A/N: As is my way, I'm gifting you several chapters today. Two, to be precise. More will come soon, don't fret. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rose Granger-Weasley, Newt Scamander or any other character created by J.K. Rowling. My aim is merely to entertain and play around with them a little.

Chapter 2 : In which Porpentina Scamander is a bitch

December 2026

Time flew by and soon, a soft sheet of snow covered most of the country. Except, of course, the Home itself, which was too close to the sea. But even then, the Head Nurse made it compulsory that, each year, the gardens were enchanted and covered in fake but soft snow that didn't freeze the toes and cushioned every fall.

Most of the residents were in the main hall helping to decorate the massive Christmas tree when Rose appeared for her shift, layered in scarves and thick wool to protect her from the chill. She wasn't a winter person. She loved Christmas time, but as far as she was concerned, she'd rather spend it in the Southern Hemisphere each year until she died.

"Nurse Weasley!"

Rose sighed and unwrapped her scarf, plastering a fake smile on her lips. "Good day to you Nurse Bierley! What can I help you with?"

"Mrs Scamander has requested you be sent to her as soon as you arrived. She refused to be tended to by anyone else."

Rose groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. And here she had been, looking forward to some tree-decorating with the joyful residents. And here she was, having to spend her afternoon with an old crone who'd no doubt play at making her lose her patience. "Great. I'm going right away."

"And please look happier about it, Nurse Weasley!" said the older woman with a cruel smile. Rose didn't even ingratiate her with an answer.

Mrs Scamander had been acting weirdly lately. The young redhead often found her muttering to herself, reciting some sort of list and scribbling on pieces of paper she hid from view as soon as she spotted her assigned nurse.

Sometimes, she was horrible to Rose. But, and it was most disturbing, sometimes, she was sickeningly sweet, asking her personal questions as if she was interested, like where she lived, with whom, and 'Are you sure your mother hasn't been talking about Time-Turners lately?'.

The young witch honestly didn't know if her elderly patient was crazy, psychopathic, lost, or a mix of all three…

Tina was standing by the window when she arrived, Hoppy in her arms, muttering strange things such as 'It's today', 'Today is the day' and other stupid sentences that didn't make any sense. As far as Rose knew, the date was not a particular one. There weren't any birthdays or anniversaries to be celebrated, so Mrs Scamander was surely in another one of her 'crazy moods', or so her direct neighbours had taken to call it. Some nurses too, if she was being perfectly honest.

"Ah, Rose, hello!" The red-haired nurse started almost at the warmth in the old woman's tone, and she caught herself smiling.

"Good day, Mrs Scamander. Watching the snow fall?" Another trick for the Home: a permanent snow-fall from early December to late January. Most residents loved standing or sitting at the window watching it. It generally lifted spirits.

"Yes and no. I've been rummaging through my old things, today. I've found something I wanted to give you."

Weirder and weirder still. Rose's brow furrowed and she followed her patient who beckoned her into the bedroom, where, indeed, some clothes had been taken out of the massive chest at the foot of the bed – something that Tina had brought from her Dorset house when she arrived.

All of them were dresses, styled as if belonging to the roaring twenties. One was of a lovely shade of blue, with golden sequins and a gold-plated necklace and blue hat to match; another was sea-green with silver embroideries; and the last one was burgundy with golden details and a pair of gloves.

"Those are beautiful, Mrs Scamander, but why did you say you wanted to give them to me?"

Tina waved the question away. "Not all of them, child, just one. I'd like to see someone wearing clothes of my youth again, now that I'm too old."

The reason was a genuine one, Rose supposed. Many residents at the Home liked to keep baubles of their youth and recall those times. Some used Pensieves to achieve that, but others enrolled their nurses to be reminded. She could remember one Christmas Eve in particular when Mister Elstree had taught her how to waltz. It had been lovely.

"Oh, I see," she then said. She approached the bed and carefully touched each piece, smiling when they shimmered as if they were still in their prime days. Those outfits had been kept in pristine condition, she was impressed.

"I think the blue one would suit your complexion the best." Tina lifted the blue and golden-sequined dress and placed it next to Rose's face, then harshly nodded. "Right. Go into the bathroom and put it on. Please," she added in a softer tone.

Her entire demeanour was strange, and Rose didn't know what to think of it. She took the dress and the undergarments that Mrs Scamander handed her – why would she need underthings when she had her own? – before heading to the bathroom.

She made sure to keep her wand on her person when she came back out.

Truth be told, the outfit fitted her very well, and she felt pretty even as the strange ex-Auror led her to a full-length mirror.

"Mmmh…" Tina said, whirling Rose around to see her from all angles. "Yes, it's nice. It brings out the red of your hair. Speaking of which," she made a gesture as if caressing Rose's head and the younger witch could feel her hair grow and curl.

She gasped and looked into the mirror again. The red tendrils were now reaching her chin, and tastefully curled. All in all, she was the perfect poster-child for the previous century.

"It's really nice, Mrs Scamander, but why did you-?"

She cut short, noticing that Tina was holding something. Rose's wand. That she had been keeping in her sleeve previous to that moment. The look on the stern woman's face was one of determination, and suddenly, Rose was scared.

"What are you doing?" she asked, cursing herself for sounding so terrified.

"I'm going to need your help, Miss Weasley. And you're going to give it to me." She wasn't threatening, not really, not with the way she held Rose's wand so low, but she knew better: she had seen the elderly woman perform wandless magic enough times now to know that she was dangerous even when she looked harmless. "And first, you are going to call your flatmate, and ask him to bring us a Time Turner."

"Mrs Scamander-" Rose began. This was preposterous. Not only did she have no idea at all how Tina knew about Scorpius' job; but there was also this Time Turner thing. Why on Earth was she so bent on finding one?

