It had almost been inevitable from the first moment they'd taken the Weasley boys to see Beauty and the Beast that past Christmas, when the four boys had stayed over with them.
"And you say the muggles have special rooms set up just to watch them?" asked Mr Weasley as they put the finishing touches on magically projecting the sound and images from their cassette copy of Beauty and the Beast onto the side of the Weasley home, the Burrow.
"Special buildings, actually. It's a different experience in a theater," said Rosalina and Hermoine's dad as they watched Mr Weasley put the finishing touches on his enchanted projector.
Not only were Ron, Fred, George, and Percy, the boys that had spent the winter with them, there but their younger sister, Ginny, was there as well. She was due to start at Hogwarts with them in the fall.
Hermione was happy enough to sit and talk with Ron and Harry, who had been rescued from his home by the Weasley boys a few days back. Rosalina, though, was far more interested in talking to Ginny.
"What house do you want to be sorted into?" asked Rosalina as the adults continued to get the projection system to work.
"I've not thought about it. Siblings almost always go into the same house so it's not like I have much of a choice," said Ginny, looking over at Harry Potter and sighing.
"Hermione and I are in different houses and we're siblings," said Rosalina, rolling her eyes at a pun that Percy had tried to tell Fred and George. He'd gotten a book of puns the Christmas before and he'd really started to embrace the terribleness of them.
"What, really? What house are you in?" asked Ginny, alert all at once now.
"I'm in Slytherin! It's great," said Rosalina, puffing up a bit. "I'm planning to join the quidditch team this year, George and Fred have been teaching me."
"Fred and George have been teaching you? Even though you're in Slytherin? I thought that Slytherins were all terrible At least, that's what everyone's always made it out to be," said Ginny, sitting back, knees pulled tight to her chest as she absorbed this.
"I think that last year's lot wasn't so bad. Well, not all bad, at least," said Fred, watching Mr Weasley as Tom Granger continued to try and help.
"Yeah. That Malfoy boy is almost tolerable now," said George.
Rosalina smiled at that. Draco had joined them a few times at the Gryffindor table nearer to the end of the year. He'd mostly chatted with Hermione, but he was welcomed by everyone else as well. Well, maybe not welcomed, but he and the various other Gryffindors weren't at each other's throats all the time.
A couple shouts of triumph from Mr Weasley seemed to indicate that they'd managed to get things going.
"Now we're talking! Everyone, get ready for the excitement of the ages! Muggle entertainment!" said Mr Weasley, and a picture flickered into being in the air and music began to fill the air. It was nearly as exciting as the theater. Nearly.
"Rosa, have you seen mum?" asked Hermione, turning from her conversation with Harry and Ron.
"I think she stepped out for a bit, I'll go get her," said Rosalina, and she stood up and shook herself off.
Mum would do that sometimes in large gatherings. It wasn't that she didn't like people or going out. She went out on dates with either Felicity or Dad all the time. It's just that sometimes she said everything could be a bit much, so she'd occasionally need to get some fresh air.
Sometimes she'd just be out the door, but other times both Dad and Hermione lost track of her and that's where Rosalina really shined. She could find just about anything if she set her mind to it, and Mum's wandering was no exception.
Rosalina pulled out her wand, focused on it, and her sense of finding was increased. It wasn't a spell that she was doing, exactly. At least, not one that she'd been taught. It was more of a way for her to focus, but the wand amplified it. The wand twitched towards the clump of trees near the Burrow and Rosalina bounded over to it
When she peeked through the trees she almost burst out laughing. There, in the middle of the field that the cluster of trees surrounded, was her mother. She had her wand out and was waving it about wildly, jabbing it forward at times.
"Take that, you fiend! No dark lord will so much as touch my daughters, even if you are Lord Voldemort!" she said, jumping forward and swishing her wand through the air and making little sound effects with her mouth as she did so.
Rosalina stifled a giggle as she looked on, clutching her own wand to her chest, but a very warm filling bubbled up in her.
Lord Voldemort, more commonly known as He Who Shall Not Be Named, was a notorious dark wizard who'd vanished over a decade ago. She didn't know what her mum could possibly do against him if he ever came back, as she was a muggle, but still. It felt nice to hear it.
It was in that brief moment, between her happiness and wondering how best to call out to her mum, that Rosalina saw the thing in the woods. It looked like a dog, but wrong somehow. It was too long in its limbs, and its fur was far more bristled than any dog she'd ever seen.
"Mum!" Rosalina shouted out, but that might have been the wrong thing to do, for the instant her mum turned to look at her, her cheeks a little red in the starlight, the beast sprung. It was on top of her mother, snapping at her like it had a personal vendetta against her.
