"I chickened out," James admitted and Rose raised an eyebrow. "I know I said I was going to tell them but I couldn't."

"James, what are you doing here?" she asked and he looked down the table to find the Slytherin's watching him in distaste.

"Come with me," he requested.

"I'm busy."

"Rosie-"

"Alright, alright," she huffed before gathering her belongings.

She followed him out of the Great Hall and as soon as they were out and the doors had shut, James latched onto her hand and dragged her through the corridor until they found an empty classroom.

"What was that about chickening out?" Rose inquired.

"It's not that I don't want them to know," he explained quickly, "Because I do, it's just...hmm." It had now been a week since Rose informed him that she was ready to tell everyone. And neither of them had said a single thing.

"Because it's been kind of nice not having to deal with all the looks and the questions?" she finished for him. He huffed, nodding in reply, "I know."

"I want out friends to know," he explained, "And I expect the questions but I like how things are now.

"How about this?" Rose suggested as she crossed the room to him. "I will talk to Lily first. I'll see what she wants in regards to who knows and who doesn't and then we can sit our friends down and get all the questions over with as soon as possible."

"I can work with that," he agreed. "What are you doing for the rest of the day?"

"Talking to my sister."

He groaned, "Do you have to do that now?

"Haven't I waited long enough?"

"Fine," he huffed, pulling her towards himself by the waist, "I just miss you."

She rolled her eyes but smiled despite herself, "I was with you last night. And the night before that. And the night before that. And-"

"Okay, okay," he cut her off, placing a quick kiss on her lips. "I'll see you later? At dinner?"

"That depends on how the next hour goes."

James let out a breath, "She won't be upset, will she?" He ran his hands over his face, "Merlin, I messed up."

"Yeah, you did," she agreed and he shot her a look. "What?" she inquired, "You did mess up."

"I'm aware of that but it's your job to make me feel better about myself," he pointed out with narrowed eyes.

She snorted, "If you want someone who will coddle you, you may want to switch Evans sisters again."

"That's not funny."

She grinned, "It's a little funny."

"Go talk to your sister."

"About you dating her again?"

"Rose."

"Okay, I'm going," she replied, placing a quick kiss on his lips, "I'll see you later."

"I'm not sure I want to see you anymore."

"Want me to send-"

"Get out," he demanded, pointing toward the door. She grinned before she left the room, leaving the boy behind to sulk.

Rose had been looking for her sister all day but she was nowhere to be found.

"Where in the bloody hell is this girl?" Rose huffed as she sat down next to Tonks who had joined Remus at the Gryffindor table. "I've been looking for her all day."

Tonks raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

"Lily."

"Oh, she's in the library," Remus informed her.

"I was just there!" Rose exclaimed.

He shrugged, "You didn't look hard enough."

"Ugh," she said before she stood back up and made her way out of the Great Hall.

"What do you think that was about?" Tonks asked.

"She's probably just trying to tell Lily about her and James," Remus answered. Tonks gaped at him and Remus seemed to realize that she wasn't saying anything and looked over at her, "What?"

"Rose and James?

"What about them?"

"Why would Rose need to talk to Lily about her and James?" Tonks asked. "They're just friends."

Remus placed his book down and ran a hand over his face, "Oh, no."

"Remus," Tonks said, "What do you know?"

He shook his head, "Nothing."

"Lupin."

"I don't know anything."

"You're a filthy liar."

"Well-"

"Tell the truth.

"I can't."

"Remus!"

"I'm not even supposed to know!"

"Know what?" Tonks demanded.

Remus huffed, "She'll tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"Just wait, okay?" he requested. "She'll tell you."

Rose entered the library with a huff. "Lily!" she exclaimed, ignoring the librarian's shushing. "Lily! Are you here?"

"Merlin, Rose," Lily huffed as she stood up from the table she sat at and gathered her things. "

"I need to tell you something," Rose blurted out.

Lily stopped what she was doing, "Is everything okay?"

Rose nodded, "Everything's fine."

"Okay, what is it then?"

"Ms. Evans," McGonagall said and the two turned to look at her. "Good, you're together. The Headmaster would like to speak with you."

Rose's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she turned to look at her sister. Lily shrugged, "You can tell me after." The two girls left the library and followed their teacher to the Headmaster's office.

The two girls settled down and waited for the Headmaster to speak after they exchanged the normal greetings.

"I regret to inform you that your parents have been killed," Dumbeldore announced and Rose was taken aback. Lily's eyes widened as the man continued, "We received word earlier today that there was a Dark Mark above your home-"

"The Dark Mark?" Rose gaped. "You're saying he-who-shall-not-be-named did this?"

