Winter's Rose ▫️T. Lupin

▫️ Twelve

With Christmas coming closer, Rose gathered her things and got ready to return home. She filled a small suitcase with the things she'd need and on the morning she was supposed to go home for the holidays, she checked once more to make sure her clothes and textbooks were in place before leaving her dormitory to head to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Beatrice had woken her up a while ago but hadn't stayed. She had left with Brenda and Angela a while later and they had all gotten ready before she did so they also left earlier than her. Rose was left to gather the last of her things in silence and then finally, to meet them once more in the Great Hall.

As she got in the Great Hall, she was met with the chatter of her classmates. She soon spotted her friends and headed down to the Gryffindor table, but she had hardly covered half the distance there when someone grabbed her arm, forcing them to turn to face them. She was about to scold whoever had grabbed her, but upon noticing Timmy, she couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, Timmy."

"You're going home for the holidays, Rose?"

She nodded, "Are you?"

"Yeah! And I'm going to practice for a long time."

At his grin, her smile widened slightly as she nodded and took a step back. "I hope you have lots of fun, then."

With a last smile at him she continued on her way to her friends. She sat down just beside Beatrice, her eyebrows rising in surprise as she instantly pushed a cup of tea her way.

"I got it ready while you were gathering your things," Beatrice explained simply as she offered her a smile. "Brenda and Angela are talking about Arithmacy, I really don't understand a thing. I didn't have anything better to do, you see."

Rose accepted the tea with a small nod and instantly raised it to her lips, unable to not smile. "Thank you, Bea."

She shrugged, "You're welcome."

They ate their breakfast with Rose staying silent and Beatrice piping in in Angela's and Brenda's conversation at points. A while later, they left the Great Hall along with everyone else and headed to the train station at Hogsmeade. Getting in the train, they found a compartment and made themselves comfortable.

Brenda and Angela sat down beside each other as they kept talking among themselves while Beatrice turned to Rose and started talking to her about all the things she'd do during the holidays, including some Christmas shopping. Rose had already bought presents for her friends, and as per usual, she had gifted them with jumpers as she loved them and in her opinion, no one could be dressed warmly enough during winter. She listened to Beatrice talk attentively, not missing a word, until she was distracted by a knock on the door of the compartment. The next second, the door opened and Teddy appeared, standing there with one of his signature smiles, his hair that was today a soft shade of purple ruffled, most probably from the wind.

"Hello," he greeted as Brenda and Angela stopped talking. He put his hands in his pockets and his gaze fell on Rose for a few moments before he turned to Beatrice. "I'm afraid we've got to patrol the corridor of the train for a while."

Beatrice groaned as she stood up, taking her scarf off and placing it on the seat beside Rose where she had been sitting. "I had done a quite good job forgetting about it until you turned up, Teddy."

He smiled sheepishly at her, "The sooner we're finished with this, the better. I've got friends I'd like to return to too, come on."

"So demanding," she mused with a smile as she waved at them goodbye and then left the compartment, sliding the door closed behind her as she left.