A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for being late. Again. I swear, this is practically a regular feature in these author note thingys. I do try to post them quicker, I promise. Unfortunately, there is this thing called homework. So, I'm sorry for leaving it there at such a cliffhanger. I absolutely hate it when that happens to me. Although, my favourite fanfictions haven't posted for about 4 months :( so it could be worse. And this is a really longer chapter to make up for it.

Thanks all for your reviews! I loved reading them, I always do. Nearly at the magic 50 reviews. So exciting!

In other news, my older sister is currently having her birthday party with about 15 of her friends in the next room. I can hear them screaming and singing and very loud music. I am actually too scared to leave my room to get food or anything. I've only left once in the last 3 hours, and when that happened I was forced into dancing with them. Which was very awkward.

Oh God. Now they are chanting "BALLET DANCE-OFF! BALLET DANCE-OFF!" as techno music plays in the background.

I should let you get on with the story now.


Shutting the door behind her, Rose turns around to face Headmistress McGonagall. "Ah, Miss Weasley," she says, looking up. "I presume Mr. Malfoy sent you here so I could brief you on the situation?"

So she has no idea why Rose is here. Rose feels grateful for this, even though she knows that it won't last long. She has always admired Professor McGonagall. Even in her age, she has retained her strength, wisdom and fairness. Rose has heard many stories about her from the rest of her family about her actions during the war. She knows of her selflessness in the war, and how she put her life on the line to thwart Voldemort and protect her students.

McGonagall stopped teaching when she became Headmistress, and so most students don't know her very well. However, she takes a special interest in Rose as Head Girl, Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, and also as the daughter of one of her favourite students, Hermione Granger. Now, Rose wishes McGonagall didn't know her so well. It makes it that much harder to disappoint her and confess what she's done.

"Yes, he did." Rose lies, and sits down in the seat across from Professor McGonagall at her prompt.
"I'm sure you've noticed all the strange things going on today in the Slytherin house?" Rose forces out a laugh, trying to act casual.
"Emotions do always run high on Valentine's Day, but never quite like this year."
"Five boys from from the sixth and seventh years seem to have been targeted in some sort of Valentine's Day joke." McGonagall continues. "Mr. Goyle, Mr. Zabini, Mr. Flint, Mr. Morgenstern, and Mr. Nott."
"Nott? I don't recall him acting strangely today." Rose questions, confusion and panic creeping in. What...?
"That is because something went wrong with the joke."

All of a sudden, Rose knows exactly who has been sent to St. Mungo's. But how could a simple love potion have hurt Nott so much he wasn't just sent to the hospital wing, but had to be taken out to St. Mungo's? "Letters were sent to all of these boys this morning in the owl post. After examining the letter Nott received, myself and some of the other professors believe that they were sprayed with a love potion, and then charmed the first person to read it to become infatuated with the first living thing they saw. The other boys are in the hospital wing waiting for the effects to wear off. It seems as though the potion was altered in some way, and so the usual antidote isn't working.

"It seems like a harmless prank, meant only to humiliate, not harm, but something went wrong. Nott didn't read his letter when it first arrived. He put it in his bag for later. When he eventually got around to reading it, around an hour ago, he was in the owlery about to send an owl to his family. He read it, then must have caught sight of an owl. He dropped his letters and must have approached it, causing it to fly out the window...and Nott jumped out after it."

Rose gasps. She can't help it. Her mind races, but she blocks her thoughts out. She needs to hear the full story, then she can think. "How bad are his injuries?" Rose asks, trying to remain objective.
"He survived the fall, but barely. If he had been a floor higher, or fallen on his head, or if there weren't students to see him fall and get help immediately...I wouldn't be able to say the same thing. Mr. Nott has broken both his legs, as well as his right arm and a few ribs. Currently he is in a coma, and the Healers aren't sure if or when he will wake up. His parents have been notified and are anxiously waiting at the hospital to be able to see him or get some news on his condition."

Rose is frozen. She still can't comprehend the situation, no matter how simple it seems on the surface: her plan has gone disastrously wrong and someone is seriously injured because of it. A small part of her brain reminds her she should feel happy. Isn't this what she wanted? A chance to hurt the Slytherins, especially Nott, in the way she has been hurt so many times over the last seven years? She also has a bizarre urge to laugh over the absurd thought of Nott diving out of window because he was in love with an owl. It's quite ridiculous. But the mental image of Nott in a hospital bed, unmoving, as his parents waitto hear if he will ever wake up sobers her quickly.

No, this isn't what she wanted. Not at all.

