Rose Potter, The-Girl-Who-Lived
A/N: As the title suggests, this will contain fem!slash, and fem!Harry Potter. I do not own Harry Potter, etc. etc. etc.
Chapter Three: Part 2 of Year I
After the Christmas Holidays, school resumed, and the pace was as quick as usual. Another thing that had resumed was Quidditch practise. Oliver Wood, the Captain, was a Quidditch nut, and wanted to see the Gryffindor team win the Quidditch Cup for the first time since James Potter attended the school in the 1970s.
\\/
One day, the Weasley Twins were messing around during practise. 'Stop it!' cried Wood. 'This is the type of behaviour that will lose us the game.'
He then gave the bad news. 'Snape is refereeing the game! Rose, I think that our best bet is for you to catch the Snitch as early as you possibly can, so that Snape can't favour the Hufflepuffs too much.'
\\/
Ron knew immediately from Rose's look that something was wrong.
'Snape wants to referee the game against Hufflepuff,' answered Rose.
'He'll try to take any opportunity to kill you, Rose,' said Ron. 'Hermione knows that he was trying to kill you before.'
'Ronald, I do not know that Snape was trying to kill Rose,' said Hermione. 'I suppose that someone else may have been cursing the broom, and that Snape was using the counter-curse. But it's extremely dangerous of you to play, Rose. Pretend to be sick or something.'
'You could break a leg,' suggested Ron, not knowing that the phrase had a good luck meaning in the Muggle theatre world.
'I can't,' said Rose. 'If I don't play, the Slytherins will think I'm a coward, plus, Pomfrey is able to fix broken bones in a matter of minutes. I'm definitely going to play. You will just need to be on the lookout.'
Just then, Neville stumbled into the Common Room. 'Malfoy caught me with a Leg-Locking Curse,' said Neville. 'I hit him with a delayed jelly-legs, but couldn't remember the counter for this one.'
Neville's memory had improved as his self-confidence had improved. Being friends with Rose Potter meant that you pushed yourself.
Rose had a Chocolate Frog nearby and gave it to Neville. As soon as he looked at the card, he realised who Nicholas Flamel was. 'Look at this card,' he exclaimed.
It was a Dumbledore card. Rose knew that she'd seen this card before, as a Dumbledore was the first one she'd ever gotten.
"Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling."
Hermione told them to wait a minute, and dashed off to her dormitory. A minute later, she came down the stairs with a giant book that looked like it weighed 20 kilos.
After a minute, Hermione came back holding the book. She turned it until she found the right page, and then started to read:
The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It will transform any metal into pure gold, and will also produce the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.
Although there have been unconfirmed reports of Philosopher's Stones over the centuries, the only confirmed known maker of a Philosopher's Stone is Nicolas Flamel, a noted alchemist and opera-lover, who currently resides with his wife Pernelle (658) in his home in Devon. Flamel is 665 years old.
'That must be what Fluffy is guarding!' exclaimed Hermione, but still in a low voice. 'Fluffy is guarding the Philosopher's Stone!'
\\/
The day of the match against Hufflepuff came quickly, and Hermione and Neville were ready for anything. They were on full alert.
Fortunately for everyone involved (except for the Hufflepuffs), Rose caught the Snitch within the first five minutes of the game, after Gryffindor had scored a single goal, giving them a 160-0 victory. It would go into the books as one of the only times a team had won, and their Keeper hadn't made a single save, and also one of the quickest Catches of the Snitch ever.
By the time the game was over, Ron had let himself be goaded into a fight by Malfoy. By the time Neville and Hermione noticed what had happened next to them, Malfoy and Ron had already knocked each other out, and Crabbe and Goyle were standing there looking threatening.
Of course, they looked too stupid to actually be threatening.
\\/
\\/
Hermione had looked at her calendar, and noticed that exams were only ten weeks away, so she was encouraging them (bullying them) to study.
'They're ten flipping weeks away for Merlin's sake!' said Ron.
'That's no time at all for Nicolas Flamel!' responded Hermione.
