November 1977

"Peter, you're waving your wand around too wildly," Rosalee said with a sigh. Peter frowned, staring at the common room fireplace. "It's ok. Just move your wand in tiny little circles, and focus on your happiest memory. You can do this."

Scrunching up his face, Peter focused as hard as he could, his wand movements much more neat with this attempt. "Expecto Patronum." A vague silvery mist about the size of an apple produced from the tip of Peter's wand, then quickly dissipated. Peter groaned and threw his wand down on the coffee table and dropping to sit on the couch behind him. "I can't do this."

Rosalee sat down beside him. "I think you can, Peter," she encouraged. "It's an extremely difficult spell, but you've mastered difficult magic before. It just takes time and practice, ok?"

Peter nodded as Remus walked up behind the couch. Clearing his throat, Remus said softly, "Hey, Wormtail, mind if I talk to Rosalee for a minute?"

Peter jumped up. "Yeah, I'll just go up to the dorm room and keep practicing. Thanks for your help, Rose."

Rosalee smiled at Peter. "No problem." Peter took off quickly up the boys' stairs, leaving Rosalee alone with Remus. She glared at the tall werewolf. "Last week you wanted me to stay away from you," she said coldly.

"Last week I was a stupid git," Remus replied mildly.

"And this week?"

Remus thought for a moment. "This week I'm in my right mind," he decided.

Rosalee had to try to keep glaring at him instead of breaking into a small smile. "And what do you have to say now that you're supposedly in your right mind?"

Sitting on the back of the red couch, Remus leaned closer to her so that he could speak more softly. "I'm still dangerous for you to be around," he said. "But if you don't care, I don't care. I like you, Rose, a whole whole lot. I would like to take you out on a date. I'd like to get to know you, and I'd like to fall in love with you." Rosalee hesitated, her conscience wavering. She knew that the man she'd known as Professor Lupin had married a pink-haired Auror not long before Rosalee had needed to go into hiding. She wasn't sure if that mattered now or not, or if she was just setting herself up for heartbreak down the road. Remus continued, taking her hands in his. "Please, Rose? Give me a chance."

Rosalee couldn't keep the slight smile off her face anymore. "Are you sure you're serious about this?" she asked softly. "I don't want to take a chance on this just to have you push me away again later."

Remus gently brushed a strand of fading blonde hair from her face, then held her cheek in his hand. "No, I'm not Sirius; he's over there playing wizard's chess." Rosalee snorted, a little surprised that Remus of all people would make that pun. "But I do promise to let you hex me into oblivion if I try to pull that mess on you again."

Rosalee glanced up, pretending to think a lot harder about it than she was. "I think I might require a little more convincing," she teased.

Remus's green eyes glinted with mischief. "Ok. I can be more convincing," he said playfully.

He hopped off the back of the couch and walked to the other side of the couch, climbing onto the coffee table. He cleared his throat, then loudly called for the attention of the entire common room. Rosalee started to turn bright pink and hissed, "Remus, what on earth are you doing?"

With a wink at her, Remus answered, "I'm taking a page out of James's book." Turning to address the rather crowded common room, he announced, "I just thought I'd stand up here and tell you all that Rosalee Dumbledore is the most beautiful girl in the entire world. She's an absolute angel in this world. She's kind; she's thoughtful; she's caring. I'm falling head over heels for her, and I now ask her to do me the honor of allowing me to take her on a date."

Rosalee shook her head. "Remus, get down," she said softly. "You're making a scene."

"That's the idea, love," Remus said with a laugh. He dropped from the coffee table, falling onto one knee in front of her. Making sure that the entire common room could hear him, Remus continued overdramatically, "Please, Rosalee. I'm a miserable mess without you. My life is empty; I need you desperately. Without you, I am nothing but a wild animal. I'm begging you, Rose; tame my wild heart. Make me yours."

Throwing her head back with laughter, Rosalee yelled over his ramblings, "Ok, ok, ok! Yes, Remus, yes! I'll go out with you!"

A wide smile spread on Remus's face, and he instantly swooped down and kissed the living daylights out her. The common room exploded into clapping, whoops, and hollers, Sirius Black being the loudest of all. "Way to go, Moony!" Sirius yelled as James pout, the two sitting together at a table in the far corner of the common room.

"Now how come when I do that for Lily, she gets mad at me?" James whined.

Sirius teased, "Because girls actually like Remus."

By the time Remus finally stopped snogging Rosalee, most of the other students' attention had drifted away from the two. Rosalee said quietly, "In a few weeks, there's this Christmas party."

"Slughorn's party?"

Rosalee nodded. "Yeah, were you invited?"

