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Rose plaited her hair and looked at herself in the mirror. She was taller than ever, it seemed, and had somehow gained even more freckles over the summer. Studying herself she gave a sigh. Many of her relatives were quite pretty. Her own parents were as handsome as anyone she had ever met, yet somehow she had gotten all the wrong features from them. She got her father’s height, red hair, and freckles. She got her mum’s bushy hair and skinny ankles. This made her look like she’d been pulled on a taffy machine, then a giant red creature had gone to perch upon her slight frame.

She was hoping over the summer she would have filled out a bit, but that had not happened. She was hopelessly flat and long.

Besides puberty having betrayed her, the rest of her summer had been equally dreadful. She had spent the majority of the summer holed up in her room with no one to talk to and nothing to do. The Potters were on vacation in the rainforests of South America with the Scammanders, with only Harry and Ginny coming back at times to attend to their jobs. Both sets of grandparents had managed to go on vacation almost all summer, and Rose wasn’t especially close with the rest of her family, now that they were all either graduated from Hogwarts, or years younger. Rose didn’t really have friends outside her family, aside from Scorpius.

Unfortunately Scorpius had been confined to France, his entire family deciding to flee for the continent after there had been a great deal of tension between Muggleborns and Pure bloods. A very anti-pureblood movement was happening, and many of them saw the government as responsible for anti-Muggle and Muggleborn sentiments. The protests for more representation in the ministry and harsher punishments for bigotry towards Muggleborns had gotten out of hand a few times over the past few years.Rose wished she could do more to participate. Her parents refused to let her attend, saying it was all too intense for her to go. Rose thought they were just afraid their daughter was a radical.

It had reached an apex with a few pureblood family’s homes being attacked. No one had been hurt, but that was enough for the Malfoys to pack up and escape. Malfoy Manor had more spells to protect it than Hogwarts, really, but they were quite paranoid. They wouldn’t even let Scorpius tell Rose where he was, exactly.

Luckily she had a Weasley Wizard Wheezes Wordsmith, so they could endlessly write each other on a piece of parchment and have it magically transferred with no owls. The WWWW was starting to become very popular amongst young people and Aurors, but the rest of the government and most other witches and wizards tended to write it off as unnecessary. Rose supposed it was only a matter of time until it caught on and made owls superfluous. The same had happened in the Muggle world- though people still seemed to use real mail carriers for some reason.

Scorpius was her one solace this summer. Even though he was holed up in a French mansion, he was marvelous company and wrote to her almost daily about interesting books, random thoughts, and give input as Rose complained about her mother.

With all the tensions and protests, Mum and Dad had been especially busy at the ministry. Dad would come home at the end of the day, but her Mother would barely come home and even if she did, she was distracted and generally unpleasant.

“Rose! We need to get going!”

“Coming, Mum!”

She trudged down the stairs slowly. She was not looking forward to today. They were having to attend some sort of ceremony honoring Aurors for their service, and her dad was set to make a very short speech. He had been nervously going over it so many times the rest of the family had memorized it. After sitting through the long ceremony Rose would go shopping for school supplies, something she enjoyed, but this was dampened by the fact that she had to go dress robe shopping. She hated shopping for clothes more than anything. Nothing ever fit right, and nothing ever looked good on her. Mum seemed to hate shopping as much as she did, so it was never remotely fun.

“Today I have the present of privileging- no no backwards… privilege of presenting ” she heard Dad stammering through.

“Dammit, Hermione. Why can’t Harry do this speech instead?” he said with a tight throat..

“It’s three sentences. I’d hardly call that a speech. Besides, Harry asked and you promised you would, remember?”

“Why in the world would you let me do that? I’m going to make a fool of myself.”

“Nonsense, you’ll do wonderfully,” Mum said distractedly, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Dad did not seem appeased by her assessment.

Rose grabbed some dry eggs from the pan, and some burnt toast. Mum had cooked, it seems. She used to cook well, but Rose supposed that she had more important things on her mind than feeding her family well.

“Rose! Get down here and eat!” Mum called out, not looking up from her parchment.

“I’m here!” Rose let out, putting her dishes into the sink more noisily than was required.

“Oh, sorry,” Mum said, barely glancing up.

Everyone dressed smartly, they Flooed to the ministry. A large stage had been set up next to the golden statue in the atrium, with many chairs set in rows. Great multitudes of Aurors were present in their red Auror robes, making it feel like a much more formal occasion. Dad left them to join a few others on stage, including the Minister, Milli and a few other Aurors she had seen in passing before. Uncle Harry was still in South America- though Rose was beginning to suspect he left to avoid the public speaking.

After some milling about, everyone seated and Minister Shacklebolt approached the podium.

“For different reasons, in different ways, in different wars and in times when we were not at war, Wizards and Witches of all backgrounds have defended those who could not defend themselves. Some took that responsibility to heart and donned our Auror's uniforms. By wearing these uniforms, they pledged their lives to protect every man woman and child- magical or not.

Many have given their lives. Others bear the burden of injury for the rest of their days. Still others made it through with bodies intact, but lives changed forever.”

Dad shifted in his seat. Rose noticed her Mum did as well.

“In a wonderful sense, our Aurors are just ordinary wizard-folk, but there is nothing ordinary about what their commitment means. It has been over twenty years since we were last at war, and the Wizards and Witches we honor today help keep the peace here and abroad. Peace is something we must fight for every single day.”

Rose supposed his speech was good, but did not see how the MInistry’s draconian policies were supposed to help with the ongoing political struggles of the Muggleborn.

“We do not know what tomorrow will bring, but we must work to protect the peace we have fought so hard for. I now turn to podium over to Auror Ronald Weasley, another hero who knows the sacrifice it takes to maintain the lives we live.”

