Harry had to resist the urge to scowl. Rose was an absolutely horrible dancer. After a restful night, the two of them spent most of the following morning teaching and learning how to dance.

He winced as Rose stepped on his toes again and sighed. Looking back, he distinctly remembered being a much better dancer than his female counterpart was, and even then Padma thought he was a dud. It wasn't until he had visited Austria that he decided to get formal lessons. Harry discovered that he liked dancing. He just didn't like to teach it. That's not to say Harry didn't like teaching, however, since the DA was one of his fondest memories of Hogwarts.

He had to hurriedly catch Rose as she tripped over Harry's leg. He wrapped his arms quickly around her midsection and hoisted her back to her feet. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

Harry sighed again and rubbed his eyes. He was finding it really hard not to snap at the seemingly clumsy girl. "It's alright…" he said as reassuringly as possible. "It just takes a bit to get used to."

Harry took a moment to put himself in the position of being led around the dance floor. Once he was in the mindset he addressed Rose again. "Now, watch me," he said. He stepped back with his right foot, then brought his left foot back and out. Finally he brought his right foot to the left to meet up with his left. "Got it?" Rose nodded.

"Now just remember, if I lead with my right foot, you step backward with your left. All you need to do is mirror my movements," He explained. "Ready to try again?"

Rose nodded and stepped up to Harry. She really didn't understand why she had a hard time understanding a simple waltz. Harry had started her off with a more difficult and faster tango the other day and she had grasped it almost instinctively. She giggled girlishly as Harry placed his right hand lightly on her hip. He smiled and rolled his eyes good naturedly. She really did fancy him, almost to the point of infatuation.

Harry didn't mind though. He still hadn't figured out his feelings for the pretty red haired girl in his arms but he knew that he didn't want to leave her side. Ever.

Rose placed her left hand on Harry's shoulder and the two of them clasped their empty hands. "Now, I'm going to step forward with my right foot," Harry began. "You…?"

"Step back with my left," Rose answered. Harry nodded and they did so and paused.

"Now I step forward and out with my left foot and you…?"

"Step back and out with my right!" Rose said as they did so. "Now we bring our feet together."

"See? It's not so hard," Harry chided. "Now we just finish the box."

They spent the rest of the afternoon with Harry teaching Rose the various different waltz steps; turning, progressive and the lift and spin. Once she had jumped that initial hurdle, Rose learned rather quickly. After a lunch of soup and sandwiches, Rose and Harry collapsed on a couch in the sitting room and simply enjoyed each others company. Rose leaned comfortably against Harry and began to doze when Harry spoke up.

"The castle is in an uproar looking for you."

Rose sat up and looked at Harry. "I thought you said you'd take care of that?" she asked.

Harry smiled impishly at her. "I said the castle wouldn't tell anyone," he said. "There's nothing I can really do about the rumor mill."

Rose moaned pitifully and buried her face in her hands. She knew that saying with Harry for the winter holiday was too good to be true. "I should probably go pack then," she said dejectedly.

"Why?"

Rose looked suddenly at Harry. "What do you mean?"

"Who says they're going to find you?" He elaborated. Rose blinked and Harry explained. "The staff has already been through the village twice now looking for you. The old man even passed right by the house and didn't even think about knocking."

Rose couldn't help herself and began giggling with mirth. "How?" she asked.

"Simple," Harry said as if it were the most common knowledge in the world. "The fidelius charm." Seeing Rose's blank expression he went on. "The fidelius charm hides a house or other building from everyone but the secret keeper and anyone they wish to know. I'm the secret keeper, and I told you exactly where the house was when we entered the village Monday afternoon."

Something dawned on Rose. She remembered Hermione telling her about the charm in her second year. Anyone who wasn't 'in the know' so to speak didn't even know the charmed building existed. She was overcome with happiness knowing that she was safe here with Harry and leaned back against him again. "Thank you, Harry," she said softly. "For everything."

