I had hoped we'd not bump into each other again... @Rose

Vanessa was seated in the girls bathroom, seated in the window-sill. Myrtle was wailing, as she slammed into a toilet and caused it to overflow, letting out a sharp, watery hissing noise. Vanessa turned to watch the other curiously, a frown on her features. She didn't even know what had upset the girl this time. Frankly, Vanessa didn't care. Myrtle was annoying at the best of times, when she was in a bad mood, she was downright detestable. She was too sensitive and too shrill and she made Vanessa feel incredibly tired and angry very quickly. But, the girls bathroom was free of annoying students most of the time (since it was almost always out of order, thanks to Myrtle) so Vanessa stayed there. And if things got really bad then Vanessa could simply threaten the other ghost. That usually resulted in Myrtle screaming and leaving. In Vanessa's lap was her Remembrall from when she was alive. She hadn't forgot anything, or perhaps it just didn't work anymore, but she played with it regardless, enjoying the feeling of something to hold. She liked fiddling with things, be it her hair or an actual item.

She was tired, and closed her eyes as she rested her head on the wall behind her, focusing on not passing through it. She wouldn't sleep, but she would at least take some strain off her eyes.

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When Rose had left the Shrieking Shack the other night, she had been devestated. Her mind couldn't contemplate Aurora's loss. For a while, she had been her everything. What she wanted more than ever right now, was a place to mourn her in peace. She had sought out somewhere she could be alone, without fear of student interference. Rather quickly she decided the Girl's Bathroom was the best bet, as somewhere out of order, not many girls ventured there. Walking up the moving staircases, she eventually landed on the second floor, her mind buzzing.

Rose hurried through the door and just as she heard it shut behind her, she noticed a ghostly figure that wasn't Myrtle. She froze. Oh terrific, just what she needed, to explain her feelings to Vanessa. Biting her lip, she noticed her eyes were closed, maybe she could sneak back out? No, that was cowardly and pathetic. They would have to face each other sometime.

Rose didn't know why she had done what she had, it was last year and she had been confused about many things. Only one of them was her sexuality, and the kiss between her and Vanessa had been a brief mistake. Hadn't it? She wasn't entirely sure since they had been avoiding one another ever since.

"Nessa?" Rose coughed and broke the silence before heading over to one of the sinks and seating herself against it.

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Vanessa's eyes shot open and she glanced over to where the intruders voice had come from. She sat up, slowly, in case the intruder was a threat. If she could, she could would have thrown something at whoever it was that was bothering her. She already had to put up with Myrtle. Was that not enough suffering? Her eyes widened slightly as she acknowledged the girl who had addressed her, and she scowled at her.

"You don't have the right to call me that." She snapped. 'Nessa' was reserved for people who were friends. 'Nessa' was reserved for people who were thoroughly decent and not prone to kissing her without consent. This girl could claim to neither and so she was not permitted to call her it. She'd hoped she never have to see the other again, which was a childish thing to hope, really. She frowned, debating leaning back and falling through the window behind her, to get away. But Vanessa was mildly curious as to what the girl had to say. She hoped that she would grovel. "What do you want?" She grunted, resuming her former position of leaning against the wall behind her, her arms folded across her chest. She continued to watch the other, though.

"Alright," Rose was too tired to argue, her eyes were reddened and blotchy, her face looked swollen. So it should be, from crying half the night. She looked almost as she had one year previous, when Vanessa had caught her harming herself. Luckilly, the ghost had briefly seen her looking normal in busy corridor's since then, so she knew this wasn't simply her everyday look. Not that she cared at this moment in time. She had come here for time alone and it seemed she wasn't going to get it. A sigh escaped her lips, but it was soft, not impatient, yet.

"I didn't actually want anything from you Vanessa," Rose replied cooly, as she turned around to the sink and switched on a tap. Water plopped out slowly, but it was enough to splash her face with. Hopefully it may take some of the redness away before she had to face the corridors again. Luckilly, she had been excused out of classes for grieving. She couldn't take double care of magical creatures right now.

Vanessa's eye narrowed as she watched the other. This was where they'd met last time, and back then Rose had looked just as pitiful. Only this time, Vanessa did not feel inclined to help her. She wasn't entirely sure as to why the other was upset, but she assumed it to be due to the recent attacks. Wasn't the Minister's girl killed? Vanessa didn't actually know. She'd only heard rumours amongst the students. She had been busy, first with John, then Dumbledore and Peter, and she'd tried to keep herself (and Peter, who she hadn't let out of her sight) as far from the attacks as possible.