Everyone applauded. Dad grimaced and rose slowly. Rose could see how nervous he was.

“Thank you, Minister,” he said before clearing his throat. He took a calming breath before continuing. Hugo was mouthing the short speech to himself as Dad went on.

“We stand on the cusp of a new decade that holds promise, but as Minister Shacklebolt reminded us, that does not guarantee unprecedented peace and prosperity. The benefits the world enjoys today belong in no small measure to great men and women we are honoring today. Today I have the privilege of presenting Awards of Valor to Loretta Bankhead, Jeremiah Tummonds, and Maximilian Shaw.”

Everyone applauded as the three rose and received their medals. It was weird hearing Milli’s full name, ‘Maximilian Shaw.’ The name fit him much better than his nickname. Milli was a name that promised warmth and a fun personality. Milli had neither.

With the ceremony over, Rose gave a hearty congratulations to her father before he and Mum were ushered away to talk about something important.

Rose looked about for Hugo. He was staring at the ceiling as if there was something interesting there. Before Rose could join him, she started getting greeted by lots of old wizards she didn’t give a fig about. She pretended to remember them and smiled as she had been taught to do.

She found herself next to Milli, so congratulated him and shook his hand. The other Aurors looked quite happy at the honor, but Milli was as sombre as ever. He never smiled more than a perfunctory one no matter the occasion.

“Congratulations, Milli,” Rose heard a tinkling female voice behind them. A spritely black woman with kind eyes stood behind them.

“Mel,” said Milli looking surprised. “I did not expect to see you here.”

“Of course I’m here. Had to watch you frown as you were praised by the Minister himself!” she smiled blithely.

“I certainly did not frown,” Milli frowned.

“Oh yes, you were positively beaming the whole time,” she said with a playful smile. Milly looked at her with more warmth than Rose had ever seen in his cold eyes.

Rose was about to slide away from them when Mel reached out and began shaking Rose’s hand.

“You must be Ron and Hermione’s daughter, Rose. Milli is always telling us so much about you.”

“Me? Us?”

“Oh yes,” she insisted pleasantly. “He’s always telling me and his friends all about you and your brother and cousins. He’s like a proud uncle or something.”

Rose was flabberghasted. She had never thought Milli knew anything about herself, except that she was Potter-Weasley spawn. Also, Milli had friends? Milli looked away and said nothing.

“It’s nice to put a face to the name, finally.”

“Er, thank you,” Rose let out. She could not say the same, as Milli had never addressed her about anything ever, that she could recall. It was unsettling seeing him in any way as anything other than emotionless automaton.

“This is highly irregular,” Milli said looking Mel dead in the eyes.

“Oh! Sorry, sorry,” she said brightly, seeming to understand. “He wants to be professional, and I’m definitely making his cover slip.”

She beamed at Milli who looked away again.

“Nice to meet you, Rose. I’m going to go and get this man a drink,” said Mel with a quick salute before grabbing Milli’s arm and dragging him to the nearest exit.

Rose looked about for her family and found Hugo staring up at the ceiling. He’d had a growth spurt over the summer and was just about her height now, despite being just thirteen.

“What are you looking at?”

“The lights. They look a bit like a Christmas tree, doncha think?”

Rose squinted her eyes a bit, letting them go out of focus. With the right amount of imagination it did resemble the underside of a Christmas tree.

“Only you would see that,” said Rose.

“You see it too,” he said smiling, still staring at the lights.

They sat in silence staring at the lights much as they did at Christmas time when they laid under the tree. They stayed like this until Mum came up looking guilty. Rose knew it meant they would be shopping alone.

“Hey you two. Listen, it seems I’m needed by the Minister, so I won’t be able to--”

“It’s fine,” Rose cut her off sharply. Hugo came out of his reverie to look between his mother and sister with wide eyes.

“Right,” Mum said with a sigh. “Here’s enough to cover all your expenses and get yourselves something nice.”

She already had two pouches ready and waiting in her purse. Rose then knew her mother had planned this, as she was definitely not parsing out coins in front of the Minister. She waited to get out of spending time with them. She did it in public, so Rose wouldn’t question her at home.

“Real nice, Mum,” Rose said, grabbing the purse and marching towards Diagon Alley without another word.

Hugo stayed behind long enough to thank Mum and ran to catch up with the seething Rose.

“What are you going to get with your extra money?” he asked with a smile.

“A new mum.”

“Don’t think they’ll have any of those. Maybe a pet of some sort?” he said this blithely, as if they had not just been betrayed by their mother. He always could see the best in others, though. Even as a baby, Hugo was the merry babbling sort who rarely cried. Rose was the red faced babe who let out furious wails and would make tiny fists at people.

Not much had changed in that respect. Rose was still the one with a temper, and Hugo was seemingly unperturbed by everything. It was almost annoying how happy he could be, but as angry as Rose was, she didn’t want to try and recruit him to be as angry as she. Al or Scorpius were one thing, but Hugo-- she never wanted him to force him to agree with her, as long as he was happy. He was like an untouched bit of sunshine in a world Rose found rather filled with things to be sceptical of.

His good nature and strange imagination could change the world for the better, Rose was just certain of it. No one seemed to understand how amazing Hugo was, though. He had friends, but she was annoyed at how no one seemed to see how her brother was the only truly nice person without malice in the whole world. They just couldn’t understand it. She was the only enlightened one on this matter, except perhaps her grandmother. Somehow, she knew her grandmother seemed to understand how Hugo was special. When they went to the Burrow as children, other kids would fight or step on bugs, and Hugo was the one kid who never was cross and never killed bugs.

