ROSEY -- everything has changed

[CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE]

 
I'LL BE THE ONE IF YOU WANT ME TO
anywhere i would have followed you, say something i'm giving up on you

February, 2023

The weekend he had not expected.

His dark eyes slowly fell upon the tall gates of his home as he tried to gather as much courage as he could to walk pass it. A few days ago, Eric Montague had sent out an owl, which made a beeline to Hogwarts right then, to let his only son know about his weekend plan, which was wrapped up neatly in a two words - 'come home'. And better than anyone, he knew what that meant. Many a time in his life, Caesar Montague felt more at home under the roof of Hogwarts than than his own home. It was true that no place was like home. But it was only true when there was no guests or visitors in the house. Do not get him wrong as he was by no means a bad host or lacking in hospitality. Unless you are to be his blind date, you will be warmly welcome at the Montague's mansion by its young inheritor. When people at the age of seventeen were dying to prove themselves to the world, to gain the title 'adult' to their names, Caesar felt one strange thing was happening to him: the older he got, the scarier life became. When he was a child, despite not having been much of a dreamer, the days were so easy and the air was never suffocated. Now that he had grown up, life was clearly no bed of roses - playtime was utterly over.

Crossing the large front yard, where the child Caesar had played soldiers with his dearest friend - the Malfoy boy - or simply lied still to enjoy a sunny day and watch the clouds with the eldest daughter of the Harper - Rosalie, he stood fot a moment, watching the changes around him, only to realize that the only thing that had changed was him. Now he was too tall to fit in shallow well his mother used to decorate the lawn, too old for hide and seek and too big to run between the rows of roses without destroying them. And who knew. Perhaps his life would never be the same anymore if he stepped inside that house lying before him. Shaking his head in silence, he headed straight towards the wooden doors.  

Welcome home, Caesar.

The first thing that drew the boy's attention was the noise coming from the living room. The sound of laughter. "Lavender is a good choice! We can use it to decorate the entrance." Catherine Montague's voice sounded excitedly, which was followed by some buzz of approval."And I think the tables would look splendid with the aid of roses." Another woman voice said in response to her, adding enthusiasm to the conversation. What were lavender and roses for? Caesar raised a brow as the question arose in his head. Dinner at weekend? No, because dinner did not need an entrance decorated with lavender. And why was that woman voice sounded somewhat familiar to him? And more imprtantly, who were behind the doors of the living room? He felt his heart nearly stop when Eric suddenly spoke up with obvious annoyance. "The boy should be here now. I assume he was kept back by his friends." There, they were calling for him. Straightening up, dusting off his clothes, Caesar took a deep breath then entered the room after having politely knocked and put on his face his typical smile that soon faded as he recognized the faces, which were supposed to be of strangers to him. "Good day to you, sir." Said Caesar, hurriedly, before turning to the woman with a slight bow. "And you look as beautiful as ever, ma'am." 

Could there be such coincidence? Just a minute ago he was thinking of Rosalie Harper and now he was seeing her entire family in his house. So 'come home' simply meant a visit from an old friend? "Rosalie!" He uttered gladly, intending to approach her when his beloved mother interupted. "Meet your fianceé, Caesar. She has been waiting for you for hours, dear." For the first time, Caesar Montague did not know what to do or say but be still like a statue. Catherine let out some giggles as she told the adults that her son was so happy that he could not speak. The tongue is the most clever thing a human ever possessed. And it only becomes useless in two situations: when it is cut, or when the brain is too busy with a certain thing, in this case is a shock, to spare any attention for it. Since they were kids, Rosey had always been his best of friends and the one Caesar came to when he seeked comforts. Now he was unsure where he could run to after today.

There was a list hidden in his room, in which he named the things that could never happen in his life. Oh-so-casual, one of them was "Rosey Posey becomes my wife".

tag: ROSALIE POSEY HARPER
note: sorry if it sucks. my muse has been quite weird. xD 

[ROSALIE POSEY HARPER]

Rosalie Harper couldn’t think of a time where her mother had purposely pulled her out of whatever it was that she had been doing with the promise of something great. Normally, the brunette-maybe-blonde would have been only a little suspicious as she was dragged away from her friends. After all, she had only managed to whimper a “Oh, goodbye then!” To Nina before her mum had pulled her away. At first, she had been more than a little upset. She had wanted to find Lorcan and wish him a good holidays before she was whisked away back into the life of ‘proper’ and ‘appropriate’. She could hardly believe it had taken her so long to realize that she didn’t have to do what her mother and father immediately asked her to do. She was well within her right to turn their outrageous and outlandish requests to do something. Ever since she had been a young girl, she had followed everything that they had set out for her to do. She never spoke until spoken to, and when she did she made sure to be her upmost charming. It wasn’t until she met Caesar and the other Pureblood children that she first began to speak aloud. The same could have been said for her siblings…her siblings. Looking over at them, she eyed them warily. They clearly knew what was going on from their smiles and their assurances that everything was going to be fine. Sarah looked beyond happy and beyond annoyed at the same time, and Rosey couldn’t pinpoint why, exactly.

It started to make sense when they pulled up to the Montgomery residence. At first, she had been very confused, but also very pleased. She remembered the days when they had finally gotten her to talk. When they convinced her to play, and Rosey realized that she very much liked being outside and being in the company of those her age to sitting silently, compliantly next to her mother. Oh, Jennifer Harper hadn’t been very happy to watch her out and about with the boys, but there had always been a calculating light there she had ignored. After all, arranging marriages had fallen out of practice years ago. Nowadays, they were more content to suggest things, but there was never really going to be any arranged marriages. She had had so much confidence in that belief that they had had to steady her when they told her. Her brother had had to calmly force her to sit down because she was pretty sure she was having some sort of heart attack. She didn’t hyperventilate, as that would have been unbecoming and extremely embarrassing, but she might as well have. She felt her face pale, and her hands start to shake no matter how hard she tried to stuff them in her lap. Perhaps, and it was a long shot and she doubted it more than anything, she still had a chance to deny this. When she finally looked up to do so, one glance from her mother forced her to be silent.

So she fell silent, and cursed herself all the while for being a spineless coward for doing so. Neither of them deserved this, she told herself over and over again. Caesar deserved to find a girl he liked on his own without his parents forcing him into some sort of agreement. As for Rosalie, what was she supposed to do? It was true that she had had a crush on her longest friend what seemed like forever ago. Third year heading into fourth year; the only reason it hadn’t continued fifth year was because a nice Gryffindor had surprised her when he had asked her out. It went without saying that that had turned out to be a disaster. She hadn’t been the same after, not really. And, it had been Caesar Montague who had gotten her through that. The crush had died there, however. The two of them were just good friends. Had only ever been just friends; would only ever be just friends, right? It was almost painful, letting those feelings surface. On one hand, she was ecstatic that it wasn’t some weird guy she had never met and had absolutely nothing in common with. She had to remind herself to be thankful about that. On the other hand, she was so livid! Absolutely livid that they had decided this without even consulting them. And, look at their mothers now! They were discussing what types of flowers she was going to have. Rosalie didn’t even like the smell of lavender.

She got to her feet quickly once she heard Caesar walk in. She threw her brother a look and headed towards him, hoping to get to him before they said anything. “Fiancée, indeed,” she tried not to sound too annoyed, but she couldn’t help the bubbling feeling of anger she had lurking underneath. So, she smiled brightly at the two families and let her hand wrap around Caesar’s wrist with comfort. “You’re all so giddy with the wedding plans,” she gushed, surprised that the lie sounded genuine on her tongue. “Let me have a few moments with my intended, yes?” Not like she took no for an answer before her grip tightened to that comparable only to iron. She all but dragged the Slytherin out of the room and back outside, finding comfort in the freedom. “Oh, Caes. What are we going to do?”

tagged;; CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE
words;; 908
outfit;; -will figure out later-
muse;; -kinda there-
credit;; the lyrics are adele's. and the template was made by zana of caution

[CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE]

 
I'LL BE THE ONE IF YOU WANT ME TO
anywhere i would have followed you, say something i'm giving up on you

Caesar Montague was unsure whether he should be feeling happy about the news or not. The feelings, they were all mixed up – or messed up – in his chest. As matter of fact, the Slytherin was very much used to being asked to come home on weekends for a blind date arranged by his parents. He was never opposed to them, or did anything to displease them, mainly because he literally owed his existence to them and ingratitude was unacceptable; then again, a part of the reason was that he knew no one but him was to make the decision. Very naturally, the decision had always been 'she would find someone better than I am'. But the game had changed and the old rules were not longer applicable. There she was standing before him – the girl who he had spent almost all his life with, the girl who he trusted with his whole life. Everything was too perfect. He wondered how long it had been planned. And who knew? Maybe the flowers had been decided ages ago, and the women had been talking about just because they had nothing better to do.

'Manners, Caesar.' There was something in Catherine Montague's gentle smile that caused her only to shiver inside as he understood what it meant. And he was unlikely to go against her will, at least not in the presence of the people who were soon to be their “family” in the least. Hurriedly straightening up, the boy wore his everyday smiley face, making believe he was actually so thrilled to hear about the plan that he could not manage to speak a word. Better than anyone, Caesar knew that his mother had always been known as a graceful, manipulative woman who really knew how to make people puppets on the string. And it was undoubtedly unwise to challenge or test her patience. He had learned that, not from his own experience but from witnessing others' in his childhood days.

