Slow start, but it will turn into a crossover soon enough. Enjoy~!
She didn't know what made her do it, and to be honest she didn't really care at this point. If it wasn't for the fact that she didn't know where else to go where the idiots that made her life hell would find her, she would have dumped this place ages ago.
However standing in front of the entire Wizangamot being charged with breaking the law despite being a minor with no representatives and having to deal with the Minister's cheap tricks...her rather large store of patience had reached it's end.
Sirius had shown her the spot on the Black family tapestry and explained to her that her grandmother on her father's side had been a Black. And years of living with a bitch like Petunia had given her plenty of experience at being catty, if only by using her aunt as an example. It wasn't like the gossip circle of Surrey cared if she was there, so long as she was quiet about it and her aunt had a habit of hosting all sorts of tea parties with the neighboring wives.
Rather than look submissive or quiet, Rosethorn stared the entire Wizangamot with a disgusted expression on her face.
The second Fudge called the court to order, she spoke loudly and clearly.
"I demand Veritaserum, or barring that a competent barrister!" she said before the minister could get a proper word in.
Dead silence.
"Young lady, we are here to deal with your use of magic in front of a muggle. Be silent," said Fudge in a condescending manner.
"Really? Since when does the Ministry deal with the matters of underage magic in front of a full session of the Wizangamot, rather than the department made to handle such matters? Particularly when the minor in question is heir to two ancient and noble houses?" Rosethorn shot back. She looked directly at Madam Longbottom. "Madam, how would you react if you learned your grandson had been pulled before the full Wizangamot for what is a minor crime at most, without even a hint of proper legal representation?"
"I would track down the fool who arranged it and insure he never pulls such arrogant tricks again," said Madam Longbottom.
"Enough! We are here to deal with the matter of Miss Potter blatantly breaking the Statute!" said Fudge quickly.
Hearing the charges, Rosethorn snorted derisively.
"Yet again, our esteemed (her tone implying he was anything but) Minister is showing his ignorance. The muggle in question happens to be my cousin, who I live with. It's rather hard for him to be unaware of magic already considering my accidental magic gave him a pig's tail shortly after Hagrid came to retrieve me due to my aunt and uncle making it very clear they didn't want me going to Hogwarts," said Rosethorn snidely. "And even if he wasn't my cousin, the spell in question would have been enough to clear me of all charges."
"Minister, exactly what spell is Heiress Potter accused of casting?" asked Madam Bones. She was clearly not happy, but willing to play along to see where Potter was going with this.
"The charge is that she willfully and knowingly broke the statute of secrecy by casting a Patronus is a known muggle neighborhood," said Fudge.
Dead silence, though Madam Bones was now in absolute rage.
"What."
"According to the laws created when Dementors came under the 'control' of Azkaban, in order to keep them from being used as political tools of various ministry party members, any instance of the patronus charm being cast...regardless of location or those present... must be investigated by a SENIOR team of Aurors who are trained to handle the beasts to insure that there are no rogue dementors breeding in the wild without the proper spells to contain them from killing random people and exposing our society. As head of the DMLE, I am sure Madam Bones is very well aware of this law, particularly since the Minister saw fit to inflict those foul creatures on the very institution that teaches your heirs how to cast magic properly," said Rosethorn slyly.
Madam Bones looked absolutely furious.
"Heiress Potter, would you be so kind as to let me examine your wand for the Patronus charm, to verify that it was successfully cast?" asked Madam Bones.
Rosethorn went up to her and held it out, hilt first. Madam Bones cast the spell and a list appeared. The same one that had been present at the wand checkpoint she was at not half an hour ago.
Madam Bones looked at the Minister, livid.
"Let me be absolutely clear that I was never questioned by any members of the Auror department and instead had a letter sent from the office for Underage Magic stating I had been expelled without even a hint of a hearing, which goes against the laws regarding the charm. Then again, Sirius Black was thrown into Azkaban without even a hint of a trial because of the fact that everyone wanted to put the rampage that hypocrite went through. It seems to me there is an ongoing conspiracy against the House of Black by the Ministry... and as heir of the ancient and noble house of Black, I must seriously question whether the Minister really wishes for me to call in all the loans and favors owed over the centuries by my family. I'm sure quite a few of your supporters will become very unhappy with you," said Rosethorn.
That rattled the Minister.
"Just who do you think you are?" demanded Fudge.
"Allow me to clarify something you apparently don't understand, Minister. You cannot try me for underage wizardry and have it done in a court with a full session of the Wizangamot unless you are openly planning to declare me an adult. Either this is a case of underage magic, in which case your input would become unnecessary unless a major breech of the Statute has occurred, or due to the Tri-Wizard tournament I am a legal adult, in which case the issue becomes whether the statute was legitimately broken in the first place, as the only muggle present was someone who was already aware of magic in the first place."
Fudge looked highly conflicted.
Which was why Rosethorn went in for the kill.
"Either you're declaring me a legal adult, thus I am responsible enough to become head of both houses, or you are trying a minor from an ancient and noble house and are setting a precedent which will have your supporters out for your head because their heirs will now be at risk," said Rosethorn simply.
Fudge was an utter coward, which was why she knew he would go for the 'lesser' option that wouldn't lead to a major outcry out for his head.
In very little time, Rosethorn walked out of the courtroom with the equivalent of a slap on the wrist over the matter, since she hadn't bothered to debate whether there were in fact Dementors in Little Whinging that night.