He wasn’t smart like Rose, exactly. He was fine on practicals like Charms and Transfiguration, but did horribly on essays and classes that needed more reading. He had some sort of dyslexia he would have to wear glasses for when reading- which definitely made him the butt of jokes at times. It hadn’t even been diagnosed until the summer before Hogwarts, thanks to Wizarding schools being awful at the basics. That and Mum not listening when Rose said something was wrong with her brother. Besides that, though, he just learned differently than others- saw things differently. School just wasn’t made for a mind like his.

“Come on, Hugo, let’s get our books,” Rose said, leading the way, and trying not to let her dark mood infect Hugo.

After they had gotten all their supplies, and stopped by every single shop Rose could think of, it was finally time to do the dreaded robe shopping. They approached Madam Malkin’s with similar levels of trepidation.

“We’re here…” Hugo affirmed, seriously.

“Ok, Private. ‘Operation Dress Robe’ is a go. The enemy is just beyond those doors,” Rose said, doing her best impression of an Auror Drill Sergeant.

“Plan of attack, sir?” Hugo asked.

“Once alerted to us, they’re going to try to distract us and take us down. What do you say to the use of shielding charms?”

“Too close quarters. Possibility of innocents caught in line of fire or surroundings jeopardized,” Hugo sternly replied.

“We should just go in, split up and find our things separate. It’ll take less time. God, I hate robe shopping,” Rose said, abandoning her character.

“Don’t let the Dementors get your down, sir. Negative to splitting up; we’re easier targets separate. We can work in tandem to distract the subjects and acquire targets without incident.”

“Nice one,” Rose grinned. “Ok. Stealth will be key. In and out with--”

“Let’s do this!” Hugo crowed, kicking the door open. The door slammed against the wall and all eyes went to them. They both broke into blushes.

“I appreciate the enthusiasm, Private, but feel you need to work on your stealth,” Rose said through gritted teeth.

“Affirmative.”

They were quickly surrounded by salespeople measuring them and making them try on a variety of clothes. Robe after robe looked atrocious on Rose. She was about to give up when one of the ladies brought forth a very delicate dress in a pale blue. Rose felt her hand hesitate before trying it on, knowing she’d somehow shred it. She put it on and her breath caught. She looked almost pretty in it. The moment was broken by a loud huff.

Rose turned to see Gemma Davies sorting through a bin of old out dated robes, some of which were patched or stained. Gemma had always been the prettiest girl in their year. She also had always been the meanest girl in their year, as far as Rose could tell. She had always been particularly mean to Rose over the years.

Gemma was fairly popular, despite having the personality of a skroot, and the most fashionable of girls. Gemma’s father was some sort of investor or another and very rich, taking them on expensive trips and buying her designer clothes. Something must have changed over the summer, because Gemma’s perfect ringlets were more frizzy than perfect, and she did not hold herself in the same confident manner. Gemma waved down one of the ladies of the shop.

“Excuse me! Is there a way to sort through these by size? All of them are huge and filled with holes.”

“This is the bargain bin, Miss. We don’t sort it,” she replied, a bit rudely. “Perhaps if you look in the rest of the store--”

“I can’t afford that,” Gemma said quietly.

“Well then you’d better stick with the robes in the broke bin.”

“Well could I have assistance then? I’m having trouble--”

“I’m helping other customers at this time,” said the assistant curtly, before bringing Rose some more pretty robes and smiling. “Miss Weasley, would you like to try on some of these?”

Gemma looked up with nothing short of horror in her eyes. Rose tried to look away, but she and Gemma had already made eye contact.

“Oh, I see, you work on commission don’t you?” Gemma seethed, marching over to the sale lady. “Not everyone can be as rich as the famous Weasleys, can they? I bet you don’t even have to look at the price tags before carting them over for her, hmm?”

Her words were becoming more and more shrill.

“I’m a paying customer, and I deserve a few moments of help to find something that fits. It doesn’t matter what you get her, she’ll look awful in it anyways!”

“Miss, you’re causing a disruption!”

“Oh you bet I’m causing a disruption! I’m going to be the worst nightmare you’ve ever faced in your sad little career in retail!”

“I’m going to get a manager!”

“Good! I can’t wait to tell them about the greedy, brownnosing assistant who doesn’t know how to treat paying customers! My galleons are just as good as anyones!” Gemma called after the fleeing assistant.

“What are you looking at?” she growled at Rose.

“Uh, nothing…” Rose said backing in to her dressing room.

“They’re only paying attention to you because you have famous parents, you know.”

“Ok,” Rose replied quietly.

“I could get any robe in here I wanted,” Gemma said in a strangled tone.

Rose didn’t reply.

“I bet you’re just loving this. I’m caught sifting through old moth-eaten carpets while you try on beautiful dresses and have assistants at your beck and call.”

Rose supposed she should feel good, seeing a cruel girl have a break down from humiliation. Rose tried as hard as she could to feel glee, but could not. Gemma had an air of desperation to prove herself that Rose knew all too well. She supposed to a pretty girl like Gemma, who had no interests beyond fashion trends and makeup, it must have been the ultimate humiliation to be caught like this by Rose of all people.

“I bet you can’t wait to tell everyone all about it. Anything to distract people from your ridiculous hair and flat chest!” Gemma spat out with spite.

“I wasn’t going to tell anyone!” Rose let out, her anger rising.

“Oh really!” Gemma said with a laugh. Rose felt a familiar rage boil within her.

“I have a million things I’m interested in, and you are not, and have never been, one of them! How self-absorbed you are! You have never been anything but a bully to me for years! Maybe I should tell everyone about this, and then you can feel how it is to be teased and humiliated all the time! I may have crazy hair and a flat chest, but at least I’m smart, and I’m about to buy some beautiful robes in a moment. You’re stupid, rude and apparently going to wear some really heinous robes to the dance.”