'Yeah, well I'm not 600 years old!'
They were in the library studying one day, when Rose saw a very strange sight. Hagrid had managed to come into the Library. As the ceiling was only 12 feet tall, it was a close squeeze for him. He was rather evasive when they tried to say hello to him.
After he'd left, they looked at the books Hagrid had looked at. They were all about dragons. This worried Rose, who knew that Hagrid had always wanted a dragon.
'I hope that he knows that Dragons are illegal,' she said. 'That being said, I don't think that he cares if they're illegal or not.'
They decided to pay him a visit.
\\/
'Hagrid, we know that Dumbledore trusts you enough to tell you,' said Rose.
'Well, I do know that McGonagall did something, so did Sprout and Flitwick. Oh, yeah, Quirrell and Snape did something, too,' said the giant. 'Of course Dumbledore added in a bit of something or another, too.'
'Hagrid, can we open the windows? It's like 35 degrees in here!' asked Neville.
'Can't, sorry,' responded Hagrid as he went over to his fireplace.
Rose noticed that there was a large kettle on the fire, and that the kettle contained a very illegal thing. A Very Illegal Thing.
There was a dragon egg in the kettle.
'Hagrid, where did you get that?' she asked him.
'I won it in a game of cards down at the pub,' responded Hagrid.
\\/
Later on in the Common Room, Rose and the others were discussing the fact that Hagrid somehow got a dragon.
'We should really tell Dumbledore,' said Hermione.
'No, I don't think that is a good idea,' said Rose. 'But we need some way to get rid of it.'
'Doth mine ears hear that you need help disposing of some contraband?' asked the Twins hopefully.
Rose told them the story of Hagrid and his dragon. 'When it hatches, it will be bigger than his house in a week,' she finished.
'We could always owl Charlie,' said one twin to the other.
'The one who works in Romania?' asked Rose. 'Isn't that a bit far?'
'Nah, he's got friends up and down the coast willing to do him a favour,' said a twin.
A couple of days later, they got a reply from Charlie that said to meet a couple of his friends on the Astronomy Tower at 23.00 on Thursday.
'I just hope his "friends" aren't undercover Aurors attempting to make a bust of him or us,' said Neville, though it seemed as though he was mostly joking.
\\/
On the night that they were to get rid of the dragon, Rose and the others went down to Hagrid's hut under the Invisibility Cloak. Hagrid had put the dragon in a box, and there was a strange sound coming from inside the box.
It sounded suspiciously like a teddy bear getting its head ripped off.
They managed to get the dragon to the right place, and right after they got there, Charlie's friends showed up. It turns out that they were quite a friendly lot, and were not Aurors.
Rose made one mistake, though. After giving the dragon to the Handlers, she'd forgotten the Cloak at the Tower.
\\/
Soon, McGonagall had caught them.
Softening the blow was the fact that Malfoy had received detention, and twenty points from Slytherin. Unfortunately, then they had to deal with McGonagall.
'I would never have believed it of you,' said McGonagall. 'I have a good idea about what's going on here. You fed Mr Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, and he believed it. Nothing, and I mean, nothing, gives you the right to walk around the school at night. Fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor, and the three of you and Mr Malfoy will receive a detention.'
'Fifty?' asked Neville.
'Each.' said McGonagall.
\\/
A week later, Rose, Hermione, and Neville all received identical messages. Rose's read:
Miss Potter,
Meet Mr Filch in the Main Entrance at 23:00 tonight for your detention.
Professor Minerva McGonagall
\\/
That night at 11:00, the Trio and Draco met in the Entrance Hall, where Filch was waiting.
'It's a pity that they let the old punishments die out,' Filch was saying as they walked across the grounds in the direction of Hagrid's house. 'Boy, will I miss the screaming.'
Filch's recollections continued all of the way to Hagrid's hut, right next to the Forest. Rose was rather glad that Dumbledore had gotten rid of the Old Punishments, as they seemed to be quite severe.
'Have you been lecturing them, Filch?' asked Hagrid. He had a crossbow in one of his hands, and Fang was behind him.
