Disclaimer: Don't own it. Not making any money off this. Only well loved reviews.
A Busy Day for Rosie
Rose remembers the first time she had felt like people knew her before she had ever spoken a word to them. It had happened before she had even known what her parents had done for the world. It happened before her father had told her to stay clear of "that Malfoy kid".
She had been six years old, Hugo had been four. She remembered her mother being extremely out of sorts that day. All she remembers is being told that they were going somewhere with mummy, somewhere they had never been.
"So do keep close, Rose. And hold your brother's hand!"
Despite the fact that Rose thought her brother was gross and had, you know, cooties and stuff, she did end up grabbing his hand when they entered the world that was Diagon Alley.
Rose remembers being flabbergasted. She had been doing a good job of keeping up- that is, until she saw the big store window with the giant shiny broom and the oddly shaped ball. She had only seen her dad and uncle Harry own anything as magnificent as this. In the single moment it took for her to see that broom, she had let go of Hugo's hand.
"Hugo! Look!" she screamed, and turned to face him. But he and her mother had disappeared amongst what seemed like thousands of tall, scary adult figures.
"H-Hugo...? MUM!"
It felt like Rose had screamed at the top of her lungs, but alas, she was only a six year old and her voice was immediately swallowed up by the thick robed people walking past her.
She tried to be brave. But it suddenly seemed like a very scary place, this Diagon Alley.
"Mum..." she whimpered, and pressed herself against the store window.
Finally, after what had seemed like hours (time in the mind of a scared six year old is a funny thing), a pleasant looking man came up to her.
"Are you okay, young lady?" he had asked, crouching down next to her. And at first, Rose hadn't responded. But after a few minutes of coaxing, Rose finally broke down and told the man that she had lost her mum and Hugo.
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers...but...my mummy and Hugo are gone. I dunno where they went. All I wanted to do was look at the broom..."
The man had chuckled, and took her small hand within his large one. "Perhaps," he had stated before gently swinging her up in his arms.
"Perhaps you could tell me the name of your mother. And more about you, her and your brother. Perhaps I know her, or of her. And I could help you find her. It wouldn't do to let a sweet lady like yourself go without her mother."
While Rose had still felt uneasy about the situation, all that changed when she was offered the chance to talk about her family. Also, she liked the vantage point she had-she could see a million gazillion heads, all stretching to, what looked like to her, a giant castle.
"Well..." she started, sucking in a large breath.
"My mummy is smart!" she exploded.
"Like really smart. She should be a teacher! And my dad is really funny, and my brother is gross. But that's just how brother's are I guess. Lily-she's my cousin-says her brother's are gross too. They like to put dirt down her shirt and laugh. But my mum says that they'll grow out of it someday. One time I did that to Hugo, but he cried. And then I got in trouble, but later I heard daddy saying it was funny. I think mummy got mad at that."
The man chuckled again, nodding, and started walking in a slow pace towards the castle.
"What might your name be, sweetheart?" he had asked, before adding that he was Terry Boot.
"My name is Rose Weasley, Mr. Boot!" she exclaimed with a smiled.
Mr. Boot's eyes widened and smile spread across his face.
"Weasley, huh? Now your daddy's name wouldn't happen to be Ron Weasley, would it?"
Rose's own smile got even bigger. Her eyes were wide and bright and she even wiggled a bit before squealing out a yes.
"Do you know my mummy too?" she asked, and Terry had nodded his head.
"I've known her for a long time. Happen to work at the ministry with her, you know! And I went to school with her. Went to school your dad and...your uncle is married to a woman named Ginny, right?"
Rose had nodded, before settling into several short stories that involved different members of her family. Mostly they were about events that had happened to her.
Including times she had tried to play with her daddy's wand and blew out the whole left side of the house- "mummy yelled at daddy for that one," she giggled. "She said it was a good thing she had made us live out near grandma and grandpas house."-and how Hugo had once peed on her uncle Percy as he was only two- "everyone laughed at that."
