Winter's Rose ▫️T. Lupin

▫️ Epilogue

Ten years later

"An excellent hit by the Beater of the Holyhead Harpies, Rose Jones, makes Chaser of the Pride of Portree, John Smith, lose hold of the Quaffle and the Harpies are in possession with Braun - she's getting closer to the goalposts - swift pass to Morgan and - was that the Snitch?"

Rose whirled around as she headed straight for the Bludger her teammate had hit her way, and with no hesitation, she aimed and hit it with all of her power, the Chaser of the opposite team barely having the time to duck out of the way. A sudden whoosh was heard coming from her right and she snapped her head in that direction to see the two Seekers going after the Golden Snitch. They were going quicker and quicker, straight to the ground, and she let out a small cheer as she saw the Seeker of her team rising in the air with the Snitch at hand, a wide smile on her face as her opponent barely managed to not crash to the ground.

In an instant, every member of the team of the Holyhead Harpies rushed over to their Seeker while the commentator yelled the result; three hundred and fifty points for the Harpies, two hundred and ten for the Pride of Portree. They had won, once more.

"Well done, Martha!" Rose called out as she raised her arm for a high-five with the Seeker who was grinning brighter than ever.

"Congratulations, team!" the Captain of the team spoke up as she clapped a hand on Rose's back, being short and not managing to clap her shoulder. "Let's get in the changing rooms."

The players of the Holyhead Harpies raised their arms and waved at the crowd that was cheering wildly above them and then slowly headed to the changing rooms. Rose was walking beside her fellow Beater, a woman some years older than her, almost reaching her in height. She was Polish, her features light and her eyes bright, a soft expression on her face usually. Her name was Emilia Baldowski and she was a friend of Rose's, the person she was the closest to in the team.

"You played well, Emilia."

Emilia turned to Rose with a smile and a raised eyebrow. "Don't I always?"

She couldn't help but smile as she nodded just as they got in the changing room. They changed in silence, and after greeting their team members, Emilia and Rose left together.

"Have you got any plans for today?"

Emilia ran a hand through her blonde hair she had let loose for once, light blue eyes narrowing as she turned to Rose. "No. What is it?"

"I'm going to have lunch with my friends, Bill, Thomas and Beatrice. My husband suggested you joined us."

"Your husband is considerate," she mused with a smile as she turned away once more. "Thomas is your former teammate from Puddlemere United, isn't he?"

"That's right."

"And Beatrice is a friend of yours from school you had lost touch with and started talking to her two years ago when she broke up with her girlfriend?"

Rose blinked in confusion as Emilia didn't give her a straightforward answer to her question. "Yes, that's her. You've seen her before."

She hummed in response, "She's cute."

She instantly grinned. "Does that mean you'll join us?"

"Of course."

Rose let out a small laugh as they headed to the main corridor leading out of the Quidditch Pitch. Her friends and husband were there and with a wide smile, she headed towards them, her eyes on her husband as she got close and pulled him in for a hug he instantly returned. Pulling back, she pressed a small kiss on his lips.

"Hey."

"You were great out there."

"Emilia helped."

"Of course I did," Emilia smirked slightly as she shared a nod with Thomas before she turned to face Rose's friend.

Beatrice was smiling, her dark hair pulled into a ponytail as per usual, her clothes ironed and clean and in all honesty, she looked like she didn't belong with the crowd that generally watched Quidditch.

"Beatrice," Rose spoke up as she turned to her with a small smile. "Did you come from work?"

Beatrice chuckled with a nod, "Is it that obvious?"

"Yeah."

"Hello Bill, how have you been Bill, you look very handsome Bill-"

"Hello, Bill," Rose cut his monologue off with a wide smile as she moved forward, inspecting his hair closely. "Did you lose more hair or is my mind playing tricks on me?"

He pursed his lips as Thomas beside him laughed. "I hate you."

"I take it you'll join us, Emilia," Teddy spoke up as he moved over to his wife with a small smile. She nodded and almost instantly, Thomas clapped his hands together.

"What are we waiting for, then?"

Everyone knew where Teddy and Rose lived, and so, they took out their wands and apparated in their house. As the guests headed to the living room and started talking among themselves, Rose and Teddy opened the windows, letting light get in the room. Rose stole a look at her friends before getting back in the kitchen, and Teddy followed after her.

"Rose?"

"Today is the day grandma died."

He slowly came to stand behind her, his arms around her body as he pulled her back to him, his head resting on the crook of her neck. "I know."

"I put winter roses all around her grave yesterday. I think she'd like it."

"She'd love it," he assured her as he pressed a kiss on her neck. "We can visit her later if you want."

"Yeah. And I'll take some more winter roses to put around mum's grave."

"Sounds nice."

"Rose!" a voice that could only belong to Bill bellowed out from the living room. "You told Emilia of the time I fell in an uncovered well?"

Rose smiled. "Last I checked dozens of people had seen you, I didn't know it was a secret!"

As Bill started yelling, apparently outraged, Rose started yelling back with a wide smile as she left Teddy's arms and headed to the living room, and Teddy himself followed after her, unable to not smile as he noticed Bill and Rose bickering back and forth while Thomas, Beatrice and Emilia were watching them amused, Thomas piping in to get Bill more riled up from time to time.

Some things never changed. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

THE END

And that's the end of Winter's Rose!

Thank you so much for reading and letting me share this story with you, I had fun with this book, even though it wasn't the most fluffy book I've ever written. Rose and Teddy had a happy end in the end, and Rose managed to push through despite all the hardships she encountered.

I really hope you liked this book, and once more, thank you for reading this, it truly means a lot to me. I hope I get to see you in another book of mine!

Lots of love,
Olga.