She'd officially won her first game as a Harpie. The high was still in her, making her feel like she was floating six feet off the ground.

For someone that was only a hair over five feet in the first place, that meant a lot.

Rose grinned, pulling her large sunglasses over her eyes as she emerged from Quality Quidditch Supplies with two bags in her arms. Thigh high socks to wear under the uniforms, a new pair of shoes... She knew the team could supply those things to her, but she wanted to buy her own. Maybe they would become the lucky pair. Maybe she'd wear the same pair of knickers over and over again, if it meant they win.

Shaking her head at her own inner thoughts, Rose held a hand up to block the sun, trying to decide where to go next.

Hera tossed her charmed black hair then adjusted her dark glasses as she walked through Diagon Alley. She loved doing this. She loved just walking through the people as an unknown. She spotted someone familiar. There was no mistaking that hair. Hera jogged after Rose and sided up next to her. She did not say anything. She paced her walk to match the other woman's.

Shaking her head from her neck, Rose looked down, frowning as she tried to dig the receipt out of her bag. If she was going to drop a lot of money on Quidditch gear now, she had better make sure she didn't bankrupt herself.

Glancing up briefly, she saw someone walking beside her. Not giving it much of a second thought, she looked back down in her bag, slowing her walk as she continued to look for the small bit of paper. "Where are you, you little bugger?"

Hera chuckled. It was funny what dark hair and a pair of dark glasses could do for her.

"Issues?"

Rose blinked, looking up at the woman. "No, I'm fine." Grinning slightly, she looked back down, digging through her bag.

Hera started laughing. "I swear to the gods, I really am my hair."

Looking up, an eyebrow raised, Rose gave the woman a slightly mystified expression. "What was that?"

Hera lifted up her glasses and grinned. "Hey there, pretty lady, I got some candy if you want it."

Recognition dawned in Rose's green eyes, the corners of them crinkling as she looked at Hera. "Ms. Warbeck, I'm fairly certain offering small girls candy is against the law. But, then again, that would depend on upon the candy you're pandering," she said with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Hera giggled and dropped the glasses back down over her eyes. "What are you doing out here today? Besides shopping and looking for something in that bag that's gotten away from you."

"Mostly just that," Rose answered honestly. "I have absolutely no plans. And you? Enjoying being sneaky and saying suspicious things to random people?"

"Actually, I am. I was thinking about ice cream. You want?"

Rose glanced down at the watch on her wrist. "Ice cream at eleven in the morning? They really do spoil you celebrity types, don't they?"

"Is that what time it is? I didn't actually know. I just felt like a walk in a crowd then ice cream. The time was of no consequence. My brother Paul says this is why people think I am a flake."

"Flake is such a harsh word. Your inner clock just runs on different time than the rest of ours do." Rose shrugged, gesturing to the sidewalk. "I'm never one to turn down free ice cream, or sweets of any kind, for that matter. It'd be out of character to do so."

Hera laughed and held the door for her as they entered Fortescue's. She ordered a scoop of coconut on a waffle cone then waited for Rose to order.

The colors in the case held Rose's attention. There were a lot of them, and she'd always had a problem choosing between things. "Umm...." She pointed to something that was green. "I'll take a scoop of that. In a bowl, I think." She turned to Hera with a smile. "Do you come here often, or do you just make up your mind really easily?"

"The last time I was here, I noticed the coconut, and I like coconuts, so I thought I'd try it this time. What about you? Do you even know what you just chose or did you like the color?"

"Mostly the color." Rose grinned, reaching out to grab a lock of Hera's currently jet-colored hair.

"I know," Hera replied, laughing a little. "Seriously. No one knows me without the pink. It's strange. Everything else on me is the same, but no one sees it. I think you got green apple sherbet."

Grinning, Rose took a bite of hers, nodding in agreement. "Yep." She looked across the table at Hera, a smirk turning her lips. "And how would everyone know what everything else on you looks like to make that connection?"

"I dress how I dress. Always. My eye make-up is the same, same lip gloss. Always. Same shoes. Same shoes I like to wear on stage."

"Yes, but, I'm sure there are plenty of girls out there wearing those same clothes in an attempt to look like you in the first place," Rose said, pointing her spoonful of sweet in Hera's direction for emphasis before licking it from the utensil.

Hera put her feet in an empty chair and leaned back, licking her cone. "I guess. Never really considered that."

She did not know why, but Hera was comfortable with Rose. Already. There just seemed energy and fun to be had when they were with one another.

"I'm just saying. I'd be grateful that people seem to look you over when you'd like to be looked over. You can get up to so much more fun when there aren't people watching your every move." Rose couldn't imagine. She knew she'd get some sort of popularity due to being on the team, in general, but she had yet to grasp how hard that could be.

"That's why I like living in Hogsmeade. They're so protective of me. Gawkers get chased away by townsfolk. I don't know if they have pitchforks or not. I should probably ask."

Rose giggled. "That'd be something to see, actually. I think I'd enjoy that." She sat back in her chair, digging her spoon into her sherbet before licking a bit of it off. "Is my tongue green?" Sticking out her tongue, she sat forward, her eyes filled with amusement as they looked at Hera.

