Aunt Rose

42.

Rose marches toward the castle. She ignores the childish urge to stop and look around, letting the nostalgic feeling of being back in Hogsmeade deter her from her main purpose.

The walk is familiar, she walked this path hundreds of times. Sometimes with all of her friends, with Marlene, with Sirius under cover of darkness.

There are curious wizards in Hogsmeade who crane their heads at an angry witch, wondering what could have upset her.

When Rose reaches the castle, the students milling about the courtyard are surprised to see an angry adult approaching. Some know who this woman is, some do not. She doesn't care.

Rose walks right past everyone and heads into the main hallway of the castle. Harry is in the hospital wing, so that's where she'll go.

And at first, she believes Snape is the teacher who had an altercation with Harry. Rose is more than prepared to put that toe rag in his place.

But when she gets into the hospital wing, those thoughts are gone. She only sees Harry, asleep, in one of the beds. She hasn't seen his face in months and the thought of him being hurt is too much for her.

"Excuse me! You can't be—" Madam Pomfrey begins to say before the woman realizes who is in her wing. "Oh, Rose! It's been so long, dear. Harry is just fine, I assure you. He's just unconscious at the moment—"

"Unconscious? Poppy, what the bloody hell happened?" Rose questions seriously, walking to Harry's bedside.

There's a table beside Harry that is filled with sweets and candies, all of them get well gifts. Rose doesn't even know how this happened to him.

"I should let Dumbledore explain. He knows more than I do. I'll go get him," Pomfrey says softly, walking toward the exit as Rose sits on the bed next to Harry.

It's scary, seeing him lay there. A replica of James at the same age, unconscious. The memory of James lying dead flashes through Rose's mind.

She checks his pulse, to calm herself. His heart is beating just fine.

With that settled, Rose strokes Harry's small face, wiping away some of the hair that never lays flat. His first year and he was already ending up on the hospital wing.

A moment later, Dumbledore, Poppy, and Minerva entered the hospital wing.

Minerva wanted to remain professional but she had to admit, it was good to see the young girl again. Her students from years past, one of the better students. So she let a small smile make its way onto her lips as Rose looked up, facing the three.

"What happened to Harry? I thought of all places, he would be safe in this school. How did you let this happen?" Rose asks immediately, very angry that they let this happen to her nephew.

"It was an error of mine. We were keeping the philosophers stone here, at the school. I assume you are aware of what that is?" Dumbledore asks his old student and soldier.

Rose nods her head. Everyone in the Wizarding world knew what that was, it was the only thing people talked about when it was created.

"There was word someone would steal it, so I brought the stone here. All of the teachers helped put protections in place to keep it safe. However, one of the teachers was not who they seemed. Professor Quirell, the defence against the dark arts teacher was helping Voldemort," Dumbledore adds as Rose stops.