:D

Chapter 9

Chrysanthemum, or mums, are flowering plants with rows of sharp and smooth petals. The color of the flower symbolizes different meanings. Yellow for neglected love, or sorrow. Purple, a get well wish. White symbolizes loyalty and honesty.
And red stands for deep passion.

He made himself comfortable in Rose's reading chair, kicking off his boots as she promised she'd be back with some tea. And then they could talk about the secret she was keeping. He looked around the bedroom he had spent two nights in and relaxed back into the chair, feeling the last week melt away. A hectic, exhausting week that had literally driven him crazy. That pounding in his head had felt like the worst of migraines… yet it had cleared away with only a moment of laughter.

Now that he was made aware of it, he wondered just when Penny had come to mean so much to him and thought it might've been inevitable since the moment the little witch stepped into his shop asking to see his garden and then later, when she declared sincerely and sweetly that they were now best friends.

He got along well with most of the neighborhood kids, but Penny was different and he knew it. And now he couldn't stop thinking about her mother. Rose's room smelled like her, something he didn't realize last time he was here. Or maybe she simply hadn't lived here long enough for it to sink in at that time. Or maybe it was the familiar silver bucket of lemongrass in the corner by the restroom. Either way, he enjoyed it and the resulting feeling it gave him.

Peace.

Now the scent surrounded him, and she had left her bedroom doors open and he could easily hear her moving around her kitchen, putting the kettle on, and whipping up a midnight snack for the girls. Their laughter and joyful delight filled the entire house, until he could practically feel it. It was calming… and felt right. Penny and Rose felt like pieces of a puzzle that he fit into. And it had been far too long since he felt that kind of belonging.

He stood up and walked by her drawing desk, the surface covered with blank pieces of sketch paper. He fingered the edge and thought back to the last time he was here. The pages had been blank then too. He thought on that as he moved past the high desk and the comfortable bar stool beside it and found himself crawling beneath the sheets. Her scent was even stronger here. His mind turned heavy and his thoughts slowed, until he barely remembered thinking he had never returned to any woman's house that he had slept with before, not for any reason. Until Rose. By the time Rose returned with the promised tea, he was sound asleep in her bed.

"Huh…" she found herself amused and curious at the same time. His head faced the window, one elbow thrown over his eyes, giving her a perfect view of his strong neck. What a week he must've had. Now that she thought about it, he did look tired when she first saw him and she knew it was a tired only children could bring about. She had experienced it first hand, and that was with only one little girl. Neville had told her that Ginny Weasley had had twins, and she could only imagine how exhausting that would be.

Placing the teacup by the bed, and a hard fought stasis charm to keep it warm for when he woke, she stared longingly at her drawing desk before leaving Neville to get some rest. Her heart fluttered wildly, thinking that the very next morning would determine where their relationship went. Because she couldn't, and wouldn't, lie to him anymore. And she could only hope that he would forgive her, both for that lie and for being the witch who used to be Pansy Parkinson.

And that wasn't the only trouble on her mind. She was determined to replace her supply and get her shop open pronto, with a new roof contractor coming early the next morning, she could only do one of those things. She had a plan, but she couldn't shake the feeling that with Neville asleep in her bed upstairs, something had changed. It wasn't completely lost on her that even though he knew she was hiding something, he came back to her. Her mind flashed to that smile he laid on her right before they walked into the house. The Devil's smile. Like she was exactly where he wanted her. And damned if that didn't just get her heart thumping. She could only hope things didn't change too much.

Rose tied her apron on over her clothes and began brewing again, the gentle sounds of a summer night coming in through the open windows a sound she had become accustomed too since the move back to Diagon Alley. Before long she had all 6 burners of one stove top going, cauldrons bubbling and simmering happily, letting off fragrant scents. She felt herself settle, her mind at ease as she completed task after task. Penny would say she was getting her zen on. She had to agree with her daughter, it felt exactly like that.

The floor above her was noisy with the girls being rowdy, but she didn't worry about Neville. Checking her watch, she knew Penny would be conk out as soon as she sat still for a moment. She had given them milk and cookies since it was a special night and the sugar crash would come sooner than later. A deep breath told her rain was coming. Her movements were steady and sure as she whipped up batches of lotions and beautification potions and perfumes with an ease honed over the years. Rose water simmered on her big burner and it scented the whole floor, mixing with the delicate scent of rain in the air.

She was in the zone, so the last thing she expected at the late hour was a knock on her door. It was quiet and easy, unhurried. So she checked all her cauldrons first, then washed her hands. She was wiping them off when she managed to open her front door.

"Oh - "

"What-"

"Ginny Weasley?"-"Pansy Parkinson?"

They spoke at the same time and then hesitated. Ginny Weasley stood, her fiery red hair was thrown into a messy ponytail and she wore a loose pair of jeans and a tee shirt. The famous witch took one look at her with narrowed brown eyes closer to tawny than usual brown and crossed her arms. Though they stood at the same height, Rose felt she was at a steep disadvantage. This witch had taken exactly one second to figure out who Rose was. She had slept with Neville, and he still hadn't placed her yet.

