1. DISCLAIMER. The obvious. I do not own anything. Thanks to Ms Rowling for giving us such wonderful stories, even if I don't agree on her recent statements.
2. As some of you know this is a repost of sorts of an old story I have written when I used the HarryBond007 username. It is me, I am not stealing it.
3. A user back then pointed out that this was had the same premise some other story, but if that other story still exists this won't be similar for have not read that.
4. To those who were anxious because a new chap for the Ron Weasley story didn't come this week, you should be more patient. The chap is ready but my beta hasn't finished going through it. So relax, more chaps are coming, patience.
5. As most of my stories, I take canon very seriously, however, there are 2 exceptions here. Changed some last names from Granger-Weasley to Weasley. Also, I will have no remorse ignoring events from The Cursed Child fanfic.
6. Thanks a lot to SnowBear17 for helping me beta this story. Also thanks to Jayelyyn and Inkzy who helped me with the initial version of this, years ago.
7. Any error here is mine and not from my reviewer. If you spot anything or have a doubt about the grammar used or plot just PM me, I'm always swift to answer.
8. Too many notes today
9. Enjoy
"Mum is going to be so mad when she finds out," a boy said, rushing through an open field. He was following a redheaded girl, but it was so early that the dim light made it difficult to fully distinguish anything else.
"She's not going to find out because no one is going to tell her," the girl replied without slowing down. She was looking for something in her grassy surroundings, a task which required all of her attention. The lack of sunlight made it more difficult and her brother had an awful idea of what was the right timing for useless grumbling.
"She will, she always does," the boy insisted.
"This time she won't."
The boy trailed off, but only for a moment. "How do you know that?"
"I— I just do, okay?"
"I think she'll find out."
"Hugo, please, not now."
"We should explain everything to her before she does, it will be better. If this works, she might not even be mad at all."
"Hugo..." the girl warned him, clearly annoyed now.
They were having a real communication issue here. She thought she had been asking for quiet time but all the boy seemed to hear was, I'm bored, can you please bring back the exact same argument for the umpteenth time?
"What? Do you think she'll be mad either way? Because If we—"
"Hugo!" The girl finally stopped, quickly turning around to face her brother with a disgruntled gesture. "She won't. We'll be careful, okay? Now can you please stop whining and hurry up? The wrong people could spot us here and I reckon they won't welcome us with swirling banners and sweets."
The only answer she got was a slow and discouraged nod, which was more than enough for her. In the current situation they were in, they just couldn't afford to waste any more time. Her blue eyes moved around, trying to see if they had been noticed by anyone. Once she was sure they were the only living souls in sight, she brushed her frizzy bangs out of the way and set her attention forwards again.
Rose Weasley was no stranger to tense situations, not with the family she had. More than once she had ended up being involved in James' childish pranks against her better judgement, and she had lost count of how many times Al had put her in a rule-breaking situation by accident. Nevertheless, this was way more serious than hiding behind a corridor hoping not to get caught. Their very lives were at stake here, she knew.
Not that her life wouldn't be at risk if her mother found out she had been taking part in senseless, rule-breaking pranks, but even so, it was not the same.
The night had been long, she was tired and hungry, and most likely her hair looked like a spider's nest. Hugo hadn't said anything on the matter, but she knew the boy had been feeling the same; she had heard his stomach growl on more than one occasion. It only made things worse because Rose had already been blaming herself for not bringing any food with them. How did she allow herself to be so stupid? Jumping into an uncertain trip without packing at least a nosh felt like an awful lack of judgement now.
A smarter person would've taken some warm jackets with them as well. Even as she thought this, Rose shivered, trying to not show how cold she truly felt.
But Rose had to focus on her task if she wanted to get them to safety; there was no time for those thoughts right now. So the girl tried a different approach, she extended her arms in front of her and started moving them hastily, walking blindly as if she was trying to seize something out of thin air.
It came to her then that if Scorpius saw her now he would have quite a laugh. Good ol' silly Rose, stumbling through a green field and brushing the air as if it were her own tangly hair. He would tease her, most certainly, she could almost hear him smirking at her.
