"Rose! Wake up!"
Rose whined and cuddled closer into her blanket at her godfather's voice.
"Come on, Moony! She's just a baby!"
"Stop saying that, Sirius! She's fourteen and she needs to go help clean," Remus sighed, but Rose could hear amusement in his voice.
"That's lame," Rose mumbled into her pillow.
"Everyone else is awake," Remus sighed.
"Including Harry."
Rose groaned as she heard her mother's teasing tone.
"Why are you in here?" Sirius asked.
"It's taken you guys ten minutes to wake up one girl. That's why," Marlene responded.
"Has she always been like this?" Sirius asked. He poked Rose's cheek and she bit his finger.
"Yep. I usually let her wake up on her own," Remus said. "If she didn't, I did this."
Rose sat up straight as Remus sent a stream of water into her face. He didn't stop until Rose was completely soaked from head to toe. He gave her a smirk as she glared.
"Aww, Rosie, are you a little wet?" Marlene said in a baby voice.
"Hmmm...let's see," Rose mumbled. She jumped out of her bed and hugged her mother, getting her wet as well.
"No! Sirius! Help!" Marlene shrieked.
"Not getting involved!" Sirius yelled as he ran out of the room, Remus close behind him.
"You chose him," Rose reminded her mother as she laid back down on her bed. "I got stuck with him."
"Yes, well...he's cute," Marlene shrugged, using her wand to dry off Rose's bed and body. Rose let out a happy sigh before grimacing at her mother's words.
"I don't want to think of my father in that way. That's gross," Rose groaned.
"Oops, too late," Marlene said, not a hint of caring in her tone. "Now get up. A certain scar head is waiting for you."
"Why?" Rose asked as she got up and started going through her closet. Marlene got up and chose an outfit for her, black skinny jeans and a striped crop top.
"He won't admit that he's looking for you but everytime the kitchen door opens he whips around and then looks disappointed when it's not you," Marlene responded, her back turned to give Rose privacy.
"He...he probably isn't waiting for me," Rose shrugged.
"He is," Hermione said. Both Marlene and Rose jumped at her sudden arrival.
"When did you get here?" Rose asked, her hand over her heart.
"Just now," Hermione shrugged as she sat on the foot of Rose's bed.
"Well...why'd you say that about Harry?" Rose asked, trying to figure out what to do with her hair. Marlene came over and started to attempt to fix it.
"Because he told me," Hermione said.
"What'd he say?" Rose asked, trying to sound like she didn't really care.
"Something about wanting to talk to you for real without mashed potatoes in your hair. He also said something about kissing you but then the adults came into the room so, I'm not sure," Hermione said. Rose blushed as her mother squealed.
"He is sooooo in love with you," Marlene sighed.
"No, he isn't," Rose said.
"He is," Hermione and Marlene said at the same time. Rose just shook her head no.
"There," Marlene sighed. She had tied Rose's short hair into a ponytail and put a ribbon around the ponytail holder to hide it. There were a few curls left out to frame Rose's face.
"Thanks, mum. How'd you get so good at styling curly hair?" Rose asked. Marlene had straight to wavy hair, very different from Rose's typically crazy curly hair.
"Your dad would let me style his hair when I was pregnant with you. I wanted to be able to style my daughter's hair if it was curly so I practiced on him," Marlene said with a sad smile. "But then...I guess this is the first time I've really, actually done your hair."
"It looks great, mum," Rose whispered. Marlene gave Rose a kiss on the forehead before taking a deep breath.
"Let's go eat," Marlene said. Both girls quickly followed her down to the kitchen, where everyone else was.
"Rose!" Harry shouted. He quickly blushed when everyone looked at him. Rose blushed too and quickly took a seat next to him.
"Yes?" Rose asked.
"Well...Mrs. Weasley made chocolate chip muffins and I know they they're your favorite but Fred and George were eating all of them so I saved you two," Harry rushed out, handing Rose two chocolate chip muffins.
"Thanks," Rose whispered. Harry nodded and awkwardly shoved a bunch of food in his mouth at once.