"No, but Sirius was."

"Oh, well maybe that could be our date then? You could be my date for the party," Rosalee suggested.

Remus smiled. "Sure. Whatever you'd like." He kissed her forehead, making her start blushing again.

November 1977

A couple of weeks passed, and Rosalee was walking to Defense Against the Dark Arts class, growing more and more perplexed by her experiences with her Divinations class. She'd had two more of what Professor Murray kept insisting were "visions" of the future in the last two weeks of class, both of different moments in the battle at the Department of Mysteries that she couldn't remember for sure whether or not she'd actually seen them. Sirius was beginning to eye her suspiciously, and Rosalee didn't like it one bit. He'd even tried to talk to her about it a couple times, but she'd managed to avoid the subject with a little ingenuity. As time passed, though, she was beginning to worry that Sirius might bring it up to one of the other boys, and then she'd have to dodge two of them, and she didn't like her odds of being able to keep that up.

Rosalee saw Evan Rosier walking down the hall toward her. Instantly she glued her eyes to the floor, hoping that if she didn't look at him, he wouldn't notice her. While he and the other Slytherins hadn't messed with her anymore since James gave them all detention, she also hadn't seen any of them without one of the Marauder boys around to make them steer clear of her. Apparently, the Gryffindor boys were the only reason the Slytherins had left her alone because Rosier walked right up to her and grabbed her upper arm. "Hello, Dumbledore," he sneered.

"Goodbye, Rosier," she snapped, trying to tug her arm from his vice-like grip.

He laughed darkly. "What's your rush?" He moved closer to her, forcing her to back away to try to keep distance between them until she hit the wall. "I hear you're dating that Lupin fellow now."

Rosalee snarled, "Yes, I am, and if you don't let me go -"

"What?" Rosier snickered. "He'll kick my ass? I'd like to see him try."

"Actually," Rosalee retorted. "I was going to say I would kick your ass, but I'm sure he and our friends would love to contribute their own hexes." Reaching up, Rosier cupped Rosalee's face in his hand. She tried to slap him as hard as she could, but he let go of her arm to catch her by the wrist before she made contact. He pushed the hand on her face further back and tangled his fingers in her hair and tugged it hard. She glared at him and hissed, "Let go of me, you Death Eater pig."

"Tsk, tsk," Rosier replied, oddly calm. "Temper, temper, Dumbledore. I just wanted to let you know that we haven't forgotten about our promise to you at your little initiation. We would very much like for you to join us."

Rosalee laughed humorlessly. "Remember how I spit in your face the last time we had this conversation? Perhaps I need to refresh your memory."

Rosier let go of her hair and slapped her hard across the face, making her head snap to one side. "Oh, just shut up already," Rosier said with an irritated sigh. "Now then, where were we? Ah, yes, I've also heard rumors lately that you might be a seer. Is it true?"

Rosalee didn't turn her head back to face him after the slap. After only a moment of thought, she kneed him in the groin as hard as she could. He let go of her, bending over and grabbing at his crotch as she took off running down the hall as fast as she could. She heard him yelling and chasing after her. She turned the corner that led to the corridor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and slammed into Sirius, where he stood with Remus. The two Gryffindor boys looked at her in confusion. "What's up with you?" Sirius asked just before Rosier appeared behind her.

"How dare you, you filthy little —" Rosier started, only to be interrupted by Remus's wand appearing in his face.

"Another word against her and I will drop you faster than you can say quidditch," Remus growled viciously.

Sirius hugged Rosalee tightly, shielding her from the Slytherin's gaze. Rosalee said softly, "Remus, let him go. He's not worth it."

Sirius added, "Come on, Remus; class is about to start. We'd better get inside."

Rosier smirked, looking past Remus and locking eyes with Rosalee, sending a shiver down her spine. "I'll see you later, Dumbledore," he said with a wink.

Remus snarled, "The hell you will. Stay away from her." Rosier sneered at the three Gryffindors, then turned around and walked away. Breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself, Remus faced Rosalee and gingerly took her face in his hands. The slap to her face from Rosier had left her skin tender, though, and the slight pressure from Remus's fingertips made her flinch away from his touch with pain. "What happened?" Remus asked worriedly.

Rosalee shook her head. "I'm not sure," she mumbled. "He cornered me in an empty hallway and started going on about joining the Death Eaters and then slapped me, so I hit him in the groin and ran away."

A low growl rumbled deep in Remus's chest. "I'll kill him."

Sirius nodded. "Don't worry, Moony, we'll get him. Right now we have to get inside that classroom though, ok?"

