Chapter Six

Rose meets Louis

"Have you got one of these?" Albus asked Rose as she sat down at the breakfast table.

"Got what?" Rose asked she was tired and the lack of sleep was showing in her eyes she had spent the last two nights in the hospital wing because she had refused to leave Lily. Lily had woken up several days before but Madame Pompfrey had declared she was too ill to leave yet. So Rose had slept in the bed next to Lily with Charlie sat beside her the entire time when Charlie had refused to sleep Madame Pompfrey had to eventually give him a sleeping draft. But still when Rose had left the hospital wing that morning Charlie was sat in that same chair beside Lily's bed barely awake. Hugo passed Rose a letter addressed,

Miss Rose Weasley

Gryffindor House

Hogwarts School

She tore open the letter she didn't recognize the handwriting it wasn't either of her parents her Uncle Harry or Aunt Ginny or her older cousin James neither was it Teddy or Victorie's.

Dear Rose,

If I may be so bold to call you such ["what else would you call me?" Rose thought] I hope this letter is not intrusive but I am soon to visit Hogwarts as an assistant to the eminent Professor Cain for approximately one week. I will be housed near to the Gryffindor common room and hope to see you and all my cousins on a regular basis as I realize most probably due to our age differences we have not seen each other for several years and I hope to remedy this during my stay. I look forward to seeing you.

Yours

Louis Weasley

On reading the name the letter made an awful lot more sense to Rose. Louis was her Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's youngest child, head boy at Hogwarts when Rose was just starting. He was a chronic over-achiever and worked in the department of magical potions and accidents at St. Mungo's and she guessed he was visiting Professor Cain because despite her dogged pursuit of unfairness in the potions classroom Rose had to concede that she was probably the best potions master in the country at least, if not in Europe.

"Rose's letter is different," Rose's little brother Hugo said to the other members of the Potter-Weasley clan sat around the dinner table most of who had gone back to eating their breakfast.

"How?" asked Roxanne sat next to Albus.

"It says I look forward to seeing you," he said pulling a face

"Well so does mine," Roxanne said through an apple she was eating.

"What?" asked her brother Fred grabbing the piece of paper from her hand Roxanne rolled her eyes at Rose they were both used to the overprotective nature of the Weasley boys Rose knew she was lucky she didn't have on older brother unlike Lily and Roxanne but her dad more than made up for that not to mention James, Albus, Fred and her uncles she sometimes wondered how her Aunt Ginny had managed in a household of so many boys growing up.

"Maybe he just wants to talk?" Roxanne suggested.

"Or maybe he wants a girlfriend," Fred suggested they all looked to the one letter still lying on the table and lunged for it a coffee pot went flying several pieces of toast ended up on floor pumpkin juice was split down the entire length of the table and at least one bowl of cereal was upended. Finally it was Roxanne who reached the letter first and pushing herself out of the throng calmly passed the letter to Rose.

"Come on Roxanne," Fred moaned at her.

"That letter is addressed to Lily," Rose said "none of you have any right to read it and I don't care what it says but I am going to give it to her in the hospital wing seen as I don't trust any of you not to open it."

"How is she Rose?" Albus asked this question was addressed softer than any of the conversation that morning had been thus far.

"She's getting there Madame Pompfrey said you could visit her after lunch." Albus never got to reply because at that moment Professor McGonagoll interrupted them.

"I have no idea what you think you were doing but that is not behavior worthy of the breakfast table Miss Weasley," she looked at Rose "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Miss Weasley," she looked towards Fred, Hugo and Roxanne "and Mr. Potter you all now have detention tonight with Mr. Filch don't make it a weeks worth." Rose resolved not to be warm to Louis after all it was his letter that had landed them all in detention, however half way through scraping the floor of the charms corridor the muggle way she decided she really didn't like Louis.

By Thursday lunch she thought she had been a little too hard after all it was hardly Louis' fault that her cousins had decided to act exceedingly immaturely not that this was anything new.

"Miss. Weasley?" Professor McGonagoll asked as Rose excited her transfiguration class that afternoon she inwardly moaned she had hoped to grab some quick tea then go to the hospital wing to see Lily who was almost recovered.

