The Hufflepuff Princess

Chapter 24: Myrtle and Broomsticks

Alice and Rose decided to spend their weekend with Myrtle. Alice had been determined to meet the ghost in the toilet. Rose and Alice had learned a few spells of repairing the bathroom. Alice started with repairing a few toilets, which seemed to habe broken over the years. Rose was with Myrtle who was extremely happy, "Thank you Rose. You're too kind." 

"Of course Myrtle. Now, I'll use a scrubbing charm on the mirrors at the sinks." Myrtle smiled as she floated around, every now and then scaring Alice and Rose for fun. Their giggles echoed throughout the grand bathroom. Alice had finished the toilets and began to repair the stall doors which were falling off their hinges at times. Rose was slowly cleaning the mirrors one at a time before casting the same charm on each sink. She laughed as Alice jummped when Myrtle flew through one of the doors she was fixing, "Myrtle! Godric you scared me!" Myrtle giggled as she smiled at her, "Oops. Woah!" Alice casted a wind spell blowing her lightly towards Rose calling them all to smile, "Stop blowing Myrtle around Alice." Rose turned towards the sink she was cleaning but she paused, "Hey Myrtle? Did you know this one has a snake on it?" Alice jogged over as Myrtle nodded, "That sink never works when I try to flood the bathroom." Alice looked towards the sink shrugging, "There's all kinds of carvings you know, I mean, maybe it was a student making their mark? Like those students with the beanbag chairs." Rose looked towards her nodding, "Maybe, well, at least it looks nice right? Let's finish drying the floors and we should be done!"  The trio set to work, Alice and Rose used scrubbing spells before finishing as Myrtle smiled, "Thank you so much, this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." Rose smiled towards her, "Consider it a thank you for being there for me." Myrtle had soft tears in her eyes as she sniffed, "T-Thank you." 

Rose wished she could hug Myrtle as she smiled towards her, "What are friends for? We always got your back Myrtle." Myrtle sniffed as she smiled, "You're my first friends… thank you." Rose and Alice smiled as they awwed and left later on. Alice began her new launch of complaints against a gryffindor, "He's only good for blowing things up! Yesterday, I got paired with him for the water to rum charm. We learned it the first year and he STILL makes it explode!" Rose laughed softly as Alice fumed like the feather from first year. As they walked down the quiet corridors, someone approached them, "Um… Rose…" Rose turned around and locked eyes with Vincent Goyle, who looked rather embarrassed and nervous, "Oh, hello Vincent. Are you okay? It's been a while." Goyle turned pink before he nodded, "I'm alright. I… I wanted to apologize." Rose blinked in shock, "What? Whatever for?" Goyle cleared his throat before looking at her, "I avoided you. After hearing about your blood heritage… Well, I'm afraid I was a jerk. But… I overheard you talking with Myrtle the other day… and, I'm sorry." Rose couldn't help but hold her heart, she felt it sting for a second, before she smiled softly, "It's okay. At least you-" Alice shook her head, "It's not. You knew she was upset, and you knew she would be hurt when you avoided her. Not to mention, she won't say this but she's nothing but the kindest person, helping everyone and yet you just drop her because she doesn't fit your family's standards. That is ridiculous! You shouldn't have even tried to apologize when she's pretty much alone. You're still trying to save your image. Come on Rose. We have lunch." Rose was dragged away as Goyle looked astounded, "A-Alice?!" 

However, Alice didn't say a word, even during lunch she told Cedric about their cleaning as well as told him all about how sweet Myrtle was. Rose was silent, she didn't know how to feel, not after what Alice said. Even as the trio walked to the castle grounds outside she was quiet, Alice complained to Cedric about random things, and Rose walked towards the Whomping Willow without realizing it. The tree was slowly getting better, some limbs had been freed from their slings. Cedric and Alice both shouted, "Watch out!" Rose looked up before seeing a limb come towards her, but she held up her hand, "Hello Willow." Alice stood dumbfounded, while Cedric stated, "What the bloody hell?!" The limb that moved towards her so quickly had stopped and gently set it's naked branch in her palm. Rose gently patted the limb with a little smile, "It's healed rather nicely huh? Can I see the other one?" Cedric and Alice looked in amazement as the notoriously violent tree gently moved one slinged limb towards her reach. Alice finally spoke, "What is going on?" Rose smiled as she turned towards them briefly and began to examine the limb, "Professor Sprout thought it would be best for me to work with the Whomping Willow. So Willow and I have grown rather close. She did cut me a few times at first, but I learned if you're open with her, they'll be vulnerable with you. Right Willow?" The Tree shivered before Alice smiled softly and looked at Cedric, "We really do have a true Hufflepuff huh? She's even made friends with the most deadly tree here." Rose laughed softly before she smiled, "Willow, this is Cedric Diggory, and Alice Charmingale. They are my best friends. Is it okay if I show them how wonderful you're doing?" The limbs of the tree slowly moved away from Alice and Cedric, creating a small tunnel towards Rose, the duo walked slowly towards her. Cedric awed at the magical sight of the limbs protecting them from the bitter wind. Rose smiled as she motioned them closer, "This limb was barely hanging on after she got hit with the car." She slowly unraveled the sling as she smiled, "But now it's healed enough to be free from the sling. You can see the spot where it fused back together." The Whomping willow seemed to slowly move the limb as Alice looked amazed, "Just remember it can't be moved too much, Willow. She gets excited." Cedric tilted his head, "How do you know it's a girl?" Rose shrugged, "She decides due to her flowers, I made the mistake of saying him to her and she slapped me with a limb. But it made me understand her." Cedric suddenly looked nervous as he stated quickly, "Sorry for asking." He looked towards the limbs and Alice and Rose shared a laugh, eventually the trio bid the Whomping Willow goodbye as Rose smiled telling them about her chat with Dumbledore.