( the great perhaps )

australia: a r/hr mix

sidecar — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 22:20:53 GMT

intro.
instrumental

o1.
I'm thinking of friends whom I used to know,
Who lived and suffered in this world below.
But they've gone off to heaven, and I want to know:
What are they doing there now?

It had been a debate for Harry, Ron, and Hermione whether or not to attend Colin's funeral. After all the others they had attended, they were understandably drained. It was Ginny who insisted that they go, and the three agreed with no argument. They knew it was the right thing to do. This is did not mean it made it any easier: Hermione watched how Dennis fought the tears as long as he could, until he was approached by his late brother's idol and was given condolences. Hermione watched as Harry patted Dennis awkwardly on the shoulder and give half-hearted assurances that it would all be all right. She felt guilty when they did not stay to talk with the rest of the mourners, but as Ron put it, it was better to leave before the press caught wind of the hero's whereabouts and made the solomn occassion a circus. That night, Hermione couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned and hummed to herself, anything to stop thinking of Colin. And Moody. And Remus. And Tonks. And Fred.

o2.
But were all happy cause the streets there are always there for us,
And its quite scary when you wake up in the same old clubs.
It's getting darker and I know time wasnt meant for us,
So won't you please, please, please come back to me?

Ice cream? Florish and Blotts? She shook her head at all these ideas, and Ron started to feel frustrated. One of those muggle movie places, would she like that? was his final offer. It earned a small smile from her, but no agreement and no sound. Instead, Ron watched as Hermione silently headed back up the Burrow's steps towards her bedroom, and after he lost sight of her, he heard the soft sound of the door closing. He fell onto the couch and put his head in his hands, thankful that no one else was in the house. Harry and Ginny off playing Quidditch with George; mum and dad visiting Bill and Fleur; Fred.... Ron stood up and glared at the family clock. Why had no one removed that damn hand? He pulled out his wand and growled the words to shatter the protective glass, and he held the tip to Fred's hand, which had been pointed at 'Desceased' for too long. The hot tip burned right through the hand and off it came. He threw it across the room. He could have managed if she had just gone to get ice cream, he yelled in his head. He could have managed if she was still herself.

o3.
And I tried to be a girl who likes to be used;
I'm too good for that.
There's a mind under this hat,
And I called them all and told them I've got to move.

The packing was going faster than she anticipated. Socks, shirts, shoes, knickers, trousers, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, all the necessities. How long she would be there, she had not figured, so she took all the Galleons she had. Hermione had already researched that she could trade in her Galleons for Australian pounds. She felt prepared. Ron disagreed: he wanted to go with her, but she shook her head and insisted she could manage just fine. He kept bringing up the idea of Death Eaters hiding in Australia, but she shrugged him off. She had to do this on her own, without Ron or Harry. Not that she said this to him, she was convinced he would never understand. Harry quietly conceeded defeat and supported her, although Hermione felt as though it was a bit begrudgingly. Ron would not back down. Hermione would not back down. It was too exhausting for Harry or Ginny to play mediator, so they let Ron yell and Hermione listen quietly and reply with a surprising, strange, sad insistance. She knew she had changed, and that was why she had to go.

o4.
You gotta give me a chance,
And say you'll come home.
I won't love you and leave you,
And then let you go.

This had to be a joke. An elaborate hoax, and he was positive that Ginny was in on it. She insisted that she knew as little as he did. They hadn't been writing? No, they hadn't been writing, she told him once again, and he left her room angry. Harry suggested he take a deep breath, but Ron pushed past his friend and went to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. Why would Hermione up and leave so suddenly? He picked up the one letter they had received from her. It said she had landed in Australia and was fine, but the letter was weeks old. As George had pointed out, no where did it say she would write again soon, or that she would write again at all. Think positive, they kept telling Ron, but he could see on their faces that they were worried, too. He picked up his quill, yanked out some parchment, and started to scribble down a nasty letter to her, but he stopped. He could not say those things to her. He would have to just wait. Two weeks later, he wrote.

o5.
I left the north.
I travelled south.
I found a tiny house,
And I can't help the way I feel.

