Chapter 3

Separated in darkness they shall grow

Of each other they shall not know

Prospering apart, until their ready

Together they will keep the dark steady

Then they will defeat evil with his own way

But not before in darkness they shall lay

Harry couldn't believe that his tiny older sister could be this mischievous, she had found and talked her way into all of the common rooms. All in less than two hours. Harry bet even the Weasley twins couldn't have done that. And what was worse, it hadn't even required any brains to get in. Rose had just sweet talked her way in, she didn't even have to threaten anyone.

The Ravenclaw books case password was easy to get from the Grey Lady (the Ravenclaw ghost), The Hufflepuff dorms were behind a suit of armor that Rose bribed to get past with the promise of oil and a new sword. Something she had snagged from Filch after setting off some explosives in a class room. And anyone who could speak Parseltongue automatically got in the Slytherin Dungeons by simply pressing their hand on the stone and saying, "Open up." She had gotten the tip from the Bloody Baron, who was also overly found of Rose.

By the time dinner was ready, Rose had plans for each individual common room. And she was fairly bursting with excitement. Harry on the other hand was more subdued as they entered the Great Hall.

Apparently only Dumbledore spent the summer at Hogwarts since he was the only person present at the table set for four. "Ah, I hope you had an enjoyable first day. Sirius will be with us shortly." Dumbledore said merrily as the food appeared.

"Oh great non-rabbit food." Harry mumbled, but before Rose had a chance to question him on it, the hall doors banged open, and an extremely wet Sirius came through.

"Why thank you Sirius for joining us, won't you please sit down?" Dumbledore said calmly.

Totally ignoring Dumbledore, Sirius went straight for Harry. "Harry…. You…you've changed. Your at least as tall as I'm, when did you last cut your hair? Have you been working out? Have you been getting enough sleep, your eyes are all red. And where is your sister?" Sirius blurted out in one big rush.

"It's nice to see you again too Sirius, you look gorgeous don't worry." Harry said sarcastically, as Rose stepped out from behind him.

Ignoring her brother Rose spoke up, "Hold still," then underneath her breath, "Ursa." Blue sparks flew from her wand and onto Sirius, who immediately felt warm and dry, not at all aware that his hair was green with silver highlights. "There, you're dry." Rose said with a mischievous smile. Finally someone to play pranks on. It had been boring with just Dumbledore. And she didn't want to prank Harry, he didn't seem to have a sense of humor. So she doubted he would appreciate her attempts to cheer him up.

Looking at Sirius' new hair, Harry smothered a laugh, and with a straight face said, "Rose this is Sirius, Sirius this is Rose, now can we eat, I'm famished." And without waiting for an answer he sat down and dug in, joining Dumbledore who had started eating somewhere during their conversation. So after evaluating each other quickly both Rose and Sirius sat down. The meal went smoothly, if rather quietly.

At the end, Harry stood and said, "I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do, so I think I'll go to bed early." And with that he strode towards the doors, ignoring Rose's pointed looks, and her mouth. Which was busy forming the word traitor slowly and silently. Dumbledore quickly followed Harry out, without a word.

Sirius turned in his chair, in order to converse with Rose better. "So you play Quidditch?" Sirius said hopefully.

"No." Rose replied in a bored voice, aware that he was trying to make conversation. And more than happy to seem him squirm uncomfortably, at lost what to say.

"Oh well, too bad. Can you fly?"

"Not without a broom." Rose stated obviously.

"Do you have one?" Sirius questioned, happy with a multiple worded answer.

"No."

Sirius' happiness diminished. "I gave Harry one to make up for all the lost birthdays, would you like one too?"

"That would be nice." Rose replied looking up at the ceiling, intentionally not paying attention to Sirius.

"Okay it settled, I'll order you one, it'll be here by Monday."

"Thanks."

"So…. you can call me Sirius, or Padfoot, or anything really. Should I call you Rose, or Rosie, Ro. Which do you prefer?"

"Rose."

Sirius looked a bit distress at the lack of response he was getting from Rose. Rose, seeing that her original goal to make him uncomfortable had been accomplished, started to rise.

In a last attempt at conversation Sirius asked, "How about pranks, do you like them?"

"I'm not sure, why don't you look in the mirror and find out." Rose yelled over her retreating back. And then the doors banged shut with a deafening thud as she made her way to the Slytherin dungeons. Rose idly wondered what his reaction would be when he finally did look in a mirror.

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Harry heard the sliding of the stone wall in the common room and summarized Rose's chat didn't go too well. Otherwise she wouldn't have been back so quickly. "Did you explain it to him?" Was the first thing Harry asked once he caught sight of Rose.

"I most certainly did not. And why where you so quick to leave? Not too Gryffindor like."

