Chapter 3
Arrival

Author's Note: One of the reviews for the previous chapters labeled Hermione as acting "mushy". She needed to be during that final conversation – it was her own idea really. She wanted to calm down her children and reassure them that they really could do this. It was an encouragement tactic on her part.

Disclaimer: I disclaim a couple of paragraphs, and one very recognizable portion, previously seen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

(Rose)

Rose's eyelids felt heavy as she opened them. Her vision was cloudy – she saw white, but it looked faded. Rose blinked her eyes, and thankfully her vision cleared. The white color she had seen belonged to that of the ceiling of the room. She soon realized she was laying on her back on a carpeted floor. Her muscles ached and seemed to cry out for relief as she sat up.

The next thing she saw was her brother laying a few feet away, sprawled out across the carpet.

"Hugo?!" she cried out.

"Huhwhatisit?" Hugo's voice slurred out, as he stirred awake and his eyes opened.

Rose exhaled a deep breath of relief. Now that she knew her brother was okay, her mind went to other things. She suddenly remembered what was going on, and where they were – the same room of the Three Broomsticks they had just left. Rose gasped as a sudden thought went to her mind – nobody knew they were in the room – if someone caught them…

She hastily searched for her wand and was relieved to find that it was still in the pocket of her jeans. She took it out and waved it around the room, then uttered "Muffliato" – the sound-muffling spell her mother had taught her over the past summer. She thought back to what her mother said about their use of magic outside Hogwarts and hoped she was correct…

"Given that you won't be registered officially with the Ministry of Magic in that time period," Hermione had said one day when the topic had come up, "I don't think you have to worry about the Trace. You'll be able to use magic outside Hogwarts, but I urge you to use it sparingly just in case."

"R-Rose?" Hugo murmured, as he slowly sat up, "Where -?"

A sob escaped Hugo's lips, and Rose realized he was looking at one of the beds in the room – the bed where she had last seen their mother laying there. Now the bed was empty.

"Mum," Hugo moaned.

"She's not here, Hugo," Rose said.

"I know that," Hugo hissed, and his voice cracked as tears appeared in his eyes, "Did you see her? Did you see her when we were leaving or whatever – she – she…"

Rose choked back a sob as she realized what Hugo was trying to say. Yes, she had seen it. The last glimpse of their mother she had was her collapsing onto the bed, and looking lifeless.

"What have we done, Rose?" Hugo asked.

Rose crawled over to Hugo and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Hopefully we've successfully made our way back in time like we were trying to do, Hugo," Rose said, "Mum knew what she was doing when we started this."

"I know that," Hugo said, "I remember what she told us – but to see that – to see Mum… what if it didn't work?"

"It did work, Hugo," Rose said.

"How do you know that?" Hugo asked.

"Well, there is an easy way to check, isn't there?" Rose asked. "We just have to find a copy of the Daily Prophet and see what the date is."

"Yeah – yeah, you're right," Hugo said, "I know you're right. It's just –" his voice cracked, "Rose, I miss Mum."

Rose hugged her brother tighter; tears threatened to escape her eyes, but she blinked them back. She had to remain strong for her brother. "I miss her too. But we'll see her soon, and Dad."

"They won't know who we are!" Hugo exclaimed.

"Not yet, no," Rose said, "But we'll know who they are. And when the time comes, we'll tell them. Remember the plan?"

"Ye-yeah," Hugo murmured, "I remember."

"Then let's get started," Rose said, "Can you stand?"

Rose backed away and stood up, then helped her brother get to his feet. Hugo wiped the tears from his eyes and cheeks and checked his pockets, apparently for his wand and small notebook. In turn, Rose checked herself and smiled in relief when she saw the coin-purse strapped to her belt. Everything they had brought with them had come back.

"Well, there's our first piece of good news," Hugo said, "What now?"

"Baby steps, Hugo," Rose said, "Like Mum said - one step at a time. Let's go downstairs and rent a room for the night."

"Right," Hugo said, clearing his throat; Rose was proud to see that his courage was slowly returning, "Let's go."

Rose led her brother out of the room, after checking that the corridor was clear and they had not been seen or heard. They made their way down to the lowest level of the restaurant/inn known as the Three Broomsticks. The large room was nearly empty of patrons – a handful of guests were scattered amongst the tables dining on breakfast foods.

