Harry's Point of View:

I didn't mean to like her as much as I did. I wanted to be friends with her, which was so wrong as a teacher. She was wholesome and nice and easy to talk to, she didn't look like she might slip me love potions, and she had a goal. But I had to remind myself she was seventeen and one of my students.

I'd learned a lot about her by watching her. She was co-captain of the choir and had a beautiful voice. She was often humming. She spent her free time outside or in the library, tucked away in the stack working. She was usually with at least one of her friends, Peter or Nina. Whether she or Nina was dating Peter or not was a question no one knew the answer to. She was in the top five smartest of her class, hovering between four and five depending on the week.

Thinking about her reminded me I was so lonely here. It was awful and I hated it. I was miserable. Everywhere I looked, I found a reminder of Ginny, and I couldn't handle it. I was having to take sleeping potions at night so I wouldn't dwell on stupid things and wake up with terrible night mares. Ron and Hermione wouldn't come visit me until October, they said. They claimed they were busy, but I knew they were just trying to force me to settle in.

I didn't have anyone here, really. Hagrid was good company, but we could only handle each other once a week or so. After a year by myself, one would think I could function without company, but I craved it now.

I tried to suppress my urge to be friends with Rosalin, but I saw the perfect reason. I didn't know if caution or loneliness would win out.

Rosalin's Point of View:

The days flew past. When I had heard people tell me seventh year would be over in seconds, I didn't really believe them. But now I agreed.

And it was so good, I felt like I'd hit my stride. The choir was going really well, my grades seemed to be going well. I'd gotten my application for the apprenticeship at Gringotts and begun to fill it out.

And then that Friday came along. Somehow, I had managed to oversleep my alarm, which was mildly fine since I had the morning off but left me without time to do my D.A.D.A. homework. I scrambled and skipped lunch, but it still wasn't done. I had promised to help Nina with her D.A.D.A. homework, but couldn't and she was annoyed with me. And then, in Arithmancy, I had gotten a Poor on an essay I had misunderstood. It was the only Poor I'd received all year, the only one in a sea of Outstandings and Exceeds Expectations, but it just added to a pile of awful.

Overall, it was a terrible day. By the time I got to Defense Against the Dark Arts, I was acting like a troll. I just wanted to crawl back into bed. I wondered if I could skip it, but knew he would notice.

So I pulled myself to class, my essay still half done in my pocket. Maybe I could get it done while he lectured.

Who was I kidding, he never lectured. But I would try.

I got into class just before the bell rang, and slipped my essay out. I tried to get it done, by some miraculous event he actually spent the beginning of class talking about the theory behind one of the spells we were learning today. It was so unlike me, all of this. Being a troll, not having my work done, having Nina angry at me...

About fifteen minutes into the class, he told us to practice the spell. Peter asked me to be his partner so I was. Professor Potter came over and snatched the paper off my desk. "My office, after dinner." he said, quietly. He didn't sound angry and he didn't destroy my paper, but I felt awful. More awful then before. Even he was annoyed with me today.

I couldn't do anything right when Peter and I started practicing either. I mainly just counted the minutes until class was over and tried to dodge the smell Peter threw at me.

After class, even though I wanted to go to my dorm and sleep and not wake up until June, I went to dinner with Peter and Nina, but didn't eat much. I mainly pushed some noodles around my plate, eating enough so it looked like I'd had most of it and pushing the rest to the side. Peter was babbling on about some Quidditch match or something, but I don't think Nina or I really cared. I kept replaying the most awful parts of my day, over and over, making myself feel sick.

After most of the food was gone, I saw Potter making his way out the door. He caught my eye and nodded. Now I knew there was no chance of me getting out of this.

I waited ten minutes until dinner was over and excused myself. They didn't asked where I was going, and I made myself to the fifth floor in peace. He was waiting.

"Hello, Rosalin." he said as I came into his office.

