The next day when Rose returned to the castle she took a walk along the waters of the Black Lake, skipping stones for a while by herself. Despite it being summer this particular day was a bit overcast, rainclouds and thunder built up in the distant mountains. Rose considered what Sirius offered her.
"When the war is over it can be us and Harry."
She had a feeling that Sirius would want to hear something about the future of their relationship from her the following week but she wasn't sure if she would have anything to say. The following week the Weasley's, joined by Hermionie, would be going to stay at 12 Grimmauld Place for the rest of the summer to get some extra work done before the school year began. The kids would help clean up. The adults made arrangements for operations with the Order. That morning Sirius had asked Rose to stay with him through the end of summer instead of traveling between 12 Grimmauld Place and Hogwarts. Rose had said yes. She still wondered if she wanted to be with him again. Part of her loved the idea. But another half of her felt sick about it. After all this time, she would be the replacement for Lily and Sirius would get to be James. Rose wondered if that's all her life was meant to be. She got what she wanted with Severus and her life at Hogwarts. Everything had been perfect but now it had been ripped away. Rose sat down on the beach and stared out at the lake, the sun was almost set. She felt a few drops on her head and looked up, closing her eyes as the rain began to gently fall from the sky. After a few moments, Rose made her way back inside the castle. By the time she got back to the castle the rain had picked up and it was dark. She ran as quickly as she could back but had gotten soaked in the rain. Rose shivered and wrung out her hair and some of her clothes before she felt someone near.
"Rose, I saw you coming back to the castle. I've been looking for you." It was Dumbledore. "I need you to come with me, we will have a house elf bring you a change of clothes."
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, quickly following behind him as he led her back to his office.
"It's Harry. Arabella Figg just contacted me." He replied. "It happened about a half hour ago, I'll explain everything in a moment."
When they got to the office a house elf was sent to Rose's quarters. Dumbledore fetched a letter from his desk and passed it to Rose. It detailed a dementor attack in Little Whinging and explained that Harry and Dudley had both gotten home safely, and awaited further instructions.
"He's going to be expelled." Dumbledore began. "He might have even been expelled already."
"That's ridiculous. Expelled for self-defense? What's important is why dementors are wandering around in muggle neighborhoods attacking him." Rose snapped. The elf returned with the change of clothes and set up a room divider for Rose to change behind. She thanked the elf and stepped inside, changing her clothes.
"We will need to appeal the decision and then when Harry goes to trial we can go to see him and take care of everything," Dumbledore explained.
"How long will that take?" Rose asked, discarding her wet clothes into a small basket that the house elf took away.
"No more than a week or two I would hope," Dumbledore explained.
"I don't think it's safe for him to stay. Every Summer after any little thing happens my sister and her husband lock him up in his room. We can have him come stay with us next week at 12 Grimmauld Place until the end of the summer. I'll arrange with Tonks and Alastor."
"Good. I will suspend the expulsion order and request a hearing." Dumbledore and Rose spoke a bit longer and then Rose went to bed. The window in her bedroom was cracked open, just enough for an owl to get through. A letter was waiting for her on her pillow. One of Hedwig's feathers rested on the floor. It was a panicked letter from Harry explaining the situation and explaining that he was expelled. He detailed some of the nightmares he had been having and expressed how afraid he was. Rose quickly penned a letter back, detailing the plan for him and explaining that they would be ready to get him in a few days. Rose spent the next few days arranging the rescue.
The night of the rescue Rose was a nervous wreck. It had been a busy day. Rose arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place early that morning to help Sirius set up the house for everyone. The Advanced Guard arrived in the late afternoon. It was comprised of Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley. Rose had been pacing around the drawing room since they left, pacing back and forth. Sirius had been occupied in the rest of the house, helping the families unpack and leading them to their rooms as they arrived. The Weasley's had arrived first. Molly Weasley had agreed to cook for everyone that evening and arrived early to begin. Rose spent another hour looking out the window waiting for Harry. The noise in the rest of the house by that point made her anxious. She knew she would be facing everyone when she left. She heard the door to the drawing room open.
"We're going to start soon." It was Sirius coming to get her.
"But they're not here yet." Rose quickly replied. Sirius went to her side, gently rubbing her arm and bringing her into his arms. Rose rested her arms on his chest and they both took a moment.
"They'll be here soon." He reassured her. Rose nodded. Sirius tried to kiss her but she turned on her heels and led them out before he could. Severus had been talking to the other members of the order while they waited for everyone to gather in the dining room. Rose finally went in, sitting at the end of the table beside Minerva. Minerva leaned over to her.
