The smugness that Rose had felt didn't last long. Disappoint rippled through her body as she sat in the lumpiest armchair Gryffindor tower had to offer, staring intensely into the warm fire.
*Where is he?* she thought.
He had disappeared from the table so quickly the previous evening and no-one had seen him since. He hadn't turned up for class or for meals, he couldn't even be found in his Quidditch office, something that made even the twins concerned. The rumours that circulated as a consequence didn't seem to want to end. Most were so ludicrous that they could of been laughed off under different circumstances, but the one which involved Rose, Edward, Cedric and Angelina came too close to the truth. To make matters worse for all the ignoring Rose did, Angelina seemed to encourage the rumours, happily admitting to one eager listener that Edward and herself were on "comfortable terms".
To make matters worse Ron was persistently nagging her about who 'Carlisle' was and why he was so important. Rose hadn't got the energy to think of an answer that would please him, so instead point blank ignored Ron every time he asked. This result only lead to Ron's now continual foul mood and sarky comments.

"You really are too smart for you own good sometimes." Fred muttered under his breath crouching on the arm of her chair.

Rose frowned at the fire. She had just had another round of Ron being foul, and didn't fancy another Weasley attack.

"What have I done now." Rose sighed, as she watched the flames dance in front of her.

"We have just managed to track Oliver down finally." George answered on Rose's other side, now in a Weasley twin sandwich. "Smutz is with him."

"I see." Rose said quietly, finally looking away from the fire and looking at George. "How is he?"

"Angry, upset, frightened. The whole works." George muttered. "He didn't expect you to know as much as you did."

Rose scoffed, her eyes returning to the fire. A few minutes passed in silence before Rose asked the niggling question she was desperate for them to answer.

"How much do you know?" Rose asked Fred intrigued.

"More than you do." He answered seriously.

"What do you know Rose?" George whispered, shuffling closer to her.

"Hasn't he told you?" Rose asked in surprise.

"No." They both answered together. "He just paced up and down the forest muttering that you tricked him, tricked him into revealing himself."

"Well that's just not true." Rose hissed. "I had a pretty good idea of what he was and found a book that confirmed that he was indeed a "Vampire." She whispered. "My other theory was that he can read minds but somehow not mine, so I therefore needed to use someone to see if it was true. With Edward's permission I used Ron (who doesn't know a thing by the way) and wrote down a name that would mean nothing to Ron but everything to Edward, and got Ron read the name in his head."

"And the name?"

"Carlisle Cullen"

"Shit." Fred sighed, "so you do know basically everything."

"What else is there to know?" Rose asked intrigued. "Finding out he was American was the biggest shock of all"

"Never you mind." Fred answered bluntly. "You know too much already Rose, this wasn't how you were meant to find out."

"Well it wasn't like he was going to stroll up to me and tell me." Rose argued. "I haven't actually done anything wrong here, and it's not like I have told anyone."

"Haven't you?" George inquired.

"No I haven't" Rose replied sounded hurt. "It's not my secret to tell, even I know not to talk about it."

The twins stared at each other, worried and serious.

"I'm sorry." Rose looked guiltily at them both. "He said that I could try and work it out."

"I guess he never thought you would actually succeed." Fred shrugged.

"It's not just about him Rose, his family have also been told." George replied glumly. "Some have received the news better then others."

Rose swallowed guilty. She had forgotten that this could effect his family if the news broke out.

"The thing is, Oliver is used to being able to keep his enemies close, knowing all their secrets and their moves in advance. With you he doesn't have that safety net." Fred replied " His family are therefore anxious as they don't know what you are going to do with the information."

"That isn't to say that Oliver doesn't trust you." George continued quickly.

"Oh absolutely!" Fred agreed "But it does mean that he has had some pressure on him."

"We better be off anyhow." Fred looking sympathetic as he said it. "Lee is with him and will need a break for Oliver's depressive attitude to life."

Rose nodded her understanding silently not really knowing what to say. This whole situation was a complete mess and all her fault. She also had no-one to turn to. She couldn't talk to Ron and the twins needed to be there to comfort Edward. Even her dog seemed to have chosen his loyalty to Edward. Instead she sunk further into the lumpy armchair, hugging herself for comfort, resorting in staring back at the fire as an easy distraction. With a shoulder squeeze and two sighs from the twins, she was left alone.

A couple more days passed by slowly with Ron now completely shutting down and point blank refusing to talk to Rose. If he needed to communicate with her in class or when it was just the four of them, she now received grunts as a form of response for worst part was that Ron in his loyalty to Rose hadn't mentioned the name Carlisle Cullen to anyone including Harry and Hermione. Instead he had made a vague story of why they had fallen out and guided them both into distraction with Nicholas Flamel. The tactic had worked, with Ron smoothly taking both friends.
By Thursday, most of the rumours about Rose and Edward had stopped, though this was mainly down to him not being seen. A new awkward loneliness had now consistently surrounded her, suffocating Rose into a disoriented low. She now hasn't seen Edward for four days, which in turn meant she had hardly saw the twins. Without Ron to talk to and now Harry and Hermione sharing their time amongst Ron and herself, Rose often had to spend time outside class by herself. This particular lunchtime after overhearing another Edward rumour regarding herself, Rose grabbed her lunch and swiftly made her leave of the Great Hall, deciding quickly that sitting outside on the school steps, wrapped up in several layers was a much better way to spend her time. Watching Smutz play on the frosted lawn, she distracted herself momentarily from what had felt like a very miserable week. Sighing she sipped her lukewarm soup from a mug.

"I was wondering where you were." Cedric cheerfully shouted from behind her, bounding down the steps two at a time.

"Cedric.. hi!" Rose smiled sincerely.

"Are you okay if I join you?" He replied, slightly out of breath.

"Of course you can" Rose replied eagerly tapping the cold step next to her, not realising how much she was craving company.

"I wanted to double check, especially after you know…that one rumour that went round about us two…"

"Oh!" Rose blushed, looking down at the mug cradled in her hands. "To be honest there have been so many rumours this week that I have stopped paying attention."

"Very wise." Cedric agreed with a wink, crouching down next to her. "Here, I wanted to give you this."

Placing the mug next to her, Rose leaned across and accepted the envelope Cedric was holding.

'Top secret'

"What on earth is this?" Rose laughed looking at Cedric amused.

The feeling was nice, a good distraction.

"A friend of mine gave it to me. It's about a competition that happens every year which I have just found out that I am in."

"Oh I see." Rose nodded, looking at the two words again. "How on Earth did your friend get this?"

"They took it from inside Flitwick's desk."

"Won't he notice that it's missing?"

"No, he is currently eating lunch" Cedric shrugged. "And I have his class next so I can slip it back. I just wanted to show it to you first."

"To be honest Cedric I don't feel comfortable holding such a thing." Rose joked holding the letter back for Cedric to take.

"But there is som…" Cedric started before pausing and sighing. "Your just too much of a goodie two shoes aren't you." He smiled.

"I hold my hands up." Rose grinned. "I don't like breaking rules where I can."

"Very well." Cedric returning her grin and pocketing the letter.

"So are you wanting help with the competition?" Rose asked a little confused.

"Yes and no." Cedric replied.

"Go on?" Rose laughed

"Well each year it has been a miming and dancing competition, but thanks to a certain someone, the rules have changed to include actual singing."

"I wonder who that was." Rose joked

" I wonder yes!" Cedric laughed. "So in that sense I'm looking forward to 'really' singing…. but the singer they have nominated me as, I am less enthusiastic about."

"Why, who are you?" Rose replied intrigued

"Robbie Williams" Cedric replied with a nose wrinkle.

"Well, he has at least got some good songs." Rose replied with a laugh

"Yes but his dance moves are hardly great." Cedric replied, "which won't be going in my favour."

"Mmmmm agreed! I cant believe Professor Flitwick chose Robbie Williams, his music knowledge is vast!"

"Its not the Professor who chooses." Cedric chuckled. "Good grief Rose where have you been all week? Under a rock?"

"Admittedly in my own world why?"

"The pupils of the school have been voting on who they want the house representatives to be." Cedric answered with a tone of surprise. "And then the frog choir secretly decide what artist they will preform as."

"Wow." Rose nodded. "I have completely missed this!"

"Clearly." Cedric agreed, shaking his head is bemusement. "You won't have long to wait to find out the rest of representatives though, according to the letter, Flitwick wants to mention it tonight."

"I might stick around for dinner then." Rose replied with a small smile indicating to her now cold lunch. "I know I will have to help the Gryffindor representative and everything if they want me to, bit i'm more than happy to help you too Cedric, if I can that is."

"I think you are going to be very busy, but thanks Rose that means a lot. Anyway I must dash, I've got to try and get this letter back and pronto! Thanks for the lunch date, I'll see you soon."

That evening, the Great Hall buzzed in an excitement that hadn't been present since the Quidditch pitch. Now aware why everyone was so excited, Rose made her way down the table to Harry and the others. With a small smile to both Harry and Hermione, Rose sat next to Ron, offering a small greeting which went ignored. The twins arrived shortly after with Lee and Edward following up the rear. Rose had got so used to the twins and Lee arriving by themselves, her emotions nearly got the better of her, her heart beating in her chest. With the Hall so busy, there wasn't much space left at the house table. Walking either side of table with Lee following Fred and Edward following George, the twins arrived at the only available space beside Rose on the one side and Harry on the other. Rose felt George's robe brush past her arm and then the scent of Edward as he also sat down. Though her body longed for the smell and sight of Edward, the awkwardness which was obvious in his body language made Rose instantly look anywhere but in Georges and his direction.

"Rose…. Harry" George nodded filling in the silence.

She returned a small smile to both Fred and George, before looking quickly down at her empty plate, praying that dinner arrived soon so that she would have something to do. Why had he come down to dinner this time round? She frowned to herself.

"Can I have everyones attention please!" Flitwick announced giggling into his hands.

The room instantly became quiet, a strained tension in the atmosphere. Rose looked up from her plate and found Cedric's face over the sea of heads meeting her gaze. Cedric put his finger to his lips, winked and grinned at Rose. She nodded with a small smile, before returning to look at Flitwick. She noticed in passing that Edward was holding the tables edge with some force, clearly something was bothering him.

"EVERY YEAR" Flitwick shouted, until the room became silent once more. "Every Year we hold a singing and dancing competition. This year for the first time in Hogwarts history, the competitor can decide whether they mime along or sing. Two pupils from each House, one first year and one from any other year, battle it out to become House Champion. The winner then takes on the other winner from the other houses until we have our Winner. The competition has four rounds so this time we will have two rounds before Christmas and two rounds after, with the first round commencing Sunday night…"

The excitement buzzed even louder as everyone started to speculate who was chosen. One witch even shouting out "No Way!" The two attitudes to the competition was interesting to witness. The nervous mutterings amongst the first years, the majority who were now shrunken in their seats in the hope that this would somehow stop them being nominated was the complete contrast to the older students. They seemed confident, a weird arrogance in their body language. Rose looked round a little abashed to see the two tribes suddenly forming.

"Yes way Miss Hatty" Flitwick giggled. "I am naughty aren't I! Which means each contestant has got 72 hours from now to get their act in gear. But who will represent each house, I hear you ask? Well after a very popular week of voting we have our nominations!

Our first year nomination for Hufflepuff is Miss Susan Bones, a round of applause for Susan please! And Mr Cedric Diggory!"

Susan and Cedric both rose from their seats, Susan looking green in the face whilst Cedric beamed from ear to ear gaining a hysterically round of applause from the Hufflepuff's.

"Slytherin's nominations are Miss Millicent Bulstrode and Mr Marcus Flint…"

"Eughhh!" George muttered in disgust to Edward "Do we really need to see HIM dance?!"

"Ravenclaw's nominations are Mr Stephen Cornfoot and Miss Marietta Edgecombe and finally Gryffindor's nominations are Miss Rose Ward for the first years and Miss Angelina Johnson."

The Hall instantly swarmed into mummers and whispers so loud it sounded like a swarm of angry bees.

Hermione gasped and looked at Rose in concern, as did Harry and Ron. Rose understood why, she was yet again in a competition with Marietta after she promised herself she would avoid her at all costs. She couldn't help but laugh, not out of nervousness but at the situation. How stupid had she been? Looking back she could now see that Cedric had been warning her earlier, she also now knew that Marietta was behind the votes for Angelina, Cedric and herself to do the completion and that the rest of the school probably voted for them too purely because of the rumours that were circulating. She laughed again not knowing what else to do under the circumstances.

"I wouldn't laugh too much Rose," George muttered under his breath. "This competition is social suicide for first years, look around the room, everyone is crapping themselves"

Rose's smile was wiped instantly. The notion felt draining, she hadn't smiled in days and it had felt good to actually laugh "Its just a singing competition George." She muttered back in a grumble, as she spoke she noticed that Edward had been subtly looking at her, his face expressionless.

"Yes it is." He paused. "But singing can only get you so far now Rose. This competition is basically a whole new way of humiliating first years once they have settled into Hogwarts. Angelina did it when she was in first year too and it was horrifically bad. In the first round you are only allowed help from your fellow first years which has meant that no first year has EVER got through to the second round. Remember this time around Angelina for example has got the help from the rest of us.. and to top it off, you only have a matter of days to pull this off with Neville. I don't fancy your chances."

Rose looked down the table at Angelina who was looking surprised but confident, she had already congregated a small group of people and was discussing ideas. She must have felt Rose look at her as she looked up waved and offered Rose a small smile. There was something about the smirk in the corner of Angelina's mouth that made it clear that she saw no competition between them, she knew she was going to win.

"Can I have all competitors come up and collect their nominated artist and song list, you now all have 72 hours to organise yourselves accordingly, good luck!" Flitwick shouted over the buzz of the crowd.

Rose rose from the table, and walked to the front along with the others, Angelia's smirk still playing in her mind.

"I did try and warn you." Cedric whispered from behind.

"I instantly realised." Rose laughed. "This competition is certainly going to be interesting isn't it?"

"Its not really a competition though is it Rose?" Angelina replied. "I mean, you have the better voice, but its a -group- effort."

"I have confidence in my friends."

"Good." Angelina smiled as she received her envelope. "As they look nervous from my perspective."

Cedric and Rose looked at one another before both looking back at the Gryffindor table. It was true, Rose's peers looked nervous but more than anything slight relief that it wasn't them.
With a sympathetic smile Cedric retrieved his envelope and waved goodbye.

"Good luck Miss Ward!" Flitwick whispered secretly as he handed her the envelope. She smiled weakly before returning promptly to the table.

'Dear Miss Ward,

You have been nominated to represent Gryffindor House in this years singing Competition. Along with your other first years, you now have an allotted amount of time to come up with your first round. For each round you have 5 Galleons to spend, this can either be used on an individual round, or you can save it up for future rounds, this is dependant however on how far you make it into the competition.

The artist that has been chosen for you is 'Lady Gaga'. You will either need to mime or make your voice sound as convincing as you can to mimic hers. You need to dress like she does and follow her dance moves as closely as you can feasibly. Bellow is the list of songs that have been selected for you to choose from. This list will not change for the others rounds so choose carefully which song you would like for each round.'

"What does it say?" Hermione whispered impatiently.

"Read it for yourself." Rose sighed pushing the parchment towards Hermione who grabbed and read it, Harry looking over her shoulder.

"Who are you?" Fred enquired seriously. "Angelina got Beyoncé"

"Lady Gaga."

"Interesting that they gave you a voice to your advantage." Fred replied intrigued. "Whats the song list like?"

Aware that it wasn't just Fred who was listening to their conversation anymore, Rose leant across the table and looked at him in mock seriousness, so only he could hear her. He reciprocated the move, clearly intrigued.

"Aren't you technically in competition with me now?" Rose asked pretending to be suspicious. "I should be really careful what information I give you, it could be held against me."

Fred ginned, and let out a cheeky laugh. Looking around in mock suspense he tapped his nose before turning back to join the older years conversation. Rose's smile quickly faded as she turned back around to face her own group.

"Well?" Murmured Hermione. "What song do you think is best?"

Rose paused, looking down at the letter that Ron was skim reading.

"I don't know" Rose replied unconfidently. "I think with the amount of time that we have to organise ourselves, we can at least discount a lot of these, as they have complicated dance moves… So that leaves 'Poker Face'" Rose paused. "The dance moves a quite simple for that song as it was one of her first to be released. It would also only require the boys which cuts down on the amount of people to involve."

"And what happens if we don't want to do it." Ron muttered not making eye contact with anyone.

"Then you don't have to." Rose replied flatly, looking up and meeting his moody face. His face softened as they both turned to face Hermionine and Harry who was looking at Ron with a disappointed frown.

"I will round all the first years up." Harry spoke with authority. "We are all behind you Rose." The last words said with purpose and directed only at Ron.

Walking into the common room an hour later was like walking into a battle zone. Angelina had unintentionally taken up the side of the common room with the fire talking to a mixture of eager students discussing ideas. When Rose entered through the portrait hole, people stared as if she were the enemy. One sixth year pointed to the dark corner of the common room to where the other first years were, it was clear that this corner alone was where they were allowed to be over the next couple of days. As she passed the mass crowd, Fred and George reached out and tapped her arm, giving her a guilty glance. Edward, Lee and Smutz were nowhere to be seen.

"Well isn't this snug." Seamus muttered sarcastically.

"At least we have somewhere to sit." Lavender said cheerfully.

"There is that." Rose agreed with a small smile.

"So what's the plan?" Seamus asked Rose nervously. "I think I can say on behalf of everyone here, we are so glad that this is you and not us.

Everyone, even Ron nodded in agreement eagerly.

"Well…." Rose sighed heavily. "The problem we have is the lack of time to organise ourselves and the majority of her songs need a lot of dancers and a lot of choreography to make it have the impact it needs to match the song. I was talking to Hermione about this and I think the best song for the first round is Poker face, but that means relying on you boys to be the main focus on stage with me."

"What would we do?" Parvati asked disappointed.

"I will need all the help I can get with costumes, lighting, hair and make up." Rose answered gingerly. "And if we make it to the next round the more dancers the better!"

"Yeah right…" Ron scoffed. "You heard Fred and George, the first years are put in the lions ring as a warm up act for people to laugh at."

"Only because most people rely on the first years to be nervous and therefore not very good!" Rose responded annoyed, "Come on Ron, I just need you all to have faith in yourselves. I believe that you can do this."

There was a moments pause whilst Rose made contact with everyone individually. They still looked nervous but they were now at least nodding in agreement.

"Promise you won't laugh if we make mistakes?" Neville asked nervously.

"As long as you promise not to laugh at me in return." Rose replied gently.

Neville it turned out had nothing to worry about. Maybe it was his upbringing with his Grandma who he had admitted had taught him some simple dance steps, but boy Neville could move. His footwork was impeccable and the normally clumsy boy became elegant and strong with a little guidance. He was the lead dancer stood in the middle and the one in charge of doing the most dance moves and lifts alongside Rose. The idea was that the boys would stand under a spotlight each, forming a V on the stage. When the music started, Rose would strut onto the Gryffindor table like it was a catwalk, towards the front of the room and jump down and join them on stage. From there, they would then do a fast dance to the rest of the song.

Practicing any free moment they all had, from in-between classes to straight after dinner, the first years were all exhausted. For Rose, it was not only rewarding but a great distraction to her loneliness. Her troubles with Ron and Edward for now pushed to the back of her mind.

"And a five, six, seven, eight ..Go!"

"Mum-mum-mum-mah"

"Thats it and hit your canes down and lean to the right and then to the left" Rose shouted directing the boys in single file.
"So when I say "I wanna roll" I will be holding Nevilles hand with my left and then spin to grab Rons with my right okay? And then when I have twirled with Ron I will grab Seamus's hand on "with him, a hard" and link with Dean on the word "pair we will be " and then finally Harry on "hey" I will then be facing the front with you all on my right"

"P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face" Rose sang slowly, directing the boys hands to coordinate with the song

"(mum-mum-mum-mah)" They sung in harmony.

They went through the routine a couple more times with Rose observing them to make sure they were all in time

"Whoooahh!" Rose cheered clapping her hands and jumping at the boy in excitement "That was amazing guys! We did it! We have a completed dance!"

"I have to admit even I'm confident we pull this off." Seamus grinned at Rose

"I dunno." Neville said sheepishly. "I feel awfully clumsy, are you sure you want me at the front?"

"Neville your moves are fantastic, I wouldn't be putting any of you through this if I thought it would reflect badly on you." Rose replied sincerely.

"Ok" He muttered abashed, blushing slightly at the compliment.

"Lavender and Hermione have discussed lighting and staging with Flitwick so we are just waiting for conformation back from them and Parvati is currently making our costumes within budget." Rose spoke to the group. "It looks like we are as on top of it all as we can be!"

"Well we are going over the routine none stop tonight guys okay?" Dean spoke to the boys.

"Agreed." Ron said seriously. "We cannot look like idiots out there tomorrow."

"You guys need your rest." Rose answered seriously. "Honestly I couldn't be more proud of you all, we will be practicing for the majority of the day tomorrow and this evening, you don't want to end up tired."

"Everyone is going to be so shocked we have pulled this off." Seamus grinned.

"It was difficult being on the radio early and not giving anything away." Rose laughed.

"Fred and George were so funny trying to get information out of you, I was howling." Dean grinned.

"Yeah they were funny." Rose pondered, sadness forming in her chest. On air was the only opportunity she had had to speak to them since the announcement.

The following morning Rose and the boys finally got to see their costumes. The boys black suits, ties, top hats, canes and sunglasses made them look like 1940's movie stars. Smart and mysterious, they were all smiling as they looked each other over in their outfits, holding themselves confidently.

"Very nice guys" Rose grinned as she walked into the spare classroom where they had all congregated in secret. "You all very swish!"

"And this is yours Rose" Parvati grinned eagerly handing over what Rose thought at first was a dress.

Parvati had designed a leather purple costume that essentially looked like a swimming costume with diamond panels missing to show off her sides.

"This is based around what she wore when she sung this song, she also wore similar items to these." Parvati explained.

Holding up matching purple leather driving gloves and black suede stiletto heels in one hand and silver glittery sunglasses in the other.

"Wow thanks Parvati!" Rose replied in pleasant shock. "The detail in all of this is amazing!"

"Thank you" Parvati replied with a grin "Me and my sister are used to making our own clothes, she is actually really jealous that I have been able to do all this by myself. Shall we go to the bathrooms and see if it all fits?"

"I'll meet you boys back here in ten minutes ok?" Rose laughed out whilst being dragged out the door by Parvati.

"Wow!" Parvati whispered as they both looked in the mirror in the girls bathroom. "You look amazing."

Rose had just changed her hair to be long, poker straight with a box fringe. She now looked eerily similar to Lady Gaga.

"Do you think it's too short?" Rose muttered anxiously looking at the tightly fitting costume I her reflection.

"Absolutely!" Parvati agreed boldly. "But that's soooo Gaga!"

Rose laughed at Parvati's response and grinned in agreement. She went back to the cubical to undress and handed the outfit back to Parvati.

"I'll sort this out Rose..Go! You only have hours left to practice."

Rose thanked her before rushing back to the others. Four-thirty came around ridiculously fast for the first year Gryffindors. They were one of the last groups to arrive at the Great Hall, gaining stares from the other students. Rose gave a small smile to Cedric as she passed his table, getting a beaming smile in return. Sitting down at the Gryffindor table Rose caught sight of Angelina who was already there. Her costume was flawless, and you could tell that a lot of time and money had been spent on it with it's diamond embellishments. Her long wig and make up was pristinely done, there was no arguing that Angelina looked absolutely stunning. Mesmerised momentarily Rose gave her a grin and the thumbs up making Angelina beam and flick her hair confidently. Turning back to her original conversation, Angelina moved her head revealing a stilted Edward sitting next to her. Unlike the other chatting Gryffindors he looked bitter staring straight ahead purposely not making eye contact with anyone. This had been his usual attitude over the last week but her heart couldn't help but still sink at the site of him. Shocked to see that he had agreed to be here, it especially stung that he wanted to be part of the team that would be trying to humiliate her. He was now for all intensive purposes the competition. Swallowing the fresh lump that had appeared in her throat, she turned to her friends who were sat behind her. This was the final opportunity to practice the song before the rest of the school came to watch. It was also the first time that everyone got to observe the other contenders and see who was going to survive.

Flitwick produced his wand from his robe sleeve and moved the Teachers table to the far side of the room, ready for it to become the judging panel. With one flick of his ward, the stage moved out from under the stone steps and the platform was raised.

Marietta was the first to preform, the mimed sequence running smoothly. Rose could feel the tension as the room watched in bated breath for her to mess up. Rose looked back at the boys, their eyes wide and faces a pale. By the time the other acts had finished and Angelina had completed her mimed dance to Beyoncé's 'Halo' they had shrunken back into their seats, fear now in their eyes.

"Miss Ward, your up next." Professor Flitwick quipped from the stage.

Rose glanced over to Hermione and Lavender who both gave her the thumbs up ready with the music. She nodded in return and turned back to the boys to make sure they were ready to go up. They were huddled together muttering amongst themselves, Dean in particularly looking truly worried.

"Dean, what's the matter?" She asked leaning in, her voice full of concern.

"I know we have been practicing all day and haven't gone wrong, but we just don't want to let you down after you believing in us all week." Dean muttered in embarrassment. "There is just one particular bit of the song where it's just a lot of remember, and we were wondering… well I was wondering if we could just go over the dance routine again like we did right at the start when we were learning the dance, you know.. when you played the steps and chords on the piano. That way we can really concentrate on all the moves." He asked nervously.

Rose looked at the others who were nodding in agreement. She smiled weakly and nodded her understanding but in truth she wasn't expecting this. She knew that her playing the piano would make them look unprepared and naive, the clock already ticking against them. She briefly looked up at Flitwick who was patiently waiting for them. She knew they were perfect, they hadn't missed a beat all day, but she needed them to feel as confident as she was.

"Give me two tics to tell Hermione and Flitwick the change of plan." She answered them with a reassuring smile, their shoulders instantly relaxing.

As she walked towards Hermione and Lavender, Rose could hear the judgemental mutterings around the room, people were curious as to why they hadn't started their performance yet. Flitwick scuttled over to stand next to Hermione to find out what the delay was, as Rose explained the change of plan he eagerly nodded, the schools old piano appearing out of the corner and elegantly gliding across the room to the centre of the stage.
If people weren't staring before they were now. Ignoring the buzz of curiosity from the audience Rose walked over to the piano stool and waited for the boys to get into their first positions. She cleared her throat and cracked her knuckles ready to play the melody at the pace Dean wanted. Unlike before Rose sang the lyrics to help them more by allowing the boys to hit the choreography in time to the lyrics. The beat was slow, changing the sound of the song completely. It wasn't as if the song sounded bad played out this way but watching the dance routine slowed down to match did make them look peculiar, like they were completing some sort of sacred dance. As Rose finished the final chord she looked over the top of the piano at her classmates. Their confidence was back and they grinned in triumph as they completed all the moves without once again making one mistake. Rose cheered and clapped getting up and high-fiving her team mates. The room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop. Everyone else seems stunned that THAT was their completed performance. Grateful that in that moment, the boys were simply proud of themselves and celebrating, they all quickly sat down at the table ignorant of what the rest of the room appeared to look like. Angelina was hiding her laughter as Rose passed her, but sadly she was one of the more subtle ones with some other students giggling a little too loudly. Marietta looked like Christmas had arrived early, her wickedly smile on full display as she laughed obnoxiously. As Rose sat down she mentally sighed in disappoint, it was rude and obnoxious. She caught sight of Fred and George who were exchanging deeply worried looks at each other as if one of them had died. Cedric too seemed concerned by the performance, politely telling his peers to shush. She could accept the laughter, taunts worry and concern thatcher friends and peers were displaying but it was Edward's angry, stiff, stony face that really confused Rose. He was the only person in the room besides Flitwick and the other Gryffindor first years who knew why they had just done what they did. Why was he so angry with them?.

"They think we are going to be rubbish" Seamus whispered bemused. "I cant wait to kick their asses."

Rose jumped at his response, moving her eyes away from Edward. She had hoped that they hadn't noticed the rooms reaction.

"I don't want you lot getting nervous again." Rose whispered seriously.

"Oh trust me, I know we are better than Angelina." Seamus responded. "If we don't get through I call bullshit."

Rose couldn't help but laugh and high five him.

"Thats the fighting sprint I want to hear!" She chuckled.

"Seamus is right guys, we only need to kick Angelina's butt tonight" Ron muttered in response. "I really hope we do, especially as Fred and George look like they are attending our funeral at the moment."

Rose turned to follow Rons finger back at the twins and Edward, who were indeed still miserable. More bothered by the twins reaction but still without thinking Rose muttered "For Gods sake lighten up" Forgetting that Edward could hear her. She could have sworn she was making it up, but Edwards face became less chiselled for a split second.

An hour later, the audience had arrived, the candlelight had been lowered in the Great Hall and all competitors and dancers were now in the Entrance Hall ready to start. The room Rose had used the previous month for the singing competition was far too small to accommodate them all, especially as Angelina still hadn't narrowed down her final dancers yet. She was sat midway up the marble staircase notebook in hand, muttering to herself about who to drop. The rest of the performers were congregated in groups mingling with each other in fake interest for each others costumes and choreography. It was insufferable to hear so Rose and the boys chose the bottom of the staircase as their space, the only authentic conversations residing here in a room of overbearing individuals.

"Can we join you?" Fred muttered to Ron in frustration. "These conversations are insufferable."

"Sure." Ron nodded readjusting his body to fit both the twins into the circle. "Want a Bertie Botts?"

Before the twins were able to accept, Angelina glided down the stairs grabbing George harshly by the arm.

"A word you two please?" She hissed, indicting that they follow her back up the stairs.

Rose and Ron shared a glance, looking back at the twins. Either Angelina didn't realise or possibly didn't care but you could hear her conversation with Fred and George with ease.

"I'm sooo sorry to be the one to tell you both, but I think I'm going to have to drop you two from the performance tonight. I just feel like any association with Rose after her earlier performance could reflect badly on me tonight." Angelina cooed in fake apology.

Rose could feel herself blush crimson with embarrassment, feeling twenty feet high all of a sudden and wanting to disappear into the wall. Harry shoulder bumped her and whispered " Ignore her, please don't take this to heart." She nodded weakly smiling back at him.

"Gosh -darn- it." Fred said in an unapologetic slow deadpan tone. Clicking his fingers in disappointment "What are we going to do now Georgie boy?"

"Phhhhh….I guess we will have to cry all night Fred, then maybe take up knitting or arson.. something to distract ourselves from the woes of not making a mockery of ourselves in this stupid dancing completion." George replied sarcastically

"You mean we get to keep our dignity George?" Fred replied shocked

"Yes Fred… for now at least we do."

"Oh haha." Angelina retorted. "My dignity is fine thank you, unlike your sisters."

"A little birdie has told us not to underestimate her." George winked. "Don't run before you can walk Ange."

"Oh George! would this be the same little birdie Angelina here is going to keep as her main man this evening? But isn't he strongly associated with Rose?" Fred asked innocently

"Yes okay okay okay" Angelina snapped. "Just bugger off, the pair of you, I have more people to cut out of the routine."

Fred and George casually walked down the stairs whistling Poker face in whistled harmony. Walking up to Ron and grabbing an handful of sweets, they loudly wished the first years good luck before making their way into the Great Hall to get seats.

Flitwick came out with a velvet bag. The performance positions had been written down on four separate pieces of parchment and it was time to decide the order of the evening.

"Can one representation come for each house please" Flitwick squeaked.

Rose went to look at Angelina who was still concentrating on her notebook. Shrugging Rose walked up and waited in line for first Marietta and then Cedric to retrieve a strip. Feeling around in the smooth bag until her fingers brushed passed a tag, Rose retrieved a strip of Parchment with the number one written clearly on it. Showing the number to Flitwick he nodded, writing down her and Angelina's names.

"I will need to know who is preforming first for Gryffindor."

"I will." Rose replied quickly, getting a surprised gaze from the Professor.

Rose knew under normal circumstances this was the worst position to be in, but tonight she couldn't help but feel relief when she pulled it out. It would mean that no-one had time to get nervous and it gave Angelina a little bit more time to sort herself out.

"Very well." He agreed. "Gather everything you need. You have about ten minutes."

As Hermione and Lavender set up the lights and music, the boys went discreetly through the side passage and through the side room ready to enter the stage from the right. The Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin performers slipped into the Great Hall and sat along the back wall of the room so that they could watch the performances whilst it wasn't their turn. The Entrance Hall was now empty, cold and suppressive. Angelina was standing opposite Rose at the open doorway to the Great Hall, her face blank and serious.

"Good luck Angelina." Rose said sincerely, she didn't know when the competition was going to begin and she felt it was only right to mention it.

"Thank you Rose." She said insincerely. "Ditto."

Rose nodded stiffly, loosening her shoulders and relaxing her limbs, prepping herself ready to start. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Edward hidden in the shadow of a doorway. If she didn't know any better, he had been there all night hidden plainly in sight.

"Are you ready Miss Ward?" Flitwick whispered from the dark Great Hall.

"Yes." Rose agreed, turning her head to where she presumed Flitwick was.

Rose stood in the doorway of the Hall, the house table in front of her leading to the stage. She could just about make out the step that Hermione had placed at the edge of the table.
The darkness swamped the room and the audience stopped talking, eagerly anticipating the start of the show.

The spot lights came onto the stage revealing the five boys who were stood under each one. They were leaning forward on their canes, sunglasses on, looking intimidating. Instantaneously to this the music started and a spot light also cast down on Rose revealing her location. There was a gasp from the audience just as the music began to start. Rose started to walk forward towards the boys, stepping in beat onto the step that was placed by the table and then onto the Gryffindor table. There was another round of gasps as the students watched in shock and awe at Rose strutting down the Gryffindor table like it was her own catwalk. She arrived at the boys perfectly in sync and started to perform at the head of the V shape they had now all formed. She grabbed hold of Neville's hand for the first spin and lift, feeling the confidence in his grip. The next two minutes went by in a blur, full of spins, twirls and lifts. Not once did Rose get out of breath, her voice staying clear, powerful and strong. As soon as Ron placed her feet onto the floor on the final beat and the light went down Rose couldn't resist a small cheer as she embraced Ron and the others. They all returned her hug even Ron, the animosity for now brushed to one side. As they exited the stage they could hear the impressed claps and applause from the room. As Rose looked to the Hall entrance she clocked Angelia's nervous face, she didn't look so cocky now.

Moving to the back of the Hall to stand with the other contenders, they quickly sat down, ready to watch Angelina's act. She had cut her dancers by a third since the final practice earlier, Edward now being the only male. He stood rigid like the perfect marble statue, his ivory biceps and torso stretching the black t shirt so thinly that you could clearly see each individual muscle. Rose blushed as she observed his muscles, glad that no one would see in the dark. It was a difficult situation to be in, attracted to a man who couldn't make his distain clearer. Pulling her eyes away from his body she almost jumped when she was met with Edward eyes staring back at her. His amber eyes were intimidating, and she couldn't help but darken her blush in the dark under the intenseness of his gaze. Edward continued to stare, forgetting to blink, his mind too focused on something other than Angelina's routine. He moved so fluidly, so elegantly it made him look even more unhuman then before. He twirled Angelina as she clumsily danced heavily on the stage, he even lifted her effortlessly in an impressive lift, but his eyes still stayed focused forward never once looking at Angelina. The song ended, Edward instantly snapping his eyes away from the back wall. Rose instantly felt relief. It had felt like she had been hypnotised into focusing purely on Edward Eye contact. She sighed, releasing she had been breathing heavily and blinked a couple of times to make sure she was back in the right head space. It wasn't just her either, briefly looking around Rose could hear and see a lot of the girls coming out of a daze after watching Edward.

"What did you think?" Rose turned to Seamus curiously. She wasn't too sure how it had actually gone.

"It was utter shite." Seamus answered with glee. "As my Mam would say you can roll a turd in glitter but at the end of the day it's still a turd."

"I don't really follow." Rose laughed.

"I think what Seamus means" Neville answered diplomatically. "Is that Angelina's moves and mimed singing was extremely poor this time round and Oliver was the only thing that made that a success."

"Even the other dancers were rubbish." Ron agreed.

"If we don't go through then this entire competition is a fix." Dean added.

Rose didn't respond, she didn't want to be that team who looked cocky and smug. She knew full well that Dean wasn't far off with his comment either. The teachers were playing their own diplomatic game of who they wanted in the competition and she needed to win over some hard core voters such as Snape.

Angelina soon marched to the back of the room with her dancers quickly following behind. With a huff she sat down next Rose. Over the sound of Cedric singing, Rose could hear her whimpering, the sound sad and upsetting to hear. Without thinking Rose reached out into the darkness and grabbed Angelina's soggy hands firmly. She held onto her, stroking her hands in a sympathetic soothing pattern to help calm her down. Angelina didn't say anything, but her sobbing slowed and soon only the thick droplets of her tears could be felt bouncing off their hands. Even in the darkness Rose could feel Edward stare at her, curious to what she was doing.
Rose shuffled closer to Angelina and whispered in her ear;

"Please don't be upset Angelina"

"Thats very easy for you to say Rose when you were so much better."

"This is a competition, there are winners and losers." Rose whispered bluntly. "I don't know who is gong to win Angelina but do you think either of us were losers out there tonight?"

"You were miles better than me."

"I cant answer that."

"Oh please, I have been cocky all week knowing I was in prime position, and there you are sitting there smugly having just blown it out the water."

Rose sighed and gripped Angelina's hand harder.

"If that is what you think I am doing here, then you really don't know me very well."

"Its just….how could I have messed up so badly?"

"In what way do you think you did?"

"I was out of sync… out of time.. everything. My nerves got the better of me and I lost all my confidence after seeing you literally emphasise and become Lady Gaga."

"Don't you think that you are being a little too self critical there?" Rose whispered softly, squeezing her hand again.

"Maybe.." She grumbled. "But I still hate the thought of loosing."

Rose sighed and smiled a small sad smile at Angelina that she knew she wouldn't be able to see. She carried on talking to Angelina, managing to distract her away from her bitter thoughts. After a few minutes she had stopped crying and her breathing had returned to normal.

The candlelight subtly became stronger as Flitwick walked onto the stage.

"Well wasn't that an interesting evening!" Squeaked Professor Flitwick to the crowd. "The judging panel which is of course all the Hogwarts teachers have now casted the votes for the four individuals they would like to go forward and represent their houses! Can all our participants from this evening please come forward."

Rose gracefully stood and outreached her hand out to Angelina. They might be competitors but they were still Quidditch Team mates.

"Together?" Rose offered.

"It's much more dignified than being bitter." Angelina sniffed a weak smile.

"Absolutely." Rose grinned. "And at least for now we know it's one of us that has won.… and that's a positive."

They walked hand in hand past the Gryffindor table and onto the stage. As she walked, Rose could feel the intense stare Edward was giving tingling on her spine.

All eight competitors were now facing the front of the room, for the first time being able to see individual faces in the crowd. Though she felt a little guilty that she had missed most of their performances, it was strange to Rose to see how confident some of the pupils could be or even how nervous they could look even now after their performances were long over.
Flitwick came along and shook everyones hands, whispering words of encouragement. Rose was thankful that she was on other end of line away from Marietta. They had luckily not had to cross paths just yet and she wanted it to stay that way. Turning to face the front, Flitwick motioned for the audience to quieten down.

"The votes are in." Flitwick announced proudly opening a large envelope and pulling out a thick piece of parchment. Flitwick paused to read the results, concentration clear on his face. He cleared his throat again, folding the parchment in half.

"Before I start, I think the room should be made aware of how difficult it is to come onto this stage and preform to a large audience at the best of times." Flitwick began seriously. "But to then have to act, dance and sound like an artist that has been chosen for you is sometimes an impossible task. So everyone on this stage should be commended for what they have done tonight."

The room roared with applause of recognition, the clasps lasting for well over a minute.

"With that being said, it is even more difficult to do all of this with only your year group to help you preform….which is why no first year has ever got through to the second round of the competition."

Angelina was the one to now squeeze Rose's hand as a comforting reassurance. Flitwick had just admitted the outcome, Angelina was through. Breathing out a soft elongated breath Rose smiled contently, and looked out to the back room at the first year boys. They had been amazing this evening and she hoped that they were proud of what they had achieved.

"So when you add this all together as well as only having a couple of days to get a performance of that quality together, I couldn't be proud to say that two records have been broken tonight by Gryffindor."

Rose stood locked into position, hearing a relived gasp escape Angelina's lips. She was staring at Ron from across the room his shock as clear as hers.

"Please step forward Rose." Flitwick announced.

