A/N: Ok, I absolutely LOVE all three of my reviewers, as well as all who followed/favorited. HUGE shoutout to you guys. To answer the reviews,

FenneHP- Thank you for your review! I realize now that I didn't explain what happened with Rose's education well at all. I will try and explain that in this chapter. Also, the reason Rose is afraid of going into public is because she has elective mutism, though in this time period they didn't know how to treat it very well. It was renamed selective mutism in the mid nineties. People with this condition nearly always have a social anxiety that causes them to become so scared they freeze up and can't speak. Rose gets anxious around strangers and refuses even to sign, though she probably knows her fears are unrealistic. Again, sorry I have to explain this off script, I'll try to fix this in future chapters.

HPuni101- I'm so happy you liked it! I'm going to try to explain what happened with her magical education in this chapter, I'm sorry for the confusion.

Lightbabe- Thank you for your review! I'm so happy you liked this story, and I hope you will continue reading!

Alright, enough babbling, my dudes. Please review, and, enjoy! -MitM


3 September 1976

The moment they are on the platform, Rose reaches out to Lily's arm and clutches at it, her body freezing up. There are so many people.

"Deep breaths, Rose, deep breaths," Lily whispers comfortingly. Rose nods and does as Lily instructs. It helps, a little.

"Well," Mr. Evans says gruffly. "I'm sure you two can see yourselves onto the train…" he trails off, looking embarrassed. "So…" he reaches over and pulls his twin daughters into a bear hug. "Goodbye girls," he mumbles.

"Goodbye, dad!" Lily hugs him back fiercely.

"You know, your mother is very upset she's not here to see you two off…" Mr. Evans begins.

"No dad, it's fine, we understand." Lily assures him.

"Alright. Well, I'll… see you two for Christmas, then. Be good, alright?" Mr. Evans smiles kindly.

"Alright dad." Lily grins. "Bye!"


"Okay Rosie, I have to get to that head's meeting I was telling you about. Will you be okay here until I'm done?" Lily huffs as she heaves her trunk onto the racks.

Rose nods, glancing around anxiously. The compartment is empty, but Rose is still nervous. There are people next door, people in the hall, people out the window…


Rose lets out an audible sigh of relief when Lily returns. Three other people had joined her compartment while Lily was gone, and her anxiety levels were through the roof. What if they ask me a question? What if the expect me to say something? Will they think I'm rude? Will they think I'm stupid? These questions flash through her mind nonstop, making her freeze up and avert her eyes from the happily chatting teenagers.

"Rose! Sorry I've taken so long, the meeting dragged on for ages…" Lily rolls her eyes as she enters the compartment. "Anyway, I found Mary and everyone, they're in the next train car over. Let's move over to their compartment, they've been dying to meet you."

Rose, though she doesn't want to meet anyone at all, is also glad to be out of the compartment of strangers.

Her relief is short lived, however.

"So, why didn't you ever come to Hogwarts before?" Mary asks.

"She can't speak." Lily answers for Rose, who looks as though her lips are glued together.

"Yes, but Lily says you can do sign language. Why didn't you just do that?" The girl persists. Rose looks away. Why can't she just drop it? No one else knows sign language, and she hates signing in front of strangers, that's why.

Lily says as much, and Mary seems to realize that she's probing at a sensitive subject.

"So how are you going into seventh year? Do you know any magic at all?" Marlene asks.

"Rose studied out of the same books we did, only at home. She had to learn the magic theory really well, and they sent her all these tests to make sure she was keeping up. In the summer, she would visit Hogwarts for a day and learn to do the actual spells, take exams, whatnot. She's very good, actually."

"Ohh…" the three girls chorus, and it's clear they were all wondering.

"So," Alice begins. "What do you do at home, besides study?"

Rose glances at Lily, expecting her to answer. Lily raises an eyebrow at Rose.

"You answer," she challenges.

Rose's eyes widen. Answer? She lets out a shaky breath, and glances around the compartment, where four pairs of eyes look at her expectantly. Her heartbeat shoots up, and her hands go clammy. Rose's eyes flick around the compartment, like a cornered rabbit. Then, slowly, carefully, she puts her two hands out in front of her, palms down, and makes a sort of tickling motion with her fingers.

"Piano," Lily translates. "She practices piano."

"Oh I love piano! I've always wanted to learn, you know." Alice says, smiling.

Rose's shoulders sag in relief, and she lets out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. They didn't laugh at her, and she didn't have to speak. They didn't expect her to.

"Do you know Rondo Alla Turca?" Marlene asks. Rose nods.

"She learned it when she was like, six." Lily praises, grinning.

Eleven, Rose corrects nervously.

"Eleven, six, is there a difference?" Lily shrugs. "Either way, it's incredible. She was playing this piece the other day, what was it Rose? The one where your hands are just flying all over the place?" Lily mimics the motion of intense piano playing with her hands. "Something with Bumblebee in the title…" Lily trails off, thinking.

"Flight of the Bumblebee?" Alice supplies.

"Yes! That's the one!" Lily grins, clasping her hands together.

"Do you know 'The Entertainer?'" Mary asks.

Rose nods quickly.

"Oh, that one she really did learn when she was six," Lily laughs. "I remember, because she played it at her first recital."

Mary sits back, impressed.

"Blimey," she mutters.

"Once we get to Hogwarts, we've got to find Rose a piano so she can show us," Alice grins. "There's got to be one somewhere in that giant castle."

The girls all murmur their agreement, looking at Rose with impressed looks on their faces. Rose looks down, her face as red as her hair.


"Now, before we begin sorting, we have a new student who will be joining us for the first time for her final year at Hogwarts," Dumbledore announces.

Rose stands off the side of the side of the stage, trying to calm her breathing. There are so many people at those tables. Rose risks another peek and pulls back, going pale. I can't do this, she thinks to herself.

".…The first sorting of this year, Rose Evans!" Dumbledore turns, clapping his hands with the rest of the students.

Rose walks stiffly onstage to the too-small stool and sits down, grateful when the sorting hat falls over her eyes and hides the millions of staring eyes.

Please hurry up and sort me, she thinks, so I can get off this horrible stage.

"Well, you're very smart, I can see… you would flourish in Ravenclaw." A voice states into her ear. "But I also see a lot of bravery," the hat adds.

How in the world am I brave? Rose asks the hat. I'm the biggest coward I know.

"You're here, aren't you?" The hat asks. "Not only on this stage, but in this school, away from home."

Yes, and I've never been more scared, Rose argues, clutching at the sides of the school.

"Well, isn't that the definition of bravery?" The hat asked, amused. "Facing your fears."

You sound like you've made up your mind, Rose grumbles.

"That I have," the hat agrees. "GRYFFINDOR!" He roars, and the Gryffindor table erupts in cheers.

Rose hops of the stool and scampers off the stage, racing over to Lily's side, her face burning with embarrassment.

"I knew you had it in you, Rose!" Lily cries, hugging her twin tightly.

"Yeah Rose!" Mary cheers, while Alice and Marlene pat her on the back.

Rose looks around in amazement, at Alice, Mary and Marlene, and all the people around her who are happy she's in their house. Not one person laughs at her.


Sorry this chapter is sorta short, but the last one was really long and I have a lot to cover in the next one, too. Again, any review is a blessing for me, and constructive criticism helps. Until next chapter, -MitM