'What's it matter to you?' replied Filch, just as nastily. 'Gotta keep your wits about you! You're going into the Forest.'
'Into the Forest?' asked Malfoy. Rose was pleased to see the terrified look on his face. 'I thought that was a joke!'
They walked into the Forest. Soon, Hagrid came across a silvery substance.
'You know what this is?' he asked. No-one answered so he said, 'This here is Unicorn Blood. Something has been hunting them, and we have an injured one. Rose and Neville, you'll be with me. I'm sorry, Hermione, but you'll have to go with Malfoy here.'
'OK, then I get Fang,' said Malfoy forcefully.
'All right, then,' said Hagrid. 'But I got to warn you. He's a right coward.'
\\/
'You mean, You-Know-Who was in the Forest?' asked Ron the next day when they were discussing the Detention.
'Yes, but he's weak,' replied Rose. 'Right now, he's relying on Unicorn Blood to sustain him.'
'Unicorn blood?' asked Ron. 'That stuff is bad news, mate. It's a crime against nature to kill a unicorn, and even if you did, the moment it touches your lips, you're cursed or something.'
'That's right,' said Rose. 'One of the centaurs told me that it will keep you alive even if you are seconds away from death, but from the moment it touches your lips, it'll be a cursed life.'
'Why would a person want that?' asked Neville.
'If you needed to bide your time until you can get something better,' Hermione replied in a voice that sounded like she was stating the obvious. 'And we all know what's better, and what is being kept in the school.'
Ron looked as if he'd come to a realisation. This look was so often not on his face, it was quite odd to actually see it. 'Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself,' he said. 'He wants it for You-Know-Who!'
'Say the name, Ron. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.' said Rose.
'Well, he deserves a lot of fearing!' muttered Ron, right as Hermione pointed out, 'We have no proof that it is Snape. Even though he's nasty to us, I still learn a lot from him.'
'Ron, he's nasty, but I don't think that he's that nasty,' finished Rose. 'But still, we should keep an eye on him.'
Ron muttered something under his breath that included the words 'Bloody git,' 'Greasy-haired bat,' and other language that Rose was sure that he wouldn't use in front of his mum.
In unison, the girls said, 'Language, Ron!'
\\/
Rose wasn't sure how she passed her exams that year. First, there was the stress of the exams, and second, there was the worry that Voldemort might come storming through the door any moment.
The exams were quite challenging for a first-year in Rose's opinion. Fortunately, all of it was material that Hermione had pounded into their heads.
Part of the Transfiguration Exam was to transfigure a mouse into a snuff-box, with points given for how pretty the box was, and taken away if it still had whiskers.
For Flitwick, they had to make a pineapple tap-dance, and for Snape, they had to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion.
After their last exam, as the three of them and Ron were relaxing on the grounds, Rose thought of something. 'We have to see Hagrid now!'
'What?' asked Neville and Hermione.
'Why didn't I see it before? I mean, how many people carry dragon eggs in their pockets? They're illegal, here!'
They rushed off to see Hagrid. 'Hagrid, the man you won the egg from in the pub. What did he look like?'
'I dunno. He kept his hood up. It's not that unusual at that place.'
'You must've talked?' prompted Hermione.
'Oh, yeah. He needed to know that I could take care of a dragon—I can't remember all of what happened, 'cause he kept buying me drinks. I said, "The trick with any beast is to know how to calm it." Take Fluffy for example, all's you need to do is play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep.'
'Did you tell that to the man at the pub?' asked Rose, hoping that he hadn't given away how to get past that beast of a dog.
'I don't remember—like I said, he kept buying me drinks,' said Hagrid. 'Now that I think of it, yeah, I probably told him.'
'Thanks for telling us this, Hagrid,' said Neville as they ran off.
'Don't you want any tea?' called Hagrid as they ran towards the school.
\\/
'We have to let someone know,' said Hermione, so the three went up to Dumbledore's office. The problem was that he wasn't answering his door. Their next choice was Professor McGonagall.
