Luckily for Rose between the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh year Gryffindor witches, she was able to put an appropriate outfit together. Really it was Katie and Lavender who were the key to the outfit, as they had convinced Rose to, against both her better judgment and Hermione's, sneak out of the castle, and with Katie's able assistance at apparation, head to London the week before the party.
Rather than the shades of red that Rose had heretofore used during her casual and smei-casual wear, the dress which Katie had convinced her to wear was an intense aubergine silk. It had a surplice neckline, with a princess-seamed contoured sleeveless top and a loose ankle-length skirt. She paired it with a slightly darker three-quarter sleeved velvet shrug with a folded collar, adding a bit more coverage. Rose was a bit uncomfortable without the shrug, but felt that it added enough fabric for comfort. She hoped she'd be able to get Hermione to embroider some basic warming runes into both the shrug and the bodice of the dress, since she didn't want to be too cold in the rather drafty castle.
Discover moreFanfiction editing serviceMobile app premiumEmail & MessagingStory submission platformFan art commissions"You look beautiful," said Katie, stepping back and watching the seamstress at Twilfitt and Tattings adjust the fit.
"I'm just worried I'm not over-dressing," said Rose. She'd convinced Katie, and the seamstress, to let her wear flats, saying that she didn't like wearing them, and since she was nearly Draco's height already, she didn't want to be taller than her date.
"I've seen Hermione's dress, Ginny's too, and while you're a bit fancier, not too much," admitted Katie.
Discover moreDressesdressBooksBooks & LiteratureBook series guides"Do you know who they're going with?" asked Rose.
"Well, Ginny and Dean have been dating since shortly after he made the team, and Hermione hasn't said, though I know it's not McLaggen," the older witch answered.
"Why would it be McLaggen?" asked Rose.
"Well, she did have a bit of a crush on both Ron and Harry, but with Harry away for training," explained Katie, keeping to the cover story around those not in the know. "And Ron dating Lavender, well, for a bit there I think she was trying to make Ron jealous."
"But Lavender's good for Ron, she's given him the confidence he needed to be a good Keeper," exclaimed Rose.
"I know that, you know that, and Hermione, well, she knows that too," said Katie. "But, until last year, and really until this year, she didn't have any friends beyond her two boys, and since neither one of them wanted to admit that she was growing into a beautiful girl, she had to take matters into her own hands."
"Well, good for her," said Rose, realizing that she'd need to apologize, again, to Hermione for being berk.
"I think we're done here," said the seamstress, finalizing the alterations she'd made to the dress. She looked from Rose to Katie, "Which one of you will be paying for this?"
Katie smiled, "Call it an early Christmas gift."
Rose returned the smile, and made a mental note to make sure she sent something to Katie this year. Since being cursed she'd had to add a few people to her list of Christmas presents, not the least of which was Draco, though like all of her shopping, it would have to wait until after she'd retrieved her vault key from Mrs. Weasley.
Rose nervously paced in the Entrance Hall, where the group of invited fifth and sixth year Gryffindors and their guests waited for Draco. She tried to pull the shrug cloud across her chest, having begun to resent the low-cut neckline of her dress in the week since Katie purchased it for her.
Hermione and Ginny, as well as their dates Neville and Dean, respectively, tried not to laugh as Rose's nerves got the best of her.
"Rose, calm down, you're fine," said Hermione, grasping Rose's shoulders to halt the nervous pacing. "I mean, look at my dress, I'm not nearly half as covered up as you." Hermione was wearing a peach colored dress with an admittedly much lower neckline, revealing a bit of cleavage, compared to Rose's dress which covered even the barest curve of her breasts.
Rose looked down at her chest, "It doesn't seem like that from this perspective."
At that the Gryffindors all chuckled, though both Neville and Dean's laughter was a bit forced, since both knew Rose's secret and worried about the curse that had been used on her become more common. Especially since there was still no known counter.
Ginny stepped up next to Rose, "Rose, it'll be fine. Plus, you've got your wand in case he gets frisky, right?" Her emerald green dress, with it's empire waist and black and red accent stripes gave a more festive look, though her dress was more conservative than Hermione's, and was sleeveless as well.
