A/N: Finals are terrible! They make free time seem like a luxury. I'm glad they're over. I hope everyone is enjoying being on holiday, if you are. If not, I hope you're doing well anyway!

Chapter 9: Almost There

Rosette and Apep watched the new Death Eaters file into the meeting room. As always, she sat next to Tom in the front of the room. This would be the fourth group of "newbies" she would see become a part of her brother's group. One by one, they walked into the room, fresh out of Hogwarts. The graduation was only a week ago. Train them while their young, I guess. Rosette still didn't agree with Tom's way of thinking, but he never forced her to join his cause.

She watched as the last three walked in. The one in front was a tall arrogant looking boy with platinum blond hair cascading over his shoulders. He looked around the room with a haughty grin and walked over to where he was supposed to stand. The next boy was tall, too. His hair was dark brown. Rosette shook her head. He looks stupid. The last boy had brown hair, too. But, he was short and fat. Rosette laughed to herself. He looks stupid, too! And, like a pig! I wonder how long they'll last. The blond one looks smart, but he also looks like a jerk. I think he was the one that Brother was talking about. Mouth-oy? Mouf-oi? Ma-… Malfoy! Yeah, that's it. But, what did Brother say about him? I can't remember.

Tom carried on with the "Welcoming" ceremony while Rosette mulled her thoughts. She must have been lost in her thoughts for a long time, because Tom had to tap her should multiple times before she responded.

"I said, it's over. You weren't listening were you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rosette smiled, "Nope! You say the same thing every year anyway. 'Blah blah blah Pureblood. Blah blah blah Magic Purity. Blah blah blah Muggles.' See? I could have given the speech!"

Tom rolled his eyes. "Yes yes, I should just let you take over," he thumped her on the head, "I have someone I want you to meet."

Rosette rubbed her head where he had thumped her and shot him a pouty face. "That hurt, you git! And who?"

"Lucius. Come here."

The blond boy walked over to where they were sitting.

"Yes, My Lord?"

"I wanted you to meet my dear sister, Rosette."

"Ah yes. The Slytherin Princess... May I?" Lucius asked, gently grabbing her hand. She answered with a nod. He kissed her hand and grinned. "What a beautiful young lady."

Rosette was surprised at his charismatic demeanour. It was actually nice. She smiled back at him. Meanwhile, Tom's blood pressure shot up, and for a moment, he wanted to rip the boy's lips off. But, she did not seem to have a problem with it. I suppose he is just being polite. The more of my followers that are in her good graces, the better.

"Ahem," Tom cleared his throat and settled down, "I called you over to meet her because I am assigning you to her. I will be busier than usual this summer, and school is right around the corner for her, but she will have no one to practice her magic with and answer her questions."

Lucius' jaw dropped and the colour drained from his face. "M-my Lor-"

Tom cut him off, "Surely, you are not opposing to this? I thought YOU of all people would be the best choice. I've seen your OWLS. Very remarkable. She will need someone competent to help her with anything she needs help with for these next few months," Tom paused to gauge Lucius' facial expression, "And, what better way to test your loyalty to me? Watching over an heiress seems like a sure way to please me."

Lucius shot the snickering Rosette a quick glare before putting on a fake smile.

"I would be, "he muttered, choking on his next word, "h-honoured, My Lord…"

The next day, Lucius waited in the meeting room. A group of Death Eaters had already left on an assignment. And here I am, stuck babysitting.

"Hey! I am NOT a baby!" Rosette yelled as she jumped off the last step. "And, you aren't babysitting me. You're my assistant."

"Excuse me?" he replied incredulously. "I am the next head of the Malfoy family! I am the assistant to NO one."

Rosette merely smirked, "Except me."

Lucius could already feel his sanity and self-control waning, and he had only been around the girl for a little while. He was supposed to cater to THIS all summer? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It's only for the summer, and this will surely move me up in rank. I can do this. I CAN do this. He opened his eyes again.

"Let's try to be civil with each other so your brother doesn't kill me, ok? I'm not happy with this arrangement, but it doesn't have to be torture, right?"

"Of course not!" Rosette exclaimed. "We can get along. And I promise I won't treat you like a slave. I only agreed to this because Brother pleaded for hours. He wanted to make sure I wasn't alone and helpless this summer."

"Then what am I here for?"

"I dunno…"

The two of them stood there for a long moment. Finally, Rosette spoke up.

