Chapter 6

My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand
Taking mine, but it's been promised to another
Oh, I can't stop you putting roots in my dreamland
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you

- Taylor Swift [Ivy]

"We have exciting news for you all," Damien told the half dozen apprentices. Everyone in the lab was gathered around him and Celia. The blonde woman was looking just as excited as he was about the news. Every time Rose saw the pair together, she tried to picture them as a couple but just couldn't. She was so used to seeing Damien with Stefan that picturing him with anyone else, especially a woman, was difficult. She could certainly see the appeal there—Celia was beautiful and intelligent. It had only taken a few days of working at the clinic for her to learn that Celia was not in fact a secretary as Rose had initially assumed but was actually Damien's business partner and had started the Just Like Magic clinic with him.

"As you all know, we put in a bid last month with the Ministry of Magic for our company to manage the transfiguration work for an upcoming event," Celia continued, exchanging a grin with Damien. "And we're excited to say that we've won the bid!"

There was a smattering of applause from the apprentices at this, though the excitement was subdued at still not knowing what the event was.

"What we're about to tell you is top secret until the Ministry sees fit to announce it," Damien said. "I don't need to impress upon you all how important our reputation for discretion is."

His blue eyes managed to capture them all in a single stern glance before the seriousness faded and he grinned.

"Do you want to do the honors Celia?"

"This year, we will be working alongside the Ministry and Hogwarts staff to help reinstate the Triwizard Tournament," she exclaimed excitedly. A ripple of interest moved through the group of apprentices at this news. Rose and Gina exchanged a surprised look.

"I know that you are all working on your own research," Damien interjected. "But for those willing to help with this project, we will be providing free seats at all the events and a generous bonus for hours worked. Most of the transfiguration will be simple, just on a large scale. We'll be responsible for setting up and taking down stands, helping to create terrain, and more."

Most of the apprentices were thoroughly excited by the time Celia and Damien had finished their announcement and answered various questions. Gina caught up to Rose as she headed back to the front offices—she was scheduled to work in the clinic that day.

"St. Mungo's has agreed to partner with us on our Lycanthropy research," Gina informed her.

"That's fantastic," Rose said excitedly.

"And we've set up the anonymous donor option you asked for," she added. "St. Mungo's has set up a system where any donation to our project can be made to appear as if it is just a donation to the Hospital in general. Then they'll allocate funding to us through their own budget."

"That's going to be extremely helpful in finding donors," Rose said. This was the method Damocles Belby had suggested they try when Rose had reached out to him via owl to see if he would be willing to share a list of his donors with them.

"Have you had any luck on that front yet?"

"I'm actually talking with a potential donor tonight."

"Oh," Gina asked, adjusting her lilac spectacles to gaze curiously at Rose.

"Yes, I'm fairly confident we'll be receiving a substantial donation soon." She smiled thinly.

Later that night, Rose sat across an intricately carved oak desk from Lucius Malfoy. He was glancing over her grant proposal stoically, his left hand swirling a whiskey on the rocks he had poured for himself moments before. Rose sat straight-backed in her chair, her expression impassive. She hadn't worn dress robes but had picked out a set of emerald green ones that were nicer than she'd normally wear to visit her family at the manor. Lucius' gray-blue eyes flickered up to hers after a long moment, and his lips were pressed together to form a thin line across his normally handsome face.

"You can't be serious Roselin," he drawled, sipping his drink. Rose did not flinch. She had been prepared for this reaction.

"I am perfectly serious father," she said genially, refusing to drop his gaze.

"Why would I help fund research into a subject which both your mother and I have made clear is far beneath your attention," he said bitingly. Rose's mind briefly flashed back to the row she'd had with her parents when they'd found out just what she was studying at Damien's lab a couple weeks into her apprenticeship.

"Father, this is the research I was hired to do. It's a bit late for me to back out now."

"But why even work at all, you don't need the money," he said in frustration.

"Sitting at home doing nothing all day would drive me crazy. Besides, Stefan helped me get this job. It would be a slight against my husband to quit. He likes that I have something to occupy my time," she reiterated the most persuasive argument from their previous fight which had been successful in getting them to back off. Lucius Malfoy drummed his fingers against his desk in irritable silence.

"Our family has never shied away from a bit of nepotism," Rose said after allowing the silence to stretch for a few long moments. Lucius gave her an annoyed look, but she could see the underlying amusement in the quirk of his lips.

"Rose, I would be happy to fund almost any other venture of yours but this one," he said seriously.

"Father, when Damocles Belby began researching the Wolfsbane potion, he was met with plenty of resistance by those who thought research into lycanthropy was an unworthy subject. But as soon as he proved successful, he received fame, fortune, and even an Order of Merlin," Rose replied.