His attention was drawn back to Rosey as she made her way to him, after Catherine had introduced her as his fiancée. She seemed just as happy as he was. Both of them were exactly like a young happy couple who finally found each other among seven billion people in the world. How precious. Marius and Sarah Harper exchanged a few words with each other then covered their mouths with their hands, trying to laugh in a proper way. But the eldest son of the Harper quickly gave them an implicative look, which helped the two keep a straight face almost instantly. All eyes were on Caesar, waiting for an appropriate reaction, which should never to be of something unexpected or unpredicted. If Rosey had not started first by rephrasing sardonically the term 'fiancée', everyone would probably have had to wait until dinner to hear anything from the young Montague. Her grip on his wrist caught him by surprise but also brought inexplicable comfort to him, albeit that glint of anger in her eyes made him wonder why, as it was very uncharacteristic of her to react so strongly as expressing sarcasm. Should there be any other reasons beside the fact that, to her, he was only a friend and they could not live together as husband and wife? ”I see.” He muttered and nodded, indicating that he had understood the whole story. Without hesitance, the boy wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. ”Your temper will get us killed, fiancée.” Caesar whispered warily to her ear. When Rosey commented on the mothers' enthusiasm to the wedding plans, he was taken aback by her acting skills but then eagerly faked a smile and nodded to show his approval. Was he too busy with his life or was he too familiar to her company that he had not realized what a strong young woman Rosalie had become. The timid child was long gone – he should have known.

Amused laughter filled the air and took away all the awkwardness. The little Sarah Harper suddenly mentioned the tablecloths and whether or not it should be embroidered. And the decoration for the invitation cards. The room became even more tumultuous than it had been when he had not stepped in. Caesar had a chance to roll his eyes once more the moment Rosey excused herself and him, too, from the table. They simply received a nod from the adults. But that was all needed. After all, both of them should be thankful that everyone was too busy with the wedding plans that none of them noticed how violently Caesar was dragged out of the room by his wife-to-be. To someone who did not know her, they would assume her behavior was utterly understandable. But he had known her all his life. And it stood to reason that she was extraordinarily preoccupied. The engagement did shock him, but apparently not as much as it did to her.

What are they going to do? Folding his arms firmly on his chest, the boy stood still watching his friend being terribly panicked. Very slowly, he sighed, before he began to speak. ”I think the question should be 'what can we do''.” He remarked then continued. ”But honestly? I'd rather be married to you than to someone whose existence I completely have no idea about, fiancée. Looking on the bright side, it is a good thing, actually.” He said in a teasing tone. It clearly was not the right time for a joke. Then again, Caesar had never taken marriage serious. After all, it was not because of love that he got married; and it was unlike that he had someone better than Rosey to see. “Is there anything troubling you, Rosey?” The playfulness was replaced by seriousness. In all honesty, Caesar hoped the answer would be no. Because if there was, this whole thing would probably end up becoming a tragedy, to both of them. That was why he never wanted a long-term relationship – he knew that it would lead him nowhere. And Rosey was someone he never wanted to hurt, or to get hurt because of him. 

tag: ROSALIE POSEY HARPER
note: don't tell him about lorcan!! it'll break his heart! xD <333

[ROSALIE POSEY HARPER]

She was being silly. She was being extremely silly and childish. She chided herself for it and glanced upwards. Right about now, she wondered what her schoolmates were doing. Knowing Nina, the girl was probably somewhere with her monkey, helping someone, or out working on her speed. When Rosalie wasn't busy, she usually tended to try and head that way herself and watch her friend. Not that she didn't love Caesar. He was a darling. Her family might have been awful – the look Sarah had been giving her and Caesar was too mischievous for her to be really relaxed – but her longest friend certainly was not. He might have been a right arse to a lot of others, but never to her. Never to Rosey; she let her eyes flutter back to his face and quit in her pacing. Sure, she'd admired him before. She'd memorized details about him, but looking at him now was completely different. Looking at him now was looking at the face of the boy? Teen? Man? Someone she'd wake up next to every day in the future. The thought made her flush red. He had been right when he said they should be thankful. She grabbed his hand with both of her and squeezed, smiling up at him sheepishly.

Perhaps it was that she had been overreacting, but she had gotten so used to the taste of freedom. It was true that her mother often talked about setting her up with someone, but she had never talked about marriage. She had certainly managed to keep her lid shut about all of this, which was certainly surprising to her. Even if she had gotten a hint of it, she would have managed to keep her cool far better than she had. Honestly, she was more than just a little jealous of Caesar. He had kept his cool far better than she had. Since she had been placed in Hufflepuff, her conditioning had been different than his had been. It had always been expected for him to be proper. She supposed she had had her freedom for long enough. She couldn't expect any more. “No, you're right. I was being...” her nose wrinkled up at the word, and she glanced over her shoulder back where the source of laughter and mirth was coming from. “improper? Too open. I should have known better. I usually do know better.” It was weird to think that she was the older sibling. That she should have been the example for her siblings and that she should have taken everything in stride with a smile on her face. Rosalie should have looked as happy as her friend had been, but she couldn't help but lament the loss of relationships they would have had. She was thankful that she knew him almost as well as she knew herself. At least she wouldn't have to get accustomed to his habits and he to hers. If she kept that in mind, then this really wasn't too bad of a situation. At least he'd help her learn to keep her cool when they had to interact with their families. She could always do what her mother expected of her – sit quietly and smile when asked a question; try not to embarrass the family as she did so.

Inwardly, because she definitely couldn't tell Caesar this now, she wondered what her friends would think. It wasn't like they absolutely loathed it when she 'ditched' them for him. If she told them that he was going to be the man she was going to marry, she could already feel the insensitive comments that were sure to come. Her eyes fluttered closed and she sucked in a breath, agreeing. There was nothing they could do. Neither of them were really known for disobeying their parents. The closest she had ever gotten to outright rebellion was the slight sarcasm in her voice just there. She didn't like lying to them, either. She didn't like to sugarcoat her words. When she repeated the saying, “honesty is the best policy!” she genuinely meant it. She loathed to lie and manipulate, which was a wonder that she was her mother's daughter at all. But, she couldn't stay in there. She couldn't stay there and let them plan her wedding for her. She had explicit ideas. After all, what little girl didn't plan her wedding when she was younger? She had a little scrapbook of sorts, actually. They had pictures cut out of magazines of women moving around in the most elegant of rooms. It bothered her that Sarah would ask about embroidered table cloths because the two of them had often picked out the pictures together. So maybe the two sisters weren't as close as they used to be, but it bothered her more than a little that her youngest sister seemed to be going out of her way to spite Rosey. “Nothing, I think. I can't even fathom doing anything.” And neither would he. And if she could just wrap her mind around that, then she was absolutely sure that everything would work out fine.

Except, what was she supposed to do? She loved Caesar Montague. She loved him in the sense that holding his hand didn't seem too scary. Waking up in the morning and making him eggs wasn't too scary. Rubbing his shoulders or his hands when he was extremely stressed wasn't petrifying, but she hated that she had never gotten the chance to choose that on her own. Who knew? Perhaps Rosalie Harper might have made quite a match for him. She knew how he felt about dating random strings of women. It might have happened that she won him over on her own...when she was ready. And as for Lorcan Scamander. She was just going to have to give up on ever looking at him differently. He was going to be firmly a friend, and Rosey was going to be happy. She stared absently at him, debating on whether or not to tell him. “What if you hate living with me, Caesar?” She settled on finally. It wasn't like she was lying, but she was definitely not being entirely truthful. That had also been one of her fears; that he was going to hate living with her, even if he knew her weird habits. “What if you decide you can't stand me?”

tagged;; CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE
words;; 1073
notes;; aww. no! I wouldn't destroy him!
outfit;; the second one~
muse;; -kinda there-
credit;; the lyrics are adele's. and the template was made by zana of caution

[CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE]

 
I'LL BE THE ONE IF YOU WANT ME TO
anywhere i would have followed you, say something i'm giving up on you

What do you want to do when you grow up?

Caesar Montague had been asked that same question over and over again since he was old enough to understand what the word 'future' meant. And he had always managed to evade that tricky question. There was no proper answer, after all. It did not matter what he wanted. It had never mattered what he wanted. When he was a child, he often saw himself in the best seat, watching the national Quidditch match take place with a microphone placed in front of him; his remarks made the crowd go crazy; their hearts beat with his as the game went to a highlight. A professional Quidditch commentator – oh what a fantasy. At least that was what his mother put in his head when he told her about it. It apparently upset her to see her only son on a daydream, which was why the child Caesar was made to part with fairy tales and happy endings when he was only four years old. He never blamed her; in fact, he felt thankful that she had done that to him; otherwise, he would never have had enough consciousness to remain sober the minute the engagement was announced. Besides, there was no reason for him to disapprove of the marriage, especially when annulment was not one of the options. At least it was Rosalie Harper that he was to marry. The only obstacle he may be confronting should be his precious friend. The last thing you would want in your life is being teased to death by the young Malfoy.

