Aunt Rose

13.

Marlene was obviously the last person packed for the break. Her clothes were all still strewn about and she was still in bed.

Alice, Rose, and Lily and stood at the foot of her bed in a half-circle, arms crossed and watching her sleep. Finally, Rose shook her head, grabbed a pillow, and threw it at Marlene's head.

The girl shot up angrily and looked around at everyone watching her. "What?" Marlene asked, her features contorting from anger to confusion.

"Marlene, we've woken you up three times to pack. If you don't get up to pack now we're leaving you," Lily said to their friend who rolled her eyes and finally stayed sitting up.

"Alright, alright. Can you at least help me?" Marlene begged with puppy dog eyes. Lily and Rose rolled their eyes in annoyance but Alice was happy to help.

Working together, they got Marlene all packed and ready for the day in ten minutes, just in time to grab breakfast before they left.

After breakfast, Lily and Rose made time to say goodbye to Severus. He rarely went home during the Christmas break.

He was in the library reading a book on dark magic. Seeing him reading such a book made dread pool in Rose's stomach but they approached and sat at the table anyway.

"So, I guess we'll see you when we get back, yeah?" Rose said to the boy who closed his book and looked up.

"Yeah. I'll be bored without you guys here but it won't feel much different considering lately we've hardly spoken," Severus said passive-aggressively.

"Hey! It's not our fault you spend half your time with Avery and Nott," Lily defended, the statement hurting her feelings.

"Besides, I thought you said you would talk to them? Nott called me a mudblood at the party last night. He threatened to kill us, Severus. Please, reconsider who your friends are," Rose said in a low whisper. She was starting to be very hurt by Snape's allegiance to these people.

Severus looked surprised for a moment and angry but regained his composure. "He probably didn't mean it... he's got anger issues. But I promise I'll talk to him! And that's rich coming from you two! Hanging out with a werewolf," Severus exclaimed when he saw the look on the two girl's faces.

Rose's heart beat faster when Snape said that, dread in the pit of her stomach. Severus seemed to be catching on to Remus's secret, telling his theories to Rose and Lily.

Both girls denied it and treated it like something crazy but Rose knew he was actually getting close

"How many times do we have to tell you, Sev. He's not a bloody werewolf. You're being paranoid," Rose defended as calmly as she could. She sensed some resistance from Severus but he gave up and said goodbye anyway.

After that meeting the twins met up with Alice and Marlene, finding an empty compartment to sit in together.

James tried to squeeze into their compartment and sneak an invite to Lily and Rose's house. He was promptly shut out as the girls sat together before Lily had to go do her rounds, dreading seeing James.

When the train arrived back at Kings Cross, all four of the girls got changed into their muggle clothes before saying a quick goodbye to the boys.