Tarnished Legacy

by RealisedOurAll

Sure, Harry Potter is the boy who lived, but this other trio, this unlikely group of friends, are special too. two OFCs Twins FORMERLY known as The Other Trio Generally rated T, apart from a few chapters

1. Boggarts and Timeturners

It was the beginning of their third year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dru Malfoy was waiting on platform 9 3/4 for one of her two friends to arrive. Several of her other class mates had already arrived. Dru was standing on her toes trying to look above the heads. Then she saw that idiot Harry Potter and his band of imbeciles, the golden boy with his lackeys.

No matter what could be said about him and his 'precious and horrendous past', he was an idiot. And a well loved idiot at that. Dru never got along with him or with his friends, nor he with her.

"Hi," a voice behind her said. Dru turned around only to see Vincent Crabbe behind her. Dru gave him a dirty look and turned away from him again. Crabbe was one of her brother's minions. Dru didn't like Crabbe or anyone of Draco's friends, they gave her the creeps.

She and her brother were placed in different houses at the school. While Draco was placed in Slytherin, the house every member of their family had been in, Dru had been sorted into the rival house of Gryffindor. The only good thing coming out of that was that she had met her two best friends there.

Speaking of her best friends, she was in luck as Neville had just arrived on the platform. Apparently he had again forgotten something, because his Grandmother was having a go at him. Dru ran towards Neville. "Neville." She said happily and threw her arms around his neck. Neville wanted to give her a hug back, but Dru had already let him go and was now shaking hands with Neville's grandmother. "How was your summer?" Druella asked Neville

"Ok, I guess. How was yours? Neville asked.

"Fine." Dru said and looked around to see if she could spot Rose anywhere. "Have you seen Rose yet?" Dru asked, she was getting impatient to see her friend.

Neville shook his head. He liked Rose, but he wasn't as good friends with her as he was with Dru. He and Rose were friends because they were friends with Dru. Neville looked out over the platform and saw Draco looking angry at him. Draco didn't like the fact that his sister was so close friends with Neville as she was. Neville suddenly felt Dru locking her arms with him and hold his jacket. When Neville looked at her, she was looking back at Draco.

---

Despite working for the ministry, her grandfather was... well he actually didn't really care if she'd make it to the train station in time or not. Her father, on the other hand, reminded her to pack her belongings the day before and had asked the house elf to accompany Rose to Kings Cross station so she could catch the train.

In all honesty, the only part that she liked about going back to Hogwarts was her friend Dru, but Rose thought that the material they were learning was mind numbing. It hadn't been anything new, not something she hadn't read or learned from her father's old school books over the years.

Defense against the Dark Arts had been a laugh the previous years. And it was all about Harry Potter. Her father didn't like her talking about him, so she didn't, but she felt that everyone else had made him special, and he was getting special treatment too. In her mind, it had to stop, but there was nothing she could do or could have done about it. And on top of that, she actually didn't think that Harry liked all the special attention either, and that was what she liked about him. All in all, he was a decent bloke.

She had bought some Muggle chocolate for her father and had given it to the house elf before it returned to tend after her father and after she had gotten her gameface on, she made her way to platform 9 ¾, only to find that she was just in time as the platform was nearly empty already and the train was about to leave. Rose hopped on the train and went looking for her friend Dru, which was easy once she opened a small portion of her mind to her.

"Hello!" Rose said, hopping into the train cabin and smiled widely, as she greeted her friend and Neville, the boy she felt so sorry for.

"Rose Shepherd, I started to think you weren't gonna make it this year." Dru said smiling. "How was your summer?"

"Enlightening," Rose deadpanned as she fell down on the seat next to her friend and propped her feet up on the seat opposite of them, right next to Neville. "Yours?"

"So boring! We went to Bulgaria, but it was no fun. I didn't see one dragon all summer." Dru moped.

"Did you get my notes on Herbology that you asked for?" Neville asked Dru.

"Yeah, they were very helpful. I think I got my homework right for once," she replied.

"I just hope that this year will be less boring," Rose said with a yawn as she took an apple out of her jacket pocket and took a bite out of it. "The Divinations teacher looks like a mad hatter, should be interesting!"

"Why are we taking Divination anyway? I though you would teach it to us. We could have taken Muggle studies. That would have been so hilarious." Dru said, while she was searching in her bag for something.

"You can still take Muggle Studies if you wish," she replied with a smile on her lips. "I, however, know enough of the Muggle world to blend in. I just want a good laugh."

"Like father would ever let me take Muggle studies!" She rolled her eyes at her friend. "What about you, Neville? Muggle studies or Divination?" Dru asked Neville, who was reading one of his Herbology books.

"More herbology," Rose grinned, getting up to open a window to throw her apple core out.

"Oy, that's not fair! I suppose Divination. I didn't feel like sitting through Muggle Studies all by myself thank you very much," the boy replied.

"Well, to be fair, a class without us in it is a boring class. " Dru said as she smiled at Rose. "I can't find it anywhere. I'm sure I packed it." She stood up, pushed Rose's feet of the seat and emptied the contents of her bag on it.

"What are you looking for?" Neville asked as Dru sat down in the seat on the other side of the cluttered seat.

"I got you two something from Bulgaria, but i can't find it," she replied frustrated and crossed her arms over her

Rose grinned to herself. She actually wanted to say that Dru had been looking for her brains, but kept it to herself. Rose wasn't that mean. "Sweet! But I'm sure it'll turn up sooner or later," she sat down in Dru's vacated seat and stared at Neville, she would ask him how his summer was, but she probably already knew the answer to it. Instead, she put her feet on Neville's knee and closed her eyes as she relaxed into the seat. She hated travelling.

"I know it will turn up, but you're gonna need yours Monday, Rose. You can't start classes without a brain." Druella said with a playful smile on her face.

"Oh, you think you're so funny, don't you?" She replied, not opening her eyes and just trying to tune out the rest of the world for a while. "I wouldn't eat the chocolate frogs off the cart if it comes round, just a heads up." She wrinkled her nose and tried to shake the image of Neville vomiting all over her clothes after eating the frogs.

Rose really hoped that this year, they'd have a teacher that would actually be able to help her control her peeks into the future, it was starting to get annoying. Of course, when she had told her grandfather about her … 'curse', he ignored her and her father wasn't much help either, all he did was point to the mountain of books that he had in his room and she had already read them all. She was just grateful that she still managed to hide it from Professor Dumbledore.

"Oh, why not?" Neville asked with a whine. "I wanted one of those!"

Druella looked at Rose and then closed her eyes "You know what.? We'll get them and then you can have them when we at school. Just trust us, you don't want to take them now." She said as she put all her stuff back in her bag. She put it in the seat next to Rose and sat down next to Neville.

She locked her arm with Neville's again and put her head on his shoulder. She was glad that Rose had her eyes closed. Rose, unlike Neville, wasn't clueless when it came to Dru's feelings for Neville. Until now Rose had kept her tongue, but Dru knew Rose too well to know that could never last long.

"Nope, at least not in the near future," she muttered as she hugged her knees to her chest and dozed off for the remainder of the trip. "Stop thinking."

Suddenly the door of the cabin opened and Draco stepped inside. He was holding two small parcels in his hand. "I was looking for those!" Druella said as took them from Draco.

"You put them in my bag," Draco said and leaned against the door. "Nice summer, Rose?"

"Swell," Rose remarked, realizing she wasn't going to get any sleep on the train. "I heard you haven't seen any dragons this summer, you must feel terribly sad."

Draco smiled. "At least that means that Dru hasn't got any scar or burns." The reply made him be at the end of a mad look from Dru.

"You don't get burns or scars from a Dragon IF you know how to treat them well," Dru snarled at her brother. But not even Neville believed that to be true.

"Well, I see you at school," Draco said to Dru as he turned around to leave the cabin. "Nice to see you again, Rose," he said as he took another glance at Rose before stepping out of the carriage and closed the door on the way out.

Neville looked at Rose with a slightly tilted head. "He likes you."

"He really likes you," Druella said with a giggle before placing her head back on Neville's shoulder. She though the idea of Draco dating Rose very funny, but she did like it.

"Oh please, he's your brother!" Rose replied as she got up and opened the door as the sweets cart was already on its way towards them. "Remember, no chocolate frogs. Or buy them but not eat them until we're in school."

"Don't worry, we'll sneak one past her when she's not looking," Dru quickly whispered in Neville's ear as Rose was still standing by the door. She got her money bag out of her bag and order two chocolate frogs, one Bertie' flavoured beans and a pumpkin juice.

"You know, just because he's my brother doesn't mean he can't like you." Dru said and put the frogs in her bag. "besides, dating my brother has one very big advantage"

"I am not going to date your brother, you're my best friend!" Rose exclaimed before closing the cabin doors again. "But, just for the sake of curiosity... what advantage might that be? Discount on peroxide? No thanks, I like my hair the way it is."