"He soooooo likes you," Marlene whispered into Rose's ear. Rose stuck her tongue out at her mother but she pretended not to notice.
"Everyone to the drawing room!" Mrs. Weasley announced, entering the kitchen with her arms full. Rose could see a bucket and some spray bottles. The rest of the teens stood up and Rose stayed sitting.
"Rose, go help clean," Marlene said.
"But I'm eating," Rose pouted.
"Should've woken up sooner. Go," Marlene repeated. Rose groaned but did as she was told, shoving her muffin in her mouth.
"Ah, there you are, Rose. Here, cover your face and take a spray. We're getting rid of the doxies today," Mrs. Weasley informed the girl. Rose nodded and did as she was told, standing in between Harry and Hermione.
"I've never seen an infestation this bad. I don't know what that house elf has been doing for the past decade, but he hasn't been cleaning," Mrs. Weasley sighed.
"Kreacher's really old," Hermione tried to argue. "He probably couldn't manage-"
"You'd be surprised at what Kreacher can manage if he wants to, Hermione," Sirius said as he entered the room. Rose cringed when she saw that he was carrying a bloody bag. "I've been feeding Buckbeak. I keep him upstairs in my mother's room. Anyways, this old writing desk..."
Sirius dropped the bag of dead rats and walked over to the desk, which was shaking slightly.
"Probably just a boggart, but I'll have Moody check it out the next time he's here. Knowing my mother, it might be worse," Sirius said.
"Right you are," Mrs. Weasley replied. They were both being oddly formal. Sirius looked over to Rose.
"What are you wearing?" Sirius asked, gesturing to Rose's crop top.
"A shirt," Rose replied.
"I can see your stomach, which means that boys can see your stomach, and that means that Harry can see your stomach and that's not allowed," Sirius told her. Harry blushed and started looking around the room.
"Dad, I'm basically an adult. I'll wear what I want. Either way, mum picked this out for me," Rose replied.
"She did?! Does she not understand that you're a baby?!" Sirius cried out. Rose rolled her eyes as the twins and Ron giggled. Sirius was about to speak when the doorbell rang.
"I keep telling them not to ring the doorbell," Sirius groaned as he left the room. The portrait of his mother started screaming.
"Harry, go close the door, please," Mrs. Weasley asked. Harry did so, but Rose could tell that he was trying to listen.
"Right. I've got a bottle of Doxycide in case you get bitten, but I'd rather not use it. They'll come flying out at us pretty quick but one good spray will immobilize them. When they're stuck, throw them in the bucket," Mrs. Weasley instructed. The teens all nodded as Mrs. Weasley moved out of the way. They started spraying and doxies started leaving the curtains like mad.
"Fred, what are you doing? Put that in the bucket!" Mrs. Weasley cried. Rose saw that Fred was holding a doxy in between his fingers. He sprayed it in the face and it went still, and Fred put it in his pocket.
"We want to experiment with them for our Skiving Snackboxes," George whispered to Harry.
"What are those?" Harry asked, sending a grateful look to Rose when she sprayed a doxy inches before it got to his face.
"Range of sweets that make you ill," George whispered. "Eat one side during class and you get ill and leave. Eat the other side and you're all better."
"Exactly. But they need a bit of work," Fred added. "Right now our testers are having a bit of a problem stopping puking long enough to eat the other end."
"Who are your testers?" Rose asked.
"Us. We take turns. Fred took the Fainting Fancies, we both did the Nosebleed Nougats," George told her.
"Mum thought we had been dueling," Fred said with a small laugh.
"So the joke stop is still on?" Harry asked. He had given them his and Rose's winnings from the Triwizard Tournament to help.
"We don't have a store yet, but we're searching for one. As of right now, we're running a mail service. We put an ad in the Daily Prophet last week," Fred said, sending a look to his mother to make sure she couldn't hear them.
"Mum doesn't read the Daily Prophet anymore because of all of its lies about you," George added.
