AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello there! First off, I want to say a big thanks for reading. I don't know what possessed you to click on the link to my story, but I'm so thrilled you did! I honestly appreciate any kind of comment or criticism, so please leave a review for me! I started this story back in 2012 and actually finished First Year Findings with eleven chapters. I went on to post a new story about Rose and Scorpius's second year, but never finished it. Since then, I've grown as a writer, learned to take my time and really focus on the writing and not just the plot. So what I've done is delete the old First Year Findings story and go through chapter by chapter to revise, re-plot, change, add, delete, do whatever I can to make the story more dynamic and fan-friendly. I will forewarn you, I do like detail and I have been known to use more than necessary, so bear with me there. But for now — enjoy!

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The day was bright and not a cloud was in the sky at the cottage. The Weasley and Potter families had just finished breakfast, and a wide-eyed Rose Weasley watched as her Uncle Harry bewitched a biscuit and sent it floating around the table. Rose's younger brother Hugo, and her youngest cousin Lily chased after it, attempting to grab it before Harry's wrist flicked and he sent it whirling into the air, tumbling over the sofa in the living room. A squealing Lily went surging for it with Hugo on her heels. Rose giggled a bit, watching as the younger children played. Only a mere two years older than them both, she deemed herself too mature for the game, and instead watched Harry's wand with big brown eyes. "I learned how to do that spell from Standard Book of Spells," she said, "Could I borrow your wand Uncle Harry?"

"You most certainly cannot," Hermione Weasley exclaimed from the kitchen. And as soon as she heard it, Rose slumped down in her chair, face turning red to match her unruly hair. "Rose Cassandra Weasley! You know better than to ask to use an adult's wand, it's rude." Hermione's voice and face were stern, but when she saw the shamed look on her daughter's face, her own softened and she let out a small sigh, tenderly saying, "Don't worry, love. You'll get your wand soon."

"My letter is taking forever to get here," the eleven year old sighed, lifting her fork to pick at the remnants of breakfast on her plate. Her elbow propped up on the table as her father leaned over to rustle her mop of red hair.

"It normally comes about a month before the school year starts," he told her. "It'll be here any day. Just be patient."

"Like you've ever been patient for anything in your life," Hermione grinned from her spot at the kitchen counter, sipping her coffee and letting magic do the dishes in the sink.

Ron gave her a lopsided smile and went back to The Daily Prophet just as Lily was urging Harry out of his seat. "Come on dad!" the littlest redhead shouted, "You promised we'd play Quidditch today!"

Lily had inherited both her parents' love and skill for Quidditch. She may have been tiny, but it made flying and maneuvering on a broom very easy for her. With her father the youngest seeker in a century and her mother a VIP of the Holyhead Harpies, all of the Potter children developed a good taste for the sport. James was going into his second year at Hogwarts and already talking about trying out for Seeker. Albus was going to be a first year with Rose and deemed himself Gryffindor house's biggest fan.

"I just know I'm going to be in Gryffindor," Albus would boast when the family was gathered around. "Our whole family's been in Gryffindor for years. I just have to be." But Rose knew the real truth behind his words. He'd confided in her in private for the past month or so, worrying about what would happen if he didn't get sorted into Gryffindor. "What if it's Hufflepuff?" he asked, scrunching up his nose. "Nothing against Hufflepuff — I know Teddy loves it. But it's just not where I see myself. But worse than that, what if it's Slytherin?" James has come home for Christmas and summer break talking about the Slytherin house and how still after so many years, they were all prejudice against the lesser bloods. The adults would shake their heads and mutter to each other about how some things never changed, and it didn't matter what happened, there would always be people who believed they were better because they were Pureblood. It just left a sour taste in Rose's mouth, and fear in Albus's mind.

"You're sure to be in Gryffindor," she would tell him. "And me too…" she'd give him a small smile, but in her head she could only think about the qualities of a Gryffindor. She wasn't brave or particularly talented, and the only thing going for her being in Gryffindor was her last name. Nearly every Weasley had been in Gryffindor in the last fifty or so years.

"Here, little girl," a voice said, pulling her from her thoughts and she saw a hand in front of her holding out a wand. It was Teddy Lupin who was practically her cousin for all intents and purposes. His bright blue hair was wilder than ever and a huge grin shone on his face. Rose's own face lit up and she took his wand gingerly in her hand, careful not to break it. And just before she went to flick it, her eyes lifted to meet his. Teddy's eyes were always kind looking, a deep brown, much deeper than her own, but with a touch of red in them that she'd seen nearly glow when he was angry. She knew it was the Metamorphmagus genes he'd inherited from his mother, but it was still a little freaky from a spectator's point of view.