Rose nodded, reached into the left sleeve of her shrug, and pulled out her holy and phoenix feather wand, "Yeah, I've got it right here."
"And you've been practicing the more devious curses, right?" asked Ginny.
Discover moreDigital story libraryFan community eventsAnime merchandise storeCreative writing toolsCharacter development workshopRose nodded, "Yeah, if it gets bad, wouldn't want a repeat of the DoM." She pronounced the initialism of the Department of Mysteries like 'doom'. She then glanced at Hermione, glad that the curse that Dolohov used at the DoM hadn't left any physical scars, though Rose had noticed that even now, six months later, her friend favored her shoulder.
"It'll be fine," said Neville. He flicked his right hand, and his wand slid out of the sleeve of his dress robes. "Plus, I've got your back Rose."
Rose smiled, "Thank you Nev. You've always got my back."
She then calmed, and in good time, as just then two well dressed wizards ascended from the dungeons. Draco, his white hair slicked back as normal, wore a dark green dress robe with a silver dress shirt and tie. Where even three and a half months ago Rose, as Harry, might interpret the smile he worse as predatory or malicious, now that she knew Draco, she recognized it as determined and steadfast instead. Beside her date walked another Slytherin, Blaise Zabini, who wore a black dress robe over a black dress shirt and tie. Both wizards wore high quality robes, a signifier of the wealth of their families, and in Blaise' case, part of the reason he was a member of the Professor's club.
Draco paused at the top of the stairs, glanced at Rose, smiled, and slowly walked over to her. He took her hand, and lightly kissed the back of it, "You are simply radiant this evening Ms. Evans."
Rose blushed, "Why thank you Mr. Malfoy." She then gave a bit of a giggle, surprising even herself.
"Shall we?" asked Blaise, who was going without a date to the party, though Rose didn't know if that was because he didn't desire one, or couldn't find one, since she barely knew him.
The party was already in full swing upon he arrival of the group of Lions and Snakes. Rose was surprised with how large the office was, especially compared to McGonagall's or Lockhart's in second year. The emerald, crimson, and gold hangings, though, disguised the office as a large tent, hiding the gothic arches that dominated most of Hogwarts' interior spaces. Hermione make a squeak when she noticed the house elves with serving trays, but luckily even she knew when to keep quiet about her chosen crusade.
Luckily for Rose Slughorn couldn't quite shop her around to as many of his "collection" as he would have had she come as Harry, though the rotund professor still introduced her around, sometimes even remembering to introduce Draco as well. While Slughorn must have been dying to expose Rose as Harry, if only to enhance his own connections to the 'Boy-Who-Lived', he was able to make veiled comments as to her future fame, and her connection to past greats, such as Lily Evans, making note of the similar name, appearance, and skills at potions, though Rose tried to both distance herself from her mother and her assumed skills as a potioneer. As Rose she'd enjoyed the anonymity of normalcy, and wasn't ready to embrace the fame of being Harry Potter, let alone any new fame that Slughorn wished to foist upon her.
The most interesting moment of the party, though, was Slughorn's accosting of Professor Snape.
"Come Severus, stop sulking and join us," Slughorn said with a bit of a tipsy slur. "I was just talking about Ms. Evans' exceptional potion-making. Think of how great she would be had she spent the previous five years under your own tutelage?"
Snape looked decidedly uncomfortable, his desire to insult Harry, and by proxy James, warred with his desire to reclaim some semblance of what he had with Lily. "I would have loved to have taught her something, but alas, I was unable to."
"Natural talent!" exclaimed Slughorn.
"Surely," droned Snape.
Slughorn then went off, hoping to find someone else he could introduce to Rose discretely, so that should the witch return to wizard, the professor's connections would net him even more influence.
"Hello Professor," said Rose, who still did not know, even three months later, how to deal with a pleasant Professor Snape.
"Rose," said Snape with a nod. He then nodded to his godson, "Draco."
"Professor," said Draco pleasantly.
