinched and took a step back. She didn't understand the heat that his touches caused and it scared her. "I've been alright. I'm all healed up now. Why didn't you owl me back? I'm sorry I overreacted."
"I just got busy with work, Rose. Nothing to be concerned about," Scorpius promised.
"So we're good?" Rose asked. Scorpius nodded. "Well, in that case, I expect to see you at my birthday this Saturday. Come by my place at 6pm. My folks are sticking around for dinner but they'll be taking off by 9. You really haven't had a chance to hang out with everyone since you've been home. It'll be a great opportunity for you to catch up with everybody.
"Six o'clock. I'll be there," Scorpius said with a wink. He gave Rose a quick hug and said goodbye to Lily and Roxanne who were off at the counter placing the order for the gowns.
An instant after Scorpius left, Lily and Roxanne sprung into a flurry of motion. "What the hell was that back there!" Roxanne demanded, "What's going on between you and Scorpius?"
"Nothing," Rose denied, "I was just inviting him to my birthday."
Lily harrumphed, "Believe what you want to Rose, but that boy was undressing you with his eyes. It was fucking hot!"
"No, it's not like that," Rose sputtered. "He was just looking over the dress. It really is a pretty dress, Roxie." Rose knew she was deflecting but she truly had no idea what had just occurred between herself and Scorpius. She could still feel the places where his hands had rested upon her skin. The warmth had dissipated, but a tingle remained.
"Whatever you say, Rose," Roxanne said. "Now, let's head over to The Leaky for some dinner and drinks."
Saturday, January 29th arrived and Rose was scurrying around her apartment prepping for her party. She had already donned her party clothes; a royal blue cocktail dress and black patent leather pumps. She kept her makeup simple with a light smoky eye and berry tinted lip. Rose liked to doll herself up for her birthday.
Nothing really needed to be done, but she couldn't stop fidgeting. She loved her birthday. Rose didn't consider herself to be an extremely self-centered person, but who wouldn't enjoy a day meant to celebrate yourself?
Rose acknowledged that they probably should be celebrating Hermione, too. It was her mother, after all, who did the hard work twenty two years before that led to today's celebration. But following that train of thought, Rose would have to acknowledge that her birth was resultant from her parents having sex in the coat room during the Ministry's annual May 2nd Remembrance Ball. And no child liked to think of their parents doing that.
Rose shuddered and diverted her attention to her fireplace which had just roared to life. One by one, her friends and family emerged. They greeted each other with hugs and laughs. Last to arrival was Scorpius who stepped out of her fireplace with a statuesque brunette who looked like she stepped out from the pages of Witch Weekly's most beautiful edition clinging to his arm. The girl wore a silver shift dress that clung to her thin frame like a second skin and sky high heels.
"Hi guys! You all remember Marguerite Shafiq, right?" Scorpius asked. The room tensed.
Oh yes, Rose remembered Marguerite Shafiq. The beautiful girl had been one of Scorpius's most frequent visitors in the Room of Requirement during seventh year. The dumb twit had been obsessed with Scorpius. Rose had tried to warn him that she was crazed but he didn't believe her until Albus caught Marguerite trying to spike Scorpius's butterbeer with amortentia. The slag had thrown an epic fit when Scorpius broke off their tryst.
Rose plastered on a fake smile, "Welcome Marguerite. I'm glad you could come." Rose wasn't about to let the witch's presence ruin her birthday. With Rose's seeming acceptance, her guests relaxed.
Hours later, after Rose had opened her presents and cut into the cake, the crowd had thinned to only friends. Roxanne and Lysander said their goodbyes and activated a portkey to return to Romania. Hugo, James and Fred were passed out in the corner after a failed attempt to drink one another under the table. Alice was happily telling Lily about her promotion to section editor at the Daily Prophet. Albus was sitting in Rose's favorite arm chair deep in conversation with Scorpius who was sitting across from him on the couch. Marguerite was leaning against him and running her hand up his thigh, Rose uncomfortably observed.
"Scorpy," Marguerite whined and batted her long eyelashes, "I'm bored. Let's get out of here and go have some fun." Rose wanted to gag as she caught the innuendo in her words.
"Uhh, sure. I'll bring you back home," Scorpius acquiesced. "You don't mind if I leave now, do you Rose?"
"Of course she doesn't mind, Scorpy baby," Marguerite answered for her.
Rose snorted, "it's fine." What had happened tonight was anything but fine but Rose was not going to say that now. "Why don't you all head out? I'm really tired and my head is starting to hurt."
Rose could barely stomach the looks of pity Albus, Alice, and Lily shot her way. Scorpius looked concerned, "You can't be pushing yourself too hard, love. Get some sleep and you'll feel better." He approached Rose and pulled her in for a hug. She had just settled into his arms when she felt him being ripped away.
Marguerite dragged Scorpius over to the fireplace. "Bye everybody!" she exclaimed and disappeared in a flash of green fire.
Scorpius stared at Rose for a moment longer and mouthed "I'm sorry," before vanishing in the flames.
The rest of her guests quickly left after that leaving Rose alone. Rose felt so confused. How could Scorpius show up at her birthday party with that slag on his arm? Didn't he despise the girl? Why did she feel so uncomfortable to see Marguerite touching Scorpius. Rose was used to seeing Scorpius with a girl hanging around. Why did she feel such despair now?
Rose walked into her bedroom and threw herself onto her bed. She was too taxed to change out of her party outfit or remove her make up. Hours earlier Rose had felt beautiful but as she recalled Marguerite's appearance, she felt entirely too plain. She felt cold and strangely empty. She pulled up her quilt and wrapped her arms around a spare pillow. Hours later, Rose finally succumbed to a fitful sleep.