Flora And Fawna [HARRY POTTER]

38

Rosie hadn't planned on ending up inside of Hogshead Pub on the saturday before Christmas break, but then again she also hadn't planned on a lot of things. It was strange, Rosie noted, how much a bottle of firewhiskey put things into perspective. She was sure that her cheeks were flushed, and she was sure her hair was a mess from the amount of times she had drunkenly run her fingers through it to get strands of golden silk out of her face. But she couldn't bring herself to care. 

Rosie's mind wandered, though no one could tell by looking at the girl, and distantly she heard the door of the pub open and close. A rush of cold air hir Rosie's back and, out of irritation, she turned to look at whoever it was had chilled her. But the sight of who had come into the dor chilled her more.

If Rosie had been fully in her right mind she would have known better than to whip back around and bury her face in her hands, because the sudden motion in the otherwise still pub only alerted Professor Snape to her presence, but she couldn't help herself. Her higher reasoning skills were set to the side by the alcohol in the firewhiskey. Rosie tried to ignore the familiar sound of footsteps as they walked up behind her, coming to a stop only inches away from the barstool she had taken a seat on an hour earlier.

"If I recall, you are still underage Miss. Evans," Severus Snape sat himself beside Rosie, pinning her with a disapproving look that she was too stubborn to look over and see. 

"Yeah," Rosie wasn't slurring as bad as she should have been, being a sixteen year old three quarters of the way through one of Aberforth's strongest. "That is an issue."

Severus sighed, moving to pull Rosie to her feet. Hogshead Pub was no place for a sixteen year old. Especially a drunk one who had a three foot potions paper due the next day.

"Come along back to the castle and I'll overlook it this once." Severus did all he could not to look into Rosie's slightly glassy eyes. They looked much like her sister's had all those months ago. "I wouldn't want to take points away from Ravenclaw."

Rosie scoffed, something that was usually very much unlike her. In fact, Severus doubted he had ever seen Rosie be anything less than polite. She was quiet during her classes and she was quite in the halls. The only time that Severus knew she had even been in trouble was when the Weasley boy ran into her and landed her detention. 

"What do I care about house points? Slytherin's got us beat anyhow. You must be horribly proud. I just want to sit here in this horrible bar and drink."

Severus began to pull more instantly, but as Regulus had discovered many years ago, Rosie was rather strong for her size. 

"It'll be five years this Christmas since he died," Rosie groaned. "I always split my time between home and Number Twelve. Now's the only time I can mourn properly. Then I have to go home and take care of a little boy that will never call me 'mummy'."

Severus froze, only then letting himself look past the frazzled girl, letting himself peer into her all too familiar eyes to see the pain that was there. Rosie was a beautiful girl, all the boys in her year agreed. She was bright as a ray of sunshine and she represented what most of the children had grown up without- being born in a time of war. Only she was broken in a way that she hid very well. Her glassy green eyes were shattered in a way that Severus hadn't seen before.

"You never know how much you'll miss someone until they're gone. When I was eleven Regulus was just an annoying older boy that liked to bother me. Then he died and I felt like something was ripped out of me. Even now I'll pass a slytherin and see him in his school robes, or I'll sit on the Hogwarts express and remember how we rode the train home together. And I remember that I was the reason he died and want to join him."

Severus could see that tears were welling in Rosie's eyes, making them look like gems in the low light of the pub.

"But I can't because I have to look after Harry."

Rosie turned away from her potions professor and took up her bottle again. And Severus let her.

*******

Rosie was sure she looked horrible the next morning when she woke up with a piercing headache. She didn't remember coming home and she was quite surprised she had managed to sneak past whoever it was who was patrolling the hallways. She could only imagine from the ache in her skull that she had had quite a bit to drink and had probably been a stumbling mess. 

She rose gingerly from her bed and began to get ready for the way, wondering if perhaps she should go to Madame Pomplfy for a resoritive.

*******

Severus sat at the breakfast table, pushing his food around with his fork and nursing a horrible headache. He had stupidly decided to stay with Miss. Evans the night before to make sure that she didn't get herself into too much trouble and his stupid male pride required that he keep up with her drinking. Severus had to wonder if Rosie had actually managed to kill herself- he felt dead and he was sure he was at least a bottle behind her- but apparently she was fine.

For some reason Severus looked up from his plate- perhaps it was because the group of students that just entered were being particularly loud- and saw a familiar head of golden blonde hair.

Rosie looked remarkable after a long night of drinking- Severus knew exactly how long it had been since he had been the one to deliver Rosie to her dorm though he had to admit it had been more she leading him. She had somehow managed to tame her wild hair and she no longer had the bags under her eyes that had been there when she woke up. Severus noted that she was a bit pale but it wasn't anything that couldn't be blamed on the winter weather. 

Long gone was the broken girl from the night before and Severus had to ask himself just how many times Rosie had done that same thing. How many nights had she drank until she was ready to pass out, only to stumble back to her room and get up bright and early the next morning so that she was able to avoid worrying her friends. How many times has she let her perfect image slip?

Rosie glanced up from her ow breakfast- a plate of fruit that she had managed to grab before the hall filled and the food disappeared- and caught Severus' eye. Their gazes held for a long moment before she looked away, laughing at something that her friend had said.

Severus looked back to his plate and decided that Rosie had done it many times. She would have had to, to be so good at it.