Rose Among the Thorns: The Third Evans Sister
By Jedi Blu, Lady at Large
Standard Disclaimer Found Here: I do not own anything that is not mine.
Italics are thoughts, emphasized words, or letters. Thank you!
NOTE: I'm back. ;-) And I've given you two chapters because the last was nothing more than filler material and something to finally let you know who the culprit behind Valentine's Day really was. Thanks for reading!
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Mischief Begun
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Rose and Lily Evans made their way through the station at King's Cross, with both dragging carts behind them until they got to the barrier which would take them to platform nine and three-quarters. Daisy Evans accompanied her children today, as Peter Evans had to take Petunia to have a cast put on her right arm. Lily had been having a bit of fun, turning some old, chipped teacups into pet mice. Petunia had been surprised by the change—she hadn't believe Lily could do it—so while the rest of the family applauded Lily the middle sister fell backwards out of her chair and landed with a sickening 'snap.'
Of course, Lily apologized and everyone worried over Petunia, but Petunia refused to do anything except glare at the lot of them. She wouldn't even say goodbye when she was packed up for a quick trip to the hospital.
"It was just an accident," Rose was saying. "Petunia likes the attention; she knows you didn't mean to scare her."
Lily sighed. "She knows it, yes, but Petunia still has a knack for holding a grudge."
"Now stop, you two. Don't talk about your sister that way," their mother admonished.
In no time they were through the barrier and walking about on the platform where the Hogwarts Express waited to carry students back to the school. "Yes, Mother," the two chorused, Rose rolling her eyes and Lily sighing.
Daisy was giving the girls last minute instructions, as all mothers are wont to do, when a tall, thin boy stepped out of the crowd and came striding purposefully towards the group. He wasn't as pale as he had been when Rose had last seen him; it looked as if he had spent some time out in the sun this summer, and he had shot up again. His black hair looked as if it had been trimmed, though it still hung to his chin, and it was clearly washed and clean. He was all ready wearing his school robes.
"Severus!" Rose called the moment she caught sight of him.
Mrs. Evans turned to watch the approach of the young man, and someone looking closely would've seen the sudden expression of motherly concern cross her face. Strangely, the concern wasn't for Rose's choice in friends, but rather the young man. He had, Daisy would later tell her husband, a look of someone who had never known a tender touch or heart.
"Hello again, Evans," he greeted, nodding his head in a slight bow as he reached her side.
"Mother," Rose began, ignoring Lily's frown, "this is Severus Snape, the young man you've heard so much about. Severus, this is my mother, Daisy Evans."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Evans," Severus said politely, managing a slight, uncertain smile.
"Thank you, Severus, I'm very glad to meet you too," the kind woman responded. "Rose is always telling us wonderful things about you, and I must admit you've had me curious. I'd like to say thank you, in person, for what you did for us last Christmas. It was a comfort to know you were keeping an eye on our youngest."
That made the boy uncomfortable, if his eyes dropping to the ground indicated anything. "You're welcome," he managed to get out.
"I understand you're living at the school now," Mrs. Evans continued, still smiling that motherly smile. "It was nice of you to come out and meet use at the station."
"Yes," Rose interjected, "I'm very glad you came after all. But Mum, we're going to miss the train if we don't board."
"Oh, all right." Daisy stooped to give a quick kiss to Lily, and then to Rose. "Don't cause any trouble, and make us proud of you," she remonstrated.
The girls hurried towards the train, calling goodbyes over their shoulders, and Severus followed close behind them. Lily took off first thing to go into the car with the other prefects, so it wasn't an awkward thing for Severus and Rose to go to their usual compartment. Severus actually helped Rose with her trunk, and the cage carrying Oberon. She settled into her seat with a relieved sigh and he took his across from her.
"I'm sorry if Mum made you uncomfortable," Rose said after a moment. "She can't help mothering people, though. It's what she does."
Severus shook his head. "It was nice to meet her."
There was a long silence.
"So...." Rose chewed on her bottom lip, looking thoughtful. "What's new with you, Severus?"
