Broken Time

Rose woke up back in the common room. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt either the carpet in the common room or the sensation of waking up. A thin crowd of students formed around her, most of them whispering to one another.

"Someone wanna tell me how I got here?"

Alex inserted herself into the crowd, moving to the front with ease.

Rose was happy to see her prefect, but an uncertainty crept into her head when she realized the problem.

"When did you all get back?"

Sensing a problem, Rose swept her eyes over the crowd. She recognized them, but something about the way they were looking at her said they didn't recognize her.

"Who is she?"

"Rose, are you alright?" Alex asked. "What happened to Potter?"

Rose ran through the organization she'd created during the quake. Where'd she put Harry again?

"He's outside with Firecracker, last I checked," Rose replied. "Wait, why'd you call him 'Potter'? You always use our first names."

"Because he keeps calling himself 'Dark Lord Potter' and turning people into pots," Alex said. "Remember, Headmaster Snape told you to hunt him down and bring him in."

Rose picked through each word that Alex had just said. Individually, they made perfect sense, but a blockade stood between Rose and understanding either statement as a whole. After staring blankly at Alex and hoping Reflectesalon would give her something, she yielded to curiosity.

"What?!"

"What's in your hand?"

Rose looked down at the broken half of Pettigrew's device. It concerned her that sand was still running out of it, but she stowed it in her basket for safekeeping until she knew more.

"Pettigrew called it a time turner."

"Professor Pettigrew," someone Rose didn't know said.

Once again, Rose's mind halted in its tracks, unable to move past this newest piece of information.

"You're hilarious," Rose said dryly. "I've got a great idea: Let's all stop trying to confuse Rose and tell her how long she was out and what happened since we resolved the quake."

"What quake?" a boy she also didn't recognize asked.

"Stop it! It's not funny anymore!"

"Did you catch James Potter or not?" Alex asked.

That was when Rose noticed the bigger problem in the room: The crowd was changing. The last boy to speak suddenly faded from existence, replaced by another boy Rose didn't recognize. When she turned back to Alex, she'd been replaced by a younger version of herself. She couldn't have been much older than Luna or Ginny, judging by her height.

"Is it time to go home?" Fear was not something Rose expected to see on Alex's face, nor hear in her voice. "My aunt and uncle are still mad at me. I don't want to go home!"

Young Alex was replaced by older Alex before Rose's eyes. Rose took a step towards the fireplace, putting space between her and the magical changing children.

The crowd flickered and turned into house-elves. They all glared at Rose as if she weren't supposed to be there before changing back into humans.

Rose turned on her heel and ran for the door. She blinked through it, thankful when she made it to the other side.

"I say! Little girl, how'd you do that?"

Rose turned to the source of the voice, finding that the Fat Lady was a Fat Gentleman. Otherwise, he looked almost exactly the same.

"Practice." Rose's voice was shaky, imbued with the fear she felt inside. She turned from Gryffindor Tower and ran down the corridor, anxious to escape and figure out what was happening.

Professor Dumbledore. He'll know what to do.

Rose tripped over her feet when she stopped suddenly. Alex had said "Headmaster Snape". Did that mean Professor Dumbledore was gone? Was Snape an omniscient old man now?

Rose pulled Serendipity and power surged her twice for good measure. She didn't know what she'd done or if Serendipity still had charges on her, but Rose wasn't going to risk it.

"Discern Location – Severus Snape"

Rose's heart sank when she got nothing from the spell. She tried again on Professor Dumbledore, Hermione, Luna, and Neville, but couldn't locate any of them.

"Alright, think," Rose ordered herself. "If I were a weird other Dumbledore, where would I be?"

"I'm not weird!"

Rose spun around, holding Serendipity at the ready, but found that there was no need. Standing in front of her was an older boy, sixteen from the look of him. He didn't look like the most powerful wizard to walk the Rowling Plane, but Rose could picture him with a beard and half-moon spectacles.

"Albus?" she asked.

"Do I know you?"

Rose blinked at him, then the truth of her new reality dawned on her.

"I broke time!"

"How'd you go about doing that?" Albus asked in a familiar, inquisitive tone. "I've heard of time magic, but it's only experimental. My friend Gellert says people talk about it at Durmstrang sometimes."

"Did he tell you how to fix it?"

