DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rose, Hermione or photos.

The Photo.

Blurb …

Three times Rose tries to understand the Battle Anniversary and the one time she actually does. :Oneshot Hermione-Rose centric, slight Rose/Scorpius postDH:

This story is dedicated to my Granddad. I wish i knew you better than i did. xx

1

When Rose Weasley was three-years-old, she didn't understand about her Uncle Fred.

"Mummy," she said, frowning at the photo that her Mummy had just given her. There were a bunch of people waving up at her, some she knew and some she didn't know. She recognised her Daddy and her Auntie Gin-Gin, but the man with the funny eye scared her slightly and the lady with the hair that changed colours looked weird. "Why're there two Uncle George's?"

"There isn't, Rosie," her Mummy said gently, sitting down next to her on one of the House benches in Hogwarts' Great Hall. Rose knew all about Hogwarts castle, of course and she was so excited that she finally got to see it! Apparently she was here this time last year, but she couldn't remember.

Everyone was having a party. She didn't know why – whenever she asked, they always said the same thing: "We're celebrating, Rosie!" before proceeding to lift her up and twirl her around. She liked that, so she kept asking.

It didn't seem normal though. Only an hour ago, everyone in this hall had been crying outside in the grounds, by the huge monument with lots of names on it. Even Hugo, but that was because he had needed his nappy changing and while Rose had been cold and wanted to go inside, she didn't cry.

What was her Mummy saying again?

"That one is your Uncle George," She was pointing out the man she knew with only one ear. Only the man in the photo had two ears. She didn't know why. She liked Uncle George, he was silly but in a good way. Her Mummy then pointed out the identical man standing next to her Uncle in the photo, both laughing and waving. "That one is your Uncle Fred."

"Uncle Fred?" Rose repeated, screwing up her nose in confusion.

"That's right." her Mummy said with a smile.

"But I don't have an Uncle Fred …" Rose said, staring at the photo as if it would suddenly start making sense if she stared long enough.

"No," her Mummy agreed. Now she looked sad. It made Rose sad. "That's because he passed away before you were born. He died, Rosie." she added, noting the confusion on her daughter's face.

Now there were tears in her Mummy's eyes again, which Rose didn't like. This morning, all of the grown-ups had been crying like her Mummy, but Rose didn't, because she was three-years-old, a big girl now. She didn't cry. That was what her little brother did.

But her Mummy wasn't supposed to cry either.

"Well, that was silly of him," Rose said. In the photo, her Uncle George actually looked happy. He might be her silliest uncle, but he was never the happiest. "But who is he?"

"Your Uncle Fred," her Mummy said patiently, but the words didn't register in Rose's head. She had just noticed her cousin Al, who she liked to play with and he looked like he was having fun! He waved at her to come over and Rose looked back up at her Mummy as she continued speaking. "He was a very special person, Rosie and I don't want you to forget him."

"Ok," Rose said, trying to shove the photo back into her Mummy's hands. "Mummy, I don't want this any more – can I go play with Al?"

Her Mummy took the photo with a look that Rose didn't understand. She didn't really mind – Al and James were busy trying to pull Lucy's hair and she wanted to help! "Yes, you can," her Mummy said. "But look after your brother."

"Oh, Mummy!" Rose complained, but she was a big girl now so she kept Hugo in mind as she leapt off the bench and ran to her cousins, almost bowling them over with her enthusiasm.

"Stop it, James! Al!" Lucy was complaining, trying to swat her hands at her little cousins as Rose joined them, giggling. Then she turned and screamed, "MUMMY!"

Rose and the boys scattered as their scary Auntie Audrey's voice could be heard, fussing over Lucy. As Rose and Al dove under one of the House tables, Al asked, "What was Auntie Hermione showing you?"

"A silly photo." Rose answered.

"What of?"

"Uncle George when he was happy." Rose shrugged.

Al pulled a face. "Boring," he said. "Wanna play Death Eaters and Orders?"

"Ok, but I don't want to be a Death Eater again," Rose complained. "I wanna be Dumbledore!"

"You can't be Dumbledore cause you're a girl!"

"Yes I can!" Rose yelled at him. "And you can be a Death Eater and James can be an Order with me!"

Al complained and argued, but eventually agreed. They told James about their game and he quickly dive-bombed Al, screaming, "DIE, DEATH EATER, DIE!"

Rose didn't understand why the grown-ups were staring at them like that, but that was when she noticed Hugo tugging at the legs of people who were ignoring him. Rose didn't want to leave the game, but she was the best sister in the world, so she went to her little brother. "Hugo, what do you want?"