It took some time to get the ball rolling, but soon enough Rose and Severus were carrying on a discussion about one of his latest experiments. There were many things he was working on, of course, but lately he'd been working with some healing solutions. Healing, Rose had decided over the summer, was something she was very interested in. He had actually begun some of the healing elixirs after doing some research for Rose when she sent him a few books to look up. She'd been reading up on Muggle medical methods as well as Wizarding practices, so it came as no surprise to her when she was able to contribute to Severus's thoughts on the subject.
It looked as if it would be a very interesting year indeed.
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"No Bellatrix Black this year?" Severus asked later that evening at the Welcoming Feast, seated next to Rose at the far end of the Slytherin table.
"I suppose not." Rose was scanning the room, a wrinkle in her forehead as she took everything in. "But there's a lot of people missing. I suppose some parents don't want their children to come back here."
"For different reasons," Severus completed the thought, noting that Slytherin table was much emptier than usual. "I don't blame them."
"I suppose I don't either," she returned, sighing. "Things are going to be a lot quieter around here than usual. Everyone's so somber."
"Maybe it'll improve some people," Severus suggested, smirking slightly. "Like Potter and company."
Rose smiled and rolled her eyes at him. "No chance of that, they all still look as big-headed as ever."
At that point, Albus Dumbledore came to his feet, for the sorting had finished. Only one student had been put in Slytherin, and the rest of the houses didn't seem much better off, though Gryffindor gained one student from a pure-blood family: Willaim Weasley, who later said anyone calling him anything other than 'Bill' would literally eat their words.
Dumbledore gave the customary welcome speech with the rules thrown in here and there, then became more serious.
"As you may have noticed," he began to say, gesturing across the room, "we have very few students returning to Hogwarts these days. Those of you still here know that your parents allow you to come because Hogwarts has been declared one of the last safe havens of our world. Terrible things are happening outside of this school, and they are things which I have tried to shield you from. However, it now becomes impractical to allow you to go on ignorant of the war that will one day come to our very doorstep. This term there will be announcements made about attacks, you will be kept current on what is happening." He sighed, looking around at all the students. "If things get much worse the school will close. We'll just have to hope the Ministry gets things taken care of before that becomes necessary. Thank you for your time. Now, let's enjoy our feast!"
The plates and goblets filled, and the students of Hogwarts began to eat, talking over what had just been said rather quietly amongst themselves.
"This war is getting most ridiculous," Rose muttered. "The fact that the Ministry is so incompetent they can't even catch an entire army of Dark Wizards almost justifies this ... what're they calling him? Other than You-Know-Who, of course. Honestly, who came up with calling the man anything other than his name? No one can be that terrible. If you ask me everyone's over-reacting."
"He's supposed to be a powerful wizard, almost matching Dumbledore in strength," Severus responded. "Actually, the Headmaster has been telling me a lot about him. He was a student here once, and his name was Tom Riddle. Now he goes by Lord Voldemort, which sounds utterly stupid." Severus shrugged. "But as I said, even Dumbledore marvels at his power."
"That's a frightening thought," Rose muttered.
Severus withheld further comment and instead turned the conversation to schedules for this term. They discovered they both had the same study period, and that was something that cheered them. This would mean more time in the Requirement Room, which meant they both would have all the studying and experimenting they needed.
When the feast ended that night, Severus and Rose went down to the Slytherin common room together, making plans for the next day and trying to decide which of their classes they would like the least.
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"So let me get this straight," Rose was saying three weeks after term began, lounging in one of the plush seats the Requirement Room had provided for her use while Severus was working at a desk close by. "Someone other than us knows about this room and has been using it."
"That's my belief, yes," Severus replied, flipping a few pages in Hogwarts: A History, trying to look for mention of the room. "But how someone else found it I have no idea. I happened upon it on accident."
Rose nodded. "Someone else could've done the same. It's a handy room, always becoming exactly whatever you need, large or small." She glanced at the clock on the wall, thoughtfully. "So who could it be?"
