Everything hazed together as she ran down the streets of Hogsmeade, they were so crowded with students no one notice her run. She kept on running; soon she left the buzzing centre and found herself on the outskirts of the village. Completely alone, it was so silent and still.
Not in her head. It was screaming at her, her conscience was on fire. The guilt seeping through. She’d kept that lie going long enough. Rose Evans, only child, parents dead, car crash it was a tragedy, brought up by her godmother. What made it hurt so much more is how easily people believed it. And now part of her believed it. When she’d said the simply ‘no’ to Charlie, there wasn’t a single thought of Harry.
But then again, did Harry ever have a thought of her. Of course it wasn’t his fault if he couldn’t remember her; after all he was just over a year old when he’d last seen her, when she had last held her true identity, when she had last existed. Just out of curiosity she had researched the newspapers and books about that night. Not a single one mentioned her. One had printed a picture of the statue that had been put up in Godrics Hollow of the three Potters, who had saved the wizarding world. But of course she didn’t do anything, did she, she wasn’t worth remembering.
This was the simpler route of course, the easier one, it had been agreed. Dumbledore had came to ask her again before she went to her first year at Hogwarts is she had wanted to change it. She denied her life would be overtaken by questions and stares, reliving the memory everyday never reaching a close. Only at the back of her head was a little voice that snapped at her for ‘the easier route’, Harry wouldn’t have the choice he’d have to face the questions and stares.
It was then that she promised herself that if she could have her small time of peace, she’d help Harry anyway she could and face the questions and stares with him.
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Oh shit what have I done? It was going so well, until she just sort of ran away. Okay Charlie just finish your drink and calmly stand up, grab the coats and Roses bag and slowly walk out. Now that wasn’t that bad was it, only half the pub saw. Now find her but take it slowly because you don’t want to make a habit of girls running away from you. Yeah but not that slowly your carrying her coat and its bloody freezing out here.
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Oh Merlin I’ve screwed that up haven’t I, just running off like that, he probably thinks I’m some crazy banshee or something. And I left my coat, brilliant just going to freeze to death to.
“Rose please doesn’t go any closer” came a voice from behind her.
She turned around quickly to see Charlie standing 10 meters from her “what?”
“It’s the... Shrieking shack” he whispered at her
“Yeah I know”
Okay this was seriously getting weird, probably because he thinks you’re a crazy banshee.
“It’s haunted, there are like werewolves and all sorts of mad animals in there”
Looking at his face she could see he was genuinely afraid. So she walked closer to him away from the shack, every step trying not to laugh. At one point she had start a fake cough just to cover up her mouth and she laughed. She wasn’t sure what was funnier the mad animals that haunted the shack or how gullible he was.
Once she reached him she was sort of ashamed to look in his face especially to see just how worried he was. “Here you need to put this on” he put her coat around her so she could put it on.
“Thanks”
“Is something up Rose? You know you can tell me?” he gently spoke back
She was so close, it was on the tip of her tongue a few words and she could tell him...”I can’t- I just can’t, sorry” Well there it goes screwed up.
She walked away from him and began the walk back to the castle. Don’t you dare cry, don’t you dare. Channel some of that Gryffindor courage and keep walking. Even now with her coat on the cold bit against her skin. Her hands were freezing up, she clenched her left hand but when she did something warm grasped it, pulling her back.
The warm hand pulled her back into a warm pair of strong arms “Did you think you could get away that easily” Finally looking up she saw the tender expression “I don’t know what it is but there’s something Rosie and it’s telling me to hold onto you and then never let go, and whatever it is that hurting you I can see that you can’t tell me but remember it can be braver to ask for help than facing pain alone”.
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