Rose's POV

1

Rain poured outside the manor in Wiltshire England that had been my family's home for over five generations. It was situated in close proximity to the Malfoy Estate, even though I hadn't really talked to Draco or had a meaningful conversation with him in over a year. Our time at Hogwarts was changing him from the sensitive boy I once knew to something dark and tearing our former close friendship apart. That unfortunate reality saddened me. My trio of friends, which included my rather-annoying-but-I-still-loved-him cousin Ron Weasely, was slowly taking his place, but I had a history with Draco Malfoy that they could never really fill.

"Rose, are you ready, darling? It's almost time for you and Harry to go." My mother called from the first floor.

Breaking out of my reverie, I stopped staring out into the rain and turned back to my bed, where a tightly packed brown trunk lay open. "Almost Mum." I replied, hoping that I had yelled loud enough for mum to hear me. I checked my trunk for the third time, making totally sure that I had everything. I had my clothes; school robes; text books; personal things; wand; odds and ends. I looked over my list again.

I closed the trunk, sitting on it to make it latch, and grabbed Harper's cage as she wove her way between my legs and out of my room. The heavy trunk thudded to the floor before I wheeled it out of the room. When I left for my first year, I had two trunks and my cat, but with each year that passed I consolidated little by little as I realized what I really needed and what I could do without.

I shut my door, the third one that lined the white marble wall, and saw Harry doing the same. His owl hooted and flapped about in her cage. He calmed her down before he navigated the marble stairs to the ground floor. We were flooing ourselves: Harry to his aunt's home; my father, my little brother and myself to the home of Sirius Black. My aunt, uncle, most of my cousins, and several other adults that I trusted, including my godfather Professor Snape, my favorite teacher, a fact that confounded all of my friends; were already there.

Immediately after the return of the Dark Lord, Professor Dumbledore reactivated The Order of The Phoenix, a secret organization he formed during the First Wizarding War to fight the Dark Lord. Some of the most powerful and skilled wizards and witches in Britain were members, including my parents; Harry's; and Neville's. Many of the teachers at Hogwarts were members as well, and others, such as Mundungus Fletcher: an annoying little man who seemed to be a kleptomaniac; had power or connections that benefited the Order.

I met Harry in front of the massive fireplace in the foyer. It was white marble, like most of the ancient manor. Ornately carved, it glistened brightly; recently polished by one of our many house-elves. A lidded glass jar containing a dull, gray-green powder stood on the mantle, well out of reach of my younger siblings and starkly contrasting with the light and cleanliness of the fireplace. Beside it sat a family picture from my first year at Hogwarts. The forever blooming rose that Neville had given me Christmas the year before sat as the center piece of the arrangement on the mantle.

Harry hoisted his trunk onto the ash covered floor of the fireplace. Hedwig's cage he placed on top. The boy with disheveled black haired hugged my mother and father and waited for Briar and Hazel to come down. My brother was attending his first year at Hogwarts this year, so he was coming with me, but Hazel still had a year to wait.

"We'll miss you, Harry. " My father hugged Harry.

"I'll miss you too Mr. Hawthorn. Thank you for letting me stay here."

"It was a pleasure to have you with us." My father answered.

Harry laughed under his breath and straightened his glasses.

"We'll see you at Christmas." My mother promised. Harry hugged her tightly. She smoothed Harry's disheveled black hair. She had given him a haircut while he stayed with us, at his request. His black mane was now a good deal shorter, but still perpetually messy. "Now, you five better be going." My mother pulled the Floo Powder off of the mantle.

"Wait!" We all turned as my little sister Hazel, trunk in toe, ran down the stairs and into Harry, dropping her luggage only so that it wouldn't slam into him. Nevertheless, he grunted as the ten year old collided with him. "Goodbye, Harry." she spoke softly and hugged my friend. He tousled her long red hair.

"Goodbye Hazel."

My sisters Olivia and Violet - they were identical twins except Livy had red hair and Violet had blonde - came down next and said their goodbyes to Harry before shooting back up stairs. They hadn't grown as close to Harry as Hazel had.

Briar came into the room with his trunks while Hazel said her goodbyes andfist-bumped Harry. He was so much like Harry, but then again, Harry was the first real role model aside from my father that he'd had. Even if we were on good terms with the Weasely side of the family, - we weren't mind you, at least as far as my mother was concerned - we didn't think that they were the best role models for Briar. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily for my housemate, my brother idolized Harry, so he tried to be emulate him when he came for the summer. "See you soon, little buddy." Harry said playfully.

"Bye."

Harry turned back to my mother, who lifted the lid off of the Floo Powder. He grabbed a handful of the green powder, stepped into the fireplace, rested his hand on Hedwig's cage and shouted clearly, "Number 4, Privet Drive." Bright green fire swirled around Harry after he threw the powder on the floor. When the flames disappeared, Harry was gone.

