Chapter Two: Let it Fade Away
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any part, the characters and the HP universe all still belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. Last I checked. * sighs in disappointment *
A/N: Aaaaaand here's number two. Wow you guys, the response to the first chapter has been amazing and I just want to take a moment to say thank you all for your support and encouragement. Just a quick note to let you know that the story will jump between the present and Rose's past (i.e. the future) so pay close attention to the dates.
And they were young and independent,
and they thought they had it planned
Should have known right from the start
you can't predict the end
-Panic! At the Disco
Hogwarts Infirmary, Hogwarts, Scotland, 25th December 1994
Hermione Granger was a witch of many talents, she was clever, cool under pressure, and after four years being Harry Potter's best friend she considered herself to be pretty near unshockable. Apparently though, even she had her limits. She barely suppressed the urge to do something foolish like pinch herself as she took in the sight before her. A tiny, extremely blonde child had just kicked the great Albus Dumbledore in the shin!
"Don't hurt my Mummy! Wake her up. Immediately!"
Immediately? For such a young girl, her vocabulary was impressive. The girl jumped up and grabbed the headmaster by his beard, pulling it down until she could force him to meet her eyes.
"You make her wake up or I'll make you go to sleep!"
Hermione locked eyes with Harry. His expression mirrored her own perfectly, torn between confusion and amusement. Gently, Dumbledore prised her hands away, and with a grace belying his age knelt down before her.
"Be calm child. You're mother is not hurt, only stunned."
The girl cocked her head as she eyed the older man with obvious distrust. "Why did you stun her?"
Hermione frowned. The guarded expression looked wrong on a child so young. And the mother, she had looked so manic, so haunted. What had happened to these people? She looked over at Ron, expecting to see the same concern she felt. Instead, his face was twisted and red, disgust plain on his face. Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. Despite his many, many, flaws, Ron was usually a sympathetic person. She stared at him intently, searching for answers. She was so focused that she barely heard Dumbledore's next words.
"Your mother seems to have experienced a terrible shock. She was very upset and we just needed to let her rest for a little while. Now, do you think you could tell me your name?"
The girl still appeared dubious, but must have decided that it was safe enough for now.
"My name is Tori."
Dumbledore smiled gently at the girl before rising. "Alright Tori. You see this girl here?"
Tori nodded as he gestured towards Hermione. "This here is Hermione. If you'll allow it, she can take you down to the infirmary while Harry and I go ahead with your mother. Mr. Weasley, if you would be so kind as to return to your dormitory." Ron, uncharacteristically silent until now, opened his mouth to protest but found himself cut off.
"No need to worry, I'm sure your friends will spare no detail upon their return." His tone was light, but final. Unwilling to argue with the headmaster, Ron skulked away, clearly unhappy. Hermione shook her head in exasperation. She didn't know what was wrong with Ron this year. It seemed as though the boy were looking for any excuse to take offence. Vowing to get to the bottom of it at a later time, she approached Tori and offered her hand for the girl to take. Hesitantly, she accepted.
The pair walked together in silence, the younger of the two taking in her surroundings with something akin to wonder. Hermione grinned at the sight. She remembered wearing a similar expression for almost her entire first year. Life-threatening situations aside, the castle truly was magnificent.
"Is this Hogwarts?" Tori asked in a small voice.
"Yes, it is. You've heard of it?" Hermione asked with a smile.
Tori appeared to consider her reply before answering. "Yes. I haven't been here before though. It's big."
"It is," Hermione agreed. "But don't worry, you'll find your way around in no time. It just takes a little bit of getting used to." Truthfully, she had no idea if the girl would be in the castle long enough to get used to it, but it seemed like a comforting thing to say.
They continued their journey in companionable quiet and before long they had found their way to the hospital wing. When they arrived, they found Madame Pomfrey already attending to the unconscious woman, exchanging quiet words with the headmaster as she did so.
"Signs of malnutrition... improperly healed breaks... signs of torture. Merlin Albus, what happened to this poor woman?"