"So, as you see Miss Weasley, it is of utmost importance that we find the person, or persons, that sent those letters, so that they can face the consequences." Rose has almost forgotten what she came here to do. Again, a small piece of her that she despises tells her to just nod and tell Professor McGonagall that she will do her best, and then run home free.

But if she did that, Rose would leave behind any chance of gaining respect for herself, any chance of growing to like herself. She would never be able to forgive something so selfish. Rose remembers the pledge she made after the Gryffindor vs Slytherin match about growing up, how she needs to stop running away, and take responsibility for her actions. She has to honour that pledge.

"I did it." Rose says, without dancing around the problem or trying to think of the best way to confess. There is no easy way to say it. Professor McGonagall breathes in sharply. "Miss Weasley, please tell me that that was some distasteful joke so can scold you for making light of such a situation and send you on your way." To her credit, McGonagall stays calm, keeping her composure.

"I can't. I'm sorry Professor." Rose tells her. And she is. Sorry that she has to disappoint her, sorry that she did the prank in the first place. Scorpius was right. Rose should have told the Headmistress ages ago. She didn't consider that growing up might involve letting go and trusting other people. Did Rose really think that if she told Headmistress McGonagall about the Slytherin boys attacking her she wouldn't be able to stop them, or wouldn't bother? McGonagall wouldn't do that. She cares too much about her students, especially Rose, to ignore someone in need. Although, Rose feels as though she is about to become an exception to that rule and be someone McGonagall dislikes.

"Miss Weasley, I don't understand. Why would you do such a thing? You know better than that. What have they ever done to you? Is this over something as petty as losing a Quidditch game to them?" Then McGonagall starts muttering to herself. "But then, not all of those boys were on the team. House prejudice then? But that still doesn't make sense. Why just those five?" McGonagall looks back up at her. "Miss Weasley, please explain this to me."

How does Rose explain that for her whole time at Hogwarts she has been bullied and attacked? And that she was too scared to say anything, just suffered in silence for years? That she didn't tell anyone, because she couldn't trust anyone to care or help? That she didn't want to let anyone down? That even when Nott tried to use the Cruciatus Curse on her, she didn't tell anyone? That she was eventually pushed so far she decided to take matters into her own hands? How does she admit all of that? Rose doesn't want to mention James at all. It wasn't his fault. If Rose hadn't let him, he wouldn't have done it. She cannot bear to let James be punished when he was only trying to help.

"Well, Professor," Rose starts, but then there is a knock at the door, which puts a halt to their discussion. "Come in!" Headmistress McGonagall calls without taking her eyes off Rose. Much to Rose's surprise, James walks in. "Don't blame Rose! I did it! It was my fault!" He says, striding in and standing next to Rose.
"Mr. Potter." McGonagall answers. "What is-"
"Well, Rose played a part, but I convinced her to do it, so don't blame her."
"James, what are you doing here?" Rose questions him.
"Scorpius told me what was going on. I figured you wouldn't bring my name into it if I wasn't here, but I can't let you take all of the blame for my idea. "
"Would one of you please hurry up and tell me what's going on?" Headmistress McGonagall demands, heremotions coming to the surface at last.

James glances towards Rose, unsure. "You explain it James. All of it. Please." Her voice crack on the last word. James nods, and clears his throat. "Well, Professor, those boys have been attacking Rose all year. Stalking her at night, waiting until she's alone, and then ambushing her."

If Rose thought McGonagall had cracked and showed emotion before, that was nothing compared to what she does now. Her whole face goes pale and her mouth presses into a thin, straight line. "Is he correct?" McGonagall asks Rose. She hesitates, then decides to admit something she has never said out loud before. "Not entirely. This thing with the Slytherins has been going on since first year."

Rose cannot tell whether McGonagall or James is more outraged. "Why didn't you tell us that before? You said it was only this year!" Cries James.
"How could they possibly do something so cruel and disgusting? I would have thought such violence was far behind us! Why are they doing it to you, Miss. Weasley? And why on earth didn't you tell anyone sooner?"

Both ramble on for quite some time, until Rose can't take it any longer. "Stop!" She screams, holding her hands over her ears, trying to block out the noise. Once it stops, she takes a deep breath. "James, I didn't say that it's only been happening this year. You just never asked. And Professor McGonagall, they do it to take revenge on me for what my parents did to their families. They say that I don't deserve to be praised and honoured as I do just for being related to some people that ruined their lives before they were even born."
"That is ridiculous!" McGonagall interrupts furiously. "How can they believe that their parents weren't ruining lives? Nott and Goyle's fathers were Death Eaters," she says bitterly, "and I'm sure the others are related to a few more... Sorry, Miss Weasley, go on."
"And I didn't tell you before, because," Rose looks at the ground, wishing it would suddenly swallow her upso she wouldn't have to say the next few sentences, "I didn't trust you could do anything about it. I thought you'd be ashamed that I was involved in something so vile. That's not what's expected of me, after all. My parents are heroes; how can I be so weak?"