"They've been using the room as long as I have, if not longer," Severus answered, pausing for a moment to read a passage before shaking his head and moving on. "Whoever it is knows the castle fairly well."
"So that cuts out everyone my year and younger," Rose decided, coming to her feet to peer over Severus's shoulder. "I doubt you'll find anything in that."
He shut the book and ran a hand through his hair, looking perturbed. "You're probably right." He too glanced at the clock. "It's getting late."
"I suppose," Rose responded, looking at the stack of books on the study desk. "If someone else is using this room maybe we shouldn't use it so often, because there's a very good chance we'd eventually cross paths."
"I don't think the room would allow that," Severus countered as he gathered his book bag. "But they could get suspicious if they tried to get in and were barred from it. We won't use if for simple studying anymore, but it's still a perfect potions lab."
"I agree." Rose followed him out the door. "So we'll limit our visits to after-curfew and on weekends. Sound all right to you?"
Severus shrugged. "Suits me."
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In the boy's dormitory of Gryffindor tower two figures were huddled over a piece of parchment, using only the soft light from one of their wands to see by. Held in their hands was a map that they had only just finished enchanting, one which they had begun to work their spells on the first day back at school.
Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were staring at their creation with some surprise, for it had worked exactly as they hoped.
James suddenly entered the room, with Peter in tow, and the two quickly joined their friends around the map. "It's perfect," James said softly. "Look at that, every dot and every name on the map right where it should be."
Peter and James had wandered around a bit in the castle, going in different directions, to assure the group that the map was working properly. They had used James's invisibility cloak until Peter had been able to slip into a secret passage, which the map also showed fairly well. All in all, it was an impressive piece of work.
"S-so what'll we do with it?" Peter asked, a little too excited over the entire prospect.
"Use it to our advantage as Marauders would," Sirius answered, carefully noting where each dot was. "Look here, you can even see the position of Peeves, and the ghosts...."
"Too perfect." Remus leaned back from them, crossing his arms. "I'm not sure I like this. We've got the entire school and where everyone is in our hands, and if the wrong people got a hold of this map it could mean trouble."
"And who would the wrong people be?" Sirius shook his head. "Don't worry, Moony, that map is safe with us."
"Just don't let it get taken up," James added. "And, Wormtail," he turned to Peter, frowning, "not a word to anyone about it."
Peter shook his head, in a sharp, jerky motion. "O-of course not! I won't let anyone know about it! It's too good to share anyway, isn't it Prongs?"
James raised his eyebrows skeptically, then shrugged off his strange friend. "So where's the Headmaster at this time of night?"
They found him, pacing in his office.
"Lily Evans," James suggested. She was in the girls' dormitory, unmoving, so probably sleeping.
"Rose Evans," Sirius said, looking towards the House of Slytherin. To his surprise, she wasn't there. "Well, well, it looks like the littlest Evans is prone to sneaking out." The others chuckled as Sirius continued scanning the map for her. "She must be on here somewhere."
Peter found her first. "Oh! Oh, there! She's coming down the stairs over there!"
"Calm yourself, Wormtail," Remus said, chuckling a little despite his discomfort with the map. "I wonder where she's coming from?" He looked closer at the map and spotted the same thing the others did that was truly odd about Rose Evans being out late.
"She's with Snivellus!" James declared, looking at the black dot that hovered near Rose's side. "Well, well, well.... Looks like those two are breaking the rules together. I wonder what they're up to, out so late?"
"So do I." Sirius looked steely-eyed at the parchment, thinking carefully. "What say we keep an eye on them the next few nights? We can find out where they're going...and have some fun with them."
"Or at their expense," Remus muttered. "Don't you ever get tired of picking on Snape?"
Sirius and James exchanged a glance. "No," they said together.
Remus rolled his eyes and tapped the map with his wand. "Mischief managed." And the parchment went blank.
Woo-Hoo! Two more chapters out and done with! Thank you to all who read…and remember to PLEASE review!