"Too early to be looking for nargles, don't you think?"
At a different time, Rose would have snorted at the mental image of the prat she had for a boyfriend, but not now. Rose's frown relaxed and a knot formed on her throat, she couldn't even put a name to whatever feeling she was experiencing at the moment. The girl shook her head, forcing all of that away from her head. It wasn't helping.
"I know it's around here, I just know it," she mumbled to herself a few minutes later, "I know those hills, things look different, but still... We're close, I can feel it."
No one could say that Rose Weasley was a wimp or a quitter, she would keep looking until she accomplished her task, as she always did. She kept waggling from one place to the other, restlessly, until she noticed the silence. She turned around at once, afraid of not finding her brother there anymore. Fortunately, the boy was still there, staring heavily at his feet. That image surprised the girl, who soon approached him, trying to look less severe.
"Hugo, we have to do this, okay? We're already here," she said, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. It was odd trying to comfort him considering the younger boy was now a couple of inches taller than she was, but she was getting used to that already. "Sorry for yelling at you, I'm just so nervous that I think I'm losing my wits here. We really need to find the place."
"Yeah, I know."
The girl was expecting a more elaborate answer, so she let some time pass before continuing. His appearance was worrisome, but she imagined she must have looked pretty much like crap as well. The night had been long and cold after all. "Are you alright?" she finally asked.
"Sure, it's just that— no, forget it."
"Hugo, what's the matter?"
"It's just— I really want this to work," he said, looking at her with his brown eyes. "More than anything. I miss him. I miss them." He sniffled slightly, wiping his eyes hastily.
Those simple words took the girl by surprise and her composed exterior was soon in risk of crumbling down. The girl couldn't even remember her family without feeling sorrowful now. Every time she remembered, she saw all of them sobbing, drowning in their misery. She couldn't go through that all over again. Not here. Not now.
She tried to answer in a soft voice, not wanting Hugo to be more upset. "I miss them too, Hugo. That's why we're here, remember? We'll bring him back."
The boy nodded, and soon after he tightened his mouth. "Rose?"
"Yes?"
"What we're doing... it's wrong, isn't it?" Hugo asked, his voice a tad edgy.
Rose was caught off guard by her brother's statement, but she couldn't find a way to disagree. In fact, she had been thinking the exact same thing ever since they took that Time-Turner. It was clear that what they had done was not only wrong but it was illegal as well. The night before, they had broken into their mother's office with the sole intention of bringing their father back, without even stopping to consider the consequences. All they had been thinking then was that the queer silvery hourglass on their mother's desk could fix everything, so it took them less than a minute to make up their minds. Now, if everything worked as planned, they were in the past with no one knowing they even existed. Hopefully, that also meant they were at a time when their father was still alive.
After a long pause, Rose nodded. "It's wrong, Hugo. I knew it the second we took the blasted thing. We shouldn't sulk on it though, we're here now and for all I know this could only work one way," she answered, pulling the silver chain from beneath her shirt. "We have to keep going."
"Do you really think we can bring him back?"
"Of course! Otherwise all of this would've been for nothing. It has to work," she said, giving the boy a wide smile. She couldn't allow this not to work. Not when it was their only chance at bringing their father back.
Hugo nodded, more hopefully.
"Now, are you going to help me with it or is slacking behind that much more tempting?"
The boy's face brightened, much to her relief. "Count me in. What do you need me to do?"
Both of them spent the next hour moving their arms all around the field, looking like the barmiest pair of teenagers ever. A few times they even changed the direction and threw rocks into the distance, waiting for something to answer or happen. Still, whatever they were waiting for didn't come. Soon, they found themselves knackered and seated on some old log. That was where the light of the morning sun caught them.
"Are you sure this is the place?" Hugo asked.
"Positive, just look. Don't you recognize it?"
The boy looked around, narrowing his eyes as if that could help him get a clue of what he was supposed to notice. "I guess so..."
Rose was worried about him. He hadn't been the same ever since their father's death. Even when she had been having a pretty awful time herself, she knew she had to be strong for him. That was what they would've wanted her to do.
