As Aurora was waking up in the Hospital Wing, Professor Dumbledore had taken the sleeping charm off the rest of the students that had been placed. The student body had woken up as if it were any ordinary morning, most unaware of what happened. They were filled in by gossip and speculation. Ten hours later, the rest of the school had learned about the whole incident, in a highly fabricated way. The whole story was being taken well out of proportion. Ginny had a conversation with Luna on the way to breakfast the next morning, and discovered it firsthand.

"Hey Luna, what did Becky just tell you coming out of the Ravenclaw common room? She looked so hyper, it was scary."

"She was retelling the story of what happened last night. Apparently, Harry conjured up an army of basilisks to do his bidding and saved Aurora – that Slytherin girl, Draco Malfoy's cousin –from being cursed by a horde of Death Eaters. Some girls even say that Sirius Black was there, and helped Lucius Malfoy lead the fight, but he disapparated out of Hogwarts and ran off again. Becky and Sam are swearing that they saw his shadow tearing across their window, then disapparating."

Ginny froze. She felt her heart skip a beat. Her boyfriend's father was innocent, and still people thought he was You-Know-Who's right hand man? "That's what they really think, Luna?"

The blonde girl sighed. "Yes. Can't compare with the real story though, can it?"

Ginny was confused. "Huh?"

"Well, that obviously isn't true. Sirius Black isn't He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's right hand man, and no one can disapparate. Also, Harry wouldn't be able to conjure up a basilisk. They can only be born from a chicken's egg under a toad: no magical creature can be conjured."

Ginny felt a smile come on. "So, you don't believe Becky at all?"

Luna smiled passively. "Ginny, my father writes for the Quibbler. I've been brought up with weird stories all my life. I am an expert at telling truth from gossip."

"Why do you say that Black isn't a Death Eater?"

"Because he wasn't the Potter's Secret-Keeper. Peter Pettigrew was. My father wrote the exposé on that incident, where Black supposedly blew up the whole street. He told the truth, but the rest of the world didn't want to believe."

"Like Fudge saying You-Know-Who isn't back?"

"Exactly. The world will believe what they want to. I was brought up knowing the truth: Sirius Black is a good man who was wrongly jailed. I was really glad he escaped Azkabam."

"So I suppose you want the true story now of what happened last night, huh?"

"You read my mind."

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

A short while later, Ginny sat opposite Hermione at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. She grinned madly when she saw that Aurora was back at the Slytherin table, her hair a minus the unattractive charred tips. She was laughing at something that Draco was saying, and looking more relaxed than she had in the whole time that Ginny had known her.

Hermione smiled, and jerked her head behind her towards the Slytherin table. "Notice who's missing?" she asked.

Ginny narrowed her eyes and scanned the table. "Goyle, Crabbe and Pansy Parkinson," she said after a moment. "Why?"

"Rory said that it was them who originally accosted her in the common room, who made her have a magical paroxysm and lose control. They tried to kidnap her for Lucius."

Ginny pulled a face. "Damn. That'd suck big, the people who you thought were friends turning."

"I know. It's terrible."

"You know what's even worse, though?" Ginny said, leaning forward and speaking in an undertone.

Hermione looked perplexed. "Uh, no…what's worse?"

Ginny spoke in a scandalized voice. "Using the words 'accosted' and 'paroxysm' when talking to your friends. Really, I slept, like three hours last night and my mind is mush right now. Have some sympathy, Hermione!"

Hermione turned pink and laughed embarrassedly, while Ron just rolled his eyes. "You know she always does that. Why should now be any different?" he was promptly hit in the arm.

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

Professor Black (Lindsey's mother) had spoken to Harry while at breakfast that morning, and had decided that in light of recent events, DA training sessions should resume as soon as possible. Harry had agreed emphatically, and Dumbledore had announced a sign on for the new term.

Harry had arrived at the Room of Requirement at 4:45, for a 5:00 start. He looked around the room, and saw that it was just as it had been the year before except for a few minor changes. For example, there was now a circle of salt in one corner of the room, and his twin sister sitting in the middle of it. Hang on, what the…?

"Rose? What're you doing here?" Harry asked. "Whatever happened to your whole existence being a secret?"

Rose shrugged. "Dumbledore thought that it would be best to limit the number of people the join the group this year, and he wants me to join in. Cuz of that, limited numbers for security. His sources say-"

"His sources? Aren't you his source?"

Rose quirked an eyebrow. "Well, yeah. I've done a bit of mind reading on some really, incredibly weak-minded Death Eaters. They're the only ones that I can reach from such a distance. Seems that You-Know-Who-"

"-Voldemort-"

"-knows that something's up. He knows that there's someone here who has telepathic powers."

Harry was silent for a moment. He made himself busy; pulling some obstacles into the middle of the room, counting the number of pillows just in case. There was something on his mind that he couldn't answer. A nagging question that he needed to address.

"Rose, I have a question."

His twin looked up at her brother, nodded, and patted the floor nest to her in the circle. "Anything," she said lightly.