"It's highly probable that he orchestrated it, yes," he nodded.

Rose turned to look at Lily who was seemingly staring at the Headmaster in shock. Her eyes had welled with tears as she waited for him to tell her this was some sort of sick joke.

"Is Petunia alright?" Rose asked.

"She's fine," he assured her and Rose let out a breath of relief. "She's already arranged a funeral. It's to happen this Thursday. Of course, you will be excused from all classes as well as anyone you wish to accompany you."

"Thursday?" Lily gaped. "That's - that's in two days."

"I assume your sister wants to get the hardest part out of the way first," he replied. He handed an envelope to Rose, "This is from Petunia. She asked that I give it to you."

Rose took the letter before standing up. She turned to her sister, "Lily." Lily's head shot in her direction and Rose frowned at the sight of her sister in such a distressed state. "Come on, let's go back to your room."

She helped Lily to the Gryffindor common room, trying her best to ignore the thoughts and emotions racing through her mind. Upon entering the common room, Marlene approached them. "Lily?" she inquired before she looked at Rose, "What happened?"

"Can you bring her to your room?" Rose requested, not bothering to explain. "Please."

Marlene nodded quickly before taking the still shaken up and clearly upset Lily from the girl and guiding her to their room.

Rose let out a breath, taking a seat on the windowsill and taking a moment to read the letter. She was surprised to find that it was rather short.

Dear Rose and Lily,

I want to make it exponentially clear that you are not invited to the funeral. Mom and dad would not have wanted you there anyway. After all, it's your fault they're dead.

Everyone thinks they got into a car accident. An accident. It was not an accident, it was murder. And it should have been you.

Vernon and I are selling the house. We'll have your stuff sent to that wretched school of yours. I'm sure you'll find somewhere to stay.

The lawyer will be in contact with you when you officially turn eighteen to give you what mom and dad left for you in the will. In my opinion, they should have left you nothing.

Petunia

Rose stared at the letter in her hands, her grip tightening around the small parchment paper in anger. She couldn't just not invite them to their own parents' funeral, could she? What would people think? That they just didn't care? Knowing Petunia, she was likely to tell everyone that Rose and Lily were dead as well.

"Oh, it's not that bad," James pointed out as he stepped through the portrait, Sirius and Peter behind him.

"He's never around anymore," Sirius pointed out. "Moony is always with her. The only time we see him is on full moons."

"He makes a good point, Prongs," Peter agreed. "Ever since Moony and Tonks started dating, we rarely see him. It was the same when you were dating Lily."

"I saw you guys all the time."

"In classes and at meals," Sirius reminded him. "We never had any time for just us."

"Then we'll make time for just us," James huffed. "We'll talk to Moony and schedule a day for just us and-" He cut himself off when he saw Rose sitting on the windowsill by herself, "Rose?"

"No girls!" Sirius exclaimed. "No matter how much I like the girl, if she's there, we'll lose you." James ignored the boy as he started toward the girl. Sirius watched where he was walking and rolled his eyes, "Well, that just proves my point."

"Rose," James said again and the girl looked up. He felt his heart drop in his chest when he saw the look on her face. She immediately stood up, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Hey, hey," he said soothingly. "What happened?"

"My parents," she managed to get out as she buried her face in his neck. She didn't want anyone to see her like this but she couldn't keep it in. "They're - they're dead."

James's grip tightened around her as she let out a sob.

Sirius snapped his fingers at a group of girls who were snickering as they watched Rose, "Go find something better to do with your time before I make you regret it." They quickly scampered away as Sirius shot daggers in their direction.

Rose pulled away, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, "Petunia doesn't want us at the funeral. I don't know how I'm supposed to explain that to Lily. And the house...Her and her snotty little - well, not little - fiancé are going to sell it and-"

"Rose," James interrupted as he rested his hands on the sides of her face. "Breathe, okay? Just, take a moment."

She nodded as she watched him. After a moment, she spoke, "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"What happened?"

"They're telling people it was a car accident," she explained, "But it wasn't. It was him. It was him or his followers but the mark was over our house." She shook her head, "God, this is my fault. If I had just listened to Bellatrix and-"

"Hey, woah-" he cut her short, "This isn't your fault." He moved down slightly so he could look her in the eye, and he wiped her tears away quickly with his thumb, "This is not your fault."

"Yes, it is," she countered. "She warned me. I could have done something. I could have-"

"Rosie," he tried again. "Don't do this to yourself."

She bit the inside of her lip as she tried to stop herself from crying but failed miserably. She fell against his chest as a sob escaped her and he wrapped his arms around the girl in comfort.

Maybe they wouldn't all survive this.