Her mother handed her a letter with a smile before going off to make some tea in their small, sea-side home. Hermione held the letter in her hand, recognizing the handwritting on the envelope, and hesitated before opening it. He would either say something nice, or something mean, and neither was what Hermione wanted to read. No matter what he had to say, nothing would change. She loved Australia: the warmth, the sea, the culture, the people. Her parents were finishing up this and that before they planned to head back to England in late August, just in time to get Hermione back in time for the new term. How could a letter from anyone, even him, make her want to go back to cold, wet, memory-ridden England? Until she was done, completely detoxed, completely renewed, would she be able to go back there. With a deep breath, Hermione put the unopened letter in the trash and joined her mother in the kitchen.

o6.
I thought I'd write, I thought I'd let you know,
In the year since you've been gone I've finally let you go.
And I hope you find some time to drop a note,
But if you won't, then you won't, and I will consider you gone.

His letter hand been dry. He had kept himself from saying anything mean, refrained from a sweet proclamation, he just wrote the facts. The family was doing well, as was Harry. Hogwarts was nearly done being rebuilt. They were all expected to return to make up for their lost classes but he and Harry were in debate whether or not they would actually go back. Ginny was excited to return. Dad was doing well. Mum was feeling better. George was running the store by himself. He never said he missed her, or that anyone else missed her, either. If she read between the lines the way he hoped, she would find that whatever had once been was no more. If she read even deeper, she would find it was a front he was putting up and even more than missing her, he needed her. The letter had ended with a sarcastic line telling her to enjoy Australia. He did not ask her to write back.

o7.
I'm a new soul, I came to this strange world,
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take.
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear,
Finding myself making every possible mistake.

Her first beer was with Natalie. It was bitter and made her wince, but she finished it politely. Her first time to the beach was with Alice. She went snorkling and saw a sea turtle. Her first opera was with Samuel. She cried when Orpheo sang about how he long to see Euridice again. Her second beer she finished faster, and it made her feel light headed. Her second time to the beach, she decided to just tan instead of swim and got a bad sunburn. Her second time out with Samuel, he kissed her gently and she kissed him back, even though she thought of someone else. Her third beer she drank with one hand, because Samuel was holding the other, and the third time she went to the beach she read her book with one hand, because Samuel was holding the other, and the third time she and Samuel were alone, she half-heartedly kissed him longer.

o8.
I'm tired of calling you, missing you, dreaming that I've slept with you
Don't get me wrong, I still desperately love you
Inside this weary head I just want us to love just instead
But I was just thinking and thinking, merely thinking.

Ice cream? Florish and Blotts? Ron could tell Harry was frustrated, but that was not enough incentive. It was the first time that anyone could remember that a Weasley becides Percey was de-gnoming the garden without being told. Granted, he was being a bit rougher than necessary. He grabbed the brutes by their hair and chucked them harder than necessary, but it felt good in his muscles. Harry watched the gnome go flying and then he shook his head and went back inside. To ask Ginny to do something, Ron suspected, and that made him grab the next gnome with more ferocity. Watching his knuckles go white as he held on tightly, and then tighter, he spun the gnome over his head, and it squirmed in his grip, it needed to be set free, it begged him to let go, and so with a grunt he let go, and the gnome flew further than even he thought possible.

o9.
Little Miss Soldier,
The battle is over.
Little Miss Soldier
Time you go home.

Hermione wondered whether or not it was worth getting to the airport at four in the morning to catch the flight. Her father reminded her that this was the only flight left that would get her home with enough time to repack for Hogwarts. They could have left a week or two earlier, her mother added, and Hermione nodded and came to the conclusion that the extra weeks, days, minutes in Australia were worth the early wakeup call. The friends she had made said so long the night before over good food and better drinks. She had tried her best not to get too attatched to them, but she knew that as soon as she was settled back at Hogwarts, she would be writing to them immediately. A desperate connection to a secret life that no one else would know. Although when her mother asked if she was excited to go back to England, Hermione did not hesitate to say yes, and she meant it.

