Chapter 11

As soon as the new term had started Rose was weighed down with homework. She had to memorize the twelve uses of dragon blood, practice her terrible transfiguration and make her levitation charm actually work. Then for potions she has to copy down ingredients three times for a sleeping draft and write and essay of the side effects. Then astronomy we had to create a map of the stars and their cycles.

Rose trudged into the Great Hall and poured herself a cup of pumpkin juice. She pulled out her notes for Defense Against the Dark Arts and began to look over them as Crabbe walked down the aisle between the two tables with Goyle each carrying their own cups of pumpkin juice. As they were about to walk past Rose Mrs. Norris scurried in front of them. Golye jumped causing his pumpkin juice to spill all over Rose and her notes. The Great Hall went quiet and that's when the laughter began.

Rose ditched her notes and pushed back the crowd of students. She heard Neville calling her but she kept running. She didn't stop running until she ran into a huge man that was the size of a giant from Rose's view. The chilly cold air had practically froze the juice to her hair and hands. Her tears had become frozen as well.

"Hello there, seem like you've had some morning," the man with a bushy beard said. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts."

"I'm Rose Evans."

"Course yer' ar' you look just like yer' mum," he told me.

"You knew my mum," Rose exclaims.

"Well of course I did, every professor knew her and lov'd her."

"Well Hagrid you just made my day a whole lot brighter," she told him.

"Well you can stop by fer some tea anytime,"Hagrid tells me. "I live in a small hut on the edge of the grounds."

"Well I'll make an effort to remember that but I should go and change into my spare robes before class," Rose told him but before she turned around she said," would tomorrow work for tea?"

"Yes, I'll see yer tomorrow after-

"School ends for the day," Rose says.

Rose bounded up the stairs back into the castle in a hurry since she would be late to her double potions.

That night Draco and her plus a few other first years began their homework. Rose barely got any done considering all of them, mostly Draco by jabbing her with the feathery end of his quill, were asking for help. Finally very late that night as the rest of the first years turned in Rose began to complete her homework at last.

The sounds of laughter woke Rose up as her head bolted up from where she had been sitting. It took her a while to realize that they had been laughing at her. Rose packed up all her things quickly and running her fingers through her thick knotted red hair ran upstairs. She completely ditched breakfast that morning and made a beeline for Transfiguration where she sat in the corner seat away from all of the Slytherins. This happened all day and it was only until the last class while she was sitting in Herbology did she remember that she had tea with Hagrid.

The small wooden hut before Rose that evening made her question whether or not Hagrid actually lived here. Those shouts dissipated as Hagrid opened the door with a boarhound barked behind him. "Yer finally here," Hagrid stated.

"Such a long day," Rose says as she stepped inside the one room hut which surprisingly cozy, a nice fire was crackling in the fireplace and a kettle had already been placed over the fire just for the occasion. Hagrid hung Rose's jacket which had been placed over her robes to keep the warmth in however she had to strip down to her Hogwarts cardigan in order not to burn.

"So how was being a gamekeeper today,"she asked.

"Well it's not that interesting ye see, I took care of ter chicken and watered the garden. On more interesting days I get ter head into the dark forest to help the centaurs with somethin'."

"I've never met a centaur before,"Rose told Hagrid.

"Good company but best wait till yer older,"he told her.

"Good advice," she chided.

"Anyways how was yer day,"Hagrid asked," hopefully better than yesterday mornin'."

"Well I didn't eat breakfast considering the fact I fell asleep on my homework in the common room and I didn't want to face utter embarrassment. I avoided most of my peers and haven't been back at the common room for quite a while. Maybe Harry Potter did something extraordinary and everyone forgot about this morning," Rose tells Hagrid.

"Have you met Harry?" Hagrid asks.

"No but I'd like the pleasure to one day," Rose tells him.

"Blimey I guess you haven't gotta clue have you,"Hagrid says.

"A clue about what," Rose asks?

"Never mind that."

A few hours later Rose came back up from Hagrid's after finishing a full cup of tea which was surprising considering how large the cups were. Still that did not prepare her for the chaos that unleashed as she stepped inside the common room. Pansy Parkinson had grabbed her wrist insisting on help with potions homework, then Crabbe lifted her up away from Pansy and took her towards Draco until some six years thought it would be fun to levitate her and land her on the couch with a thud. Rose shook that off and picking her bag off from the ground she sat down at a table in the corner of the room and began her homework. The other shortly joined her and Rose helped them while making sure she had time to finish her own homework.

In the morning everyone was grateful that Rose had gotten a good night rest considering how bad that morning would have been if she hadn't.