Chapter 2-Through the Years
The first time Rose Potter did magic was when she was two.
"Rose, no!" Minerva sighed loudly, as three-year-old Rose Potter pushed off another of Albus' presumably extremely important 'objects'.
"Wheee!"
Grinning, the tiny toddler crawled around the table at an alarmingly fast rate. Her curly, black hair was tied up, and sprouting from her head like a fountain. Her green eyes (identical to her mother's) twinkled mischievously as she launched herself off of the wooden table.
Minerva's mouth fell open, her eyes widening as she froze in place. The blood rushed to her head, as she watched, horrified, waiting for the Girl-Who-Live to fall smack flat on the hard tiled floor of her grandfather's office. The next few moments, however, were not what Minerva had expected.
After Rose jumped from Albus' desk, the grin was slapped off her face, as she saw that she was about to crash into the ground. Just two inches before she hit the ground, when she let out a loud a shriek, she flewup in the air. Minerva blinked, pinched her arm and bit her tongue, and when she looked again, Rose Potter was sitting back on the table, looking as happy as she had before.
"Rose..." She walked cautiously up to the child, who looked up at her with a grin on her face. Minerva couldn't help but notice, with a pang, how similar it was to her father's.
"I...fly..." She gurgled, giggling happily and rocking back and forth. Minerva winced, afraid that she might fall down (as she was sitting on the very edge of the desk), and picked Rose up from her seat.
"Well then, Miss Potter, I believe you just did magic..." Minerva suppressed the smile begging to appear on her face, staring severely at the young child. Unperturbed, Rose chuckled and pulled at a lock of Minerva's hair. Finally smiling, Minerva moved away from the table.
"I suppose your grandfathers should be informed about this."
Minerva Mcgonagall promptly informed both the Dumbledores about Rose's infuriating, but spectacular feat. The two delighted grandfathers threw a party in celebration for Rose's first show of magic. They invited everyone of importance. The guests oohed and aahed as Rose Potter crawled around, chuckling and enjoying being the centre of attention.
Everyone, that is, apart from Severus Snape, who only stayed at the party for ten minutes and avoided the 'dratted child' for every second of his stay. At the end of the party, Albus and Aberforth read a bedtime story to Rose, and she fell asleep in Albus' arms.
That was Rose Potter's first memory of Hogwarts, a warm place where she got love and affection from (almost) all. A place which was far away from 4, Privet Drive, where she felt like she didn't belong. A place which she could call home.
The first time Rose Potter met her godfather was when she was four years old. She had gone to Hogwarts to spend the day with her grandfathers. It was quite normal for Rose to spend most of her time with her grandfathers, especially in the summer, when Albus was free. They were having lunch at the Hog's Head, when Albus got up, an all knowing smile on his face. Anyone else would have considered the smile a smirk, but both Aberforth and Rose knew, Albus Dumbledore did not smirk.
"Where are you going?" Aberforth grunted, piling Roses empty plate with chocolate ice cream.
"It seems we have a visitor. He's waiting in my office." Rose opened her mouth to ask a question, but Dumbledore was already gone.
"Why does he do that?" Rose grumbled, sticking her spoon into the melting ice cream. Aberforth chuckled, taking a bite out of Rose's ice cream.
"Hey!" Rose exclaimed indignantly. Aberforth shrugged, taking another bite of her ice cream and receiving a death glare from his granddaughter.
"Rose..." Rose looked up at her grandfather, who, once again, smiled warmly at her. His blue eyes twinkled under his half moon spectacles, and the expression of 'all-knowing' was still painted on his face.
"Yes?" She asked, licking her ice cream as some of it dripped on the corner of her mouth.
"I want you to meet your godfather. Remus Lupin." After an incredibly long pause, where Albus Dumbledore merely beamed at his impatient grandaughter, he finally stepped aside. A man in tattered robes, with sandy hair and the most captivating brown eyes smiled nervously at his four-year-old goddaughter.
"Hello Rose." He nearly whispered, coughing to clear his throat as Rose smiled back at him.
"Hello...are you my godfather?" She asked, her big green eyes staring at him in innocent wonder. He nodded his head, eyeing the chair next to her wearily.
