twenty five
✯
"Alright, Miss Winters, are you ready?" Dumbledore asked from his desk, where he was finishing up a few letters that he would send to the Ministry later.
"Yes, sir," Rosie replied with a nod. It was time for her performance evaluation.
"You can give your wand to me for this part, Rosie," said McGonagall. Nervously, Rosie gave McGonagall her wand and took a step back as Dumbledore began his directions.
"Let's start with some simple ones, then we can move on to the more..damaging spells," Dumbledore instructed. Rosie nodded and took a deep breath to increase her focus. Dumbledore's voice rang in her head as she composed herself, "Focus is of utmost importance."
After steadying herself, Rosie looked at the book set across the room and summoned it, the book flying towards her immediately. Using Incendio, the book caught on fire in her palms. Slightly frightened at the fire, she cast Aguamenti to put it out, a jet of water smothering the flame instantly.
From behind her, the Professors nodded to each other, extremely impressed with her controlled wandless and nonverbal magic. Most students and even some adult wizards could hardly perform nonverbal magic --for Rosie to do both effortlessly was miraculous.
Rosie set the slightly burnt and dripping book down on an empty spot on Dumbledore's desk. The aged Professor stood, giving her an impressed nod, and walked a few feet away from her, a motion that Rosie came to recognize that they were going to duel.
"Is she going to duel Dumbledore? Is she mad?!" Professor Gena exclaimed quietly, which Professor McGonagall quickly responded to with a "shush!" so Rosie wouldn't break focus.
Dumbledore raised a hand, signifying that he was going to start, and released a yellow light from his hand. Rosie widened her eyes for a split second - they never discussed Dumbledore using wandless and nonverbal magic as well. After using Protego to protect herself, she used Stupefy, the red jet of light quickly hitting Dumbledore's own protective shield. Rosie sighed inwardly - Dumbledore went easy on her last evaluation but that definitely wasn't the case this time.
The duel went on for a couple more minutes, but it was mostly the two directing spells at each other and protective spells with the occasional Finite Incantantem. Eventually, Dumbledore bested Rosie with a smokescreen and the Jelly-Legs Curse - Locomotor Wibbly. By the time Dumbledore lifted the effects of the curse off of Rosie, the professors had made their notes and were beyond impressed.
Professor McGonagall handed Rosie back her wand, it was time for nonverbal magic only. Nonverbal magic was a lot easier for Rosie and went a lot smoother. As Dumbledore had explained, with the right amount of focus and practice, nonverbal magic would easily become second nature -- and her best friend in duels.
The young witch had managed to scrub pots clean, turn a rock into a happy dog, charmed a nail clipper to trim Fawkes' talons, and caused a thunderstorm - and rainbow - in Dumbledore's office. Much to the Professors' delight, Rosie could perform nonverbal magic very smoothly.
Her next tasks were a bit easier and much less threatening. She handled a particularly nasty Venomous Tentacula with minimal injuries, brewed a successful Draught Of Living Death potion, and produced a corporeal Patronus.
By noon, Rosie was left exhausted and the Professors were beyond impressed. Before she left to return to her dorm room and rest for the train ride, she gave the Professors their Christmas presents and even received a few gifts herself -- Dumbledore had given her a book on advanced defense spells, McGonagall had gifted her packets of Chai tea, and Slughorn had presented her a framed picture of them that they had taken the night before.
--
It was finally the train ride home and Rosie wasn't very excited about it. With every minute, she was a few miles closer to her destroyed and empty home. The plan was for her and Lily to go together after dropping their stuff off at the Evans' home.
"Rosie?" Sirius asked from her side, moving her face from the window to him. "I can go with you, if you want, to your home," he sheepishly offered, taking her hand into his own.
Rosie smiled fondly at him. "It's alright, you don't have to. Lily's already offered to go with me. I'll tell you guys about it at James' after you pick me up," she said, kissing him lightly on the cheek. He smiled and squeezed her hand supportively.
"Alright, well, it's been 30 minutes and we still haven't done something on this train. What should we do, boys?" James announced loudly as he entered the carriage, earning looks and stares from people walking in the hallway.
"How about, be responsible and mature for once and read a book... Or just do something that isn't at the expense of others?" Lily suggested from her spot next to Remus.
"Now why would we do that, Lily-pad?" James asked smugly, a cocky grin on his face.
"I don't even know why I said anything," the redhead sighed and turned back to her list of Prefect responsibilities she was looking over with Remus.
Surprisingly, they all got through the train ride with minimal injuries - James had only singed one of his curls off - and detentions as Professor Flitwick was feeling merciful with Christmas spirit. They eventually made it to Kings Cross Station where Remus left with his parents, Sirius left with James, Peter with his parents, and Rosie left with Lily.
The girls reached Lily's large house in her nice muggle neighborhood quickly and went inside to drop their belongings off. As they went inside, Rosie heard a scoff and footsteps rush up the stairs.
"Always nice seeing Petunia," said Rosie, meeting Lily's apologetic face. Silently, they made their way up to Lily's room and set their belongings down.
