Chapter Sixteen
The rest of the weekend passed in a blur. Saturday night Rose stayed over with Ella, watching movies and catching up on gossip. On Sunday, Oisin invited Ella, Rose, Ximena, and Damon over to his flat. They put on some music while playing card games or board games, drinking red wine throughout the day, their lips appearing bloodstained.
Finally, they all were so drunk they decided it a good idea to see the strength of certain charms they could cast, since the solstice was edging nearer. Oisin, best at charms of all of them, would choose the charm and they would follow suit. The first one Oisin chose was to create a very large, dog-sized tarantula to crawl around the room, scuttling past all of them and finally settling in a corner of the room to fashion a web.
Though they all attempted to replicate it, their results came out differently: Ella's was too spindly, almost appearing like a black widow; Ximena's was an ivory color; Damon's wasn't a spider in all, in fact it was a very large beetle with pincers; and Rose's was a smaller, pink jumping spider.
"Solstice or not, we blow," Damon laughed, patting the beetle he created. It gazed at him with its enormous round eyes, opening and closing its pincers contentedly.
"I quite like mine," Rose said. It had settled on her shoulder, where it peered at everyone from behind Rose's hair.
It was then that magic was forgotten again, and preparing dinner was the main thing occupying the groups' minds.
-o-o-o-
On Monday, the group decided to part ways for the day to reconvene later in the evening. Another Hogwarts alumni band was performing at the Three Broomsticks Inn, an all-female band called Pumpkin Pasties.
"How have you never heard of them?" Ella chided Rose on their walk to Hogsmeade that evening.
Rose had already had a few glasses of wine and felt warm, though the evening was unseasonably brisk.
"She's been trapped in the Dungeons, remember?" Ximena replied, winking at Rose.
Rose had become distracted by the weather. She felt goosebumps form on her bare arms, though she didn't feel chilled. "Why is it so cold right now? That can't bode well for the solstice, can it?"
Ximena and Ella groaned.
Ella shook her head. "That's some old superstition if I've ever heard any. It just happens to be cooler."
Rose shrugged, though something turned in her stomach. Perhaps she had drunk too much wine too fast. Ella brought the subject back to the band.
"I've seen Pumpkin Pasties at least a half a dozen times. They come to Hogsmeade twice a year. Their lead singer is so—" She began, but stopped herself when she caught Ximena's eye. "Er, talented!"
Rose laughed, any sense of anxiety bubbling away. "You'll have to introduce me, Ella. I think I've allowed Oisin enough time to move on."
Ximena and Ella exchanged a look.
"You won't need to worry about that," Ella said. "Oisin has been seeing one of the bartenders at the Three Broomsticks."
Rose deflated, but chided herself for her vanity. Of course he would move on.
Ximena poked her arm gently. "Have you been seeing anyone lately?"
Ella cast Ximena a beseeching look that Ximena ignored. Rose didn't notice this exchange.
Rose was feeling a lot tipsier than she had meant to feel. She forgot that the solstice even affected how potent magical alcohols were, too. She decided to be somewhat candid, even with the risk of being figured out.
"I was. He was … complicated. It ended really suddenly. I wish it hadn't." Rose pushed back the tears that were readily forming, trying to maintain some semblance of sobriety.
Ella wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her. "Fuck him. He didn't know what a gem he had. I'll hook you up with the Pumpkins tonight. I know for a fact at least two of them are queer, and maybe single."
Then, Hogsmeade's brilliant lights and textured pathways swallowed them, coming to Rose's rescue; she was worried that the conversation would inevitably turn to more specifics of who she was referring to.
Ella was looking at her worriedly, so Rose quickly changed the subject. "Are Damon and Oisin already at the Three Broomsticks?"
Ximena nodded. "I think so. I'm pretty sure all the teaching assistants are going."
"I don't know any of them besides the four of you."
Ella shrugged. "They're alright. Not to sound biased, but we have the best group for sure. The other five aren't close with each other; I think for the most part they've paired off or they've been going solo."