Neville started to laugh uncontrollably. "Oh you two... you're too funny!"

Dru laughed too. "Do you wanna know what is really funny, Neville?" she said while she looked at Rose with a devious look on her face. "Rose always says she's not gonna date my brother. But I know she will."

"Yes, because the lady protest too much," Rose nodded and took Dru's pumpkin juice to take a sip of it. "But I'm telling you, it's not going to happen. No way. Not... well... we'll see," she continued with a smile on her lips. "Who knows in a couple of years he might actually be a stud, now he's just a young colt."

"Do you see what I mean, Neville" Dru said as she smiled at Rose. "She's even backing down as we speak I think she's already likes him, she just doesn't wanna tell us."

"I can never tell when someone like somebody in that way." Neville said as he looked out of the window.

"I know." Dru said. Her voice sounded sad, but only Rose picked up on that one.

Neville looked at Rose with a smile "But you do, so you will tell me, right! When someone likes me." Neville said.

"Of course I will, Neville, you know I will." Rose replied and then whipped out her wand before pointing it at Dru. "Silencio."

"You can't use magic outside of Hogwarts!" Neville said surprised. "You can't!"

"We're on the Hogwarts Express, dear Neville," She said with a big smile on her face. "At least for now, we'll have some silence for a while."

Dru tried to speak, but no sound came out of her mouth. She gave Rose an angry look, but then smiled. She took her bag and got out one of the chocolate frogs and gave it to Neville when Rose wasn't looking.

Just as Neville was about to eat the frog, the train shuddered to a halt and the lights went out. "What..." Rose muttered as she opened the cabin door to peek her head out of it to see what was going on. Not seeing anything, she turned to Dru, who was kicking Rose in the shins with an angry look on her face. "Finite Incantatem," she whispered before looking out of the door again.

"Rose, come back in and close the door, now!" Dru hissed at her friend.

"Oh come on, where's your sense of adventure?" Rose smirked and squealed when Dru pulled her back in the compartment. "Can't be that bad... or maybe it is, I can't tell."

"It's cold!" Neville said as he pointed at the windows that were frosting up. "Look at that!"

"Just be quiet, you two." Dru sneered. She pushed Rose back in her seat. "just try to think at happy things as hard as you can," she said as she stood in front of the window to tried to look if she saw something outside.

"Dru, what is it?" Neville said. He looked at Rose to see if she had any idea what was going on, but she was remarkably quiet all of a sudden and she was sitting on her knees as she looked out of the window as well.

"You feel them too." Dru said quietly.

"Dementors," Rose nodded, wondering why Dementors were on the train, wondering what they wanted with a bunch of kids...

Without warning, the train shook again, as it was getting momentum again. Dru, who was standing on the tips of her toes, lost her balance and fell into Neville's lap, which made Neville feel extremely uncomfortable. "Oh... ehm..." He looked at Dru as his face was turning beet red. "Are you alright?"

"Yes..."

"Would you mind?" Neville gently poked in Dru's side. "You've ehm... landed ehm... wrongly."

Dru quickly got up and walked to the door. "I... I'm gonna check on Draco. I'll be back in a bit." As Dru left the cabin, Rose noticed that Dru's face had reddened.

"You're really thick, aren't you?" she asked Neville and knocked on his head with her fist. "Boys, you... you're just... ugh!" Rose grabbed her jacket and laid down on the seat with her eyes closed. At least until they were at Hogwarts, she was going to sleep some.

---

Monday morning Neville was sitting in the great hall having breakfast with Rose and Dru sitting opposite of him. Dru hadn't spoken much since to Neville since they had arrived. Neville didn't seem to understand what he had done wrong, which annoyed Rose even more then it annoyed Dru.

Rose didn't want to keep the silence going and tried to think of a way to break the ice between her friends. She looked at Dru, who was searching in her bag for a feather, which made her have the best idea ever. "Hey, give us our presents already," Rose said, and poked her friend with a fork. "Please? I've been a good girl! Neville doesn't know how to be a boy but he's been a good person!"

"Oy, I'm a much better boy than you'll ever be!" Neville said trying to defend himself, but it came out wrong which sent Dru and Rose in a fit of laughter.

Dru got the one parcels out of her bag and handed It to Rose. "I hope you'll like it,"

Rose excitedly unwrapped her present and squealed in delight. "A pendant! It's great! Thanks! Oh..." she sighed. "Now I feel bad for not getting you anything!"

Dru took the object to show Rose something. "Look, there's a hook on the end. If you put it on the pendant, you can make it into an necklace."

"This is great, thank you!" she hugged her friend. "I'll get you a big Christmas present, I promise. I just didn't go too far away from home."

"Forget it. I like giving things. Shall we go to class?"

"No. Neville's present next!" She rubbed her hands together in glee. "Come on, what did you buy for him?"

"Oh, right, sorry." Dru said without looking at Neville. She took the other parcel out of her bag and gave it Neville. It was a bigger packet. Neville unwrapped it and took out a big crystal ball with a flower in it.

"Wow, Neville said.

"It changes colour as the mood of the room changes." Dru deadpanned. "Can we go to class now?"

"Okay, you know what? Fine. I've tried." Rose said, putting the pendant in her pocket and left the table to go and find a good spot in Divination class before everyone would enter. Her friend was so frustrating and even though Rose felt really sorry for Neville, there was only so much she would do. Some things she needed to keep to herself, she realized.

All of a sudden, someone tapped on her left shoulder. When she looked, she saw Draco with a smile on his face. "Divination, huh?""d

"Yes, I didn't figure you for a Divination kinda guy," she replied as she glared at him. He was an annoying weasel, why didn't he leave her alone?

"Girls like divination." Draco said smug.

"Yeah well... that makes you a girl then." she reflected and sat down with her back turned towards him. "Enjoy class, Dracy!"

Draco turned around and bumped into Neville. "Watch where you're going, Longbottom." Draco snapped at Neville and walked away.

"Sorry, Dracy" Neville said and sat down across from Rose, making sure that the only seat left for Dru was the one in between them.

Dru sat down and took her books out. "Ready to unfog the future?" Dru said as she held the book up to Rose with a smile.

"Pfft," her friend sighed as she slouched in her chair. "I can already tell that we won't be learning anything of use." she poked her cup of tea. "Tea leaves? How about we read cracked porcelain, it has the same accuracy!"

"I could knock over some tea cups if you like," Neville offered.

"Oh don't be ridiculous," Rose replied, shaking her head. "No no, I'll do my best not to get bored."

"You could try and cheer up a bit," Dru said as she was looking into her book.

"And you could try and stop to ignore your friend," She shot at her and blinked when she saw the Divination teacher. "Oh God, I was right, she's mad as a hatter!"

"i'm ignoring my friend? Have you even asked Neville how his summer has been or anything for that matter?" Dru whispered angrily.

"I don't need to ask, I know, believe me, I know. Besides, he's your friend."

"I ask you about your summer even though I know the answer to that one too. And he's your friend too."

"I guess I am not as social as expected," she shrugged. "Now let's pay attention to class, shall we?"

None of them spoke another word during class. When class ended, Neville was the first one to get up and leave the classroom.

"Did you really have to say that?" Dru asked Rose.

"Me? You've barely spoken more then three words to him since we got off the train. And since he has no idea that you're in love with him, the guy has no idea what he's done wrong." her friend snapped at her.

Dru awkwardly looked to the floor. She knew that Rose was right, she wasn't being fair to Neville. Dru decided to find Neville and make it right. She left class in a hurry and went to McGonagall's Transfiguration lesson. When she got to the classroom she was just in time to witness Draco making a treat to Neville. "Leave her alone or I ..."

"Or you what?" Dru said as she moved herself between her brother and her friend.

"Nothing." Draco said impishly. He took another look at Neville and then walked into the classroom.

After seeing her brother stomp off, she turned towards Nevillle and smiled widely. "Don't you ever leave me alone. I'm sorry for ignoring you, will you sit next to me in class?"

"What about Rose?" Neville asked.

Dru put her hands on Neville's arm and place her head on his shoulder. "Well, would you rather sit next to Rose, or next to me?" she asked as she looked up to him

"You." Neville said.

By the time Rose got to the classroom Dru and Neville had already taken their seats. Rose spotted an empty seat in the back of the class room and sat down.

"This seat taken?" Draco asked. but before Rose could tell him to go away, he had sat down. "Did you like the pendant my sis got you?"

Draco had been coming on to her ever since... sometime during the first year, and he never got the message. Rose wasn't interested in boys, or girls, or anyone for that matter. She just wanted to suffer through school and spend the holidays at her 'joyful' home. She'd always had the feeling that she didn't really belong at Hogwarts, and especially not in Gryffindor, where the students seemed to be extremely happy at all times and where they were incredibly nosey as well. But the law was the law, she figured.