'What are you doing inside on a day like this?' she asked.
'Ma'am!' they said as they skidded into the room. 'We think that someone is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone!'
'I don't know how you know about the Philosopher's Stone,' McGonagall said sternly. 'But I assure you, it is too well protected.'
As they were walking to the Common Room, Rose said, 'We go tonight. Dumbledore's not here to protect it.'
That night, Hermione, Ron, Neville and Rose waited for everyone else to go to bed, and Rose got The Cloak. They met Peeves in the hallway, and Neville had to pretend to be the Bloody Baron to get past (he did a fairly good job, too).
Soon, they were at the third floor. Rose pulled out the flute Hagrid gave him for Christmas, but when they opened Fluffy's Chamber, he was already asleep.
'He's already asleep,' said Ron. Hermione looked around.
'There's a harp that someone enchanted to play,' she pointed out. 'It's making music, so the dog is sleeping.'
They pushed Fluffy's paw off the trapdoor and then, seeing no way down, Neville jumped. Just as he was jumping the music stopped.
'It seems a bit quiet in here,' said Ron, right as a huge eye opened in front of him.
'JUMP!' said Rose, and everyone fell through the hole.
'It's lucky that there's a plant thing here to break the fall,' said Ron.
Both Neville and Hermione were able to quickly identify the 'plant thing'. Neville was in his element, as the plant was very rare and very dangerous.
'It's Devil's Snare!' called Neville. 'Don't resist. Resistance is futile. If you resist, it'll only kill you faster.'
'Oh, I can relax now!' said Ron as he continued to struggle with the plant.
'Shut up!' shouted Hermione, who was quickly losing her cool. 'I'm trying to remember how to kill it.'
'It likes the dark and the damp,' replied Neville. 'So light a fire!'
'There's no wood!' said Hermione, once again losing her head in a crisis.
'ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?' bellowed the others. Hermione took out her wand and set fire to the plant, which released them.
As they walked into the next room, Ron was muttering, 'There's no wood' in disbelief. They walked into the next room to find two brooms and a bunch of shiny birds.
'I think that those are keys,' said Hermione. 'We have to find the right one.'
'It's there,' said Rose, pointing at one. She jumped on one of the brooms, which was nowhere near as good as her Nimbus, and was quickly able to catch the key. They jammed it into the keyhole, and entered a room that looked at first like a cemetery.
\\/
'I don't like this,' muttered Rose.
The lights came up, and Ron pointed out what it was, 'It's a chess board,' he said.
Neville and the girls allowed Ron his ego trip and allowed him to control the game. At various points in the game, Ron would personally capture an enemy piece that was threatening the girls and Neville.
'I have to sacrifice myself,' said Ron. 'It'll be the quickest way. Rose, you'll go to that space over there, and it'll be checkmate.'
'You can't do that Ron!'
'Do you want to stop Snape, or what?' asked Ron as he made his way to the spot on the board. 'Check' he announced.
The opposition Queen turned towards him and started gliding across the board. She then stabbed Ron's horse, and he fell to the ground unconscious. Rose made her move, and announced, 'Checkmate.' The White King dropped its sword in a gesture of surrender.
\\/
They went on to the next room and found a Mountain Troll, very much like the one that entered the school on Halloween, and had very nearly killed Hermione. Fortunately for them, this Mountain Troll didn't seem to be moving.
'Is it dead?' asked Hermione.
'I think so,' said Rose. 'Let's go on.'
They walked into a room, and flames sprouted on both sides of them. Fortunately, Neville had walked had been a couple of steps behind them, and wasn't caught by the flames.
There was a riddle on the table. At the time, Rose didn't realise how ironic it was that they had to solve a riddle before facing Voldemort.
They quickly figured out the riddle, and found the correct potions. The bottle to go back had just enough liquid for one person, as did the bottle to go forward.
'You two go back and retrieve Ron,' said Rose. 'Take him to hospital, and find Dumbledore and get him here quick, as I don't know long I'll be able to hold Voldemort off if he is in there.
