Chapter 2: Dumbledore's Office
The feast was slowly coming to an end. Madame Maxime and the her associate were speaking to each other in French. Roseline looked anxiously around her, hoping Dumbledore had not forgotten her. As she looked towards the end of the table on her left she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Mademoiselle De Grosaillon, would you like to follow me to my office now?" Dumbledore asked.
"Of course, Sir." She answered brightly. "Madame Maxime, will you please excuse, I must speak to Professor Dumbledore?"
"Allez va ma belle! You must do what you came here to do." The older woman replied in a low whisper.
Dumbledore offered his hand to Roseline and then tucked her arm in his as they walked toward the teachers entrance. They headed out the Great Hall and through the labyrinth that was Hogwarts. The walk seemed to take forever. What Dumbledore did not realise yet was that the girl on his arm knew these hallways better than the back of her hand.
"Lemon Sherbet!" Dumbledore said to the gargoyle guarding the entrance to his office. "After you Mademoiselle."
Rose stepped onto the stairs and the stairs began to move of their own accord. She gasped, startled. Dumbledore chuckled. She had not been to his office in years and she could not help the feeling of dread that overcame her as she entered Dumbledore's sanctuary. Would Dumbledore believe her?
"Please have a seat Mademoiselle. Would you like a ginger newt?" He asked her. When she shook her head he continued. "You asked to speak to me privately. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes sir, there is. Before I speak I must ask you to keep an open mind. What I have to tell you is incredible enough as it is. I am afraid it will be very difficult to believe."
"Just tell me your story, and we will discuss whether or not I believe you after you are done the telling."
"Yes sir. I must begin by saying that my name isn't Roseline De Grosaillon but Rose Evans. You may remember me as Lily Potter's younger sister. In the summer between my fourth and fifth year, I supposedly drowned while on vacation with James, Lily and my parents. You may or may not remember this story. I believe it was quite extensively covered in the Daily Prophet due to my sister's popularity." Dumbledore nodded and Rose continued. "As you know, You-Know-Who was on the rise at the time and many threats were sent to my sister and her husband. Many of the threats involved my family and Lily and James wanted to protect us all. My death was all a ploy to whisk me away and protect me from You-Know-Who. Lily and James were afraid that he would target me to get to them and so they came up with a plan that would have me die in such a way where my body couldn't be recovered. The idea was that I would go swimming in the ocean and venture too far to come back. I would wave and pretend like I was drowning and then I would use the bubble charm to swim to the nearest cliff where Sirius would be waiting for me with James. While I headed out swimming, James would pretend to go to the village to get lunch for the family and therefore would not be there to try to rescue me. I would then be disguised and Sirius would take me to a reliable hide away to be kept there until such a time as it was safe to come back. I was disguised as one of Sirius' many conquests and he took me to France to hide with his Squib uncle, Marius. I was enrolled in Beaux-Batons Academy under Marius's Muggle name De Grosaillon and adopted a French version of my name, Roseline. The deal with my sister was that Sirius would come to get me when it was safe for me to return. Unfortunately, my sister and James died. Sirius was sent to Azkaban. I never received the confirmation that it was safe for me to come back until now. Sirius came to me a week ago and instructions left by my sister were given to me. I have them here in this scroll. The first of which is to take care of her son Harry. Will you please help me sir?" She looked up into the bespectacled eyes and pleaded with him silently.
"That is quite a story Miss. You will forgive me if I tell you that I need to see the letter and need one of my staff to confirm who you are."
"Of course Professor," she answered nervously.
Dumbledore wrote quickly on a piece of parchment and brought it to the phoenix that was perched in the corner of the room.
"He will be here shortly. I take it you would not be opposed to him performing Legilimens on you or drinking a little Veritaserum to make sure you are who you are? You see, we try to keep Harry safe and this story is quite incredible to say the least. We would not want him to come into the hands of Death Eaters, Voldemort supporters or to be hurt by all this."
"I understand sir. I will do what is necessary to prove to you that I am not an impostor. I only want to fulfill my sister's wishes and take care of my nephew."
The fireplace across the room glowed green and a tall man, with shoulder length black hair stepped out. Rose turned to face him and a gasp escaped her mouth as her eyes popped wide open.