Silence is Silver

CHAPTER 1

"Rose… Rosie! Rose! ROSE WEASLEY GET YOUR ARSE UP THIS INSTANT!"

The early morning light had yet to break over the sides of the Valley of the Kings. Despite wanting to do nothing, I grudgingly sat up. What, it was my-

"I don't care if it's your birthday, Rosie. We're breaking into the burial chamber today!" Uncle Bill's usually low voice was filled with giddy, almost childish excitement.

I groaned. Thanks, Uncle Bill. Happy birthday to me. I should be the excited one.

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled, pulling myself off of my green cot. "I'm up, I'm up!"

I started getting changed for our next expedition into the tomb. There was no… required uniform for any member of our team, but we all had the same idea- no clothes that could get snagged and shoes that would allow us to run. My standard outfit was a pair of khaki cargo trousers, a white cotton tank top, and brown hiking boots. A quick glance at the small handheld mirror on my bedside table made me sigh. My auburn hair was as unruly as ever, and the lack of hair care products in the middle of an unpopulated and repelling-charm-filled part of Egypt didn't help much- not that I usually cared about my far-from-prim appearance. I pulled my shoulder-length hair up into a semblance of a ponytail before departing from the canvas tent that doubled as both my workstation and my home.

"Hi…" My voice trailed off as I realized I was one of three people awake. "Uncle Bill!" I cried out in exasperation. Where are Winona, Elyon, Jaimie, and Luís? I wondered, thinking about the other members of our seven-person party. We all were sent to explore the tombs of affluent Ancient Egyptian wizards. I could hear Uncle Bill talking to someone- either Winona or Demelza- on the other side of our U-shaped encampment. I walked briskly to where I heard the voices coming from.

He glanced up at me. "Yes, Rosie?"

I scowled, trying my best to give him a trademark Slytherin glare. I thought I'd grown out of the nickname. "Why are the only people awake you, me, and-" I pointed to the tall and wiry woman standing next to him, "-Demelza..?"

"Because," he said, feigning seriousness, "we don't need a full team for today. So it's just the three of us." I could see the mirth in his eyes, which would normally be surprising on his scarred face. Well, to anyone who didn't work with him or didn't grow up with him goofing off with Uncle Charlie and Uncle George. "And you're our best with countercurses- verbal and nonverbal."

"Fine," I relented- only because of the compliment, "I bet we'll finish it by noon today."

"Five galleons?" Uncle Bill extended his hand.

I debated raising the price, seeing as he almost never made bets against me anymore. Sighing, I shook his hand. "Deal."

I had every right to act like his only Slytherin niece… seeing as I was. I was the only Weasley (and Potter) to ever be sorted into Slytherin. Dad hadn't taken it too well, and Mum had accepted it- but that's a story for another time.

Demelza Robins had watched our exchange in amusement. "You know, I'll never understand you Weasleys," she commented, shaking her head. "And I think we should start heading into the tomb soon. The sun'll be over the horizon in about an hour and a half. C'mon, Rose, there's breakfast in the camp stove."

I grinned, "Thanks, Demelza."

The remaining four members of our Gringotts team were still not awake by the time we left. To be honest, I didn't mind; I was always uncomfortable in large groups of people.

The trek to the tomb always took the better half of an hour. It was up near the rim of the valley and the climb was treacherous. A friend from Hogwarts once asked me, "Why don't you just apparate to the entrance?" But see, that's the thing. The grottos and caves are so similar that it would be near impossible to focus on the destination unless you had a photographic memory. Plus there were enough wards to keep the muggles away from these areas for centuries. So we were stuck climbing the steep rock faces until we arrived at the tomb.

I took a deep breath as I looked out at the horizon. The sky was tinged with early-morning colors: hues of red, shades of yellow, and a thin smear of orange. It was beautiful. Happy twenty-fourth birthday to me. I was snapped out of my reverie as Uncle Bill levitated the rock door out of the way of the tomb.

"Let's get this over with," I said, murmuring a quick "Lumos" as I peered into the depths of the tomb. None of the charms had been broken, so nothing had gone in or out of the site since the last time we had visited. I took a step inside the man-made cavern. "So, Demelza, what were the runes you broke?"

