Hogsmeade. This was the one word that Rosalyn hated. She knew that Hermione, Ron, and, miraculously, Harry, had all managed to get a signature. Harry had struggled, but he had managed to convince Aunt Petunia, who, it transpired, might still have loved her sister a tiny bit.

Rosalyn, however, hadn't received a permission slip. She didn't know how, she didn't know who's decision it was to not go he one, but she didn't have one, and it angered her to no end. She remembered when she got it, or rather didn't, with a burning anger.

"Oh, it's your Hogwarts letters!" Molly said excitedly to Percy, Fred, George, Rosalyn, Ron and Ginny.

They all got the one with their name on and ripped them open. It was only a second before Percy screamed. "Head boy! I'm head boy!"

Molly went over to her son, beaming. "Well done! I'm so proud of you!"

Fred and George rolled their eyes and Rosalyn and Ginny laughed. Ron hovered on the edge of them, but no one noticed him.

Rosalyn sighed as Fred and George leant in to her and whispered. "Another disappointment, I swear to Godric, Rosie, you better not be made a prefect."

"That's two years away!" Rosalyn said, but then she saw Molly looking their way, and they all fell silent.

Ron was busy with his letter, saying. "Oh look mum, it's our permission slips for Hogsmeade! We get to visit the village from now on!"

Molly had somehow forgotten about this, "Oh yes, well come on, I better do it now, then I won't forget, Rosalyn, you can give me yours- er- Rosalyn?"

Rosalyn was searching her envelope fervently, it had to be there, they can't have forgotten it, it had to just be hidden inside a folded piece of parchment, it couldn't not be there, could it?

But it wasn't. Her permission slip wasn't there, it wasn't in the letter, it hadn't been sent to her.

"It's not there!" She said to Molly. "It's not there!" She repeated.

"Wh- what, dear?" Molly asked.

"It's not there, it wasn't in the envelope, it wasn't sent!" Rosalyn said quickly.

"B-but-"

"You can search yourself, it's not there!"

And Molly did search, she took the envelope and tried to find the missing permission slip. But, deep down, Rosalyn knew it wasn't missing, it just wasn't there.

So Molly couldn't sign it, and Rosalyn couldn't go. But she did wonder, why wasn't it there? Was it a trick? A joke? Or had someone stopped it coming because they didn't want her to go, or keep her safe?

Ron had told Rosalyn to ask McGonagall to give her a slip, and send it to Molly. So now, when Filch was checking slips and McGonagall was standing at the front of a large group of third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years, Rosalyn addressed her head of house.

"Now remember, these visits to Hogsmeade village are a privilege," She said. "Should you behave poorly in any way, that privilege shall be revoked."

Rosalyn took this as a moment to walk forward to her, filled with absolutely no faith. And she should have been, because at that moment, Neville stepped up too.

"I can't find my-"

"It's okay Mr Longbottom," McGonagall said tartly."Your grandmother sent me yours by owl, she seemed to think it was safer."

Neville sighed and joined the big group, and McGonagall did the same and turned to Rosalyn.

"No permission slip signed, no visiting the village, that's the rule, Potter," she said dismissively.

"But I didn't have a damn permission slip!" Rosalyn said, annoyed.

"All those with permission," Filch stepped forward, a pile of parchment in his hands. "You follow me, all those without, stay put."

Rosalyn wasn't giving up that easily, she ran infront of McGonagall as she to, walked forward. "But I didn't have a slip, and I don't know why, but it's completely unfair and I want a slip!" She demanded.

"Well, it doesn't matter," said McGonagall, walking on. Rosalyn knew that she was just avoiding trying to tell her why she didn't get a slip.

"Come on, Professor, you've always been like a mother to me-" Rosalyn tried again.

McGonagall raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "I'm sorry Potter," she added. Then she said. "And you're wrong. We both know you couldn't handle it if I were your mother."

she turned round near where Harry, Ron and Hermione were waiting, hopefully, but not, to take their friend with them.

"Forget about it guys," Rosalyn said, a sound of bitter disappointment in her voice. "See you later."

They hastened to leave her behind, but eventually had to go with the mass of students walking to Hogsmeade, Rosalyn getting left behind.

She sighed and walked back into the castle. Seeing the first and second years walking about the grounds made her feel like a young child, not good enough to go with the big kids to Hogsmeade.

She hung her head and walked up the marble stairs, eyes fixed on something fascinating, yet not there, on the ground.

She was soon on a floor that she didn't know the number of, walking at a rapid pace. She was angry, annoyed, and the cogs in her brain were being put to the test.

She was focused on where she was going, but she herself didn't know. She was so busy that she didn't notice Professor Lupin coming down the corridor, and she collided with him.

The DADA professor was surprised, if anything, as the red hair was all he saw of what had just bumped into him. He knew it was Rosalyn before Rosalyn herself had worked out where she was, and while Lupin took a moment to regain his posture, Rosalyn said. "Sorry Professor- I- I didn't realise-"

"I know," was all Lupin said, surveying her, sighing as he, again looked straight into the eyes of one of his best friends. "It's okay."

He then asked her a question. "Why aren't you in Hogsmeade? Isn't this the first trip for the third years?"

"Well, yeah," Started Rosalyn, she wasn't in the mood to discuss this. "But I didn't get a signed permission slip- actually, scratch that- I didn't get a permission slip at all, so I can't go!"

Lupin was half amused, half confused, "What? You didn't get a permission slip?"