"Why don't you sit Remus?" Asked Aberforth, gesturing to the chair. Hesitantly, Remus sat down, and turned to face Rose, who was still staring at him with her big green eyes.
"Your eyes are like your mother's, and your hair is like your father's." Remarked Remus Lupin, smiling softly at the child, who grinned back at him.
"I know. Gwanpa always says so. Did you know my pawents?" She asked, her speech defect making her all the more adorable.
"Yes, actually I did."
Suddenly, Remus Lupin's nervousness disappeared, as he launched into a particularly entertaining tale about Rose's father. For obvious reasons he omitted the parts about Sirius Black. Later on, Remus and Rose chased each other on brooms on the quidditch ground. He caught her when she fell off her broom, and scolded her severely, kissing the bruise on her knee. After that day ended, Rose drew a picture of him in the sketch pad Albus had given her. She gave it Lupin, who laughed out loud at the caption underneath the picture: 'The bestest godfather ever ever'.
From that day onwards, he kept it in his robe pockets, taking it everywhere he went. There were actually people in the world apart from Rose's grandfathers that loved her to death, and she was grateful to have a godfather like Remus John Lupin. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, to know that he cared...so very much...
The first time that Rose encountered a Weasley was when she was six years old. She had, yet again come to Hogwarts. Unusually, it was in the middle of the school term. Remus had come to pick her up from the Dursleys for the weekend, and they had decided to give Dumbledore a surprise. Remus was having a discussion with Dumbledore about some 'adult stuff' that Rose was most certainly not to be a part of. After much protest, Rose had finally consented to leave the room and was moping outside Dumbledore's office.
"Hello there, little girl." Rose looked up right in the face of a freckled redhead, who was looking at her rather peculiarly.
"Hello..." She said slowly, unsure of whether she should stay or run the hell away. She had been told by both her grandfathers and Remus that she should not talk to strangers and try to maintain distance if they engaged in a conversation. Then again, the fourteen-something redheaded boy seemed to be of no danger at all.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you too young to be at Hogwarts?" He asked, and Rose nodded.
"Yes, my grandfather is the headmaster. I came to visit him with my godfather, but they're having 'adult talk'." She explained. The redhead cocked up an eyebrow, placing a hand on his hips.
"Adult talk?" He asked, and she shrugged.
"I don't know what it is, but I'm not allowed to listen." She hung down her head dejectedly, causing the boy to laugh.
"Oh, never mind them...you want to play with me?"
"Sure? What are we going to play?" She asked, raising her head, her eyes twinkling brightly. Her mood improved almost instantaneously.
"Whatever you want to play." He said, as Rose shrugged again. She honestly had no idea why she was talking to the boy in the first place. Didn't he have classes? Remus had told her that classes could not be skipped at Hogwarts, and if they were, it led to detention.
"Alright, you want to play hide-and-seek? Wait...maybe you'll get lost..." He trailed off, pursing his lips as he tried to think of another game to play.
"No I won't. I know this castle inside out." Rose replied, swelling up her chest proudly. He chuckled again, his eyes twinkling with amusement. The girl was quite something...
"Well, that's perfect then. Why don't you hide, while I count to ten?" Rose nodded, and as soon as he started counting, she ran to go look for a suitable location to hide. She hid behind one of the suits of armour, biting at her lip to stop herself from breathing, afraid of giving her position away. Despite her best efforts, the red headed boy found her barely five minutes after he finished counting.
"Caught you!" He exclaimed, as she pouted, coming out from the back of the suit of armour.
Meanwhile, Remus Lupin had finished his meeting with Albus Dumbledore. He hoped that his goddaughter was not in too sour a mood, as he climbed down Dumbledore's spiralling staircase. She hated being left out of things, especially when it concerned Dumbledore and him. Remus knew his adorable goddaughter was going to pout, but there was nothing an ice cream couldn't fix.
"Alright Rosie, I know you're upset but..." Remus paused, frowning, as he saw no sign of Rose when he exited the office.
"Rose?" He asked, trying to beat down the panic that was rapidly building in his chest. She couldn't be in danger, it was Hogwarts for god's sake! Then again, Severus Snape was a professor here, and he had shown a particular dislike towards his goddaughter.