I shouldn't have had to ask her, if our team was the normal type where everyone was decent at everything. But nope, I was terrible with ancient runes. It was the only subject I only got an Exceeds Expectations in for my NEWTS. (Yes, what my Dad always said was true; I inherited my mum's brains.) Instead, we had a different way we split up the members of our excursion- it was mostly the two Americans, Winona and Elyon, who insisted. The work was separated into two different parts: Curse Breaker and Rune Translator. I, of course, was a Curse Breaker.

But back to the fact.

"There were two translations that Elyon and I found. Well... He found that there were two ways to translate the runes. The first was, 'The sun releases the one that cannot speak.' That would most likely refer to the engravings of the sun on the chamber door. The other translation was a bit more macabre, to be honest. 'The sun comes and away goes their voice.' But that would probably just be a deterrent, seeing as we're all using the wand-lighting charm."

I had to admit, the logic was pretty good. But something didn't sit right with me.

Uncle Bill praised the older witch's deduction, and I didn't question them. I trusted their experience.

I should have questioned them. But more on that in a little bit.

The tunnels were cramped, barely two meters across. It still made me wonder how they managed to pass the large statues and figurines through the passageways when shrinking charms were only first recorded in… I want to say the early sixteenth century? Don't quote me on that. But anyway, it was almost a labyrinthine path with numerous untriggered traps (which I still had to remind people about) and ancient runes and hieroglyphics covering the walls. I'd never gotten accustomed to the musty and earthy scent that came with the field of work. I didn't mind it, but I would never love that smell… even if it was slightly reminiscent of the Slytherin common room.

There were torches affixed to the walls, just at eye level. Well, above average eye level- probably one and three-quarters meters up from the slowly sloping ground. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling, an unwelcome present from those eight-legged demons. Yeah, I was cursed with Dad's irrational fear of arachnids. Okay, not all arachnids, just spiders… Especially the acromantulas in the forest- wait, I'm getting distracted.

Anyway, we trudged through the tomb until we reached the final room. We had cleared the rest of the traps and spells from the entire underground, but the only remaining chamber was what we assumed to be the location of the sarcophagus. And of course, it was behind a wall saturated with magic and only covered in one line of runes. Demelza, Winona, Elyon, and Luís- our Rune translators- had spent nearly two weeks attempting to figure out the meaning of the words that each had multiple translations while Uncle Bill, Jaimie and I worked on preparing countercurses in case someone unintentionally triggered a trap.

I held my alder wand in front of me, illuminating the final room. It was a fairly large room, roughly ten meters by seven. There were platters of food and jugs of wine lay on intricately carved stone tables. The walls were painted with vibrant colours, and I could imagine the pictures of ancient beasts, powerful witches and wizards, and animagus deities coming to life.

"Rose, get back," Demelza said, gently pushing me aside.

I nodded, taking a step back. "Yes, Demelza."

Uncle Bill stood on the other side of her, pointing his wand at the current target- a large span of wall, untouched except for the line of runes that trailed down in a diagonal from left to right and the large diagram of the sun.

I stopped the light from my wand, and the room dimmed slightly. "Sorry, but I want to be ready," I said apologetically. I took a few steps to the side, that way I would be able to see if the spellwork Demelza and Uncle Bill were casting was wrong.

"Three…" Uncle Bill began to count down. "Two… One… Go!"

They shouted the spell, a light-based charm that outlined the entire sun. It took me five seconds until I noticed that the spell was going awry. The wall began to channel some type of magic on its own, repelling Uncle Bill and Demelza's work.

"No! Protego!" I shouted, my voice a higher pitch than normal.

It was a basic charm, I'll admit, but it worked. Without the ongoing charm, the room turned pitch black. "Lumos Solem," I said, pointing my wand at the door. I hoped it would work, but if not, I would have easily been able to revert the charm back to a standard lighting spell. It didn't, but then I felt a slight jolt of pain travel up my arm. I dismissed it easily, and began to change spells.

The door began to move, receding back into the room about half a meter, and then splitting in half to open up the final chamber. I grinned at Uncle Bill.

"Okay, okay. Five galleons it is. I'll give it to you when we get back."

I nodded, still grinning happily.