All Terry could do was laugh and nod and listen politely as he walked through the crowd. Just as Rose was starting in on a story about how her mummy tried to cook a turkey for Christmas dinner, a voice caught both his and Rose's attention.
"ROSE!" shouted the voice somewhere from behind them. Terry swung around and instantly spotted Hermione.
"Mummy!" shrieked Rose, thrusting her arms out to meet her mothers. Hermione grabbed her daughter and held her close.
"Rose, oh my-there you are! Thank Merlin you're safe! Thank you so muc-oh! Terry! I didn't realize it was you!"She set Rose down, all maternal feelings disappearing. She was now scowling at her daughter, hands on hips.
Rose knew what was coming and darted behind Terry's leg.
"Mr. Boot, help me!" she exclaimed.
"Rose Ginevra Weasley!" Hermione said in a scolding tone.
"Haha, come on Rosie. You're brave. Face your mother!" Terry said, putting his hand out to her.
When Rose accepted it, he bent down and whispered, "I know she's scary, but if she didn't care she wouldn't be this mad, now would she? Plus," he grinned.
"Once you get it over with maybe I'll be able to buy you guys some ice cream..."
Rose doubted that very much, since they hadn't even had dinner yet! But she did want ice cream, and maybe if she begged her mummy and promised not to let go of Hugo's hand again, she would say yes. Rose was already imagining the giant peanut butter sundae she would order.
In the end, Rose had apologized to her mother. And after a good ten minutes of Hugo and Rose protesting about ice-cream, Hermione finally gave in. Rose only got a small cup and so did Hugo. But it was one of the best and scariest moments in Rose's life.
Later, when they had all returned home, Hermione told Ron about the day. And Ron had laughed outright when she told him she had lost Rose. Rose herself had stopped playing with Hugo (he was falling asleep anyways) to creep up quietly behind the kitchen door.
She always liked to listen to other's conversations without them knowing. She learned things she would never had learned if she where in the room.
"You? You lost Rose? HA! Merlin, Hermione!" Ron's voice exploded from the kitchen.
"Shut up Ron! It's not funny! And keep your voice down! What if something had happened to her? You wouldn't be here laughing, now would you?"
"Now, Hermione, come on. You know it's sort of funny-"
There was a pause, and Rose imagined her mum giving her daddy 'that look.'
"-er. I mean," said her dad.
"It's not funny Ron. If Terry Boot hadn't been there to find her, I don't know what would have happened!"
"Terry?" Rose's dad seemed interested.
"Yes. He said he found Rose next to the Quality Quidditch Supplies store-don't get to excited, Ronald, she's only six."
At that point, Rose decided she was getting tired herself and wondered into the kitchen.
"Mummy," she whined.
"Hugo stopped playing with me. He fell asleep on the floor." She made her way to her dads lap and climbed up into it.
Her father looked down at her with a smile on his face.
"Busy day, Rosebud?"
Rose nodded tiredly, yawning. Ron shot a look over her head at Hermione, who just smiled at her daughter. Ron turned his gaze back on his daughter and grinned.
"I heard you saw a broomstick? Is that true?"
Rose seemed to perk up a bit and tried to nod enthusiastically.
"Yeah! There was a bunch of brooms! And a funny shaped ball too. And there was this little shiny one too. I liked the shiny one."
Hermione almost rolled her eyes when she saw how big of a grin her husband had, but stopped at the last second. She could already see next years Christmas gifts-a childrens full Quidditch set, no doubt.
"I think it's about time for bed, little one," she stated, standing up. Rose pouted before grabbing hold of her father's arm.
"Can daddy tuck me in tonight?"
Hermione nodded, smiling. Ron was already standing up with their child in his arms, a smile on his face too.
"Yes, honey, daddy can put you to bed. I'll see you tomorrow, Rosie. Goodnight." She kissed her daughters forehead, before planting a kiss on her fathers cheek.
"Yay," Rosie said quietly, nearly on her way to dreamland. Moments later she was in her bed, all snuggled up and cozy.
She barely even heard her father mumur, "Goodnight my Rosebud," before drifting off to sleep for good.
She had had a busy day, after all.