Rose blinked. "I can't imagine that. Especially being at Hogwarts."
Ella leaned in conspiratorially, faux whispering. "You wouldn't want to hang out with them, anyway … most of them are Slytherins or Gryffindors."
This hadn't occurred to Rose before. "Are you telling me all of us sorted ourselves by houses without meaning to?"
Ella's eyes sparkled. "Weird, isn't it? Who needs that dusty, ripped hat anyway."
Rose laughed. She admittedly hadn't thought of the Sorting Hat in years. "Do you guys remember your sorting?" She asked dreamily.
Ximena shook her head. "I was too nervous. It was all a blur. I just remember immense relief in it being over."
Ella and Rose muttered agreements.
"I was almost put in Gryffindor. I probably would've gotten beaten up." Ella laughed.
Rose laughed in disbelief. "No way. They would've been terrified of you."
Ella puffed her chest out theatrically, placing her hands on her hips. Ximena and Rose laughed raucously.
Rose hadn't thought about her sorting in a long time. "The Sorting Hat was mulling over Hufflepuff for me before Ravenclaw," she admitted.
Ximena poked her arm. "It's because you're such a softie."
"And because you can't handle your alcohol for shit!" Ella crowed. "C'mon, I think I've already sobered up from that walk."
-o-o-o-
Ella, Ximena, and Rose found their way to the bar once inside the Three Broomsticks Inn, drinking two rounds of a themed shot called Solstice Sunrise (unsurprisingly, it was a tequila sunrise in shot form).
A group of Hogwarts alumni that Rose vaguely remembered to be on the Slytherin Quidditch team a few years older than them decided to chat up the three of them, buying them drinks. They chatted pleasantly, accepting another round of free drinks from them, before ultimately making an excuse to go to the restroom together.
They floated around the Inn, this pattern ultimately being guided by Ella knowing so many alumni.
Rose said quietly to Ximena, "Wow! She was popular in school! No wonder I don't remember her very well."
Ximena shook her head. "Hey, I don't either. What were we doing with our time, anyway?"
Rose laughed. "I don't think I was doing anything differently from now. Brewing potions, hanging out with friends, skulking around the library."
Rose and Ximena had decided to settle in wingback armchairs by the fire, abandoning Ella momentarily. They needed a respite before the show began. Ella was chatting with a few Ravenclaw alumni by the bar.
"I remember you, Rose. And your friend that you always were with. Olivia. She was in a few of my classes." Ximena didn't look at her. She was fiddling with a gold charm bracelet on her wrist.
Rose felt as if all the air had been pushed out of her lungs. She had to remind herself to inhale.
"There was this one Slytherin kid in Charms with me, Collin, I guess he liked me. He would just pick on me nonstop. Olivia was the only person who would shut him up."
Rose felt her throat began to tighten. She swallowed thickly. "She was the best."
The lights began to dim then, tilting the room from a comforting, warm gold to a cooling blue. Blue and violet lights shone onto the stage. Ximena smiled, taking Rose's hand. "Let's find our social butterfly," she told her.
They made their way to the stage, pulling Ella along with them. The Pumpkin Pasties came onto the stage, all looking both outrageous and stylish in matching glittery bellbottoms and corset tops of varying colors.
The music began and Rose immediately began to feel lighter, lifted by the mellow and upbeat sound of the band. The crowd around the stage began to sway and dance with fervor. Ella, Ximena, and Rose followed suit.
A mystery flask of some type of alcohol-hallucinogenic potion hybrid was being passed around and found its way to Rose. She wondered what the ingredients were more than what it tasted like or what the effects were.
What a loser, Rose told herself. She took two large gulps from the flask before passing it along.
The effects of the concoction were immediate. Colors seemed brighter, sounds seemed more pleasant, and she felt warm and hazy. At one point, she couldn't feel her feet and assumed it was because she was levitating.
