The Hidden One

big surprises

Rose was very upset when she had to leave. She had barely been able to take a nap, and so she was very cranky. The second she got home, she found her dad sitting on the couch in the living room and laid next to him with her head on his chest.

"How's your mum?" Sirius asked as he put the book he was reading down.

"Good. I slept most of the time, so we didn't really talk," Rose admitted.

"You've been sleeping a lot," Sirius teased.

"I haven't been sleeping well at Hogwarts," Rose muttered.

"Why not?" Sirius asked softly.

"I've been having some nightmares," Rose said as she started playing with the gauze on her hand.

"What's that?" Sirius asked as he grabbed her hand. Rose quickly pulled her hand away and sat up. Sirius sat up too and stared at her with worry.

"It's nothing, I just fell," Rose lied, cringing at her lie.

"Why didn't you heal?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, you know-I-I just...well, you see-" Rose stammered until Sirius reached forward and pulled the gauze off. Rose cringed as he stared at her hand.

"What...what's this?" Sirius whispered as he traced the barely healing cuts on her hand.

"They're from detention," Rose admitted.

"From detention? Rose, this isn't detention, this is torture. What teacher is doing this?" Sirius asked as he summoned some water and a towel and started cleaning her hand.

"Umbridge," Rose whispered.

"Why don't they heal? And why do you get detention?" Sirius asked, flinching a little when he heard Rose suck in a breath because of the pain.

"She...she said the quill she makes us use has poison in it. It keeps the skin from healing," Rose said shakily. "And...and at first it was cause Ha-we yelled at her and then it's cause I skipped Potions because Snape is a git. She's making me come back until I tell her why I healed so easily."

"She's horrid," Sirius whispered. He read the lines on her hand again. "What's this one? About being a whore in the common room?"

"Oh, Har-," Rose stopped herself, not being able to say his name outloud. "A first year saw me kissing him in the common room and word got around."

"They're all gonna get what they deserve," Sirius said as he hugged Rose. He was fighting to keep his calm because he knew that it wouldn't help anyone to yell or get angry.

"What happened with Harry?" Sirius asked tentatively.

"Mum says he has to tell you," Rose said softly. Sirius squeezed his eyes shut, knowing it must be bad.

"Did he hurt you?" Sirius asked.

"No, he would never and I know it's not really his fault," Rose assured him. "He just did something that I can't get out of my head."

"I'll talk to him, ok?" Sirius said and Rose nodded as she yawned. "How about you go to sleep and I'll wake you up before dinner?"

"Sounds good," Rose mumbled. Sirius stood up and let Rose lay on the couch as he went to find Harry, who was also asleep.

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Harry wasn't seen after the hospital visit. He stayed in his room and didn't even talk to Ron. The rest of the members of the house were much more festive as they put up Christmas decorations. Sirius was always singing a Christmas tune at the top of his lungs and he had been able to have a snowball fight with Rose and the Weasley children.