You Know I'm No Good

The next two days went on and the Weasleys grew to enjoy Rose’s company more and more. Charlie along with Ginny, Harry, Ron and George convinced Rose to play quid ditch with them. The numbers were even with both teams, Ginny and Rose were nearly unbeatable when they worked together as chasers so much so that George had a laugh when Rose got past Charlie on many occasions. Rose often teased Charlie only to make him more adamant at blocking the goal. Once they finished the game Ginny, Ron, and Rose gloated about how badly the others lost. Harry, George and Charlie were left to get even. While the others’ backs were turned Harry grabbed Ginny while Charlie grabbed Rose and George took Ron. Charlie’s option was to apparate to the small water hole with Rose and get her into the water. But Rose had other plans as she took hold of his shirt and brought him into the water. She let go at the last second and appeared back at the side of the waterhole whilst Charlie got submersed in the water. Rose stood leaning against the nearby tree with a big smile on her face as Charlie surfaced.

“Oh I‘m sorry was I supposed to be in there instead of you?”

“Perhaps,” Charlie responds as he swam to the edge. He got out of the water and walked towards Rose.

“You had to learn a lesson for your sore loser attitude, its your own fault,” Rose states giving him a smile.

“And this is what you get for rubbing my loss in my face,” he retorts as he quickly wrapped his arms around her and gave her a big hug being sure to let the water soak onto her dry clothes. She let out a small squeak of surprise as he lifted her body in the air then started to carry her towards the waterhole.

“Charlie put me down you punk.”

“Why would I do that?” Charlie inquires looking down at her with a cheeky smile. Rose looked back at Charlie unable to help noticing how handsome he was. From his kind blue eyes to his scruffy beard that seemed to showcase his wonderfully structured face. She was transfixed by his smile and the way the droplets of water ran down his temples. Charlie seemed to become lost in her eyes that seemed to have turned from dark brown to a green with golden flecks in the sunlight. It wasn’t until someone cleared their throat loudly that the pair snapped out of their daze causing Charlie to drop Rose.

“Son of a fuck!” Rose exclaims as she hit the ground.

“Bloody hell I‘m sorry Rose.”

“You‘re going down you damn ginger.”

“We‘re all going to Diagon Alley,” Ginny says with a smirk. Rose was quick to push Charlie back into the waterhole.

“Sounds lovely,” Rose replies walking alongside Ginny.

After getting back to the Burrow, Molly scolded Charlie for bringing mud into her home. Rose sniggered lightly before heading upstairs to get her bag. It would be her second visit to Diagon Alley, the first being just to check out George’s joke shop he opened with his twin brother Fred. Opting to use the fireplace for once Rose ended up somewhere she hadn’t expected. Dusting off her clothes she looked around at all the strange artifacts that surrounded her. Shrunken heads and old dark objects entranced her, her fingertips lightly grazed the glass counter and her eyes locked onto a ring hidden beneath a translucent veil behind the counter on a shelf.

“Hands off the counter woman, you‘ll dirty up the glass!” the ravaged looking shop owner sneers. Rose turned with an apologetic smile causing the shop owner to be reminded of someone.

“Sorry, I miscalculated my trip to Diagon Alley, great shop you got here Sir.”

“Do you have money to spend?”

“Do you have anything I‘d like to spend it on?” Rose counters with a teasing smile.

“What do you have your eye on?”
“Might I see that ring? Its hidden under the veil on that shelf.”

He made his way behind the counter and lifted the veil to reveal the ring he was sure he lost years ago. Taking it between his thumb and pointer finger he held it up to the light. Rose thought it was an interesting piece of jewelry and something drew her to it. The old man’s thoughts went to a day when a pretty American wearing a wedding dress appeared in his establishment wearing the very ring he held up to the light. He looked to Rose, examining her every feature realizing how similar she looked to the young woman who brought in the ring to sell only days after landing in his shop.

“You look so much like that young woman who sold me this ring. Except she had light brown hair that was almost blonde and her eyes were a bright emerald green. Always had him captivated.”

“Always had who captivated?”

“No one. Get out of my shop!”

“I didn‘t mean to offend you. Here I‘ll buy something for your trouble.”

