Number Twelve Grimmauld Place
Standing alone in a dim hallway inside Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Rose decided to follow where Harry went, which was upstairs, since the members of the mysterious group called the Order of the Phoenix obviously didn’t want her and Harry in the kitchen with them and she didn’t know where else was safe to go in this dark house. As Rose reached the second landing, she saw another redheaded girl creep out of a room with her hands full of something. Rose watched as the girl quietly closed the door and turned around.
Ginny gasped as she noticed someone standing there and quickly hid her hands behind her back. Rose raised an eyebrow at the other redhead, and Ginny sighed in relief when she recognized the person as Rose, Harry’s sister.
“You scared me!” Ginny quietly exclaimed.
“What are you doing that you’re not supposed to?” Rose asked.
“What do you mean?” Ginny replied defensively.
Rose again raised an eyebrow. Ginny glared at her in response. Rose shrugged and said, “You’re creeping around, jumped when you saw me, and immediately hid your hands behind your back, which indicates suspicious behavior.”
“You going to tell anyone on me?”
“Why would I? What would I gain from telling anyone?”
Ginny sized Rose up and then nodded when she came to her conclusion. “I’m going to flick Dungbombs at the kitchen door to see if it’s been Imperturbed. If it hasn’t been, then I’m going to listen in on the Order’s conversation.”
“Okay. Do you want any help?” Rose offered.
Ginny’s eyes widened at the Slytherin’s offer, but she accepted Rose’s help.
Ginny handed two Dungbombs to Rose and explained, “If the Dungbombs can’t make contact with the door, then it’s been Imperturbed.”
The girls took turns throwing the Dungbombs at the kitchen door, and every time the Dungbombs soared away from it. Ginny turned to say something to Rose but was interrupted by Harry’s shouting.
“SO YOU HAVEN’T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU’VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN’T YOU? YOU’VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I’VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS’ FOR A MONTH! AND I’VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO’VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT – WHO SAVED THE SORCERER’S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE?”
Rose noticed that Ginny flinched at the mention of “Riddle.”
Harry’s shouting continued, “WHO SAVED BOTH OF YOUR SKINS FROM DEMENTORS? WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME! BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?”
There was a short pause before Harry again shouted. “CAN’T’VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU’D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR…. FOUR WEEKS I’VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON! I SUPPOSE YOU’VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN’T YOU, ALL HOLE UP HERE TOGETHER!”
Ginny looked wide-eyed at Rose. Rose gave Ginny a small smile and a shrug, “Yeah, he was angry like this all summer. He would yell at me just for trying to comfort him. This summer’s been really fun.”
“That stinks,” was all Ginny could come up with to say.
“Do you mind answering some questions for me? I promise I won’t shout,” Rose smirked.
Ginny smiled back, “Sure. What do you want to know?”
Rose asked, “Where exactly are we and why are we all here? I mean, I know this is Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, the headquarters of the mysterious Order of the Phoenix, but I don’t know what this Order is.”
“The Order of the Phoenix is a secret society that Dumbledore founded in order to fight You-Know-Who. Dumbledore started it years ago, but he brought it back since You-Know-Who has come back. My family is here because our Mum, Dad, and our two older brothers are members so it’s convenient for us to be here. Hermione is also here for protection and company, which is why Harry and you are here too, I guess,” Ginny shrugged.
“But why here in this dirty, dark house?” Rose questioned.
Ginny explained, “Well, this house is owned by Sirius Black and already had a bunch of protections before Dumbledore added the Fidelius Charm. Also, no one would think to look here for the Order.”
“So I’m guessing Sirius Black isn’t a mass murderer? But then who betrayed my parents? Nobody ever tells me anything,” Rose muttered annoyed.
Ginny empathized with the other girl, “I can relate. Nobody ever tells me anything because I’m just the stupid, naïve younger sister that can’t possibly handle knowing any information or doing anything.”
The two girls rolled their eyes and shared a smile.
Ginny answered Rose’s questions, “Sirius isn’t a mass murderer. Peter Pettigrew was your parents’ Secret Keeper and was the one who betrayed your parents to You-Know-Who and framed Sirius so that no one would know the truth.”
“But then why did Sirius break into Harry’s room at Hogwarts?”
“Peter Pettigrew was an animagus who was disguised as my brother’s pet rat,” Ginny stated with a scowl.
