𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿, james potter

˗ˋ 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH ROSIE MAKES
FRIENDS

. . .

This was all but determined to be an awful idea. Really - sneaking Rosie into a packed Gryffindor party which was only located in the Common Room with no teachers in sight and the only witness who might actually say anything being a painting who had watched students sneak in friends from other houses in for years was easy. Sneaking her into the Great Hall for a communal breakfast with students and professors at the school was completely different.

They knew the Fat Lady wasn't going to say anything; she probably already had too much of the painted wine in the glass clutched in her right hand. But if the head boy or girl managed to spot that the blonde, curly-haired girl wasn't a part of any house, let alone James's, then they could be in some trouble.

It helped greatly that everyone was either recovering from their own night of partying, goblets of juice spiked with potions to aid the thudding headaches, and that everyone was ready to support Gryffindor or Slytherin, and dressed to match their favourite. 

Which meant crowds upon crowds of scarlet and gold hats, scarves, face paint, jumpers, jerseys and absolutely anything else. That would probably worsen the ache behind their eyes, the colour combination simply too bright, but it was a good disguise. 

All in all, despite the lack of thorough thinking through on James's behalf when it came to sneaking someone from Hogsmeade into the castle for a night of Halloween fun, it seemed to have worked out rather well. 

"Wait. Hold on a moment." Remus and Peter had all dressed accordingly to support James and Sirius as the Chaser, Captain and Beater respectively, and joined them in walking with Rosie down to breakfast. Peter, who was a half-blood and much more knowledgeable about Muggle Halloween and the dress-up shops scattered around their towns, owned a case of face paint, and as they entered the Entrance Hall and neared the gigantic oak doors into the Great Hall, he brought the group to the stop. 

"Hm?" Rosie turned to look at him, watching as he pointed his wand to the small circular compact of red face paint, a couple drops of water mixing with it and turning it easier to apply. 

"James, do the honours?" Peter turned towards him and offered up the palette. The captain, already dressed in the basic components of his Quidditch uniform - the pants, scarlet and gold jersey, shin pads and one of the fingerless gloves on his hand (his cape, elbow pads and other glove was tucked away in a bundle with his wand) - took the paint and looked towards Rosie.

The hand holding the paint moved closer to her face, the index finger balancing beneath her chin and lifting it as his thumb and three other fingers held the palette. He smirked slightly at the position, eyes flickering behind his glasses from the red paint covering a second finger down to her lips before deciding to not allow himself to be distracted.

Carefully, he painted two stripes of red across her cheeks, before dabbing a small amount of paint on her temple. He pointed his wand towards the small patch, and when he stepped back, Sirius and Remus nodded appreciatively.

"A work of art." Sirius nodded, swinging an arm over Rosie's shoulder and pulling her towards the Great Hall and through the doors. The volume inside of the room was unbelievable, bubbling, excited voices mixing and merging into one loud noise. Like the night before, Rosie couldn't quite believe the energy surging through the students - she had never felt anything like it. "Well you certainly look the part now." He continued. "I doubt that anyone will be able to differentiate you from anyone else."

James appeared by her side, replacing Sirius's arm. "You look perfect." He mused, rolling his eyes as Remus raised his eyebrows at his words. They slid into a gap amongst the benches, Remus and Peter opposite of Sirius, James and Rosie. Besides them sat the group of girls that Rosie recognised from last night. 

One of them - Rosie never remembered the name of people she met when she was drunk - nudged the ginger one, who looked up and offered a weak smile. That one Rosie knew. That one was Lily.

James's ex-girlfriend who had prompted the strange situations between them. James's ex-girlfriend who was now watching as a stranger sat in between him and his best friend, wearing his Quidditch jersey and a hickey on her neck which was not so skillfully hidden by a scarf - they had thought covering it in red paint was too obvious. 

Deciding that it was probably best to reintroduce herself, Rosie cleared her throat, smiling as James poured her a cup of coffee. "Hi - I definitely met you last night but I have no memory of it at all.. so I'm Rosie." The girls were looking up, genuine, with hints of politeness, smiles on their faces. "Rosmerta. Rosie Rosmerta, I'm related to Madam Rosmerta and in a very appropriate turn of events, a lover of alcohol and an avid fan of your Quidditch captain."

And when one of the girls reached over to shake her hand and introduce herself as Marlene, Rosie knew that she was going to have some other friends by the time the Quidditch match came to an end.

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