Rose wasn't even surprised; if anyone had the answer, it'd be Dumbledore.

"Did who tell me how to fix what?"

Rose let out a sigh of exasperation when she saw Dumbledore restored to his normal years.

"Professor Dumbledore!"

"That's me."

"I broke a time turner. How do I fix it!"

"Oh, that's easy. All you've–"

In a manner that Rose should've seen coming, Dumbledore faded out of view, leaving her alone in the corridor. Overcome by rage and frustration, Rose slammed her fist into the wall. The sensation of rock crumbling underneath her clenched fist was euphoric, relaxing her enough that she could think.

"How am I supposed to figure this out if no one stays the same for more than two rounds?!"

Rose jumped up and down with joy and bolted for the library.

She passed more students she didn't recognize, some she did, and some that were probably teachers as children. Rose didn't want to risk dimension door; there was no telling what this version of Hogwarts actually looked like, or if it was all about to fade away to nothing. She didn't even know for certain that the library was still on the first floor, but she had to try.

Rose spotted a familiar student and stopped running. One look at the student told her all she needed to know. Pompous attitude, blond hair. It could only be one person.

"What floor's the library on?"

"Why should I tell you?"

It is Goldilocks.

"Lucius?"

"What of it?"

"Thanks!" Rose called as she ran off. She glanced back at him just in time to see him turn to his older self, but wearing a black robe.

Rose dismissed the oddity as little more than that: an oddity. It didn't occur to her that she'd just learned all about Death Eaters until a green bolt struck her in the back. She killed her momentum by spinning in place, facing her attackers.

Three people in black robes and masks stood in front of her, each one with a wand at the ready.

"Are we doing this now, then?" she asked, assessing her three opponents.

"All who stand against the Dark Lord shall pay!"

The middle one, presumably Lucius Malfoy, aimed his wand and another green bolt shot through the corridor at her. Rose allowed it to strike her, hardly feeling a thing when it did.

She looked down at her unscathed form, then back up at Lucius.

"Well, that's just unfortunate," she said, a smile creeping over her face. She took a few steps forward, expecting them to revert to children, but they remained as they were.

Rose lunged at Lucius, tackling him to the ground.

"I don't know what's happening, but I doubt anyone's going to remember this." She tore off his mask, revealing the man himself. While Rose would've enjoyed fear a lot more than anger, she took what she got.

"Get off me!"

A wave of his wand sent Rose sailing into the wall. She recovered immediately and lunged at him again, but stopped short the second time so she could jab him in the stomach.

"Do have any idea what your stupid book did to my little sister?!" she shouted as she beat him over and over. "All so you could settle some grudge with Cohort's father?!"

Rose twisted his arm until she heard it snap. His wand clattered to the ground as his two lackeys, presumably the fathers of Butterhead's lackeys, stared dumbfounded at the little girl beating their boss to death.

"Stop!" Lucius begged, his voice cracking. "Please!"

Rose picked him up and hurled him at the other two. All three fell to the ground in a heap of black and red.

"I'd snap your neck now, but you're not the one that's made everything horrible for my friends," Rose hissed. "As much as I want to fix everything, Goldilocks, I'd hate to pass up this wonderful opportunity to vent my anger over the past few months. So, I'm gonna ask you once: Where's Fudge?"

Before Rose could get an answer out of him, Lucius aged 20 years into an old man.

"Please, no! Dark Lord Granger made me do it! I swear!"

Rose rolled her eyes and threw him into the wall. Kicking the other two out of her way, she stormed off towards the likely location of a staircase.

Rose rounded the corner and ran into another person, knocking him to the ground. She stepped over him, or possibly on him, she wasn't paying much attention.

"Watch where you're going, Singya!"

Rose turned in a tight circle to face the new arrival. He was clearly a Gray Elf, but not one Rose recognized. Something about his voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"What did you just call me?"

"I said–" The boy changed to an adult mid-sentence. "–Rose, if you're not careful, you're going to hurt someone."

Rose couldn't believe her eyes. He stood in front of her, clear as day, but something in her wouldn't allow her to believe that her uncle had ever used the word "singya".

"Why did you call me 'singya' a moment ago?" Rose asked. "Did you used to use that word? You hate it."

"You of all people should know that it can be impossible to escape the influence of one's roots. Like Sk'lar, I was raised by an arrogant family that believed the rest of the world trash."