"A bit, yes. It suits you though. Goes with your eyes."

Hera was smiling. Maybe if her brother didn't want her seeing Jared Vaisey, she should just see Rose. She could see the color mottling on his stodgy face. Her brother, both her brothers, were rigidly heterosexual. Not to say they were bigots. They just had ideas about things. Don more-so than Paul.

Eyes crossing, Rose attempted to look at her own tongue. Shaking her head at the slight twinge of pain doing so had caused, she grinned at Hera. "So you really were just wandering around with the single plan on getting ice cream? What were you going to do for the rest of the day?"

"I was just going to see where the wind took me." Hera grinned. "I do that sometimes."

"Living for today," Rose said, nodding, "I can appreciate that. I'm a rather large fan of that myself. It helps avoiding regrets. If you do everything you'd like to, you don't have to look back and wonder why you stopped yourself."

"I don't stop me. My family used to. They still try, but it's great being an adult with her own money." Hera finished off the last of her cone and sat forward. "So what is your day like?"

"Hmmmmm." Swirling her sherbet around in the bowl, the green sweet quickly turning to nothing more than liquid, Rose thought about the question. "I needed to do some laundry at home, but that doesn't take that long. Why? Have something in mind that you need a buddy for?"

"Not especially. Laundry? Really? Can I come?"

Rose looked up at her, an incredulous expression on her face. "You want to watch me do laundry? Really?"

"I've never done laundry before," Hera said laughing.

The small smile she'd been holding fell from Rose's face and she sat forward, both elbows going onto the table. "You've never done laundry before? Are you kidding me?"

"I led a sheltered life. House-elves did the laundry. I never even saw it. It left dirty and came back clean. Sad, huh?"

Rose shook her head, shock still in her eyes. "How do you do your laundry now that you live alone?"

"I have a house-elf."

"Oh." Shrugging, Rose climbed to her feet, setting the soupy ice cream down on the table. "Well, you'll get your second lesson from me, then. Lesson one? Flying and quidditch. Lesson two? Laundry." She held a hand out. "Sound good?"

Hera rose as well. "Sounds good, but I'll keep having Coco do mine at home. It's like having a pet that does really fantastic and helpful tricks."

Laughing, Rose held out an arm to Hera. "Well, let me lead you away so we can slave over my dirty clothes."

Hera linked her arm through Rose's, laughing. "Will there be knickers? Or are you one of those tarts who doesn't wear any?"

"Sometimes an outfit calls for knickers, sometimes it doesn't. Jeans? Knickers, definitely. Skirts that hug your hips? Sometimes thongs, sometimes nothing. It's simply a matter of clothing choice." Grinning, Rose looked over at Hera as they made their way out of the ice cream shoppe. "Would you be disappointed if there were no knickers, Hera?" She rose an eyebrow, green eyes alight with amusement.

"I would, actually. You can tell a lot about a person by their underthings."

She was just as comfortable here as she was on Jared's arm. Hera wondered what that said about her. She did want to try everything and do everything now. She just sometimes had no idea what she was doing, but life was meant to be lived. That was what she intended.

Rose nodded. "I hadn't thought about it that way, but you're right. I guess I should hide all my vinyl knickers so I'll make a good impression." She stared straight ahead after the sentence, though the corner of her mouth turned up.

Hera snorted. "I was dating Pete O'Toole, remember? Very little about underpants can shock me."

Leading the normally blonde singer a bit farther down the street, Rose apparated them with ease, something she'd always been very good at, appearing in front of her door a second later. She whispered the password to her wards, waving her hands to break the charms before turning the knob.

"You're really only the second person to see my flat, love," she said, leading Hera into the living room before she dropped her bags on the floor. "I could give you the tour, or you could explore on your own. You want something to drink?"

"I'm good," Hera replied, looking around with interest.

Rose had the same need for bright color Hera herself had. It was interesting.

"You need to see my cottage."

"Oh," Rose called back to her, entering the kitchen and grabbing herself a bottle of butterbeer. "Does it dwarf this place?" She padded back towards the living room, leaning against the door jamb as she popped the top to her drink. "Could my flat fit in your loo?"

"Not really. It's just me, so I opted for smaller, but we have the same tastes in colors and furniture. It gives my oldest brother the eye twitches."

Hera giggled. "This place isn't that small. I mean, it's just you, yeah? How much space do you need?"

"True," Rose said, taking a sip of her drink. "I have all the space I need, but I never feel like I can really have a party or anything like that. The place would be too small." Shrugging, she made her way further into the living room. "You have brothers? How many? I have three. All older."

"I have two brothers and two sisters, all older. Why do you need a place to have a party? Cozy up to Brody MacDougal. He'll let you use the Sticks."

"Oh, it was just an idea. I just like having fun with my friends. Figured it'd be exciting to have everyone in the same place." Rose nodded her head towards the kitchen. "So, the laundry room is back this way. Are you serious you want to watch?"