Rose forces herself to look back up at Professor McGonagall. Her face quavers for a few seconds, before she bursts into speech. "I am the Headmistress of Hogwarts! Of course I would be able to do something about it! That is what disappoints me. The fact that you didn't trust me. And, Rose, you needn't be ashamed. You aren't weak. You are strong, just like your parents, but you shouldn't be compared to them. You have your own strength."

Rose isn't used to accepting complements. They don't come often, and when they do, they don't seem sincere. But this time is different. It's not coming from a peer or a family member. Headmistress McGonagall said it. And Rose knows it isn't just a standard pep talk she gives to all students. It was personal. Rose can't quite put her finger on how she knows. Perhaps it's the fact that she had never called her Rose before, or any other student by their first name?

Whatever the reason, Rose nods, meaning it this time, unable to speak. Headmistress McGonagall sighs. "However, you actions have caused serious harm to a student. His parents will have to know what the cause of it was, as will your parents. And yours, Mr. Potter."

Rose's heart starts pounding in her ears. She doesn't know what she is more afraid of: her parents learning how low she has sunk, or having the Nott family hate her even more than they already do. "This case is more complex than I originally thought. As it has all happened on Hogwarts grounds, and you are still at school age, I can deal with it as I please. The Ministry doesn't need to be involved. I assume that's want you want."
"Yes, Professor."
"Well, you two need to come back in a few days so we can sort this out. I'll notify your parents and Mr. and Mrs. Nott for a meeting. I'll send a note when I need you to come back. You may leave now." Professor McGonagall turns back to her desk, putting an end to the conversation.

Rose and James trudge out of the office, not saying anything to each other until they get to the corridor. Once there, Rose turns to James. "Thanks for coming." She says sincerely.
"What, did you think I would leave you to face the consequences by yourself?" James asks, confused.

"Yeah, I did. Sorry James." He shakes his head sadly.
"That's your problem Rose. You don't trust anyone. You have a low opinion of yourself and you think that everyone sees you in the same way. People can only tell you that they care for you so many times."

Rose looks at him in amazement. She's always thought of him as shallow, but he's more perceptive than she could have guessed. And he's right. Her mind shows her images of people that fit his observation: Albus, Scorpius, Headmistress McGonagall, her parents, Professor Swappette, and possibly many others.

"Don't go all serious on me James!" Rose says, shoving him playfully, breaking the intensity of the moment. "Who are you and what have you done with my cousin?" He grins and grabs her arm, linking it through his. "He grew up. But don't worry; he still visits sometimes."

Rose opens her mouth to answer him, and say how grateful she is for what he said, but she realises she doesn't have to. James already knows how she feels. Instead, Rose tugs on his arm and prods him into skipping with her all the way to the Gryffindor Tower, joined at the arm like they used to when they were children.


For the next few days, Hogwarts is even louder than usual. Everyone has some story or other about Valentine's Day, whether it be some romantic thing they saw, did, what happened to them or about the Slytherins. Surprisingly, to Rose at least, the vast majority is about the Slytherins. Romantic things happen all the time. A bunch of normally macho idiots falling head over heads in love with each other, teachers, or younger students, however, never happens.

Everyone has a different funny thing they saw them do or say. The Slytherins in question barely remember what happened, and no one wants to tell them. Of course, they will eventually have to be told by McGonagall, once the mini-hearing has been held. Rose isn't looking forward to it at all. She doesn't let herself think further ahead than the end of the current day.

Then there's Nott. No one, apart from James, Rose and Scorpius know where he's gone. The official story is that he got sick overnight, but Hogwarts, as it always does, hascome up with many theories as to why he's gone: some over enthusiastic fan injured him in a misguided attempt to show Valentine's Day spirit; he drank some off love potion; and he went as love-crazy as his friends, cosied up to some girl and she injured him so much that he's been stuck in the hospital wing ever since.

That last one is a bit too close for comfort in Rose's eyes, but so are many things these days. The meeting that will decide her fate, for instance. She has a bad feeling that it will be tonight. A feeling that is confirmed by the sight of James approaching her at lunch time, a scroll in his outstretched hand. "Read it," he says quietly. Rose complies, unrolling the letter carefully.

