A/N: Hermione is technically a Potter because Rose and Bill adopted her.
Please R/R! No flames please! If you check my Artemis Fowl fic chap. 2 you will know why not to!
Disclaimer: I only ever write this once. The only characters here that belong to me are Rose, Lily and James jr., Alex, Ally, Lucretia Diabolique, and Erin O'Connell. The rest belong to the talented, beautiful, kind, gentle, incredibly rich J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.
Lost in Darkness
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Potter House and Back to Hogwarts
"Harry! Breakfast!" Rose Potter called from the kitchen just below Harry's room.
Harry Potter put on his glasses and rolled out of bed. Yesterday he had wished he could wake up some morning from something other than his niece and nephew's screaming. Be careful what you wish for. It was seven a.m.
He stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen, where his sister Rose, cousin Hermione, girlfriend Ginny, and Mrs. Weasly were already waiting, looking alert and perfect.
"How can you be so cheerful at seven in the morning?" Harry grumbled.
"I'm not a morning person. I just had my French vanilla mocha already," Rose explained. "Have your breakfast."
She pointed to a plate loaded with French toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and omelet. Harry took his green plate. There was already a steaming cup of coffee at his place.
"With whipped cream?" Harry said, narrowing his eyes at Rose.
"Whipped cream," Hermione said absently. "I made it. Stirred into the mocha."
She was reading a book Rose had given her for her birthday, Extremely Ancient Runes. It looked quite dull to Harry, but his cousin was obviously fascinated with it.
"Daddy! Ron! Bill! Percy! Fred! George! Breakfast!" Rose called.
Immediately, Percy, Bill, Fred, George, Ron, and Sirius Black came bounding from their rooms into the kitchen. In that order. Well, the last two were more like plodding.
"Daddy, I wish you would learn how to get up at a decent time," Rose said disdainfully.
She always referred to Sirius as Daddy, as he was one of her godparents. Her other godparents were Professor Snape, who she called Father, Professor McGonagall, who she called Mother, and Madame Pomfrey, who she called Aunt Poppy.
"I'm used to waking up when Buckbeak bites my foot," he yawned. He nearly tripped over Rose's cat Godric and Hermione's cat Crookshanks (who was really an Animagus named Gretchen McGonagall, the Professor's sister) as they scampered under the table.
"Honestly, Gretchen," he said, staring at the cat. "Show some consideration."
She quickly transformed back into her normal human shape. "Please keep calling me Crookshanks." And changed back into Hermione's ginger cat.
Percy Weasly sat down at the kitchen table. "Good morning, Mrs. Potter," he greeted her stiffly.
"Rose, Percy, please!"
Percy had become much more pompous when he had been promoted to Head of his department.
"I'm so glad you could come to stay," Rose said. "It's such a shame that you couldn't all come. I know Mr. Weasly is busy with his campaign for Minister of Magic, but why couldn't Charlie come?"
"He's having trouble with a Norwegian Ridgeback that's growing in his adult teeth," Bill, Rose's husband, explained. "He's really depressed and won't respond to any name but one."
Ron snorted. "Yeah. 'Norbert.'"
Everyone but Rose and Sirius laughed.
"What's Norbert?" Rose asked curiously.
"Norwegian Ridgeback Hagrid got off somebody in a pub. He had to send it to a colony in Romania after Malfoy saw it." Harry said the name Malfoy like a curse.
Rose flinched at the name. She had a particular grudge against Lucius Malfoy. He was one of the Death Eaters who followed Voldemort into the Potter house. He was the one who killed Sirius's sister Sarah and tried to kill Rose. He had been killed last year, but his son, the heir to Voldemort, was still alive.
Harry was surprised to see that Sirius was picking at his food all of a sudden. Of course! Harry realized. Malfoy killed his sister.
They quickly dropped the subject. "How's school?" Sirius asked.
Ron groaned. "Oh shut up Ronnykins," Fred told him. "You got all your O.W.L.s and you also got to take them late."
This was because they had been attacked by Voldemort while everyone else was taking the O.W.L.s.
"Well, this year you've got N.E.W.T.s," Rose told them, pouring everyone more coffee. "And be glad you don't have to take them in America. According to everything I've heard Hogwarts tests are much easier. I wouldn't know since I took my O.W.L.s and my N.E.W.T.s at the Salem Witches Institute."
"Rose, where are the twins?" Ginny asked.
"Shh!" Rose hushed her, but they had already started crying. She sighed. "Oh well. It's seven thirty. They've been waking up at six."
She left to get the twins.
*~*~*
She lifted James Arthur Potter and Lillian Molly Potter out of their bassinet. They smiled when they saw their mother.
"Good morning, sunshines!" she told them. They giggled. "Come on; let's go see who's here! Grandma's here, and so are Uncle Fred and Uncle George and Uncle Percy, but you might not be too happy to see him."
James laughed, but Lily cooed and whimpered. Rose held her up against her shoulder and carried them into the kitchen.
"Oh, they're so cute!" Ginny and Hermione squealed.
Rose sort of ignored it. They had done this every morning since the twins were born. She would almost welcome the new school year.
"Raise your hand for Lily."
Ginny's hand went up first. Rose handed her the seven-month-old infant girl.
"James?"
Hermione dropped her book and raised her hand. Rose handed him to her.
"Wonder who he looks like," Harry said jokingly.
It was obvious, really. Both twins had had masses of hair for babies when they were born. James had messy black hair, and Lily's hair was auburn red. They had identical green eyes. In short, James looked like his grandfather James and his Uncle Harry, and Lily looked nearly identical to her grandmother with the same name and her mother.
"All right, breakfast for babies," Rose said. She handed a pastel green bottle to Hermione and a pink one to Ginny. The babies immediately bit down on them hard.
"Say Padfoot, James, say Padfoot," Sirius said.
"Daddy, stop it," Rose scolded. "They're seven months old."
"You talked when you were seven months old."
"No one does! You're lying!"
"Okay. You talked the same time you walked." "
"When was that?"
Ten months."
"Ten?!"
"You were advanced."
"Whatever."
She went back to systematically picking apart her scrambled eggs before eating them.
"Rosie darling, I hope you don't think those will be edible once you finish dissecting them," Bill told her.
Rose decided not to protest being called Rosie. "They will, I do this every morning."
"Hey, people," George said. Everyone hushed up to listen. "I know the Marauders' names. But what are the Phoenix's names?"
"Yeah! Let's make our own!" Fred agreed.
"Rose is Hornhead," Sirius said.
Rose's favorite Animagus, of which she had many, was a Unisus, a unicorn with wings. Her marking was always a lightning-bolt scar, the same with Harry.
"No," Rose disagreed. "Flower."
"Too dorky."
"Hey!"
"Stop it!" Hermione snapped. "How about Ailes or Chifre?"
"Huh?" Ron said.
"Honestly. Ailes is 'winged' and Chifre is 'horn.'"
"I like Ailes," Rose declared.
"I'm Prongs," Harry announced.
"No duh."
"What's Ginny's favorite?"
"Phoenix."
"How about Redwing?"
"Or Goldfeather?"
"I like Redwing," Ginny decided.
"I want to assign names!" Sirius whined.
"Shut up, Daddy. My job. Mione's a hawk. What kind is it?"
"Red-tailed."
"Greywing."
"Sure. What the heck."
"Ron's a harpy eagle, so what about.Aquilo."
"What's that?"
"Aquila is a bird genus, but the A makes it sound girly."
"Okay. Aquilo."
"So I'm Ailes, Mione's Greywing, Ginny's Redwing, Harry's Prongs, and Fred and George can be Castor and Pollux. What are you two, raccoons?"
"Those twins from the story? Sure. But I wanna be Castor," George said. "And yeah, raccoons."
"Fine. The Bernards are squirrels and they aren't here so I could be particularly evil in their names. But I think Rara and Ara."
"Huh?"
"They were nicknames I gave them. Rara and Ara are twins from this story a teacher told me when I was little. They were little squirrels who were particularly mischievous."
"Perfect."
"So I'm Ailes, Mione's Greywing, Ginny's Redwing, Harry's Prongs, Fred's Pollux, George's Castor, Alex is Rara, Ally is Ara and Ron is Aquilo."
"The Patils."
"Oh yeah! What are they, anyways?"
"Robins."
"Avis and Siva. Avis is a spell and Siva is just Avis backwards. We'll just all have to be careful not to say them while holding a wand."
"Okay."
"Write this down." Everyone pulled out paper.
"I'm Ailes, a Unisus, Mione's Greywing, a red-tailed hawk, Ginny's Redwing, a phoenix, Harry's Prongs, a stag, Fred's Pollux, a raccoon, George's Castor, also a raccoon, Alex's Rara, a squirrel, Ally's Ara, also a squirrel, Ron's Aquilo, a harpy eagle, Parvati's Avis, a robin, Padma's Siva, also a robin. Oh, I almost forgot Bill. He's a tawny owl, so he can be Mailman."
"I know it's weird, but I like it."
"You are not weird."
"Let's go swimming!" Ginny said. "Who's with me?"
*~*~*
Ginny loved starting the day with a nice swim. The warmish water of the lake made her cheerful for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by the arrival of several owls.
"Your letters," Rose said as one barely missed her coffee.
Ginny sorted through the mass of letters the owls had dropped on the table and found hers. She pulled it out of Ron's hand and slit open the seal.
She looked through her supply list for this year and was surprised at her Standard Book of Spells. It wasn't grade 6, it was grade 7. She looked through the paragraphs at the top of the page, which she noticed were longer than usual.
She shrieked and clapped her hand over her mouth. She felt a familiar red flush creeping up her neck.
"Ginny, what is it?" Harry asked her, alarmed.
She silently handed him the letter and pointed to the spot she had been at. Everyone else leaned over his shoulder. When they had finished digesting the information, he handed it back to Ginny, who promptly began memorizing it. It read:
Dear Ms. Weasly,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been advanced to the seventh year due to your outstanding performance on the Hogwarts O.W.L.s.
We discussed this with your parents and agreed that since you seemed to be bored with your current curriculum, this was the best thing to do. The following is a list of the books and other supplies you will need for your seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Good luck!
"That's great, Ginny!" Ron said.
Ginny was stunned. She pulled a second piece of parchment from the envelope stating the number of O.W.L.s she earned.
All of them.
She'd gotten a perfect score on every single one of the Hogwarts O.W.L.s. Some of the hardest tests in the world.
"Now I wanna go shopping!" she announced.
"I need new books," Hermione said. She had finished Extremely Ancient Runes.
"I need out of the house," Rose declared. "Shopping trip! Girls get dressed! Sirius, you and Bill can watch the twins. If I come back hearing them cooing 'Padfoot,' you will be in trouble."
Sirius grinned evilly. Ginny noticed the crossed fingers behind his back and held back a giggle.
"Mione, let's match."
"Sure."
Hermione and Ginny shared clothes, as Ginny was pretty tall for her age. They shared a room whenever Ginny visited. Rose and Bill had adopted Hermione.
"How about the pastel baby tees and the jean shorts?" Hermione suggested. She was very good at picking out clothes and knew numerous spells to reveal your perfect color, makeup, hairdo, shoes, and many other things.
"Okay. You wear the pink and I wear the baby blue."
"Sure."
They changed quickly into their clothes, put on makeup and grabbed their purses. They met Rose in the foyer.
"Have everything?" she asked.
"Yes," they said in unison.
"Than let's go."
*~*~*
Harry shook his head as the girls bounded out of the kitchen and went back to his letter. His was slightly thicker, too, and lumpy. He tipped it over onto the table, and a silver badge fell onto the table facedown.
He picked it up and looked at the front. His eyes got big.
"Sirius! Ron!" he yelled.
They came rushing over to his side of the table and took a look at what the badge said.
Head Boy.
"Harry, that's great!" Sirius said. "Head Boy and Quidditch Captain! Just like your dad. You've got a guaranteed great job when you graduate."
"Who's Head Girl?" Ron asked.
"It'll be in the letter," Sirius told him.
Harry and Ron immediately made a mad dash for the letter. Harry got it first. He opened it and read out loud.
"Congratulations on being chosen as Head Boy for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, blah, blah, blah.here it is! You will be sharing the newly constructed Prefect House with the Head Girl, another Gryffindor."
He paused to annoy everyone.
"Harry!"
"Okay, okay! Hermione Granger."