"Wish we could just apparate there or something," the boy said longingly.
Hugo was looking peckish but there was not much she could do about it. They hadn't brought any food or muggle money with them, so their options were quite scarce.
Brilliant planning there, Weasley, she thought to herself, scowling.
The girl wailed softly at their situation, thinking that if she hadn't been so impulsive maybe they wouldn't be struggling like this. However, Rose also knew that if she hadn't acted like that they probably wouldn't be where they were in the first place. She was always more judicious on second thoughts.
"Neither of us knows how to apparate, Hugo. I'm sorry," said Rose, looking ashamed for not having answers for him.
Hugo looked confused, knitting his eyebrows together. "Sorry? Sorry for what?"
"Because I dragged you here without a plan? Or maybe because I was thick enough to come here without any food?"
"Oi! Hold your hippogriffs! What do you mean? I was there too and I didn't bring anything either," Hugo started. "Besides, you didn't drag me here. I came all by myself."
"But if I had only—"
"No, this isn't your fault, Rose. So knock it off and let's keep moving. We have to find that— those— whatever it is," said the boy, standing up from the old log.
Rose smiled at her little brother and followed him with renewed energy. Hugo had always been very simple with things and she was grateful for that. Looking for someone to blame was the thing the boy despised the most. It was kind of self-serving to focus on the solution and forget about the problem when he was the culprit, but when it was someone else's fault and he still opposed placing the blame around, it made Rose feel as if she had the most noble of kids for a brother.
The siblings continued working at their task for another half hour or so until something unexpected happened. Rose was walking through the field, distracted by something she thought she had seen, when suddenly, something hit her hard from the front. The girl shrieked and immediately after she was propelled to the ground with great force, landing on her rear.
"Ouch!" she whined.
"Rose!" yelled Hugo, running towards his sister. "What happened? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, it's just— my arse."
Hugo laughed briefly. "What? What happened?"
He tried to be serious, yet failed to remove the stupid grin from his face once he noticed his sister was okay. Seeing Hugo smile was surely something positive, but in her current position she didn't find it amusing at all.
"Sorry, it's just, what happened?" he asked again, turning to look in the direction where her sister had been standing just moments before.
Rose huffed at him and moved her gaze to the front. "I don't know. I hit... something." Her explanation had been vague, but even so it seemed illogical, as there was nothing in front of her but air. "What the—?"
"Rose, there's nothing there. Didn't you just trip over?"
"Of course not! Something hit me!" replied Rose, very offended. Crossing her arms, she glared at Hugo.
"Let me see then," Hugo said, standing up and walking to where her sister had been supposedly thrown back.
"Hugo, be careful," urged Rose from her place on the ground.
"It's okay, I think," said the boy, touching the weird space lightly. Hugo put his fingers over the suspicious area and a few waves moved around as if the air was not air but a long portion of transparent, vertically-flowing water.
"Oh!" Rose said, her eyes widening. "We found it!"
"What!? Really?! This thing?" asked Hugo, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes! Those are the wards."
"Are you sure?" asked the boy, still reluctant.
"Of course I'm sure! I know about these things."
"If you say so... but how do we get in?"
"That part I'm not so sure of," answered Rose honestly.
"You don't know?! So are we just going to stay here until someone sees us?"
"Maybe we can walk around it until we find an entry point or something like that," suggested Rose, standing up and brushing the dirt off of her blue jeans.
"And how are we going to know when we reach the entry point?"
Rose shrugged. "Maybe they get an alert that we're here or—"
"Rubbish! I have a better idea," said Hugo, grabbing a rock from the ground.
"No, Hugo, wait!"
But it was too late. The rock flew from Hugo's hand and went straight into the invisible wall in front of them. Rose ducked instinctively, expecting the rock to come back at them. Oddly enough, it didn't.
"Huh? Where is it?"
"On the other side, most likely," answered Hugo. "Blimey! I thought it would let us in or at least give us a clue."
"Hugo, these are powerful wards. They are not going to be beaten by some stupid rock!"
"It was worth the try, wasn't it?"
