"Hey, Rose! Over here!" shouted Liv from across the room.
Rose walked over to her, still looking around in amazement, at the people who were suddenly popping up in the oddest of places. She had never seen anything like this before. But, she was quickly brought back from her reveries by Olivia, who was saying, "Rose, come on! Let's go over to the reception counter to see if we can see my cousin, and your relatives."
They hurried over to the reception desk, and Olivia began talking to the nurse behind the counter.
"Yes, we'd like to see Neville Longbottom, he's my cousin, and Harry Potter, that's her cousin," said Liv to the nurse.
The nurse stared at Rose, and asked, "Are you really related to Mr. Potter?"
"Well my dad's name is Mr. Potter, and Harry is my cousin," replied Rose.
"Right this way," the nurse replied shakily, leading them down a corridor. She stopped at one ward and told Liv that Neville was in there with his mother. After Olivia had gone to visit them, the nurse led me down another hallway, up to the intensive care ward, where Harry and some other members of the Order were being taken care of.
"When you go in there, would you please be so kind as to tell his visitors that Mrs. Weasley has come to pick them up?" queried the nurse, still sounding a little shook up.
"Of course."
Rose walked in, and immediately ran over to where she saw her Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ronald sitting. They were sitting next to Harry's bed, looking as if they had not slept all night, waiting for him to wake up.
"Hello Aunt Hermione. Hello Uncle Ronald," said Rose brightly.
They both looked up to see Rose, Hermione's only niece, who was almost the same age as them, standing next to Harry's bed, looking on them all with concern.
"Have you two gotten any sleep at all? You look like you've been here all night!" exclaimed Rose. They really did look shabby. They had bags under their eyes, their hair was a mess, and they could hardly hold up their heads by themselves.
"Never mind, I think I already know the answer to that one. You need to rest. He doesn't look like he'll be waking up anytime soon, so you might as well go to bed. And, I won't take "no" for an answer. Shoo, I'll call you when he wakes. In the meantime, Uncle Ronald, your Mum is waiting for you, and she said that you and Aunt Hermione were to go home with her," stated Rose in a very business like manner.
"Rose! When did your parents tell you about all of this? Is Harmony coming?" asked Hermione.
"Today actually, and yes, Mum is coming. I must say that she is very excited to see you all. She and Dad should be apparating here any moment now. You can meet them in the reception area. Go on now, your tired and really ought to get some sleep," Rose replied commandingly.
"Ok, you have to tell us if he wakes up though," replied Hermione, finally giving in.
"Don't worry I will."
As Hermione and Ron walked off, Rose turned her attention to Harry. He didn't look beat up, but you could tell from the way he was laying that his spirit was weary and that the fight had really taken a lot out of him. He was still sleeping soundly when Rose heard a groan from the next bed over. She peeked through the curtains and saw a silvery-blonde haired boy, about her age. It looked as if he had just woken up with the worst headache that anyone could ever imagine.
'He probably needs a nurse. I better ask him, because he doesn't look very happy,' thought Rose.
"Excuse me. Are you ok? Would you like me to get you a nurse?" she asked.
She looked at him closely, and recognized him as another one of the people in the picture. He was the one that had been and undercover spy for the Order.
"Are you a friend of Harry's?" she asked.
"You could say that," he replied.
"I'm Rose Potter, and you are?"
"Draco Malfoy. It's nice to meet you. Wait, did you say your name was Rose Potter? As in related to Harry?"
"Yes, I'm his cousin."
"Wow, I didn't know that he had any living relatives, but maybe he kept it a secret to protect your family."
"Protect us from Voldemort?"
Draco flinched a little at the name, but quickly composed himself, "Yes. He would've killed you all," he said, and rubbed his head in pain.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to get you a nurse," said Rose apologetically, running off to find the nurse that she had just seen pass by the door.
'Who was that? Can she really be related to Harry? She looks a little like Harry, with her emerald green eyes and jet black hair, but her face looks much more like Hermione's, and she has a darker complexion too. She looks to be about our age, but how come I've never seen her around Hogwarts before? Could she possibly be a muggle? Or is she from another place?' Draco mused to himself. He had so many questions that he couldn't ask, for fear of offending her. But, he knew what he could do. He would just ask Harry, when he finally woke up. The last time Draco had woken up, Harry was still knocked out from before.
Harry and him had become very good friends, after he had finally been revealed as a spy for the Order. It had been hard for Harry, at first, to accept that Draco, the Slytherin boy who had been his mortal enemy for years, was suddenly working undercover for the Order. But, in the end, he had come to believe the fact that Draco was really a good person and that he would not betray them as the late Peter Pettigrew had. Harry had been proved right when Draco had informed the Order of Voldemort's planned attack on the Great Hall. Thanks to Draco, Dumbledore evacuated the entire hall before Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters broke in.
Flashback
The entire hall turned cold, and the winds picked up suddenly, whipping the house banners from side to side. With a loud crash, Voldemort and his army of followers appeared, wands out. But, the Order was ready for them. The small group of trained witches and wizards gathered together facing towards the huge army of Death Eaters.
