Roses and Riots | f. weasley

Chapter 8: The Relatives

At the end of June, Emilia was stacking shelves on a particularly quiet afternoon in Flourish and Blotts where she worked part-time when the bell over the door rang, signalling the arrival of a customer.

"I'll be with you in just a moment!" she called over her shoulder as she put the last of the newly delivered books onto the shelf in front of her.

"No worries! Take your time," the voice called back and when she turned around to walk to the counter, she was surprised to see a fellow Hogwarts student standing there looking around.

His eyebrows raised when he saw her, "oh, Emilia Potter, isn't it?"

She smiled at him, "that's me. You're Roger Davies, aren't you? Ravenclaw?"

"You got it in one," he grinned, his dark eyes sparkling under the warm light of the shop.

Emilia walked over to him, "so what can I help you with today, Roger?"

"Well, I'm looking for some new books to read, any recommendations?" he asked and she grinned at him, always eager to share book recommendations whenever she was asked.

"I've a few in mind," she said, "fiction?"

"Of course," he grinned.

She pulled a few of her favourites from the shelves and laid them down on the counter, then she gave him a brief synopsis of each one, and he hung onto her every word.

"I'll get these two, it'll give me an excuse to come back, when I need the others," he smiled shyly at her.

She blushed at his words, "oh, well, I'll see you soon then."

Roger did come back the following week to get another book, and he only got one book at a time, meaning he had to come back more frequently.

They chatted about the books he'd read, her favourite books, and Emilia couldn't help the fluttering feeling in her chest when she watched him ramble on about how wonderful he thought certain characters or plot points were.

He came to the shop at least six times over the following three weeks. One day he nervously asked Emilia if she'd like to go for tea when she was taking her lunch break, and they went to a nearby café and there wasn't a single moment of awkwardness between them, the conversation flowing naturally.

Emilia realised that she'd grown to like him quite a lot, and she thought he was very handsome with his dark brown hair and warm brown eyes. He complimented her hair, noticing that she'd gotten the dark waves cut up to her shoulders since they'd last met, and that made her feel strangely giddy.

She told him that she would be away until school was back, since she was going to visit Harry, and he asked her if she'd like to continue hanging out when school was back. She eagerly agreed and bid him goodbye, her cheeks hurting from smiling.

—

The following week, Emilia arrived at Privet Drive, having finally figured out the Muggle bus from London to Surrey. Thankfully the bus driver was friendly and didn't mind her confusion as she tried to count out Muggle money she'd exchanged in Gringotts that morning.

Harry had written to her at the start of the summer to tell her that he'd informed the Dursleys of her intention to visit two weeks after his birthday, and that she would be showing up whether they liked it or not, and would be staying until it was time to go back to Hogwarts. Unsurprisingly, they kicked up a fuss about it, but he told them that they couldn't exactly stop her without earning a visit from other magical folk, which shut them up.

Emilia knocked on the door of Number 4 and a large boy with a pinched expression on his face opened the door.

"Who are you?" he demanded rudely.