"Don't. Do as I say, and while we wait, I'll answer some of your questions. Not all. Now come," she pulled Rose by the arm – with a strong grip not befitting someone her age – and led her back to the parlour, where she locked the door with a swish of the hand, and lit a fire with another.

Every fireplace in the Home was only big enough for 'firecalls'. No one could enter directly in the residents' rooms. It was a question of security.

"Now, dear, you're going to tell your lovely friend that he'll have twenty minutes to bring the item here. If he doesn't comply, make sure he knows that I was once very good at torturing people. I'm sure I haven't lost it all. Twenty minutes, Rose. Any longer would be enough for your darling mother to send us some Aurors of her own."

She was saying that in such a nonplussed way, it was properly frightful.

So Rose knelt in front of the fireplace, and did was she was asked. All the while, trying to find a way to warn her mother without Tina knowing. Even if her abductor – because that's what she was now – had already thought of that eventuality.

Scorpius was home, of course he was. Apparently, Tina had thought of everything before acting up on her plan.

When she called from the small fireplace in the living-room, he ran from the kitchen, pale and worried, even more so when he spotted her head floating amidst the flames.

"Rose? What happened to your hair?"

"Never mind my hair, Scorp. Mrs Scamander has taken me hostage and she wants you to bring her a Time Turner. In twenty minutes. I don't know why she's doing that but she seems determined. And twenty minutes, Scorp. Even if Time Turners still existed, it'd take you much longer to fetch one from the Department of Mysteries. Warn Mum, please. Maybe she can reach me quick enough."

During her whole tirade, Scorpius had grown paler and paler still, making his blonde hair stand out and making him look ill. "Shit" was all he said for a while, then he started pacing back and forth in front of Rose, who was starting to panic.

"What are you doing Scorp? Go to my mum, warn her!"

"I can't do that, Rose. Twenty minutes? Who knows what that crazy crone would do to you in the time it'd take us to go to you? No, I…" He let out a deep breath. "Tell her I'll be along shortly."

"Scorp…" He met her eyes, and she was angrier than scared now. "Don't tell me you actually still have a Time Turner!"

"I don't, I swear…" He paused. "My dad…"

Rose groaned, even as she felt Tina tug on her dress to pull her back. "Damn you Malfoys! Hurry up Ferret!" And she was back in the Home, angry, scared, disappointed, and wandless.

"So?" The 125-year-old who was threatening her asked.

"He's coming," Rose groaned.

"Perfect. Sit, child. You are due some answers. Five, I think, at the most. While we wait."

It was surreal. Completely surreal. Rose was sitting in those strange clothes – why in Merlin's name had Tina asked her to wear them? only so she could get her wand? – in the sofa she had been so keen on making homely a few weeks back.

Next to her was her abductor, who was sipping on a cup of tea and staring at the fire calmly, as if it was a perfectly normal afternoon.

"Come now, Rose. I know you want to ask me some things. Do it. Your friend isn't due for another ten minutes…"

"Why do you need a Time Turner?" she blurted out, unable to remain silent a moment longer. "You've had a perfect life. So why do you need one? And why me?"

"That makes two questions. Firstly, I need the Time Turner to right a wrong. I've been thinking about it a lot, for a long time. Newt disapproved, which is why I'm only acting now. But I have to act. Or I will regret it." She sighed. "And I chose you, because you are intelligent, kind, and understanding. Or you will be. And you could have access to what I needed more easily than anyone else in this horrible place."

"Understanding of what?" Rose blanched. "You do not intend to bring Voldemort back, do you?"

"Four questions now. You'll be motivated to help me once you understand my motives. And don't bring up that sorry excuse for a wizard. If I'd been there when he first rose to power, he'd have been dead quicker." She sneered. "So no, I don't intend to bring him back."

"So you are not doing this for wrong reasons?"

"No, I'm not. I can assure you that my reasons are entirely good. And now your quota has been reached." She looked at the clock on the mantelpiece. "Five more minutes. He'd better hurry up, blood is so hard to clean off wool…" Again, the matter-of-factly tone.

Rose felt trapped in a bad thriller novel. She kept wondering if she had not just watched too much Midsummer Murders and was still dreaming…

The knock on the door precisely three minutes later told her she wasn't dreaming. Unfortunately.

Tina moved to the door, taking care of body-binding Rose before she did, and grabbed the item that Scorpius' pale hand handed her through the small opening. He protested, but the ex-Auror cast a silencing spell on the door, and locked it twice.

"Well well," she said, cradling the hourglass-like object in her hands. Rose glared at it, already knowing what it'd look like. After what Scorp and Albus had done, she'd have hoped that idiot Draco would have handed over all of these dangerous items, but apparently, it had been wishful thinking…

"Don't do it. Mrs Scamander, it's not worth it."

Tina met her gaze and raised a brow. "It is. It is entirely worth it. You will understand, Rose, I promise. Now, let me figure out how to work this thing…" She studied the Time-Turner from every angle, touching some dials without turning them, and stretching the chain around it.

There was a commotion outside, despite the silencing charm, and it forced the old witch to move. She grabbed Rose and forced her to stand, wrapping the chain around her neck.

Suddenly, it dawned on the young woman. Mrs Scamander didn't only need her to get the Time-Turner, she had also wanted to use her as a lab-rat!

"No! No!" she yelled, trying to free herself from the body-bind. "Don't! Please! I haven't done anything to you! Don't do this to me!"

But Tina was determined. She slipped a hand in Rose's dress; waved a hand over the Time-Turner, which glowed blue for a moment; and just as the door banged opened, she turned the dial.

Rose just had enough time to see her mother run inside the room, her wand raised, before everything started spinning around her, lights, people, objects and minutes, hours, months, years, decades….

Rose had gone.