After she left Remus and Sirius, Rose went back to the common room and joined her friends. Hermione and Neville were there, but the others were at Quidditch practice. Rose took her mirror out after taking a seat next to Hermione and called Fred. Neville was reading an herbology book and Hermione was reading a romance novel. The room was pretty quiet.
"Hey Rosie, how did it go?" He asked her as soon as he answered.
She could see two other red heads behind him.
"It went fine, they're on their way to the ministry of magic for their trial. I didn't even have much to do, just sign my name on a written testimony. My presence was required for the procedure, but I barely did anything, just stood between Remus and Sirius. Who's with you?" She asked, smiling.
"Hey Rose, I hope you're doing fine." George greeted her, taking the mirror from his twin brother.
"Hi George." She chuckled, amused.
"Hello future sister in law." Charlie greeted her, taking the mirror as well.
"Hello Charlie, how is it going?" She asked.
"Is that Charlie?" Hermione asked, getting her head out of her book and looking at her best friend's mirror.
"Hermione?" Charlie asked as well and Rose could see Hermione blush slightly when she waved at Charlie, looking suddenly very shy.
Even Neville lifted his head to look at Hermione, a small smile on his face.
"If I could please have my mirror back to speak with my girlfriend! You two get your own girlfriends if you want someone to speak with!" Fred argued, taking his mirror back from his big brother's hand.
Rose decided to keep Hermione's reaction to herself for now but to ask her about it later. Was something going on between her and Charlie? Was he one of the boys her friend often wrote to? And if so, since when did she write to him?
"So, they're on their way to the Ministry? They're definitely not coming back to school?" Fred asked her, concerned.
"Definitely not. They'll definitely get sentenced to some time in Azkaban. The question is how much time they'll get exactly. I mean unless Voldemort decides to break them out before they reach Azkaban, which is a strong possibility." Bella replied.
"Well, as long as you're safe." he smiled.
"So, you boys are hanging out today? Not going to the Burrows?" Rose asked.
"No, we're just hanging out here. Did you see the results of the auction your brother donated his old shirts to?" Fred asked.
"I did see it, they published it in the paper this morning. I didn't expect it to go that high!" Rose smiled.
"Imagine how much we'd get if we could auction Harry off!" George joked, making everyone chuckle around them.
"He's going to have to be careful with his possessions now. People might try to steal them to get money." Hermione commented.
"Yes, we'll warn him later." Rose nodded.
They spoke for a little while longer before they hung up and Rose couldn't help but notice that Hermione tried to sneak a peak at her mirror discretely, and that Charlie seemed to be doing the same from behind Fred. Yes, there was most definitely something going on with these two, and Rose wanted to find out what it was.
.
Harry came back from Quidditch practice looking a bit angry. Someone had stollen his Quidditch outfit and, given that the ones he had donated had sold for a very big amount, he could guess that it was linked, but it didn't change the fact that he was angry.
He had gone to report it to Sirius and McGonagall before coming back to the common room and they'd investigate of course. Harry had also learned a few spells he could cast on his properties to protect them temporarily.
"I don't care if I am Harry Potter and it's supposed to be a big deal, they're mine and I'm still using them!" Harry complained at the lunch table.
"Don't worry, they'll find your outfit and punish the thieves." Ginny reassured him.
"I hope so." Harry nodded.
"On to another note, did you notice that Cho is spending a lot of time with Luna? Luna told me. She was a bit uncomfortable with it at first but decided to go with the flow. A new friend is always nice, she said." Ginny informed Rose and the others.
"Cho and Luna? How did that come to be? They couldn't be more different." Ron shook his head with a frown.
"I have to agree with Ron. There's something wrong with this." Rose nodded.
"Why? Maybe she just wants to be friends with Luna. I mean, Luna's a nice girl, a cool friend to have." Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"I doubt it, Cho has always been among those who teased Luna the most, I'm surprised by this sudden change too." Ginny frowned.
"All we can do is keep an eye out." Neville replied.
"I'll warn Draco too. He's close to Luna now, he'll keep an eye out as well." Rose nodded.
"Do you think they're interested in each other, romantically I mean?" Harry asked his sister.
"No, I think they got closer because her father and his mother got closer. They're friends, ready for the possibility to be siblings some day." Rose shook her head.
