"You absolute bloody idiot, Cher! Honestly what goes through your pea brain?"
Cher limped back to her common room in hopes she'd be showered with love, apologies from Ares, and kind words about her broken leg except it was Pansy and Draco scolding her repetively like her Mum.
"For once I agree with Malfoy! You and Ares are so goddamn reckless!"
Cher's blue eyes shifted onto Ares, who had the exact same exhausted look. He mouthed, 'They've been going on like this for the past hour.' She didn't expect Draco to be so vocal.
At least they cared.
"Okay, okay. I appreciate the fact that you love me but stop yelling please." Cher took her two hands and covered their mouths. "I could have gotten worse, just keep that in your mind."
"Yeah, all you got was a broken leg, thank Merlin." Pansy rolled her eyes.
"What're those?" Draco muttered with interest, swiping one of the crutches away from Cher and nearly knocking her off of her feet.
"Christ, Draco! They're a muggle device that helps me walk." she made a noise of discomfort, snatching back the object. "Now I don't know if my date with Josie still stands because if my boots can barely trek through the snow then how will these?"
Pansy's head shot up as her face slowly became red. "Yes! Actually, I think it'd be best if you stay home instead of Hogsmeade trips."
"God, let her live Pansy."
"All I'm saying Ares, is that if she gets more hurt then the more she'll have to wear those things." Pansy started to scoff. "And I'm sure Cher doesn't want to look like more of an idiot holding those things around the school."
"Harsh.." Ares muttered, feeling taken aback at her insult though it wasn't towards him.
"You think I look like an idiot?" Cher said, more in disbelief rather than hurt.
"Uh-" Pansy stammered. "Yeah, don't you think so too, Malfoy?"
Draco shrugged. "Stupider than she usally does? Not really."
"Thanks Dray," Cher mono-toned, accepting his helping hand. "I think I'm just gonna go to bed now.. um see you guys around."
Pansy could only feel guilty for blabbing about her appearance. Of course Cher didn't look idiotic, did she ever? Absolute moron, Parkinson.
Cher entered her room and shut it quietly, only thoughts rendering in her small head. She knew Pansy was snarky at times but she never thought of any of her meaningless insults to come at her. She looked up from her stance, seeing Josie stand there with wide eyes.
"Cher- I'm so glad you're okay!" she grinned, capturing the girl in a hug. "Oh I see you've got crutches. I broke my leg in the third grade once playing soccer and had to get them too, don't worry I hope the nurse here is good enough to make a potion that'll heal your leg-"
Cher plugged Josie's rambling mouth promptly.
"Glad..you're..kay." Josie mumbled through her hand as she slowly let it go.
"Thanks Josie. I hope tomorrow won't have to be post-poned though.."
"Oh no worries. Unless you feel sick or sore or something, I'll help you get through the snow." Josie offered.
"..Thanks Josie." Cher stifled her quiet laugh. "I'll look forward to tomorrow then."
Dressed in an overly sized dress coat, and the juniper wool beanie Molly insisted to knit for all of her eight children for the holidays, she got up and out of bed with a smile she hadn't felt for a while. Granted it was a bit hard to tred through the snow, but Josie didn't seem to mind her fumbling, in fact they had fallen over together at least five times into the pillowy snow on the way to Madam Puddifoot's.
The tea shop was relatively small, cramped with all the tables being taken up by teenage couples who either held hands romantically across eachother or fully, unshamefully snogged. Despite that, the decor nearly made Cher vomit but she tried her best to ignore the frilly pink bows, tacky round tables, polished floral china and lacy napkins.
They were seated by the window where Cher supposed she'd be able to jump out if she ever needed to escape the awfully eye-straining sight of a teaplace.
"I love the cold weather, don't you?" Cher stated with a hum after their calm silence settled.
"Oh, never in a million years." Josie shook her head with a stifle of her laughter. "I most definitely prefer the heat."
"You're just like my brother." the brunette playfully rolled her eyes. "We're total opposites but I mean, we're twins so what can we do about it?"
"You don't quite look like him, now that I think about it." Josie inspected her face calmly. "I think it'd be the hair.. but the face structure seems way different from even your other siblings."
"The hair's been dyed for years now.. and the face? Well I don't know, I like to believe I'm the best looking out of my family." she joked.
"Hello dears!" a woman in a poofy, almost too poofy, pink ruffled dress spun over to their table, holding onto a small notepad and a feathered pen. "Weather is nice today, wouldn't you girls say so?"
"No,"
"Yes," they said simultaneously before meeting eachother's eyes and giggling.
"Tea, sweethearts? Fancy a sweet treat as well?"
"Rose hibiscus with a dollop of honey and just a simple strawberry puff, please." Cher settled in her seat.
