Breaking in the Bathroom Floor 2

[Shava]

Dec 6, 2011 at 10:52pm

Rosalie couldn't take it anymore. She'd been avoiding Taranis like the plague for the better part of the week. She had even gotten someone to cover her rounds with him the night before on the pretense that she was behind on her Potions homework. It was a flimsy excuse, but it had gotten her enough sympathy out of one of the Ravenclaws, who agreed to go with Taranis in her place. She had been in the library when it happened.

Over the last several days, she'd been going through Gran's list one at a time. Observing, learning, and getting to know each of the guys on the list when she could. Merlin be hanged if they weren't all either gay, in serious relationships, or known supporters of Voldermort. She had sighed each time. The first was impractical, the second unlivable, and the third unthinkable. So she had marked them off one by one as the days went by, aware that Gran's deadline was quickly approaching.

She had been in the library, and had intended to pull out the list to see who was left, tucking it in some nameless book, it was in that moment she had discovered the horrible truth. Every last name on the list was marked through, a single line in bold, red ink. All except one. Taranis, the name hovered over her, repeating itself over and over like a bird pecking at her head. She had bolted from the library, book forgotten, list clenched tightly in one first.

Thankfully, she made it to the Prefects bathroom before the tears came. She sank to the stone floor, relishing the coolness of the stone against her emotion-warmed skin. That was it, it was over. She had no other choice now, she would have to send a letter to Gran telling her to make the choice for her. Rose smiled bitterly to herself, something she did very rarely. Oh how her grandmother would relish the opportunity her own daughter hadn't afforded her. She pictured herself being paraded in front of family after family, painted and primped until she was ready to scream.

She didn't want to be some deatheater's trophy wife, she didn't want to be a trophy at all. She wanted to be loved, and even though Rosalie hadn't led a perfect life, she deserved that at the very least, didn't she?

[Shava]

It had been a rough several days. He had classes of course and plenty more then that on his plate, but an overhanging fog seemed to color everything. Taranis was not a crude or stupid boy, nor ignorant though in this particular case he didn't have the pieces to the puzzle he was faced with. He smiled in classes and was generally answering everyone, but people could tell something was off. He himself had no idea what it was nor what was happening to his friend, but he was concerned. He was not fooled about her switch-out on rounds night either and the Lions he spoke to couldn't tell him much beyond she was doing a lot of studying.

Somehow, despite the fact he knew she could have been hit with a load of homework, he knew it was about him.

Several times he had replayed the scenario wondering what he had done and the closest he could come to was the kiss on her hand. Clearly he had thought it was being half-silly, half-thankful which had been taken differently somehow. How, he really had no idea, but if he caught her somewhere he was going to apologize for it immediately. After one class he had really needed to use the bathroom and since he was upstairs, he headed into the Prefect's bathroom. The bathroom had two parts, stalls on one side and bath on the other, though you had to turn to get to the bath since it would be odd to watch people in the stalls.

In any case he entered, dropping his bag on a sink ledge and taking care of business, not seeing there was anyone on the bath side itself. Washing his hands (and checking his face since he still remembered when he got hit with ink from a flicked quill once in third year) he was thinking about going to stand outside the Lion's tower and ask some folks again. Unless one of the nuttier girls came out after him that is which had happened yesterday. Picking up his bag he tossed it over one shoulder and was walking back towards the door when he saw someone on the floor in the bath area.

To be perfectly honest he had no idea who it was, he just thought 'injury' first thing and didn't know who it was. However he hurried over, looking for what they had slipped on just in case, and thus was beside her on his knees when he realized by the hair who it was. Eyes wide, he said with more then just real concern in his voice, "Rosalie! Merlin, are you okay? What happened, did you fall?" He touched her arm lightly, afraid she would run if he wasn't careful and fearfully afraid she would injure herself more if she realized who he was quickly. "I swear, I am so sorry I kissed your hand, I had no idea it would be taken wrong, it was a stupid silly thing to do and I just hope you can forgive me!"