Harry approached Hermione looking distraught. "Hermione, Madame Pomfrey said you should take the little girl to her office while she sees to her mother."
The girl looked between the pair, eyes shining with tears. "I want to stay with Mummy. I can stay with her, can't I Hermione?" She pleaded silently with the older girl, gripping her hand tightly.
Hermione stared at the girl helplessly. She didn't know what to say. Luckily, it seemed like Harry was on the case. He knelt down to meet her eyes.
"Tori. Is it okay if I call you Tori?" she nodded tearfully. "Thank you Tori. You seem like a clever girl, so I know you can see that your mum is very poorly at the minute." Hermione glared at the boy. How could her knowing that possibly help?
"But what you don't know, is that Madame Pomfrey is the best healer in the world."
Tori snorted disbelievingly. "In the world?"
Harry continued without blinking. "In the whole world. She's healed me up more times than I can count. She's going to have your mum fixed up for you in no time, but to do that she needs to concentrate. Do you understand?"
Unhappy, but seeming to understand, she conceded. "Okay. I understand. Will you stay in the office with me Hermione?"
Hermione nodded kindly. "Of course I will. Harry will too, won't you?"
Harry stared at her incredulously. "I will?" She shot him a sharp look, causing him to back track instantly. "I mean, sure I will. Absolutely!"
All of a sudden, the girl's tears vanished without a trace. She gifted them with a beaming smile, satisfaction rolling off of her in waves. "Great. Do you think there might be sweets in the office? I haven't had any sweets in ages."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, flabbergasted. Either this child was singularly resilient, or they'd just been played. Either way, they moved as a group towards the small private office at the back of the hospital wing, apparently on the hunt for sweets.
Meanwhile, Madame Pomfrey was hard at work. She broke and re-mended bones, rubbed salve on bruises and mentally created a potions regiment for the emaciated witch before her. Albus Dumbledore observed the scene with interest. No stranger to odd occurrences, even he was intrigued by the events of the past few hours. Intrigued, and more than a little concerned. Undoubtedly, the woman and her daughter had suffered greatly. But to what end? His brow wrinkled as he looked on at the young woman. Even in sleep, her face was pained. Her hands twitched and her legs flailed, as though she were having a nightmare.
Hogwarts Infirmary, Hogwarts, Scotland, 17th March 2023
"Miss Weasley-"
"Potter." She scowled at the young healer. No matter how many times she corrected the man he insisted on addressing her by her bastard step-father's name. The man gave a condescending smile before continuing.
"Yes. Well. Clearly you didn't obtain these injuries by accident. If someone has done this to you, you need to let me know. I assure you, no-one will ever know that it came from you."
Rose snorted. Yeah, right.
"I told you, I tripped and fell down the stairs!" The man's smile vanished and his face grew pinched.
"As you say then. I'll go and get the Skele-grow."
"Finally." Rose grumbled. It had only taken twenty minutes of questioning. Her leg was throbbing.
The dark-skinned girl beside her rolled her eyes heavily. "Pratt by name, prat by nature, eh?"
Rose giggled through the pain. Trust Lily to make jokes at a time like this. Lily Potter, although not related to her by blood, was the closest thing to a sister Rose had. When the truth of their respective parentages had come out two years earlier the girls had leaned on each other for strength. Although, it had definitely been more of a shock to Rose than it had to Lily. Ginny Potter's affair with Dean Thomas had been something of an open secret within the family for many a year. That he was Lily's father had been obvious to everyone except Harry, who had been so dosed up on love potions that he would have believed the sky was purple if Ginny had been the one to tell him so.
"Never a truer word spoken Potter." A smug, familiar voice alerted Rose to the presence of Scorpius Malfoy. Of course he would be here right now.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Lily asked hotly. Despite the boy's burgeoning relationship with her cousin, Lily still hadn't warmed to him.
"Lily, hush." Rose chided, happy to see her sort-of boyfriend. "Hi Scorpius."
