𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕾𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖙 𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕲𝖔𝖑𝖉𝖊𝖓
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December 1994
The last trip to Hogsmeade of the year always took place ten days before Christmas break. Well, last trip of the year itself, not school year, the teenagers knew there were many more to come.
But that one, was the most chaotic. It was the opportunity for the teenagers to gather all the Christmas gifts for their friends and families, all the while trying to find the time to have fun.
Since their third year, Lola, Kyra, Rose and Andromeda had made it their tradition to run around, grab onto the gifts they needed to buy and meet again the very next hour at the Three Broomsticks and be joined by the boys.
Romy, despite her talents and her little side hustle, didn't always gift her creations. She didn't want her friends and relatives to get tired of it. Of course, everything she made was made with love, but just because she was creative, didn't mean that she had to force her work into someone else's grateful hands.
She always saw the beauty in gift-giving. It was something personal, something that one holds dear to heart. It must be something the receiver likes, not something she knows how to make.
Every year, the first gifts to be bought would be that of her parents, brother, Harry, and uncles. She would then proceed to buy gifts for her best friends, and smaller gifts went to family friends.
Rose, in contrast to Romy who always seemed to know everything she would be getting for everyone, just wandered along the stores and would pick something that reminded her of her friends. Also, she wasn't from a rich family either. So she would buy a gift for her grandmother, one for each of her three best friends, and bags of candies from Honeydukes went to her other friends.
That year however, she wondered if she ought to buy one more gift. In a way, it seemed bizarre to buy a gift for someone that she just recently started talking to, but also, if she didn't, she'd feel like she was being rude.
Oh well, perhaps she could buy something simple so it wouldn't look like a big deal. His birthday was coming up soon too.
She wandered around in Tomes and Scrolls, thinking that maybe she would find a book that would be interesting to him. Until she arrived in a smaller section dedicated to supplies at the back of the shop.
There, the first thing she spotted was a journal with a vintage black leather cover. She stared at the blank pages it contained, and thought that it would be appropriate. She didn't know him that much anyways, it wouldn't be the best idea to assume he would like something.
Plus, Mattheo seemed to like doodling.
~
"There she is!" Lola exclaimed, seeing Rose come out of an alley, looking around for her friends with a bag in hand.
"Hey guys." She greeted them, joining the group that was standing on the side.
"How was your shopping?" Romy asked her, handing her a chocolate frog she got her earlier.
"It was alright, I got everything." Rose shrugged, thanking her best friend with a wink.
And slowly conversations started to form between the friends. Were present the Weasley twins, the McKinnon-Meadowes girls, Rose, Romy and Rowan. Teddy, Neville, Harry and his friends were supposed to join them but they seemed to be running late.
Andromeda was getting worried, her mother had designated her as responsible for her brother, she told her to make sure he wouldn't get in any trouble, and she had trusted him to be alright on his own with his friends. She didn't think he needed a babysitter but perhaps he did.
Since she had her eyes set on the alleyway where she had last seem jet brother, watching every person that walked by, she was the first to spot Cedric walking over hurriedly. He had spotted them from afar and rushed over.
She thought he would start to stir trouble again and clenched her jaw, preparing herself for yet another argument with him, but he simply leaned over to whisper to her quietly.
"I think Teddy's in trouble."
That was enough to have her alert. She looked at him and he didn't waste a second to lead the way. The twins, who seemed to catch on, especially because they were the ones standing next to Romy, ran after them, not before telling their friends to stay there.
Well, it's not like their friends were going to listen, or at least, not the remaining Hufflepuff of the group.
"Go make sure they're not causing trouble." Kyra encouraged Rose, who nodded and followed after the redheads.
Andromeda had not one bit of trust in Cedric, she hasn't for many years, but one thing she knew for sure, is that he wouldn't be a jerk to her family. Her mother and his parents were close friends, and both of them respected that bond despite their differences.
"What happened, what did you see?" Romy asked the Diggory boy, jogging alongside him as he took long steps to get her to a precise location quicker.
"I just got out of Zonko's with Ben and Will when I saw Malfoy following after Teddy and Harry." Cedric explained.
The Hufflepuff girl frowned. "Draco? I mean, yeah, they're not on good terms, but he's not dangerous, is he?"
Cedric stopped by a darker alley. "Not him. His dad." He pointed ahead of them where they could see Lucius Malfoy threateningly towering over the girl's younger brother and cousin, with Draco smirking alongside him.
Andromeda rushed over, Cedric close behind with the twins and Rose, who caught up with them.
"Sir, step away, would you?" The Hufflepuff stormed in between them, posing herself as a human shield, her voice demanding but her tone polite.
"Stand out of my way, girl, your family has obviously been mediocre at disciplining their children, I shall take the initiative myself." The man with long blonde hair snarled.
"Who the fuck gave you the right to do that?" Fred frowned, stepping forward once he noticed his own little brother shielding an angry Hermione.