"I personally think it's great that they're both moving on together. His mother deserves to be a bit happy. To feel love and to be loved. I doubt Lucius Malfoy was a very loving man." Ginny smiled.
"They look good together too." Rose nodded.
.
Dudley was at school, enjoying his Sunday and writing letters. It was pretty new to him, before that he only ever wrote to his parents, and occasionally to his aunt Marge when he wanted to get a bit of money from her or something else, then he started writing a bit to Harry and Rose last year but now he wrote to Luna and Cho as well.
He knew that his teachers saw a difference, they had told him so. He was better at school now, writing did help after all.
Dudley knew that he had feelings for them both, and he didn't know what to do. Who did he love more? They both seemed to want him in their lives.
Luna was younger than him, and innocent. He was afraid of hurting her, screwing things up with her. So he ended up deciding to ignore his feelings and be just her friend. If it was meant to be more, life would find a way to show him. Right now, she was still too young for a serious relationship with him, right?
Cho was older than him, and obviously far from innocent. She was interested in him in a way he enjoyed. They had kissed a lot when they met over the summer, in the park near his home, and she had promised to meet up with him during Christmas break, before he went to his cousin's house. She was a bit pushy maybe, but she made him feel like a man, not like a teenage boy, and he liked it.
He wondered if his parents were sincere when they told him they'd accept whoever he chose, even a witch, as long as he was happy but he decided to trust them.
Everyone could change, even them.
.
"So we're sure of it now, You Know Who has definitely gotten Jenny Collins pregnant?" Mad Eye asked during the order meeting.
"Yes, Grindelwald gave us confirmation of it. It's still in its early stages, but it's happened." Aberforth nodded.
It was Sunday night, the Ministry of Magic had been attacked that afternoon and even though nobody had died, a large number of Ministry employees were injured. The Death Eaters had come in number and had used a lot of cutting curses. They had escaped with Pansy Parkinson and her two allies Crabb and Goyle, along with their mothers. The Order had arrived near the end, and it had allowed them to capture 5 Death Eaters, though they weren't very important ones. Xenophilius Lovegood had been there to fight and had managed to injure Lucius Malfoy. He was feeling very proud of himself.
"What a weird thought, Voldemort as a father..." Remus shook his head.
"I know... Gellert also informed us that she was always protected. Dolores Umbridge's main mission seems to be to protect Miss Collins. She's never alone." Albus told them.
"What do we do? Can we really stop this pregnancy?" Xenophilius asked.
"I know that the baby's parents are bad people but it will be born innocent, will it not?" Molly asked.
"Given the fact that it was conceived under the influence of Love potion, I think it's safe to say that the child won't have the ability to feel deep feelings and emotions." Albus shook his head.
"Another psychopath in the making. I say we end it as soon as we can." Mad-Eye growled.
"But isn't it where the whole Nature versus Nurture debate comes in?" Arthur asked.
"We could wait until the child is born and decide then. Place it in a good family, watch it closely as it grows..." Remus suggested.
"A lot could happen in the next few months." Daedalus agreed.
"I'll still inform the Minister of magic of this fact, have him make the decision." Albus informed them.
"He'll have to keep this information private. If he tells anyone about it and it gets to Voldemort's spies' ears that we know, Snape and Grindelwald's positions will be at risk." Remus warned.
"True."
After the meeting was over, Albus was all too happy to go to bed, making sure his double way mirror was near him. He didn't want to miss a call from his old friend, even though he could guess that Gellert would only call if absolutely necessary.
He had been right, at the moment, the Greater Good demanded that they sacrificed the time they had left together. He understood it and was proud of his friend for understanding it as well, for making this decision.
It would have been so easy for them to run far away from England together, to live his last few months together in peace... Somewhere sunny and heaven like. But they had to stay and fight. They had to do the right thing.
Albus was determined to do everything he could, sacrifice anything he had to sacrifice, to ensure that Voldemort died and that Harry and Rose Potter lived happy and peaceful lives.
.
