Early morning meander

[Wilting Rose]

Rose sighed as she woke in the morning. She rolled over and looked out at the endless white hue of the sky outside. Just another November morning.

She got up and stood there for a few moments, facing the world outside. She knew she wasn't going to stay inside the school today. There were too many people she knew she would have to talk to eventually, but she wasn't ready yet. The Professors, the Ministeress, not to mention all those that had been involved in the plot against Magic Horizons... it was too much for her to handle.

She slipped on crimson robes and a heavy black cloak trimmed with snowy white fur. Without a single glance to the smaller room where Claire was probably still asleep, Rose swept out of the Head's Tower and made her way to Hogsmeade village in the frosty morning air.

She smiled at several people as she passed them; but they stared. Perhaps they didn't recognise her anymore. Or perhaps she was no longer seen as a figurehead of the school. It had been nine months, after all...

Head bowed, she entered the Three Broomsticks and paid for a glass of cherry soda - she felt drinking alcohol at a time like this would not be the best of ideas. She sat by a window seat and turned her rainbow-filled gaze to the streets outside, watching the passers by mill about with bags full of early Christmas presents, occasionally taking a sip of her drink and staring down at the pale, thin hands that held it.

ooc: Anyone welcome to join me.

[Lottie]

That morning, Lottie had found herself unable to sleep past eight a.m., and rather than waking Faye up and facing her grumpy for the entire day, the little brunette girl had slipped on some clothes, her rainbow socks and her hufflepuff scarf and cloak, deciding to head down to Hogmeade.

After all, Christmas was fast approaching, and Lottie had to buy her friends something. They had done so much for her lately, and Christmas was the best time of year to thank someone for their efforts.

Running down the street, and skidding now again on the slippery ice that had yet to melt that morning, Lottie first went into Honeydukes and stocked up on some bits and pieces, some of which she would have to hide from her friends until Christmas. Next, she went to Flourish and Blotts. There had been a book Faye was on about a few days back, a joke book of sorts. Returning out of the shop with a paper bag, the girl's brown eyes strayed over to the Three Broomsticks.

It was too cold for ice cream, and the small student-friendly pub had been said to have the best hot chocolate offered in Hogsmeade. Standing on tip toes to order her drink, Lottie waited before carrying it over to a small empty table facing the window. Staring out into the cold street and shivering a little, curiosity got the better of the Hufflepuffian, and she looked around to see if anyone she knew was up and in Hogsmeade yet. There was no one her own age, but someone much, much more important.

The girl's eyes opened wide at the sight that had greeted her. "The headmisstress?" Lottie whispered, sounding shocked. She had missed dinner the night Professor Wilting Rose announced she was back, and after her long absense, the hyperactive girl had almost refused to believe she was back.

And yet... there she was. Sitting opposite Lottie next to the window.

A million thoughts ran through Lottie's mind as she sat there, staring at the woman in an expression which was mingled with so many emotions it was difficult to detect one inparticular one.

[Wilting Rose]

Wilting Rose watched the people wander in and out of the Three Broomsticks for the next five minutes, noticing that the hot chocolate was the most popular drink for this time of the morning. She even began to wish she had ordered one herself. Perhaps when she finished this one. After all, she had nowhere else to be.

Suddenly she felt eyes burning into her. Being such a sensitive soul, Rose could always tell when someone was looking at her, and she raised her colourful eyes to meet a young-looking girl clad in Hufflepuff robes, looking at her with something close to awe.

Rose smiled hesitantly - the old Rose wanted to invite the girl to join her and have a friendly chat, but the insecurities of the past several months honed in on her horribly. What if she had been one of the ones who tried to kill her off? What if that was why the girl was staring? Perhaps she had thought Rose to be dead, or at least still holed up in that shack.

She shook her head - she was being silly. She smiled more openly at the girl.

"Hello," she said softly. "Are you alright?"

[Lottie]

Lottie had flinched as the Professor spoke to her and finally blinked, only just noticing how dry her eyes had become. Blinking again, the brunette nodded quickly, seeming dumbstruck for one of the first times ever. If the rest of her Hufflepuff Family had been there, they would likely have passed out from shock.

Nodding once more, and remembering that this woman had been the cause of her ownhostage experience earlier that year, Lottie shivered a little. Stop it, Lottie! He's gone. He thinks you're dead. Quit it!! the Hufflepuff girl told herself, nodding again in reply to the Headmisstress.

