Settling In

"Let me make sure I understand this," Dan Granger said. "The large, three-headed dog in your school was guarding an ancient artifact that a power-hungry maniac tried to steal, but instead of the staff stopping him like they should have, our daughters, Rose, Ron, and Harry went in to stop him."

"Nearly getting themselves killed in the process," Wilfred Perks added.

"We still succeeded!" Rose exclaimed, beaming.

"Rose, now's not the time," whispered Professor Dumbledore.

They had all gathered in the Leaky Cauldron, where Professor Dumbledore had bought the adults all drinks. They were all seated around a table, with Hermione and Sally-Anne flanked by their respective parents.

"Among other things," Sarah Perks said. "There was a giant plant, a life-sized chess match, a dim… erm," She turned to Sally-Anne. "What was that word again?"

"Dimensional prison," Sally-Anne said in a soft voice.

"That," Emma Granger said, picking up where the other woman left off. "Which was literally sucking the life out of the children, a room full of hostile keys, and a potentially lethal logic puzzle."

"Once again, I want to extend my sincerest apologies to all of you," Professor Dumbledore said. "When Mr. Flamel asked me to keep the Stone safe, Hogwarts was the safest place of which I could think. I certainly never intended to put any students in harm's way."

"Then why put the dog there?" Dan asked.

"The point wasn't to hide the Stone," Rose answered simply. "It was bait."

"Why do you think that?" Professor Dumbledore asked the pale girl.

"Because it's the only explanation that makes sense," Rose replied. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have bothered with the other protections, you would've just hidden it in the Mirror of Erised and been done with it. You mentioned that the only way to get the Stone out of it was to want it, but not use it. That's why I could get to it, but Quirrell couldn't. There is no way to fool the Mirror, so he'd have just been stuck there until you arrived."

"Bait?" Wilfred said.

"It was the only thing that could draw Voldemort out of hiding," Rose said. "Even though he got away, we now know that he isn't really dead like everyone thinks he is. He's just a spirit right now, but I'm sure he's already got a plan to fix that."

"Professor–"

"Albus, please," Professor Dumbledore said. "We're not in school, and I don't need to be a professor all the time."

"Albus, why is she the one answering?" Sarah asked Professor Dumbledore.

"I like to talk," Rose replied, beaming away as always.

"I assure you I'm just as confused as you are," he replied, turning to Rose. "Rose, how do you know all of this?"

"Shadow told me."

"Isn't Shadow her imaginary friend?" Emma whispered to Hermione.

"I'll explain later," Hermione whispered back.

"How did Shadow know?" Albus asked patiently.

"She worked it out. She's quite logical, and she figured that, assuming that you were as clever as we think you are, that you wouldn't have simply left the Stone in plain sight for people to take it. It being bait to lure Voldemort out into the open was the only explanation that made sense."

Rose smiled, and Albus noted that he had never seen this particular smile. Rose had almost no other facial expressions other than smiles, so Albus was making the effort to distinguish one from another to make reading the little girl easier. This particular one included slightly glazed over eyes, as if she were daydreaming, and her smile wasn't as broad as it normally was.

Of all the expressions she had made, Albus actually recognized that one, despite not having seen it on Rose's face before. It was the look of someone thinking fondly of another person. One might even use the word "love".

"I know it's hard to believe," Rose said, turning to the other adults, "but I had the situation under control. I don't know what Hermione and Sally-Anne have told you about me, but I went down there to save my friends. The only reason that these two had to be there was because I couldn't handle everything alone." She looked at both sets of parents. "Please believe me that they were never in any danger."

"I still don't understand how Quirrell and Volds got past the dimensional prison," Rose said, turning to the Headmaster. "Do you?"

"Tom was always good at Arithmancy," Albus explained.

"Is that his real name?" asked Rose.

Professor Dumbledore nodded.

"You were right," Wilfred whispered to his daughter. "She does talk a lot."

"Hold on," Rose said. "Even more important: How did he get past Professor Snape's potions? The riddle was a fake, so he should've ended up drinking the wrong potion."

"If I may interrupt," Sarah said. "This is a lot to take in at once, and I think it'd be best to get going." She turned to Professor Dumbledore. "Professor Dumbledore, thank you for telling us all of this, rather than keeping it secret."

"You're welcome, and I will continue to do so," Professor Dumbledore said. "Your girls far exceeded all expectations. I'm proud to call them my students, and hope to continue to do so in the future. To that end, I will continue to be as open with everyone as I can."

Professor Dumbledore extended his hand to each of the other adults, each of whom shook it in turn.

Turning to the girls, he said, "Ms. Granger, Ms. Perks, Ms. Peta-Lorrum, I look forward to seeing each of you next year. Until then, enjoy your holiday."

"Thank you, Sir," Sally-Anne said. "And thank you for coming out here to talk with everyone."

"You are most certainly welcome, Ms. Perks."

"Yes, thank you," Hermione added.

Rose beamed. "See you soon!"

Sally-Anne turned to both of her friends. "You two take care. Try not to get into too much trouble."

"Just like I told my sister: No promises!" said Rose. Without warning, she hugged her dirty-blonde friend. "Don't go dying on me, okay?"

"I wasn't planning on it," Sally-Anne said, returning the hug. She turned to Hermione, and the two girls embraced.

"Don't let Rose get you into trouble," Sally-Anne said.

"I'm not too worried," Hermione replied. "I'm sure I'll be fine. Enjoy the summer."

"You too."

The girls bid their final farewells for the summer, then went their separate ways.

Hermione and Rose went together to Hermione's family's car. As they approached the vehicle, it occurred to Hermione that Rose had never seen a car before.

"What's that?" asked Rose as Hermione's Dad began loading her luggage into the car.

"The car?" asked her mum.

"What's a 'car'?"

"It's like the Hogwarts Express, only smaller," Hermione explained. "It runs on something called petrol. I don't know much more than that."

"Okay."

As Hermione climbed in the car, she got a bad feeling. There was no way that was the last of Rose's questions.

"Sally-Anne," her father began once they were in their car. "I'm glad you're learning to stand up for yourself, but you should really be more careful."

"I know, Daddy," Sally-Anne replied. "I was… I was just worried about my friends. I didn't want Harry and Ron to get hurt."

"We're very proud of you for watching out for them," her mum said, "and we're glad that you're safe."

"Thanks, Mummy," Sally-Anne said. "And it wasn't the boys' fault. Harry was just scared, and no one would listen to him. We tried going to the teachers for help, but they wouldn't even hear us out! Harry was really scared because he thought Voldemort would come after him if he returned, and–"

"Settle down, Sweety," her dad said. "It's over now. You're safe, and that's all that matters."

Sally-Anne took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "I'm sorry. It's just that Harry's been so scared for the past few months, but it's like the teachers don't care."

"You've mentioned Harry an awful lot in your letters lately," her dad said. "Is there something we should know?"

Sally-Anne's face turned a faint shade of pink. "N-no, i-it's just… I talk about him more than the others," she said quickly. "With him! I talk with him more than the others!"

Her parents both started to laugh.

"Since Ron and Hermione are usually playing chess," Sally-Anne said quickly, "and Rose is off doing… erm, whatever it is she does. There's nothing–"

"Relax, Sweety," her mum said, still laughing. "Your father's just picking on you. You're only 12; you shouldn't be worrying about boys for at least another year."

"Then we'll really start picking on you about it," her father said jokingly. At least, Sally-Anne hoped he was just joking. She decided to change the subject before her parents started to pry.

"How's work going, Dad?"

"Quite well, thanks for asking," he said. "It's almost time for our annual Shakespeare Festival at the theatre."

"What play are they doing this year?" she asked.

"Macbeth," her father replied. "Everyone's been rehearsing every weekend for it for about a month now. You know how it is."

Sally-Anne nodded. "When are they performing it?"

"August 1st."

"I can't wait!" Sally-Anne exclaimed. "Any chance the director finally convinced you to go up on stage?"

"But the tech crew needs me!" her father exclaimed in a booming voice. "Why, it would be curtains if I went on stage! Curtains!"

Sally-Anne laughed, and while she didn't see it, she was certain her mum was rolling her eyes.

"Nearly a year away and you've still got your father's sense of humor," her mum muttered.

"How about you, Mum? Work going okay?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then."

Sally-Anne still didn't know what her mum did, but her and her dad sometimes speculated about her mum's job while her mum was on the phone.

Sally-Anne closed her eyes, not realizing how tired she was until her parents woke her up to tell her that they were home.

The first half of the car ride to Hermione's house was spent answering Rose's questions about cars, buildings, people, and anything else that popped into Rose's head.

"Why are we stopping? Is there trouble somewhere?!"

"No, Rose, we just arrived at a red light," Hermione replied, sighing. "We've done that a few times now."

"What's that?"

"It's called a traffic light. It turns red to tell us to stop, and green to tell us to go."

"Why?"

"Because there are a lot of cars on the road," Mrs. Hermione's Mum said. "There isn't enough space for all of them to go at once, so we all need to take turns."

Emma and Dan weren't too bothered by Rose's questions. Hermione had been a curious child, so they already had answers to most of Rose's questions. That didn't mean that they wanted to listen to the girl ask questions the entire car ride.

About halfway into the trip home, Hermione had an idea that saved them all from further annoyance.

Mr. Grund, my crafting teacher, didn't answer questions. Not while he was working anyway, so I'd write them down and ask them during lunch.

"Rose, why don't you write down any other questions in your notebook and ask them later?"

"Good idea, Hermione!"

Emma mouthed "thank you" to Hermione through the rear view mirror.

"Mum, Dad!" Hermione exclaimed after she had decided that Rose was definitely not going to ask anymore questions. "I've got great news!"

"What is it?" asked her mum.

"I met with Professor Vector a few days ago, and she gave me the final exam for the third year Arithmancy class."

"How'd you do?" asked her dad.

"She said not only did I pass it, but I scored in at least the 50th percentile. She said I could take Arithmancy next year with the fourth-years!"

"Hermione, that's wonderful!" exclaimed her mum.

"Congratulations!" added her dad. "We're very proud of you."

Rose beamed at her, as she had when Hermione told her a few days ago.

"Professor Vector said she'd already made sure that it wouldn't interfere with any of my other classes, and I'm going to ask Cedric if he and his friends can walk with me."

"Failing that, I can always take her," Rose said, looking up from her notebook for a moment. "It's no trouble."

"Thank you, Rose," Hermione's Mum said. "And thank you, Hermione, for putting up with our worrying."

"Honestly, I feel safer walking around Hogwarts with someone," Hermione replied. "It seems like trouble is around every corner at that school."

"It is a lot of fun, isn't it?" Rose sighed, smiling dreamily.

"I'm not sure I'd use the word 'fun'," Emma said, looking at her daughter for an explanation.

"Don't ask," Hermione mouthed, shaking her head.

"So, Rose, where are you from?" Mr. Hermione's Dad asked.

Rose opened her mouth to reply "Rontus", then realized that she was supposed to be from… where was that place again?

<Ref, from where am I supposed to be?>

<Scotland.>

"Scotland."

"Where in Scotland?"

Crab apples!

Not having been asked that question, Rose didn't have a more specific answer other than "Scotland".

<Ref?>

<I'm afraid I can't be of assistance.>

"She's from Glasgow," Hermione said quickly, naming the only Scottish city of which she could think. She turned to Rose. "Right?"

"Yes," Rose said, attempting to call up any information she had on this "Glasgow". "That's right!"

The rest of the ride home was spent with Hermione telling her parents about her classes. When they arrived, Hermione's parents and Rose all helped Hermione carry her belongings to her room.

After that, Hermione showed Rose to her room.

Rose guessed it was about 10 feet by 10 feet, with a single bed inside it. It had a dresser, a nightstand, and some shelves with books on it. Rose took down all this information while considering how best to defend it if necessary.

"How come I've got a room?"

"In case you want somewhere to craft in peace," Hermione replied.

"Oh," Rose said. "That makes sense. I am planning on crafting while I'm here."

"Just don't make too much noise," Hermione said, switching on the light, which caused Rose to jump.

"Calm down, it's just the light."

"You've got a use-activated item of light?"

Hermione frowned, then realized what Rose meant. "Oh, no, it's not magic, it's electricity."

Rose looked at the light switch, then at the overhead light. She knew what electricity was, but why use electricity to emit light rather than fire? "How does it work?"

Hermione closed her eyes, trying to recall what she knew about it. "You flip the switch, which completes a circuit, and that carries electricity from a power source to the light."

She opened her eyes again and found that Rose was standing on the bed to get a closer look at the light.

"Rose, please don't stand on the bed with your boots on," Hermione said.

"They're not on my feet," Rose replied absently.

Hermione looked down and saw the boots on the floor.

"Sorry," she said. "If you'd like, we can go to the public library this weekend to read about electricity. I'm sure they've got plenty of books about it."

"I'd like that," Rose said.

She glanced over at the shelves, and something silver caught her eye. Rose hopped off the bed to get a closer look.

"Oh, right, those shelves are pretty old," Hermione said. "Dad had to patch up a crack last year, and we didn't have any super glue at the time."

"What is that?" Rose asked, her eyes wide with wonder.

"That?" Hermione replied. "Duct tape."

She wasn't sure if she should be worried about the look her friend was giving the shelves. It was a look of wonder, but she could almost see the gears turning in the crimson-haired girl's head. That look did not inspire confidence in Hermione; in fact, it did exactly the opposite.

I should probably make sure she isn't going to get into any trouble, Hermione thought. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Huh?"

"What's on your mind?"

"Oh!" Rose exclaimed. "How durable is it?"

"Pretty durable, I think," Hermione replied. She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

Rose grinned. "I think I might have an idea."

"So long as you don't break anything," Hermione said, too tired to care anymore. "I'm going to go unpack."

"Okay."

Hermione turned to leave, but something occurred to her.

"Would you mind… not wearing your cloak everywhere?"

Rose cocked her head. "Why not?"

"It's just…" Hermione didn't want to say "stupid", although it was what she thought. It didn't stand out much in Hogwarts, but here, especially if they had company over, it would stick out like a sore thumb (Then again, so would Rose). "I think it might be in the way here."

Rose tilted her head to the other side, and her cloak began to shrink. It receded into the hood, until it was no more than a shawl around her shoulders. When it was finished, Rose pulled the hood over her head, grinned, then removed the hood from her head.

"That better?"

"Much," Hermione replied. "Thank you, Rose."

"Thank you, Hermione," Rose said. "You're letting me into your home and allowing me to stay here. That means a lot."

"You're welcome, Rose. Like I said, you've already saved my life. You're my best friend; you're always welcome here."

Rose grinned and began to bounce on her stocking feet.

"What's that look?" Hermione asked.

As if to answer Hermione's question, Rose wrapped her arms around her friend.

"Oh, okay," Hermione said, returning the hug. "I will try to remember that's your 'I'm about to hug you' face."

Sally-Anne realized that she didn't know where any of her friends lived. She mentioned this to her parents, who said they'd see what they could do. Her mum always managed to find out the answers to her questions, although of course, Sally-Anne didn't know how. It was part of the reason that she was so accepting of Rose's quirks. She had learned from her dad that so long as someone was being kind, you should accept it and be kind in return.

"I'm also a little worried about sending a letter to Harry," Sally-Anne said over breakfast Thursday morning. "He said that his aunt and uncle sometimes hide his letters, or just throw them away."

"That's horrible," her dad said. "Are his aunt and uncle abusive?"

"I think so, but he won't talk about it."

"Do you remember their names?" asked her mum, pulling out the PDA she used for work. She tapped it a few times, then looked up at Sally-Anne expectantly.

"Erm, Dursley, I think," Sally-Anne said, as her mum began to tap her PDA again. "I'm not sure how to spell it."

"I'll ask around," her mum said. "See if I can find anything. And Hermione's surname is Granger, right?"

"Yeah."

"That's easy enough to spell. Excuse me."

Her mum stood up from the table and disappeared into another room. She came back a few minutes later, holding her PDA.

"D-U-R-S-L-E-Y," her mum said, reading something from her device. "Dursley, Vernon. Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging."

Her husband and daughter stared at her.

"I think that's him," Sally-Anne said slowly. "'Uncle Vernon' rings a bell."

"Honey, how do you know that?" her dad asked.

"That's classified," her mum replied, grinning slyly.

"You checked the phone book, didn't you?"

"Fine," she huffed as Sally-Anne laughed. "Take all the fun out of it, why don't you?"

"I guess I can try sending him a letter," Sally-Anne said.

"What about sending it using an owl?" asked her dad. "You said Hogwarts had an owlery, right? Well, that can't be the only one."

"Is there one in Diagon Alley?" asked her mum, putting away her PDA.

"I don't remember," Sally-Anne replied. "There might be."

"Why don't we go see if there's something in Diagon Alley this afternoon?" her dad suggested. "You can write a letter to Harry on the way."

"It's only about a half hour drive to Diagon Alley," added her mum. "That's not so bad."

Sally-Anne smiled. Her parents were wonderful, always willing to help her out the best they could.

"Thank you."

"Of course, Sweety," her dad said. "We just want you to be happy, and your friends seem nice."

Wilfred glanced over at his wife and saw that she had her PDA out again. "I don't suppose you're looking up the address for Hermione Granger, are you?"

Sarah slid the stylist back into the device, then put the device in its holster. "No, sorry, I'm just making sure that there's nothing urgent that needs my attention."

"Honey, it's Saturday, it's alright to take a break. I'm sure the world isn't going to end just yet."

"It had better not," Sarah said, smiling. She turned to her daughter. "I don't see any problem with going to Diagon Alley today."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Sweety."

Hermione's adventures started Wednesday morning. Hermione woke up, sat up in her bed, stretched and climbed out of bed. After throwing on some clothes, she walked out of her room, and happened to pass by Rose's room.

The door was closed. Why was the door closed?

Hermione knocked on the girl's door.

"Rose!"

"Almost done!"

"Done doing what?"

"Modifications to my belt!"

Hermione paused. Rose had always crafted in the Room of Requirement, where there were plenty of supplies to do so. That was something that the guest bedroom was sorely lacking, so how was she modifying her belt?

"You aren't taking the room apart, are you?"

The door finally opened, and Rose poked her head out of it. "No, of course not. Why would I be doing that?"

"No reason," Hermione replied. "May I come in?"

"Sure," Rose said, opening the door the rest of the way. "See? Room's just the way you left it!"

Hermione looked around the small room, and, sure enough, it was still exactly the same as it had been the previous night. Even the bed was untouched.

Of course, she doesn't sleep, Hermione reminded herself.

"How did you modify your belt?"

"It was just an enchantment, so I don't need a lot of raw materials, just gold."

"What'd you do?" asked Hermione, looking at the thick leather belt around her friend's waist.

"Added a stone dragon belt to it," Rose replied. She grinned. "In 24 hours, it'll take effect, then I'll be able to use mountain hammer." Her grin broadened. "Did you know Item Creation allows me to emulate maneuvers? Cos I certainly didn't!"

Hermione stared at her friend. "Should I even ask what mountain hammer is?"

"Dungeon redecorator!"

That continued the next day, and the next day. Rose always seemed to have something to do. Thursday it was adding a pair of slippers of the setting sun to her boots so she could throw people, and Friday it was adding a pair of gauntlets of throwing to her gloves so she could throw Crimson Thorn.

Saturday morning, Hermione found Rose sitting in her room drawing. Not crafting, not making something else ridiculous, just drawing.

"I was thinking we could join my parents for breakfast, then go to the library, if it's alright with mum and dad."

"Sounds fun!" Rose exclaimed, putting away her sketchpad. "Are your parents expecting me to eat?"

"Had you not given me the ring of sustenance, they probably wouldn't have believed me when I told them you don't eat. Having seen me not eat for a nearly a week, they believe me now."

"Oh, good! I'm not sure I can eat."

Hermione frowned. "Does veil of undeath shut down your digestive system as well as your vascular system?"

"Be honest: How many of those words did you make up just now?"

"None," Hermione said. "Your digestive system is what allows you to process food, and your vascular system is your heart."

Rose thought for a moment, then said, "You don't need to eat food; I can't eat food."

"That's what I was asking."

Rose huffed. "You and Sk'lar with your big words."

"What about 'Intelligencer'?" Hermione shot back. "That's just a big word for 'messenger'!"

"I know. I asked Sk'lar for a big word for 'messenger'. After about four words, he said 'Intelligencer', and I liked it!"

"Oh," Hermione said. How much thinking did Sk'lar and Shadow do for Rose? And that was still assuming that they were real, and not just other aspects of her personality, like dissociative identity disorder. Either answer made sense to Hermione.

The girls reached the breakfast table and sat down.

"Good morning, girls," Hermione's mum greeted them. "Did you two sleep okay?"

"No, but that's because I don't sleep," Rose said.

"That's right, Hermione mentioned that. Do you eat?"

Emma had already talked with her daughter regarding the fact that the crimson-haired girl had remained shut inside the guest bedroom the past few days. The explanation she had received was "She does that." Emma and Dan hadn't been satisfied with that answer, but they accepted it after their daughter explained that she didn't have a better one.

"No, I don't think my digressive system works."

Emma turned to her daughter for an explanation.

"She means digestive system."

"Oh," Emma said. "Are you sure? You look sort of–"

"Pale, I know," Rose said. "Heart doesn't beat either. Didn't know veil of undeath would do that until I used it, but it makes sense."

Emma tried to understand, but quickly gave up and made a mental note to get Hermione to write up some sort of Rose-to-English translation.

"Well, I'm making scrambled eggs. Hermione, would you like some?"

"Yes, please."

"I'll take some too, please," her dad said as he walked into the kitchen, kissing his wife on the cheek as he made his way to one of the chairs. "Rose, good to see you've come out of hibernation. You girls have any plans for the day?"

"Rose and I were thinking of going to go to the library so Rose will stop asking how everything works," Hermione replied, looking over at her friend.

Rose was staring at the ceiling fan that resided over the kitchen table, her head following the blades as they circled one another.

"Sounds like fun," Hermione's dad said, eyeing the girl. "How long can she keep that up?"

"I don't think Rose gets dizzy," Hermione replied as her mum put a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Hermione ate her breakfast, and all the while, Rose continued to stare at the fan. A few times, Dan considered turning up the fan to see what his daughter's friend would do, but decided he shouldn't pick on the girl.

After she was finished eating, Hermione reminded Rose that they were planning on going to the library.

"It's within walking distance," Hermione said. "It's only about twenty minutes or so."

"I can just dim door us there," Rose said without taking her eyes off the fan.

"Rose, we aren't supposed to use magic outside of Hogwarts," Hermione reminded her.

"So?"

"Most muggles don't know about magic."

"Why not?"

"It's the Statute of Secrecy," Hermione said. "I know you've read about it."

"It rings a bell," Rose said. "Something about being hunted for having magic. Does that mean I have to walk the whole way there like a mortal?"

"Mortal?" mouthed Emma to Dan. One thing upon which all three of the Grangers had agreed: Rose had a unique vocabulary.

"Yes, Rose, just like a normal person," Hermione said. "It's not so bad. I'm just going to wash up, then how about we get going?"

"Okay," Rose said, still staring at the fan.

To Sally-Anne's delight, she found an owlery at Diagon Alley that afternoon. The clerk, who looked like she was sick from the smell, took some sickles from Sally-Anne and told her to use a white and brown owl. The owl took one look at the envelope addressed to "Harry Potter" and flew out one of the windows.

"Thank you!" Sally-Anne called on her way out of the building.

"No problem," the clerk replied, coughing.

Sally-Anne took a breath of fresh air when she got out of the owlery.

"Everything alright?" asked her mum.

"Yeah," Sally-Anne replied. "I think they need to open a window in there or something."

"But you were able to send your letter?"

"Yeah. Harry should get the letter tomorrow morning. Owls always deliver letters at exactly the same time each day."

"Wonderful. Now I think we need to leave before your father gets any more ideas from the locals."

Sally-Anne glanced over at her father, who was looking around at all the houses and muttering something to himself. Sally-Anne knew that look; he was thinking of more ideas for sets for plays, and the logistics of lighting and audio.

"Dad, we're all ready," Sally-Anne said.

"Right," he replied absently.

"We can come back when Sally-Anne buys school supplies," her mum added.

Slowly, the two women led Wilfred towards the exit, leaving him to mutter in fascination about the wall that folded away to allow them to leave Diagon Alley.

"Rose, you're going to have to learn to act normal if you want me to take you anywhere," Hermione said as they left the library.

"Ugh, you sound like Shadow!" complained Rose. "I didn't even set anything on fire!"

"I appreciate that, as well as the lack of prying eyes," Hermione continued. "However, other people don't appreciate you touching their books while they're reading them. It's weird. Also, I don't think those parents appreciated you talking with their children."

"Nah, the children loved me! They thought I was funny!"

When the girls had arrived at the library, Rose had been wearing her cloak in its full form. More importantly, they learned that there was a children's story time event going on that morning, and the reader just so happened to be dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood. Most importantly, the reader hadn't shown up, so the librarian believed Rose to be the reader.

"It was you explaining in detail how to make a Molotov cocktail that was annoying their parents."

Needless to say, Rose's children skills were somewhat lacking.

"Self defence!"

"Rose!"

"But one of them asked me!" she whined.

"They asked how to defend themselves from monsters," Hermione said. "Although, you didn't bring up– or out– Crimson Thorn, so I guess I should be grateful."

"That's the spirit!"

"And you didn't destroy the dragon picture they had."

Rose muttered something under her breath.

"Did you learn all you wanted to?" Hermione asked.

"I think so," Rose said. "If I've got anymore questions, you'll be the first one to whom I ask them!"

"Rose, there's something I've been wondering," Hermione said, gladly putting the library incident behind them. "You don't seem to think anything through very far, but you never end your sentences with a preposition. How come?"

"Sk'lar always flinched when I did, so I taught myself not to do so."

Hermione frowned. "Why did he do that?"

"His parents."

"What about his parents?"

Rose shook her head. "Sk'lar and I have got a rule: I don't talk about his parents, and he doesn't talk about mine. Don't worry; he's fine now."

"I guess my questions end there," Hermione said. "I'm glad we don't have to worry about anything like that."

When Hermione saw Rose's face, she knew she was wrong.

"Who?"

"Harry."

"Really? I didn't realize. He mentioned something about them, but do they treat him that badly?"

"I told Ref to stop reading everyone's minds, but that passed the danger filter, so he told me. I'll fill you in on the way back to your house."