The Little Flower (Remus Lupin) ✓

twenty - eight

"Bloody Hell Hermione get that thing out of here!" Ron yelped as he tried to protect his rat. Rosalie walked in at the right time; it was amusing to her watching Ron and Hermione bicker. She placed her back against the wall and watched them argue between themselves. She didn't quite follow the argument, but it was something about Hermione's cat Crookshanks and Ron's rat Scabbers.

"I don't understand how the rat is still even alive." Rosalie made her presence known. She pushed herself off the wall and joined her friends around the beds. "How long did you say he's been with the family for?"

"Twelve years."

"That's a long time for a rat," Rosalie mumbled, she was sure the average lifetime for a rat was three years.

"Look who finally decided to get out of their dorm." Harry sassed.

"I had to eventually, right?" Rosalie tried to make light of the situation, even though she knew how upset Harry truly was with her.

"What made you finally come out?"

"Come on, Harry, it's Christmas. I had to come to see you. Christmas is family time!" Harry glared at his sister, who awkwardly shuffled under his stare. "I'm sorry, okay? It's been hard."

"I know. I found out the news too. We could have comforted each other, but instead, you locked yourself away!"

Rosalie felt guilt eat her up. He had a point, but he also didn't know how much worse it was for her. She nibbled the inside of her cheek, not knowing what to say.

"I couldn't even give to a chance to show you this, " he carried on, and to her surprise, his voice was chirpier than before. He pulled out a piece of parchment from his drawer and handed it to her. She stared at it, waiting for something to happen. After a few seconds, her eyes glanced back to Harry, and she cocked an eyebrow to him. "Mischief Managed," Harry spoke with a smirk, tapping his wand on the parchment.

Not a moment later did a black ink spot grow from the middle of the parchment, veins of ink spreading out through it. Rosalie watched in amazement as words appeared. "Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present The Marauder's Map." She read.

Moony? As in Remus?

Rosalie continued staring in awe as the ink veins started to form a map. Specifically a map of Hogwarts. Tiny footprints appeared and disappeared on the map like a small person was walking on it.

"Where did you get this?" She asked, her eyes never leaving the map.

"Fred and George gave it to me, that's how I got to Hogsmeade. Using a secret passage."

Rosalie sighed, annoyed, "they told me about this before. Only vaguely though, now I wish I showed more interest. This is-"

"Awesome!" Ron finished the sentence for her. She laughed and agreed. It was indeed 'awesome' and would be extremely useful when she wanted to sneak out. The morning went by as the three-four when Hermione returned without Crookshanks - talked between themselves. Rosalie got caught up in the activities that the three did while she was in her dorm. Nothing too special, the usual things they'd do during the holidays. However, Harry did mention he also got an anonymous present for Christmas, but his was far better than hers. He got a Firebolt, AKA the best broomstick a person could get. Ron was practically drooling over it.

For the rest of the conversation, she blanked out. It was strange that both she and Harry got anonymous presents. She was also slightly annoyed that his turned out to be ten times better than her own. He got a Firebolt, and she got some sort of wool rag. She was so convinced before that the pink ball of fluff wasn't for her, but now it seemed that it must have been. So who the hell was Lexi?