Rose opened her mouth to speak, but switched questions before she started. "How are you here? We're in Hogwarts, aren't we?"

"We're certainly not in Arcrel." Ozerl looked around the corridor. "It's got a nice feel to it. Ancient and mysterious. I like it. Not as homely as Arcrel, but still could be a good environment for children, with the right staff backing it up. Maybe a little dark, but with some dusting, perhaps…"

Rose was so enthralled by the sound of her uncle's voice that she forgot her situation. Before her eyes, he faded to nothing, leaving her alone once again.

"No!" She wiped away imagined tears. "Not him! Leave me him!"

Rose grasped at the air where her uncle had stood, pleading with the corridor to restore him. When nothing happened, Rose slammed her fist into the wall again.

"Alright," Rose said. "New plan. We go to the library to find a book on time turners. Then we find Pettigrew, so I can break him and take his half."

Instead of running down the corridor, Rose decided on a more direct approach. She jumped about a foot into the air, then slammed her fist down into the floor. It gave way under mountain hammer, dropping her onto the floor below. She repeated this until she found herself standing in the Dungeons. Ignoring all other students, she flew up one floor, then grabbed the nearest student by his collar.

"Where's the library?! And spare me any talk about Dark Lords!"

"Up one floor." The student pointed a shaky hand above them. "Down the corridor to your left. Please don't kill me!"

Rose tossed him aside and flew up another floor. She ran down the corridor, pushing students out of her way to get to the library. Every so often, she'd catch another Gray Elf in Hogwarts. She didn't know if that was good or bad, but she kept her opinions to herself until she reached the library. Once there, she did the best thing she could think of to get the librarian's attentions. Rose took in a deep breath, then let out a scream with as much force as she could muster.

"Be quiet!"

A woman Rose didn't recognize stormed over to Rose, looking just as angry as Rose felt.

"I don't care who you think you are, but a library is no place for screaming!"

Rose dimension jumped onto a desk and grabbed the librarian.

"What's a time turner?" she demanded. "Are there any books on them?!"

The librarian opened her mouth to speak, but Rose ignored her in favor of Reflectesalon reading her mind.

"Thank you, you've been very helpful."

Rose pushed the librarian aside and ran into the Restricted Section. She waved her hand over the entrance and a wall of stone appeared between her and the librarian.

"Much better. Now I can hear myself think."

"I don't think Madame McGonagall's going to like that."

Rose grinned at the familiar voice and looked to a girl sitting in the Restricted Section.

"Luna?"

"Hello, Rose," Luna said. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't know, but I'm hoping to find out." Rose showed her the broken time turner. "Pettigrew called this a time turner. I grabbed it, it broke, then–"

Luna flickered out of existence. When she came back into focus, her hair was shorter and her eyes were different colors.

"That keeps happening." Rose took a deep breath. "I'll start over. Pettigrew–"

"Broke a time turner, you just told me." She held out her hand. "May I see it?"

"I don't see why not," Rose replied.

The moment Luna touched it, the room began to spin. Everything blended together like wet paint and swirled around Rose. She recoiled from Luna and fell to her knees. She heaved, her stomach trying to empty itself, to no avail. After a moment, everything slowly stopped spinning, and Rose became aware that Luna was calling her name.

"Rose!"

"I'm alright, Moon." Rose climbed to her feet. "Let's not do that ever again."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it'd do that."

"It's not your fault." Rose hoped her tone was as kind as it seemed in her head. She'd hate for Luna to think she'd made things worse. "We just need to learn more about it, that's all."

Luna smiled, then turned to the shelves of books that surrounded them. She flickered again, reappearing a little older.

"I'm certain I saw a book about time turners somewhere around here."

Rose forgot about her quest for a moment and focused instead on Luna. It must've just been a coincidence that she was the only one that remembered her. Even Alex eventually forgot who she was, and she held the record for staying coherent the longest. Luna had changed several times, but always stayed in the present with Rose. How was she doing that?

Rose returned to reality and found Luna scaling the bookshelves, her sights fixed on one book.

"Is that the book?" Rose called up to her.

"It should be."

"Need help?"

"No, thank you. I've climbed these shelves plenty of times. Once even while fired on."

"Wish I could hear about that one."