The boys yelled and rushed to catch Hermione. Harry laughed and read the rest of the letter.
"The prefects for this year are Virginia Weasly and Ronald Weasly for Gryffindor, Terry Boot and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw, Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley for Hufflepuff, and Dudley Durseley and Erin O'Connell for Slytherin."
He went white. The newly returned girls and all the boys noticed.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked. "You just became Head Boy!"
"Who are the new Gryffindor prefects, anyways?" Ron asked. He took the letter and whooped. "Hah! Take that, Mum!" Then he noticed the Slytherin prefects. "We'll be in the same house as them?"
Harry nodded. Rose went just as pale as him. Harry understood why.
Erin O'Connell was the daughter of the man who had abused Rose when Rose was ten years old. She was also the heir to Voldemort's sister, Lucretia Diabolique. Dudley Durseley had helped his father when Harry's uncle beat Harry up. He had been sorted into Slytherin just the last year.
"I thought he was dead," Rose whispered. "Lucretia Diabolique said they'd kill him."
"Well, they haven't. And now Ron, Hermione and I have to spend a year in the same house as him."
"A tip: come home for every holiday you can."
"Obviously, Rose."
"Padfoot's going to drive me insane."
Harry smiled weakly.
"Oh come on, Harry," Ron said. "We'll stay around you. Brute force can always be blocked by a few charms."
"And Lupin's doing defense this year. As in, against other wizards. Plus from what Mother and Father have told me, Dudley's the worst wizard or witch in the school. Including the first years. But I would advise keeping a lot of people around you this year. We wouldn't want the scout seeing you all bloodied up."
"Scout?" Harry asked curiously.
Rose looked surprised. "I thought they'd told you. A scout from the British Quidditch team is going to be watching all the practices and games this year. Half the team's retiring after the next Cup."
"Oh no."
"Harry, you're a brilliant captain. You're bound to get on the team."
"Right. Yeah right."
"You won the Inter-House Cup 350-100 last year! Plus you snapped O'Connell's toe."
He smiled. "Thanks. But I'm serious. I'm going for a few rounds on my Firebolt."
"Me too," Ginny said.
"Where's my Firebolt?" Ron said.
Rose and the American National Team had bought Firebolts for the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team last year.
"Don't forget me," Hermione said.
"Oh, Harry," Rose called as he left for his Firebolt, "There are a few people there you might want to meet."
She glanced meaningfully at Fred and George, who perked up and ran for their Firebolts (birthday presents from the Americans).
*~*~*
Hermione, Harry, Ron, Fred, George and Ginny stared up at the two circling figures on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. Hermione put two fingers in her mouth and whistled.
The two people looked down and went into a steep dive, nearly plowing into the ground.
But they didn't, they were international standard players.
"Alex!" Fred yelled.
"Ally!" George yelled.
They hugged. Alexa and Alice Bernard were two short, rather stocky blondes with hair cascading halfway down their backs. They both had identical turquoise blue eyes.
"Missed you," the Bernards said.
"I didn't see how the quarter-finals vs. England game went," George said.
"Won it!" Ally cheered.
"The semis?"
"Won it!"
"The Cup?"
"Won it!"
"You won against Ireland?! Why didn't you tell?"
"I didn't get a chance."
"I'm going for a couple laps," Hermione announced.
"Me too," Ron, Harry, and Ginny said in unison.
They took off and went up to about fifty feet before they started talking.
*I had to find some excuse to get up here,* Harry said.
*I want on the National Team!*
*Don't us all?*
*Obviously.*
*Who do you think might make it, Harry?*
*I have no idea. You?*
*You.*
*Ron! Fat chance of that!*
*No, really!* he insisted. *You've never lost a game!*
*Hufflepuff,* he said gloomily. *Remember Hufflepuff in third year?*
*That wasn't your fault.*
*Whatever.*
*Hey, who's that?*
They looked down. There was another person on the field, a tall, brunette woman. The four Gryffindors landed to take a better look.
She was just introducing herself. "Hello. I am Daniela Johansen from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. I will be observing the Hogwarts Quidditch teams this upcoming year for recruits for the British team."
"Fred Weasly."
"George Weasly."
"Alex Bernard."
"Alice Bernard."
She noticed the four seventh years and immediately looked up at Harry's scar. "Daniela Johansen, Mr. Potter, pleased to meet you." She looked at Ron and the girls. "And who might you be?"
"I'm Hermione Granger, Harry's cousin," Hermione introduced herself. "I play Chaser for Gryffindor. This is Virginia Weasly, Keeper, and Ronald Weasly, Chaser."
"I heard about your spectacular win of the inter-house cup last year," she said eagerly. "I was wondering who taught you how to Feint like that?"
"My sister," Harry explained. "She played Seeker for the American team for three years."
Daniela Johansen perked up immediately. "Your sister is Rosemary Potter?"
"The one and only."
"Is it true that she lives in Hogsmeade?"
"The Shrieking Shack. She fixed it up two years ago."
"Would she mind if I went to meet her?"
"Most likely not. Hold on." Harry checked his watch. "The twins might be napping, though."
Ms. Johansen's eyebrows furrowed. "Twins?"
Hermione sighed. "Her twin children. Lillian Molly Potter and James Arthur Potter."
"She's married?"
"Yes. To my brother, Bill Weasly," Ron said.
"Where exactly is the Shrieking Shack?"
"Here, we'll show you."
The nine set off for Hogsmeade.
*~*~*
Rose had just collapsed on the couch to take a nap (she had just put the twins down for theirs) when the doorbell rang.
"Oh, for the love of Pete," she muttered.
She rolled off the overstuffed couch and answered the door. Her brother, cousin, three brothers-in-law, two friends, sister-in-law, and a tall brown- haired woman she didn't recognize were standing on her porch.
"Daniela Johansen," the brunette said, holding out her hand. "Assistant Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."
She looked quite breathless. Rose smiled.
"Come in, come in," she said warmly, holding the door open. "But try to be rather quiet. James and Lily are napping."
Her various relatives and friends made themselves right at home, sprawling across couches and chairs. Daniela Johansen simply sat primly on a hard wood chair.
"So this is your home?" she said, looking around. "It's amazing what you've done with the place. How many other people live with you?"
Rose paused to count on her fingers. "Daddy, Harry, Mione, Bill, James, and Lily. Six. And there are usually various Weaslys hanging around."
"You live with Sirius Back?!"
"You don't keep up with the news much, do you? He's innocent. Pardoned two years ago."
"Oh, yeah."
"You weren't a Hufflepuff by any chance, were you?"
"Don't dis Hufflepuffs!" Ally called from the sitting room.
Alex and Ally were half Hufflepuff, half Ravenclaw. Ally was the Hufflepuff.
"As a matter of fact, I was a Ravenclaw," Daniela Johansen said.
"Go Ravens!" Alex yelled.
"Shut up and stop eavesdropping, Bernard!" Rose called back.
"They're the Alexa and Alice Bernard?"
"Yeah." She paused to shut the door. "Why are you here in Hogsmeade, anyways?"
"I've got to book a room somewhere near Hogwarts. I'm observing the teams for recruits."
"Oh! You know, there's a great place near here, the Golden Phoenix. Two of my brothers-in-law own it. It's really cheap, they only started last year. But the rooms are great. And you'll be able to observe plenty of Hogwarts students there; it's sort of a haven on visits."
"Perfect! Who do I make arrangements with?"
"Fred and George Weasly."
Daniela Johansen left for the sitting room to talk to the twins. Rose sighed and decided to escape for a bit.
She wrote a note saying she had gone up to Hogwarts for a bit and left it on the kitchen table. After making sure that the note was visible, she stopped in front of the portrait of the entire Potter family, an exact copy of the one outside her rooms at Hogwarts, and whispered, "Ailes and Prongs." Her parents smiled and the portrait swung aside.
Beyond the portrait was a long stone passageway lit by torches every ten feet or so. Rose took out her wand and muttered, "Lumos." The tip of her willow, unicorn hair wand lit up, revealing the space between torches.
The long tunnel sloped upward and downward a few times before Rose saw a large patch of cloth right ahead. She walked through it and into her Hogwarts rooms.
She was in her memories room, where she always exited her personal passageway. The tapestry she had gone through was of a Unisus dancing in a forest.
The entire room was decorated in shades of gray and blue. There were tables everywhere, filled with things. Jewelry, toys, clothes, music boxes, nearly everything imaginable. There was a comfy couch in the middle of the room.
Rose kneeled in front of one of the tables and picked up a small redwood box. She opened it, revealing a small mirror, a plain silver ring, a rowan twig, a gold ring with a ruby lion, a matching necklace, a tiny gold ring with a rose on it, and a Celtic cross.
Rose stroked the gold satin and red velvet interior of the box. A distant voice began to sing.
"But in dreams, I still hear your name, and in dreams, we will meet again."
Rose sang along with her mother's voice softly, so she could still hear it. She fingered the items in the box. The silver ring. Her ring for the Gold level Phoenixes. Harry's was gold. The rowan twig. A gift from her mother on her fifth birthday. It was a good luck charm, and a conductor of magic. The gold ring with the lion on it, and the matching necklace. Her mother's wedding ring and the necklace she wore on her wedding day. The rose ring. A Christmas present from her mother the Christmas Rose was five. The Celtic cross necklace. Her mother's. Dumbledore had given it to Bill, and Bill had given it to Rose last Christmas.
She shut the music box and picked up a long, lacy white wedding dress with gold trim and a matching veil. They had been her mother's, too, and Rose had worn them when she married Bill. It had taken her hours to repair the rips and holes it had gotten when Voldemort kidnapped her the first time.
Rose picked up a silver and gold baby rattle. She smiled. The Marauders had bought it for her mother when Rose was born as a joke. She put that down and went to a table holding only a single Muggle tape. She tapped it twice with her wand, and a projection folded out into the middle of the air. Rose settled down on the couch to watch.
It was the day before Halloween. She was six and Harry was one. The day before Voldemort came.
A six-year-old Rose was sitting on the couch reading. James Potter sr., Sirius, and Lupin were playing with Harry on the carpet. Lily Potter sr. and Sarah Black, Sirius's twin sister, were reading next to Rose.
"Harry, say Padfoot," Sirius demanded. "Say Padfoot."
"Stop it, Sirius," Lily said.
"Sirius! Leave Harry alone!" his sister demanded.
She put down the book, revealing long, thick black hair that cascaded all the way to her knees. Her eyes were pale blue and currently flashing annoyance at her brother.
"Grow up, Padfoot," she said in disgust.
"Pa foo," baby Harry said.
Sirius laughed and changed into a dog, making Harry laugh.
"Pet doggy! Pet doggy!" he demanded.
Sirius in dog form came bounding up to Harry and licked his face, making Harry laugh again.
"Sirius, you are so immature! Grow up!" his sister said.
"Sirius Jonathon Black, you'd better not make my baby sick," Lily warned.
"I wanna play with Harry," little Rose announced.
She slid off the couch and pulled Sirius forcefully away from her brother. She picked up Harry and sat down with him on the couch.
"Let's get you away from Uncle Sirius, hm?" she said.
"Pa foo!" Harry said again.
Lily looked at the camera. "Peter, turn it off."
The picture stopped. Rose took a deep breath and picked up the next tape, labeled October 31, 1981. She tapped it.
It was only her parents, Harry, herself, and Sarah there. Rose was playing with Sarah and Lily was playing with Harry. Her father was talking to Professor Dumbledore in the fireplace.
"We'll be fine, Professor," he was saying. "Sirius is completely trustworthy. Nothing would make him betray us."
"It's not him," Dumbledore said. "It's- oh, never mind."
The head disappeared. James Potter went to play with Harry, transforming into a stag. Harry giggled.
"Wide! Wanna wide!" he demanded.
Lily rolled her eyes and lifted him up onto James's back. Harry grabbed onto the stag's antlers and James ran around the room a few times, Harry laughing madly.
"James, give him here," Lily said.
"Aw."
He handed him to her. Just then, the door burst open.
Rose shut her eyes tight. That was the problem with wizard tapes. They projected into your mind. She was still able to watch.
"Sarah, Lily, go hide, I'll hold them off!" James called.
Sarah grabbed Rose and Lily grabbed Harry. They split up in different directions.
To Rose, it looked like she was watching multiple screens. She was watching Sarah carrying her into her room and watching her mother carry Harry into his nursery. A Death Eater went after Sarah, one stayed at the door, and Voldemort himself went to take care of Harry.
