Rosalyn woke up in the Hospital Wing, and tried to remember what had happened. She thought about some things. The fall... the scream... the dementors. But she didn't move just then, but just took in the voices around her.

"Is she alright, d'you think?"

"She looks a bit peaky."

"Oi! What d'you expect? Fell about a hundred feet!"

"Yeah, come on Ron, let's chuck you off the Astronomy tower, see what you look like."

She slowly opened her eyes and saw Neville, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George peering over her. Neville seemed particularly distressed, looking to see if she was okay. But Rosalyn just took this as the moment to make joke. "Probably a bloody sight better than what he normally does."

She tried to sit up but didn't manage, so she just stayed lying down. There was loads of relieved faces around her and she tried to make sense of some. She saw Harry, Ron and Hermione, of course, and Fred and George beside them, still in their quidditch robes. She also saw the rest of the team, still dressed in theirs, standing slightly further back.

There was also Neville, who was sat beside Ron on the left side of Rosalyn. He had a slightly flushed face.

Hermione suddenly came closer to her and asked. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, amazing," Rosalyn said sarcastically. "Dementors scaring the crap out of me, falling off my broom, and being brought to the hospital wing? Oh yeah, that's my daily routine."

"Well you gave us a right good scare, there, Rosie," George said, coming round the bed so that Rosalyn could see that he and Fred were genuine.

"What happened?" Rosalyn asked impulsively.

"Well... you fell off your broom," answered Ron.

"Yeah, no shit," Rosalyn laughed.

"We were amazed you stayed alive," Said Neville in a quiet tone, looking determinedly at the floor.

"But- but what about the match?" Rosalyn braced herself. "Wh- who won?"

Hermione sat up from beside her, looking almost worried. "No one blames you Rosie. The dementors aren't supposed to come inside the grounds. Dumbledore was furious, as soon as he saved you he sent them off, banished them."

Rosalyn was annoyed and embarrassed, but then she noticed something that distracted her. Ron was carrying a bag of something, and she had a faint idea what as he stepped up and said. "The- there's something else you should know too. When you fell- your broom it sort of flew into the Whomping Willow." Rosalyn gasped as she saw the pieces of her battered broomstick in the bag. "And- you know how much it doesn't like being hit."

Rosalyn sighed as Hermione said. "We're sorry Rosie, really sorry."

"It's fine," Rosalyn said, over and over, but that was a lie. She wasn't fine, and everyone watching her knew it.

☆☆☆

Rosalyn spent the next few days in the hospital wing, with many interesting visits along the way.

First there was Hagrid, who, despite the trauma about Buckbeak, still came to see her and check up on her.

"Yeh okay?" He asked tentatively. "I don' think I've ever seen Dumbledore that angry, ever, when 'e sent the dementors off, the look on 'is face..."

Rosalyn sighed and said. "I was so stupid, Hagrid! I fell off my broom in front of the whole school, they're all going to think I'm an idiot!"

"O' course they don'!" Hagrid said incredulously. "Yeh're a headstrong girl that meets problems, and when you do, there's no need to be embarrassed abou' 'em!"

Rosalyn smiled slightly. "How's Buckbeak?"

"Okay," said Hagrid briskly. "I jus' want to let him be free once in a while! The Ministry have said I've to chain him up!"

Rosalyn sighed. "We're witnesses, Hagrid, Buckbeak did nothing wrong, it's all Malfoy being a son of a bitc-"

She stopped at the look on Hagrid's face. Both then they both burst out laughing..

After Hagrid had left, Harry, Ron and Hermione came in, but they paid a visit everyday, so she wasn't remotely surprised to see them.

The Gryffindor team also popped in, saying repeatedly that it wasn't her fault, they didn't blame her...

There was also Draco Malfoy, who came in under the pretence of burning his hand in potions, but really just to taunt Rosalyn about fainting again, and losing the match.