Rose led Hugo to the bar, where someone – the bartender perhaps – was hidden behind the pages of the Daily Prophet they were reading. As she got closer, Rose's eyes ventured toward the date on the front page of the newspaper. It read:

August 31st, 1996

Rose looked at Hugo, and noticed that he too had seen the date. They exchanged a glance, and from Hugo's expression, Rose knew he was silently telling her they had made it. Rose nodded in agreement, and smiled. She then turned her attention to the bartender, and cleared her throat. Immediately, the bartender set down the Daily Prophet, revealing herself. It took a moment before Rose recognized the younger version of Madam Rosmerta, the owner of the Three Broomsticks.

"Hogwarts students?" Rosmerta asked, as she looked at Rose, then Hugo.

"Yes, ma'am," Rose said.

"Don't recognize either of you," Rosmerta said, her voice full of suspicion, "I know most of the students who attend that school, especially those from third year and older. They always come in here during Hogsmeade visit weekends. Who are you?"

"We're transfer students," Rose said, remembering the story she, Hugo and their mother had created, "Our parents – we lived in America for most of our lives, and didn't really know anything about this war you're going through. We returned to England about a month ago and –" Rose sighed, "Our parents were killed, just a couple weeks ago. Uh… Death Eaters, I think they're called."

Rosmerta nodded, then her eyes went misty. "You poor dears. I'm so sorry."

"We were going to enroll into Hogwarts earlier this month – we had it planned," Hugo said, "But well – then everything happened. Now we thought we'd just head up to the castle early tomorrow, and talk to the Headmaster, and explain ourselves."

"We want to rent a room for today," Rose said, "We have money."

"Of course," Rosmerta said, "Seven galleons, and a room is yours. Would you like something to eat?"

"Not at the moment," Rose said, "We have things we must be doing. Can we use your Floo?"

"Message or travel?" Rosmerta asked.

"Travel," Rose said.

"Whereabouts is your destination?" Rosmerta said, "My Floo can only go so far you know."

"The Leaky Cauldron," Rose said, "Diagon Alley."

Rosmerta frowned as she looked from Hugo, back to Rose. "Dangerous place at the moment for two children to be going alone."

"We can take care of ourselves," Hugo said, gruffly.

"Hugo!" Rose scolded, not taking her eyes off Rosmerta, "We'll be careful, ma'am."

Rosmerta stared at them for a moment, then nodded. "Right then. That'll be two Sickles each for use of the powder."

Rose paid for the room and Floo Powder, and Rosmerta handed her the key to one of the rooms – coincidentally it was the same room they had been in when they had come back in time. – as well as two small, clear, plastic baggies of green Floo Powder.

"Thank you, ma'am," Rose said, then took Hugo by the arm and dragged him toward the fireplace tucked into a corner of the room.

"Ow, Rose!" Hugo hissed, "You're hurting my arm."

"Good," Rose said; she stealthily waved her wand toward the direction of Madam Rosmerta and the other patrons and muttered 'Muffliato', then looked back at her brother, "You could have been nicer to her, you know."

"She was acting like she was suspicious," Hugo said, "You know we have to be careful."

"Of course she was suspicious!" Rose said, "There is a war going on. Remember what Mum said. Everyone is fearful of Death Eaters disguising themselves using Polyjuice Potion. And that is just a fraction of it all. We're lucky Rosmerta believes us."

Hugo stared at his sister for a moment, his eyes narrowed. Then his expression softened and he sighed.

"You're right," he said, "Obviously. I'm sorry. I'm just nervous. Now that we're actually here, now that we're actually doing this – when we were just discussing our plans and preparing for everything, it didn't feel real. Now that it does, well –"

"It's terrifying," Rose said, and Hugo nodded, his cheeks growing pink with embarrassment, "I know what you mean. Stay strong for just a little while longer. We'll go do our shopping in Diagon Alley, then we'll come back here and – if you need a little time to yourself, I won't bother you."

In other words, Rose thought, I know Hugo just wants to go somewhere and have a good cry. That is his way of coping – Merlin knows how many times I heard him crying alone those first few weeks after Dad died. But he'd be extremely embarrassed if I went and said it outright.

Hugo nodded. "Okay."

Rose pulled her brother to her and hugged him. She wasn't exactly the hugging type of girl. In her mind, she was a tomboy. Much like her mother, her two best friends were boys. Many of her cousins and family members were boys or men. It didn't help either that most of the women in her family were tomboyish in their own ways. She supposed it was just bred into her that way. Suffice it to say, she wasn't exactly the kind of girl who was sappy and would show her emotions by hugging.