"Yes, thank you, Professor. Are you?" Lottie asked, her voice a lot quieter than usual. Shyness wasn't normal for the younger McCartney twin, but in this situation, she couldn't help it. Wrapping her hands tightly around the hot chocolate, to divide her attention in two places in a way, the young girl waited for any answer the Headmistress chose to give.

[Wilting Rose]

Rose smiled at the girl, unsure of why she seemed so displaced by the Headmistress adressing her. Unless she, like all the others, was still full of curiosity about her return.

Her smile fading ever so slightly, Rose gestured for Lottie to sit down with her. "I feel all the better for finding somebody to talk to... unless you have any other plans?" Rose looked at Lottie, wondering whether a student would even want to take the time to talk to their Headmistress. She doubted it, but it would have been so nice to spend an afternoon not thinking about everything she was avoiding...

[Lottie]

Shock overwhelmed the girl as Professor Wilting Rose asked her to sit with her. What had she done wrong? Gulping, the young girl picked up her shopping and her chocolate and sat down with the Headmisstress. Boy would she have a tale to tell when she ran back into the common room later that night.

Shaking her head, Lottie replied: "I don't have any plans. I just came here to get some Christmas presents for my friends. I didn't do anything wrong! I promise promise!" the brunette replied, almost tripping over her words as she spoke. It wa a miracle that she hadn't tripped up on her way over to the table.

Looking at the Headmisstress with wide, brown eyes, the brunette took in the older woman's rainbow coloured ones. Colours were always something that entranced the girl, especially when they came in the form of balloons, but this time, the Hufflepuff girl wanted to make sure she was out of trouble before anything else.

[Wilting Rose]

Rose laughed at the girl's sudden outburst - and realised with a start that that was probably the first time she had laughed in over eight months.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble... I just thought that this makes more sense than the two of us sitting on our own twiddling our thumbs! I'd take good conversation over silence any day." Rose managed a small grin, and beckoned the waitress over, ordering herself a hot chocolate with marshmallows sprinkled over the top.

"Sorry, yours looked so good I couldn't help myself," said Rose, a twinkle in her eye. "So... the formalities, I suppose. May I ask your name?"

[Lottie]

Looking at her hands, and letting go of her mug, Lottie tried to twiddle her thumbs, but managed to get them tangled round each other. Blushing pink, and deciding that maybe it was best if she kept them wrapped around her mug, the girl did so and answered the question that was asked.

"My name's Lottie McCartney, Professor. I'm-I'm in Hufflepuff house!" she announced proudly. The house had come a long way, leading them to hold both the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup. "And you're Headmisstress Wilting Rose, yes?" the brunette asked, curiosity as to whether she was dreaming or not still evident.

Taking another small sip of her drink and letting it warm her up slowly but surely, Lottie thought on what the Professor had said. "I prefer conversation, too. Our common room's always full of it, you know! It's good fun, really. Silence is boring... and if it's quiet, then it's difficult to sit still because you just want to break the silence and try and get some talking going on."

Though as she thought on what she had just said, it was no wonder she was finding homework difficult lately. Looking up again, she couldn't help herself from asking the question she always asked people she did not know too well. "Do you like ice cream and balloons?"

[Wilting Rose]

Rose had plenty to say on Hufflepuff house, and even if she hadn't seen Lottie's Hufflepuff attire she would have guessed the girl to be one of the Hufflepuff crew - being on good terms with the legendary Hufflepuff Vampire for years made her an expert on their progress. But, to Rose's surprise, Lottie's direct question was on a completely irrelevant topic.

"Do you like ice cream and balloons?"

Rose blinked. Was she joking? Realising she wasn't, Rose laughed again and wrapped her hands around her mug. It was blistering her fingers but she didn't care - warmth was something she appreciated. Very much indeed.

"Yes, I do. Very much. I don't know anybody who doesn't," chuckled the Headmistress. "Up in the Head's Tower, I have a whole freeze unit full of my favourite ice creams... sadly, it's a bit out of season for it at the moment, but never mind..."

[Lottie]

The laugh was something she had expected. After all, it was the non-verbal reply she got off most people when the question was asked. Why was completely beyond the small girl. Grinning as the Headmisstress answered, her eyes grew wide again. "A whole freezer?" Lottie asked, sounding between awed and disbelieving. "Can we have one in the common room?" was the next question, before her cheeks turned red. Had she really just asked that?

