But I like meat! (Rozie)

George wandered the castle alone, a rare occurrance when one thought about it as he was never without his twin brother Fred. His other half was desperately sick and had been sent to bed by the school's healer for the rest of the day. George had been told to stay away from him for a while as he could be slightly contagious and because he and George had the same immune systems George would be inclined to catch whatever his twin had very easily. So George walked alone, lost in his own thoughts. Images of plans for new products floated through his mind but soon those thoughts turned to something different. As he walked the corridor where he knew the Hufflepuff common room was his stomach growled for food.

"Better get some food before I pass out," he said aloud to no one as he headed towards the portrait of the fruit bowl. He tickled the pear and the entrance to the kitchens opened promptly. What he'd have didn't occur to him until the house elves gathered around his legs begging to know what he wanted to eat.

"Today I think I'll have a hamburger with plenty of cheese and don't spare the red sauce," he informed the elves cheerfully. One little elf asked George where Fred was and this brought back the sadness that was the absense of his brother.

"He's sick today and I'm not allowed near him." The little elf gave his best regards and then ran off to fetch his sick twin some much needed chicken and noodle soup. George climbed up on one of the counters and sat in wait of his snack. His mouth salavated in anticipation of the delicious burger and he rubbed his hands together. Eventually the burger was brought to him and it was loaded with cheese, had a 6oz burger and was dripping with red sauce.

"Thanks guys...say i couldn't get some chips with that could I?" George asked as he thought about a nice big plate of the scrumptious potato bites. A little elf bowed to him and scampered off and with that George picked up his buger and took a bite.

Rozen was hungry...only she could not find one morsel at dinner that did not go against her beliefs. Everything had meat, cheese, or something she was allergic too. And for her that really blowed, she could not help but be picky. She believed that everything in this world had its place and none of those places included her tummy. So she was off to ask the House Elves if they had ever heard of Tofu. Of course she was sure they hadn't, and her Headmaster had forbidden her from skipping anymore meals. She was petitioned to eat at least one meaty thing, but she never could...so she just faked it and begged her boyfriend to eat it for her.

And Georgie usually did...he had no problem eating meat...or anything that had at one time had a cute little animal face. Whereas Rozen hated anything that had once had a cute fuzzy face. Continuing on her trot to the kitchens she smiled to several people she walked pass. She had a light skip in her step, but that was nothing new. Rozen was often, needlessly, happy. She just could not help but smile at the world...unless the world was eating cows...then she got sad. She was a really sensitive girl...Rozen practically cried over everything.

Pulling the door open she let herself inside, but stopped dead in her tracks. She could smell it...the smell of broiled flesh...the smell that one of her beloved moo cows had been killed and was served with a side of chips...and....and red sauce?

Continuing forward she let out a shriek.

"George!" she gasped. "What are you doing!?"

Tears filled her eyes...she hated when people ate meat. It just turned her stomach.

"You just killed a baby calf's daddy!"

George nearly choked on his burger when he heard Rozie shout at him. He stopped mid-chew and stared at his girlfriend like he was a deer caught in the headlights. He didn't like upsetting his little Rozie, especially when it came to him devouring meat the way he did. Rozie was a proud vegan and didn't let anything that had once had a face pass her lips. George was proud of her for her strong beliefs but he was glad she was in a different house because at meal times he could stuff his face with whatever he wanted. Often he ate Rozie's meat products too which they forced her to eat but that was only if he was around.

"Aww Rozie I'm so sorry but I was really hungry. Please don't be mad at me, I just really like meat you know I do," he said delicately as he set down his snack, wiped his hands and went to her side. Her beautiful eyes were filled with tears which made his stomach clench with guilt. He looked to one of the elves and motioned for his burger and chips to be taken away. He then took out his wand and made a lovely fragrance emmit from it's tip.

"Is that any better my little Rozie Pozie?" he asked as he guided her to the counter and lifted her up so she could sit down. He smiled a perfectly white smile at her and took her small hand in his.

"I'm glad you're here you know. I'm not feeling completely whole at the moment. Fred's sick and I'm not allowed to see him but now that I'm with you I can relax and be with the only girl that has ever claimed my heart." George hugged the nature loving girl and burried his head in her shoulder.

"This is going to sound so bad but I really fancy a steak...I'm comfort eating."