Hermione liked receiving mail and writing back. Beside her parents, she received mail from Dudley, Victor Krum and Charlie Weasley. Dudley didn't write often, juste once in a while. They were friendly, but not as close as she was with the others. While Victor was only a friend, and she made sure that he knew that they would only be friends, she couldn't help but want more from Charlie, though she understood that with their age difference, she'd have to wait a bit longer.
Would he, Charlie Weasley, even see her as a woman yet? Or did he only see her as a friend, his little brother's best friend?
The first week of November was just ending when she received a letter from Charlie along with a small package. He was telling her that he was sorry for missing her birthday, but that he hadn't know when it was and had only found out by accident. He was sending her a present, a bit late, but she loved that he had wanted to send her something, it was proof that she was important to him too.
He was writing to her how happy he had been to see her in Fred's mirror, how he wished he could see her again soon. He knew she'd spend Christmas with her parents but he wanted for them to find a moment when they'd be able to meet and get lunch or dinner together. He didn't call it a date, but she couldn't help but hope that it would be one.
After reading the letter with a smile and a blush, she opened the package and saw a small bottle of perfume she loved. It made her smile even more.
"Did you order that Hermione?" Rose asked her.
"Oh, hum... no. I... Someone sent it to me. A … a friend, yes. A friend sent it to me. He missed my birthday and wanted to make it up." Hermione replied, blushing and making Rose smile.
"A friend sent you this?" Ron frowned.
"It's a very pretty bottle of perfume and it smells wonderfully." Rose argued.
"Isn't that the kind of present you give someone you'd like to get closer to, though?" Neville asked.
"Maybe..." Hermione replied with a blush.
"Who is it?" Ron asked, trying to grab the letter.
Hermione hid the letter before anyone could see it and stood up.
"I'm going to get that back to the dorm before class start. I'll see you all in class." Hermione said before she ran off.
"I think, whoever writes to her, is someone important to her." Rose smiled.
"Hermione has a crush!" Ginny nodded happily.
"A crush? On who?" Ron asked.
"Well, she's writing to a few people, it could be anyone. We don't even know the name of all the people she's writing to." Rose shrugged her shoulders.
She remembered the connection she had seen between her friend and Charlie but decided to keep it to herself for now.
.
Time passed too slowly for Rose. She just wanted to see Fred again, not through a mirror but in real person. She wanted to be in his arms, to kiss him, to smell him. Unfortunately, they were only mid novembre and she had a whole month to wait until Christmas break and the last day in town before Christmas had been pushed back a couple of weeks. It would now happen just a week before the Christmas break.
She kept on doing her best to be busy. She read, studied more than ever, helped the people around her, trained all the cheerleading team and simply exhausted herself not to think about the fact that she missed Fred.
"We need to find a way to make her stop for a while and rest or she's going to get herself sick." Hermione whispered to their friends.
"The problem is that she doesn't want to stop. She's doing all of this exactly because she doesn't want to pause. If she stops, she thinks about Fred and how much she misses him." Neville replied.
He was the closest to Rose, the one who knew him best.
"I've noticed that she only reads books that help her study, learn more. She doesn't read novels anymore. She only reads books that force her to think." Hermione nodded.
"Do you really think she'll end up getting herself sick? She seems to know what she's doing." Ron shrugged his shoulders.
"Rose is smart and strong. She should be fine, right?" Harry asked.
"She won't be if she continues like this." Hermione shook her head.
"What do you want us to do?" Ron asked.
"I've tried distracting her, asking for her help in homework even though I understood it, something easy and all... It didn't work, she helped quickly then helped someone else." Neville shook his head.
"Harry, maybe you could try to talk to her, ask her to take a walk with you outside. I will force her to stop for a moment and if you tell her how worried you are, then she'll understand it better." Hermione suggested.
"Maybe we should speak with Sirius too, or write Remus a letter. Hagrid might be able to speak to her too, she likes hanging out with him, speaking about magical creatures. She even kept his class even though it was only optional and wouldn't give her any credit she needed. If we all speak to her about it, we might end up getting our point across." Ginny added.
"Alright, I'll ask her now. We still have a little bit of daylight outside." Harry nodded.
"I'll write Remus a letter while you do this. I'll explain our concern to him." Ginny suggested and her boyfriend thanked her with a smile.
"I can go speak with Sirius if you want. I'm done with my homework and I really want to help her." Neville offered.