"You lost to Hufflepuff?!" He laughed. "That's pathetic! If you can't even win against them-"

"Do you want a slap, ferret-face?" Rosalyn snarled. "Because I will gladly give you one. One harder than second year's punch. Don't flatter yourself. Oh, and if you're going to go running to ferret-face senior about this, make sure you tell him that you deserved every single foul name I called you."

"How dare you talk about my father like that!" Malfoy said angrily. "I'll get you for that, Potter-"

"When, now?" Rosalyn challenged. "Funny, because I don't see you even preparing to do something to me."

Malfoy just smirked. "You think you're really funny, don't you, Potter-?" He snarled.

"Erm- yes, I do," Rosalyn sat back in her bed.

"Well, this was funny," Malfoy imitated her falling off her broom. "I mean, seriously, Potter, Hufflepuff..."

"Oh, stop it, idiocy might be catching," Rosalyn rolled her eyes.

Malfoy laughed. "Well, Potty, it doesn't matter, because you lost, and we'll win."

"I think you need to go to Trelawney," Rosalyn advised. "Need your inner eye testing, if you ask me..."

And this was where the conversation ended, as Malfoy stormed out, annoyed that his bullying of Rosalyn hadn't gone to plan.

The last visit Rosalyn got was from Neville.

"Are- are you okay?" He had asked her. "The fall you took was pretty bad..."

Rosalyn shrugged. "Dumbledore stopped the impact so I didn't actually hit the ground."

Neville smiled slightly. "But you still fell over fifty feet!"

"I'm fine," Rosalyn shrugged. "I just want to get out of here..."

"And you also want to go back to destroying Malfoy," Neville said.

Rosalyn raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"He's going around telling everyone how Gryffindor are so bad at quidditch because they lost to Hufflepuff..." Neville sighed.

"Oh, I am going to kill that motherf-" Rosalyn started.

"Rosie! Rosie!" Neville laughed. "It's fine. Everyone decent is just telling him to shut up, anyway."

Rosalyn smiled. "Good. At least everyone's rising up into my position of tormenting Malfoy whilst I'm detained here."

Neville smiled, his cheeks flushing red. "Don't worry, Rosie. You're still the best at it."

The redhead before him smiled.

So Rosalyn left the Hospital Wing in a light, airy mood that day, and before she went to find her friends, she went to find a teacher that she wanted to ask a few questions.

☆☆☆

Rosalyn and Professor Lupin were walking through the forest, talking in heavy voices. Rosalyn had went to fin Lupin because of what Malfoy was saying. She normally didn't let it get to her, but she just wanted to know how weak she really was.

"I'm sorry to hear about your broomstick," Lupin said as they climbed over the fallen trunk of a tree. "Is there no chance of fixing it?"

"The tree smashed it up really badly. Even worse than what I did to Malfoy in second year..." Rosalyn said absent mindedly.

"And what, exactly, was that?" Lupin asked, raising his eyebrows.

Rosalyn shrugged. "I punched him in the face," she muttered.

Lupin grinned, and chuckled. "I'm sorry," he said. "I really shouldn't be laughing, but- why on earth did you do that?"

"Because he called Hermione a- a-" Rosalyn stopped, then she mouthed, "mudblood," to Lupin, who nodded.

He turned away and grinned. "You know, Rosalyn, from the moment I started to get to know you, you have reminded me-"

"Of my mother and father," Rosalyn nodded.

"Yes, of Lily and James, but also..." Lupin nodded. "Of another girl I used to know."

"Who?" Rosalyn frowned. "What was she like?"

Lupin either hadn't heard the first question, or just was ignoring it, but either way, he answered the second. "She was... very brave, and always spoke her mind... and she wouldn't hesitate to punch anyone that was mean to her or her friends."

Rosalyn smiled slightly. "She... does sound like me."

"I... remember one time," Lupin continued. "Basically the whole of our whole school year was outside beside the black lake... and a bunch of Sly- of boys were tormenting your mother, Rosalyn. And one of them... one of them called her that word."

