Author's Note: This is my first story everyone so please be gentle. Please review with suggestions and if I should go on with the story. Do let me know what you think :)


Chapter 1

"Honestly Dad you do not have to come bursting through my door every single day at five in the bloody morning to check if I am still alive!" It had been three months since Mum and Dad had allowed me to move out of their house to my flat again. Ever since my first morning here, Dad had made giving me and Celine, my owl, a heart attack an unnecessary addition to my daily routine. Today was no different.

"Merlin Rosie I thought I asked you to clear this place yesterday! Your mother would have a fit if she saw this mess," said my dad, walking around my apartment, which, in my opinion, was perfectly clean if one ignored the massive pile of dirty laundry on the floor in my bedroom, dirty dishes in the sink and a mountain of papers on the dining table that had somehow found its way to the floor. Okay so maybe my dad wasn't completely bonkers for shouting.

"Dad can you please knock off the hysterics? A little clutter never harmed anyone," I said, as I searched for some pants on the floor. "I have other things to worry about."

"Yes you do Rosie," he said, turning to face me with a serious expression. "You have become very cavalier Rosie. Just because it's been four months that does not mean you are no longer in trouble. Now, do you have that darkness powder I gave you?"

"Yes, Dad," I replied monotonously. We'd been through this before, about a million times. "It's always with me."

"Good. And you know that Muggle self-defence thing your mum taught you?"

"Yes, Dad."

"And the counter curse to Expelliarmus?"

"Ducking and punching my attacker in the nose?"

"Rosie!"

"Seriously Dad I get it, okay?" I said, raising my hands in surrender. "I know all the counter curses to all the offensive spells in the Auror Spellbook. Merlin, I learned them all in the first month of Auror Training. I know how to incapacitate a man in 40 seconds and I can outrun Al and Fred. I have the powder, Fiendish Potion and Mum's charmed bracelet with me all the time. I am as prepared as I can be, Dad, so will you please stop worrying so much about me? There's only so much we can do. We can't just stop living our lives because of some psychopath."

"Yeah I'm sorry Rosie. I suppose I have been rather mental haven't I?" he sighed, sitting on the arm of the sofa. "You'll have to forgive me for worrying Rosie but I'm your Dad aren't I? I've gotta worry."

I hugged him and sat in his lap like I used to when I was three. "I love you Dad. I'll take care of myself I promise. Now will you please go so that I can sleep for another hour?"

He chuckled and pushed me off his lap. "Alright Rosie you be good. I'll see you at work." He kissed my head, grabbed his wand from his pocket and walked out of my apartment.

I stomped to my bedroom and all but collapsed into my bed. Looking at Celine perched on my headboard I sighed, "How long will we live like this Cel?" It's not like my dad's anxiety was baseless; the killer was ruthless and had killed all his victims in the worst way possible. Lily, my younger cousin, had just managed to escape from his clutches thanks to the Senior Auror Department lead by her father, Harry Potter. She was of no help to the investigation because the Crimson Curse (that's what they were calling the murderer; honestly who came up with that name?) had wiped her memory before she had gotten away so other than several nervous breakdowns and constant anxiety, which was expected, she had nothing to offer to the investigation.

I rolled over in bed and pulled the comforter over myself. 'Madmen and dead girls are another day's worry,' I thought as I slipped into blissful darkness.