"Mummy?" Hugo said, tugging on her t-shirt.

Rose sighed, turning her brother around and pointing out their Mummy, still holding the photo and sitting on the bench that they were at before. "There's Mummy, ok?"

"Mummy!" Hugo yelled before toddling off towards her. That was when Rose noticed that her Mummy had been watching her. There were a lot of things she didn't understand about today and why she was watching her like that was one of them. It was like she was going to start crying again and Rose didn't want that. As Hugo reached her and her Mummy hoisted him into her arms, Rose thought she sighed at her.

But then James called for back-up, Al clinging to his back and trying to pull his brother down by the neck. Rose had to be Dumbledore to the rescue and pretty soon, her Mummy, the photo and all it meant was forgotten.

2

At eight-years-old, Rose Weasley loved the Battle Anniversary.

"Run, Al!" she cried, throwing herself round one of Hogwarts' many corridors. Trying to contain her hysterical giggling, she pressed her back up against the wall as hard as she could as her best friend came hurtling round the corner with her. He too leapt to the wall as Rose peered round the corner.

Nothing. She frowned.

"I thought James was behind you?"

"He was!" Al said, also looking.

"Well he's not here!" Rose stamped her foot. "I was gonna get him for good this time!"

"He's probably run off with Fred." Al answered, rolling his eyes.

"But Auntie Angelina told him not to!"

Al nodded. "Then he definitely ran off." he said.

Rose sighed in annoyance. She really wanted to play Death Eaters and the Order, only James would never play properly, so he and Fred would only ruin it. Lily and Hugo were annoying and wouldn't play it right and the rest of their cousins were either too old to play, or too little.

"What're we gonna do? We can't play now!" Rose complained.

Al shrugged. "Mummy wants us back in the Great Hall by dinner time anyway."

Rose snorted. "You always do what your Mummy tells you to."

Al screwed up his face in anger as Rose laughed. "I don't!" he yelled. "Besides, you always do what your Daddy says!"

"That's cause he gives me chocolate, if I'm good," Rose said, smugly.

"Haha, Daddy's girl!"

Rose shoved her cousin hard (he was her cousin now that he had annoyed her, not her best friend) and Al fell down onto the hard concrete floor of the castle. Al shut up immediately and looked like he wanted to cry, but he and Rose knew each other well enough by then to know that if one of them made the other cry, they'd never hear the end of it. Would you want to be marked as a baby?

The Hogwarts corridors were mostly silent, save for the odd person dashing back to their dormitories for something. On the second of May, all of the students got the day off for the Battle Anniversary and they had a huge party in the Great Hall that lasted all day!

Rose remembered hating having to come, because there was that hour when they had to stand outside in the freezing cold in the middle of the night (or so it seemed to her). But she was only little then and didn't understand. She was a big girl now, so now she knew why they came up here every year and it was to celebrate the end of a huge battle or something.

All she cared about was that she got to visit Hogwarts again!

"Oh don't cry, Al," Rose said, holding out her hand and helping Al to his feet as he sniffled. "I didn't push you hard, you baby."

"I'm not a baby." Al said in retaliation.

"Anyway," Rose remembered what she was going to say before she got side-tracked. "I like being a daddy's girl! I love Daddy, but Mummy's so annoying …"

"Has she shown you that photo again?" Al asked her and she nodded, making a face.

"She shows me every year!" Rose cried. "Hugo loves looking at that photo, so she should just give it to him, not me."

"I thought you tried giving it to him?"

Rose nodded, kicking at the floor. "Mum caught me," she said, ruefully. "She yelled at me."

"Your Mum is mean."

"I hate her." Rose agreed.

They were silent for a few moments as Rose glanced around the corridor, trying to find something to do. Hopefully it was something her Mum didn't like, that would annoy her! But when she found nothing, Rose crossed her arms in a huff.

"There's nothing to do! We should just play Death Eaters and the Order again!" she said.

"But we don't have anyone to play with." Al said, frowning.

Rose thought for a moment, then she grinned, grabbing her best friend's hand (cause of course, he was her best friend again) and tugging him back the way they had come. They burst out at the top of the Marble Staircase, looking down at all of the kids running around, playing in the Entrance Hall while the parents all partied in the Great Hall.