Rose felt a mean relish of delight when Gemma let out a gasp. It immediately fizzled away as large tears started to pool in Gemma’s eyes. Rose grimaced. The girl looked perfect as tears poured down her face. Rose envied her ability to look like a normal human even when crying.

“Look… I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll find… something nice in this bin thingy,” Rose said starting to push aside some atrocious looking robes. She was looking for a long time before she found something lacy and intact. At one time it was probably a very pretty dress. “Here. This one. You’re good at charms. I’ve seen you do all sorts of color and alteration charms on your school robes. You can probably do something with this, yes?”

“Why are you helping me?” sniffed Gemma, looking with distrust at the dress.

Rose shrugged. “To get you to stop crying, I guess.”

She held the dress out for Gemma. It took a moment, but Gemma finally took the dress from her. She took an experimental whiff and made a face.

“It smells…” said Gemma.

“Yeah. There are some good charms for that.”

“I guess I’ll take it to the register then…”

“Ok.”

Gemma stepped away then muttered, “You should get that dress. You look ok in it.”

“Thanks,” Rose said haltingly. She supposed it was the nicest thing Gemma would ever say to her.

Hugo joined Rose at the register, looking exhausted.

“‘Operation Dress Robe’, complete,” Hugo sighed.

She nodded and put their bags into her magically expanded rucksack.

“I need food. Really really sugary bad for me food,” said Hugo.

“Me too, Buddy. Something fried and terrible that would make Mum go crazy if she knew we ate it.”

They exchanged grins and headed out the door when they ran into Gemma, who was frozen in place staring ahead. They joined her stare to see a man standing in the middle of the street on a box yelling at the top of his voice. Given how many people were watching, it looked like he had been there for a while.

“And these stores are here because they are built on the back of Muggleborn oppression! For too long we have been marginalized! For too long we have--”

Someone spelled some garbage at the man, cutting him off.

Some people looked around and yelled out against them. Rose was amongst them.

“For too long we have come to this magical world with hope in our hearts. There is not a land of acceptance here, though! Three weeks ago we had a protest, and the government sent in Aurors who beat us down! We will not be beaten down any more! Muggleborns, Unite! MUGGLEBORNS, UNITE!” the young man began chanting. Other people began as well.

Rose gave a grin and joined in the chanting.

“Muggleborns, Unite! Muggleborns, Unite! Muggleborns, Unite! Muggleborns, Unite!“

Hugo tugged at her sleeve.

“Rose, Dad’s an Auror. He didn’t beat anyone down! He got cursed at!”

“Shut up, Hugo. MUGGLEBORNS, UNITE!”

Suddenly there was a large bang and a great plume of fire erupted. The chanting continued for a moment, before it was replaced with screams and people began to run away from the churning flames that began to have a loud roar. Animals began to form in the large fire.

“Fiendfyre!” someone screamed.

Rose grabbed Gemma and Hugo’s arms before they began to run as fast as they could away from the growing fire. Rose had never felt air so hot and suffocating before. She looked around for a safe place with magical protection when a thought came to her.

“Gringott’s! Go!” Rose yelled.

The three sprinted as hard as they could. Hugo was ahead in no time, thanks to his longer legs. Rose felt panicked. Her back was feeling hot and her knees shaky. The marble columns gleamed at her in a mocking way as her shins began to ache. She reached the columns and pushed through the bronze doors to find Hugo and others huddled inside the magically protected building. The air felt artificially cool and crisp as they watched the fire grow and start consuming carts and wooden buildings. She put her arms around Hugo, clinging to his warmth. They were alive and safe.

“Where’s Gemma?” she heard Hugo ask.

Rose looked desperately around her and let out a curse. She had not even looked behind her to check.

She and Hugo’s eyes met. He felt it too. They had to go back and find Gemma. Rose cast a cooling charm on them both.

“Wand’s at the ready…” Hugo said quietly.

They took a breath then stepped into the warm air. A large flame billowed between them and they each jumped behind a column. The enchanted columns did not even blacken as the fire waxed and waned near them, but everything near them was charred beyond recognition. The roar of the fire was louder than ever before.

. Looking ahead, Rose spotted Gemma trapped under an awning of a store window, unable to move, pinned by fire on either side. The fire was beginning to lick the building she was at, with bright embers getting closer to her.

Rose thought back to all her readings. She knew there had to be a spell that would work to combat fiendfyre. It was seventh year stuff, or even beyond, though. Maybe some sort of aguamenti? Or a fire putting out spell like she had learned last year?

“It’s timed!” Hugo yelled over the den. Rose looked about confused until Hugo signaled it, almost like an orchestra conductor. He was right. The fire was coming in waves, ebbing and flowing with near syncopation. It would be difficult to get to Gemma, but it was possible. Rose was not a great runner, despite her long legs, but she had to try. She took a steadying breath, then sprinted forward, only to abruptly stop and be thrown to the ground. Her breath was knocked out of her and she tried to gasp for air. She glanced up to see Hugo looking at her with an apologetic look, his wand pointed at her.

She could let out any noise but a deep gasp for breath.

“You can’t run fast enough…” he said, before looking back at Gemma.

Rose shook her head. Hugo was going to try to save her by himself. Rose willed herself onto her feet to stop him, but was stopped by the barrier on both sides. She started pounding the invisible barrier.

“Hugo!” she let out, desperately slapping her hands into the barrier. He might be faster, but she knew he didn’t know enough spells even hope to defend himself and Gemma. “Don’t don’t…”

He ignored her and took a deep breath, tapping a rhythm on his leg before running forward towards the flames.