The mere fact she cast the spell outside of a classroom meant she felt she was in legitimate danger from the creatures it defended against, or was showing off in front of her cousin who was already aware of magic. Either way the fact the Ministry failed to investigate WHY the charm had been cast was enough to have the entire case thrown out due to the fact that she could legitimately sue the Auror department for not doing their damn job.
If declaring her a legal adult (thus allowing her to claim her titles two years early) meant making the entire clusterfuck go away, then he'd do so without a second thought.
The only one who walked out happy about the entire mess was Rosethorn, since it meant that the headmaster no longer had any real legal hold over her.
Her first move...after waiting to leave with the majority of the Wizangamot to insure Mr. Weasley didn't try to stop her...was to floo to Gringotts and claim the headship rings.
It was that meeting that would change her life forever, and open up a way for her to be free of the Dursleys once and for all. Even if it meant some very hard questions for Sirius once she returned.
Later that night, in Grimmauld Place...
After a long lecture from Mrs. Weasley for walking out like she had, Rosethorn's limited patience snapped. It started an overdue row with the woman over the way she had been treating the teenagers this whole time and how this wasn't her home.
Rosethorn was sick and tired of the way Mrs. Weasley seemed to lord over everyone despite the fact she was a guest in Sirius' house, not the other way around. As a pure blood she should damn well know better.
And despite the fact that Mrs. Weasley was a mother figure in her life, she was not her mother and never would be. Therefor she was done with Mrs. Weasley trying to dictate how she lived her life as if she had any right to do so.
Sirius was the one to drag her aside once everyone was preoccupied with the party to have a long overdue talk.
"So...you know," said Sirius.
"Why didn't you tell me I have a twin brother?" she asked, hurt.
"Wait...have? I was told he died," said Sirius in shock.
She shook her head.
"The goblin in charge of the accounts made it clear that I only had claim to the Potter ring, as my brother was still considered the heir of the Black," said Rosethorn.
Sirius sat down hard.
"So he's alive and still has his magic. That bastard lied to me!"
"What happened?"
Sirius ran his hand through his hair.
"I got there before Hagrid arrived, but I was told after my escape that Gabriel lost his magic, which was why he wasn't at Hogwarts. Dumbledore assured me that he had placed him with a good family, and that it was too cruel to tell him about magic since the incident rendered him a squib," said Sirius angrily.
"Considering his current track record, we can safely say that he is full of shit at this point."
"I made Gabriel my heir since as first born you'd inherit the Potter titles, and Black magic takes a lesser toll on the male heirs. James agreed because it meant there wouldn't be any reason for either of you to bicker over the inheritance," said Sirius.
"Why aren't there any pictures of both of us in the photo album Hagrid gave me?" asked Rosethorn, hurt.
"It's possible to remove someone from magical photographs, but it's incredibly difficult and runs the risk of destroying the image permanently. As it happens I do have some pictures of both of you in my personal vault, but considering the circumstances..."
Rosethorn was furious. Yet another way Dumbledore's meddling had ruined her life. If her twin was alive, then those damn blood wards he used to JUSTIFY her stay at the Dursleys could have been powered simply by keeping them together!
She was absolutely done with his bullshit. It was time to take control over her own life and make her own decisions without trying to justify it to that bastard.
She was almost relieved to be free of Grimmauld place, except she was now entering a place where Dumbledore had far more control than before. Everyone thought she would be disappointed at not being a prefect, but she was actually rather happy.
At least she would have some entertainment in the form of the twins, who were more than happy to give her a place to crash once this year ended.
She had to explain the concept of a small business loan to them, but they were already happy to agree without really looking at the details. Bill, who had been present at Rosethorn's suggestion, had looked over the terms and found them more than fair.
In exchange for funding, the twins would pay Rosethorn back for the more than generous loan she was giving them within the next five years. Though she would forgive half of it if they agreed to let her crash at the apartment Bill was going to help them get, since this was their final year. She wanted him to do the arrangements so he could have the new shop properly warded along with the apartment. She was even paying him for the wards he would add, though he would have done it for free.
Ron seethed when he heard what she was doing. Originally she had tried to avoid using her wealth, but at this point she was past caring about his petty insecurities. It was past time for that idiot to grow up.
Rosethorn found herself in a compartment with an odd blond girl who already put her at ease. Something told her they were going to be very good friends in short order.
With Ron and Hermione...
"Honestly, who does she think she is? It's like she's a completely different person!" seethed Ron.
"It's called growing up," said Hermione. "At least she's not being overbearing about it like Malfoy."
Ron snorted at that.
"She's turning into a bloody Malfoy if you ask me!"
"Why? Because she actually bought clothes that fit and suit her?"
"Did you see that paper she gave the twins?" said Ron.
Hermione paused and looked at him.
"You can't actually be telling me that you're jealous she's making a long term investment that would make your family a lot of money," said Hermione incredulous.
"What would you know?" said Ron harshly.
Hermione glared at him.
"For your information Ronald, she let me look at the agreement she was making with them. It's similar to a small business loan, just with a few tweaks. If she wants to invest in your brother's business and pay another to insure it's properly protected, it's her business not ours. If anything I'd say the terms she made were very generous indeed," said Hermione.
She really couldn't understand why Ron was behaving like this. The deal Rose made with his brothers would insure that his family made a lot more money in the long term and showed how much she cared for his family.
Then again with the older Weasley's personality it was possible that the oldest siblings (barring Percy) had tried to help the family finances but were turned down. She wouldn't put it past Mrs. Weasley, in all honesty.
At least one of their trio was attempting to grow up. Ron seemed to be losing maturity rather than gaining it.