Prologue
Edit: To clear any confusion, since Rose is now in the picture this means dates have to be pushed back. James and Lily then have started Hogwarts three years earlier than was written in the book- they did not start dating in their fifth year. Hope that clarifies things- also I think I accidentally deleted a comment by mistake which pointed this out to me. It's a good thing fanfic give you the freedom to change dates!
This is where we begin: on a stormy cold Halloween night on Otober 31st in the year 1980 at the home of James and Lily Potter. Everything appears as it should from the outside windows of a holiday. Peering in one sees a family of four huddled together playing a board game. There's two beautiful parents: a wife and a husband. The wife, Lily, has beautiful auburn hair and piercing bright green eyes. The father, James, bears darker features of black hair and hazel eyes. The two youngsters on the floor resembled their parents astonishingly. To the 't' in fact. Despite how young they were a passerby could almost predict what both children would look like once they were older.
Rose is 5 years old and has inherited her mother's auburn hair as well as her father's hazel eyes. And for Harry, well, it was the opposite case. He had his mother's bright green eyes and was already growing out his father's dark black hair.
The scene was heartwarming. The parents still so clearly in love beamed with happiness whenever they looked at each other. This is the family they've created. They held their children close to them. Lily held baby Harry in her arms whilst James was bending over to talk to Rose, trying to explain to her the rules of the game.
Everything was as it should be. Until it wasn't any longer.
It started with the dimming of the lights. The lights in the kitchen began to flicker. Lily glanced around the room,and then went back to playing along with the game. Neither James nor Rose appeared to notice anything unusual.
Once more, a flickering of lights. This time the lights caught James's attention. James and Lily looked at one another and Rose had just rolled for her turn to play.
James turned to Rose.
"Rosie, love, it's getting close to your bedtime. Mum and I think we should pick this game up tomorrow so baby Harry can get some rest. Is that alright?"
Lily stood up and began rocking Harry, who was in fact nearly half asleep.
"But Dad we only just started playing, 5 more minutes ok? Then I promise I'll go to bed without a peep," Rose reached over to roll another turn. James looked up at Lily, and Lily nodded her permission.
"Alright, love, I'm bringing baby Harry to the nursery. I love you so much." Lily bent over to kiss Rose on the forehead and left the room.
Then the flickering of lights went mad. Rose notices something strange is happening. Before Rose even thinks about jumping into her father's arms he already has her in them.
"Dad, is this a Halloween joke?" Rose whispers into his neck. James grips his daughter tighter.
"No, Rosie it'll be fine. I promise."
The lights go out. There's a scream from Harry's nursery. Rose begins to cry and before she can shout for her Mum James covers her mouth and puts her on the ground.
"Rose, go hide in that closet and don't make a noise. I need you to be brave, Rosie, I love you more than anything ok?"
Rose- in a state of shock- nods and goes into the closet. From the coat closet she can see her father run up the stairs and begins to cry silently.
I must be brave, I must be brave she thinks to herself. Though so young, Rose understands that something isn't normal. In fact something very, very, very bad is happening. She has a feeling in her stomach that this might be the last time she sees her father.
After about 20 minutes in the closet, Rose can't take it longer. She begins to open the door quietly. The lights are still off. She can't put her finger on it but there's a dark feeling wafting through the house. It's a feeling of death. She's walking towards Harry's nursery and that's when she sees It. The creature has a snake-like face unlike anything she's seen before. And there's a dreadfulness, a darkness, that begins to fill Rose up unlike anything she's ever experienced before. She understands that this is the face of evil and it's pointing directly at Harry.
The creature has his wand pointed at Harry.
"NO!" Rose screams but just as she does a blinding light fills the room and knocks her to her knees. The light is utterly blinding. It lasts for what feels a lifetime until the room dims once more. Everything is dark again, except for Harry.
Rose sees her brother sitting up in his cradle, looking at her. She rushes to him, steps up on a stool and holds him in her arms. This is the first time she's ever held Harry , so she remembers to sit down. It's then that she notices both her mother and father lying on the floor- dead.
Holding Harry for dear life, she sits on the stool and tries to calm Harry. Still in shock, she does not notice the newly marked scar on Harry's forehead. This is the same scar that would change both of their lives forever.
This is the story of Rosemary Dawn Potter. Harry Potter's loving older sister.
Everything passed the moment of holding unto Harry was a blur. Rosie knew she had to be there for Harry and couldn't fall apart just yet. After what seemed like forever she heard noises coming from downstairs. She panicked and ran into another closet. Some strange and tall people with hats on entered the room. There were three of them.
She was scared, but she knew these people were different. She knew this wasn't evil.
"Hello?" someone called, it was a large man with a very long beard. Rosie stayed perfectly still.
Then the man said something in a different language, it was only a few words but she couldn't understand anything they were saying. Then the closet door swung open. He'd cast a spell to find her. Rosie clutched Harry even tighter.
"Oh my goodness." The only women of the three whispered. She bent down to Rosie.
"Bloody Hell," the large man said "What are we going to do Minerva?"
"Honey, it's alright we're here to help you." The woman bent down closer to Rosie, and Rosie looked away. "My name is Minerva McGonagall and we've come for the Ministry of Magic." Rosie looked up slowly and began to shake. The shock was beginning to turn into panic. She didn't know why but she trusted these people. She handed Harry over to the lady.
"We have to give her a Memory Charm, Hagrid." Minerva said to the large man.
"I bloody think not, we've got to take care of them not hand them over to just about bloody anyone-" Hagrid interjected
"Hagrid, it's protocol. It's only temporary don't worry they'll remember again one day."
Nothing at all made sense anymore. Nothing at all.
There was another man there with a tall white, grey beard. It was as if he was a light hovering over the whole room, the only inkling of goodness. In fact, his light was so bright she couldn't see her parents on the floor anymore. Then she started to cry. The tall man came over to her and bent down.
"My name is Albus Dumbledore," He said. "Rosie, you're very, very, brave and you are very, very, loved."
Rosie wasn't really listening to him at this point, she had begun to cry. She couldn't really process what was happening but she liked this man, his presence was calming. She missed her parents too. She missed them so much. All Rosie really wanted was to be sitting in her father's arms again playing that game.
"Rosie, I'm going to give you a spell that will help you. It will take the pain away for now. " Albus said.
Rosie looked at him and saw him begin to chant a spell. She didn't want to leave this man or her new friends or Harry. Or her parents.
Then, the next and only thing she knew was that she was Rosemary Dawn Potter and lived with the Dursleys on 4 Privet Drive with her brother Harry. Her parents, she would come to learn had died in a car crash. Many in the wizarding would come to know Harry and refer to him as "the boy who lived!" However, many forgot about his sister the one who hid in the closet on that one particularly dreadful night.