His worry had been bottled up enough he kept talking, for once like a babbling brook afraid he wouldn't get another chance to say it all out. "I swear, if there is anything I can do, I mean anything, please tell me. I want my friend back, I miss seeing you even just in the halls, you just- - vanished on me" He had no words to tell her how worried he really was about her. Trying one other idea, thinking maybe humor would help he added half-hopefully "If you don't forgive me the Fat Lady may stop letting you in the dorm. She's getting annoyed at me talking to her everyday hanging around for you to come out..."

[Shava]

"]It took a moment, but Rosalie heard someone speaking. She briefly considered ignoring them, but that idea flew headlong out the window a moment later when she realized who that someone was. Taranis, Oh Merlin, of all of the people who could have possibly found her in this mess, it had to be him didn't it? She wondered who she had Avada'd in a past life, and wondered briefly if the school might oblige her but opening the floor and swallowing her whole.

It was his touch that jolted her she wiped her eyes on her arm, but hadn't yet raised her head fully when she heard him start apologizing for kissing her hand in the corridor the other night. The memory made her moan, and she dropped her head back into her arms. She had, however, stopped crying so she could hear him, and then, when he mentioned getting her locked out of her commonroom, she smiled. It was weak, and small, but it was also the first genuine smile she'd given anyone in almost a week.

She raised her head slightly, and peaked at him from underneath her eyelashes. "Y-you think you did this? You think I'm upset because you kissed my hand?" She shook her head, "I wish it were that simple, I really do." She realized that Gran's list was laying next to her on the floor. She had most likely dropped it somewhere between now and an hour ago. She snatched the parchment quickly and wadded it up in her fist. "I'm..I'm so sorry Taranis...I'm just...so sorry."

[Shava]

Oh merlin's great bloody b@lls, what had gone wrong? This girl was confident and tough, two of the qualities he liked about her to begin with and here she was collapsed on the floor. Clearly she had been crying. Still kneeling there, he waited for a response, nearly breathing out suddenly as she actually spoke to him. At least she was going to talk to him now! As she spoke, his eyes fell on a piece of paper beside her and damn it, his eyes read it before he thought about it, drawn by all the scribbles. It was family names and almost all of them were crossed out except one circled on- -

His mind cut off mid-thought as he saw the name and his brows came together. What was going on here? She was crying over a list of people? Taking it on himself to try and break through this, he lay down on the floor next to her, taking her wrist before she could pull back from him with the list. "Wait. Please." he lowered his head down entirely to her level with a shaky chuckle. "Man, hope no one comes in right now, the gossip would be something even I would listen too." His eyes sought out hers and he didn't tighten down on her wrist, just held it lightly where she could pull away, but it would be rude.

"Look, Rosalie, you are one of the toughest girls I know and seeing you break down is killing me to help you. What the hell has someone done to you? What can I do to help you out?" His eyes fell to the list where part of the circle could be still seen. Should he mention it? let her know he saw it? "And would you explain why you have a list of names crossed out? Cause you are really beginning to worry me..."

[Shava]

"]He was so concerned, and really, he was her only choice. She opened her mouth to speak, but shut it again. She couldn't ask this of him, she just couldn't. He deserved to be happy, she wanted him to be happy, and if that night in the corridor hadn't done anything else it had given her the distinct impression that he wasn't attracted to her in the least, and really, what sort of life was that to subject him to. Her life being ruined was one thing, his life being ruined wasn't an idea she was willing to contemplate.

She felt him grab her wrist, and though it startled her a bit, she didn't pull away. She heard his gossip comment, and laughed softly, very softly. Slowly, hesitantly, she looked up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time in several days. She gave him a watery half smile. "They s-say gossip burns your t-tongue, Taranis." It was cheesy, but it was the best she could manage under the circumstances.

She was tempted to tell him, just for a moment, she pictured an idealistic scene where the whole ordeal came spilling out, he would give her a horrified look, agree to marry her on the spot, and they'd go riding off into the proverbial sunset, problem solved, damsel rescued, happily ever after. Until reality came crashing, this wasn't a fairytale, he wasn't a knight and she was nobody's damsel in distress damn it.

