To Build a Home
They will need a house when their tomorrow rolls around, Rosmerta thinks despite her more practical nature telling her this is getting her in way too over her head. This voice is muffled by thoughts of rooms for guests and rooms for inventions. She can have a spot where she takes off her heels and is allowed to relax and not make someone else feel at home. The Three Broomsticks is perfect, but it is shared with so many and they are constantly coming and going. There isn’t a concept of constant there other than the building itself. She would like a place where she knows who will be willing to spend time with her when she steps through the door. She would like a house with Archie.
Guests, of course, would be mandatory. They are good at hosting and keeping people together, keeping them happy. “We’ll have room for all of them anytime they want it,” she agrees and smiles - still forsaking that voice. Rosmerta can not ground herself at the moment, not when she is standing in a haunted, decrepit house and thinking of dinner parties and dancing and tree-houses.
It seems rather selfish to be already reaching for a second, a getaway for them. Rosie quirks an eyebrow at his excitement over her suggestion, not questioning when he calls her wonderful. Instead a light laugh leaves her, the giddy kind which can not be contained for the life of her. Because he’s looking at her in the way which she can not refute him, not when he is looking at her like he really believes she’s wonderful. When someone amazing looks at you and says you are wonderful in the most sincere way imaginable it could make anyone feel giddy. When it is Archie saying it to Rosmerta, she feels absolutely ecstatic. The warmth swallows her whole and for just a moment it is tomorrow - it came for them and it is where she wants to stay.
The practical side finally wins at least one argument.
They are in a house that needs fixing at the most. “Lists are supposed to be my area of expertise,” she tells him in a tut, her smile still glowing from the aftereffects of such a moment. “But you can help. And I’ll help with building. And all the other necessary bits this place will need.”
Including a de-ghosting. Or at least ghost befriending.
Backing up, Rosmerta tilts her head slightly to the side, smirking at Archie before wandering into the next room. “Hello? Miss … ter ghost?”
Room for all of them. It sounds familiar. It's almost as though Archie's current home, or rather, his previous home and current living area, is flooding into this new dream, this new idea. The safety, comfort and care that this house, that Archie and Rosmerta's has embedded in it reminds him of something. The openness and inviting warmth that emanates from the very thought of their home is familiar. Having all their friends there, having them right at home -- it's Hogwarts, isn't it? And it goes against that parting of ways that the future, the future beyond school always seems to suggest.
It's easy to forget that time at Hogwarts is limited. A little too easy, actually. Rosie's graduation certainly blindsided him, the blow was all the more detrimental for the way he couldn't or perhaps wouldn't see it coming. Archie puts it down to the familiarity of the common room, how people can claim a certain chair for themselves, and the fact that you can put posters and photos on the walls of the dorms, the way people get attached to Quidditch Teams and take their ridiculous and wonderful Professors for granted. But it’s true and each year flies faster than the one before it.
Though time in the castle itself may be fleeting, the lessons learnt there, the memories made there, the friendships founded there all are definitely not.
Again, Archie and Rosmerta are a pertinent example of this. It may have wounded him to see her go but since then their relationship, their sense of us has only grown stronger, despite the distance and danger placed between them. If it is being tested, then it is passing with flying colours.
It's hard, but it's all so very worth it. This is something he is particularly aware of in this moment as they peek into the future together. "You bet we will." Archie beams at the dark room all around him. "I think we'd need to make some more windows in here, Rose." He laughs, picturing them running at the walls with axes. It's definitely just a joke, though. This house needs gentle care until it is strong again. Archie makes a mental note not to invent anything in there for a while as he whispers, "Lumos Maxima." That's better.
“And it is, love.” His head is shaken at her as the old married couple commence bantering. “But everything we do is better together.” That’s why she accompanies him on inventing, lending him some brainpower when he needs it and always wearing a large face shield. “It’s a collaboration, this house. A team effort. That’s what it will be.” Archie must remind himself to stick some appropriate tenses onto the end of his rambling. They’ve got to leave this house, at the end of the day. He would be quite content to begin working on it immediately, but they can’t every well do that.
This, along with Rosmerta’s call, reminds him of the original purpose of this escapade – they’re going to meet a ghost. And have a lot of fun while doing so. Archie trips on a stray brick upon rounding a corner, he catches himself by landing a hand on each of Rosie’s shoulders. There’s a sharp intake of breath and then silence dangles in the air. “What was that?” Archie’s voice trembles as it float to her ear. He’s glad that he’s behind her, the position does not reveal the grin playing at his lips.