She decided to entertain the boy enough not to be accused later of stringing him along. "Yes, very much," she smiled. "Bulgaria must be such a pretty country, even if there weren't any dragons."

"I need you to help me something."

"With what?"

"Dru."

"Dru's not an object, but fine, what's wrong now?" Rose sighed as she tossed her book on to the desk. She felt a headache coming up and it wasn't a pleasant one.

"I need you to help me making sure that Longbottom leaves her alone. Permanently."

Rose thought for a second and shook her head laughing. "Look, I know you don't like Neville, but he's a good guy, they'd be perfect for each other."

"You're just saying that because your father-"

"Leave my father out of it," Rose interrupted him and smacked him up on the head. "Neville is a good guy, someone you can rely on. I'm not going to help you make his life even more miserable."

"Fine! Have it your way then. I do wonder what my sweet little Dru is gonna say if I tell who you father really is. Let's see if she wants to be friend then."

"Oh Draco," Rose said in her 'dangerous when provoked' voice, "Do you honestly think that I am afraid of you?" She cocked her head and decided to project her headache onto Draco for a moment. "How does that feel, huh?"

"It's not me who you should be afraid of," Draco answered with a wince.

"I don't respond to threats very well, Draco. If you want me to help you, I'm going to make your life even more miserable than what your parents have in mind for you."

"Speaking of my parents. You like my sister don't you?"

"Yeah, you gotta work on your manipulation skills still, Draco." Rose gently patted him on the back. "In fact, if I'd tell Dru about my father, you wouldn't have anything to use against me anymore."

Rose nearly jumped ten feet in the air when professor McGonagall stood behind them. "You two have been busy talking, I don't think you know the last word I said, Mr. Malfoy?"

Rose smiled sweetly at Draco, she knew exactly what McGonagall had been saying all this time, and she wouldn't get into too much trouble."Yes, Draco dear, what was the last word she said?"

Draco glanced at Rose. "I didn't hear it. I was too busy telling Rose that she's looking very beautiful today." he knew he would get into trouble, but decided that it was worth it.

"It was 'untransfiguration', professor," Rose piped up. "You told us that it was the hardest thing you'll teach in this class." She hated Draco right now, now the entire class room would think that she and Draco would be an item or something. "And please excuse Mr. Malfoy, he's been inhaling too many peroxide fumes." At least she got the rest of class roaring with laughter.

Professor McGonagall had a hard time keeping a straight face, Rose could tell. The professor pursed her lips and said; "Very well, ten points from Slytherin, five points from Gryffindor... and I expect an essay on Animagi on my desk at the end of this week from the both of you. Now, please pay attention for the remainder of this class."

"Yes professor," Rose and Draco echoed in unison.

---

Why wasn't she told that Remus Lupin was teaching Defense against the Dark Arts? Surely, her grandfather would have known about it! Fortunately, Lupin was too enamoured with Harry Potter and his two lackeys Hermione and Ron to actually notice her, and she would make sure it'd stay that way.

Over the last few days, she had made nice with Neville and Dru, telling them both that she was suffering from 'Muggle women issues' and had decided to ride it out instead of going to the healer and magically make it go away. She had apologized for being such a pain in the neck to them.

Because she had made peace with them, it was easy to hide behind the two of them. Neville was having a growth spurt and was getting really tall already. Rose knew what was in that wardrobe that was standing in the middle of the circle they had to make, and really didn't want the Boggart to find her. "Boggart," she whispered to Dru.

"I know. I'll make the Dementor have rainbow colours. You think that will work?"

"Make it sprout flowers from its ears," she grinned, not too keen on showing the class what she was most afraid of.

"What is a Boggart?" Neville asked the two girls, just in time for Hermione and Lupin to explain what the creature was, and the associated spell that came with rendering a Boggart less dangerous.

"What's yours?" Dru asked Rose, as Neville was called to the front of the class.

Rose shrugged with a smile. "Who knows? I'm not going to find out anyway. It'll be Neville, Ron, you, one of the patil girls and Harry who'll find out, unless Lupin changes the line up, then it's all up in the air."

Dru's face turned white. "Rose, get me out of this. I don't want to do this." Dru was starting to panic.

"Woah, calm down," she hissed and kicked her friend in the shins, just in time to see Neville beat his Snape boggart with his grandmother's clothes, and for Ron to take his place.

Rose looked over to Lupin, who was looking at Dru and herself, and winced. They shouldn't have talked, at all. So much for trying not to draw attention to one's self. "Fine, I'll go," Rose groaned, finding Ron's spider amusing.

"We'll both go," Dru said bravely as she grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her along as she took over the Boggart from Ron Weasely.

"What's your Boggart, Ms Malfoy?" Professor Lupin asked with a smile on his lips as the Boggart was deciding what to turn in to. "Hmm... it looks like it can't decide between two forms!"

Dru braced herself and thought about a Dementor turning into rainbow colours with flowers out of his ears. But the boggart didn't turn into a dementor. It turned into a woman waring a grey striped gown.

"Mom," Dru whispered in fear. The woman reached out to grab Dru, who stumbled backwards into Neville. She couldn't remember the spell, why couldn't she remember the spell?

Rose gasped, realizing who the woman was, and stepped in front of Dru to protect her. "Hey! You're not scary!" She called out to the crazy woman with a big smile on her face, only to see the woman change, too fast for her liking, into another woman, and soon Rose found herself looking at herself.

She didn't quite panic, but her mind was racing as she looked at Lupin, who was watching the girls in awe or fear, Rose couldn't quite tell. How could she make herself look so ridiculous that she would laugh at it?

"well, that is frighting to look at," Dru remarked as she got her nerve back and was standing next to Rose again, trying to making the boggart look at her. "we'll confuse it." Dru said to Rose.

"Oh no, I've got this," Rose grinned. "You're not going to like it... well... someone's not going to like it." Just about as she was going to perform the spell as she thought about making out with Draco, the most ridiculous idea EVER, they were pushed out of the way by Harry Potter, the knight in dented armor.

She was going to kill him. She really was. She and Dru weren't damsels in distress, they were discussing tactics, they were working on the problem and that stupid Harry Potter decided to save them all, and Lupin obviously thought that Harry needed saving from his own Boggart; a dementor, and then class was over.

Rose was still furious as she stomped out of class. "I'm going to jinx his ass into dark, scary places!"

But Dru wasn't listening to Rose. She was looking over the crowd. Her eyes were filling up with tears.

She stomped back into class and pulled Dru along with her. "Come on, we'll mope somewhere private."

Dru was down on a desk and hide her face behind her hands. "Girls?" Lupin asked as he approached them.

Of course he had to interrupt, she was trying to get them somewhere private, and this just had to be the day that Dru wasn't cooperating. "We're fine, professor. I think that Harry Potter is a bit more confused as to why you stopped him from facing his Boggart."

"I will get to him later," he smiled warmly and sat down on a desk as he got some chocolate out of his pocket. He handed it to Dru. "Here, eat this, you will feel better." He waited for Dru to eat the chocolate, but when she was just fiddling with it, he spoke up again. "As your teacher, I was startled by your Boggart, Ms. Malfoy, do you have any idea who that was?"

"No. I saw a picture of her somewhere," Dru said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at Rose. Teachers could really be thick sometimes.

Lupin chuckled warmly. "I was wondering what your answer would be, not to worry, your secret is safe with me. I do understand that certain things should remain buried," he said, looking at Rose for emphasis, before looking back at Dru. "I can imagine that at your age, it's really hard on a person to know what your family is capable of."

Dru gave Lupin a dirty look. "I am all too familiar with what my family is capable of. You don't have to be little me." She said angrily as she forcibly put the chocolate in her bag. "I do hope you'll grade your students of what they are capable of, not because of what their lineage may be."

"Oh yes, of course, don't mind me, I'm just easily amused by how the children of two known Death Eaters, who shouldn't have conceived a child on their age to begin with, have found each other, become best friends and are friends with the one person whose parents have suffered at the hands of their own parents."

"Sorry, what?" Rose asked confused.

"Yes, what?" Dru echoed the sentiment. "My father is not a Death Eater!"

"Your parents are convicted of being a Death Eater, and so is …"

Rose had been staring at Lupin, wondering if her stare could burn holes into the werewolf's soul. She wasn't surprised to hear that the Malfoys weren't Dru's biological parents as she didn't look like Draco at all, but she would have liked it if he had shut his mouth about her father, because it complicated things. To the outside world, her father was dead, and she had been talking to Dru about her father as if he was still alive, because he was.

"I am sorry, Rose. I think I am just amazed to see you in my class," Lupin apologized, "I know who your grandfather is, and I would think that he'd keep you as far away from people like me as possible."