"Alright love?" He approached the bed and brushed his lips against her forehead. "Have you been causing trouble again?"
She grinned. "Always."
"That's my girl." He winked at her before conjuring a soft armchair to sit on.
"You two are revolting." Lily wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Scorpius laughed just as Healer Pratt returned with the Skele-grow, handing it to her with a glare. She shot him her most saccharine smile before tossing the dose back in a single gulp without flinching. The man huffed and stalked off. The second he was out of their sight, Rose quickly raised a silencing charm as she started to cough and splutter violently.
"Bleugh. Talk about revolting." She shivered as she fought not to be sick. Honestly, how had no-one ever found a way to make this stuff taste better?
"Brilliant, Rosie!" Lily laughed. "Did you see his face?"
"Yes, yes, very funny. We all know Rose is brilliant" Scorpius said dismissively. "But we need to talk about Albus, The evil git is getting worse." Rose grimaced. He was right, they had all been avoiding the issue for too long.
"I know. Did you hear about what he and Hugo did to Lisette Carmichael last week."
Lily sighed sadly. "I did. Poor girl will be out the rest of the year now. Not that they can prove it was them."
"No, they've got too many little flunkies ready to provide them with an alibi." Scorpius' voice was laced with disgust.
"Why didn't you tell Pratt that it was Albus' tripping jinx that sent you down the stairs?" Lily asked quietly. He might be her brother, but even she couldn't deny that he deserved punishment.
"Use your head Lily." Rose snapped. "It's just his word against mines, and this way no-one will suspect me when I retaliate."
"Retaliate?" Lily said blankly.
"Obviously" she raised a single eyebrow as she spoke. "Part of the reason he gets away with it all is because no-one ever stands up to him."
"Except you" shot Scorpius wryly.
"Except us" she corrected. "Anyway, the point is, if people see that he can be beat, that not everyone is scared to stand up to him, then maybe they'll be brave enough to do it themselves."
"My brave little Gryffindor." Scorpius teased, although his eyes shone with pride.
"Takes one to know one." She shot back, her eyes lingering on his.
"Sorry to interrupt whatever little moment this is you two are having," interjected Lily, not sounding sorry at all. "But what about the younger years? I was thinking that we should set up a buddy system of a sorts. Make a rota so that an older student can walk them between classes."
"Good thinking." Rose agreed with a smile. "If the teachers aren't doing anything to protect us, that's fine, we'll do it ourselves."
Lost thoughts of their own private rebellion, Rose hadn't noticed Scorpius getting out of his chair. Without notice, he grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her squarely on the mouth.
"I bloody love you Rose Potter."
She stared at him, dazed. "Oh."
Unable to help herself, Lily burst into a fit of giggles.
Hogwarts Infirmary, Hogwarts, Scotland, 26th December 1994
Rose woke slowly, face wet with tears as she emerged from a dream of happier times. Lily, gone. Scorpius, gone. Her parents, her friends, everyone she loved, gone. It was just her and Tori now, alone in the world. She sighed heavily as she turned her head to the left, hoping to find a glass of water to soothe her raw throat.
She was surprised to find a fifteen year old version of her mother sound asleep on the armchair by her bed. She was even more surprised to find her five year old daughter curled up asleep on the girl's lap. It was a scene so familiar that it made her heart ache. She could almost see it, if the girl's face were only a little more lined, her hair just a little bit shorter and streaked with grey. Her mother had remained an uncommonly beautiful witch until the end. She stifled a sob.
She sat in her misery, contemplating. She thought and she ruminated and she considered until finally she felt a spark of hope. She was here, wasn't she? She had made it. That meant that nothing from her past had happened yet. Nothing was set in stone.
That, after all, was why she had journeyed here in the first place. She smiled slightly at the still sleeping pair before settling back down to rest. She would need it for what was to come.
A/N: And there it is guys, chapter two. Let me know what you guys thought. As always, I am working without a beta, so apologies in advance for any mistakes.
Thanks for reading!
Til next time,
SJ