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Rose stormed into the hallway where her mother’s room was at St. Mungo’s. She didn’t know exactly what she was going to do, but she knew she had to see her. She had spent hours copiously reading every unsent letter in Hermione’s desk. She had never cried so much in her life. She had completely forgotten about that afternoon and her fight with Lily, all she wanted to do was see her mom.
As she turned the corner towards Hermione’s room, she noticed three figures standing outside. The tallest one she immediately recognized as her father, Weasley hair tells no lies. The other man and woman were older, and the closer Rose got the more uncomfortable they looked. She knew that look, it was the look she had been dealing with for days with her boyfriend; it was the awkward stance of a Muggle trying to adjust to magical surroundings.
“Grandma Emily?” she called down the hall. There were no other Muggles that could possibly be there. As the older woman turned around, she smiled as she recognized her granddaughter stalking down the hall.
Rose was genuinely surprised to see her grandparents. Which, when she looked back on it, was kind of sad, considering it was their daughter laying in there. They just weren’t as close with her mother’s family as they were with her father’s. They were all pretty hardcore wizards and her grandparents were rather content being Muggles.
“Rosie?” Emily enveloped her eldest grandchild in a warm hug. “I’m so glad to see you, dear.” She let go and glanced down at Rose. They had the same chocolate brown eyes and Emily’s were swimming with tears. The question of why it had taken them so long to get there vaguely crossed her mind, but one look at her father and she knew. He had been so frightened after Hermione’s attack, he had completely forgotten them. It had happened before.
Just as Rose was going to address her maternal grandparents, Healer Parcell emerged from Hermione’s room. He smiled a soft, sympathetic smile, “Mr. And Mrs. Granger, you can come in now,”
The older couple followed Healer Parcell into the room as Rose stood next to Ron, “Aren’t you going to go with them?” she asked.
“I’ll give them time,” Ron wasn’t making eye contact with his daughter; instead he was staring at a beam of light on the wall. Rose saddled closer to him and leaned in.
“If you let Kenny stay with us again, I won’t tell her when she wakes up that it took you over a week to tell her parents,” she whispered.
Ron looked at her in disbelief, “Really, in these circumstances and you’re trying to blackmail me?”
“I am still a Weasley, aren’t I?” she gave him a small, wry smile, her first since she had been to see her Aunt and Uncle.
Ron shook his head and sighed, “Fine,” he muttered back, “But he stays in the guest room,” he thought for a moment, “The one farthest away from your room,”
Rose lifted herself on her toes and affectionately kissed her father on the cheek. “Thank you Daddy,” she replied softly. The two of them stood leaning up against the wall in a comfortable silence.
After a few minutes, Harold and Emily Granger emerged from their daughter’s hospital room. Emily had tears in her eyes; Harold had the same blank look on his face that Ron had been wearing. Emily looked up at her son-in-law with a pained expression on her face.
“She’s going to be alright, right Ron?” there was desperation in the old woman’s voice.
Ron shot a worried glance at his daughter who simply shrugged her shoulders. “Um, why don’t we go eat something and I’ll explain it to you the best I can,” Ron began to lead Emily down the hall. Rose was watching them walk away when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
She turned to see her grandfather looking down at her sympathetically, “Are you coming Rosie?” His voice was just as warm and soothing as it always was, but Rose could sense something else. Rose had heard it in everyone’s voices, it was fear.
“No, I’m gonna…” she pointed toward the door, unable to verbalize why she was there. Her grandfather nodded and pecked her on the forehead. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and slowly sulked behind Emily and Ron, his eyes intent on the floor.
Rose stood in the doorway to her mother’s room. The chair she normally occupied sat in its same spot in the corner. She could smell the disinfecting potion they used on the floors; she had never noticed that it was so potent before. Her eyes grazed across the room and landed on the bed on the other side. She had been so determined and confident when she left the Ministry. That all seemed to dissolve when she actually laid eyes on her mother. She lingered in the doorway.
“You know,” came a smooth voice behind her, “It helps if you’re actually in the room,” she glanced over her shoulder and saw Healer Parcell’s bright white smile. He gave her a slight push forward into the room, “I believe you’re looking for the one in the bed,” he gave her one last meaningful stare and continued down the hall.
She took a deep breath and stepped further into the room. Within four steps, she was closer to her mother than she had been in over a year. With a new determination, she covered the rest of the room in large strides and sat in the chair Ron usually occupied beside the bed. There she was. Rose was surprised, it looked just like her mother. For some reason, she had this idea that her mother would be horribly disfigured or something. She just looked like she was asleep. Except…except she was so pale, and lifeless. Her hand was lying close to where Rose had placed hers. She took it in her own. For a fleeting moment, she registered how cold and clammy it was, but she kept her focus on her mother’s face, and what she had come there to do.