Rose sidestepped a book as it fell to the floor. It was followed shortly by a Luna with long, electric blue hair, although she made a louder sound when she crashed to the ground.

Rose pulled Luna to her feet and smiled.

"Good work, Moon."

"Thank you, Rose. You make that look a lot easier."

Rose opened the book and quickly discovered that there was only a chapter on time turners. It was disappointing, but a good start, nonetheless. After a quick scholar's touch, she pored over the information again in her head.

"That's a lot less helpful than I thought it'd be." She grimaced at Luna, although Luna's cheerful attitude helped her out a bit. "All it says about breaking them is 'don't'. It's a contained, living enchantment, and if you break it, I guess it's released."

Rose blinked and Luna was suddenly covered in runes.

"Maybe someone else knows something. What about one of the professors?"

"The professors change every few rounds! First Snape was headmaster, then Professor Dumbledore was again, I think, then Uncle Oz was here, then McGonagall was the librarian. You're the only one that consistently remembers everything!"

"I'm just lucky, I suppose. It's not easy keeping everything straight in your head."

"You're not kidding," Rose muttered. "I'm surprised you can."

Luna kept smiling, but her face twitched ever so slightly. Rose had seen that expression on her before, but didn't know what it was. She'd always assumed Luna was trying not to cry, but she couldn't think what she'd done to set her off. Unless it wasn't something she'd done, and something someone else had. There was no way to tell anymore.

"It's alright, Moon. We'll sort this out."

"Of course," Luna said softly. "You can fix anything."

"Don't you forget it!" Rose exclaimed, returning to her normal self.

Deep down, Rose knew her options were limited. Luna was the only person that consistently remembered her, which meant she was the only person that Rose could rely on for help. Even if nearly everything about her changed every few minutes.

"Why do you remember me?"

Luna looked about as lost as Rose, although something still seemed… off. She wasn't looking Rose directly in the eye. Luna shifted uncomfortably under Rose's gaze.

"You know, don't you?"

Luna backed up, noticeably shaking in the faint torchlight. Her eyes darted towards the exit that Rose had sealed.

"Luna, please. If I can replicate whatever it is, then I–"

"You can't." The torches drowned out Luna's voice. "No one can."

"Why not?"

Luna hunched over and brought her hands closer to her face. She looked like a frightened creature, desperately attempting to escape a predator it stood no chance of beating. With tears in her eyes, she bolted for the blocked exit. Rose made no attempt to stop her; there was little chance of her breaking through the wall. When Luna found she couldn't escape, she backed herself against the wall.

"I mustn't tell," she sobbed. "Mummy says never to tell!"

Rose took a step closer to Luna, trying her best to imitate Carolina's kind, motherly smile. It always made Rose melt down and confess whatever she was hiding; Rose hoped it'd have the same effect on Luna.

"It's a family secret, of course."

The tears had vanished from Luna's eyes, and she'd grown a foot or so in the past few seconds.

"You're an older Luna, aren't you?" Rose asked.

"From a future where you already know about my dreams. It's something passed down in Mum's side of the family. We have dreams of other lives. I've had them nearly all my life, but they got worse not long before Mum died. I have them almost every night, now. They were the worst in my second year. Near the end, around the earthquake, I had two or three each night."

Rose stared at Luna in shock. Luna stared back at Rose with a calm serenity in her eyes.

"How does that help you remember me?"

"Because each one of us remembers what the others remember."

"Alright, I'll finish taking that in later. Please tell me how I fixed this."

Luna's smile faded to a look of guilt.

"I'm sorry, but you never told me about any of this."

Rose groaned, cursing her future self for not being more helpful.

"Alright, I'll figure it out on my own. I suppose I'll have to restore the enchantment after I've got the second half of the time turner. For that, I'll need Pettigrew, wherever he's gone to."

Luna's smile returned to her, and she took one of Rose's hands.

"I know you can do it, Rose," she said. "I never forgot what you could do."

"Forgot? How old are you?"

Before Luna could answer, she reverted to a younger version of herself.

"Twelve, why?"

Rose grumbled something about never catching a break, then smashed through the wall to the rest of the library.

"I'll see you soon, Little Moon."

"You too, Rose."

Unlike with the time turner, Rose had several plans as to how to find Pettigrew in the castle. In fact, she had a plan that would solve many of her problems at once.