Rose watched, horrified, as Lucius Malfoy murdered Sarah Black. He turned his wand on herself, next, but the curse rebounded, hitting Lucius in the forehead and knocking him unconscious. Rose was now watching Voldemort killing her mother. She blocked the picture and turned it off.
"Why do I watch that?" she muttered to herself. "It always gets me shaken up for days.
"So you'll learn to deal with it."
She whirled. "Father!" she yelled.
Severus Snape was standing next to the table holding her music box.
"How did you get in here?" she demanded furiously.
"Change your password more often."
"I don't bother because everyone I know respects my privacy!"
"That's nice." He sat down on the other end of the couch. "I wanted to check up on you."
"Don't lie to a partial empath. Why are you here?"
Rose and Harry had some of every Gold power.
Snape gave his goddaughter the Death Stare. "I wanted to show you the Daily Prophet."
He handed her the newspaper. She gasped at the headline.
WITCH AND WIZARD FOUND MURDERED
DARK MARK OVER HOUSE
Beneath was a picture of a fairly large house with the Dark Mark floating over it. Rose glanced at her godfather in disbelief.
"That's the Patils, is it?" she asked fearfully.
He nodded.
"Oh my God!"
She read the rest of the article.
"Early this morning, July thirtieth, two bodies were found in the house located at 193 Rowena's Haven. They are the bodies of Charlotte and George Patil. The cause of death is certain to be the Unforgivable Curse, Avada Kedavra. The Dark Mark was found over the house. The two who found the bodies happen to be none other than the pair's children, Padma and Parvati Patil. They had apparently been packing for a trip to a friend's house when they heard a loud bang and saw a flash of green light. They found the bodies of their parents lying on the floor, the door broken down."
Rose looked away from the paper.
"I'm going to get them," she said firmly.
Snape didn't argue. He had learned that it was completely futile; she'd just set a few of his things on fire.
"They're still at the house. The Ministry is interviewing them. So are about fifty other people."
"I've got to get the others first."
She disappeared with a loud pop.
*~*~*
Harry was admiring his Head Boy badge and Hermione was polishing away a spot on hers.
"I want to see it!" Ron whined.
"Go polish your prefect badge," Harry told him.
He had to admit, he was sounding somewhat like Percy Weasly.
"It is a great responsibility, Harry," he was saying soberly.
He had been saying things like that for the past half hour. Harry had just been ignoring it.
They suddenly heard a loud pop in the kitchen.
"Who's there?" Fred called.
"Me," Rose said, bustling into the sitting room. "Look at this."
She tossed a newspaper to Harry.
"When do we go?" he asked.
"Now. Here's the Floo powder. It's Patil Manor."
She held up a ceramic pot filled with Floo powder. Harry took a fistful and threw it into the fire. He stepped into it.
"Patil Manor!" he said.
He felt himself whooshing past dozens of other fireplaces, careful to keep his elbows in. He nearly fell over when he stopped.
He was in a large sitting room. There were hundreds of people there in Ministry robes. Harry stepped out to look for the Patil twins' long, thick black hair.
"Parvati?" he called. "Padma?"
A Ministry member stopped him. "Who are you?"
Harry casually brushed back his bangs, as if wiping sweat from his forehead. "Friend of the deceased," he explained. "I'm looking for their daughters, Padma and Parvati."
The wizard's eyes widened as he saw the scar on Harry's head. Just then, the others came in.
"Where are they?" Rose asked.
"Who are all you people?"
*Brush back your bangs,* Harry told his sister mentally.
She did so. "We're friends of Padma and Parvati."
"You're the Potters and the Weaslys, eh?" the man said. "They seemed quite anxious to see you. Don't have a Seamus Finnigan or a Dean Thomas, do ya?"
"They haven't been notified yet. Where are they?"
The Ministry man pointed at a shut door. Rose beat everyone else to it and knocked.
"Come in," one twin's voice said.
Rose turned the handle and pushed it open.
"Padma?" she said gently. "Parvati?"
"Oh, hello," Padma said weakly.
She was sitting on a chair, her sister's arm around her neck. Both twins' faces were stained with tears.
"We've been waiting for you," Parvati said.
"I read about it in the Prophet," Rose explained. "I'm so sorry."
"Thanks. We've been trying to find some close relative somewhere for us to stay with."
"Where will you be staying until then?"
"Here, I suppose."
Rose looked horrified. "Do you want to stay here?!"
"No," Parvati said. "But we don't have any close relatives."
"You've got lots of friends," Rose said. "We'd be happy to take you."
"Do you have enough room for any more?" Padma asked.
"Of course," Rose said. "My in-laws are the Weaslys. My guest rooms are therefore uncountable."
The twins smiled. "How soon can we leave?"
"Where are your things?"
*~*~*
They had the Patils situated in about half an hour. Rose served everyone a large lunch.
"How's your summer been going?" Parvati asked. She was desperately trying to be cheerful.
"We met the woman from the Department of Magical Games and Sports who's going to watch us this year. She's looking for recruits for the British team."
"How'd the Cup go?"
"America won!!!"
From the Bernards, of course. They were pretty close friends with the Patils.
"That's great."
"Want to stay with us?" Ally asked.
"Where are you staying?"
"Fred and George's."
"Cool! We're there!"
The Bernards grabbed the Patils' suitcases and Flooed to the Weaslys'. The Patils followed.
"I swear, those girls are miracle workers," Rose said.
Harry agreed.
"It took me weeks to get over my parents," Hermione said.
"I'm going to my room, okay?" Rose said.
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked.
Harry could tell something wasn't right, too. He was partially empathic. He had also gotten to know his sister very well.
"Just a little headache."
"All right," Ginny said doubtfully.
Rose climbed the stairs to her and Bill's room.
*~*~*
Rose curled into a tiny ball on her bed. She hadn't been telling the whole truth. She did have a headache. But it wasn't exactly little.
She pressed her fingers to her temples, willing the excruciating pain in her head to go away. It didn't.
*~*~*
Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione listened for the sound of the Patils' shoes on the steps to the house to die away.
"Are they gone yet?" Ron whispered loudly.
"Shh!" the others hushed him.
"Yes, they are!" Hermione said.
"Where's Hedwig?" Ginny asked.
"In my room," Harry whispered back.
"Come on!"
The four tiptoed to Harry's room and opened the door to Hedwig's cage. She hooted gratefully. Ginny snatched up a piece of parchment from Harry's desk and a quill and began a quick note.
Dean and Seamus-
We've got the Patils and if you ever want to see them again Floo to Potter House at six tonight. Aren't we funny! ;-)
The Potters and the Weaslys
Ginny pulled out her wand and duplicated the letter, than gave one to Hedwig and the other to Harry's phoenix, James, who was also in the room. Harry had trained him to carry letters.
"Hedwig, this one's for Seamus, James, this is for Dean," Ginny told the two birds as she tied the letters to their feet.
Hedwig hooted and James whistled. They flew out the window together.
"I'm going to the library," Hermione announced.
"Me too," Ginny said.
The boys stared at her.
"What?" she said. "I'm the only Hogwarts student ever to skip a year. I have to have some preparation for seventh year."
"Oh," Harry said, relieved. "For a second there I thought you were going over to the Bookworm's side."
"Be careful, cousin," Hermione said, smacking him lightly on the arm. "I've got the highest Standard Book of Spells currently available and I've got it memorized. So watch your back."
"Save me!" Harry said.
Hermione smacked him again and skipped down the stairs to the library.
*~*~*
Dean and Seamus arrived that night. Padma and Parvati were thrilled. Rose complained that she needed to build an entire new wing of the house to accommodate all the guests. Everyone ignored her. She had been rather cranky for a while now.
At least, they ignored her until sometime in late August.
They were all getting ready to shop for their school supplies. The girls, Ginny, Hermione, Padma, and Parvati had all gathered in Hermione's large room to "prepare."
"We have to look our best," Parvati explained. "This is our last year. We have to make a lasting impression on the minds of our peers."
"Do you think I need to lose weight?" Hermione asked.
"No!" Ginny assured her.
"Mione, analyze me," Padma pleaded.
"Okay," Hermione agreed.
Padma stood in front of the mirror and turned slowly.
"Well, your hair is getting a little out of control. I know a few good charms to take care of that. One of the Bernards can do them. You have a nice figure, a nice face, you're basically set."
"What about me?" Padma asked.
"What do you think? You're identical."
"Do me," Ginny said.
"Okay."
Ginny copied Padma and turned in front of the mirror.
"You have a good figure, and your arms look perfectly muscled. Not too much, not too little."
"Hello. I play Quidditch."
"Point taken. Let's see.your nose is nice, eyes a good color, mouth good. Your hair's a perfect color, but it's starting to split at the ends."
"Really? Oh no!"
"The Bernards are really good at doing hair. They do makeup, too. You should use some; your face is getting kind of pale."
"Is that it?"
"That's it. Do me."
"All right," Ginny said awkwardly.
She watched Hermione turn in front of the mirror.
"Your hair is still a little bushy, but I know a few people who could fix that. You've got the Evans nose, so it is therefore perfect, you have a perfect figure, and as I said, you do NOT need to lose weight. You use makeup, so your face looks perfect."
"So a haircut and makeup for Ginny, and a new hairdo for Mione. Let's go get clothes!"
The girls cheered and dove into the pile of robes on the floor. In the end, they decided to match. They each wore short jean shorts and a low-cut, strapless tank top. The tank tops were all in different colors. Padma's was blue with orange stripes, Parvati's was red with yellow stripes, Ginny's was white with black stripes, and Hermione's was spring green with pink stripes. They were wearing island-style sandals.
Once they had finished dressing, they went to find Alex and Ally. They were, for once, away from Fred and George.
"Can you make us pretty?" Parvati asked breathlessly. They had run down the stairs rather quickly.
"If you mean hair and makeup, sure," Ally said.
"I'll do Hermione and Padma," Alex said.
"Then I'll do Ginny and Parvati," Ally said.
They did Hermione and Ginny first. Ginny watched Alex working on Hermione's hair. First she brushed through and washed it out. Then she grew it out about three inches and put lots of Sleakeazy's on it. The last thing she did was go through it and curl it all into perfect ringlets. She put makeup on her and painted her nails with alternating spring green and pink stripes.
Ginny gasped. "Mione, you look awesome!"
"You're done," Ally said in a singsong voice.
Ginny looked in the mirror and was shocked at what she saw.
Her hair wasn't down to her waist anymore. It went to the middle of her back. It looked a little lighter, too. It wasn't in ringlets, but it was curling softly. She was wearing makeup and alternating black and white nail polish.
The Patils gasped when they saw them.
"Ohmigosh you two look awesome!" they shrieked.
"Your turn," Alex said, grinning.
The twins ran over. Ginny and Hermione laughed.
"Let's go find the boys," Hermione said.
It didn't take long. They were lounging around the sitting room, doing last- minute homework.
"Hello, Harry," Ginny said.
"Hello, Ron," Hermione said at the same time.
The boys looked up from their parchment and gaped.
"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron said. "Who did that?"
"The Bernards," she said smugly, sliding onto his lap. "Do you like it?"
"I love it!"
"Your hair looks really good like that, Ginny," Harry said. "They did your makeup, too?"
"Yeah. They're really good. I'm going to find Rose and show her. Wonder if she wants it too." She turned to leave, and then remembered something. "Oh, Dean, Seamus. They're doing the same thing to Padma and Parvati."
They scrambled off the couch and ran to the room Ginny had come from.
Ginny laughed.
*~*~*
Harry was still staring at his girlfriend.
I am the luckiest guy in the world, he thought. She's smart, she's cute, she's fun, she's cute, she's skilled, she's cute, she's powerful, she's cute, she's kind, she's cute, she's empathic, and she's cute.
He snapped out of it. Ginny was saying she was going to find Rose. The mention of Harry's sister made his scar hurt. He almost rubbed it, but then realized that Ginny would notice and ask.
"Okay," he heard himself say.
Ginny went to the library to find Rose.
Harry suddenly noticed that the twins were crying. Apparently, they had woken up from their nap. He went to get them.
The two babies looked up at him with their identical green eyes so much like their mother's and his own. Those eyes creeped him out sometimes. He hoped that his kids would have blue eyes, like their mum.
He mentally shook himself and picked up the twins. They still kept crying.