She took yet another deep breath and sighed, “Um, hi Mom,” Rose’s rational mind was telling her that this was absurd, but there was something else going on inside of her, something she guessed was faith. “Um, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to say,” she paused for a moment, willing herself to say something meaningful. “I found your letters, well Lily found your letters. I read them. You can’t be mad at me for that, they were all addressed to me. I don’t know why you didn’t send them. Lily said you probably thought I wouldn’t read them, but I definitely would have. Really, I would have,” she glanced up at the ceiling, “I don’t like fighting either, you know. I said some pretty terrible things too, and you need to know that I don’t mean any of them. I don’t hate you, I don’t hate you at all,” the more she continued to talk the more tears welled in her eyes, until they eventually spilled over, “I’m sorry Mom, I’m so, so sorry. I am a terrible person for treating you the way that I did. You don’t deserve that, not even a little bit,” by this time she was full out sobbing, her tears steadily dropping on her hand that was now gripping her mother’s tightly, “Mom, here’s the deal, you have to be ok. You have to wake up, because I don’t know what I would do without you. I promise I will be a better person; I’ll be a better daughter. We need you Mom, I need you,”
Completely overwhelmed with tears, she buried her head in the blanket on the bed and sobbed.
Healer Parcell walked by the open door. He gazed in and saw Rose engulfed in tears, and smiled to himself. As he continued to walk, Healer McGinnis came towards him.
“What are you smiling about Parcell?” the disgruntled McGinnis asked, “You didn’t fix the Minister already did you?”
Parcell couldn’t help but feel sorry for the cynical Head Healer, “No, you just have to learn to appreciate the little improvements McGinnis,” he glanced back at the door of Hermione’s room, thinking about the less than little improvement inside, “the little things,” he continued to smile and walked by.
McGinnis, thinking that he was really starting to get annoyed by Parcell’s upbeat personality, stalked in the other direction, not even noticing the sobs coming from the room of his most high profile patient.
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Lily apparated into the foyer of the Potter house. After walking around the fields surrounding Godric’s Hollow for a while, she had finally managed to calm down. She was actually starting to feel bad about all the stuff she said to Rose, but she still was glad someone had finally said it to her.
As she started to make her way into the house, she had the distinct feeling that something was wrong. When she entered the living room, she found it completely torn apart. Every picture on the wall looked as if it had been blasted off, the furniture was ripped to shreds, and the mess around the fireplace looked as if someone was forced in, or out.
Fear welled up inside her. She had no idea where either of her parents were. Both her brothers had moved out, but still, they could have been here. “MOM!” she yelled, “DAD!”
Suddenly Ginny appeared at the doorway, “LILY!” she ran over to her daughter and enveloped her in a tight hug, “Thank goodness you’re alright,” She roughly grabbed Lily by the shoulders and held her at arms length, “Where, in the name of Merlin, have you been?”
“I went for a walk. Rose and I kind of had a fight,” Lily looked down at her feet.
“Rose!” Ginny gasped abruptly, “Where’s Rose?”
“I left her at the Ministry. She was in Aunt Hermione’s office. Why? Mom, what happened?” she gazed at her mother with concern.
“Your father and I came home and the house had clearly been broken into. Dad said it looked like they took someone with them when they left. He said all this,” she waved her hand to indicate the mess in the living room, “is a sign of a struggle,”
“Well, who did they take?” Lily was getting more frightened, “Are James and Albus okay?”
“Yes, I got in touch with both of your brothers,” Ginny shook her head, “We thought it was you!”
“Who else would be here? If they want to kidnap Rose they would have gone to her house…” Lily froze in horror, “Kenny!” she gasped.
“What?!” Ginny cried, “Shouldn’t he be with Rose?”
“Well,” Lily wasn’t looking her mother in the eye anymore, “Rose was really, really, upset when I left. I thought I heard the door close again after I…um…slammed it,”
“And you didn’t even make sure he knew how to get back!” Ginny scolded.
Lily put her hand over her eyes, “I also might have been a little bit upset,” she slumped down on the tattered sofa and rubbed her temples. “Does Dad have any idea who’s behind this?”
Ginny had started pacing in front of Lily, with both her hands resting on top of her head, “He’s pretty sure it’s the same people who attacked Hermione,” she dropped her hands and turned to face Lily, “Ok, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to find your father and let him know you’re alright. You need to find Rose and make sure she doesn’t know where Kenny is,” Lily nodded and stood up.