Remus nodded, and the three Gryffindors walked in and sat down together at the back of the classroom just as Professor Artemyn, standing in the front of the classroom in lime green robes, started his lesson. They were working on Patronus Charms again that day, as for the last two weeks, no one had managed to produce even an incorporeal patronus that could properly protect someone. Elbow on her desk, Rosalee rested her chin on her hand and frowned at her wand. Even though her anxiety had calmed some in the recent weeks, she still hadn't managed to produce her patronus again. Her little Ocicat patronus had been her only companion in her days on the run, and she dearly missed it. Suddenly, a bright white light exploded into the room as a small, misty rat scurried from the end of Peter's wand. Smiling open-mouthed, Peter was practically bouncing in his seat with excitement. "I did it! I did it!" he exclaimed.

Rosalee joined the rest of the class in clapping for him. Remus leaned over and whispered, "I guess your tutoring did the trick. Have you produced one yet?"

Rosalee replied sadly, "I used to produce them all the time, but then… things changed."

Taking her hand under the table, Remus breathed in her ear, "You can do it too. I'm sure of it." Making small circles with his wand, Remus said, "Expecto Patronum."

A large wolf leaped from his wand, racing across the room and chasing Peter's rat around the desks. Its shape began to flicker as Remus frowned at the form his took. Rosalee squeezed his hand under the desk. "Wait," she whispered. "Stay focused on your happy memories. Don't let it go away just yet." He hesitated, but then nodded, and his patronus took on a more solid wolf body as it played with Peter's rat patronus. Rosalee closed her eyes and took a deep breath. At first, memories of the werewolf that attacked her in the forest leaping at her, spit dripping from its bared canines, gold eyes hungry and vicious, played in her mind, but she forced them away. Instead, she thought of the time she had been spending with Remus, and the way he'd kissed her in the common room when he'd asked to take her on a date. "Expecto Patronum," she said softly. Opening her eyes, she saw a bright white wolf standing in front of her on her desk, looking at her curiously.

Sirius clapped loudly and said, "Very well done, you two! A matching pair of wolves, how very sweet."

Rosalee looked around the room for Remus's patronus, and when her eyes landed on it where it stood on the other side of the classroom, she shook her head. "But my patronus is a cat," she mumbled.

Rosalee's patronus — apparently now taking the form of a wolf rather than an Ocicat — hopped down from the desk to rush over to Remus's wolf and pounced on him. The two tumbled to the floor, snapping and playing with each other, as Peter's rat raced in the direction of Peter's desk before dissolving altogether. Professor Artemyn said, "Very well done, you three. Forty points to Gryffindor for your outstanding achievement."

Looking happier than Rosalee had ever seen him, Remus said, sounding awestruck, "You have a wolf, too."

"I suppose I do," Rosalee said thoughtfully, biting her lip anxiously as she watched her patronus chase Remus's across Professor Artemyn's desk.

Remus looked at her as his patronus dissipated. "You don't like it," he said sadly.

Rosalee met his gaze, surprised. "What? Oh, no no no, that's not it at all."

"What is it then?" Remus asked, his tone bordering on snapping at her.

Taken aback by his sudden frustration, Rosalee tried to explain. "Every time I've ever cast my patronus before, it was a cat. I was just expecting to see a cat, not a wolf. I like my wolf," she insisted. She squeezed his hand under the desk again. Remus nodded but still didn't look convinced.

That night in the common room, Rosalee sat studying with Remus and James. The two boys were pouring over their unfinished Transfiguration essay, while Rosalee studied for an exam on Catoptromancy. She sat between the two boys on the couch in front of the fireplace, leaning back against Remus's shoulder with her legs stretched out and her feet in James's lap, being used to prop up James's rather larger textbook. Rosalee was reading a book on psychomanteums from the library and growing drowsy, struggling to stay awake as she read the same paragraph for the fifth time.

As she stared at the page, sounds began to fade away into the distance, and colors disappeared from her vision. Black smoke swirled around the edges of her vision, and she looked up to find that the common room had entirely disappeared. Instead, she was in a dark, damp room made of three stone walls, a wall of bars, and a stone floor. A tiny barred window let moonlight into what Rosalee soon realized was a prison cell. The black smoke that had toyed with her vision had gathered together and taken the shape of two dementors on the other side of the bars. Standing between the dementors, to Rosalee's horror, was Sirius. She could practically see the positive energy the dementors were draining from Sirius, but he didn't look afraid as the dark creatures opened the cell door. He laughed maniacally as one of the dementors shoved him forward into the cell. Rosalee pressed herself into the corner of the room, as far away from the dementors as possible, but Sirius didn't move as they closed the door, then stood there and stared at him. He continued to laugh darkly, loudly, the sound sending shivers down Rosalee's spine. She tangled her hands in her hair at its roots and pulled at it, all the fear and anxiety of her days on the run flooding back into her mind. Images of dancing Death Eaters and prowling werewolves danced across her vision, and her nerve endings came alive with the fiery memory of the Cruciatus Curse. She screamed.