"Are you going to stand there all day, beaming like a first year?"

Whoops, sorry, Demelza.

"Come on, let's go."

I followed them out of the tomb, into the bright sunlight. I raised my hand in front of my brown eyes, shielding them from the blazing sunlight.

"We can apparate back," Uncle Bill said.

Before I could even open my mouth to say anything, there was a 'pop', and Demelza had vanished, leaving me and Uncle Bill in the arid Egyptian air.

"Let's go, Rose," he said, extending an arm for side-along apparation.

Yes. Let's get this straight once and for all. Rose Weasley, Curse Breaker extraordinaire, does not like to apparate. Maybe it's the feeling of getting squished through a dark tube. Or it might be the fact that you can end up splinched- which, by the way, is much more painful than most wizards say it is. Or- well, you get the point. I latched onto his elbow and took a deep breath, closing my eyes. Yes, I close my eyes when I apparate. Or side-along apparate. Maybe that's why I wasn't a Gryffindor.

And then there it was. That horrid, gut-wrenching feeling of apparation. (To this day, I still don't understand why Hugo- my lovable git of a brother whose present had yet to show up- insisted on apparating every five feet as soon as he passed his test.) Of course, we were done apparating in a matter of seconds. I was thankful for the small breakfast- at least I wasn't dumping the contents of my stomach onto the sand.

Uncle Bill put a hand on my shoulder. "Stay right here, Rosie," he requested. "I'll be right back with your galleons."

I nodded, a corner of my mouth twitching up into a smirk. But it quickly faded. I couldn't understand why, but it felt as though all my energy was drained. The tingling in my arm hadn't stopped since we left the tomb; if anything, the electrical feeling seemed to have intensified. But I figured that it was just another side effect of apparating. I sat down on the sandy earth, slightly lightheaded.

Uncle Bill emerged from the tent carrying a small bag- most likely my bet winnings, and… an empty bottle? I raised my eyebrows quizzically at him.

"Don't ask, it's supposed to be a surprise," he said, shoving the bag into one of my hands, and I grinned. All of a sudden, the bottle began to glow blue, and I suddenly realized what it was. A portkey. "Come on, then!"

I placed a hand on the portkey just as it was about to vanish. I felt what seemed like a hook in my abdomen, and then everything swirled into oblivion.

Next thing I knew, I was standing at the Burrow, one of my favorite places in the entire world. Then there was a blindfold over my eyes, and I was being dragged into the familiar house. I could smell Grandma Molly's cooking, and I could hear the giggles of one of my younger cousins. Probably Lucy.

The blindfold- my old Hogwarts necktie- was removed from my face and slipped off. I blinked a few times, adjusting to the sudden change in light.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROSE!"

I grinned. No, not my usual Slytherin smirk. A genuine smile.

"Thanks, guys," I said. Or rather I wanted to say. There were no sounds coming from my mouth. I could feel my eyes widening, panic setting in. WHY CAN'T I SPEAK?! I cried out, both internally, and at my surprisingly silent family and friends.

There was shooting pain in my arm again, and I dropped the bag of galleons. I glanced at Uncle Bill, who was staring at me as if he wasn't sure if I were pulling a prank. I wanted to scream at him, asking when I had ever taken part in our family's pranks, but my arm was burning, and it felt like there was poison coursing through my veins.

I heard a familiar voice curse from behind me. "She's not joking!"

My eyes felt heavy and I began to sway slightly. My knees were weak. Hm, that's interesting, I thought as my consciousness began to fade, I've never gotten a tattoo of a snake on my right arm…

The last thing I remembered before fading completely was the concerned face of someone I hadn't seen in nearly a year- Scorpius Malfoy. He'd caught me before I hit my head on something.

"Thanks," I attempted to say. But I'm fine. I don't want anyone to worry about me.

Author's Note:

This story is loosely based on my oneshot, "Rose Weasley, Slytherin". If you feel like reading it, please do- it has some background info (not that it's too important, or even necessary that you read it). I've been planning out this story for a while, so updates should be regular (should being the operative word).
A very gracious "Thank you!" to quillstrike, who is my absolutely wonderful Beta for this story.
And thanks to you for reading! Please review!