Stranger

When I had first awoken, Harry, Arthur, and Kingsley were gone as I heard from the rambling and door slam shut. The second time, I could already feel the sun peering from its highest position through the closed window. My nightmares hadn’t shown up like they had for a while, which surprised me. I had possibly the most peaceful and dreamless slumber in a while. Clearly, I’d caught up on much needed sleep I realized once I gazed at the wall clock - the little hand was on the 12, and the big one in between the six and seven.

I stifled out a yawn, stretching my arms and legs out before blinking a few times to adjust my eyesight. I looked to my side to see Hermione’s bed was empty, and Ginny’s mattress was as well.

With a sigh, I crawled out of bed and walked out the room, searching for the loo. I trudged slowly down the hall until I saw a door swing open and a light turn off. Tonks walked out, clothed in full leather with a towel slung over her shoulder. Her bubblegum pink hair was dripping wet. At the sight of me, she smirked.

“If it isn’t Sleeping Beauty herself,” she teased with a big smirk. “What’re you looking for?”

“Just the bathroom, but I think I found it.”

“Alright, but don’t fall in!”

“I won’t,” I assured. “But tell Sirius I did.”

Her grin grew wider as she chuckled, nodding her head. “Will do, ma’am,” she called as she trotted down the steps.

With a deep breath, I dragged myself into the room and turned on the lights. The bathroom was massive; white flashed practically everywhere. Complimenting the fluorescent color were green curtains, towels, rugs. I groaned as I took sight of the emerald colors. The Blacks sure took their Slytherin pride seriously - it left me relieved Sirius was nothing like them.

After I did everything I had to and had fully bathed and combed out my unruly hair, I threw on a pair of black jeans and a plain white shirt. I opened the door, slightly more energetic than when I had awoken, and ran down the stairs into the kitchen.

Sitting by the dining table were Remus, Tonks, Sirius, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, the twins, and Molly. A breadboard with a small bowl of margarine was laid on the table as well as several mugs of tea and fried eggs. I smiled, inhaling the aroma. My stomach rumbled and I took a seat, piling up my plate.

“Good morning guys,” I chirped as I used a knife to spread the substance on the slice of toast. “Did Harry leave for his hearing already?”

Several people nodded and I frowned. “I would’ve loved to at least wish him good luck.”

“If you’re worried,” Hermione began. “He’s going to be fine. I hope. I looked it up and they simply just cannot expel him for defending himself. Especially against a dementor.”

“I hope,” I mumbled as I took a bite from the soft bread. It was surprisingly warm and satisfied my hungry belly.

Sirius swallowed his forkful of eggs before putting down his silverware and turning to me. His hands intertwined together in concentration. “So, erm, about what you said last night…”

“You make it sound like we did something,” I scoffed, making Fred and George choke on their food.

He laughed, shaking his head. “I can’t talk to you like this, Rosalie. I can definitely see you’re feeling better, though.”

I nodded, smiling. “I still feel a bit down but I think being around everyone has made me more at ease and at home.”

Molly gave me a heartwarming smile. “You know you’re always welcome with us.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley.”

“Anyways, Sirius meant about the Order,” Tonks took over. “We talked it over, and we made a decision. Surprisingly only two people denied it.”

“Before I know what it was, can I know who denied it?”

“Severus Snape and Molly.”

I rolled my eyes. I understood both of their reasonings, but it still surprised me about how Snape had publicly shared his decision.

“Did the Potions master explain why,” I asked.

“He said he doesn’t think you’re capable of it,” Sirius said. “I say that’s yet another load of bullshit from Snivellus.”

I chuckled. “Well, what am I not capable of?”

Remus sighed. “We think you should join the Order. Yes, we understand you’re not out of school yet, but you are of age, and you said so last night - you do deserve to be a part of it. This is yours and your brother’s fight.”

“Plus, it’d be nice to have a spy inside Hogwarts,” Mad-Eye, who had been silently standing in the corner this whole time, spoke up.

I nodded, clapping my hands together. “Thank you for seeing reason! Now, is there some special coronation for my new membership or..?”

George let out a huff. “It’s not fair, how come you get to join the bloody Order?”

“Mum, can we join?”

“Absolutely not boys,” she complained. “I’m still not even okay with Rosalie joining. What if she gets hurt? She’s still young!”

“That’s what I fear too, Molly, love,” Sirius sighed. “But she’s of age and can make her decisions. Plus, it’s not like she’s constantly in danger already with the Dark Lord back. All the Death Eaters and Voldemort are after her already, it won’t make a difference. She’ll just be a part of a group and communicating.”

“Exactly, but Rosalie, I tell you now, communicating can be very dangerous. You’ll have to find ways to talk to us without revealing anything to anyone. Remember that most of the wizarding world is still under neglection about You-Know-Who returning.”

I nodded. “I understand fully.” I put a hand on my chest. “I solemnly swear that I will do it all for good.”

Lupin, my godfather, and the twins smirked and let out snickers. Everyone else quizzically looked at us.

“Are we missing something,” Tonks asked, her hair shifting to an electrifying blue color.

I shook my head. “Nothing, nothing. Thank you guys for at least letting me enter. But if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to take a breath of fresh air in my room for a moment.”

I stood up from the table, flicking my wand in the air. My plate and empty mug of tea floated gracefully to the sink, landing carefully. I walked back up the steps, shoving my wand in the back of my pocket. I stopped on my heel, turning around. Would it hurt to take a walk around the house?

I tiptoed back down, walking down the corridors. I looked at the walls, cringing at the shrunken house elf heads on the walls each with their own plaque. It made me shudder - was the Black family this cruel?

I continued my aimless walk, spotting a small and wrinkly figure in a corner. I could hear it mumbling lowly to itself, and it came in better view. It was a dull color, and had creases everywhere. It’s large stuck-out ears and dirty white drape it wore gave away it was a house elf. This one looked much different than Dobby, he was definitely older. Once he turned around, he stopped muttering. I could get a better look at his twisted face and beady eyes. He had small grey hairs poking out here and there. His nose was much longer and bent than Snape’s, making it uncomfortable to stare at. His arms were bony and stick-like.

“Um, hello?”

He didn’t acknowledge it as he continued mumbling. “...mistress would be disappointed. Blood traitors and filthy Mudbloods in the noble house of Black…”

I made a what-the-fuck face, my eyebrows creasing as I moved on to the rest of my venture around the house. I passed a closed curtain and sighed, turning to a hallway when my foot stumbled and I tripped over the curtain’s end, pulling it open.

“MUDBLOODS, FILTH, STAINS OF DISHONOR, TAINT OF SHAME ON THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS. WHO DARE BRINGS SUCH DISGRACE TO THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK? FILTH! SCUM! HALF-BREED, MUTANTS…”

A portrait of a woman began to scream at a loud and ear-splitting shriek, making me cover my ears and cringe. I attempted to put my hands over the mouth and shut her up but she only complained more.

Sirius came running, his expression unamused and irritated. He shut the curtains and rolled his eyes at where the portrait was before turning to me. It had simply shut up like that.

“Well, Rosalie, I see you’ve met my mother. She does that a lot, don’t worry. It’s not the first time this month.”

I sighed. “Sorry, it’s still disturbing to some people. But I think I’ll go upstairs and now and not come back.” Sirius was about to open his mouth to talk, but I anticipated it already. “And I promise, later we’ll talk about everything. Just...wait until Harry’s back.”

He nodded, letting out a deep breath before smiling and heading back to where he came from. I began my tread to the steps, ascending all the way to the room I was sleeping in. When I walked in, I threw myself on the bed.

Pop!

At this point, it only made me slightly startled to hear the apparating noise of the twins. I looked up to see them smiling down at me goofily. They both had their hands behind their backs.

“Hi Rosalie.”

“Was that you who pulled the curtain?”

“Never mind that, Freddy! We come bearing gifts for her majesty!”

I laughed, rolling my eyes. “The only gift I need right now is quality time with my two favorite gingers in this house.”

“I told you it wasn’t Ronald,” Fred exclaimed.

“Anyways, that is exactly what we have come with - only we have more than just that!”

They pulled their hands out of their backs and began throwing packs of chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts, peppermint toads, chocolate wands, and other candies on the bed. George pulled out two small fireworks and popped them, sending tiny colorful explosions above me. They threw their hands up in the air and I chuckled, waiting for both of them to throw themselves onto the bed. I sat up and grabbed a Lemon Drop from the mini jar, popping it in my mouth. I allowed the tangy sugar to dance on my tongue, moaning in satisfaction.

“It’s been ages since I had one of these,” I complained, popping two more in my mouth.

“Gees, just keep the bloody thing for yourself,” George scoffed.

“So how’s the shop going with the money Harry gave you,” I asked.

“We’ve been looking for a place to open. Hogsmeade apparently is full, we already owled them. I wish we could take the Shrieking Shack and make it a store.”

“We plan on checking Goblin City, and if not there either, then we’ll have to scour through Diagon Alley.”

“Do you know exactly when you plan to do all of this?”

“Dunno.”

“We plan on trying for Christmas Break, or when we graduate,” Fred explained. “Mum might throw a fit if we bought it while still in school and left it empty.”

I shrugged. “Then simple, wait until you leave.”

The two redheads nodded. “Yup! Now pop one of these in your mouth,” George said, handing me a pink taffy.

I chuckled, shaking my head as I pushed his hand away. “I already saw you give one of those to my cousin last year. No tongue taffys for me, alright?”

“Fine,” he grumbled, before his face lit up. He dug in his pocket and pulled out yet another taffy. This one, however, had two sides to it. “Rosalie, may we present to you the beautiful creation of Skiving Snackboxes!”

“The ultimate tool to get out a History of Magic exam!”

“One side will make you go completely sick. Whether it be swell up -”

“Or throw up -”

“Or even grow warts!”

I cringed. “That’s disgusting.”

“Ah, you are right! But however, once you get out of the class, you eat from this side right here,” Fred explained, gesturing to the opposite end of the candy. “And the effects will stop immediately!”

I giggled, clapping. “Absolutely genius - not even Zonko’s would think of a product this amazing!”

The Weasleys bowed. “Thank you, thank you, we try.”

“We could offer you a job at the store, you know.”

“Imagine, Rosalie, assistant manager of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes!”

“As much as I’d love to,” I began. “I’m too busy off saving the world to sell diseases to children.”

“Ouch! Has your bad attitude of the summer made you more feisty? You’re not this fierce!”

“Freddy, she joined the Dark side,” George weeped, hiding his face in his hands.

I rolled my eyes, letting out a scoff. “You two are unbelieveable.”