"Enjoying yourself?" asked Snape.
"Not exactly," said Rose. "Professor Slughorn seems intent at introducing me to everybody, even though both they and I don't understand why. I think he assumes that since I had Potter's friends so quickly after my arrival, I could act as his proxy until his return." She then glanced at Draco, and back to Snape, "When would Mr. Potter return from his training? I've always wanted to meet him, and it seems that I missed his arrival."
Draco sneered, "You're not missing much, Rose. He was pompous, full of himself, and didn't understand his potential."
"His potential?" asked Rose, surprised by her date's continued vitriol to her masculine self.
"I never told you, but even before we arrived here at Hogwarts, I attempted to befriend him. He took one look at me, and then insulted me, spurning my offer. We were rivals ever since," explained Draco.
"Was this before or after he met Ron?" asked Rose.
"After, but what does that matter?" asked Draco.
"Well, if he'd already befriended Ron, then knowing your antagonism for the Weasleys, you'd likely have insulted his new friend," said Rose. "Perhaps he'd never had friends before arriving at Hogwarts, and even if he didn't he likely had to leave them in the muggle world. So, he befriends Ron, and less than an hour later, you come into the compartment looking to make friends with him, and as your opening offer of friendship, insult his first, and so far only in magical, friend."
Draco seemed poised to respond, but then thought for a moment, "Oh."
Professor Snape, too, was surprised by Rose's discussion of her previous life in the third person, "The muggle world?"
"You didn't know?" asked Rose of her Defense professor. "I mean, I don't know for sure, but both Ron and Hermione insist that every summer Harry returned to his muggle relatives, his aunt and uncle, who seemingly hated magic."
"Petunia?" asked Snape.
"Who's Petunia?" asked Draco.
"Potter's aunt, his mother's muggle sister," explained Snape. "And you say he grew up with her?"
Rose shrugged, "So I've been told. Hated magic, had him live in a cupboard under the stairs until the Hogwarts letter came, then gave him the smallest room instead. Even put bars on his window, if what Ron says in true. Forced him to do all of the chores, and told the neighbors that he went to a school for criminals."
"Now those sound like the sort of muggles that the Dark Lord spoke about," said Draco.
Rose turned on Draco, surprised as his sudden slip into his old viewpoint, "But think, they were forced to take in a boy they never wanted, with magic they hated, and unable to move due to the protections the Headmaster put on the house." Rose, for a moment, empathized with her surviving relatives.
The conversation petered out then, and eventually, the party began to break up.
"Rose, why don't we go someplace private," said Draco.
"Private?" asked Rose, unsure of what Draco wanted, and unsure of if she didn't want what he may have wanted.
"I've been wanting to show you something, ever since you told me about Riddle's history," said Draco.
"Oh," said Rose, not sure if she was disappointed or not.
"It's a secret, though, so you've got to promise not to share it with anyone," said Draco.
Rose smiled, "Of course I won't tell. And, well …"
"Rose?"
Rose blushed, "I've got a bit of a secret that I'd like to share with you too."
Draco led Rose up to the seventh floor, and the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy and his dancing trolls. "Wait here, I've just got to set set this up."
"Is this the Room of Requirement?" asked Rose.
"Oh, where Potter trained last year?" asked Draco. He then shook his head, "We're not going there, this is different." He then passed three times before the tapestry, and after the third, a large door appeared out of the wall. Draco tuned then, to Rose, "Come, I want to show you something."
Draco led Rose into the Room of Requirement, but instead of the expansive training space that Rose was familiar with, they walked instead amongst rows and rows of junk, like a city with towering walls of a thousand years of lost, misplaced, and hidden things.
"What is this place?" asked Rose.
"I call it the Room of Lost Things," said Draco. "But it's just a different form the Rom can take." He turned and walked backwards, "You remember how I said, when we first agreed to study together, that there was something that I was doing in my free time?"
"Yeah?" asked Rose, remembering her initial suspicion of Draco from before the curse. When Draco turned to once more lead her into the room, she carefully extracted her wand from her sleeve.