Briar jumped back in surprise, his eyes as big as saucers. I rolled my eyes. This happened every single time that my brother saw the Floo Network in action as a bystander. He had used the Floo Network many times before, but he was still too scared to try it solo.

I hoisted our trunks into the fireplace. The inside of the fireplace was much larger than it appeared and all four trunks: Hazel's trunk; mine; and Briar's two; plus Harper's cage and my brother's owl's cage, easily fit into the space with room left over for the humans.

I stepped into the fireplace. Harper took her spot and sat patiently by my leg, knowing exactly what was going on. Like myself, she'd grown accustomed to the workings of the Floo Network. I held my hands out for my brother and sister. They took them hesitantly and took the empty spaces beside me in the fireplace. I'd drastically misjudged the amount of space and with all of us in the fireplace it was uncomfortably cramped. To make matters worse as far as space was concerned, Father stepped in with us. However, without him, there was no way that we would end up in the Order's Headquarters. I was not yet old enough to be a Secret Keeper, and certainly not an Order Member.

"See you soon, Mum." Briar said.

Mum held out the jar of Floo Powder. Dad took a handful. "Hold on tight." I whispered to my young siblings. They clasped my hands firmly.

Dad exclaimed, "Number 12, Grimmauld Place." The instant before he threw the green powder to the floor my youngest sister hastily grabbed his robe and I felt Harper dig her claws into my leg - man that cat was smart. I saw my mother and sisters waving goodbye, then I closed my eyes. Traveling by Floo was disorienting at best.

I felt Briar's hand slip from mine as he slid onto the floor of the small Gothic drawing room. Luckily I was still standing and holding onto my sister's hand. I let go of it and stepped out of the fireplace, helping my brother up off the floor.

Ginny was sitting on a sofa with a book, but looked up when the fireplace roared to life with our arrival. I rushed over to my favorite cousin and hugged her tightly. "Oh, I've missed you Ginny."

"I've missed you too Rosie." She answered, hugging me back. I'd missed my cousin so much over the summer but we rarely saw each other outside of school since our mothers had not reconciled and probably never would.

We broke the embrace and I looked at my clothes after realizing that there were suddenly black smudges on her shirt that hadn't been there a minute ago. "Oh I'm so sorry Ginny, I didn't mean to get soot all over you." I said hurriedly, embarrassment flooding my cheeks with scarlet. She just grinned and helped brush the remaining soot from my clothes. Hopefully we could convince Aunt Molly to use a cleaning spell on our black-spotted outfits.

A set of hurried footsteps resounded through the ancient house and my Aunt Molly, her curly red hair flying about and an apron around her generous waist, strode into the room. She was just the sort of woman who would have a plate of cookies in her hands when ever someone came to visit.

"Hawthorn." She greeted cooly. He nodded in reply as he dusted himself off before walking into the current meeting. My aunt turned her attention back to me and my brother. "Rose, how wonderful to see you dear, and you too Briar. Why, Hazel, how tall your grown." She greeted. "Fred, George, come help your cousins with their trunks!" she called, her voice still warm but commanding. A door slammed and four pairs of footsteps echoed on the stairs as I dusted the rest of the ashes off of myself and Briar.

Hermione, her bushy brown hair tamed with a headband, ran up to me and hugged me tightly. "Rose! I've missed you."

I returned the hug. "I missed you too, Hermione." My twin cousins finally strutted into the room and took the trunks, levitating them upstairs. Since they were seventeen, they were no longer bound by the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction on Underage Magic, and appeared to be reveling in it.

Harper had since left us, sauntering out of the fireplace as soon as we arrived, most likely sensing Crookshanks.

My attention was turned back to Aunt Molly. "When is my sister coming?" she asked, pursing her lips after she looked me over.

"Mum will be coming in a few days. She has to get school supplies for Olivia and Violet still." I explained. My aunt looked satisfied and turned her attention to my little brother.

My mother and my Aunt hadn't gotten along well after Aunt Molly married Uncle Arthur and my mother had married my father, a man from a wealthy, respectable Pure-Blood family with a long standing friendship with the Malfoys.

My mother didn't believe that her sister had made a good choice since Aunt Molly married into a family that wasn't nearly as wealthy or had as clean a reputation as she thought her older sister deserved. When my mother married my father some years later she believed that she had made a very good match, one living up to the standards that she'd set for herself which she felt her sister had failed to do with her own. My mother and my aunt rarely spoke now, and only tolerated each others company when someone died or when the Order needed them.

My aunt Molly did ironically have a good relationship with me and my cousins; something that ate at Mama.

I found Fred and George's senseless pranks to be rather tiring, and the fact that they were now seventeen and could use magic legally meant that they apparated nearly everywhere, literally! Ron, on the other hand a crucial part of our quartet, often rubbed me the wrong way with his antics and I found him obnoxious at times, but he was a true friend regardless and the one I connected with best besides Ginny.