Just before they apparated, Ginny pulled Lily in for one more tight hug, “Please, just be careful,”
“Don’t worry Mom. I will,” Lily gave her a small smile. They both turned on the spot and were gone.
As she turned the corner towards Hermione’s room, she noticed three figures standing outside. The tallest one she immediately recognized as her father, Weasley hair tells no lies. The other man and woman were older, and the closer Rose got the more uncomfortable they looked. She knew that look, it was the look she had been dealing with for days with her boyfriend; it was the awkward stance of a Muggle trying to adjust to magical surroundings.
“Grandma Emily?” she called down the hall. There were no other Muggles that could possibly be there. As the older woman turned around, she smiled as she recognized her granddaughter stalking down the hall.
Rose was genuinely surprised to see her grandparents. Which, when she looked back on it, was kind of sad, considering it was their daughter laying in there. They just weren’t as close with her mother’s family as they were with her father’s. They were all pretty hardcore wizards and her grandparents were rather content being Muggles.
“Rosie?” Emily enveloped her eldest grandchild in a warm hug. “I’m so glad to see you, dear.” She let go and glanced down at Rose. They had the same chocolate brown eyes and Emily’s were swimming with tears. The question of why it had taken them so long to get there vaguely crossed her mind, but one look at her father and she knew. He had been so frightened after Hermione’s attack, he had completely forgotten them. It had happened before.
Just as Rose was going to address her maternal grandparents, Healer Parcell emerged from Hermione’s room. He smiled a soft, sympathetic smile, “Mr. And Mrs. Granger, you can come in now,”
The older couple followed Healer Parcell into the room as Rose stood next to Ron, “Aren’t you going to go with them?” she asked.
“I’ll give them time,” Ron wasn’t making eye contact with his daughter; instead he was staring at a beam of light on the wall. Rose saddled closer to him and leaned in.
“If you let Kenny stay with us again, I won’t tell her when she wakes up that it took you over a week to tell her parents,” she whispered.
Ron looked at her in disbelief, “Really, in these circumstances and you’re trying to blackmail me?”
“I am still a Weasley, aren’t I?” she gave him a small, wry smile, her first since she had been to see her Aunt and Uncle.
Ron shook his head and sighed, “Fine,” he muttered back, “But he stays in the guest room,” he thought for a moment, “The one farthest away from your room,”
Rose lifted herself on her toes and affectionately kissed her father on the cheek. “Thank you Daddy,” she replied softly. The two of them stood leaning up against the wall in a comfortable silence.
After a few minutes, Harold and Emily Granger emerged from their daughter’s hospital room. Emily had tears in her eyes; Harold had the same blank look on his face that Ron had been wearing. Emily looked up at her son-in-law with a pained expression on her face.
“She’s going to be alright, right Ron?” there was desperation in the old woman’s voice.
Ron shot a worried glance at his daughter who simply shrugged her shoulders. “Um, why don’t we go eat something and I’ll explain it to you the best I can,” Ron began to lead Emily down the hall. Rose was watching them walk away when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
She turned to see her grandfather looking down at her sympathetically, “Are you coming Rosie?” His voice was just as warm and soothing as it always was, but Rose could sense something else. Rose had heard it in everyone’s voices, it was fear.
“No, I’m gonna…” she pointed toward the door, unable to verbalize why she was there. Her grandfather nodded and pecked her on the forehead. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and slowly sulked behind Emily and Ron, his eyes intent on the floor.
Rose stood in the doorway to her mother’s room. The chair she normally occupied sat in its same spot in the corner. She could smell the disinfecting potion they used on the floors; she had never noticed that it was so potent before. Her eyes grazed across the room and landed on the bed on the other side. She had been so determined and confident when she left the Ministry. That all seemed to dissolve when she actually laid eyes on her mother. She lingered in the doorway.
“You know,” came a smooth voice behind her, “It helps if you’re actually in the room,” she glanced over her shoulder and saw Healer Parcell’s bright white smile. He gave her a slight push forward into the room, “I believe you’re looking for the one in the bed,” he gave her one last meaningful stare and continued down the hall.
She took a deep breath and stepped further into the room. Within four steps, she was closer to her mother than she had been in over a year. With a new determination, she covered the rest of the room in large strides and sat in the chair Ron usually occupied beside the bed. There she was. Rose was surprised, it looked just like her mother. For some reason, she had this idea that her mother would be horribly disfigured or something. She just looked like she was asleep. Except…except she was so pale, and lifeless. Her hand was lying close to where Rose had placed hers. She took it in her own. For a fleeting moment, she registered how cold and clammy it was, but she kept her focus on her mother’s face, and what she had come there to do.