"Want to duel? I could always go for a good spar."

Lucius laughed arrogantly, "Against me? You're eleven. I don't want to make you cry. Your brother would end me," he ribbed, walking around room.

Rosette raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Or are you just too chicken? Scared you're gonna lose against a little girl? Yeah, I could see how you wouldn't want to duel if you were sure to be defeated."

He stopped mid stride.

"Wands at the ready," Lucius directed. The two of them had gone outside where there was more space. He raised his wand, but lowered it when he saw Rosette. "Where's your wand? You were all talk a few minutes ago, but now you ill-prepared? What a slacker."

She scoffed, "I don't NEED a wand, Blondie. You just worry about covering your own bum, got it? Now, turn around. We will begin on the tenth step. One."

"I don't understand how you-"

"Two."

"-Expect to win-"

"Three."

"-Or even land a hit on me-"

"Four."

"-without a wand, you-"

"Five."

"-looney child."

"Six. Seven."

"I suppose-"

"Eight."

"-I can go easy on you. Wouldn't-"

"Nine."

"-want you to cry."

"Ten."

They both turned around at the same time.

"Locomotor Wibbly" He shouted. A red light left the tip of his wand and flew towards Rosette, only for her to side step it.

"You lose, Blondie," she smiled.

Lucius' face went from confusion to disbelief. He didn't hear her choose a spell and he had no time to parry the orange oncoming Melofors. The force of the jinx knocked him flat on his back. Rosette burst into laughter when she saw the results of her jinx.

"Blondie! Halloween isn't for another couple of months! But, I applaud your enthusiasm," she joked as she conjured up a mirror. He snatched the mirror from her and screamed at the sight of the pumpkin headed person staring back at him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" he shrieked as he dolefully rubbed his hand against his pumpkiny face. "Oh Merlin, I'm hideous. I'm orange…Orange!"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh quit your blubbering, you priss. You're just a pumpkin. Are you whimpering?" she bonked him on the head, dissipating the effects of the jinx and returning his head back to its original form, "You big ol' baby."

He sighed with respite as his head went back to normal. "I'm so sorry. But, MOST people dislike the idea of being turned into a vegetable-"

"Fruit," she corrected.

"What?"

"Most people dislike the idea of being turned into a fruit. And it wasn't an idea. I DID turn you into one."

"Shut up," he grumbled, "How did you do that? You didn't even have a wand!"

Rosette began to skip around him and giggle, "I don't need a want, silly! Was that really hard to figure out? I can use magic magically."

Lucius let out an irritated groan, "Am I really supposed to deal with you ALL summer long?"

"Yes," a commanding voice answered, "I do hope you two had a wonderful day?"

Lucius froze. When did HE get here?

Tom walked over to Rosette and patted her on the head, "My dear sister, why is Lucius on the ground?"

"We were dueling! And, he lost! He almost lasted as long as you did last Thursday!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Tom's face flushed a deep red and just starred at her with his mouth open. No one ever dared to put him on the spot like that. No one, except for Rosette. But, he never got mad whenever she did. He realized that humility wasn't a bad thing. But, only Rosette is allowed to point out my flaws. Anyone else dies.

Lucius just stared at them both, unsure of what had just transpired and how it would end. No one EVER talks to the Dark Lord like that. Will he kill his own sister? I wouldn't think that he was above it, seeing as how he murdered his father's side of the family and got his uncle sent to Azkaban. Well, Rosette…I guess this is goodb-

Tom rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up, you," he said, bonking her on the head with his hand, "I remember it being a draw seeing as how we both ended up suspended in mid-air. You don't get to claim that as a win. Lucius, you may go home for the day. I expect you to be back here tomorrow at noon."

The blond wizard nodded and felt his stomach churn. I can't do this. "Y-yes, My Lord."

He stood up and dusted his robes off. He was just about to apparate away, when he felt something…or someone invading his mind. 'Don't look so down. I know this wasn't what you wanted to be doing when you decided to be a Death Eater, but it's just for the summer. Things will get better. I promise.' He looked at Rosette, who promptly smiled at him. He gave her a small smile back. Tom, however, had no idea what was going on. All he saw was the young wizard smiling at his little sister. Lucius accidentally locked eyes with Tom and quickly decided that it was time to leave.

"Here, drink this."

