ROSE FELT THE SECOND HOGSMEADE trip was something she very much needed. Not even Lysander/Scorpius issues could bring down her mood. She made up her mind; she was done with boys. Much like how Roxanne had put it when she first came out, men are mindless pigs.
While Roxanne pressured Dominique into trying to 'stumble' upon our Seeker, Rose found herself pausing in the middle of the street as a familiar flop of brown caught her attention. Within the frosted windows of Honeydukes, was her crush and her cousin by a candy display. She quickly read the signs- his blush, her passive and indifferent gaze.
Seeing Lysander confess to Lily in the middle of Honeydukes broke her heart. Although her heartache was soothed slightly when she noticed Lily rejecting him, still a small part of her refused to let go of her childish crush on him.
And then there was Scorpius, an aisle behind, peeping between the shelves with Althea Nott. Despite knowing Althea's very clear sexuality, Rose couldn't help but be jealous. Not just of their proximity, but how comfortable and at ease he was with her. She recalled a time when they were like such, so entangled were she, Scorpius and Albus. And now it seemed as if they had replaced her with Althea Nott. A much more fitting addition to their Slytherin Trio.
Rose quickly moved out of the way, skirting the corner of Honeydukes as Scorpius and Thea made their way out. She pressed her back against the red brick wall, squeezing her eyes tight in hopes that she didn't catch their eyes. She wasn't ready to face Scorpius after their tryst a week ago. Her hands still shook when she thought of how he shut her out, closed himself off entirely. It was like reliving the summer of fifth year.
"-tosses a wrench into my plans." she heard Scorpius say.
"Plans? For what?" snow crunched, Rose could barely hear Althea speak.
"My plan was for Lily to hopefully return Lysander's feelings and Rose wouldn't have a chance with him." Scorpius snapped.
Rose sucked in a breath.
"Wait, you knew how Lysander felt about Lily? How?"
"Amortentia. And a little memory nugget from a while back. I always thought Lysander liked Rose all those years ago. Now I realize it was actually Lily. Those summers he was talking about? Lysander would come and visit their house because that's where all the Potters and Weasleys went to hang out. He must've known that if he befriended James or Albus and they found out he planned to date Lily, he'd never the opportunity to even spend time with her. Rose was never the target of his affection, it was always Lily."
It was like rubbing salt deeper into her wounds. Rose couldn't breathe. Did Scorpius get a kick out of making fun of her to Althea?
She pushed off the brick wall, keeping her head low as she pushed past witches and wizards until a familiar hand caught her elbow.
"Ronnie? Hey, what's going on?"
She looked up to see her younger brother.
He reached forward to brush off some of her tears. "What happened? Who made you cry?"
Rose brushed off his hands. "Get off, I'm fine."
Hugo steeled himself, glaring down at her in stern eyes that made her question who was the eldest among them. Since when did he become so mature?
"Like hell you are. C'mon, you need a drink. Butter beer, on me?"
"I don't want butter beer." she groaned, hiccuping past her sobs. "I just want all of this to end."
His grip on her elbow grew alarmingly firm. "End it all? Rose, talk to me. What the hell is going on?"
"Not that." she bubbled. "I don't want love anymore. Bloody love is good for nothing."
He softened his hold and drew her into a hug. "Oh Ronnie, who hurt you?"
She didn't say anything, just pressed her face deeper into her brother's chest as she cried without abandon in the middle of the street.
Before she realized it, two other pairs of arms wrapped around her. She noticed the long blonde hair and immediately recognized them.
"Roxy and Dom to the rescue." Hugo said wryly. "Bet you were just waiting for this moment, eh? Ruin my chances of being a good brother by hogging the spotlight. Now Rose will remember this as a group moment rather than when her doting brother aided her during her heartbre-"
"Shut up," Rose scowled, slapping his arm weakly as she pulled away from the group hug.
"Well," Roxanne grinned, "I have a great plan to cheer you up. Diana found a cute boutique with a famous designer who's taking time off to dress up Hogsmeade customers, and since I know you haven't gotten your dress..."
She blinked. "Oh Godric, the Yule Ball! I completely forgot,"
Dominique grinned. "I know. Let's go, Diana is waiting for us there."
"I'm inviting myself," Hugo said hurriedly as he glanced over his shoulder. "I'm pretty sure that Lana Avery is stalking me."
"And that's a bad thing?" Dominque exclaimed while slinging an arm over him. "She's the hottest Slytherin fifth year, you should be honored. You know Lorcan told me some Ravenclaw boys started a fan club for her? You two are practically made for each other since you have a fan club too."
They continued teasing Hugo about his new fan girl as they made their way to meet Diana Thomas at Bernice's Boutique. They reached just in time to see Diana Thomas leaving the shop with a dress on a hanger.
"Oh my goodness," she shrieked. "This place is insane! Look at my dress!"
The clear plastic revealed a maroon A-line dress and flared out past the hips. The embroidery was stunning.
"Did you get that just now?" Roxanne gasped. "That's crazy quick."
"It's like something out a Muggle show." Dominique squealed as she pressed her hands against the glass.
Rose turned to look inside. There were raise half-moon platforms with three sided mirrors and chairs for guests. The dressed were on a magic conveyor belt the weaving like a maze all around the boutique.
"Let's go!" Hugo hissed. "I see Lana coming out of Dervish's!"
He ushered all four of them inside, despite Diana's protests that she already had her dress.
