Rose walked in and shut the door behind her. "You girls haven't been completely honest with me. You're in some kind of trouble, aren't you?"

Hermione threw the towel back on the bed. "It's ok, we're leaving."

"I'm not asking you to. I doubt those men where telling the truth either, so…"

"The truth would seem crazy…" Pansy started.

"Not to me." Rose reached into her pocket and pulled out a wand. "I'm a witch, as I suspect you both are?"

They nodded.

"Good, then we're on the same page here. I'm on your side, and I think we can help each other, but you have to tell me everything first."

Hermione used the temporary silence to take another look trough the window. It was pouring heavily on top of all the other dangers lurking outside. "Alright, my name is Hermione Granger, and this is Pansy Parkinson. Those are our real names."

"Parkinson…" Madame Rose muttered.

"What? You know me?" Pansy asked.

"No, the name sounds familiar…" Rose stepped over to Hermione and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you both, and now Hermione I'd like to speak to you alone first."

"Alright." Hermione accepted, glancing back at Pansy who was just as much confused.

Rose led her to what looked like her private room in this establishment. She opened a large double wardrobe and took out several items of clothing. Then she called Hermione over and placed the upper part of a pyjama set against her.

"It's all right, you don't have to…" Hermione started.

"But your friend, she can't sleep in that tiny dress she arrived in." Rose insisted.

"Right…" Hermione murmured recalling what trouble Parkinson had with her outfit the previous night.

"This should fit her? She looks about your size."

"Yea, though she's skinnier." Hermione felt it necessary to point out.

"You both look a bit malnourished, especially her, but we'll fix that."

Hermione awkwardly smiled, feeling she did nothing to deserve such treatment. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Here…" Rose motioned to another wardrobe. "Pick something for yourself too."

"Alright." Hermione went over to browse. "These are all yours?" She asked.

"No, they where… it doesn't matter, I have no use for them now, so take whatever you like."

Hermione wouldn't prod any further, she knew a lot of people lost a family member during the war, but she did stack more than several items on her arm. Now wasn't the time to be shy about taking advantage of someone's generosity, who knows when she'd get another chance.

"Is this fine?" Hermione showed the stack of clothes to Rose who looked over from the window.

"Of course dear." Rose closed the curtains and took a seat at the small table in the corner of the room. "Take a seat, let's talk."

"Sure." Hermione sat down feeling a bit uneasy.

"It's fortunate you arrived today. I was just about to close the place for a while."

"Why?"

"We're doing some repairs on the inn, and another place I have nearby. That's why you'll see many workers around. They're all staying here."

"Oh…" Hermione nodded steeling herself to ask the uncomfortable question. "I was wondering how long could we stay? As you know I have nothing to pay you with."

"As if I'd have any use of that anyway." Rose said bitterly. "You know the state the world is in right now?"

"Yes, I can imagine." Hermione said, though she didn't really see outside for some time. For the past year or so by her estimation she only got to see the inside of her cage and a muddy crevice where she thought she'd toil for the rest of her days.

"It's worse than whatever you imagine dear, but there's always hope. The dark lord was already defeated once…"

"Any news of Harry Potter?" Hermione asked being reminded.

"They say he's dead, but I don't buy it. That's certainly just Death Eater propaganda."

"Certainly." Hermione concurred. "If anyone can defeat the dark lord it's Harry."

"That's foolish thinking girl. Anyone can land the final blow, as long as all go at it in some way. There's nothing special about Harry Potter."

This woman didn't seem to be fond of Harry for some reason and Hermione already got an urge to lecture her on the subject of her friend, but since that could mean sleeping out in the rain tonight she kept her mouth shut. "Yes, I suppose you're right." She muttered instantly feeling guilty.

"Never mind all that. Let's think about what you should do next. I'll move you up to the attic. You'll be safer there until we're sure those Death Eaters won't be back looking for you."

"Alright." Hermione nodded.

"Than I thought you could help out fixing the place. I want to put up a fence too, but we can't be slow about it. Can't keep the place closed for too long."

"I understand. I'll do whatever I can to help. And what about Parkinson, my friend I mean?"

"I really can't ask her to do much until she can walk properly, maybe some house chores when her ankle heals."

"Sure. So we can really stay a while?"

"As long as you have to, now tell me what you've been trough. I can tell it's been a lot."

Hermione went on to tell the whole story up to this point. Rose listened attentively, often probing for details.