Rose dearly wished she knew where she was going. This castle was so large she felt utterly lost among the staircases, towers, portraits and ghosts; this was overlooking her disastrous encounter with Peeves a half hour previous, when he duped her by leading her away from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where Lily was. Huffing as she climbed a staircase, she reached the penultimate step when, of course, it changed. It took all her control to suppress the cry of rage that was climbing from her throat, trying to force it's way from her mouth. Just before she could strangle a passing Mrs. Norris, a large bell echoed throughout the entire castle. She was thrown back against the side railing as third years poured from the Charms classroom. Counting backwards from ten, (thanking her lucky stars that she still remembered her numbers) she let out a deep breath, and put on a cheerful smile.
"Excuse me?" she said, arresting the stride of a boy with a green crest on the breast of his robes. He jerked his arm away.
"Sod off, Mudblood," he snarled, before double timing the stairs to catch up with his comrades. Hermione stood in shock. Mudblood? Well, that certainly didn't sound like a friendly welcome to her. What could that word mean? She paused another, friendlier looking student with a yellow crest on her robes. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, swishing back and forth as she laughed.
"Excuse, me, what direction would I go to find the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom?"
The girl smiled at her. She pointed at a tapestry hanging on the wall.
"You would go through that tapestry, and just on the other side, the second door on your left, would be it." Rose gave her a grateful smile, and headed up the steps. Skipping quickly over the top one to avoid it switching on her, she crossed to the vast stone wall, and peeked behind the woven scarlet banner.
"Oh, yeah, why didn't I try the secret passageway? How stupid of me!" she muttered sarcastically under her breath, peeling it back and stepping into the narrow tunnel. Reaching the end, she pulled back the tapestry at the opposite end, only to be greeted with a rush of students milling by her, pulling her helplessly into their mass. She scanned the top of the crowd, searching for- there it was! Bright, curly red hair pulled into a messy chignon on the nape of her neck.
"Lily!" she shouted. She didn't hear her.
"LILY!" Lily's head whipped around, and spotting Rose, went against the tide, and tried to push her way toward her. Rose began separating people with her arms, and laughed at the image of her swimming through a "school" of students.
"Lily!" she said, finally reaching her. A group of boys rowdily pushed through, throwing out casual "Sorry!"s, resulting in Rose linking her arm with Lily's so they could keep up.
"You were released!" Lily exclaimed, squeezing her hand. She adjusted her strained schoolbag on her shoulder, smiling happily.
"Yeah!" Rose said excitedly. Then she raised her eyebrow. "Is it always like this?" she asked as she dodged a group of whispering 4th year girls.
"Pretty much," Lily said, laughing. "I suppose you just adjust," she said good-naturedly.
"So," Lily said, trekking straight to the business of their conversation.
"What did Professor Dumbledore say when you visited him?" Her eyes were focused directly on her own as they walked almost blindly through the corridor.
"Weeell, I didn't even have to ask him about anything. He's set everything up rather nicely," she said. She felt a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth as she watched Lily's suspense.
"And?" she asked eagerly.
"And what?" Rose replied, feigning ignorance. Lily gave an impatient stomp of her foot, and pulled her aside as they rounded the corner, safely isolated from the crowd.
"You know what I mean," she replied, poking her in the arm playfully.
"He said that I could be a student here," she replied in a would-be nonchalant manner, however Lily saw the smile that betrayed her.
"Really? Oh, I'm so happy you get to stay here with us!" she exclaimed, surrounding Rose in a gentle, affectionate hug. Rose sighed with contentment in Lily's fond embrace. How could she not be happy here at Hogwarts, with people that cared about her and were kind to her?
"Oh, go on!" Lily said, now bouncing on the balls of her feet. Rose laughed.
"Well, I have a name now." Lily's eyes widened,
"You reme-" Rose cut her off.
"No, I didn't remember it. I got to choose one, until I do remember." Lily gave her a sympathetic look.
"Well, what did you choose?"
"Rose Bennet. Simple, elegant, beautiful." Lily laughed.
"Now we both have flower names!" Rose giggled happily.
"I didn't even think of that! This is just too great!" They collapsed in fits of laughter together, before Lily looped her arm through Rose's again, as they now walked through the relatively empty hall to the corridor.
"What else?" Lily plunged ahead. "What house are you in?" Rose reached stealthily into her pocket, dramatically withdrew a scarlet and gold scarf from her pocket, and swung it around her neck.
"You're in Gryffindor! Oh, Rose!" She launched herself onto her shoulders in happiness.
"This is going to be the best year ever! I can't wait to tell James! He'll be so excited, I'm sure!"