"Yes. Only do not tell anyone in my family," Hera said as she followed. "My oldest brother is already scared his daughter is heading towards being like me. He wants her to be him. Successful barristers do not do laundry."

Rose snorted. "Well, doesn't he just sound like a peach?" Pushing open the door to her laundry room, she pointed to the makeshift piles she had on the floor. "So, my mum taught me to separate by color as well as texture. So we have jeans and towels go together. Whites are separate from colors. And then the delicates. Those would be the knickers, though my just rinse off the vinyl ones. No need to actually wash those ones." She looked over at Hera with a small smirk.

Hera sprawled out in the floor. "Well, get to it then. Amuse me with your laundering abilities."

Sighing, laundry not exactly the most fun activity she'd done lately, Rose nodded before beginning her task. She grabbed the detergent and measured out the proper amount, pouring it into the washer before she flipped the machine on. As it began to fill with water, she began loading it with colors. Tee shirts, colored socks, pajamas... anything that had color to it that wasn't a pair or jeans, a towel or delicate was thrown in.

After slamming the lid to the washer closed, she grabbed the clothes that had been sitting in the dryer. She was horrible at actually folding the clothes she cleaned. Most of the time they sat in the dryer until she needed something, at which time she was grab it out. Having Hera there, however, spurred her into timely duties.

Casting a de-wrinkling charm on the load, she began pulling things out and folding them. "So," she asked, pressing a tee shirt against her chest before folding it neatly and setting it on the top of the dryer, "was it everything you'd always hoped it'd be? Did it leave you satisfied?"

"Why can't you just wash everything all at once? Why the piles?"

"I tried that once. Everything I took out of the washer was pink, or varying colors of pink, anyway. Colors bleed, something you don't often see in nature. One random colored sock can tint everything else that color as well." Rose shrugged. "You can only shrink things, though I used to annoy my brothers my deliberately shrinking their shirts so they'd be forced to give them to me."

Grinning, she continued to fold, looking over at Hera with focused green eyes.

"Hmmm," was Hera's only comment.

Laundry was not as interesting as she had suspected, and she was now glad she had Coco for it. Hera grabbed some of the dried clothes and started watching Rose to fold them as well. She sucked at it. Yes, she was definitely glad to have the house-elf.

When the clothes from the dryer had been folded, Rose gathered the articles she'd folded in her arms. "Want to see my bedroom?"

"Sure," Hera replied, gathering up the folded items and trying not to muss them

She followed Rose to the bedroom. It was just as colorful as the other parts of the flat. Hera set the folded clothes on the bed then flopped next to them. She hoped she was not being too comfortable.

Rose went about putting the clothes away in her dresser. "So how long have you not been on tour? My brothers always get antsy when they're not on the road, rambling from city to city."

"About eight months. It's the longest break I have had since I was fifteen. My manager is hinting I need to get back out there, but I like what I am doing now... which is not much of anything."

"From someone that also enjoys doing nothing, that sounds pretty sweet," Rose said, shutting a drawer with a hip. She crossed to the bed, dropping to the comforter with a smile. Propping her head up on a palm, she looked over at Hera. "You've been on tour since you were fifteen? I can't imagine."

"Celestina Warbeck's daughter. The child musical prodigy. Blah blah blah. I just love music. All music. Then they put me on a stage like a trained animal. Mother said it was to ensure my future, but I'm not so sure. Mother wants me to do well, I think. Just not better than her. She'll deny this, of course. Funny thing? I have no interest in a competition."

"No offense," Rose started, "but Mother sounds like she's living through you. You're not a doll, Hera. You have a voice, apparently a very nice one, and I think she's not used to hearing it enough."

She was being blunt, and probably speaking of things she didn't know, but the way Hera talked about her mother, and the situation she was in, made Rose's skin itch with discomfort. She'd never been forced to do something her heart wasn't in. The idea that her new friend was made her irritated.

"None of them are. It's been made easier with the revelation that my father might not be my father though. Things that would have been scrutinized more closely before have fallen through the cracks. I don't know how to feel about that. I mean, my mother is far more aged than she appears."

Rose let out a low whistle. "Merlin, Hera. Is there anything in your life that's easy?"

"Music." Hera smiled. "And lately my friends have been remarkably easy."

There was energy with herself and Rose. Hera liked that. She was leaned back and looking at the tiny woman, though, not sure where to go from here.

"Friends are supposed to be easy. Or, at least, they're supposed to make the hard parts worth it." Rose shrugged her shoulders, letting out a small sigh. "I don't do complicated well. Simple and easy is what I know, and what I try to keep. Things should be fun, enjoyed."

"I agree. I have had the best times in the last few months just playing at Three Broomsticks. The best? A seven year old's birthday party. I sang for him. I didn't even get paid, and it was the best show I ever put on."

Rose smiled. "See? Fun things that might not be big, but matter. That's what you have to keep doing. If you keep doing things that make you happy, you won't have anything to regret."

Hera smiled. Her new friend was so peppy and drawing. Hera was drawn to her. She could definitely admit that.


{SUMMARY} Hera and Rose run into one another in Diagon then make it a day filled with ice creams and laundry.