"It wasn't with my Hogwarts letter in the envelope," Rosalyn explained, "I tried to ask for a new one but McGonagall-"

"Professor McGonagall."

"Professor McGonagall turned me down, and not just that, but she totally avoided the subject when I tried to ask her about it!"

"Okay, okay," Lupin tried to calm down the fired up Rosalyn. "You look like you need a distraction, how about we go for a walk in the grounds?"

Rosalyn reluctantly agreed, and the two of them walked downstairs and out into the fresh air. Rosalyn's untied hair blew wild in the breeze, and Lupin smiled as he remembered another fiery redhead in these very grounds, telling off him and his friends.

They walked to the wooden bridge and looked down on the grounds, Rosalyn swallowed as, in the distance, she saw Hogsmeade, and tiny figures within it.

Lupin said. "It's okay, you know, even if you never get to go in school time, you can visit at other times as well."

"What's it like?" Rosalyn asked desperately.

"Amazing. Honeyduke's is best, the sweet shop, and there's Zonko's, the joke shop, it's amazing, you can't beat their stink pellets, and the Three Broomsticks' butterbeer is perfect, I used to live for that on my visits."

Rosalyn sighed and changed the subject. "Professor, can I ask you something?"

"You want to know why I stopped you facing that boggart," Lupin predicted, and Rosalyn nodded. "You see, I would've thought it was obvious. Faced with you, I thought it would take the shape of Lord Voldemort."

Once Rosalyn had got over the general shock of Lupin being able to say Voldemort's name without flinching, she shared. "I did think of Voldemort at first, but then I remembered that night on the train, and the dementor."

"Then I'm very impressed," Lupin praised. "That suggests that what you fear the most is fear itself, this is very wise."

Rosalyn closed her eyes for a second, then she decided to share something with her teacher. "Professor, before I fainted, I heard something. A woman, screaming."

Lupin didn't even do a double take, he just said. "Well, dementors force us to relive our very worst memories. Our pain becomes their power."

Rosalyn said an impromptu thing. "I think it was my mother. The night she was murdered."

Lupin decided to share something with Rosalyn now. "You know, the very first time I saw you, Rosalyn, I recognised you immediately, not from you scar." He asked as Rosalyn pulled up her sleeve. "But from your eyes. They're you father James', and your hair, well, that's Lily's through and through." He walked to the other side of the bridge and looked out onto the view beyond Hogwarts, it was beautiful. When he saw the questioning look on Rosalyn's face. "Oh yes, I knew them."

He went on to explain. "Your mother was there for me when no one else was. Not only was she a singularly gifted witch, she was also uncommonly kind, and she had a way of seeing the beauty in others even, most especially, when they could not see it themselves. And your father, James, on the other hand," he laughed, "he had a, shall we say, talent for trouble," he walked back to Rosalyn's side. "A talent, rumour has it, that he passed onto you."

Rosalyn smiled widely, grinning happily as Lupin said quietly. "You're more like them than you know, Rosalyn, and in time you'll come to see just how much."

Rosalyn sighed and said. "I always wondered- would they be angry?"

"At what?" Asked Lupin, surprised.

"Well..." Rosalyn hesitated, could she trust him?

She decided she could. "The night my mum and dad were murdered, someone, and I don't know who, took me from my house to the Weasley's. I had a letter beside me, explaining what had happened, and the writer of the letter had, apparently, thought that Harry was dead, but he wasn't. And because of that, I was the only one that got a nice life. For the first ten years of Harry's, he was bullied, lied to, and hurt. I wasn't."

Lupin sighed. "Well, first of all Rosalyn, I don't think you should blame yourself for that, and don't blame the mysterious person either, they didn't know. Of course your parents wouldn't be angry, it's not your fault, but all I can say is that it was a mistake, and it just wasn't put right. But it will be, I promise."

Rosalyn sighed, this had been on her chest for ages. Years and years. She hadn't asked anyone about it, or told anyone, she hadn't even thought about it for years, but just pushed it to the back of her brain and never said anything about it. But Lupin talking about her parents had just brought it back, and she had taken a chance.

She looked at Lupin and saw his eyes trained on her, looking at her reaction, "That's been on your mind for a long time, hasn't it?" He asked perceptively.

"Yeah," Rosalyn said, "I've just always wondered..." She trailed off.

"It's fine," Lupin said, and then he went on. "Are Harry, Ron and Hermione getting anything for you in Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah," Rosalyn said. "I asked them to get me a tonne of sweets from Honeyduke's, I've tried a few before, Fred and George've given me some, but only the prank ones like pepper imps and acid pops, I think I'll enjoy the nice ones better."

Lupin laughed. "Yes, I remember those, it only feels like yesterday that I was strolling through those streets with my friends."

He left out the part in which one of his best friends had been Rosalyn's father, checked his watch. "Tell you what, you go back down and meet your friends in the courtyard, they'll be there in a sec, thank you, I've enjoyed this afternoon, and Rosalyn?" He asked, as the girl had turned to go.

"Yes, Professor?" She asked.

"I have no doubt that you'll get to Hogsmeade some time this year," Lupin said, and as she walked away, Rosalyn swore she saw him wink.

She walked down the stairs and met the students pouring back in from Hogsmeade, talking animatedly about the visit.

Just before saw Harry, Ron and Hermione fighting their way through the crowd towards her, Rosalyn pondered what Lupin had meant. Did he want her to break the rules? She didn't know, but what she did know was that she wanted to go to Hogsmeade, and with her father's talent for trouble, it was definitely possible.