Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter universe, nor do I profit from any of my stories.

This story was put up for adoption by Pathtales, who has kindly given me permission to rewrite it. To see which ideas are mine, and which are hers, please go to read the original first chapter.

The September sun was high, and Kings Cross station was busy as ever. People were rushing around; no one noticed when a few families would walk toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, then simply disappear. One of these families consisted of a slightly balding red headed man, a woman with curly brown hair, a freckled son, and a young lady with an auburn pixie cut.

She seemed to be the only one out of place. Most everyone else had nice clothing on and a few had strange robes. This girl however was in black sweatpants with a black sports bra peeking out of a red t-shirt.

'Oh honey, I'm going to miss you!' said the mother, as she hugged her.

'Mum,' she groaned, 'I'll be fine.'

'Yeah, Rose will be back on her feet in no time,' the younger brother smirked.

'Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron!' came a shout, as another redhead came up to them.

'Hey Lily,' Rose said.

'I'm so excited!' She said hugging her cousin. 'I'm so glad you're back!'

'I missed you too Lily,' she smiled. They all headed toward the train and found two laughing Slytherin boys.

'Rose!' The black haired boy said as he hugged her.

'You're back?' asked the blond next to him.

'Yeah.' She shrugged, looking bored. 'Malfoy, I can't remember, do you always wear those horrible glasses?'

'Only when I need to appear scholarly,' was his reply.

'You? Scholarly?' Rose raised an eyebrow, faking a laugh.

'I would have to be scholarly to wear this,' he retorted, pointing to the Head Boy badge on his chest.

Rose, only momentarily stunned, flashed Malfoy the most viscous smirk. He frowned then hurried into the train.

Making an educated guess as to which compartment, Rose slid open the door.

'Hey,' smiled its two Gryffindor occupants.

'Hi.' Alice Longbottom and Lavender Thomas, her old dorm mates, are pleasant enough. Though they had exchanged letters since the end of second year, so much had changed. They all talked pleasantly until Lily saw her watch.

'Oh, time to change.' She said and they shooed the boys out. Rose sat there as the others changed.

'Um, Rose, you want to change?' Alice asked.

'No,' she answered with a shrug.

'Um, but you have to be in your uniform before we get to Hogwarts, remember?' Lavender told her.

'Says who?' Rose asked.

'Um, the rules?' Lily said.

'Where?' Rose asked. 'It's not a rule. It just started out with people wearing House colours right? We only have to wear robes in class.'

'Um, is she right?' Lavender asked and the other two looked confused.

'I don't know.' Lily frowned, opening the door to let the boys in. 'But I'm not risking it.'

'How about this,' smirked Scorpius, 'you put on your robes, and I won't take off House Points.'

'You wouldn't!' Lily glared at Albus, obviously blaming her brother for the blonde's eavesdropping.

'Whatever.' Rose grabbed her purse and stormed out of the compartment.

The others shared a look clearly concerned. They knew that she had changed but they didn't realize that much.

Hugo, the only family member that knew the full truth, rushed after her.

Three compartments over, he found his sister glaring out the window.

'Why do I even have to be here?' She bit her lip to hold back tears.

'I know you're scared.' Interrupting her before she could speak again, he continued, 'yes, you are. Don't be afraid to admit it, not to me Rose. I know you better than anyone.'

Nodding, the launched herself into her brothers arms, sobbing into his chest. There was something so safe about his embrace. Only a fifth-year, he was already taller than her.

'You know I will do everything I can to protect you, right?' After receiving a smile, he continued. 'Especially from them,' he laughed, pointing in the direction of their friends and family.

The train was arriving and it was time to grab their trunks from the previous compartment. Before going anywhere, Rose dried her tears with a handkerchief.

After a tap on her shoulder, Hugo transfiguring her clothes into the proper robes, Rose stepped out into the hallway.

After the Second Great War, the Great Hall's four tables were decorated in colours; each place setting represented a random House. Students tend to sit with their friends, either ignoring the colours or arranging themselves to sit at corresponding tables.

Rose, sitting between two cousins, began to loosen her tie. 'Don't you dare,' sneered Scorpius, who was directly across from her at the table. When a wave of his wand righted the previous askew tie, Rose gave a sharp kick, hitting him directly in the shin.

The resulting yelp echoed about the hall.

'They're all staring,' Albus said, making Rose shrug.

'So?' She asked, serving herself some salmon. She was silent during the meal and all throughout the announcements from the headmistress.

'It's like she doesn't want to be here,' Lily said as they all gathered in secret.

'It's odd.' Albus agreed.

'No it's not.' Hugo said. 'You don't know what's happened.'

'We know enough.' Lily said.

'You wrote letters and visited her occasionally.' Hugo shook his head. 'I actually talked with her every day.'

'That's not our fault! You can't blame us if Rose didn't want to see us.' Lily grabbed the other girls and pulled them towards the staircase.

'She was ashamed,' Hugo murmured in explanation. 'It has been painful for Rose.'

'What has?' Albus asked in surprise, 'Cancer? '

'No, the healers kept the physical pain away.' A frown crossed Hugo's face, then continued saying, 'but I've been sworn to secrecy about a few things.'

'I'm sorry.' Scorpius studied his shoes, a pale blush staining his neck.

'What could be so bad?' Albus mused.

'You have no idea,' Hugo sauntered off, as the other two boys continued down to the dungeon.

When Alice and Lavender arrived at their dormitory, Rose was sitting on her bed, rubbing her ankle.

'What're you looking at?' Alice crowded her, only to be disappointed when Rose threw her blankets over her legs.

'It's a flower, a poppy, for Tess. She was born in August, and died last month.' Rose stared at her hands. 'She was seven, she had bone cancer.'

'So you tattooed your leg?' was Alice's incredulous reply. 'Aren't you underage?'

'Why a poppy?' Lavender sent Rose a kind smile.

'August's flower is the poppy. It means remembrance.' Rose leaned over and grabbed the vase from her nightstand. 'This was on my pillow when I got up here to unpack.'

'A purple flower?' Alice laughed.

'An aster, it is September's flower of the month. It represents patience or daintiness.' Rose took the vase back from her friend, setting it back on the table. 'I'll have to thank Hugo later.'

Thank you for reading, and reviewing. Special thanks to Pathtales for letting me adopt the story, and Lucas for giving me insight on life after cancer.