Rose plopped down next to Lily at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. It was dinnertime, and Rose was starving. After wandering aimlessly around the labyrinth that was Hogwarts without anything to eat since breakfast in the Hospital Wing, and a lemon drop Professor Dumbledore had offered her, she could really do with a meal.
"Hello, James. Sirius. Remus. Peter," she said, acknowledging each of them before dolloping a very generous portion of mashed potatoes onto her plate.
"Hey," they chorused, mouths stuffed with food. Lily slapped James's hand.
"No talking with food in your mouth. It's revolting," Lily said, making a face.
"Sor-" he began, a roll crammed in his mouth, before receiving a stern look from Lily, and clamping it shut again.
"Yes, Mum," Sirius muttered audibly. Rose snorted into her Pumpkin Juice. Quickly averting her eyes from Lily, she waited until her choking died away, before resuming her meal.
"James, you'll never believe what happened," Lily said, striking up conversation among the obnoxious gulping of food around her.
"Wha-" James stopped again, swallowed, and then re-stated his question.
"What happened?" It was obvious he was having a difficult time restraining himself from continuing to stuff himself with food. Lily rolled her eyes at his impatience, before looking at Rose expectantly.
"Oh, that," she said, putting on a casual air. She plucked up her napkin and dabbed her mouth daintily, before giving a wave of her hand in the air, and saying,
"Oh, I was only accepted as a student at Hogwarts today." There was a clatter of forks from their general area of the table, and she couldn't help from grinning now. She was now bombarded with questions.
"Is that what you went to see Dumbledore about?"
"Are you going to be in our year?" "What classes are you taking?" "What house are you in?"
Everyone ceased talking so that she could answer what seemed to be the most important of the questions.
"I'm in…. drum roll please!" she announced, as Lily complied with a steady tapping of her fingers on the table, "Gryffindor!"
"Yeah!" the boys yelled, pumping their fists in the air.
"Now you can help us with homework all the time!" James said enthusiastically, the plate before him now forgotten. Rose laughed.
"And she got a name, too!" Lily said, poking her finger into Rose's side. Rose swatted it away, laughing.
"What is it?" Sirius asked eagerly.
"Rose," she said blushing as she looked sidewise at Lily.
"Now we have two flowers," Sirius replied gallantly. Rose's cheeks deepened in color.
"Well, it wasn't intentional," Rose said earnestly.
"Doesn't matter, Rosie," Sirius said mischievously.
"You and Lily here are going to be plagued with nicknames for the rest of your lives."
Rose followed Lily up to the Girl's dormitories, worn out from the day's activities. She noticed the only bed that wasn't cluttered beyond recognition was on the end of the room, next to the window. At the foot lay a trunk with RB printed in gold lettering on the top.
"That must be yours," Lily said, walking over to the trunk and flipping open the lid.
"Wow," she breathed as Rose sat beside her. "You have some great pajamas," she muttered longingly. Rose laughed at her expression, withdrawing a pair of blue paisley ones, and slamming the lid shut. She slid out of her deep purple robes, folding them and laying them on top of her trunk. She reveled in the cool, satin cloth slipping over her exhausted body, drinking in the feeling of something to sleep in other than white, cotton Hospital Wing gowns. She climbed between her soft, cozy sheets, and pulled her bed hangings together.
"Good night, Lils," she yawned.
"Night, Rosie," came the mumbled reply of Lily. It wasn't long until peaceful breathing was the only audible sound in the room.
A woman without a face was with her. She was reading a letter. Teardrops were splattered across it, ink running down the parchment. A patient barn owl was perched on a stand in the corner of the room, waiting to deliver a reply. Rose looked over the woman's shoulder and read:
Dear Hermione,
I was very sorry to hear about your dad. I'm coming over tonight, and Ron and Ginny are coming with me. I know how horrible you feel. I've gone through this so many times in my life. The pain of losing a loved one hurts worse than any curse. I know it's different for you in a way though. I know you weren't able to restore your father's memory before he died. Just know in your heart though, he loved you whether he knew it or not. He loved you and was proud of-
Rose couldn't see any more. The woman's hair blocked it. What did this mean?
Rose woke with a start. That dream… it had been so real. It was real. Electricity tickled her spine. She knew Hermione. She lived with her. Is she worried about me right now? Is she trying to find me? What about the person who wrote the letter? Who was it they had mentioned? A Ron and a- Jenny?
She threw her legs over the side of the bed onto the floor. She hoisted herself up, but instead hovered, stooped over. Should she really wake Lily up over something as trivial as this? It could always wait for the morning. It would be abominably rude to wake her up over a silly dream that might not even be worth anything. She'd tell her about it at breakfast tomorrow. She sighed and rolled back under the blanket. She hugged her pillow tightly and looked out at the stars before falling back into slumber.