"And you propose to be just as successful?" There was some sarcasm in Lucius' voice, but Rose raised her chin and looked straight into his eyes.

"Why not? I am a Malfoy after all." This time Lucius did smile at his daughter. Sensing weakness, she leaned forward and allowed her gaze to soften. "I am going to research lycanthropy. You can't talk me out of it. I did what you wanted by marrying the man you picked out for me. Now I'm asking you to do something for me in return. The sooner my research receives proper funding, and I start having results, the sooner you and mother can begin feeling proud of me and my work rather than ashamed of it."

Lucius digested this speech in silence, his keen eyes looking his daughter over while he took another sip of whiskey. Her hazel eyes refused to look away, and he was struck by how very similar they were. Both ruthless in the pursuit of their goals, both overly ambitious, both intuitively able to craft their words to persuade someone. Despite his own concerns surrounding her initial adoption, Rose truly had become a daughter to him, and it was always followed with a hint of surprise whenever he was reminded exactly how proud of her he was and how invested he was in her success. His eyes followed her hand when she reached into her robes and drew out one final piece of paper and slid it across his desk towards him. He carefully picked it up and let his eyes skim the contents.

"Any donation will be completely anonymous," he asked, summarizing the contents of the paper.

"Correct. Until, and if, a donor chooses to make their donation public," Rose confirmed. "Until that time, it will just appear that you made a donation to St. Mungo's itself. All the reward—none of the risks."

Lucius could once again feel the unexpected pride for Rose bubbling in his stomach. She had walked him through this conversation perfectly. Had she simply presented all of the information at once, he would have quickly rejected it. Instead she'd allowed him to become invested in the discussion, to air his concerns and grievances one at a time. And then she'd used her most convincing argument at the last moment when he was most persuadable. Like father like daughter, it seemed. Leaning over, he pulled a checkbook out of his desk drawer and dipped his quill in emerald ink.

Rose grinned.

With the first donation made, convincing others to offer money to fund her research was substantially easier. With the list of donors that Belby had generously offered them, Rose spent the last weeks of July and well into August fundraising. Most were not able to offer anywhere near the amount that her father had, but every little bit helped. Augusta Longbottom—a rather eccentric old witch whom Rose had never met prior to having tea and discussing the research had come closest to matching it. The woman had no interest in retaining anonymity and her only real reservation about giving the donation was Rose herself—having been raised as a Malfoy and now married to a Dolohov. By the end of tea, however, Augusta had written out a large check, her stuffed vulture teetering precariously on her head as she did so.

It was nearly the end of August when Rose found herself standing on the front step of 4 Privet Drive while she waited for someone to answer the door. Living in a muggle style apartment, she had now become quite familiar with a doorbell and had easily found the one installed on this house beside the brass doorhandle. Rose stared at the large agapanthus blooms that lined the immaculate garden while she waited, trying not to think about what a bad idea this was. When the door finally did open, it was wrenched with such force by the large, purple-faced man who opened it that Rose was surprise he hadn't yanked it off its hinges.

The two eyed one another warily before the man reached out and pulled her into the house, quickly shutting the door behind her. Rose stumbled a bit at the unexpected manhandling and smoothed out the sundress and cardigan she was wearing. She heard a sharp intake of breath from her right and turned her head to see a tall horse-faced woman who had a hand pressed to her mouth. The woman's eyes were looking Rose over from head to foot, and Rose imagined that her Aunt was shocked by the resemblance she bore to her long dead sister.

"Rose," Harry's voice made her look around once more, and she saw that he was standing part way up the stairs, carefully out of reach of his Uncle. The look on his face clearly expressed that he hadn't been sure she was really going to come. Rose was a bit perturbed to see that the clothes he was wearing were so oversized on him as to be comical with his shirt reaching almost to his knees and the baggy jeans belted around his waist rolled up several times.

"Hi Harry," she greeted. "Ready to go?"

"Uh, not quite yet," he said with an embarrassed look and disappeared back upstairs. Rose resisted rolling her eyes just barely.

"You have a lovely house," Rose said to her Aunt and Uncle just for something to break the awkward silence. As she could only see their foyer, this wasn't much of a compliment. Vernon's face purpled even more at this comment.

"At least you had the decency to dress properly," he said, looking over her muggle clothing. Rose raised her eyebrows at him. Harry had warned her in his letter that they might act like this, but she was still taken aback at his rudeness.

"I'll be changing into normal clothes after we leave," she said, putting her hands on her hips and eyeing him coldly. This movement allowed her to push back her cardigan enough that the wand stuffed into the belt around her waist was clearly visible. Vernon's face went chalky white and his mouth snapped shut. A little squeal of fear came from Petunia who clutched the doorframe into the kitchen with trembling fingers. Rose finally succumbed to the eye roll she'd been holding back. She was saved from further interaction with the pair by the loud sound of Harry dragging his trunk down the stairs and the gentle hooting of his snowy owl.

