The Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Note: References in the story have pushed the date forwards from July 1991 to no earlier than July 2000. Also, I am looking for a Beta for this and my other two stories, PM if interested.


The sound of the mail flap and the smack of the letters on the doormat interrupted breakfast.

"Mail's here," said Dudley, munching on his bacon.

"Go get the mail Dudley," said his father from behind the paper.

"Make Rose get the mail," replied Dudley, making a face at his cousin since his father couldn't see.

"Go get the mail Rose," said her uncle from behind his paper.

"Make Dudley get the mail," she replied, answering Dudley's face with one of her own.

"Children," came the stern reproach from the kitchen. Dudley and Rose both turned to see Petunia, his mother and her aunt, glaring at them, her gaze slowly shifting from one to the other.

"I'll get it," said Rose quickly, jumping out of the chair.

"No," countered Dudley. He stuck out her Smelting stick in Rose's path as he got out of his chair, "I'll get the mail."

Rose tripped, but then tucked into a roll, her plaited auburn hair flying behind her. Her experience was from the gymnastics classes that her aunt Petunia had persuaded her uncle Vernon to enroll her in for her ninth birthday, and continued towards the door. She let out a raspberry to her cousin as he got to the mail before he even finished getting out of his chair.

"I didn't want to get the mail anyway," said Dudley in a huff, then returned to his seat and his breakfast.

Rose sorted through the pieces of mail as she strolled back into the kitchen. A letter from her aunt Marge, well, Dudley's aunt since she was Rose's uncle's sister, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight. Rose had never liked Marge, and the feeling, she knew, was mutual. There was also a fat envelope that looked like a bill, and a third envelope, thick and yellow, with green writing, and it was, surprisingly, addressed to her.

She had friends, but they never wrote her, even when they took vacations, and they'd never send anything in a yellow envelope, especially one without a stamp. She always returned her books prompt to the library, so it wasn't from them, and even the warning that they sent to Dudley were in plain white envelopes, and had stamps. She didn't have another other family, at least, none that her aunt Petunia had told her about, but she admitted that she'd never been close to her brother-in-law, and even then, who'd send her an envelope with a stamp on it.

"What taking you so long?" asked Dudley, who looked over his shoulder at her.

Rose shook her head and looked up from the yellow envelope, "Sorry, just, well, I got a letter."

"A letter?" asked Dudley, intrigued. As he got up from the table neither her nor Rose saw the looks that passed between Petunia and Vernon.

"Yeah, weird," said Rose, showing the letter to Dudley. "No stamp or anything, and the address, pretty specific."

"Ms. R. Potter, The smallest bedroom, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surry," said Dudley, reading off the address. "That is weird, there's no post code."

"The post code, that's the first thing that you noticed? Not the fact that it's not a paper envelope? I think it's parchment. And look here," Rose said, flipping over the envelope. "This, who uses wax to seal envelopes?"

The two cousins were interrupted in their inspection by Petunia clearing her throat.

Rose and Dudley book looked up, a guilty look on their faces.

Petunia smiled, "Oh, your not in trouble, it'll just be easier to explain in here." She gestured the two children, one eleven, the other nearly so, into the dining room.

They took their seats, as Petunia took her's next to her husband, who had folded his paper. Rose thought that her uncle Vernon looked rather uncomfortable, but didn't say anything.

"So, aren't you going to open it?" asked Petunia, gesturing at the envelope that Rose as put on the table.

"Oh," said Rose. She carefully cracked the wax seal, and then removed two sheets of folded parchment, the same pale yellow as the envelope. She opened them and then lost her breath.

"What's it say?" asked Dudley, reaching for the top sheet that Rose as nearly let drop from her fingers.

"Stop," said Vernon tersely. "Those are your cousin's letters, not yours. Did she take your acceptance letter from Smeltings?"

"No," said Dudley, a shameful blush crossing his face.

"Hogwarts," said Rose softly. She looked up at her aunt and uncle. Vernon had the same nearly neutral expression that he had on whenever dealing with Rose, but Petunia's face was awash with conflicting emotions of joy, envy, and sadness. "Didn't you say my mum and dad went to Hogwarts?" she asked.

Petunia nodded, "Yes, and now, so will you. Haven't you wondered why we didn't get you your uniform for Stonewall High?"

Rose shrugged, "I didn't think I'd need one."

"Well?" asked Dudley. "Come on, I want to hear!" He pointed at the letter.