Rose was disgusted and decided to change the subject. “So do you know where I’ll be staying here?”
Ginny shrugged, “I don’t know, but you can put you’re stuff in Hermione and my room. Then we can check in with the others and tell them it’s a no go with the Extendable Ears.”
As the girls walked, Rose asked, “Extendable Ears?”
Ginny clarified, “They’re one of Fred and George’s inventions. It’s an ear on a string, and by holding the string to your ear you can hear what’s happening where the ear is. It’s really useful for eavesdropping,” Ginny said with a smirk.
Rose returned the smirk and agreed, “I bet it is.”
When the girls entered Harry and Ron’s room, Rose stuck by the door and merely observed, not adding anything to the conversation even when Ron called her Head of House a git. When Mrs. Weasley interrupted the conversation, Rose followed Ginny to the bathroom to wash her hands.
“Dinner should be fun,” Rose sarcastically commented to Ginny.
Ginny giggled but then sighed when the girls heard shouting downstairs. “That’s Sirius’s mother yelling,” Ginny clarified. “She’s a painting in the hallway, and she screams because she hates all of us.”
“Anything else I should be warned about before walking around in this house?” Rose asked as they walked towards the kitchen.
“Well, there’s an old house elf here that is extremely rude and also hates all of us. And the house is full of creatures, such as Doxies and boggarts, and enchanted items that also hate all of us and will attack you.”
“Yep, this should definitely be fun,” Rose reiterated sarcastically to Ginny.
Ginny and Rose entered the kitchen just as Mundungus, a man who greatly resembled a pile of rags (or was it the other way around?), was introduced.
Sirius noticed Rose when Ginny giggled at Mundungus’s actions. “I didn’t know there were more Weasleys,” Sirius commented and the atmosphere in the kitchen became uncomfortable.
Lupin stepped closer to Sirius and Rose and said gently, “Sirius, this is Rose. You remember James and Lily’s little girl?”
“Little Rosie?” Sirius asked hesitantly with tears in his eyes. “Is that really you?”
“Yes,” Rose said uncomfortably.
“Why haven’t either of you mentioned her before?” Sirius asked, looking between Lupin and Harry.
When Rose noticed that neither Lupin nor Harry was going to answer the man, Rose did, “It’s probably because they don’t want to talk about or associate with a Slytherin.”
Sirius’s eyes narrowed, all sappy kindness gone in an instant. “You’re a slimy Slytherin?” Sirius instinctively spit out.
With her head held high and an unwavering look, Rose replied before anyone could jump in, “Yep, I’m an evil, slimy Slytherin. Been there, done that, got beaten up by Gryffindors for it. Is there anything I can help you with, Mrs. Weasley?”
Mrs. Weasley jumped at the change of direction of the conversation but quickly answered, “Uh, of course I need help getting dinner ready! Can you please get the bread out of the pantry?”
As she guided Rose to the pantry, Mrs. Weasley turned back to shoot a disapproving look at Sirius.
When Ginny joined Rose in giving Mrs. Weasley a hand in preparing dinner, Rose told Ginny under her breath, “Like I said, fun.”
For the rest of the summer, Rose tried to avoid interacting with Sirius, which was actually not that difficult of a task since Sirius was actively trying to avoid interacting with her. Mrs. Weasley was surprising helpful with aiding Rose avoid Sirius. Apparently, Mrs. Weasley thought Sirius was a bad influence and was glad that someone else in the house thought the same way as her. To keep Rose and Sirius separated, Mrs. Weasley often gave Rose cleaning jobs in rooms different than the ones the others were working in since Harry was always around the others and Sirius was always around Harry.
Another unexpected ally in the Black House was Kreacher, the house elf. Ever since Kreacher discovered that Rose was a Slytherin and disliked by Sirius and vice versa, the house elf took a liking to her. And Rose unexpectedly began to take a liking toward Kreacher in return. Kreacher would help her clean the house; with house elf magic, the jobs Mrs. Weasley assigned would be done in no time. Therefore, Rose had plenty of time alone to work on her summer work and read books that Kreacher helped Rose liberate from the Black library.
Rose also had time to write to her friends. Ginny had told her that if she wanted to mail her letters, Bill would do it for her. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth (actually she was, but…), Rose got to work replying to the letters her friends had wrote her.
