Shit, he knows! How the hell does he know!?

"What's he talking about, Rose?" Sirius questioned, still kneeling in front of my chair at the dining room table.

Everyone remained quiet, gazing upon me. Dumbledore was staring particularly intently, an uncharacteristic frown on his face as he stood unmoving at Snape's side.

"Well? Are you going to tell them or should I?" Snape questioned aggressively, hands balled at his sides. I noticed he was wearing joggers and a light running shirt, attire he wouldn't be caught dead in at Hogwarts.

"How did you know where I was? That the dementors had come for me?" I countered. I'd been too muddled and preoccupied with the thought of seeing Sirius again, I hadn't given much thought to how quickly Snape had gotten to me in the underpass.

"Irrelevant, Potter."

"And how the hell did you know about the — " I stopped myself, not willing to admit to taking the pills in front of them all. And did Snape know about the drinking too? I didn't care so much if only Snape knew, but I couldn't bear the thought of disappointing Sirius or Remus. Even Dumbledore would be ashamed if he knew how I'd been spending my summer so far.

"Please do continue that sentence, Miss Potter." Snape sneered, clearly furious.

"Were you following me?" I shuddered at the creepy image, but there could be no other explanation for how he'd found out. I'd been discreet about the alcohol, only drinking at night where I knew no one would see, though clearly Snape had. As for the pills, I'd never taken them in front of anyone. The closest I'd gotten was at Mrs. Figg's earlier that morning, but even then I'd gone into her loo so she wouldn't see me.

"I think this is where I should butt in" Dumbledore murmured, moving towards me.

"Rose, we couldn't let you live in the muggle world unprotected. It was too big of a risk, even with Mrs. Figg there to keep an eye on things"

"Mrs. Figg?" I was becoming more and more confused, what did my cat-crazy neighbor have to do with anything?

"She's a squib, Rose. I've been getting updates from her since I placed you on your Aunt and Uncle's doorstep some fourteen years ago."

I took in this information, shocked that I hadn't discovered it earlier, and Dumbledore continued "After what happened in the third task, we all agreed that you needed more protection in case Voldemort planned to come for you again. So, you've had an Order member watching out for you ever since you got back to Privet Drive. Professor Snape was assigned to watch you today, that's why he was there to help so quickly after the dementors attacked."

My draw dropped open in shock and I instantly felt a burning embarrassment start in my chest and make its way up my face, my cheeks glowing with warmth. I wanted to run out the front door rather than face the sickening realization that they'd known all along about the drinking and pills. But then why was Snape pushing me to reveal that information if everyone in the Order knew about it already?

"I know you might think it was an invasion of your privacy—"

"Invasion?" I shrieked "You ensured that I had absolutely NO privacy by doing what you did!"

"Rose, please. We had your best interests at heart. And I shudder to think what might've happened had Severus not been there today."

Dumbledore drew closer yet, bending down to take my hand in his own.

"I wish you had trusted us enough to tell us how much you were struggling. That's why we sent the extra potions and draughts to you last week, hoping you'd use those instead of drinking or taking the pills. It's okay to need help, and I was foolish to think you would be able to get by with only a handful of sleeping draughts. Professor Snape will find the right combination of potions to help you deal with Cedric's loss, you don't have to self-medicate anymore."

"Pills? Dumbledore, what pills are you talking about?" Sirius asked, staring intently at the Headmaster, clearly confused.

"It's nothing" I said, quickly realizing Snape and Dumbledore hadn't discussed the pills with everyone in the Order yet "It was just some stimulants I got from a few muggle teens, no big deal really."

I tried to downplay the situation as Dumbledore had presented it as being so serious and dire. I was hurt that Dumbledore thought I didn't trust him though, and nothing was farther from the truth. In reality, it was that I couldn't bear disappointing him after everything he'd done for me, and it was difficult to admit weakness when he so often praised me for how brave and strong I was. But losing Cedric? It was so hard to be brave in the face of that without a crutch, and I'd done my best to find one with what was available to me.

Sirius's eyes widened in distress "You both knew about this and didn't say anything!?" he accused Dumbledore and Snape, "I'm her Godfather, I should've been told! And Rose should've been brought here first thing this summer, the stories she's told me about those Dursley's, I wouldn't count on them to keep a pet toad alive let alone a little girl!"

I bristled at being called "little" and was about to protest when Snape retorted "And who exactly would've cared for her if she had come here first thing Black? You weren't exactly a model caregiver after letting that curse hit you. You were a useless invalid, in fact."

"Severus stop" Dumbledore admonished, moving towards the potions professor once again.

"You want to talk about caregiving? Rose was perfectly capable of casting a patronus before she went to stay at the damned Dursley's, a decision I was vehemently AGAINST, and her magic becomes so weak while living there that she needs you to come and save the day! And it seems you left it a little late in the rescuing department if they were about to perform the kiss by the time showed up!"

"And you think I wanted her to go there? Petunia's always been an intolerant bigot, any witch or wizard would go mad living with her!"

"Forgive me if I don't trust your judgement Snivellus, after all you failed to notice Barty Crouch junior's long-term use of polyjuice potion all of last year! Oh, what a great potions master you are!"

I was sick of being talked about like I wasn't in the room, something that clearly happened more often than I knew. It seemed that my safety had been discussed in great detail unbeknownst to me, and I was the fool who just went along with the final decision.