"We can get Malfoy to be a Death Eater!" Rose said excitedly, pointing out the little blond kid who looked more like he was six, than he was eight like she was. Scorpius Malfoy was sitting by himself at the bottom of the stairs, reading what looked like a copy of the comic series, The Adventures of Amelia the Animagus. He was a freaky weirdo and Rose didn't like him. Neither did her Daddy, so she ignored her Mum when she said that they should play nice.

"Aw, not Malfoy," Al complained. "I hate him!"

"Me too, but if he's a Death Eater, we can kill him!"

Al frowned at that. "Mummy says it's not nice to pretend to kill people."

Rose thought. "Bet you she has."

"Mummy hasn't killed people!" Al said, eyes wide.

Rose sighed. Al was never as smart as she was. "Al, it's just a game and people play games all the time. I bet when your Mummy was eight, she pretended to kill people too!"

Al seemed to remember something. "Your Mummy has killed people!"

Rose scoffed at that. "Don't be a dumb baby, Al, course my Mum hasn't killed people."

"But in the battle!" Al said, gesturing down towards the Great Hall where all the parents and older students were. "Our parents fought in a huge battle! People die in fights like that and our parents are alive, so they must've killed people."

"No!" Rose shook her head. Because the idea of her Mum killing was so surreal, she just didn't understand. "My Mummy never killed anyone! Don't be an idiot!"

Al just shrugged. "D'you wanna keep playing? Cause I'm hungry."

Rose glanced down at the back of Malfoy's head. She didn't really want to have to play with him, even if she did get to punch him down. "No," she answered. "C'mon, Daddy'll get us food."

Al agreed and then they were running down the stairs to the Great Hall, Rose's red curls flying as she ignored the look that the little blond kid with the comic gave her, eyes following her as she ran past into the Great Hall. Rose just shook her head.

Her Mum never killed anyone.

3

At 12-years-old, Rose Weasley hated the Battle Anniversary.

"Mum, its cold," she complained, shivering out on the grounds in her Hogwarts cloak. "Can I go inside–?

"No, Rose," her Mum hissed and Rose groaned. "Now stop complaining and be quiet."

Rose grumbled to herself. Normally all of the students would stand at the back of the huge crowd of at least a thousand people that would assemble down by the lake at Hogwarts. It had to be about six in the morning and the darkness was just starting to lift. They were finally nearing the end of the ceremony, however Rose was never allowed to stand with her classmates – Rose was always forced to stand up the front with her crazy family.

Once she had gotten to Hogwarts and the novelty of chasing Al through the corridors had worn off, she found that she couldn't care less about the Battle Anniversary. It's not like she was there – it's not like she was even born – so why should she be dragged along?

She wasn't listening to whoever was speaking. It might've been the Minister for Magic. She was staring down hard at the photo clenched in her hand, hoping that maybe if she stared long and hard enough, she might start to form some sort of connection with the man in it.

She couldn't exactly remember the first time her Mum had shown it to her – she'd been shown every year – but now she remembered when her Mum had told her who was in it. It had apparently been taken at the Black Family Mansion on Grimmauld Place when her Mum was like, 15 or something. Uncle Harry, her Mum, her Dad and the rest of her Uncle's and Aunty were crowded around a table in a dingy kitchen, apparently at Christmas time since they were all wearing paper hats and tinsel was strung everywhere. There was the tall, black-haired and scary-looking guy Uncle Harry said had been his Godfather, standing next to the bloke Teddy said was his Dad. Her Mum and Dad were sat on either side of Uncle Harry, all grinning together however what her Mum always pointed out whenever she handed the photo over was smack in the middle.

Two men, almost identical were standing in front of a lady with hair that changed colour, laughing as she tried to push them out of the way. They both looked like her Uncle George, though she knew that only one of them was – the other was her Uncle Fred, who had died a few years after this photo was taken.

Rose hadn't cared when her Mum first tried explaining it to her and she still didn't care now, though judging by her Mum's reactions, she was supposed to. But the man in the photo wasn't her Uncle George, she didn't know who he was. So how was she supposed to care?

"Rose," her Mum whispered and she realised that she had been led down in a line to the huge tree that had been planted next to the War Monument. If she thought the list of dead names were ginormous, it was nothing compared to the tree. It towered over everyone, however it was still covered in photos of dead people. Whenever Rose considered, it was actually really creepy. "It's your turn. Remember what I told you?"

Rose just shrugged, clutching the photo in her hand tightly. Every year they would replace or add new photos of the ones her parents had lost to the tree. They liked the kids to do it, because apparently it helped give them a sense of who Uncle Fred had been.