"Rose!" Remus started walking briskly, scanning the hallway, and the next one, and the next... trying to fight the fear from coming out in his voice. He scoured the whole floor for Rose, and still couldn't see a sign of her. By then, he genuinely felt like he was about to shit in his pants.
"ROSE!" He screamed, running up the stairs, two steps at a time.
"Haha! You can't catch me!" He pressed his feet to go faster, as he heard the familiar chuckle. He knew that laugh, it was the purest, sweetest laugh in the world.
"Rose!" He exclaimed, as he saw his goddaughter running away from a tall, well-built boy, a gleeful expression on her face. He ran up to her, and wrapped his arms around her.
"Oh thank god..." He sighed, relieved, as he suffocated her with his hug.
"Remuf...fot..." She mumbled through the many folds of his clothes. Smiling, he moved away from her, still not letting go.
"Why did you run away like that? You scared the sh- I...I mean you scared the life out of me." Remus frowned at Rose, putting on his paternal, scolding voice. She looked up at him with her big, green innocent eyes, filled with guilt. He sighed loudly, and shook his head, amazed at how powerful her eyes were. They made his strong, disciplinary resolve melt in just two seconds.
"Alright...but don't do that again." He said, trying (and failing) to maintain the stern demeanour.
"I'm sorry...it was my fault." Came a timid voice, and Remus turned around to find the redhead who had previously been chasing his goddaughter, staring at him.
"Your fault?" Remus asked, arching up an eyebrow, the expression on his face unfriendly. How couldn'y it be, when his nearly getting a heart-attack was apparently this boy's fault?
"Yes, I asked her if she wanted to play a game, because she looked really bored, and well..." He shrugged, lowering his gaze and looking extremely guilty. Remus sighed, and threw a reassuring smile at him. He honestly did not know how he was going to be a stern disciplinarian with Rose when he melted at the slightest indication of guilt.
"Its alright...thank you for taking care of her."
"No problem, she was great fun!" The boy grinned at the older wizard, who smiled at his goddaughter. She grinned back at the redhead.
"If you don't mind me asking, are you Arthur Weasley's son?" Asked Remus curiously.
"Yes...how did you know?" Asked the boy, a tinge defensively.
"Red hair, freckles...you look a lot like your father..." Remus smiled, hoping the boy wasn't too offended by him.
"Right...well it was great meeting you sir..." He held out his hand, and Remus shook it.
"Remus." He said, as the redhead let go.
"Right, Remus." He turned to Rose, who smiled shyly at him, clutching onto Remus' robes.
"And it was fantastic to meet you, Rose." He smiled widely at Rose, who, for some unknown reason, forgot all her shyness and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Thanks Bill! You're fun!" She exclaimed, causing the boy to chuckle.
"You're incredible fun as well Rose. I always wanted a sister you know..." He trailed off, a wistful look in his eyes, retrieving from the hug.
"Well...if you want...Rose can come meet you in the summer..." Remus added hesitantly.
"Really?" Bill's eyes lit up.
"Well, would you like that Rosie?" Remus looked down to see her goddaughter's reaction, an amused smile forming on his lips when he saw her nod enthusiastically.
It was settled. Rose Potter was to visit Bill Weasley at the Burrow during his summer holidays.
"Alright Rose, we're here. Now go inside and have fun, but please, please don't break a bone or prain your arm or-"
"Alright Remus, I won't!" Rose laughed, and Remus scowled.
"Rose Kendra Potter, it is not funny that you hurt yourself on a daily basis. Certainly not for me, who has to comfort you when you moan in pain. It is not a fun job." He said sternly, as Rose nodded. She didn't intentionally upset Remus, it was just in her nature. Getting in trouble, breaking bones, pranking Dudley...hell, it was in her genes! She really couldn't help it!
"Now, behave Rose, and I'll see you at seven this evening."
"Wait, you're not coming in?" Asked Rose, surprised.
"I'm sorry Rosie, but I'm already late for that job interview."
"Oh...its alright..." She mumbled, trying to mask her disappointment.
"I'll come back Rosie, to pick you up. Take care." He kissed her on the cheek and apparated immediately. Taking a deep breath, Rose entered through the gates into the garden of the Weasley household. Before she could cross the garden to go to the house, Bill ran out of the house, screaming for his mother.