Funny, Harry thought. They really can pick up on how you feel. And right now, Harry's scar was itching and he was getting a bad feeling again. The last time he'd gotten that feeling, it was when Lord Voldemort had kidnapped Bill, Rose, James and Lily. He quickly walked back to the sitting room with the twins in his arms.
The others looked uneasy, too. The newly made up twins were rubbing the kneecap they had broken when they were young. The Bernards were nervously tapping things.
Ginny came rushing back into the room.
"She's unconscious!" she cried.
They followed Ginny back to the library, where they found Rose unconscious on one of the chairs. Bill picked her up easily.
"She's lost too much weight," he said grimly.
He lifted up her shirt a little, revealing the fact that her hip bones were showing and so was her entire ribcage.
"Come on. We have to get her to St. Mungo's."
They silently followed him.
*~*~*
The St. Mungo's doctors announced that Rose was in a coma an hour later, then told them she was not going to come back anytime soon.
They ignored this not-so-subtle hint and kept pestering the doctors until they were thrown out. They glumly shopped for their school supplies, glumly agreed to spend the remaining week of the summer at the Weaslys, and glumly boarded the Hogwarts Express on September 1.
Neville had decided to join them in their compartment.
"Guess what I heard?" he said eagerly. "I heard that there's a new girl."
That got everyone's attention.
"Where's she from?"
"Do you know her name?"
"What year is she in?"
"Her name is Jessica Katherine Rawson. She's sixteen, so she's a sixth year. Transferred from Durmstrang."
"She's a Slytherin," Harry said immediately.
"Duh," Dean said.
"Shut up, Dean!" everyone chorused.
"Hey, where are Mione and Ron?" Ginny asked, suddenly realized that the two loudest in that particular cheer weren't there.
"I dunno," Seamus shrugged.
"Do you want to go look for them?" Harry asked Ginny.
"Sure. You want to come?"
"Okay."
They walked out of the car quietly and went to the second to last car.
"Thanks, Gin," Harry sighed.
"They were starting to annoy me, too." Ginny sighed too. "I miss her, Harry. It seems so strange without her coming with us for our first day."
"I know."
Harry pulled his girlfriend into a hug. Ginny felt her heart beating faster and faster as he held her close. She looked up at him, suddenly realizing how tall he had become, though still shorter than her brothers.
He brought her lips down onto hers and they kissed.
Unknown to them, a certain other couple were doing the same thing in the last car.
::cough cough Ron Hermione!::
*~*~*
The rest of the trip to Hogwarts passed without event, unless you count Neville throwing up his vomit-flavored Bertie Bott's.
Harry waved to Hagrid as he swung down off the train, Ginny on his arm. The other boys stared at him, amazed. Harry imagined they were thinking, Who's that with Potter? She looks a little like a Weasly, but hot dang, she got a makeover.
She smiled at Harry and kissed him briefly on the lips.
"This year is going to be really fun, Harry," she whispered.
He escorted her to the carriages. Hermione and Ron got into the same one. They talked about the rumors they had heard about this Jessica Katherine Rawson.
"Colin Creevey saw him," Ron said. "He says she's got brown hair and gray eyes."
"Sounds like a Slytherin," Harry said.
"Don't be prejudiced," Hermione told him.
"Okay."
They sat in silence until they got to the Great Hall. There was a great buzz as the new students came in.
"That has got to be her," Ginny muttered to Harry, discreetly nodding at a taller girl than the rest, obviously sixteen or fifteen.
The Sorting began.
"Joseph Atwood!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Kristina Bowerty!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Emily Crotchet!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Malcolm Detts!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
On and on it went, until finally.
"Jessica Rawson!"
The tall brunette nervously stepped forward and placed the hat on her head. It seemed to be thinking hard, but then a sudden realization reached it and it said-
"SLYTHERIN!"
Scattered applause was heard. None from the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore stood up for his yearly announcements.
"I would like to welcome you back to Hogwarts for the 1997-1998 school year!" Dumbledore said. "I have a list of this year's prefects and Heads, and here they are. Please come forward when your name is called. Our Hufflepuff prefects will be Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hannah Abbott. For Ravenclaw, Terry Boot and Padma Patil. For Gryffindor, Ron Weasly and Virginia Weasly. For Slytherin, Dudley Durseley and Erin O'Connell."
The Gryffindors gaped at Dudley. Really, everyone did. He was actually thin. Well, not thin, just he didn't require two chairs anymore. Erin looked pleased with herself.
"And lastly, our new Heads, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."
The Gryffindors clapped furiously. There was moderate applause from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but none from Slytherin. Harry saw Hermione beaming and smiled a bit himself.
"And please let me introduce Ms. Daniela Johansen from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. She will be watching the Quidditch teams perform, looking for recruits for the British team. And finally, let me introduce Ms. Jessica Katherine Rawson, who has just transferred here from Durmstrang. Please make her feel welcome. Now, I am sure you have now gotten tired of my idle talk and would like to eat!"
The plates suddenly filled with food and the students dug in. There wasn't much worthy to discuss.
After dinner, Professor McGonagall came to show them the newly built Prefect House. The entrance to it was a statue of the four Hogwarts founders.
"Password?" Rowena Ravenclaw asked.
"Selamin," Professor McGonagall said.
The statue stepped aside, revealing a huge common room with an arched ceiling. There were overstuffed couches for each person, with a blanket in their house colors and labeled with their name. There was a door in one corner marked Library. McGonagall explained that that wasn't the main library; it was a personal one, a copy of a private collection in Hogsmeade. Harry smiled, knowing exactly whose collection it was.
There was a spiral staircase leading up to their rooms. The doors were labeled with their names, houses, and year. Inside there was a king-sized four-poster bed, a desk, walk-in closet, personal bathroom, and dresser. The entire room was decorated in your house color.
The bathroom was the size of a small Muggle rec center. There was a bath tub the size of a swimming pool ten feet deep at the deepest and one at the shallowest, complete with high dive. Harry was amazed.
After looking around his room a bit and putting away his things, he went down to the common room to just sit for a while.
The only person also there was Ginny. She was sitting on a couch close to the fire, her blanket spread over her knees. She was staring at the merrily dancing flames.
"Gin?" Harry said softly.
She started. "Oh, hello Harry. I didn't know you were down here."
"What's wrong?"
"How did you know?"
"You're not the only empath around here."
"That's right."
She curled up a bit more. "I'm worried about my brothers."
Harry sat down on the couch next to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Which?"
"All of them. I'm worried for Bill because of Rose. He's been really depressed ever since then. I'm worried about Ron because of his annoying tendency to get into trouble, like Voldemort trouble. I'm worried about the twins and Charlie just because, well, something just doesn't feel right. And I'm worried about Percy because he's starting to really reach some high levels at the Ministry. He's getting really.power-hungry. It scares me. You know he's running for Minister of Magic against Daddy?"
"No, I didn't."
"Well, he is. And he's starting to completely forget about his family. He never comes home anymore. He's moved in with his fiancé, Penelope Clearwater. I'm afraid he's going to go over to Voldemort, Harry," she whimpered.
He pulled her onto his lap. "It's all right, Gin. I'll always be here for you to talk to."
"Oh, isn't this sweet," a cold voice said from behind them. "Potty and his little Weasel girlfriend."
Harry went pale. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. It was his sister's archenemy, Erin O'Connell. He knew before he turned around that her dark red crew cut would be tucked behind her ears, her brown eyes would be glaring at them, she would have her hand on Dudley's elbow, and she would have a smirk to rival a Malfoy's on her face.
"What do you want, O'Connell?" Harry struggled to control the anger in his voice.
"Just a little favor," she said. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Stay away from me and Dudley and any other Slytherin. Don't come near us. If you need us, we'll find you." She smirked again. "Bye-bye." She gave a sarcastic little wave and followed Dudley up to his room.
"Ooh, I hate her!" Ginny said furiously.
Harry stared at her eyes. "You know, when you're mad, your eyes go from brown to blue?"
She put her hand to her eye self-consciously. "Really?"
"Don't worry. It looks beautiful."
She brought her mouth up to his and their lips connected.
Ron and Hermione watched from the little balcony above the prefect commons, smothering laughs.
*~*~*
Ginny turned out to be taking Divination with Harry. He explained to her Trelawney's habit of predicting his death.
"How long do you think it'll take her this time?" Ron muttered to Harry.
"I bet five Galleons it'll take ten minutes or less," Harry said.
"No way. Fifteen," Ron said.
"I bet thirteen," Ginny said assuredly.
Ron rolled his eyes and privately said to Harry, *One of us has five Galleons already, and it's not Ginny.*
*I heard that! Ronald Weasly-*
*I know, I know.*
Professor Trelawney glided into the room.
"Welcome back to another year," she said. "I perceive that some of you have had quite tragic summers."
She looked meaningfully at Parvati, Ron, Ginny, and Harry. Harry, Ron and Ginny rolled their eyes.
*Like, who doesn't know about Parvati's parents? And Rose was all over the papers!*
"I am also afraid that some of you will also have quite unfortunate years."
She glanced at the four again. Parvati looked horrified, but the other three just rolled their eyes again.
*Duh,* Ron said.
"We will begin the year with tarot card reading. Here are your cards. There are instructions on how to use them enclosed under several cards."
She distributed decks of tarot cards with the Hogwarts crest on the back to every student. Harry began searching through the deck looking for the instructions. They were under the thirteenth card.
Professor Trelawney noticed and looked grim. "I feared that it was you that might receive that particular deck," she said softly.
Harry rolled his eyes at Ron and Ginny. Parvati and Lavender gave him a Look.
Harry began shuffling the deck and laying them out in the order shown on his instructions sheet. Professor Trelawney, who was still watching, came over.
"Let your Inner Eye guide you."
Harry's Inner Eye was obviously nearsighted, as Trelawney looked rather annoyed and snatched his deck.
"I will show you."
She quickly reshuffled the deck of cards and skillfully began laying them out on the table. She turned over the first card with great drama, and gasped at what she saw.
"Death," she whispered.
Ron accidentally lost control and let out a snort of laughter. Professor Trelawney glared at him and went to the next table. Ginny glanced at the clock.
"Thirteen minutes! You two owe me five Galleons!"
Harry started reshuffling his deck and started doling out his cards to try again. He drew the first card and nearly dropped it.
"What is it?" Ginny asked.
Of course. She had felt the emotion. He showed her the card. It was a picture of a seated Unisus with the name Ailes written under it.
"What does it mean?" he asked Ron, who had his book open.
Ron checked the page, and then double-checked. He looked up at Harry with wide eyes.
"It's not part of the deck," he whispered. "Harry, I think you may actually be telling what's happening with Rose."
Harry drew the next card. It was a skull and crossbones.
"What's that?"
"Illness."
"Well, that's right then."
The next card was a picture of a hawk with the name Greywing under it. That was Hermione's name and her favorite Animagus. The fourth card was medicine. The fifth was another Unisus with the name Ailes under it, but this one was dancing. The sixth card was a whole group of animals, magical and non-magical, dancing around the Unisus. The name under it was Order. The next card was a rat with the name Wormtail under the picture. The eighth card was Deceit. The cards went on like that for a while.
The second-to-last card was Attack. Harry glanced at his friends and reached for the final card.
The bell rang.
"Aw," Ginny moaned.
"Come on, it'll take us forever to get to Transfiguration," Ron said, pulling Harry's arm.
They ducked down from the trap door and ran all the way to Transfiguration. Harry wished he knew how to stop time; there were two minutes until the late bell rang and they still had six levels to go.
When they got to McGonagall's classroom, no one else was there, not even the Professor.
"What just happened?" Ginny said, looking around. "Why hasn't the bell rang, and where is everyone?"
Harry looked around. Suddenly two short, blonde figures came running into the classroom.
"Alex? Ally?" Ron said, staring at them.
"Yeah," Alex said. "Who do you know who can control time?"
Harry tried to recall who was the Gold who could mess with time?
"Oh!" he said suddenly. "So it was you!"
"Actually, you helped. You were wishing to stop time quite desperately; I just helped you."
"Why are you here?"
"You are just like your sister, you know that?"
"ALEX! Why are you two here?"
"Okay, okay! We're trying to figure out how to save Rose."
Harry's heart nearly stopped. "Save?"
"Yes," Ally said softly. The gentler of the two. "Save. Her vitals are starting to slip. Slowly, but still dropping. The doctors estimate that if it stays at this rate, she'll be gone in two weeks."