Clearing her throat and taking another bit of her drink, Lottie noticed how red the Head's hands were. "Be careful.. it's still hot," she nodded, matter of factly. "But ice cream never goes out of season! I think me and Faye are going to Diagon Alley some time soon to go and see Florean Fortescue. I'm almost out of never-freeze ice cream.. Not that I keep it in my trunk, of course, Professor," she smiled.

[Wilting Rose]

"Of course not," said Rose, grinning slightly as she scooped a finger into her drink and ate the tiny marshmallow that clung to it. "And as to a freezer full of ice cream in the Common Room... I don't think we have enough funds for that. Especially with ice-cream mad students getting the munchies at midnight."

Rose smiled again. She was finding it difficult to look anybody directly in the eye in such close quarters - she hoped Lottie didn't take offence by it. She wasn't even sure why she found it so hard.

"So, another proud Hufflepuff... Hang on a moment - aren't you on the Quidditch Team?" asked Rose, suddenly realising why Lottie's name sounded so familiar.

[Lottie]

Lottie's face cracked into another of her huge smiles at the recognition she had from Quidditch. "Yes, Professor! I played in one game last year against Ravenclaw. We won it with flying colours... no... erm what's the word... I don't know," she shook her head, trying to convince the word to come, but nothing was there. "But I'm on the team for this year! Faye told me so! I can't wait to play!" Lottie continued, excitement evident in her voice.

"But I'm really proud of being a Hufflepuff! I mean, we're only a small house, really.. but we're all really close. It's like one happy family," she explained. "Were you in Hufflepuff? Or... did you come to this school? I bet you'd never want to leave, right?" Lottie questioned, shuffling back so her back was against the back of the chair. Somehow, the longer the conversation went on, the more comfortable she became being in the presence of the Headmisstress who had been missing for so long.

[Wilting Rose]

Rose smiled at the girl's love for her school - hearing those words filled her with a kind of warmth that a thousand hot chocolates could never give.

"I didn't come to this school... it's a long story, but I went to a school very similiar to this one, with the same Houses. I was in Ravenclaw, myself. We used to have such fun in our House... just like you say, one big happy family - we all looked out for each other and were happy for each other no matter what. I was even a Prefect, you know," smiled Rose, her eyes slightly cloudy with memory. "And I never wanted to leave. So when they shut down the school I created my own. Sometimes it feels like I never even left. It's nice."

Rose smiled warmly and took a sip of her hot chocolate. It was comforting to know that the way she had felt about her school and her house was the same for students years later, and all because she had wanted to give them the same wonderful experiences she had had at school. Sitting here talking to Lottie made her see that she had got exactly what she had hoped for.

[Lottie]

"You were a Prefect?" Lottie asked, her respect for the Professor exceeding what it had been an hour beforehand. "Wyl let me put his badge on once!" she commented, probably completely randomly considering the conversation. However, most people had grown used to Lottie's random ramblings.

"Ravenclaw seems like a good house, too! Apart from Betsy Tork. I don't like her... but... well I suppose she's okay..." Lottie stumbled once again, still annoyed over the conversation the two girls had participated in involving the 'birds and the bees' a few days back. "I bet you did really well in all your exams, then! To make a whole magic school! And then to head it! Wow... you just made it onto my list of the coolest grown ups ever!" she grinned.

Spotting the misty, daydream-like look in Professor Rose's eyes, Lottie tilted her head to one side. "Are you okay?"

[Wilting Rose]

Rose smiled distantly at Lottie's ramblings until Lottie asked if she was alright. Rose was amazed that a girl whose mind seemed to split in a thousand directions at once was still perceptive enough to notice the distance in the Headmistress.

"Oh, I'm quite alright, really... just recovering, really," said Rose, giving Lottie a long-suffering smile. "And talking about all this, it seems so long ago... and sometimes I miss it. I miss being part of a crowd. I miss being overlooked. I miss not being targeted in an attack against the school." Rose forced a laugh. "But I will be fine."

Rose paused. "So, Betsy Tork then. Well, Ravenclaw might be a good house but I must say they all know too much for their own good. I know we all did, anyhow." This time Rose's laugh was real as she took another sip from her chocolate drink.