A bespectacled slender woman inside was writing off a payment for Maryse Zabini behind the counter.
"Welcome to Bernice's Boutique. I only have time for one more guest." she said without looking up.
Maryse looked over her shoulder at us, a snide smirk on her face. Oh, she was everything Rose hated in Slytherin.
Plucking the ticket from the lady, she tossed her dress over her shoulder and walked out.
"Ah, is that who I think it is?"
Rose turned to look at the lady but to her surprise, the lady had her eyes fixed on Hugo.
"Wow, what an amazing Quidditch player you are. And your muscles..." her glasses slid lower as she gazed hungrily at Hugo.
Her brother swallowed and backed up towards the door. "You know, I think I left something in Dervish's. Got to go, sorry Ronnie. Bye Dom, bye Roxy!"
"He hightailed out of here fast," Roxanne muttered under her breath. "Right to Lana no doubt."
Dominique barely disguised her chuckle as the lady turned her eyes towards us. "Right. No men are welcome in this establishment. This is a safe place for witches only. Now which one of you is getting tailored?"
Both of her cousins pushed her forward.
"Doll her up," Roxanne grinned.
With a swish and flick of her wand, a flurry of measuring tapes wrapped around various proportions of her body; waist, hips, bust, and shoulders.
"Nice shoulders." she murmured as a quill and pad similar to Rita Skeeter's flitted down her measurements. "Very, very nice shoulders. The dress will reflect that."
"What?" Rose blinked. "I don't get to choose the dress?"
She shook her head. "Your proportions aren't exactly common. A small bust and waist paired with wide hips? I have nothing of the sort."
Rose felt her eyebrows twitch. "My bust is not small."
She tutted. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, darling. I'm just here to make you beautiful."
"Do I at least get to pick what color?" Rose asked hopefully as the lady gestured for her to follow her up to the platform.
"Let me ask you this, Rose Granger-Weasley," the lady said with a particular twinkle in her eyes. "Does the witch choose the wand? No, the wand chooses the witch. And in this case, the fabrics are charmed to call out to the truest parts of you."
Said charmed fabrics appeared in a panel in front of her as swatches.
Her cousins took a seat, watching as if it was a magic show.
"Touch your fingertips across the fabrics." she gestured.
Rose reached out with her right hand. She resisted the urge to jerk when the swatches seemed to come to life like one of her textbooks.
A few of them recoiled from her touch and flew behind the mirrors. In the end, three remained. A red satin fabric, dark green mesh, and a gossamer film.
"Oh bloody hell!" Dominique exclaimed, her eyes locked on the mirrors behind Rose.
She turned and followed Dominique's pointed finger to the clock.
"We're late! We need to catch up or they're going to leave us behind!" Roxanne scrambled to grab her things.
Rose stepped down from the platform, but didn't make it past the door before getting stopped by the lady.
"Your ticket. You'll have to pick up the dress another time." she said, still smiling brightly.
Rose grabbed the ticket, taking note that the fabrics were checked as well as her measurement written but no price mentioned. "How much is it?"
She nudged the Chaser out of the shop. "You only pay if you want it. That's the only difference between Olli's wands and my dresses."
Rose's eyes widened. "You're Bernice?"
The slender woman pushed up her red cat eye glasses. "Yes indeed. Now scramble along before you miss the rest of your group. Seems the two blondes with you can run quite fast. Wouldn't want to be late, correct?"
"Correct." Rose said, stepping down a step while still clutching the ticket in her hand. "How did you know my name, by the way?"
Bernice's glasses shined as she stepped back into the boutique. "Who do you think designed your mother's wedding dress?"
~
"What do you think the dress is going to look like?" Diana gushed on the floor of the common room. "Wow. I'm so excited! She did my dress really fast, her magic speciality in mystical textiles is insane."
Rose swirled her drink around, watching the ice cubes clink musically against the glass. "Im not sure. I mean, red and green? How's that going to come together without looking like Christmas?"
Her cousins, Dominique, Lily, and Roxanne, all nodded in agreement.
"So." Rose said tightly, wishing to clear the air. "I noticed you and Lysander at Honeydukes."
Diana lit up. "Oooooh! Lysander and Lily? I'm on board with that ship."
"I'm not." Lily said quietly. "I don't like Lysander at all. I'm insulted you would even say that."
Dominique frowned. "Lily, are you okay?"
She didn't respond and instead stood up and walked to the dorms.
"I'll check on her," Rose got up to follow her younger cousin.
Lily was sitting on the window sill, her legs pulled up, with tears streaming down her face.
"I'm sorry Rosie." she sobbed. "I'm so sorry."
Rose sat across her. "What are you talking about?"
She took her cousin's hand in her own, resting it upon her knee.
"I've known for a while. That you liked Lysander and that he liked me. But I always tried to distance myself because I- I was a coward. I didn't want to come off as haughty if I told you that you should give up on Lysander because he didn't like you. At the same time, I was worried that you would ask how I'd know, and I couldn't bear to tell you that it was because I knew he liked me."
Rose took in a breath. "First, you're not a coward. And second...thank you. For not telling me. I probably wouldn't have gotten over him if you had told me. The Weasley side is stubborn as ever, knowing me I'd probably try even harder to gain his affections."
Lily threw her arms around Rose, pulling her into a tight hug. "I love you Rosie. I love you, I love you."
Rose squeezed her eyes shut and leaned into her cousin's embrace. "Love you too, Lily."