Dear Astoria,
Without even asking, I know that your summer is going better than mine. Why did you let me convince you that I should stay with my brother? Now, I’m not only being forced to stay in the same house as him, but I’m forced to stay in a house swarming with Gryffindorks! Agh!
On a more pleasant note, I finished all my summer work in record time. I also found some interesting books to read. If you talk to Theo before I do, tell him not to worry; I’ll smuggle some of the more interesting books out of this house for him to also read.
I’m glad that you are having a good summer. Your holiday in Paris sounded amazing, and I definitely wish that I could have joined you. I know that Daphne is annoying, but I think all older siblings are like that.
I can’t wait to see you on the train to Hogwarts! Don’t forget to do your potions homework before then :)
Your friend,
Rose
Dear Adalrik,
I would love to come visit you this summer, especially because of your now convenient location. However, I don’t know if I can since I’m kind of on house arrest because of my brother being who he is (which is annoying). I know what you’re going to say. You cannot stage a prison/house break to get me out of here! One reason is because that’s kidnapping, which is illegal, and you could get in trouble for it. I’m not going to address the legality of the ‘breaking in’ part because that would be hypocritical of me to, given how we met. Though, I would like to see you try to break in since this place is heavily warded….
I’m glad you like your new job. Have you made any friends yet? I know you’re extremely hideous and unlikeable but…. Just kidding! I’m sure you’ve befriended some weird people since that that seems to be your M.O. (Yes, I know I called Luna and me weird. Are you going to disagree?)
Thank you so much for the book about potions!!! It’s really helping to alleviate my boredom. All I need to do now is find a place that no one will go so I can start brewing. Wish me luck!
The awesomest Jedi ever,
Rose
Dear Luna,
I hope you are enjoying your trip with your dad looking for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. You better take good photos of what you see! I can’t wait to read the article about your adventures in the Quibbler. I also can’t wait to work on the crossword puzzle. I finally finished the puzzle from the last issue.
I’m doing okay. I’m trapped in house with Harry and people who don’t particularly like or care for me, but at least I’m not at the Dursleys anymore. Next summer, I’m definitely going to stay with you or Astoria because I don’t think I could take another summer like this. Though I have made an ally in the form of an insane, old, sadistic house elf, which is a plus. And I have access to a library of books, though many of the books are cursed and I’m actually forbidden to enter the library never mind to actually read the books. The house elf I mentioned has splendidly aided me in obtaining the books to read.
Can you do me a favor and look up information on Sirius Black? Maybe you could write an article on him. Can he really disguise himself as a potted plant like someone claimed at Hogwarts? Does he hate paintings and music and that’s why he slashed up the painting of the Fat Lady? Was he in a boyband that ultimately failed? That would explain why he wanted to get arrested: to drastically change his public image so that nobody would remember his boyband days.
Maybe you could also write an article about Fudge the minister (not the food, though that would be good too). He has to have some problems with his head. He’s acting like someone who is trying to cover something up and cover his butt while he’s at it. I know he said that he didn’t want to look crazy by saying that You-Know-Who is back because that would mean that he agrees with Harry and Dumbledore. However, maybe Fudge is trying to hide something else. What other dark secrets does he have other than his trained Heliopaths? Exposing public figures as idiots is always good for selling papers.
I hope you continue to have an amazing summer. See you on the train!
Your friend,
Rose
Rose wrote on the envelopes the names and addresses of the recipients of the letters, and she gave Ginny the letters to give to her brother Bill to send.
The next evening after dinner was finished, Bill intercepted Rose as she was exiting the kitchen. Bill asked, “Can we talk?”
“Um, sure,” Rose said uncertainly. She had never had a conversation with the oldest Weasley brother.
“Let’s go to your room,” Bill said, leading the way upstairs to the room Rose shared with Ginny and Hermione.
Rose hesitantly sat on her bed after Bill sat on Ginny’s. “What did you want to talk about?” Rose asked.
Bill reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the letters Rose gave to Ginny to give to Bill to send. He held up the letter as he asked, “Why are you writing to Adalrik Specht?”
Rose crossed her arms. “Because he’s my friend. What do you have against him?”
Bill’s eyes widened at her answer. “Nothing. I just know him because he’s my friend too. I work with him at Gringotts. How did you become friends with him?”