Sneak-Peek: The next chapter you will receive is 'Detention Occurrences,' in which the romance-bit of this story finally begins to emerge. Following that is 'Canoodling in the Forest,' in which more romance begins to blossom and we get to see some unicorns. And then you will be privileged to receive 'Call it a Dare, Call it Jealousy.' That chapter took some writing and is nice and long. You'll love it.
To my wonderful, huggable reviewers:
Moriann: I'm happy to have brightened your day and hope these additional chapters will do the same. I agree with you about the awkwardness of chapter twenty-four, though. Ger. I'm going to have to re-write it when I re-post everything. And use Remus as a guinea pig? Whatever would give you that idea? I'm not that evil, am I? :::puts on halo to cover horns:::
Elvesmagic010: I was beginning to wonder if I had inadvertently offended you into disappearing! Glad to have you back! Maybe by the time you get this your brain will be unscrambled. As you can see, Rose has a settling effect on our dear Snape, and there will be much more of that to come.
Billiejoe: Must you crush all my little imaginings? :-) Yes, I know the whole bit about trousers/pants, and I've always found the idea silly to tell the truth. I wouldn't like to wander around in nothing but robes in case a breeze came up. But then, I'm one of those girls who hates wearing dresses to. I just took advantage of that aspect of fanfiction and changed it for my own purposes and prejudices. Still, thank you for correcting that. I didn't know there were so many references to running around without trousers on in the books. As you can see, I'm attempting to rush through a few things in my story to get to 'the good parts,' so I apologize for leaving anything that could be considered 'important' out. Thank you for the lengthy and knowledgeable review!
Illume: The story of Sirius Black is still unfurling in my mind and isn't being written yet. I'm devoting my attention to finishing this fic first. Rest assured, though, that dog will have his day! Um. Whatever. I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter, it's being picked to pieces by my adoring reviewers (which I really do love you guys doing, thanks!), and I hope these last two chapters were entertaining and as deserving of another kind review.
Loraliant Angelisa Snape: The Evans Sisters…Super-Heroes Extraordinaire! Most of the time, anyway. I love those girls. :-) I've been back from my trip for five days now, which is why I felt guilty and posted two chapters instead of one. Didn't mean to keep you guys hanging. Don't worry, though, I do my best to always update quickly once I'm back in the groove of things. Thank you for the high praise and compliments. I look forward to receiving more!
Draluck: Just like the energizer bunny…. You keep going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going….. Where is that bunny, anyway? I haven't seen a commercial with him in forever!
Nabenabe: I had a great week away, thanks! No worries about this being a long story, either. At the moment there isn't an end in sight. Oh dear. Thank you for the kind review! I do hope you enjoy these last chapters!
Alison: I know exactly what you mean. So many of my favorite fics haven't been updates in six months or a year and it drives me nutty. If I can set a new standard by posting more often, and actually finishing what I start, then I'm going to do it. I also appreciate your compliment about being able to read my story without trying to figure out what my poor-grammar is trying to convey. I really appreciate you reviewing to tell me so. :-) Thank you!
Rinny Z: I don't know…why haven't you reviewed before? You're certainly an enthusiastic critic! ;-) I mean that in the nicest of ways, of course. I'm glad I've caught your attention and I promise to do my best to hold it! Keep checking in on me, I'm not going anywhere so long as obsessive :::cough cough::: people like you continue to read and review!
Black Sheep Alone: Just so you know, I'm completely irritated with my stuff on FP.C. Just had to share that with someone. Ahem. Snape will want revenge. He is a Slytherin, after all. And he'll be getting it soon, too. Thank you for reviewing despite FF.N's stupidity.
Stonecoldfox: I agree with you. I wasn't very happy with chapter twenty-four when I finished with it, and it will receive major revision when I re-post the story. Don't worry about that. I think I was in too much of a hurry when I wrote that chapter, because I can't help cringing as I re-read it. Ugh. Hope these others are better than that one!
Thank you all for your continued interest in my story! Do review again!
-JB-