However it was different when it came to her brother. He needed her, even though he was slowly growing into the man he would become. She was his big sister, and he was the baby of the family – no matter how he didn't want to admit it. So hugging Hugo when he was upset was only natural for her.

"Okay," Rose echoed, and backed out of the hug, "Let's do this. You first."

Hugo looked at the fireplace and nodded nervously. He undid the plastic baggie and dumped half of the Floo Powder into his hand then threw it into the orange fire, which suddenly turned green. He then emptied the rest of the bag into his hand and walked into the fire and looked at Rose. She nodded and smiled encouragingly.

"The Leaky Cauldron!" Hugo said, clearly, dropping the remainder of the powder.

A roar of green fire later, and Hugo vanished. When the fire turned orange again, signifying that the Floo was now empty for safe travel, Rose threw a handful of the powder into the fire and it turned green again. She walked into the fireplace, and cleared her throat. She wasn't exactly the greatest fan of Floo travel. But until she could learn Apparation (her mother informed her that she would be learning it in the coming months), this was the best way to travel at the moment.

"The Leaky Cauldron!" Rose said, clearly, as she dropped the remainder of the powder.

She felt her feet lift off the ground, and she felt her body turning and spinning quickly. Bright colors of orange, red and yellow zoomed past, and she could see different Floo grates. Finally, after what seemed like ages, she felt her feet land solidly on the ground and she stumbled forward into soot and ash, spluttering and coughing. When the soot and ash disappeared she found Hugo standing nearby waiting for her. The two siblings smiled in relief at their reunion and silently walked through the grimy pub known as the Leaky Cauldron.

In their time, Hannah Longbottom, the wife of Hogwarts Herbology Professor, and Gryffindor House Head, Neville Longbottom, owned the Leaky Cauldron. Hannah had inherited the pub from her grandfather, Tom, after he had died. Because he had died before Rose was born, she had never met Tom but she recognized him from the portrait that, in her own time, hung on the wall behind the bar where he worked for most of his life. At the moment, Tom was busily wiping down a shot glass with a rag. When Tom noticed Rose looking, as she and Hugo passed him, Rose only smiled so the man wouldn't be too suspicious. Tom nodded distractedly, and Rose and Hugo made their way to the back of the pub, where the entrance to Diagon Alley resided.

They walked out the back door of the pub, into the chilly little courtyard at the back where the dustbins stood, and reached a large brick wall. Rose took her wand from her pocket and tapped the wall in the correct order. Soon, the bricks melted into themselves, forming an archway that led into a winding cobble street.

Both Rose and Hugo inhaled quickly at the new sight. Diagon Alley was indeed a much different place than they were used to. The usual hustle and bustle of market-dwellers which, on a normal day, counted up to one-to-two hundred at any given time, was reduced harshly.

The colorful, glittering window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients, and cauldrons were lost to view, hidden behind the large Ministry of Magic posters that had been pasted over them. Most of these somber purple posters carried blown-up versions of the security advice on the Ministry pamphlets that had been sent out over the summer, but others bore moving black-and-white photographs of Death Eaters known to be on the loose. A few windows were boarded up, including those of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.

"This is – this is just horrible," Rose said, sadly, as she and Hugo walked, hand-in-hand for security, into the marketplace, "I mean, Mum told us what it'd be like, but I never pictured this."

"Yeah," Hugo muttered, "Luckily, it looks like most of the shops are still standing, Hopefully we'll be able to get everything on the list. Where to first? Uncle George's shop?"

"Not yet," Rose said, "I don't think I'm ready just yet to see someone that familiar."

"Rose, we need to go there," Hugo said, "It was one of my plans, you know. To pick up a few of the Wheezes, just in case we needed something. Instant Darkness Powder, Extendable Ears, something you know –"

"We'll go, yeah," Rose said, "Just… let's do everything else first."

"'Kay," Hugo agreed. "Looks like Quality Quidditch Supplies is still open."

"We're not getting brooms, Hugo," Rose said, sighing.

Hugo frowned. He looked like he wanted to say something, then shook his head. "I don't need a broom right now, Rosie. I'm talking about trunks for school. They always seem to have the best ones."

"Right," Rose said, though she looked at her brother suspiciously, "Yeah, good idea. Just… remember, four-hundred galleons will only go so far in the long run."