"Are you ready to go home?" Lily asked from the doorway of her room as Rosie set down her final bag on the makeshift bed. Rosie straightened and turned towards Lily with a sad smile.
"It's not home anymore."
With that, the two left with Lily's parents to Rosie's desolate home. Mr. and Mrs. Evans parked their car on the curb in front of the large house and went to Cordelia's, Rosie's neighbor, home to have tea.
Rosie opened her front door and felt a wave of cool air from inside. She frowned at the unfamiliar feeling -- her home was usually kept warm by her mother, who hated the cold.
The dark-haired girl warily took a step inside, the emptiness nauseating her. The furniture was still there, but it felt so different. There was no noise of loud potion stirring or steam coming from the workroom, or the sound of Eliza flipping the pages of her books while stirring her tea. Instead of the sounds Rosie grew used to hearing for sixteen years, it was deathly quiet.
Rosie felt her eyes tear up but knew that there was no time to cry. She wanted to know why they died, and her mother told her that the answers were here and with Cordelia. She slowly walked up the stairs - the same stairs she was scolded for running on and jumping down from as a child - with shaky legs and a pounding heart. Suddenly, she had the urge to turn and run out of the house. What if she didn't want to know the answers. What if she didn't like the truth?
"Are you ok?" Lily asked from beside her, her hands rubbing Rosie's arm comfortingly. Rosie shook her head before letting out a deep breath. "It's alright, here." Lily took Rosie's hand and led her down the stairs and out of the icy house. "Let's go talk to Cordelia first," she offered, making her way towards the pink, snow-covered home.
Lily opened the door and knocked on it. She immediately saw her parents at a round table with an older lady who she assumed was Cordelia. The aged lady saw the two girls and smiled, her eyes crinkling.
"Oh, I'm Cordelia and you must be Lily," she greeted, taking Lily's hand and shaking it. "I'm sorry I've never met you, but I assume I'm the only one to blame as I never leave my home," she laughed. Lily only responded with a small smile.
Cordelia went to greet Rosie, but noticed the distraught expression on her face and sighed. "I assume you want answers as to what happened, Rosie?" she asked, taking her and sitting her down on the couch. Rosie nodded quickly, wanting to know how they had died and if they had faced any pain. Lily and her parents also listened in, curious to hear the answers as well.
"I saw these three strange people walking around the street," she began, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I didn't think much of it because the Ministry has been doing more safety precautions, so I went back to reading, but then they entered your home..."
"Hellooo? Mr. and Mrs. Winters. We're here for you," they called from the doorway. Eliza looked at Alexander in panic.
"They're here. Is it really time, already?" she asked.
"I'm afraid it is," Alexander said grimly, quietly putting the cup he was washing back in the sink."Is everything ready?" he asked Eliza, wiping his hands on the hand towel and grabbing his wand from the counter. He looked up slowly and grabbed Eliza, moving her closer to him.
"Yes," she answered quickly, dropping the plate when she saw the men already in the kitchen. The loud shatter filled their ears, but there were other matters at hand.
"Where's the potion and Rosie?" one of them asked, their voice muffled from their mask.
"Eliza go upstairs now! You know what you have to do, I'll handle them," Alexander told Eliza. She responded quickly and ran through the service door and up the stairs to their bedroom.
"Well well well, if it isn't Lucius Malfoy," said Alexander smugly, crossing his arms.
"If it isn't Alexander Winters. How's your sad excuse of a job that you call potioneering?" Lucius retorted arrogantly.
"How's your sad excuse of a life?" Alexander remarked, stepping closer to him.
"From what I can see, better than yours," Lucius scoffed, looking around the home.
"My life is wonderful. I have a loving wife and a daughter that is far better than anything you produce will ever amount to," said Alexander smartly.
"You-you, you blood traitor! You may have been a Ravenclaw, but you're obviously not wise enough to know not to insult me. And marrying a Hufflepuff? It's almost shameful," Lucius shouted, shaking his head.
"You're wasting time, Lucius!" one of them said.
"Don't boss me around, Rodolphus."
"I hate to break up your girl fight, but I challenge you, fine gentlemen, to a duel to the death," Alexander declared boldly, stepping close to them, his wand now visible to all three men. Lucius stepped up first, casting the first spell.
"Stupefy!"
"Anteoculatia." Alexander laughed at Lucius' platinum blonde antlers that rested on his head instead of his hair. He quickly turned back to his serious mode as Lucius nearly Stupefied him. It continued on for a few minutes as Alexander had to be sure that Eliza had enough time to write and send the letter to their beloved daughter. When he was sure Eliza had enough time, he purposely misfired a spell, leading Rodolphus, who was now dueling him, to fire the last spell. If he was going to die, he was going to die on his terms.
"Avada Kedavra!" Alexander fell back on the hard tile floor, his frightened eyes wide open, but a tiny smile on his face. The three men then stepped over his body and walked up the stairs to find Elizabeth.