"I'm looking for a Rose Russo." she said after a long, uncomfortable silence spent eyeing each other wearily.

Of all the things…"You found her." Rose laughed awkwardly. "Would you like to come in? I've been smelling rain in the air for an hour now."

And she stepped aside, gesturing for Ginny Weasley to come into her home as if she hadn't been a girl named Pansy Parkinson, a girl who hated and bullied in school. The witch heavily considered it before tentatively taking a step inside.

"This is… very strange." she said as Rose closed the door behind them.

"You're telling me…"

Just as she realized she had no idea what to say or do and that Ginny was most likely feeling the same way, Penny popped her head over the railing.

"Visitors mama?!" she said just as Fiona leaned over the railing, copying Penny's posture exactly. They both had feather hats on.

"Are there more cookies, Mrs. Russo?"

"No, but I might make pancakes in the morning."

"Wait… what is a pancake?" Fiona asked in curious delight.

Penny laughed, nearly toppling over the edge. "Fi! You've never had a pancake before? It's a cake… that you make in a pan. They're flat like this!" and she held her hands together, horizontally.

"Oh! Can we have pancakes now?" Fiona asked shyly.

"Oi, your mum let you have sweets this late?" Ginny said sharply, crossing her arms again. Her gaze was pure parent, a mother who had her 'look' down pat.

"No…"

"That's what I thought." Ginny said.

"You two get to bed, and try to keep it down will you? Neville is asleep upstairs." Rose paused, and Ginny gave her a look of surprise, then she added. "And if you behave, pancakes for breakfast."

That promise got them moving back into Penny's room quickly and with quiet giggles that had both Rose and Ginny smiling. Until the silence came back.

"Uh…"

"Tea?" Rose winced, expecting the next bits of conversation to be as awkward as they come.

"Please."

It took too little time to make and pour the tea, and before she knew it, she was sitting across the table from a witch who surely hated her on sight. And it was justified. That was the kicker. Half her life she spent prejudiced and spiteful, taking out her anger and her issues by putting others down. Pansy Parkinson was a hateful, prideful, angry child who hadn't felt an iota of real love once. The first year at a Muggle University had killed any shred of pride she had. Meeting Phil, and learning how to love, had smoothed away the remains of her anger. Having Penny had grown her heart. But how could she possibly explain that to this woman?

Ginny's face showed no emotion. Only the steady brown-eyed gaze gave any clue to Rose what thoughts the witch was thinking.

"They both yours?" Ginny asked, taking a measured sip from her cup.

"The girls? No, Fiona lives down the street. Penny's new friend." she smiled just thinking about the shy, but mischievous girl her daughter had become quick friends with. A perfect match to Penny's outgoing and reckless personality.

"Penny… Where is her father?" Ginny asked.

"He passed away, in a car accident. It's been about a year and a half now. She's adjusted fairly well considering." The question surprised her.

Ginny's eyes flashed brightly for a second, a moment of understanding before it faded away. "Neville had mentioned… I'm sorry, I had forgotten."

"He mentioned it to you?" Rose wondered out loud.

"Yes… he talks about her a lot." Ginny's eyes trained on the ceiling and Rose knew she meant Penny. "She starting school soon then?"

"In September actually. Why are we talking about my kid?"

"Why lie about your name?" she snapped instead of answering.

"Primrose Russo is my legal name." Rose leaned forward, ready to defend herself against this witch even as she wished the conversation could just be over.

"Neville would have… I mean… getting him to talk is harder than pulling teeth… but he would have mentioned that it was you."

And there was that. Rose shook her head, amused that this was turning into the conversation she wanted to have with Neville. Instead it was an irate Ginny, in the middle of the night.

"Why were you looking for me?"

Whatever Ginny had been expecting, it wasn't that.

"Because when Neville left my house, he was in a bad way. I wanted to make sure he got home okay."

"Why not just floo?" she wondered. Something had pulled the witch here, and she wanted to know why.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." was the arctic response from this woman who so obviously hated her, it was starting to grate against Rose's skin.

"No… no you don't." Rose got up and went back to her cauldrons, letting her hands take over.

Ginny sighed heavily, her fingers tightening on her empty teacup. "Because he's my best friend and I'm worried about him. And I'm nosey as hell."

Maybe that was true and maybe it was time for Rose to admit a truth she was so uncomfortable with, it had caused her to run from Neville. "I… I don't think he realizes…" she admitted after a long minute of silence.

"Are you joking?" Ginny barely whispered, but it sounded like a yell to Rose. The witch came to the other side of the island, forcing their eyes to meet.

"I wish I were…." Rose lifted her hand to her eyes and rubbed away the glamour. The more time she spent in Diagon Alley, the less she found herself wearing it in the first place. She spent nearly 15 years straight with it on, the natural bright violet hidden away behind ordinary brown. If it had been her choice, she would have never returned to the Magical World. She would have stayed far, far away with her brown eyes. She returned only for Penny.

But now… She wondered if she would have been happy in the Muggle world without Phil. Especially when Penny so obviously belonged here in Diagon Alley.

