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── IN WHICH SHE RETURNS HOME
. . .
"How are you doing, Rosie?" Healer Strout turned the corner, smiling as soon as she saw the girl with the coppery-pink hair, dressed in her usual sort of attire, complete of course, with the rather full satchel bag which bumped against her side as she walked.
"Healer Strout, I hope your day went well." Forever polite, Rosie returned the smile with one of her own, the older woman nodding.
"As well as it can be." Strout replied. "No changes, I assume?"
"Nope." Despite the word leaving her mouth, Rosie kept smiling, although it faltered for the slightest of moments. And that was enough for the nurse to turn on the pitying quality.
"It's rather late, would you like to go up to the tearoom for something to eat? It might be too late to catch your train now." Strout approached her. "You must be spending so much money coming up and down, you're here so often these days."
"I'd better not - and no more paying train fares for me. Me and my father have moved up her for a little while on business." Rosie replied, fiddling with the bracelet of sea glass that circled her wrists.
"That must be so much better for you. I can't imagine what it would be like for you to have all that time on the train to think about things." Strout said.
The Kersey girl had been visiting St. Mungos all summer. Cedric Diggory had been moved there on Dumbledore's orders to be treated whilst he was in a coma, and still waiting for him to wake up, Rosie was there all of the time.
As were Mr and Mrs Diggory, and they often bumped into each other. Dumbledore had organised all their visits with their staff, and the three of them had passes that allowed them at any time. He had been there during the very first visit that the Diggorys and Rosie shared, and was rather helpful when it came to explaining the conditions behind why Cedric lived.
He was staying in small private room up on the Janus Thickey ward, where they treated spell damage. They were doing their best of course, but it was such a phenomenon. Cedric hadn't surivived the killing curse, yet he was alive, a combination of Felix Felicis and mermaid tears being what to thank for that.
Healer Miriam Strout was the only one who was truly aware of what had happened to Cedric. Dumbledore had rightfully deduced that she would believe Harry Potter's story of what happened when he and Cedric took the Triwizard cup, and the pair of them had come up with a believable story for the rest of the staff.
It had even been organised for Rosie to have a few unofficial appointments with Strout, who essentially became her wizarding therapist. She was still on her anxiety medication, although it had been switched to a much more effective wizard version, and Mirium had helped her organise her thoughts and not let herself go overboard, forming a close friendship between Healer and patient, and that friendliness continued as Rosie visited, appearing more and more as the summer went by.
The night of the the final task, Sirius Black had been sent to round up previous members of the Order of the Phoenix. At the time Rosie was unaware, but when she returned home, her mother was waiting in the boathouse, explaining to her that her dad was in fact a previous member of that order.
He had been living up in London for a while, and with Rosie's continuous visits up to St. Mungos, he had found out about it rather easily, Dumbledore mentioning it during an order meeting.
And so, Rosie had moved up to London, to stay in Number 12 Grimmauld Place along with the rest of the Weasleys, who had been given the task of cleaning the place up.
It was much easier for her as well, getting from Grimmauld Place to St. Mungos was now extremely easy and free of charge, especially as Rosie had passed her apparation test that had come along with the rest of her end of year exams.
"It is, so much easier." Rosie smiled, glancing down at the watch circling her watch. "I should be getting back though, we have a special visitor coming tonight."
"Of course, have a good night dear. I'll see you during your next visit." Miriam Strout patted Rosie on the cheek, before bustling off into the nearby ward. The Kersey girl quickly exited St. Mungos, and dipping into a dark alley nearby on the street, she apparated to Grimmauld Place.
The now familar feeling took over her, and she was soon on the street that she had pictured. Quickly, Rosie walked down the road until she outside Number Eleven and Thirteen, waiting just a moment until Number Twelve emerged from between them.
She quickly made her way up the battered front steps, hoping she wasn't late. Tapping the door with her, it swung open, and she entered, cringing when she heard the unfortunately familair sound of Mrs Black's portrait shrieking.
Approaching the end of the hallway just as the shrieking stopped, Rosie turned the corner, her sudden appearance causing all eyes on her. A flicker of mischief in her eyes, she looked up at the boy with dark, unruly hair, wonky glasses and a lightening bolt scar.
