A Lazy Winter Day

Winter Break passed away far too soon with it already being four days after Christmas. Soon it would be New Year and soon after Monday, then it would come time to return to Hogwarts. Upstairs in the attic, there are three figures, well, technically four….

Chewing on sweet caramel popcorn, Rowan watches Sir Knight Prince team up with his body to beat Severus. It is technically cheating, but since the ghostly body belonged to Sir Knight Prince's head…. Well, it didn't count against it, but that didn't stop Severus from cursing Sir Knight Prince for cheating. To which, Sir Knight Prince would counter in a lofty tone that Severus was just a sore loser.

Glancing out of the fog-covered window, Rowan watches the snow gently fall onto the snow-covered grounds. In thought, Rowan recalls the scene from two days, Reginald Prince was reading the Daily Prophet. During breakfast, he idly remarked, "Well, you look at that Georgine. It would seem that Bellatrix Lestrange unexpectedly passed away from Dragon Pox on Christmas Eve. What a tragedy, she was still so young."

Aunt Georgine snorts and loftily says, "Well, I just received a letter this morning from an old friend, who says, that t'was not Dragon Pox that killed her, but rather an enraged man."

"Lestrange? Goodness no, that man was head over heels for her," Reginald argued.

Georgine glances over at the twins and in a low whisper said, "T'was not her husband, but rather Cygnus."

Reginald slowly begins to nod his head in thoughtful agreement. "Yes, that would come as no surprise, he was always a brute ever since he was a boy. Didn't Pollux, his father once strike you, Georgine, across your face while the two of you were at Hogwarts?"

"Oh, he did, but I got even," Georgine growled in recollection.

Sirsa delicately changes the subject and said, "Mm, did you see that the Ministry is sending out a search party for Augustus Rockwood? Apparently, he has gone missing."

"Really?" Georgine idly remarked. "You know I never liked him. He was always smiling and had a rather pleasant disposition that seemed so unnatural to me. I was always under the impression that he was a two-faced man."

"Mm, yes, he was a bit too pleasant to be a member of the Ministry of Magic," Reginald resolutely agreed.

"Will the two of you desist!" Sirsa said with a furrowed brow. "Being civil and pleasant is not a character flaw, but rather a positive trait."

"Yes, dearest sister-in-law," Georgine mumbled as she took a sip of her milk tea. Reginald returns to reading the tabloid as Sirsa merely purses her lips, before returning to her own meal. Either way, Rowan's sharp ears didn't miss the conversation.

Turning away from the attic window, Rowan takes another handful of popcorn. The search for Rockwood had come as no surprise as it had been only a matter of time until he was found missing. Sadly, for Rockwood, no trace of him would ever be found.

However, what unsettled Rowan is the rather abrupt and unexpected death of Bellatrix. She knew that the butterfly effect would become widespread, but she didn't think it would be so sudden and unexpected.

Rowan couldn't deny the direct consequence of her actions. By dismantling the indoctrination of students in Slytherin, everything changed. Would the demise of Rockwood and Bellatrix have a positive effect or only serve to worsen the timeline?

Two important personas are suddenly gone. And fate had already proven before that it did not like to be changed, and sooner or later it would rectify the course. There was no telling what curveball would be thrown next.

Rowan sighs to herself as she stuffs another handful of popcorn into her mouth. She knew she had been overconfident in supposing everything would work itself out. No, rather she'd been rather foolish and naïve really. She could ill afford nor continue to assume that everything would follow the previously written timeline, because it wouldn't.

"Always assume the worst and plan for contingencies." Rowan solemnly thought to herself.

"Just what are you sighing about?" Sir Knight Prince loudly asked.

Glancing up, Rowan blinks and eyes the wizarding chess board. "That you're losing the match, Sir Knight Prince."

"No, I'm not!" Sir Knight Prince protested.

"If you say so," Rowan said with a shrug, before getting up out of her seat. "I'm going run down to get a mug of hot cocoa and some more popcorn. Do you want anything, Sev?

"A mug of hot cocoa would be nice," Severus replied as he gleefully took one of Sir Knight Prince's pieces.

"See you in a bit then," Rowan called out and did not gain a response back. Trudging downstairs to the warm kitchen filled with wonderful smells, Rowan stuck her head inside and said, "Dawn, could I get two cups of hot cocoa and a refill of the caramel popcorn."

Dawn twirls around with a ladle in hand and says, "Certainly, Dawn will personally take a tray up in just a jiff."

"Thanks," Rowan said, before heading back upstairs. However, before she can, Rowan spots Aunt Georgine sitting in the hallway puffing on a cigar. "I thought grandmother hated you smoking in the hallway," Rowan commented as she approached her.

Georgine raises her eyebrow at Rowan and says, "What Sirsa doesn't know can't hurt her."

"Grandmother has a nose, doesn't she?" Rowan sarcastically countered.

"Well, aren't you a dragon spark?" Georgine snorted as she reluctantly put out her cigarette in the enchanted ashtray.

Rowan hides her grin as she spots the amethyst pendant hanging around Georgine's neck. Georgine must have noticed Rowan's gaze, because she said, "It's a lucky charm, of course, I'm going to wear it."

"Mm, I didn't say anything," Rowan innocently said.

"Tch," Georgine huffed as she rose to her feet. "I best be returning to the parlor." Turning away, Georgine marched away leaving Rowan ruefully shaking her head and heading back upstairs. It was a constant source of wonder to Rowan that the Prince family members still all got along.

With that thought in mind, Rowan arrived to see Severus jump up in glee as he checkmated, Sir Knight Prince. "I told you so, Sir Knight Prince," Rowan smirked from the doorway.

"Another match!" Sir Knight protested.

"No way!" Severus snapped back. "I'm done for today! Play with Rowan instead!"

Rowan grins evilly in reply as Sir Knight Prince tactfully says, "You're right a break would be nice." However, Rowan didn't accept his reply and purposefully sat across from him. And before he knew it, Sir Knight Prince was playing a cold, merciless match against Rowan. But alas, what is a poor ghost to do?