Rose snorted, walking towards the barrier. She couldn't find a solution, instead, she only experienced the same waves of air as her brother. "Guess it only blocks people, not rocks."
"Now what?"
The redhead girl narrowed her eyes, trying to find a way in. Unfortunately, she was out of ideas. "I reckon you could throw another rock, see if you can break a window or something. Get their attention."
"Grandma won't like that."
"We can 'reparo' it later."
"I guess, but didn't you just say throwing rocks was stupid?"
Rose huffed, crossing her arms. "Well, it's all I got. Any brilliant ideas of your own?"
The girl was beginning to get frustrated about her current situation. Rose's birthday was only a few days away and then she would be of age. Until then, she couldn't use her wand outside of Hogwarts — or at least that was the situation before she left home, she didn't know how the trip had affected the underage restriction.
Without magic they were stuck. For the next few minutes, Hugo kept throwing more rocks at the wall as Rose imagined how many useful things she could be trying if she were only able to use her wand. Then a voice suddenly brought them out of their thoughts.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"
They both gasped in surprise because seemingly out of nowhere, a man had appeared, holding a wand and pointing it directly at them. The man was tall and handsome, and his long hair — which he kept in a ponytail — was as red as it could be. Rose didn't recognize him at first because of how young he looked, yet Hugo mumbled something that brought light to her memories.
"Uncle Bill?" he asked doubtfully from behind her. His voice was so low that Rose was sure the man didn't hear him.
"What was that? I asked you a question." Bill Weasley sounded severe, something Rose was not used to.
"Two, actually," answered Hugo instinctively.
"Don't play smartarse with me. I want answers and I want them now."
Rose and her brother were temporarily stunned by the reaction of the man in front of them. The girl couldn't believe he was the same good man who used to share his wonderful stories about Africa with them. The man they knew was always laughing and trying to turn a blind eye to every prank being orchestrated. This man didn't seem to have a sense of humour at all. Something didn't feel right for Rose who, until that day, had a very different image of the eldest Weasley brother. All of her life, she had thought that beyond the scruffy clothing style and intimidating scars, Bill Weasley was so good-natured that he wouldn't be able to kill a fly, even if he tried to. Now, she wasn't so sure of that.
"I don't have all day," said the young, scarless man. He was now moving his wand impatiently between them, narrowing his uncanny blue eyes like he was trying to decide what to do with them.
Hugo turned to look at his sister with fearful eyes and her only answer was a reassuring nod. They never expected to face their uncle when they first decided to travel all this way back but they needed to convince him if they didn't want to be victims of his wand.
"I'm Rose, and this is my brother, Hugo."
The man seemed to ease a bit when the first of his questions was answered, but still there was a long way until Rose could feel that they had convinced him they were trustworthy. "Last name?"
Rose's eyes moved briefly to her brother, who paled at that question. "It's alright, Hugo," she said, then moved back to face her uncle. "Weasley."
The surprise was clear on Bill Weasley's face, as he had loosened the grip on his wand. He seemed to ponder their answer briefly before returning to his severe behaviour. "Rubbish! I know the Weasley family tree, head to toes. There is no Rose or Hugo on it! Last name!" He said sharply, pointing his wand at Rose.
"She already told you! Is that so hard to notice?" yelled Hugo, rushing to stand between the man and his sister.
Bill Weasley was suddenly stunned, looking at the boy more closely. After a moment, his eyes opened wide, shocked. "Ron? No, wait— who are you?"
Before anyone could say anything else, they were interrupted by another man appearing. It was a much younger Arthur Weasley, who didn't have a single grey hair on his balding head.
"Dad? What are you doing here?"
"Your mother was getting nervous," the man said, turning to look at the visitors. "Who are they?"
"They say their names are Rose and Hugo and that they're Weasleys. Obviously a lie. There are no Roses or Hugos in the family tree. Still, look at the boy, he looks a lot like—"
"Ron." Rose's grandfather nodded at him. Then, the man turned to look at Rose and narrowed his eyes. "There's something about the girl too."
"The girl?" Uncle Bill asked, turning back to her.