"Hey, we're Weasleys, aren't we?" Hugo said, with a smirk, as he removed the small notebook from the pocket of his jeans and opened it to the school booklists, "Spending money wisely is like a sixth-sense."

Rose sighed and gave her brother an amused smile. She had to admit, she was happy to see that her brother's courageous manner had returned. However, she knew it must be temporary, thanks to the fact that they were too busy at the moment for distracting thoughts. She wondered how soon it would be before Hugo's nerves returned and he would break down. It seemed only inevitable.

"Right," she said, "Let's go then."

With their mission in mind, they made their way to Quidditch Quality Supplies. While there were a few notable changes – nearly all of the current team rosters on the Quidditch posters and calendars had names of players that had long-since retired in Rose and Hugo's own time – the feel of the shop was familiar. Rose soon found that this was a pattern in the shops they ventured into.

After they bought a couple of trunks that had extendable and featherlight charms on them, they made their way into the Apothecary, where they bought a number of Potions ingredients – along with the ingredients needed for Potions class, they bought a few others for their own private supply in case they needed to make some potions for themselves. From there, they went into the stationery shop to buy quills, ink-pots, and rolls of parchment.

Nearly two hours, and a few other stops later, they only had three places left to visit. They had deliberately avoided these shops first since they knew they would probably spend more time there then the rest of the marketplace.

The first was Madam Malkin's Robes of All Occasions, where they went to buy their school robes. They had bought other various clothing items from the second-hand shop beforehand and the robes and their accessories were the only clothing items remaining on their list.

Like Madam Rosmerta in Three Broomsticks, Madam Malkin recognized most older students that stepped into her shop for robe fitting. So she, too, was suspicious when she didn't recognize Rose and Hugo. After a quick retelling of the fake story to the motherly witch, they spent the next half-hour getting measured, fussed over, and finally trying out their robes and accessories that went with it, including the usual knee-high skirts that Rose was used to.

For both siblings it felt weird to see the black tie instead of the usual gold and red Gryffindor ties. Hugo had commented on this after they had purchased the robes and left the shop, and headed to their next destination.

"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will fix it right, and we'll be in Gryffindor again," Rose said, to a concerned Hugo.

"Right, Professor Dumbledore," Hugo said, "Not really looking forward to that meeting."

"We'll be fine," Rose assured him, though she wasn't so sure herself. "Come on. Next stop, Flourish and Blott's."

Unlike most of the other shops in Diagon Alley, Flourish and Blott's hadn't changed much between 1996 and 2024. Sure, there were hundreds of new books in 2024, but the genuine feel, smell and atmosphere of the shop was familiar. Rose led Hugo to the front counter of the shop and stood in the small queue of customers. When they reached the counter, they started listing the books they needed for the school-year. When the witch handed Rose a copy of Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borge, Rose asked for two copies. The witch looked at her strangely, but shrugged it off a moment later, and handed her a second copy. Hugo, however, looked curiously at her – he hadn't been informed of this part of the plan, as it didn't directly concern him.

When they left the shop, Hugo pulled her to the side of the street and demanded to know exactly why she had bought two copies of the book. As Rose explained, her mind went back to the discussion she had with her mother concerning this very topic…

Flashback:

August 25th, 2024

Hermione and Rose Weasley were sitting at the kitchen table of their house in Ottery St. Catchpole. The small notebook that contained pages of notes lay in front of Rose. Hugo was currently taking a bath, which left the two witches to discuss private matters for Rose and Hugo's mission – the current topic was one which Hermione was discussing things Rose should expect in her coming sixth year.

"Even if you had only gotten an E instead of an O for on your Potions OWL," Hermione said, "Professor Slughorn would have accepted you into his NEWT class. Your father and Uncle Harry had both received E's on their OWLs, and Snape had said he would only accept O grades. So of course they hadn't expected to be in the class. They had to borrow a couple of spare books that first class."

"But I won't need to," Rose said, "I can just buy my own book."

"That is all very good," Hermione said, "However, it may mess up plans right then and there. You see, Harry's book he had borrowed was full of scribbled notes and improvements on the recipes in the book. To be honest, I thought it was cheating, because he wasn't using the instructed recipes. That very first class, he used the improved recipe and won the bottle of Lucky Potion –"

"—which he later used to trick Ron into thinking he was lucky," Rose said, "Which might have had something to do with him and Lavender getting together."