She felt absorbed in a liquid of technicolor and vibrations, closing her eyes to feel her surroundings better. She opened her eyes when the lead singer, Ginger, announced she would be singing "a song for unrequited love."
Ginger sang soulfully as her keyboardist played soft, melancholy synth.
Rose felt she had been elsewhere, and now had been transported back. She glanced around her. Where had Ella and Ximena gone? They had drunk the potion, too.
She was beginning to feel sleepy and thought there might be no better thing than to look at the moon and stars, then go to sleep. She pushed her way through the crowd, accidentally bumping into Oisin and his girlfriend. He looked startled to see her.
"Hullo," Rose mumbled, holding his arm for balance.
"Rose! Blimey, you're fucked up, aren't you?" He laughed. Evidently, he was, too.
"Can you tell Ximena and Ella I went home? I need to … the moon, the stars …" She gestured around vaguely with her hand, but couldn't finish her sentence.
Oisin's girlfriend shot Oisin an incredulous look that Rose's glassy eyes didn't catch.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, Rose. Maybe you should wait around here to get all your wits about you, what d'you say? You could hang out with us," Oisin said.
His girlfriend was really trying to meet his eye now.
"No, no, don't worry …" Rose trailed off, then suddenly turned, pushing her way towards the door.
She barely noticed tripping on the cobblestone street as she stumbled towards the path to Hogwarts. The moon had never seemed to her more beautiful than now and how fortunate, she thought, that it could light the path for her. She tried to find her favorite constellations as she made her way down the path, pausing for a moment.
There were the easy ones, of course, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion. Where was Cancer? Leo? She squinted, but she thought the lights of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts might be skewing the visibility. Or, really, maybe everything was spinning, anyway.
She was gazing at the sky like this when she startled, hearing the crunching of dirt under large feet, and turning. A massive furry shape careened towards her, lunging at her and knocking her aside, its large claws slashing through the back of her cloak. Rose tumbled onto the dirt, rolling over onto her stomach.
Standing before her was the first werewolf she had ever seen. To her it looked like a sickly yet monstrous wolf attempting to walk on two legs. Its dark grey hackles glowed in the moonlight as they raised.
Hands shaking, Rose removed her wand from her cloak. She quickly got to her feet, and raised her wand to hex the werewolf. Before she could utter her incantation, the werewolf lunged at her, slashing at her arms and knocking her wand into the darkness.
Rose glanced frantically around, whispering "accio," though she knew this attempt was futile.
The werewolf uttered a guttural growl, its sunken yellow eyes not moving from her. It edged closer to her. Rose was now very frantically looking for her wand, internally cursing herself for not bringing at least one potion that could help her.
The werewolf stepped closer to her, Rose reactively taking a step back. She stepped backwards onto a rock, stumbling to the ground. The moonlight shone onto the werewolf's enormous, sharp teeth, bared fully at her, a string of saliva hanging from its gums.
The werewolf uttered a fearsome growl before lunging at Rose one final time. She flinched, shutting her eyes tightly and expecting sharp pain.
But the pain didn't come. She opened her eyes to find the werewolf running desperately away, and a cloaked figure standing before her, their wand emitting a pale light in a round shield. The figure dropped their wand, the shield disappearing, before turning quickly to her.
"Show me your arms," Severus commanded.
"Severus! What are you … why are you here?" Rose's head still swam from the drinks and potions of the evening.
He pushed back his cloak hood, his hair falling forward into his face. He held out his hands. "Show me! Now, Rose!" Rose became vaguely aware that he was now yelling.
"Okay, okay …" Rose mumbled, holding out her arms obediently.
He used the light of his wand to survey them, turning them over gently.
"Your back," he ordered. He stood, pushing aside her hair. He moved the cloak away from her, running his hand along her back.
Once finished, he collapsed beside her onto the dirt path. He swore under his breath.
"Why are you here, Severus?" Rose whispered.
"I had business in town." He said flatly.
Rose laughed, a little more raucously than usual due to her intoxicated state. Severus made a face at her outburst.