Rose knew she didn't look a lot like her mother, not as much as Hugo looked as her father at least. Still, her grandfather kept studying her in detail.
"The eyebrows, the hair. She reminds me of Hermione, but not quite so," her grandfather said suspiciously after a while.
Instinctively, Rose moved a hand to her bushy red hair, smiling. She had decided to cut it at chin-length ever since she joined the Quidditch team. It had been simply impossible to play otherwise, and Aunt Ginny's suggestion of doing a ponytail was unmanageable with a hair as frizzy as hers. Rose's hair hadn't looked as big as her mother's when it was long though, but without the extra weight it was more noticeable now. Never before had Rose felt glad of having inherited that trait from her mother, but it seemed like there was always a first time for everything.
"What's going on here? They can't be Polyjuiced, can they? Ron's eyes are blue, and the hair and eyebrows are different too. That's not Hermione either," Uncle Bill said.
"Explain yourselves," demanded Arthur Weasley after a moment.
After thinking about it for a bit, Rose decided the only way they could believe her was if she showed them some proof. She moved her hand to her shirt and then pulled out the silver chain. Once outside, they were able to see three silvery hourglasses intertwined.
Both men stared at the device in disbelief. "That looks an awful lot like a Time-Turner. Why is it silver though?" Uncle Bill asked his father.
"It's an improved version. We're from the future," said Hugo.
"You're not in the family tree and Time-Turners can't travel back that far."
"This one can, Grandpa," said Rose, staring directly at the man, who almost jumped at the way she addressed him, looking at her as if she were crazy.
"Prove it," demanded Rose's uncle.
Hugo opened his mouth, ready to talk, but Rose rushed to stop him. "We can prove it, but not out here."
"You're nuts if you think we'll let you in just like that."
"Bill, hold on," said Rose's grandfather, stunning his son. "She's right. If they're telling the truth, we cannot leave them here, and we cannot talk freely either. Besides, the device is something."
"I guess, but— are you sure Dad?"
The balding man turned to look at Rose. "We'll need to cast a few spells on you, for precaution. We'll also take that device of yours, and your wands. I promise we'll return them once everything has been cleared."
"Of course, Grandpa!" Rose answered, smiling and handing her wand to them without a second thought. Her immediate trust surprised the redheaded men.
"Very well, come on then," the older man said, as he moved his wand around them and across the wards too. Before they knew it, they had passed the barrier and the tall, twisted Burrow appeared before their eyes.
o0o0o
The moment they entered the Burrow, Rose felt the heaviness leaving her shoulders. She hadn't even noticed the burden she had been carrying since they had left their house, many hours before. In a way, being back at the Burrow made everything much brighter. The Burrow had always felt like a second home to them and it was a definite improvement over being outside, without any food or money on them. It was certainly safer too.
"It's the same," Hugo remarked, earning a suspicious glance from their uncle.
The boy wasn't lying, it seemed her grandparents hated changing decoration. Even when the place had a few different things, not much had changed. Everything was in the exact same position Rose remembered and the feeling of coziness was as familiar and warm as ever. Only two things caught the girl's attention. The first one was obviously the lack of pictures of grand-kids, which were replaced by those of her father, Aunt Ginny and all of her uncles. It was weird being surprised by so many pictures of them as kids when she had been seeing them as grown-ups her entire life.
Then, there was the family clock, which had fewer hands than the one in the future. This clock was actually visible because it was not flooded with the names of all Weasleys from the future, which made it impossible to read for anyone besides her grandmother. Rose was suddenly hit by the implications of their trip. All of those clock hands that were missing belonged to her family and Rose didn't know if she was ever going to be able to see them again. She missed them all, and, as mental as it sounded, that included James.
Would she be able to scowl him again for one of his stupid pranks? Or his equally stupid dating decisions? She really didn't know.
Something else on the family clock made her freeze. All of the hands were unmistakably set to a label that seemed to be yelling 'mortal peril'. Rose had only seen the hands point to mortal peril a couple of times in her life, both had been during pretty dangerous missions Uncle Harry had been on. The very thought of how complicated the situation must be at this time made the girl pale.