"Oh Elizaaa. You can't hide for much longer," a masked man said, turning into their bedroom, where Eliza was standing next to their open window. "Oh, look. Didn't even bother to hide, tsk tsk."
"There's no need to hide, Greyback! Even if I did, I would still be less of a coward than you are," spat Eliza angrily.
"Would you like to do the honor, Fenrir?" Lucius asked.
"It'd be my pleasure, Lucius," Greyback said, cracking his knuckles and stepping closer to Eliza.
"No. You will take too long! Avada Kedavra!" Rodolphus said, killing Eliza without a second thought. Her body fell to the floor in front of the window, her eyes closed and her lips stuck in a sad smile.
"Let's find the rutty potion," Lucius muttered, leaving the room to search the rest of the house.
After sifting through the entire home, the death eaters grew frustrated. "There's nothing here!" Greyback exclaimed angrily from the workroom, the last room in the house they hadn't looked at yet.
"There has to be, the Dark Lord said so!" Lucius exclaimed, searching through more vials and packages of ingredients.
"There's only an empty jewelry box and random knick-knacks!" Rodolphus shouted from Alexander and Eliza's bedroom. "The potion isn't here," he sighed as he walked into the workroom.
"And we can't get the girl as long as she's at Hogwarts and with Dumbledore," Greyback grumbled.
"We can't just go back empty-handed!" Lucius cried, standing and pacing around the room.
"The sun's already nearly up! We will tell him that we ran out of time and the neighbors were going to look," Rodolphus said, forcing the other two to run out of the house as the dark blue hues of the night sky slowly turned various shades of orange and pink.
"...I blame myself. I was too much of a coward to go myself. I could've helped them. It wasn't until the morning when I went to go check on them and I saw Alex's lifeless body, and then your mother's when I contacted the ministry," Cordelia said sadly, a tear trailing down her face.
Rosie pushed aside her disappointment in her neighbor. It was selfish of her to expect Cordelia to help her parents -- the elderly lady wouldn't have stood a chance against the death eaters.
"It's ok, there's nothing you could've done," said Rosie while patting the frail woman's back and holding back tears of her own.
Suddenly, the orphaned girl stood and walked out, Lily following her. The concerned redhead grabbed Rosie's hand supportively, offering her a smile. Making their way back to the empty home, they walked up to Rosie's parents' room and immediately went to the 'empty' jewelry box underneath the bed.
"Why's it empty?" Lily asked, sitting down next to Rosie.
"I don't know..." said Rosie, feeling inside the wooden box. "Wait, maybe this'll work." She grabbed her wand and used Finite Incantantem. The charm worked and revealed multitudes of letters, photos, books, envelopes, and vials with potion labels on them.
Suddenly, a certain envelope with a certain name caught Lily's attention. "Rosie, Asha's name is on this," she said, pointing to the yellowing envelope with Alexander's neat writing.
"What?" Rosie grabbed the envelope and read the message aloud. 'Rosie, when you get this, give it to Asha Bahati. By know, you should already know who she is. Don't open this. I love you, my flower.'
"Why would your father have something for Asha?" Lily wondered out loud, her brows furrowing. Rosie shrugged and examined a small, rectangular envelope. "Open it," Lily suddenly said.
"Lily, I can't," Rosie sighed, dropping the letter on her lap.
"What if it's important?"
"I can't go against my dad...and I feel like I shouldn't open it. It doesn't feel right."
"Ok."
The two went around the home and took anything they seemed to need. Rosie dropped pictures, letters, clothes, her father's old potioneering things, and her mother's jewelry into the seemingly endless box.
Silently, Rosie walked out of the backdoor to the garden where a single grave rested in the center.
Here lies, Alexander and Elizabeth Winters.
Loving parents and the hardest workers.
Their smiles, love, and hearts will be missed forever.
Rosie cried as she read the inscription, silently thanking Cordelia for getting the gravestone and having their bodies buried together. "I promise I'll come back one day, mum and dad. I'll give you a proper funeral with everyone here. Me and your future grandkids. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to come before," she whispered to the grave.
Rosie looked at the grave silently, imagining the feeling of her parents' hug. Lily sat next to her and transfigured leaves into a ring of pretty flowers for the grave. The two sat silently for a few minutes, mourning their loss, until Rosie stood.
"Are you ready?" Lily asked, walking towards the open door of the house.
Rosie took in a deep breath and admitted the truth. "No, but it's ok," she sighed, taking one last look around the home she grew up in for sixteen years. She walked out after Lily, gently closing the door behind her and getting into Lily's car.
"Are you alright, dear?" Lily's mum asked Rosie as Lily's father drove out of the neighborhood and onto the roads back to their home. Lily turned to hear her answer and her father looked at her through the rearview mirror.
"Yes, I'm fine," Rosie answered, a small smile on her lips and her fingers tapping a rhythm on the lid of the jewelry box. They nodded and went back to their own business, except for Lily, who turned to face her with a small grin and a game of Exploding Snap.
✯
edited: 06/06/2020