"Mum! She's here! Hi Rose!" He grinned at the girl, who, relieved, smiled back at him. Bill winced, as the start of what seemed like an elephant stampede echoed in the house behind him.
"That must be my brothers." Rose laughed, as a boy a little shorter than Bill coolly walked out of the house.
"Hi Rose, I'm Charlie..." He said in an oh-so-calm voice even though Rose could have sworn that he was one of the people that had stomped down the stairs.
"Hi Charlie...Nice to meet you."
"A great pleasure to meet you Rose. I'm Percy. Percy Weasley." A thin boy with wiry glasses pumped Rose's arm vigorously, the expression on his face indicating that he was about to burst any minute.
"Hello..." Rose replied wearily, trying to pull her hand out of Percy's grap.
"Percy, let go of her hand!" Bill exclaimed, exasperated, as Percy let go, blushing profusely.
"Is she here?"
"Of course she is you idiot, look, that's her right there!"
"Ah, of course! Hello Rose! Im Forge and this is my brother Gred." He gestured to his identical twin, who grinned in a manner almost identical to Bill's.
"Weird names...hi Forge and Gred..." Rose mumbled, frowning.
"Aha! What did I say Charlie? She said it, pay up!" Exclaimed Gred, holding his hand out for Charlie, who scowling, started picking in his pocket.
"I'm sorry Rose. Those two are my idiot brothers, Fred and George." Interjected Bill with a roll of his eyes, distracting Rose from the exchange between George and Charlie.
"Is she here? Where's her scar? Can we see it?"
"RON!" Exclaimed Charlie, who had let go of all pretenses of being ever so cool.
"What?! I just want to see her scar..."
"Ron.." Bill added sternly, causing the Weasley brother who had recently joined the group to lower his gaze, somewhat ashamed.
"Its okay, here..." Rose lifted her fringe, getting a collective gasp from all the Weasley brothers.
"Wow..."
"That is-"
"So cool!" Exclaimed both Fred and George.
"That's enough boys...leave the girl some breathing space!" A woman with an unmistakeably kind face and red hair pushed away the gaping boys and wrapped Rose into a warm hug. To say that Rose was taken aback would be an understatement. She was shocked, and a little afraid, but when she retrieved, the warm smile from the lady made it all fine.
"I'm sorry dear, it's just great to see you. Bill has talked so much about you, and I couldn't wait to meet you in person!" She gushed, and Rose smiled politely. She wasn't a big fan of people who gushed, but Mrs. Weasley (as she presumed she was Bill and his brothers' mother) just seemed so bloody nice, she could let it go.
"Its alright. It's great to meet you Mrs. Weasley."
"Hey, Rose...do you know how to play quidditch?" Interrupted Fred, getting a dirty look from his mother.
"Erm...sort of...my dad and godfather were in the quidditch team at Hogwarts apparently, and Remus explained the rules to me. But there were never enough people to play...I know how to fly though."
"Perfect! You can use dad's old broom!"
So, the majority of the morning was spent playing quidditch with the Weasley boys. Fred and George were good beaters, and Charlie was an excellent chaser (although he apparently played seeker at school). Bill wasn't half bad either, but Ron was outright awful at playing Keeper, although not as bad as Percy. Rose was apparently brilliant, and a natural at Quidditch, although obviously she wasn't as amazing as Charlie. She was very close though, which got her in Charlie's good books almost immediately.
Rose thoroughly enjoyed her first experience playing Quidditch, and could understand why her father and Remus had been part of the school team. Just after that one morning at the Burrow, she hoped dearly that she could play on her house team when she went to Hogwarts as well.
In the afternoon, the children had the delicious lunch that Mrs. Weasley had cooked for them. After eating Mrs. Weasley's food, Rose understood why all the Weasley's were so tall-the food their mother cooked was amazing! Rose kept going for extra helpings, which was quite unusual. With Remus, she generally ate what was on her plate. It wasn't that he was a bad cook, he just wasn't as good as Mrs. Weasley.
After lunch, they played a bit more quidditch, and exchanged stories. The Weasleys told her about their life, and Rose reluctantly recounted all she remembered from the night her parents died. She told them about her grandfathers and Remus, and even spoke about the Dursleys. The twins pulled a prank on Ron, who had taken Rose to his room and had screamed loudly (and quite shrilly) when he saw his beloved teddy bear had been transformed into a spider.
