Winter's Rose ▫️T. Lupin

▫️ Three

"Rose? Rose. Rose!"

She finally looked away from the tea she had been stirring for a minute now, her dark eyes wide as if she had just heard the call of her name. "Yeah?"

Angela huffed, "I've been calling your name for ages! Where is your mind?"

A small chuckle was heard as Beatrice grabbed an apple and raised it to her mouth, smirking slightly. "I have an idea."

Almost instantly, Rose groaned. "Don't-"

"Rosie hardly sleeps," Beatrice continued despite her protests as she shared a look with Brenda. "She returns to the common room late at night doing - what did you say you've been doing?"

She glared slightly at her, lips pursed, "Studying."

"Right," her smirk widened, "all alone, studying. In a place you won't tell us-"

"It's just an abandoned room-"

"You didn't let me come with you, though," Brenda interrupted her with a small shrug of her shoulders as Rose snapped her head to her in disbelief.

"You're siding with her?"

"I've a name," Beatrice huffed and Rose instantly rose her eyebrows at her.

"Really? I had no idea."

"Ever since you've had detention with McGonagall you keep returning to our dormitory late, way past curfew. Mind you, I'm an extremely bad Head Girl for not reporting you."

"Come on, Bea," she smiled as she leaned forward, a teasing eyebrow raised. "What they don't know won't hurt you or them."

"I wasn't thinking of reporting you, I'm nice like that," she shrugged as she leaned forward as well, and Angela along with Brenda slowly did the same, staying quiet as Rose and Beatrice, the best of friends any day, were having some form of bickering. "What I mean to say is that something has changed this year. And I don't think it has anything to do with you deciding to suddenly start caring about your classes."

Before Rose could reply, Angela spoke up. "You know, we wouldn't hold it against you if you had a boyfriend."

They promptly ignored Rose's glare as they mumbled their agreement.

"We'd just like to know who it is," Brenda explained.

"She did admit Teddy Lupin is rather handsome," Beatrice shared with a wide smirk as Rose groaned. "Come on, Rose, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I don't have a boyfriend," she grumbled, "and I sure don't want one."

Angela frowned. "Why not? Not every boy is like immature Smith."

William Smith was Rose's first boyfriend, a boy that had graduated last year and had come out to be an awful boyfriend in the end, but in the moment, she really hadn't been thinking about him when she had claimed she didn't want a boyfriend. Exasperated, she threw her head back and let out a loud groan.

"I don't have a boyfriend!"

"Just saying, though," Beatrice kept going as she exchanged a smile with Angela and Brenda, "Teddy is a decent guy. Nothing like Smith. He'd never neglect you or try to make you jealous-"

"The guy is in Hufflepuff, Bea," Rose grumbled as she lowered her head to face her once more. "I doubt there's a Hufflepuff ever that chooses to neglect or try to hurt someone they care about in any way."

"See?" she grinned. "He could be the one for you."

Rose felt like groaning. Again. She felt like her reactions were becoming awfully expected at this point though so she only rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say."