Chapter Seventeen
Rose awoke with a throbbing headache, blinking into the sunrise. They had left the window open, and it blew a chilled morning air into the room.
It took her a moment to recognize her surroundings and company … or, lack of company. Rose was alone in the large bed. She shuffled out into the main room, searching the kitchen for Severus. No sign of him, not even in the sitting room. She sighed.
So typical.
On the kitchen table she noticed a vase of pink roses, freshly cut. She laughed.
"How cliché," she muttered. "Didn't think he had it in him."
She waved her wand, the heads of the roses cut swiftly off their stems and falling to the wood table. She stared at them ruefully, before she gathered her cloak and set off for her flat.
-o-o-o-
Rose devoted most of her day to recovering. She thought she might be done with drinking for the rest of the summer, but then again, she always thought that. She vowed to take it easy for the solstice banquet. Besides, all the professors would be there, and they wouldn't be belligerent, would they?
Rose mostly lounged around, flipping idly through various potions texts she owned. With all the solstice prep, she hadn't had much time to check out any new books. Maybe she would venture to the library when she felt she had the strength.
In the afternoon she felt well enough to tidy her flat, then consulted her schedule for the solstice. She would be in the Dungeons pretty much all day, except for the banquet and sleeping. She was beginning to dread the day, because though she had told Severus she wouldn't work, she knew she would anyway. She couldn't abandon all her hard work at the last moment.
Around supper, she felt strong enough to venture to the Great Hall. The turnout was measly: it seemed that all of the teaching assistants overdid it last night. She spotted Ella and Ximena at a far corner of the hall and breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad to see you two!" She said, sitting down and helping herself to a roll with butter.
"If it isn't the legend herself," Ella responded, taking a small bow.
"Please. I barely got away. I'm shite with a wand."
"Tell us the story, anyway," Ximena prodded. "I could use some good news today."
Uh oh. How could I not have foreseen this? Rose thought.
"Well, I was on my way back from the concert because I was … I don't know, really. I wanted to be outside for some reason and look at the stars."
Ella snorted. "Snape really has had you locked away for too long, huh?"
Rose tried to control her expression. Her hands fluttered about. "Very hippy-dippy, I'm aware." She laughed. "Anyway. I was walking on the path back to Hogwarts when I heard the gravel crunch. I turned to see a massive werewolf with yellow eyes and silver fur. I suppose I don't know the average height and mass of werewolves, but this one seemed impressive."
Rose shook her head. "He lunged at me, but thankfully I was able to cast a warding spell, then apparate back to Hogwarts. And that was it." Rose drank quickly from her glass goblet to hide her expression; today's drink of choice was sparkling apple cider.
"Wow," Ximena breathed.
Ella whistled low and a beat passed. Then, she asked, "What about the owl? Where'd you find him?"
"Oh!" This startled Rose, and she took a moment to fight with herself internally over lying about something so minute. She figured it would work into her story well enough to tell the truth.
"Well, I don't own an owl, of course. And I figured the owlery would be vacant at that time of night, so … Severus happened to awake, and I borrowed his owl. His name's Onyx."
Ximena cast a meaningful glance at Ella, which Rose missed as she drank from her goblet once more. Ella ignored Ximena.
"He's a friendly bird. And smart. I don't know how the hell he got into the Three Broomsticks."
Rose shrugged. "Beats me. I'm so glad he found you, though. I didn't think I'd be able to disapparate since I was already a little unsteady."
"It's a feat that you could apparate at all. I know I can't when I'm drunk," Ella said evenly.
Rose's stomach flipped. She cleared her throat. "I typically can't, either. Desperate times, I suppose?" She stuffed a forkful of mashed potatoes in her mouth, then changed the subject quickly.
"So, who did you stay in town with?"
