Adverse Reactions

Rose watched the Headmistress leave the cottage and smiled. Even after the woman had criticized her, scolded her and caught them all doing the things they were not supposed to, there was still a hint of mystery and fun to Professor Minerva McGonagall. Why else would her mother have named her Rosalind Minerva Weasley? Rose thought about her mother. She wondered to herself what her mother would have said to receiving such cool gifts from such a talented witch. Maybe her mother had received these gifts and that was why Professor McGonagall had given them to her. Rose touched the hourglass necklace now wrapped around her neck with the softest touch she could muster. Something about this necklace made her feel powerful, as if she could do anything.

Rose made her way into Dominique’s bedroom. Her cousin was fifteen years old and taller than Rose was, but fortunately, they were both thin. A skirt or something might be a bit long, but anything to get her out of the clothes covered in Kyrie’s blood. She withdrew a dark red skirt from the drawer and a gold and red blouse from the closet. Looking at herself in the mirror, Rose saw herself as a true Gryffindor. She clutched the heavy sword in her left hand and the golden necklace played off her white skin and red hair as she looked at herself in the mirror. Something about the way her hair flowed or how her eyes flickered made her think of one person. Her father.

The sound of the front door opening and the commotion outside the bedroom caught Rose’s attention and she drew her wand and walked toward the hall. She used the blade of the sword to glance around the corner where she saw Harry, Draco, Blaise and Scorpius standing in the living room searching around frantically. Harry called for her and his brow was heavy with fear.

“What if they got Rose too?” Blaise asked, looking in the kitchen for the girl. Draco searched in the Master bedroom.

“If anything happens to that girl, I don’t know what I will do. She is my best friend’s daughter. His only daughter.” Harry muttered, panicking to himself. Rose smiled slightly at their concern as she left Dominique’s bedroom and walked into the living room.

Scorpius was awestruck. Rose was a remarkable sight. Her red hair fluttered in the cool breeze blowing in from the open front door and the sword clutched to her side. The Gryffindor colours made her look like a queen. Harry saw it too. He stared at his niece, catching things about her that reminded him so much of Ron. The two men turned and saw her as well. Draco let out a sigh of relief and put his hand on his son’s shoulder. Scorpius could not take his eyes off her.

“Rose. You look just like your father.” Harry stammered. Rose smiled and came in to the room powerfully. The Malfoy men admired her strength and the way she stood up to the plate for this kind of conflict. The sense of past and present colliding lasted a few moments before the fear and nervous conflict resumed.

“Wow! Rose! The sword of Gryffindor!” Scorpius ran to Rose and looked at the blade. For the first time, Harry looked at his old sword with a sense of pride and admiration. He remembered when he saved Ginny from the basilisk with that sword. He married that woman, had three children with that woman. That sword was full of powerful meanings and memories. Rose smiled and handed it to her uncle.

“Uncle Harry. Here. This is for you. I can’t hold it, or wield it. It was yours first and mum is your best friend. I think you deserve to defend her with it, like you defended Aunt Ginny.” Rose gingerly handed Harry the sword and stepped back as he let it glimmer in the sunlight. Draco looked at the sword and Harry. He looked at the family as they all relished in the idea that one article could save Hermione from these cretins. This was Hermione. This was the woman he loved and her family. Everything seemed to be stuck in time. Time seemed to stop.

“Alright. Now that we have everyone. Back to the Burrow, we have to decide what to do about Mione.” Harry broke the silence and the group quickly huddled together. Blaise and Harry walked together toward the door, Scorpius followed behind them. Draco was going to follow, until Rose seized him by the arm.

“Mr. Malfoy. I need your help.” Rose pleaded. The strong façade she was wearing not moments before now faded with a look of nervousness and childhood fear. Draco became concerned. He could not imagine Hermione’s daughter being nervous about anything. Course only about a month ago, he could not imagine Hermione being kidnapped, abused or single, he didn’t know what her daughter was or wasn’t and most certainly could not imagine himself being part of the Order set on rescuing her.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. The question seemed a bit silly. Obviously, everything in her life was falling apart. Her father was killed, her mother was taken. She just finished abusing the neighbor’s kid and now she was about to be set off on a mission to save her own mother from God knows who for God knows what reason. The only thing that was not wrong was the fact that she was the descendant of the Golden Trio. She was a walking, living reincarnation of Ron and Hermione.

“Listen, I know everyone is off to save mum, but they don’t have this.” Rose took the necklace around her neck and showed him the hourglass. Draco knew immediately what it was.

“A time-turner? Where did you get a hold of one of those Rose? They are under very strict regulation. They are very dangerous trinkets.” Draco scolded, but Rose shook it off, trying to be respectful, but showing more of her mother’s determination and cunning with every word.

“I know. I was told to use it to save mum. Nevertheless, I need someone, an adult, who can help me. I need someone who wants to save her as much as I do and it is obvious that you are that person. Mr. Malfoy, please. I need you to go with me. So we can set everything right again.”

Draco could not believe what he was hearing. Travelling through time was a dangerous and unpredictable means of trying to solve the problem at hand. If they were seen, they could change the entire course of their lives, cause injury or even death to people they cared about. This was an absurd idea. “Rose where did you come up with such a crazy idea?”

“Professor McGonagall gave me the time turner. She said to me, none of this is a coincidence. I was meant to find the potions book. I was meant to find the coins, the cloak, and the map. I was meant to find these things. All of these pressures that have been thrown on me are just a continuation of generations of very powerful things that our families have experienced.” Rose rambled shifting her gaze around the room. She took a deep breath and sighed lightly.

“And I’m going to do this whether you help me or not.” Rose said deliberately. Draco sighed to himself, wondering what kind of predicament he was getting himself into with this child.

“I give you my word as a Malfoy.” And with that, they shook hands over it. Draco went outside to join the men. They stood there talking for a minute.

“Rose, what’s going on?” Scorpius asked. He had been standing behind the kitchen wall listening to her talk with his dad. Rose was startled, but smiled when she realized it was Scorpius.

“Listen. Professor McGonagall gave me this time turner. Scorpius, we can change everything. We can save my mum. All we have to do is go back in time and find out where they took her. We can’t fail.” Rose took Scorpius by the hands and smiled. He smiled back at her and gave her a big hug. Rose hugged him back, letting herself fall into his arms. Suddenly, the pain of everything that had happened to her over the past month came flooding back to her.

Rose stood there in Scorpius’s arms, sobbing lightly and holding her friend for comfort. Scorpius just held her there, stroking her soft red hair and letting her have the catharsis and she needed it. After all, there was a storm coming up and she needed to have all the emotional strength she could get.

“Scorpio?” Rose asked, looking up into Scorpio’s gray eyes. He smiled at her.

“Yeah?”

“You’re a great friend.” She said. He let her nestle in to his chest softly, suddenly feeling quite a good deal older than eleven years old. Maybe this was how his father felt when he saw Mrs. Weasley. Maybe this is how his father used to feel when they were eleven years old.