"Ready?" he asked, slightly out of breath.

"Just one moment," Rose said, drawing her wand and pointing it at Harry.

"Wha—what are you doing," she was interrupted by Vernon's terrified bellow. He pointed a sausage sized finger at her shakily. "I will not stand for that unnaturalness under my roof!"

"And what, exactly, are you going to do about it," Rose asked sardonically, twirling her wand in her fingers and narrowing her eyes at the man threateningly. He opened and closed his mouth at her like a fish out of water before storming past them into the kitchen, dragging Petunia with him.

"What charming relatives we have," she said, and Harry grinned at her. Pointing her wand back at him, she carefully transfigured his clothes, shrinking them down to a more appropriate fit. They still had an old hand-me-down look about them, but at least now he didn't look absolutely ridiculous.

"Thanks," Harry said, glancing down at the much more comfortable clothing.

"No problem," she said with a shrug. "Have you ever apparated before?"

Harry shook his head, and Rose grinned.

"Keep hold of your trunk and owl," she instructed, grabbing ahold of his upper arm and turning on the spot. The pair missed the screams that emanated from the Dursleys at the loud pop that accompanied their disappearance.

"That was awful," Harry said shakily, rubbing his ears and forehead with his hands and blinking rapidly.

"You get used to it."

"I think I'll stick to a broom," he said, and Rose chuckled. They had apparated just outside of the penthouse apartment—like most wizard dwellings, Rose and Stefan had placed protections on their residence so that one could not apparate directly into it. She held the door open for Harry to enter with his trunk and owl.

"You're welcome to let out, uh… what is his name?"

"Her name's Hedwig."

"Right, Hedwig. She can join Morgan over there," Rose gestured towards the far end of the room where Stefan's barred owl was preening himself on his perch. After Harry opened her cage and Hedwig had fluttered across the room to join Morgan, Rose turned to the other two people standing in the kitchen.

"Harry, this is my husband, Stefan, and… our friend, Damien," Rose introduced. "Stefan, Damien, this is Harry… my brother."

It was the first time she'd actually called Stefan her husband and the moniker felt strange as it fell off of her tongue. It felt no less strange, however, to introduce Harry as her brother. The boy glanced at her when she said it, and she imagined he'd felt similarly. Rose had warned Damien and Stefan that she'd be bringing Harry today so the two were on their best behavior.

"Are you hungry, Harry," Stefan asked kindly, gesturing towards one of the barstools at the kitchen island. It was lunch time and the pair had obviously just finished eating. Harry nodded and sat down, his eyes roving about the room curiously. Rose sat near him and gratefully accepted the plate that was offered to her as well. She couldn't help staring as Harry shoveled the food they gave him down his throat like a starving person. She, Stefan, ad Damien exchanged concerned glances. Stefan graciously portioned out a second large helping onto his plate when he finished the first in mere moments. Harry flushed when he realized that the three were staring at him.

"Dudley—my cousin—is on a diet," he said by way of explanation. Rose glanced over the already too thin boy with a critical air.

"Why would his diet affect you?"

"Well, we're all following it technically. But Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid all sent me food earlier in the summer, so I've been living off of that," he said hurriedly, tucking into his second helping.

"You should have written me, we could have sent you something too," Rose said lamely. She knew why he hadn't written. The pair had rarely interacted before this year. There was no reason for him to have thought of her as an ally. Harry was tactful enough not to say this, and the pair quietly finished their lunch.

Rose felt fidgety and awkward. When Mrs. Weasley had written and asked her if she'd be willing to pick up Harry from their Aunt and Uncle's and drop him off at the Weasley's for the World Cup, she had been very reluctant to acquiesce to the request. She hadn't really thought that the Dursleys would be more comfortable letting Harry go with her rather than one of them just because she was his sister. But she had felt obligated to say yes after the wedding gift Mrs. Weasley had sent and somehow a simple transportation task had turned into her taking Harry to Diagon Alley to pick up his school things beforehand. Rose suspected that Mrs. Weasley knew about their strained relationship and was trying to get them to spend some time together.

"If you have your book list, we can head over to Diagon Alley, it's only a short walk from here," Rose said when it seemed like Harry couldn't fit any more food into his stomach.

"Thanks for lunch," Harry said politely to Stefan before following Rose out of the door.

When they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, Rose transfigured her midnight blue cardigan back into her usual long witch's robes that opened casually in the front so that her crisp white sundress was still visible. Though she enjoyed muggle clothing, wearing robes always felt right to her.