He mentioned the list, and she turned positively stark white, she hadn't hidden it soon enough, he'd seen the bloody names. "Taranis I...", she sighed. Opened her fist, and held out the rumpled piece of parchment so that he could see it properly. She inhaled deeply, looking very much like she was condemning herself to a life sentence in azkaban. "Let me get this all out before you ask questions okay?" Or run away screaming... but she didn't add that part out loud.

"What you're looking at is a list of pureblood families that my grandmother considers it acceptable for me to marry into. She sent me a letter a while ago, saying that I had until the end of the year to find an acceptable pureblood who would agree to a..." she almost choked on the word, "a betrothal." The exhaled, "the reason I am sitting on the floor crying is because I got a letter from my parents a few days before that, saying that they were under a lot pressure at work, and might not be able to write as often as they normally do."

He didn't look as confused, but she could see that he hadn't yet figured out the entire picture. "The reason I don't have a choice is because my deatheater uncle told Voldermort about my parents not being acceptable purebloods. If I don't find someone to agree to marry me by the end of the year, Gran will write me out of her will, my parents will lose what little social standing they had left, and thereby probably lose their jobs."

She bit her tongue hard to keep from crying again. "The reason your name is the only one not marked out is because you are the only person on said list who is not gay, committed, or a deatheater." She managed to rein in her emotions slightly. "That's why I almost...well...the other night", she finished lamely. "I wanted to see if there was anything...if it might be possible..." She broke off and shook her head, "but it isn't...it just...it isn't."

She wiped at her eyes, "I had thought maybe I could find someone to pretend", she told him finally. "It would have to look real for my parents sake, and because of whatever spies there are floating around these days, but I had at least hoped that maybe the war would be over before I actually had to...you know...get married."

"But I would never ask you, Taranis, I couldn't. You deserve to be happy, I want you to be happy, and there's always a chance that the war wouldn't end first and then, well, it wouldn't be pretend."

[Shava]

Her laugh, though weak, was a sign of life and he smiled encouragingly at her hoping to instill confidence. She tried to return with a joke, but when he mentioned the list her face blanched and it appeared he had found the main issue, the trouble this was all centered around. She pulled herself together a bit and he promised her saying "All right, long as you talk to me, I'll listen." He settled his head on his arm, clearly ready to lie on the floor until she got it all out. As she spoke he listened, confused at first what the relevance was, but the story came together.

She was stronger then he had thought.

Not even legally an adult yet she was taking on as large a load on her shoulders as he was, probably more. She hadn't told her parents probably, she had hatched a plan to save her family and meet her family's requirements at the same time. In doing so she wasn't sharing the load either, she had been working on this for awhile checking through all the possible candidates. When she finished talking and fell into silence punctuated by sobs he felt a real pang in his heart for her and what she saw as a really hopeless situation.

"So...that dating question you asked was kind of....well you were thinking about it then, huh? How long have you been sitting on this by yourself, Rosalie?" His mind was running, surprised and, to be honest, intrigued by this idea. She really had come up with something that might work, could keep her family safe but she hadn't been able to find the right person. "Gods above, why are you not in Ravenclaw? It takes brains to come up with stuff like this..."

Reaching over, he ran a hand down her back a couple of times, circles around her shoulders as he spoke. Trying to help her feel better, give her something else to focus on for a moment. "You don't know how impressed I am with you right now. I need a day to think about this, but you may have something here you don't know about either. I need to ask my mom a few questions, see if she can owl me back tomorrow or at least quick. Think you can pull it together till I can check an idea?"

[Shava]

"]She sniffed, but found her voice returning to normal when she answered him. "Since that night in the kitchens", she answered him softly. "I got Gran's letter when I went to the owlry." She ran her fingers through her hair absentmindedly. Her emotions were calming now, she felt the sort of fatigue that only comes after a major emotional upheaval. She took a deep, calming breath, and suddenly felt more herself than she had in at least the last forty-eight hours.

She blushed, "well, the sorting hat did consider putting me in Ravenclaw at first, but it said I was too stubborn. I remember being so offended. The hat laughed at me then, now I understand why." She fumbled a bit, but finally managed to stand up, motioning to Taranis that he should come with her. She padded softly to the edge of the giant tub. The mermaid was giving her a jealous sort of glare that made her chuckle, she understood what Taranis had been saying about awkward looks from the stained glass now.