"Won't you get into trouble if I do magic with your wand? I don't want mum to yell at you."

"Nah," he said, putting his arm around her. "Don't worry about your mum, she loves me." He winked at her, and Rose's lips lifted into a wide smile, turning her eyes back to the wand. "Plus," Teddy's voice sounded in a whisper in her ear. "If you practice now, you'll just be a few steps ahead of everyone in your classes this year. Surely your mum can understand that."

That caused her smile to grow larger and she went for it, fixing the wand and her gaze on the teapot on the table and gave his wand a swish and a flick. "Wingardium Leviosa," she said, and slowly but surely the empty teapot rose into the air, inch by inch, until it was floating at eye level.

"Brilliant," Teddy said quietly beside Rose, and she was so excited that she looked over at him, beaming her large smile and taking her concentration off of the spell. The teapot came to a crash on the kitchen table. For a moment, everything was stunned to silence.

Then she heard a yell from kitchen and Hermione's steps thudded closer. "Rose Weasley! What did I tell you?"

"Run!" Teddy yelled, and together they leapt from the table. Teddy's hand grabbed hers and he pulled her along as Ron was already fixing the broken pot and cleaning up the spilled tea. "She was just practicing," Rose could faintly hear him telling his wife as she was led away by a laughing Teddy. When they were out of sight and away from Hermione's frustrated fussing, Teddy let go of Rose, still laughing as they both caught their breath. They both leaned against the shed in the backyard which didn't house anything other than some gnome repellent and an old muggle lawnmower that Hermione's parents had given them years ago. It had never been touched except for when Arthur Weasley came to visit, and snuck out to inspect the it on a few occasions. Teddy looked up to see the Potter clan with their small game of Quidditch. Victoire Weasley, Bill and Fleur's daughter, spent more time with the Potters than she did with her own parents, but that was more for Teddy's company than anything else, and was now playing keeper for the game while Ginny, Lily, and Harry played chasers. The game was only getting started and though the boys had been upstairs playing Wizard Skittles, they must have heard the commotion outside, because James, Albus, and Hugo came racing out with James already reaching for a broom to join the others.

Victoire waved Teddy up and he too grabbed a broom to join the others, with Albus flying behind him to make a full seven. Teddy was a fantastic beater. Hufflepuff had taken the Quidditch cup his fourth and fifth years thanks to him knocking a fair few off their brooms. And they'd almost taken it last year, if it wasn't for Slytherin's seeker, Ernest McManus, finding the snitch nearly five minutes into the game. It was the quickest and most disappointing final match Hogwarts had ever seen.

With the family flying around above her, Rose sat down on the ground, picking at the small white flowers in the grass and braiding them to make a necklace. She was good at books — reading, writing, arithmetic. Learning was her talent. Quidditch was certainly not. She'd tried every position, but she was no keeper like her dad. She didn't have enough hand-eye coordination to be a chaser, and not fast enough to be a seeker, and not enough arm strength to be a beater. But as a fan, she was amazing. She'd make up small cheers with her mum when the family played. And they'd sit and watch and commentate with funny jokes. They'd give the family fun nicknames like Harry "The Hard Head" Potter, and Ginny "Golden-Eye" Potter, and Victoire "Show Stopper" Weasley.

Oh yes, Rose was a pro at being a fan.

It was a wonderful way for Rose to get her mind off of the letters that had yet to come — watching them all play. And soon her mum and dad were out to join them, Ron even tag teamed with Victoria who let him play keeper for a while. The tall and slender blonde strode up to plop in the grass with Rose and Hermione. "Hot day," she commented, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

Everyone thought Victoire was gorgeous. She was one-eighth Veela, of course. But Rose idolized her the most. She'd tried to ask her mother to straighten her hair one time, but Hermione had gone on some rant about how she was perfect the way she was, and didn't need to change a thing. All that prompted was a smart remark from Ron about how in their fourth year Hermione had—but Hermione shushed him before Rose could learn anything. She'd pressed and pleaded with her father to let her in on the fourth year secret, but Hermione shot him a look and his mouth curved up into a smile before he reached to brush Rose's ringlets behind her ear. "Don't worry about it. You're just as beautiful as your mum."

But it only prompted a frown from Rose.

Victoire had inherited deep green eyes from somewhere in the Weasley or Delacour family lines, but they'd only ever been pointed at Teddy. They were a perfect pair in reality — Teddy was a prankster, and everyone was always going on about how he could give Fred and George a run for their money back in the day, and Victoire was kind and gentle (except when she was helping Teddy with a prank or two). He was loud and animated, she was reserved and grounded. He brought out the playful side in her, and she melted his heart.

