Very little was seen of Rose during the next few days. Though some crazy rumours flew around (unfortunately largely by the divination Professor, Professor Trelawney, who was slightly past her best despite insisting that she could see bad omens in the near future) that she had already had some unfortunate event befall her, but as Albus knew, she had only retreated to her guest bedroom.
She let no one into see her except Scorpius. He brought in food and post for her and often they spent hours at a time just talking quietly. Occasionally, Albus heard Rose's soft giggle through the door of her room.
Albus was pleased that she was talking to Scorpius, of course, but he felt a pang of envy that it wasn't him in there, comforting Rose. He supposed, with a twinge of guilt, that at the time when he shut them out, they grew a lot closer to each other.
November came and went with no sign of Rose emerging from her room. On the first day of December, however, Scorpius brought a message from Rose, asking for him to come and visit her.
Albus knocked tentatively on the door. "Come in," called Rose. Albus ducked around the door, surprised at the merry note in her voice. She was rushing around, packing all her belongings in her suitcase. "I'm coming out!" she cried gleefully. Crookshanks purred on the bare mattress.
"Oh! Good," smiled Albus, more than a little taken aback. "Why the change of heart?"
"Well," she said, slumping next to Crookshanks, "the other day Scorpius brought me a letter from your dad. It seems odd, but you have to remember that he was once in a similar position- not quite certain doom, obviously, but if you're in a one to one duel with the darkest wizard of all time, it must seem pretty bad odds. Anyway, he told me to simply enjoy life. Live it normally- because as much as I love this room, I'm not going to have a very fulfilling life in three meters cubed. I'm going to get out there, and continue as normal, except this time I'm going to enjoy it more. Seize every moment- enjoy every opportunity. I'm going to really work hard, but balance it with talking to you- that sort of thing. You never realise, do you, quite how beautiful the Hogwarts grounds are until you really look at them. I mean, come over here," she said, beckoning Albus towards. He shuffled over to her curiously. "Look closely at the grounds. What do you see?"
"I- um- I see the forest-" He ticked them off on his fingers- "the Quidditch pitch in the distance, not many people (It's too cold)- oh, except a few fourth-year nutters jumping on the frozen lake; that's not going to hold! Ouch, that's gotta hurt. Oh yeah, and everything's covered with snow."
"Nooo!" howled Rose despairingly. "That's not what I meant at all! Ok, try again." She turned his shoulders away from the window. "Now, close your eyes." Albus squeezed his eyes shut. "Imagine that this is the last time you'll ever see the grounds. Ok, now look."
Albus spun around, and immediately, he knew what Rose meant. The sun was setting, and sharp silhouettes of trees were dotted around the landscape. Everything was covered with an icing-sugar type layer of snow, and all of the bright white snow was illuminated in a deep red from the dying light of the sun sparkling icicles hung from the window, the frozen lake resembled an ice rink, and the childish snow forts made during today's cancelled Herbology lesson by some of the first years, despite looking juvenile and weak in the light of day, stood prod and strong against the horizon; such stuff as medieval castle and battlements are made of. Suddenly, the scene flashed before their eyes, and the sun sank below the distant line of trees bordering the horizon.
As Rose opened her mouth to speak, Albus touched her jaw, and she shut it. She understood why; some moments are best left without words. It is interesting, that in such a moment, both Rose and Albus thought of the same word to define what they had just witnessed. However, it is the only way to describe it; even in a school of witchcraft and wizardry, in a society of witches and wizards, what they had observed was true magic.
McGonagall stood up at supper to make an announcement. "Tomorrow, Rose Weasley will be re-joining the school community. She has requested that we all treat her as we ordinarily would, so she can continue her life as normal. She stresses that there is absolutely nothing different about her, so please do not stare at, gawp at, or harass the poor girl." Throughout the rest of the meal, Professor Trelawney could be heard assuring the staff table that "just because the inner eye was wrong once, my dears, does not mean that it will be wrong again."
All in all, the plan went smoothly. Rose was led from the Slytherin common room to the Ravenclaw tower, and everyone stared, which, Rose said was better than them deliberately not staring, which would have been much worse, as you could almost sense the concentration it took them to look away. Eventually, they met up outside the Ravenclaw tower with Immy, and, with much tears and crying, they all ran up to the girl's dormitory (Albus and Scorpius were firmly denied access; they waited awkwardly on the stairs outside). There were more tears and hugs from the other girls, and Rose emerged in a fresh set of school robes, her flaming hair tied into two bunches. Then, they all trouped down to supper.
If the stares in the corridors were bad, then the looks Rose got in the dining hall were much, much worse. A mixture of pity; fear, as if she had a strange, deadly gas leaking out of every pore; and disgust, as if she was endangering the safety of those around her.