"Right," Hermione said, "If Harry had a normal book instead of that improved book, he wouldn't have won the Lucky Potion."

"But, Mum, I thought the Lucky potion helped him later that year," Rose said, "He said something about a lucky streak led to him finding out about the Horcruxes."

"Indeed," Hermione said.

"So he needs to win it," Rose said, "which doesn't help us."

"No, he just needs the potion later in the year," Hermione said, "Not right away."

Rose nodded, catching on. "Ah, so… in order to keep him from winning it in that class, we need to take the book from him. How?"

"Easy… take the book yourself, and replace it with a new one," Hermione said.

Flashback ends…

"I can't believe you kept that information from me," Hugo scoffed, "I need to know these things. What else are you keeping from me?"

"Nothing important," Rose shrugged.

Hugo sighed. "Fine. I will hand it to you. It is a good idea."

"It should be," Rose said, glumly, "Mum thought of it."

Hugo frowned and nodded, then raised his eyes to the heavens. "Thanks, Mum."

Rose had to blink back tears as she watched her brother. Like her, he too still felt as if their mother was really gone. Like Rose, Hugo probably wouldn't believe otherwise until they caught sight of their mother once again.

"C'mon," Rose said, "Let's go to Uncle George's shop."

"You mean it?" Hugo asked.

"Our last stop of the day," Rose said.

Anything to keep you happy for a little while longer, she added silently.

Hugo smiled and Rose followed him down the cobbled pavement with their trunks – filled with purchases – in hand. A grin, Rose's first real grin since her arrival back in time, crossed her mouth as she spotted the shop known as Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It was easily the most vibrant shop in the marketplace.

Set against the dull, poster-muffled shop fronts around them, the windows of Weasley Wizard Wheezes hit the eye like a firework display. Casual passersby were looking back over their shoulders at the windows, and a few rather stunned-looking people had actually come to a halt, transfixed. The left-hand window was dazzlingly full of an assortment of goods that revolved, popped, flashed, bounced, and shrieked. The right-hand window was covered with a gigantic poster, purple like those of the Ministry, but emblazoned with flashing yellow letters:

WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT

YOU-KNOW-WHO?

YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT

U-NO-POO-

THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION

THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!

Hugo guffawed suddenly at the sight. "U-No-Poo! Why isn't that around in our time?"

"Hugo, shh!" Rose said, cautiously, as she looked around to see if other shoppers had heard what her brother had said.

"Oh," Hugo said, sheepishly, "Oops, sorry, sis."

"Come on," Rose said, annoyed, as she dragged her brother into the shop.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes looked a lot different than it had in twenty-five years. While the outside of the shop never grew in size, the instead would expand over the years in order to add space for new inventions and items. At the moment, since the shop was fairly new, it was quite a bit smaller. One of the big noticeable differences Rose found right away was the lack of a tall portrait behind the front counter which resided an imitation of Fred Weasley. Instead the real Fred Weasley stood behind the counter, helping a young man with his purchases.

Rose blinked back tears as she looked at the Uncle she had never met. It was no surprise that he looked identical to Uncle George, save for the fact that he was at the far end of his teenage years. Beside Rose, Hugo was sporting a wide grin. Fred and George were his idols – George was his favorite Uncle, and he could listen to stories of their wild Hogwarts days for hours upon hours. So it was no surprise that he was happy to see Fred.

"Hey, Ronnie!" a voice said, nearby, "Does Mum know you're here?"

Rose turned and saw the teenage version of her Uncle George walking toward them. The first big noticeable difference, outside George's age, was the fact that he still had both of his ears instead of one. For years, George had joked to any of the children who asked him, that he was born with one ear so his parents could tell him apart from his twin. That was until the adults had sat down all the children, when Rose was 12 years old, and told them all about the Second War, and their involvement, including everything about Uncle Harry.

"Whoa," George said, when he approached Rose and Hugo, "You're not Ron."

"Nope, sorry, mate," Hugo said.

"My mistake," George said, "You look just like my youngest brother, it's eerie."

When Rose noticed George was looking at them suspiciously, she knew she needed to say something.

"Your name's Weasley, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, George Weasley," George said, "My brother Fred is over there behind the counter."

"Thought so, just by the name on the shop," Rose said, "My name's Rose, and this is Hugo. We also happen to be Weasleys."