-o-o-o-
Finally, the solstice had arrived. Rose felt much better, thankfully: she was awake, fed, and caffeinated by six a.m. She had chosen some of her most outlandish pieces to wear for the occasion: a brilliant pink chiffon skirt with gold embroidered tendrils, reminiscent of puffs of steam from a cauldron. To match, a mesh top with bell sleeves of a matching color with similar embroidery.
She hooked paisley-shaped gold earrings in her ears, then locked her flat and headed to the Dungeons.
She had to revisit her notes to remember what still needed to be done; it felt like so long ago that her and Severus had been rushing around attempting to get preparations finished.
The cauldrons she had left brewing were still where she had left them; Severus had only come back to turn off the burners beneath them. She was surprised he would abandon them: once brewed, any exposure to air would degrade them. Sighing, she gathered an armful of round-bottomed flasks and a ladle, spooning the potions into the bottles, corking them, then labeling them.
She was just finishing this task when Severus entered, standing stubbornly before her worktable until she noticed him.
"Good morning, Severus," she said in mock brightness.
"You're not supposed to be working today."
"Yet here I am." She replied, finally making eye contact and raising her eyebrows.
"You ruined my roses," he continued as she bustled around him.
"Oh? I thought they were for me."
Rose heard him sigh as she arranged potion bottles in a storage cabinet. "They were," he admitted.
"Well, I didn't like them," she said to the cabinet.
When Severus made no response, she turned to him. He was watching her with a flummoxed expression.
"Those were a pale pink. I prefer a brighter pink."
He stared at her carefully, weighing how to proceed. "I'll remember that for next time."
Rose wasn't certain whether she was enjoying herself or just had finally had enough. But, either way, she had to finish what had begun.
"There's no next time. You think because you saved me everything is back to normal? It's over, just like you said you wanted. I don't want to play these games anymore."
Severus nodded, blinking vacantly a few times. "Of course. My apologies."
His succinctness had never bothered Rose more than now, when she desired even a slight inclination that he regretted his former decision. She knew she would never receive that.
After a few moments of silence, Rose asked, "Well, what else needs to be done?"
-o-o-o-
Together, Severus and Rose set up a few more potions for class use, as well as Severus' experimental brews. Once they were done, Rose set up five different variations of her Liquid Memory, all using varying amounts of the same sedge species in an effort to prolong the effects of the potion.
Thankfully, Rose's experiments would only take about thirty minutes to complete, and another thirty or so to bottle. She would wait to try them later; she worried the effects might be a little too strong on the solstice. Despite her surly attitude while around Severus, she actually did want to enjoy the holiday.
While waiting for her potions to brew, she cleaned up the worktables, cleaning out the cauldrons she had used earlier in the morning. Using magic to clean instruments for brewing could be done, but was discouraged widely. There were many reported incidents of magic compounding with unexpected and unwanted effects to the user.
A few of the potions for class use finished before her own, so she began to bottle those up, labeling them with the date brewed and the potion name.
Severus, though his work was complete for now, sat at his desk in the corner, seemingly reading through a tattered notebook with scrawled writing. She could feel him watching her at times, though he would look away the moment she glanced at him.
When she had completed brewing her own experiments, she bottled them, cleaned the cauldrons, and stored them in a spare cabinet.
She was feeling more amicable now that her work was complete for the day and she could relax, and, most importantly, get away from Severus.
She paused at his desk. "I'm headed out. Maybe we can test both of our experiments Thursday and Friday."
Severus looked up, then nodded slowly. "Of course. I'll see you at the banquet."
"You're going to the banquet?" Rose asked incredulously. "The professor who never socializes?"
Severus smirked. "I figure I should make an appearance now and then. It's the one holiday besides Yule that staff drink together. I can't miss out on that spectacle."
This seemed unlikely to Rose, but she decided not to press it further.
"Besides," he added. "I want to see what other festive frocks you have for the occasion." He eyed her outfit slowly.
Rose's cheeks, annoyingly she thought, flushed. She mumbled a terse goodbye before rushing out of the classroom and out of the Dungeons. She thought she heard him chuckling as she hurried away.