10.
And if it's true, if it's true, if that's true,
Then what the fuck have I been doing the last six years?
How did I end up here?
How did I find love and conquer all my fears?

Strange, Harry commented, to be going back knowing that the year would end in exams and no dangerous encounters. Ron have a half-smile and told him not to assume too much, for where Harry went, danger followed. The two friends smiled at one another and then looked around the platform for familiar faces. One in particular was on both their minds, but neither said that outloud. Last time anyone had said her name was when Ginny reminded them a few breakfasts ago that they would get to see her again. The cold look from Ron told everyone else that her name was not to be used. Not until he had forgiven her, because he certainly could not forget her. It was not until he felt a nudge on his elbow that he was brought from the memory of that breakfast, and he saw Harry nod to something in front of them. She was walking towards them. Her hair was lighter, her skin tanner, her look more hesitant and much less confident than before. Ron knew Harry would be kind, but not let it go lightly. Nor would Ginny. They would stand by him, he knew it. Harry smiled and said hello, Ginny hurried over to offer a hug, and Ron's eyes were on her neck, where a small scar had never properly healed and stood out against her tanned skin. That scar made his stomach twist more than when he saw her smile. As long as she had that scar, she would be the girl he saved. He knew it, she knew it, and keeping that in mind, he nodded to her and cleared his throat before welcoming her back.

.zip

rpg party :: threads

sidecar — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:59:32 GMT

Post your scenes for the RPG party here, introduce yourself/characters if you'd like over here. Have a fucking fabulous time.

rpg party

sidecar — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:56:01 GMT

While my sister made it very organized and everything, with introduction posts and rules and all that, I'm just going to say the following:

bring anyone you want from any fandom and any game.
RPG however you feel comfortable: third person, *actions*, whatever you want
you can make the scene a general "dressing room" type scene, or you can describe your own place, WHO CARES, just have fun
you can introduce yourself and your character(s) in this post
have an icon so we can recognize your character immediately
have a fucking FAB time

post in character here.

sidecar — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:59:52 GMT

toujours pur (dot) net
the single greatest harry potter experience in the entire world.

sidecar — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:07:43 GMT

fanfic, rose and basil YEAH.

"Have you decided what it is you want to do after Hogwarts?"

Rose hates this question. No one really gets it, not the way she does. Even the boy sitting to her left doesn't get it, and he's her best ever all time forever amazing stupendious best friend. How his parents are supposed to get it, Rose has no idea.

"Yes, Minister."

Oh, yeah, and then the father of the best ever all time forever amazing stupendious best friend is the Minister of Magic, it adds pressure to sound impressive. So Rose doesn't go into detail, because she'd really rather not.

"Oh? What would you like to do?"

It's obvious she doesn't want to say anything, at least, it is to Basil. This is made clear when under the table, she feels his foot touch hers. There's nothing flirtatious about it, it's just a little nudge to be the brave Gryffindor he knows she can be. So Rose takes a deep breath and starts to explain herself. "I want to work with animals."

Basil rolls his eyes at this. "That's not what she wants to do," he says for her, and she gives him a disapproving glare, he shrugs. "What? It's not. I mean it is, but you make it sound like you want to feed and bathe them." He turns to his parents. "She wants to protect them."

Parker, the Minister's wife and best ever all time forever amazing stupendious best friend's mother, looks more interested by this. "Protect them? What do you mean?" Immediately, she falls into a terrible old habit from when she worked as her husband's political speech writer. "I do hope you don't mean restrict them for their own good, because Lowell has worked very hard at removing the restrictions on creatures such as Centaurs, and--"

"Parker." Lowell's voice is kind and simple, and immediately puts his wife back into reality. She smiles guiltily at him, then at Rose, and looks down at her glass of Pinot Noir.