"And you..?" the woman managed to say after widening her eyes at Cher's unusual request of a dollop and not a drizzle of honey.
"Just plain hot chocolate and a crossiant." Josie answered kindly as the woman nodded before whisked away to her next bustling table. "You ever been here?"
"Once or twice, off campus. Ares took me just incase he wanted to ditch his date." Cher chuckled as Josie's brow arched. "Awful, I know. But he's a nice guy when he wants to be. Even as a young heartbreaker."
"Yeah, sounds like it." Josie's voice trailed off.
"Hmm.. so tell me about yourself, oh mysterious Josephine from the states." Cher sighed, propping her chin atop her pale palms as she stared into the hypnotic eyes of the girl before her. "Tell me all about the story of Hogwart's new girl."
"Great narrating," Josie snickered. "Well uh- I was born in Ohio but I got adopted by the age of eleven and then moved to Adams, Massachusetts where Ilvermorny was, so it fit perfectly. I still live with my adoptive parents, Audrey and Will but I'm the only child they adopted."
"Oh to be a single child," Cher huffed, the thought of her overly sized family crept into her mind. "How life would be oh-so peaceful."
"It's pretty lonely, actually." Josie chortled. "Well I mean Audrey and Will make it their mission to always bond with me all the time but besides that, I've resorted to trying to making long term friends at school for company."
"And I see the Ravenclaws are the ones who you've chosen." Cher raised her brows, thanking the woman who came back with their order. "I'd had thought the Hufflepuffs would have approached you."
"Oh and they did, don't worry. They're kind, I really like them. I was actually a bit surprised when they weren't all lovey-dovey, you get? I had just heard all around school Hufflepuffs were easy accommodators but they're so much more than that."
"Mm.." Cher nodded, taking a sip after she had taken her time to swirl her sweet honey drizzled tea.
"Yeah but the Ravenclaws- I feel just fit better with me." Josie finished, taking a bite of her baked good before her eyes widened. "I'm so sorry, gosh. I've been rambling, haven't I?"
"No, it's fine. I like listening." Cher assured her.
"Yeah but I don't want today to be all about me. Tell me about you."
Cher didn't know where to start. "Well.. I guess I'll lead with family since that's the biggest topic in my life. I have seven other siblings, Charlie, Bill, Percy, Fred and George, Ron, and then Ginny. They're all infuriating but somehow loveable in a sort. My mum's amazing and my dad's always been a strange man but a good strange, you know?"
"I could never imagine a family that large." Josie chuckled. "Nonetheless, live with one."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll be invited over for the holidays someday." Cher shrugged. "But yeah, I love my family."
"Tell me more about yourself, I mean." Josie leant in. "I'm interested. You do seem fairly popular and.. the only Slytherin in your family, correct?"
Cher pursed her lips. "Yeah.. yeah I am. Though you could have sworn Fred, George, Percy, and Ginny could have been with me as well.. but me? I'm not sure what to talk about."
"Any hobbies? Dream job? Life time fulfilments?" she prompted.
"Well.. I do quite like dancing. Mum could ever afford proper lessons but I remembered how eager I was each and every day as a little girl. I begged and begged. Just never really happened, I suppose." Cher shrugged.
"Dancing.. that sounds nice." Josie complimented. "I could see you as a great dancer."
"You think?" Cher smiled before her eyes met back with Josie's who were dead set on her face. "What?"
"You.. have a little something." Josie mumbled shyly as she leant in further, taking her thumb and gently swiping something off the corner of Cher's rosy lips. "Cream.."
"Oh,"
"Yeah," Josie smiled, sitting back down in her seat as Cher held onto her stomach beneath the table to keep in the fluttery feeling.
The comfortable silence resumed.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted quietly, as she and Ron quickly followed after Harry's footsteps and into Madam Rosmerta's pub, the Three Broomsticks.
They hit the wooden door, pushing it off of them as the talking shrunken heads barked at them. "I say! No underage wizards allowed in today! Shut the damn door!"
"So rude," Hermione uttered, but obliged as Ron let go of the door and tip-toed to peer into the small fogged window pane of the pub.
"Thickheads! Come on, loss cause to be staring inside the small window." Ron frowned as he moved aside, allowing some impatient customers to burst through.
Hermione had missed Cher's precense that evening, not that Ron was a boring person just.. without her it felt so dull. So, she folded her arms and looked down at the snow as she waited for time to pass.
"Oi! Is that.. Cher I see?" Ron muttered in disbelief as Hermione's head shot up, pushing to stand beside Ron as they watched from afar.
At first she couldn't see it. Then, from the long distance, nearly across from town, sat Cher and Josie in the large pink tinted window. Holding hands.