Rose picked up the letter. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She paused as she saw her uncle fail to repress his wince, but continued. "Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore. Order of Merlin, First Class. Grand Sorc, I guess that means Sorcerer? Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mug… Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards." She looked up from the parchment, "Wow, you weren't lying Aunt Petunia. Funny titles though."

"What's a Mugwump?" asked Dudley, mouthing the strange word over.

Rose shrugged, "Hell if I know."

"Language!" chorused Petunia and Vernon in harmony.

Rose blushed, "Sorry." At a smile and gesture from her aunt, she continued. "Dear Ms. Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September first. We await you owl no later than July thirty-first. Yours Sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress."

"Owl?" asked Dudley.

"It's how wizards communicate, like the Royal Mail," explained Petunia. "Lily was always getting owls from her friends when she was at Hogwarts." A wave of sadness washed over her face.

"I'll write," offered Rose. "Ever day if you want me to." She'd grown up with stories of her mother's adventurers at Hogwarts, and knew how much her aunt Petunia had both wanted to go, and had eventually regretted pushing her sister away.

"No, you won't," said Petunia, wiping an errant tear from her face, "But try to write if anything interesting happens, will you?"

"Okay," said Rose with a smile. She got up from her chair and after a step and a half, hugged her aunt. "I love you Aunt Petunia."

Petunia twisted in her seat, and hugged her niece right back, "I love you too Rose."

After releasing the hug, Rose went back to her seat. "How'm I supposed to 'owl' them back? Don't they know I live here?"

"Well," said Petunia, thinking out load, "Since your mother and father were wizards, well, witch and wizard, they had owls. The letter was probably written when you were born, and they just sent you the standard letter."

"Oh," said Rose with a sigh.

"What about Mrs. Figg?" asked Dudley.

"What about her?" asked Petunia.

"Well, she's got an owl," he said. "I saw it come to her house last week."

"You think she's a witch?" asked Rose.

"Well, it couldn't hurt to ask," offered Petunia. After a grunt from her husband, she added, "Discretely of course. Wouldn't want to call attention to ourselves." She smirked. Rose returned to smirk, having heard the stories from her aunt about how her mother had had to keep the wizarding world secret.

Rose then turned over the first sheet of parchment and looked at the long list of books and 'equipment' she'd need for her first year at Hogwarts. "Robes? Pointed hats? Broomsticks?" She chuckled, "I guess I really am a witch."

Dudley smirked, "She's a witch! Burn her, burn her!" He jumped out of her chair, pointing with his Smeltings stick. "She turned me into a newt!" At the glare from all the people seated at the table, he added, "I got better."

The table, aside from the stoic Vernon, was quickly reduced into a fit of laughter (from Dudley) and giggles (from Petunia and Rose).


Later, than afternoon, Petunia escorted Rose down the street to Mrs. Figg's house. Rose had only been there a couple of times, along with Dudley, when her aunt and uncle had to leave and couldn't take the children with them. She never really liked it, since it smelt of cabbage and cats, neither of which were Rose's favorite scents. After a gentle knocking at the door, Mrs. Figg opened it, though he paused to shoo one of her cats away from the opening, "Ah, Petunia, and young Rose, what can I help you with today?"

"Um…" stammered Rose. She looked up at her aunt, swallowed, then looked back at Mrs. Figg, "Um, can I use your owl?"

"My owl?" asked Mrs. Figg, surprised.

"Um, Dudley said he saw you had an owl, and the letter said I had to reply by the end of the month, and we haven't got an owl," said Rose, very quickly and without taking a breath.

"Oh, you got your Hogwarts letter then?" asked Mrs. Figg with a smile.

Rose looked surprised, "You know about Hogwarts? Did you go? What's it like? Aunt Petunia never got to go, so she'd only been able to tell me what my mum told her when she went, and since mum and aunt Petunia didn't get along, it's not very much." Again, the response was over quickly and in a single breath.

"Excited isn't she?" asked Mrs. Figg go Petunia.

Petunia smiled, "We both are. I admit, I never got along with my sister, I was jealous, but, well, I hope that Rose can forgive me." She squeezed her niece's shoulder.

Rose looked up at her aunt, "Of course I forgive you. If you hadn't taken me in, where would I have gone?" She looked back at Mrs. Figg, "So?"

Mrs. Figg smiled, "Well, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you about Hogwarts, as I didn't go."

Rose slumped, defeated.

"But, I can let you use Artemis, my owl. I'm surprised Professor Dumbledore sent you the standard letter. He knows you don't have an owl," added Mrs. Figg.

Rose smiled. "You know the Headmaster?" she asked expectantly.