Rose shakes her head, "No, Mrs. Bristow, that's not what I mean." And thank goodness, because if that's what Rose had wanted to do, she was fairly certain she'd be booted out of the Ministry's New Year's Ball that second. "I want to, you know, help endangered magical creatures." And then she looks at the Minister, Lowell Bristow, and says before she chickens out, "Because no offense sir, but you've hardly done anything useful for them."

Basil laughs at that, hard, earning him a stern look from his mother. Lowell looks at Rose with interest, although he doesn't look particularly amused. "And why do you suppose that is?"

"Erm. Because." She could hear her mother's voice in her head, screaming at her for insulting the Minister (although she was fairly certain she'd earn a proud wink from her father, who voted for the Other Guy). "Probably because you've been focusing on other matters. Which is all fine and lovely," she adds quickly. "But..."

When her voice fades, Basil picks up right where she left off. "But Rose knows tons about Magical Creatures, and that's not really your area, dad, so wouldn't it be great if maybe Rose someday fixed it all herself? She could, too. She's really smart." Thank heavens for best ever all time forever amazing stupendious best friends.

Lowell leans forward a bit in his seat towards Rose. She thinks his red and gold tie is tacky, but it's a holiday he was a Gryffindor, so she supposes she can forgive him. "Are there places to work for such a job?"

"Not really," she shrugs, but she doesn't look deflated. "Because the Ministry has a division, but it's very focused on controlling the creatures, particularly dragons, and doesn't really have an area where I could help them, you know? There're some organizations out there, and they're all non-profit, so I wouldn't make any money, but I wouldn't really mind that at all, because if I get what I want, I won't need money."

This makes Lowell Bristow, who's always had his healthy share of money, raise an eyebrow. Parker Bristow does too, but out of doubt rather than interest. "What makes you say that?" she asks.

Rose shrugs again. "Because I want to be out there. Really out there. I don't want to come home to an apartment every night and cook myself a dinner and sleep in the same bed. I don't know how people do it. It's just boring to me. I want to put a bag on my back and hike through the Congo, or the Andes, or the Amazon or somewhere and eat the plants to survive and sleep in a tent and use my own arm as a pillow."

The Bristows shared a look. It wasn't of disapproval or disgust, more of surprise. They knew prefeclty well their son enjoyed a very comfortable life style, and the fact that he could befriend such an odd sort of girl...well. Whatever they'd thought about before, whether or not this girl could be a girlfriend-sort-of-thing (did Basil even have girlfriends, or was he wretched and always just have flings?), it wasn't an issue anymore. Basil could never be with someone so flippant.

But that didn't mean Lowell didn't like the girl.

"I'll tell you what." Lowell leans back in his chair and gives her a long look while she looks back and forth between him, best ever all time forever amazing stupendious best friend Basil, and the mother. "If you get straight Outstandings on your N.E.W.T.s next year--and I mean every single one--then I will create a position just for you in the Ministry."

Rose gapes at the same that Parker shoots him a look and Basil beams. She sort of fumbles for words, and what comes out is, "R-Really? Sir? No, really?"

"Really," Lowell nods. "Pay, health benefits, everything that a smart girl like you deserves. And I promise you won't be stuck behind a desk," he adds, because he completely recognizes the look of apprehension on her face, because it was the same one he used to have when he was her age and told by his father he should go into politics. "You can travel. Everyone deserves to travel."

Her next reaction is from watching her father and mother at work. She stands and holds out her hand towards the Minister, who hides a chuckle and follows suit, standing and shaking her hand in agreement. Rose fumbles through a thank you and a promise that she won't let him down, but by the time she's finished, the music is swelling up again and people are taking to the dance floor. Lowell turns sheepishly to Parker, who turns red when he offers her his hand, and the two go off into the swirling, twirling crowd.

"He likes you."

Rose turns to Basil, who's now also standing and grinning widely at her. "I'll distract the bartender," she says with a sly smile, "and you grab a bottle."

They retreat to her father's office for the rest of the night.

sidecar — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:08:22 GMT

wut: fanfic:
who: rose weasley and basil bristow. haven't you been paying attention?

first comes love.