"News flash, grandfather doesn't care," she retorted. "And thank you, godfather, for opening a can of worms that should have remained closed."

"Your mother..."

"Don't!" Rose hissed furiously as she got up and started to walk out of the class room. "Don't."

Dru got up and defiantly put her hands on her hips as she looked at Lupin. "You'd better keep this information to yourself. although I don't think people would believe you. Werewolves are not that trustworthy, are they." She said, turning on her heels and walked out of the class with Rose. Oh she knew that they had been rude to talk to a teacher like that, but the man confronted them and they were defending themselves.

When they were outside the classroom. "Thanks for that info on the werewolves." Dru said, as she finally caught up with her friend.

"Don't tell Lucius, Lupin is actually a great teacher." Rose said, kicking against the wall. All of a sudden, she wished she had stayed home this year.

"You think he'll ever talk to me again after today?" Dru asked, her voice sounded small all of sudden.

"Who? Lupin? Sure." Rose replied, putting her hands in her pockets as they walked down the hallway.

Dru bit on her lip and ran her hands through her hair. "I don't care about Lupin, Rose." She sounded as if she was on the verge of crying.

"Then who? You have to be more specific, it's not like I can read minds."

"I can."

"Whatever, so be more specific."

"Never mind." Dru said. They were at the entrance of the great hall. Dru looked at the gryffindor table. "You know what, I'm not hungry." Dru turned around and went up to the dormitory.

Rose was relieved that Dru was too busy wallowing in self pity and grief and sadness to interrogate her about what Lupin had said, and decided not to attend classes the rest of the day. She just wanted to go home and -

She growled when Draco approached her, he was certainly not giving up. "Look, if it makes you be more respected or something..." she grabbed his face with both of her hands and kissed him harshly, before pushing him away again. "Happy now?" Rose shot at him as she made her way out of the great hall again and found an exit. She needed some alone time.

Dru entered the gryffindor common room. It was empty accept for Neville, who was sitting on the sofa staring into the fire. Dru took a deep breath and sat down next to him. "You did well with your boggart." Dru said, thinking that starting with a compliment would be a good idea.

Neville looked at her, he was angry. Of course he was angry. Dru looked down to her feet, not daring to look him in the eye. "Look, Neville, she's my aunt. I'm terrified of her."

"You're lying."

"No, i'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Why would I lie to you?"

"Why did you call her mom?" Neville yelled at her.

Dru gasped for air. He did hear her say it. "Neville..."

Ginny Weasley walked in the common room and frowned. "Uhm... I'll come back some other time," she nodded and walked straight out again.

"You... you're doing this to torture me even further, aren't you? You want to be friends with me so you can laugh behind my back about me! Or maybe you're just friends with me because you know what she did and you feel sorry for me!" Neville blurted at his friend.

"No, that's not true. I like you because you're you!" This was exactly what she had been fearing.

"Liar. You're a liar!"

"Neville, please! You don't understand." Dru couldn't stop herself from crying, but she didn't know how to explain it to him.

"Oh I understand alright," Neville spat and got up. "Don't worry though, I won't tell Professor McGonagall about your secret, but you... stay away from me."

Dru got up and grabbed Neville's wrist. "Don't go. Please Neville. You're my best friend."

"Find a new one." He pulled his hand back and stormed up to the boys room.

---

A few weeks later, Neville still wasn't speaking to either one of the girls. Dru tried and tried, but nothing worked. Now Hogsmeade weekend was coming up and Dru went to Rose for advice.

"Rose, can't you asked Neville to come along? Maybe he will talk to you?"

"Wow." she replied with an overly happy smile on her face, faking it immensely. "He won't talk to me either, I'm associated with you, so he won't, didn't you get the memo?" Rose was glad that Neville didn't know the truth about her family - yet -, as that would break his heart, but he had been hanging around with that over-eager emo beaver called Harry Potter the last few weeks. "I think that the Patil sisters asked him to go to Hogsmeade, he'll be there."

"Are you still going?"

"Nah. I don't like Dementors very much, they seem to be hanging around a bit too close for comfort really."

"Really, or is it that you don't wanna run into my brother."

"Oh! Speaking of your brother, you might want to find a cute spot that looks over the Shrieking Shack. You're going to enjoy the show."

"It's a shame I missed the other show. I would have loved to see his face."

"It was epic," Rose grinned, realizing she meant the display of 'affection' in the great hall a couple of weeks ago.

"Well, i'm off to Hogsmeade. Are you really sure you don't wanna come?"

"Positive. I might send an owl to my dad."

Dru left the common room.

Rose started writing a letter to her dad, after she was finished, she went up to the owlery to send it. As she walked back to common room, she ran into Lupin. "Ah, Rose. Could you come with me with please?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm your teacher and I'm asking you to," He replied and lead the way to his office.

Rose reluctantly followed him. She didn't know Lupin as well as she wanted to, mostly because her grandfather kept him away from her, but Lupin had known her mother, which is why Lupin was probably her godfather for some reason she didn't want to understand. Had it been Snape that would have asked her to come to his office, she would have flat out refused, but Lupin was a safe bet. She couldn't be in too much trouble.

When they were in his office, Lupin sat down on his desk as Rose leaned against the wall, waiting for her teacher to speak up.

"I have chairs you know." Lupin said and put two bottles of butterbeer on the table.

"I don't know what you want to talk to me about, maybe a Firewhiskey is a better bet?" Rose smirked as she sat down in the chair opposite of the desk and looked up to him.

Lupin smiled and handed her an envelope. "I kept these. Thought you might like them."

"What's in it?" she reluctantly asked, not opening the envelope. For some reason she had the feeling that she'd cry hysterically if she would.

"Some photos I still had of your mother. You'll like them."

"I really don't want to talk about her, professor," she said as she handed the envelope back.

"You don't have to, but you can keep the photos anyway." Lupin smiled warmly and handed her a butterbeer that he had put out. "Have you been able to talk to Neville again?"

"The only problem Neville has with me is that Dru is my friend, and I like to keep it that way. Unlike Dru, the only reason that I tolerate him is because I do feel sorry for him."

Lupin looked at her with a straight face. "Why do you feel sorry for him?"

"Oh you know why," she glared at him.

"Indulge me."

"My dad and Dru's biological parents are responsible for Neville's parents being permanent house guests at St. Mungo's." Rose muttered under her breath. "Happy now?"

"But why does that make you feel sorry for him?"

"Because he's being raised by his grandmother and not his parents. Any child should have parents." Rose's jaw dropped. "I can't believe I just fell for that. Well, at least his granny loves him and cares."

"Your grandfather loves you too. He might not express it, but from what I understand neither does Neville's grandmother."

Rose shrugged, knowing that she had to watch her words. "It's no secret that grandfather is the reason why my father was slightly crazy to begin with, what if it happens to me?"

"So, you think that Druella will become like her mother?"

"She lives with the Malfoys, that should say enough." Rose retorted, but then shook her head. She often had some future visions of Dru being an all powerful Auror, happy and free of the burden that was her family. "No, she won't," she said with more conviction.

"Not all visions come true. You do know that, don't you?"

"The future is always in motion, nothing is set in stone, apart from prophecies. Don't worry, I've read the books, I just wish I knew how to switch it off - how did you know?"

Lupin smiled. "I have my ways."

"I've been reading about my father, I mean... he made the mistake of fathering a child with a straight up muggle with no magic, but nothing suggests that he was able to see things, he was a strong and powerful wizard, yes, but not a seer, so, how do you know when I've been trying to close my mind at all times?"

"It's the times that you don't, that alerted some of my fellow teachers," Lupin explained with a smile. "We all worry a little bit about you and they are afraid that you will choose the wrong side when the time comes."

"What, when Voldemort returns?"

"If," Lupin nodded. "Not when, but if. Now we're on the subject of you being... special, yes you're just as special as anyone else in this school, even as special as Harry..."

"Ew."

"I was wondering if you could enlighten me about Peter Pettigrew."

"Who?"

"Alright, never mind," Lupin sighed.

"You should clean up the Shrieking Shack though, and maybe... well... no, I'm not going to tell you this." Rose grinned, wanting to tell Lupin about warning Harry and Hermione about the Whomping Willow, but she thought they deserved a ride.

"Rose, you are a special, but you are also strong. But others around you are maybe not as strong as you think. Others need each other to get through life."

"Exactly, which is why I won't drop another bombshell onto Neville, telling him the truth about my family, or tell all the possible futures that I've seen about the upcoming war. It's not if Voldemort returns, it's when. This war has to happen, you can tell Professor Dumbledore that. It has to happen." Rose said slowly. "In the more closer future though, you need to pay more attention to the map you've confiscated from Harry, your map. Your friend will be in the Shack at some point."