"It's the middle of the night. You followed me."
Severus seemed too exhausted to argue. "Fine. I was at the Broomsticks and wanted to be sure you were safe."
Rose was filled with a rush of emotion at this. Without thinking, she leaned forward, taking his face in her hands and kissing him. He pulled away, confused, before pulling her towards him again and kissing her. Finally, he released her.
Severus emitted an exasperated huff.
"Accio Rose's wand," he called, the wand landing lightly in his palm. He ran his hand across it. The handle was carved to be twisted, appearing almost like ivy growing on it. Remembering himself, he handed it to her brusquely.
He took her arm, lifting her to a standing position, and almost falling over.
"It's not safe to be here. I can apparate us back to Hogwarts, but then I'll need to rest."
Rose backed away from him, shaking her head. "All of the teaching assistants are at that show. We're just going to leave them to wander back? I have to warn them. What if that werewolf comes back?"
Severus snorted. "He's not coming back. That's what that spell was."
"But you said it's still dangerous here!" Rose protested.
Severus was losing patience. "We have to go. Now, Rose."
Rose shook her head, making to begin walking towards Hogsmeade. Severus quickly grabbed her waist, pulling her in towards him and swiftly disapparating them from the road.
They landed in Severus' flat, Rose stumbling and falling backwards, while Severus landed squarely on his feet, only to collapse onto his hands and knees.
Rose scrambled to her feet, casting around for Severus' medicine cabinet.
"Go to the bathroom. Look behind the mirror." Severus ordered. "Get me …"
"Regenerative potion, I know," Rose finished.
She stumbled into his bathroom, steadying herself on the marble sink. Apparating suddenly hadn't done much to sober her up, and in fact she was beginning to feel more intoxicated than ever. She rifled through the medicine cabinet, the bottles scuttling about and rolling onto the counter, until finally finding a miniscule bottle full of dense, scarlet liquid.
She returned to the sitting room, finding Severus propped up against the wall, his head lolled to the side.
"I need you … to open it for me," he panted.
She kneeled beside him, uncorking the vial and sniffing the potion. "Ugh, this is old, Severus."
His head lolled from side to side. "It'll have to do."
She titled his head back, pouring the liquid, now clumpy from old age, into his mouth.
She got up, hurrying to his fridge and rummaging for any sort of sweet drink. She could already hear Severus coughing from the sitting room. Regenerative potions were difficult enough to keep down, even without being expired.
She settled on a neglected carton of orange juice. It would have to do. She rushed back to Severus, who was now coughing and gagging. She pushed his head back against the wall, tipping the orange juice carton to his mouth. He drank quickly, sputtering slightly. The sticky juice dripped onto his black sweater.
Rose just now noticed his attire.
Casual clothing? Weird.
He was wearing a black wool sweater vest with a white button-down and charcoal slacks.
Severus coughed a few more times before finally collapsing against the wall, his eyes shut tightly.
Rose placed one hand on his arm gently. "Thank you for saving me."
His eyes blinked open. "You're lucky. That was Fenrir Greyback. He was trying to change you."
"He wouldn't have killed me?" Rose asked.
Severus shifted uncomfortably. "There's always the chance."
Rose felt herself snap from her stupor. She stood quickly. "The concert! I have to warn Ella and Ximena!" She ran towards the door, but found it locked. She turned to see Severus holding out his wand. He slowly lowered his wand.
"Please, Rose. You can send Onyx."
Rose frowned at him dubiously. "And how will he find them? At a bar? And get into said bar?"
Severus smiled sleepily. "He's very convincing."
Rose sighed, casting one last look at the door. She found a piece of parchment, a quill, and ink at the writing desk in Severus' bedroom. She scrawled a quick note to Ella:
Ella!
Ran off early because I'm a drunk idiot.
Got attacked by a werewolf but I'm okay —
please let the other TAs know and stay safe.
xxx
Ro
Even being slightly drunk, she still realized how ridiculous this note sounded. Still, it would have to do.
