𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗻, cedric diggory

˗ˋ 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN
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-: seventh year :-

── IN WHICH SHE'S DELIRIOUS

. . .

The days after Rosie returned from St. Mungos once more were busy. Although to everyone else, they might look somewhat mudane.

Most of the time was spent cleaning, fixing up more rooms of the house to try and get them in a liveable state. But whenever they had a free moment, Rosie and the twins were darting up to their room to experiment with the products.

Thankfully, they barely got caught. Once Sirius caught Fred and Rosie pulling a constantly throwing up George down to the big bathroom down the hall from their room, and Tonks once stumbled upon Rosie and George with a Fred covered in boils protruding from his skin. 

But the worst one seemed to be when Lupin was pulled into their room by the noise of shrieking laughter and a panicked sounding George. Rosie had tested out the love potion, and Fred was having the laugh of his life at her behaviour. The second twin was a little more worried, seeing as they couldn't exactly hold her still long enough to get her to take the antidote. 

Rosie had ended up telling them about Lupin's Wolfsbane potion, and considering his stance on that, they had deemed him the safest one to try and help them. And he did, managing to hold Rosie still just long enough. The Kersey girl had been thoroughly embarassed by the ordeal, but knew then that she had to adjust the quantities of several ingredients in the original potion. 

Other than that, their experiments had been going considerably smoothly, as had the days. She visited St. Mungos only once more inbetween then and August 12th, finding herself suddenly too busy to do so.

It wasn't like she was missing much, all Cedric did was lay there. But Rosie was grateful that he was alive and laying there, not under six feet of dirt in a grave with his death marked by Voldemort.

But when August 12th did come, Rosie barely got any sleep. She was considerably worried for Harry's trail, but had found herself thinking a lot about Cedric the previous night, and when she heard movement on the floor below, she knew that the early morning had come. 

She waited as she listened to the footsteps, and when they began to descend downstairs, she scrambled out of her bed, changing as quickly as she could and applying far too much makeup under her eyes so she didn't look like a deranged panda. Sleep stung in the corners of them, reminding her of her lack of sleep.

Deeming herself semi-respectable, Rosie pushed open the tile that showed the hidden potion's cabinet, using the light of her wand to study the labels before pulling out a bottle. She slipped out of her shared room with as much elegance as she could manage, rushing down the stairs.

"Harry, hey good morning." She didn't really acknowledge anyone else as she slipped between the gap and into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. "Everyone, good morning." Her eyes flickered over everyone, receiving a few other greetings in return. 

"Rosie, dear, are you hungry?" Mrs Weasley asked. "It's quite early, are you sure you've slept properly? You look rather pale."

"I've been thinking." Rosie was guided down onto a bench seat by Tonks, who recognised the makeup covering the dark undereyes, the blood-shot red that she herself had after a night of studying. "About Voldemort.. Harry's trial. Cedric. Mostly Harry's trial."

"Any breakthroughs in those many trains of thoughts?" Sirius asked, as Mrs Weasley placed a plate of toast under her nose.

"No, mostly just kept me awake which is annoying. But, I have this." She held up the vial, smiling. "Healer Strout said it was great for nerves - made anyone feel as if they could fly all over the globe on a.. first generation Cleansweep, perhaps." 

"She has good analogies. Even if she's asleep on her feet." Sirius mused, looking impressed.

"Healer Strout, or Healer Kersey?" Lupin asked, and tension seemed to leave Rosie's shoulders. "Rosie, did you stay up all night and brew a potion?"

"No I stayed up all yesterday night. I spent this all night thinking about the trail and whether I should give him the potion." Half of them seemed to be dtaring at her like she was crazy - which essentially she was, delirious with lack of sleep. 

"I kept a man alive with my Felix Felicis. It's got to count for something. And don't worry, this doesn't have any of that in there. It's like a Pepperup potion, but for nerves over a cold. A Draught of Peace-  only enhanced a bit to help with nerves more." Rosie nodded, lying through her teeth. But rather than what she had done with Cedric, this one only had a couple of drops in the potion. "I promise."

They should have somehow figured out that her promises didn't mean anything at this point. Especially if it was to do with Felix Felicis. 

"Thanks Rosie." Harry took it. "Really, thank you so much." Seconds later, he had tipped his head back and swallowed the contents.

"Now, good luck Harry." Tonks jumped to her feet. "I'm going to take our little potioneer up to bed." Which was good, because Rosie was practically asleep. She could barely walk, and quickly, Lupin wished Harry good luck as well, and helped Tonks take her upstairs.

And when Rosie woke up, Harry would be returning.

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