Harry just wrapped his arms around her and enjoyed the crackling fire

(((o)))

Harry and Rose spent the following days to Christmas enjoying their company and decorating the house for the very first time. Harry had never seen Rose so happy as she seemingly floated around and decorated. Harry procured a modest sized tree and set it up in the sitting room. He sat back and watched as Dobby, Winky and Rose had fun decorating the tree. He could definitely tell who had decorated which part of the tree. Rose's section was actually decorated very nicely with a silver and blue theme to it. Harry attributed it to Rose's feminine touches. Dobby, unsurprisingly, used nothing but socks and sock themed decorations. Winky elicited the largest reaction from Harry and he laughed for nearly an hour. She tiny elf had decorated her part of the tree with butterbeer corks and strange radish like ornaments that left Harry wondering if Winky was really Luna's elf.

Once the three were done decorating Harry added his personal touch to the tree. Flourishing his wand, he conjured thousands of gold fairy lights and sent them into the branches of the tree. He also transfigured a muggle pen into a golden spire for a tree topper. All in all, the tree was rather ugly, but neither Harry nor Rose cared. It was their first of hopefully many Christmases together.

The week wasn't all just lazing and fun. After her dance lessons, Harry decided to start teaching Rose about her animagus form. Since the incident at the Gaunt house, Harry had determined that Rose's form was that of a phoenix, like his. She had already discovered her ability to flame travel and Harry focused on that. Rose excelled at it and in the two days before Christmas she had it down to an art. She couldn't transform anything yet, but Harry hadn't expected her to. It took him nearly half a year to perfect his transformation.

While they worked, Rose asked Harry about his second transformation, and if she would have one. Harry told her that it wasn't until after he had exited the chamber in the Department of Mysteries that his second form manifested. He honestly thought it was a 'gift' from Voldemort. Either way, Rose was satisfied for the moment and couldn't resist flaming around the house. She eventually stopped, however, when she flamed over to Dobby in the attempt to scare him, and almost set the tree on fire.

Eventually it was Christmas Eve and after breakfast Harry gave Rose her first surprise. "So, are you doing anything important today?" he asked the bleary eyed girl. One of the few less obvious differences between them was where Harry was a light sleeper and early riser, Rose could sleep the day away if you let her. Harry's sleeping problems manifested in his fifth year when Voldemort would send him visions nearly every night. He prayed that Rose never had to experience that.

Rose blinked sleepily at Harry. "Dun think so…why?"

"I have a little something planned for us," he said evasively. "Once you get ready for the day, we can go."

Rose immediately woke up fully and dashed up to her room. She came back down a few minutes later dressed in a pair of jeans and a wooly green Weasley jumper. She had her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and was smiling broadly. "Ready!"

Harry had to tear his eyes away from her. Even as casually as she was dressed, she still looked ravishing. "Okay," he began. "I'm going to flame there first. I want you to concentrate on me and flame there on the count of ten." At Rose's nod, Harry vanished in a burst of blue flame.

Rose counted to ten then concentrated hard on Harry's features. She pictured him standing there in what he was wearing; oddly enough almost exactly what she was but with different colored jeans. She started adding in features, his sparkling green eyes, his messy hair and handsome face, chiseled…

Rose had to stop for a moment. She was getting her self flustered. Taking a deep breath, she focused on Harry again then willed herself to be by him. She too vanished in a burst of flame, hers golden. She reappeared in a lavish entry hall and staggered. She had put too much power into the teleport and nearly ended up sprawled on the polished cherry wood floor, but Harry's reflexes were top notch as always and he steadied her with his arms around her waist. She blushed and glanced at him gratefully. "Where are we?" she asked. Judging by the size of the entry hall, the place must be huge.

With a flourish of his arm and a bow, Harry said, "Welcome to Potter Manor."

Rose looked gobsmacked. She was in her family's ancestral home. She had heard about it in passing when she actually managed to stay awake in Binns' class and always wondered about it. She had thought it to be lost under cloaking wards. She asked Harry, "How did you find it?"

Harry stared at her strangely then nodded in understanding. "You think it was lost, don't you?" He asked. Rose nodded and Harry rolled his eyes. "It wasn't lost at all, just a closely guarded secret."

Rose's expression darkened. "Dumbledore," she growled. Harry nodded.

"Anyway, back to more pleasant things!" he exclaimed in a happy voice. "Let's go exploring. I'm curious to see if this manor is any different than the one in my old dimension."