Lupin looked at Rose in awe. "Rose, what do you know?"

"A lot. It's also a bit fuzzy though, but I'm sure that when the time comes it'll become a lot clearer." She downed her bottle of butterbeer in one long sip. "And this is exactly why I didn't want to return to Hogwarts this year. It's giving me a long lasting headache! Isn't there a way to just... take this away?"

Lupin took a long pauze. "I'll asked Professor Dumbledore. maybe he knows of a way to help. In the meantime maybe you should let it go a little bit and try to have some fun. You are only 13, you know. You're a kid, maybe you should act a bit more like a kid sometimes."

"And you should give the same advice to Harry Potter, he's been walking around as if he's the bearer of the world... wait... oh man, I fell for that again. Can I have firewhiskey now?"

Lupin chuckled. "No, you may not. But if you go down to the great hall, you can eat. It's dinner time."

"Not really hungry," she rose from the chair and reluctantly picked up the envelope. "I'm tired now, I might just turn in early."

"If that's what you want. Oh but Rose, one more piece of advice before you go." Rose looked at Lupin, who smiled back at her. "You're doing a good job of telling me everything, without revealing your secrets to me. Maybe you could do that with Neville. Just a thought."

"I will... in a couple more days, I will. He needs this time without Dru and me, professor, but I will tell him in a couple more days."

"Rose, you do know that when it comes down to it, he is much stronger than her."

"Believe me, we both know," she nodded. "He's a real force to be reckoned with and he doesn't see it yet."

"Well off you go then."

---

It was Sunday and she had finally managed to pry Neville away from Harry Potter worship. Rose had been watching him all afternoon and decided that now was the time to try and explain Dru's secrecy towards Neville, hoping that he'd understand or at least accept it.

"I know you don't like me," she started as she pushed him down to sit against the trunk of a tree. "But we need to talk."

"Do we?"

"Yep, we have a mutual friend who seriously messed up."

"Really? Who?"

"Your best friend, you oaf." She sat down in front of him with a big smile on her face. "You know, I kinda like you. You take my weirdness for granted, like, when I say that you shouldn't eat something or not do something, you listen to that. Why is that?"

Neville shrugged his shoulder. "you and Dr...you are almost always right when it comes down to it."

She nodded with a smile. "I also know why Dru kept certain things from you... actually from everyone but her own family, just like you're not talking about your own parents."

"I don't wanna talk about Dru."

"Then let's talk about your shame," she shrugged. "You're ashamed of your parents, that's why you don't talk about them. You don't want to be seen as weak or as the son of two crazy people."

"That's not true. I am proud to be their son. It's them that ..." Neville stopped mid-sentence.

"It's them that what? You're afraid that people will pity you if you talk about them? About how your mother actually seemed to be doing better last time you saw her?" Rose pushed. "But you see... Dru didn't want to tell you the truth about her parents because she's ashamed of them as well. Her parents were the death eaters that... well... she doesn't want to be associated with them. She's her own person, and..." she sighed. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah, you're right. I understand."

"Despite what her parents may have done to your parents, you shouldn't hold that against her. She's a wonderful friend and it makes me sad to see the both of you sad, as if Draco stomped over your pet roach or something."

"i'm not holding her parents against her. But I do understand now. Now I know why she's my friend. I guess I've always known,"

"No..." she sighed. "It's not... she's your friend because she likes you, not because of what happened in the past. She sincerely likes you. Even more than like."

"Yeah, she's nice to me and Draco is mean. And together they can have a laugh about me."

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Draco is only mean to you because he knows that you're meant for greater things, and that you're more powerful than him."

Neville looked at Rose. "You know, we've never been really good friends. But I always thought you at least be honest with me."

"I am! Seriously Neville, you are stronger than you think. I know this."

"Maybe, but that still doesn't explain Dru."

"Well, Bella and that other person did some cuddly stuff in bed and voila, Dru was there nine months later. There, Dru explained."

Even Neville had to smile at that one. "Maybe it's better I'm not friends with Dru anymore."

"You haven't been listening to a word I said, have you?" Rose dramatically laid down in the grass. "Romeo... no wait... Neville, oh Neville, where art thou? The nights are so cold without - ehm... a blanket! Please my sweet Neville, hand me a blanket!" she mimicked Dru's voice, pitch perfect.

"No, but seriously. I doubt her boyfriend wants her to be friends with me."

Frustrated, Rose got up again, placed her hands on his shoulders and shook him. "There is no boyfriend, she's waiting for you."

"Really?" Neville said and pionted behind Rose. A group of Slytherin boys was sitting on the lawn a few yards away. Dru was sitting beside them, with Blaise Zambini's arm around her.

"Blaise... he even tried to get into my pants." Rose whipped out her wand and grinned. "Accio Dru!" She then laughed uncontrollably. "Okay, so that didn't work." She then sent a spark of harmless energy towards Dru to poke her to get her attention. "Are you coming over or what?" she shouted.

Dru looked at Rose for a moment. She then wanted to go up, but Draco and Blaise pulled her down again. Draco bent over and whispered something in her ear. Dru nodded and didn't look at her friends anymore.

"Fine, I'll..." Rose got to her feet and pointed at Neville. "Stay. We're going to do a hostage exchange," she said before making her way over to the group. "Hello everyone," she smiled widely and pulled Dru to her feet. "Off you go," she said, before sitting down at her friend's vacated spot.

"Dru, think about what I just said." Draco merely said and Dru froze at the spot she was standing. She looked at Neville, but she couldn't move anymore.

"Oh, Neville knows about stuff now," Rose nodded with a smile. "He's okay with it. And if you're worried about me, don't worry, I've been told that I'm stronger than a bunch of Slytherin boys all together," she then projected the image of Lupin and Dumbledore protecting Rose in her own head for Dru to pick up on, including the entire conversation she had with Lupin. It was so easy to exchange information quickly with their combined powers.

Dru smiled, but still wasn't moving. Draco smiled devious at Rose. He block his mind so Rose could never get in and find out what Draco had said to Dru.

"Oh and of course, I could always go to the biggest gossip person in Hogwarts to tell them that Draco is a really really bad kisser, and that he sleeps with his teddy bear still." That made the boys of chuckle, all the boys, except for Draco. "So if you're really that scared of him, don't worry, Rosalie the prickliest Rose on the planet has your back."

Now it was Draco turn to laugh. "My sister has never been scared of me in my life. I just told her what she worth to me and to us. And what she never be to others."

"You know that Neville pees in his pants at the sight of a bunch of Slytherin baby's, right? He even thought that Blaise was your boyfriend!" Rose nudged Dru with her foot. "Go on, he wants to talk to you, do you wish to see what I said to him?"

"Who says I'm not her boyfriend? Blaise said, as he grabbed Dru's hand and pulled her back on the ground.

"Oh please, Neville is so much better than you." Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Do you guys seriously wish for me to hurt you?"

"Rose, stop it." Dru said. "Neville's made his choice, now I'm making mine. Please go."

Rose got up and stared Dru down as she lifted her wand with a smile on her face. "Just say the word, and they're all bald."

Dru got up too. She looked angry at Rose and had also pulled out her wand. "I mean it Rose. Stop this."

Rose licked her lips as she was thinking about the possible futures that were coming up in her head. Expulsion, blood, more blood, some tears maybe... She tucked her wand away and shrugged. "Very well, I suppose that pride is more important to you than friendship," she said simply as she got out of the circle.

"You girls do know, you fighting over somebody that isn't even here anymore." pansy said and pointed at the empty spot Neville had been standing.

"I swear this is the last time I'm trying to MEND things between friends because a TEACHER said so!" Rose yelled as she stomped away in the general direction of the entrance of the castle, picturing Slytherin tower getting blown up by bombs looking like Neville.

---

A few days later Lupin had surprised everyone with a ridiculous assignment that had to be done in previous assigned trio's. Of course, Lupin had put Rose, Dru and Neville together, even if they were sitting as far away from each other as possible. When class was done he called Rose to his desk.

"You've created a warzone, professor," Rose remarked with a pleasant smile as she approached his desk. "We're not getting along at this moment thanks to some Malfoy pride, some Black... something, some Longbottom pantsyness and a very stubborn and angry me."

Lupin smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. "What if i told you that after about 15 minutes into the work, you can walk out of them and still get a good grade?" He put three butterbeers on his table. "Make sure Neville takes this one, will you?"

"Oh, so playing the one who gets blown to pieces by her friend and semi-friend will earn me a good grade?" She shrugged. "Fine, okay, thanks," she nodded and took the drinks with her as she returned to the table. She set the bottle that Lupin had assigned to Neville for some reason infront of Neville and put the other one down in front of Dru before sitting back in her chair and lounging as she sipped her drink. "So, how are we going to do this assignment?"

"I don't know." Dru said.