She raised an eyebrow at the other girl. She'd obviously been crying recently, and she looked like she could start again any time soon. She also looked incredibly tired. How delightful. "So..." Vanessa said, wondering what got the girl so upset this time. "Molested any other girls, recently? Figured out your silly little sexuality, yet?" She snapped, her lips curling upwards into a smirk.

"No, no, you are the only one," Rose almost shot Vanessa a smile, almost. It wasn't like she was unused to the girl's relentless torment, and growing up surrounded by deatheaters only trains one to be a little more tolerant, sometimes. Rose knew she could crack at any moment, Aurora's death was baring down hard on her, but she also felt the need to be around someone who wouldn't pity her. Vanessa seemed the best candidate.

"I think my sexuality is too fluid to be pinpointed," Rose replied thoughtfully after a moments hesitation. She was almost determined not to raise her voice back to the ghost girl, after all, she needed some blunt talking to help her out of her grief. It was when she became too self-pitying that she had problems.

"Have you ever lost anyone close to you?" Rose wondered aloud as she looked at the girl carefully. She was so filled with hate, surely something had made her that way. Maybe that was just what death did to you, when one had their life taken from them at such a young age. "You don't have to answer that," She added quickly, not wanting to fuel up Vanessa's anger further.

Rose gazed into the mirror opposite from her vantage point sat on the sink, she looked a mess. Sighing, she dropped her gaze.

Vanessa grimaced at her retort. She hated that kind of response. "I'm so flattered." She snarled, slumping back into her window-sill, and shoving her Remembrall into her pocket. She chewed the inside of her cheek as Rose continued talking. She didn't really expect answers. She'd assumed the girl would resort to yelling at her, and screaming about how unfair it was to be her. Something like that. The fact that Rose was being rational irked Vanessa.

She was surprised when Rose asked her that question - of all things. She considered it for a moment. She really had no need to reply. She could ignore it. "Perhaps." She grunted, simply. "It's not really your business. What does it matter to you? Who've you lost?"

Myrtle gave another wail from her cubicle and Vanessa turned to face the other ghost. "Get out, Myrtle. Go on, get out!" She yelled, and the other ghost gave a terrible, miserable shriek and plunged into her toilet. Vanessa winced slightly. She couldn't imagine flushing herself down a toilet, nor why Myrtle chose to. Vanessa had too much dignity to consider it.

She glanced back at Rose. "Who've you lost, then? I'm reckoning it was during the attacks - I heard that Scrimgeour girl was killed. I don't know if that is true, but, well, the schools not really a safe place anymore. Anyway, I digress. Why do you care if I've lost someone?"

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Rose smirked at Vanessa's sarcasm over being flattered, it was the first thing that had made her smile over the last day or so. As she watched her reaction to Myrtle, she found it perfectly understandable, that ghost was at least annoying. Rose had to admit she had some degree of respect for Vanessa, since she hadn't turned out like Myrtle in death.

Rose sighed in contemplation before she responded to Vanessa's questions. She wasn't sure how to answer. If she admitted she had loved and lost Aurora, it would simply hand her weakness over on a plate to the ghost, yet she seemed to already know, so she would use it against her whether or not she admitted it. At least they both seemed to have settled into a civil conversation.

"It isn't my business and you don't have to tell me," Rose shook her head, regretting asking such a question. "I only wondered because I assumed no-one would have considered it before or at least asked you, but just because you are a ghost, doesn't mean you haven't suffered losing someone to death." She wasn't sure whether a frank explanation was at all smart, but either way, she wasn't in the mood for beating about the bush, and decided blunt was best.

"To answer your other question, yes. I lost ---" Rose paused, she couldn't even say her name, biting her lip hard, she tried to distract herself from the pain. She bit it so hard it bled slightly and tears welled and stung in her eyes, but she ignored them. She had to be stronger than this. "Aurora, I lost, Aurora." She could say no more without crying. Aurora was so much more than just a name to her.

