CHAPTER TEN: Sisters

The third year Care of Magical Creatures class were sat at tables in a large shack, a curious looking creature in front of each of them. "Flobberworms!"Hagrid said impressively, although they weren't very impressive. "The simplest of magic creatures. Completely harmless, which is good. Keep an eye on them and feed them. Not too much though. Don't feed them too much. That's awkward."

Hugo was sitting next to Lily. He placed a lettuce leaf near one end of the flobberworm and smiled slightly as it ate it. "Look, Lily!"

Lily didn't look. She just continued to stare at her own flobberworm, not really attempting anything.

Hagrid seemed to notice her behaviour and came over. "What's up, young Lily? You're usually the first one to be getting involved in things."

"I'm just going to watch it,"Lily said quietly.

Hagrid opened his mouth to say something, couldn't think of anything and closed it again. "Right,"he said at last. "Right."

Rose paused outside Hagrid's shack, composed herself and knocked. "Come in!"came his familiar bellow.

Rose stepped inside and looked around. She knew most of her cousins spent a fair amount of time there but she had always been only an infrequent visitor. She saw Hagrid pottering about the single downstairs room, seeming oblivious to her presence. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

Hagrid stopped, blinked and looked about. Then his face cleared. "Oh, you meant me when you said 'Professor'? I thought Slughorn was in here for a moment. Sit yerself down." Hagrid settled into a comfy chair, gesturing for an uncomfortable Rose to do the same. "It's about young Lily."

Rose nodded. "What about her?"

"I think she needs someone to talk to."

It took Rose a second to understand Hagrid's meaning. "Me? Wouldn't you rather ask Albus?"

"Nope. Has to be you. Did you want some tea?" Hagrid made to head to the stove but when Rose shook her head he sat back down again. "Girls that age, they need their mothers. If their mothers aren't around, well, then they need someone. What's happened to your mum, that's affected Lily a lot. I know it's affected you but Lily's been there before, when your Aunt Ginny died. I think she needs to talk to someone about it. And I think that's you."

Rose found Lily sitting in the Gryffindor common room. She took a deep breath then took a seat nearby. "Are you all right?"

Lily glanced in her direction and shrugged.

"I'm sorry about what I said at the hospital. Of course you're going to be worried about Mum. And I get that she's your mum too now. You probably see her more than me."

Lily looked up, slightly worried. "I don't mean to."

Rose shook her head. "It's all right. I'm not saying that you're better off than me. I miss Aunt Ginny." She saw Lily's eyes tear and took the younger girl's hand. "I just want you to know that…whatever happens with Mum, we're going to be a family. And I know I'm not the best big sister in the world…"

Lily smiled. "You're all right."

"Where is she?"Ron asked.

"She's waiting outside,"Harry answered. He looked at Ron awkwardly. While they certainly weren't enemies, he had a feeling they couldn't quite be classed as friends. Not anymore. "Thanks for doing this."

"I'm not doing it for you,"Ron replied bluntly.

Harry nodded, accepting the dismissal. He couldn't really object to Ron's attitude. "I'll leave you two alone."

Ron was left alone for a minute, then Hermione entered the house. She paused in the hallway. "Harry tells me that I lived here for a long time. Longer than I've lived in our place."

"All the time we were married,"Ron answered.

"I wondered if…seeing it might jog some memories."

Ron gestured towards the living room. "Maybe I should show you around?" Hermione went into the room and he followed her. "That's where Rose took her first steps. That's where Hugo said his first word. Hasn't said many since, of course."

Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't remember any of this."

"Well…how about you just have a wander? I'll leave you to it."

Ron was in the kitchen half an hour later when Hermione came in. "Were we happy here?"she asked.

Ron thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think we were,"he decided at last.

Hermione held his gaze, then she looked away. "Harry's waiting for me."

Ron sighed. There were some things that even amnesia couldn't change. "Yeah. I guess he is."