His attention returned to Rosey, who seemed to have been thrown off balance unceremoniously by the news. He could not believe that the fact that his best friend was no longer a skinny little girl had escaped his notice. When they were eight, Rosey was always the taller one of the two, albeit Caesar was the older one. That fact had made him hardly saw her as a girl – not a girly girl in the least. He had barely noticed the color of her hairbands or whether she was in a pretty dress or a sporty jumpsuit as their spending together had been all that mattered to him. He still had not until lately. Now she had to glance up whenever she talked to him and she had to jump whenever she wanted to smack his head. And her body had developed the natural and necessary curves of a young woman, her movements were much more graceful, her eyes became deeper and her face became sharper. Boys could not take their eyes off her when she walked by. And more importantly, she had found her own voice and learned to stand up for herself now. She was not the same child that had run scared from the clouds anymore. Why was he the only one to miss that?

As far as the topic was concerned, Caesar realized that he had never called her beautiful, albeit he crowned every girl he met the beauty queen. He guessed friends did not call one another 'beautiful'.

Caesar was caught by surprise the moment Rosey took his hand in hers, smiling sheepishly at him. The girl began to give her explanation for her overreaction a few minutes ago. Tense as the situation was, it was hard to keep a straight face when seeing her wrinkle her nose and anxiously wondered if she had been improper. The young Montague beamed with pleasure then rose his other hand to ruffle her hair in the same way he had done when they were little. “You are not to take the blame, dear, though you should have seen your brother's reaction back then. He almost dropped his jaws.” Caesar said in an amused tone, attempting to brighten the conversation. He would not want Rosey to leave his home with a burdened heart anyway.

Bitterness still lingered in her eyes, which utterly betrayed everything she had said. Caesar could read it without even trying. Rosey Harper was by no means an open book, but it was unlikely that she was an expert in controling her emotions. And some discomforts suddenly arose inside him. Not that her reaction caused him any inconvenience. It was just that he hated the idea of putting her in any kind of miseries. A 'nothing' for the answer obviously meant that something was going on. “Okay.” He said with monotone voice. His eyes vaguely fell upon the doors of the living room, which seemed to be rather quiet now. Without a warning, he grabbed her hand then made a beeline to the stairs, which led to his room. The very first rule of staying alive in Caesar's house: always remember that the walls have eyes and ears, too.

As soon as both of them had entered his room, the boy hurriedly closed the door behind him, then turned to his reluctant fiancée. “You know, if we are not to get married before I get to take over my family business, I think we should be fine.” He said, half serious half joking. “When I am not under their control anymore, I will find a way to break of our engagement. And worry not, I will take all the blame, and your relationship with your parents will remain as good as new.” That plan would only work if the the wedding was to take place no sooner than his father's retirement. But who knew what the two families had been up to? Nonetheless, at least his vague plan would set Rosey's mind at ease and keep her from doing anything stupid. But he could not promise anything at the moment, as none of them knew where life would take them. Even with the seer blood running in his veins, the future was still too much of a mystery to Caesar. Besides, he was unsure how many percent he would be willing to proceed with the plan if he had a chance, because taking over the family business would mean that he would have to give up the best seat in every Quidditch match, the microphone and the cheers of the crowd. Then again, all of those things were just a fantasy, weren't they?

The questions Rosey caused him to frown a little before he stepped closer and leaned over until her face was only three inches away from his. “Rosey, even if we are to be stuck with each other for the rest of our lives, I will never, ever hate you.” His voice was so gentle and soft. “You are one of the best things that has happened in my life. You and Scorpius. I hate trusting people but I trust you two with my whole life, even more than I trust my own self and my own parents.” He then straightened up slowly, but did not take his eyes off the Harper girl. “And one good thing about having you as my wife is that you can cook while I cannot.” A playful grin grew on his face, not because of the joke he had just pulled but because of a name that had just crossed his mind. If Sel had been there, she would have been so amused at his saying. Probably she would have told him to learn to cook or die of starving. It was so strange – only thinking of her name was enough to take the weight off his shoulders and his heart.

But the trusting had to stop. He could not go around sparing his trust for everyone he met. The list had to be closed. Aside from Scorpius and Rosey, he trusted no one. Love hurts and trust only brings betrayal.

tag: ROSALIE POSEY HARPER
note: the feelssss! <333

[ROSALIE POSEY HARPER]

“Yes, well, Edmund’s always been suspicious of my parents. I imagine he was thinking they’d do the same to him.” Edmund hadn’t known what was going on either? She had assumed that they had known by the smiles on their faces when they had pulled up to the Montague home. It hadn’t occurred to her that he hadn’t had known. But, thinking upon it now, it made…a little more sense that they had neglected to tell their oldest son. The two of them weren’t particularly close. Definitely not as close as Rosalie would have liked, but for the purpose of two siblings, he was definitely less like their father than Marius was. And, Rosalie had always been different from their mother than Sarah had been. It might have been nice to dream and to think of a future that she wanted, but it had never occurred to her to want anything. Yes, she got to dream up her own wedding when she was a child, but that was because she had always been told that it was her job to get married and hopefully preserve another Pureblooded line. It wasn’t like she could do anything about her own family. No, that was left entirely unto Edmund. So, it made sense that the two of them were told the least about their futures. Sarah and Marius were allowed to choose their own. It had only been recently that the eldest Harper had decided upon wanting to be a Healer. She hadn’t yet told her parents, but she thought about all the arguments they would have put up and thought of proper responses to them.

It was a noble enough job. Certainly not to the degree that one in the Ministry would be, but they had never expected that of her. That had always been a career for Edmund, or perhaps taking over the family business himself, but her father wasn’t inclined to give up the ropes to him any time soon. It was Rosalie’s job to settle down with a respectable Pureblood man and have children. She was to have at least two children; both boys. One to continue the line, and the other on the off chance that the first one didn’t succeed; her mother had always told her that, and so the young girl she was grew up wondering if that hadn’t been the reason for Marius. Which, of course, was silly because it was Sarah who was the youngest. The blonde swallowed the lump in her throat that was forming, forcing herself to look away so that she could regain her composure. It was utterly ridiculous for someone like her to be acting this way. It didn’t matter that it was Caesar opposite her. It didn’t matter that he was the first person who had ever caused her to laugh without her having to force herself to do it. She remembered the moment very clearly, having always pictured it whenever something was upsetting her.

Why on earth she hadn’t thought to think of it when she was inside with their parents to prevent her unbecoming outburst, she didn’t know. It hadn’t occurred to her then. Her father had been walking in front of her. Her mother had her by the hand, and she had had Edmund’s in her own. She couldn’t have been more than four years old. She was silent and said nothing as they had pulled up, as she was wont to do. After the introductions, and her cheeks getting pulled and her head getting patted, they were allowed to ‘wander’. Of course, Edmund had gone straight outside. Rosalie, on the other hand, had sat down next to her mother and folded her hands in her lap. That’s when she had met Caesar. The Hufflepuff closed her eyes, counted to three, but when she opened them again she was finding herself pulled up the stairs. She giggled and pulled her hand back once they were in his room, looking around. Not much had changed since she had last been in there. And, while she was mortified that he had pulled her into his room. It wasn’t proper behavior, but…she’d have to get used to it. She forced the flush that she felt rising up back down, and turned back to him with a small smile, tucking her hands behind her.

Except, hearing what he said certainly didn’t make her want to smile; Rosey’s eyes narrowed at him a smidgeon. He would…he would find a way to break their engagement? It was what she wanted. She had to admit that. Breaking up their engagement, especially if he were to take all the blame, would leave her to her own devices long enough to plan out what she was going to do with her life. But, she certainly disliked the feeling that sparked in her stomach. She hadn’t been delusional enough to assume that Caesar had been ecstatic with the news. She knew enough to guess that he wasn’t going to hate it, and she didn’t hate it, but neither of them was happy. Now, when they were in private, it was hard to swallow the fact that he was perfectly willing to break apart the engagement. It was what she wanted, right? But, hearing him say the words almost felt like a sucker punch to her stomach. What was wrong with her that he’d be willing to get into trouble with his own parents? They both knew that her relationship with her parents bordered on controlling, and the feelings of love and adoration between them were almost nonexistent.

Somehow, and she wasn’t sure how her mother was going to be skilled enough to pull it off, they were still going to blame her for it. They would assume that she had done something to Caesar that would have made him want to annul the engagement. Her relationship with them, unless she married Caesar and took on his name, would always be rocky. Rosey blinked slowly once he leaned in close to her, and she had to remind herself that it wasn’t appropriate to admire the way his eyes gleamed. She had to remind herself that it probably wasn’t going to be possible to count every single one of his eyelashes; that was probably wrong of her to want to tell him everything, but that she wanted to do it anyway because she very much adored him. It may have been that she trusted more people than he did, but he was first in that list. Keeping anything from him was painful. “I wouldn’t say never, Caesar.” She said, far calmer than she thought she would. Ideally, that would have been the moment that she turned away from him and went off to go and admire this knickknack or that trifle, but she couldn’t bring herself to step away from him first. Rosalie didn’t want to step away from him at all. Instead, she wiped her eyes clear from the tears that threatened to fall – and were they from his confession, or from the promise of terminating the engagement?

