Just Like Fire -- Rose

[Irina Rose Krum]

It was the day before Irina’s birthday, a day where she would turn eighteen years old. That age didn’t really mean too much in the Wizarding world, as seventeen was when you could legally perform magic outside of Hogwarts. Still, being eighteen was quite the milestone. If she cared to, she could vote in those Muggle elections, not that she knew what any of it was for, and she could go to pubs and bars and have a drink. Her parents let her have wine with dinner since she had been sixteen; it was pretty common for European households, particularly German like her mother, to have wine with dinner starting younger than the legal drinking age. She could technically go down to the Three Broomsticks and order Firewhiskey, but the one time she’d tried a sip she hadn’t been a fan. Perhaps her parents would let her order a beer at their lunch tomorrow.

Irina’s mind was full, so doing what she was best at, she decided to go for a run. Running cleared her mind, though with the weather being what it had been she hadn’t gotten much of a chance to be outside lately. Today had dawned bright and sunny, and Rina woke with the sunrise. She had changed into running clothes and took off once she left the stone steps of the castle. She ran a trail she was familiar with; round the lake, trying not to look at the willow tree that held so many memories for her. As she made her way towards the forest, she paused to catch her breath and check her pulse. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths, not expecting someone to be standing in front of her when she opened her green eyes once more.

OPEN

[Deleted]

It was a lovely down upon the grounds of Hogwarts, Rose Weasley thought, as she ventured out to take a stroll around the Black Lake. The Ravenclaw was quickly approaching her graduation and with all of her exams, she had less and less time to enjoy the things she would miss most about the school when it came time to leave. Strolls around the grounds were one of them. Rose had finished her school work early today so she could take her time the rest of the afternoon with a walk, with no particular final destination in mind.

About halfway through her walk, Rose stopped to admire the view from where she stood across the lake. She was certainly going to miss Hogwarts. She stood in the spring air, wishing silently that she would have asked Scorpius to join her, but also quite thankful she was on her own for this. The red head was lost in her thoughts when she heard footsteps approach and then stop. She turned to face them and was met with one of the last people she would have expected to run into. Rose was quiet for a moment. She hasn't seen or spoken to Irina in quite some time. At least not since the Yule Ball. If this run-in had happened maybe before then, Rose was sure she would have had something smart to say right away but now that Rose was in a happy place... she couldn't bring herself to. "Hello," was all she finally managed to say.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina recognized the voice before she registered who was in front of her; Rose Weasley. She suppressed any sort of eye-rolling or any normal reaction when all the other girl said was hello, since that was downright polite. Then again, the only real reason they disliked each other was because her father was insecure about Irina’s own father Viktor Krum. As if he needed to be; sure, Hermione Granger was a powerful, formidable woman who probably wore the pants in the marriage, one look at Viktor gazing at Elena Krum would be plenty to put any jealousy issues to bed. Rose had adopted her fathers dislike of Viktor onto Irina, and Irina had been all too happy to return the favor. Now that she was about to turn eighteen however, she wondered if it was just stupid that they didn’t at least act cordial towards each other. She was Head Girl after all, and likely had lofty ambitious goals to follow in her mothers footsteps. Irina would be going into the Cursebreaking program after graduation, so unless it was a chance encounter on the street, after this June they wouldn’t see much of each other again.

“Rose,” Irina replied, turning her body so that it was facing the lake instead of the Ravenclaw. She took in every ripple of the water, the breeze that rustled the newly budding leaves on the trees, and inhaled deeply. She let it out slowly, tilting her face towards the sun. “Hard to believe that in two months we’re out of here,” Irina commented, still not looking over at Rose. She took another deep breath, and turned her gaze back to the water.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Deleted]

Rose waited with bated breath for Irina's response, half expecting a snide comment. It was probably what Rose herself would have done, honestly. But when the Gryffindor instead greeted her by means of just saying her name, Rose felt a slight weight lifted off her shoulders. She was entirely why she was so nervous to interact with Irina. Usually the was confident around the Gryffindor, probably because they were always so mean to one another. But being nice? Well, they had gone so long with hating one another that anything else just felt weird to the redhead.

When Irina spoke, facing the lake, Rose did the same. She thought she would have to force herself to stay focused on the lake but after a moment, she found she didn't have to. It felt easier to stand near Irina and stare out at the lake. "Yeah," she agreed after a silent moment. "Kinda... nervous about it." Rose admitted, surprising even herself as she continued to talk to Irina.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina gave herself an internal pat on the back for not rebuking with a snide comment to Rose, and she could tell the Ravenclaw had been surprised at this. Still, it didn’t give her nearly as much joy as it would have perhaps last year. She was just...over this whole thing. They mutually disliked each other because Rose had started being rude to her from her own fathers’ reaction to Viktor Krum, and Irina had simply been returning the favor. For almost seven years now it had been snide comments, biting retorts back and forth, and for what? They weren’t really each others competition in any way, and after graduation they’d be off on their separate ways; Irina to Gringotts to train on becoming a Cursebreaker, and Rose to the Ministry to do...Ministry things. They’d probably never see each other on purpose again, and Irina felt strange about that.

Irina’s eyebrows rose high as Rose admitted she was nervous. “What do you have to be nervous about?” Irina asked before she could help herself. “You’re Head Girl, your mother is the Minister, you’ll fit right in at the Ministry. I’m sure you’ll be promoted in six months of getting there.” Irina stopped; she wasn’t sure why she was complimenting Rose, as the girl didn’t need to have her ego stroked. Perhaps she saw a bit of her own nerves reflected in the Weasley’s face, not that she’d admit that out loud of course.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade