Hey everyone, just as I promised, here's the next chapter uploaded on time. It's a bit of a light one this week. It's Rose centered, and it's a little fluffy and a little sad. Let me know what you guys think!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The world and characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I claim no ownership whatsoever. I only own my original characters and their names.

~HP~

Rose fingered through a small bag of chocolate drops as she scratched her quill across a long roll of parchment. Tucked into the only deserted corner in the common room, she sighed as she tried to tune out the noise of the younger students behind her. Writing a long essay on the Whomping Willow and its closest relatives was not exactly her idea for spending her day, but Rose didn't really have much of a choice. Severus was out of the castle that day, and he wouldn't be back until the evening. The circumstances however prevented Rose for being the slightest bit bitter. As it turned out, Severus had been coaxed down to the village by McGonagall, and the two of them were now looking at different selections of baby furniture. Rose was happy that Severus was finally starting to make arrangements for the nursery, but she still wished that she was there to help pick out a suitable crib for her lover's unborn child.

"Hey Rose,"

Rose's head jerked up at the sound of her name, and she looked around to see Lavender come bounding up to her little corner table. "Oh, hi Lav. What do you want?"

"Parvati and I were wondering if you would like come upstairs and help up us get ready for tomorrow," Lavender explained, twirling the ends of her blonde hair. "Justin and Dean are taking us into the village, and we could use some help with our nails. If you're busy, no harm done. We can try and manage just the two of us." All Rose had to do was look down at her half-finished, dreadfully dreary essay for her to decide what the higher priority was. She hastily rolled up the parchment and capped off her bottle of ink. She then leapt up with a smile and followed Lavender out of the common room.

The two girls flew up the stairs to the second topmost dormitory, where Parvati waited for them with a basket full of little bottles of nail polish. She offered Rose a choice of color, but Rose passed that over to Lavender. Once she and Parvati had picked their bottles, Rose rolled up her sleeves and got herself into the proper manicure mindset before setting herself to the task.

"I still can't believe how romantic Dean is," Parvati dreamily swooned. "All this time, I thought he was one of those one note sort of lovers, and yet he never ceases to amaze me. He always seems to know exactly what to say whenever he and I are together. Pardon the cliché, but it's just magical, our time together."

"Isn't it always?" said Rose, carefully brushing the shimmery gold color onto Parvati's delicate fingernails. There was not a hint of cynicism in her voice. "But I suppose none of that matters as long as you're happy. You are happy with Dean, aren't you?"

"Oh yes," replied Parvati, not attempting to hide her blush. "I hardly thought I could be this happy with a boy, but I'm glad I was wrong."

"Yes," Rose smiled. "It goes to show you that love will often come out of nowhere to nip you when you least expect it."

"That's what you think, I prefer to think of it as fate," said Lavender. She was stretched out on her bed with her bare feet hovering above her, just waiting for the pink polish on her toes to dry. "The longer I'm with Justin, the more I'm convinced we were always meant to be together. Everyone has that special someone that was made especially for them."

"Yeah, and they can prove to be just as unlikely." With all this talk of lovers, Rose let her mind drift to her own. She could just feel the tingling sensation in her fingers and toes when she thought of Severus. It was good that she was sitting down because her legs were turning to jelly at the memory of her nights with him, and the incredible sex they had in their dark lair. The flutters in her stomach helped to tug her lips into another subtle grin. "You know, you might have a point, Lavender."

"Forgive me for noticing, Rose, but you seem so much happier lately."

Rose snapped her head up at Lavender. "What?!"

"Since we returned from holiday, you've been so blissful."

"I hardly considered myself glum before the holiday." Rose tried to focus on Parvati's nails.

"She's right, Rose," Hermione's voice made Rose jump and catch Parvati's knuckle with polish. She looked over her shoulder at the Head Girl standing in the doorway. "You've been in a far more cheerful mood in the last couple of weeks than we've seen you in a while."

Realizing that she was still smiling, Rose gave up the fight with a soft chuckle. "Maybe I am, but last I checked, that wasn't a crime."

"So what gives?" Lavender pressed with a delightfully hitched tone. She swung her legs and body over to sit at the edge of her bed. "What happened over the break that made you so happy?"

"I just had a very good holiday, that's all," said Rose, but Lavender just giggled. "Obviously really good if you come back all smiles and sighs. Come on, Rose. You can tell us."

"There is nothing to tell, Lav," Rose persisted through her grin.

"I don't know," Lavender shook her head. "A look like that tells me that there's quite a lot to tell."

"I agree," said Parvati. "There's something you're not telling us, Rose."

"Ooh, you two are a piece of work," Rose sniggered. "If I had something to tell you guys, you would know it already."

"It wouldn't be the first time that you kept a secret from people," Hermione mentioned with a deliberately hapless look.

"Whose side are you on, Hermione?!" snapped Rose. She actually wanted to scold Hermione for saying something like that in front of Parvati and Lavender. When it came to her biggest secrets, that being Dante and Snape (well, what Hermione knew about Snape), those two were not supposed to have the slightest clue, and saying something like that was spreading blood in shark infested water. Thankfully, they both seemed to be too focused on the secret at hand.

"Oh come on, Rose," Lavender pleaded in a more childish voice. "We're all friends here. Whatever you have to say will be safe with us."

Rose briefly looked back at Hermione to get a glimpse of her reaction to the thought of being friends with Lavender before looking back at the perky blonde. "What do you think it is I have to say, Lav?"

"Well, the only time I've seen girls that happy is when they have a new man in their life."

Suddenly, the nail brush stilled as Rose froze in place. Already, she could feel the panic starting to rush through her. It couldn't be that obvious! They couldn't possibly know already that she had lost herself to love! They couldn't tell when it was Dante she was pining for, what was so different this time? All Rose could really hope for was that none of the girls could somehow sense that she was no longer a virgin.

The extended silence evidently alerted Lavender that she was onto something. Her eyes popped open, and Rose could see the twinkle in the blue color. "Oh my god, I'm right, aren't I? You met someone!" Lavender leapt up and shuffled across the floor, still minding her wet toenails. "You have a man, admit it!"

Rose looked up at Lavender, seeing the bubbling delight just beneath the surface. There was no way she could lie to her, Parvati, and Hermione, not when the change in her demeanor was so clear to them. She couldn't talk her way out of it with such obvious happiness. She had to say something, but what? She had to let her friends know that they were right that she had a guy in her life, but not that she was already in a relationship with said guy, that they had already made love several times, and especially the fact that he was Severus Snape. She decided that the best course of action was to continue with the blissful unawareness to her love life that Lavender had often exhibited. Thinking of all the failed love affairs that only she knew of, Rose let out a short sigh. "About time, huh?"

Lavender squealed with delight, now joined by Parvati. There was even a high giggle from Hermione, much to Rose's surprise. She suddenly found her arms glued to the side of her body as Lavender encased her in a tight hug. "Oh Rose, why didn't you say so?! You must tell us everything! What's his name? What is he like? What are his hobbies? What is his astrology sign?"

"Lavender, slow down!" Rose nearly shouted, pulling herself out of the blonde witch's grasp. "Give me a chance to take a breath, will you?"

"Sorry Rose, but this is so exciting! You finally have a boyfriend!"

"I never said he was my boyfriend." Rose pointed a thin finger and unpolished nail at Lavender's face, which was much too close for comfort. "And even so, he's not the first to have that title tagged onto him."

"He's still a new man," said Parvati, blowing on her nails. "It doesn't matter how many boys you've dated, that's still plenty to be excited about."

"If you say so," said Rose as she shook her head with a smirk. She inserted the nail brush back into the gold polish and twisted the bottle closed; there would be no more beauty treatments that afternoon now that the pixie was out of the cage.

"Alright, so tell us!" demanded Lavender. "Give us all the details." She propped herself up against the footboard of her bed.

"Where do you want me to start?" asked Rose, still a bit hesitant.

"With the obvious question, of course," said Hermione as she finally stepped inside and sat down at Lavender's vanity. "Who is he? Do we know him?"

Rose promptly started shaking her head. "You don't know him, none of you do."

"Ah, so he's a Muggle." Lavender pointed at Rose with a smile that suggested she had just read Rose's mind, but the ginger-haired witch shook her head again. "Did I say he was a Muggle? I don't believe I did. Honestly, just because you don't know him does not automatically make a man a Muggle!"

"So he's a wizard?" asked Parvati. Rose laughed at the bluntness of the question. "Yes, of course he's a wizard!"

"Ooh, what's his name? What's his name?" said Lavender, gripping the nearest bedpost.

Rose faltered for a split second, pushing the image of her darling Potions master back down into the depths of her mind. "I'd rather not say just yet."

"Why not?" Hermione inquired with a suspiciously curious look. "Is he a student?"

"I'd rather not say that either," said Rose. "He has connections to the school, that's how we knew of each other. But I don't want to say which house he's part of."

"Oh come on, Rose, throw us a bone here!" Lavender actually threw her arms up in her frustration. Rose giggled slightly, but then she thought hard to come up with a suitable excuse for her prudence. What would Severus say if he were in her place, if he wanted a reason to dismiss information?

"Believe me girls, it isn't that I don't want to tell you. It's just that he's a very private bloke, and he doesn't like his life being thrown out there for everyone to see. I want to respect his wishes for the time being. Besides, it's still pretty early for us. We're still getting to know each other."

"So, you won't tell us who he is," grumbled Lavender, and Rose gave her an affirmative shake of the head. "Well, at least tell us a bit about him. Is he around our age?"

Rose pondered the question; a twenty year gap was a doozy for most people, but physical age and emotional chemistry were really two completely different things in the long run. "Yeah, you can say that."

"What is his blood-status?" asked Parvati. "Is he a pure-blood, Muggle-born?"

"He's half-blood," said Rose. "He's like me; he comes from a mixed household. But honestly girls, that doesn't make a shred of difference to me. I've gone on dates with other wizards, and yet I've also been involved with Muggles. A man is a man, no matter how magical he is."

"How did it start?" Hermione asked, leaning her elbow on the surface of the vanity. "How did you two meet?"

"It was during the Christmas holiday," said Rose. Already, her imagination was working into overdrive to create the story she would tell her friends. "I had to make a run to Diagon Alley after Boxing Day to refresh my supply of ink and potions ingredients. He happened to be in the apothecary when I walked in. We got to talking while we shopped, and he invited me to lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. And – as Lavender here would undoubtedly put it – that's when the magic happened."

"Aww!" the aforementioned blonde witch squealed. "Rose, that is so sweet."

Rose mentally patted herself on the back for a lie well-told before turning to Lavender with a smirk. "As I said to Parvati, life just sometimes sneaks up on you."

"Is he a romantic guy?"

"He's had his moments," said Rose, now smiling to herself. Oh, he had his moments alright! A part of her wished that she was able to voice her suitor's identity just to see the looks on the other girls' faces. They would never be able to comprehend the idea of their Professor Snape being anything but a vile, vindictive bastard, much less a passionate, terrifically romantic lover.

"But does he treat you well?" Hermione asked, attracting Rose's attention to the other side of the room. The look on her face was that of subdued concern. Rose sighed at her and nodded lightly. "Not to worry, Hermione. He treats me very well. He's a perfect gentleman."

"The opposite of Thomas Tiggins, right?" said Parvati. Rose looked puzzled for a moment, but once she remembered the cheating, double-crossing Ravenclaw that almost ruined her fourth year, she playfully snarled through clenched teeth. "Please, he and Tiggins are in two completely different leagues."

"What sort of interests does he have?" asked Lavender.

"A little of this, a little of that," Rose shrugged. "He's quite proficient in most fields of magical study, so I suppose you could call him an intellectual. He's actually more interested in what I have to say. We have some invigorating conversations, that's for sure. But then, our conversations don't have to be serious debates for us to enjoy them."

"You just enjoy spending time together," Hermione said, thoroughly finishing Rose's thought. She paused for a moment, but then her head suddenly jerked when she realized something. "Wait a second, how often do you two see each other?"

Rose looked at her, her face devoid of any obvious emotion. She vaguely wondered if Hermione was trying to make a connection to her late evening disappearing act, which was rather likely. But Rose just took a short breath and tried to give the most ambiguous answer she could think of. After all, not one of her housemates was with her twenty-four hours a day. "I see him whenever I can."

Lavender let out a high, playful giggle. "Well, that certainly explains the silly look on her face when she sits down at supper. Been sneaking out to the grounds for a little alone time, have you Rose?"

"Nonsense," Hermione teased. "Rose wouldn't go all the way yet."

'Ooh, you have no idea how far I would go,' Rose mused to herself, trying not to think of the things she and Severus did to each other after dark, if only for fear of any involuntary expressions. Although, that was probably useless judging by the fit of giggles her friends were falling into. "We're taking it very slow."

"Rose," Parvati spoke up, drawing Rose's attention back. She looked at her with an almost impish look before asking what was likely the most apparent question left unsaid. "Are you happy?"

After asking that question so many times to so many people before her, Rose was silently crying out to finally be the one to say, "Yes, yes, yes!" But given the circumstances of both her secret affair and the little web of fabrications she had just woven in that dormitory, she had to restrain herself. She had to go by what these three young witches had been told. But what could she say if not that she had found the love of her life after years of heartbreak?

"I am satisfied with where I am now." In spite of herself, Rose let out a short chuckle. She tried to hide the deepening blush behind her hand.

"Oh Rose, that is so wonderful!" cried Lavender. She forcibly pulled Rose up out of her chair, tugged her over to her poster bed, and then tackled her onto the mattress in a strong embrace. "I'm so happy for you to have a man, finally. Bugger the fact that we have no clue what his name is! I'm happy knowing that he makes you happy."

"Cut it out, you hopeless romantic!" Rose laughed, pulling herself out of Lavender's grasp to sit up on the bed. She looked across the way at a giggle-consumed Hermione. "No need to make such a fuss of this."

"Au contraire," said Lavender, cocking a fair brow as she too sat up. "You can call me hasty and lovesick all you want, but I have a strong feeling that this relationship will end up being more than you realize."

"Are you suggesting that she might have met her soul-mate?" Hermione asked with a great deal of skepticism.

"She very well could have," replied Lavender. "There's someone out there for everyone, and it's my belief that we have to treat every relationship like they're the one. Besides, we've all seen how happy this guy has made Rose. I have to say it takes someone very special to do that." She touched Rose's shoulder as she brought a finger up to her lips to hush them. "Do you hear that? It's the sound of the bells of joy chiming for the sweet happiness of new-found love."

Rose had to do what she could not to vomit at such pure fluff, and a quick glance showed that Hermione was doing much the same thing. Instead she cleared her throat to show her discontent. "Aww Lav, no one said anything about love."

"No one had to say anything," said Lavender. "I can see it in your eyes that this isn't just any old fling. You don't get into any old flings. This boy means more to you than you're letting on, doesn't he?"

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps…how can you tell, Lav?"

"Does your heart race when you think of him? Do you feel feverish when you're not ill? Does he make your head spin from the constant pining?"

Rose debated whether another lie was necessary. But she realized that because she considered Lavender a good friend, there came a time to simply be open and honest, however limited that might have been. And of the answers to those questions, she was honest, certain, and sincere. "Yes."

"Then you shouldn't have to contemplate anything. We know love when it happens, so we ought to just let it happen."

"We don't always fall in love with what's right for us," Rose mentioned, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps it was Hermione's influence wafting over to her. Lavender gave her a rather dubious look. "Do you feel that this boy is wrong for you?"

"Be serious," demanded Rose, but Lavender countered back quickly. "I am being serious. Is there anything about him that you feel might hinder your relationship?"

Oh, that was a trick question. There were many things that were allegedly wrong with her relationship, but none of it had an effect on Rose. It had nothing to do with Severus himself, just the circumstances that brought them together. The only thing that was standing in Rose's way of a blissful, care-free life with Severus was just some bad timing. So in her continuing efforts to be sincere, she shook her head at Lavender.

"Take my advice, Rose," said Lavender. "Live for the day with this boy. You've waited a long time to meet someone special, and you deserve to have a man who loves you for who you are. We might not have met him, but we know that he had to have looked deep inside of you to see what a great person you are. If he treats you as well as you say he does, then you are the luckiest woman on the face of the earth. You know something, today could be the start of something truly amazing. Trust me when I say this. Years from now, when you are walking down that church aisle towards him, you will look back on this day, and you will want to cry tears of joy."

"Alright, that's it," said Hermione, rising from the vanity. "She's only just started seeing the guy, let's not jump right to the wedding! Let's go, Rose. I have to catch up on some Ancient Runes research, and you still need to finish that Herbology essay." Rose rolled her eyes at Hermione's attempt to play nanny, but she did get to her feet, and she said her goodbyes to Lavender and Parvati, promising to talk to them at a later time. She then followed the Head Girl further up the winding staircase to their room.

"So will you tell me his name now that we're free of those bloodthirsty gossip animals?" Hermione asked as she closed the door behind her. Rose was on her knees before her trunk, searching for a decent book to lean her unfinished essay roll on. She turned her head to Hermione and shot a look at her bushy brunette friend.

"Be nice, Hermione," she warned. "And I told you already, I want to keep this private for now."

"You won't even tell me? Rose, you know I wouldn't tell a soul about anything even if I was under torture. What makes you think that it's not okay to tell me? Unless you haven't actually met anyone and you were just letting Lavender have her fun?"

"Hermione, be serious," said Rose, quite sternly. "Why would I do something like that? We both know how flighty Lavender gets when she smells love in the air."

"So you really do have someone in your life?" Hermione crossed the room to kneel down beside Rose. The ginger witch gave her a short, but still endearing look before rising to her feet, her Transfigurations book in hand. "Yes…I do. But understand me, Hermione. It's still very early and I don't want to rush anything. I'm not taking any chances this time."

"I can imagine," said Hermione. "And with friends like Lavender and Parvati, I can understand why you would want to keep him hidden away. They would be all over him like he was part of the royal family."

"True," Rose nodded. "And like I said, he's a pretty humble guy." She then unrolled the long parchment and set herself to finishing her essay. She hoped that Hermione would to what she did best and insert her nose into a book because she was just tired of this conversation. She had enough of lying and making up stories about a young man that did not exist. She might have given the girls an interesting picture of what she knew to be a more subdued, slightly more pleasant-sounding Severus, but that was as far as she was willing to go. Now she just wanted to get on with her day. However, she occasionally glanced up to notice Hermione watching her out of the corner of her brown eye. Rose tried her best to ignore that, trying instead to focus on her work.

"So, do you think that anything could come from this?" Hermione asked after a long stretch of silence. Rose glanced to the side to look her in the eye. "I don't know, I'm just taking it one step at a time. I'm just enjoying my time with him, for now anyway."

"You must have some feelings for him though," said Hermione, moving back to her bed. "What Lavender and I said back there was true. The last couple of weeks have been the happiest we have ever seen you, Rose."

"Well, it's been a long time since I've had reason to happy," said Rose. And it was the truth too. Frankly, she had been seeing Severus for a little over a month, and already, she felt happier than she had any other time of her life.

"Forgive me for asking, Rose, but what ever happened with your crush on Professor Snape? Before Christmas, you were almost in tears over him. Have you gotten over those feelings now that you have met someone else?"

And just like that, Rose's thoughts came to a screeching halt. She had forgotten that in her desire to keep her relationship a secret, she had not spoken to Hermione about Severus, at least not as much as she used to. She had thought that it was in wisdom, but now Rose regretted giving herself one more thing to beat around the bush with. But just because this lie was the closest to home, that didn't mean that Rose was not willing to go out on that limb.

"My feelings for Snape haven't changed," she simply said.

"Really?" Hermione asked with raised eyebrows. "I would have thought that meeting a new guy would have made you forget those feelings, or at least dull them down a little."

Rose suddenly paused and glared out of the corner of her blue eye. "What are you saying?" she asked. "Are you suggesting that I can just turn those feelings off? Are you trying to tell me how I should feel about any one particular person?"

"Of course not!" denied Hermione. "I merely thought that now that you have someone else in your life, then maybe you wouldn't feel as strongly as you did before, especially if Lavender is right about this guy turning out to be more than we think."

Rose tossed her essay to the side and rubbed a hand down her face. "Hermione, I don't want to be nasty, especially to you. But it's just really complicated right now, and I don't need you, Lavender, or anyone else telling me what I should be thinking or feeling." Hermione paused to think about that for a moment, and she soon nodded her head with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Rose," she said. "You're right, you don't need me commenting on your love life. I was just trying to help. Honestly speaking, I can't imagine what must be going on in your mind right now."

"More than I could possibly explain," Rose mumbled as she shook her head.

"I'll bet. It must be difficult for you to be going on a date with someone new so soon after losing Dante."

Rose's eyes popped open at the mention of her late friend's name. It was true that she had a great deal on her mind in recent weeks, but for the first time since that horrible night in May, Dante had been among the farthest from her thoughts. All the months of sorrow seemed to have been erased by a few short weeks with Severus. And in those few short weeks, Rose had come to find a greater love than she had ever known in her life, more than she had felt for anyone else. But even with that, the flutters that Severus stirred up could not suppress the ache she felt when she thought of the younger Slytherin. Rose folded her hands together and lifted them to rest her chin on her knuckles.

"They always say that time heals," she said to Hermione. "Whoever said that obvious hadn't lost anyone dear to them. Dante will always have a special place in my heart, and no other man will be able to replace him, but I can't just keep dragging my feet through the sand. I need to move on sometime, so why not now? You did say it would be good for me."

"I did say that," replied Hermione. "Although I can't imagine you falling for someone else quickly. Your feelings for Dante were just too strong. Do you remember…?"

"Remember what?" asked Rose.

"The moment you first realized you loved him," Hermione finished. "Do you remember what that was like?"

Rose pressed her lips to her fingers, closing her eyes as she let out a soft sigh. That was certainly a difficult memory to look back on, but time had indeed dulled that pain. She had never told that story to anyone, so she understood Hermione's curiosity, and for the while, she was willing to share that personal moment with her. She tilted her head to the side and rested on her knuckles.

"It was our fifth year," she began. "I was reading in one of the corridors when that toad-faced bitch just came out of nowhere."

~Flashback~

"Miss Beckett," Umbridge stated in her self-dignified, overly pompous, sickeningly phony voice. As ever, she stood in perfect posture, a clipboard as her accessory. "I don't mean to be intrusive, but I could not help but notice the title of your book."

Rose, who was seated on the floor in the Charms corridor, looked down at the sizable book propped up against her knees. She was halfway through A History of Muggle Politics: From Monarchy to Anarchy. She had tried to mind her own business in the library, but some power-drunk harassment from Parkinson and the Slytherin prefects drove her to seek some seclusion. But if she had known that the Minister's favorite crony would be on patrol, she might have rethought her choice of location.

"Yes ma'am?" she carefully muttered. She had long since stopped referring to Umbridge as professor outside of class, but her fear of her hand being scarred again still kept her in line.

"If memory serves me correctly, the study of politics is not taught in Muggle Studies until students reach their seventh year. What are you doing reading that book at this time?"

"I was curious about the subject, and I checked the book out of the library for light reading."

Umbridge wrinkled her eyebrows as she glanced down at her clipboard. "Interesting…" she said. "And just why are you reading in the middle of the hall and not in the library or your common room?"

"I find it easier to concentrate out here," Rose explained. She thought that a simple explanation would satisfy the evil bitch, but Umbridge didn't seem too convinced. She seemed to stand straighter and her foot started to tap on the stone floor.

"Is that so? Well, I find it most intriguing that a young Fifth year such as yourself would have interest in politics of any sort, much less Muggle politics. If anything, you should be looking into the past workings of our own Ministry."

Rose swallowed her growing nerves. "I don't mean any harm."

"Oh, Miss Beckett, I think you do." Suddenly, Umbridge's tone hardened and she leaned down to glare into Rose's eyes, venom oozing from her very pupils. "I don't believe there is one wizard in this world who would see you reading that book and have no reason to be suspicious. How is anyone to know that you are not planning to use information found in those pages to aid in an act of rebellion against the Ministry?"

Gobsmacked, Rose almost dropped the book in question as she struggled to get out a response. "Act of rebellion?! I'm not –,"

"Allow me to make myself clear, dearie," continued Umbridge. "The Ministry takes every act of treason very seriously, and the age of the perpetrator will not be taken into account. I have heard talk from some of your classmates of your troublemaking ways, and I have seen enough of it for myself. Unless you would like to run the risk of expulsion from this school, and potentially an arrest, I suggest you halt your antics immediately and name any coconspirators you may have."

Rose could feel her panic rising, not to mention her confusion. Where had Umbridge gotten an idea like that? With all the prying she had done in the last couple of months, surely she had heard of Rose's knack for Muggle Studies. All she did was pursuing an interest of hers, and she was being accused of treason! Rose had already been subjected to torture for minor mishaps with Parkinson, though the presence of Dumbledore and McGonagall kept a measure of safety. The last thing she wanted was to be the first victim of Umbridge's total dictatorship.

But just when she thought she had been backed into a corner, she looked to her left and saw Dante walking towards her and Umbridge. There was a look of urgency etched into his fair face, though he hid it well with a cool demeanor. In spite of her current situation, she almost instantly felt her tension start to ebb away. Dante had always been there to back her up when she needed him, and he always seemed to know when he was needed. Why else would he appear so suddenly? And the quiet strength he exuded brought back all the confidence she could possess. Inside, Rose felt that peculiar flutter that always seemed to make her fingers tingly.

Actually, she had being feeling that flutter quite a lot recently…

Dante instantly noticed their Ministry spy for a professor, and he spoke in a calm tone. "Rose, I've been looking all over for yo – oh, good day Professor Umbridge. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Mister Macleod," said Umbridge, standing straight again and her voice softening at the young man's presence. She always had appeared to have a preference for Slytherin house, and Dante was no exception. "I was making an inquiry into Miss Beckett's reading material. You would not happen to have any knowledge of this, would you?"

"Ah, that's my fault, I'm afraid," Dante replied, not giving the old toad a chance to finish her thought. "Rose and I are working together on an assignment for History of Magic. We're writing about different forms of government compared to the Ministry of Magic, and we're using examples of Muggle politics to show how ours are better. I tend to get bored to tears with anything to do with Muggles, so I left that up to Rose here."

Umbridge seemed to ponder that for a moment, her nails rapping at the back of her clipboard. But after what felt like an eternity, she curtly – albeit grudgingly – nodded her head. "Very well Mister Macleod. Just to be sure however, I will be paying a visit to Professor Binns and confirming the existence of such an assignment." Evidently, she thought that to be enough of a warning because she started right back down the hall. Once the sound of her short, quick footsteps faded into silence, both the Gryffindor and the Slytherin let out a tremendous sigh of relief.

"Oh Merlin, that was close!" Rose gasped, closing her book. "I really owe you one, Dante."

"Don't mention it," said Dante with a small smile. "I guess I figured that if you were going to be unlawfully expelled, then I might as well go with you." He held out a hand to help Rose off the floor. Rose took it with a smile of her own, and the two of them started down the hall together, Dante guiding Rose with a gentle hand on her back.

"I suppose that means we have to change the topic of our essay," said Rose.

Dante let out a short laugh. "Come on, with your knowledge of Muggles, we'll be fine."

"Oh yes, like your family's history in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement has nothing to do with it."

"My parents might be members of council, but that doesn't mean they get to handle the exciting stuff." Dante flashed his white smile at her, the light flooding in through the windows reflecting off his brilliant blue eyes. He ran his fingers his thick brown hair as they turned a corner to start down the stairwell. "We all know how our government works. What will make that paper great is detailed research into Muggle customs, and there's no one better for that than you."

Rose tried to stop her cheeks from flushing a light shade of pink. Dante had his own skills and knowledge, and yet when the two of them collaborated on assignments, he always gave the credit to her. It was as though he thought himself a bumbling idiot when faced with her particular talents. He of course would have no reason to think such madness; Dante was one of the wittiest people Rose had ever met. Dante flipped the ends of his hair over his forehead, and Rose wondered to herself if the boy knew how handsome he was without the slightest attempt at it. She had a little trouble keeping her eyes on her feet as she descended those steps.

