The truth about the return of You-Know-Who was all that everyone could talk about for the next week, with reality hitting the entire castle like a spell that couldn't be dodged. Not only was that the popular gossip within Hogwarts, but so were the events from the Department of Mysteries, along with the death of Sirius Black and the arrest of twelve Death Eaters, one of them being Lucius Malfoy, all of which was in the Daily Prophet. No one from Dumbledore's Army or the Order of the Phoenix (a society Rosie had learned about after that night) was mentioned, especially Rosie's father, who was at St. Mungo's in a coma after suffering major injuries to his head. However, the teenagers managed to make it on the front page after a photographer caught them in the background while getting a picture of Harry and Dumbledore. And much to their dismay, the other students tended to whisper if any of them were walking in the corridors. The only student who didn't make it in the paper was Greer, but it didn't stop people from talking about her due to Adam and Gavin's involvement. Not only that, but Greer didn't return to Hogwarts after that night, and to be honest, Rosie wasn't surprised, nor did she really care to see her given how they left things off that night.

But in the midst of the terrible events that transpired, one good thing happened: Headmistress Umbridge was suspended after allegations of abusing her power while in her position came to light, with Dumbledore being reinstated as headmaster. While everyone was glad to be rid of that terrible woman, Rosie was having a hard time being joyous. In fact, she really wasn't in the mood to be happy about...well, anything. Although given what she had been through, no one could really blame her.

On the last day of term, Rosie spent the morning packing up her things for the summer. Even though the idea of not having to worry about homework was something to look forward to, that would leave more room to be anxious over whether or not her father would actually wake up from his coma. She'd rather not think about what happened if he didn't. But for now, all she and her mum could do was wait.

Rosie closed and locked her trunk, putting it on the floor when she heard footsteps getting closer to the dorm. She turned around to see Hermione standing in the frame, holding a book close to her chest.

"Hi, Rosie," she said.

"Hey, Hermione," she answered back.

"I was wondering if you'd like to come down to the Great Hall for the feast with me." Hermione paused, her expression turning soft. "I'm sure there's plenty of food left."

Rosie was about to decline the offer when her stomach began to rumble, and she figured Hermione heard it, too. "Yeah, that sounds good." She placed her trunk against the wall and walked out of the room, following Hermione down the stone steps and through the common room, where Ron was sitting on the edge of the couch, still sporting a black eye from the battle.

"Is he coming?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows, a sense of hope in her voice. Rosie knew she was talking about Harry.

With a sad look, Ron shook his head. "Said he wasn't hungry."

Hermione nodded her head in defeat, a sad expression coming across her face. "Of course he did," she muttered. "Well, the three of us can head down, then."

"Actually, I might stay behind. You know, just to keep an eye on him."

Nodding again, Hermione led Rosie out of the common room and through the portrait, taking the first flight of steps and working their way down the stairs. Neither of the girls said anything for a while, though the sound of students running down the corridors and laughing was enough to fill the awkwardness between the two girls.

"Any news on your dad?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence.

Rosie shook her head. "Still doing the same." She tried to ignore the lump forming in her throat.

"Oh. Well, that's better than bad news, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Rosie paused, looking down at her hands. "The Healers are doing everything they can."

Hermione let out a sigh. "He's going to be okay," she said, a hint of hope in her voice.

Rosie looked up at her. "You really think so?"

"Of course." Hermione was quiet for a moment before she spoke up again. "I'll admit, a lot of us were skeptical about you joining Dumbledore's Army." She paused and let a small grin form across her lips. "But you really surprised me this year, Rosie. I actually think you surprised a lot of people."

Rosie gave her a weak smile back. She was glad to have been able to join Dumbledore's Army and make a difference, even when it seemed like no one else wanted her to be a part of it. Still, she learned two very important things this year: never give up and don't be afraid to take a stand in what you believe in, even if you form a few enemies along the way.

Unfortunately for Rosie, the one enemy she made did not surprise her one bit, and looking back, she wished she had realized that it would happen sooner rather than later.

The girls could see the Great Hall from a distance, with students and professors coming in and out through the entrance. They weaved through the small crowd when they arrived at the double doors and headed for the Gryffindor table, finding seats in the middle, feeling eyes on them as they began piling their plate with food. At this point, both of them were used to all of the stares, but at least all of that would stop today once everyone left for the summer.

Rosie and Hermione made small talk for the duration of the feast, trying to keep their conversations as positive as possible, which didn't last very long when Hermione brought up the holiday plans she had with her parents. Even though Rosie assured her that it was okay to talk about them, Hermione quickly apologized and moved onto the topic of classes for next year.

Once the feast was almost at its end, the girls finished off their desserts and decided to head back to the dorms to get their things. They had smiles on their faces, still chatting as they were walking out of the Great Hall. Except when they turned to go down the corridor, Rosie came to a halt, letting the grin fade when she locked eyes with Adam and Gavin just yards away from her.