"Yes Professor?" she asked hoping it sounded positive.

"Mr. Weasley has arrived for his period of study under Professor Cain," Rose looked around as though she expected Professor McGonagoll to produce Louis from her pocket.

"He is currently downstairs having tea I suggest you make him welcome," she looked as if to say that Rose would be getting detention if she didn't comply.

"Yes Professor," Rose almost ran down the stairs to the great hall I could still grab some tea then see Lily she thought if I get Louis to come with me.

"Rose," Louis smiled at her standing up as if to push her chair in "there are no chairs," Rose thought "we sit on a bench,"

"How are you Louis?" she asked Louis had inherited his fathers genes much more than either of his sisters he had short red curly hair and a peppering of freckles across his nose that made him look younger than he was but he towered over Rose at over six foot and Rose wouldn't have been surprised if he was taller than his dad although Bill was the tallest of the Weasley family.

"Good," Louis replied turning from Rose back to his food "I have had an excellent working time at St. Mungo's trying to find a cure for some common ailments like purple flu and tea-nose," Rose drowned Louis out she knew that his job should be interested to her but the tone in which Louis talked was so monotone that Rose almost found herself falling asleep at the table.

"Would you like to visit Lily?" she asked Louis after about half an hour of half listening to his talks on various potion concentrations, cauldron bottom depth and the inconsistency of potion ingredients.

"Lily Potter?" Louis asked.

"Yes Lily Potter our cousin who else did you think I meant?" Rose thought but she simply replied "yes," to which Louis agreed. As they were walking down the corridor towards the hospital wing Rose was sure she felt Louis try to grab her hand but when she looked down Louis' hand was by his side and she decided she must have been mistaken."Hi Lils," Rose smiled as she opened the door of the hospital wing her greeting however was drowned out by a rather loud Gordon Winters a fourth year Ravenclaw who was screaming.

"Mr. Winters you are not dying that potion has only damaged your arm I am coming with the antidote right now," and then under her breath "oh for goodness sake."

Rose crossed over to Lily's bed and was glad to see her laughing with Charlie sat beside her himself the happiest Rose had seen him in ages.

"Hi Lils, how are you feeling?"

"Much better thank you Madame Pompfrey says I can go tomorrow hopefully,"

"That's great," she was interrupted by a cough from behind from Louis who was cleaning his glasses on a tissue from his pocket "sorry Lily I meant to say that Louis is visiting the school he is working with Professor Cain,"

"Hi Louis," Lily smiled weakly at him.

"Louis this is Charlie Zabini, Charlie this is Louis Weasley our cousin," Charlie gave Louis a friendly smile which was not returned by Louis.

"You're studying with Professor Cain?" Charlie asked politely and five minutes later was regretting it.

"Well medicinal potions can be the most important in our society they aid us in ways..." and so Louis went on as though he was reading directly from an exercise book or an essay.

Forty five minutes later Charlie, Rose and Louis were chased out of the hospital wing by Madam Pompfrey who insisted they were tiring Lily. Charlie and Rose were both pretty sure who she was referring to. Charlie seemed quite annoyed that Louis had cut into his time with Lily but Rose knew despite Louis annoying lecture he had not meant to tire out Lily or cut their time short in fact he seemed to be unaware of the whole fact.

"Oh Rose?" Louis asked as he paused in his monologue.

"Yes," Rose really hoped he wasn't going to give her a quiz on what he had been talking about but she couldn't shake the feeling.

"I am visiting Teddy and my sister in Hogsmeade on Friday Evening I wondered if you wanted to come too?"

"It isn't a Hogsmeade weekend is it?"

"No but I asked the headmistress if you could come she said if you where back by ten then it is ok by her,"

"Oh that sounds like fun,"

"Excellent," he said then "I was going to ask Lily but it appears that she it otherwise engaged." He turned on his heel and headed along the charms corridor. Rose shook her head Louis could be confusing sometimes just when you thought the boy had no conscious notion of human beings he did something that qualified as nice.