"Hagrid isn't here right now. Remember, it's the day he visits the dragons of Azkaban." Ron shook his head.
"We can talk to him tomorrow, or even write him a note." Hermione said and Ron nodded.
And so they all parted ways. Harry found Rose reading a big book about animagus and he managed to convince her to take a walk with her.
"What is it , Harry? Do you have a problem?" Rose asked him with concern once they were outside.
"No, I don't. It's just... We don't spend much time together anymore, not just the two of us. You're always busy with something and... well... I have to admit that we're all a bit worried about you." Harry explained.
"Worried? About me? Why?" Rose was truly surprised.
"We're worried that you might be doing too much. I understand that you don't want to take the time to think about the fact that you miss Fred and everything, but it's a bit too much. We're worried that you'll end up exhausting yourself to the point you'll get sick." Harry replied honestly.
"I... who's 'we' exactly?" Rose asked.
"I... All of us. Hermione, Neville, Ron, Ginny, me..." Harry replied.
"I.. I assure you, Harry, I'm fine." Rose smiled, trying to ignore that he was saying the truth.
"You are now, but will it last?"
"Don't worry Harry, I'll be fine." Rose smiled, waving his concerns off.
"If you're sure... Anyway, you were reading a book about Animagus. You're not thinking of becoming an illegal animagus, are you?" Harry asked her, thinking that if she ignored his concerns, maybe she'll listen to Remus or Sirius.
"Not really. It seems long and I don't know if I would have the patience for it. I was just curious as to what the process was and I have to say I'm surprised dad and Sirius managed to do it." Rose explained, ignoring Peter on purpose.
"Why? How hard is it?" Harry asked, curious.
"Well, first you have to be really good in potion and in transfiguration, so considering that they were on the top in all of their classes, I'm not surprised they managed to do it. But you have to carry a single Mandrake leaf in your mouth for an entire month. I mean from full moon to full moon. You can't ever swallow it or take it our of your mouth, ever, or you have to start over." Rose explained.
"That can't have been easy." Harry frowned.
"I know. Can you imagine keeping something like this in your mouth for an entire month? How do you eat? Or speak? It's a wonder nobody ever realized what they were doing." Rose shook her head.
"I mean... How do you hide something like this? You don't speak as much, you don't eat the same... It had to have changed their behaviour..." Harry frown, trying to imagine doing it.
"I was trying to imagine it too."
"Anyway, what did they do next?" Harry asked.
"Well, according to the book, the next step is to find a small crystal phial that receives the pure rays of the moon, then you put your saliva-filled leaf inside and add one of your own hairs. That's seems simple enough." Rose informed him.
"A bit weird though." Harry commented.
"After that you add a silver teaspoon of dew from a place neither sunlight nor human feet have touched for a full seven days."
"They knew the grounds well enough to find that." Harry smiled.
"After that you have to add the Chrysalis of a Death's Head Hawk Moth to the crystal phial as well."
"A bit harder to find, but one could probably order it." Harry smiled.
"After that you have to put the mixture in a quiet dark place and leave it alone until the next electrical storm. And the book insists that you have to really leave it alone. You can't even look at it or into it." Rose added.
"The next electrical storm? That can take a while." Harry frowned.
"Yes, it could, unless they were really lucky..."
"So they just had to wait then?" Harry asked.
"No, while you wait for the storm, you have to place the tip of your wand over your heart every sunrise and sundown and say 'Amato Animo Animato Animagus'. If you keep on repeating it, there will come a time when, with the touch of the wand tip to the chest, a second heartbeat may be sensed. I'm guessing that the first sign of your animagus. But when it happens you can't stop and you have to keep going and keep waiting for the strom while repeating the incantation every sunrise and every sundown." Rose explained.
"Weird. They'd have to be careful not to forget, even on days they are super tired." Harry noticed.
"Yes, it can't be too easy. Anyway, as soon as lightning appears in the sky, you have to go to the place where you've hidden your crystal phial. If everything's done right, you'll find a mouthful of blood-red potion inside it."
"I'm guessing they had to drink it?" Harry asked.
"You have to move somewhere where you aren't going to alarm anyone or place yourself in physical danger during your transformation. I'm guessing their dormitory or something. The book even specifies that it's a bad idea to organize an animagus transformation party." Rose chuckled, making her brother laugh with her.
