Our Little Rose

Goodbyes

Sad. That's how Rose felt as she watched her older friends study. She was sitting against the couch in front of the Black sisters, reading yet another book on magical creatures. Lucius sat opposite of her, his nose stuck in his Transfiguration book while the sisters discussed Potions. Lucius, Ted, and Andromeda will be graduating in a few months, and that thought scared her.

"Will I ever see you again? After you graduate?" Rose's sudden question interrupted the older students studying. "What do you mean, Darling?" Andy asked the younger witch. "I mean, I know I'll see Cissy. She has to come back for her seventh year. But, will I ever see either of you again?" Rose asked, looking between the Pure Bloods she had started to see as older siblings.

"Oh, don't be silly Rosy. Of course, you will. I'll even write you whenever I can, I'm sure Teddy will, too." Andromeda told the Hufflepuff without even thinking about the subject. The Malfoy Heir sat quietly, unsure of his own voice. The idea of never seeing the Evans girl again truly pained all three of them and Lucius didn't want to lose his little sister to anyone. 

Rose simply smiled and went back to her book, not noticing the look the three Slytherins shared.

~~~

The next day, Rose sat in the Gryffindor Common Room trying to tame her sister's hair. Suddenly four people came tripping over one another as they tried to beat each other to the girl in a yellow sundress.

"Rose!" All four voices called out at once. "Boys!" She yelled back in response. "We were wondering..." James began as he looked between the other three boys, then back to the redhead. "If maybe you could..." Sirius tried to finish for his best friend, but he couldn't. "Write to us. Over the summer. All the time." Remus blurted to the only person he thought would ever truly know him. "So you don't forget us." Peter squeaked. 

Rose stared at all four boys for a few seconds, processing each of their words. 'So you don't forget us.' Those words hit Rose like the Hogwarts Express. Forget them? Why would she do that? Rose simply smiled at the four mischief-makers in front of her. How silly of them to think something like that.

"Of course, I'll write to you lot. You'd probably go off and get yourselves in trouble without me." Rose told the boys with a caring smile. "In fact, I'll visit most of you and maybe we can even meet up some times." She continued, making eye contact with Sirius when she suggested meeting up.

"Ugh. As long as it doesn't interrupt our girl days and those two don't come anywhere near me." Lily told her sister, pointing to James and Sirius. "But Lily Flower-" "Nope."

~~~

Rose currently sat in between the Black sisters, her body leaning into Andromeda's side. Ted Tonks and Lucius Malfoy sat in the seat across from her, as far apart as they could. They only ever hung out with each other when Rose was involved and even then they never really spoke. When Rose and her younger friends got onto the Express, she immediately left to find the graduated students. 

Andromeda absent-mindedly ran her hand through Rose's curls as they all sat there in silence. Narcissa took Rose's hand in her own as she looked out the window. When Narcissa's fingers came into contact with one of the girl's many rings, she got an idea.

"Promise rings," the youngest Black sister suddenly shouted throughout the compartment. At the sudden noise, Rose jumped, causing but of the sisters to tighten their grips. (To clarify, I mean Andromeda tightened her arm that would have been around Rose. She did not pull her hair. Rereading this, that's kind of the way it sounded to me.)

"What?" Lucius asked his girlfriend, thoroughly confused by her outburst. "Promise rings?" Ted asked the blonde girl on the other side of their compartment. "Yes. That's brilliant, Cissy." Andy beamed once she realized what her sister was thinking. Rose just sat quietly, waiting for the two girls to explain their idea to the rest of them. "What the bloody hell are you going on about?" 

"Well, Lucius. I was trying to think of a better way to keep in contact with our sister over the summer when I got the idea of enchanted promise rings." Narcissa explained to the boys. "Is Bellatrix moving out of the Manor?" Rose asked the sisters. "No. Why would you think-" 'Our sister' those were Narcissa's exact words. She didn't even realize she had said them out loud.

"We mean you, Rosy," Andromeda told the young witch, as she looked between the two girls. "Oh. Okay." Rose said with the brightest smile on her face. "Well, I think it's a wonderful idea, Narcissa," Ted spoke, trying to get back to the original point of the conversation. "Yes, yes it is," Lucius told the girls with a small smile. 

"I'll start enchanting the rings when we get to the Manor and send them by owl when I'm done." Andy volunteered, she was the best at charms anyways. "We'll be able to speak to each other like those muggle thingies." "Telephones?" "Yes...?"

~~~

When they finally neared the station, Rose said goodbye to her older friends and left to find her friends her age. Wondering the train, it didn't take long for her to find the boys. Mainly because Remus seemed to be trying to keep James and Sirius out after kicking them out earlier in the ride. As Rose approached the boys, they kept banging on the door and yelling for their friend to unlock it. But, both boys quickly shut up once they noticed her.

"Having trouble with your compartment door?" Rosemary asked the two before proceeding to simply knock. Remus looked out the little window then unlocked the compartment, allowing the Hufflepuff into the closed space. "Why did you lock them out, Remus?" "Because James dared Sirius to throw my book out the window." Remus simply answered the girl's question, not looking up from said book. "And?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrow as she looked between the boys. "They didn't get the chance." 

"He shoved us out before Sirius could even respond to me," James told her, Sirius just shrugged.

Before anyone could say anything else, the train began to slow. "Well, I still need to say bye to the girls, so I'll be off," Rose told the four boys, hugging them and promising to write about ten times before they let her leave. She quickly made her way to where she left her sister and the rest of her close friends.

By the time Rose reached the compartment the train had already stopped at the station. Rose had left her things with her sister so she didn't have to worry about them. Grabbing her belongings, Rose walked with the girls out to meet their parents. As soon as all the girls had set their trunks down, they were crushed into a group hug. Promises of letters and sleepovers were all that could be heard as the girls separated to find their parents.

And so their first year ends.

But their story continues...