Not that her mother didn't fight back. Gone were the little bits of silliness that she'd had before. Her mum thrown her left arm up and so it had latched onto that, pulling like a puppy at a toy. It almost looked like it was grinning.
Then, while it was latched onto her arm, her mum raised her wand up in her right hand and slammed it into one of the creature's eyes. Following this was a brief, but intense, brilliant burst of light and the smell of seared flesh filled the air. She pulled it back to do it again, but the creature let go and began to skitter away, tail between its legs. At least, it tried to skitter away.
Rosalina pulled out her wand and, without any more hesitation, shouted "Petrificus totalus!" and the creature was then bound into place as its limbs snapped to its sides.
She rushed over to her mum and in moments she was no longer alone. Hermione, her dad, and the whole Weasley clan were in the clearing clustered around her as well.
"Merlin's Beard," said Mr Weasley as he walked up to them and took in the damage that had been done to her mum. "Molly, get Dumbledore."
Mrs Weasley nodded and in a few moments ("Accio broom!") vanished into thin air with a little pop.
"Percy," began Mr Weasley, but Percy, Fred, and George had already turned and run back to the house.
"Now. Incarcerous!" said Mr Weasley, as if he'd only just taken in the creature that was bound on the ground nearby. "A werewolf. Mercy of Nimue, a werewolf. Rosalina, was that your spell?" he asked, finally turning to look up at her.
"Yes. It was attacking her. I would have done something sooner, but I, but I," said Rosalina, moving on autopilot.
"It's alright," said Mr Weasley, patting her a little on the back.
Meanwhile, Hermione and her dad had clustered near Mum as well, Dad holding her hand and swaying back and forth on the ground. Hermione mostly seemed stunned and all the blood had run out from her face.
"What did you do to its eye?" asked Ron as he moved over to look at the creature. The werewolf.
"Skewered it. On my wand," said her mum. Her voice sounded a little distant. She was still clutching her now bloody wand, and there were little sparks flickering from it now.
"It looks like it's been burned out," said Harry.
Percy and the twins came back holding a few bundles of little jars which they handed over to Mr Weasley. At the same time, Mrs Weasley popped back into place with Professor Dumbledore, who looked madder than Rosalina had ever seen. A few moments after that, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape popped into being beside them and the two of them set to work on her mum like a pair of worker bees.
The evening went rather quickly after that as Madam Pomfrey bustled Mum off to the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts ("I still don't think that we should do this undercover business, Professor") while Snape dealt with the werewolf after a brief staredown with Professor Dumbledore.
"Hermione, Rosalina, Tom, if I might have a word with the three of you," said Professor Dumbledore. He began to stride off the center of the field while the Harry and the Weasley clan shuffled about awkwardly as the three of them followed after him.
"Girls, Tom, Meredith is about to undergo some of the most drastic changes to her life that she's ever experienced," said Professor Dumbledore, stopping near the far trees.
"Like becoming a werewolf," said Hermione, her eyes filling with tears.
"And becoming a witch. Wands do not react that way to just anyone," said Professor Dumbledore.
"But I thought you had to be born a witch?" said her dad, his eyes going wide.
"No. Our world's spells are set to detect natural-born witches and wizards, so they're usually the ones who are accepted to Hogwarts. However, one can gain access to magic in times of great stress, among other things, although it's harder to find those sorts of wizarding folk. That is the reason for the great schism between the founders of Hogwarts, after all. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw thought that anyone with magical ability should be accepted, while Sytherin only would accept born-wizarding folk," said Professor Dumbledore.
"But … but that's not what the books say!" said Hermoine, coming into her own now. "The books said that Sytherin would only take purebloods!"
"My dear, blood purity only came into importance after the passing of the Statute of Secrecy. Hogwarts was and is a school of magic for all who have the ability and wish to learn," said Professor Dumbledore, a small twinkle of a smile crossing his face.
"So is that why you took her to the Hospital wing?" asked Rosalina, slightly grumpy. She didn't like the idea that her house's founder had been so close minded.
"In part," said Professor Dumbledore, but then it was her father's turn.
"Memory modification. Because we're muggles. Dear God. Will you be at risk?" asked her dad, the blood draining from his face.
Professor Dumbledore laughed at that. "I can assure you that I will be fine, though I thank you for your concern. It is Arthur Weasley you should really be thanking. You would be in the tender care of the Aurors if not for his foresight."
"Or I'd have a dead wife. Thank you still. You didn't need to help," said her dad, and he pulled Professor Dumbledore into a hug.
Professor Dumbledore looked a little surprised at this, but embraced her dad in turn.
"She'll be alright," he said, patting her dad on the back a couple times. She realized that he'd begun to sob, and in seconds she and Hermione were around him, hugging both Dumbledore and their dad and all three of them were sobbing.