She moved forward and wrapped her arms around him, trying not to be astounded by the fact that she hadn’t realized how much taller he was than her. She had known that he had grown. It was impossible not to notice how he had changed. How he went from the scrawny little boy who was smaller than her to the man in front of her. She’d seen the looks on the faces of the girls who saw them walking together, on the few occasions that they had. Rosey’d put aside their petty jealously with insisting that they were just friends. “That’s true, but I wouldn’t mind having a husband that’d make me a good burnt breakfast every now and again.” She joked back, pulling her face back and very much liking the grin that he had on his face. “I’d make you breakfast before you went off to work – maybe even a lunch every now and then. But, I do insist you take me out.” She gave him her best scolding look, though most of it was in good fun now. Joking about it made it seem less real, more fun somehow. She pulled her arms back and turned, humming absently until she sat down promptly at his bed. “Certainly more than you do now, that’s for sure! When’s the last time you asked me to Hosmeade with you, hmm?”

tagged;; CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE
words;; 1161
notes;; i know! Hope this one doesn't kill you, haha.
outfit;; 4th one for childhood~ 2nd one
muse;;
credit;; the lyrics are adele's. and the template was made by zana of caution

[CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE]

 
I'LL BE THE ONE IF YOU WANT ME TO
anywhere i would have followed you, say something i'm giving up on you

Sometimes, being the only child is not a good thing, although you may get all the attention and care from your parents. At least that was what the young Montague thought. Had he had a brother, he could have pushed all the responsibilities to him then flown away to somewhere he could live the free life he wanted and make all the fantasies come true. But the thought of running away already sounded so wrong, let alone actually doing it. Not that the boy was afraid of making an escape; he just could not do that. Katherine nearly lost her life when giving birth to him; Eric was so close to losing his wife forever on the arrival of his son. And it was his existence that had taken away all the chances for Katherine to be a mother again. Perhaps they were not good listeners, but their love and care for him were undeniable. He owed them too much to do anything to betray them, which was why he never refused to do anything to please them, even if it meant that he would have to give up many things, including his own right to love. Some people, not too many, took his gratitude for cowardice. Caesar could not help wondering if the eldest son of the Harper was one of them. Could there be any chances that the boy was blaming him for bringing his sister's life into such a mess? “Let's hope they would not.” He said quietly. In some dark corners of his consciousness, Caesar Montague was asking himself the same question: was it him or was it the marriage that took away Rosey's happiness? Both of them – Rosey and he – were young. He had his own dreams about the future, so did she. Would this arrangement put an end to every beautiful she wanted in her life?

With her pale small hand in his, Caesar hurriedly dragged her to his private room, ignoring all the concepts of appropriation. There was no way that he would escape a lecture from his dearest mother once she knew about that. Perhaps she would told him that he was no longer a child and neither was the girl whose hand he was holding tightly. Even so, Rosey had still been a part of his world. And nothing, even their becoming grown-ups or the marriage, could turn their friendship into something stonecold as decency or suitability. As soon as the door was slammed behind him, the boy started to get back the feeling of being alive. He had not been in this little corner of his for a while, since the beginning of the year. It was true that he had had to return home every weekend on his parents' demand in order to join them in a 'cosy' dinner with their friends, and of course, their friends' daughters; but he had always managed to find an excuse to leave early and come back to Hogwarts before sunset. Everything in the four walls of the room remained in their old positions, as if no one had ever touched them, although no dust could be found here. The room had once belonged to his father, grandfather and great grandfather in their boyhood, and it should be of his eldest son's possession soon enough. Caesar shivered slightly as that thought crossed his mind. If he was to have a son, he hoped the boy would not ask him to remove all the paintings on the walls, which were the work of art made by him and Rosey, whom the boy might call his mother.

The safety and familiarity that the old room gave him helped to brighten his conversation with Rosey, albeit it was still not at all easy to give her his word that he would at least try to break off the engagement if nothing unfortunate happened. Not that he wanted to keep her beside him by this nonsense which was made by the adults of course. Much as he wanted her to be happy with whoever she wished to be with, even if his name might never be on her list, he was afraid for his own future, because setting her free also meant his having to end up with someone else, someone whose existence might not be his propriety until the wedding. Then again, what was so exciting about seeing the best friend who meant so much to him struggling to fit in the life she did not want? She deserved better. It was not his habit to care about anyone. Nevertheless, Rosalie Harper was not just 'anyone'. Caesar remained quiet after her response to his confession. Her voice was filled with serenity, despite the fact that she had been on the verge of exploding only a minute ago. Suddenly, he saw something sparkling in her beautiful eyes. Tear. But the girl did not let it fall. And his heart sank. For so long, he had not known what it felt like to be hurt. Hesitating, Caesar placed both of his hands on her cheeks to keep her from looking away from him. Then very slowly, he leaned over to press his lips tenderly against her forehead. “I promise you. Everything will be okay.” He whispered as feeling her hands wrapped around him.

Caesar knew he should be taken aback by her sudden embrace. But he was not; in fact, her arms were nothing if not comfort to him. No word was spoken as the second hand of the clock kept moving. She was so small, so small that everyone wanted to protect her. It was her who broke the embrace. The young Montague could not help wrinkling his nose childishly when he heard her joke. “Well I can boil water so I can make you some tea every morning.” He said proudly with a wink. Once again, the name 'Sel' appeared in his head. He finally found another talent he had to tell her in his next letter – he could make tea and coffee too! “Lunch sounds lovely! But no onion or carrot in my plate.” Uttered Caesar in an amused tone. The Slytherin followed his fiancée then sat down next to her on the edge of his bed. Letting out a heavy sigh, he let himself fall on the soft mattress before giving her a proper answer for her question. “I blame Malfoy and the Quidditch team for that. But I certainly will not let my wife cook too often, because it is not good for her skin. I will take her out every weekend, no every night. We will not miss out on anything, from the street markets to high class restaurants.” A smile grew on his face when his eyes stared vaguely at the ceiling then at Rosey's face. “Perhaps we should just pretend everything is a game, like the one we used to play when we were children. I would be your husband and you would be my wife. Your doll would be our daughter and Malfoy would be the friendly neighbor of ours. Our wedding rings and your diadem would be made of grass and flowers.”

“Things will be easier and less suffocating.”

tag: ROSALIE POSEY HARPER
note: i just can't stop loving these two! and i blame you! xD -dies- 

[ROSALIE POSEY HARPER]

Edmund had always been more inclined to protect himself than she had been. She sort of stood there and let her parents boss her around and dictate what she had to do with her life. That was why she hadn't been too vocal downstairs. It wasn't just that she was afraid of them, although she was. It was more like she didn't want to disappoint them. She supposed that most kids were like that. Very few actually feared their parents for being afraid of them. She felt like they were more afraid of disappointing them. However, if there was one thing that Rosalie Posey Harper knew how to do, it was how to disappoint her parents. Since she had befriended Caesar and the other pureblood children, she had spent more and more time away from her mother. She was more likely to leave them than not. So, perhaps it wasn't bad that she got to marry Caesar. In her head, it made sense that the first person who took her away from her parents was also going to be the one that took her away from them permanently. “You know my brother, Caesar. He's more likely to fight them than agree.” Not that he wouldn't end up agreeing in the end, anyway. It was just that he would fight with them first and foremost. He'd argue and threaten to leave. Even though he was the first son, and technically the heir, he'd threaten to walk out and leave everything to Marius. Ultimately, her brother wouldn't really do it. He'd cave in and marry the girl their parents wanted them to. She understood that. Rosey couldn't really blame her brother for certain things. After all, here she was doing the exact same thing. The only problem was that she gave less of a fight, if it could be called a fight at all. (Although, in her defense, she had liked Caesar Montague before all of this was even revealed.)

Her hand still tingled. It was a good feeling, actually. His hand in hers; it felt so...right. It made her feel all sorts of wrong. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was screaming at herself. What about Lorcan? Her own voice kept screaming at her. She tried not to think about it; mostly because she wasn't sure what she was going to be able to tell him. That she could no longer see him because, as it turned out, the family she never told him anything about was actually forcing her to get married to her best friend from childhood and best friend still? That she could no longer speak with him, write to him, kiss him because it would no longer be proper, and it was below her? That's what her mother would want her to say, especially because Lorcan was a half-blood. She almost wanted to curl up in a ball in Caesar's bed and pull his covers over her head and forget that everything was happening.. She was so confused and so torn that she wasn't really sure what to do. Instead, she forced herself to glance around and look at everything. She had almost forgotten about all the pictures that she and Caesar used to draw with one another. It was a little embarrassing, but she had never noticed how awful of an artist she was. The paintings and drawings that they had drawn and she kept were safely tucked away in a scrapbook she had made. Every now and again, Rosey went through it to remind herself of all the time they spent together. She loved running her fingers over them and thinking about how open they were back then with one another. Things had changed. "I can't believe you kept those, Caesar." She smiled at him, gesturing towards the pictures.