The teens sprayed the curtains for most of the morning. Mrs. Weasley sighed and sank down into a chair, letting out a yell of surprise when she sat down on the bloody bag that Sirius had left. The curtains were limp and dripping with the spray, and there was a full bucket of doxies underneath them. Crookshanks was sniffing the bucket and Rose decided that she wanted a cat.
"I think we'll tackle those after lunch," Mrs. Weasley sighed, pointing to old glass cabinets that were full of various objects. The doorbell rang again and everyone looked to Mrs. Weasley.
"Stay here," she ordered and she left the room. Everyone immediately rushed over to the window.
"It's Mundungus!" Hermione said. "Why does he have so many cauldrons?"
"Probably looking for a safe place to keep them," Harry suggested.
"Mum won't like that," Fred said with a small chuckle. Mundungus entered the house and disappeared from view so the teens migrated back to the couches.
"He's talking to Sirius and Kingsley," Fred muttered. He had his ear on the door. "Think we should risk using the Extendable Ears?"
"Might be worth it," George replied. "I can sneak upstairs and-"
"WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HOUSE FOR STOLEN GOODS!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. Rose sighed and sunk into the couch, placing her feet in Harry's lap. She was tired of screaming.
"Hey, Rose?" Harry whispered. Rose let out a small hum. "Are we...good?"
"I think so...I talked to my mum and figured some stuff out," Rose replied.
"Like...what?" Harry asked.
"You'll see," Rose said, a small smirk on her face.
Kreacher entered the room and immediately started muttering about everyone in the room. Rose was ignoring the house elf until he called Hermione a mud blood.
"I forbid you from using that word, Kreacher," Rose spoke up, causing the house elf to nod, as he wasn't able to ignore an order from his master. "Now what are you doing?"
"Cleaning," Kreacher told her.
"That's a likely story," Sirius snorted as he entered the room.
"Kreacher is cleaning the noble house of the Blacks," the house elf repeated.
"Yes, and it's getting blacker everyday," Sirius joked.
"Master always liked his jokes...breaking his mother's heart-"
"Mother didn't have a heart. She kept herself alive out of pure spite," Sirius told the house elf. "Everytime you claim to be cleaning you just take stuff."
"Kreacher would never. Kreacher is a good house elf."
"Go away, Kreacher," Sirius ordered. The house elf slowly exited the room, still muttering about the people in the house.
"He's not right in the head," Hermione said, her voice pleading. "I don't think he knows we can hear him."
"He's been alone too long...taking orders from my mother's portrait," Sirius agreed.
"Maybe if we just set him free-" Hermione suggested.
"He knows too much about the Order. Plus, the shock might kill him," Sirius said. He walked over to the tapestry that Kreacher had been trying to protect earlier.
"Is this our family tree?" Rose asked, getting up to stand next to her father, the rest of the teens following.
"Yep...toujours pur...not anymore," Sirius said, ruffling Rose's hair proudly. She let out an offended huff and turned to Hermione, making her fix her hair.
"You're not on here!" Harry exclaimed.
"I used to be here," Sirius said. Hermione finished fixing Rose's hair so she walked back over and saw a burned out hole. "Mother burned it off when I ran away. I was about sixteen. "
"Where'd you go?" Harry asked.
"Your dad's. Your grandparents were really nice and sort of adopted me as a second son. I stayed there for holidays and got my own place when I turned seventeen...with Marls, of course. I had some money from my Uncle Alphard...he's wiped out too, that's probably why. Anyways, I looked after myself after then, but I always was welcome at the Potter's," Sirius answered.
"Why'd you leave?" Rose asked softly. Sirius pulled her into his side and she wrapped an arm around her waist as his arm went around her shoulder.
"I hated all of them. My parents were never Death Eaters, but they agreed with Voldemort. My brother," Sirius said and he pointed to the picture next to his burned out spot. "He believed them and followed Voldemort. He was a better son and I was reminded of it often."
"But he's dead," Harry pointed out.
"Harry, get some tact, please," Rose sighed. Harry blushed a little.
