Flora And Fawna [HARRY POTTER]

20

Rosie could honestly say she hadn't any idea how she managed to appear in front of Number Twelve Grimmauld place, or where it would appear. She knew that she remembered standing in front of a mirror with Penny playing with her hair and Petunia putting tasteful makeup on her. She also remembered getting into Vernon's car and driving off. The missing time between then and now was just gone. Nevertheless Rosie pulled Regulus's sweater closer to her and thought about where she wanted to go.

That was how one made the house appear after all.

*******

"The mistress has told Kreacher to bring the mudblood to the kitchen. Mistress wants to have words with the mudblood before the feast." Rosie moved her to the elf, who was staring up at her with his unnerving, dirt brown eyes. In the almost year that Kreacher had been visiting Rosie, she had never gotten used to his eyes. How big and big-like they were.

"Then lead the way, by all means," Rosie said quietly, prodding the house elf forward. Kreacher almost immediately disappeared past the drawing room, where Rosie could tell the Christmas party was being held, and into the Mansion.

*******

The last thing Rosie had ever expected to see was Walburga Black, stirring some stuffing at the stove with her tasteful pearls tucked into her apron. Walburga Black didn't seem the type to even be able to turn on a stove. Of course Rosie imagined she could do it with magic if she needed to, but somehow the image of Walburga didn't belong in a kitchen. Whipping prisoners in a dungeon? Perhaps. Leading her children through Knockturn Alley for a set of cursed scales? Also a possibility. But stirring a pot of soggy bread so it didn't burn was not.

Walburga didn't even show she noticed as Rosie was escorted into the kitchen, her escort the house elf disappearing with a pop. But a woman as in control as Walburga would have to. Rosie would even wager that she knew every witch, wizard, and elf in the house, though she appeared to have left her husband in charge of entertaining them all.

For a long moment the only sound in the kitchen was the sound of Walburga's spoon as it scraped against the sides and bottom of the pan she was making the stuffing in.

Rosie stood, silently, and waited. It seemed like hours in the woman's presence, but must have only been minutes before Walburga set her spoon aside and turned to finally look at Rosie. Walburga would be the first to admit that she had hoped Rosie would show up in something entirely inappropriate for the occasion, perhaps a pair of jeans like the ones her eldest son used to take great pleasure in strutting about the house in. But Rosie was dressed perfectly in a nice black dress and sweater. She even had a golden locket hanging about her neck that pulled the entire ensemble together quite nicely.

Walburga sighed and allowed her chilly blue eyes to meet Rosie's hard emerald ones. It would be best to get the conversation over quickly, so the two of them could go to the party and pretend to enjoy the themselves.

"I imagine you are wondering why you are here today, especially as out last meeting did not go over as well as Regulus might have hoped it would." Rosie visibly flinched at the name of her dead friend, and Walburga might have been pleased by this if she hadn't also winced. It hadn't even been a year yet since her son and died and she was not as over his death as she would have liked to be. "And the answer to that would be my son. Last year at the Christmas party my foolish son had ranted and raved about the spectacular girl he had met at school, and even after his untimely end our family was curious. You are Rose Evenstern, you are a halfblood from Ravenclaw, and while you are here tonight you will talk about yourself as little as you can get away with."

There was another pop behind Rosie and Kreacher came up behind Rosie again and stood beside her.

"Now that that is taken care of, Kreacher will lead you to the parlor where the family is waiting to meet you. Regulus said you were a smart girl. I don't have to remind you of what purebloods do to trash like you."

*******

Kreacher lead Rosie down the dark hallway once again, this time he stopped at the parlor and used all the strength in his little body to push the door open, revealing Rosie's lonesome figure to the crowd within. When Kreacher opened the door a wave of light hit Rosie like a sunbeam, momentarily blinding her after the darkness of the hallway.

She was sure she looked a sight, blinking warily into the room, looking at nothing in particular. It took her a moment to be able to see again, but she knew she had been noticed by the way the room had fallen silent. Only the sound of an old phonograph playing Christmas Hymns could be heard.

Then Rosie's sight returned and she was met with the vision of Orion Black, the stern man Rosie had met only a year prior, standing on an antique coffee table frozen in the middle of what looked like a particularly entertaining story. Rosie met his eyes for a moment, before she looked around at the rest of the people gathered.

There were more people there than Rosie expected. Having listened to Regulus whine about it she would have imagined it was a small gathering of older witches and wizards eating figgy pudding with three teeth between the lot of them. That wasn't even close to being true.

Rosie had imagined at the very least that she would be the youngest person there, which she supposed was true enough discounting a white haired baby clinging to a woman in the corner. But there were people that probably were only a year or two older than Regulus had been.

Rosie stood there for a second before she was saved, or more the silence was broken by the baby Rosie had noticed earlier letting out a piercing wail. That was something familiar at least, and it got people's attention off of her.

The baby's mother, a pretty woman with long dark hair, pulled the little thing closer to her chest and began to coo at it, gently. The baby settled only a little before it began to scream even louder. This was the time Orion chose most appropriate to introduce the newest arrival.

"This, my esteemed family, is the girl you have all been waiting for! Rose Evenstern was a great friend and a great comfort to my son, Regulus, in his last months. In fact the Headmaster Dumbledore informed me after a time that Rose was the one to sit by my son's bedside and spoke to him before he died."

There was a brief moment where everyone who had turned their attention back to the new girl saw a flash of anguish flash across her face, then it was gone. And in it's place the icy mask of a pureblood.