"Leave." Andromeda turned to Harry and Teddy.
"What? No!" Teddy refused, not willing to let his older sister try and handle someone like Lucius Malfoy. She would get crushed before she knew it.
"I said go, Teddy!"
"I'm not going anywhere!"
"Who do you think you are? Stepping into someone else's business? You really are your mother's daughter." Lucius spat.
"And you're a coward attacking young children because your little wimpy bitch of a son just had to go to daddy because he can't handle shit on his own." Romy said, pushing Teddy and Harry from behind her and towards the twins that were already protectively standing in front of Ron and Hermione.
She was trying to deflect his anger. If he was angry enough with her, he would forget about her brother, and at least then, her mother would be proud that she protected him.
It went very fast, but Lucius raised his fancy cane to hit Romy with it, which had her flinch her eyes closed for a moment, as gasps from her friends were all she could hear.
When she dared open her eyes, what she saw was Cedric, holding onto the cane that stood mid-air, preventing it from hitting her.
"What do you think you're doing !? Hands off! " Lucius yelled at Cedric but he didn't budge.
He stepped forward, forcing Lucius to step away from the blonde girl.
"Malfoy." A voice resonated in the small alley.
All of them turned to see Mattheo standing there, visibly annoyed.
"Mattheo. It's good to see you." Malfoy calmed down instantly, pulling away from the teenagers and beaming at the Slytherin.
"Do you not have better preoccupations than to bully a bunch of children?"
Rose wanted to laugh upon hearing those words, but she simply smiled in his direction.
It was clear to everyone over the years, that Malfoy worshipped the ground Mattheo walked on. The Riddle boy knew that, often he'd take advantage of it.
"You must understand, Mattheo, I'm simply attempting to discipline them." He defended.
"Let their parents take care of that, you got your own hands full." Riddle glanced at Draco who gulped. "Narcissa is looking for you. I suggest you leave with her."
"Very well." Lucius muttered with a scowl. He side-eyed the teenagers before walking away, not before turning one last time to the Slytherin. "I look forward to seeing you in a few days."
Not long after his father left, Draco ran off before the twins could even think to grab him, causing the teens in the alley to stay silent for a moment.
"Motherfucker." Romy cursed, sighing and passing a hand over her face.
Her friends started to chuckle at her choice of words.
"Woah ! Lovely little Romy knows her bad words." Cedric teased as the twins started to question and mock their little brother.
"Haha." She mocked with a small smirk that slowly turned to a smile. "Thanks for that. You didn't have to, but you did."
He knew she wasn't going to detail his heroic act because she didn't want to flatter his ego. But he was surprised she thanked him in the first place.
"Of course. I got your back. We may not get along but I'm not okay with anyone hurting you."
"Not even yourself?" She asked, an eyebrow raised.
His smirk fell. Sometimes he wondered how bad of an image he had in her eyes. "Especially not me."
Meanwhile, Rose had silently approached Mattheo, who looked down at her with his usual blank expression.
"Thank you for stepping in. It could've gotten very ugly without you here."
"I followed you when I saw the lot of you rushing here. Where there's a Weasley, there's trouble." He nodded towards the three brothers that had long forgotten his existence.
"That's funny, I say that for the Potters." She grinned, before reaching into her bag and pulling out her wrapped gift for him. "This is for you."
"For me?" He raised an eyebrow, surprised. She nodded and he went to open it before she quickly stopped him.
"What are you doing? It's a Christmas present! You can't open it now!"
"I don't celebrate Chritsmas."
"Then... Kwanzaa? Or Hanukkah?" She tilted her head.
"...What?" He blinked. "I don't do... muggle celebrations."
Rose smiled slightly he seemed to make a minimum effort to call them muggles. It was a start. Well she didn't really hear him say mudbloods yet. Or did she? Meh.
"Then I guess it's fine if you open it now." She shrugged. She wasn't going to force him to follow traditions.
He looked at her for a bit before he stared down at the gift and back to her. "No. I'll wait." He paused a bit. "And I'll write you to let you know what I thought of it."
She was surprised he would willingly keep communicating with her. She thought he would accept her company at Hogwarts every now and then and throw her away once school was over but perhaps their friendship had a chance.
"I'd love to hear from you!" She grinned.
He nodded, and turned to leave, before stopping and glancing back. "Thank you." He pointed at the gift, watched her smile in response and left.
Perhaps there was a chance.
"Ow ow ow!"
"Let go!"
When Rose looked back to her friends, she saw Romy pulling on Harry and Teddy's ears, scolding them for stirring trouble with people like Malfoy.
"Didn't I tell you to come to me if you had a problem!? What were you going to do just now if we didn't come, huh?"
"What did it change!? You were going to get hit too- OW!" Teddy protested before his sister pulled on his ear with more force. "OKAY! FINE! I'M SORRY!"
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1999 words yooooo I did good