It was the night of Harry Potter's 13th birthday and him and Rose had been allowed to go to the local park. Rose had baked Harry a small cake that they had both shared earlier and they were now sitting on a bench looking up at the rainy sky.
Harry pointed up to a white owl that was fluttering in the distance.
"Is that Hedwig?" Rose asked while squinting to get a better look. It did as though appear to be Harry's trusted companion Hedwig.
She was carrying a few letters in her mouth which she dutifully dropped in Harry's lap. Rose gently lifted Hedwig next to her and gave her a few pats on the back before Hedwig flew off again into the dreary sky.
"Letters." Harry said somewhat stupidly.
"Well, yeah," Rose joked, "Clearly. Who are they from?"
"Sorry," Harry said and shook his head, "It's just I actually got letters this year. That makes me happy."
"Yeah," Rose commented, "There's no house elves by the name of Dobby stealing them it appears."
Harry chuckled. He turned the letters over. There was one letter from Ron, Hermione, and- George? He held up George's letter to Rose.
"Did you know he sent one?" Harry asked. Rose nodded. "He said he wanted to and I was like sure, I don't think Harry would mind." Rose explained.
"Is it alright if we had back so I can read them?" Harry asked. Rose stood up and dusted herself off.
"It's your birthday so as you please." She teased Harry who brushed her off. "Yeah, yeah," He said, "Don't make a big deal of it."
They turned the street corner and began walking back to the Dursley home from the park. From the corner of her eye up ahead Rose could make out the sight of a group of about four girls walking towards them. She didn't think anything of it until Harry nudged her and pointed to a girl with black hair who looked familiar.
"Isn't that Matilda?" He asked.
Rose blinked. Matilda had been her childhood friend from only two years ago. She hadn't seen Matilda at all around the streets of Surrey since she got sent to Hogwarts. She wasn't sure who the other girls were, but there was one girl with curly brown hair who had also gone to the same primary school who she was sure was called Shannon Jackson or something like that.
"Matilda?" Rose called out from across the street.
The girl stopped when she heard her name being called. Rose hoped she hadn't scared Matilda. Matilda turned to see who had shouted her name and peered in closer from across the street.
"Oh my God," Matilda breathed, "Is that Rose Potter?"
Rose turned to Harry and grinned once she had been recognized. She crossed the street with Harry to meet up with Rose.
"It's been so long!" Rose greeted Matilda and without thinking leaned in to give her a hug. She quickly let go when she realized how stiffly Matilda hugged her back. It was almost as if the sight of Rose had made her uncomfortable.
"You look good." Matilda commented after assessing Rose from head to toe. Rose suddenly felt uncomfortable and she could feel Harry becoming tense next to her.
"This is Shannon," She said pointing to the curly haired girl, "And that's Jane and Iris." She said about the other girls.
"I didn't know you knew Rose Potter," Iris, a girl with freckles said in an icy voice.
"Yeah, we used to be mates." Matilda explained.
"So," Rose interjected trying to loosen up the tension , "How's school? How's life here?"
Shannon scoffed in the corner. Rose turned to look at her.
"I'm sorry," Rose said curtly, "Did I miss something funny?"
Matilda shifted her feet. "Well, look Rose, it's just people talk about you now. You kind of just got up and left school without giving anyone any reason."
Rose stared at Matilda. "What do you mean they talk about me?" Rose asked.
"Not just you," Shannon chipped in "They also talk about him too." She nudged her chin in Harry's direction.
Rose's stomach dropped. She didn't want Harry to hear this- not on his birthday. She could sense where this encounter was going even though she didn't want to actually hear it being said aloud.
"Yeah they don't say good things about you Rose," Matilda continued, "Everyone thinks you've gone mad. They say that you and brother have been shipped off to the looney house."
Jane, Iris, and Shannon started laughing and Matilda wore a small smirk on her face but looked at the ground. Rose walked up to Matilda ignoring the other girls.
"I'll have you know right now for a fact that my brother and I are not at the looney house," Rose said, "We've just gone off to boarding school."
Matilda gave Rose a small push away from her which left Rose a little taken aback. She didn't think Matilda would go confrontational.
"Look," Matilda said sharply, "I'm just telling you what the town thinks of you. Anyways, I'd better get back home to Mum. She wouldn't like knowing that I was in the streets with Rose Potter."
The group turned to cross the streets before Matilda turned back and said in a voice that sent chills up Rose's spine, "It's not like the old times Rose. Things are different now."
Rose watched stunned by what just happened as she watched Matilda continue to walk down the street and laugh and snicker with the other girls.
"Wow," Harry said bluntly, "Who knew Matilda's a bitch now?"
Rose snapped back to reality. She wasn't going to let this encounter ruin her brother's birthday. She turned and started walking quickly ahead of him so that he couldn't see her tearing up.
"Come on," Rose said trying to sound unbothered, "You've got your letters to read!"