Luckily, Rose had other things to focus on. She had heaps of catch up work from all of her subjects, and spent very little time out of her work, but she enjoyed every minute of it, and every minute she was not working. She seized every opportunity- joined many societies, but left time for talking to Albus and Scorpius. She also enjoyed all the things around her- she squealed with delight at the magnificent trees, which Madam Maxine and Hagrid had put up with the triplets at their feet, all chewing ornaments- Harry a bauble, Hermione a candle, and Ron a star. She savoured every mouthful of food, and did everything properly- she left nothing half-done.
"One thing I'm sad about," said Rose, "is all those people who are going to die- and don't know about it. In a way, I'm the lucky one- I know to enjoy, whilst other people may waste their last morning complaining about- oh, I don't know- complaining about the weather or something, and they step out of their house in a foul mood, and Bam! they get hit by a curse, and the last thought that crosses their mind is 'why didn't I enjoy life whilst it lasted.'"
There was only a small argument between Albus and Rose before Christmas and it was over the question of whether Rose should stay at school over Christmas. Rose wanted to stay, because she still had plenty of catch up to do, and she stubbornly maintained that she worked better in the silent library.
"But you can't not go home for Christmas!"
"Oh yeah? Why not?"
"It's just that I'm just worried that… well… If you don't go home for Christmas and see your family, I'm worried that you will never get another chance to!"
Rose said nothing, but silently marched to her dorm to pack. No more was said- she was going home.
No one said anything of the curse when they arrived, of course. Aunt Hermione came to the front door looking worried, where Dad stood, his hands on their shoulders; James stood sulkily behind them. She didn't know that they were going to arrive; Dad and Uncle Ron had arranged it as a surprise for her. She had been led to believe that Rose was spending a few nights at Albus' house before coming home to her. Her already bushy hair was flying out of control, and large chunks had fallen out from the stress. When she saw Rose, she hugged her to her chest, tears of joy running into Rose's hair. "I thought- that I- was never- going- to see- you- again!" sniffled Aunt Hermione between sobs.
"It's ok Mum… I'm here, and I'm safe…." Dad gently navigated Albus and James indoors where Uncle Ron shot past them and they could hear Hugo bellowing "Dad! Aren't you going to finish my bedtime story- Rose!" before he thundered down the stairs and he tore past them as well. They sat quietly in the front room until the contented group came in, Hugo riding on Rose's back.
Aunt Hermione served up Rose's favourite meal- lamb with mint and raspberries- and beamed at Rose. Hugo practically dragged her upstairs to make her finish reading his bedtime story. With a soft, blissful expression in his face, Uncle Ron gently pulled the brush through the tangles in her hair. When it was approaching ten o'clock, Albus, James and Dad said their goodbyes and Albus and James held Dad's arm as they apparated back home.
"Rose seemed happy," said Dad as they walked up the pebbled pathway through the garden.
"Yes. I'm pleased that she's enjoying herself and making the best of everything." Mum let them into house where they collapsed into bed, with Rose's happy, beaming face on Albus' mind.
The next few days were filled with festivities. Dad had got hold of the most enormous fir tree which was in the garden. Mum had been avoiding getting the exterminator to remove a nest of fairies in the oak tree so that they could persuade them to decorate the tree. That they did, and along with real brightly coloured fruit growing from the tree's branches, the fairies' lights looked spectacular in the dwindling twilight.
On Christmas, they all went to Aunty Hermione's house for lunch. It was a large gathering of Albus' parents and siblings, Rose's parents and Hugo, Uncle George, his wife and his children, Uncle Percy, his wife and his children, and Uncle Charlie. Uncle Bill, Aunty Fleur and their children were in France with Aunty Fleur's parents, and Granny and Grandpa had gone with them. Nonetheless, it was a very large group and, to quote Hermione, "quite enough work to be getting along with." After a delicious meal of Roast turkey and vegetables, they settled down to the pile of presents that surrounded a tree that was considerably smaller but just as tastefully decorated as the Potter household tree. Albus received a variety of scarves, books and sweets. Rose, of course, got all of the best presents, but no one felt spiteful enough to feel resentful to her on this, her possible last Christmas. When all the presents had gone, Uncle Percy stood up solemnly to make an announcement. "Molly, Roxanne, Lily and Hugo, this regards you.
"At the ministry, certain- decisions have been made regarding the war, and it has been decided that all children from seven upwards may carry and be taught basic control over a wand." There were muffled squeals of delight from the girls into their home knitted scarfs and even Hugo looked mildly impressed. "Of course, Hogwarts can't actually accept you as students until you are eleven, but they are offering a six month crash course for everyone between seven and eleven on self-defence. They will be setting up tents, and it will be hard work- a bit of a boot camp. I assume that you all want to take part nevertheless?" They eagerly nodded their agreement. "Excellent. In that case, I will accompany you to Diagon Alley to buy your wands."
It was sorted. Albus was going back to school with Rose, and this time, Lily was coming with them.