She appeared in what she hoped was Gryffindor Tower, risking the possibility of ending up somewhere she didn't want to be, rather than climbing seven flights of stairs, and found it full of different people.

"Does anyone know who Fred and George Weasley are?!" Rose called to the crowd.

"Who are you?"

"How'd you get in here?"

"Why should we talk to you?"

Rose drew Crimson Thorn and sliced the last questioner in two.

"That's why! Fred and George Weasley! Or, if not, has anyone heard of the Marauder's Map?"

This time, Rose caught a lucky break, in the form of a student that looked an awful lot like Harry.

"We're still making it!" he exclaimed. "Who told you about it?"

I hope for Scarface's sake, his father wasn't this stupid.

Rose appeared in front of the boy, creating a ripple effect of people trying to escape her, and pressed Crimson Thorn to his throat.

"Where is it, and how much of the castle does it show?"

The boy that Rose assumed was some version of James Potter shakily handed her a piece of parchment. On Rose's orders, he activated it for her, revealing most of the castle. She noticed the other three common rooms were missing, along with some of the professors' flats.

"This will do," she said, snatching the map from the ground. She scanned it, watching the dots and school fluctuate before her eyes. It looked like ink on water, swirling, whirling around on the page with no coherent pattern. Dots flickered like fireflies on the parchment, making it even easier to spot the one that never changed.

No sooner had she found Pettigrew than he disappeared from the map near the edge of a corridor.

"That'd better be a secret passage," Rose growled. "I've got time. I'll wait until he comes out, then I'll grab–"

The moment she said it, some instinct inside Rose went off and said, "That's not gonna happen." Rose, having had her adventure senses dulled inside the Rowling Plane, didn't think anything of it until the map burst into flames.

Rose stared helplessly as the map disintegrated in her hands, taking with it her best bet to find Pettigrew.

"Ha ha!" an obnoxious voice exclaimed. "Once again, I have saved you all, thus proving myself, Cornelius Fudge, the greatest hero of them all!"

Rose asked herself many questions at that moment. Why was Fudge acting like Lockhart? What was he doing in Gryffindor Tower? He seemed much more like a Slytherin than a Gryffindor. Why had he felt the need to burn her map?

Rose decided that the answer to every one of her questions was this: Whoever was messing with her decided she deserved some kind of consolation prize. After her best chance of returning everything to normal had literally gone up in flames, she needed something in return. Something to keep her happy and stop her from tearing the world apart around her.

Fortunately for the theoretical person running the show, it was exactly what Rose needed, because at that moment, she snapped.

Rose drew Crimson Thorn and swung him around, killing several of the surrounding students. She fixed her sights on Fudge, who looked a lot less smug than he had a few seconds ago.

"You are no match for me, little girl!" he declared, sounding just as intimidating and convincing as Lockhart. "I will–"

Rose cut him off with a bloodcurdling scream. She threw months of anger and rage into one, primal outburst. It resonated through the halls, shattered the windows in the common room, and incapacitated several students.

But the most important event, in Rose's mind, was what happened to Fudge. He aged back to a form she recognized, and to her immeasurable glee, he recognized her.

"What's going on, little girl?" he asked, seeing the students backing away from him.

"I'm going to feed you your insides on the end of my blade, Fudge." Rose neither knew nor cared how she was managing a cross between a hiss, growl, and scream. "I'll shove my blade so far down your throat it'll come out the other side."

"Little girl… whatever your name was, see here. I am the Minister of–"

Fudge never finished his sentence before Rose made good on her threat. She rushed through the crowd of students, tearing any of them apart that got between her and Fudge. Fudge screamed and tried to run away from Rose, but she cut him off at every turn. He finally ran into Rose, who grabbed him and charged at the exit to the common room.

He barely had time to scream again before he and Rose crashed through the wall.

Rose threw him into another wall then put her hand through his shoulder. Bone gave way under her glove with a series of crunching sounds, turning his shoulder into a smear on her glove.

"That was for taking Dumbledore during my first year so Voldemort could go after the stone!"

She drove Crimson Thorn into his leg and gouged the bone out as Fudge screamed.

"That was for taking him again my second year and putting my friends in danger!"

She stabbed her blade into his stomach and ripped out his intestines.

"This is for sending Dementors to Hogwarts and forcing me to watch them torture my friends!"