Rozie looked away from him briefly. There was no comfort food like that! But she knew that her Georgie had a right to eat whatever he wanted, just as she had a right to cry about it in her dormitory later. Rozie was a baby...that's what people called her. But she could not help it. She was just an emotional person. She loved the earth and all of its inhabitants, so when she saw people potentially abusing it she felt bad. Wrapping her arms around Georgie she rested her head on his shoulder and sniffled.

Some people thought she was a four year old trapped in sixteen year olds body... but she couldn't help that. Innocence was something she had just always been stuck with. She was naive and trusting, something George said was to be treasured, but she didn't really see it. A lot of people took advantage of her. They would play mean pranks on her and then George would threaten to turn them into trolls for the day.

"That's mean," she whimpered. "Moo-moo's have feelings too..."

She wiped her eyes. Of course there were times where Rozie could be "normal" she never had a problem acting her age...but she liked the way she was. She liked being innocent and believing that there was some good in this dreadful world.

"Headmaster Snape is trying to make me eat meat again," she pouted. "He keeps threatening to tell my parents Georgie..."

She sighed.

"They just don't understand."

"I know Moo-moo's have feelings too but I'm hungry," George said with a chuckle as he stroked Rozie's head gently. She was such a soft, caring and innocent person. George always felt the need to protect her from the terrible things of the world as she wasn't the sort of person to cope with them well. Heck George would even wager a vast sum of money that Fred felt the same way about his Rozie Pozie. They were so very alike that often they shared feelings and even thought George knew Fred didn't have feelings for Rozie but he was good to her too and didn't like they way the school treated her vegetarianism.

"I knew he was looking at you funny the other day," George said darkly at the mention of their headmaster. The man was obsessed with Rozie eating meat. It was like his mission to get her to eat one of her beloved moo-moo's and he knew that her parents had some say in this. They were just as bad as Snape at times. George had only met them once and they had been thrilled that he ate meat but they then started to say terible things to Rozie like 'Why can't you be more like George?' It was like they didn't even know or respect their own daughter. But George was here for her, he would always be and his family too. His mother was in love with Rozie just as much as George was.

"Want me to slip some fever fudge into his dinner tonight my little Pozie?" he asked sweetly as he pushed her forward from his chest and looked deeply into her eyes.

"At dinner tonight all you need to do is hand the meat to Diggory and he'll get it to me and you know I'll eat it and if I don't either Fred or Ron will. We have to figure out something to do to him. He needs to be pranked seriously bad. I wonder if Fred's thought of any new products we could test on our 'over lord'?" George told Rozie and then clutched her back to him. She was so precious, he didn't want her to hurt at all any more.

"Say how about I make you the special mushroom dish that my mum showed me? It's really nice," George said gleefully as he lifted Rozie up onto the kitchen counter and then rushed off to find and apron, just so he could make her laugh at his silly appearance.

Rozie smiled as George put on an apron and giggled softly. She loved her Georgie, he always knew how to make her laugh. Both of the twins did, and they both took great pride in doing it often. But Rozen didn't like it when her boyfriends exploits hurt others...she was never a prankster, but that was mostly because she had a bleeding heart for everyone...even the people she didn't necessarily like.

"Please don't do anything mean to Headmaster Snape," she pleaded. "I'm sure he just means well...I know that meat is an important part of the human diet...I just wish other people would see how damaging it was too."

Turning to George she smiled once more and began, lightly, swinging her feet from the counter. She loved when her Georgie cooked for her. He was the only one that respected her absolute hatred of meat. One time her father had tried to sneak her meat when they were eating spaghetti and it had made her so disgusted with herself that she actually threw up.

"George?" she asked gently. "This break...can I spend Christmas with your family? I know you have a lot of people at the Burrow already...but...but I don't want to go home this year."

Things were getting more and more difficult at home, and it didn't seem like her family and her could go one day without them screaming at her and her leaving the room in tears. And she did not want to spend her holiday like that...she wanted to spend Christmas with Georgie and be happy.

George grinned as he chopped up the large mushroom a cheery little elf had just handed him. He loved to cook for his girl and learning how to do so also meant that he got to spend more time with his beloved mother. Rozie was one of the few people to know just how much he and his twin loved their mother, even though it didn't look like it when they were all together and she was shouting at them for setting something on fire.