Dear Miss Weasley,

You are summoned, along with Mr. James Potter, to my office tonight at 8pm to discuss the events of 14th February, as well as your past history with the Slytherins. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and Mr. and Mrs. Nott will also be in attendance to be informed and, hopefully, help bring about an end to this issue.

Regards, Headmistress McGonagall.

Rose looks up from the letter to see her own grim and nervous look reflected in James' face. "It'll be alright. It can't be too bad. If you just explain why you did it..." he trails off.
"James, we put Nott in St Mungo's. And his parents are going to be there tonight...my parents are going to be there." Rose feels the hysteria rise up within her again.
"Hey, hey, Rose, calm down a bit." James says softly. "I'm going to be there too, okay? It can't go too badly if I'm around. I'll save you." James winks, and Rose sighs, trying to believe him. It almost works.

She looks over towards the Slytherin table, but unlike all of the other times she's glanced over there in the past few days, this time she is searching for Scorpius. Rose has barely spoken to him since he told her about how drastically wrong her plan went. It's too hard. She's scared of what he will think about her. Will he have understood that she only did it because she felt like she had no choice? Rose doesn't think so. She did have choices, she realises now, she just chose to ignore them. Scorpius knew that all along, but she didn't listen to him. Now, through her ignorance she's caused serious harm to an old friend of his, which still must hold some meaning to Scorpius, even after discovering what Nott has done to Rose over the years. Rose looks away. Sometimes it's easiest to not know.

After sharing another solemn grimace, James and Rose depart for their respective classes. Rose has Potions, where she partners up with Albus, who spends most of the lesson telling her what to do and stopping her from ruining their potion. She has no hope of being able to concentrate. She is too stressed about the 8pm meeting. Not that she can tell Albus about it. Rose isn't quite sure how much Albus suspects about what she had to do with with the Valentine's Day prank, or how much Scorpius has told him. He must have at least some sort of suspicion about the fact that the exact five boys that have been bullying Rose were targeted. There's a chance that Scorpius has told him the truth, as they are best friends, and Rose has no idea what Scorpius does these days. But Rose doesn't want to bring the topic up. Albus might resent her for it too. Again, it's easiest to not know.

Somehow Rose makes it through the rest of Potions class and dinner without causing something else to go spectacularly wrong. She hardly notices what she's eating, just how fast time flies when you would do anything to stop it. When the time draws near, Rose is in the library again, not quite sure how long she's been there or why she went there, but why does it matter? All that matters is where she needs to go next and what is about to happen. Rose walks to the Headmistress' Office, her feet dragging, the only thing keeping her going is the thought of it being over. Thenshe won't have to hide any more. It takes almost as much effort to keep on walking as it does to convince herself that bringing it all out in the open will be a good thing.

When she arrives at the door, she doesn't let herself stop or sigh or think, just strides in. Everyone is already there – the three sets of parents and James – in seats positioned in a semi-circle facing McGonagall's desk, the Notts slightly separate from the others. They all turn around as Rose enters, and she stares at the ground, hoping she won't meet anyone's gaze, and sits in the free chair next to James.

"Well, now that everyone's here, we can start." Headmistress McGonagall says. "Firstly, I think I need to get everyone up to speed on everything that has happened. On the 14th of February, a prank was played on five Slytherin boys, including Mr. Nott, involving love potion. While it had relatively harmless effects on the rest of them, this potion caused Mr. Nott to fall in love with an owl-"

Rose's father sniggers, and her mother hits him as McGonagall glares at him. "He became infatuated with the owl, and, when it flew away, he jumped out the window after it. He's broken several bones and been in a coma for the last few days, but woke up earlier today."
"You mean to say that my son was so badly injured just because of a childish school prank?" Mr. Nott asks, obviously hearing it for the first time. "Do you know who-" he breaks off. "I suppose that's why they're all here. Couldn't leave the past behind, could you?" He snarls at James' and Rose's parents. "You had to bring your children into it!"
"Calm down, Mr. Nott. I understand your anger, but there is no need to start throwing accusations around." McGonagall tells him sternly. "Yes, you guessed correctly, these two students are responsible, but they acted of their own accord." Then there is quiet, beautiful, blessed quiet, that Rose hopes will never break, because when it does it means that her parents have digested the news and will tell her what they think of her.

"Rose?" Hermione says shakily.
"Yeah, Mum. I did it."
"Only because I convinced her to do it!" James bursts out.
"But why would you do such a thing?" Mrs. Potter asks him.
"James, is this another one of your immature jokes?" Mr. Potter says strictly. "I thought you'd grown out of that."
"But Rose, why did you join in?" Ron asks. "I've never known you to do something so thoughtless."

