The Hidden One

24. summer

Rose was debating whether or not she was correct when she said that it was going to be the best summer ever. She spent most of her time with her dad, trying to get to know him better. She had obviously written to Harry, Hermione, Ron and Cedric many times. Ron ended up telling her that they were one ticket short for the Quidditch World Cup and his parents were in a panic over who to bring. Rose quickly replied back that she wasn't a big fan of quidditch and so she wouldn't mind not going. Mrs. Weasley sent her a large tin of cookies after, feeling bad for the girl who was going to miss such a large event.

Remus had become quiet over the summer and Rose was getting tired of it. The summer had barely started and he was being secluded. Rose thought that he was probably trying to give her space to get to know her father, but Rose wanted to hang out with her godfather as well. Unbeknownst to her, Remus was feeling left out. It was as if his daughter had been taken away from him, even though they still lived in the same house.

Sirius, on the other hand, had never been louder. He was constantly singing a muggle song or telling Rose stories. They would often go outside to the river behind the house and talk, laying on the ground. Remus would get upset with Sirius because the pair would go outside and miss dinner and not come back until 1 or 2 am, too busy talking and star gazing to come inside. Rose would hear screaming matches on those mornings, Remus yelling that Sirius could be caught and that he was irresponsible for letting his daughter stay up that late and Sirius responding that there was no one around for miles and that Rose was his daughter and he, therefore, got to decide what she could do.

The morning of the full moon was the calmest the house had been since the end of the school year a few weeks earlier. The tension in the house had grown substantially and Rose knew that, while her dad would never truly blame his friend, if Rose ended up transforming into a werewolf that night there would be serious issues.

"You need to eat," Remus said, his voice showing how tired he was. Rose hadn't been eating for about 3 days. She had been aching as if she had a fever and she felt like she couldn't keep any food down due to the pain. Her arm felt the worst and she had gotten into the habit of cradling it. This morning was the worst day yet, probably due to the added nerves of her whole life might change.

"I can't," Rose muttered, her face in her arms. Her head was pounding and the light made it even worse.

"How about you go lay down?" Sirius suggested. Rose nodded and stumbled onto the couch, not feeling steady enough to go upstairs to her room. She was asleep in no time, light snores letting the men know that she was out.

"How're you doing?" Remus asked his friend. Sirius let out a quiet bark of laughter.

"How am I doing? Moony, you're transforming tonight, I should be the one asking you that!" Sirius said. Remus shook his head with a small smile before turning solemn.

"I'm serious," Remus said.

"No, I am," Sirius responded, a familiar smirk on his face for a few seconds before it fell. "Truthfully, I'm pretty scared. It seems like she is going to be... one. Are you sure we can't give her Wolfsbane?"

"We can't give it to her until we know for sure. Look, I've been thinking. You need to stay in here with her just in case," Remus responded, his eyes trailing over to his sleeping goddaughter.

"I was thinking the same thing. If she doesn't transform I'll come out and find you," Sirius said with a nod. Remus quickly turned his head to look at the man.

"What? No! You need to stay with Rose all night, just in case."

"She'll probably just sleep the whole night anyways!"