"I won't do anything mean to Professor Snape, just something he won't like. He only thinks he means well my darling but in fact he just trying to assert more of that dominant power he loves so much. If you don't want to eat meat then you don't want to eat meat. You can get your protein from loads of other things. Tell you what I'll get Fred to talk to some of his business associates in Hogsmeade and see if we can get you some tofu and quorn," he told his beautiful girlfriend as he threw the chopped mushrooms into a heated pan. While they started to cook he quickly chopped up more vegetables which included red pepper, yellow pepper, courgette and a little bit of spinach and threw them into the pan with the mushroom. While he was doing this another elf had started to prepare some brown rice.

"Funny you should mention coming to my house for Christmas," George said slyly as he glanced over his shoulder at Rozie, "Because I was just thinking the same thing. Mum had mentioned it in the summer during one of those weekends that you stayed and well she said she'd talk to dad about it and basically the feedback was positive. Your eagerness just reaffirms it, you are coming to the Burrow for Christmas and heck New Year as well!"

To finish the preparation of the food George drained the rice and then added it into the cooking vegetables and then poured in a creamy white wine sauce. Hopefully the finished product would resemble what his mother had told him was Risotto. In a few strides he went over to Rozie, tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and then took her petite hands in his own rather large ones.

"Things not going great at home my love?" he asked tenderly as he raised one of her hands to his lips and kissed it gently and sweetly. He always worried about her when she wasn't with him, especially when she was at her own house. Sometimes her parents could be a little odd and very strict.

Rozie sighed and looked at the lovely dish her Georgie had made for her. She smiled gently at him and taking a fork stabbed a bite of mushroom that had been eying her as it had sizzled in the pan. Blowing gently on the bite she put it in her mouth and sighed with pleasure. George was such a good cook and his food never disappointed.

"It's just daddy," she sighed. "I think he's mad at me again."

Rozie loved her father, but he was just so different compared to her. He loved her, she supposed...in his own special way, but she just wished that he could accept her the way she was instead of trying to make her something that he wanted her to be. She wanted to be a person that helped save the planet from itself and he lived to destroy her beloved earth as she knew it.

"Georgie...my daddy doesn't love me." she whimpered, feeling tears come to her eyes. "I don't know what to do anymore."

George bit his lip as she told him her feelings about her father. When it came to this subject half the time George didn't know what to say and it was at times like this when he wished Fred was with him. Fred could handle these things better, he had that 'who gives a crap' attitude that was needed when dealing with problem parents. George just simply cared too much.

"He loves you Rozie, he just loves you in a way which is very...unique," he murmured to his girl as he hugged her tight. She needed his reasurance but how could he reasure her of something he wasn't too certain of. He'd met Derren Meadows only once and if he was being honest with himself it had been a very good meeting. George, naturally, had been himself. He'd wanted to show the man the guy his daughter had fallen in love with but Derren Meadows was a well conected man and knew of George's family history before George had even said anything. He'd prejudged him from that and hadn't been very pleasant afterwards. When he'd interacted with Rozie in front if him it had been something George thought he shouldn't have done when there was a stranger in the house. The way he forced her to eat meat was disgusting and rather disturbing. He'd threatened to have George sent from the house if she didn't have just a bite of chicken.

"All you can do is be yourself love. You can't go changing just to suit him, then you'd be miserable wouldn't you. Is there any way you could talk to you mum about it?" George asked. He knew it was a long shot but it was worth a try. Mother's were usually more flexible when it came to their children's emotional needs, but he wasn't too sure about Rozie's mother.

Rozen shook her head, she knew better than anyone that her mother just agreed with her father. Sure her mummy was more tender than her daddy, but all in all she stood by her husband in thick and thin. Rozie admired that at some points, but in others she resented her for it. She hated that her mother and father would gang up on her to eat meat. It just tore at her insides all the more. And her daddy kept trying to sneak it to her in her meals, so now she had to cook all of her own food. It drove her to the point of madness and she felt like a prisoner in her own home. She just wanted her freedom, she wanted out of her damn house.

"There's nothing I can do Georgie," she sighed pitifully. "I...I'll just have to live with it."

She sniffled and wrapped her arms tight around him. She just loved him so much. When they had first met she had been on the bad side of one of her jokes and had actually made her cry, but he was so quick to apologize for it and comfort her that at that moment they both knew they were meant to be with one another.