But, he'd...? He'd kissed her forehead. When was the last time that he had done something like that? She couldn't really remember. A long time ago, she figured. She'd almost forgotten what it felt like. And, Lorcan? When had he last kissed her there? None that she could remember. That wasn't normally his style. He'd aim for her cheek or the corner of her mouth, he thought. The more time that passed, the more she felt guilty about everything. Part of her wanted to reach out for Caesar, bury her face in his shirt, and bawl because she was an awful person. She wanted him to break the marriage, but she didn't at the same time. She saw the merits of them both. “Hmm.” She hummed, trying to push the traitorous thoughts outside of her head. If she could just focus on the here and now, she could talk to Lorcan later. She could talk to him and try to explain. Hopefully, she'd figure out something in the end. There was no sense in trying convince herself otherwise. And bringing it up with Caesar now was bound to cause some problems, especially because she had never mentioned a word of her relationship to anyone. Not even her dorm mates knew who she was seeing. Many of them assumed that it was the boy next to her. “Tea every morning sounds amazing.” Especially if they found some sort of thermos to put it in so that she could take it to work. There was no doubt that she would be working odd hours, especially in the beginning. Hopefully, her future husband wouldn't care that she wanted to work. Sure, Rosalie wanted children as much as the next girl, but she didn't just want to be a stay-at-home-mum who had nothing better to do than manage the lives of her – their – children. She wanted to be able to have a career and prove to them that they could do anything and everything they wanted.

“Caesar Eric Montague!” She reprimanded him, laying back herself so that it would be easier to look at him. She extended her hand outwards to entertwine their fingers like she had when they had been younger. 'You're a bad person, you're ab ad person you'reabadperson youreabadperson' Rosey repeated in her head, wanting nothing more than to get up and apparate and why was she still so young? It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! “Don't you think I know better than to include onions and carrots?” She asked, laughing. “I'll take your carrots, and let's agree to throw the onions away, yeah?” But, they would still need the blasted thing in order to cook. It was unfortunate, but onion managed to add flavor in a way few other vegetables did. Still, she would go and make an effort to learn recipes that were still good and didn't require much. Hmm. Malfoy. There was a funny rumor going on about their blond little friend. She almost blurted out her question to see if Caesar would anser, but then the Hufflepuff inside of her scolded her for being so curious. It wasn't her business. She wasn't supposed to ask things like that, especially because it wasn't certain that Caesar knew himself. “Don't be silly, Caesar. There are plenty of spells that would moisturize my skin. I don't mind cooking. I'd mind it even less if it were for you.” Because it was kind of a way for her to relieve stress, and it was always fun to try to create something. The House Elves in the kitchens were always trying to teach her how to make this thing or that. “But, I did hear a lot of good things about street markets. You sure you can go out to such a common place with little old me?” Almost a little too shyly, she scooted over until her hip was almost touching his. She was careful to pull his hand and lay it out on her stomach. It gave her access to play with it absently and look nonchalant. “Daughter?” Her eyes snapped up to his. “You want a girl?”

tagged;; CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE
words;; 1336
notes;; i die of feels~ haha.
outfit;; 4th one for childhood~ 2nd one
muse;;
credit;; the lyrics are adele's. and the template was made by zana of caution

[CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE]

 
I'LL BE THE ONE IF YOU WANT ME TO
anywhere i would have followed you, say something i'm giving up on you

Caesar nodded in silence, agreeing with Rosey when they talked about her brother and his willingness to go against his parents' will to protect himself from their control. He wanted to comment something about that but it would only point out how craven he might have been. It was possible that Rosey had noticed it but she did not want to do or say anything injurious to his reputation or his pride. He had invariably believed that he was fearless and invulnerable. He had thought that he would never know what it felt like to truly care about someone, to get hurt when he failed to protect them, to find himself feckless in life as he was now. Of course, he could always impose pressure on Katherine and Eric by threatening to walk out the door of their home and never come back unless they changed their minds. Scorpius would do that without a second thought to protect Rose Weasley from the claws of the Malfoy. But it was because the boy had something to fight for. Caesar did not even know what he was doing with his life. Furthermore, if he betrayed his own parents, his conscience would never leave him alone. Rosey was the only reason for him to put provoking his parents into concerns. But at the same time, she was the only reason for him to obey them this time. If he was to marry someone, it had better be her. Caesar knew it was selfishness and it would damage his friendship with her, which could never be mended. But selfishness is human nature, isn't it?

“You may not believe, but I keep everything.” A gentle smile grew on his lips as his gaze fell upon the paintings on the walls, which was framed and preserved very carefully. The paintings, the toys, the costumes – he kept them all. Some of them were Rosey's, which had been left at his house after her visits. His wooden swords and her plastic tiara, her puppets and his small stage made of carton paper – all of them were lying neatly in an old wooden chest placed inside his wardrobe. Katherine would not be pleased if she found out about it, though. He assumed. She would say that it was embarassing and inappropriate for a grown man to have such childish things in his bedroom (perhaps she would add that those paintings on the wall would scare away any girls who wanted to date him, or marry him), which was why no one a part from him, and recently Rosey, knew about it. Not that Caesar was afraid of dealing with her harsh criticism. He just did not want her to spoil something so divine to him as his childhood memories. Maybe he really was an old soul trapped inside this young body. While people tended to pay more attention to their future, Caesar refused to part with his past behind. What would he have left if he threw the old days away? It was not the future, but the past and the present that had made him the man he was. It was his treasure. The term 'treasure' could be used to describe a variety of things on this Earth. To Caesar Montague, it never meant money. It was everything that made his days seem easier and his life seem less suffocating. Rosalie Harper was his treasure, and everything he ever wanted to protect. But was he the reason for her tear?

Caesar was thrown off balance by his own action in that one second of impulsion. Their furthest limit was usually brief friendly hugs and polite kisses on the cheeks. Not that he had never kissed her on her forehead. He just had not done that for so long that he thought he would never do it again. It was too long, since both of them last got lost in the city of London at the age of ten and nine, since the day the time she last cried on his shoulder after a heartbreak. Maybe to the seventeen-year-old Rosey, those times were no more than some blurry memories. But the young Montague remembered them to details. The way she held on to him, the way she gave a grip on his shirt, the way her tears fell down on her cheeks, the way she fell asleep with her head on his shoulder, the way he moved her blond hair from her face. Those moments had forever been in the back of his mind. As the tea was mentioned, Caesar suddenly saw himself in an apron, squirming around the kitchen, pacing back and forth, trying to make sure that the egg would not burn and water would be perfectly boiled; on the dinning table sat his lovely wife-to-be – Rosey, who was ranting on and on about she was going to be late for work if he did not hurried up; their children rushed into the kitchen, laughing and chasing one another around before they got scolded by their mother. Terrifying. However, his mind was put at ease as he convinced himself that such a thing would not happen at least in ten years' time.

A mischevious grin crossed his face when Rosey complained. “What? Quidditch season is coming and we have to practice.” The young Montague paused for a second then continued in an amused tone. “They need to practice and I need to be there in case they need my opinions.” Caesar was never one to play sports – any kinds of sport. God is fair – one cannot have a quick tongue and quick legs at the same time. But you do not have to play the sport to enjoy it. His being a commentator was a proof for that. All his thoughts about the upcoming Quidditch season disappeared instantly and left a blank in his head the moment he felt Rosey's hand reaching out for his, then their fingers entwined as they had usually been when they were little. It still felt the same – the spaces between his fingers were right where hers fits perfectly. And very spontaneously, Caesar was afraid. He feared that someday the only thing that would stop him from setting her free from this marriage would be his unwillingness to let her go. “See, no one knows me like you do. I am so glad that you did not say something like 'carrots and onions are good for your health'.” A laugh escaped his lips. The boy sighed quietly in relief when the topic of food seemed to be the exact distraction he needed. “Sure there are those spells, but you should not use them too much. Natural things are always better, don't you think?” He could not help wondering if he would care enough to say such things to whoever he would be married to after he broke this marriage; but in return, he would not have to put the girl next to him into any sorts of misery anymore. It was worth it. “Of course I can. We snuck out to go to London on our own when I was ten and you were nine, remember?” He stated with a gentle smile. “I can go with you to anywhere you want, not only those street markets. And that will not change even if I am sixty, seventy, eighty or even older than that.” Another promise was made. But this one Caesar was glad to keep. Being his wife or not, she was, and would forever, was that one person who could not be replaced in his heart. Letting the young girl play with his hand, the young Montague was on the verge of drowning in an ocean of thoughts when Rosey's question took him by surprise. “It is too soon to talk about that.” He looked away sheepishly, realizing that he had blurted out something he perhaps should not have. “But I would love to see my little girl follow me here and there all day, to up the stairs or to the gardens. I would love to see her take her first step. And when she grows up, becomes a teenage girl, I will scare off all the boys that near her.” Then force her to marry someone she does not love? “Too mushy?” Said he, hoping to change the subject.

