Rose's Cinderella Story Part II
It was Saturday morning before Rose left her room again. That may or may not have been a mistake. Since the happenings yesterday, she'd completely forgotten about the ball. For the rest of the school, however, that was not the case. Everywhere she went there were students talking about it, professors preparing for it, elves cleaning for it, and Peeves tried his best to ruin it all. For the second time in her life at Hogwarts, Rose was on the poltergeist's side. (There was an unfortunate incident a couple years ago involving a pompous classmate she did not particularly like and a can of the worst-smelling goo one could imagine, compliments of Uncle George's joke shop, of course.)
She took her battered copy of Pride and Prejudice with her outside and stretched out on the grass under the warm May sun. Before she knew it, she was "in hopes of a letter from Mr. Bennet the next morning" when she realized how much the shadows around her had changed. They reached toward the east and seemed to grow with every passing second. Not to mention she could barely hear herself think over the rumbling of her stomach. Rose sighed as she admitted her defeat to time and hunger and returned inside, managing to avoid any of her friends on her way up to her room.
"There you are!" Alice yelled. "I've been wondering where you got to. Rose, can you help me do my hair?"
Rose obliged with a smile. Alice sat in front of a mirror and Rose went to work according to her friend's orders. "Beautiful, if I do say so myself," Rose admired after she finished.
"Perfect," Alice agreed. "Now it's your turn. How do you want it done?"
"I don't," she replied simply. "Let me know if you need help with anything else," she plopped down on her bed. "Hello, Miss Anne," she cooed as the cat sat on her belly.
Alice, much to Miss Anne Thrope's dismay, took a seat on the edge of the bed. "You're not coming then?"
Rose avoided eye contact. "I haven't got a date."
Alice laughed lightly to herself. "Cinderella didn't have a date, either. And she ended up meeting her Prince Charming in the end."
"Yes, but she had to lose a shoe in the process, didn't she?" She summoned the shoes she had planned to wear. "Does it look like I'd be able to lose one of these bad boys even if I tried?" Rose indicated the straps.
"That's besides the point. I think you should go. You might have fun. No, I promise that you will have fun. If I have to make up entertainment as we go along, you WILL have fun tonight."
"I appreciate it, Ali, really. But, my dress isn't even finished."
"I think you'll find that it is," Alice winked.
A look of dread came over Rose's face. "Alice, do you know how to sew?"
"Of course not, silly. That's why I asked a few of the house elves to do it. They were ecstatic to help. Ever since your mother liberated all of them, it's as if touching clothes is their favorite thing in the world. I'm really glad that Hogwarts decided to employ so many," she thought aloud. "Anyway," she stood up. "I'm not going to badger you anymore. I hope you decide to come. I'm going to get ready and meet Thomas soon."
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The ball began at seven. Alice left at quarter past. Rose got up from her bed ten minutes later and walked over to her closet where her dress hung. It was a truly beautiful gown. Well, it couldn't hurt to try it on.
A huge smile lit her face as she stepped in front of her mirror. She was far from being a vain girl, but this dress made her feel like a princess. The emerald green dress made her eyes seem more alive somehow. She put her shoes on and nodded approvingly at her reflection. She pulled her wand from her hair where it had been holding her unruly curls in a bun and let the fiery locks fall around her face and shoulders. Placing her wand on her desk she picked up her brush and began brushing her hair. She pulled it up this way and that as she looked for an appropriate style. Eventually, she decided that it looked best pulled back simply with a clip so that it was out of her face but still hung around her shoulders.
Yes, she would have looked very stunning if she had gone to the ball, she decided.
"There's still time, you know," Rose said to herself. She looked at the clock as it struck eight.
Next thing she knew, Rose Weasley descended the stairs at half past the hour. Students watched as she gracefully joined the ball. Boys nudged their buddies. Girls whispered to their friends, probably commenting on the fact that she did not have a date. Everyone stared.
"Rosie," James and Albus pushed through the crowd to greet their cousin.
"You two look nice," Rose smiled.
"We look like a couple pansies," James retorted. "You look fantastic, though." She stepped down off the final step and stood next to her cousin. Eye to eye with him, in fact. "You're wearing heels?"
"No, I magically sprung up an extra two inches since yesterday."
"Stranger things have happened," Albus pointed out as he looked up at his cousin and brother.
"Good point," James agreed. "Anyway, don't worry about Andrew. I had a nice long talk with him yesterday, and we were chatting earlier too. I told him not to talk to you unless you want to talk to him, in which case he's going to listen like his life depends on it because, well, quite frankly, his life does depend on it. Anyway. Have fun. I'm going to go find Nichole and see if she wants to dance again."
"How's Tara?" Rose asked her other cousin as James disappeared amongst the other students.
Albus shrugged. "She's okay, I guess. I haven't seen her too much since we first got here."
"I'm sorry, Al," Rose began.
"No, it's okay. I've been hanging out with Alice for most of the time I've been here. I was actually on my way to get us some water but then I saw you and wanted to say hi. Why don't you come with me to get something to drink?"
"I thought Alice came with Thomas."
"Thomas has been talking to Andrew and Alice said that she doesn't want anything to do with Andrew."
This made Rose's heart swell with love for her loyal friend.
She then followed Albus and prepared herself for Alice's reaction when she saw her. Alice wore a smug grin. "I knew you'd show up. How's the dress? Didn't I do a great job finishing it?"
