As they were led by a prefect through the castle towards the Gryffindor tower, Rose stopped in front of a section of the wall that didn't look as aged as the rest. What really caught her attention was a grinning portrait of a young man she recognized from a family album her father owned. He had bright red hair, a long nose, and he waved enthusiastically at her when she stopped.

In loving memory of

Frederick Weasley,

who died defending Hogwarts, Hope, and Life

"Albus, come look at this!"

Rose called breathlessly.

"What is it-...wow...can he hear us?"

Al joined her staring in wonderment at their deceased uncle.

"Of course I can hear you! You both look like relatives, who had who?"

The portrait asked brightly.

"My parents are Hermione Granger and Ronald Wea-..Ron."

Rose said.

"Harry Potter and Ginny"

Al pointed to himself.

"Ah, so you're James' brother. Both of you in Gryffindor?"

The pair nodded, and the mention of Gryffindor brought Al's attention back to the present.

"Rose! Where'd they go?!"

Rose looked around, but the rest of their house was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh no, this is my fault, wait here for a moment."

Portrait-Fred vanished, and re-entered his frame a few minutes later.

"Here he comes,"

he pointed down the hall, where they saw a friendly looking ghost witha ruffled collar gliding towards them.

"Nick, these are family members. Kids, this is Nearly Headless Nick. He'll show you how to get there."

"Delighted to meet you! Now, follow me, stay close!"

Rose waved at Fred as they walked away with Nick. She wondered if George knew about this painting...

When they got to the common room there were only a few people left. Albus decided to go to bed, but Rose didn't think she could sleep if she tried. Feeling alone again, her thoughts returned to the sorting hat. It must have been a mistake, simple as that. There was no way that she, Rose Weasley was meant to be in the same house as daring, risk-taking Albus and James Potter. There was just no way. She had always been the quiet, cautious one. Not that she hadn't envied them, their fearless stunts and miniature adventures. Of course she wished she was like them, but she'd never quite been able to step over her own personal lines and take that leap. And now she was trapped in a house set apart by it's courage. Slumped in a chair in front of the fire, Rose thought she might cry.

The hours passed calmly, and the next morning she was awakened by James shaking her. Blinking confusedly, she discovered she had never left her chair. James looked worried.

"Are you sure you're ok Rosie?"

"Yeah I just...fell asleep..."

She was still too dazed to explain, if she really felt like explaining at all. Close friends as they were, she wasn't entirely sure James would understand her fear, and she was almost positive Al wouldn't.

"Al and his friend already went down for breakfast, do you want me to wait for you?"

James sat down in her chair when she got up. He hadn't really meant it as a question, just informing her that he would wait.

"I'll just be a minute,"

Rose smiled gratefully as she ran upstairs to change and brush her hair.

Walking down to the Great Hall, James brought up another subject she would rather have avoided.

"Rose...That Malfoy kid..."

He sounded reluctant, as if he didn't want to upset her.

"I know we don't really know him, you're right. But really, he's in Slytherin, and his family is...well, they aren't exactly saints. My dad's told me loads of awful stuff Draco did when they were here-"

"James..."

Rose tried to interrupt, exasperated. James stopped walking and turned to face her.

"I'm not done, please listen to me Rose. Believe me, I wouldn't be telling you this if I wasn't truly worried.."

The look on his face made Rose's stomach turn. He was serious. Speaking a little lower now, he continued.

"That lot he hangs out with, they aren't good. While I'm almost willing to give Scorpius the benefit of the doubt, I know the others don't deserve it. I was here last year, remember, I've seen what they do. They hate muggles, and all people connected to muggles. Last year one of theirs got expelled for trying to get a little boy lost in the Forbidden Forest, and that wasn't even the worst of it. The kid was just lucky Hagrid was there. There were fires, vadalism, they were 5 times worse than any muggle bully. My point is, they aren't safe people, and the father away you stay from them the better."

James finished hurriedly.

Rose stared at him, shocked by what he was saying. She knew he wouldn't lie to her...

"O-ok,"

she nodded, and they continued walking. Upon entering the Great Hall James left her side to find his friends, and Rose was left to sit with Al and Corbin. Yet again she found herself uninterested in her food. Glancing around the room, she caught Scorpius' eye for a second. He tried to smile at her, but she looked away quickly. The thought of wizards hating each other for their ancestry disgusted her, but the thought of students harming other students for it...it was difficult for her to accept at all, and once she did, it terrified her. Sure she'd be sick if she actually ate anything, Rose decided to abandon the Great Hall altogether.

"Good morning Rosikins!"

Fred called to her from his frame as she approached.

"Ooh, maybe not such a good morning. Everything alright?"

"James was telling me about how last year..."

She swallowed, looking around nervously.

"Some students were hurt for having mixed blood..."

Fred's face became grim.

"Oh yeah, nasty business that. I remember several paintings were destroyed because their artists' were muggle born. There was a rumor that they were planning to drown some little girl..."

He nearly whispered the last sentence.

"Of course, most of it stopped after that one got expelled, but you never know. Oh no, I've upset you..."

Rose's face was pale.

"Now now, don't worry. I'll ask the other paintings to keep an eye out. Just don't wander off by yourself at night and you'll be fine. Well no, the rule is you shouldn't be out at night at all...ah what am I saying. Just don't get caught. And if you do get caught, don't mention me."

Rose laughed weakly, then said goodbye and headed up to get her books for class. First was History of Magic, which might not have been so bad if she'd been able to concentrate for more than 10 seconds at a time. Next was flying. The Gryffindors had that with Ravenclaw. Rose had been flying with James and Al for years, so there was nothing difficult about that class. Plus she had it with Andy, which was lucky since Albus wound up talking to Professor Wood about his father for the majority of the lesson. Andrea could fly well too, so they hovered high above the field while they talked. After commenting on the scenery(Rose made a mental note to come down to the lake when she had time) and talking about classes, the subject became families.

"My family are purebloods, the lot of them, but that doesn't really matter to me, you know? I say, 'if you're a witch then you're a witch, if you're a wizard then you're a wizard, and if you aren't then you aren't'. What does it matter who our parents are anyway? Your parents don't define you."

Rose smiled.

"Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, I love my Mum and Dad, they're great people. But not everyone is a hero like that and I'd rather just...figure it all out for myself"

Andy nodded her understanding.

"Alright you two! Come down!"

Professor Wood yelled at them from the ground as he began taking the brooms up to put away.

They were supposed to have Defense Against the Dark Arts next, but the Professor hadn't gotten to the school yet, so they were dismissed for the rest of the afternoon.

That night Rose didn't even bother going downstairs to eat. If she'd been able to sit with Andy things might have been different, but as it was Al and James were all she had, and they each had their own friends. The fire crackled warmly against the cold wind coming through the windows. Rose sighed as she opened her history book. Not having heard a word Professor Binns said, she had to read the whole chapter over before she could start on their homework. After an hour or so her eyelids started to droop, and she went to bed. Her last thought before sleeping was that maybe she was a little hungry after all...

There you go.