Mrs. Weasley gave the twins a good shouting for their stupid behaviour, but all the twins did was nod and then go laugh loudly at Ron. When Mr. Weasley returned, he greeted Rose as warmly as the rest of his family. As they sat down for tea, he asked her, with great enthusiasm, the function of a rubber duck. Rose burst out laughing, and explained to him that it was merely a toy for a child. The boys made fun of their father for hours afterwards, and blushing, he tried to wave their jokes off. Fred and George played a prank on Rose, and she knew that she had been accepted into the family. She was now, indirectly part of the Weasley clan.
When Rose found out about Remus' lycanthropy, she was nine years old. She had known her godfather for five years, and he had failed to mention his 'furry little problem'. Perhaps fail is not the correct adjective to use. He had deliberately avoided that topic for the five years. Both grandfathers had decided that it would be best to let Remus decide when he was ready to tell her about it. They weren't going to meddle in their matters.
It was a miserable, cold night in august, and Rose and Remus were trapped inside Remus' current residence. Remus had just recovered from the full moon, and as a result, was still in a horrendous amount of pain. There were scratches and bite marks all across his back and neck, which he tried to cover up, but partially failed to. The marks on his back were covered, but the ones on his neck were visible, even from a distance.
Rose padded over to the sofa where Remus was sitting with his eyes closed, his head tilting upwards. Carefully, she sat down next to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. His eyes opened slowly, and he turned sideways, smiling weakly at Rose. She smiled back, and he opened his arms to let her in for a hug. Silently, she hugged her godfather, and listened to the pattering raindrops, wondering exactly how to phrase the question she was dying to ask.
"Remus..."
"Hmm...?"
Rose detached herself from her godfather's arms, and looked into his light brown eyes, seriously. Remus chuckled, placing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She frowned, and gazed intensely at him, demanding him to quiet down. He stopped laughing, and placed a finger on his lips, indicating that she had his full, undivided attention.
"I know about your...situation." She said, reaching to take one of his hands.
Remus moved backwards before she could, the smile that had been playing on his lips now gone. There was a flicker of worry on his face, but it went away as sighing, he spoke, sharply.
"Who told you? Snape? I've told you Rose, don't talk to him when you go to Hogwarts without me! You know how he is. And..." He paused, taking a deep breath, his eyes closed. Rose wasn't sure whether he actaully needed air, because he was speaking so quickly, or that he he was trying to calm him down. She suspected it was a bit of both.
"No. Snape didn't tell me. There was something about it in one of the books in the library at Hogwarts. I saw the symptoms, and the fact that you were never around during a full moon...I figured it out ages ago. I just...I didn't know how to tell you."
There was that silence again. The insufferable pause after every time Remus' truth came out. That feeling in the pit of his stomach...the fear, the panic, the pain at the prospect of losing his god daughter, the humiliation and guilt of being a monster...He swallowed, and opened his mouth, but the words he wanted to say evaporated at the tip of his tongue. He felt a hand reach for him, small and soft.
"Remus, it doesn't make a difference." She said firmly, looking into his deep brown eyes with her big green ones. The sincerity in her voice and eyes just made Remus insides melt. He felt all his inhibitions vanish as he engulfed her into a warm hug. How wrong he had been to not tell her. But now she knew, as she had said, it didn't make a difference.
Living with the Dursleys, Rose Potter often felt like the odd one out. Rose was shunned away from the Dursleys even more after she discovered her magic and was told that she was a witch. It used to bother her...a lot for the first four years of her life. Then, she met Remus John Lupin, and the Dursley's snide remarks and stares were not that big a deal anymore.
Rose didn't have a lot of friends in her muggle school either. In fact, its quite accurate to say that she had no friends in her muggle school at all. Dudley made sure of that. It wasn't like she cared much about that either, she always had the Weasleys...She visited Ron and the twins every few weekends, and went over every weekend during the summer.
Arthur and Molly (as she had stopped calling them Mr. and Mrs. Weasley after they requested her not to) treated her just as part of the family. Truth be told, Rose genuinely considered the Weasley's her extended family; all the boys were like her brothers.
