Eee, Maggie! I'm glad this was so thought-provoking! As far as minor characters go, you've hit it exactly - there are a few who are there at major events in canon, to they can be such fun to write into fanfic, and explore their POV during those events. I've been fascinated by Rosmerta since HBP. I wish we could have seen more about how her experience under Imperius affected her, and those around her.

There's a lot of class bias in this assumption that she's just the bar keep--both on our part and on the characters'

That's the other major theme I love about Rosmerta-fic. There isn't nearly enough class diversity in canon, IMO. The Weasleys seem to be the sole representatives of anyone who has ever struggled with money. Surely not everyone can be a Hogwarts professor or an Auror? Or, for that matter, own their own business in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade! (I suspect from canon that Rosmerta does in fact own the Three Broomsticks, but I played that down here. I prefer the interpretation that she is just a working stiff, like so many others in this world...)

Ah, the sexism issue. Maybe I'll post about it someday. I got a lot of comments on last year's femgenficathon entry about my portrayal of the Auror academy as sexist. *shrug* Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course, but it seems to me that a world in which torture is part of the justice system, and slavery is written off as 'the slave wants it', and other such power dynamics, cannot possibly have full and total equality in gender terms. (Not that any society in the universe has ever had this!) Co-ed Quidditch teams don't convince me of gender equality in the Wizarding world any more than co-ed equestrian teams do in my real world, you know?

At any rate, I'm glad the hints at systemic discrimination worked for you, and weren't too heavy-handed here. Thanks so much for all your help with it, and for this lovely detailed comment! ♥