Disclamer: The world of Harry Potter belongs to JKR.

Chapter 2: Ravenclaw

"Rose? Rose?"

Rose heard her name being called over and over again from very far away. She couldn't figure out where it was coming from, or why they were calling out to her, but as she listened to the voice, it seemed to be getting closer and closer until she could hear it by her side.

"Rose, wake up."

Slowly her eyes opened to sterile white curtains hanging around her. "Where am I?" she inquired to the girl sitting in a chair beside her bed. As things came more into focus, she realized that the girl was her cousin, Roxanne.

"Hospital Wing; you passed out," Roxanne replied solemnly.

"What?" exclaimed Rose, sitting up in her bed. "I don't remember anything. I was sitting and then there was blackness."

"Well you looked really pale on the stool. Then they put the hat on your head, and you were gone, but not before the hat…" Roxanne trailed off and tried not to look at the concerned face of her best friend.

"Roxanne, tell me what happened," Rose pleaded to her cousin, sensing that something was not right.

Roxanne hesitated. She couldn't bring herself to tell her best friend and cousin that the thing she was most worried about had happened. She spoke as fast as possible so she wouldn't be able to stop herself. "You were sorted into Ravenclaw!"

"What?" shrieked Rose, hoping that she had not heard her cousin correctly. "Are you kidding me? This can't be happening! I'm supposed to be in Gryffindor! It must have been a mistake. Tell me it was a mistake Roxanne!" But Roxanne just looked at Rose with desperate sadness in her eyes. Rose hoped with all her might that it was all a joke, and that any minute now they would walk off together to Gryffindor tower to meet the rest of her family, but the look in Roxanne's eyes told her otherwise.

"It wasn't a mistake, Rose. I'm so sorry."

Rose was in shock. She gaped at the girl sitting beside her bed, mouth hanging open. A million thoughts were going through her mind. 'What is my dad going to say' was the thought that worried her the most.

The rest of the Weasleys and Potters chose that moment to storm into the Hospital Wing. Almost immediately Rose was surrounded by a crowd of red and black hair and freckles. She heard them speaking, but none of it made sense to her.

"Rose, are you okay?" Albus inquired of Rose, who was sitting in her bed pale faced and staring blankly ahead.

Rose whipped her head around to face her cousin, and the room went quiet. Everyone could see the look in her eyes that reminded them all eerily of their grandmother Molly. "How could I possibly be okay, Albus? Do I look okay to you?" At the sound of her voice the Potters and Weasleys seemed to draw back from her bed. There was a strain in her voice that made Albus very uneasy. He had no idea that the sorting could have this much of an effect on Rose. She had always been so sure of herself. She was his rock.

Madam Pomfrey suddenly appeared to usher her cousins out of the Hospital Wing. Albus and Roxanne were the last to leave. Al longed to tell Rose that everything was going to be alright, but he knew that he could never make a promise like that to Rose. This was not his battle. Roxanne gave Rose's hand one last squeeze before turning and walking out of the Hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey wordlessly handed Rose a piece of chocolate and returned to her office, leaving Rose to her thoughts. Rose's mouth formed a slight smile. She had a tendency to faint if she got to scared or worried, and her Uncle Harry would always give her a piece of chocolate. She never quite understood why he thought chocolate was a cure for fainting, but it had something to do with Teddy Lupin's father.

Thinking of Teddy's Father just brought Rose's thoughts back to how her own parents would react. Her mother would be very surprised, but it would not take her long to accept that her daughter was in Ravenclaw. Thinking the word sent a shiver down her spine. 'This will take some getting used to,' she thought. It was not her mother that Rose was worried about, she might even be proud of her daughter. Her father could be so single-minded. Of course her mother would be able to calm down her father, but not after an initial burst of disbelief and anger.

Rose tried to distract herself from her thoughts, but since she was alone in the empty hospital wing this was extremely difficult. No matter how hard she tried to think of other things, those nagging thoughts kept coming back.

Finally there came a reprieve when the door opened and in came an older boy wearing Ravenclaw robes. Rose noticed the glint of a prefects badge at his chest. 'He must be coming for me,' she thought. The boy walked with an air of confidence as he approached Rose in her bed.

"My name is Timothy Clearwater, Ravenclaw prefect. You're Rose Weasley? I'm here to escort you to Ravenclaw tower."

Rose began to feel faint, but she managed to control it with a few moments of concentration. Hearing Timothy say those words made it all the more real to Rose; she was in Ravenclaw. Nodding, she rose from the hospital bed, and followed Timothy out the door.

As they made their way through the castle Timothy began to tell her about Ravenclaw house, but Rose only half paid attention. She was dazzled by her surroundings. The high ceilings, paintings, and moving staircases were more than she could have ever imagined from her cousin's descriptions of the school.

Before she knew it, they had arrived at a spiral staircase. It seemed to spiral upwards endlessly, until they reached an old wooden door with a bronze eagle doorknocker. Rose knew immediately that this was the way to the Ravenclaw common room.

Timothy reached out a hand and knocked once on the door. The beak of the eagle opened, and a clear, melodical voice asked, "Is it possible to change the future through time travel?" Timothy turned to face Rose. "Care to give it a go?" he asked.

"Umm, sure," replied Rose. The subtle crack in her voice revealed that she was not so sure of herself. "I guess the answer would be no. Because if a person went back in time with the intent to change something, then their actions in the past would change the situation in the present that prompted them to time travel in the first place. I think." She looked cautiously at the eagle on the door.

"Correct," it replied, and the door swung open.

Timothy chuckled. "You really are a Ravenclaw," he said to Rose before walking into the large, circular common room.

Rose could feel her freckled face grow warm as blood rushed to her cheeks. She quickly looked down at her feet to hide her red face, and followed Timothy into the room.

The common room was very airy and open. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the ceiling, which was painted to represent the starry night sky. There were arched windows draped with silks of blue and bronze that would give a wonderful view of the grounds when it was light out. Bookcases filled the spaces not occupied by windows on the walls, and a small cozy fireplace was nestled into one side of the room.

"The dormitories are this way," said Timothy, startling Rose. He gestured towards a bust of a woman in a small niche across the circular room. Beside the bust, was a door through which Rose followed the older boy.

The stairs beyond the door seemed to spiral along the outside of the tower, and at each landing they came to there were two sets of doors. Rose guessed that they were one each for boys and girls. Finally Timothy came to a halt on one of the landings, and gestured to the door on the right. "Here we are," he said cheerfully. "The first-year girl's dormitory. Your things should already be inside."

Rose nodded, and opened the door cautiously. She turned around, only to find that Timothy had already left. She entered the dark room, and closed the door behind her. Rose had to stand with her back to the door for a few minutes to allow her eyes to adjust to the dim light. As they did she began to make out her surroundings.

She was in a semi-circular room, which had five four-poster beds and five desks along the outside of the room. The curtains on three of the beds were drawn, and there was a sleeping figure in the fourth. Rose made her way to the foot of the remaining bed, and noticed that it was her own trunk that was sitting there.

Tired from her long and very stressful day, Rose climbed into the bed and drew the curtain around her. She laid her head on the pillow, closed her eyes, and tried to fall asleep.

Author's Note: I hope you liked Chapter 2! Let me know what you think! ^_^