Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter. How bout that, eh?
A/N: Hey, I am reposting this, it was deleted when aff had a glitch. I now have a really great beta, so THANK YOU NANA! (her name is nana, she's not actually my nana)
December was almost over and night crept in faster everyday. The daylight hours seemed to have slipped away while she and Professor Sprout tended the mandrake roots and that was followed up by another attack on a student. Rosaline stood with her hands on her hips and let her gaze wander over her surroundings, it seemed like she spent every minute tending the greenhouses. 'Why hadn't Professor Sprout trained some of the upper classmen to do some of the heavier work?' She would certainly be changing the course syllabus for the next year, when Pomona wouldn't be around so much. Not that Sprout wasn't a wonderful teacher; Rosaline just liked doing things a bit differently.
Again it was late and again, she was tiered, so she would retire as soon as possible without joining the other teachers in the sitting room. As per usual, they would meet and talk over a glass of wine with each other or colleagues from outside of Hogwarts. The few times Rosaline had found the energy to go up to the get-together on the second floor, she had enjoyed it although, she had been too tiered to stay there for long. But mostly she felt guilty for not visiting with Hagrid more, since she really liked the big man. She'd only managed to get down to his house a few times before the attacks started and even then, her visits had been a bit short. Now, that two of the student had fallen victim to whatever was terrorizing Hogwarts, she remained busy. Madame Pomfrey had ordered more plants than usual for her medicaments because of the by-effects of the assaults like sleeplessness or nervousness. Nonetheless, Professor Snape still dropped by from time to time under the pretense of checking on the progress of the mandrake. She doubted that he would ever admit to enjoying their debates.
Additionally to her other work, Minerva had requested that she assists in patrolling the school periodically. That was fine so far as Rosaline was concerned. While she really enjoyed being in the greenhouses, she did need a break now and then. The first few times of her shifts, she had had the unpleasant luck to be found by Gilderoy in the middle of the night. So far, she had been 'rescued' by Dumbledore, Professor Binns, and Madam Hooch. She really would have to do something about that man and his embarrassing attitude. It was unfortunate, that there were no other young witches teaching here, so that she could just redirect him. 'You would think that he would be happy plundering the local town's women', she wondered, 'They all seemed delighted enough to oblige.'
Shaking her head from such thoughts, Rosaline cleared away her desk and with a quick glance in the mirror she headed up the great hall for supper She was glad, she had decided to cancel classes yesterday, now at least she had caught up with her work.
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Briskly walking down the corridors, not really taking any note of her surroundings, Rosaline made her way toward the Great Hall. She slowed her pace as she began to feel a bit light headed, but blamed it on her hunger. Pausing, she pressed the heel of her hand against the pressure, that was building in her brow. Bending her head down, she noticed, that her vision began to stretch and blur. A few children walking by passed concerned whispers to one another and started to gather around her. As the pressure and pain mounted, Rosaline groped blindly for the nearest wall for balance. She slid to the floor, confused, as she felt a small hand grip her shoulder and try to shake it. When she tried to respond the pain grew sharper. The next thing she was able to see was, how a vision of a different kind began to take form. "Dumbledore," she managed through clenched teeth. The owner of the small hand withdrew and, she could only hope, was off to get help. The pain overwhelmed her and before submitting to unconsciousness, she saw a young man surrounded by serpentine sculptures. He looked quite smug about something and his lips managed something like a grin, before the image wavered. 'Please let me remember this,' she pleaded to herself. And then, it felt, like she rolled head first into a misty nothing.
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It was the howling of a very large dog next to her, that woke her. 'Stupid animal, go away, yowl somewhere else... No that's no dog.' Slowly Rosaline opened her eyes and immediately regretting the action, she squeezed them shut, keeping the garish havoc/ mess out. "Hagrid," she was shocked at how weak she sounded, "You great beast, keep it down."
" Oh, thank god yer alright. Gave me a right awful scare." He smoothed down the front of his furry robe, proof of his anxiety. "what happened to ye? I was afraid that beastie, what's been after the students, got ya."
"Hagrid, dear friend," came a well known kindly old voice. "Perhaps Ms. Gates will be able to answer all of our questions, after her mother has had a chance to look her over."
"Of course Dumbledore, sir. I'll wait in the antechamber." The groaning of wood told Rosaline, that Hagrid had left his place next to her bed.
"Do call us when your ready, Miss Gates, we will be just outside the door. All of us quite anxious to hear your tale."
"Yes, Yes, out! The lot of you! Pomfrey, you stay close, I may need something." Cora Gates, though no taller than any average woman, quite commanding, but disquiet coloured her harsh order. Knowing better than to try to stop her mother's ministrations, Rosaline laid still while her mother performed various medispells to determine the status of her . "Well, tell momma what happened." Patting Rosaline on the leg, Cora set down on the bed, her girth forcing Rosaline to scoot toward the edge.
"I'm not sure. I mean, I was on my way to dinner, which by the way, I still haven't had…" she started to one again attempt to open her eyes and found, that it wasn't quite so painful now. Her mother was very pale, which was a telltale sign, since her mother normally sported a rather bronzed look. "Then this pressure started to build up, it was so painful. Someone tried to help me,"
"Little red headed girl," Cora supplied
"Hmm… well, then I saw an image forming. Like it happened, when I was younger, you know, what I mean. That the scene uncoiled itself from the surrounding and then the vision started . Something about a boy, but more it was about the place. Ah," she said frustrated "I can't remember. Damn it, I knew, I would forget. Anyway, I've never been in agony , when I've had them before. It wasn't comfortable and I felt drained dry each time, but it never hurt. - At least not that I can remember." The last part was rather thoughtful, because there had been something familiar about the pain. With her mind in an uproar and still exhausted, Rosaline couldn't quite place her finger on it.
"When you were younger, a toddler, it would happen sometimes. You can imagine how it pained me, to see my small child suffering in acute pain. So, I had to have help blocking your visions for a long time to alleviate it. Of course, once you hit puberty, there was no subduing some of your, let's say, more unique traits." Reaching over to the night table, Cora poured two glasses of sweet tea. She must have brewed it herself, because Rosaline knew, that this was certainly not on the menu at Hogwarts. "Tubbers!" Rosaline jumped a little at her mothers voice. Appearing from seemingly out of nowhere was a rather unusually fat house elf. "Yes, Mistress?" It came out rather deep and almost growly, but the elf held a wide smile on his face, not the least bit hostile. "The others can come in now. Please inform them." They watched as the rolly house elf toddled through the curtains and listened as his footsteps faded.
The rest of the evening was spent in explanation of the earlier occurrence. Hagrid and Dumbledore were the first of her visitors, but not the last ones. The news of her collapse had fast made the rounds in the castle, so the Headmaster and Hagrid were soon joined by half of the staff, while the prefects sent their well-wishes via house elves. No one seemed to notice the man behind the curtains of the next unoccupied bed. Same stoic expression as always, he listened to the story for a long while before he slunk outside and headed away from the Infirmary. No one noticed him except Dumbledore, who would glance at him now and again with that same knowing twinkle.
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this is the original A/N: Hey, sorry it took me so long to update. Holidays, you know. Anyway. I just learned about something called a Mary Sue, and so now I'm terrified that I might accidentally do that. Also, I'm trying to pick up the pace a little bit. Some one brought up the dreaded 'plot' word. There is one I swear! I'll even get to it eventually. Okay, so just so we're all on the same page, my story is just going along with Harry Potter, so you don't have to worry about Ros sweeping in and saving the day or anything. Ginny's fate is totally up to Harry. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I really appreciate it.