“What will you do after the marriage is broken, Rosey?” The Slytherin turned to a side, facing his wife-to-be so as to see her reaction after his question.

tag: ROSALIE POSEY HARPER
note: she's making him terribly nervous!!! -runs around squealing-

[ROSALIE POSEY HARPER]

“Everything?” She squeaked, turning her head to look at him sharply. He…he kept everything? Everything? She felt her face flame up brighter than a Weasley’s hair color. While it was certainly sweet that he kept some of the mementos they had made as children, she exceedingly hoped that he hadn’t kept any of the Valentines she had made for him, either as children or the sort-of anonymous ones that weren’t really all that anonymous. She remembered one that she had made when she was ten and he eleven. He had already gone off to Hogwarts, and she missed him dearly. It wasn’t the same – being forced by her mother to come to his home when he wasn’t here. So, she had made him a Valentine’s card and had the family owl send it to him. She had signed it from “R.P” so that people wouldn’t know it was from her, but it had been tradition. Then, there was the one when she was six and she ‘suggested’ that the marry so that she could spend the night without her mother telling her ‘no’ because it was inappropriate. If the younger Rosalie had only realized that that was what her parents had planned for her, then everything would have been different. She would push Lorcan away when he went in to kiss her. And, well, he wouldn’t have done that to begin with because she would have probably never spoken to him passed that first conversation. She would have waved him away and would have been content with Caesar. Only, Rosalie had never been told. It hadn’t even been hinted, really. If her mother would have let her know, none of this would have really happened.

“Oh, Caesar.” She breathed out quietly, trying and failing not to be upset. Not because he had kept everything. Though that terrified her, too, because she had made some pretty embarrassing stuff, she was more upset about the fact that she hadn’t realized how much of a sweetheart he actually was. It was true that Rosalie had a crush on him years ago. But, he had never seen her more than a childhood friend. Funny how that had turned out, really. “I feel so silly now, Caes. I only kept letters, presents, pictures. Stuff like that.” Which, actually, were quite a bit all things considering. They had known each other for forever. The amount of pictures that they had taken together was staggering. She had them all hung up in her room. Her mother had actually found them, not that she cared in the slightest. She didn’t get on to Rosey for it. Instead, she had pressed her lips together in a way of telling her that she was disappointed in that type of behavior and that the room wasn’t really appropriate for a girl her age anymore. Then again, she had found the loophole: if her mother hadn’t actually said it, then she wasn’t really forced to have to listen to her. So, the pictures stayed hung on her wall, and, sometimes, she liked watching as he twirled her around or she placed her silly tiara on his head and made him have a tea party with her. On the days where she felt trapped at home, they brought her a strange comfort.

Sometimes, and it hadn’t really been recently, Rosalie wondered what it would have felt like to stop Caesar in the hall on the rare occasions he would walk her to class. This particular scenario was often in the beginning of her sixth year, actually. She wondered what would have happened if she grabbed his hand suddenly and pulled him into one of the empty classrooms. It would be spontaneous, of course – or, as spontaneous as it could be considering she thought about it constantly. Before he could ask her what she was doing, she’d kiss him. Not anything too long. That would be embarrassing. Just long enough to see if he would respond. Then, she’d back away and run out of the room. Why would she run out of the room? Because, Rosey didn’t really want him asking questions she wasn’t really sure about. The whole little daydream had gotten scarcer and scarcer throughout the year. Mostly because he didn’t really walk her to class anymore. In fact, she could hardly find him most days. And, it wasn’t because she didn’t look for him. She did. She didn’t know exactly where the Slytherin common room was, but she had a general idea. But, the two of them were often in such a close proximity to one another that she’d always sneak out and grab some food from the Kitchens. It was a long-standing joke within the Hufflepuff community, actually, that they had some odd obsession with food. They were almost always sneaking out of their dorms and into the Kitchens. They’d sweet talk the house elves into giving them food. Or, actually, lately they had gotten to just looking at the ones decked in yellow robes and handing them some snacks without them having to ask for them. It was a nice little deal they had all worked out amongst themselves. Anyway, Rosey only ever went in there to get some snacks whenever her and Caesar agreed to meet late night, and then it was only ever some cookies and milk and unhealthy sort of food they probably shouldn’t have been eating so late. But, he always indulged her. Really, did he think breaking apart their engagements would make her that much happier?

“Hmm.” She hummed, eyeing him childishly. “You know, it’s probably because of you that you guys have done so well? Jasper and Nina were upset. They really hate you guys.” Which was, honestly, a little funny and silly in Rosalie’s opinion; the Slytherin team practiced just as much as the Hufflepuff team did. They were just a little sore that they were going to lose the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup again, but she wasn’t sure why they minded as much as they did. It was just a silly competition between the houses. Honestly, they’d be better off not minding at all and just doing other things than worrying about that. Like her. “I understand hard work, Caesar. Just make time to see me, and I’ll be happy. Is this what it’s gonna be like next year? You never visiting me? It’ll be like you leaving for Hogwarts all over again.” And her crying; only, instead of crying in the comfort of her own room, she’d probably hide in the bathroom until she was fine. Thankfully, she had threatened her younger siblings with various curses they hadn’t learned yet if they revealed that little fact to the Montague heir. Rosey found herself giggling along with his laughter. It was nice to see him relax and crack into a smile; she hated that serious look he got on his face. It made her feel as if she had done something terribly wrong, and she couldn’t have that. “I mean, they are good for your health. But, I like carrots. I’ll eat them for you, and who likes onions?” Anyone who did was odd. She was sure that they were. She’d defend that viewpoint, and she knew that Caesar would agree with her. “I don’t use them, really. Except to change my hair color between brown and blonde; it drives my mother crazy. So, you know, I don’t think I’ll stop anytime soon.” Right now it was blonde. When she got home, chances were that she was going to change it back to brown. At least she didn’t have weird colors like orange or blue.

She beamed at him, sending a small squeeze his way and holding their hands up so she could look at them. His hand felt…perfect in hers. More than perfect, really, and Rosalie had to remind herself that he probably didn’t think of it like that. “And, you held my hand the entire time so we wouldn’t get separated? How could I forget?” Because, he wanted to break everything up. He’d still be her friend, and it had been because she had wanted it, but he had to have wanted their marriage broken in some way for him to keep mentioning it. And, every time that he did it felt like he was squishing a tiny part of her that was hopeful he felt the way she did. Well, if he wanted to have it that way, she was determined to know as much of him as she could before Caesar Eric Montague belonged to someone else. Their hips were already touching, and she was already holding her hand. But, what if…“No,” she denied almost immediately. “That’s not too mushy at all.” It sounded…nice, what he described. More than nice, really. It sounded ideal, and she…Rosey wanted that. She wanted that for the two of them. Not now, but definitely in the future. It hurt to even think that he’d be considering that type of future with another girl. She didn’t want some…bimbo coming in and holding his hand, or crying into his shoulder, or laughing with him. They wouldn’t have the history the two of them did. “I want to be a Healer. You know, help people? Pediatric Healer; I like little kids.” Rosalie trailed off, looking away. She bit down on the corner of her lip and moved. Not away from him – not knowing that, in a year from now, she wouldn’t be allowed to do this. She did let go of his hand, but only so that she could wrap his arm around her so she could lay her head on his shoulder. “Caesar, I don’t…want that."

tagged;; CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE
words;; 1615
notes;; she's cuddling him, .
outfit;; 2nd one
muse;;
credit;; the lyrics are adele's. and the template was made by zana of caution

[CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE]

 
I'LL BE THE ONE IF YOU WANT ME TO
anywhere i would have followed you, say something i'm giving up on you

He raised a brow in slight surprise when she gave him a strange look on his mentioning his keeping everything from their childhood. And less than no time, an amused yet confused smile spread across his face as blood started to rush to her cheeks. She had not even blushed the moment she found out that she was to marry her best of friend; the only thing that might have caused her face to look red then, perhaps, was her temper. “Yes, basically. But are you okay. You seem unwell.” He asked with sincere worries. To the best of his recollection, Caesar Montague was pretty sure that he had not spoken anything improper or inappropriate at all. He kept everything of their childhood. The young Montague suddenly rolled his eyes as something crossed his mind in a flash. Letting his gaze fall upon the small girl before him, Caesar found it hard to keep a straight face with all the memories flowing back to his mind. Rosey's being sorted into Hufflepuff was undoubtedly not an accident. At least that was Caesar's belief. Not that he had not wanted her in the same house with him of course; in fact, it had felt like losing something that had meant the world to him. He wondered if anyone had told her, that Rosalie Harper was so pure, like crystal, as though nothing in this world could stain that smile of an angel. Looking at her now, he felt like he was looking at the little girl of years ago on Valentine's Days who had stood beaming at him with a tiny box in her hands, wrapped up carefully in colorful paper. The only thing he had asked her then was whether it was edible or not (and he actually had hoped that it was candy). The way the boy had seen it, Valentine's Day was the day Katherine's cooking seemed to improve significantly and Eric went on earlier than usual with flowers, usually a bunch of roses, for her; and they always found one of the roses gone missing the next morning, which inexplicably happened to traveled a long way to the Harper's home, lying neatly on Rosey's windowsill, waiting for her to see. Those feelings he had had while watching her rolling her eyes at the flower with the same name as hers from distance, usually on a tall tree, had never gone away, they always stayed deep in his heart, on the back of his mind, waiting for a day to remind him of what he had missed. “Don't worry. I will not use them to blackmail you.” Said Caesar jokingly, ruffling the girl's hair with a playful smile.