Please R/R! No flames please! If you check my Artemis Fowl fic chap. 2 you will know why not to!
Disclaimer: I only ever write this once. The only characters here that belong to me are Rose, Lily and James jr., Alex, Ally, Lucretia Diabolique, and Erin O'Connell. The rest belong to the talented, beautiful, kind, gentle, incredibly rich J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.
Lost in Darkness
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Potter House and Back to Hogwarts
"Harry! Breakfast!" Rose Potter called from the kitchen just below Harry's room.
Harry Potter put on his glasses and rolled out of bed. Yesterday he had wished he could wake up some morning from something other than his niece and nephew's screaming. Be careful what you wish for. It was seven a.m.
He stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen, where his sister Rose, cousin Hermione, girlfriend Ginny, and Mrs. Weasly were already waiting, looking alert and perfect.
"How can you be so cheerful at seven in the morning?" Harry grumbled.
"I'm not a morning person. I just had my French vanilla mocha already," Rose explained. "Have your breakfast."
She pointed to a plate loaded with French toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and omelet. Harry took his green plate. There was already a steaming cup of coffee at his place.
"With whipped cream?" Harry said, narrowing his eyes at Rose.
"Whipped cream," Hermione said absently. "I made it. Stirred into the mocha."
She was reading a book Rose had given her for her birthday, Extremely Ancient Runes. It looked quite dull to Harry, but his cousin was obviously fascinated with it.
"Daddy! Ron! Bill! Percy! Fred! George! Breakfast!" Rose called.
Immediately, Percy, Bill, Fred, George, Ron, and Sirius Black came bounding from their rooms into the kitchen. In that order. Well, the last two were more like plodding.
"Daddy, I wish you would learn how to get up at a decent time," Rose said disdainfully.
She always referred to Sirius as Daddy, as he was one of her godparents. Her other godparents were Professor Snape, who she called Father, Professor McGonagall, who she called Mother, and Madame Pomfrey, who she called Aunt Poppy.
"I'm used to waking up when Buckbeak bites my foot," he yawned. He nearly tripped over Rose's cat Godric and Hermione's cat Crookshanks (who was really an Animagus named Gretchen McGonagall, the Professor's sister) as they scampered under the table.
"Honestly, Gretchen," he said, staring at the cat. "Show some consideration."
She quickly transformed back into her normal human shape. "Please keep calling me Crookshanks." And changed back into Hermione's ginger cat.
Percy Weasly sat down at the kitchen table. "Good morning, Mrs. Potter," he greeted her stiffly.
"Rose, Percy, please!"
Percy had become much more pompous when he had been promoted to Head of his department.
"I'm so glad you could come to stay," Rose said. "It's such a shame that you couldn't all come. I know Mr. Weasly is busy with his campaign for Minister of Magic, but why couldn't Charlie come?"
"He's having trouble with a Norwegian Ridgeback that's growing in his adult teeth," Bill, Rose's husband, explained. "He's really depressed and won't respond to any name but one."
Ron snorted. "Yeah. 'Norbert.'"
Everyone but Rose and Sirius laughed.
"What's Norbert?" Rose asked curiously.
"Norwegian Ridgeback Hagrid got off somebody in a pub. He had to send it to a colony in Romania after Malfoy saw it." Harry said the name Malfoy like a curse.
Rose flinched at the name. She had a particular grudge against Lucius Malfoy. He was one of the Death Eaters who followed Voldemort into the Potter house. He was the one who killed Sirius's sister Sarah and tried to kill Rose. He had been killed last year, but his son, the heir to Voldemort, was still alive.
Harry was surprised to see that Sirius was picking at his food all of a sudden. Of course! Harry realized. Malfoy killed his sister.
They quickly dropped the subject. "How's school?" Sirius asked.
Ron groaned. "Oh shut up Ronnykins," Fred told him. "You got all your O.W.L.s and you also got to take them late."
This was because they had been attacked by Voldemort while everyone else was taking the O.W.L.s.
"Well, this year you've got N.E.W.T.s," Rose told them, pouring everyone more coffee. "And be glad you don't have to take them in America. According to everything I've heard Hogwarts tests are much easier. I wouldn't know since I took my O.W.L.s and my N.E.W.T.s at the Salem Witches Institute."
"Rose, where are the twins?" Ginny asked.
"Shh!" Rose hushed her, but they had already started crying. She sighed. "Oh well. It's seven thirty. They've been waking up at six."
She left to get the twins.
*~*~*
She lifted James Arthur Potter and Lillian Molly Potter out of their bassinet. They smiled when they saw their mother.
"Good morning, sunshines!" she told them. They giggled. "Come on; let's go see who's here! Grandma's here, and so are Uncle Fred and Uncle George and Uncle Percy, but you might not be too happy to see him."
James laughed, but Lily cooed and whimpered. Rose held her up against her shoulder and carried them into the kitchen.
"Oh, they're so cute!" Ginny and Hermione squealed.
Rose sort of ignored it. They had done this every morning since the twins were born. She would almost welcome the new school year.
"Raise your hand for Lily."
Ginny's hand went up first. Rose handed her the seven-month-old infant girl.
"James?"
Hermione dropped her book and raised her hand. Rose handed him to her.
"Wonder who he looks like," Harry said jokingly.
It was obvious, really. Both twins had had masses of hair for babies when they were born. James had messy black hair, and Lily's hair was auburn red. They had identical green eyes. In short, James looked like his grandfather James and his Uncle Harry, and Lily looked nearly identical to her grandmother with the same name and her mother.
"All right, breakfast for babies," Rose said. She handed a pastel green bottle to Hermione and a pink one to Ginny. The babies immediately bit down on them hard.
"Say Padfoot, James, say Padfoot," Sirius said.
"Daddy, stop it," Rose scolded. "They're seven months old."
"You talked when you were seven months old."
"No one does! You're lying!"
"Okay. You talked the same time you walked." "
"When was that?"
Ten months."
"Ten?!"
"You were advanced."
"Whatever."
She went back to systematically picking apart her scrambled eggs before eating them.
"Rosie darling, I hope you don't think those will be edible once you finish dissecting them," Bill told her.
Rose decided not to protest being called Rosie. "They will, I do this every morning."
"Hey, people," George said. Everyone hushed up to listen. "I know the Marauders' names. But what are the Phoenix's names?"
"Yeah! Let's make our own!" Fred agreed.
"Rose is Hornhead," Sirius said.
Rose's favorite Animagus, of which she had many, was a Unisus, a unicorn with wings. Her marking was always a lightning-bolt scar, the same with Harry.
"No," Rose disagreed. "Flower."
"Too dorky."
"Hey!"
"Stop it!" Hermione snapped. "How about Ailes or Chifre?"
"Huh?" Ron said.
"Honestly. Ailes is 'winged' and Chifre is 'horn.'"
"I like Ailes," Rose declared.
"I'm Prongs," Harry announced.
"No duh."
"What's Ginny's favorite?"
"Phoenix."
"How about Redwing?"
"Or Goldfeather?"
"I like Redwing," Ginny decided.
"I want to assign names!" Sirius whined.
"Shut up, Daddy. My job. Mione's a hawk. What kind is it?"
"Red-tailed."
"Greywing."
"Sure. What the heck."
"Ron's a harpy eagle, so what about.Aquilo."
"What's that?"
"Aquila is a bird genus, but the A makes it sound girly."
"Okay. Aquilo."
"So I'm Ailes, Mione's Greywing, Ginny's Redwing, Harry's Prongs, and Fred and George can be Castor and Pollux. What are you two, raccoons?"
"Those twins from the story? Sure. But I wanna be Castor," George said. "And yeah, raccoons."
"Fine. The Bernards are squirrels and they aren't here so I could be particularly evil in their names. But I think Rara and Ara."
"Huh?"
"They were nicknames I gave them. Rara and Ara are twins from this story a teacher told me when I was little. They were little squirrels who were particularly mischievous."
"Perfect."
"So I'm Ailes, Mione's Greywing, Ginny's Redwing, Harry's Prongs, Fred's Pollux, George's Castor, Alex is Rara, Ally is Ara and Ron is Aquilo."
"The Patils."
"Oh yeah! What are they, anyways?"
"Robins."
"Avis and Siva. Avis is a spell and Siva is just Avis backwards. We'll just all have to be careful not to say them while holding a wand."
"Okay."
"Write this down." Everyone pulled out paper.
"I'm Ailes, a Unisus, Mione's Greywing, a red-tailed hawk, Ginny's Redwing, a phoenix, Harry's Prongs, a stag, Fred's Pollux, a raccoon, George's Castor, also a raccoon, Alex's Rara, a squirrel, Ally's Ara, also a squirrel, Ron's Aquilo, a harpy eagle, Parvati's Avis, a robin, Padma's Siva, also a robin. Oh, I almost forgot Bill. He's a tawny owl, so he can be Mailman."
"I know it's weird, but I like it."
"You are not weird."
"Let's go swimming!" Ginny said. "Who's with me?"
*~*~*
Ginny loved starting the day with a nice swim. The warmish water of the lake made her cheerful for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by the arrival of several owls.
"Your letters," Rose said as one barely missed her coffee.
Ginny sorted through the mass of letters the owls had dropped on the table and found hers. She pulled it out of Ron's hand and slit open the seal.
She looked through her supply list for this year and was surprised at her Standard Book of Spells. It wasn't grade 6, it was grade 7. She looked through the paragraphs at the top of the page, which she noticed were longer than usual.
She shrieked and clapped her hand over her mouth. She felt a familiar red flush creeping up her neck.
"Ginny, what is it?" Harry asked her, alarmed.
She silently handed him the letter and pointed to the spot she had been at. Everyone else leaned over his shoulder. When they had finished digesting the information, he handed it back to Ginny, who promptly began memorizing it. It read:
Dear Ms. Weasly,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been advanced to the seventh year due to your outstanding performance on the Hogwarts O.W.L.s.
We discussed this with your parents and agreed that since you seemed to be bored with your current curriculum, this was the best thing to do. The following is a list of the books and other supplies you will need for your seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Good luck!
"That's great, Ginny!" Ron said.
Ginny was stunned. She pulled a second piece of parchment from the envelope stating the number of O.W.L.s she earned.
All of them.
She'd gotten a perfect score on every single one of the Hogwarts O.W.L.s. Some of the hardest tests in the world.
"Now I wanna go shopping!" she announced.
"I need new books," Hermione said. She had finished Extremely Ancient Runes.
"I need out of the house," Rose declared. "Shopping trip! Girls get dressed! Sirius, you and Bill can watch the twins. If I come back hearing them cooing 'Padfoot,' you will be in trouble."
Sirius grinned evilly. Ginny noticed the crossed fingers behind his back and held back a giggle.
"Mione, let's match."
"Sure."
Hermione and Ginny shared clothes, as Ginny was pretty tall for her age. They shared a room whenever Ginny visited. Rose and Bill had adopted Hermione.
"How about the pastel baby tees and the jean shorts?" Hermione suggested. She was very good at picking out clothes and knew numerous spells to reveal your perfect color, makeup, hairdo, shoes, and many other things.
"Okay. You wear the pink and I wear the baby blue."
"Sure."
They changed quickly into their clothes, put on makeup and grabbed their purses. They met Rose in the foyer.
"Have everything?" she asked.
"Yes," they said in unison.
"Than let's go."
*~*~*
Harry shook his head as the girls bounded out of the kitchen and went back to his letter. His was slightly thicker, too, and lumpy. He tipped it over onto the table, and a silver badge fell onto the table facedown.
He picked it up and looked at the front. His eyes got big.
"Sirius! Ron!" he yelled.
They came rushing over to his side of the table and took a look at what the badge said.
Head Boy.
"Harry, that's great!" Sirius said. "Head Boy and Quidditch Captain! Just like your dad. You've got a guaranteed great job when you graduate."
"Who's Head Girl?" Ron asked.
"It'll be in the letter," Sirius told him.
Harry and Ron immediately made a mad dash for the letter. Harry got it first. He opened it and read out loud.
"Congratulations on being chosen as Head Boy for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, blah, blah, blah.here it is! You will be sharing the newly constructed Prefect House with the Head Girl, another Gryffindor."
He paused to annoy everyone.
"Harry!"
"Okay, okay! Hermione Granger."
The boys yelled and rushed to catch Hermione. Harry laughed and read the rest of the letter.