Lucius looked at the vial being shoved into his ribs. It had been a month since he was "assigned" to Rosette. The two were finally getting along, for the most part. Lucius was still upset that he was being left out of all the "Fun" stuff, but he didn't grumble as much as he did during their first encounters.

"Absolutely not. This one is jet black." He snorted, pushing the vial back.

Rosette puffed out her cheeks, "Why not?"

He looked at her completely dumbfounded. "Because the last black potion made be vomit for days on end! As a matter of fact, the darker your potions are, the more hazardous they are to me, since I apparently have to test every single one of them. Anything that looks like you didn't make it out of pure darkness and nightmares will do. Make that pink one again instead. I have to give you credit, it was rather delicious, though I could have done without the bubbles that came out of my ears."

"I'll make another pink one if you just try this one first. I promise I did it right this time. Please, Blondie?"

"No."

"Pleaaaasse?"

"No."

She stared at him. He stared at her. They both stared for minutes.

"What about now?" she asked.

"…Fine," he finally agreed, "But, so help me, if this one is like the last one I had, I'm going home and will stay livid for the rest of the week."

Rosette nodded happily and uncorked the vial for him. He took the vial and looked at it, then her, then at it again. He slowly brought the opening closer to his mouth. Merlin, I don't want to die. He looked at Rosette again, his eyes pleading to her for a way out of this.

"Come on! On with it, Blondie! I have to know if this will work or not."

"Will I die?" he asked pitifully.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Eh, Maybe. It's ok though. Now drink it."

He scrunched his face at her reply. 1…2…3! He downed the vial in one gulp. It tasted of boogies and sugar, to his dismay. The two of them sat there, waiting for any changes. After five minutes, they both agreed that it was a fluke. That is, until he looked down at his hands.

"Rosette, this was the most pointless potion yet! Was THIS what you were going for?" he questioned, holding up his blue hands.

She broke into a fit of laughter, "No! But, this is great! I'll have to save that recipe! Do they feel any different?"

He waved his blue hands around and shook his head. "No, they're just blue," he said straightforwardly, "Absolutely pointless. What are you doing? Why are you writing the recipe down? OH NO. I will NOT be testing that again until you can get the taste right. Figure out how to make your potions not taste like boogies, dirt, arse, and failure. Then, we'll talk."

"I can't change the taste. It's the ingredients. They just end up tasting like that when they're mixed together. I wonder if I can make your hair blue-"

His eyes widened, "I will strangle you if my hair changes to ANY colour. And just…No! No more blue experiments. When will this wear off?

Rosette picked up her notebook and examined the potion's properties. Lucius watched her as a smile slowly formed on her face. He could already tell the smile was at his expense, because when was it ever NOT? She closed the notebook and started chewing on her lip.

"Well," she started.

"You don't know, do you?" he sighed. "Well, I should have seen that coming." He looked at his blue hands and smirked, "I guess I can wear gloves."

Rosette gasped loudly. "Did you just smile? You're capable of emotions other than 'Stick up the bum' and crossness? You must be dying! Are you dying?" she pressed, getting in his face.

"No! Move!" he replied, pushing her face away with his hand.

"Why can't we floo there?" Rosette pouted.

Tom sighed, "I know I've explained this to you before. Our fireplace and the Floo Network aren't connected. We live in a muggle house. Plus, if our house were to ever be connected, your safety would be compromised. Besides, there's nothing wrong with us taking the train."

It was mid-August and the day that Rosette had to leave for Hogwarts was coming too quickly for Tom's liking. True, he could have just apparated with her in tow, but he wanted them to take their time. For this was no ordinary day.

"Where exactly is Diagonally?" she asked him as they boarded the train.

"Diagon Alley," he corrected, "It's in London. Where is you supplies list?" She pulled a long list out of her little green messenger bag. "Ah good. Ok, how do I look?" he asked as they walked into their compartment.

With Rosette's help, Tom was able to create a weakened Polyjuice potion that only altered the user's appearance enough to only resemble another person. This being said, he remained a male, even though Rosette's hair was used to create the potion. She looked at her brother and nodded.

"You look a lot like me!" she said approvingly.

She was right. His eyes were no longer dark, but a violet colour. His hair had turned silver and sported soft curls instead of his usual straight hair. His skin tone had become a shade lighter than Rosette's. Anyone that saw the two siblings would have assumed that they shared the same parents and never would have guessed that he was really the Dark Lord.

He smoothed out his grey long coat before sitting down on the seat in their compartment. Rosette sat across from him.

