Our Little Rose

Apologies

Rose was quiet as they ate lunch. She didn't try to start a conversation or be a part of theirs. This worried all three girls and made Marlene feel extreme guilt. "I'm sorry," Marlene nearly yelled out of nowhere. The guilt and fear in her voice crashed Rose's train of thought, making her look up at the Gryffindor girls staring at her. "Marlene, what's wrong?" Rose said as soon as she saw the look on her face.

Marlene had tears in her eyes and looked afraid of what Rose would say to her. "Please don't be mad at me. I was just trying to help. I don't want them to hurt you or Lily." Marlene said almost too fast for Rose to understand. "They aren't a threat to us," Rose was trying not to yell at her friends.

Four boys were sitting just down the table and could hear every word the girls said. None of them understood why the conversation outside had upset the girl so much. Sirius wondered if she was actually mad or if she was just faking it. 'She doesn't even know me, why would she care?'

"How would you know that?" Marlene asked Rose after a bit of silence. "You don't know their families, you don't know what they're capable of." Marlene's words only made Rose madder. "THEY AREN'T THEIR FAMILIES!" Rose had lost her composer, finally snapping, but as quickly as it was gone she found it again. Standing up from her seat she started to gather her things, "If you only judge people based on their families you're no better than the very people you despise. Alice is Pure Blood, are you going to judge her on that, like they judge us?"

The table was quiet, in fact, the entire Great Hall was quiet, all thinking about the first year's words. "Now, if you don't mind, I have Transfiguration with Ravenclaw." Then she was gone, leaving Marlene stuck there like a statue and all Sirius could do was smile,  her words repeating over and over in his head.

~~~

Classes were over and Rose was walking to Study Hall with Severus when three Gryffindor's came barreling through the halls. Lily was the first to see her sister and stopped the other two girls from running right past their target.

"Rose! Rosy! Rosemary!" Said girl kept turning around in circles trying to find her sister. Eventually, Rose turned around and was met face to face with the three girls.  Rose just smiled at their goofy behavior while Severus slowly backed away.

"I'm sorry for being an idiot" were the first words out of Marlene's mouth. "You're right, about everything. It's not fair, but you have to understand Pure Blooded supremacists have terrorized my family for years." Marlene looked like she was about to start crying so all Rose did was take her friend into her arms and hold her.

"It's okay, I understand." Rose whispered, trying to soothe the girl, "you weren't being an idiot. You just want to keep us safe from what you've been through. I just think blaming them for that isn't fair."

Marlene just held the smaller twin tight in her arms, afraid to let go. "I'll try to be kind to them, for you. I'll try to see them as you do, but I make no promises." Rose just giggled at Marlene, "you don't have to be friends with them, just be less aggressive."

Lily looked between the two and then at Alice who just smiled. "Well let's get to study hall before one of the Perfects finds us," Lily told the girls. "Oh, Sev are you-" Rose started, but stopped when she realized Severus wasn't standing next to her anymore. "I guess he went on ahead."

"His loss," Alice said, trying to cheer up Rose. "Yeah, I guess his Pure-Blood friends wouldn't like him hanging out with me anyways," Rose said looking at the ground. "Well, I'm Pure-Blood and I would gladly hang out with you," Alice told Rose as she grabbed her hand.

"Off to the Great Hall we go," Marlene said in a sing-song voice. "I can't wait to read this book on magical creatures I found in the library" All three girls just looked at Rose as she smiled like a child in a toy store. "When did she go to the library?" Alice whispered.

~~~

That night, after dinner, Rose followed the girls back to the Gryffindor Common Room. She sat with her head in Alice's lap, her bottom in Lily's, and her legs across Marlene's, her feet hung off the end. The Gryffindor's were just talking while Rose read her book, then four boys walked through the painting.

"Hello girls," said a very amused James. "Shove off" Marlene replied. "Be nice," Rose's muffled voice soon followed. "Oi," yelled Sirius, "whys there a Hufflepuff in the Gryffindor Commons?" "Oh shut it you two," said a tired-looking Remus. Rose began to think about just how tiring dealing with those two must be.

"Rosy, what are you reading?" Marlene asked when she saw the picture, completely ignoring Sirius. "Oh, I'm reading about werewolves," Rose said like it was nothing. Nobody seemed to notice the way Remus stiffened at the word. "Werewolves?" Peter asked from behind the couch. "Yes, they're quite fascinating."

Everyone just stared at the girl, dumbfounded. "Fascinating?" Remus whispered, more to himself than anyone else. "You find werewolves... fascinating?" Marlene voiced everyone's question. "Yes," Rose answered, still reading her book.

Rose finally looked up from her book and at the seven people staring at her. "What?" that seemed to break their trance as they all started talking at once. "Werewolves are dangerous monsters," Remus told Rose as if she was a child being told not to talk to strangers or play alone at night.

"No they aren't" was her simple reply. Everyone stopped talking then, they just went back to staring at her. "Werewolves are dangerous, yes but they aren't monsters." Rose saw then the way Remus was looking at her, it was the same way Lily looked at her when Rose told her she was beautiful after Petunia said their red hair was ugly.

Then Rose took a better look at Remus, he didn't just look tired, he looked sick. "Werewolves are only dangerous once or maybe twice a month, even then they are not themselves. Do you think werewolves like being dangerous? They are in constant fear of hurting the ones they love, they may never make friends simply because they don't want to hurt them."

It was then that Rose realized something, and it was the look on Remus' face that confirmed it.