"The prefects for this year are Virginia Weasly and Ronald Weasly for Gryffindor, Terry Boot and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw, Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley for Hufflepuff, and Dudley Durseley and Erin O'Connell for Slytherin."
He went white. The newly returned girls and all the boys noticed.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked. "You just became Head Boy!"
"Who are the new Gryffindor prefects, anyways?" Ron asked. He took the letter and whooped. "Hah! Take that, Mum!" Then he noticed the Slytherin prefects. "We'll be in the same house as them?"
Harry nodded. Rose went just as pale as him. Harry understood why.
Erin O'Connell was the daughter of the man who had abused Rose when Rose was ten years old. She was also the heir to Voldemort's sister, Lucretia Diabolique. Dudley Durseley had helped his father when Harry's uncle beat Harry up. He had been sorted into Slytherin just the last year.
"I thought he was dead," Rose whispered. "Lucretia Diabolique said they'd kill him."
"Well, they haven't. And now Ron, Hermione and I have to spend a year in the same house as him."
"A tip: come home for every holiday you can."
"Obviously, Rose."
"Padfoot's going to drive me insane."
Harry smiled weakly.
"Oh come on, Harry," Ron said. "We'll stay around you. Brute force can always be blocked by a few charms."
"And Lupin's doing defense this year. As in, against other wizards. Plus from what Mother and Father have told me, Dudley's the worst wizard or witch in the school. Including the first years. But I would advise keeping a lot of people around you this year. We wouldn't want the scout seeing you all bloodied up."
"Scout?" Harry asked curiously.
Rose looked surprised. "I thought they'd told you. A scout from the British Quidditch team is going to be watching all the practices and games this year. Half the team's retiring after the next Cup."
"Oh no."
"Harry, you're a brilliant captain. You're bound to get on the team."
"Right. Yeah right."
"You won the Inter-House Cup 350-100 last year! Plus you snapped O'Connell's toe."
He smiled. "Thanks. But I'm serious. I'm going for a few rounds on my Firebolt."
"Me too," Ginny said.
"Where's my Firebolt?" Ron said.
Rose and the American National Team had bought Firebolts for the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team last year.
"Don't forget me," Hermione said.
"Oh, Harry," Rose called as he left for his Firebolt, "There are a few people there you might want to meet."
She glanced meaningfully at Fred and George, who perked up and ran for their Firebolts (birthday presents from the Americans).
*~*~*
Hermione, Harry, Ron, Fred, George and Ginny stared up at the two circling figures on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. Hermione put two fingers in her mouth and whistled.
The two people looked down and went into a steep dive, nearly plowing into the ground.
But they didn't, they were international standard players.
"Alex!" Fred yelled.
"Ally!" George yelled.
They hugged. Alexa and Alice Bernard were two short, rather stocky blondes with hair cascading halfway down their backs. They both had identical turquoise blue eyes.
"Missed you," the Bernards said.
"I didn't see how the quarter-finals vs. England game went," George said.
"Won it!" Ally cheered.
"The semis?"
"Won it!"
"The Cup?"
"Won it!"
"You won against Ireland?! Why didn't you tell?"
"I didn't get a chance."
"I'm going for a couple laps," Hermione announced.
"Me too," Ron, Harry, and Ginny said in unison.
They took off and went up to about fifty feet before they started talking.
*I had to find some excuse to get up here,* Harry said.
*I want on the National Team!*
*Don't us all?*
*Obviously.*
*Who do you think might make it, Harry?*
*I have no idea. You?*
*You.*
*Ron! Fat chance of that!*
*No, really!* he insisted. *You've never lost a game!*
*Hufflepuff,* he said gloomily. *Remember Hufflepuff in third year?*
*That wasn't your fault.*
*Whatever.*
*Hey, who's that?*
They looked down. There was another person on the field, a tall, brunette woman. The four Gryffindors landed to take a better look.
She was just introducing herself. "Hello. I am Daniela Johansen from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. I will be observing the Hogwarts Quidditch teams this upcoming year for recruits for the British team."
"Fred Weasly."
"George Weasly."
"Alex Bernard."
"Alice Bernard."
She noticed the four seventh years and immediately looked up at Harry's scar. "Daniela Johansen, Mr. Potter, pleased to meet you." She looked at Ron and the girls. "And who might you be?"
"I'm Hermione Granger, Harry's cousin," Hermione introduced herself. "I play Chaser for Gryffindor. This is Virginia Weasly, Keeper, and Ronald Weasly, Chaser."
"I heard about your spectacular win of the inter-house cup last year," she said eagerly. "I was wondering who taught you how to Feint like that?"
"My sister," Harry explained. "She played Seeker for the American team for three years."
Daniela Johansen perked up immediately. "Your sister is Rosemary Potter?"
"The one and only."
"Is it true that she lives in Hogsmeade?"
"The Shrieking Shack. She fixed it up two years ago."
"Would she mind if I went to meet her?"
"Most likely not. Hold on." Harry checked his watch. "The twins might be napping, though."
Ms. Johansen's eyebrows furrowed. "Twins?"
Hermione sighed. "Her twin children. Lillian Molly Potter and James Arthur Potter."
"She's married?"
"Yes. To my brother, Bill Weasly," Ron said.
"Where exactly is the Shrieking Shack?"
"Here, we'll show you."
The nine set off for Hogsmeade.
*~*~*
Rose had just collapsed on the couch to take a nap (she had just put the twins down for theirs) when the doorbell rang.
"Oh, for the love of Pete," she muttered.
She rolled off the overstuffed couch and answered the door. Her brother, cousin, three brothers-in-law, two friends, sister-in-law, and a tall brown- haired woman she didn't recognize were standing on her porch.
"Daniela Johansen," the brunette said, holding out her hand. "Assistant Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."
She looked quite breathless. Rose smiled.
"Come in, come in," she said warmly, holding the door open. "But try to be rather quiet. James and Lily are napping."
Her various relatives and friends made themselves right at home, sprawling across couches and chairs. Daniela Johansen simply sat primly on a hard wood chair.
"So this is your home?" she said, looking around. "It's amazing what you've done with the place. How many other people live with you?"
Rose paused to count on her fingers. "Daddy, Harry, Mione, Bill, James, and Lily. Six. And there are usually various Weaslys hanging around."
"You live with Sirius Back?!"
"You don't keep up with the news much, do you? He's innocent. Pardoned two years ago."
"Oh, yeah."
"You weren't a Hufflepuff by any chance, were you?"
"Don't dis Hufflepuffs!" Ally called from the sitting room.
Alex and Ally were half Hufflepuff, half Ravenclaw. Ally was the Hufflepuff.
"As a matter of fact, I was a Ravenclaw," Daniela Johansen said.
"Go Ravens!" Alex yelled.
"Shut up and stop eavesdropping, Bernard!" Rose called back.
"They're the Alexa and Alice Bernard?"
"Yeah." She paused to shut the door. "Why are you here in Hogsmeade, anyways?"
"I've got to book a room somewhere near Hogwarts. I'm observing the teams for recruits."
"Oh! You know, there's a great place near here, the Golden Phoenix. Two of my brothers-in-law own it. It's really cheap, they only started last year. But the rooms are great. And you'll be able to observe plenty of Hogwarts students there; it's sort of a haven on visits."
"Perfect! Who do I make arrangements with?"
"Fred and George Weasly."
Daniela Johansen left for the sitting room to talk to the twins. Rose sighed and decided to escape for a bit.
She wrote a note saying she had gone up to Hogwarts for a bit and left it on the kitchen table. After making sure that the note was visible, she stopped in front of the portrait of the entire Potter family, an exact copy of the one outside her rooms at Hogwarts, and whispered, "Ailes and Prongs." Her parents smiled and the portrait swung aside.
Beyond the portrait was a long stone passageway lit by torches every ten feet or so. Rose took out her wand and muttered, "Lumos." The tip of her willow, unicorn hair wand lit up, revealing the space between torches.
The long tunnel sloped upward and downward a few times before Rose saw a large patch of cloth right ahead. She walked through it and into her Hogwarts rooms.
She was in her memories room, where she always exited her personal passageway. The tapestry she had gone through was of a Unisus dancing in a forest.
The entire room was decorated in shades of gray and blue. There were tables everywhere, filled with things. Jewelry, toys, clothes, music boxes, nearly everything imaginable. There was a comfy couch in the middle of the room.
Rose kneeled in front of one of the tables and picked up a small redwood box. She opened it, revealing a small mirror, a plain silver ring, a rowan twig, a gold ring with a ruby lion, a matching necklace, a tiny gold ring with a rose on it, and a Celtic cross.
Rose stroked the gold satin and red velvet interior of the box. A distant voice began to sing.
"But in dreams, I still hear your name, and in dreams, we will meet again."
Rose sang along with her mother's voice softly, so she could still hear it. She fingered the items in the box. The silver ring. Her ring for the Gold level Phoenixes. Harry's was gold. The rowan twig. A gift from her mother on her fifth birthday. It was a good luck charm, and a conductor of magic. The gold ring with the lion on it, and the matching necklace. Her mother's wedding ring and the necklace she wore on her wedding day. The rose ring. A Christmas present from her mother the Christmas Rose was five. The Celtic cross necklace. Her mother's. Dumbledore had given it to Bill, and Bill had given it to Rose last Christmas.
She shut the music box and picked up a long, lacy white wedding dress with gold trim and a matching veil. They had been her mother's, too, and Rose had worn them when she married Bill. It had taken her hours to repair the rips and holes it had gotten when Voldemort kidnapped her the first time.
Rose picked up a silver and gold baby rattle. She smiled. The Marauders had bought it for her mother when Rose was born as a joke. She put that down and went to a table holding only a single Muggle tape. She tapped it twice with her wand, and a projection folded out into the middle of the air. Rose settled down on the couch to watch.
It was the day before Halloween. She was six and Harry was one. The day before Voldemort came.
A six-year-old Rose was sitting on the couch reading. James Potter sr., Sirius, and Lupin were playing with Harry on the carpet. Lily Potter sr. and Sarah Black, Sirius's twin sister, were reading next to Rose.
"Harry, say Padfoot," Sirius demanded. "Say Padfoot."
"Stop it, Sirius," Lily said.
"Sirius! Leave Harry alone!" his sister demanded.
She put down the book, revealing long, thick black hair that cascaded all the way to her knees. Her eyes were pale blue and currently flashing annoyance at her brother.
"Grow up, Padfoot," she said in disgust.
"Pa foo," baby Harry said.
Sirius laughed and changed into a dog, making Harry laugh.
"Pet doggy! Pet doggy!" he demanded.
Sirius in dog form came bounding up to Harry and licked his face, making Harry laugh again.
"Sirius, you are so immature! Grow up!" his sister said.
"Sirius Jonathon Black, you'd better not make my baby sick," Lily warned.
"I wanna play with Harry," little Rose announced.
She slid off the couch and pulled Sirius forcefully away from her brother. She picked up Harry and sat down with him on the couch.
"Let's get you away from Uncle Sirius, hm?" she said.
"Pa foo!" Harry said again.
Lily looked at the camera. "Peter, turn it off."
The picture stopped. Rose took a deep breath and picked up the next tape, labeled October 31, 1981. She tapped it.
It was only her parents, Harry, herself, and Sarah there. Rose was playing with Sarah and Lily was playing with Harry. Her father was talking to Professor Dumbledore in the fireplace.
"We'll be fine, Professor," he was saying. "Sirius is completely trustworthy. Nothing would make him betray us."
"It's not him," Dumbledore said. "It's- oh, never mind."
The head disappeared. James Potter went to play with Harry, transforming into a stag. Harry giggled.
"Wide! Wanna wide!" he demanded.
Lily rolled her eyes and lifted him up onto James's back. Harry grabbed onto the stag's antlers and James ran around the room a few times, Harry laughing madly.
"James, give him here," Lily said.
"Aw."
He handed him to her. Just then, the door burst open.
Rose shut her eyes tight. That was the problem with wizard tapes. They projected into your mind. She was still able to watch.
"Sarah, Lily, go hide, I'll hold them off!" James called.
Sarah grabbed Rose and Lily grabbed Harry. They split up in different directions.
To Rose, it looked like she was watching multiple screens. She was watching Sarah carrying her into her room and watching her mother carry Harry into his nursery. A Death Eater went after Sarah, one stayed at the door, and Voldemort himself went to take care of Harry.
