A/N: OMG I have decided to try and get back into writing. I got a laptop for Christmas so at least it will be easier to get the writing done. I'm not much into typing and it used to take me forever to type a chapter, however, I have spent the last year training to be in administration and I can now type roughly 42 WPM so hopefully that will no longer be a problem. I have completely forgotten where I was taking this story so I guess we'll see.
Rose rolled out of bed bright and early the morning after her talk with Neville ready to study hard for, and concentrate on, her N.E.. She had a quick shower and arrived at breakfast by 6am. Looking around the Great Hall Rose noticed only one other student was even up at this hour. Josh Thomas sat at the Ravenclaw table eating dry toast a text book propped up in front of him on a jar of jam. Rose knew that Josh was possibly the only student who could rival her in the N.E.. They had both received an equal number of O's on their O.W.L exams and Rose was determined that she would make herself a worthy adversary.
By 7am Rose had settled herself in one of the library's back most corners and had started to lay her text books out so that she could look over the content based on what she felt she was lacking. Of course, Rose had studied systematically all year, every year since first arriving at Hogwarts and there were very few things that she was not at least an E at. However, it never hurt to brush up on your knowledge. Rose picked up her Transfiguration textbook and flipped to the chapter on conjuring large items and began to read, taking notes as she felt she needed to.
"Rose, I see you're as eager as I am to get in some last minute study," Rose glanced away from her book, to see Josh Thomas smiling at her.
"Yes, I'm just reviewing a couple of topics I think I still need to work on" Rose said smiling back. Josh was a handsome boy, standing at 6 feet 3 inches, he was a gentle giant. His short hair sat in tight curls against his head, his body was long and lean like you might expect to see in a ballet dancer and his large brown eyes showed his great intelligence and always seemed to be laughing.
"I best leave you to it then," he said starting to walk away, "maybe you'd like to have lunch with me today, talk out some of the more challenging topics."
Rose nodded her head enthusiastically, to which Josh gave a thumbs up before settling into a secluded corner of his own. Hours passed, Rose had read several chapters of several different books taking notes and practicing wand movements with her finger as not to disturb the room around her. As the sun came streaming through the window next to her at its hottest, Rose heard someone clear their throat next to her. Looking up Rose saw Josh holding a basket full of food and indicating with his finger to the exit. Rose nodded in silent agreement and they snuck out of the library together.
Once outside Rose took a deep breath of the warm spring air and stretched her arms above her head. She was so glad to be outside for a moment that she almost forgot she had company. Feeling sheepish she lowered her hands and indicated a spot on the far side of the lake under a willow tree where they were unlikely to be disturbed. Josh smiled and gestured for her to lead the way. After spreading a picnic blanket on the ground Rose dramatically collapsed in the middle of it on her back and sighed. Josh sat himself on a small piece of blanket had managed not to take up and started to make a sandwich. Rose sat up and grabbed at a piece of willow above her.
"Are you as intimidated by this whole thing as I am? Because even though I know that I know the content and most of the spells, I can't shake the feeling that there will either be something I've forgotten to study or some completely random topic I've never even heard of that will be brought up." She said running her fingers through her hair, making some of the more frizzy parts even crazier.
Josh contemplated the question, punctuating his thought with a bite of his sandwich. When he had finished the mouthful he answered. "I suppose I don't feel too stressed because I know that in the end I will have done everything in my power to be prepared and that's all anyone can ask of me. Well that, and I feel fairly well prepared."
"I think that my theory will be fine but I'm worried about the practical assessments. Especially conjuring, there is just something about larger items that I don't seem to have a complete grasp on. I can do easy things like a table or a lounge but if the ask me for something like a full china cabinet I don't know if I'll be able to do it." Rose looked down at her hands which were fiddling with the hem of her skirt out of nervousness.
"How likely is it really that they would ask for a full china cabinet, they do realise that we're just students. And really, in life how often are you going to need a full china cabinet out of thin air?" Josh asked the hint of a laugh in his voice.
"Oh bugger off" Rose replied taking a bite of chicken banter continued this way for another half an hour before Rose excused herself back to studying.
Sitting in the library Rose could have been forgiven for thinking that all of Hogwarts was empty; she had been left alone to study almost all day without a single interruption. She sat at her table and worked straight through dinner without even a feeling of hunger. It was only when she heard the call that informed her that curfew would be in 15 minutes that Rose realised that she had barely left the library all day.
Walking back to the Gryffindor common room Rose felt suddenly weary; she was obviously missing the sleep she missed last night. She managed to pull herself through the portrait hole and into the room before feeling as if she might fall asleep on the spot. She was just heading towards the staircase to her bed when Albus came running in her direction grinning like an idiot. Rose was really not in the mood for one of Al's more ridiculous moments and said as much before he'd even opened his mouth. Al stopped for a moment to digest his cousin's mood before continuing anyway.
"Rose, you'll never guess. I don't want you to guess, it'll be much more fun to just tell you. Scorpius was asked to the graduation ball by Becca and he said yes" Al look so excited that Rose could barely correlate between his ecstatic expression and the horrible news he'd just delivered. She simply stood there, stunned into silence. It just wasn't possible, Scorpius was meant to go to the ball with her, she already had her dress, it was meant to be her big chance to impress him. This honestly couldn't be happening.
"Rose are you alright?" Albus asked concerned with the fact that Rose did not share his enthusiasm for the fact that someone had finally taken an interest in their best friend.
"I'm fine, I just…I'm so…" she couldn't formulate a sentence, this was an overwhelming disaster, and especially in this tired state she just couldn't fight the feeling of complete disappointment and more pointedly disillusionment. Scorpius didn't want to go to the ball with her; he wanted to go with Rebecca McKnight. Tears welled in Rose's eyes and she slid her back down the wall behind her, sitting on one of the stairs she covered her face with her hands and sobbed ever so quietly.
Al stood for a moment staring at Rose he couldn't understand her emotion, why was she so upset about this, it was a good thing. His puzzled state showed on his face as he tried to figure out the scene that had just taken place. He was aware that Rose was not particularly fond of Becca but he had thought Scorpius could have done a lot worse. He wracked his brain for a moment when Becca might have upset Rose badly enough for her to behave like this. He hadn't even noticed when Rose had formed her resentment of Becca, but it must have been around the time the he had been assigned Becca as a project partner for Charms. They had become fast friends and Al had introduced her to both Rose and Scorpius. They had even gotten along fairly well with each other, Scorpius had shown an interest in Rebecca and she had shown one back, they had been having flirtatious banter back and forth for months now. It had been around the time the Albus had noticed the increased flirting between the two that he'd also noticed Rose's growing sullen behaviour whenever Becca was mentioned or around. Suddenly the looked on Al's face began to turn from one of puzzlement to one of understanding. He gradually began to feel horrible for not noticing before; he had been so busy with his own feelings about Becca and Scorpius that he hadn't taken any notice. Rose didn't hate Becca.
"You love Scorpius."
A/N: That's all for now folks, I thought of it on a car ride today so I thought I'd type it up tonight and post it. I'm so sorry it's been so long but I lose my inspiration and then can't get back into it. I'm working on a new fic as well as trying to finish this one but I have a plan for the other one…I'm going to write the whole thing and then post chapters…gosh I'm clever, I bet no one ever thought of that before.
As always please review, it really does keep me going because I'm such an attention seeker.
Much love and later dayz
Manda