"It's really beautiful, Ali, thank you so much." They chatted for a while before different boys began requesting dances. Rose saw Andrew once or twice throughout the night, but he avoided her for the most part. That was fine by her. She did not have the patience to deal with the cheating liar tonight. Or ever, really, she decided.
Eventually, Rose spotted a certain blond haired boy sitting in the corner. She strode over to where he sat and took the seat beside him.
"Rose."
"Scorpius," she began removing her shoes. "I think I'm getting blisters."
"That's lovely," he laughed. "You have such a way with dinner table talk," he said as he took a sip from his goblet.
"Oh, hush. How is your evening going?"
"It's going well. Leslie is dancing with her friends at the moment. At least, I think that's Leslie anyway. That might actually be Laurie and Leslie's somewhere angry with me for not paying attention to her and Laurie's wondering why I keep dancing with her."
Rose looked unsure of whether or not to take him seriously or laugh outright.
"I'm just teasing, Rose. I know who's who."
She sighed. "I never can tell with you. Anyway, would you like to dance with me? I've been dancing with boys that I don't like, some that I don't even know, and it might be nice to actually have a friend to spend time with."
"Of course," Scorpius led her out to the dance floor.
"Rosie, you shrunk again," James stated as they waltzed by each other.
"Well, I was taller than most of the boys that I was dancing with," she complained. "This way I'm at least eye level with them."
Scorpius laughed. "Thank you for your consideration," he jested.
Rose smiled as she looked up into his face. "Not everybody can be as tall as you."
The dance ended. Rose looked around the room and spotted Andrew in the corner with a girl. Rose's face turned a shade of red that had nothing to do with dancing. Scorpius followed Rose's gaze and then escorted her outside for a walk around the castle. "I could use some fresh air," he lied. They'd only been walking a short distance when Scorpius said, "Rose, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday. I really didn't want it to happen that way. You didn't deserve that, any of that."
Rose looked down at the ground and nodded.
"Anyway, Andrew's not worth being upset over," he stopped walking and turned to face her. He put a hand gently under her chin and tipped her face upward so that they were looking into each other's eyes.
"And I could stand here and tell you all about how special you are and all the bad things that he is and tell you that you should just forget about him. But I know that you won't. It doesn't work like that. He was a big part of your life for a long time. That doesn't just go away," he grabbed both her hands and kissed them lightly. "I'm here for you if you need to talk, yell, knit, or whatever you do when you feel like you need to vent. I know you don't like to cry in front of people, but it's okay if you do. I won't tell you not to."
Rose blinked back the tears and stifled a sniffle. He was such a wonderful friend. She kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly around his neck. He wrapped his arms affectionately around her waist and held her tenderly. She couldn't stop the tears this time, and she cried into his shoulder. He rubbed her back with caring hands. When the sobs subsided she pulled away a little.
"Thank you, Scorpius, but I'm not ready to talk about it. I still have some things that I need to figure out."
He kissed her forehead. "If you ever need to, you know you can-"
"I know," and she let him hold her for a few minutes more before they continued their walk. The cool night air felt refreshing on Rose's burning face. Scorpius tried to distract her thoughts by challenging her Astronomy skills. They sat down on a bench and looked at the stars, pointing out constellations, and just admiring the sheer beauty of the night sky. They stayed outside until Rose's skin returned to it's proper color.
By this time, it was nearly midnight. Some of the students wanted to dance just a bit more before the end while others began funneling out of the Great Hall and up to their dorms. Rose said good night to a few of her friends and was about to go back to her own room when she saw James, arm in arm with Nichole.
"Still short, I see," James teased her. "Good night, Rosie."
"Oh," Rose had forgotten about her shoes.
She bumped into Alice on her way back into the Great Hall. "Are you almost ready to go now?" Alice asked through a yawn. She was standing and waiting with Albus.
"Yeah, you two go ahead. I'll be right there."
Rose stopped and thought a moment about where her shoes might actually be. She finally remembered that she'd taken them off when she sat down with Scorpius. But where had they been sitting?
Rose searched the room and spotted him coming toward her. She waved and hurried toward him. "Hey, Scorpius-"
"Forget something?" He produced her shoes.
A smile appeared on her face as she reached out for them. "Thanks, Scorpius."
"Come on. I'll walk you back to your dorm," they turned to leave and Rose noticed Alice standing at the top of the stairs.
Alice had witnessed the entire scene and winked at Rose. With an impish grin, she mouthed "Cinderella" before spinning on her heel and following Albus down the hall.
Rose laughed to herself and then turned to Scorpius.
"What?" He inquired about her huge smile.
Rose moved closer, grabbed his arms, stood on her toes, and kissed him on the lips.
When she withdrew, he had an uncertain expression on his face. "What was that for?" There was the slightest trace of a blush coloring his cheeks.
"Thank you," she said simply. "Thank you for being my friend throughout all of this."
This time Scorpius wrapped his arms around Rose's waist and pulled her closer. He lowered his head and their lips met.
"What was that for?" Rose asked, cocking an eyebrow and trying to hide the satisfied smile tugging at her lips.
"Hmm. I'm not sure," Scorpius answered. "But I think maybe we'll find out."
Rose grabbed her Prince Charming by the hand and they walked up the stairs together as the clock struck twelve.
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I hope you enjoyed that. The ending is kind of… I don't know. I wasn't sure how to end it. Thanks to my reviewers and those of you who added my story to your favorites. It warms my heart like crazy when you do that!
If you enjoyed this, and if you like Draco/Hermione, you might want to look at my oneshot, Hermione's Cinderella Story. It's a cute, quick read.