The two of them wandered the vast expanse of Potter Manor. Harry already knew the layout of the mansion so they avoided getting lost. Rose seemed fascinated by the dungeons. They were the cleanest and most welcoming dungeons she had ever seen. It really was rather strange. Eventually the tour came to an end and they plopped down on a very lavish down filled velvet sofa with a couple of butterbeers in hand. Rose nearly moaned with pleasure.

"So, what did you think?" Harry asked.

There was a lengthy pause and Rose said, "It's clean…"

Harry dissolved into fits of mirth. When he finally calmed down he asked, "That's it? That's all you thought?"

Rose sighed. "I liked it but it's just too…big," she explained. "I like our home in Hogsmeade better. And why is it so clean?"

Harry chuckled again. "I understand. And I think Dobby went a little over board when he cleaned up. He was a bit to ecstatic to return home."

Rose's eyes went wide and she blinked. "Dobby…home?"

"How much do you know about house elves?"

Rose adopted a dull face. "Only about everything Hermione knows," she muttered.

Harry nodded in understanding. Hermione must have started spew. "Okay," he began. "House elves are bound to a family. They are born into that servitude, and it's almost sustenance for them. Simply by serving their family, they survive. Now, if a family dies out, the elves become…I guess feral is the best term. Then they slowly die out if they don't bond with a new family. This brings us back to Dobby. If I remember right, the Potter family had three elves before Mum and Dad died; one of them being Dobby."

Rose nodded seeing where this story was going but she let Harry continue.

"You and I were too young to continue the family bond and the elves were freed. The other two, I can't remember their names, eventually died, but Dobby simply went a little batty. He somehow managed to survive until the Malfoy family bonded with him. Once we turned eleven, Dobby felt the pull on his weakened bond with the Potter family and eventually sought us out. This is where it gets a little different between the two of us. Only a patriarchal head of a family can reinstate a bond with an elf. You, being female, would never be able to re-bond with Dobby, but he was still loyal to the Potter bloodline."

"I thought Dobby liked being free though," Rose said.

"It was because he was free to serve us. In my case, until I came of age and could reinstate his bond. That's why he was so elated to find out who I really was," Harry explained. "Anyway, one last thing to do here before we go. I don't feel very comfortable here either."

As they got up from the sofa, Rose a little reluctantly, they heard a deep voice from the fireplace mantle. "I never did either," it said. "Bought me some land in Godric's Hollow and build me a nice little house there."

"Hello William," Harry said with a tight smile on his face. Rose could tell that Harry didn't like the portrait much.

Rose turned around with Harry and looked at the portrait on the mantle. The man in the frame appeared to be in his late fifties. He had a soft face with mischievous blue eyes, and Harry's messy black hair that was streaked with grey. She looked up at Harry with questioning eyes.

"Rose," he said. "I'd like you to meet our great-great-grandfather, William Thomas Potter. William, this is Rose Lily Potter, daughter of James and Lily."

William laughed jovially. "Yes, yes, she looks just like her mother," he said. Rose smiled warmly but her smile faded with William's next comment. "She has her mother's wonderful breasts."

Rose squeaked in outrage and Harry whimpered. He had sincerely hoped that the portrait wouldn't be activated here. Back in his dimension, Harry met William on his first visit to the manor and was instantly offended by the portraits crude sense of humor. It was the real reason Harry didn't like the manor. None of the activated portraits could be removed. "Really, that's wonderful," Harry said and Rose turned her indignant glare on him, though this time it was tinged with a bit of appreciation. "But we have things to do, so if you'll excuse us."

Harry frog marched Rose out of the room before William could say anything else. "He's the real reason I don't like this place either," he explained to a rapidly reddening Rose. Harry didn't notice that he had one hand firmly on her bum. Rose didn't seem to mind though, and she let Harry keep it there until they got to their destination; a huge walk in closet. At this point, Rose didn't notice the hand on her butt; she was too awed by sheer amount of gowns and dresses before her. "Pick out any one you want for the Ball."