She sat on the edge of the massive tub, and rolled up her jeans before slipping off her shoes. With a look that could only be described as simple bliss, she lowered her feet into the warm water. For a brief moment, eyes closed, she felt almost herself again. She watched and listened, he hadn't told her no exactly, and he was right, it was entirely possible there was an angle to all this that she hadn't been aware of.

However, his writing his mum meant his getting involved with the situation, apparently he hadn't been listening when she'd told him she wanted to avoid that very outcome. She shook her head at him. "No!", she said, a bit too harshly, she softened her tone. "Thank you for offering", she tried again, "but I really don't want you getting involved with this. It isn't your problem. I can handle it, really."

She wiggled her toes in the water for emphasis. "I just got a little overwhelmed. I'm okay now. I'll figure something out, I always do." She gave him a smile and a leaned over so that her head was laying lightly on his shouler. "I've got everything under control, so no interfering okay?" Which in all honesty was complete bull, but she would figure something out, she had to.

[Shava]

He picked up the list and scanned it, noting how far she had gone.

This was, without a doubt, one of the wildest things he had ever heard of. It actually made him question himself on why he was even considering giving this play time, see if it could work. It was crazy planning, and yet it had it's own appeal, as if there was something about it he had not discovered yet, a magic of it's very own. And yet the risk was pretty deep as well, plenty behind it which could come tumbling down. At the same time there was a touch of some brilliance in it, pulling the wool over the eyes of those extremists in the Ministry. One of the few things his father had left behind was a deep and abiding fear of fanatics. "Avoid fanatics in all ways; religion, political, and sports. And the sports nuts are the worst."

At least, that was the way mother had quoted him. And from what he was hearing there was advantage here for him as well actually. He could certainly get rid of most of his followers and have a weapon for keeping them away. If his idea was true, his mother might be able to save the buildings at the very least; that could not hurt. But the real icing on the cake as far as he was concerned was something a little voice in the back of of his mind was rather slyly suggesting (the little Slytherin in him he might say) was that Rosalie would have to be his girlfriend and close. That thought pleased him more then he could say for some reason and that started another small worry.

Was he really liking the idea or liking the concept of her with him?

"You know, I have no idea why it would say stubborn," he said with a straight face, his eyes dancing merrily at her, happy to see her pull herself together some more. When she got up and walked the few feet to the tub, he decided he needed to work this out on his own mind and to do that he probably needed to ask her more questions right now while the dam had burst. Sitting down behind her, he crossed one leg underneath himself, the other knee up towards the ceiling. This meant he was sitting almost beside her visually, but giving her a place to lean if she wanted to against his legs. He had done it before during parties, mostly because the walls always filled up first and someone had to sit in the middle. "Handle what, stubborn one? You saying as your friend I can't help you think through this, try to find something that would help you out, stop you from being alone in this?"

Instead of leaning against his legs, she started to her head on his shoulder. Her body language was screaming cover up, show brave and he wasn't buying it. No, they had been friends long enough for him to know when she was over her head in something without too much effort. Without words he pushed her arm enough to show he was moving, and then pivoted behind her so she could lean back against his chest some, his hands out behind him for easy support, the list still in the one behind her.

They had been friends on and off before they became prefects which had in a way solidified their time together. They had always been cool with that and had come to a casual friendship where they could each depend and yet make fun of the other. She was attractive, not the least for her own tomboy-like traits such as Quidditch or being the fighter; he could never match up to her on those traits indeed of the warrior. Would he like the idea of putting his hand around her waist and her not pulling away? Oh hell yes. He didn't think he would have any trouble believing he could pull off that side of the acting. The trick would be to keep it just acting. "I'm not interfering, doofus Ree," (a teasing nickname from her first letter and last syllable) he said giving her a stern "don't-turn-me-away" look, "but it's clear you think you've run out of options so what's wrong with two heads working on this?"