By this point, Rose feels about as small as a beetle, and just as disgusting. She is ready to start begging for forgiveness. Luckily, she has James to stand up for her. "We didn't do it for no reason! And it wasn't something as insignificant as house prejudice or being a sore loser from the last Quidditch game, or whatever it is you're all thinking. We didn't mean for it to go quite so far as putting Nott in St Mungo's, but him and the other Slytherins have caused about as much harm to Rose over the years. We're not in the wrong."

Similar sounds of amazement, disbelief and confusion are heard from all of the parents. McGonagall holds her hand up for silence. Once she has it, she says, "They aren't entirely blameless, as they did cause serious harm to a fellow student, as well as a great deal of disruption and embarrassment for the other boys, but they do have a point. That's why it has been so difficult and complicated to make a decision regarding what to do. Because these Slytherins are in the wrong too. Just listen to what Rose has to say."

Feeling the gaze of everyone as they turn to her, heavy with expectation, Rose sinks a little lower in her seat. She closes her eyes to shut them all out. When she does manage to spit out her justification, and tell of her history with them, from 1st year to now, she feels detached from the situation, and doesn't really know exactly how she worded it. But there. She's finally said the whole thing out loud. Slowly she opens her eyes to gauge their response.

Stunned. Bewildered. Shocked. Their faces show it all. Mr. Nott is the first one to speak. "Bullshit."
"Mr. Nott-" starts McGonagall.
"Of course she's saying that! She's just trying to get out of trouble and make everyone feel sorry for her and not my son, who is currently in St. Mungo's. Is there even any proof of this? And why would these boys attack you? I can't believe Thomas would do anything like that."
"How about you just-" Rose's father begins angrily, but hisses, "Ron!" and he stops. Then Hermione turns to Rose and says gently, "I'm not saying I don't believe you Rose, but if this has been going on for 7 years, why didn't you tell anyone?'

If Rose thought the hardest bit was over, she was wrong. She glances around the office for something else, anything else, to look at. Rose's gaze falls on the portrait of Albus Dumbledore. He smiles encouragingly. "I was too scared. Scared of telling someone and they wouldn't believe me, or be able to do anything about it. Scared of it getting worse if I fought back. I wasn't going to give them another reason to hurt me." Rose has spent so long hiding, not letting anyone through her guard. Needless to say, having to reveal her insecurities to a whole room full of people has her on the edge of fleeing the room.

"Another reason?" Ron asks. "Why were they doing...that," he chokes, "in the first place?" Forget hard; what Rose has to do now it impossible. How does she tell her parents that the reason she has been getting beaten up is because they saved to world? They shouldn't be made to feel guilty for that, and Rose doesn't know how she can say it without that happening.

"They're prejudiced against my surname. They think they have the right to punish me for what my family did twenty five years ago, and outing their families as Death Eaters. And, of course, there's the old Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry. Really important stuff like that." Rose says, glaring at the Notts, the defiance from the last few days breaching the surface again. At least, until she looks at her family.

"Rose-" Hermione starts, but she is cut off.
"Okay, so there may have been some conflict going on between them, but it can't have been as serious as what has happened to Thomas." Mr. Nott says, trying to take control of the conversation.

"How about we let Rose tell us that." McGonagall replies smoothly. Rose swallows. Pretend you're talking to yourself, she thinks. Not that she often talks to herself, and if she did it would be about the Slytherins, as she spends most of her time trying not to think about them, but it helps.

"The first few yeas, it wasn't much, just name-calling, and shoving and the like, but as we got older it got worse. Kicking, punching, cursing..." Rose scrunches her eyes shut tightly and wraps her arms around herself, trying to force out one more sentence, the one that she has kept bottled up for the last few weeks. "The last time this happened, Nott tried to use the Crutiatus Curse on me."

The room erupts into noise: James asking her why on earth she didn't say it before; McGonagall yelling at no one in particular, quite wild; her family shouting at the Notts; and Mr. and Mrs. Nott denying everything. Then it gets too much for Rose. The room is too small, and crowed, and loud, and there is nowhere to hide, and so she runs out of the suddenly cramped office, ignoring the people calling out after her, just wanting to get away.


A/N: And on that dramatic note, it is time to leave for another few weeks. Aiming for 2 week gap maximum. Well, assuming that I survive the craziness going on in the next room. And a few of some are sleeping over *shivers*

Anyone else loving James right now? I am :) I want a cousin like that!

And hey, look at that button below! You should totally click on it and leave me a review :)

TheEagleFeatherQuill