"That's something I imagine dad and Sirius doing." He smiled.
"Then they had to place the tip of their wand against their hearts and speak the incantation again. Amato Animo Animato Animagus. Only then you can drink the potion. According to the book you feel fiery pain and an intense double heartbeat."
"Of course it's painful, otherwise people would do it all the time." Harry shrugged, unsurprised.
"The shape of the creature into which you'll transform appears in your mind at this moment. The book warns that you must show no fear and it's too late to back off now. Too late to escape the change they have started."
"I'm surprised Wormtail went all the way but then again, his shape was a rat, nothing too frightening or big." Harry frowned, making Rose frown as well.
"It's advised that when the transformation starts, you should hide your wand somewhere safe so that you can find it after the transformation. To return to human form you simply visualise your human self as clearly as you can and you have to be patient, sometimes you don't change immediately. With practice, you can slip in and out of animal form at will, simply by visualising the creature. And once you're advanced enough, you'll be able to transform without using your wand." Rose explained.
"I'm really surprised Peter went through it. He probably wouldn't have managed without Dad and Sirius's help." Harry frowned.
"Especially since the book doesn't hide the dangers of it all, you can end up stuck in some half human half animal form, and then there is no known cure." Rose informed him.
"Can you imagine half human half rat?" Harry chuckled, making his sister laugh with him.
"It's said that the very first transformation is uncomfortable and frightneing because your clothes and items like jewellery or glasses melt to the skin and become one with your animal form's fur, scales or spikes."
"Like Professor McGonagall's glasses being seen on her fun." Harry nodded.
"But even if it's uncomfortable, they usually keep the clothes on them to avoid finding themselves naked once they turn back into human form. The book says that you have to avoid panicking and stay calm when you transform, otherwise the animal mind could take over and you'd do something stupid or dangerous."
"They were teenage boys, it came naturally to them." Harry joked, making his sister laugh with him.
"True."
"Is it somehting you want to do, become an animgus?" He asked his twin sister.
"The thought has crossed my mind, but why would I do it? I have no real use for it. Becomeing an animagus just for the sake of it is pointless and I doubt I'd get an authorisation. Of course I could try and hide it, do it in secret, but I don't want to get in trouble. What about you?" She asked him back.
"I don't know... I doubt it would help me to kill Voldemort and besides that, I have no use for it. Not really. Plus, it would mean a whole month without kissing Ginny because I'd have a leaf in my mouth." Harry replied, finishing with a small blush.
"I get it." She chuckled.
Harry and Rose slowly made their way back to the tower.
"Rose, please try to listen to what I said earlier. It comes from our hearts. We're all worried for you. Please try to take it easy, to rest a little more..." Harry pleaded.
"Don't worry brother, I'm fine." Rose smiled, waving his concerns off.
Harry smiled back to his sister, hoping that Neville would have managed to convince Sirius to have a talk with Rose.
.
Neville had been lucky to find Sirius in his appartment, he had feared he'd be busy somewhere else. At first, the professor thought the teenage boy needed help with work but he realized that it was something else. Not linked to homework. He was worried about Rose, as were all of their friends.
"I did notice that she was always busy, but I figured that she rested while in the tower." Sirius frowned.
"She doesn't." Neville nodded.
"And she's headstrong like both of her parents, it won't be easy to get her to see reason." Sirius replied.
"We're just worried..." Neville commented.
"Thanks for the warning, Neville. I'll meet up with Moony as soon as I can to talk it out with him. And I'll keep an eye out. You guys are right, if we're not careful, she'll exhaust herself and with winter coming, she could get really sick." Sirius nodded.
After that, Neville went back to Gryffindor's tower. They'd have to keep an eye out for his friend, but they couldn't force her to rest.
I hope you liked it.
At first I wanted Harry and Rose to be animagus, but I've changed my mind.
Sorry for the delay, like I stated previously, it's taking me longer to finish chapters, because inspiration is hard to get lately, life gets in the way, but I do work on it and try to finish the stories I have started. i'm not sure how much longer this one will be though, I'm not sure how to finish it either, but I will.
Review please?
Lorelei Candice Black