"So what happened to the library?" asked Dante. "How did you end up in the Charms corridor?"

"Parkinson forced me out," Rose explained. "Apparently, it's getting to the point where our houses can't even read books within fifty feet of each other."

Dante let out what sounded like a snarl. "I tell you, I've had it up to here with her. I don't like it when she pushes anyone around, but when she does it to you, it drives me mad! It's girls like her that give Slytherin house a bad name."

"Some might suggest that you're doing that by having this conversation," said Rose. And it was true. With tensions growing throughout the Wizarding world, hostilities between Hogwarts houses were increasing as well. Because of this, Dante was beginning to find himself as much of a victim of his belligerent housemates as anyone else. His Slytherin status offered some amount of protection, but once he stood up and defended Rose and their other friends from heinous insults, those insults would start to turn on him.

But Dante never let it bother him, at least not from what Rose could see. After every nasty encounter, he would brush the slurs off his shoulder and then carry on with his day with his friends. He shook his head at the thought. "Well, whoever says that obviously has no idea how brilliant you are. And Natasha and Jonny are great to have around as well. Those two come in terrifically handy when you're in a pinch. Honestly, you can't get any social variety if you don't extend outside your own house."

"Dante, you're a saint," Rose sighed with a smirk.

"Oh, don't saddle me with a title like that. That's way too much pressure!"

The two friends reached the ground floor, and Dante led the way out to the deserted courtyard where their skeletal, leaf-bare dogwood tree stood like a sentinel. He brushed off the stone bench at its base before allowing Rose to sit down first. There was a noticeable chill in the winter air, so Dante settled down beside the redheaded witch, letting her huddle into his side for warmth.

"Can I ask you something?" asked Rose, tucking her hands inside her robes and balancing her book on her knees. Dante smirked at her. "We've been friends for nearly five years, you don't need to ask permission anymore."

"Why do you keep sticking up for me? I heard what they've been saying about you lately, Malfoy and the others I mean. They were saying that your closeness to me is making you a blood-traitor. Why would you want to set yourself up for that criticism? Your life would be so much easier if didn't keep throwing yourself between me and your house."

"It's because I think you deserve better than that," said Dante. "Rose, I see every day what my idiot housemates make you go through. Parkinson and Malfoy ridicule you for absolutely reason. I mean, Parkinson comes at you with some of the most baseless claims I've ever heard! I know you better than anyone in this castle, and I know those remarks couldn't be any more wrong. All I want is for you get the respect and dignity that I know you deserve."

"I feel respected," Rose commented. "Just not by the Slytherins…well, except you."

Dante mulled that over for a moment, twisting the silver ring bearing the Slytherin crest he wore on his left hand. It was a habit of his in times of pondering. "In case it's missed you, I'm the only one that who has more than half a brain cell. Really Rose, I'm proud to be a Slytherin, but I would much rather have friends based on their qualities. I am much happier being around you, Natasha, and Jonny, and I won't let any friend of mine be disrespected."

Rose felt an ache in her chest as she gazed at Dante from the side. How was it that she was the one to have their house placement questioned from time to time? With such enduring loyalty, Dante just did not belong in Hogwarts' most self-righteous house. He would have done much better if he were a Gryffindor alongside herself. At least then, his good name would not have to be smeared by Slytherin's bias intimidation.

"It's still not worth getting yourself expelled by Umbridge," she said. "I swear, she has it out for me. She's been looking for another reason to punish me since this." Rose held up her hand to display the cryptic words carved into the back. 'I must not start fights,' Dante read, but he just shook his head.

"So the woman's a megalomaniac with a fondness for medieval torture. What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm saying that I don't want to see you get caught up in anything because of me. Listen Dante, I know you mean well, but what's stopping Parkinson and the others from taking the piss out of me? They're going to do it anyway, no matter what we do. And you know, maybe I'm fine with that. I'm not the greatest witch to come through Hogwarts. Maybe they have some merit."

Dante promptly scoffed at her. "Rose, will you just listen to yourself?! That is no way to talk about yourself! You are worth far more than that, and you know it."

"Then why won't they stop?" Rose asked firmly. "Why won't Parkinson and Malfoy leave me alone? Why won't Snape give me the credit I deserve in class?"

"Merlin knows," said Dante, tossing a hand into the air. "But just because they won't stop doesn't mean that they have the right. Rose, my parents are Ministry officials, so I've met a great deal of people. But in my opinion, none of them could come close to you. You are a gifted potioneer, and you are quick with a charm. When it comes to Muggle relations, you are the most accomplished out of anyone I've ever met in my life. And if that isn't enough, no matter what people might say, you are a darling person at heart. You deserve better than to be criticized the way you are, and you deserve better than to have a wizard father who simply ignores you and your talents. If it's up to me as your friend to make sure that happens, then I will die on that hill."