She took yet another deep breath and sighed, “Um, hi Mom,” Rose’s rational mind was telling her that this was absurd, but there was something else going on inside of her, something she guessed was faith. “Um, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to say,” she paused for a moment, willing herself to say something meaningful. “I found your letters, well Lily found your letters. I read them. You can’t be mad at me for that, they were all addressed to me. I don’t know why you didn’t send them. Lily said you probably thought I wouldn’t read them, but I definitely would have. Really, I would have,” she glanced up at the ceiling, “I don’t like fighting either, you know. I said some pretty terrible things too, and you need to know that I don’t mean any of them. I don’t hate you, I don’t hate you at all,” the more she continued to talk the more tears welled in her eyes, until they eventually spilled over, “I’m sorry Mom, I’m so, so sorry. I am a terrible person for treating you the way that I did. You don’t deserve that, not even a little bit,” by this time she was full out sobbing, her tears steadily dropping on her hand that was now gripping her mother’s tightly, “Mom, here’s the deal, you have to be ok. You have to wake up, because I don’t know what I would do without you. I promise I will be a better person; I’ll be a better daughter. We need you Mom, I need you,”
Completely overwhelmed with tears, she buried her head in the blanket on the bed and sobbed.
Healer Parcell walked by the open door. He gazed in and saw Rose engulfed in tears, and smiled to himself. As he continued to walk, Healer McGinnis came towards him.
“What are you smiling about Parcell?” the disgruntled McGinnis asked, “You didn’t fix the Minister already did you?”
Parcell couldn’t help but feel sorry for the cynical Head Healer, “No, you just have to learn to appreciate the little improvements McGinnis,” he glanced back at the door of Hermione’s room, thinking about the less than little improvement inside, “the little things,” he continued to smile and walked by.
McGinnis, thinking that he was really starting to get annoyed by Parcell’s upbeat personality, stalked in the other direction, not even noticing the sobs coming from the room of his most high profile patient.
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Lily apparated into the foyer of the Potter house. After walking around the fields surrounding Godric’s Hollow for a while, she had finally managed to calm down. She was actually starting to feel bad about all the stuff she said to Rose, but she still was glad someone had finally said it to her.
As she started to make her way into the house, she had the distinct feeling that something was wrong. When she entered the living room, she found it completely torn apart. Every picture on the wall looked as if it had been blasted off, the furniture was ripped to shreds, and the mess around the fireplace looked as if someone was forced in, or out.
Fear welled up inside her. She had no idea where either of her parents were. Both her brothers had moved out, but still, they could have been here. “MOM!” she yelled, “DAD!”
Suddenly Ginny appeared at the doorway, “LILY!” she ran over to her daughter and enveloped her in a tight hug, “Thank goodness you’re alright,” She roughly grabbed Lily by the shoulders and held her at arms length, “Where, in the name of Merlin, have you been?”
“I went for a walk. Rose and I kind of had a fight,” Lily looked down at her feet.
“Rose!” Ginny gasped abruptly, “Where’s Rose?”
“I left her at the Ministry. She was in Aunt Hermione’s office. Why? Mom, what happened?” she gazed at her mother with concern.
“Your father and I came home and the house had clearly been broken into. Dad said it looked like they took someone with them when they left. He said all this,” she waved her hand to indicate the mess in the living room, “is a sign of a struggle,”
“Well, who did they take?” Lily was getting more frightened, “Are James and Albus okay?”
“Yes, I got in touch with both of your brothers,” Ginny shook her head, “We thought it was you!”
“Who else would be here? If they want to kidnap Rose they would have gone to her house…” Lily froze in horror, “Kenny!” she gasped.
“What?!” Ginny cried, “Shouldn’t he be with Rose?”
“Well,” Lily wasn’t looking her mother in the eye anymore, “Rose was really, really, upset when I left. I thought I heard the door close again after I…um…slammed it,”
“And you didn’t even make sure he knew how to get back!” Ginny scolded.
Lily put her hand over her eyes, “I also might have been a little bit upset,” she slumped down on the tattered sofa and rubbed her temples. “Does Dad have any idea who’s behind this?”
Ginny had started pacing in front of Lily, with both her hands resting on top of her head, “He’s pretty sure it’s the same people who attacked Hermione,” she dropped her hands and turned to face Lily, “Ok, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to find your father and let him know you’re alright. You need to find Rose and make sure she doesn’t know where Kenny is,” Lily nodded and stood up.
Just before they apparated, Ginny pulled Lily in for one more tight hug, “Please, just be careful,”
“Don’t worry Mom. I will,” Lily gave her a small smile. They both turned on the spot and were gone.