"Is everything ok with Harry?" The older witch whispered. Rose nodded and whispered back to her, explaining how they were on the way with him. Severus snuck glances at her from afar. He was sitting on the other side of the table beside Bill Weasley and Lupin. She was wearing a long velvet black dress with big bell sleeves. Her long messy hair cascaded down her back. It made his heart skip a beat. She was so beautiful. Had she just gotten there? Or had she come from Sirius's bedroom? Severus shuddered at the thought of the two of them together again. Once Molly Weasley had joined the Order from the kitchen they all began. Rose felt Severus's eyes and wanted to look over at him but she chose to ignore him. A small part of her was happy to see him there. Tonight she wouldn't have to worry if he had joined the death eaters. Rose detailed her and Dumbledore's appeal for Harry's expulsion and what the next steps would be to make sure Harry would be in Hogwarts.
"Dementors attacking Potter, what's going to happen next? It's as if all sides are working against us. Agents of the ministry attacked, all of these papers about Dumbledore and Harry. We have to act now!" Arthur exclaimed. Rose was quickly distracted when she heard an arrival. She quickly ducked out as Sirius and Arthur continued speaking. Severus and Sirius both watched her go.
"Voldemort gets stronger and stronger. We need to take direct action now. We can't wait to attack." Sirius continued.
"But is dueling in the streets the wisest thing right now?" Lupin questioned.
Tonks and Rose shared a smile as they passed each other. Rose whispered a thank you to her and Kingsley as they went into the meeting. Alastor following behind them. Rose and Harry embraced.
"How did it go? Was it smooth?" Rose asked in a quiet voice. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, it was great. Thank you." Before Rose could say any more Molly joined them.
"Harry dear! So good to see you." Molly shared a hug with Harry. She set a gentle hand on Rose's shoulder. "Rose, dear. I can take him up so you can stay at the meeting."
"Thank you, Molly." Rose turned back to Harry, gently touching his arm. "Go get some rest ok. We'll talk about everything in the morning." Harry nodded and followed Molly up. Rose entered the meeting once more, this time she made sure that the doors to the meeting were now closed. As Rose closed the doors she snuck a glance at Severus, catching his eye. She gave him a small sad smile as she quickly found her seat once more. The smile sent him into a spiral in his mind. All he could think of was that it was his fault for even crossing the line with her. They got onto the topic of Dumbledore's orders to keep things quiet from Harry.
"I just think that we should listen to Dumbledore." Molly offered, she had returned from upstairs.
"If anyone has a right to know, it's Harry. If it wasn't for Harry we wouldn't even know." Sirius spoke. Rose just listened. She wasn't going to argue about what she felt was best for Harry with all of them. She decided that no matter what they told him she would make sure he knew what he needed to know. "He's not a child Molly."
"He's not an adult, either!" Molly snapped. "He's not James, Sirius...He's not your son." Rose could see the anger on Sirius's face at the comment. Sirius sat quietly for a moment.
"Well, who else does he have?" Sirius snapped back. It made Severus angry.
"How touchingly paternal, Black. Perhaps Potter will grow up to be a felon just like his godfather. What you didn't see behind bars was how much Rose has become Potter's parental figure and for you to not listen to or consider her view on this matter is disturbing to me." Severus snapped. Rose flushed red.
"You stay out of this Snivius. Rose knows that I mean as a father figure." Rose wanted to say something but she didn't want the argument to get worse. She appreciated Severus's words but was embarrassed. "And that's another thing, I don't care about your supposed reformation and I know better."
"So why don't you just go tell him," Severus argued back. The two men continued to bicker for a while until Molly scolded them both. The meeting got back on track and they finished up an hour later. Severus, Minerva, and the older Weasley boys quickly left. Severus couldn't bare another moment in Sirius's presence. Everyone else stayed for dinner. Molly went upstairs to tell the kids they were ready to come down for dinner. Sirius and Lupin went to go and greet Harry. Tonks and Rose sat together and talked about how the rescue went. Rose couldn't hide the fact that she was cross with Sirius for behaving as he did in the meeting.
Later on as dinner was wrapping up the conversation turned to Harry's hearing.
"This is very, very peculiar. It seems your hearing in the Ministry is to be before the entire Wizengamot." Arthur observed.
"I don't understand. What has the Ministry of Magic got against me?" Harry asked. Rose took a sip from her cup of tea. From the corner, Alastor spoke up.
"Show him. He'll find out soon enough." Alastor requested. Harry looked around, confused. Everyone at the table shifted uncomfortably. Harry finally looked at Rose, looking for an answer.
"It's the paper. They're writing about you." Everyone in the room seemed to be looking at Rose, waiting for her to agree and after a moment she did. "Go ahead." Kingsley passed Harry a paper he had in his robes. The title of the front page article read Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lies.