George raised an eyebrow. "We happen to have loads of cousins and what-not, but I don't think I ever met the two of you. Are you sure? I mean –"

"By the honesty of my wand, I am sure I'm a Weasley," Rose said, recalling a vow her mother had taught her, "I am not falsifying who I am under the pretenses of charms or Polyjuice Potion."

"Okay, I believe you," George said, shaking his head and giving an amused smile. "I'm just saying we never met you before."

"Understandable," Rose said, "Before a couple weeks ago, we used to live in America. We didn't know much about our family on this side of the pond, only that we knew we had a big one. Apparently my mother is a distant cousin of your father's – one of our great-grandpas or what-not was brothers with yours, if I recall."

"Right," George said, "So where are your parents?"

"They died," Hugo said, bluntly, and George frowned.

"We had no idea about the war," Rose said, "We came here to try to connect to our extended family, and a couple weeks ago, our parents – they were killed by Death Eaters."

"Damn," George cursed, "I'm sorry."

"They were discussing us going into Hogwarts as transfers," Rose said, "We're still going to do that. Hugo will be a fourth year. I'll be a sixth."

"Sixth, huh?" George said, "You'll be year-mates with my youngest brother. Our sister is just a year below him too. I'm sure you'll meet them soon."

Rose nodded and blinked back a tear. "I'm sure we will."

"We've been shopping for our school things, and this is our last stop," Hugo said, "Thought we'd take a look around and buy a few things."

"Ah, fellow pranksters?" Fred said, as he joined his brother.

"I am," Hugo said, as he smiled at his heroes.

Rose and Hugo introduced themselves and gave the same story to Fred. He, in turn, looked solemn at the news of the loss of what appeared to be his fellow family members.

"Well, I tell you what," Fred said, "As a fellow Weasley, and a prankster, we'll give you a discount, eh?"

"Sure!" Hugo said.

"Take a gander then," George said.

Hugo immediately ventured into the depths of the store.

"I must say he looks a lot like Ron," Fred said, to Rose, as he watched Hugo vanish into one of the aisles.

"You, on the other hand, fair lady," George said, "have a familiar look to you, but I cannot place it. Right at the tip of my tongue."

Rose winced, and suddenly wished she had done something about her bushy hair. Even though it was ginger-red, outside of color it was identical to her mother's.

"Aw well, it will come to me," George shrugged. "For you, my dear, we have a whole batch of WonderWitch products. Realistic thirty-minute daydreams. Love potions – there are plenty of boys in Hogwarts for you to latch onto, you know."

"Er… no thank you," Rose muttered; she had no plans to fancy any of the boys at school, especially since most of them were the fathers of her own classmates.

"Swing on the other side of the broom, do you?" Fred asked.

Rose blushed at the innuendo. "No, I do not! I had a boyfriend where I came from, thank you very much. Unfortunately I had to break it off."

"Not a fan of long-distant relationships then?" George asked.

"More problems than just the distance," Rose muttered.

Like decades for example.

Rose blinked back more tears as she thought of her ex-boyfriend. They had only been together since the start of their fifth year, and she had done her best to make the relationship survive after the death of her father, but her plans made the break-up inevitable. She considered it lucky that the relationship lasted as long as it did. Shortly before her father died, she had nearly confessed to her boyfriend she had fallen in love with him – that she considered the relationship more than a simple boyfriend-girlfriend type fling. But after Christmas break, and the plans had been set in store, she kept that confession locked in tight.

She shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts and ventured into the store, to explore the shop. Twenty minutes later, after she picked up a few things she thought might be useful, she found Hugo at the front counter, where he too had numerous items for purchase. After the discount, it had still cost them twenty-five galleons for the lot. Rose wondered how much money they had left after the spree they had just gone through today.

After they said goodbye to their Uncles, Rose and Hugo left the shop, then headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. They bought a couple bottles of Butterbeer, and a couple small bags of Floo Powder from Tom. They asked the barman nicely to help them with the transfer of their purchases – traveling with trunks in the Floo Powder was not something they wanted to do. After a simple spell, Tom assured them their purchases were at their destination. Rose and Hugo gulped down their butterbeer, then traveled back to the Three Broomsticks via the Floo Network, where they found their trunks sitting near the fireplace.

They decided food could wait just a little while longer, so they made their way up to their room with their belongings and started sorting through everything and placing it neatly in the trunks. Rose was finished first, so while she waited for her brother to finish, she counted out the money they had left.

"Two-hundred and fifteen galleons," Rose said, ten minutes later, "We spent nearly half of what we have today, Hugo."