Voldemort's face momentarily drained of color, before he quickly composed himself and shouted, "Is this all you have? A small band of only thirty or so? Pathetic! You shouldn't have wasted your time! And don't think that I don't see you traitors! You will pay! Crucio!" Voldemort yelled, pointing his wand at Malfoy.
"Noooo!" shouted Neville Longbottom, another new good friend of Draco's, as he jumped in front of the curse.
This infuriated Voldemort and his Death Eaters, one of them being Lucius Malfoy, Draco's own father. The battle had begun.
Lord Voldemort dropped his curse, and Neville quickly jumped up to help fight the Death Eaters. As the curses started to fly, many cowardly Death Eaters bolted, heading for the door, and escaping...or so they thought. Ron and Hermione were waiting for this chance to attack. They disarmed and froze each Death Eater that came through the door, never faltering, and piling them up next to the door.
Meanwhile, the other members of the Order were knocking out Death Eaters by the dozen, and dodging curses, while protecting each other, and most of all Harry. They knew that Harry would need to be safe for a fight with the Dark Lord. The fight that would end the battle and the war.
In front of him, Draco saw Alastor Moody go down. He shot a few curses in a Death Eaters direction, before he went over to see what had happened to Moody. Moody was dead, undoubtedly hit with the Avada Kedavra Curse. He looked up to see Bellatrix LeStrange. Before he had time to think, she yelled in her high pitched voice, "Crucio!"
Excruciating pain coursed through his body, causing him to double over, but he had built up a small immunity, due to the many times his father had used the curse on him, when he had done wrong. He used this immunity to reach out, despite his pain, and hit the wand from Bellatrix's hand. He grabbed up his wand and hers, and began firing curses and hexes at Voldemort's followers with both wands, although he could feel a nasty headache coming on.
When he took the chance to look around at how the battle was going, he noticed Neville, twitching on the ground, and recognized his tormentor as Pansy Parkinson. He fired a disarming charm at Pansy, and then sent her flying against the wall, with her knocking out several Death Eaters on the way. He ran over to Neville, who was still twitching, even though Draco had broken Pansy's Crutacius curse.
"Neville! Neville, what happened, why are you still affected by the curse?" questioned Draco, unable to keep the urgent worry out of his voice. He didn't notice Bellatrix approaching from behind, scooping up the wands Malfoy had left laying next to him.
"He can't answer you, boy," stated Bellatrix, with an ugly grin on her face, "He's been under the curse for too long. He's gone, and now I think it's time that I got rid of you, you unworthy little brat! But don't expect it to be the easy way, death is better than what's about to happen to you. Crucio!"
Once again, Draco felt the unbearable pain run through his veins, and he toppled to the ground, unable to remain standing, after having drained his energy last time. He knew what she wanted. She wanted him to scream, but he would not. He would never give in. The last thing he remembered happening before he was thrown against the wall, thus causing him to lose consciousness, was Remus Lupin dueling with Bellatrix, attempting to avenge Sirius' death, and hitting her with the Avada Kedavra curse, right as she put a silver dagger through his heart. They died with Remus avenging Sirius' death and Bellatrix accomplishing her task for her master.
End of Flashback
But, that was all over now. Harry had finally killed Voldemort, after both of them had been locked in an exhausting magical battle for at least half an hour. So far, no one knew how Harry had done it, and he hadn't woken since he passed out after the fight. The medi-witches assured everyone that Harry would be alright, but it may be a couple of days before he woke up.
When Draco had found out about Neville, it had been hard for him to accept it, because he had never gotten to thank him for jumping in front of the curse for him. He was mad at himself for not getting there in time to save Neville from Bellatrix's curse.
His thoughts were interrupted, when Rose came back in with a nurse. The nurse gave him some kind of purple colored potion that immediately took the pain away, although it left a nasty taste in his mouth.
"Feeling any better? I don't know if it will take a while to start working or...," stammered Rose uncertainly.
"Oh, most potions work right away. Are you from around here?" questioned Draco, wondering if the question might offend her, and finding relief that she seemed unperturbed.
"No, I live back in the states, in a suburb of Chicago," she replied, feeling only slightly uneasy that she didn't know much about England at all.
"Chicago! Isn't that where the mafia gathers and stuff?!?" he said, shocked that Rose, such a beautiful, delicate-looking girl, could live in a place like that.
"Well, like I said, I live in a suburb of Chicago, not like near the projects or anything. And, the mafia still lives there a little, I guess, but it's not like you ever see them around or anything. Besides, when we do go into the city, we never visit the crime-riddled areas; we usually go shopping at Navy Pier, or go out to eat."
"What's Navy Pier?"
"What?!? You've never heard of Navy Pier before?" she said incredulously, shocked to learn that it was possible not to know about The Pier.
Her reaction left Malfoy stunned, and he suddenly felt as if he should know all about Navy Pier. He replied, "Umm, no, I haven't actually ever visited America."