It didn't help, but none of her cousins had been brave enough to say so. Now, it was Rose's year to do it.

Her Mum levitated her up high to the branch where last year's photo hung, the two Uncles's laughing together, because it was impossible to get a photo of just Uncle Fred. Rose pinned up the photo she still couldn't understand, then turned to face the huge crowd and her family.

She was supposed to say something nice. She couldn't think of anything.

So instead, Rose shrugged. "Whatever," she said. "He died years ago."

Rose kind of regretted her words when she got to the ground. Her Mum looked ready to murder her.

My Mum never killed anyone.

"Whatever?" her Mum practically screamed at her, her brown curls frizzing even more than usual in her anger. Rose winced, but refused to cry. "How dare you say something like that in front of all those people?"

"What does it matter?" Rose countered, folding her arms. Her Mum rubbed her forehead, slamming the door of the empty classroom shut. As soon as the morning ceremony was over, her Mum had dragged her to the nearest classroom on the ground floor to yell, as she knew she would.

"It matters, because every year you treat this day like its some huge joke!" her Mum yelled.

"Well, why shouldn't I?" Rose yelled back. "It's not like I get the seriousness of it or anything, I mean I wasn't there, so why should I care?"

"BECAUSE!" her Mum practically screamed, gripping her hair tightly in her hands. Rose was pretty sure that she was going to start ripping it out soon. "We lost family in that war! Family and friends who meant a lot to us! Your family, Rose Weasley!"

"Just because I'm related doesn't mean I know them," Rose snarled. "Ask Al. Ask any of the kids and they'll say the same thing. Or well, no they won't, they'll lie and say they remember cause they don't want to get in trouble or make you lot mad, but they're all the same. None of them understand it. Least of all me so SORRY if I hate today!"

The look on her Mum's face was enough to make her satisfied. Rose then stormed past her Mum and out of the classroom, ignoring the hand her Mum reached out to her and the exasperated yell as she ran away back to her cousins,

"Rose!"

4

When Rose Weasley was 17-years-old, she was sick of hearing about the Uncle she never knew.

"Malfoy!" she yelled and the tall, blond-haired bloke turned. As soon as he saw who it was, he looked extremely confused.

"Weasley?" he practically asked.

Rose could guess why he looked like she'd just grown a third arm. Apart from the occasional beating they'd give each other when they were kids, as a general rule, Rose and Malfoy simply ignored each other. She'd never particularly liked him, however for some insane reason he seemed to actually get along with some of her other cousins, despite being in Slytherin. So while they may tolerate each other around Rose's cousins, whenever the two crossed paths by themselves … they pretended the other didn't exist.

"You seen Al?"

Unless of course they wanted something.

Malfoy just shrugged, leaning against the banister of the Marble Staircase. The Battle ceremony had concluded about an hour ago and now, all of the adults were in the Great Hall, drinking their weight in Firewhisky, including Rose's parents. None of them even cared that James had stolen about three cases of the stuff and smuggled it into the Gryffindor Common Room. The party up there was 'bloody rockin', Ro Ro!' in the words of James.

"Last I saw, he was with Mia." Malfoy answered.

Rose gave an exasperated groan. She should've known. "Why the hell did my cousin have to get a girlfriend?"

Malfoy shrugged. "It was about time. They'd been eyeing each other for about a year."

Rose snorted to herself. She loved her cousin dearly, but her Mum was still trying to look for her and Rose had no desire whatsoever to speak to Hermione Weasley. Al was normally her perfect 'getting rid of Mum' bloke however ever since he and Mia had gotten together, he'd been perfect for nothing other than rambling about how perfect the world was. It was actually rather sickening.

Or maybe she was a bit too pessimistic. Anyway.

"By the way, your mother wanted to talk to you." Malfoy said, hands still in pockets as he leaned at the bottom of the stairs.

"Aw, crap," Rose muttered, running a hand through her curls. "What did you tell her?"

Malfoy shrugged. "That you were probably with your cousins. She didn't know it, but obviously that was a lie." he added.

"Yeah well, they're all busy getting drunk …" Rose said, glancing around the Entrance Hall, warily. It was only about seven in the morning thanks to the ceremony taking place at dawn, yet for a Saturday the castle was extremely lively. Lots of little kids and students ran around, enjoying the day off, not really caring why. Rose remembered being like that, playing games with Al and her cousins. Now, she was just sick of this. It was the same thing every year. "… hang on, why aren't you upstairs getting your drink on?"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Gryffindor party, Weasley," he said. "Not exactly invited."