Harry licked his bottom lip, deep in thought. "I just don't get it. I mean, Voldemort came to our house when we were babies, and tried to kill us. He killed mum and dad, and tried to kill me. I got out, because our mother died to save me. But-"

He stopped grasping for words. "But, what about you? You have no miraculous scar, you're not the Girl-who-lived, you're not…" he trailed off at a loss for words.

Rose looked perplexed for a moment, twirling a long lock of strawberry blonde hair around her fingers. "I don't think…" she looked up, confused. "Hell, I have no idea whatsoever. Why you? What makes you so special?" she asked, almost finding the absurdity of the question funny.

Harry tilted his head to the side. "You told me once that after Voldemort attacked your family you got your powers. Voila! Your words were."

Rose wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, but I don't even know if I was there. I mean, I haven't got a fancy-shmancy scar to parade about. I feel so…so excluded. Hurt, really. Like, why aren't I a victim?"

Harry snorted as the door opened and Professor Black strolled in. "Hello, students," she began enthusiastically. "Ready to nurture the minds of your peers?"

Rose peeped over to see the look on Harry's face and cracked up laughing. Harry shook his head, and snapped out of his stupor. "Hey – Professor Black?"

Faith smiled. "Yes, Harry?"

"I was wondering…well, we were wondering…how come Rose isn't known as the Girl-who-lived? How come she doesn't have a scar after what happened when we were babies? And why is she kept in secret?"

Rose wrinkled her nose. "It just occurred to me now that I never really knew. I just accepted what Dumbledore said."

Faith looked quizzical. "Because Rose wasn't even there," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Rose and Harry both continued to stare at her, so she elaborated.

"You remember that Sirius and I are your godparents, right?" Two identical nods. "Yeah, well Lily phoned me – we're both muggle-borns and had telephones – because Rose had bumped her head on a table." There was a loud snort from Harry, and a glare from his indignant twin. "She came over to my house to see what I thought, and left you, Harry, with your father."

Rose was silent. A bump on the head, of all things, had saved her from what Harry went through?

"Well, Lily remembered that she left her wand at her house, and used Floo powder to go back to her house quickly. That was the last I heard from her." Faith's voice wavered a little, but otherwise kept steady.

Harry felt his heart drop. That was why Rose wasn't there? To think, they all could have avoided the ambush if he and his father had gone with his mother to the Blacks' house.

"But, Professor," Harry persisted, "How come Rose has all her special abilities? Voldemort's curse didn't backfire off her."

Something clocked in Rose's head. "Yeah, but we're Triple Helix Twins. There must've been a psychological link between us anyway, so when you got attacked…"

Faith nodded. "That's pretty much what happened. Voldemort didn't transfer some of his powers into Harry, he transferred all of his powers into the both of you. You two just shared out the powers. Harry got most of the physical, Rose the psychological.

Harry snorted. "Who got the bad power, then?" he joked, looking at Rose with a scared look in his eye. Rose smirked, and made a hissing noise. Harry pretended to jump back, shaking. "That's it! ROSE IS THE EVIL TWIN!"

Faith rolled her eyes. "Very cute."

"So anyway, why was I kept a secret? 'cause I gotta tell you, I would like a normal life from time to time."

Faith licked her lips. "Sybill – Cassandra, Vivian, whatever – had a vision. It was that if you were not brought up totally in a secure, good environment, you could be easily turned and used for evil."

Rose looked hurt. "They believed I was that naive?"

Faith shook her head vehemently. "You were a baby, Rose! You could have been taken by still loyal Death Eaters, and grown up believing that Voldemort was your father. Look at what they tried to do to Aurora, to use her power."

Rose looked pleased now she was certain that they didn't think she was gullible. She preened, pulling her long hair up into a bun and tying it with an elastic band. "And now I'm joining the DA and going kind of public because…"

"Because you've grown," Faith finished. "Before now, you were forbidden to even talk to Harry. Now you are a full member of the Order of the Phoenix, and we are very eager to have you go into action. You won't be misguided by the Dark anymore. That doesn't mean that we want them to know about you, as you're our secret weapon; despite this, we decided that it's time you came out of your shell."

Rose beamed, looking at Harry. "Fantastic." She sobered. "But did you know that some Death Eaters are aware of my…well, existence? I did some mind reading, and a few know about me. Voldemort knows something's up, he just can't pinpoint it."

Faith sighed deeply. "I know. Crap."

At that moment, the door to the Room of Requirement burst open to reveal about thirty-something teenagers. Harry was pleased to note that Aurora was among them. Draco was too, but that couldn't be avoided. Wherever Aurora went, so did he. Faithful little ferret he was. As they entered, a few began to whisper.

"Hey, isn't that the chick who came in on our psyche lesson?"

"Yeah, I remember her from that class last year. What's she doing here…"

"Huh, I wonder if she'd give me wrestling training…" that particular boy stopped mid-sentence as Draco's laugh came out loud and clear.