Rose's morning starts with vomit. Actually, it starts with so much sun that it sort of blinds her when her eyes open, but saying it starts with vomit is a much more interesting start to the story. Once her eyes adjust to the light, her stomach suddenly becomes home to a few bludgers, and she hurries to the bathroom and gives the toilet a lovely morning present. For a twenty-five-year-old woman, vomiting shouldn't be so funny. But Rose doesn't flush immediately.

"Basil." She hits the body that she had abanonded earlier on the arm. "Get up, ponce." When Basil still doesn't move, she sits on him. Right on him. That wakes him up with little more than a groan, because he is very used to such a wake-up call from his unfortunate roommate.

"Piss off, Weasley," he whines. He's stronger than her because he's bigger than her, so when he gives it his all and rolls over to his stomach, Rose falls off and stumbles to stay on her feet. Avoidance only earns him a slap on his bottom and that wakes him up with an angry grunt and glare. "Saturday, no work," he reminds her. Not that Basil even has a job.

She rolls her eyes in the most dramatic away she can and takes ahold of his forearm. With a tug (and another tug, and another tug), she starts moving him out of the bed. "Have to show you something," she gruts as she pulls. "And lose some weight, you're getting fatter than Mrs. Possley. Get up!"

Starting to think something might be wrong, because Rose knew better than to wake him up ever, Basil rubs his eyes sleepily and sits up, the sheet falling off his bare chest (and bare lowers, once he stands). "Unless there's a dementor in the kitchen who wants to kiss me, I'm not bothered."

"No, much more exciting." Her hand grips his wrist and she drags him into the bathroom, her proudest moment still shining brightly from the toilet.

"That's disgusting."

Rose beams up at him and shrugs. "I told you your cooking was off last night."

"Yeah?" Basil tugs her hair for that. "And I told you it was off because your bloody magic icebox is faulty."

Dramatic sigh. "Whatever, point is, your dinner made me to that, which means I was right, and which means you owe me ten Galleons."

He tugs her hair, suggests she follows it if she doesn't want to get hurt, and when she leans back to avoid pain, he finishes the dip with a kiss. And then Basil gags and says she still tastes like toilet soup, and Rose laughs.

then comes marriage.

"Dad still wants me to marry you."

She's sitting on the kitchen counter, and he's standing against the icebox, with a similar bowl of soup in his hand. The kitchen table is left unused. It goes like that every time. They're not even sure why they have a kitchen table. Rose has a vague memory of her mother demanding that she have a proper apartment ("Just because you're only there a few days a week doesn't mean you shouldn't have nice things! And what if you decide to settle down and have a family?" That last part had earned Hermione quite the glare). She was also fairly sure that Basil's mum had something to do with it. Mothers. Rose couldn't stand them.

After pushing her soup around with her spoon, Rose looks at Basil. "And what did you say to that?"

Basil shrugs and shifts his weight a little. "What I always do."

Rose nods at this, because it's an acceptable answer and she doesn't mind whatever it is that Basil tells his father. He's never told her just what he says, although she thinks it might be along the lines of, "Dearest father, the light and beauty of Rose Weasley is too much for one man to handle, particularly a man with as little impressiveness as myself." She trusts him to be honest. "Good," she finally acknowledges. "And he said?"

"That I'm destroying your reputation and single-handedly turning you into the hussy of the Ministry." When Rose raises her eyebrows at that, and Basil looks sheepish. "I may have added that last bit."

She jumps off the counter and puts the bowl and spoon in the sink, a silent understanding between the two that he would be doing the dishes tonight. He did them every night. He didn't have a job.

"I'm off," she says. She's got a night shift tonight and can't be late. She's meeting her partner in the Ministry and from there, they'd Apparate to a home in Borris, a village in Ireland that has been apparently been repeatedly harassed by a colony of surprisingly strong Doxies. Not exactly Rose's most interesting case, but it got her out of the house. "I'll be late."

"Yeah, well." Basil frowns into his soup. "Off with Nancy then, are you?"