Bill, Charlie and Percy were the overprotective older ones. Fred and George were the ones you always played pranks with, the ones that always took the blame for her. Ron was the annoying twin brother that you pretended to hate but really loved inside. She really bullied Ron along with Fred and George, but always stopped before it went too far.
Then, of course, there were her grandfathers. Although she only got to see them during the summers, the three were deeply in love with each other. Albus Dumbledore had introduced her to Hogwarts, the place that she referred to as home. He taught her all she knew about magic, and about muggle and wizard candy. She could recall more than one occasion when she had sat in Dumbledore's office and they had picked through bags of Bertie Botts every flavour beans, chocolate frogs and much more. Aberforth Dumbledore told her all she knew about her family...and she was incredibly grateful.
Irrespective of all the love and the happiness she got in her life, her birthday was always, without fail her favourite day of the year. It wasn't so much the fact that she got presents, or the day was about her...It was more the fact that everyone she loved, and who in turn loved her was gathered together in the same place. Her birthday was the only time of the year that the Weasleys, Remus and her grandfathers were all together in the same vicinity.
She remembered every one of her birthdays, with the exception of her first one.
Her second third and fourth birthdays, had only been with her two grandfathers and the Hogwarts staff. She recalled that it had been celebrated in the staff room, and she had been propped up on a high chair while all the Professors sang for her. She wasn't entirely sure, but had a feeling that even Snape had been forced to sing for her.
Flitwick charmed the lights to alternate between different colours, and the candles to never blow out (much to Aberforth's annoyance). Mcgonagall transformed several old textbooks into party hats for the guests. Albus forced everyone to wear the hats that he chose for him. Pomona grew roses that smelt like Rose's favourite smells in the world. She couldn't quite distinguish the seperate smells, but the roses smelt divine. Pomona built a crown from her specially grown roses for the birthday girl every year.
Her fifth, sixth and seventh birthdays had included Remus, and she distinctly remembered that on both occasions Snape and Remus had fought. On her sixth birthday, their fight had nearly turned into a brawl, and was only stopped by an uncharacteristically angry Dumbledore. After the fights, Remus had apologized to Rose and hugged her tight, and glared at Severus from across the room. He thought she couldn't see them both glaring...She wondered why Snape came every time if he didn't like her.
Her eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh birthdays were all celebrated at the Weasleys. The Hogwarts staff members excused themselves from her birthdays. They still sent their birthday gifts however, and it deeply touched Rose. Every one of her birthdays, (from her eighth one) included a prank from the twins. They were targeted at everyone but Rose. That was how the twins were with her-they exempted her from their devious plans, and let her in on several of them.
On the day of her eleventh birthday, Rose was, as usual, surrounded by everyone she loved. She was wearing Pomona's crown of roses, and the biggest smile plastered on her face. She knew the importance of her eleventh birthday. It was the day she was going to get the Hogwarts letter.
"Happy birthday to you..." Sang all her party guests, as she blew out the candles on her cake.
"May you get into the quidditch team-" Sang Charlie, not so melodiously.
"And become prefect-" Added Percy
"And prank every Slytherin-" Chimed in the twins
"And stay as cool as you are-" Bill smiled at her, and she beamed back at him.
"And...get an owl..." Added Ron lamely, causing an short silence as his brothers stared incredulously at him. He shrugged his shoulders and Remus, noticing his discomfort, concluded the song.
"Happy birthday to you..." There was a deafening applause as Rose cut up her birthday cake, which was in the shape of the Hogwarts flag, made especially in honour of her eleventh birthday.
Once everyone had eaten a piece of Rose's delicious birthday cake, and praised Molly so she blushed profusely, it was time for Rose to get her presents. To say that she didn't enjoy getting the presents would be a lie, but it wasn't her favourite part of the evening.
Molly and Arthur gave her a collection of wizarding candy: chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts, sugar quills, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees .She had thanked them, but told them not to get her something so elaborate the next time. They had waved her request away, and just hugged her tight. After Rose retrieved from one of Molly's squeeze-the-life-out-of-you hugs.
Bill, who was to leave for Egypt to work as a curse breaker for Gringotts, got quite teary-eyed while handing Rose her present. It was a thick, leather-bound book with her memories with the Weasleys from the past four years. Rose choked back her tears and forced herself to laugh at the crazy pictures. All of the Weasley's pranks, the times they had played quidditch which had ended in hilarious disasters...were all recorded in the book. He even talked about Hogwarts, made her aware of all the people to avoid, and who to be friends with.