"Arthur! What took you so long?" a familiar voice asked from the kitchen as they made their way there. Hugo's smile appeared instantly and Rose couldn't avoid showing a happy smile either. After all, if there was someone who could understand them, it was their grandmother.
"It's difficult to explain. You better sit down, sweetheart," her husband replied as the four of them went into the kitchen. Molly Weasley turned to them and Rose wasn't surprised in finding she looked almost the same as in her own time - just with fewer grey hairs.
Rose's grandmother was not alone in the kitchen.
"Who are they?" another man said suddenly. Rose recognized him as a very young version of her Uncle George, who was wearing the kind of clothes he usually wore to work. Rose should have expected him to be there eating breakfast, after all it was very early and he was not married yet.
"I'm not sure, Forge, but that one looks a lot like little ickle Ronnie," another Uncle George added. Rose gasped at the realization of just who was in front of her. So far, Rose's desires of seeing her father again were mixed with the remorse of having done something very wrong. The sight of the two identical brothers brought a different perspective, one that she hadn't thought about before. Yes, people she knew didn't exist at this time yet, but there were also people she never got to meet. People who died way before she was even born. One of those people was Uncle Fred.
"Rose..." Looking at Hugo, Rose noticed he had gone pale, staring at Uncle Fred.
"I know. Now hush," Rose whispered back to her brother.
"It seems you're right, Gred, but look closer. If there was a potion to turn someone into a Weasley, I would swear that we also have a Hermione here," the first twin said, pointing at Rose.
His twin narrowed his eyes, taking a closer look at Rose. "The girl has some resemblance, I'll give you that. She even comes with freckles and everything. Guess we should get our hands on that Weasley potion."
It was an unusual thought but Rose was glad they recognized her parents in her as well. As any other normal teenager, Rose Weasley would usually complain about her parents quite often. The physical traits she had inherited from them were just the tip of the iceberg. That day though, she was glad of having something of them with her, even if that something was the wildest of hairs and more freckles than she could count.
"Arthur, what's going on?" Rose's grandmother asked, ignoring the twins' words.
"Where to begin? This is something rather hard to explain."
"It's something alright," Uncle Bill added, reluctantly.
"Dad, we have to get to the shop in—"
"It can wait. This is urgent family business," Rose's grandfather interrupted one of the twins.
"Only if they're not impostors," Uncle Bill said, throwing weird looks at both of them.
Once all of them were sitting at the kitchen table, the Weasley patriarch explained everything to his wife and sons. Rose turned to look at her grandmother and wasn't surprised by her reaction. The woman's eyes were flickering between Rose, Hugo and the Time-Turner — which had been placed carefully on the table. Rose had been expecting a lot of those looks. The ginger girl wondered about the reaction their younger parents would surely have once they talked to them.
"Are you saying these are our grand-kids?" asked Rose's grandmother.
"That's what they're saying. We still haven't been able to verify it or deny it," added Uncle Bill, trying not to sound too accusative.
"We're telling the truth," argued Hugo, but whatever he was planning on saying next was lost by a loud grumble coming from his stomach. "Sorry."
"Merlin! When was the last time you kids ate?"
"Last night Grandma, before leaving," Rose said shyly, still a little embarrassed.
The woman was taken aback by the way she addressed her, but quickly put it aside for what she must have seen as a more pressing issue. "You were out all night?!"
Rose and Hugo nodded.
"That would explain why they look as if the Knight Bus just ran over them," said one of the twins.
After some loud words to her sons, Rose's grandmother hurried toward the stove.
Not long after, their grandfather left the room, stating that they needed Dumbledore. Rose had been expecting the old headmaster to show up at some point but she wasn't sure whether he would agree with what they had done. They'd have to be cautious around him. Rose only hoped Dumbledore could be able to prove they were saying the truth.
Generous plates of food were soon in front of Rose and Hugo, whose faces brightened at once.
