Rose had managed to escape talking to anyone by sneaking back into her dormitory at night she also slept in a little late on purpose so she could leave her dorm room alone and get to breakfast later.
It was a good choice on her end as she sat down for breakfast she saw Bridget briskly walking towards her wearing a firm expression on her face and she was holding a copy of the daily prophet.
She slammed it down in front of Rose and Rose jumped at Bridget's aggression.
"Explain this headline," Bridget gestured at the paper.
It read:
SIRIUS BLACK ON THE LOOSE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND
Rose stared at the paper and then shrugged.
"Hmm," Bridget said, "No answers?"
"Hey, there Bridget," Cedric cut in noticing the tension rising, "Back off a little alright maybe Rose has nothing to do with it."
"Rose is a Potter," Bridget snapped, "She would have something to do with it."
"It's just Ministry propaganda," Rose snapped back at Bridget, "And thanks for the comment."
"Rose Potter?" Rose heard a voice peep up from behind her. She turned around in her seat and was surprised to find that it was Professor Sprout.
"Oh, hello Professor." Rose said and Bridget sat down quietly.
"You're wanted in Professor Dumbledore's office," Professor Sprout said.
Rose sighed.
She got up to leave and ignored Bridget who was staring at the Daily Prophet on the table.
As she walked out of the Great Hall she felt someone take her hand- she looked up- it was George.
"Hey," She said, "I have to go to Dumbledore's office."
"Let me come with you." He said.
Rose sighed, "Cornelius Fudge might be there."
"I don't care," George insisted, "I haven't seen you around at all."
Rose didn't want to say no to George. She gave in.
"Alright," She said and together they walked to Professor Dumbledore's office. Cornelius Fudge, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Trelawney, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape were all waiting for her.
The usual crew. Professor Lupin wasn't in the room.
Rose avoided eye contact with Professor Snape who was staring at her with stone cold eyes. A piercing glare. She wondered if he was going to bring up the Shrieking Shack at all.
"Mr. Weasley?" Cornelius Fudge asked in surprise when he saw George.
"Yeah, I was just wondering if I could be with Rose for the meeting?" George asked.
"This is an academic meeting Mr. Weasley," Cornelius Fudge said, "About Ms. Potter's marks."
George nodded.
"I don't mind," Rose interjected, "Anything academic related you have permission to share in front of George."
Cornelius seemed to contemplate the request before shrugging. Professor Snape rolled his eyes.
"Where's Professor Lupin?" Rose asked slowly. Cornelius Fudge stopped knowing he couldn't bring up Sirius Black with George in the room.
"Out," Professor Snape said coldly looking at Rose. She looked at the floor.
"Anyways," Cornelius Fudge continued, "In terms of Rose's exams she's not too far behind, she passed two exams and has four more to take it's that one Dark Arts class we have to figure out."
"What about the time-turner?" Professor Trelawney asked from the back of the room. Cornelius Fudge raised his hand and dismissed her, "I've had to destroy that bloody thing."
"You destroyed the time-turner, sir?" Professor Snape asked icily from the corner.
"Yes," Cornelius Fudge said, "I've made the decision that time-turning is too dangerous for everyone involved."
Professor Snape went quiet though his pursed lips indicated that he was quite displeased.
"Well, sir," Rose said in exasperation, "If there's no time-turning I don't know how I could possibly fit in another course next year on top of my OWL preparation."
The room fell silent as they were trying to think of a solution.
"Well, what if Rose spent the summer with us?" George piped up, "In our home- I'm sure Mum and Dad could teach her that Dark Arts class."
Rose's heart fluttered at the thought of getting to spend a summer with the Weasleys instead of going home to the Dursleys. It was almost too good to be true.
"Interesting proposal, George," Professor Dumbledore said slowly, "But your parents aren't Dark Arts Professors."
"I know," George said before adding, "But they know enough magic to teach Rose the basics and if we're out of options, maybe, I don't know maybe you could make an exception? I've honestly never seen someone work harder than Rose and it would be awful to see everything fall apart because of one first year class that she needs for OWLs."
Rose turned to Cornelius Fudge her eyes glistening with anticipation. A summer with the Weasley and a summer spent with George- could this really be happening to her?
Cornelius Fudge seemed to be in deep contemplation.
"I believe," Professor Snape said in a short tone to Cornelius Fudge, "that we are out of options sir."
Cornelius Fudge sighed before he raised his hands and said, "Alright. Permission granted. However, I'd like for Molly Weasley to teach you the Dark Arts." He said while scribbling notes on a piece of paper.
Rose jumped in happiness and Cornelius Fudge stood up to go but Rose stopped him.
"Sorry," Rose said, "Just on one condition."
Cornelius Fudge raised his eyebrow at Rose and his smile faded.
"Can Harry come with me and stay with us?" She turned to George "Would that be fine?"
George nodded happily. "Yeah," He said.
Cornelius Fudge shook his head in disapproval.
"No," He said firmly, "Harry is not 18 years of age so he must stay with the Dursleys."
"What?" Rose said defensively, "I'm not 18 and I can go to the Weasleys."
Cornelius Fudge moved closely to Rose who backed away in fear of Fudge's intimidating stature.
"Let's make this clear Rosemary, the Ministry is granting you permission to complete one course with the Weasleys so you can make your OWLs, Harry has no business being at the Weasleys, I'm sorry that he may not be happy at the Dursleys but that's my final word Rosemary," He paused before adding "And I wouldn't test that boundary if I were you Ms. Potter."
Rose couldn't get in another word before Cornelius Fudge left the room.
Rose turned to Professor Dumbledore for help but he had the left the room- in fact everyone had left except for her and George.
"This is bloody brilliant!" George exclaimed in excitement and brought Rose in for a hug. She smiled but appeared to be sad.
"Yeah," She said in disbelief, " A summer without the Dursleys but Harry's going to hate me."
George brushed a hair out of her eye and said "There was only so much you could do, I mean, I don't think Cornelius Fudge was going to budge on that one."
"I know," Rose said, "How am I supposed to tell Harry he can't come with me?"
"We'll tell him together," George said supportively, "I'll vouch for you and say you tried."
Rose sighed and nodded and then out of excitement leaned up to kiss him.
"Let's go," She said taking George's hand and leading him out of Professor Dumbledore's office, before they could go down the stairs, however, she bumped into Professor Snape.
George came to stand by Rose.
"Hello, Ms. Potter," Professor Snape said coldly, "I just wanted you to know that I haven't forgotten."
"Haven't forgotten what?" George asked. Neither Professor Snape or Rose replied as they stared each other down before Professor Snape slowly walked away.
"What was he on about?" George asked and Rose brushed it off.
Rose had a lot to catch George up on but now she had the whole summer to do it.
They had managed to tell Harry that Rose was going to spend the summer at the Weasleys to finish up her one class with Molly Weasley.
Harry seemed sad that he couldn't come but he hadn't blown up at Rose or anything. George explained that Rose had tried to get him to come too.
Harry didn't say much but just accepted the reality of the situation. Rose's heart broke to see how sad he was about going back to the Dursleys.
"You'll both have to write to me then," He said. George and Rose both promised to.
Rose couldn't stay up for too long to talk to Harry. The school term was almost coming to a close and she had to study.
Bridget had apologized for her previous outburst but wouldn't stop asking her about Sirius Black which was starting to drive Rose a little crazy. Neither her or Harry had seen Sirius since they'd rescued him.
And, a part of Rose wasn't sure how she would feel if she did see Sirius again although she knew how badly Harry wanted to see him.
The last week was mostly spent studying for exams and Rose had to make sure that she was on top of all of her classes to be on track for OWLs.