But nothing lasted forever. Everything had changed. Gone now the gifts and the roses. They had grown up and thrown everything childish behind to move on. More and more people stepped into their worlds, spinning them around and dragging them to different directions. Changes were what Caesar Montague feared the most; nonetheless, they were also a part of his world, weren't they? After all, adaptability was human nature. It was quite a while since the most recent time they had seen each other and had a proper conversation this year. Who could have known the day they saw each other again was the day they expected the least. Seeing her stand before him right now felt just like getting back what he had lost for so long. Wanted it or not, Caesar had to admit that he was grateful for this arrangement, because it gave him a second chance to make everything the same again – everything that had once belonged to the two of them. On hearing her confession that she only kept things like pictures, letters and presents, his heart smiled tenderly. It was certainly fascinating to know that the two of them were not history and the name Caesar Montague was still a part of her life. “By letters, you didn't mean the ones full of my spelling mistakes, did you?” He asked, rolling his eyes. Caesar remembered every single word he had written in those letters, the silly and childish contents, as well as the rough handwriting of a child who had learned to write only so that he would be able to write to his friend. Everything seemed like yesterday. How long was it since the last picture they had taken together? How long was it since the last letter he had sent her just to say hello or to remind her to wear warm clothes before going outside?

Caesar might never say anything about what he had seen; but it did not mean he had not taken any notice of it. Perhaps the seven-year-old he was too young and carefree to see the way Rosey had looked at him; but it did not escape his notice during their first few years at Hogwarts. He never forgot the anxiety he had had everytime he felt her eyes on him. If only she had known that he had always been watching her from the corner of his eyes, though it had not been frequent for him to make eye contact with her. But he had chosen to remain ignorant of everything that had been going on between them, because of no reasons. Maybe it had been as simply as he was never the one to wear his heart on his sleeve. However, occasionally, when they sat face-to-face in the Great Hall having lunch together, Caesar had found his gaze unintentionally falling upon her lips more than once. The times she kissed someone that was not him, it had taken him a great deal of effort to ignore the itchy feeling swirling inside him and feel happy for her. And the tears she had wasted on that one jerk had made the Slytherin's blood boil. The story did not end with just Rosey's moving on – it ended with a bruise on a heartbreaker's face, which Caesar explained as 'maybe he hit his face somehwere' everytime she asked. Now no one can cause her pain anymore – no one aside from him.

“I have a soft spot for acclaim, you know.” Said Caesar, chuckling at Rosey's remark. “But I would not say that I contribute nothing to our standards of playing.” The Slytherin had a tendency to distance himself from conceit, or at least from making it too obvious. Yet he could not help feeling flattered knowing on account of the Hufflepuff's jealousy of his team. Fortunately, Rosey hardly cared about Quidditch. It would have been so awkward to brag about his house's winning the cup if she had. Being in her black books because of a Quidditch match was the last thing Caesar wanted. Her next few words caused the smile on his lips to fade. Very suddenly, Caesar realized how much he had missed her. He should have known. “I will. I promise.” He stated gently. “I will not let you walk alone to your classes anymore, even if you want to. I will not let you spend your weekend without me, even if you insist to. And after my graduation, I will make sure to be come back to kidnap you to Hogsmead or anywhere you want.” Your promises, do not make the ones you cannot keep. Someone had told him that before. These promises, come rain come shine, he would keep, because Rosalie Harper was not just anyone. The Slytherin raised a brow then started tittering like a kid on hearing his fiancée claim that no one liked onions. “Katherine does. And don't ever take her cooking advise, unless you want onions in everything you cook.” He whispered as if he was afraid someone could overhear that and then tell his mother. “Perhaps you should try purple or green next time.” He suggested with a grin after her mention of her changing hair colors driving her mother up the wall. If he did anything similar, Katherine would kill him without a second thought. No proper young man has unnatural-colored hair. The lastest time he had done a change to his appearance was ten years ago, when his supposed-to-be-straight hair started to curl in a disorderly way hence he had had to give up trendy side-swept bangs. Thankfully, messy hair has become sort of a trend today.

His dark eyes stared at their hands when she held them up. The perfection could be just as fascinating as it was described in novels. He smiled, squeezing her hand a little, as thought he was afraid of letting go. He had not let go years ago. If he did not let go now, could anyone get them separated? Or would they choose to separate? The arranged marriage, in some respects, was a good thing. Was she to become his wife, he would be able to take care of her, like he had promised many a time, and protect her, not let anyone hurt even just a hair of hers. And they would not feel lost in this world, because they would have each other. The idea of growing old with her was not at all dreadful; in fact, it was one of the best things he could ever expect to happen. They would be happy, he knew it for sure, even if they could not come to see each other as lovers. At least they cared for each other. At least it would not be difficult for them to learn to love each other. At least he found it harder to let her go now. How uncharacteristic of him to pour his heart out like this. Still he had to admit that scenario was too beautiful, too splendid. Then Rosey talked about her dream, and her face lit up in the way he had never seen before. Suddenly, he felt like he was not looking at the Rosey Harper he had known all his life. “That sounds great! Your becoming a healer.” Caesar uttered instantly with excitement and approval in his voice. With or without magic, he knew that she would be a wonderful healer, especially Pediatric one. And he had seen her with the first year kids, and the younger children, too. While they had had a tendency to avoid that creepy young man that was with her, they all had seemed to be drawn to her, perhaps by the gentleness in her voice, the softness in her smile and the kindness in her eyes, which he knew he could never have. “Has anyone told you that you look the most lively when you talk about your dreams.” So don't let go. “Let no one, or nothing, stand in your way.” Said he, with sincerity. Even if that 'no one' was him and that 'nothing' was this marriage.

Her action came as a bolt from the blue. The very thin line between ultimately disappeared, being destroyed by her as she got closer to him, wrapped his arm around her. His heartbeat began to lose its constant the very moment she lay her head on his shoulder. The shirt he was wearing could not stop the warmth from spreading. The brush of her hair against his face. The sweet scent she had, which he had never noticed. They had been this close before, when they were a lot younger and felling asleep next to each other after a long day. Caesar had not felt anything similar to nervousness with Rosey around, until this moment. But he refused to push her away, though a part of him was telling him that it might not end well – whatever going on between them. Keeping his arm wrapped around her, the boy sighed. It was just that the other part of him did not want to let go. ”Caesar, I don't...want that. As soon as those words slipped out of Rosey's lips, time froze, so did he. Trying not to look at her, he started to wonder what was happening. One minute ago she was entirely opposed to their marriage, though he knew she did not, and would not, hate it. One minute ago downstairs, she had been on the verge of exploding when she dragged him out of the room. Caesar did not reply, but remained quiet for a while before his other hand moved. No word was spoken as he pulled her even closer to him, tilted her chin up and made her look at him in the eyes. Within such little distance, her eyes seemed more beautiful than ever.

And before she could ask him what he was doing, Caesar closed his eyes and leaned in to find his lips on hers one second later. Perhaps this was stupid. Perhaps this was a mistake that could not be fixed. Perhaps this would ruin everything they had had. Yet he still wanted to know the answer. From a very light touch of the lips, the kiss became bolder. But it did not last too long.

“You don't want that or you just don't know what you want?” There was no emotion in his voice. Letting go of her, he sat up quietly then made his way to the door. “Come on. You won't want to miss dinner.” With the smiley face back on, he opened the door and held it for her, as though nothing had happened.

tag: ROSALIE POSEY HARPER
note: sorry about the length. i just could not stop writing . feels are killing me. we can end the thread with your next reply and start another if you want. <333

[ROSALIE POSEY HARPER]

When Rosalie Posey Harper had been younger, there had been many things she couldn’t bring herself to do. She might have played outside and spoken to Caesar and some of the other pureblooded children, but she never really played with them those first initial meetings. And, even when they had eventually acknowledged Rosey as another child and not just an attachment of her mother, she still rarely played with them. Oh, she would laugh with them. She would smile and nod and answer when they asked her questions, but she stayed to herself. She’d sit calmly on the grass, careful not to get any stains on herself, and watch as the boys darted to and fro, watched as the girls played with their dolls and had their own ‘tea parties’. Every now and again, she would sit down alongside them and drink her own cup of tea, but she had never really belonged with them. As she grew older, it only became more and more obvious to her that she had never really belonged with any of them at all. Andrea Flint had scared her as a child. The girl had been so proper, but hadn’t been afraid to yell at the ones that made her angry. She had been very pretty, but scowled when Jocelyn – and, she never interacted with the eldest Flint girl. If Andrea scared her, Jocelyn outright petrified her – was around. Thalia Nott wasn’t exactly scary, but neither was she welcoming. Just as pretty and prim as Andrea, she followed after Caesar, Scorpius, her brother, and the Zabini boys with a confidence Rosey hadn’t gained until much later. She often walked around, blonde hair swaying, as if she had owned the place. She had always admired that about her; it had been something she had never been able to do.

But, she did eventually open up. Whereas she was wary when it came to most of the children, she felt…at ease whenever she was with Caesar. She liked him, even back then, because he went out of his way to make her feel welcome. Perhaps it was odd for him, because he had always had his other friends, but he had been the most important person to her as a child. She loved her family – loved her mother and her father and her siblings, but they had never really understood her. Her brothers teased her more often than not, and her youngest sibling was a hellion. Her mother often forced her to do things she never wanted to do, and if she could hold the attention of her father for more than an hour, she was very much surprised. Caesar had opened a door the younger Rosey hadn’t even known could have been open. Through him, she had learned to laugh and smile freely. Yes, she still tried to be the best child that she could, but she didn’t really worry about anything when she was with him. She didn’t feel as intimidated by the other girls because, at least, she had a friend. When he had gone off to Hogwarts, she had been devastated. She had almost perfectly reverted back into the girl from whom he had set her free from. She never left her mother’s side, rarely smiled, and the only occasions that let her smile were when he replied to one of her letters. And he was so happy, in Hogwarts, that she never wanted to tell him just how much she had missed him for fear of making him feel even the slightest less happy.