"No, you're a Malfoy, of course you don't know, you've been living with Draco's peroxide fumes." Rose remarked and looked at the book. "Looks simple enough."

"You wanna talk about who you've been living with?"

Rose chuckled. After months, Dru finally showed that she wasn't an idiot at all, but that she had just been dealing with her own demons and ignored the rest. "Corpses," she pulled her feet off the table, grabbed her butterbeer and left the classroom.

"Brilliant, now what?" Dru said, taking her butterbeer in one hand before taking a big sip of it.

Neville didn't say anything and quietly sipped his drink, trying not to look at Dru.

"Still ignoring me then?"

Oh how Neville wanted to slap her silly for being influenced by her brother. He had been grateful for Rose trying to fix things, and then the stupid Malfoy curse hit the one person it hadn't hit yet. He finished his butterbeer quickly and looked at the book before growing frustrated and said; "I understand, now."

"Really, what do we have to do?" Dru said, thinking he was talking about the assignment.

"Nothing, but I understand, now." Neville pointed out. "It all makes sense, what Rose said about you. You and I are actually quite similar and we shouldn't have the past haunt us or form us in anyway."

"Really?" Dru said. "Tell me, Neville, what else did Rosie explain about my behavior?"

"It came down to the fact that you're as equally afraid as ashamed of your parents, as I'm equally afraid and ashamed of mine should I talk about them more often."

Dru sighed deeply as the bitchy side of her was slowly disappearing. "Neville, i know you're ashamed of them. I know how proud you are off them." she put one hand on her arm. "And so you should be."

"It was wrong of me to react the way I did, Dru, but you lied to me, and for a good reason, but you didn't have to protect me, I know now that you like me for me, not because of what your parents did to mine."

"Neville, you still don't get it. I didn't do it to protect you, i did it to protect myself. I didn't want you to see me as the daughter of a monster."

"No, instead you made me see you as the sister of another one," he retorted, his confidence was unexplainable.

Dru looked at the ground. She didn't wanted to look at him as she said this. "I wanted you to see me for how I am. I wanted you to lo...like me for how i am."

"I do. And I like you more than you think," Neville answered with a big smile on his face.

Dru still found it hard to look at Neville. Al her hope of him falling for her had gone out of the window since their fight. Draco had told her that there was no way that Neville would ever date her now that he knew who she really was.

Without thinking too long, Neville cupped Dru's chin and softly kissed her on the lips. "See? More than like."

Dru didn't know what to do anymore. Usually she was the one with the confidence, not Neville. She just closed her eyes and hoped she wasn't dreaming.

Standing in the door of his office, Remus Lupin smiled widely and closed the door. One crisis averted, the day was saved.

---

Dru couldn't wait to get to common room, but Rose wasn't there. She went up to their bedroom where Rose was laying in bed. Dru just jumped the bed and hugged Rose. "I'm sorry, Rose",

"Hmm..." Rose replied with a sigh. "Whatever, I understand. I just wished you'd let me make the Slytherin boys baldies."

"We could still do that."

"It's no fun now."

"Do you wanna watch me tell Draco that I'm dumping Blaise? Or do you want me to tell Draco something else?"

"Not now, sorry," Rose sighed and pulled her pillow over her head. "Something's funny... almost as if someone's messing with the time or something, my head hurts."

"What are you on about? Rose?" Dru asked as she concentrated and tried getting into Rose head.

"Get out of my head, you're making it worse," she sighed. "It's nothing really... just slight ripples that I'm picking up, slight changes that have happened today."

"What? Like Neville getting some confidence for once?" Dru smiled.

"Oh no, that was all Neville," Rose gave a thumbs up. "Go Neville."

"I know. I didn't know what came over me when he..." Dru smiled and looked to the ground. "i mean, i just completely froze. I could even say something anymore."

"What? I take it he apologized and shared that you and him aren't that different from each other?"

"Yes, he said all the things you planted in his brain, but then he..."

"I didn't plant anything! I told the truth... what? What did he do?" Rose removed the pillow from her head to look at her friend, but found that the light was too bright and put it back on her head for cover.

"I still just don't believe he did that. It was so not like him, but then when he did it was so him. Like the him we always said was inside of him."

She felt around for her friend's hand and squeezed in it, hard. "Tell me what he did! I don't see everything you know! There's a thing called 'decency' and a thing called 'privacy' and a thing called 'too many people to watch actively'."

Dru removed the pillow from Rose's head. She put her fingers on Rose's tempel and concentrated on the moment Neville had kissed her. Dru wanted Rose to see it for herself.

"Oh!" Rose responded. "That! Well, that's great!"

"I know. It completely took me by surprise. I came straight over to tell you."

"And you didn't kiss him back? Talk to him after the kiss?" She grinned as she put the pillow back over her head. "Go talk to him you silly cow!"

Dru's face turned white as she just realised what she did. "oh, my god! I'm a idiot! " Dru said. She bit her lip and was contemplating on what to do next.

"Sorry Neville, I had to run off to Rose to share the news that we're friends again, let's go and have tea now because I'm hungry," Rose mimicked Dru's voice again.

Dru grabbed Rose's pillow and hit her on the head with it. "That's not funny. Imagine how much it must have took from him to kiss me and then I ran off. God, he must feel like crap now. How am I suppose to fix this?"

"Get off the bed, take the stairs down to the common room and pounce on him," Rose said after a moment of silence. "He's sitting in the common room and if you keep hitting me on the head with the pillow, or poke me with your fingers, I'm going to lower my defences and let you feel the pain I am in now!"

"Rose, I'm worried about you. Maybe we can talk to Snape. He'll know what to do."

"I'm fine, really. It's just that... it's not really alerting, these small changes in time, they're small, not really in conflict with the original time line but it's just giving me a headache and screws up my...- Dru, I said, get off the bed and take the stairs to the common room."

"Let me just stay with you till you feel a bit better."

"Get off the bed and take the stairs down to the common room." Rose said again. "Don't make me throw you down those stairs."

"Is there anybody else there?"

"No," she sighed. "Alright, let me make a deal with you... we'll walk to the common room together, then I'll leave you with your new boyfriend and I'll go to the healer."

"okay." Dru said and finally got off the bed. "But, he's not my boyfriend."

"Yeah, he is." Rose got up and pulled her friend with her as she headed down the stairs. "Neville, she's sorry for running off. Good luck!" She quickly said and almost ran towards the infirmary.

Dru smiled awkwardly at Neville, who smiled awkwardly back. His confidence had gone away and he was coming to terms with what he had done.

"Hi again," Dru said smiling.

"Ehm..." Neville blushed. "Hi..."

Dru sat down next to Neville. She put her legs on the sofa and put her head on his schoulder, like she had done on the train nearly a year ago.

"Oh... okay," he nodded and put his arm around her shoulders as he continued to read in his book.

Dru looked up at Neville. "I gotta go dump Blaise tomorrow."

"Wait, he was your boyfriend?"

"I ..." Dru took a deep breath and slowly nodded. "I thought you were never gonna talk to me again."

"Blaise? Seriously?" Neville said stunned. "I'm a dead man!"

"Well, if you don't want me to..." Dru said as she moved away from Neville.

"No! I want you to! I want to be your boyfriend!" He blurted and quickly clasped his hands over his mouth, in shock of what he had just said.

Dru smiled. "You do?"

"Y-yes," Neville stammered and nodding his head. "If you want me."

"Come on, Neville! Are you kidding me?"

"Oh well, okay then," Neville shrugged with a sigh. "You're still my friend though, aren't you?"

Dru smiled, took Neville's book and threw it on the floor. She climbed on his lap and put her arms around his neck. "Okay let's try this again; come on, Neville, are you kidding me?"

"No, I am not," Neville responded. "I want to be your boyfriend if you want to have me as one."

"What do you think I want?"

Neville did the math; she was in his lap and her arms were around his neck and so close! He took a deep breath and dared to kiss her again.

Dru kissed him back, then she smiled and said. "I can't believe it took me two years for you to actually kiss me."

"I've wanted to before..." he replied with a frown. "But you frighten me sometimes. Rose too... is she alright?"

Dru bit her lip. "Honestly? I don't think so. But she keeps shutting me out."

"I am sure that there are reasons for her not telling you everything, Dru," Neville replied with a nod. "But if she's really sick, I will be angry with her for not telling us."

"She's not sick, Neville. Something is troubling her, but she won't tell me. Which is what scares me more than anything. The things she won't tell me are usually bigger than big." Dru looked at Neville. "Neville, you understand why I didn't tell you about my parents, right?"

"You don't want to be associated with them, I can understand that," he replied, somewhat confused about the remark about Rose she had made before she changed the subject. "And from the pictures that I've seen, no offense, but your mo- she looks scary."

"Neville, what do you exactly know about what happened to your parents?"