Description
Rose plaited her hair and looked at herself in the mirror. She was taller than ever, it seemed, and had somehow gained even more freckles over the summer. Studying herself she gave a sigh. Many of her relatives were quite pretty. Her own parents were as handsome as anyone she had ever met, yet somehow she had gotten all the wrong features from them. She got her father’s height, red hair, and freckles. She got her mum’s bushy hair and skinny ankles. This made her look like she’d been pulled on a taffy machine, then a giant red creature had gone to perch upon her slight frame.

She was hoping over the summer she would have filled out a bit, but that had not happened. She was hopelessly flat and long.

Besides puberty having betrayed her, the rest of her summer had been equally dreadful. She had spent the majority of the summer holed up in her room with no one to talk to and nothing to do. The Potters were on vacation in the rainforests of South America with the Scammanders, with only Harry and Ginny coming back at times to attend to their jobs. Both sets of grandparents had managed to go on vacation almost all summer, and Rose wasn’t especially close with the rest of her family, now that they were all either graduated from Hogwarts, or years younger. Rose didn’t really have friends outside her family, aside from Scorpius.

Unfortunately Scorpius had been confined to France, his entire family deciding to flee for the continent after there had been a great deal of tension between Muggleborns and Pure bloods. A very anti-pureblood movement was happening, and many of them saw the government as responsible for anti-Muggle and Muggleborn sentiments. The protests for more representation in the ministry and harsher punishments for bigotry towards Muggleborns had gotten out of hand a few times over the past few years.Rose wished she could do more to participate. Her parents refused to let her attend, saying it was all too intense for her to go. Rose thought they were just afraid their daughter was a radical.

It had reached an apex with a few pureblood family’s homes being attacked. No one had been hurt, but that was enough for the Malfoys to pack up and escape. Malfoy Manor had more spells to protect it than Hogwarts, really, but they were quite paranoid. They wouldn’t even let Scorpius tell Rose where he was, exactly.

Luckily she had a Weasley Wizard Wheezes Wordsmith, so they could endlessly write each other on a piece of parchment and have it magically transferred with no owls. The WWWW was starting to become very popular amongst young people and Aurors, but the rest of the government and most other witches and wizards tended to write it off as unnecessary. Rose supposed it was only a matter of time until it caught on and made owls superfluous. The same had happened in the Muggle world- though people still seemed to use real mail carriers for some reason.

Scorpius was her one solace this summer. Even though he was holed up in a French mansion, he was marvelous company and wrote to her almost daily about interesting books, random thoughts, and give input as Rose complained about her mother.

With all the tensions and protests, Mum and Dad had been especially busy at the ministry. Dad would come home at the end of the day, but her Mother would barely come home and even if she did, she was distracted and generally unpleasant.

“Rose! We need to get going!”

“Coming, Mum!”

She trudged down the stairs slowly. She was not looking forward to today. They were having to attend some sort of ceremony honoring Aurors for their service, and her dad was set to make a very short speech. He had been nervously going over it so many times the rest of the family had memorized it. After sitting through the long ceremony Rose would go shopping for school supplies, something she enjoyed, but this was dampened by the fact that she had to go dress robe shopping. She hated shopping for clothes more than anything. Nothing ever fit right, and nothing ever looked good on her. Mum seemed to hate shopping as much as she did, so it was never remotely fun.

“Today I have the present of privileging- no no backwards… privilege of presenting ” she heard Dad stammering through.

“Dammit, Hermione. Why can’t Harry do this speech instead?” he said with a tight throat..

“It’s three sentences. I’d hardly call that a speech. Besides, Harry asked and you promised you would, remember?”

“Why in the world would you let me do that? I’m going to make a fool of myself.”

“Nonsense, you’ll do wonderfully,” Mum said distractedly, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Dad did not seem appeased by her assessment.

Rose grabbed some dry eggs from the pan, and some burnt toast. Mum had cooked, it seems. She used to cook well, but Rose supposed that she had more important things on her mind than feeding her family well.

“Rose! Get down here and eat!” Mum called out, not looking up from her parchment.

“I’m here!” Rose let out, putting her dishes into the sink more noisily than was required.

“Oh, sorry,” Mum said, barely glancing up.

Everyone dressed smartly, they Flooed to the ministry. A large stage had been set up next to the golden statue in the atrium, with many chairs set in rows. Great multitudes of Aurors were present in their red Auror robes, making it feel like a much more formal occasion. Dad left them to join a few others on stage, including the Minister, Milli and a few other Aurors she had seen in passing before. Uncle Harry was still in South America- though Rose was beginning to suspect he left to avoid the public speaking.

After some milling about, everyone seated and Minister Shacklebolt approached the podium.

“For different reasons, in different ways, in different wars and in times when we were not at war, Wizards and Witches of all backgrounds have defended those who could not defend themselves. Some took that responsibility to heart and donned our Auror's uniforms. By wearing these uniforms, they pledged their lives to protect every man woman and child- magical or not.

Many have given their lives. Others bear the burden of injury for the rest of their days. Still others made it through with bodies intact, but lives changed forever.”

Dad shifted in his seat. Rose noticed her Mum did as well.

“In a wonderful sense, our Aurors are just ordinary wizard-folk, but there is nothing ordinary about what their commitment means. It has been over twenty years since we were last at war, and the Wizards and Witches we honor today help keep the peace here and abroad. Peace is something we must fight for every single day.”

Rose supposed his speech was good, but did not see how the MInistry’s draconian policies were supposed to help with the ongoing political struggles of the Muggleborn.

“We do not know what tomorrow will bring, but we must work to protect the peace we have fought so hard for. I now turn to podium over to Auror Ronald Weasley, another hero who knows the sacrifice it takes to maintain the lives we live.”

Everyone applauded. Dad grimaced and rose slowly. Rose could see how nervous he was.

“Thank you, Minister,” he said before clearing his throat. He took a calming breath before continuing. Hugo was mouthing the short speech to himself as Dad went on.

“We stand on the cusp of a new decade that holds promise, but as Minister Shacklebolt reminded us, that does not guarantee unprecedented peace and prosperity. The benefits the world enjoys today belong in no small measure to great men and women we are honoring today. Today I have the privilege of presenting Awards of Valor to Loretta Bankhead, Jeremiah Tummonds, and Maximilian Shaw.”

Everyone applauded as the three rose and received their medals. It was weird hearing Milli’s full name, ‘Maximilian Shaw.’ The name fit him much better than his nickname. Milli was a name that promised warmth and a fun personality. Milli had neither.

With the ceremony over, Rose gave a hearty congratulations to her father before he and Mum were ushered away to talk about something important.

Rose looked about for Hugo. He was staring at the ceiling as if there was something interesting there. Before Rose could join him, she started getting greeted by lots of old wizards she didn’t give a fig about. She pretended to remember them and smiled as she had been taught to do.

She found herself next to Milli, so congratulated him and shook his hand. The other Aurors looked quite happy at the honor, but Milli was as sombre as ever. He never smiled more than a perfunctory one no matter the occasion.

“Congratulations, Milli,” Rose heard a tinkling female voice behind them. A spritely black woman with kind eyes stood behind them.

“Mel,” said Milli looking surprised. “I did not expect to see you here.”

“Of course I’m here. Had to watch you frown as you were praised by the Minister himself!” she smiled blithely.

“I certainly did not frown,” Milli frowned.

“Oh yes, you were positively beaming the whole time,” she said with a playful smile. Milly looked at her with more warmth than Rose had ever seen in his cold eyes.

Rose was about to slide away from them when Mel reached out and began shaking Rose’s hand.

“You must be Ron and Hermione’s daughter, Rose. Milli is always telling us so much about you.”

“Me? Us?”

“Oh yes,” she insisted pleasantly. “He’s always telling me and his friends all about you and your brother and cousins. He’s like a proud uncle or something.”

Rose was flabberghasted. She had never thought Milli knew anything about herself, except that she was Potter-Weasley spawn. Also, Milli had friends? Milli looked away and said nothing.

“It’s nice to put a face to the name, finally.”

“Er, thank you,” Rose let out. She could not say the same, as Milli had never addressed her about anything ever, that she could recall. It was unsettling seeing him in any way as anything other than emotionless automaton.

“This is highly irregular,” Milli said looking Mel dead in the eyes.

“Oh! Sorry, sorry,” she said brightly, seeming to understand. “He wants to be professional, and I’m definitely making his cover slip.”

She beamed at Milli who looked away again.

“Nice to meet you, Rose. I’m going to go and get this man a drink,” said Mel with a quick salute before grabbing Milli’s arm and dragging him to the nearest exit.

Rose looked about for her family and found Hugo staring up at the ceiling. He’d had a growth spurt over the summer and was just about her height now, despite being just thirteen.

“What are you looking at?”

“The lights. They look a bit like a Christmas tree, doncha think?”

Rose squinted her eyes a bit, letting them go out of focus. With the right amount of imagination it did resemble the underside of a Christmas tree.

“Only you would see that,” said Rose.

“You see it too,” he said smiling, still staring at the lights.

They sat in silence staring at the lights much as they did at Christmas time when they laid under the tree. They stayed like this until Mum came up looking guilty. Rose knew it meant they would be shopping alone.

“Hey you two. Listen, it seems I’m needed by the Minister, so I won’t be able to--”

“It’s fine,” Rose cut her off sharply. Hugo came out of his reverie to look between his mother and sister with wide eyes.

“Right,” Mum said with a sigh. “Here’s enough to cover all your expenses and get yourselves something nice.”

She already had two pouches ready and waiting in her purse. Rose then knew her mother had planned this, as she was definitely not parsing out coins in front of the Minister. She waited to get out of spending time with them. She did it in public, so Rose wouldn’t question her at home.

“Real nice, Mum,” Rose said, grabbing the purse and marching towards Diagon Alley without another word.

Hugo stayed behind long enough to thank Mum and ran to catch up with the seething Rose.

“What are you going to get with your extra money?” he asked with a smile.

“A new mum.”

“Don’t think they’ll have any of those. Maybe a pet of some sort?” he said this blithely, as if they had not just been betrayed by their mother. He always could see the best in others, though. Even as a baby, Hugo was the merry babbling sort who rarely cried. Rose was the red faced babe who let out furious wails and would make tiny fists at people.

Not much had changed in that respect. Rose was still the one with a temper, and Hugo was seemingly unperturbed by everything. It was almost annoying how happy he could be, but as angry as Rose was, she didn’t want to try and recruit him to be as angry as she. Al or Scorpius were one thing, but Hugo-- she never wanted him to force him to agree with her, as long as he was happy. He was like an untouched bit of sunshine in a world Rose found rather filled with things to be sceptical of.

His good nature and strange imagination could change the world for the better, Rose was just certain of it. No one seemed to understand how amazing Hugo was, though. He had friends, but she was annoyed at how no one seemed to see how her brother was the only truly nice person without malice in the whole world. They just couldn’t understand it. She was the only enlightened one on this matter, except perhaps her grandmother. Somehow, she knew her grandmother seemed to understand how Hugo was special. When they went to the Burrow as children, other kids would fight or step on bugs, and Hugo was the one kid who never was cross and never killed bugs.

He wasn’t smart like Rose, exactly. He was fine on practicals like Charms and Transfiguration, but did horribly on essays and classes that needed more reading. He had some sort of dyslexia he would have to wear glasses for when reading- which definitely made him the butt of jokes at times. It hadn’t even been diagnosed until the summer before Hogwarts, thanks to Wizarding schools being awful at the basics. That and Mum not listening when Rose said something was wrong with her brother. Besides that, though, he just learned differently than others- saw things differently. School just wasn’t made for a mind like his.

“Come on, Hugo, let’s get our books,” Rose said, leading the way, and trying not to let her dark mood infect Hugo.

After they had gotten all their supplies, and stopped by every single shop Rose could think of, it was finally time to do the dreaded robe shopping. They approached Madam Malkin’s with similar levels of trepidation.

“We’re here…” Hugo affirmed, seriously.

“Ok, Private. ‘Operation Dress Robe’ is a go. The enemy is just beyond those doors,” Rose said, doing her best impression of an Auror Drill Sergeant.

“Plan of attack, sir?” Hugo asked.

“Once alerted to us, they’re going to try to distract us and take us down. What do you say to the use of shielding charms?”

“Too close quarters. Possibility of innocents caught in line of fire or surroundings jeopardized,” Hugo sternly replied.

“We should just go in, split up and find our things separate. It’ll take less time. God, I hate robe shopping,” Rose said, abandoning her character.

“Don’t let the Dementors get your down, sir. Negative to splitting up; we’re easier targets separate. We can work in tandem to distract the subjects and acquire targets without incident.”

“Nice one,” Rose grinned. “Ok. Stealth will be key. In and out with--”

“Let’s do this!” Hugo crowed, kicking the door open. The door slammed against the wall and all eyes went to them. They both broke into blushes.

“I appreciate the enthusiasm, Private, but feel you need to work on your stealth,” Rose said through gritted teeth.

“Affirmative.”

They were quickly surrounded by salespeople measuring them and making them try on a variety of clothes. Robe after robe looked atrocious on Rose. She was about to give up when one of the ladies brought forth a very delicate dress in a pale blue. Rose felt her hand hesitate before trying it on, knowing she’d somehow shred it. She put it on and her breath caught. She looked almost pretty in it. The moment was broken by a loud huff.

Rose turned to see Gemma Davies sorting through a bin of old out dated robes, some of which were patched or stained. Gemma had always been the prettiest girl in their year. She also had always been the meanest girl in their year, as far as Rose could tell. She had always been particularly mean to Rose over the years.

Gemma was fairly popular, despite having the personality of a skroot, and the most fashionable of girls. Gemma’s father was some sort of investor or another and very rich, taking them on expensive trips and buying her designer clothes. Something must have changed over the summer, because Gemma’s perfect ringlets were more frizzy than perfect, and she did not hold herself in the same confident manner. Gemma waved down one of the ladies of the shop.

“Excuse me! Is there a way to sort through these by size? All of them are huge and filled with holes.”

“This is the bargain bin, Miss. We don’t sort it,” she replied, a bit rudely. “Perhaps if you look in the rest of the store--”

“I can’t afford that,” Gemma said quietly.

“Well then you’d better stick with the robes in the broke bin.”

“Well could I have assistance then? I’m having trouble--”

“I’m helping other customers at this time,” said the assistant curtly, before bringing Rose some more pretty robes and smiling. “Miss Weasley, would you like to try on some of these?”

Gemma looked up with nothing short of horror in her eyes. Rose tried to look away, but she and Gemma had already made eye contact.

“Oh, I see, you work on commission don’t you?” Gemma seethed, marching over to the sale lady. “Not everyone can be as rich as the famous Weasleys, can they? I bet you don’t even have to look at the price tags before carting them over for her, hmm?”

Her words were becoming more and more shrill.

“I’m a paying customer, and I deserve a few moments of help to find something that fits. It doesn’t matter what you get her, she’ll look awful in it anyways!”

“Miss, you’re causing a disruption!”

“Oh you bet I’m causing a disruption! I’m going to be the worst nightmare you’ve ever faced in your sad little career in retail!”

“I’m going to get a manager!”

“Good! I can’t wait to tell them about the greedy, brownnosing assistant who doesn’t know how to treat paying customers! My galleons are just as good as anyones!” Gemma called after the fleeing assistant.

“What are you looking at?” she growled at Rose.

“Uh, nothing…” Rose said backing in to her dressing room.

“They’re only paying attention to you because you have famous parents, you know.”

“Ok,” Rose replied quietly.

“I could get any robe in here I wanted,” Gemma said in a strangled tone.

Rose didn’t reply.

“I bet you’re just loving this. I’m caught sifting through old moth-eaten carpets while you try on beautiful dresses and have assistants at your beck and call.”

Rose supposed she should feel good, seeing a cruel girl have a break down from humiliation. Rose tried as hard as she could to feel glee, but could not. Gemma had an air of desperation to prove herself that Rose knew all too well. She supposed to a pretty girl like Gemma, who had no interests beyond fashion trends and makeup, it must have been the ultimate humiliation to be caught like this by Rose of all people.

“I bet you can’t wait to tell everyone all about it. Anything to distract people from your ridiculous hair and flat chest!” Gemma spat out with spite.

“I wasn’t going to tell anyone!” Rose let out, her anger rising.

“Oh really!” Gemma said with a laugh. Rose felt a familiar rage boil within her.

“I have a million things I’m interested in, and you are not, and have never been, one of them! How self-absorbed you are! You have never been anything but a bully to me for years! Maybe I should tell everyone about this, and then you can feel how it is to be teased and humiliated all the time! I may have crazy hair and a flat chest, but at least I’m smart, and I’m about to buy some beautiful robes in a moment. You’re stupid, rude and apparently going to wear some really heinous robes to the dance.”

Rose felt a mean relish of delight when Gemma let out a gasp. It immediately fizzled away as large tears started to pool in Gemma’s eyes. Rose grimaced. The girl looked perfect as tears poured down her face. Rose envied her ability to look like a normal human even when crying.

“Look… I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll find… something nice in this bin thingy,” Rose said starting to push aside some atrocious looking robes. She was looking for a long time before she found something lacy and intact. At one time it was probably a very pretty dress. “Here. This one. You’re good at charms. I’ve seen you do all sorts of color and alteration charms on your school robes. You can probably do something with this, yes?”

“Why are you helping me?” sniffed Gemma, looking with distrust at the dress.

Rose shrugged. “To get you to stop crying, I guess.”

She held the dress out for Gemma. It took a moment, but Gemma finally took the dress from her. She took an experimental whiff and made a face.

“It smells…” said Gemma.

“Yeah. There are some good charms for that.”

“I guess I’ll take it to the register then…”

“Ok.”

Gemma stepped away then muttered, “You should get that dress. You look ok in it.”

“Thanks,” Rose said haltingly. She supposed it was the nicest thing Gemma would ever say to her.

Hugo joined Rose at the register, looking exhausted.

“‘Operation Dress Robe’, complete,” Hugo sighed.

She nodded and put their bags into her magically expanded rucksack.

“I need food. Really really sugary bad for me food,” said Hugo.

“Me too, Buddy. Something fried and terrible that would make Mum go crazy if she knew we ate it.”

They exchanged grins and headed out the door when they ran into Gemma, who was frozen in place staring ahead. They joined her stare to see a man standing in the middle of the street on a box yelling at the top of his voice. Given how many people were watching, it looked like he had been there for a while.

“And these stores are here because they are built on the back of Muggleborn oppression! For too long we have been marginalized! For too long we have--”

Someone spelled some garbage at the man, cutting him off.

Some people looked around and yelled out against them. Rose was amongst them.

“For too long we have come to this magical world with hope in our hearts. There is not a land of acceptance here, though! Three weeks ago we had a protest, and the government sent in Aurors who beat us down! We will not be beaten down any more! Muggleborns, Unite! MUGGLEBORNS, UNITE!” the young man began chanting. Other people began as well.

Rose gave a grin and joined in the chanting.

“Muggleborns, Unite! Muggleborns, Unite! Muggleborns, Unite! Muggleborns, Unite!“

Hugo tugged at her sleeve.

“Rose, Dad’s an Auror. He didn’t beat anyone down! He got cursed at!”

“Shut up, Hugo. MUGGLEBORNS, UNITE!”

Suddenly there was a large bang and a great plume of fire erupted. The chanting continued for a moment, before it was replaced with screams and people began to run away from the churning flames that began to have a loud roar. Animals began to form in the large fire.

“Fiendfyre!” someone screamed.

Rose grabbed Gemma and Hugo’s arms before they began to run as fast as they could away from the growing fire. Rose had never felt air so hot and suffocating before. She looked around for a safe place with magical protection when a thought came to her.

“Gringott’s! Go!” Rose yelled.

The three sprinted as hard as they could. Hugo was ahead in no time, thanks to his longer legs. Rose felt panicked. Her back was feeling hot and her knees shaky. The marble columns gleamed at her in a mocking way as her shins began to ache. She reached the columns and pushed through the bronze doors to find Hugo and others huddled inside the magically protected building. The air felt artificially cool and crisp as they watched the fire grow and start consuming carts and wooden buildings. She put her arms around Hugo, clinging to his warmth. They were alive and safe.

“Where’s Gemma?” she heard Hugo ask.

Rose looked desperately around her and let out a curse. She had not even looked behind her to check.

She and Hugo’s eyes met. He felt it too. They had to go back and find Gemma. Rose cast a cooling charm on them both.

“Wand’s at the ready…” Hugo said quietly.

They took a breath then stepped into the warm air. A large flame billowed between them and they each jumped behind a column. The enchanted columns did not even blacken as the fire waxed and waned near them, but everything near them was charred beyond recognition. The roar of the fire was louder than ever before.

. Looking ahead, Rose spotted Gemma trapped under an awning of a store window, unable to move, pinned by fire on either side. The fire was beginning to lick the building she was at, with bright embers getting closer to her.

Rose thought back to all her readings. She knew there had to be a spell that would work to combat fiendfyre. It was seventh year stuff, or even beyond, though. Maybe some sort of aguamenti? Or a fire putting out spell like she had learned last year?

“It’s timed!” Hugo yelled over the den. Rose looked about confused until Hugo signaled it, almost like an orchestra conductor. He was right. The fire was coming in waves, ebbing and flowing with near syncopation. It would be difficult to get to Gemma, but it was possible. Rose was not a great runner, despite her long legs, but she had to try. She took a steadying breath, then sprinted forward, only to abruptly stop and be thrown to the ground. Her breath was knocked out of her and she tried to gasp for air. She glanced up to see Hugo looking at her with an apologetic look, his wand pointed at her.

She could let out any noise but a deep gasp for breath.

“You can’t run fast enough…” he said, before looking back at Gemma.

Rose shook her head. Hugo was going to try to save her by himself. Rose willed herself onto her feet to stop him, but was stopped by the barrier on both sides. She started pounding the invisible barrier.

“Hugo!” she let out, desperately slapping her hands into the barrier. He might be faster, but she knew he didn’t know enough spells even hope to defend himself and Gemma. “Don’t don’t…”

He ignored her and took a deep breath, tapping a rhythm on his leg before running forward towards the flames.