Rose almost laughed. "Password's traditional courage, idiot," she said. "It got traded around last night. Anyone who's anyone is up there."

"And yet, you're not." Malfoy pointed out.

Well. She wasn't going to tell him why.

Suddenly, a voice she knew well called out across the Entrance Hall and Rose practically dived behind Malfoy, thanking Merlin that he was so tall. Her Mum had just left the Great Hall, obviously still looking for her.

Malfoy was obviously never going to be a great Auror, since he just turned around to look at her weirdly. "What the hell're you doing?"

"Hiding! For Merlin's sake, I'm not here!" Rose had to grab his shoulders and turn him back around since he didn't look like he was going to co-operate any time soon.

"I'm not sure if it needs asking, but … why are you hiding?"

"She wants to show me a photograph." Rose muttered. She didn't even need to hear her Mum mention it, it was always the same thing she wanted.

"So?"

"So," Rose emphasised as her Mum spotted Malfoy. "I have no bloody interest in looking at a photo! I just want her to go away!"

"Scorpius!" her Mum said in that irritatingly polite tone she always had. "I'm sorry to bother you again, but are you sure you haven't seen Rose?"

Oh Merlin, she'd better get moving. Like hell Malfoy was going to just stand where he was, she'd already established that he was a bad Auror. However, just as she started inching her way up the Marble Stairs on her hands and knees, Malfoy spoke up,

"Er, sorry Mrs Weasley … I dunno where she is. I thought she was with her cousin, but …"

"Oh, that's all right, thank you, Scorpius." her Mum said. Rose could hear her move to turn away and Rose knew that she had to keep moving in order to get out of here, but she had frozen in shock. Scorpius Malfoy had just stood straight and lied to her mother, simply because he knew that she didn't want to talk to her.

She may have to re-think her opinions about that bloke.

However freezing was her mistake.

"Rose?"

"Oh," Rose was forced to stand awkwardly and face her mother behind Malfoy. "Hi, Mum."

"What in Merlin's name are you doing back there?" her Mum asked, looking confused and slightly unstable on her feet (though the latter may have had something to do with the Firewhisky she'd already consumed. She'd never been a heavy drinker, her mother, however she had the tolerance for alcohol like a 13-year-old girl).

"Er …" Rose considered just blatantly lying, however that would only put her Mum in a bad mood and all she wanted was to get outside without being noticed. Maybe she should just humour her Mum for a few minutes …

Good Merlin, she was going soft! She'd been more defiant than this when she was 12.

"Look Rose, that doesn't matter," her Mum said, waving a hand. "I want to talk to you. Now, please?"

"Er, Mrs Weasley," Malfoy said, hastily and Rose turned once again to look at him in confusion. "Weas – er, Rose and I were just about to head up to the Gryffindor Common Room … a few of our mates are up there and we said we'd hang out together …"

Rose felt another broom-load of shock – seriously, that was twice now that he'd lied for her – and apparently her mother felt the same way. Her face looked surprised, however she soon gave a small smile.

"I understand," she said, gently. "Don't worry Scorpius, I'll only steal her away for a few minutes."

"Oh," Malfoy glanced at Rose and shrugged in a what're you gonna do? fashion. "Right. I guess I'll, er … be upstairs …"

And he turned and headed up the Marble Staircase as fast as he could go.

Git, Rose thought. Couldn't wait to get out of there!

She turned back reluctantly to her Mum, who was still smiling. "I can't exactly speak for your father," she said to Rose. "But I must say, I do like that Scorpius Malfoy. You could do far worse."

"I have done far worse …" Rose muttered to herself, rolling her eyes. Then she seemed to realise what she was saying. "… I, er no – look Mum, Malfoy's just a – a mate …" she was forced to stumble over the word since in fact she'd never even used the word in reference to Malfoy before.

"Even so," her Mum said. Then she held out her hand. "Come with me, Rose. I want to talk to you about your Uncle Fred."

"Good Merlin, not this again …" Rose grumbled as she ignored her mother's hand and stomped down the staircase past her. Her Mum frowned, but led them outside the Entrance Hall, past all the little kids playing, through the oak doors and sitting down on the first step leading up to the castle. With a heavy sigh, Rose joined her.

"Rose–" her Mum started.

"Oh, here we go."

"Don't you dare start with me," her Mum thundered and just for a moment, Rose remembered why Hermione Weasley scared her sometimes. "Rose, that photo is supposed to belong to you."