Rose watched, horrified, as Lucius Malfoy murdered Sarah Black. He turned his wand on herself, next, but the curse rebounded, hitting Lucius in the forehead and knocking him unconscious. Rose was now watching Voldemort killing her mother. She blocked the picture and turned it off.
"Why do I watch that?" she muttered to herself. "It always gets me shaken up for days.
"So you'll learn to deal with it."
She whirled. "Father!" she yelled.
Severus Snape was standing next to the table holding her music box.
"How did you get in here?" she demanded furiously.
"Change your password more often."
"I don't bother because everyone I know respects my privacy!"
"That's nice." He sat down on the other end of the couch. "I wanted to check up on you."
"Don't lie to a partial empath. Why are you here?"
Rose and Harry had some of every Gold power.
Snape gave his goddaughter the Death Stare. "I wanted to show you the Daily Prophet."
He handed her the newspaper. She gasped at the headline.
WITCH AND WIZARD FOUND MURDERED
DARK MARK OVER HOUSE
Beneath was a picture of a fairly large house with the Dark Mark floating over it. Rose glanced at her godfather in disbelief.
"That's the Patils, is it?" she asked fearfully.
He nodded.
"Oh my God!"
She read the rest of the article.
"Early this morning, July thirtieth, two bodies were found in the house located at 193 Rowena's Haven. They are the bodies of Charlotte and George Patil. The cause of death is certain to be the Unforgivable Curse, Avada Kedavra. The Dark Mark was found over the house. The two who found the bodies happen to be none other than the pair's children, Padma and Parvati Patil. They had apparently been packing for a trip to a friend's house when they heard a loud bang and saw a flash of green light. They found the bodies of their parents lying on the floor, the door broken down."
Rose looked away from the paper.
"I'm going to get them," she said firmly.
Snape didn't argue. He had learned that it was completely futile; she'd just set a few of his things on fire.
"They're still at the house. The Ministry is interviewing them. So are about fifty other people."
"I've got to get the others first."
She disappeared with a loud pop.
*~*~*
Harry was admiring his Head Boy badge and Hermione was polishing away a spot on hers.
"I want to see it!" Ron whined.
"Go polish your prefect badge," Harry told him.
He had to admit, he was sounding somewhat like Percy Weasly.
"It is a great responsibility, Harry," he was saying soberly.
He had been saying things like that for the past half hour. Harry had just been ignoring it.
They suddenly heard a loud pop in the kitchen.
"Who's there?" Fred called.
"Me," Rose said, bustling into the sitting room. "Look at this."
She tossed a newspaper to Harry.
"When do we go?" he asked.
"Now. Here's the Floo powder. It's Patil Manor."
She held up a ceramic pot filled with Floo powder. Harry took a fistful and threw it into the fire. He stepped into it.
"Patil Manor!" he said.
He felt himself whooshing past dozens of other fireplaces, careful to keep his elbows in. He nearly fell over when he stopped.
He was in a large sitting room. There were hundreds of people there in Ministry robes. Harry stepped out to look for the Patil twins' long, thick black hair.
"Parvati?" he called. "Padma?"
A Ministry member stopped him. "Who are you?"
Harry casually brushed back his bangs, as if wiping sweat from his forehead. "Friend of the deceased," he explained. "I'm looking for their daughters, Padma and Parvati."
The wizard's eyes widened as he saw the scar on Harry's head. Just then, the others came in.
"Where are they?" Rose asked.
"Who are all you people?"
*Brush back your bangs,* Harry told his sister mentally.
She did so. "We're friends of Padma and Parvati."
"You're the Potters and the Weaslys, eh?" the man said. "They seemed quite anxious to see you. Don't have a Seamus Finnigan or a Dean Thomas, do ya?"
"They haven't been notified yet. Where are they?"
The Ministry man pointed at a shut door. Rose beat everyone else to it and knocked.
"Come in," one twin's voice said.
Rose turned the handle and pushed it open.
"Padma?" she said gently. "Parvati?"
"Oh, hello," Padma said weakly.
She was sitting on a chair, her sister's arm around her neck. Both twins' faces were stained with tears.
"We've been waiting for you," Parvati said.
"I read about it in the Prophet," Rose explained. "I'm so sorry."
"Thanks. We've been trying to find some close relative somewhere for us to stay with."
"Where will you be staying until then?"
"Here, I suppose."
Rose looked horrified. "Do you want to stay here?!"
"No," Parvati said. "But we don't have any close relatives."
"You've got lots of friends," Rose said. "We'd be happy to take you."
"Do you have enough room for any more?" Padma asked.
"Of course," Rose said. "My in-laws are the Weaslys. My guest rooms are therefore uncountable."
The twins smiled. "How soon can we leave?"
"Where are your things?"
*~*~*
They had the Patils situated in about half an hour. Rose served everyone a large lunch.
"How's your summer been going?" Parvati asked. She was desperately trying to be cheerful.
"We met the woman from the Department of Magical Games and Sports who's going to watch us this year. She's looking for recruits for the British team."
"How'd the Cup go?"
"America won!!!"
From the Bernards, of course. They were pretty close friends with the Patils.
"That's great."
"Want to stay with us?" Ally asked.
"Where are you staying?"
"Fred and George's."
"Cool! We're there!"
The Bernards grabbed the Patils' suitcases and Flooed to the Weaslys'. The Patils followed.
"I swear, those girls are miracle workers," Rose said.
Harry agreed.
"It took me weeks to get over my parents," Hermione said.
"I'm going to my room, okay?" Rose said.
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked.
Harry could tell something wasn't right, too. He was partially empathic. He had also gotten to know his sister very well.
"Just a little headache."
"All right," Ginny said doubtfully.
Rose climbed the stairs to her and Bill's room.
*~*~*
Rose curled into a tiny ball on her bed. She hadn't been telling the whole truth. She did have a headache. But it wasn't exactly little.
She pressed her fingers to her temples, willing the excruciating pain in her head to go away. It didn't.
*~*~*
Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione listened for the sound of the Patils' shoes on the steps to the house to die away.
"Are they gone yet?" Ron whispered loudly.
"Shh!" the others hushed him.
"Yes, they are!" Hermione said.
"Where's Hedwig?" Ginny asked.
"In my room," Harry whispered back.
"Come on!"
The four tiptoed to Harry's room and opened the door to Hedwig's cage. She hooted gratefully. Ginny snatched up a piece of parchment from Harry's desk and a quill and began a quick note.
Dean and Seamus-
We've got the Patils and if you ever want to see them again Floo to Potter House at six tonight. Aren't we funny! ;-)
The Potters and the Weaslys
Ginny pulled out her wand and duplicated the letter, than gave one to Hedwig and the other to Harry's phoenix, James, who was also in the room. Harry had trained him to carry letters.
"Hedwig, this one's for Seamus, James, this is for Dean," Ginny told the two birds as she tied the letters to their feet.
Hedwig hooted and James whistled. They flew out the window together.
"I'm going to the library," Hermione announced.
"Me too," Ginny said.
The boys stared at her.
"What?" she said. "I'm the only Hogwarts student ever to skip a year. I have to have some preparation for seventh year."
"Oh," Harry said, relieved. "For a second there I thought you were going over to the Bookworm's side."
"Be careful, cousin," Hermione said, smacking him lightly on the arm. "I've got the highest Standard Book of Spells currently available and I've got it memorized. So watch your back."
"Save me!" Harry said.
Hermione smacked him again and skipped down the stairs to the library.
*~*~*
Dean and Seamus arrived that night. Padma and Parvati were thrilled. Rose complained that she needed to build an entire new wing of the house to accommodate all the guests. Everyone ignored her. She had been rather cranky for a while now.
At least, they ignored her until sometime in late August.
They were all getting ready to shop for their school supplies. The girls, Ginny, Hermione, Padma, and Parvati had all gathered in Hermione's large room to "prepare."
"We have to look our best," Parvati explained. "This is our last year. We have to make a lasting impression on the minds of our peers."
"Do you think I need to lose weight?" Hermione asked.
"No!" Ginny assured her.
"Mione, analyze me," Padma pleaded.
"Okay," Hermione agreed.
Padma stood in front of the mirror and turned slowly.
"Well, your hair is getting a little out of control. I know a few good charms to take care of that. One of the Bernards can do them. You have a nice figure, a nice face, you're basically set."
"What about me?" Padma asked.
"What do you think? You're identical."
"Do me," Ginny said.
"Okay."
Ginny copied Padma and turned in front of the mirror.
"You have a good figure, and your arms look perfectly muscled. Not too much, not too little."
"Hello. I play Quidditch."
"Point taken. Let's see.your nose is nice, eyes a good color, mouth good. Your hair's a perfect color, but it's starting to split at the ends."
"Really? Oh no!"
"The Bernards are really good at doing hair. They do makeup, too. You should use some; your face is getting kind of pale."
"Is that it?"
"That's it. Do me."
"All right," Ginny said awkwardly.
She watched Hermione turn in front of the mirror.
"Your hair is still a little bushy, but I know a few people who could fix that. You've got the Evans nose, so it is therefore perfect, you have a perfect figure, and as I said, you do NOT need to lose weight. You use makeup, so your face looks perfect."
"So a haircut and makeup for Ginny, and a new hairdo for Mione. Let's go get clothes!"
The girls cheered and dove into the pile of robes on the floor. In the end, they decided to match. They each wore short jean shorts and a low-cut, strapless tank top. The tank tops were all in different colors. Padma's was blue with orange stripes, Parvati's was red with yellow stripes, Ginny's was white with black stripes, and Hermione's was spring green with pink stripes. They were wearing island-style sandals.
Once they had finished dressing, they went to find Alex and Ally. They were, for once, away from Fred and George.
"Can you make us pretty?" Parvati asked breathlessly. They had run down the stairs rather quickly.
"If you mean hair and makeup, sure," Ally said.
"I'll do Hermione and Padma," Alex said.
"Then I'll do Ginny and Parvati," Ally said.
They did Hermione and Ginny first. Ginny watched Alex working on Hermione's hair. First she brushed through and washed it out. Then she grew it out about three inches and put lots of Sleakeazy's on it. The last thing she did was go through it and curl it all into perfect ringlets. She put makeup on her and painted her nails with alternating spring green and pink stripes.
Ginny gasped. "Mione, you look awesome!"
"You're done," Ally said in a singsong voice.
Ginny looked in the mirror and was shocked at what she saw.
Her hair wasn't down to her waist anymore. It went to the middle of her back. It looked a little lighter, too. It wasn't in ringlets, but it was curling softly. She was wearing makeup and alternating black and white nail polish.
The Patils gasped when they saw them.
"Ohmigosh you two look awesome!" they shrieked.
"Your turn," Alex said, grinning.
The twins ran over. Ginny and Hermione laughed.
"Let's go find the boys," Hermione said.
It didn't take long. They were lounging around the sitting room, doing last- minute homework.
"Hello, Harry," Ginny said.
"Hello, Ron," Hermione said at the same time.
The boys looked up from their parchment and gaped.
"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron said. "Who did that?"
"The Bernards," she said smugly, sliding onto his lap. "Do you like it?"
"I love it!"
"Your hair looks really good like that, Ginny," Harry said. "They did your makeup, too?"
"Yeah. They're really good. I'm going to find Rose and show her. Wonder if she wants it too." She turned to leave, and then remembered something. "Oh, Dean, Seamus. They're doing the same thing to Padma and Parvati."
They scrambled off the couch and ran to the room Ginny had come from.
Ginny laughed.
*~*~*
Harry was still staring at his girlfriend.
I am the luckiest guy in the world, he thought. She's smart, she's cute, she's fun, she's cute, she's skilled, she's cute, she's powerful, she's cute, she's kind, she's cute, she's empathic, and she's cute.
He snapped out of it. Ginny was saying she was going to find Rose. The mention of Harry's sister made his scar hurt. He almost rubbed it, but then realized that Ginny would notice and ask.
"Okay," he heard himself say.
Ginny went to the library to find Rose.
Harry suddenly noticed that the twins were crying. Apparently, they had woken up from their nap. He went to get them.
The two babies looked up at him with their identical green eyes so much like their mother's and his own. Those eyes creeped him out sometimes. He hoped that his kids would have blue eyes, like their mum.
He mentally shook himself and picked up the twins. They still kept crying.