"Well, he did ask me to look after you," she admitted. She looked to Petunia, "Not that he thought you'd not treat her right, but in case something happened and he was needed. Luckily none of those Death Eaters," she said the title with obvious distain, "knew enough about the muggle world to even look in a phone book, so it's been pretty quiet."

"What's a muggle?" asked Rose.

"Well…" began Mrs. Figg, looking to Petunia.

"Muggles are non-magical people, at least, that's what the wizarding world calls us," explained Petunia. "Your mum, she was a target at school, and afterwards, because she was muggle-born. Your father loved her anyway."

"That's a silly word," said Rose with a disdainful look. "Why have a word for normal people? There's already a word, it's called 'normal'."

Mrs. Figg chuckled. "Little Flower," she began, using the nickname she'd given to Rose when she'd first stayed with her, "you'll come to find that a great many wizards and witches are silly people. They think things like blood purity mean something. They're afraid of muggles, or normal people, and for good reason."

"Why?" asked Rose, confused. "They can do magic! How can they be afraid of normal people?"

"How many witches and wizards do you know?" asked Mrs. Figg.

"Um, just you I guess," replied Rose.

Mrs. Figg shook her head, "No, I'm not a witch. I'm what's called a squib, at least, that's what they call me. It means I can't use magic, even though my parents were magical." She got a sad look on her face. "But, as I was trying to say, everyone you know is normal. You've probably never met a witch or wizard before in your life. They'll probably be a hundred or so in your class at Hogwarts. And that's for all of the British Isles, Ireland too. Even though witches and wizards live longer, there's not that many of them. So, they're outnumbered. One witch or wizard can easily defeat a single normal person. Perhaps, even, a dozen. But a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand? No, they know that for all their magical powers, they'll forever be but a small minority of the rest of the population, and so, they're afraid of normal people. And fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate."

"And hate leads to suffering," continued Rose. "I've seen the Phantom Menace." The not quite eleven year old witch rolled her eyes.

Petunia shrugged, as if saying, 'what can I do?'

"Not quite where I was going, but indeed, the hate that wizards feel towards normal people has lead to suffering, mostly from the so called 'muggle-born' witches and wizards." She looked to Petunia, "How much have you told her?"

"About?" asked Petunia.

"How her parents died," replied Mrs. Figg softly.

"I'm right here you know," said Rose precociously. "My parents were killed by an evil wizard, who died when he tried to kill me." She pointed at the lightning-bolt shaped scar above her right eye, "He failed, giving me this scar."

"The man," began Mrs. Figg with a shiver, "He didn't just give you that scar, but disappeared afterwards. Most, that is, most witches and wizards, say he died, but Dumbledore didn't think so. That's why he had me stay here and warn him if anything happened."

"Oh," said both Petunia and Rose in unison.

"He didn't tell you?" she asked of Petunia, who shook her head. Mrs. Figg scoffed, "Typical Dumbledore. Always thinking that people don't need to know the reasons why he asks them to do things. That's part of the reason he sent you," and now she looked at Rose, "to live with your aunt and uncle. Because your mother, something about how she died, Dumbledore thinks it's what protected you, when he tried to kill you. And since your aunt is your mother's sister, there's a connection through her to you as well. I'm just glad that your aunt and uncle love you. I was so afraid, when I heard about his plan, since Lily always said that her brother-in-law hated magic."

She looked to Petunia, "Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Petunia waved it off, "He doesn't like it. He accepts Rose as my niece, and that I'd do anything to protect her. I failed my sister, pushed her away, I couldn't let that happen a second time." She looked down at Rose with a smile.

"She does look just like her mum, doesn't she?" asked Mrs. Figg.

"You knew my mum?" asked Rose excitedly.

"I met her a couple of times, during the war," Mrs. Figg replied. "I wouldn't say I knew her, exactly. I'm just a squib, there wasn't much I could do, but Dumbledore suggested that, just before you were born, I should keep an eye on your aunt and uncle's house, in case any Death Eaters came after them to get to your mum and dad. They didn't, thank Merlin, but after your parents died, he said that now I'd be making sure you were safe too."

Rose sniffed back a tear, then went over and hugged Mrs. Figg. "Thank you Mrs. Figg."

"Arabella," the squib replied, "Call me Arabella."

"Thank you Arabella," said Rose, squeezing the hug again.

"Yes, thank you Arabella. I didn't know how much, well, how much danger we were in. But, it's good to know that help was close at hand," said Petunia with a smile.

"Now, about that owl you came to ask me about?" replied Arabella Figg.