Vanessa swung her legs across to hang over the edge of the window-sill, resting her elbow upon her knee, and her chin upon her hand. Her eyebrow was still raised, as she listened to the girl speak. She smiled slightly, considering her words. "I am grateful that you've considered it. Nobody has asked me that, you are right." She said. She still didn't really know how to answer. She could not think of anyone she had lost, not really. She supposed Riley counted. She lost him when Alliss took him, but really how could Vanessa lose something that was never hers in the first place? That ruled Riley out. She supposed she had lost her family when she died.

"My parents, I suppose. Or, rather, they lost me." She shrugged nonchalantly. In her earlier years as a ghost, she had frequently visited their house and watched her parents. She never let them see her, and she never tried to communicate with her. She'd decided it'd be best to let them think there was no longer anything left of Vanessa Corvus; their daughter. She'd rather know that her loved ones were dead, rather than them being a pale mimic of the life they once lived. Who would want that? "I nearly lost someone." But that was all she said on the matter. If the girl asked for further information then perhaps she would supply it - otherwise, Rose would remain in the dark.

She was surprised when the girl admitted to losing Aurora. She was the daughter of the Minister? Vanessa thought so. She didn't really know. She wasn't entirely fond of the Minister. She watched the other trembling, knowing she was about to cry. She really wished she wouldn't. "Um. Okay." Vanessa said, hesitantly. "Ministers girl, right? I didn't know her. Spoke to her once, I think. Can't remember much about her." She couldn't really decide on how to treat the matter. She was never good with people crying.

Rose nodded and waved off Vanessa's thanks, there was no need to feel grateful for a simple question. It was then she looked at Vanessa closer, was she really that deprived of attention that no-one had ever bothered to consider or ask her how she was feeling? It made her want to make sure she didn't feel that way, it made her want to do something about it. Yet, the last time she had tried to get close to her, it had only succeeded in throwing them further apart.

"I'm sorry about your parents," Rose decided it was a suitable response and she frowned, it was strange to think of it that way. On the day of Vanessa's death, her parents weren't the only ones to lose somebody, she lost them too, and no-one saw it, until now. "Have you ever considered, speaking with them?" She was hoping she wasn't pushing Vanessa too hard, she was trying to be gentle, but her gentle approach usually came across as brash. She wasn't too good at being considerate of other people. So much had changed in a year. Even Vanessa seemed slightly different. Rose slipped from the sink and walked towards the windowsill, staring out the window next to the ghost.

"Aurora was... she was a beautiful person," Rose couldn't stop the tears from coming, she was crying silently, like a tearful doll. Her face and movements frozen as she stood, her eyes fizated on the trails of rain outside. "I miss her, and I can't see her. I'm so far away from her, from where she is. I can't--" Rose's knees shook, her body collapsing as it gave way and she landed in a puddle of water on the floor. Her fist slammed into the wall as she rested her head into her hands. "It's my fault, I should've done something. She died right in front of me and I just couldn't move. I couldn't-- I was so helpless! She was so helpless! I..." Rose realised she had fallen into a pit of depression again and took a few deep, shallow breaths. It wasn't fair to Vanessa to do this, to put her in this position.

Rose knelt upward and placed her hand softly upon Vanessa's, it was neither friend-like, nor romantically inclined, it just was. It was just a way for her to communicate how she was feeling.

"I'm sorry for putting this on you."

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Vanessa shook her head at the other when she apologised for the ghosts loss. Not out of denial, but out of disbelief. Rose had a talent for investing herself in Vanessa's personal matters. And Vanessa let her, because she craved attention, even if she did not like to admit it - even to herself. Still, she had never understood why people said 'sorry' for ones losses. It never really made sense to her. And besides, she was fine. She'd rather it was this way. "Nobody wants a ghost daughter, and besides, I couldn't face them like this." She shrugged. "I'm not sad. I chose to not see them. I could visit them anytime I wanted to, I simply choose not to." How would she face them anyway?

Vanessa jumped slightly as Rose started crying. Oh, how she hated people crying. Especially when she was the only one around to deal with it. She had no idea what to do. Oh god. When Riley cried she had hugged him, 'cause he had hugged her when she had cried. If she were to replicate Rose's actions like she had Riley, she'd have to kiss the other. She wasn't entirely sure she was willing to do that. But she supposed she had to comfort the other. "I... guess you liked her then." Vanessa said, simply. Not sure what else to do or say.