Rosie hadn't talked to either one of them since the events at the Ministry, thinking it was best to keep a distance from them for the time being. For the last week, she barely saw them around the castle, and really, she made sure that was the case, not knowing what to say to the boys about what happened that night. She was able to avoid that awkward talk, but there would come a time when she'd have to say something about the incident to the boys. But for now, attempting to put it off for as long as she could was her plan.

"Are you alright, Rosie?" Hermione asked.

Rosie snapped out of her thoughts and glanced over at Hermione, nodding in response. "Yeah," she muttered. "Come on."

Hermione didn't say anything after that, leading the way back to the dorms, with Rosie following suit, quickly turning her eyes away from Adam and Gavin as she ascended the stairs.

On the way back to the dorms, Rosie couldn't help but continue to think about the boys, wondering what was going to happen once they left Hogwarts this afternoon and spent some time away from each other over the summer. Not only that, but this was Adam's final year at Hogwarts. What was his plan now? Would he even want to keep in touch with Rosie anymore? There was a part of her that hoped he would, though the chances of that were slim the longer she kept avoiding him and Gavin. She then wasn't sure if Thomson twins would even come back for their seventh year after their involvement in the Department of Mysteries, something that Rosie would surely worry about over the next few months until she was back at King's Cross Station in September.

The girls didn't take long gathering their trunks and the rest of their things, saying goodbye to the room one last time before heading down the stairs. When they reached the common room, both of them were surprised to see Harry sitting next to Ron on the couch, though his expression remained blank when he turned around at the sound of footsteps.

"Hey, Harry," Hermione spoke up, giving him a weak smile.

"Hey," he replied, then glancing over at Rosie, simply nodding his head, to which Rosie did the same.

The four didn't say anything for another moment, the awkwardness beginning to settle over them. Rosie could tell that Harry wasn't really in the talking mood to begin with, as he had been that way for the last week. But she couldn't blame him after finding out that Sirius Black was Harry's godfather, and she understood why the loss was a hard hit for him. It also meant that things between Harry and You-Know-Who were personal, something else that Rosie understood.

Before any of the four could break the silence, a group of students came walking down the stairs, talking and laughing as they walked through the common room and out through the portrait with their belongings. That seemed to be the cue for Harry and Ron to stand up from their spots on the couch, grabbing their trunks and bags.

"Guess we better get going," Ron stated.

So the four made their way out of the common room and exited through the portrait, taking the stairs with other students, going back to not saying anything to each other. Rosie took this time to look around the staircase and see all of the portraits that Umbridge had taken down be put back up again by Mr. Filch. Even though she barely gave any of them a second glance at them during the school year, it was nice to see them hanging back on the walls once again, taking it as a sign that Hogwarts was slowly going back to normal again, despite that normalcy only being temporary until they came back in a few short months.

By the time they reached the last floor, Rosie and the trio were joined by Neville, Ginny, and Luna, with all of them dropping off their trunks by the exit, then heading out of the castle and down to the carriages. During that walk, more conversation about the holiday was brought up, with the exception of Harry, who remained quiet like before.

"You'll write to us this summer, right, Rosie?" Neville asked her.

Rosie turned her head and shot him a small grin. "Of course," she answered. Feeling included by peers from your own House was something Rosie never thought would happen given her closeness with Adam and the Thomson twins. She'd never admit it, but it meant more to her now after all that had gone down these past few months. It was another reason why Dumbledore's Army was the best thing to happen in her life.

The carriage ride was an enjoyable one for Rosie, as she and the others continued their chatty discussions and didn't worry about anything else during the ride. If she had sat with Adam and the twins, she'd usually not say much other than a few words here and there, but it would have consisted of Greer throwing herself all over Adam, who would merely chuckle and smile at her, while Gavin rolled his eyes at the sight of their romance. At least with the Gryffindors, she had much more to add in the conversation, and she started to think that these were really her people all along.

When the carriage finally came to a stop, everyone hopped off, waiting until it was empty before continuing their walk to the train.

"I've been thinking about something Dumbledore said to me," Harry said once they started slowing down on the path.

"What's that?" Hermione questioned.

Harry adjusted his light coat, his eyes going back and forth in the group. "That even though we've got a fight ahead of us, we've got one thing that Voldemort doesn't have."

"Yeah?" Ron spoke up.

"Something worth fighting for."

Rosie beamed at the hope that was coming back to Harry's eyes, the same hope that he had while teaching Dumbledore's Army. She let his words sink into her mind, having faith that the things worth fighting for would hopefully be enough for the long fight that was not too far away from them. And with the rest of the Wizarding world knowing the harsh truth of You-Know-Who's return at last, it meant they also had to prepare for the next step in these dark times coming ahead...

War.

END OF PART I

A/N: We're FINALLY at the end of the first part! What did you think?

I know it's taken me a long time just to finish the first half of this book, but thank you to those who have stayed with it for this long.

Comment, vote, hope to see you all in PART II!

-A