She had already learned so much, made new friends. And no matter Rose's preference… no one could deny Penny's birthright. She finished rubbing away the glamour, her heart beating heavily. She'd have to do this for Neville too. She thought she could probably deal with Neville's anger, even though she hadn't had any experience with it yet. Was it fiery? Did it make him mean? She didn't know. But she would prefer that to his hurting.

Because the last thing she ever wanted to do was hurt Neville Longbottom, with his sexy blue eyes and a heart bigger than the moon.

"I had plastic surgery on my nose after an accident. Maybe it's because of that… maybe it's because I'm older. Maybe it's because I'm just different…" she said finally, revealing her bright eyes for Ginny to see.

"Bologna. I recognized you on the spot, even with all that." the other witch used her hand to gesture to Rose's face.

"I don't know what to tell you." Rose watched Ginny as her eyes flashed brightly with unhidden emotion, wishing she could read her mind and know her thoughts.

"After everything you did to him… how can he not realize who you are?" Ginny spat nastily, her face tinting red with anger for the first time. The color matched her hair perfectly. "And why the hell haven't you told him?"

Rose sucked in a breath and briefly wondered why it was easier to talk to Ginny about this than Neville. And then she realized exactly why and there was no dancing around it, not anymore. "Because I … I think I could fall in love with him given the chance. And I don't want to hurt him, but I don't know how to tell him."

But that only angered the witch more. "That's that some self serving bullshit."

She choked a bit on that, but didn't hesitate because if she couldn't face Ginny Weasley with this, then how could she do so with Neville who meant so much more to her? "If I had known how things were going to turn out - If I had realized…" She gulped. "I would have told him from the start. He didn't recognize me when we met again. I never thought things would get this far and when I put together that he was working so close to where I had just moved to, I didn't want things to get ugly between us. Believe me when I say I never thought we would end up sleeping together."

Leaning forward in a dramatic move, Ginny made a funny sound in the back of her throat just as she rolled her eyes. "He sleeps with everyone!"

"What?" Her heart thumped painfully, her mind flashing to that image of him pressing Maggie against the wall, with his hand between her legs.

"You know what… never mind about that. You have to tell him!" Ginny slid into one of the bar stools against the island. "You have to tell him as soon as possible."

"He came over, we were going to talk but he fell asleep before we could. And I'm kind of glad! I don't know what to say!" Rose said desperately.

"I'm going to pretend I'm not severely angry with you and just tell you this: He has never mentioned any girl to me, not once, in all the time he's been whoring himself around Diagon Alley ever since that fool of a girl Hannah Abbott went and got herself killed! Until you! Of all the people."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Rose felt her own cheeks heating in anger, her neck getting warm.

"He deserves way better than you." Ginny spat at her. "And if you think I would stand by and let you lie to him…"

Steeling her spine, Rose said in a low voice, "I think it's time you left."

"Rose Russo…" Ginny shook her head, her tone full of malice. "Tell him the truth. Or I will."

oOoOo

She woke up in the same position she had fallen asleep in, curled up on the couch with her face buried in the pillow. Her neck hurt from the uncomfortable position, but she could hear Penny and Fiona whispering and giggling together, the sounds of forks scraping against plates.

And she could smell the heavy aroma of dark coffee. Her sleepy mind thought longingly of Saturday mornings where Phil would whip up an extravagant breakfast and wake Rose up with a fresh cup of coffee. But all too soon she remembered Phil was gone. And she was on the couch.

Because Neville had been in her bed. She simply could not have gone to him after the fight she had with Ginny.

She sat up and the throw blanket someone must've covered her with at some point fell to the floor in a pile of blue and green. She looked over the top of the couch at to the kitchen island where the majority of the noise was coming from. And her heart soared.

Neville flipped pancakes with ease, entertaining the girls with the showy moves and even managing to make his mistakes look good. He had a whole spread laid out and in the center of her island, in a colorful vase Penny had made, a fresh set of red mums winked happily at the room. She watched them for a few minutes until the girls decided they were finished and got up.

"Neville will you tell my mum we're going to the park to meet up with everyone else?"

"Who is 'everyone else'? That Corwin boy?" Neville said, sliding extra pancakes onto a plate with cut fruit.

"Yes and with Sienna and Elise too." she responded excitedly.

"Stay around the area behind my shop. Ian will be there soon." Neville said.

"Done!"

Rose watched as Penny dragged Fiona out, slamming the door behind them as they went. She looked back to Neville and sighed almost dreamily.

There was something extremely sexy about a man cooking... in her kitchen no less. "Did the girls leave any scraps for me?" she asked, her voice husky with sleep.

His eyes turned to her at the first sound of that voice and the sheer force of feeling that stirred in her stomach when he looked at her nearly toppled her over. He needed to shave, his jaw dusty with dark hair that had grown overnight. And his eyes were smudgy blue even from across the room. His shirt sleeves were rolled up and a bit of pancake batter stained parts of his jeans. He was good to her kid, he was sexy as hell, and she wanted him.

Until he said, "Why are your eyes different?"