"Er... if it's any consolation, I nearly lost some I liked recently. I dunno. I'm no good at this sort of thing."

And then Rose's hand was on hers, and she wanted to badly to rip her hand away and shove the other across the room, but she bit her lip and twisted her hand underneath the others so she could hold her hand back. She sighed. She leant down and pressed a small kiss to Rose's cheek, tasting saltiness from the girls tears.

Rose nodded as Vanessa explained about her family, she couldn’t relate, but she could understand. Yet it took a lot for her to resist the urge to correct her when she said how she couldn’t face them like this. To Rose, Vanessa was perfect and beautiful just the way she was, she just couldn’t see it. The fact she was a ghost only added to her uniqueness, it was a shame she had allowed it to prevent her from developing a further relationship with her family. She settled on letting the subject officially drop when she explained how she wasn’t sad, that at least made her pleased.

Nonetheless, there was something about Vanessa that made Rose feel sad. She wasn’t sure if it was the simple idea that she had not many people who cared for her wellbeing, or the fact she had died at an early age, all she knew was that she would never speak of it aloud for fear of hurting Vanessa’s feelings. She wasn’t the sort of girl who enjoyed being pitied.

“I did, I liked her very much,” Rose nodded, trying to get a hold of her tears. She was an emotional wreck and felt awful for pressing it upon Vanessa to deal with. She managed to wrench herself up from the ground and brush the dirt off her damp robes which were still wet from kneeling in the puddle.

"Oh,” Rose hesitated when she heard about Vanessa almost losing someone close to her. “I am glad to hear you didn’t lose the said person.” A smile edged onto her tear-stained face. She was, Vanessa had a small amount of people in the world who she could say she was close to, she didn’t deserve to lose any one of them.

Vanessa’s fingers intertwined with Rose’s and it comforted her, her heart felt lighter and she allowed herself to smile a little wider. The small gesture she knew had taken a lot of effort from the ghost, and she appreciated it.

As Rose opened her mouth to respond with a thank you, she felt Vanessa’s lips press against her cheek. Her own eyes widened in surprise, before she took a deep breath and relaxed once more. They had an interesting relationship, one that seemed to involve a lot of tears and kissing, but it worked. It kept them happy and from having emotional breakdowns, so why not?

Rose chose not to mention the kiss, she doubted Vanessa would enjoy voicing her feelings and the reasons why she had leant down to place her ghostly lips against Rose’s flushed cheeks. The reason didn’t matter anyway. Rose became less grief-stricken as their fingers casually brushed against one another’s.

“Thank you,” Rose finally managed to murmur.

Vanessa considered Rose's words as she admitting to liking Aurora. She had no real interest in the other girl - she'd never met her, after all, but she allowed the other to talk about her. She found it intriguing, her discussing her feelings for the girl who was now dead. She couldn't help but to relate it to herself and John. Was it even the same? Not really, but she couldn't help but to compare it anyway. She was so prone now to linking John to her every conscious thought that she struggled to prevent it.

She smiled, a blushed a little too, as Rose said she was glad Vanessa had not lost 'the one she liked'. She had said it with a smile, watery and tearful but it was still a smile, and Vanessa had to smile back. It was one of those smiles girls wore when discussing boys, a smile she hadn't scene in a long time and smile that hadn't been directed at her in even longer. She chewed the inside left corner of her lip for a moment, before speaking with an obvious hint of breathless excitement in her tone.

"He... he's lovely, and, I don't know what I would do without him, and... I love him." She said, not meeting Rose's eyes.

As she spoke, her fingers, which rested against Rose's warm, slightly clammy, hand, began to softly rub indescribable patterns into Rose's palm. They were only the smallest of touches, but Rose could touch her as if she were not dead and ethereal. Rose would feel it. Vanessa closed her eyes momentarily as she sighed tiredly, being dead was exhausting, and when she tried to open them again, her eyelids resisted. She needed to sleep, really, but ghosts struggled to get to sleep. If she could, then Vanessa would nap all the time.

They were like that for a while, just holding hands, before Vanessa caught Rose's 'thank you'. She shrugged. "Just don't kiss me without permission again and we'll be fine." She said, unable to resist the jab at the teenager. As if to make up for it tho, she reached out with her free hand and patted the girls head with a smirk.