Winter's Rose ▫️T. Lupin

▫️ Twenty-Five

Rose didn't say anything for a while, she just stared, her mouth agape as she looked between Adrian and Terence, unable to believe her ears. Because Adrian Pucey couldn't have just asked her whether she wanted to be a reserve Beater in Puddlemere United.

"You were watching the game?"

It was the first question that came to her mind and it certainly wasn't the answer to their question but they didn't seem all that bothered with it. Instead, they exchanged a look that appeared amused before Adrian turned to face her with a slight smile and nodded.

"That's right."

"How did you know we had a game today? Did you come just for me?"

"You may wish to sit down, Rose," Terence spoke up as he took a seat himself with Adrian sitting beside him. Slowly, Rose sat down opposite them. "As you know, I'm Thomas's father."

She nodded. "I know, he's a great guy, really compassionate and considerate-"

"He takes these traits from his mother," Adrian cut in with a wide smile as Terence shot him a look.

"The truth is that I'm not the most considerate person so maybe he does take that from his mother," he admitted with a small shrug. "Anyway, as I was saying, Thomas set all of this up, it was his idea. He's going to be a reserve Chaser in Puddlemere United, something that happened because I spoke to Adrian who is a Chaser in Puddlemere United and Ginny Potter said a few things about my son, someone watched one of his games at school and so, Thomas got a place in the team.

"He believes you're a great Beater. When you started talking to each other, he came to me and told me about the way you play, and I thought I should give this a try. And then, just after Easter holidays, I met Ginny Potter in Diagon Alley and she mentioned you, underlining your abilities as a Beater. I couldn't ignore both my son and someone who used to play Quidditch professionally."

"And that's where I come in," Adrian took over as he noticed Rose's gobsmacked expression. "Terence spoke to me as a member of the Puddlemere United and those owning the team expressed interest in you after I mentioned it. Thomas was kind enough to set this up so I could come along with Terence and observe the way you play, along with the way Thomas plays. Both of us agreed that you play nicely and we've come to the conclusion that having someone like you in Puddlemere United would be beneficial for the team. We want you to join us. The question is, do you?"

Rose blinked, her mouth opening and closing but no words coming out, and in the end, she just sealed her lips to stop embarrassing herself in front of these two men, one she respected because he was her friend's father and the other because he was a famous and amazingly talented Quidditch player. The offer was tempting - Rose loved Quidditch - but something didn't make it easy for her to agree.

"Mr Pucey, I truly admire your talent and I trust both of your judgements but I'm not sure about this," she said truthfully after a while as she looked up at them. "Are you sure I'm good enough for this?"

"Absolutely," Terence nodded as he took out his wand and waved it in thin air. A second later, the scene in front of them burst with colours and Rose was startled to realise that she was watching herself play. "Thomas captured this with a camera during your match against Ravenclaw," he explained just as Rose in the scene made a swift dip to hit a Bludger that was getting quite close. "We know of your abilities and now we got to actually witness them."

"You don't have to worry that you won't be good enough," Adrian spoke up with a small smile. "In Puddlemere United, we'll train you, we'll help you reach your full potential. And you'll also have Thomas with you, I suppose it's comforting to have a friend with you when you get into a new environment."