Ginny was another little sister to me, but the relatives that I really connected with were the older Weaselys: Bill; Charlie; and to a lesser extent, Percy. Of all the Weasely children, Bill possessed the most level head. Bill was my favorite, now working in Gringotts. Ever since Charlie left for Romania our correspondence had trickled down to nothing, and I missed talking with him about dragons and other mythical creatures like Phoenixes. Percy, the bossiest of the three, sadly, took a job as assistant to the Minister after graduation and drastically changed. I didn't like it.

Brair's stomach growled, and he blushed. "There's baked ham in the kitchen if you're hungry dear." My aunt said warmly. Briar instantly bolted to the kitchen. I laughed and followed Aunt Molly into the main part of the house.

I passed by an aging house elf, the one that had been serving the black family since its founding. "Hello Kreacher, good to see you." I fiddled in my pocket for the small brown paper wrapped parcel. "This is for you."

He took it and gingerly opened it with his long, gnarled fingers. Inside were three fresh Ginger Snaps, Kreacher's favorite. He bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Milady. You are the kindest to me of the Noble House of Black. It's always good to see one who is kind to Kreacher." He often spoke about himself in the third person, but that seemed to be his usual way, so I eventually got used to it.

"You're welcome Kreacher. I baked them fresh this morning." I added.

He nodded and walked away to hide his treats.

I walked down the hall into the dining room. The long kitchen table was surrounded by several witches and wizards, and more stood by the wall. The familiar forms of Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape sat at the table, along with some that I didn't know so well.

An African man in deep blue embroidered robes sat talking with the master of the house. Kingsley Shacklebolt was the Minister of Magic's personal assistant and body guard. He by far had the most power at the Ministry of members of the Order. As far as I knew, no one knew of his affiliation with The Order of The Phoenix, and few were aware that it even existed, or where its headquarters was.

This house, which served as the Headquarters of The Order of The Phoenix, was hidden by the Filedius charm, making it invisible to wizards unless they knew the way inside, and were therefore Secret Keepers, and made it utterly invisible to muggles, whether they stumbled upon it or not.

Since my parents were among the original members of the Order, and I had been recruited after it was reactivated, I became a Secret Keeper and gained access to the house, whether from the outside or the Floo Network. Since Briar was still too young to be an Order member, if he hadn't been holding onto my hand the entire time we were traveling here, who knew where he might have ended up. At best, he wouldn't have even left our house; at worst, he would have been floating through the limbo of the Floo Network forever. As with Apparation, using the Floo Network had its dangers.

"Miss Rose, I see that you arrived safely." The man with long black hair greeted. He was Sirius Black, the last member of the Black family who still had the name, master of this house, and Harry's Godfather.

"Yes. My father will arrive in a few days." I stated.

My Aunt Molly entered the room with my uncle, Arthur Weasely; in tow. "Alright, we're ready. All of the children out, out." She shewed me and my brother from the room and Harper escaped to the second floor, untrampled and unnoticed.

Relenting, I turned and strode up the stairs, stopping at the room that had the names Ginny Weasely, Hermione Granger, and Rose Braddock spelled on it. I opened the aging door. My cousin and Hermione had already moved in it seemed, and the only bed that looked unowned was the one by the window. I also had a feeling it was mine because the trunks baring the initials R. O. B. sat haphazardly on it. I rolled my eyes. My cousins must have wanted to get back to whatever pranks they were thinking up.

I straightened the trunk and opened it, unpacking many of my things in the short dresser at the end of the bed. We were going to be staying here for a month or so until school started. With the threat of the Dark Lord, and the fact that he might still hold something against us, my parents thought it prudent to send us to the headquarters of the Order. Besides Hogwarts, it was the currently safest place for us in Britain.

After I unpacked and got myself settled, I placed Harper's small sheepskin cat bed in front of the dusty window. Even though the light filtered through unevenly, it was enough for my cat to sun herself and she liked to keep watch on things. I opened the curtain slightly and peered out the window. A pleasant looking park sat across from the house. I wondered if I could convince my parents to let me go there while we visited.

The days passed by quickly. I spent most of my time in the kitchen, cooking for the Order so that my parents and aunt could participate in the meetings, or practicing on the piano in the foyer, or painting with a travel set I got for Christmas one year. My parents felt it extremely important that I be well versed in all of the refined arts becoming of a lady of my rank in the world of wizards, eventhough I was by no means the world's best dancer.

Two weeks after my siblings and I arrived, I was sitting at the dining room table eating breakfast and I heard my father come in the front door, more than likely he has just brought in the Daily Prophet.

Three seconds later, I heard his coffee cup crash to the floor.

Fast as lightning I sprung up to see what had happened. By the time I saw my father, I found that many of the rest of the Order, although, mostly the kids, had gotten up to see what all the commotion was about. That house echoed like you wouldn't believe.

Mum, still in her bath robe with a cup of coffee in her hands, asked shakily. "What is it, Hawthorn?!"

My father looked up at Mum and passed the newspaper of to her. "Harry's been expelled."