"He's been attacking Dumbledore as well. Fudge is using all his power, including his influence at the Daily Prophet... to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord has returned." Sirius explained.
"Why?" Harry asked, Rose could see how devastated he was.
"He thinks Dumbledore's after his job," Lupin admitted.
"No one in their right mind could believe that!" Harry exclaimed, throwing the paper down onto the table.
"Exactly the point. Fudge isn't in his right mind. It's been twisted and warped by fear. Now, fear makes people do terrible things, Harry. The last time Voldemort gained power... he almost destroyed everything we hold most dear. Now he's returned, and I'm afraid the minister will do almost anything... to avoid facing that terrifying truth."
"We think Voldemort wants to build up his army again. Fourteen years ago, he had huge numbers at his command. And not just witches and wizards, but all manner of dark creatures. He's been recruiting heavily, and we've been attempting to do the same. But gathering followers isn't the only thing he's interested in. We believe…Voldemort may be after something." Sirius explained.
"Sirius." Rose suddenly snapped. It was an order, telling him to stop. She could see the look in Harry's eyes. It was reckless. She knew Harry wasn't ready for this much information. He wouldn't know what to do with it. Sirius and Rose made eye contact. He ignored her request.
"Something he didn't have last time." Before Rose could say something else Harry spoke up.
"You mean like a weapon?" Harry asked. Sirius began to speak again. Rose felt her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't believe he would ignore her.
"Sirius Black I've told you once before and I won't tell you again. That's enough." Rose snapped again. The air in the room went cold. Harry and Sirius shared a look.
"Sorry." Sirius offered.
"I think it's about time everyone heads off to bed," Molly spoke up. The kids went up to the bed and the rest of the order disbanded. After saying goodbye to everyone Rose shut herself away in the drawing room, not bothering to go up to Sirius's room where she was going to be staying. Sirius watched her go and walked Lupin and Tonks to the door.
"You had better apologize." Tonks scolded.
"Apologize and trust that Rose knows what is good for Harry. You two should be a team, Sirius." Lupin agree. Sirius shrugged and nodded.
"We'll talk about it." Sirius offered before hugging them both goodbye. After the Wesleys were off to bed and everyone was in their rooms Sirius went to see her. Rose was sitting on one of the couches, her back to the door and her arms crossed.
"I'm sorry." Sirius whimpered. "I know we both want what's best for Harry. I can just be stubborn sometimes." Rose didn't say anything, she had been crying. It wasn't tears of depression but tears of rage. Sirius went to her and sat behind her. He tried to caress her arm but she ripped it away and stood up, keeping her back to him.
"Sirius he's a teenage boy. He doesn't understand the consequences. He doesn't understand stakes. All he sees is revenge and that doesn't lead to good choices." Rose explained through frustrated tears. Sirius sat on the couch, listening.
"Rose, you can't prevent Harry from making bad choices," Sirius argued.
"Sirius, you can't live through him." Rose snapped, finally turning to face him.
"Rose alright, I'm sorry." Sirius hated seeing her cry.
"Are you? Or is that just the easiest thing to say right now?" She snapped. Sirius stood and went to her, taking her face into his hands, wiping away the tears. "Don't patronize me." Rose snapped. Sirius shook his head, pressing his forehead to hers.
"No, I'm sorry. You're right. We need to be on the same page so we can help him." Sirius spoke. "I'll listen to you, I promise." Rose stared into his eyes for a long moment before nodding. Someone suddenly interrupted. The two quickly pulled away, Rose wiped her tears and turned her back on whoever had come in.
"I'm sorry." It was Harry. He was caught off guard by how he caught them. He remembered how the last time he saw her cry she was talking about Sirius. "I, I just. Rose can I ask you about the hearing, do I need to worry about any of it tonight." Rose sniffled and shook her head.
"No, just get some rest ok. We can talk more about it in the morning." Rose explained. Harry nodded and rushed out. Sirius chuckled a bit. He returned to her and set a hand on the small of her back. "He's going ta ask us about this," Rose spoke.
"Well, what do we tell him." Sirius softly asked.
"I don't know," Rose whispered, gently cupping his face.
"Rose, I'm sorry." Sirius reassured her. Rose looked at him for a moment, she hoped he was serious. He leaned in and kissed her. They were falling back into their pattern again. Rose kissed back, accepting his apology.
Back in the castle Severus was brewing a new batch of sleeping potion. As the ingredients bubbled and the sand timer counted down on the table Severus paced back and forth. Was she in the castle? Was she with Sirius? He desperately wanted to know but couldn't muster the courage to check.