"Blimey! Look at them go!" one of the twins exclaimed. When Rose realized that he was talking about the way they were gobbling through their plates, she blushed. Rose was usually more restrained with food, but whenever she was truly hungry she couldn't help but speed things up a notch. Her mother always said she had gotten the bad habit from her father but, at this point, anything that made Rose remember her father was a good thing.
"Fred! Stop it. The kids haven't eaten in a while," the woman said sternly. She looked at Rose, her frown totally gone. "You don't worry, dear. If you want more, there's more where that came from."
Rose felt embarrassed, so she tried to slow down either way. "Thanks Grandma. I think this will be enough." Rose's grandmother, still uncomfortable with being called as such, merely gave her a warm smile.
"It's not hard to guess who their father is, right George?"
"Absolutely not."
"W-WGhat? WOhyo ow-oud yoe sead that?" asked Hugo between mouthfuls. Rose moved her hand to her forehead, embarrassed by her brother's manners.
"My dearest nephew, you look a lot like a particular brother we all love—"
"—We also have a redheaded Hermione here—" said the other twin, pointing at Rose.
"—And of course, there's also that vivid table language you just used."
"He's not always like that," Rose protested unconvincingly.
"Even so, I must say there is a high chance of you two being the kids of our lovely Ronnie and his adorable Hermione."
No one really seemed surprised at that besides Rose and Hugo, as they had thought that they had travelled to a time when their parents were not yet together.
"Are they— going out? What year is this?" Rose asked hurriedly, very scared of arriving too late.
"Those are two very different questions, Rose," said her grandfather. "The year is 1996, October 4th to be more precise. About your other question, don't quote me on this, but I believe they're not together."
"Yet," added Uncle Bill.
Rose sighed in relief. They were on the right date, at least. "Then why did you said that they—"
"They're just blind, especially ickle Ronnie," said one of the twins.
"Thick as a troll, that father of yours. At this pace, I'm betting on Hermione making the first move," the other twin explained, causing Rose and Hugo to fight back a smirk.
The twins' eyes brightened at once. "Hey! You know things! You could help us with a few bets, couldn't you?"
"They would surely know a few Quidditch results, my brother."
"Don't get her started," Hugo complained, earning a glare from his sister.
Yes, it was true Rose had a good memory for keeping track of every little bit of Quidditch stats, but what was wrong with that? Was it a crime? Her father loved that.
Used to love that, she corrected herself.
"Fred! George! Neither of you will do such a thing," Rose's grandmother reprimanded the twins sternly, waving a wooden spoon in their direction.
It was strange hearing her grandmother flapping over the twins' words like that since Rose's memories only had images of Uncle George being scowled at. For Rose, it was a complete mystery how her grandmother would yell at every crazy idea from Uncle George, but not even once at her grandkids. In fact, all of James' and Freddie's mischiefs were usually attributed to Uncle George. To be fair though, Rose had to recognize her uncle was usually involved, in one way or another.
"You haven't said why you're here yet. You can talk now," said Rose's grandfather after he was sure they had finished their breakfast.
"Oh yes," Rose started. Instantly her face turned grim. For a moment, she had felt much better surrounded by her family, but that would surely change once she talked about her father's death. "Well, it all started last month. Our—"
Knock, knock.
Rose stopped suddenly at the noise of someone calling at the door. Her grandfather quickly stood up, walking towards it. "That must be Albus."
Hugo turned to look at his sister, concern visible on his face. Rose tried to look confident. If Uncle Harry's stories were true, then the old wizard would at least listen to them first. Her godfather always talked highly of his former headmaster.
"Let's all go to the living room," said Rose's grandmother after her husband left the kitchen. She stopped briefly to take a look at Rose. "Are you finished with that, dear? You can have more after we talk to Albus."
"It's okay, Grandma. I'm done."
"That's good," the woman said, still very much shaken. However, she smiled back at the girl warmly, something Rose could take comfort in.
Rose was happy for that, because at least she knew that their grandmother wouldn't leave them alone. She took a deep breath and walked towards the living room, followed by Hugo. The girl tried to keep her father present in her thoughts. If they could pass through Dumbledore's examination, then it was likely they could see her father again, and that filled her with all the strength she needed.
