章 325: A Piece of Meat

Once they were returned to the tent, Reginald woke his sister, Georgine from her nap to have breakfast. She was most displeased and sent a hex her brother's way, who nimbly dodged out of the way to her vast displeasure. With a huff, she arose and kicked her brother before sitting down in front of the vanity desk to make herself presentable again.

While Georgine made herself presentable, Reginald showed his grandchildren what had been prepared for breakfast in the hot cupboard that had been enchanted to keep the food warm. Wanting a light meal, Rowan and Severus selected a bowl of oatmeal along with a bask of perfectly soft, fluffy rolls. They opened another cupboard and pulled out raspberry jam for the rolls and honey to pour on their oatmeal.

The two of them had a large appetite after their walk and happily dug into their breakfast. By the time they were halfway through the basket of rolls, their grandfather joined them followed by Aunt Georgine. Their grandfather ate a bowl of oatmeal with honey and fruit, while Aunt Georgine ate a full English Breakfast to the dubious expression of their grandfather.

Rowan and Severus finished eating before their aunt and grandfather. They cleaned up after themselves and washed the plates by hand in the sink, before setting them to dry on the dish rack. It had been oddly nostalgic as they had not washed a single dish for over three years, since they had been welcomed in Prince Manor. It brought a mix of emotions that the two of them did not dwell on for long.

Once that was done, Rowan and Severus wandered to the entrance of the tent to keep an eye on the growing crowd. Plenty of Ministry of Magic officials kept hurrying past them and again trying to keep an eye on everything. It had not been long when they spotted their friend, a delicate flaxen-haired youth, Terry Greengrass.

In an odd turn of events, Terry was surrounded by five or six girls all with white, blonde hair, and all who are gorgeous beauties. They were the Greengrass cousins descended all from the same branch as him. The family resemblance was rather uncanny between all the girls and they looked more like sisters than cousins. Veelas….

Rowan waved Terry over who ran over to them and literally shoved the startled figure of Severus at the swarm of girls. The swarm of girls all intently stared at Severus as they were between ten and fifteen at the oldest. The girls circled Severus rather predatorily as one of the younger girls says, "Who's your friend, cousin?"

"This is my good friend, Severus Prince," Terry swiftly answered trying to bask in the shade of the tent and catch his breath. "And standing at my side is his twin sister, Rowan Prince."

"Prince?" The girls exclaimed in unision as their eyes began to greedily glitter as if they had spotted a glistening galleon carelessly left on one of the many cobblestoned roads in Diagon Alley.

Suddenly feeling like a piece of meat in front of a flock of hungry birds, Severus turns to pleadfully gaze at Rowan in panic, who innocently blinks her eyes at him. The girls instantly swarm Severus with questions all tugging and pulling on his clothes trying to get closer to him. Severus is unable to move lest he risks touching female body parts that he really should not touch without getting a slap to the face.

"Aren't you going to rescue him?" Terry asked rather amused, while one of the prettiest girls of the whole bunch quietly joined Terry in the shade of the tent, all the while staring at the scene with wide eyes.

"Eventually," Rowan snickered. "Besides it'll do Severus some good being exposed to girls other than Lily."

Glancing in the direction of the swarm of girls, Rowan inquisitively asked, "Do your cousins attend Beauxbatons? I've never seen them at Hogwarts." Though at her remark, she did turn to study the one girl that had remained behind at Terry's side. She was subtly impressed by Terry's cousin's collected demeanor, unlike the rest.

"It is customary that the girls in our branch of the family attend Beauxbatons, while the boys attend Hogwarts. I'm not entirely sure as to why since Beauxbatons is open to both girls and boys much like Hogwarts," Terry confessed with a shrug. "But in the end, it's tradition."

"And who's this?" Rowan politely gestured with her hand at the girl remaining by Terry's side.

Terry flashes Rowan a pointed gaze as he gently introduces his female cousin, who is roughly thirteen years old. "This is my younger cousin, Rosie Greengrass."

Rowan's eyes flash in instant recognition and understanding of just who the girl was. This was the same cousin of Terry, who said was a squib and had almost been raped by Damian Mulciber. Deciding not to speak on the delicate subject, she nods her head at the rather pretty younger girl with a gentle expression.

"It is a pleasure to meet a cousin of Terry's with such excellent manners," Rowan drily remarked gesturing at the pack of girls surrounding Severus. "You must be rather close to Terry as he rather seems to rather dote on you, Rosie Greengrass."

The lovely blond-haired girl flashes Rowan a shy, but sweet smile. "Terry's a good one," Rosie softly said, before wrinkling her nose mischievously and adding, "But he's also the most troublesome one."

Terry lets out a gasp of protest as Rosie grins impishly back and the two Greengrass cousins suddenly look remarkably alike. Rowan suddenly gets the eerie feeling that this particular branch of the Greengrass family has this kind of double-sided nature. They may be sweet or even calm-natured most of the time, but they all have a predatory switch inside of them.

