Rose turned onto her side and groaned as her body reminded her of the injuries she'd sustained the day before. She slowly climbed out of the bed and looked around the room she'd been told used to belong to Percy. She'd gotten to know Percy through his brothers, as he often joined them in the library to study. He was a nice boy, if a little bit of a stickler for the rules. She only hoped he'd see sense soon and reconcile with his family; Bill had mentioned before how hurt everyone had been, especially his parents.
As she stretched out her aching limbs, she thought back to the night before. The death eaters had rounded up the remaining guests and questioned them one by one. Charlie had tried to stop them going near her because of the injury, which resulted in him receiving a nasty jinx and Rose getting treated more roughly than the others had been. Otherwise everyone had been left unscathed when it became obvious no one there knew where Harry had gone.
She slowly rose from the bed wearing just her underwear and a shirt Ginny let her borrow. The shirt rose up slightly on her stomach due to Ginny having a smaller frame, so she was able to see the still fresh marks from her injury. A bright purple spider vein like scar was now sat just below her rib, stretching down to just above her hip. Molly had said it would fade in time, but that she'd never fully be rid of it. Rose didn't mind, she had plenty of scars from all her misadventures, she was just grateful it hadn't been more serious.
A gentle knock sounded on the door, before it opened revealing Charlie carrying a tray of delicious smelling food.
"Morning Rose! I hope you're hungry, I think mum might have gone a bit overboard…" he trailed off noticing her state of undress and quickly looked away, his ears reddening. Rose moved back to the bed and quickly got under the covers to avoid any further embarrassment for either of them.
"Sorry, I thought you'd still be asleep or I would've waited" he apologised, concentrating his gaze on the tray he laid carefully in her lap.
"I only just woke up, don't worry about it" she replied, subconsciously rubbing her side. Charlie took a seat on the bed. "How is it?" he asked, gesturing at her side.
"It's fine, really. Molly has done a brilliant job with it. I just need to take it easy for a little while" said Rose, her mouth watering at all the food.
"Mum said you're welcome to stay as long as you need," Charlie informed her.
She grabbed a forkful of pancake, chewing it thoughtfully before swallowing. "I need to head home to my parents place, I told them I'd be home last night. But tell her I said thank you for the offer." Once Rose had demolished everything on the tray, Charlie took it away and left her alone again. She curled back up under the covers and fell back to sleep.
Later in the day, dressed in more borrowed clothes Ginny had left out for her, she headed down the stairs of the Burrow to find Molly Weasley sat at the kitchen table. She started when she spotted Rose stood in the doorway.
"Sorry Rose dear, I was lost in thought there for a moment. How are you feeling?" Molly got up and quickly dried her eyes. She waved her wand and a steady flame appeared on the cooker before she filled the kettle with water and rested it on the flames.
"Much better, thank you Molly. Here, I'll do that, you sit down. It was a long day yesterday" Rose replied, quickly grabbing the tea things from her so she couldn't fuss.
"Thank you, the ceremony was so lovely. It was just a shame the evening was ruined. At least Harry, Ron and Hermione were able to get away. I'm just so worried about them." Molly sat back at the table, dabbing her eyes on her handkerchief.
Rose had met most of the Weasley family during her time at Hogwarts, but had left before either Ron or Ginny had started, only seeing glimpses of the two when they were all younger and she'd visit Bill and Charlie at the Burrow during the summers. She'd of course heard of the boy-who-lived, and remembered briefly reading about Hermione in the prophet during the Tri-Wizard tournament disaster. But she didn't know any of them well enough to determine how they'd cope with the ministry and You-Know-Who's lot on their tails. She just hoped they were smart enough to avoid detection.
The Weasley family clock chimed, Arthur's hand moving from work to home. A whooshing sound from the fireplace signalled his arrival. Molly got up to greet him, brushing the soot off his face before placing a kiss there. Rose handed them the mugs of tea she'd made, before making another for herself.
"Good evening Mr Weasley" said Rose, stirring her tea.
"Good evening Rose, you look as if you're feeling better. And please, call me Arthur" he replied with a smile. Rose smiled back, raising her mug to her lips and leaning back against the counter.
"Where's everyone else?" Arthur asked his wife, both of them sitting down at the table.
"Bill and Fleur are at the cottage with the Delacours who are helping them get settled in. And the boys and Ginny are down at the orchard, they should be back soon." Molly snuck a glance at Ron and Percy's hands, then quickly dabbed at her eyes once more. Arthur nodded. "We'll need to speak to them all later about being careful. The ministry will be keeping an eye on us now." Arthur gave Molly a meaningful glance but said no more. Rose glanced between the two before asking "is this because of your family's connection to Harry Potter?" They exchanged another glance before nodding.
Another whoosh from the fireplace announced the arrival of Bill, who shook himself off and strode into the room, patting his father on the shoulder and kissing his mother on the cheek.
"How was it, dad?" Bill asked.
"It's not looking good, I want to talk about it with everyone else later" Arthur replied, glancing up at Rose. Bill followed the movement and nodded, before gesturing Rose to follow him to the sitting room.
Bill pulled his friend into a hug before asking her how she was feeling.
"Loads better thanks to your mum's healing spells and fantastic cooking," Rose said smiling. Bill chuckled. "Glad to hear it!" His face turned serious before continuing, "there's no easy way to say this Rose, but if you were planning on staying out of what's coming you'll want to keep far away from us. We're a target for the ministry now, and they'll come here again when Ron doesn't turn up for school in September."
"I haven't decided yet. We'd only really heard whispers in South America, so I didn't really know how bad things were getting," Rose replied honestly.
"I doubt you'll be able to get back to America now. The ministry is going to be even tighter on the issuing of portkeys and we already know they're watching the floo network," Bill had began to pace the room, thinking of the best ways to keep his friend safe.
"That's if you wanted to back to America though, right Rose?" Charlie asked, having just arrived back with his siblings.
Rose smiled at his entrance before continuing; "I'm on leave from the bank with some really long overdue holiday, so that's taken care of. I'll probably continue staying with my parents and we'll try and keep each other safe. What about the both of you? Neither of you are going to be able to leave the country either."
"I'm technically on my honeymoon," replied Bill with a wolfish grin amplified by his silvery scars, "but I've transferred over to the London branch for now. It means I'm closer to Fleur and- well, everyone else..." Bill trailed off, looking worried he might say too much.
"I'm on temporary leave as well. This is where I'm needed right now" said Charlie, glancing at Bill.
Rose looked between the two of them, studying them carefully. "There's something you're not telling me; you and your parents. Something bigger than your younger brother being Harry's best friend. What is it?" Charlie looked ready to tell her everything, but Bill shook his head slightly before turning back to look at her. "I can't and won't say much, but the ministry is finished; there's no one left to stand up to You-Know-Who. People have either got to keep their heads down and pray they survive long enough for other people to save them, or they have to take a stand. I've made my decision, we all have. You need to make yours too Rose."
"I just want to live a normal life," said Rose, hanging her head and moving closer to the fireplace. "I have to go home, mum and dad will be worrying by now. Tell your mum I said thank you and"- she grabbed a pinch of floo powder- "hopefully I'll see you both soon." She gave the address of her parents before dropping the powder. With a loud whoosh she was swallowed by the green flames.
Bill began to walk back to the kitchen before Charlie called out after him, "she'll be back Bill. She never could stand by and do nothing. That is her normal."