Rose squealed girlishly and disappeared into the forest of cloth. Harry sat down in a lounger that most likely had been placed there for Potter men waiting on their women to finish getting ready. Harry seriously doubted that Rose would be less than an hour in there.

While he sat, he thought about his Christmas present for Rose. He was glad that she hadn't asked about portraits of her parents when William had revealed himself. He had a special surprise for the girl. Harry was interrupted by an indignant scream from deep in the closet. Harry surged to his feet just as a half naked Rose came flying out of the closet clutching a cyan robe to her bare chest. Harry spluttered and turned away. "What's wrong," he asked, pointedly not looking at Rose.

Either Rose hadn't noticed her state of undress or she didn't care. She pointed back into the closet. "He's in there too!"

Harry sighed and made his way through the sea of gowns and finally made it to the vanity dresser deep in the back of the wardrobe with Rose following close behind. Sitting on the tabletop was a small picture frame with none other than William Potter in it. The portrait has a wide grin on his painted features as he tried to look past Harry at the half naked girl hiding behind him. "You're really an arse, you know that?" Harry growled.

"What?" William said innocently. "I merely commented that her bum looked rather shapely in that last gown she had on."

Harry palmed his face in his hand and picked up the small frame. He made a quick search of the closet for anymore portraits and, finding none, turned back to Rose. He had forgotten her state of undress and 'eep'ed', quickly averting his eyes. "You…you should be safe now," he stuttered turning to leave. As he did so, Rose couldn't resist getting in a quick jab of her own.

"You realize that you have to let me see you in only your shorts now, right?" She called out to Harry's retreating form.

"You already have!" Harry shouted back, his voice a little higher than normal.

Rose spent another twenty minutes or so in the closet before emerging. She was still red but she looked satisfied as she carried a deep burgundy robe folded in her arms. "How come you didn't let me see you with it on?" Harry asked.

"I want it to be a surprise," Rose said sheepishly.

Harry smiled. "At least you're letting me see the color," he said. "That way I can coordinate."

The two of them flamed home and Harry secluded himself in his room, leaving Rose to her own devices. The rest of the day passed quickly and before they knew it, it was Christmas. Harry came down the stairs and found Rose already in the kitchen with breakfast waiting. They shared a quiet breakfast of porridge, bacon and toast, before Rose looked up at Harry with wide, doe-like eyes.

Harry knew exactly what she wanted. "Alright, alright…presents," he said with an over dramatic sigh. Rose squealed and ran into the sitting room. When Harry caught up with her, he found her nearly in tears, staring at all the presents under the tree. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Rose scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled at Harry. "This is my first real Christmas and I'm just happy to be sharing it with you," she hiccupped. She hugged Harry then went to sit down next to the pile of presents.

'Women,' Harry thought. He went to sit next to her. He picked up a soft package from Mrs. Weasley and handed it to her. "Let's open yours first," he said. "Then we can open mine."

Rose ripped paper (Rose was a ripper,) from the package and held up an emerald green jumper with an 'R' embroidered on the chest. Wrapped in the jumper was a tin of homemade fudge. Rose smiled and set them aside. She noticed the wistful look on Harry's face. "You miss them, don't you?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but they're here too, so I can get to know them again," he said. "Open your next one." Harry handed her a wrapped box. Harry was pretty sure about what it was and used it as a gauge for the reaction his gift would elicit.

Rose ripped the paper off the box and found a note taped to the lid.

Dear Rose,

I hope you find as much solace in this gift as I did. I found these over the summer and thought you might like them.

Remus

Rose took the lid off of the box and gasped. The box was filled with notes and photos of her parents and the rest of the Marauders from their school days. Rose's eyes misted as she put the lid back on and pushed the box to the side. She would look at it later. Right now she had more presents to open. She accepted the next package and noticed that Harry had an impish grin on his face. She looked back at the package and noticed it was from Ron. With a sigh, she opened it. Ron had given her a gaudy charm bracelet and most of the charms were hearts. Rose made a face at it and Harry burst with laughter. "I'm glad you find it so amusing," Rose tried to growl, but her own smirk ruined the effect. She tossed the bracelet over her shoulder. "Oops."