But he had to make sure he did this for the right reason. Anything less would be in a way a betrayal of his friend and that was not acceptable. Taranis might think there were advantages here, but he wasn't going to agree to anything until he knew what all was on the table, including his own mind. Haunting his memory was the way she had closed her eyes and leaned into him, the sudden surprise he had felt from someone who he did not think was nor had been interested in him that way and her sudden exit -- what had that been about really? "Rosalie, I need to ask you something and yes, it's pretty big so I really want a truthful answer. Okay? Right after I kissed your hand that night, you closed your eyes and leaned into me without a warning. I would really like to hear what that was about. I think you owe me that."

[Shava]

She heard the sarcasm in his remark, and turned her head to stick her tongue out at him. "I'm no more stubborn than you are", she answered him sardonically. "Why weren't you put in Gryffindor?" When he said it all like that, she felt almost silly, but her stubborn pride refused to yield. even for him. "That my dear", she began in a somewhat mocking imitation of her Gran's voice, "is exactly what I'm saying. This is my problem, you're the only one I've told, and the only person I intend to tell at this point."

He shifted in such a way that it would have been uncomfortable for her to do anything but lean back against him, and she got the feeling there was more to that than he let on. She sighed deeply, almost inaudibly, and gave in, in that small way at least. She had always been able to depend on him, and that hadn't changed. She simply refused to allow him to become involved in something that at best could be inconvenient and at worst could get them both killed.

She would have glared at him, she really would have, but she was just too darn comfortable. After dealing with so much impending chaos for so long, it was nice to finally get everything out in the open, it lifted some of the weight off her shoulders, not that she was going to let him help mind you, but he made a good pillow. "What's wrong", she answered plainly, "is that it really isn't your problem, this has to do with my family, and what's going to happen to them, it's my problem, no one else's."

As she sat there, she could almost hear the wheels in his head turning. Of all the things she had expected him to say. It was not to ask her the much dreaded question. She did owe him that, but she didn't want to tell him, and that counted for something, didn't it? She sighed, no, it didn't, and opened her mouth to speak. "What happened the other night was just sort of a combination of curiosity and a lapse in sane judgment." She answered at first, and then amended. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, I wanted to see if we had any real chemistry, if we could...make it work." She smiled apologetically. "It wasn't really fair not to tell you what was going on, but I just...couldn't."


"After everything that night it didn't seem right, and then when you kissed my hand..." she shrugged. The tension in the air was palpable and she was blushing ten shades of rosy crimson. She hadn't turned to look at him during her explanation, and she certainly didn't intend to now. She continued, "but then it hit me that I could possibly ruin our friendship for something that trivial", she said, by way of explanation of her hasty exit, "so I ran."

She smiled a bit self-depreciatingly, "it wasn't the bravest thing I've ever done, but I really wasn't thinking clearly at the time."

[Shava]

He chuckled at her house comment, clearly trying to toss it back in his court. "Because I have far too much narcissism, but that's another story. I think a lion staring in the mirror all the time would be far too weird so it's best I'm underground." She continued to be stubborn though despite his pointing that out so he dropped that angle for the moment with a sigh. "All right let me put this another way then, you old goat," giving her a teasing poke in the rib though not enough to tickle, "where did you hear me say I was involved? Or are you jumping to a conclusion based on what you heard?"

During their friendship he had found her more then lightly stubborn, but there was a big difference between getting "involved" as she put it and "helping" to come up with other solutions or work through the issues. Just because he had an idea about something she might have missed did not mean he was saying yes -- yet she had taken it that way somewhat. "Maybe it's my badger side, but we are famous for sticking by friends and if you think for one second I'm not going to be trying to help you figure a way out of this mess, then you're insane. Or more so then normal for you."

Her answer there at least was honest and he thanked her for that at least. "Thanks, I know that was hard to say. And you're right it wasn't fair to me, but you cheated yourself as well you know." Taranis shook his head a tad before glancing back at her look at him. Maybe she hadn't thought it out yet, but with the other stuff on her mind that really wasn't that surprising was it? "See, we've been friends for so long, I mean solid friends, that if you do something like that without explanation I take it as a friend. Automatically." He held out one hand expressively where she could see it as he betrayed the impulse to use his hands to describe what he was saying. Why he did that he had no idea.