Rose shrugged, “He was at Hogwarts last year for the Tournament. I ran into him on the night of the Yule Ball, and we became friends. Are you going to give him my letter now?”
“Yes.” Bill put the letter back into his pocket as he stood up, knowing that the conversation wasn’t going to go any further.
Rose got a sudden thought. “Wait!” Rose called out to Bill before he could leave the room. When Bill looked at her questioningly, Rose continued, “Could I go with you sometime to meet with Adalrik?” Rose persisted as Bill opened his mouth to speak, “I know us Hogwarts students aren’t allowed to go out unaccompanied by an adult, but you’re an adult so you can accompany me to see Adalrik. In his last letter, he asked if I could visit him, and I had to deny him because I’m under house arrest.”
“You’re not under house arrest,” Bill protested.
“I’m stuck in a house and am not allowed to leave. That’s the definition of house arrest,” Rose corrected.
Bill sighed then changed directions with his argument, “If you’re allowed to leave, then everyone will be clamoring to leave. Then, there’ll be even more chaos than usual.”
“None of the Hogwarts students have to know. I already don’t seem them for most of the day. If I was gone for the day and came back by dinner, nobody would’ve even noticed I had left.” Rose pondered out loud so Bill could hear it, “I could probably just go and visit Adalrik on my own. Nobody would notice.”
Bill threw his hands up in the air. “Let me think on it, okay?”
At Rose’s pleased face, Bill said sternly, “But no promises.”
A few days later, Rose was on her way to meet Adalrik at a café, with Bill as her escort, of course.
“Stop fidgeting, Bill, and stop gaping at everything,” Rose scolded Bill as they walked through muggle London.
“Sorry, but I’ve never been around so many muggles and muggle things,” Bill defended himself.
“As long as you don’t make any loud comments about anything, we should be good,” Rose stated.
“That was one time!” Bill protested.
Rose rolled her eyes and substituted her not-so-polite response with “There’s the café!”
As they entered, Rose said to Bill, “Let me do the talking to the muggles so you don’t make a fool of yourself.” Then before Bill could respond, Rose called out “Adalrik!” to the man sitting at one of the booths.
Adalrik stood up and enveloped Rose in a hug. “How are you doing, kleine Schwester?” Adalrik asked.
“Ich bin gut,” Rose answered once she pulled away.
Adalrik smiled and said, “It’s good to see that all my hard work wasn’t wasted.”
“I’m going to order something to eat.” Rose turned to Bill, “Do you like turkey and bacon?”
“Yes,” Bill said cautiously.
“Okay. I’ll be right back!” Rose skipped up to the counter to order.
When Rose came back to the table with their food, she heard Bill say, “She said that you two met at the Yule Ball last year.”
“I said no such thing,” Rose inserted as she slid herself into the booths with the food. She handed Bill his food as she said, “I got you a turkey-bacon club and chocolate milk.”
“Chocolate milk?” Bill questioned, eyeing the glass with brown liquid.
“You’ve never had chocolate milk before?” Rose asked surprised.
“It’s good. You’ll like it,” Adalrik reassured his coworker.
Bill took a sip and said, “You’re right. It is good. Back to the topic of how you two met, you said you met him at the Yule Ball.”
“No, I didn’t,” Rose disagreed. She paused to take a bite of her sandwich before continuing, “I said we ran into each other the night of the Yule Ball. It’s a big difference.”
Adalrik laughed. “It really is a big difference, especially given that neither of us went to the Ball. Speaking of that night, it would have been hypocritical of you to lecture me about breaking into your house like you said in your letter. But is really illegal and kidnapping if you went willingly with me?”
“What?” Bill exclaimed, choking on his sandwich.
Adalrik slapped his back and explained, “We were talking about my idea of breaking Rose out of the house she’s locked up in. Would it really be kidnapping?”
“Um, yes, but you also wouldn’t be able to break in the house in the first place,” Bill said.
“Told you so,” Rose said as she stole a chip from Adalrik’s plate.
“Hey!” Adalrik protested. He rolled his eyes as Rose stuck her tongue out at him. “You know, I have made friends at my job, but none of them are as weird as you and Luna.”
“Aw! That’s sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me!” Rose said jokingly.
Adalrik shook his head in humored exasperation and took another bite of his food. Bill wondered to himself how he always gets into these strange situations.