Her next two gifts were books; one from Hermione on ancient and lost magic and the other from Sirius on famous pranks. Harry understood the book from Hermione. He would have been a little perturbed if the bushy haired witch hadn't given Rose a give like that after Rose's display at the first task. It was a book that Harry hadn't seen before and he was itching to read it himself. The other book, Famous Pranksters of the Modern Century, made Harry raise his eyebrow at Rose. "Is there something I should know about you?"

Rose giggled. "Not really," she said. "When Sirius and I had the chance to finally talk, he told me that he was happy I was more like Dad than like Mum. I think he wants me to be a Marauder too." She was silent for a moment then added, "I guess I could be now that I know my animagus form. I just need a name."

"Well, I'm Feathers, you could be Featherina," Harry suggested. Rose glowered at him. "Oooor maybe not…"

Rose shook her head. "It's not that important right now. I just hope that Sirius will start treating you like Dad when he finally meets you."

Earlier during the week, Rose had asked Harry if she could reveal him to Sirius and Hermione. Harry was adamantly against Hermione; he was convinced that the bookworm was in Dumbledore's pocket, but he missed Sirius too much to hold out for very long against Rose's puppy dog eyes. They agreed to meet with him come the next Hogsmeade weekend. Besides, Hermione would meet Harry at the Ball.

Speaking of puppy dog eyes, Rose turned them on Harry now. "Where's your present?" she asked.

"Oh no," Harry said looking away. "That won't work on me. You get your presents from me at the end."

"Hey," Rose said, suddenly changing the subject. "If no one knows where we are, how did you get my presents here?"

Harry looked over at Dobby and Winky. Dobby was happily trying on the two mismatched socks that he had received for his gifts, (Turned out that the only way clothes would free an elf is if they were given with the intent of freedom or unknowingly given. Gifts were just that; gifts.) and Winky had received an art set. She was rather good at sketching Harry had discovered. "House elves are wonderful creatures," he said vaguely.

Rose nodded and handed Harry a small box. It was her present to him. Harry took the paper off gently (Harry wasn't a ripper) and opened the small jewelry box. He gasped when he saw the simple platinum band with an emerald inlay. "Is this what I think it is?" he whispered. Rose nodded and fingered her matching ring. "Where on earth did you find Guardian Bands?"

Guardian bands were two matching rings that would protect the two people wearing them, regardless of distance so long as they both wore them. They would also allow the wearers to communicate telepathically over any distance. Traditionally they were given as wedding rings, and Harry knew this, even if Rose didn't. He didn't mind though. "I found them yesterday when we were exploring the Manor," she told him. Harry didn't care that Rose essentially admitted that she didn't have a gift for him before yesterday and he slipped it on the ring finger of his right hand. He was too in awe of the powerful artifacts they both possessed. "I figured that now you don't have to keep renewing your mind link spell…" She blushed and added in a small voice. "And I like the significance of them…"

Harry was over come with emotion. He scooted over to Rose and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Thank you," he said softly.

Rose looked confused and pensive as she stared at the ring on her right ring finger. It was more feminine than the one she had given Harry with a smaller band and heart shaped emerald. "What are we, Harry?"

Harry let Rose out of his embrace and scooted away to face her. He thought long and hard about her question. Truthfully, he didn't really know. He knew that he cared deeply for the young woman and never wanted to leave her. Rose had changed so much from the scrawny, malnourished little girl he had met a few months ago. So had his feelings for her, even though he wasn't sure how. "Family," he eventually answered. "I don't know…more than that even. What do you think?"

"I…I'm not sure. I mean, it's all so confusing. Every time I look at you, I see a brother, a cousin, a…love interest," Rose said quietly, not taking her eyes off the ring. "But, I'm not sure. Every time we kiss, it feels…" Rose gestured vaguely in the air as if trying to grasp the words. "Electric…almost like it's completing something and I always want another."

In the months that Harry had known her, Rose had never been this forthcoming with her feelings. He listened raptly as she spilled the beans, so to speak. "You don't think it's strange to feel that way?" he asked cautiously.

Rose was silent for a moment before looking deep into Harry's eyes. "Yes, I do," she said. "Everything I know tells me that feeling this way about you should be wrong, but I don't care."