"Not likely, Nichols. Try with some other chick," he drawled. Harry rolled his eyes. God, did Malfoy have to be so mean about Rose? He was always getting at her, saying she was 'untouchable' and 'frigid'. It just wasn't polite.

Aurora heard her cousin's comment, and bit back a smile. Methinks the cousin doth protest too much! He never attacked girls that way…unless they were Muggle-born. But, then, Rose was a Potter, wasn't she? But maybe if Draco put aside her heritage, he'd see there was more to her than just her name, and maybe one day he'd be civil.

Harry cleared his voice, and everyone fell quiet. He felt hairs stand on that back of his neck. It was still really weird to have people expect him to be a leader, a teacher.

"Um…today, we're going to whittle down our number. Professor Dumbledore has asked that there be two classes this year. One class will be the really advanced, and they are gonna work with me. We're the Elite team. The others are going to be working with Professor Black a lot, and she's going to give them some help. Maybe, at the end of the term, we can have a duelling competition."

Everyone was still sneaking glances at Rose, who was winking back and pulling faces behind her brother's back. Harry smiled. "Some of you may remember Rose here. She's going to help us work on some psychological defence, like how to resist an Imperio curse. It's really important."

A snort from the back of the audience. Malfoy. Harry shrugged it off mentally. Figures.

"I don't think I'll need much help at all. I mean, I'm advanced at blocking trespassers in my mind already," Draco said with a bored tone. "Aren't I, luv?" he said cockily to Rose.

The girl in question looked unimpressed. "Do you want me to get you a basket, dear heart?" she asked in a voice dripping with sweetness. Harry felt a cavity coming on from how sickly she said it.

"Why would I need a basket?"

"To catch your fat head when it falls off your shoulders, silly."

Draco was in a room full of loud, raucous teens who never shut up. After that statement, the room fell completely silent. A pin could have dropped and been heard. Everyone's breath caught in their throats as they stared wide-eyed at this stranger, Rose, totally gobsmacked by her casual insult.

Insult? Insult a Malfoy? Had such a thing been done before, ever? To most of the students there, no. Definitely not. The last person to try and insult Draco Malfoy, Prince of Slytherin, had received a broken arm and leg and nose and three fingers and a large smack to the head during a Quidditch match and mysteriously disappeared for a day or two. When he was found, he only spoke in rhyme for two weeks. Now he was a young Ravenclaw boy who made a passing comment about the ferret incident in private. To have someone openly insult him in public was a big step for anyone.

Was he going to hex the girl? Everyone stood with bated breath. Yes, it was official. She had gone too far.

To everyone's amazement, Draco Malfoy smiled calmly again. He was always cool, calm and collected. He strutted towards her, pulling out his wand. He muttered some quick words under his breath, and then smiled brightly. He gave her a huge hug.

The students were gobsmacked.

Rose stood stock still, frozen like a statue. He had her arms pinned, and she couldn't have moved anyway she was so shocked at what he did. Damn, not only muscled but strong…

What the HELL?!?! Harry could hear his twin's thoughts echoing round his head, and his were pretty much the same. No, not the muscles part - he only heard the 'what the hell?' part.

"You have such pretty hair, you know that?" Malfoy crooned, stroking a lock away from her face lovingly with a smile. Then, the released her from his tight embrace and walked over to an opposite side of the room, sitting in a chair and pocketing his wand with a smug smile on his face.

Still, there was silence. Rose was obviously panicking. "What did you do?" she asked urgently.

"Nothing, my Rose," Draco said charmingly, smiling still.

Rose paled. "You did something, I heard you! Was it…a…" she swung around, looking behind her to look for any sign of a curse or jinx. Then, people started to titter a little.

"My…hair…?" she stammered, reaching up self-consciously. She patted her hair, and pulled her bun out in alarm. She grabbed at the strawberry blonde locks, examining each strand looking terrified "WHAT DID YOU DO?" she screeched, tearing at her hair looking for evidence.

Draco continued to smile calmly. With an anguished wail, Rose tore out of the room. Aurora looked cross. "Drake!" she admonished. "NEVER mess with a girl's hair. That was just cruel."

Draco sneered, his smile leaving his face abruptly. "Not my fault she doesn't trust me. I didn't actually do anything. She just thinks I did." With that, he stretched. "When I do something nice, it freaks her out. Malfoy one: Rose zero."

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

A/N hey there!! All done.

Good grief. TWO reviews for chap 27?? The gods must be crazy. Cmon, people! I KNOW that more of you read this!! So, what did everyone think of the Rose/Draco interaction?? I love their relationship!! And as for the freaking out bit, that's what my brother does to me!! He just comes up and gives me a hug and for days I'm like 'aaargh!'

Quuen of Discord, thanks a bunch!! I'm gonna have a lot more humour coming….fiendishly funny idea I have in me noggin…

Star Esterella: Riiiiiight. Uh huh. Thanks….

Next chappie, a lot is going to happen…. ; )