I was nervous. I wasn't in a place where I was sure I could be yelled at today without crying, and I really didn't want to cry in front of him. "Hi."

"You can sit down." he said. He certainly didn't look angry.

I did, and I was nervous now. My hand started to shake a little, so I kept them in my lap. I didn't meet his eyes.

"Ease up, Rosalin." he said quietly. "You're not in trouble or anything."

I looked up in surprise. "Oh." I said.

"I-" he started. "I'm concerned with your grade."

"What do you mean?" I asked, concerned. Now I was a little annoyed. I had an Outstanding on all of my essays for this class.

"Well, you've done really well on all the essays so far. You're a really great writer." he said. "But at the practical exams... well, they're bringing your grade down to a Pass."

I had no idea about any of this and was shocked. This day was just trying to crush me, I could tell.

"Which, you know, is fine for most students. But I'm just concerned- not so much about the grade. It's not an ideal grade for your application, I know, but I could give you an Exceeds Expectations and we could forget this ever happened. I'm just worried that you need the actual skills. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you while you're breaking curses that was because you didn't learn it enough here." As he talked more, I thought harder. It was true I hadn't been doing my best at the practical examination so far. It wasn't because I didn't study what we were doing, I just didn't have the full understanding of it. Still, any discussion that was about my ineptitudes upset me.

I just nodded, I didn't know what to say. This day was just so awful, I wanted to forget it all and go home. Not to my dorm, but back to England, and just forget it all. I could feel tears burn in my eyes but tried to contain myself until he dismissed me.

"Oh, God." he said. "You're going to cry- don't cry, Rosalin. We'll figure it out- Ugh, I'm terrible with crying girls."

I choked a sob, but was embarrassed. Why had I come here? It would have been much easier to blow him off and come back tomorrow when I was a stronger person.

"Uhm." he said, standing up and getting closer to me. "Here, just- come with me." As I strained to not let any more tears out, he opened a door I thought was a painting. He led me down stairs and into his living space, and instructed me to sit on a couch. It was a light blue, paisley pattern. It was strange to be in his rooms. One large room was his living room and kitchen. The kitchen was at the far end, just a little stove, cabinets, and a table. Next to the stairs from his office was a room that was probably his bedroom. The door was slightly ajar but I couldn't tell. It was all very plain, there wasn't anything that told me he lived there.

I sat on the couch, still crying, and he was at work at the kitchen counter. In what seemed like an impossibly short time, he was handing me a mug of hot chocolate. "Drink this, it'll help." he said. I accepted it.

It was sweet, but had a taste almost like cinnamon. It was very hot, but I drank it. "I'm so sorry." I told him. "I didn't meant to..."

"It's fine." he said, looking completely honest. "I didn't mean to set you off like that."

"I've had a bad day." I admitted. "And I was just expecting for me to come here tonight and get scolded for trying to finish that essay in class, not that my grade's shite."

"It's not shite," he said. "I've got a few Trolls in one of my younger classes, their grades are shite. Yours is average, which I know won't cut it at Gringotts. But it makes sense- you haven't had good Defense teachers in the past. You had, let's see- Remus Lupin, he was a good teacher, then fake Moody, who was crazy, then Umbridge, then Snape, the Carrows-"

"No Carrows." I said. "I stayed home from school that year."

He nodded. "And then a rotation of people last year. It's definitely not an ideal combination for tons of success." Last year, they had been unable to get anyone to commit to a year, so a bunch of people that had helped in the war took a chapter and spent a couple weeks doing it. They weren't terrible, but there was no stability. "Ideally, you should have been with one teacher for seven years, like your other subjects. Obviously, the problem isn't with your understanding- your papers are great. But..."

"I know." I said. "I just can't grasp things on the fly. I'm better with things I have a minute to think about before reacting."

"You're too cautious." he said.

"Yes." I said. "Something like that."

"But I'm saying we can fix that." he said. "When will Gringotts bring you in for a practical test?"

"January." I said. My application was due the first of November, and the first of January we would be notified if we were one of five to get brought in for an interview and practical test. The first of March, we would find out if we had made it into the program. The goblins were terrible, cruel people to make us wait like that. Healers and Aurors were notified at New Years and given contracts based on NEWT scores. If I got offered an apprenticeship, NEWT scores meant nothing unless I completely blew them off.

"That's plenty of time to fix things." he said. "I want to help you."

"Why?" I asked, curious.

"I like helping people." he shrugged. "I think that I can help you. I've done it before with more hopeless cases. I think you're trying really hard, it would be a shame if you didn't get in. Do you even have a back up plan?"

I did, but it wasn't anything I wanted to have to consider seriously. "My dad needs a secretary in his office."

"That's no job for you." he told me. "Admit it."

"It's a back up plan." I said. "Of course it's not ideal."

He cleared his throat. "I want to help you." he said. "Twice a week should be enough, and by January you'll be at the top of the class and the first pic for the apprenticeship."

"Thank you." I said. I put the hot chocolate cup down. I felt a lot warmer inside and I was less upset. He was very reassuring.

"What days are you free?" he asked.

"Monday and Saturday I have choir, Wednesday I tutor."

"Tuesday and Thursday?" he asked.

"That would be...amazing." I said. "Thank you so much."

He nodded. "I promise you will get better." he said. "In a few months, you can laugh about this"

I thought of the embarrassment I'd felt so strongly earlier. I felt a lot better now that I'd gotten things off my chest. I nodded at him, hoping that one day I would be laughing.

"Are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" he asked me. I'd expected that he was just about to show me out, but I guess not.

"Yeah." I said. "I'm going with the other seventh year members of the choir. We've got to pick out robes for the choir. Seventh years get to wear a different robe."

"You're not going with your boyfriend?"

Was he talking about Peter? "Who?" I asked.

"Peter Walker?" he asked.

I shook my head and laughed. "I love Peter like he's my brother. But he's most definitely a friend. People always do that, you know? A bloke and a girl can't be friends without something being assumed. Pretty annoying. People always thought you and Hermione were dating, didn't they?"

He nodded. "I see what you mean. I'm sorry."

I just shrugged. A bell rang out, signaling it was time for us to be inside out common rooms. Shite! How had that come so quickly. And I was caught outside my dorms.

"Shite." he said, standing up. "Wait, are you a Prefect?" Prefects could be out now if they were doing duties.

"No." I said.

"I'm surprised." he told me. "You're the perfect candidate."

"I was invited, then didn't spend fifth year at school so I never actually got to be one." I told him.

"That's not fair." he announced. "Anyways, how are we going to get you out of here without getting caught by Filch or going with me?"

I knew that going with him would look really suspicious. I probably wasn't supposed to be in his living area. I bet we were breaking rules. He got an idea and went into his bedroom. I didn't follow, I didn't really want to go in there. He returned with a cloak. What did he think that would do?

"This is my father's invisibility cloak." he said. "If you promise to return it tomorrow, I'll let you use this."

I'd only heard of invisibility cloaks before. Never actually seen on. He showed me how it worked- it was truly strange to see his arm just stop and turn invisible. "I promise." I said. "Before I go to Hogsmeade."

He nodded, and handed it to me. It was soft, silky and luxurious feeling. We walked up, back into his office, and out to his classroom. I only had two stair cases to go up.

"Thank you..." I said. "For listening and for the hot chocolate. I'm sorry I was such a mess..."

"No, don't worry." he told me. "Obviously, it was something you needed. Good night, Rosalin."

"Night." I said. I put on the cloak, he assessed me as invisible, and I returned to my dorm.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: You guys are so lovely :) I hope you liked the chapter, I know it was super awkward. There's much more to the situation than meets the eye ;) But, I digress. Please let me know what you think. I'll be replying to all your reviews tonight or tomorrow. Thanks!