Rosie was alone when she woke up the next morning. There was a note on the counter that read,

Meeting with the Headmaster, breakfast on the table. Eat.

She smiled to herself. Severus always covered his bases. Rosie woke up with the urge to check on Neville. Aside from Rose, no other Gryffindor had stayed at Hogwarts over the break, which meant that Neville had to have been the one to find Sirius Black the night before.

She wanted to make sure he was alright. Although he was a Gryffindor, Neville was quite faint hearted.

Quickly, she grabbed a bite of toast off the plate and a sausage and scribbled a note to Severus letting him know that she was going to her common room. The pathway up the stairs from the dungeons was eerily quiet. When she arrived at the common room, Rosie noticed that the portrait was blank.

The door was slightly ajar already as though it no longer held a password keeper.

Neville sat in the corner of the grandiose living area with his head stuffed in a book. He was biting his nails and he did not seem to be reading, just staring blankly at the pages.

"Hi Neville." Rosie greeted cautiously.

"Rose! Oh, thank goodness! You're alright! Everyone was so worried last night. You should have seen Professor McGonagall."

"Yeah, I did see her, she came through when she found out I was with Severus." She replied sheepishly.

"Wait… You were with Snape? At night? Like, in his chambers?" Her friend made a face.

"Erm, yes, I sleep there sometimes."

"Gross! Is that even allowed?"

"Neville! It's not anything weird, he's like my guardian. Why does everyone think he's like that? Professor Dumbledore knows."

"Seriously? Why is he your guardian?"

"I'll have you know that Severus cares for me very much. He helped me through a lot last year."

Neville's eyes widened as if he were trying to picture the potions master being helpful.

"So, how are you holding up after last night?" She interjected, changing the topic.

"Merlin, Rose, it was horrible. He was just there in my dorm. He kept muttering to himself and he had a knife!"

"What did he look like?"

"Just like the photos, but even more mad."

"Great." Rosie replied, her voice strained.

"Why is he after you anyways Rose?" Neville looked at her curiously.

"Well, from what I understand, he was my father's best friend turned death eater, and he is the reason that Voldemort killed my parents."

"Oh. I'm so sorry. M..my parents were hurt by You- Know- Who's followers too, just after yours were killed."

"They were? Forgive me Neville I didn't realize that your parents died."

"Um, well, they didn't exactly die. They were tortured pretty badly. Now, they can barely remember their own names."

Rosie's eyes widened. "Wow Neville. That must be so difficult." She reached out to touch his arm lightly. Neville blushed.

"Yeah, so I kind of understand what you had to go through. I couldn't imagine if Bellatrix Lestrange was after me."

"Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"She was one of the death eaters responsible for my parents' condition. One day I hope I'll meet her face to face." He said and his dark eyes flashed with something akin to malice. The look did not suit her friend, who, to Rosie's knowledge had never said an unkind word.

"Do you really think that hurting her would solve anything?" Rosie asked lightly.

"I guess so… yeah. Don't you want to hurt Sirius Black?"

"Not really hurt him so much as know why he did it you know? Like, Moony… Sorry, Professor Lupin says that he and my dad were like brothers, he even lived with the Potters when he was kicked out of his house for not being dark enough."

"You're kidding! What do you think happened?"

Rosie just shook her head. She really had no idea. "I almost wouldn't mind running into him."

"Neville ran his hand through his hair uncomfortably. "So, why did you stay with Snape last night? I mean, I'm glad you did… but it was a pretty big coincidence."

Rosie felt a familiar tightening in her chest. "Erm… I was pretty upset because Professor Lupin and I ran into someone is diagon alley who hurt me pretty badly." She cringed visibly.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Snape makes you feel better about that?" The boy's face crumpled with the effort of his imagination.

"Yeah, he does." She gave a small smile.

"You know, I think you're very brave Rose. I feel like you've had a really hard time of it, but you are still so kind."

"Don't discount your own experiences Neville. We are way more similar than we are different."

The boy blushed again.

The pair spent the majority of the holidays together apart from the time that Rosie spent with Severus. Severus continued their patronus lessons over break, but she was still unable to conjure up a memory strong enough, or pure enough, to produce anything corporeal.

The potions master had yet to allow her to practice with the boggart. She had tried asking Moony for secret lessons with the boggart but he had rejected her, saying that he trusted Severus' judgement. Rosie had been going out for walks often with Neville and with Moony.

She always searched for the familiar pup that she was so fond of, but he only ever seemed to appear when she was alone. Rosie was not allowed to walk alone on the grounds anymore. Christmas day was spent with her two very disgruntled guardians.

Rose had made it very clear that she desired both of their company over the holiday, and the men had made an effort. There had been a lot of uncomfortable silence and glaring, mostly from Severus, but the trio had managed to spend enough time together to satisfy her need for familial comfort.

Severus had not mentioned Cedric once over the holidays. Rosie almost forgot about it until the beginning of term arrived once again. On the second day of classes, after lunch with her friends, Cedric came rushing towards her, much to Ginny's excitement.

Her friends were not aware just how close she had gotten with the Hufflepuff boy. His expression was pained and his voice urgent.

"Rose, can I speak to you?" He asked quickly, but it was not really a question because he put his hand on her arm, guiding her away before Rosie even had a chance to reply.

He took her into a deserted hallway, spun and around and ran his hands nervously through his hair. Rosie stood on her tiptoes leaning forward to kiss him, but he stopped her gently.

"Rose… I… I don't think we can do this anymore." Her eyes widened and a sinking feeling came over her.

"What happened?" She asked him calmly.

"Rose, Professor Snape talked to me." The boy cringed. "I…" but Rosie cut him off.