Rose drew her blade back to insert Crimson Thorn into Fudge's throat, but someone tackled her to the ground before she could. Instinct took over and Rose swung a bloody Crimson Thorn at the new attacker, but he expertly deflected the blow with a sword. Rose flew into another blind rage and swung Crimson Thorn at her new opponent, but he blocked each of her blows in turn.

"Rose!"

He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

"It's me!"

Rose's vision began to clear and she saw her opponent clearly for the first time.

"Toad?!"

"What's wrong with you?!" Neville shouted. "You're not like this!"

He was taller than the Neville she knew, and dressed in mostly black and dark green. He held the Sword of Gryffindor in his left hand, with some sort of dark green rope tying it to his wrist.

"Get out of the way, Toad!"

"Not until you calm down! The Rose I know is better than this! She's my hero, not some bloodthirsty monster!"

Rose held Crimson Thorn ready for another attack on Neville, still fixated on Fudge, who was trying to crawl away. She was so fixated that she nearly missed what Toad did next. He didn't attack her, or pull some clever maneuver that only she'd see coming, but instead lowered his weapon and smiled at her. It was a sad, crooked smile that he always had on during practice. He didn't see Rose the Maniac, he saw Rose the Hero. It was a look of admiration, one that gave Rose the boost she needed when even she felt like all was lost.

Rose's arms fell to her side, and Crimson Thorn clattered on the ground. Neville slid the rope around the Sword of Gryffindor and returned it to his glove.

"Toad, I'm so sorry," Rose said. "I…"

"I'm so happy to see you that I really don't care," Neville said in between laughs. "I know you're better than this. I've seen you have bad days before; this is just your worst, that's all."

Rose looked back at Fudge and saw a bloody hole in the wall but no body. He'd already vanished, which gave Neville little time left.

"Thank you, Toad."

"You're welcome," Neville replied, handing her Crimson Thorn.

When Rose relaxed, her final option sprang to mind. It was the answer to all of her problems: how to figure out what was going on, how to find Pettigrew, and how to restore the time turner once she did.

"I've got a plan!"

"When don't you?"

"I just need to get to the Chamber of Secrets." Rose started walking down the corridor. "Then I can–"

When he appeared, it took Rose a moment to register what she saw. He towered over her, his black scales glistening in the torchlight. A familiar sneer crossed his face.

"Rose. How nice it is to see you again." He leaned in closer to her as she stood frozen with fear. "Did you miss me?"

"Not you," she whimpered. "Please, anyone but you."

"I'm touched that you remember me."

Neville ran up to Valignatiejir and took his place at Rose's side.

"Get away from her!"

"Who's this? Be polite, little girl. I thought I taught you better manners than that."

Neville swung his sword at Valignatiejir, but it clattered off his hide without leaving a scratch. Valignatiejir retaliated by backhanding Neville into the wall.

"Toad!"

"Toad," Valignatiejir said, testing the word on his tongue. "A funny name for a funny boy."

Rose prepared Crimson Thorn, but couldn't bring herself to attack. She stood crouched before the dragon that had hurt her, but her fear of him wouldn't allow her forward.

Valignatiejir let out a roar of agony as the Sword of Gryffindor dug into his side.

"Rose isn't the only one that can overcome damage reduction!" Neville shouted. He drew the sword back and struck again, carving a chunk out of Valignatiejir.

The dragon grabbed Neville and began to squeeze him. Neville grit his teeth against the pain, struggling to escape the dragon's grasp.

"Help me!"

Neville's call for help snapped Rose out of her stupor. She lunged at Valignatiejir and swung Crimson Thorn in an arc in front of her, leaving gashes in the dragon's powerful arms. Unlike their last encounter, she didn't take off any legs or wings. When she looked at him again, she realized why: he had spells on him.

Rose dodged an attack from Valignatiejir and swung at his arm, freeing Neville from his grasp.

"He's got spells on him," Rose said as they both landed. "Sk'lar got them off last time; I can't do anything about them."

"Then we keep hitting him harder!"

"You really think you can beat me?" Valignatiejir crowed. "How adorable."

"I will beat you," Neville said, holding his sword at the ready. "I've been dreaming of this day for years. You hurt my best friend, and now you're going to pay for that."