"That's an interesting outfit, little sister," he commented as she pulled off her purple jacket.

Tom had stopped dressing Rosette a long time ago, and he regretted it since that day. Her inability to dress caused him internal pain day to day.

She raised an eyebrow at him and looked at her choice of clothing. "What? It looks fine. It's all purple."

"I wouldn't have said anything if there wasn't a problem. Honestly, are you colour blind, my dear? Your jumper and trousers are two very different shades or purple. That wouldn't really be a problem, but the jumper is a darker shade than the trousers. Not to mention, the trousers are polka dotted."

She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, then opened it again, and then closed it and grumbled. Tom laughed and beckoned her over. She reluctantly got up and sat on his side of the compartment. He pulled out his wand and tapped on the knee of her trousers. They suddenly changed from their purple and polka dot pattern to a nice denim blue. She looked at the new colour and smirked.

"Ok," she agreed, "This looks much better. Thank you."

He laughed again, "Thank goodness you'll be wearing uniformed robes at Hogwarts so you don't have to try and dress yourself."

The ride to London was a quick one. When they arrived, Tom woke Rosette up.

"Were here. Are you ready?"

Rosette yawned and stretch her arms. Tom shook his head and began to try to fix her hair that had become messy while she napped. He then, put the jacket on his groggy sister and steered her out of the compartment and off of the train.

"Hey! This is no time to be half asleep. We're in the city and you need to be alert. Muggle pickpockets are crafty and I'm surprisingly not in the mood to kill anyone today," he mumbled to her as he gently poked her cheek. She yawned and nodded.

After walking around for what seemed like "forever" according to Rosette, they finally stopped at a small pub. Rosette gave Tom an irritated look.

"We ate on the train! Why are we stopping at a pub?" she grumbled.

Tom ignored her and walked over to the barman.

"Two floos, please?"

The barman grunted something that sounded like a "Sure", and handed Tom two very tiny baggies. He handed one to Rosette and walked over to the fireplace across from the bar.

"I'll go first. You just need to throw the baggie in the fireplace. And remember. Speak clearly. I will be waiting on the other side. Got it?"

Rosette squeezed the baggie. "Got it! Hurry up!" she urged.

She watched as her brother stepped into the old fireplace. She heard him shout the name of their destination and watched as he was suddenly enveloped within a swirl of green flames. She had seen him do this many times before but still gasped in awe at the floo flames. Once the flames had died down, she stepped into the fireplace where her brother stood moments ago. She dumped the contents of her bag out into her hand.

"Diagon Alley!" she shouted, throwing the floo powder down below her. She grinned as the green flames quickly grew and spun around her.

"Stay by my side," Tom sighed for the umpteenth time, "I don't want to have to worry about someone snatching you up. Diagon Alley isn't some carefree safe haven for magic folk. This place is probably crawling with dangerous people in disguise."

Rosette stopped and looked at Tom. "AHEM. Look who's talking!" she snorted, raising an eyebrow. "You hypocrite. Come on. You're walking too slowly!"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him along. They spent many hours going in and out of the stores. By the time they had gotten ninety-nine percent of the list done, they were both so very dreadfully exhausted.

Tom sunk into one of the chairs in a cosy pub they had stopped in. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the remaining half of the Polyjuice potion.

"Guess I should go ahead and take the rest, eh? Lest, we want to attract any unwanted attention if it wears off suddenly." He quickly downed the rest of the vial.

Rosette was slouching in a seat next to him, looking at her list. "We only need robes."

Tom raised his wrinkled his eyebrows. What? No, we still need to get your wand. Wandless witch or not, you'll still be expected to carry and user one in school."

"Nope! I already have one. Look," she answered, pulling her father's ebony wand out of her sleeve.

Tom grabbed the wand and looked at Rosette with confusion.

"Where did you get this from? This looks unbelievably expensive." He carefully looked over the wand. A black wand with a marble patterned grip and diamond tip?

"My papa left it and it's just always worked for me whenever I needed it." She said, holding her hand out as a cue for Tom to give the wand back to her. He deposited the wand back into her hand, still looking at it with astonishment.

"Well," he finally said after clearing his throat, "Let's go get your robes."

Thankfully, the shop wasn't far away, and it wasn't as crowded as the other shops were, much to Tom's relief. He watched as a plump witch had Rosette stand on a small platform and measure her with a measuring tape. They made sure to order at least ten of everything.

