Our Little Rose

Hellos

"Bye, Mom!" "Bye, Dad!" "We love you!" "We'll miss you!" "We'll write!" "Every week!" Eh, every other week!" "Lily!" Rose giggled as her and her sister walked towards the platforms 'gate'. "Bye!" both twins yelled at the brick wall.

Once the girls made it to the platform, they quickly put their trunks on the storage cart and Rose let Nyx out of her cage. "Fly ahead to Hogwarts, ok Nyx." The owl just looked between Rose and the little snowball resting in her arms. "Don't worry about Nox, I'll make sure he's safe, you'll see us in a few hours." Nyx hooted before cuddling up to Rose's neck and then nuzzled Nox before, reluctantly, flying off to the school.

Rose picks up Nox and put him in the Hufflepuff scarf that Lily had wrapped around her neck before they left the house. After making sure Nox was tucked away safe and secure, she grabbed Lily's hand and took of towards the crowd of students saying goodbye to their parents .The twins looked high and low in hopes of finding the, now, second year girls of Gryffindor.

The two sisters started to shout out for their friends, Rose throwing in one of the boys names every now and then. Marlene MacKinnon was the first person to join them, shortly followed by Alice and Mary. Dorcas came up behind the group, jumping on Rose's back as she yelled 'here'. All six girls tried to keep Rose and Dorcas from falling, all of them giggling non-stop.

"Ok, ok, I think we're stable enough." Rose said, still laughing with her friends. "Ok, lets get on the train before all of the compartments are filled." Alice told the girls, clapping her hands together and pointing to the shining red train to their left. "Yes," Marlene mimicked, "lets hurry along." "But, I still haven't found the boys." "Oh, Rose, why cant you just say hello when we get there?" Mary wined. "Oh, well I promise I'll sit with you on the way there, but if I don't say hello now, they'll just search the whole train later." Rose told them with a sympathetic smile. 

She didn't want them to think she was picking the boys over them... again.  Over the summer, she had disappeared a few times to go see the boys. She had set days meant for each group, but sometimes the boys would owl about something. Whether it be one of them getting hurt, or Rose going to check on Remus after a full moon, or James had to rant to someone before he blew, or Peter had a nightmare, or Sirius had family troubles. She'd say sorry and leave to be there for them in an instant. None of them blamed her. They knew that if it was any of them, she'd do the same. In fact she had.

But that didn't stop both groups from competing for the Hufflepuff's attention.

 Alice nodded but continued to pout about it. Rose giggled and rolled her eyes, giving a quick goodbye before rushing to find the group of boys. After searching the platform, she decided that they must have already gotten on the train. Running down the corridor, she finally made it to the compartment she had met James and Sirius in last year. Before she could even reach for the handle, four boys began racing out of it. She caught the words 'I'll find her first' before she was at the bottom of a dog pile.

"So, who are you lot looking for?" Rose spoke, her voice strained from the weight of the boys on top her. "Rosy!" All four boys yelled, their smiles almost blinding. They all started speaking at once, Rose just lay there, squashed. "Alright, alright. Get off me before I'm flattened into the corridor floor." Rose told them, muffled by their coats. "I'm going to suffocate!" All four of the boys quickly scrambled off of their friend.  As Sirius pulled her to her feet, James asked if she was alright, Remus offered her chocolate, and Peter continuously told her sorry. 

Rose couldn't help but laugh at their antics, overjoyed to see them all together. Their last group hangout had been over a month ago and Rosemary had missed the chaos that came with all four boys in one place. After a few minutes, the boys lead her into their compartment, pushing her onto the seat so they could talk. Rose sat between Sirius and Remus, James and Peter across from them. They talked for a little bit of time before Rose quickly escaped, throwing a 'goodbye' over her shoulder as the boys protested.

Before Rose went to find the girls again, she wondered to where she knew Narcissa would be seated. All of the others had graduated and Rose wanted to make sure the she wasn't sitting alone. As Rose reached the compartment with the youngest Black heiress, she pulled it open slowly. When Rose saw a young boy with curly black hair and blue, almost gray, eyes, she was slightly confused. She had seen the boy exactly one year ago with his parent, he also reminded her of one of the boys she just left.

"Oh, hello. I'm sorry I was looking for Cissy. I suppose I got the wrong door." The boy looked up at Rose shyly, but quickly shook his head. "No you haven't. Narcissa just stepped out to-" "Rose Darling, is that you?" A voice down the corridor asked, cutting the young boy off. "Cissy!" Rose shouted as she ran into the arms of the older Slytherin girl. "Oh, its so great to see you again, Darling." "Cissy, you and the others met me for lunch two weeks ago." Rose told her, smiling at one of the girls she saw as an older sister.

The boy now stood at the door of the compartment, watching the girls down the corridor. He was slightly confused, he had never seen Narcissa so openly overjoyed to see someone before. Sure, she always smiled when she saw a family member or Lucius, but she was never allowed to show pure emotion around them. No Pure Blood was allowed to show emotion like that in public, it was frowned upon.

Narcissa soon saw the boy standing in the door and quickly led the young girl over to him. "Rose Darling, this is my cousin, Regulus." "Oh, you're Sirius brother. He talks about you sometimes." Rose told the youngest Black with a smile. "Oh, um, hello." Regulus replied, his voice low and shy. Rose smiled at Regulus and then up at Narcissa. "Well, I promised Mary I would sit with them and I've already been gone about thirty minutes." "Ok, Darling. Make sure to see me before bed, okay?" Narcissa told the second year, hugging her tight. "Of course, Cissy. It was wonderful to meet you, Regulus." Rose said, pulling away from the seventh year and pulling the first year into his own hug.

Regulus stiffened before relaxing into the girls hold. When Rose pulled away he looked confused. "What was that?" He asked the Hufflepuff, crossing his arms over his chest, grumpily. "Affection." Rose told him, almost teasing. Sirius had a similar reaction the first time she hugged him, coming from a family where physical contact was usually a negative thing. "Disgusting," Regulus muttered, "do it again."