"I...I know the Hogwarts bit is unnecessary, but as I'm your older brother, I thought I should...pass down the knowledge, you know?" He dug his hands in his pockets, as Rose threw her arms around his stomach (as that was how far she could reach). Her tears stained his shirt, but he didn't mind, he was bawling like a baby too. Only Fred, George and Charlie's cruel insults and complains detached the two from each other.
"My gift pales in comparison to Bill's, but at least it won't make you cry." Grinned Bill, as Rose opened his gift. It was a pair of very ordinary looking binoculars.
"Oh cool! I can see the mountains from the owlery with this! And spy on teachers...I mean...watch the...quidditch games." Rose finished lamely, as she received a stern look from Remus, who broke into a smile at Rose's poorly veiled attempt to switch gears.
"No you silly duck. Its a pair of omnioculars. My last Quidditch game at Hogwarts is recorded in it. And there's some tips from the team for you as well. I thought I would give it to you right before you went to Hogwarts, to motivate you to get into the team." Rose grinned and hugged Charlie as well, who pretended like he didn't care what she thought of his present, but couldn't help but smile widely as he saw her marvelling at it later.
Fred and George gave her a bunch of products from Zonko's, much to Mrs. Weasley's disapproval. Remus, who would have regularly disapproved as well, shrugged the matter off. He figured that since she was friends with the Weasley boys already, there was no chance of getting out of trouble at Hogwarts now. Mrs. Weasley, however gave the twins a lecture to stop corrupting the little girl.
Ron gave her a bracelet of cheap plastic beads, flimsily strung together. Apparently, he had made it himself, and Rose was touched. She gave Ron a big hug and kissed him on the cheek, which caused Ron to blush a lot. He had been doing a lot of that lately...blushing, so Rose didn't really notice.
Remus gave her a stuffed toy wolf, that was wearing a sweater with the word Moony printed on the front in handwriting that was unmistakably like Remus'.
"Its so you don't get too lonely at Hogwarts, and remember that I'll always be there. I was going to give it to when you leave on the train but...erm...I couldn't think of a better present for your birthday." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, as Rose grinned warmly at him. She knew what he really meant. He didn't have enough money for another present, and she was glad he had decided to not indulge her this year.
"Don't even think about getting a Christmas present this year Remus." She said, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek as well. He returned the hug, wrapping his arms protectively around her tiny body, and kissing the top of her head.
Aberforth gave her a charmed sketchpad and a rather small pencil.
"Its got endless length and width. Everytime you seem to be running out of space it'll expand, and fold in when you close it. And the pages are endless as well. The pencil's charmed to change to any colour you scream out, and the eraser is endless." He explained gruffly, and Rose gave him a tight hug as well. It truly was the perfect present, and of course both Aberforth and Rose knew that. Rose had an obsession with drawing, so she knew this was the present she was going to use the most.
As she put all her presents aside, she saw Dumbledore walk up to her with a large envelope in her hand. Rose took a deep breath, and greedily eyed the envelope, nearly snatching it from her grandfather's hand as he reached her. It was the moment she had been waiting for all day.
"I assume it would be wise to hand this to you before you tear it away from my hand..." Dumbledore remarked, handing Rose the letter. She grinned and tore away the envelope, her eyes running over the paper. Although she had already seen Ron's letter, holding her own was a completely different feeling. It had her name name on it, and said that she, Rose Potter, had been accepted. She was on the verge of jumping up and down and squealing loudly like a girl, when Dumbledore spoke again.
"Don't look so devastated Rose, I do have a proper present for you." He teased, his blue eyes twinkling as he retrieved something out of his pocket. She opened the box, covered in deep, royal blue velvet and gasped loudly. It was a pair of earrings in the shape of the hogwarts crest. Mascots for all four houses were painted on.
"Its beautiful gramps..."
"Its our way of saying welcome to Hogwarts. Happy birthday Rose"
——
Ok. This is a looong chapter, but you guys should read it, because its the base of Rose's personality :)
Do comment and tell me what you guys thought.
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