"What on Earth are you two carrying on about now? You're bickering like an old married couple, enough!"

Tonks had suddenly appeared, her hair hot pink and mussed up which gave the look that she had just gotten out of bed. And judging by her pajamas, that was exactly the case.

"Tonks!" I cried, running to greet her with a hug "I'm so happy you're okay!"

"Ah, don't worry about me sweetheart, your godfather took the worst of it for me."

"What are cousins for?" Sirius replied, clearly in a lighter mood now that Tonks was in the room, though his voice was still heavy with annoyance.

"Right, well now that the air has been cleared and everyone's up to date on what's gone on with Rose…" Dumbledore interjected, his gaze drifting over to me. "I must go to the ministry right away. Even if you just attempted casting your patronus Rose, they might still flag you for underage magic. And I have a feeling that I know who sent those dementors, but I'd like to confirm my suspicions before making any accusations. Rose, you'll remain here for now and we'll discuss everything when I return. Sirius and Remus, a word if you please." He said, ushering them into the entranceway.

"What's with the blood, redhead? Trying to make yourself even more ginger?" Tonks teased, directing my attention away from whatever Dumbledore was discussing with the two marauders.

I reached my hand up to my temple, now healed, but I could feel that a lot of blood had dried against my hair and skin from the injury. I heard the front door open then close as Dumbledore made his exit, though I could hear Remus and Sirius still whispering in the hallway.

"Ha ha" I replied sarcastically, "Making fun of the sick, your standards have reached an all-time low Tonks"

She stuck her tongue out at me before walking in the direction of the kitchen, reemerging with a bowl of cereal in her hand. She plopped down into the chair I had just been occupying, pulling a newspaper towards her as she propped her feet on the end of the table, ankles crossed.

"Is that the Prophet?" I asked, briskly walking forward and peaking at the front cover as I reached my hand out for the paper.

"Wait!" Snape said, snatching the paper from me, but it was too late. My photo had been splashed across the cover, the photo Rita Skeeter had taken of me during the champion interviews last year to be exact. The title of the article had been "The Girl Who Lied: No Proof of the Dark Lord's Return."

Dread settled deep in my stomach "What the hell? She can't be serious, what does she mean by publishing that crap?" I questioned no-one in particular. My mind did loops trying to think through the "reality" that Rita was presenting. Fudge hadn't believed that Voldemort had returned when he'd come to the Hospital Wing after the third task, calling me hysterical. But surely he'd come to see sense by now, the Ministry would be preparing to defend themselves and their citizens for the coming storm. But what if that wasn't the case?

"Does no one believe me?" I asked, looking first into the guilty face of Tonks before turning to Snape "They think I'm lying?"

Snape sighed heavily before handing me the newspaper back, his expression torn "Better you know what you're up against I suppose."

I quickly read through the front page before skimming the other articles in the paper, flushed with anger as I took in the ridiculousness of what was being speculated. When I got to a particularly nasty article that hinted that I might have killed Cedric in the third task in my desperation to win, I crumpled the newspaper into a ball and threw it into the fireplace, hands shaking.

"Does anyone actually believe this crap?" I questioned, hoping everyone would be able to see the faux articles for the lies that they were.

"Depends who you're asking, love" Tonks said, "Obviously no one with half a brain does, but the problem is there's a lot of scared dunderheads out there at the minute, and a lot of them work at the Ministry and the Prophet."

I sat down once again, bringing my head to my hands as the room began to tilt.

"Rose, don't overwork yourself. I was able to reverse most of the effects of your concussion, but you shouldn't let yourself stress" Madame Pomfrey said. "Why don't you go on upstairs and wash the blood out of your hair, then you can chat with everyone calmly before getting some rest, hmm?"

I exhaled quickly in exasperation "Fine" I said, not wanting to undo the matron's hard work. "But I don't have any of my things here…Hedwig! I left her behind too!" I realized, worried that she'd been on her own for too long.

"Dumbledore's asked me to bring your things for you, Potter. I'll bring them, and your…Hedwig, by the end of the day" Snape said, sounding like he would rather pick chewing gum off the undersides of school desks than gather my things for me. "Please tell me everything you need is contained to your bedroom?"

"Well yes, mostly" I admitted "There's a few books the Durlseys locked up in my old room — I mean, the cupboard under the stairs, if you'd get those too? I think I'll need to reference them for a few of my summer assignments…Sir" I added onto the end, not wanting to be told off for forgetting to use respectful titles.

Snape gazed at me, his head tilted to the side and his eyes squinting as if he was trying to work something out about what I'd just said. He seemed to give up when Sirius and Remus entered the dining room again, giving a curt "Very well" before turning and leaving, the front door slamming as he left the house.

Tonks led me to her room, inviting me to use the ensuite to shower and to take whatever of her clothes I wanted, considering I was still in my slightly bloody, and pukey, running attire. Sirius had handed me a fresh towel and a new toothbrush before I'd gone upstairs with Tonks, joking that my breath smelled worse than Buckbeak's. I turned the shower knob to full heat, shuddering when the steaming water hit my skin.

I wonder what they're discussing about me now that I'm not in the room? I thought, I hope Sirius isn't too upset about the pills…I still burned with embarrassment when I thought of that, though I didn't regret it. Some of the pills were still in the back pocket of my running shorts, and I sighed in relief, comforted by the thought that they were there if I needed them.