Funny, Harry thought. They really can pick up on how you feel. And right now, Harry's scar was itching and he was getting a bad feeling again. The last time he'd gotten that feeling, it was when Lord Voldemort had kidnapped Bill, Rose, James and Lily. He quickly walked back to the sitting room with the twins in his arms.
The others looked uneasy, too. The newly made up twins were rubbing the kneecap they had broken when they were young. The Bernards were nervously tapping things.
Ginny came rushing back into the room.
"She's unconscious!" she cried.
They followed Ginny back to the library, where they found Rose unconscious on one of the chairs. Bill picked her up easily.
"She's lost too much weight," he said grimly.
He lifted up her shirt a little, revealing the fact that her hip bones were showing and so was her entire ribcage.
"Come on. We have to get her to St. Mungo's."
They silently followed him.
*~*~*
The St. Mungo's doctors announced that Rose was in a coma an hour later, then told them she was not going to come back anytime soon.
They ignored this not-so-subtle hint and kept pestering the doctors until they were thrown out. They glumly shopped for their school supplies, glumly agreed to spend the remaining week of the summer at the Weaslys, and glumly boarded the Hogwarts Express on September 1.
Neville had decided to join them in their compartment.
"Guess what I heard?" he said eagerly. "I heard that there's a new girl."
That got everyone's attention.
"Where's she from?"
"Do you know her name?"
"What year is she in?"
"Her name is Jessica Katherine Rawson. She's sixteen, so she's a sixth year. Transferred from Durmstrang."
"She's a Slytherin," Harry said immediately.
"Duh," Dean said.
"Shut up, Dean!" everyone chorused.
"Hey, where are Mione and Ron?" Ginny asked, suddenly realized that the two loudest in that particular cheer weren't there.
"I dunno," Seamus shrugged.
"Do you want to go look for them?" Harry asked Ginny.
"Sure. You want to come?"
"Okay."
They walked out of the car quietly and went to the second to last car.
"Thanks, Gin," Harry sighed.
"They were starting to annoy me, too." Ginny sighed too. "I miss her, Harry. It seems so strange without her coming with us for our first day."
"I know."
Harry pulled his girlfriend into a hug. Ginny felt her heart beating faster and faster as he held her close. She looked up at him, suddenly realizing how tall he had become, though still shorter than her brothers.
He brought her lips down onto hers and they kissed.
Unknown to them, a certain other couple were doing the same thing in the last car.
::cough cough Ron Hermione!::
*~*~*
The rest of the trip to Hogwarts passed without event, unless you count Neville throwing up his vomit-flavored Bertie Bott's.
Harry waved to Hagrid as he swung down off the train, Ginny on his arm. The other boys stared at him, amazed. Harry imagined they were thinking, Who's that with Potter? She looks a little like a Weasly, but hot dang, she got a makeover.
She smiled at Harry and kissed him briefly on the lips.
"This year is going to be really fun, Harry," she whispered.
He escorted her to the carriages. Hermione and Ron got into the same one. They talked about the rumors they had heard about this Jessica Katherine Rawson.
"Colin Creevey saw him," Ron said. "He says she's got brown hair and gray eyes."
"Sounds like a Slytherin," Harry said.
"Don't be prejudiced," Hermione told him.
"Okay."
They sat in silence until they got to the Great Hall. There was a great buzz as the new students came in.
"That has got to be her," Ginny muttered to Harry, discreetly nodding at a taller girl than the rest, obviously sixteen or fifteen.
The Sorting began.
"Joseph Atwood!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Kristina Bowerty!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Emily Crotchet!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Malcolm Detts!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
On and on it went, until finally.
"Jessica Rawson!"
The tall brunette nervously stepped forward and placed the hat on her head. It seemed to be thinking hard, but then a sudden realization reached it and it said-
"SLYTHERIN!"
Scattered applause was heard. None from the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore stood up for his yearly announcements.
"I would like to welcome you back to Hogwarts for the 1997-1998 school year!" Dumbledore said. "I have a list of this year's prefects and Heads, and here they are. Please come forward when your name is called. Our Hufflepuff prefects will be Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hannah Abbott. For Ravenclaw, Terry Boot and Padma Patil. For Gryffindor, Ron Weasly and Virginia Weasly. For Slytherin, Dudley Durseley and Erin O'Connell."
The Gryffindors gaped at Dudley. Really, everyone did. He was actually thin. Well, not thin, just he didn't require two chairs anymore. Erin looked pleased with herself.
"And lastly, our new Heads, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."
The Gryffindors clapped furiously. There was moderate applause from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but none from Slytherin. Harry saw Hermione beaming and smiled a bit himself.
"And please let me introduce Ms. Daniela Johansen from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. She will be watching the Quidditch teams perform, looking for recruits for the British team. And finally, let me introduce Ms. Jessica Katherine Rawson, who has just transferred here from Durmstrang. Please make her feel welcome. Now, I am sure you have now gotten tired of my idle talk and would like to eat!"
The plates suddenly filled with food and the students dug in. There wasn't much worthy to discuss.
After dinner, Professor McGonagall came to show them the newly built Prefect House. The entrance to it was a statue of the four Hogwarts founders.
"Password?" Rowena Ravenclaw asked.
"Selamin," Professor McGonagall said.
The statue stepped aside, revealing a huge common room with an arched ceiling. There were overstuffed couches for each person, with a blanket in their house colors and labeled with their name. There was a door in one corner marked Library. McGonagall explained that that wasn't the main library; it was a personal one, a copy of a private collection in Hogsmeade. Harry smiled, knowing exactly whose collection it was.
There was a spiral staircase leading up to their rooms. The doors were labeled with their names, houses, and year. Inside there was a king-sized four-poster bed, a desk, walk-in closet, personal bathroom, and dresser. The entire room was decorated in your house color.
The bathroom was the size of a small Muggle rec center. There was a bath tub the size of a swimming pool ten feet deep at the deepest and one at the shallowest, complete with high dive. Harry was amazed.
After looking around his room a bit and putting away his things, he went down to the common room to just sit for a while.
The only person also there was Ginny. She was sitting on a couch close to the fire, her blanket spread over her knees. She was staring at the merrily dancing flames.
"Gin?" Harry said softly.
She started. "Oh, hello Harry. I didn't know you were down here."
"What's wrong?"
"How did you know?"
"You're not the only empath around here."
"That's right."
She curled up a bit more. "I'm worried about my brothers."
Harry sat down on the couch next to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Which?"
"All of them. I'm worried for Bill because of Rose. He's been really depressed ever since then. I'm worried about Ron because of his annoying tendency to get into trouble, like Voldemort trouble. I'm worried about the twins and Charlie just because, well, something just doesn't feel right. And I'm worried about Percy because he's starting to really reach some high levels at the Ministry. He's getting really.power-hungry. It scares me. You know he's running for Minister of Magic against Daddy?"
"No, I didn't."
"Well, he is. And he's starting to completely forget about his family. He never comes home anymore. He's moved in with his fiancé, Penelope Clearwater. I'm afraid he's going to go over to Voldemort, Harry," she whimpered.
He pulled her onto his lap. "It's all right, Gin. I'll always be here for you to talk to."
"Oh, isn't this sweet," a cold voice said from behind them. "Potty and his little Weasel girlfriend."
Harry went pale. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. It was his sister's archenemy, Erin O'Connell. He knew before he turned around that her dark red crew cut would be tucked behind her ears, her brown eyes would be glaring at them, she would have her hand on Dudley's elbow, and she would have a smirk to rival a Malfoy's on her face.
"What do you want, O'Connell?" Harry struggled to control the anger in his voice.
"Just a little favor," she said. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Stay away from me and Dudley and any other Slytherin. Don't come near us. If you need us, we'll find you." She smirked again. "Bye-bye." She gave a sarcastic little wave and followed Dudley up to his room.
"Ooh, I hate her!" Ginny said furiously.
Harry stared at her eyes. "You know, when you're mad, your eyes go from brown to blue?"
She put her hand to her eye self-consciously. "Really?"
"Don't worry. It looks beautiful."
She brought her mouth up to his and their lips connected.
Ron and Hermione watched from the little balcony above the prefect commons, smothering laughs.
*~*~*
Ginny turned out to be taking Divination with Harry. He explained to her Trelawney's habit of predicting his death.
"How long do you think it'll take her this time?" Ron muttered to Harry.
"I bet five Galleons it'll take ten minutes or less," Harry said.
"No way. Fifteen," Ron said.
"I bet thirteen," Ginny said assuredly.
Ron rolled his eyes and privately said to Harry, *One of us has five Galleons already, and it's not Ginny.*
*I heard that! Ronald Weasly-*
*I know, I know.*
Professor Trelawney glided into the room.
"Welcome back to another year," she said. "I perceive that some of you have had quite tragic summers."
She looked meaningfully at Parvati, Ron, Ginny, and Harry. Harry, Ron and Ginny rolled their eyes.
*Like, who doesn't know about Parvati's parents? And Rose was all over the papers!*
"I am also afraid that some of you will also have quite unfortunate years."
She glanced at the four again. Parvati looked horrified, but the other three just rolled their eyes again.
*Duh,* Ron said.
"We will begin the year with tarot card reading. Here are your cards. There are instructions on how to use them enclosed under several cards."
She distributed decks of tarot cards with the Hogwarts crest on the back to every student. Harry began searching through the deck looking for the instructions. They were under the thirteenth card.
Professor Trelawney noticed and looked grim. "I feared that it was you that might receive that particular deck," she said softly.
Harry rolled his eyes at Ron and Ginny. Parvati and Lavender gave him a Look.
Harry began shuffling the deck and laying them out in the order shown on his instructions sheet. Professor Trelawney, who was still watching, came over.
"Let your Inner Eye guide you."
Harry's Inner Eye was obviously nearsighted, as Trelawney looked rather annoyed and snatched his deck.
"I will show you."
She quickly reshuffled the deck of cards and skillfully began laying them out on the table. She turned over the first card with great drama, and gasped at what she saw.
"Death," she whispered.
Ron accidentally lost control and let out a snort of laughter. Professor Trelawney glared at him and went to the next table. Ginny glanced at the clock.
"Thirteen minutes! You two owe me five Galleons!"
Harry started reshuffling his deck and started doling out his cards to try again. He drew the first card and nearly dropped it.
"What is it?" Ginny asked.
Of course. She had felt the emotion. He showed her the card. It was a picture of a seated Unisus with the name Ailes written under it.
"What does it mean?" he asked Ron, who had his book open.
Ron checked the page, and then double-checked. He looked up at Harry with wide eyes.
"It's not part of the deck," he whispered. "Harry, I think you may actually be telling what's happening with Rose."
Harry drew the next card. It was a skull and crossbones.
"What's that?"
"Illness."
"Well, that's right then."
The next card was a picture of a hawk with the name Greywing under it. That was Hermione's name and her favorite Animagus. The fourth card was medicine. The fifth was another Unisus with the name Ailes under it, but this one was dancing. The sixth card was a whole group of animals, magical and non-magical, dancing around the Unisus. The name under it was Order. The next card was a rat with the name Wormtail under the picture. The eighth card was Deceit. The cards went on like that for a while.
The second-to-last card was Attack. Harry glanced at his friends and reached for the final card.
The bell rang.
"Aw," Ginny moaned.
"Come on, it'll take us forever to get to Transfiguration," Ron said, pulling Harry's arm.
They ducked down from the trap door and ran all the way to Transfiguration. Harry wished he knew how to stop time; there were two minutes until the late bell rang and they still had six levels to go.
When they got to McGonagall's classroom, no one else was there, not even the Professor.
"What just happened?" Ginny said, looking around. "Why hasn't the bell rang, and where is everyone?"
Harry looked around. Suddenly two short, blonde figures came running into the classroom.
"Alex? Ally?" Ron said, staring at them.
"Yeah," Alex said. "Who do you know who can control time?"
Harry tried to recall who was the Gold who could mess with time?
"Oh!" he said suddenly. "So it was you!"
"Actually, you helped. You were wishing to stop time quite desperately; I just helped you."
"Why are you here?"
"You are just like your sister, you know that?"
"ALEX! Why are you two here?"
"Okay, okay! We're trying to figure out how to save Rose."
Harry's heart nearly stopped. "Save?"
"Yes," Ally said softly. The gentler of the two. "Save. Her vitals are starting to slip. Slowly, but still dropping. The doctors estimate that if it stays at this rate, she'll be gone in two weeks."