"Four Death Eaters spent hours torturing them for no good reason," he said after a moment of silence, not wanting to be remembered by it. "Other than that, nothing that isn't in the books or papers from the time, we don't really talk about it, my nan and I."

Dru closed her eyes for a second. She didn't know if she was doing right by this. "Babe, do you know who it where? The death eaters?"

"Well one of them is dead, the other three are in Azkaban. Bellatrix, her husband and his brother."

"Yeah..." Dru took a deep breath. She didn't like to say it out loud. "...my mother, my father and my uncle."

"Exactly, and a minister's son. Blimey, that must have been hard on him, to put his own son on trial."

"Neville, what would you say if...-" Dru closed her eyes. Was she really doing right by this?

"What?" He put his arms around her and pulled her closer. "You have more monsters hiding underneath your bed?"

Dru closed her eyes. Neville was finally holding her the way she wanted him to hold her for so long. If she told him the truth would he be mad again for lying to him? But if she didn't; could she keep lying to him? Would Rose feel betrayed if she told him? Oh hell, it wasn't as if Rose thought of Neville as a real friend anyway.

"If so... I've heard that Riddikulus works," he chuckled.

Dru smiled and gave Neville a kiss. "I'm sorry."

"Tell me about your other monsters, Dru, I'll keep you safe then."

"Neville, what if minister's son had a kid?"

He took a deep breath and managed a small smile. "From what I've learned this year is that you are not responsible for your parents' actions and that you are your own person. I'd pity the child to be honest, I heard that he was a fruitcake."

"Neville, don't say that."

"What? Because my own parents are not recognizing me? They don't recognize me, but that Crouch boy knew what he was doing was wrong, or he was so dedicated to You-know-who that he didn't care that what he was doing was wrong. And I heard he died, at least I still have my parents."

"Yeah, we both do. But imagine having neither of them?"

"Is Harry secretly the child of …"

"No!" Dru chuckled and shook her head. "You're funny, but no, that's not what I meant!"

"Well what did you mean? You sound almost as bonkers as Rose at times!"

"Yeah, but Neville, imagine what's like having your mother killed and your father die in Azkaban for a horrible crime." Dru was on the verge of crying. Saying the words out loud made her realize what her friend had been going through. "I've been a bad friend."

"No, you've not been a bad friend," Neville said and caressed her back. "You're being Malfoyed, just like Rose said, the fumes are getting to you, and you need her and me to keep them away," he kissed the top of her head. "And what happened in the past couple of months? We're teenagers, Dru. We're meant to fight."

"Yes, I have been a bad friend. Al this time I was just thinking about what you and I went through with our parents. I forgot that Rose has been through hell too." Tears were now running down Dru's face. She felt horrible. Al the time she was so caught up in her drama with her and Neville, that Rose 's problems got thrown to the side.

"Wait, when did this conversation turn to be about Rose?" he chuckled and kept caressing her back. "You're not a horrible person, or a horrible friend. You're Dru and you're amazing."

"Seriously, Neville. don't you get what I have been trying to tell you?" Dru was getting a bit frustrated. She was so used to Rose knowing what was going on inside her head, that she forgot that Neville wasn't able to.

"Yes about the minister's son who had a kid... who... is at Hogwarts right now?" He guessed.

"Rose, Neville, I was talking about Rose." Dru bit her lip. She had so hoped he would have guessed it himself, so she couldn't be blamed for telling him.

Neville was quiet for a while, and took a deep breath. Deciding to show that he had truly learned from the mistake of ignoring Dru for so long after finding out that her parents were part of the group that hurt his parents, he took another breath and nodded. "Well, I thought she was muggle born, but this explains a lot..."

"Wait, where on earth did you get the idea that Rose was muggle born?"

"She doesn't talk about her family much, I thought she was embarrassed because they were muggles, but this explains a lot."

"Babe, did you really think my brother would go after a muggle born?"

"I actually thought it was one of those Slytherin dares, have one of them go after one of us and see what happens," he shrugged. "What? I've been called unobservant before!"

"One of us? Neville, you're pure blood!"

"I meant one of us Gryffindor students, silly, it's not like you girls have a reputation like the girls from the other houses have with both hands filled with the hand of a boyfriend or a boy she likes... it's not as if Rose is approachable."

Dru smiled. She took both of Neville's hands and let her finger slide between his. "Now I've got a boy in both hands. Do I have a reputation of one of the slutty girls now?"

"I can feel my popularity rising," Neville laughed.

Dru smiled "I can feel it too." she put her arms around his neck again and kissed him.

"Oh, gross," Fred and George chorused as they entered the common room. "Get a room you lot."

"Jealous?" Dru said and started kissing Neville's neck.

"As head boy, I say cut it out now!" Percy's hysterical voice sounded. "Or would you like me to report you to Ms. McGonagall?"

"Oh grow up, Percy," Fred and George said.

"Young love!" Fred grinned.

"It's gorgeous!" George added.

"I'm allowed to kiss my boyfriend, aren't I?" Dru said loud enough so everyone in the room heard it.

"That you are," Rose's voice sounded before she appeared in the doorway. "And might I say that you two look adorable

Dru glanced at Neville for a second to see how he would react to Rose, but quickly turned her head so Rose couldn't noticed it. "How's your head?"

"Numb, great herbs," she replied as she sank down on the sofa next to Dru and started to warm herself by the fire. "I feel all floaty now, so if I start to float, you'll have to pull me back down."

With a room full of people it Dru figured this was the best time to tell Rose. "Neville knows."

"He knows?" Rose raised an eyebrow, wondering what her friend was talking about. "Okay? I guess?"

"Yeah, it's okay! He's understands, don't you babe?" Dru asked as she nudged Neville to say something.

"Yes, it's okay," he replied.

"Good, whatever it is that you know, it's okay," she smiled goofily and pulled her legs up to her chest.

"I don't think she realizes what you've just said, Dru," he whispered in her ear. "She looks pretty out of it."

Percy sighed as he saw the girl sit at the fire. She wasn't even supposed to be out of the infirmary, but had somehow found a way to escape the healer. He scooped her up in his arms and looked at Dru. "I'll take her back to the infirmary, she's not okay."

"I'll go with you." Dru said and got up from Neville's lap. she was getting more worried by the minute.

"Time, such a funny little thing," Rose giggled as she put her arms around Percy's neck. "Did you know that if you see things and something goes wrong in the future that you have to shut your mouth? Did you, mr. Percy Weasley, bestest head boy ever? It's even worse in the infirmary, it's the center of all evil that messes with the brain!"

"Percy, let her stay here. We'll put her on the couch. It's better." Dru ordered.

"Oh no, she's going to the infirmary, she's sick. Go back to the common room, this is not your duty." Percy replied, looking at Dru before bumping into professor Dumbledore.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley, I was just about to get our escaped patient," he greeted the head boy. "Be a good boy and hand her over, I shall take good care of her," he said, stretching out his arms while looking at Dru. "I believe that Ms. Shepherd told you certain things?"

"Yes sir," she nodded, relieved that at least Dumbledore knew about Rose's ability. "She's babbling about time and how it's …"

"I know lass," Dumbledore took the girl in his arms. "I shall keep her away from the center of evil and make her comfortable in my office, don't you worry, I will take good care of her. The safest place for you to be right now is your common room. Thank you both," he smiled pleasantly before quickly making his way to his office. For an old man, he certainly moved fast with a girl in his arms!

Dru didn't want to hear it, even though she could hear Rose saying 'weeeeee!' as Dumbledore moved out of sight. Yes, her friend was out of it alright.

---

Rose felt great the next morning as she woke up in Dumbledore's office, with the man hoovering over her. The headache was gone, the feeling of something being wrong all the time was gone and she wasn't as fogged up as she had been all year.

"Good morning, Rose," Dumbledore greeted her. "All is well again?"

"Yes sir," she nodded. "I might even have my control back."

Dumbledore then unofficially explained her what had been going on, so that she could make sense of it all and it did. Everything had turned out alright, she was just feeling sorry for Lupin, who was resigning before the parents could start to complain. He always ended up as collateral damage and it wasn't fair, but it was obviously something he was used to by now.

"Now, as you may know, professor Lupin has told me about your visions of this upcoming war..."

"It needs to happen, professor," she said slowly, seeing the images in her head again. It was awful, it was bloody, messy and a lot of people would die, people she loved, people that didn't deserved to die, but it needed to happen. "It needs to happen so that things will return to normal again, but I'm sure that your Divination's professor has said the same thing."

Dumbledore chuckled. "You and I both know that she's... unreliable but under my protection nonetheless,"

She shrugged it off. "But yes, the war has to happen, but the world will be a better place after it. I can't tell you anything else in case I..."

"Trample the big scheme of things?"

"Exactly, sir."