"So you never got me thinking that way so you missed having a real experience. Back to square one I guess there. I was mostly confused and wondering what was going on with you, worried cause you were not acting like yourself at all. Which, now I understand why at least." His hand continued in some odd pattern he could not have explained how it connected to the current subject, but it felt right still in it's own way. Who knows? He just assumed he was weird. "As for brave stuff, jeeze Ree, you've already proven that part of the Lion is yours about a million times. No more examples needed really."

[Shava]

She could help it then, she did shift herself so she could turn to look at him. "You, Narcissistic? No!" She gave him a playful grin, "There are plenty of narcissists in Gryffindor, what about the Patil sisters?" She looked thoughtful, "I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of any right now." He caught her off guard for a moment, but when she got her bearings again she answered him softly. "When I said involved I didn't mean agreeing necessarily, I meant you having anything to do with the situation at all. I want to handle this alone, I need to."

Her argument was flimsy, and she knew it, but she held on with every ounce of her tenacity. She gave him a look, "so now I'm crazy am I?" she asked, looking offended for a moment before she smiled softly, warmed by the fact that he was trying so hard to convince her. Too bad he was going to lose. "You don't have to help me with this to be a good friend, Taranis." He was wearing on her resolve, but she did her best not to make it apparent.

She laughed, a real, honest to Merlin laugh that echoed off the stone walls. "Cheated myself? Did I now?" Her eyes twinkled in a mischievous sort of way as she looked back into his. It was her turn to shake her head, "I'm fairly certain if I had kissed you the way I had planned on kissing you that night, you wouldn't have taken it as a friendly gesture." Her eyes positively glittered now. This was familiar territory, and he would not get the upper hand, let him process that idea for a moment or two.

She remembered his gobsmacked expression, and it saddened her briefly. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and gave him a serious look, "this isn't about being brave, Taranis, this is about saving my family. I've been given a way to keep them safe, no matter how inconvenient it might be. Remember what you said the other night? No matter what, remember? What if this was your family? What would you do? I'm running out of time here. I appreciate the thought, really I do, but this doesn't concern you."

[Shava]

He had been tongue and cheek about his admiring his own looks, but apparently there were some in her house, though he recognized the names he did not see their faces in his mind. "Hmm, must not be too bad for them, I can't even remember what they look like..." Still, even thought they were in different houses they clearly were still able to be good friends. That point didn't need pointing out however as she knew that already despite her argument. "I know I don't have to, goofball. I want to because I care about you. And, to be frank, your comment about fake-dating to drive off the crazy people struck a cord with me. That would quite possibly solve a lot of my daily frustrations and make my life far easier."

He rubbed her hair with affection, not messing it up but making her think he might; if she was defensive about that she might be getting better. "Now see, the only issue is that particular offer came from a young woman who acted pretty out of it afterwards and has been acting oddly enough several people have been asking me what was up with her..." Taranis smiled, knowing this was only partly true. People had been giving her some odd looks he was sure, but mostly because she was acting like herself. Having asked a lot of people, he figured he had also stirred up some interest in others keeping an eye open as well now too.

"Oh, and you of course need my help to keep getting inside your dorm. The Fat Lady is going to get a lot more attention till you relent to letting me talk stuff out here with you, no matter what you decide in the end. And don't get me wrong, darling one, I'm not saying I'm taking the decision nor trying to trick you, I'm offering my help. No, scratch that, I'm going to think about this even when I'm not talking with you so I guess I don't need your opinion on that part... " With his free hand he took the list and rolled it up, sticking it in his bag carefully behind her where she might forget it during this "discussion."

Nothing like having a little leverage to make her see his point anyway.

"Well, duh, of course you would have gotten a different reaction!" Reaching with his hand he lightly put his fingers under her chin and turned her face up slightly to look in his eyes which were most appreciative. "Now if you had kissed me, I would have been still surprised, but you would have fed my ego like crazy. That would be a reasonable reason for not wanting to do it and I will admit that would be bad for me having a swelled head. After all, I wouldn't be able to fit any of my hats..."