"Georgie?" she asked softly. "I love you."

George smiled into her hair, she was so gentle and tender. How could anyone not love this girl?

"I love you too Rozie," he murmured, not wanting to leave her side but unfortunetly he had to as the mushroom thingy was about to burn. He couldn't serve his girl burnt Rizzotto so he apologised quickly and ran to take the meal off the hob. He sniffed at it cautiously and then grinned, it sure smelled okay, now all that mattered was the taste. George forked a bit of mushroom and then took some of the rice too and popped it into his mouth. Yeap tasted great, only the best for his girl.

"Here you are my love, mushroom...thingy," he said not quite remembering the right word as he handed Rozie a bowl. It was steaming and smelled so good that even though George had already scoffed a burger he plated up some steaming lovliness for himself.

"You know you shouldn't have to live with something like that. You shouldn't have to watch your back in your own house, that's not fair. I know how about you come and stay with us over Easter too?"

Rozie smiled and very gently kissed her love on the lips. She just loved how attentive he was with her. It was a breath of fresh air compared to her daddy. Her mother took wonderful care of her, but nothing was quite like a father's love, and she yearned for it. However she knew that staying with Georgie for Easter was pushing her luck. And she would much rather have the Christmas holiday anyway.

"I think we should stick with Christmas, Georgie." she said softly. "Just to be safe. I want at least one holiday with you and I know that one is the one that will be safest."

Wrapping her arms around him she buried her face in his chest and sighed. She just wanted her dad to change. Not by a whole lot just enough to make him love her again. They had been close at one time...at one time she would come running down the steps when he arrived home from work just to wrap her arms around his legs and yell DADDY. Now when he came home she locked her bedroom door and refused to come out until supper was ready. It made her so sad, and her mother often tried to reason with her father...but that man had just become stubborn in his old age.

"He wasn't always this way Georgie," she said softly, a sort of sadness taking over her. "I made him this way...it was all my fault...I wish I could change for him...but...but I can't eat an animal. They are so cute, and God made them, and I don't want to kill anything...I would rather die than eat a cow...or a bird."

Tears filled her eyes once more and she began to cry softly into her Georgie's chest.

"He...he scares me Georgie!" she sobbed. "Why...why did he change...why!?"

George smoothed his hand down Rozie's soft, silky hair and gently closed his eyes. His little woman was having so much bother in her own home that it was almost too hard for George to even think about it. But being a good boyfriend meant that he had to help her through what she was going through and George would do it gladly.

"Every body changes at some point in their lives," George began in a tender tone, forgetting all about his meal, a rareity in itself.

"Some times it's a welcome change but other times it's a change which is unexpected and horrible. I don't know why things like this happen, maybe it's age, hell maybe it could even be something in the water but all I know is that changes can often be permanent." If he was honest with himself George didn't know exactly what the heck he was talking about but it sounded good what ever it was.

"Your dad was just so used to you bing a certain way and then well...you changed in a way which you thought was best for yourself and might I say what a wonderful choice that was," George said as he ruffled Rozie's hair gently and kissed her on the nose. "But it wasn't a choice maybe that your dad would have chosen for you. He just dosn't understand your way of living now so really it's not him that has changed it's you that has made a change he's just failed to change with you."

Pulling a clean tissue out of his pocket George wiped away Rozie's tears and gave her a gleaming smile. His mum always told him that he and his brothers' smiles could melt any one and he hoped he could do that right now with his love.

"Have you ever thought that he's the one that's scared of you?"

Scare him? Rozie couldn't see herself really scaring anyone! She was so innocent and cute, at least that was what people told her. She supposed that because her way of life was different from normal teens it could come off as intimidating, but she liked her lifestyle and she was happy living the way she did. Why did her father have to be so opinionated and stubborn? Couldn't he just let her be happy and support her in her life choices?

"I guess..." she pouted. "Still doesn't mean I am happy about it. I just don't see what he does when he looks at me. I mean, there are worse things I could be. Maybe if I became a Death Eater he would look less at the aspect of me being a vegan."

Rozie looked up at him and smiled gently. George always had a way of making her feel better. He always knew what to say and what to do. He was her shining star, she just loved him that much.

"Kiss me?" she asked softly. "Pretty, please?"