"I wanted to visit Hogsmeade tonight, and raid Zonkos." Harry said simply. Rose seemed surprised by his answer, but most definitely pleased. "Well it seems as though my little brother isn't hopeless after all."

Harry didn't take the bait, and just grabbed his invisibility cloak and was making his way towards the exit when Rose piped up. "Aren't you going to invite me?"

"No" Was all he said, never breaking his stride as he reached the cold stone wall, preparing to leave.

"It wouldn't do to get into trouble on our first night here, so I'll agree to baby-sit you. But just for tonight." Rose said, immediately following him out of the Slytherin passage ways. "Where did you go now?"

"I'm right here you midget, now get under this cloak, or go back." Harry said as he reappeared next to her.

"Well if you really want me to." And she ducked under Harry's arm as he made a move to hit her, before joining him beneath the cloak. "I've heard these are really rare, where did you get it? Did you steal it?" She asked with a wink.

"No I did not steal it, it was dad's. And even if we're not seen, you're heard. So shut your trap."

"Fine but how are we getting there?"

"Through a passage way I know, now please be quiet." Harry begged.

"Since you asked so nicely, I'll keep it down." Harry rolled his eyes.

Once they reached the statue of the hump backed witch, Harry looked around, whispered the password and climbed in. It was a little bit tighter than it used to be. Rose, who had no problems fitting into it, immediately followed and landed in a heap directly on top of him. "Oomph" Was all Harry said before shoving her off, and dusting himself off.

"Sorry, I thought I heard someone coming." Harry seriously doubted that, but wasn't in the mood to argue. So determinedly, he set off for Hogsmeade. And he only fainted heard Rose's light steps fall in behind him, not chatter or jokes. She must be getting tired. He'd have to remember that if she ever got too annoying, just put her to sleep.

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Over the next few weeks Harry had taught Rose so much in Defense Against the Dark Arts that they were already past the O.W.L.'s level. Harry had planned on being up to O.W.L. standards in everything by September. That way they could focus on their new social life, and new Slytherin friends. Since this was the year they were supposed to take their O.W.L's, it was going to be hell with all their schoolwork. If Harry and Rose already knew the material, all they would have to do was complete the work. They wouldn't be spending hours in the library researching, and learning.

Dumbledore was delighted with their progress, Harry was satisfied, while Rose couldn't have cared less. She didn't exactly enjoy her daily lessons, especially since Harry was teaching them. He had a way that just somehow managed to take all the little amount of fun there was, out of it. And with each lesson, Harry connected it with a way on how it could help them either escape or defeat Voldemort. Rose was heartily sick of it all. She half wished the obsessed bastard would come and try and kill them already. Then she'd either be dead and have to stop learning, or be the most powerful witch. Either way, Rose wouldn't be stuck here, being tortured.

It wasn't always so torturous, just lately things had become unbearable They had three days until term started, and they had already set up all their traps for the other common rooms. So Rose didn't have any excuses that Harry would buy to skip lessons. That was her only thing to look forward to while stuck with Harry. Whenever she was able to catch Harry in a giving mood, which in itself was extremely rare, he could be persuaded to help her with her pranks. That was maybe, the only reason she hadn't gone insane.

Harry was so bad he might be mistaken for a Ravenclaw. Almost. Meanwhile Rose had become a perfect Slytherin in the company of others, sarcastic, and sneaky. Rose was quite proud of her accomplishments at making the few guests they had feel uncomfortable. She could also boast that she knew dark arts curses, the complete history of Salazar Slytherin, Grindleward , and Voldemort. Not necessarily by choice, but learn them Rose had.

Life continued at Hogwarts relatively normal, if you could ever call life at Hogwarts normal. As for Harry, he was never sure as to whether or not he would wake up normal. Rose had dyed Harry's hair more colors than there were in the rainbow, replaced his teeth with fangs, had turned his sheets into ice; the list was endless. Though by now she had subdued a bit, once Harry had stop exploding at her at every trick. Apparently it gave her great glee to see him furious. Harry had then learned to stay calm, and just merely look disappointed, or at the most, annoyed. After he had accidentally blown up a four hundred year old statue of an old headmaster, he had never lost his temper at one of Rose's antics again.

In fact Harry hadn't lost his temper at anything recently, but that wasn't the only thing about him that had changed. No longer was he a laughing young innocent. Voldemort had changed that forever. His now fully red eyes never sparkled. While Rose's never seemed to cease, except maybe during lessons. And while Harry had willingly followed Rose, and helped her with her pranks, he only did it to pass the time. That and the fact that it seemed to keep Rose happy.