When she finished writing the note, she opened the kitchen window, calling for Onyx. She wasn't certain it would work, but sure enough: he landed on the windowsill, his talons clicking loudly against the wood.
"Find Ella," she told him. "She's at the Three Broomsticks."
Rose cast a glance at Severus before continuing. She whispered, "I'll give you a fantastic treat if you succeed."
Onyx seemed to understand this, taking the note from her hands before soaring into the night.
Severus smirked at her from the wall. "You spoil him."
She had thought Severus might appear at least slightly rejuvenated by now, but somehow he looked worse.
She slid to the ground next to Severus, taking one of his arms and tossing it over her shoulder. She helped him stand, then helped him into his bed. She unclasped his cloak, hanging it in his armoire. He watched her from the bed, unmoving.
Finally, she settled on the bed beside him. She hesitated before taking his hand in hers.
She heard him sigh softly, but thought it must have just been a breath.
"Stay with me," he whispered. "Please."
She gazed at him, heavy-lidded, before letting her eyes fall to her lap.
"I don't think I should."
He gave a short nod. "Fair enough."
They sat in silence for a while, Severus with his eyes shut and Rose staring sleepily out at the open window, the bright moon illuminating the dark room.
Onyx appeared on the windowsill again, startling Rose and bringing movement to the room once more. She hurried to retrieve the letter. Onyx stepped away from her when she tried to take it from him.
She laughed. "Alright, alright. I'm true to my word, okay? Severus, do you have anything good in your fridge?"
"I have some frozen mice in the freezer for when he's a good owl."
She smiled. "Which is always?"
"Just about."
She took a frozen mouse from a plastic bag in the freezer, placing it on the sill. He dutifully offered her the letter before swallowing the mouse whole. Rose scratched his head behind his tufts, then sat on the bed.
The letter read:
Leave it to you to get all the excitement for the night without us! Ha!
Glad you're okay.
Ximena and I are going to stay with friends visiting in town. Told the other TAs.
You might be a legend after this.
xoxo
Ella
P.S. Whose owl is this?!
Rose's stomach turned at the last line of the letter. How foolish could she have been? What if someone found out about Severus and her? Even retrospectively, it would be a scandal.
"Well?" Severus asked.
She turned to him, placing the letter on his chest. "Read the last line."
He tilted his head up from the pillow, scanning the letter quickly, before letting it fall again. He shut his eyes, unperturbed.
"And?" He asked.
"And," Rose said. "What if it becomes obvious that … you know …" For some reason, Rose couldn't come outright and say it. We've been fucking? Too crass. We've been seeing each other? Severus would debate that.
"Have you told your friends about us?"
"No," Rose said quickly, before correcting herself. "Well, a little bit. Just that you used to hate me and now you don't … or didn't … and I alluded to a breakup of sorts. That's all."
He shook his head, his eyes still closed. "If they haven't figured it out yet, I don't think they ever will. You spend all your time in the Dungeons, yet you still have time to meet someone? I'm sure Ella has figured it out. If she hasn't, perhaps there was a sorting error." He smirked.
This hadn't occurred to Rose. She just assumed because she was never around, they might assume she was going to town or meeting people in other ways, maybe even through the Potion Masters' Guild meetings. She felt foolish for even letting on a small bit of information to her friends. Though, it had felt like it was time. And she had to explain her absence somehow.
"Maybe I'm the sorting error. I'm the one who didn't connect those dots."
"Nonsense," he said quickly. Rose started, looking at him in shock.
"You're just drunk." He added.
Rose exhaled loudly. "Not so much anymore. Nothing like a werewolf to kill your buzz. And a run in with your ex."
Severus didn't respond to this, and Rose didn't prod him. She cast the letter aside, setting it on a dark mahogany nightstand. She blew out the lantern still alight on it, edging closer to Severus and laying her head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her waist, leaning his head against hers, the full moon illuminating their silhouettes.