When she smiled it did warm his heart, especially when he knew he was the cause. Was it that simple? Yeah, it could be.

His smile both on his lips and in his eyes was warm and pretty inviting as he gave her a nod. "My point exactly. This is about family. And if the only person you can stand on the list is saying it has a benefit to it you don't realize and can he have a day to get an answer about something, then don't you owe it to him at the least after all this to at least listen to what he has to say? You do deserve happiness, stubborn one as much as anyone else. Let me have one day to get some information for you which might make all the difference in the world..."

[Shava]

She exhaled, frustrated. His resilience was overpowering. "There's a vast difference between fake dating and a fake engagement, Taranis", she pointed out petulantly. She had to make him see that he was in over his head. "Pretending to date is one thing, pretending to be madly in love is a completely different concept." Why couldn't he see that? It was really too much to ask of anyone, much less a really good friend. While that fact made him the obvious choice, it also made her hesitate to involve him at all.

"Whose fault is that?", she asked. Yes, she'd been told he was looking for her, even the fat lady had implored her to speak with him, but she'd refused them all with as much stubborn determination as she could muster, which fortunately was a lot. The younger girls in her house had taken to giving her strange looks, the couldn't understand why anyone in their right mind would avoid a concerned Taranis Summerby, so they'd taken on the notion that she couldn't possibly be in her right mind.

"So you're going to get in the middle of this whether I agree or not?" she asked, the idea both irritated and terrified her. He was so stubborn! Unbidden, the image of them standing toe to toe, dueling it out flashed across her mind, that was exactly how she felt right now, she was trying to protect him all the while protecting her family too, why couldn't he understand that? She shook her head, "you just don't understand..." she wasn't sure how to finish the thought, so she let the sentence hang.

She laughed, but the sound was cut short when he touched her face, her eyes widened with a sort of nervous uncertainty. She tilted her head sideways, a bit, and the uncertainty melted as she smiled. He had calmed her anxious nerves and her insecurities, but not her qualms with the whole idea of his having anything to do with this situation. "Taranis, you dont' wear hats", she felt obligated to point out, at least she'd never seen him in one, and they'd known each other for a long time.

The picture he painted sounded promising, and for just a moment she let herself believe that there might be something to his idea, what if he could fix everything? and even if he couldn't, what would one day hurt? If he couldn't do anything, she could always send the letter to Gran anyway. She bit her lip, feeling more vulnerable than she had since she was a child, but she trusted him, she really did, and what was trust if you didn't nourish it every now and then. "All right", she said, her voice just above a whisper. "One day."

The idea did nothing to relieve her sense of chaotic upheaval, and heart still raced irregularly in the face of her uncertain future.

[Shava]

When she became frustrated and complained he was getting in the middle of things he gave her a serious look and said stern (which was not a usual thing for him) "Middle of it? I think seeing my name on a list circled while everyone else is crossed out to be in the middle of it indeed. And has it not occurred to you yet, Rosalie, that an arranged marriage, at least the way my mother told me about them, is just an announcement not a legal contract? Sure, you sign paperwork to show you are planning on committing to it, but up until the day you are legally free and clear out of school you can cancel it? That would still by your family two years to get their stuff settled and make alternative arrangements if they need to. And really now, if neither one of us can find someone to marry later after school, then we probably would not have had much more success during those last two years of school..."

His mother hadn't gotten married to someone she met in school neither had his father who had been a Durmstrang graduate. Marriages happened across the years, not just as teenagers. This would be a shield for her family, not a contract she could never get out of again. And if the times were still difficult and she saw no other options then a marriage was not the worst thing in the world. Especially if it was someone she was friends with, a far better alternative then being married to someone she despised and hated. A couple of names on the list certainly rose to his mind as people she'd probably murder if she was married to them. "I do wear hats, just not at school. Otherwise I'd get sunburned like mad when I went fishing or working on the farm."