At least that was how the adults described them on occasion.

Rose. Victoire, and Hermione continued making flower crowns, making jokes about the game until the seven players all soared to the ground, dismounting their brooms and going on about how James nearly missed the snitch, but got it in the nick of time. "I'm starving," Harry said as Ginny held onto one hand, and Lily held onto the other.

"My stomach's growling," Hugo said, falling into Hermione's lap with a groan on her part.

"I could eat," Ron agreed, already rubbing at his stomach. It only prompted a sly smile from Hermione as she ran her hand through Hugo's mussed hair. "You can always eat, Ron."

Everyone giggled and filed back into the house for lunch with the exception of Teddy and Victorie, who were whispering amongst themselves, and Rose, of course who was just standing up when Teddy's arm wrapped around her shoulders and she looked up to see a sly grin. "Wanna have some fun, Red?" he asked.

Rose knew that look, and ever the worry wart like her mother, her eyes narrowed slightly. "What kind of fun?"

Victoire laughed behind Teddy and shook her head. "Stop scaring her, just tell her what we're doing."

"We're going to race. You and Vic against me. Just on brooms, maybe once around the cottage. What do you say? Loser does the dishes after lunch?"

"Hey, that's not fair. You can use magic," Rose's eyes grew wide as she let out a laugh. Victoire laughed too.

"The muggle way then," Teddy said, offering his hand to shake. But Rose stared down at it, unconvinced. "If I'm lying, I'm dying…" His blue eyes grew slightly, looking sad and pleading. And Rose had no option but to shake it.

"Fine," she agreed. "But I'll tell mum if you break your promise."

Teddy only laughed and nodded, letting her go to hop back on his broom, Victoire sliding on her own and letting Rose climb on with her. "Let's go Rosie!" Teddy cried before soaring into the air with the girls on his heels.

It was once around the house and they were nearly back when Teddy glanced back at the girls. He'd won and Rose's face fell to a frown before they were hovering in mid air next to his broom. "Want to go a little farther?" he asked, glancing at the horizon. "We'll be back in time for dinner."

Thank Merlin for Victoire because the next second, she said the very thing Rose was thinking. "Not too far out. I'm not in the habit of getting into trouble." Teddy's grin only grew, because he was. But he agreed not too far and they soared off.

The scenery was beautiful. It was a rare occasion that Rose got to fly like this. She'd been on a broom a fair few times, but only ever around the house, never around the countryside. With her arms tight around Victoire's waist, she hoped she wasn't suffocating her cousin, but Vic didn't seem to be bothered by it. Rose couldn't look directly down, knowing full well she'd completely freeze up seeing how high they were, but staring off at the horizon and the hills in the distance made her feel like she was on top of the world. She'd never felt suppressed in her life, never suffocated by her family or the means of which she lived, but right now, she felt more free than she ever had in her eleven years.

It didn't even occur to her they'd been flying for nearly an hour, only until Victoire had sped up to fly directly beside Teddy — who'd spent the entire flight doing donuts and somersaults and flips in the air, no doubt showing off. "Where are we?" the blonde asked. "We can't be near the house."

"I'd say we're about seventy or eighty miles out," Teddy shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Eighty miles out?"

"Or seventy."

"Teddy!" Victoire's eyes diverted back to Rose. "We have to get her home. I don't care about getting myself into trouble, but I'm not going to have Hermione yelling at me. Come on." Swiftly, Victoria turned the broom around and headed back to the cottage, but soon Teddy was catching up to them.

"Wait a second, Vic! I know where we can go. It'll only take us another ten or fifteen minutes, and then we'll go home by Floo power. Deal?" Victoria gave him a skeptical look, her lips pursing just a bit. "I promise," Teddy pleaded, giving those large, beseeching brown eyes.

"Fine," she sighed, and shifted behind his broom. "Lead the way."

A pang of worry flickered through Rose's mind. They were nearly seventy miles from home. Rose had never done anything like this in her life. What kind of trouble would she be in if their parents caught her. She didn't like the stomachache the stress was giving her, and she could almost feel like she was going to be sick. But after being lost in her worries, soon town came into view and she could see the sign for The Leaky Cauldron just before they landed on the sidewalk just outside. "Muggles don't pay attention to anything," Teddy's head shook as he watched two muggles sitting on a nearby bench staring at some contraption in their hands. Whatever it was must have been terribly funny, because they were laughing like imbeciles. "Come on, let's get you home, Red."