Sirius's eyes snapped to her, the same madness in his eyes she'd seen in his mugshots when he'd escaped from Azkaban. A psychotic grin spread on his face when he seemed to recognize her. He crossed the cell quickly and put his hands on either side of her head as Rosalee continued to whimper in terror. "I've killed them, Rosie Posie," he said, his voice surprisingly level and calm. "Why didn't you stop this?"

In a flash of gray light, the cell, Sirius, and the dementors disappeared. Rosalee was in the forest again, lost and alone. Except, she wasn't alone anymore, as a whole pack of changed werewolves stalked out of the woods toward her, bloodlust in their yellow eyes. The feeling of fire in her veins doubled, and she screamed from both the pain and the panic that were overtaking her senses.

Another flash, almost like static on a Muggle television, brought Rosalee crashing back into the corner of Sirius's cell in Azkaban. She tried to collapse against the infamous prisoner of Azkaban but fell through him as if he were a ghost and crashed into the stone floor. Rosalee cried as tears ran down her cheeks, "I'm sorry; I don't know what to do. I want to go home."

"Rose, please. I'm begging you; come back to me."

Remus's panicked voice screamed through Rosalee's mind, far louder than her own screams. Her eyes snapped open, and she found herself lying on a rug on the floor in front of the ruby-colored sofa in the common room. Remus was leaning over her, holding her hand tightly in his. She jumped, startled, yanking her hand from his and sitting up quickly, scooting back away from her former professor. "Lupin, what are you doing?" she hissed.

Remus frowned at the sudden behavioral change, reaching out to gently touch her face. He accidentally pressed against the still developing bruise on her face from Rosier's smack that morning, and Rosalee winced away from the pain. She looked at him almost as though she didn't recognize him anymore, and with her memories of her teacher Lupin mixed with the boy her age Remus that she currently knew, she wasn't sure she did know him. "Rosalee," Remus said slowly. "What was that? What happened to you?"

Rosalee shook her head. "I — I don't know. Why am I on the floor?"

Furrowing his brow, Remus said worriedly, "I thought you'd fallen asleep, but James said your eyes were still open. You weren't responding to us, and then you screamed and fell off the couch into the floor. James ran off to get Professor McGonagall."

Suddenly, Sirius appeared beside her, sitting down on the couch above and looking down on the two in the floor. Rosalee choked back another shriek at the sight of him; the way he'd looked in Azkaban, she'd looked so much younger than when she'd first met him. He'd looked more like he did right now in front of her, and the idea that he was to go to Azkaban shook her to the core. Sirius's face was grim as he asked, "So, Rose, now that James and Remus have seen it happen too, are you more willing to answer my questions about Divinations class?"

Rosalee grabbed two fistfuls of her own hair by the dark brown roots and tugged hard at it, biting her lip with a soft whimper of anxiety until she accidentally drew blood. Remus asked as he reached for her hands and gently disentangled them from her hair, "Wait, what's been happening in Divinations class?"

Sirius answered, "I think she's been having visions. Like, for real, I can see the future kind of visions. She's only had a couple in class though. I didn't know she was having them outside of class too."

Rosalee shook her head as Remus held her hands, gently rubbing his thumbs over the back of her hands. "I haven't been," she said quietly. "They're changing. I don't… I don't know what's wrong with me."

"So you are a seer then?" Remus questioned.

"No… well, maybe? I don't know."

James came rushing around to stand behind Remus, McGonagall following shortly behind him. "Rose, are you ok?" James asked concernedly.

"What's happened here?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly.

Rosalee took a deep breath to prepare herself for the ridiculous lie that was about to come out of her mouth. "I'm sorry they bothered you, Professor," Rosalee said, smiling sweetly at the teacher. "I'm afraid I fell asleep studying and fell off the couch, and the boys had just a bit of an overreaction."

McGonagall looked suspiciously around at the four students' faces. "Hmmm." After a moment of thought, McGonagall said, "Very well then. Perhaps, Miss Dumbledore, you ought to eat a piece of chocolate then go to bed. If you kids will excuse me, I have a meeting with Professor Dumbledore to attend and no desire to be late."

After McGonagall had walked away, Remus turned to Rosalee and said softly, "Come on. We'll all go upstairs, and you can have a piece of chocolate from my stash. Then we can all sit down and have a little chat about what just happened, yeah?"