“Nothing is for sale. Leave now!” he growls as he grabbed Rose roughly by the shoulder and began shoving her out the door. Rose stumbled onto the street as the old shop keeper slammed the door of the shop behind him. The curtains shut swiftly and Rose heard the door lock several times. She remained staring at the store front shocked with what just happened. Rerunning the encounter through her mind she couldn’t figure out what offended the ancient looking man.

“Rose! What are you doing way down there?” Charlie yells from the lighter side of the tunnel.

“Miscalculation,” Rose mutters loudly as she walked down the tunnel to meet up with him. At the end of the tunnel, Charlie was not the only one, to the left was a man sitting with a flute and a basket. The man played the instrument and the lid of the basket rose along with the head of a snake. Her eyes were transfixed by the king cobra, and the snake reared its small lidless eyes at her. Charlie could have sworn he saw the snake nod at Rose in some sort of understanding as she passed by it.

“I need to get my wand tuned up, do you know where I can take it?” she inquires looking at Charlie expectantly.

“Ollivander‘s is the place the go.”

“Great, would you like to join me?”

Charlie nodded his head and they both began walking down the narrow streets. Rose took in all her surroundings even though her thoughts were jumbled up with her encounter with the old shop owner. Her mind so in another land and Charlie had to stop Rose from running into pole because she was so out of it.

“Rose you nearly ran into a pole,” Charlie states then Rose finally snapped out of it giving him a confused look. “Are you alright?”

“Sorry spaced out a bit,” she smiles weakly.

“Ambrosia Isobel Moreno you are a sight for sore eyes.”

Rose broke her gaze with Charlie and turned to the source of the ever so familiar voice. Her eyes landed on the strangely handsome man with dark eyes and jet black hair. For a moment she couldn’t speak she just stared at him not knowing what to do or say.

“What are you doing in London?”

“Let‘s get that old hunk of wood you call a wand fixed up,” the man smiles.

“Rose?” Charlie says giving the brunette a confused look.

“Charlie, Connor, Connor, Charlie,” she replies gesturing half heartedly to introduce the two men.

“You must excuse Rose, she gets uncomfortable when introducing me to others. It seems she is stuck between hating me and being completely enthralled with my presence.”

“Don‘t flatter yourself I wouldn‘t waste my energy hating you because let‘s face it there are so many things I could hate about you.”

“I‘ll take that as my cue to leave, it was good seeing you Boss,” Connor smiles condescendingly as he bowed extravagantly at Rose.

She didn’t like the fact Connor seemed to be hanging around whenever something bad happened; he was her personal version of a bad omen. There was something off about him and he seemed to like pushing her buttons. It was a bit much but she chose to ignore the fact she ran into him and headed into Ollivander‘s wand shop.

The old man was helping a customer when she entered and Charlie had remembered that he left his wallet back at the Burrow. Excusing himself, he left Rose to go get his money and she stood looking at all the wands in the shop whilst she waited. Old Ollivander finished helping the young wizard and moved on to the young woman who seemed to be enjoying his shop. When she turned around however he looked at her not sure what to think.

“I came in to get my wand tuned up,” Rose smiles as she pulled out the old wand she had since she was discovered to be a witch.

“Did this wand get passed down to you by your mother?”

“No, my mother isn‘t magical.”

“A shame, your grandmother was a powerful witch.”

“My grandmother?”

“Yes your grandmother Delilah Waits. She stayed in London for some time, even worked here at this very shop. Lovely young woman, you are almost a spitting image of her except your hair is much darker and your smiles are different.”

Rose didn’t know what to say and she found herself looking at the man with questioning eyes. She never heard any of this information. It couldn’t have been coincidence that she had the wand that belonged to a woman that shared similar features as herself. Too strange to be coincidence, first the man at Borgin and Burkes now the wand shop owner.

“The man at Borgin and Burkes said something similar before he threw me out of his store.”

“Well that‘s probably because it reminded him of when You-Know-Who apprenticed at his shop.”

“No,” Rose whispers as tears welled up in her eyes.

“You look like him. The hair, the eyes, the smile,” Ollivander says in a shocked tone.

“LIAR!”

“You know it to be true. You saw him before his demise didn‘t you?”

Rose backed away from the old man but he kept on stepping towards her. Tears fell from her eyes and he pointed his wand at her throat. She didn’t know what to do, she was breaking down inside. So much horror went through her mind and she prayed to the heavens that this was not the truth of her origins. Everything was going haywire and Rose was now at a loss.