"I don't want it." Rose said, automatically.

"And don't I know it," her Mum said, warily. "But I don't care. I've kept that photo for so long because I want you to remember that at one point, there was an Uncle Fred."

"Yeah, but he's dead," Rose suddenly found herself countering. She was a bit surprised by her own daring. Normally she would've resigned herself to the worst and given up by now, taking the photo in her hands and tuning out her Mum's speech about how great her Uncle Fred had been. But there wasn't a photo this time. "He was dead before I was even born! So he was never really an Uncle to me, was he?"

"Rose!" her Mum yelled and Rose just shrugged in response. "You don't understand, he will always be your Uncle–"

"You're right, I don't understand!" Rose yelled. "I hate this day and everything about it because I don't understand!"

"You use to love coming to the ceremony–!" her Mum began, a wistful tone in her voice, like she always did when thinking about the days when Rose and Hugo were younger and apparently, better behaved. Obviously, she didn't know that her precious 'Hugie' was probably currently up in the common room simultaneously drinking his way through a third bottle of Firewhisky and trying to snog Georgia Howe.

"I was a little kid, I didn't care about the bloody ceremony!"

"Don't you use that sort of language with me!" her Mum yelled.

Rose rolled her eyes, shoving herself further away from her along the step. "I'll use it, because I don't care!" she yelled. "When I was little, I only loved coming here because I got to see the magnificent Hogwarts castle! I hated the ceremony, we all do! As soon as I started coming here, the wow-factor wore off, so now there's just no point to the 2nd of May!"

Her Mum looked slightly pained, like this information was torturing her. "Rose … you can't mean that–"

"Hell bloody yeah, I do!" Rose cut in and her Mum winced. "All of my cousins are exactly the same! I've told you before, but you and the rest of our crazy family are determined to believe that we get it! Well I've got news for you, none of us see the point! All we care about is a day off classes! None of the others will say anything, but it wouldn't make a difference even if they did. I bet you don't even know about Fred."

"What …" her Mum looked slightly dazed at her daughter's outburst, so Rose wasn't surprised when she had to think for a moment about who she was talking about. Then she clicked. "… what about your cousin?"

"See? You have no idea what this day does to him."

"Then tell me!"

Rose snorted. "You think it's easy growing up with a name like that? When every single day, your own dad compares you to the cooler guy who had your name first? When you're expected to be a prankster, because that's what Uncle George wanted. Expected to be funny, expected to be the one everybody has a laugh with. The truth? Fred couldn't care less about all that! You lot have no idea who he is because when he comes to school, he changes back to his real self. A calm and collected bloke who as opposed to common belief, does not like to blow things up for amusement! Oh sure, he'll explode a bathroom or two just to keep Uncle George happy, but at Hogwarts, away from you lot … he's a completely different person. And you've never seen that."

If her Mum was dazed before, she seemed practically catatonic now. Rose wondered if Fred would try and kill her for telling her Mum what she just had – he'd made every single one of his cousins swear not to say anything to their parents the second he'd set foot through the doors of Hogwarts when he was eleven. Rose had to admit while the family-Fred was rather funny, she personally liked the real-Fred a whole lot more. He would actually study with her, rather than setting her homework on fire.

"I …" her Mum said, quietly. "Is that true?"

Rose scoffed. "Of course it's flipping true! What, you think I could just make this stuff up–?"

"Because if it isn't," her Mum ploughed on as if she hadn't heard her daughter speak. "It's a very serious thing to lie about and I would be very disappointed in you for using your cousin to try and get out of remembering your Uncle Fred."

"You've got to be bloody kidding me!" Rose yelled, standing and gripping her hair in irritation.

"I am not, now sit down, young lady!" her Mum yelled.

"NO!"

"You're acting like a three-year-old!"

"No, three-year-old Rose would just do what you say," Rose countered, moving down a step, so she was standing in front of her mother. "Because you're Mum. But 17-year-old Rose on the other hand is finally telling you NO because I don't want to hear it! I don't want to look at that stupid photo and hear about how great Uncle Fred was because no matter how hard I bloody try, I can never figure out who he was!"

"He was your Uncle Fred–" her Mum started.

"He was someone I never met!" Rose practically screamed. She stared out over the grounds, towards the giant tree by the monument. Up in the branches somewhere, was a photo. The Photo. The one that her mother had tried to show her every year until Rose had pinned it up in the tree when she was 12.

It was why she wasn't at the party.

"Rose–"

"You've always said you never want me to forget him!" Rose screamed. "But how can I forget if I can't even REMEMEBR?"

Her Mum was forced to breathe deeply at this, pressing her fingers to her forehead in an attempt to calm down. Rose had seen her do this several times. Every time her Mum and Dad got into a row, she would force herself to calm down. However, Rose had never seen it happen because of something she had said.

"I wish," her Mum said. "That I still had that old photo of us back in Fifth Year. I've been showing you that photo since you were born, Rose. I thought maybe pinning it up on the tree would give you a sense of who your Uncle was, but clearly I was wrong."

Rose snorted. "No shit."

Her mother shot her a hard look. "You may be upset, but you will not swear at me," she practically growled. "Now you are going to go inside and apologise to your Uncle George."

Rose scoffed. "For what?"

"For when you pinned that photo up on the tree and acted like you cared less about your Uncle Fred than the Giant Squid!"

"That was years ago!" Rose yelled.

"Exactly and you never said you were sorry!"

"I did!"

"NOT TO WHO IT MATTERED THE MOST!" her Mum yelled, shocking Rose. An apology really meant that much to her Uncle George? She didn't think her actions when she was 12 had really upset anyone except her Mum …

"Mum, you want to know why I won't apologise?" Rose snarled.

"Enlighten me."

"Because I don't care," Rose insisted. "I have no idea who Uncle Fred was, what he was like and yeah, I get it's sad for you guys because you knew him, but for me and my cousins – sorry, but we won't ever care about him!"

"You don't mean–"

"Stop saying that! I do mean it! I bet," Rose quickly glanced back at the tree. The one she'd blown off a perfectly good party for to try and get that photo back. She had been determined to prove to herself one last time that she didn't want, nor care about that photo at all. She had been planning on doing it alone, but … why not take an audience? A witness would only prove her case. "If we go get that photo down, I still won't care about it! I'll look at the people in that photo and I won't feel anything for them at all."

Suddenly, her Mum was on her feet. In fact, she was striding down the steps and was halfway to the lawn before Rose had even turned to stare in disbelief. She didn't think her Mum would ever actually agree.

"C'mon then!" her Mum said, harshly.

She turned and strode off across the lawns and Rose hurried after her.

"Mum," Rose huffed as she skidded to a halt next to the tree. It towered over both of them, the nearest branches still a few feet over their heads and so dense that it felt like night time. However her Mum had already levitated herself up to the branch Rose remembered from when she was 12. "Mum! You're really taking this too seriously …"

"Take this, Rose," her Mum suddenly said, touching back down on the ground and striding over to her. Rose took the photo thrust into her hands. "Look at those people and tell me you feel nothing for any of them."

"Well, I wouldn't say any of them …" Rose muttered, glancing down. After all, her Dad was in that photo.

This was what she had wanted to do, but now that she was actually faced with the prospect of looking at the photo again, she suddenly found that she didn't want to do it. She had to force her eyes to look hard at the happy Christmas scene. Her Mum didn't say anything as she watched her, only stood a little way in front of her, arms folded and frowning.

Rose's parents and Uncle Harry sat together, all roughly around the age of 15. While they all looked slightly strained, Uncle Harry maybe even more so, they seemed to shove that aside in favour of smiles for the camera. They grinned together, her Mum leaning against both 'her boys' as she often called them. Despite the rough time they'd apparently had that year, they looked happy.

Obviously she felt something for them. Despite the issues she may have with her mother, Rose still loved her – of course she did – and she'd have to be a blind idiot to not see the bond the three had. She'd always love them.

But the two Uncle's in the middle of the picture …

She'd done it so many times that staring at her Uncle's seemed like second nature. It was hard to tell the difference between the two, because the Uncle George she knew only had one ear and these two were identical. However after so many years of staring, she came to recognise the Uncle she knew as opposed to the one she'd never met. Subtle differences that she wouldn't have picked up on otherwise. A slightly rounder face, a few inches taller …

She tried so hard to feel something. She would look at her Uncle George and wish she could have known him like that – fun-loving, carefree – rather than the silly, but still slightly sad Uncle she knew now. But Uncle Fred …

"I don't know him," she said, quietly. "Mum, I'm sorry but he might as well not be my Uncle. I don't know who he is."

Her Mum just stared for a few moments. Then, she practically snatched the photo out of Rose's hands, which made Rose stare. "So that's it then?" her Mum said, harshly. "You're never going to feel anything?"

"I'm sorry, but how can I feel about someone I never knew?"

"Because I knew him!" her Mum cried. "Because your Dad knew him and because we were there when he died! There was an explosion and I saw him hit the ground! I had to force your father to not go charging off so he could kill the Death Eater who did it!"

That struck her almost as much as if her Mum had slapped her. It was a worry that had bothered her since she was little. The idea of her parents ever killing someone. They were her Mum and Dad, they could never do something like that …

My mum never killed anyone!

"He didn't though," Rose cut in, roughly. "… right?"

"I – what?" her Mum was clearly thrown off. "Didn't what?"

"Kill that Death Eater."

"No, of course not – granted, only because I held him back, but–"

"So say you weren't there, you reckon he would've killed him?"

Tears had started in her Mum's eyes now, but she didn't care. She had to know. "Rose …" Her Mum shook her head. "I don't know. Rose, we all did things we weren't proud of in that war. Killing was one of those things."

"You're not saying you killed someone?"

"I had to!" her Mum yelled and Rose felt something very cold and very icy settle in her stomach. It took a moment to recognise. Fear. "I mean, it was the middle of the battle, it was kill or be killed! I don't know why I'm telling you this, you're far too young to understand–"

"Is that what happened to Uncle Fred?" Rose cut in, ignoring the slur on her not understanding. Maybe she didn't. "Did he not kill someone before they killed him?"

Her Mum winced. "I don't like to remember, Rose–" she began.

Rose suddenly gave a harsh laugh. "Then why the ever-loving HELL do you come to this stupid ceremony every year?" she yelled. "If you hate remembering–"

"I DO IT FOR YOU AND HUGO!" her Mum screamed, gesturing wildly with the hand holding the photo.

Rose wasn't expecting that. "Why? It's not like we remember–"

"Because," her Mum burst out. "If you refuse to remember your own Uncle, who's to say you'll remember me? Or your father, or your brother or even your Uncle Harry!"

A beat of silence. Then,

"Mum, that's insane!"

"Because they're both Aurors," her Mum continued, voice dangerously close to tears. "Your Dad and Harry, every mission they go on could be their last! Rose this is really real and if you won't care to remember the Uncle who's already dead … if the rest of your family were taken away, would you care at all?"

"I can't believe you'd even think something like that!" Rose yelled, seriously pissed off now. Her Mum actually had tears flowing down her cheeks now and it made her want to cry as well. She hated it when her parents cried when she was little and she still hated it now. It was unnatural. "For Merlin's sake, you think I'd, what, be ok if Dad died? You're nuts!"

"I obviously don't think that Rose–!"

"Then what? Because that's what you were saying five seconds ago–"

"ME!" her Mum suddenly screamed. "WHAT ABOUT ME?"

Rose blanched, completely bewildered. "What about you?"

"If I died, Rose," her Mum burst out. "Would you even care?"

It was like she had been kicked in the gut as the world came crashing down around her. All these years, that's what her mother had been worried about. Her own daughter not caring if she died. Rose didn't know whether to laugh or to be disgusted.

"Mum …" she practically gasped.

Her Mum glanced up at her, looking devastated. When she raised a hand to her daughter's face, Rose didn't flinch like she normally would. "I'm sorry …" her Mum said. "I didn't mean to make you cry …"

It took Rose a few seconds to realise that her Mum was wiping the tears away from her cheek. "It doesn't matter," she said, sniffing despite herself. "Mum, you can't possibly think that … that if you died, that I wouldn't care. How could I not? You're my Mum. I love you."

"We were never really close though, were we?" her Mum admitted quietly, as if saying this out loud pained her.

Rose felt an even bigger pang for her mother at that. She'd always run to her Dad if she needed something, always went to him for advice. Until now she'd never considered what that must've felt like to her Mum.

She finally understood now, why the battle anniversary was so important to her.

Rose raised a hand to the one on her cheek, holding it there and trying not to sob.

"Can … can I look at that photo again?"

-Fin.

A/N: So my Granddad died last month. However i think i'd maybe met the guy, what, 3 times over my 19 years of living? I barely knew him, however i was expected to be sad about it. I wasn't. This story was born.

I'm sorry it's so freaking long and horribly depressing at points, but i hope you all like it!

Yes, The Adventures of Amelia the Animagus is apparently still going strong in 2014 and is the same comic series featured in my other story, Adventures.

First story of 2012. Lets make this a good year!

Reviews are always appreciated!

Until next time -

- Moon. : D