"School stuff is ruddy expensive," Hugo muttered as he closed his now-sorted trunk.

"Exactly," Rose said, "We're going to have to be careful."

"Relax, Rose," Hugo said, "Hopefully by Christmas, Mum and Dad will know who we are, and then we can worry less about that kind of stuff. Then we can reveal ourselves to Grams and Gramps. They wouldn't let us wither down to nothing, you know."

"Do you think we might have made a mistake talking to Uncle George and Fred today?" Rose asked. "They're going to be rather curious – they are rather curious. It doesn't help that you look so much like Dad."

"What, you think they'll tell Grams and Gramps about us?" Hugo said.

"Maybe," Rose said, with a sigh.

"We'll work on that if it comes to it," Hugo said, "Come on, sis. I'm starving."

Rose smiled and nodded, then followed her brother to the bottom level of the building. There, they ordered two specials from Madam Rosmerta and discussed, in private thanks to the Muffliato spell, about their plans that directly concerned the near future.

"Just think," Hugo said, an hour later, as they were finishing up their meal, "In nearly twenty-four hours, we'll see Mum and Dad again."

"I know," Rose said, smiling. "I can't wait."

"Me either," Hugo said, "How long do you think it will take for us to bring the two love-birds together?"

Rose shrugged. "Mum said she missed Christmas at the Burrow during her sixth year because she was fighting with Dad, thanks to his relationship with Lavender. Maybe this time she'll get to celebrate with him…"

"Maybe as a couple?" Hugo asked, smiling.

"If everything goes well," Rose said, nodding.

Hugo frowned and narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean 'if'?"

"There's always a chance something is going to go wrong, Hugo," Rose said.

"We have everything planned out, Rose," Hugo said, then took the notebook from his pocket, "We've worked for months – months – on everything in here! Hundreds upon hundreds of hours going through in fine detail what will happen, and it is just a simple 'if' for you?"

"I didn't mean that," Rose said.

"It will work out, Rose," Hugo said, "You'll see."

Before Rose could reply, Hugo popped the last chip into his mouth, took a last swig of butterbeer, and stood up with his tray and walked away from the table. Rose frowned as she watched her brother storm off from the rubbish bin and up the stairs. Rose finished her meal, trashed the remains and headed for their room. When she arrived, she found Hugo laying on his bed, facing the opposite wall.

"Need the bathroom?" Rose asked, "I think I'm going to take a relaxing bath."

Hugo remained silent; obviously he was ignoring her. Rose shrugged and headed for the bathroom. Just before she closed the door, she heard what sounded like Hugo crying. Rose leaned against the closed door and stared, blurry-eyed into the bathroom, not really looking at anything in particular.

The inevitable had come – the first round of things they needed to get done had all been completed. Now it was time to wait until the second round would come. Now that the small rest period had arrived, so too had the reality of it, along with it the end of the adrenaline that was keeping the two siblings going. Hugo had realized that, and was now letting it all go.

Rose filled the tub with hot water, then disrobed and stepped inside the tub. She sat down and laid back, submerging herself until only her head and the tips of her toes surfaced.

There, alone in the small bathroom, she finally let the tears - that had been threatening to emerge ever since her and Hugo's arrival back in time – fall down her cheeks and drip into the bathwater.

Now was the time to cry and reflect. Because starting tomorrow, everything they had been working on for nine months would finally, officially begin.

Hermione Weasley's point of no return had come and gone. Rose and Hugo's was only beginning.

So Rose and Hugo have successfully arrived back in 1996. They survived the first day without too much of a hassle.

Rose's boyfriend that was mentioned in this chapter – it may be obvious who it was. While he'll get a few mentions – one big one in a flashback in a couple of chapters – it is not very significant. The mention of him and Rose's relationship merely exists as character development.

Speaking of character development, I'd like your opinion on how I'm doing with Rose and Hugo. Do you like them? Do they seem believable? Does their relationship (as siblings usually go) seem believable?

Next chapter, Rose and Hugo arrive at Hogwarts, and meet with Albus Dumbledore. This should be interesting.

As I noted in the author's note at the end of the previous chapter, I want to try to switch back and forth between two or three of my stories, so all of my readers can get what they want. So I am not sure when the next chapter for this will come, because I want to work on updating at least one new chapter of Bonds of Time II, and maybe – maybe – Dangerous Returns.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!