"Please do know that if there is something you do wish to share with me, or that's really important, you'll come to me."

"Of course," she said with a nod. "And thank you, sir, I know that trusting me might not be the easiest thing..."

"You are not your father, dear child. Do know that. We should not suffer because of what our parents have done wrong in their time. Now, please, there's a really impatient girl waiting outside my office, waiting for you."

Rose smiled widely and got off the settee. "Thank you again, professor."

"Enjoy breakfast," he said as she disappeared out of his office.

"Hungry!" Rose yelled as she ran off the stairs and nearly jumped into Dru's arms. "I'm fixed!"

"Thank god for that." Dru said relieved as she hugged her friend. "Don't do that again. You had me so worried."

"Damn Potter," Rose chuckled and put an arm around her friend's shoulders, not caring that she was still in infirmary garments. "Let's have breakfast, I'm hungry now."

"Let's get you dressed first."

"Food, I'm decent enough. Who cares that I look like an infirmary person? I'm crazy, this makes people believe even more that they should stay away from me

"Rose, trust me! This will be a breakfast that you're gonna want to remember and years from now you'll be thanking me for getting into clothes," she grinned.

Rose sighed deeply and then nodded. "Fine, clothes first."

Ten minutes later, the girls were walking to the Great Hall fully dressed. "Come on." Dru said and pulled Rose with her to the Slytherin table.

"Goodmorning!" Rose greeted the table and curtsied.

Blaise turned around and put an arm around Dru. She just looked at him. In a loud enough voice that could be heard across the entire Great Hall, Dru spoke up; "Blaise, i just wanted you to know, you're a crappy boyfriend and a lousy kisser. So I went and find myself a boyfriend that can actually kiss."

Smiling smugly, she took Rose's hand and walked over to the Gryffindor table.

"What was that about?" Rose asked.

"Is everybody watching us?" Dru whispered

Rose nodded for an answer.

"Good," she grinned as she sat down next to Neville and gently planted a kiss on his lips. "Good morning!"

"Ew, get a room!" Fred and George chorused. "You're making me barf with this lovey dovey stuff!"

Rose didn't pay attention to the rest of the table once she sat down opposite of Dru and Neville, between Seamus and Percy and started to inhale her breakfast. She was starving.

Dru started to laugh when she saw what her friend was doing.

"Shut up, I'm eating," Rose remarked and stole a piece of bread out of Percy's hand as he had grabbed the last one from the bowl in their near vicinity.

"You call that eating?" Dru said with a frown on her face.

"Aye," she replied, mentally cursing herself for letting that slip, she was supposed to be speaking proper English, not with any London accent or Scottish accent like her father. She took a deep breath and paused as she thought for a moment. "Hey, what does Neville know, exactly?"

Dru bit her lip. She suddenly regretted telling Neville. Rose was going be so at mad her. She looked over at Neville before deciding the table was a better option.

"I know the truth," Neville said bravely.

Rose blinked and then looked at her friend. Had Dru really betrayed her like that? She shrugged it off and marked the experiment down as failed. Nothing that a well placed memory charm on both of them wouldn't fix. "No worries," she said evenly as she took a sip of her tea.

"No more secrets," Dru said and put one hand on Rose's arm.

"Yeah... great," she said with a small smile and took another sip of her tea. Both Neville and Dru were getting too close to her and it wasn't good. It wasn't what she had set out for when she had gone to Hogwarts almost four years ago. She was supposed to be alienated and alienate people, not building friendships.

Neville smiled at Rose, but Dru looked a bit suspicious. She loved Rose, but knew that she didn't always trust her either. Dru decided to let it rest, for now. "Would you like to go for a walk?"

"Yeah, we should go and see professor Lupin," Rose replied and finished drinking her tea. "You done eating?"

"I'm not hungry." Dru said, shoving her plate away from her.

Rose reached for the pieces of toast and stuffed them in her pocket. "Alright, let's go."

Dru nodded, got up and followed her friend to the door. "Rose, why are we going to Lupin anyway. I thought you didn't like him?"

"He and I... have an understanding now," Rose said slowly. "He's done a lot for us, even more than you can even imagine," she added with a sigh. "And you have to admit, he's the best D.A.D.A. teacher we've had so far!"

"I'll admit the teacher part, but Lupin never did anything to help me."

"Really now?" Rose said with an all-knowing smile on her lips as she almost danced towards his classroom, bumping into Harry after turning the corner. "Hey Harry, thanks for the headache, that was brilliant!"

"Uhm... you're welcome?" the boy replied a bit unsure of what to say.

"It was my pleasure!" She giggled and continued her way towards the office, closely follwed by Dru.

"No, but honestly Rose! Tell me one thing Lupin has ever done for me?"

"Neville."

"no, Neville got me Neville. I was there, remember. Neville kissed me and there was nobody there to nudge him on. It was all him."

"And a bottle of butterbeer that Lupin had given me."

Dru looked at Rose. "How on earth did a bottle of butterbeer got Neville to kiss me?"

"Liquid luck," Lupin replied as he was stacking a few of his belongings with an easy movement with his wand.

Dru's face turned red. She looked at the ground and wished for a hole she could disappear in.

"No matter, it only enhanced his own confidence for a moment, he's doing fine now, isn't he?"

This made Dru's face turn even more red. "Yes," she mumbled. Getting a teacher to help to get you kissed by a boy is very embarrassing.

"All for the greater good," he said with an all knowing smile towards Rose. "I take it that Professor Dumbledore told you that I've resigned?"

"Resigned?" Dru asked. Rose didn't tell her that part.

"People don't like werewolves, check." Rose replied with a sigh. "But you are a great teacher, I'm not sure why you should leave,"

"Because, I might not always be able to control myself. I might have nibbled on someone last night, I'm not sure," he answered with a playful smile.

Dru scrunched up her face as if she'd just smelled something very foul.

Sounds like impending Malfoy doom, Rose thought with a grimace as she played with a paperweight on Lupin's desk. "I'd like to thank you, professor, for everything you've done."

Dru suddenly realised three was a crowd in this conversation. "I'm gonna check on Neville. I have to make sure that Blaise and Draco don't kill him." Dru said and walked out of the office.

"You are more than welcome," Lupin said to Rose as he sat down next to her on his desk. "Now, I need to tell you this, because your grandfather really doesn't like me, but if there is anything wrong where you live, or there is a problem you can't solve, you can contact me, you know that, right?"

"I know now," Rose smiled a little. "I still haven't opened the envelope, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to look at those pictures,"

"Give it some time, I know you don't have it easy with anything else that's going on."

Rose shrugged and sighed. "Dru and Neville know... I messed up. I only wanted the teachers to know who... - I'm not sure if I trust them enough."

"Do you have a reason not to trust Neville? Lupin asked. Easy answers first, he thought to himself.

"It's actually not necessarily trust, it's... I don't know... they know this part of me that..."

"All three of you have a part of yourself that you kept secret from the rest of the world. You know theirs, don't you think it's fair they get to know yours?"

Rose thought for a while and then shook her head. "It's too dangerous that they know, isn't it? It's something they can use against me if they... not that I've seen anything of the sort in the near future, but still, it can happen, right?"

"Rose, I don't want to sound abrupt, but you have the better bargain here. They know you can use their parents story against them. And for them, their parents are still very present in their life. Your parents are more a part of your past, than theirs are."

She bit her lip and nodded. "I suppose, yes... you are right." Rose sighed and handed him the paperweight. "Say hi to Tonks for me," she smiled as she hopped off the desk and hugged Lupin. "Be well, professor."

"Tonks?" Lupin said confused. He had no idea who she was talking about.

"You'll see!" She giggled and waved as she skipped out of his office. "Have a good and safe summer!"

---

The next day, everyone had packed up to head back home for the summer. Rose was excited to go back home, even though it was hard, but she had missed the Muggle world. Their hamburger restaurants were just addictive and walking around in other clothes other than her school robes was even better, more freedom.

She was singing songs and jumping on her bed as she tossed the last things in her trunk.

Hermoine came up to the dormitory and handed a letter to Dru. "This just came for you." Hermoine said curtly and left the room again. Dru sat down on her bed and opened the letter. "It's from my mother...yes!"

"Whi- she's going to see you in a couple of hours," Rose snorted and sat down next to Dru. "Why would she send you a letter?"

"Do you remember us talking about me staying with you?"

"Yes..." Rose said slowly, knowing full well that Narcissa would say 'no'.

"Well, father talked to your Grandfather last week at the ministry and I am going home with you for the next two weeks!" Dru said excited. She jumped into Rose's arms. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Yes... fun..." she tried to sound excited and just hoped that everything would be okay when they'd return to the place that she called home.

Two more weeks of not seeing her father, it sucked, but Rose could do it. She was reluctant, but she had to.