"I can't wait to do magic outside of school," Harry said longingly while she tapped the bricks to let them into the Alley.

"It is the best," she agreed easily. "Where to first?"

"Well, I need some potion's supplies, so let's stop by the Apothecary. Then we can head over to Flourish and Blotts… and it says I need dress robes this year," he answered quickly. Rose knew that the dress robes must relate to the Triwizard Tournament that would be taking place but gave no hint of this to Harry.

Rose was able to help him find the needed supplies easily enough, and the pair were soon on their way over to the bookstore. She saw Harry's eyes flick longingly to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Shop, and she made a mental note to stop there on their way out of the alley. The book shop was not particularly busy given that they had come in the middle of a weekday. The two decided to split up in order to get the books and have done with the shopping as quickly as possible.

She moved towards the back of the bookstore in search of Standard Defensive Spells: Year 4. Rose saw a mostly empty set of shelves and her eyes flickered to the top shelf that still held a few copies of the book sitting on them. Standing on her tiptoes, she reached for one of the books, her fingertips just brushing the bottom of the book's spine. With a grunt of irritation, Rose stretched higher, trying to pluck at the bottom edge of the book and slowly work it out of the bookcase. Being fairly tall, she was not used to being unable to reach things. She had made very little progress at pulling out the book when a hand reached up and pulled the book out for her. Startled, she dropped down from her toes and stumbled. Another hand brushed against the small of her back to steady her. The heat of the palm through her robe sent a shiver up her spine.

"Thank you," she said, a bit embarrassed, glancing up at the person who had helped her.

"You're welcome," Remus said back in a would-be-casual tone of voice, his blue eyes observing her face with a quiet intensity. Her breath caught in her throat at the unexpected sight, and she was all too aware of how close they were. Her shoulder was practically pressed into his chest and his hand had not left the small of her back. Rose could feel her face growing warm and stepped back from his arms, brushing her hair back from her face and glancing around the aisle awkwardly.

"Your book," he offered it, and she accepted the text from his hand, taking in the sage green robes he was wearing. She thought the color looked nice against the paleness of his skin and the sandy brown of his hair. He looked very handsome. It took her a moment to realize that they were the same color as the manager's robe at the front counter.

"Do you… work here?" She asked in surprise.

"Just started," he said, not quite meeting her gaze.

"That's great," she told him, and he shrugged impassively. Rose could tell he was frustrated to have only found a job restocking shelves in a local bookstore when he was capable of doing so much more. The pair fell into an awkward silence, both remembering their disastrous attempt to reconnect in mid-July. Rose twisted her wedding ring around her finger absent-mindedly, trying to come up with something else to say.

"Are you here with Draco," he asked gesturing to the book she was holding.

"Oh, no, actually—"

"Professor Lupin," Harry's surprised voice came from behind her, and Remus' face lit up in an easy grin.

"Harry, how are you," he asked as Harry came to stand beside her. Rose felt a pang of jealousy that Remus would easily smile upon seeing Harry but had looked so grave when confronted with her own face. Although she supposed she hadn't exactly smiled at him either.

"I'm alright. It's great to see you," he said. Remus glanced from Harry to Rose and back again.

"Are you two here together," he asked curiously.

"Rose is dropping me at the Weasley's for the Quidditch World Cup," Harry explained. "We're just getting my school things first."

"I see, do you need help finding anythi—"

"Mr. Lupin," an annoyed voice interrupted the three as the manager rushed up to them. He shot a panicked look in Rose's direction, obviously recognizing her as Lucius Malfoy's daughter. "I've told you to stay away from customers. We hired you to stock shelves, not—"

"Remus here was just helping us," Rose cut the man off, anger bubbling in her stomach at the man. "He's a dear friend of us both. I would have hoped to see that he was being better treated by his employers."

"Miss—Miss Malfoy, I—I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend," the man stammered while Rose held him in place with a spiteful glare.

"We were having a private conversation before you so rudely interrupted," she dismissed the man with an irritable wave of her hand. He quickly backed away, muttering apologies all the while. Rose realized that both Harry and Remus were staring at her, and she gave them both a small smile. Harry was giving her a look of approval, while Remus' face was unreadable. He did, however, return the smile she gave him, and her heart thumped loudly in her chest at the expression.

"I should get back to work," he said apologetically, and Rose nodded, her eyes refusing to leave his. "It was nice seeing you both."

"You too Professor," Harry returned.

"Want to grab ice cream before we get your dress robes," she asked Harry while they headed towards the checkout counter.

"That would be great," he grinned. Rose glanced over her shoulder before they turned the corner, hoping to catch sight of Remus one more time. When she did, she found that his gaze was still lingering on her.