"Severus talked to you?" She blanched. "What did he say?" Her tone was irritated.

"Listen, don't be upset ok? He wasn't threatening me, he sounded concerned."

"What. Did. He. Say?" Rosie spat out.

"He said that you've been through a lot Rose, and that he is worried you are using, you know… our activities to avoid dealing with what is really wrong. He said you had some sort of extra bad reaction… or something over the holidays."

"God Severus. Fuck." She muttered.

"Cedric, he is just being overprotective. I had that reaction for a totally different reason, he is just reading too much into it." She sighed.

"What happened Rose? What was he talking about?"

"It's nothing Cedric. Seriously, please don't worry about it."

"No, Rose, c'mon you gotta be honest with me here. I don't know what to think. I told you I didn't want to hurt you."

"Ugh." She sighed. "I just ran into someone over the Hols that I had a really bad experience with, I reacted badly to that. Not to you."

"Who was it? Snape made it sound like being with me made your reaction stronger." He whispered urgently.

Concern was wrought in his expression.

"Just… someone who, you know, made me do some stuff with him that I didn't want to." Rosie closed her eyes.

That was all she was able to get out. Her heart was in her throat and she could tell that her face was flushed.

Cedric's eyes widened and his lips parted slightly in shock.

"Rose, shit. I am so sorry. God." He was panicking. "I never should have… oh jeez, I am so sorry. We should stop, I don't want to be like that." The boy brought his hands up to rub his face.

Rosie reached up to take his hand. "Cedric, please look at me."

He met her eyes, but his were clouded over with sadness. "Don't do this. Don't look at me like that, please. If I didn't want to be with you like that, I wouldn't be ok?"

"But Snape said…"

"Severus," She spat his name out, "is a prude. It just makes him uncomfortable.

He has no reason to think that my bad reaction was anything more than the result of me running into that person."

"Are you sure? I really like you Rose and I don't want to do anything to you that you don't want."

"I'm sure. Really, if I felt uncomfortable, I'd tell you."

"I guess, I also don't know if I want to… uh, you know, do just that stuff with you. I was kinda hoping that we could maybe be something more?"

Now it was Cedric who was flushed. "If you want…that is. We don't even have to have sex you know? We can just take it slow. Maybe then I'll pass potions this year."

Rosie giggled. "I'd like that." She responded sweetly, "but I wouldn't mind, erm, continuing what we've been doing. Severus will not fail you in potions for sleeping with me. He wouldn't dare."

Cedric chuckled. "As long as you're sure."

Suddenly, he became serious once again. "I… I want you to promise that you'll tell me if you are ever uncomfortable, please, I can't imagine what that was like for you…"

She stopped him, wincing slightly. "I will."

"Thanks. So, does that mean you will officially be my girlfriend?"

"Yes." Rosie replied, her mouth turning upward in a small smile.

She let him kiss her, and then they parted ways. Lunch was ending and that meant that Severus had a free period. Rosie had defense, but Moony wouldn't kill her for being late.

As soon as Cedric was out of sight, anger began to creep its way through her stomach and up into her chest. How dare Severus talk to Cedric without her consent. She marched herself down to the familiar dungeon office and entered without knocking.

Severus wondered how long it would take before he had an angry little girl bursting through his office door. He had to admit, Rose did not waste time. Lunch had only just ended when she let herself in to his space, rage evident in her emerald eyes.

Severus knew that talking to the Diggory boy had been a risk.

There was always a chance that Rose would come out of the situation more hurt than when she went in, but he was seriously concerned about her sexual willingness. The reaction to seeing Lockhart had been the worst outburst that the child had ever experienced.

She had injured both himself and the wolf, and left his office destroyed. The potions master couldn't help but think that it might be a product of dealing with potential outbursts on a superficial level, through sex, instead of dealing with them fully, which always involved the recoil in her magic.

"Really Severus? You had to do that. You couldn't just leave it alone?" Rose started as soon as she walked in through the door.

"Good Afternoon." He replied tersely.

"I can't believe you did that." She continued. "You're not going to stop me."

"I expect you to take your recovery seriously Rose. I am not going to allow you to become addicted to quick fixes for a problem of this magnitude."

"Fuck you, you just want me to be dependent on you."

"Do not speak to me in that way." He snapped coldly.

"You're pathetic. You aren't my father. I don't have to listen to you."

Severus stood up from his desk, walked over to Rose and grabbed her arms in his hands, holding her still. His breath was hot on her face.

"No, I am not your father, but I am your guardian, and you will give me that respect."

"Get off me!" She shrieked struggling in his grasp. "I hate you!"

"Rose Potter. I am an adult and you are a child. You need to listen to me."

"What? You've got the power, got it. Are you gonna fuck me too then? What the hell does it even matter. I'm already damaged goods."

Severus balked but did not take his eyes from her or his hands off her.

"I would never do that to you. Authority does not always have to hurt Rose. I am looking out for your best interests."

"Why can't I have sex Severus? Why can't I? It makes me feel better. It makes me feel normal." She was becoming emotional now.

"I did not say that you could not have sex." He spat out. "I do not want you to use sex to squash your outbursts. It is not supposed to be used as a coping mechanism."

"What am I supposed to do then?" Rosie whispered, her voice losing its hardness.

"I don't know yet child, but this is not the solution. I am going to do everything in my power to help you control your outbursts from here on out, but I need your word that you will not continue to have sexual relations of any kind while you are on the brink of panic."

She breathed a long sigh of defeat. "I won't. I'm just so tired Severus." He relaxed his grip on her arms and she fell forward allowing him to catch her smoothly.

"It's not fair."

"Life isn't fair child."