they all fall down [susan]

[Deleted]

december 23, 2024

Rose had returned to the Hogsmeade winter festival for the second time, but once again, she wasn't planning on shopping. She had noticed the ice rink when she had come for the annual snowball fight, and decided that it would be worth breaking out her old ice skates for a spin around the rink. Now that she was at the edge of the rink, Rose was doubting her own skills, though. She hadn't practiced skating much at all at Hogwarts, and this would be first time this year that she had gone out, which made the potential for falling quite high. Rose had always hated that part of skating - she inevitably fell, and falling felt like failure. No one needed to be a genius to know that Rose Weasley hated failure.

But there was no chance for success if she didn't try, so Rose stepped onto the ice and pushed off, gliding a few feet before stopping. She wobbled slightly, putting out her arms to try to gain her balance. If anything, though, that made the wobble worse. Rose struggled against gravity for a few seconds more, but gravity won quite easily. Rose fell onto her arse with an undignified squeak.

@susanvictoria

[Deleted]

Susan loved to ice skate, she did so every winter on the Windsor Castle grounds.  It gave her a sense of freedom, sort of like what flying did for Edmund.  Except in this case, she got to keep her feet (mostly) on the ground.  She took a few turns around the Winter Market, gliding effortlessly on her white figure skates as she spun around in a circle.  The weather was chilly, and a few snowflakes danced around her, making her laugh.  She was so glad that Hogsmeade had decided to do this winter market; more people needed to feel this sensation.

As she took another turn around the rink, she spotted a familiar dark red head of curls.  It was her friend, and fellow Ministry worker, Rose Weasley.  "Rose!" she called, skating off and coming to a quick stop at the edge.  She hopped off the rink and changed shoes quickly.  Slinging her skates over her shoulder, she ran to catch up with her friend.  "Hey!  What brings you to the market today?" she asked cheerfully, giving Rose a quick hug.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Deleted]

Rose was thankful for the small mercies in the world – like the fact that no one had seemed to notice her spill on the ice. It took her an embarrassingly long time to get back to her feet, but once she did, Rose skated to the edge of the rink to give herself time to recover from her fall. She was considering just leaving and returning to the market when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. Rose pivoted to see Susan Windsor making her way over.

“I’m just here to skate,” she answered when Susan asked her what brought her to the market. “I already have most of my Christmas gifts,” excepting a few for her cousins, “so I just wanted to see what else there was.” Rose wrinkled her nose. “I’m now remembering why I don’t ice skate, ever.” Falling was not fun – both because of the actual fall and the difficulty in getting herself back up. “What about you?” It looked like Susan was there to skate as well, but Rose knew better than to make assumptions.

@susanvictoria