That earns him a fierce glare. "Nathaniel," she corrects him for the thousandth time, knowing perfectly well he's doing it on purpose. "And just because he's strong and tough and dashingly handsome and has a job, doesn't mean you need to be threatened, Basil. Hadn't we settled this years ago?" She removes the bowl from his hands, puts it on the closest counter, then stands on her tiptoes and holds onto his waist. "I'm yours."

"Too bloody right." He kisses her for that, because she's cute when she says it and it is his absolute favorite when she says it like that, so close to him and touching him and looking at him that way. "Time for a quickie?"

Rose hits him for that and heads for the fireplace. "All of yours are quickies," she teases, and before he can yell or argue, she grabs some power, steps inside, and in a flash of light, she's gone.

then comes the baby in the baby carriage.

Rose is feeling less than charming. To be fair, she is usually less than charming. Uncle Harry says that she gets that lack of tact from her father (and then Aunt Ginny and mum always agree, and then Ron throws a fit), and that may be so, but she'd never snapped at Nathaniel like she had today. He may have wiped a secret tear. Okay, maybe not, but she got to him, and for that, Rose felt a little bad.

"It wasn't my fault," she was telling Basil. Her legs were tangled in his and her arm was around his chest, and his arms were around her waist and they were just a heap of skin and hair and sweat. "He was being an arse, giving me hell, saying I should start taking better care of myself. And when I asked why, he said oh-so charmingly, 'You've put on weight, Rosie dear,' and I swear Basil, ignoring the fact that he called me Rosie--and don't look so bothered, I know that's for your use only--he told me I was fat. Fat."

Basil considers defending Nathaniel because it wasn't that he called her fat, just that she had put on a little more weight than usual (and Basil sort of shamefully had to agree that she had), but the audacity of her co-worker to call her Rosie meant that Basil would not uphold his duties as a man to defend the other bloke. "Bastard."

"I know! Evil bastard. You know, I think he might be a Death Eater."

Basil laughs at this and gives her a squeeze. "You think anyone who has anything less than desirable to say about you is a Death Eater, love, and I always have to remind you that your parents sort of got rid of them."

Rose gives a sigh and puts her head on his chest, her red hair falling around him. Basil puts a hand in the hair, because he can't resist touching it, and that makes Rose smile. Thirteen years later, and he still loves her hair. He sort of fascinated her like that. He could get so attatched to things that most people would've thrown out years ago.

She was a prime example.

"Basil," she says softly, knowing that he's already closed his eyes and is nodding off to sleep. "Basil, do you lo--" she hesitates, and he opens an eye so he can look at her curiously. "Do you want something to drink?" Wuss.

He shakes his head and shifts to get more comfortable. "I want you off my chest so I can sleep." His irritable reply makes her smile, and Rose rolls off so he can spoon her instead, and that's how they fall asleep.

She's shaking a bit and that's making Basil very nervous. As he told her the first time he spoke to her, she was pretty brave for a girl. Nervous Rose never boded well. It meant things were going badly. Usually for him. Usually it meant that Ron Weasley, father of the unwed girl, was waiting in another room so he could have a "talk" with the equally unwed boy.

"Rosie," he encourages her, "spit it out will you? I'd like to get to bed sometime soon." It was only four in the afternoon. Basil could be such a right fowl git sometimes.

Rose nods and looks away when she says, "So I know we're nothing serious, because you're you, and I'm me, and we're just stupid together, right?" Basil isn't even given the opportunity to agree vehemently with this (it was often what he told his father during those, "You should make an honest woman of Miss Weasley" talks) before Rose continues, "So it's not like this is going to change anything with us. And I want you to know this wasn't my fault. I mean, if anything, it's completely yours."

"Hey!" He's immediately offended, although he's not sure why. "What'd I do?"

Rose finally looks at him and glares. "You knocked me up, you tosser."

"Oh. Oops."

"This is a surprise!"

Rose brushes off her mother's hug. "Yeah, yeah, look, is dad around? I need to talk to you two." She's scratching the back of her neck, so Hermione knows that Rose is in Very Serious mode. While Hermione goes to fetch her husband on this rare day off for the Auror, Rose hops up on the kitchen counter of her childhood. She has to smile when she sees that her mum and dad have kept pictures of toddler Rose and baby Hugo around, even though she's twenty-four and a successful worker at the Ministry, and Hugo's twenty-two with a wife and kids and being the pride of the family.

When Ron walks in, Rose immediately tenses. "Look okay," she starts before Ron has a chance to say hello or take a seat or do anything. "I know you guys don't like Basil, and I know you don't--"

"It's not that we don't like Basil," Hermione explains, although the man of the house makes a face. "It's just...we thought you'd outgrow whatver...that is by now." A kind way to put it, Rose supposes.

"Whatever." She brushes it off and wishes they'd sit, because if they stand, they're still taller than her, even with her sitting on the counter. "But just listen, will you? Basil's great, I promise. And whether or not you like him it doesn't matter, because I love the kid, and I know he loves me, and we don't need stupid rings or ceremonies or promises to make that true. So save your energy," that comment was directed straight at Ron, who immediately closed his mouth, "because none of that is what this is about. I swear, I'll just walk out and I won't come back if you say one bad thing abou thim, and don't doubt me, because you know I will."

When neither Hermione or Ron say anything (although they share a bit of a look), Rose wraps it up with, "I'm pregnant and I'm keeping it, and it's a girl."

This makes both Ron and Hermione tense, look at each other, look at Rose, and then when Hermione stands to hug her daughter, Ron sits in silence.

"That's wonderful," Hermione says, although Rose isn't entirely convinced that's not what she's thinking. "You do look like you've gained some weight."

"Yeah thanks mum," Rose says loudly over the end of her mother's sentence. "And dad, if you could stop trying to burn holes into the table, that'd make me feel loads better."

Ron doesn't move at first, but when he does look at Rose, he says, "So we have how many months to throw together a wedding?"

"Ron," Hermione sighs, and Rose is thankful. She knows that this wasn't the way Hermione envisioned her only daughter having her own baby, but Rose appreciates the attempt. "Maybe we can talk about that later?"

"Or never," Rose suggests. "Because Basil's not interested in that, and I'm not either. A ring on my finger won't make me a better mum or him a better dad, and fuck!" She doesn't notice the disapproving looks on her parents faces, because she's too busy realizing that's the first time she's called herself a mum and Basil a dad, and that makes her feel surprisingly wonderful.

"I think we should stick with the plant names."

"You can't be serious, Basil."

"I am, Rosie."

"What do you suggest?"

"Daisy?"

"That's awful. Try again."

"Ivy."

"What are you, a complete poof? No!"

"Holly."

"I've got one, Basil."

"Oh good, what?"

"Whomping Willow."

"I love you, Rosie."

She's born Regan Bristow, because even though Rose would never admit it, she wants to continue the R-name tradition. She likes that she shares that with her dad, and she likes even more that her daughter shares it with her grandfather. Basil insists that he will stay home, because he's writing another book anyway, so he'll be home a lot, and he wants Rose to keep working because she obviously loves it so much. She doesn't tell him how much this means to her, because she's fairly sure pushing a kid out of her said it better than she could have, anyway.

sidecar — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:24:25 GMT

NEW HARRY POTTER BOARDS
opening this week!

PICSPAM FOR PRESENT IS LOFF.

sidecar — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 02:29:58 GMT

Happy Valentine's, everyone. I bring you A DELIGHTFUL GIFT.
(now un-locked so you can spread the cheery loff!)

ron: i bought the loff of my life a pretty valentine's! she will luv!!!!!

ron: isn't she perfect and classy?

lavender: OHAI RAWN YOU GOT ME A PRESENT!!?!?!
ron: is not for yew.
lavender: CAN I EATS FACE?
ron: uh no. you can't eats face.

lavender: OKAY I EATS NAO.
ron: WRAYHDAEORYHIALAEOUHA I'M A REAL BOY!

f-locked

sidecar — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:06:26 GMT

COMMENT TO BE ADDED