Glancing up and seeing Severus at the end of his wits, Rowan finally walks over and easily shoves the girls aside, before pulling the tattered figure of Severus away from them. The girl's rather hostile glare at Rowan and had clearly missed the second statement Terry had made some time ago. Motioning for Severus to head inside to clean up, he only too willingly escapes into the safety of the tent.

"Ladies," Rowan politely said, "My brother is not a piece of meat, and I do believe that what you all just did is called sexual harassment and that is in fact a crime. Nevertheless, I understand that he is a big piece of meat at the moment considering the fact that he is the Prince heir. But I can readily assure you he will never like any of you as none of you are his type.'

'Now run along, before I do something violent to your pretty faces. And you can ask Terry, I throw a very mean jab. And I would hate to leave a permanent mark, but alas I can't feel too bad since we're all the same gender." The girls shiver and instantly run away as if they had seen a vicious beast flash their teeth at them.

"Thanks," Terry gratefully said in relief. "That will at least teach them to leave me alone for a bit. Mind if use you in the future to scare them away?" He cheekily asked causing his cousin, Rosie, who is standing at his side to furrow her brow prettily and narrow her eyes purposefully at him as if daring him to just try that antic on her.

"Nonsense, it'll be fun," Rowan willingly agreed to the suggestion. "Where are you going to be seated?"

"I'll be seated in the upper boxes with the family," Terry wearily sighed as Rosie painfully nudged him in the ribs earning her a glare from him. "At least, they're rather good seats. And Bethanie, Silvia, and Tiffany will be there along with their families, so it won't be all that bad."

"In that case, tell them I said, Hello," Rowan genuinely requested as she waved goodbye to Terry and Rosie, who hurriedly trotted back the way they came. Terry would get in trouble if his pack of female cousins are left unattended for long. His cousins tended to be a mischievous bunch and would certainly end up getting into mischief like a pack of ferrets with dozens of balls of yarn!

Severus cautiously poked his head out soon after as he his eyes darted wildly about and he cautiously whispered, "Are they gone?"

"Yes, they're gone," Rowan smirked at him. "Terry said that they will all be sitting together as a family. So, you don't have to worry about being chased by his multitude of cousins."

"Thank Merlin!" Severus loudly said in relief as he stepped back out into the sunlight.

Suddenly they heard a loud commotion next door and they both turned to see James and Sirius rolling out of the tent. Both Rowan and Severus simply stare until Sirius and James roll to a stop at their feet. The four of them stare at each other until James smiles brightly up at them. "It looks like we're neighbors," James impishly declared.

"How lucky," Rowan sarcastically said as Severus helped James and Sirius to their feet.

"Where's Regulus?" Rowan asked as she watched Sirius and James put their clothes to the right again.

"He's off with mother and father somewhere," Sirius pointed to the sea of tents.

"Why?" James curiously asked as he brushed grass out of his hair.

With a sigh, Rowan steps closer and helps James remove the grass from his hair. "Really, the two of you act just like children."

"No, we don't!" James defensively retorted to which Rowan merely stared at James until he sheepishly glances away. Sirius shrugs without a care not the least bit self-conscious.

Tactfully changing the subject, Severus asks, "So how has your summer been?"

"Great actually!" Sirius answered with great delight. "Mother and Father sent us to stay with Aunt Lucretia over the summer. Sure, we had to work on our homework during the afternoons, but in the morning and evening, we were allowed to roam about. There's a field and pond out there so Regulus and I can fly on our brooms and play Quidditch!"

"That's great," Severus exclaimed as Sirius beamed back.

"James, Sirius? Come inside, breakfasts ready," called out a grandmotherly voice as Euphemia Potter stepped out from inside the tent. Her toffee-colored eyes sparkled in the sunlight as she easily spotted her son and Sirius next door.

"Why hello, dears," Euphemia called out. "The two of you look familiar." She furrows her brows, before saying, "Ah yes, the Prince children. I thought I recognized the two of you!"

"Hello, Mrs. Potter," Rowan and Severus politely greeted her back.

"Have you had breakfast yet, dears?" Euphemia kindly asked.

"We did, Mrs. Potter," Severus promptly replied. "We ate with our grandfather and our aunt."

"Of course, of course," Euphemia softly said recalling that Sirsa Prince had passed away at the start of the summer (in the Malfoy wedding attack).

"Well, if you would like to play or join us simply come right over," Euphemia said as she motioned for James and Sirius to follow her inside. Sirius eagerly does as James rolls his eyes and waves goodbye to them.

"Well, that was interesting," Severus drily commented.

"I think at this point, it is best we stay inside," Rowan drily said. "I would hate to run into anyone else at this point."

"Agreed," Severus said before they went inside to join their grandfather for a nice read. As it turns out it was the right decision. Not long after a pet kneazle got loose and made a mess of things. At this point, there were several ministry officials near their breaking point and were about to kill the stupid thing if not for the pet owners. It was a close call as those at the breaking point had to be firmly pulled away and gently talked to until they calmed down.