"So, what do you want?"

Rose blushed and found her pajama bottoms very interesting. "I'd like to try it…I-if you do…" She suddenly found herself in Harry's strong arms.

"Good," Harry whispered in her ear. "'Cause I do."

The two of them had their first snog; one that wasn't influenced by hormones, adrenaline or the rumors of classmates but by their love for each other. When it ended, Rose felt giddy and she snuggled into Harry's chest. She wasn't sure that what she was feeling for Harry was love, but she never wanted it to end.

Harry pushed her away gently. "Now, how about my presents?"

Rose nodded absently. She didn't think she could get anything much better than what she just received. Harry handed her a small box, about five inches long and an inch wide and tall. It was made of mahogany and hinged along one of the edges. She had absolutely no clue as to what was in the box so she simply opened it. Sitting on a red silk cushion was a tiny four and a half inch long Firebolt. Rose looked at Harry in confusion.

"Well, take it out," Harry prompted. Rose held the twig sized broom between her thumb and forefinger. I really was a rather nice replica. "Now, say 'enlarge' in parseltongue."

Rose imagined that the broom was a tiny snake and hissed at it. There was a pop and the broom was suddenly the normal size for a riding broom. Her eyes widened in realization. Harry had bought her a Firebolt! Rose squealed happily and hugged Harry again. "Thank you!" she hissed, forgetting to speak English in her excitement.

Harry laughed and hissed back. "You're very welcome. If you hiss shrink at it, the broom will become pocket sized again," he explained. He watched as Rose re shrunk her broom and he switched back to English. "Now, for your real gift."

Rose looked up wide eyed at Harry. "You already bought me the most expensive broom in the world!" she exclaimed. "What else could you possible have gotten me?"

Harry stood and left the room for a moment before returning with a picture frame in his hands. If he had gotten her a picture of William Potter she was going to kick him in the bludgers. She accepted the frame from Harry and realized that there were actually two frames, stacked on top of each other. She turned them over and her breath hitched in her throat. Harry had given her a portrait of her mother and father.

She nearly dropped the portraits in her shock so Harry took them from her gently. "Harry?" she questioned with a shaky voice.

"They haven't been activated yet since no one was around after they died," Harry explained in a soft voice. "The Potter family has an enchantment in the manor that creates a new portrait anytime someone is brought into the family. The portrait 'grows' with the person until they die, then the family activates the portrait." Lily's portrait was created the day she and James were married. "These two should know who you are. Want me to activate them?"

Rose nodded quickly and eagerly, unable to stop the tears from flowing. Harry knew enough by now that they were happy tears. Separating the two frames, he set them upright on the couch and began to weave the runes that would bring Lily's portrait to life. Slowly, like she was being wound up, Lily came to life. She blinked a few times before her eyes settled on Harry.

"James? Oh my god, I'm dead aren't I?"

Harry smiled sadly. "Unfortunately, yes, you're dead, and no, I'm not James."

Lily was always a quick one and after a few seconds studying Harry, she had an idea who he was. "Is your name Harry?" she asked hesitantly. Harry smiled fondly at his 'mother' and nodded. "If we had had a boy, we were going to name him Harry after James' great uncle. Speaking of James…?"

"I was just about to activate him," Harry explained. Lily's eyes welled up with tears. "In the mean time, I think there's someone here who would like to meet you."

Harry moved to James' portrait and began to weave the activation runes and let Rose step forward. "Rosie?" Lily asked. Rose was too choked up to say anything and merely nodded. "Merlin, you've grown."

Harry tuned the two women out while they chatted and cried to each other while he finished James' portrait. When he was done he beckoned Rose over while James came to life. His reaction was similar to Lily's but backward. He blinked and gaped at Rose. "Wow, Lily, you look good!"

Lily growled from her frame. "I'm over here you prat!"

James looked back at his daughter. "Rosie?" he gasped. Then he sighed. "I suppose we have a bit of catching up to do…"

Harry stepped over to Rose and hugged her tightly. "I'm going to let you catch up," he whispered into her ear. "If you need me, I'll be in the potions lab."

With that, Harry left the red head to tell her story to her parents.