When she capitulated, not without a struggle and clearly not completely, he took his arms and gave her a full hug where she was already leaning against him, careful to make sure his arms were low enough not to make her uncomfortable. In her ear he said softly "Thank you. You may hate me right now for pushing you, I won't blame you for that, but I want my friend back. You see, she's fun and strong and I need her daily smiles I think more then she realizes. It hurt me to see you snuffing yourself in unhappy thoughts and feelings, Rosalie, I want you around a long time." He didn't release the hug for a minute, enjoying the fact she wasn't fighting him so much; Rosalie was a fighter, but he often ran from her fights. Not this one though.

"One thought for you which I hadn't heard you say yet. Are you going to get your parents to announce this or your Grandmother? Because if it was your parents, you don't have to be acting like you like the idea, but are bending under a parent's orders instead." Having an excuse to fight with her as much as they could manage for two years made him smile slightly; that could end up being fun actually. Maybe might work better then the other way, but only slightly. "You could spend the entire two years planning out fights, arguments, and talk about an excuse to be completely unreasonable about the smallest things. People might still believe you were trapped in it and getting married, against your wishes."

He needed to ask his mother several things, actually. If he managed it right, he'd probably get a really quick response but he should get it to an owl very soon to catch her this evening. He released her from his hug which had kept her from being able to hit him too effectively. "Okay, are we good for now? Can I get a real smile, not just a 'there-shut-up-now-Taran' smile?"

[Shava]

“A list you were never supposed to see”, she added. He seemed to be ignoring the fact that she had never wanted to involve him in the first place, a fact that irritated her. She sighed, he was wearing her down via sheer persistence, and the tactic was working better than she was comfortable with. “But what if it doesn’t Taranis? What if the war doesn’t end in time? Then we’ve signed the papers, gone through the motions, and we’re stuck marrying someone we probably wouldn’t have even dated otherwise.”

She looked into his eyes, she knew his expression was adamant, but so was hers. She had to make him see, had to make him understand the potential consequences of his actions. She listened to him, half-heartedly at first, and then more intently. His explanation of her warmed her heart, and she felt her irritation melt away. While her anxious sense of impending doom remained, she no longer felt frustrated. She smiled softly at the idea of him doing farm work, having only a vague idea of what farm work was to begin with. “I can’t picture you in a hat”, she tilted her head, but try as she might the image just wouldn’t come. Perhaps it was because his hair was one of his most distinctive features. She could always spot it in a crowd, and it came in handy when she had to track him down.

Part of worried a bit that the idea of faux fights seemed to appeal to him more than pretending to have feelings for her, but then she grinned, the idea of being able to pick petty fights with him did have a certain allure, although it would be a tad out of character. “It would have to be my grandmother”, she answered softly. “My parents will abhor the whole idea of a formal announcement, and since social exposure is sort of the point, that wouldn’t be very productive.” She bit her lip, "that’s part of the reason this is so complicated Taran, my parents can’t know it isn’t real. The moment the word betrothal comes out of my mouth, they’ll hit the roof, and go straight to Gran."

They won’t go for it, no matter how good my reasoning is for the exact reasons I’ve told you, they don’t like the idea of my marrying out of propriety any more than I like the idea of allowing you to, which brings us back to square one.”

“Besides”, she added after thinking a bit, “don’t you think it might seem a bit odd if after being great friends for this long, we announce we’re engaged and are suddenly at each other’s throats?” She gave him an odd look, wondering how far he’d thought that one through. “Then again, I think I might like picking on you some either way, you really are so easy to rile up”, she teased. She looked up at him sadly, “you can appear to be unhappy with the situation Taran, but I can’t. Part of the deal is that I have to appear to be completely content with the arrangement, if I don’t, my parents will be suspicious, Gran will throw a fit, and my parents will be the same if not worse off than they were to begin with.”

She gave him a smile, and hugged him back as best she could. However, while it felt less forced, the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. Part of her wanted to take a bludger to him for talking her into doing things his way She was beginning to remember why she’d thought involving him was such a terrible idea in the first place. Her mind had begun the first steps of resigning herself to the letter to Gran, she was certain it couldn’t be as bad as she imagined, mostly because it would be almost impossible for it not to be better than she imagined.