'You are a great witch, Rose,' said Hermione.
'I'm not quite as good as you,' replied Rose.
'You know that you are' Hermione replied. 'But with me, it's all books and cleverness. There are much more important things like friendship and bravery. If you die, then I will go to Hell itself to get you!'
The girls took their potions, and Hermione went back, giving Rose another look, as Rose went forward.
As soon as Rose walked in, she realised that it was Quirrell.
\\/
Rose had a short fight with Quirrell, who had been carrying around Voldemort on the back of the head, but was ultimately knocked out.
\\/
When she woke up, she was in hospital. Her vision was blurry, so she reached out and found a bedside table that had her glasses on it. She put on her glasses and realised that she was surrounded by candies and cards.
'Tokens from your admirers, my dear,' said Albus Dumbledore walking in.
'My admirers, Headmaster?'
'What happened the other day is a complete secret,' said Dumbledore. 'So, naturally, the whole school knows.'
'It was Quirrell; he had Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head,' said Rose. 'Voldemort's spirit came out of Quirrell after Quirrell disintegrated and attacked me. I nearly died.'
'For a moment, I thought that you had,' said Dumbledore. 'The urgent summons to the Ministry was a hoax, and I was able to get to you just in time.'
'I killed Quirrell,' said Rose.
'No, you didn't,' said Dumbledore. 'Quirrell has been dead a long time. Ever since Voldemort started to possess him, he has been dead. Now, his body is finally dead. You see, when your mother died to save you, she left a mark of protection—completely invisible—her love for you, Rose. That is what destroyed this Quirrellmort, if you'll excuse the term.'
'What about the stone?'
'You did do this properly, didn't you?' chuckled the headmaster. 'The stone has been destroyed.'
'But the Flamels will die,' replied Rose.
'They have enough to set their affairs in order, but they will die,' said Dumbledore.
'Now that the Stone is gone, does that mean Voldemort cannot come back?'
'I'm sorry to say this, but there are much more terrible and evil ways that He can return,' said Dumbledore. 'But you always need to remember your mother's love, the love for your friends, as well. That will help you.'
\\/
Quicker than Rose would've thought, the school year was over. Neville invited her over to spend time at Longbottom Manor, but Dumbledore insisted that she be returned to her relatives. The school year had gone well.
Unfortunately, the Gryffindor team lost the Quidditch final while Rose was recovering.
'It feels strange to be going home,' said Hermione.
'I'm not going home, not really,' said Rose. 'This year was great, wasn't it, though. Some of the most fun I've had in years.'
'Smuggling Hagrid's dragon certainly would have been a lot more fun if we hadn't gotten caught,' said Hermione. 'And I could've gone a whole lifetime without seeing that Cerberus "Fluffy".'
'Just think, you never had to dodge trolls in primary, did you?' asked Rose.
'Only human bullies,' said Hermione. 'It's really too bad Gryffindor didn't have a backup seeker, or we could've won both cups.'
Before they wanted, the train was back in London. Rose got off the train and saw Mrs Weasley, along with someone who could only be Hermione's mum. Hermione dragged Rose over to them.
'Mum, this is Rose,' she introduced.
'Hi,' said Rose. 'Thank you for the book. I really enjoyed it. Multiple times.'
'Oh, you're welcome,' said Hermione's mum.
Rose turned to Mrs Weasley. 'Thanks for the jumper and the fudge,' she said to her.
'You're welcome,' said the woman. 'Any friend of Ron's is welcome in our house.'
As soon as Mrs Weasley turned her back, Rose looked at Hermione and grimaced a bit. Calling Ron one of their friends was stretching it a bit.
'I see you haven't been killed yet,' said an unpleasant voice. Rose looked around and saw her Uncle Vernon standing there. 'Hurry up, I haven't got all day!'
'Have a good summer, Rose,' said Hermione looking unpleasantly at Uncle Vernon.
'I will,' said Rose. She lowered her voice to a whisper. 'They don't know I'm not allowed to do magic during the summer.'
A/N: