It’s Christmas

About halfway into December, Harry realized that he had a problem. It was a nice, simple, normal problem, that in no way involved the Basilisk or Voldemort

"Hermione, I need your help," Harry said to his friend one night when he, Ron, Hermione, Sally-Anne, and Ginny were all sitting alone in the common room.

"You may not copy my homework," Hermione said, not looking up from her book.

"Not that," Harry said, skipping past the part where he had never asked to copy Hermione's homework. "What should I get Rose for Christmas?"

"I was just going to get her some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans," Ron said from the other side of the couch. "It's what I do when I can't think of what else to get someone."

"Rose can't eat," Hermione replied. "Her digestive system doesn't work."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Your digestive system is–"

"I know what it is, but how does hers not work?"

"It's part of veil of undeath."

"That's rubbish!" Ron exclaimed. "How does she go without eating?"

"I don't think she cares," Hermione replied. "Besides, she can turn it off if she wants. She's still got a ring of sustenance like I have, so she wouldn't need to eat anyway."

"I'm getting her another book," Sally-Anne said. "She really seemed to like the Grimm Brothers book I got her, so I thought another one with stories would be a good idea."

"Well that's wonderful and all, but now I don't know what to get her!" Ron said. "I feel like I should get her something!"

"Get who something?" Neville asked, climbing through the portal. He looked around at the empty common room. "Where is everyone?"

Harry shrugged. He had the same question. Their group had a bad habit of running into trouble. Maybe people just didn't want to be around them.

"How's your head?" Sally-Anne asked.

"Much better, thanks," Neville replied.

"I still don't see how that entire stack of books managed to fall on you," Harry said. "They weren't that close to you."

"It's nothing new. I screw up charms all the time."

"The boys were just thinking about what to get Rose for Christmas," Sally-Anne said. "Want to help?"

Harry wasn't sure how helpful Neville could be. Neville never did anything right, no matter what it was.

"I see Rose drawing all the time during History of Magic. Unicorns, angels, elves…"

"Maybe we could all split some drawing supplies," Ginny suggested.

Harry had almost forgotten she was still there. She blushed when he looked at her, but didn't run off like every other time he did.

"She's got to be almost to the end of her sketchpad by now, right?" she asked. "If she draws whenever she gets bored during History of Magic, then she must be drawing the entire class."

"That's a good idea, Ginny," Sally-Anne said.

"Great, but where are we gonna get any of that stuff?" Ron asked.

"Where were you planning on buying Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans?" Hermione asked.

"I was going to have my parents send me some," Ron replied. "But I don't know if they'll send any of that stuff."

"So we split it," Ginny said again. "She'll need a sketchpad, probably some paints or something… Wait, she doesn't use paint, does she?"

"No, I think she's using some sort of colored pencils," Sally-Anne said. "It almost looks like chalk."

"Knowing her, it probably is," Hermione said, diverting her attention back to her book.

"Why don't we split it?" Neville suggested.

"Mum might send stuff if we both ask," Ginny said. "She goes to the market all the time. There must be something there, right?"

"Gran would probably be so happy about me having friends, she probably wouldn't mind getting a sketchpad," Neville said. "But I haven't got any money to pay for it."

Everyone looked at one another, trying to think of their next move. Harry caught Sally-Anne looking at him.

"You have," she mouthed to him.

"I… I have," Harry said. "If you get your gran to pay for it, I can send her money to pay her back. We'll call it even at that."

"Are you sure?" Neville asked. "I hate to not pay for half of it."

"Really, it's fine," Harry said. "I'm… I'm fine."

Harry got enough attention without telling anyone that his parents had been rich and left him all their money. As Harry thought about it, he realized he hadn't told anyone, apart from maybe Ron. How did Sally-Anne know?

"Speaking of Rose, where is she?" Neville asked.

"Hermione?" Ron asked, looking expectantly at his friend.

"Making Christmas presents," Hermione replied. "Which will hopefully not come to life and breathe fire on command."

"She's not serious, is she?" Neville asked.

"With luck, she'll get bored or something," Ron said. "I'm still surprised she hasn't started some sort of snow war with anyone."

"'Snow war'?" Neville asked.

"Rose got confused about what a 'snowball fight' was," Sally-Anne replied. "Hopefully, making presents will keep Rose occupied long enough to distract her from causing trouble."

"We can hope," Ron muttered.

"Rose doesn't cause that much trouble, does she?" Neville asked.

"I think it depends on her mood," Sally-Anne said. "Although, I haven't really seen her angry before, so I'm not sure what she's like."

"I have," Harry said, remembering a few months ago when he had snapped at Sally-Anne.

"She doesn't go looking for trouble," Hermione said. "She goes looking for entertainment. Honestly, you're all acting like she's a horrible person. Sure, she's a handful at times, but she's the one keeping us safe. The moment the Basilisk moves out of the Chamber of Secrets, Rose will know and beat it down again. The only reason she doesn't go kill it now is because she doesn't know what else is in the Chamber of Secrets. She doesn't want to walk in blind."

"How do we know that she won't come after us for entertainment?" Ron asked.

"Ronald!" Sally-Anne shouted. "That's a horrible thing to say!"

"You sound way too much like Mum," Ginny said, her eyes wide.

"If she does, Reflectesalon is under orders to inform her brother," Hermione explained, for once not getting angry at Ron. "Once he finds out, he'll inform Carolina and their uncle, and Rose gets an earful from Carolina, an endless, boring lecture from her uncle, and apparently her brother's got this way of expressing his disappointment that can guilt anyone into apologizing."

"Wow," Neville said.

"Side note," Hermione added. "Rose says Carolina's a lot like Professor McGonagall when she's angry."

"That's terrifying," Ginny said.

"See?" Sally-Anne said. "We've got nothing to worry about."

"I'm a little worried about how well-prepared Hermione was just now," Harry said. "Like she's thought about this before."

"Since coming to Hogwarts, my intellect has been effectively doubled," Hermione explained. "I think about lots of things these days."

"Uh huh," Harry said.

Rose finished her friends' presents a few days before Sally-Anne, Luna, and Hermione left to return home. Once again, Ron was staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, and Harry wouldn't leave the castle for anything. Rose had already said farewell to Luna, and Sally-Anne was bringing her own belongings to the Common Room. That gave Rose the prime chance to talk to Hermione alone, something she had been trying to do for weeks. Something that she had been unable to do because of the aforementioned presents.

"You've hardly packed," Rose said.

"I know," Hermione replied. "I… I'm afraid that when I board the train to go home, I won't be coming back."

Hermione wasn't sure how she was expecting Rose to react, but she wasn't expecting Rose to look sad.

"I know," Rose said. "I've known since you got the letter from your parents. Ref told me exactly what it said a few days later. You memorized it, and it's been on your mind every day since."

Hermione sighed. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, Rose. I know you hate secrets, but–"

"I don't hate them, but Carolina says a team should communicate." Rose gave a crooked smile. "You didn't know how. I've got the same problem with some of my stories." Rose glanced down at the floor. "Maybe it's for the best."

"What?" Hermione gasped. "Of course it isn't! I don't want to leave! Even with the Basilisk, I like it here!"

"Hermione, I don't want you to leave either," Rose said. "You're my best friend, but honestly, I can't keep everyone safe all the time. It's safer for you literally everywhere else except Hogwarts."

"Well, then," Hermione said. "If I can't always count on you, then I'll just have to keep myself safe here, won't I? I mean, it's only a basilisk, right? I'm sure you've survived worse than that. It's not a dragon."

"That's the spirit!" Rose exclaimed, grinning. She placed her hands on Hermione's shoulders, a difficult feat given that Hermione was growing and Rose wasn't. "Hermione, you are the smartest person I've met here, save Professor Dumbledore. No offence."

"None taken."

"I have complete confidence that you'll devise a solution to this," Rose said. "But before you go, I've got two things for you. The first is this." She handed Hermione a package wrapped in red paper. It was small and squishy, which meant it would fit inside Hermione's trunk without a problem.

"It's not going to come to life and breathe fire, is it?" Hermione asked, taking the package.

"Nah, that was way too much work," Rose said. "I thought about it, but there was no way to make it work and be worth it. Besides, I made a bunch of those. It wasn't feasible to animate all of them."

Hermione patted her friend on the shoulder. "Good job using the word 'feasible' correctly."

Rose beamed. "Thanks!"

"What's the other thing?" Hermione asked, placing the package inside her trunk.

"Information," Rose replied. "I don't change my hair because Dad always said it made me look pretty." Rose smiled. "Some Dwarven children were picking on me about it, and Dad said they were just afraid because I was different." Her smile broadened. "I stayed away from them, unlike Carolina. In the same situation, Saint Nature went back to the children that had picked on her and told them…"

Rose's voice trailed off and for the second time that day, Hermione saw her friend's perpetual smile falter.

"Rose?" Hermione asked.

"Just remembering the time I first heard that story," Rose said. She smiled again. "I'll tell you another time."

"I don't know if there will be another time."

"Of course there will. If not, then I can't tell you all my stories." Rose counted on her fingers. "I've got a bunch of stories to tell. I've already told you one of them. One of them's even a happy story!"

Hermione smiled. "I'm glad you've got more stories like the one you told me last month."

"Me too. But don't worry, Hermione. Carolina always says that every story's got a happy ending."

"Not every story," Hermione said, shaking her head sadly.

Rose nodded. "Every story. It's just that not all the characters make it to the end." She grinned. "But don't worry. I promise that we'll see the end of this one together."

"Alright, Rose," Hermione said. "I trust you."

"And I you, Hermione." Rose smiled. "See you soon."

Rose helped her friend pack and together they brought Hermione's belongings down to the Common Room. After a heartfelt farewell, Rose watched her friends leave.

After they were gone, Rose slipped away so she could concentrate on talking to someone.

<Carolina, I need your help. Eom.>

The night before Christmas, Dripty the house-elf received a surprise visitor. It wasn't unheard of for house-elves to receive Christmas presents, but, since they were the ones that distributed the gifts for the students, they all tried to get some rest before the big events. It was common knowledge that their visitor didn't need to sleep, so Dripty wasn't too surprised by her sudden appearance.

"Happy Snowy Time, Dripty!"

Dripty eyed the small package presented to him with suspicion. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the gift, but he was concerned that he was being tricked into accepting clothes.

"It's alright," Miss Rose replied. "It's not clothes! You can open it now, if you want!"

"Is Miss Rose being sure it is not being clothes?" Dripty asked. "Dripty is not wanting to be free."

"I know," Miss Rose replied, holding out the package. "I promise it's not." She tilted her head. "Well, I guess that depends on how you define clothes. I mean, Bowie can wear anything as a hat. Does that count? Who decides?"

Dripty slowly opened the red package, finding a blue seashell inside. He slowly picked it up and turned it over, although he dropped it when the seashell flashed for a second. The seashell looked ordinary, although it sparkled faintly when Dripty held it to the light. Through the seashell was looped a black cord, forming a ring just wide enough to fit over his head.

"What is it being?" Dripty asked.

"It's called a condition conch," Miss Rose replied. "Hermione named it. It allows us to communicate, no matter where you are. I'll also know how you're doing so long as you keep it with you. All you need to do is hold it, concentrate on me, and think, and I'll hear you." She motioned to the cord. "I figured you didn't have any pockets, so I added the cord so you can wear it around your neck!"

"Thank you, Miss Rose!" exclaimed Dripty as he slipped the seashell over his head. The cord bent his ears down as he pushed it onto his head. They wobbled into place as he adjusted his new necklace. "Should Dripty have been getting you something?"

"Nope!" Rose replied, glad that her house-elf friend enjoyed the gift. "Just keep up the good work!"

"Dripty will!" Dripty exclaimed with a smile.

Rose turned to leave, then added, "Just so you know, it's attuned to you. That means only you can use it now. That's what that flash was." She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry if it startled you."

"Dripty is being most grateful, Miss Rose," Dripty said. "Miss Rose is not to be worrying."

Rose smiled, then vanished from sight.

Christmas morning came, but Hermione was feeling no better than she had when she left Hogwarts. Her parents had made it clear that they didn't want her to return to Hogwarts until they had some sort of assurance that she would be safe. Unfortunately for Hermione, "Rose doesn't let me out of her sight" wasn't a good argument.

Dan and Emma knew their daughter was moping when they woke up Christmas morning on their own, without assistance from their daughter.

"That's not good," Emma said. "Why don't we go in and talk to her? It's Christmas."

"I would hate for it to be ruined for her," Dan agreed.

The two entered their daughter's room to find Hermione sitting on her floor next to her bed, clutching a deep blue rucksack to her chest. The rucksack had the initials "HG" embossed in big, indigo letters on the side facing them. Given that neither Emma nor Dan recognized the object, they figured it must have been a present.

"Starting without us?" her father asked.

"It's from Rose," Hermione said quietly.

"She got you a rucksack?" asked her mum, sitting down beside her daughter.

"Technically, it's a haversack," Hermione replied. "Only one strap, and it's bigger on the inside."

"Of course," her mum replied. If someone had told her that a few years ago, she wouldn't have believed them. Now, her family owned a golem made of duct tape that helped with the chores. Emma was willing to believe almost anything these days.

"Sweety, you know why we don't want you returning to Hogwarts," Dan said gently, sitting to his daughter's left.

"I'm not going to die," Hermione said. "Even if the Basilisk attacks me, Rose will know immediately thanks to the condition conch, and she can get to anywhere in the castle in seconds."

"Hermione, you said that if you look into a basilisk's eyes, then you die," Emma said. "I don't think Rose can fix that."

"She can, so long as she's there with me," Hermione said. "She said death's not as big a deal in her world as it is here. So long as she gets to me within six seconds, she can bring me back."

"I know Rose can do miraculous things, but I'm not sure even she can–" Dan started.

"Rose isn't lying!" Hermione shouted. When she realized how loudly she had just shouted, she curled up into a ball and buried her head in her legs. "I'm sorry," she mumbled into her knees.

"Relax," her dad said. "I didn't mean to imply that Rose was lying, I just… six seconds is an awfully small amount of time."

"Even if she is right there with you," her mum added.

Hermione didn't say anything, but slowly picked up her head. She snuck her hand into her pocket and grasped the condition conch.

A moment later, a burst of rose petals appeared out of nowhere in her room, out from which emerged Rose.

"That's how fast Rose can get to me," Hermione said. "The moment I'm hurt–"

"I know about it," Rose said, sitting on the floor. "Salutations and Happy Snowy Time!" She turned to Hermione. "Did you like the haversack?"

"I'll never leave my books at home again," Hermione said, forcing a smile.

"Good to hear!" Rose exclaimed. "And thank you for the puzzle!"

"You're welcome," Hermione said softly.

"Happy Christmas, Rose," Emma said, assuming that was what the crimson-haired girl had meant by "Happy Snowy Time".

"Girls, please try to see this from our perspective," Dan said. "There's a monster that could kill you at any time it wants, and it could be lurking around any corner. All you would need to do would be to look up and see it, and that would be it."

"Blindsight out to 60 feet," Rose said. "I'll pick it up before it gets close enough for us to see it."

"Rose, we know you think you can do this, but–" Emma began.

"Is that your only argument?" Rose asked.

"I'm sorry?" Emma asked.

"If I could stop its gaze from affecting Hermione, would you let her return to Hogwarts?"

"We'd have to discuss it, but I don't think–" Dan started.

"Alright, then let's do it," Rose said, taking Hermione's hand in hers.

Hermione suddenly felt her finger getting warm. When she looked down, she saw her ring glowing.

"There," Rose said, looking a little tired.

"What did you just do?" Hermione asked, a little concerned about her friend.

"Continuous death ward," Rose replied. She smiled weakly, then turned to Mr. and Mrs. Hermione's Mum and Dad. "So long as she doesn't remove that ring, your daughter is immune to the Basilisk's stare."

"What?!" all three of them exclaimed.

"Not so loud," Rose said quietly.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked.

"Modifying magic items with Serendipity costs XP equivalent to twice what it would normally cost to craft the item," Rose said. "Death ward is a fourth-level Cleric spell that lasts one minute per level, bringing the base price to 112,000 gp, cut by two for only usable by you, so it becomes 56,000. The XP cost of an item is 1/25th the base price, so 2,240 XP."

"You just used 4,480 XP to make sure I wouldn't be hurt?" Hermione asked. "How much have you got?"

"That I can burn?" Rose asked. "After that, a little over 1500. Normally I would've used my thought bottle to lessen that, but I was going for dramatic effect."

"You didn't have to do that," Hermione said.

"Yes, I did," Rose said, her normal energy returning to her. "You're my best friend, Hermione. You're worth it. Besides, I'll get it back after I kill the Basilisk."

"So, what exactly did that do?" Dan asked. The parent in him wanted to know how it was supposed to keep his daughter safe, while the scientist in him wanted to know what else it would do.

"Hermione is immune to death effects," Rose explained. "That means the Basilisk's stare. She's immune to it, and if I'm correct, she's also immune to the killing curse. From what I've read, it was Voldie's spell of choice for killing people. Anything else that specifically causes instant death should also fall into that category. The only one of which I am certain is the Basilisk's stare."

Emma and Dan took a moment to process this. If Rose was right, then their daughter was now protected from the biggest threats to her safety.

If Rose was right.

"Okay," Emma said. "Let's assume you're right, and it will protect her."

"I am," Rose said.

"What if she's attacked?" Dan asked. "Even if it can't kill her by looking at her, won't she still be in danger?"

"But once that happens, I can just call Rose," Hermione said.

"Or Dripty," Rose added.

"Or Dripty," Hermione said. "Wait, Dripty?"

"Who's Dripty?" Emma asked.

"My favorite house-elf!" Rose exclaimed. "I gave him my second condition conch so I could communicate with him. The house-elves can apparate within the castle, so they're the prime candidates for messengers. Also, he and I are friends, so being able to know how he's doing will be helpful."

"So I can just call Rose or Dripty," Hermione said. "If Rose isn't available for some reason, Dripty can bring the teachers."

"What if the seashell is knocked out of her hands?" Dan asked the small girl.

"I detect that she's been taken off the network, and I go to help her," Rose replied. "I can restore her health instantly if she's hurt."

Emma and Dan exchanged glances. They didn't like it, but they knew the girls had a point. They couldn't argue with Rose's magic, as they had both seen it work time and time again. For God's sake, she just appeared in their daughter's bedroom.

"We aren't going to make a decision now, but we will think about it," Emma said.

"That doesn't mean we'll change our minds, but that does mean there is a possibility we will," Dan added. "Rose, it was nice seeing you, but I think you'd best get going."

"May I please see Ana first?" Rose asked.

"Of course," Emma replied, standing up. "Hermione, we're going to head downstairs. Come and join us when you're ready."

Both of Hermione's parents left, leaving Hermione and Rose alone.

"Thanks," Hermione said. "Did you really–"

"Death ward, just like I said," Rose replied. "There are three curses called the Unforgivable Curses. It sounds like they're the big three of dark magic, but I can stop them all. That will stop the big one, which, from what it sounds, is a no-save death effect ranged touch attack spell, which is unheard of in my world. That's not just OP, that's banned. You don't get something like that, not without giving your opponent a chance to stop it, and no smart person uses fort-save-or-die spells. That's just asking for trouble."

"Why's that?"

"It all comes down to your opponent's fortitude save, which is going to be a lot higher than the DC for your spell when you start getting fort-save-or-die spells. That means that in order to make it work, a caster has to increase the DC of her spells, which means she'll have to put actual resources into it. Once she puts that much effort into it, she won't be good for much else. Then, she can go around and kill anything she likes, but no one's going to travel with her, and she'll die once she meets something with a fort save she wasn't expecting."

"Uh huh," Hermione said, following the logic well enough.

"That's why Sk'lar doesn't typically use spells that require a saving throw, or if he does, it'll be a spell like glitterdust that still does something even when your opponent makes his save. In the case of glitterdust, your opponent is covered in glitter, which cancels out any invisibility. Well, it renders it useless."

"Speaking of your brother, I've got a question," Hermione said, holding up the condition conch. "Is this on the same network as your friends are?"

"Yes, but I'd rather you not talk to them," Rose said.

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure that I'm ready for you to meet them yet."

Hermione wasn't sure she understood, but she wasn't about to argue with Rose over something so silly. Especially after the crimson-haired girl had just made her immune to the single most dangerous spell in existence. "Okay, Rose." She smiled. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Snowy Time!"

With that, Rose vanished.

Each of Rose's friends found similar haversacks to the one Hermione received. Harry received a black haversack, Ron a red one, and Sally-Anne an emerald one. Each of their haversacks had their initials on them in gold letters.

Rose even made them for Ginny and Neville; the former found an orange haversack with yellow letters, and the latter a dark green haversack with black letters.

What everyone found most interesting was that unlike similarly enchanted bags, the weight of the haversacks didn't change. Almost as equally interesting was no matter how much anyone put into the bags, one could always find anything in a few seconds.

"This is brilliant!" Ron said after he had finished shoving all of his school supplies inside the haversack. "I might just carry this around with me all the time! I mean, why not?"

"That's what I do!" Rose exclaimed, not removing her eyes from her new book.

Sally-Anne got Rose a book called The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In her note, the blonde-haired girl had said that she thought Rose would like it, since the main character reminded Sally-Anne of Shadow. Rose was a few pages into the book and agreed with her already. Sherlock could reach conclusions that made him seem like a Diviner, which is exactly what Shadow did.

From Hermione, Rose had received another puzzle, this time a series of interlocking parts that were supposed to be formed into a specific shape. Despite having other similar puzzles, Rose didn't have anything identical to it, and that was the important part.

From Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Neville, she had received a new sketchpad and drawing supplies. Apparently, none of them had known what else to get her, as most of them defaulted to sweets and knew Rose couldn't eat. Although according to Reflectesalon, they hadn't known that a few weeks ago.

As much she loved all the gifts, Rose's favorite gift came from her surrogate little sister, Luna. Like Rose, Little Moon was skilled at drawing, and had drawn Rose a picture of Rose, Sk'lar, Shadow, Carolina, Bowie, Alice, and Oz. Rose was in the center, grinning happily, with her left arm around a reluctant Shadow. On her right was Sk'lar, and behind them were Alice and Uncle Oz; Uncle Oz stood to Rose's right, and Alice to her left. On the other side of Sk'lar was Carolina, who looked just as kind as Rose remembered her. To Shadow's other side was Bowie, grinning his toothy grin that was almost too big for his face.

The moment Rose got the picture, she teleported to Luna's house, and gave her friend a big hug.

"Thank you, Little Moon," Rose said.

"You're welcome, Rose," Luna replied. "Thank you for the haversack. I like the silver and sky blue."

"I'm glad," Rose said, grinning.

"Also, it's smaller on the outside than the inside," Luna said. "I think I'll find a lot of use for that. Are you going to be staying?"

"Nope, I just came by to give you a hug," Rose said. "I'll see you in a few weeks!"

"Farewell for now, Rose."

And for what would become the second of three times in the past 24 hours, Rose disappeared, leaving rose petals in her wake.

As he had the previous Christmas, Albus found a gift wrapped in red paper on his desk that morning. If it had been any other student, Albus would have wondered how she got into his office, but he knew Rose used that spell of hers.

The Headmaster opened the present, finding a silver book inside, along with a note. On the cover of the book was an emblem of a red star with a black hammer across it. The book was entitled Ages of Arcrel.

Albus was growing tired of receiving books, because most books he had either already read, or already knew what they had to say. But he knew the name "Arcrel" from listening to Rose, so he knew this one was different.

Albus picked up the note that accompanied the book and read it.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

You always seem interested in my stories, so here's the best one of all: The story of Arcrel. I used a spell from my plane (the one where everything makes sense) to copy my copy of the book. My uncle gave me mine before he even knew my parents' names. He said he saw something in me he liked.

Anyway, I know you're tired of getting books for Snowy Time, but this one's different. This is one of the best books ever written.

Sincerely,

Rose

Albus smiled. He almost felt bad about never getting the girl anything. To be fair, he was allowing her to stay in his school after any other student would've been expelled long ago. Perhaps that evened it out.

Albus wasn't the only professor at Hogwarts to receive a gift from Rose. Sitting on Severus Snape's desk was another present from his "best friend". After carefully unwrapping it, Severus found a black belt with 10 pouches in it. Along with it was the obligatory note.

Dear Professor Snape,

I know you hate it when I get you presents, but I think you'll like this one. This belt is a masterwork potion belt. It holds up to ten potions, all of which are easily accessible at a moment's notice. I don't know that you carry potions around with you, but this should make it much easier if you do.

Your Friend,

Rose

Severus stared at the belt, then the letter, then back at the belt. He didn't need something to help him carry veritaserum or its antidote (both of which he kept on hand at all times), but it wouldn't hurt. Maybe some calming draught, a few poisons, maybe some flashing fizz, a potion that created a bright flash of light when it came into contact with air. With a basilisk around, some crackling oil wouldn't go amiss. He still wasn't sure that the belt wasn't about to animate itself and attack him, but it wasn't bad. Also, it was black, so that was a plus.

Hermione sat down with her parents that evening. She knew it was time for their final decision, but she had found it easier to enjoy Christmas knowing that she had a chance of returning to Hogwarts.

"We've thought it over all day," her mum began, "and we've reached a decision."

"We'll let you go back to Hogwarts," her dad said, "but before you start celebrating, these are the rules."

"First and foremost, Rose is to stay by your side at all times," her mum said. "Whenever you are outside of class, your common room, or the Great Hall, she must be with you. If not her, then a member of the staff must be with you. We aren't taking any chances with this basilisk."

Hermione nodded. Requiring a chaperon wasn't wonderful news, but being allowed to return to Hogwarts was, so she figured that she could tolerate it for the time being.

"We will be informing Professor McGonagall of our rules to ensure that you follow them," her dad said. "I'm sure she'll be discreet, but how she enforces these rules is her decision."

Once again, Hermione nodded.

"You are not to wander the halls," her mum said. "You are not to go looking for trouble."

"I don't go looking for trouble," Hermione said. "It finds me."

"Hermione, try to understand," her mum said.

"I understand, Mum," Hermione replied. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Not how I would phrase it, but that's the idea."

"Alright," Hermione said. "Thank you."

"Just… Please be careful," her mum said, hugging her. "I don't want to receive a letter telling me that you've been hurt or worse."

"I won't," Hermione said. "My friends will keep me safe, and Rose told me that if she can't, Professor Vector will make the effort to see me graduate."

"I guess she really likes you," her dad said.

"I really like her," Hermione said. "Without her and Cedric keeping the other students in check, I'm not sure I'd have survived Arithmancy as long as I have."

"Which one's Cedric?" her dad asked.

"The Hufflepuff boy that sits next to me in Arithmancy," Hermione replied. "He's like the Hufflepuff version of Percy Weasley."

"Okay," Dan said, filing the information away in his "Boys to Keep an Eye on" mental folder. He hoped his daughter was more concerned about the Basilisk at her school than she was about boys, but she was a teenager. Maybe he could convince Rose to help him in his endeavor.

Rose received the good news that night. After that, she passed along the news to her friends, who were all overjoyed that Hermione was going to be returning. Not that Rose gave them a choice in the matter.

In fact, it seemed that the only person not celebrating was Reflectesalon.

Despite being dedicated to Rose, Reflectesalon chose to stay quiet about a detail that he knew she would overlook. She was so delighted with Luna's drawing that Reflectesalon didn't have the heart to point it out to her, so he continued to say nothing and let his mistress remain happy.

The drawing didn't just look like her friends; it was perfect. It was as if Luna had seen them hundreds of times, and not just in Rose's drawings. Sure, it was a possibility that it had simply been so long since Reflectesalon had seen the Exalted that he had forgotten exactly what they looked like, but he had a feeling about this.

As such, there was one question on Reflectesalon's mind: How had Luna seen them before?