Harry, in truth, became very protective of her. Once on one of their night visits to Hogsmeade some weirdo grabbed Rose. And he was stunned before he knew what had happened to him, and Harry had gotten Rose out of there as soon as possible. But not before she had given the man a hair cut, shaved in the symbol of a snake, and green with silver highlights. So Harry had taken to accompanying her everywhere. That had been two weeks ago.

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At breakfast Dumbledore saw the looks Rose was shooting the stack of books beside Harry, and decided to breakup this grave routine. "Why don't you teach Rose quidditch, before the other students arrive, Harry?" Harry, who looked like he was trying to think of a way not to, looked at the Headmaster angrily before answering.

"She doesn't have a broom."

"Yes I do, Sirius gave me one." Rose answered smugly. Harry struggled to find an answer for a minute before replying.

"Yes that's a good idea." And his eyes took on a sudden gleam to them that worried Dumbledore.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Now that you know the rules, and can play, I'll teach you how this has to do with Voldemort." Rose's jaw dropped open, she didn't think even Harry could turn something so fun, into a lesson. "Now," he continued, "when you don't have a wand, port key, or fireplace, a broom's a great way of escape. You can shrink it, and then enlarge it."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"What are the devil are the Potter's doing?" Snape asked Dumbledore, who had just explained to him why there were two of them. Snape had been away most of the summer making up for his absence at Voldemort's rebirth, and had just recently returned an hour ago to report back before school started. " I thought you said they were relaxing."

"Their playing quidditch." Albus replied without even glancing out the window.

"Well they're certainly on brooms, but now they're shooting spells at each other. I know Potter doesn't abide by your rules, but wands aren't allowed in quidditch. Not even my Slytherins have tried that." Severus said.

Now Dumbledore was on his feet, looking out the window. "Rose appeared so desperate to get out of the castle, I suggested a game of quidditch to Harry. If I had known that this was what he had in mind, I wouldn't have given it." Then he chuckled, "It appears that Harry has come up with yet another way to drive his sister mad."

Snape wasn't giving in though. Thinking about what Albus had just told him, regarding the change in Potter, he charged towards the quidditch pitch. This wasn't healthy, especially for a teen, who had already gone through what he had. Finally he reached the field. "Potter!" He barked.

Harry heard Snape's order, but chose to ignore him, and kept flying. He didn't really want to talk to his most hated professor right now. Whatever he had to say could wait. Rose however, had a different idea. She was curious about the man who seemed to want her brother's attention, something the rest of the people who visited had specifically avoided. She quickly swooped down to the ground, intent on studying this new development. "Yes," she drawled in a bored manner.

Surprised, Snape stood frozen. This was not what he expected. She was not he. She was small, and looked like Harry, but her hair was a bit lighter and her eyes were red, and no glasses (which Harry also no longer wore). But she would work, after all, she was a Potter. And probably the one most capable of getting through Harry's thick head. "What do you think your doing? Professor Dumbledore told you to play quidditch, not war."

"Yes, well we were practicing some techniques we thought would help us in a game called LIFE!" She answered snidely, before glancing angrily up at Harry, who still made no move to come down. This man was intolerable, what right did he have to criticize her? No wonder Harry had ignored him. But, since Harry wasn't by her side the second she landed, she judged he trusted this man. Even if he didn't like him. "Do you not approve?"

Without answering Snape turned at stalked towards the castle. Rose, pleased with herself, mounted her broom. That man needed to be taken down a peg or two. And Rose would be more than happy to oblige. She began to fly in circles with a happiness that lasted a full ten seconds until she was hit by a spell.

"Ugh!" Rose groaned before she was hit in quick succession by four more curses. All quite painless, but annoying nonetheless. Rose removed all the spells before shooting some of her own at her confident twin. He easily dodged them all, before motioning that they return to the ground. Grateful, Rose flew down.

"So who's Count Dracula?" Rose asked Harry.

"Who?" Harry replied bewildered.

"Never mind, muggle thing…." Rose said before starting to mutter under her breath about candies, and stories. Harry interrupted her.

"That, was our potion professor, Snape. He's also our head of house, and spy against Voldemort. Former Death Eater, and dad's and Sirius' old nemesis."

"Oh, well I'd certainly like to meet him again." Rose said with a mischievous look in her red eyes.

"No. He doesn't appreciate pranks, and hates Potters even more. Stay away from him." Seeing that she was about to deny what she had been planning he cut her off. "He's been doing everything he can to try and get me expelled since first year, don't give him an excuse."

"Sheesh, someone's having a bad morning."

"It was pleasant until I saw you."

"Ooooo, way to work that Slytherin charm. It's good that I know you're only being sarcastic, otherwise me feelings might have been hurt." Rose replied as the headed closer to the castle.

AN: