Study Date | James Potter

Chapter 31 - "Any Less Beautiful"

The small girl was perched atop the headstone, her swinging legs obscuring the name written on it.

"It's your fault." She looked up, and her dark eyes stared into Rose's accusingly. "You let me go home. You knew it was a risk but you didn't try to keep me safe."

A heavy hand landed on Rose's shoulder. She spun around to see her parents behind her.

"She's right," her father said. "You didn't protect us either. You should have known they'd come for us. You should have made us leave."

"Well it's not like she loved us enough to put the effort in." Her mother laughed coldly.

Rose staggered, shrinking under the weight of the accusations that she knew were all true. She stared helplessly, lips sewn shut - not that she would know what to say if she could speak.

Her parents vanished and a second grave appeared by the one Alicia was at the head of.

"That's me," she said.

Another two appeared.

"Your parents."

Another two.

"My parents."

The single row of six graves suddenly multiplied, stretching back endlessly, beyond Rose's vision.

"Evryone that you will cause the death of lies here. They're all your fault."

The headstone Alicia sat on loomed above Rose. She was now only a fraction of its size.

Alicia hopped down to stand in front of her. The shadow she cast over Rose completely blotted out the light.

"And he'll be next."

The girl stood aside to reveal the two words on the headstone. It was a name:

James Potter.

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Rose woke gasping for air. Her body was slick with sweat, and her bedsheets were soaked.

She'd had the same nightmare, or variations of it, for three nights in a row now. She hated how it was twisting Alicia - using the girl as a mouthpiece for her own insecurities - but she knew the words were true.

Grief had wrecked her, left her hollow. The only thoughts still in her mind were cascading spirals of what-ifs and whys and the overwhelming knowledge that it was all her fault.

Three days had passed since Rose's parents, and the Fawleys had been murdered, and Rose had left her room once.

The first day, when it had all come crashing down for the first time, she had heard Rabastan Lestrange insulting Alicia as she had passed through the common room. She had whispered in his ear that if he dared to even think about Alicia again, the result would be a lot more painful.