"It's fine...we hadn't gotten a long in a while. He was killed by Voldemort himself...well, I don't think he was that important, but he was killed on his orders. From what I found out, Regulus got in so far and freaked out and decided to back out. But that's not how it works," Sirius sighed.
"Lunch!" Mrs. Weasley announced, entering the room with large plate of sandwiches. Everyone except for Harry, Sirius and Rose migrated over to her.
"I haven't looked at this in years....there's my great-grandfather, Phineas Nigellus, the most hated Hogwarts headmaster of all time...Dear Aunt Elladora, she's the one who started the tradition of beheading the house elves....all the good members are burned off...I see Tonks and Rose aren't on here," Sirius said, seemingly lost in thought.
"You and Tonks are related?" Harry gasped. Rose gasped at him too, not knowing either.
"Oh, yeah, her mother, Andromeda, was my favorite cousin. She's not here either, but her sisters are. Bellatrix and Narcissa both married purebloods, but Andy married a muggle-born, Ted Tonks, so-" Sirius mimicked being blown off the tapestry.
"There's the Malfoys," Rose grimaced.
"Gross," Harry whispered.
"All pureblood families are related. We're probably related to the Weasley's too, but they're the biggest blood traitors of them all," Sirius explained.
"Lestrange..." Harry mumbled.
"Bellateix and Rodolphus Lestrange...both in Azkaban with Rodolphus' brother, Rabastan," Sirius told him.
"This isn't our family, though," Rose quickly said. "The Order is our family...not these people."
"I have the same sentiment," Sirius sighed. "I never thought I'd be back here, but it's ideal for head quarters. My father placed so many charms on this house that it's one of the best protected houses in Britain."
"If they expel me...can I come live with you?" Harry asked. Rose felt her heart drop to her feet, having forgotten that Harry had to have a trial. Sirius gave him a small smile.
"We'll see."
"I'd feel a lot better about the trial if I knew I didn't have to return to the Dursley's," Harry mumbled.
"They must be pretty bad if you'd rather return here," Sirius said, his eyebrows furrowed in worry.
"You three need to come over here before there's no more food left," Mrs. Weasley called.
The three ate their lunch and then started going through the cabinets. They threw away almost everything, as most of it was filled with Dark Magic. A pair of tweezers had climbed up Harry's arm and Sirius had to slam it with a book. A music box made them all sleepy until Ginny slammed it shut. Kreacher would periodically enter the room and sob as he saw eveything that they were throwing away, but Sirius or Rose would order him out and he would go.
The next room had spiders so large that Ron had to leave for thirty minutes. Rose felt as if they were waging war on the house, and she didn't know who was winning.
"Where's mum?" Rose asked Sirius. She flicked a small spider off of his arm with a grimace.
"She's not feeling too well," Sirius replied.
"Maybe because...there's a baby in her tummy?" Rose asked hopefully. Sirius shoved her lightly with his shoulder.
"Maybe because she ate something bad. We...we don't want to bring a child into this war. And with your prophecy...it's too much. Not that it's your fault, just...it's too much," Sirius whispered. Rose could hear the sadness in his voice and she decided to drop the subject.
"Are you guys gonna get married soon?" Rose asked. Sirius grabbed her out of the way as a grandfather clock shot a bolt at her.
"Remus can deal with that clock," Sirius decided. "But...when the ministry doesn't want me anymore...that's the plan."
"Can I be flower girl?" Rose asked, a bright smile on her face. Sirius let out a bright laugh.
"We can arrange that," Sirius told her.
"Can I get a cat?"
"A cat? Why?" Sirius asked.
"So I can have something to cuddle with at school," Rose replied.
"That's what Harry is for!" Fred called from across the room. Both Harry and Rose threw the closest thing they could find at Fred, and he fell to the ground after being hit with large book and a plaque. Sirius just shuddered.
"Sure...also, we're gonna set some ground rules about Harry," Sirius said.
"Oh, what's that? Mum is calling me, gotta go," Rose said as she ran out of the room.
"No she's not!" Sirius yelled. Rose laughed but kept running. She was not ready for that talk.