When he had been off, it had only been that much more apparent that Rosey didn’t belong with the other girls. When the three had been sorted, she’d flinched when Andrea went to Slytherin. She’d refused to meet Caesar’s eyes when the hat called out Hufflepuff. And, she nearly burst into tears when Thalia followed after her childhood friend and reached out for Slytherin herself. In her mind, it had only accented how out of place she was and how out of place she would always be. She had utterly avoided her old friends that first week and had refused to write either of her parents. At night, she’d press her pillow against her face and cry because, for the girl who had always felt left out, knowing that she could have been in the same house as her best friend but wasn’t was beyond devastating. The other girls had tried to comfort her, bless them. They pointed out all the good things of being sorted into the house of yellow and black. She had snapped at them and made them leave her alone as she curled up into a ball. She attended classes in a daze. And, it was only when she did meet up with Caesar again that she had put on a bright smile she was certain he could see through. Over the years, they had met up time and time again. She had developed a crush on him, what with him being the only one who retained being her friend from childhood. Eventually, Rosalie had apologized to her roommates and her house mates and gained friends in her own house as well as Ravenclaw. She was never really alone after that, but neither was she with Caesar.

Her crush on Caesar had been obvious to anyone who paid attention to them. Her face would light up the moment he was around her. Even though she winced at the thought now, she’d catch herself looking at him from a distance. She’d always look at him to make sure that what she did wouldn’t be embarrassing if he came over and spoke to her. Thankfully, those looks mostly disappeared by the time that her fourth year rolled around. Around that time, she had noticed an older boy belonging to Gryffindor. Normally, she stayed away from those in red and gold; wary of how loud and easily trusting they were when she had been raised almost the exact opposite. Kenneth hadn’t let that discourage him, however. He followed her around to classes under the impression that he was walking her. She had been annoyed and frustrated at his forwardness. She hadn’t even realized it that she had begun to talk to him on those walks. She’d told him what seemed like everything – her parents and how they were disappointed in her, how she didn’t feel as close with Edward as she did when they were children, how she enjoyed her classes, and how annoying it was that he turned up everywhere that she was. It had to be halfway through the year when she accepted a date to Hogsmeade with him, finally. She’d burst out laughing when whooped and hollered with joy, beaming at her and promising her that she wouldn’t regret it. For the next year, she didn’t regret it. She quite enjoyed linking hands with him and letting him show her off and around. Rosey had always been…afraid that he would lose interest in her. When they passed the six-months mark over the summer, she had been ecstatic. The only thing that had worried her was the look in Caesar’s eyes when she had first told him about the relationship.

And, they were fine throughout her fifth year. Sure, he got a little distracted from time to time, but she chalked it up to him being busy with N.E.W.T.s. He didn’t always take her to Hogsmeade, but she had made friends and was fine with going with him. She’d always bring him back some sweets, anyway. And, he’d kiss her on the cheek and say thanks for them every time. So, when she had seen him in Hogsmeade that last trip, talking with a Ravenclaw girl a year older than her, she had been very much suspicious. Rosalie had never been one to spy but she couldn’t help but trail after them. When he walked her into Madam Puddifoot’s, it had effectively broken her heart. She felt the tears spring to her face long before she moved from that spot. The only thing that had had her move at all was when she heard a familiar voice. It wasn’t a hard decision to do from there. She turned on her heel and looked for her oldest and dearest friend. She cried into his shirt for what seemed like hours. Her eyes were puffy and red for days. It was a miracle she had managed to pass her O.W.Ls at all, but, somehow, she had managed. When she spotted Kenneth sporting a new bruise, she’d smiled and asked him about it several times, always wondering if it had been Caesar who had hit him. When Kenneth had tried to talk to her, she’d always leave or, somehow, always found herself near the Montague. It wasn’t like she couldn’t’ defend herself. She was certain that she could, it was just that she never felt like she had to when he was around. It was silly, but he was like her shield now just like he had been then.

The crush she had on him hadn’t ever really gone away. Even when she was with Kenneth, it had always been just under the surface. She had finally managed to convince herself that Caesar wasn’t ever going to look at her the way that she had looked at him. And, she was okay with it. She was. It meant that the two of them would continue to be friends long into the future. That was what she had been planning on. That was what she had banked on. So, the summer afterwards, she never told him how much he meant to her – at least, not in that way. She must have said thank you a million times for hitting that arse that broke her heart. She must have apologized a million times for crying into his shirt. Hell, Rosey had even gotten him a new shirt to make up for it, not that she needed to. But, she had anyway because it was the only way that she figured she could make it up to him. She spent a lot of time at his home that summer, and he at hers. She was so stupid for not realizing the complications of all that time spent together. If they had only just told her…She wouldn’t have ever gotten so close with Lorcan Scamander. Initially, when she had met him, she had been very much put off, even more so than she had been by Kenneth. Lorcan very much had a reputation of being a ladies man.

She had known that meeting him and had resolved to dislike him. But, he was funny. He was so funny and he made Rosey laugh harder than she had in what seemed like years. He was never nervous – never shy about his affections. He had…confidence. And, for some reason, she liked that most about him. She liked that he was a troublemaker – which meant that he liked to trick people into thinking he was crazy from time to time with these little made-up facts that honestly kept her guessing as to whether or not they were real. Even though Rosey had loosed up a significant amount, she still…struggled. Occasionally, she’d catch herself doing something and flush because it was definitely not proper behavior. It had been that way almost every single moment she spent with Lorcan. Their meetings were mostly in secret – mostly because she knew her parents. She knew how they would react if someone told them that she – their pureblood daughter – was spending her precious amount of time with a halfblood. And, it wasn’t just any halfblood, either. It was a halfblood who had Luna Scamander, nee Lovegood, for a mother. She’d heard stories from her parents’ childhood. Heroine or not, they still considered her to be insane. Lysander, perhaps, would have made for alight company what with being the epitome of a Ravenclaw, but his brother? Definitely not; the sad part was that that’s what had likened her to him all the more.

When he kissed her, it made her feel like there were butterflies in her stomach. Like she was breaking the rules and trying to make a life for herself without anyone influencing her. He taught her how to rebel against them. There was no doubt in Rosalie’s mind that the entire ruckus she had caused earlier was a result from all the time she spent with him. She wasn’t upset about it, either. She needed to know that she could stand against her parents, even if she wasn’t always going to do it. Chances were she wouldn’t ever do it again. They might have pushed her into the situation of marrying Caesar, but she could think of worst fates. Because, Caesar? Caesar had always been different. He had his own parts about him that she loved and adored. When she held his hand, she felt secure and safe and loved. It was weird, especially because he had never shown any sort of interest before, but she could feel it off of him. She had so many things to tell him – too many things. She wanted to open her mouth and tell him. When she was like this, next to him with her head on his shoulder. She could tell herself that she could break it off with Lorcan. She could tell herself that she would be – would definitely be – happy with Caesar; because, after all, hadn’t it always been the two of them to begin with? When he tilted her head up, a small part of her protested. The larger part had all but squashed it down to meet his gaze, and smile. When he leaned in, she couldn’t help but let her eyes close. And, when he kissed her? Rosalie had never felt anything like it. Whereas there were butterflies before, they seemed to erupt into fireworks. It might have only been like a short time, but, when he pulled away and her eyes fluttered open, everything seemed right. Like, this was where she belonged. Even if she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it before; this had only ever been the right place for her. But…

But then he moved. But then he moved, and she wasn’t sure what she had done wrong. She wasn’t a bad kisser. She knew that much, but he had gotten up and away from her as if she had burned him. And his words? They hurt her. She felt the pain flash in her eyes as her face flushed. Oh, but Caesar was happy – or at least pretending to be. All ready to go downstairs and face the adults like none of this had happened. How was she supposed to compete with that when it felt like she was going to burst out into tears? She stood up slowly and was quick to smooth down any wrinkle her dress might have gotten. She made sure her blazer was straight before nodding at him solemnly. It might have been harder for her to act as if nothing was wrong – it was very much true that Rosey was probably the easiest pureblood to read, but she wasn’t entirely without skill. Maybe she couldn’t make her face carefully blank on a whim, but this was much more than that. She paused right beside him, closed off. “I said what I meant. If you want to take it another way…well, I was never really the same as you, right?” Rosalie managed a smile and moved past him, heading downstairs. “Come on then… Can’t miss…everything...”

tagged;; CAESAR ERIC MONTAGUE
words;; 2600
notes;; oops? ha. file it under Slytherin!
Also, Rosey's very hurt by that last comment,
as you can tell. Shame on Caesar!
outfit;; 2nd one
muse;;
credit;; the lyrics are adele's. and the template was made by zana of caution