Rosalyn knew this was terrible, but she couldn't help smiling slightly. "And what did the girl do?"

"Well, she walked right up to Lucius Malfoy, who was the one that did it," Lupin said. "And she said, 'if you ever insult my sister like that again, or anyone like that again, I'll make sure to break every one of your bones, and have all your puny little friends watch' or something like that," Lupin smiled slightly.

"Wait- my mum had a-" Rosalyn started.

"Oh no, Rosalyn, that's just what your mother and that girl called each other," Lupin smiled.

"So- what was the girl's name?" Rosalyn asked.

Lupin sighed. "Her name was... Lizzie. Lizzie- Peters."

"That's a good name," Rosalyn nodded. "And I'm really glad to know that there's someone else who had an anger issue like me when they were at school."

Lupin chuckled again. "You don't have an anger issue, Rosalyn. You just don't want to see the people you love get hurt. And you also don't want to see your broom get hurt, either," Lupin sighed and continued. "You know, that tree has been there for as long as I can remember. In fact, it was planted, fully grown, in my first year. We used to play a game, try to get as close to the trunk as possible without getting hit."

"What happened?" Rosalyn asked, smiling.

"Well, a boy nearly lost an eye and the teachers banned us from going anywhere near it." Again, he left out some things in his story. "McGonagall was particularly fiery, I remember her yelling and saying that we were lucky someone wasn't killed."

Rosalyn giggled. "Ron and I flew a flying car in there last year, Harry was in the back trying to stop it, yelling, and we were arguing."

Lupin grinned. "A flying car? Rosalyn, you're more trouble than you're worth."

"Wasn't just my fault!" She protested. "But yeah, the car got smashed, beaten, and it's now living in the Forbidden Forest."

Lupin said. "You know, it's funny how much I've missed everything going on here since I left and got a job, and alot has happened since then, of course."

He was speaking with a flourish, as though he wanted to end the conversation there, so Rosalyn introduced a new one, one that she desperately needed to talk to someone about.

"Professor, why do the dementors affect me so much- I mean more than everyone else?"

"Listen," Lupin said in an efficient tone, as if he had known she was going to ask this and had been preparing his answer. "Dementors are amongst the foulest creatures to walk this earth. They feed on every good feeling, every happy memory. They eat that all away until a person is left with nothing but their worst experiences, their guilts, regrets, bad deeds. You. Are not. Weak, Rosalyn. The dementors affect you the most because their are true horrors in your past, horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine."

Rosalyn interrupted. "But what about Harry? I mean, he heard the scream, but he didn't faint!"

"I do not know why Harry didn't react the same way you did," Lupin answered with much level-headedness. "But I do know that you have nothing to be ashamed of."

Rosalyn didn't know what to share next. She didn't want to turn this into a question and answer period about her fears, but that didn't stope her from suddenly blurting out. "I- I'm- a bit scared, Professor."

"I'd consider you a fool if you weren't," her DADA Professor was honest with her, she could tell.

She also wanted something else off her chest. She wanted to ask Lupin something, and she had wanted to learn this for a long time, but had never asked.

"I need to know how to fight them, the dementors. You could teach me, you made that one on the train go away," Rosalyn suggested, wanting a 'yes' more than ever.

But Lupin had to do the one thing that was worse than a 'no'. He didn't answer. "There was only one that night."

"But you made it go away," Rosalyn persisted. "And you had only just woke up! It was great! You were amazing!"

"I'm glad that you appreciate my skills, but I don't pretend to be an expert Rosalyn."

"Well, you seem like one," Rosalyn said. "And-"

"But, as the dementors seem to have developed a particular interest in you, perhaps I should teach you," Lupin said.

"Brilliant!" Rosalyn jumped up. "When?"

"After the holidays," Lupin said, as, of course, the Christmas holidays were drawing near. "For now, I need to rest."

And so the two of them walked back up to the castle. Rosalyn was happier than she had been upon leaving it, but there was still some things that might have made her happier. Sirius Black being put away, for example.