Rose looked up at Dante, and she latched onto his bright eyes that were so full of compassion. No one had ever said such things to her, declared their devotion to her in such a heartfelt way. Dante might have been setting himself up for trouble down the road, but he was willing to do it for her. Come hell or high water, he was standing by her. And that devotion sent a tingling through Rose's fingers. She felt her heart pounding against her breastbone, and the color crept into her already rosy cheeks.

She had never felt a stronger urge to throw her arms around Dante and hold him as tightly as she could.

Rose stood to get the blood flowing through her body again, hopefully making those sensations go away. She walked across the courtyard to stare out across the school grounds, but she felt Dante come up behind her and wrap an arm around her shoulder, laxly letting his hand dangle there. There was an intense flutter in Rose's stomach, and she shifted her weight to ease more into his side. It felt so natural to be at his side, to have his hands on her. It was as though there was no better place for Rose to be than with Dante. Her problems did not exist as long as he was around, and they would never trouble her with him there.

"Hey Beckett," Malfoy sneered as he suddenly appeared from inside the halls. But before he could get out any insult that he might have had, Dante tilted his head over his shoulder and sneered right back. "Sod off, Malfoy! Last I checked, Umbridge hasn't prohibited standing yet!"

Remarkably, that seemed to be enough to knock Malfoy off his kilter. He shot a nasty, menacing glare at his fellow Slytherin, and he stalked back inside the castle to find his equally nasty comrades. Dante turned back to Rose with a smug look, and he hugged her shoulders tight. Rose let out an almost silent sigh as she rested her head against his broad torso.

~End Flashback~

"That is so sweet, Rose," Hermione crooned, sitting just at the edge of her bed with a pillow in her lap.

"He made me feel safe," Rose mused aloud, her voice as distant as her memory. "He made me feel strong. I felt as though I could take on the world as long as he was beside me. With everything I have been through, he made everything right again."

"You felt as though he completed you, didn't you?"

Rose nodded. "I did, at least I did at the time. I had never felt anything like that before, so I thought that no one else could do that to me."

"But someone else has," mentioned Hermione. She studied Rose's forlorn face for a moment before the thought found its way to words. "It scares you to be attracted to someone else, doesn't it?" Rose shifted her eyes between Hermione and the floor before breathing a long sigh.

"I still have trouble believing that anyone could manage to take his place like that," she said.

Hermione tossed her pillow aside and crossed the room to sit on Rose's bed beside her. The Head Girl reached out to gently hug Rose. "Oh Rose, no one will take Dante's place. Every love is different, and it can never be replicated. The love you feel for any other man is because you love him for who he is, which you can never predict. So it's more like filling the void that Dante left. Judging by how he was in life, I think he would want you to be happy."

"He would," said Rose, wrapping a lithe arm around Hermione's waist. "If he could hear me now, he would be encouraging me to get on with my life. I think he would also be laughing about me and Snape. You know, I spoke with Snape about Dante."

"You did?" gasped Hermione, slightly amazed that Rose had finally taken her advice.

"Yeah," Rose nodded. "And you know what he said? He said that Dante was always there for me in life, and now he's with me wherever I go. It was the best thing anyone had ever said about him."

"That's because it's true," said Hermione. "He'll always be looking out for you, whether you realize it or not. Dante cared for you so much, I doubt even death could make him abandon you."

"He'd be happy I found a new man," Rose said, more to herself. Deep down, she hoped that Dante would have seen her and Severus and given them his blessing.

Hermione curtly nodded her head. "Exactly. Don't be afraid to venture into a new relationship. Just let it run its course and see what happens. And just so you know, I really do hope you found something special in this guy. You've waited long enough to find someone special." Rose offered a warm smile and embraced her friend earnestly.

The two girls had gone back to sitting on their separate beds and were about to return to their assignments when Hermione spoke up again. "Say, do you think I will get to meet this guy sometime?"

Rose thought about that for a moment, wanting to give a positive response that would still mask her secret. Fingering the locket hanging at her breast, she looked to Hermione with a lax look of assurance. "Maybe…one day maybe." And though the likeliness of that prospect was not as tangible as she would like, Rose felt satisfied that she could finally say something to Hermione that was by no means a lie.

~HP~

Alright readers, I just wanted to give you guys an important announcement. There will be no new chapter next weekend. I have to go out of town to attend a family wedding, which will require quite a lot of time away from the internet. But don't you worry, I will be back the following weekend. And take it from me; you DO NOT want to miss the next chapter. My next tentative update is the 17th of October.

Until then, everyone keep up the good reading, and leave your reviews. Reviews make me happy, which makes editing faster.