"Well, this is where I was working, though I've not done as much as I would have without knowing you, and since our trip to Hogsmeade, well, I've pretty much stopped what I was doing in here," said Draco, just before turning a corner and, with a flourish, pointing out a slightly clear area with a cabinet in the center.
Rose kept her wand hidden behind her forearm, ready to use but out of Draco's sight, "What is it?"
"It's a vanishing cabinet," said Draco. "Or, at least it would be if it wasn't broken." He walked up to the still damaged magical cabinet, "The plan was, if I hadn't done the deed beforehand, that come the end of next term, Riddle's Death Eaters would use this one's twin at Borgin and Burkes to get past the wards."
"You're helping him!" shouted Rose, dropping into an offensive stance and pointing her wand at Draco.
Draco put up his hand, "No, no, not anymore. This is my secret. I stopped working on it once, well, I fell in love with you."
Rose was surprised at Draco's admission.
"I mean, it's not fixed, and even if I don't do anything else to it, it'll still be broken, and keep the Death Eaters out of Hogwarts," explained Draco.
"But why?" asked Rose, her wand lowered and her stance softer, but she was still on edge.
"My parents," said Draco with a sigh. "He's got my parents, and they're held hostage for me to do Riddle's dirty work."
"So, letting the Death Eaters into the castle?"
Draco shook his head, "No, that was a failsafe, a backup plan. Riddle wants me to kill the Headmaster."
Rose was shocked, "Kill him?"
"I don't want to do it, but if I want my family to be alive after next term is over, I have to do something," said Draco, pleading. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to serve him, not anymore, but he's still got my parents, and if I don't do what he wants, they're forfeit."
"Why not tell the Headmaster?" asked Rose. "I mean, his hand's gotten pretty bad this year, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't last another year or two."
Draco looked surprised, "Just, tell the Headmaster?"
"Well, not exactly, perhaps have Professor Snape bring up the subject. Perhaps they can figure something out, deceive Riddle to get your parents safe."
"New Zealand," said Draco in an exclamation. "We can go to New Zealand, we'll be safe there. And I can meet your parents!"
Rose paled, "Draco, about that."
"What?"
"Um, well, I've got a bit of a secret of my own, like I said," admitted Rose uncertainly.
"What is it?" asked Draco, leaning up against the vanishing cabinet. Rose was still standing side-on to him at the end of the passage between the piles of junk.
"Well, I'm not from New Zealand," admitted Rose.
"Where are you from?"
"Surrey," said Rose. "I live with my aunt and uncle."
"Like Potter?" asked Draco.
Rose chuckled, "Yeah, just like Potter." She bit her lower lip, an affectation she took from Hermione, "Well, you see …" She took a deep breath, "Do you remember that curse you cast at Potter the week before I showed up?"
Draco looked confused, "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything," said Rose. "Do you remember the curse?"
Draco, still confused, admitted, "Yeah, 'Femina Illusio', it was supposed to make him see everyone as a beautiful witch. And just before Defense class, he'd surely have been embarrassed in front of Professor Snape."
"Except, you didn't cast 'Femina Illusio'," said Rose.
"I didn't? How do you know?"
"Because you cast 'Femina Mutatio'," explained Rose.
"What's that?" asked Draco.
"It turns the target into a girl," said Rose.
"What? But …" He then looked at Rose. "You?"
Rose nodded, "Yeah."
"You're Harry Potter?" asked Draco.
Rose took a step back, sensing the growing rage in Draco's voice, "Yes, I'm Harry Potter."
Draco dove at Rose, who quickly sent a stunner at her former date, and then dodged out of the way.
"I kissed Harry Potter!" shouted Draco. He then surged at Rose again, who, after sending a cutting curse at Draco, began to run away.
"I'm going to kill you!" shouted Draco.
Rose sent a blasting curse at the pile of junk just in front of Draco as she turned a corner. The pile fell just in front of Draco, who halted just in time.
As Rose ran from the Room of Requirement, tears streaming down her cheeks and ruining the makeup that Lavender had helped her with, she heard Draco shouting threats at her as she searched for a way around the blockage.