"Oh, it's great! There's always so much to do! At least there is in the big cities, not really in the rural areas, but anyways, in the city, you can always go shopping, or sightseeing, or boating, or rollerblading, or biking, or sailing, or swimming, or even just sitting down in the sun to read a book.
"And, there's so many sports to watch too! You can always get tickets to a Sox game, and the Cubs play too, but it's practically impossible to get tickets, because everyone wants to see the Cubs. Then there's the football. The Bears aren't doing so well this year, but they'll bounce back like they always do. And, we've got the Chicago Fire playing soccer. They're not too popular yet, but I'm sure that they will eventually be much better. We have the Bulls playing basketball, but they are really bad; I don't think that they'll ever get over the loss of Jordan. We've also got the Blackhawks playing hockey, but I don't follow it that much. The thought of people hitting each other over a puck just doesn't appeal to me all that much.
"And, the food is great! There are so many types of food there that you can hardly even imagine! We've got Chinese food, Greek food, Italian food, Thai food, Indian cuisine, Irish pubs, and of course, there are McDonalds that are nearly lining the streets. We also have really cool resturaunts like the Hard Rock Cafe, the Rainforest Cafe, and Ed Debevick's. What kind of things do you have here?"
Draco was caught off guard by the question, because she had been talking so fast he could barely make sense of it at all.
"I...uh...we...uh...London is kind of like that," he said at last.
"Yeah, I've never been across the Atlantic before. This is my first time. I'm kind of new to this whole magic thing too. I mean, Mum and Dad aren't...what's the word...oh, yes, muggles, but they've kept it from me my entire life. I've never known anything other than the muggle way of life, and now they're sending me off to Hogwarts so late in my life, that even with a tutor it's going to be hard to catch up. I'm not asking for pity, but I honestly know nothing about the wizarding world except what my parents and Liv have told me, and I know nothing about your culture at all," she said, hardly noticing that Draco seemed shocked that she was telling him all this.
Although Draco was relieved that she had answered almost all of his questions, he was still stunned about two things: one was the fact that any living thing could talk as fast as she did without fainting, and another one was that she had never known about her magic. She must be a fairly powerful witch, being a Potter, but hadn't she ever noticed the strange things that happened when she got mad?
"Of course, I had always noticed that strange things happened whenever I became upset of angry, but the same kind of things happened with Liv and Mum and Dad, so I had thought that those things happened to everybody," she said, not realizing that Draco had just been wondering about the same thing.
"So what year are you going to be in at Hogwarts? I'm going to be in 6th year," Draco said trying desperately to get the conversation back to something he knew about.
"Well, my letter said that I'm going to be in 6th year, and that Dumbledore was going to send a tutor to live with us until the term starts, but I still have to be sorted. What house are you in?"
Draco squirmed a bit before answering darkly, "Slytherin."
Rose immediately noticed the hint of anger in his voice, and asked, "What's so bad about Slytherin?" before she could think what she was saying.
"Well, it's not the house that's bad, it's the people in it. Almost all of the people in Slytherin were Death Eaters or followers of Voldemort. I'd expect that the house is all but empty now, with so many of them shipped off to Azkaban Prison," Malfoy said with some slight sorrow in his voice.
"Well, I don't think that Slytherin can be that bad, I mean you're in it, so it can't be all bad," Rose surprised herself by saying this outloud, and quickly covered her mouth, before saying, "I mean, because you are in the Order and all," trying hard to make sure that she hadn't made a fool of herself. She didn't want him to know she liked him, because they had hardly known each other for more than a half hour.
For a brief moment, Draco thought Rose might like him, which was a welcome thought, since he rather fancied her, but his hope died when she said it was because he was in the Order. He hadn't noticed her hand flying to her mouth, or the way she was now squirming uncomfortably and blushing.
"Oh, by the way, what is Azkaban?" asked Rose politely, her face still slightly red from what she had said earlier.
Now it was Draco's turn to gape. "You mean you've never heard of it?! It is the most dreaded prison in all the wizarding world, only wizards who have done really evil things are imprisoned there, such as my father," Malfoy said sorrowfully.
"Oh dear, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to dredge up anyone's past," Rose said faintly wishing she hadn't asked about Azkaban.
"No, it's ok, my father was a Dark wizard, and it was his choice to be that way, and nobody could've changed his mind."
"Hey, Rose, there you are. I, oh..., hello, Draco," said Livi.
He recognized this girl from school: Olivia. She was in Gryffindor, and he remembered picking on her a couple of times, not wanting to blow his cover. He felt a severe need to apologize.
"Olivia, I'm sorry for being so mean to you all the time. I never really meant the things I said, but I couldn't blow my cover," Draco said, with an unmistakable sound of honesty in his voice.
"I know, and it's quite alright. I said some pretty mean things to you too these past years. I'm sorry as well."
"When you two are done over there, could you get me a nurse, my head is pounding, and I can hardly lift my fingers," said Harry with an amused look on his face.