"And you had better not resize your skirts either. No sister of mine will be walking around like some trollop." Tom huffed.

Rosette made a face at him. "Why would I want to do that?! That's stupid! It gets too cold in Scotland to be dressing like a floosy." She retorted. The plump witch chuckled as she rang up their purchases.

"You sure did pick a terrible day to sleep in, Rosette. Remember, the train leaves at eleven a.m." Tom shouted from the stairs.

The day had finally come. Rosette's eyes flung open at the sound of her brother's voice.

"Oh Merlin, Oh Merlin! Apep! You let me oversleep!" she grumbled as she sprung out of bed and hastily got ready. Thankfully, she had packed everything the night before. She put Apep and his cage on top of her luggage and levitated them down the stairs. "I'M READY!" she shouted.

Tom looked at her and frowned. He walked over to her and straightened out her clothes. "Well, at least you're matching this time. Go ahead and eat before we go. We still have an hour and a half to go. Oh, and we can apparate today to save time. Have you got everything? And why are you wearing that hat?"

Rosette walked over to the table and took a bite of the toast that he had set out for her. She swallowed before speaking. "My hair is a mess. And yes, I've got everything packed away."

"What do you mean 'a mess'?" He pulled the hat off of her head and let out a less than Dark Lord-y gasp. "I don't understand WHY it looks like this… You aren't coming it out before bed, aren't you?"

"I keep forgetting," she shrugged.

He took out his wand and began working on her hair. "You had better start remembering. I can't come to Hogwarts every morning and fix your monstrous hair." He finally got her hair in order and finished getting ready by chugging down a small vial of Polyjuice potion.

They left the house around ten a.m. Tom had successfully apparated them and all of her luggage to an empty alley near the train station.

"How'd you know that no one would be over here?" Rosette asked.

"Magic." He answered smugly.

They entered the station and made their way to platforms nine and ten. Rosette looked around for platform nine and three-quarters.

"Tom," she asked with frustration, "where is it? That doesn't even sound right. Nine and three-quarters?"

Tom pointed to one of the brick columns. "You need to run into that one from," he positioned her direct across from the access point that she still couldn't see, "here."

Rosette looked at him, "Tom, how many brandies have you had this morning? That's a column. A BRICK column. You know? Very solid."

Just as she finished speaking, a black haired boy ran full speed into the column with his trolley and disappeared. Her jaw dropped.

"W-what? What just happened?" she sputtered.

Tom pulled her trolley in front of her and pushed her forward a little. "Go on, silly child."

She took an apprehensive step and looked back at Tom, who merely nodded at her. She swallowed hard, took a breath, and ran towards the brick column. When she realized she didn't crash, she opened her eyes.

"Whoa!" She had only seen the red and black Hogwarts Express in books, and seeing it up close nearly overloaded her senses. She turned around and saw Tom come out of nowhere. She looked at the train, and back at him, again. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Since their first encounter, she had never been away from Tom for more than a few days. She realised that she would miss him. Tom saw the tears and panicked.

"Oh, why are you crying?" he asked, bending down to comfort her. He took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears away. "You've been wanting to go to Hogwarts for as long as you can remember. You can't get cold feet now."

"Can't you come with me?" she sniffled, knowing the ludicrousness of her question.

"I would probably burn at the gate or something, silly girl. You'll be home for Christmas. You can make it that long. You're a big girl. Go show Hogwarts what an heiress of Slytherin can do."

He patted her on the head and walked her over to train and began to load her luggage into the luggage compartment. When he had finished, she gave him one last hug and a kiss on the cheek before running onto the train.

"Bye!" she sniffled.

"Bye, Rosette! I'll see you soon!" he shouted over the blaring sound of the train's whistle. He watched as the Hogwarts Express prepared for departure and leave the station.

Rosette finally found an empty compartment. She put the caged Apep on one side and sat on the other. She went through her bag and pulled out her robes for later. As she zipped her bag back up, she saw a familiar streak of fiery red hair run past her compartment, followed by an Irish accent so thick, you could cut through it with a knife. Rosette gasped and ran out of her compartment after the red haired person. She saw the person up ahead. It was a girl. Those freckles, that hair, it had to be…

"BHAN!"

The red haired girl turned her head towards where she heard her name come from. She saw the owner of the voice and froze. That silver hair, and those violet eyes.

"Rose-"was the only thing she could get out before being tackled by the other girl.