Inside was damp and dark like usual, and an array of witches and wizards donned the tables and bar, chattering, laughing, reminiscing. Rose hadn't been here much, but all the cousins knew that Teddy liked to sneak off here for a Firewhiskey before he turned seventeen.

"Teddy Lupin!" Tom's voice boomed from behind the bar. He was cleaning off some glasses with a flick of his wand. "Does your Gram know you're here?"

"My Gram doesn't need to know I'm here," Teddy's mischievous smile was back, and Tom simply laughed again. Rose let out a little giggle as well, if only to conceal her nervousness.

"And Victoire," Tom nodded with a smile at the blonde as she smiled back, "What can I do for the two of you? Dinner? Drinks?"

"Why yes—."

"No, we can't stay for dinner, Tom. We need a fireplace, actually," Victoire interfered before Teddy could agree to dinner and drinks.

Tom simply nodded, pointing to the large fireplace in the back of the bar. "That one's specially for travel. Normally charge customers, but tonight don't worry about it."

"Thanks, Tom," Teddy reached to shake his hand before ushering Rose to the large stone fireplace. It reeked of soot, and the black dust covered it everywhere. Hanging on a hook wedged into the mortar was a pot of Floo Powder and Victoire reached for a handful.

"I'll go first, Rose you follow me." Rose gave a small nod and watched as Victoire spouted off the address and disappeared in a green flame.

Rose stepped into the fireplace, and the last thing she saw was Teddy's face before suddenly she was back home and… her face fell seeing a sooty Victoire standing next to the adults. Hermione's face was the reddest of all. "Glad to see you made it back," her mother's voice was anything less than welcoming. Rose's eyes fell to the ground as she ducked out of the way to make room for Teddy. He appeared just a moment later. And the wide smile on his face fell when he saw everyone gathered around. But soon it was back, only a little more nervous — no doubt he was thinking they'd pull this off. "You all came to welcome me home, how sweet of you," he grinned, stepping out of the fireplace and dusting himself off. "I think I hear my Gram calling me, better get home now." But with one step towards the door, Harry's stern voice was heard.

"I don't think so," he said as Teddy stopped dead in his tracks.

It took a lot of pleading and apologizing on their part, but somehow Victoire and Teddy both managed to convince the adults that it was entirely their idea, and that Rose just came along for the ride. It must not have been hard to convince them though, seeing as Rose never had a habit of getting into trouble. Hermione's hardened face softened the more they went on, and she'd reached out to put her arm around her daughter, rubbing her shoulder.

When everyone had had enough excitement, and the Potter family, Teddy, and Victoire were leaving for the evening, Hermione glanced down at Rose before kissing her forehead. "I was just worried about you," she said. Her voice was softer now, much calmer than she'd been when she was fussing at Teddy earlier.

"I'm sorry, mum," Rose still couldn't look her mother in the eyes. She hated disappointing people more than anything in the world. "I just thought riding around would be fun and then we went too far."

"I'll say you did. All the way to London," Ron chuckled as he joined them in the living room, with Hugo riding on his back. "Your mum was about to owl the Ministry and The Daily Prophet, and probably anyone else who might need to know someone was missing."

"I was not," Hermione fussed, brushing him off, but he swooped down to kiss her temple, and Rose could see her mother smile out of the corner of her eye. "But I was worried. And I know it wasn't your fault, but the next time Teddy has some bright idea…"

"I know," Rose sighed. "Don't listen to him."

"Smart girl," Hermione nodded.

"Just like her mum," added and everyone chuckled.

"Besides," Hermione's hand went to her pocket and she pulled out a small envelope. Rose Weasley was written on it in perfect calligraphy and her eyes widened at the sight. "This came for you while you were out."

"My letter!" she cried, snatching it from her mother's hands in a fit of excitement. It wasn't but a moment later it was ripped open and the envelope was laying on the coffee table. "Dear Miss Weasley, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! I'm in!"

"Well, of course you're in," Ron laughed. "Did you really think you wouldn't get in?"

Rose read and reread the letter before glancing up at her parents. Hermione's eyes were brimming with tears, and Ron wore a proud smile. She'd never felt so happy in her life. "Why are you crying mum?" she asked.

"Just happy for you," Hermione replied, leaning in to brush a piece of hair behind Rose's ear. "And just already missing you when you leave next month."

"But I'll be home for Christmas." Rose was already planning the robes she wanted to buy, and perhaps a nice quill she'd only use for writing essays. She needed books, and a cauldron, and it said she could have a pet. A pet! "Mum, can I get a cat?" she asked, her eyes were wide again, sparkling with excitement.

"No cats," Ron's face suddenly got serious and Rose's smile faded a little.

But Hermione leaned in close, whispering, "We'll see about the cat."