Neville dodged aside a swipe from Valignatiejir, cutting into his arm. The dragon took another swing at Neville, but the boy slid under this one and ran his blade through Valignatiejir's underbelly. Neville lept off the wall and spun around, putting a gash in Valignatiejir's wing. He tumbled across the dragon's back, then hurled his sword into the wall. The elastic rope pulled him from Valignatiejir's back as the dragon jumped upward into the ceiling.

Rose looked on in awe of her friend. He couldn't have been much older than her version of Neville, and already he was an amazing fighter. He nearly took her in a fight, even if she had been blinded by rage.

"I could sure use some help," Neville said. "It's not exactly easy."

Rose looked at Valignatiejir, and suddenly, he wasn't frightening. She had her friend by her side, and with the hope he gave her, she knew she could do it.

"Let's beat him, then," she said, taking a fighting stance. "We ever fight together in the future?"

"Not really," Neville said, sizing up Valignatiejir again. "There was so much going on, then you d–"

Before he could finish his sentence, Neville faded away into nothing, leaving Rose to face Valignatiejir alone.

"That's unfortunate," he sneered. "But that does leave us alone, Rose. Just like it should be."

Rose stared at the empty space where Neville had been a second earlier. She sensed Valignatiejir's strike before he made it, but didn't care enough to react. The claw strike sent her sailing into the wall. Her mind didn't register the pain over the loss of her friend.

Valignatiejir lumbered towards her, paralyzing her again with fear. Rose recovered and dimension jumped past him. She ducked down a corridor, then stopped to collect herself.

"You're only delaying the inevitable, Rose." Valignatiejir's voice sent chills over her body. She backed away from the sound of Valignatiejir routing in the corridor.

"I can't beat him without the others," Rose sobbed. "I only won last time because the Exalted were with me. I was wrong; I can't beat him alone."

"That's it, Little Rosie?" a voice said to her. "You're giving up?"

She gasped at the sound of Sally's voice. She looked around for just a moment before realizing he'd spoken through the castle.

"Think about this, Little Rosie: Reflectesalon won't tell you about Little Moon's dreams. What's the one thing about which he won't tell you?"

Not ten minutes ago, Rose had torn a bone out of Cornelius Fudge's body out of pure rage. Yet at that moment, she felt more rage build inside her than she'd ever felt before. It built inside her as Valignatiejir rounded the corner, drowning out her fear.

"It's not just her lives about which she dreams, it's mine." Rose stared up at Valignatiejir, her strength restored. "She dreams about you."

Rose swung Crimson Thorn at Valignatiejir, rage coursing through her veins like fire. She danced around his attacks, leaving marks of her own on his hide to match those from Neville. She struck, and she struck, but no matter how many times she tried, Valignatiejir still stood.

"Shadow was right about you. You fixate on one thing and can't think of anything else."

She lept back five feet to put distance between her and Valignatiejir.

"What else is there?"

"Is he immune to fire?"

Rose froze in place, realizing the obvious solution that she'd overlooked.

"Oh."

Rose collapsed Crimson Thorn and sheathed him, then retreated to give herself more space. She removed her picnic basket from her bracelet, then drew Dark Meteor from inside.

"For my sister that you hurt."

Rose fired off a round of meteors, taking a sick joy in Valignatiejir's screams.

"My brother that had to watch me die."

Explosions clouded her vision, but she knew he hadn't moved. She sensed him in the corridor, a lumbering, dark shape in front of her.

"And me, whose life you ruined."

Entire chunks of the corridor were thrown asunder as another round of meteors ripped the dragon apart.

Rose dumped Dark Meteor back into her basket, then drew Crimson Thorn again. When the dust settled, Valignatiejir lay on his side, his blood spilled over the corridor.

"I've suffered for years because of you, but I'm free. I'm not going to let you control me anymore, Valignatiejir. And I will not let you hurt my little sister."

As Valignatiejir faded away, Rose turned her attention to the ceiling.

"Sally! Where the Hells is Pettigrew?!"

"Hiding inside a secret passageway, terrified of the ghosts he's seeing."

If nothing else, it warmed Rose's heart to know that Pettigrew was as miserable as she was. She faced the green-haired boy that had materialized behind her. It crossed her mind that Sally wasn't flickering in and out of existence, but she dismissed her concerns.

"Show me."

"You may not want to go back," Sally said. "You won't like what you find."

"What do you mean?"

"Your friends are dead."