Rose motioned forward with hesitation, the movement feeling alien to do. As she did so her hand finally dropped from Angelina's.

"Marcus Flint heads into the second round for Slytherin, Marietta Edgecombe for Ravenclaw and Cedric Diggory for Hufflepuff"
There was another three rounds of cheers for the successful House contenders as they all stood forward grinning at the room. Rose found herself beaming as she saw the first year Gryffindors celebrate at the back of the room, their joy contagious. Her eyes flickered to Edward who was still leaning against the wall. He was watching, observing her as he always did, but his face was hard to read. It didn't look angry or sad, nor did it look happy or relaxed. The perfect marble statue.

"Our fantastic four!" Flitwick squeaked, raising his arms in celebration. "You all now have a few weeks where you can practice your next dance with your whole house. Your budgets have all been extended to a further 5 Galleons which just like before can ben used fully now or at a later date if you are feeing confident. The next stage will preformed the night before the Christmas holidays start. Good luck everyone."

The grounds outside the castle were quickly getting coated in slippery layers of unfrosted ice as the days itched closer to the Christmas holiday. It was a strange feeling Rose thought to herself, to see the castle so beautifully decorated for Christmas and yet not feel remotely festive. How could she when Ron had returned to his angry stance? It was as if the competition hadn't happened at all. Edward too had disappeared again with no-one but the twins and Lee seeing him. Rose now only got to see Fred and George in rehearsals which were agreed to only be for one hour a night to help with homework and other commitments.
To make matters worse, the suspicious silence that Marietta had held in the first round didn't last long. Noticing that Rose was usually by herself, she had started to vocally shout abuse at her. The taunts were getting louder and crueler by the day. Marietta was now, not only commenting on Rose's height or how she looked but had brought the fact that her parents were squibb's into the bullying. Rose to begin with could hold her head high and roll her eyes to the comments. But after days of loneliness and verbal abuse, the self conscious thoughts had bubbled to the surface.
Today had been a particularly cruel day. The insults had just seemed to come out of nowhere and hit her metaphorically straight in her face. Rose knew that on a normal day she would have laughed the comments off with Ron and they wouldn't of made her feel this way. But today wasn't an average day. Lying down, cuddling Smutz on her bed she wiped the hot wet tear off her check and looked down at the lyrics of the song, the irony of the song not missed. Here was a powerful song about embracing who you were and being proud of yourself and yet Rose was acting like the complete opposite.

"Come on Rose…. Motivation." She spoke out loud to herself, trying to ignore the heavy chest she had since crying. "You can do this."

The Gryffindors had agreed on 'Born this way' as their next song choice. Twenty three boys and girls had volunteered from across the school years including the whole Quidditch team (if you didn't include Edward). Parvati was now joined by a seventh Year called Violet Bennett and was put in charge of costume design. Rose had given them the whole budget which included the left over money from the first round for them to spend on the costumes as well as staging. Staging was Lee's domain, he was fantastic at the lighting and was a wiz at all things that needed levitating.

She sat up, making Smutz tilt his head as he watched her intrigued. She had suddenly got a whiff of Edwards scent out of nowhere. He couldn't be in her dormitory… could he? Without hesitation Rose drew the curtain from around her bed as she did so the smell increasing. The room was empty, all the other beds vacant of occupants. Rose sighed in disappointment, she was really starting to imagine Edward in the most ridiculous of places, convincing herself that she could smell his scent everywhere. She missed him, there was no denying it. She missed their conversations and how they joked together. She missed his ever changing eyes and his messy bronze hair that he would ruffle when frustrated. But most of all she missed his crooked smile, the one he only seemed to do for her. Another tear fell as she thought of how the last few weeks had tuned out. She was sick of keeping secrets. Shutting the bed curtains she collapsed back on the bed, silent sobs sinking into her pillow eventually falling into a light sleep.

As the second week rolled into fruition, the dance routine was really pulling together into a professional looking sequence. They hadn't stuck to the one hour a night rule for long, they were all too engrossed into the routine, the competitive eagerness showing in their work. With more time now being spent on dancing, Rose was now luckily able to avoid Marietta apart from at mealtimes and even Marietta wasn't stupid enough to hurl abuse with teachers being so close by.
By Thursday evening the Gryffindors were determined to make a night of dancing. It was the last full night that they had before the Friday night performance and they wanted to make sure everything was synchronised to perfection.

The common room was unusually quiet with only handfuls of students starting to gather with only minutes to spare. A little confused by the lack of numbers, Rose started to move the armchairs to one side of the room with her wand, making space for the number of dancers. Looking down at her watch and then back up at the number of people she frowned, where were Harry, Fred, George, Angelina, Katie and Alicia? There wasn't a Quidditch practice on tonight, there wouldn't be any point. But if there wasn't a practice, where were the rest of the team? She slowly turned towards the notice board. A small neat note was placed purposely in the middle of the board. Though Rose would normally ignore the notes she was pretty sure it hadn't been there minutes before. Curious she walked over to it, noticing in large capital letters:

'URGENT QUIDDITCH MEETING AT 19:00 SHARP. NO SHOW = NO PLACE ON THE TEAM.'

Why had nobody told her this? They couldn't have all read this ambiguous note? Rose cursed as double checked to see if anyone else from the team had arrived. Knowing she needed to go to the practice, she shouted her apologise to the dancers as she sprinted past them. She was grateful to already be wearing exercise clothes.

Rose ran down the steps and sprinted across the school grounds towards the Quidditch pitch. She was already five minutes late. Arriving out of breath, hot and sticky, Rose pulled her hoody off and threw it to the side. She staggered to the back of the group beside Alicia. Luckily it would seem that she hadn't missed much, just the warm up which Rose felt that she had completed by sprinting there already. Edward who was stood at the front, hadn't paused from his instructions at her arrival, her lateness seeming to go unnoticed. So used to him ignoring her presence, that Rose had even managed to convince herself that it hurt a little less each time. It was sometimes hard to believe that she had known his secret for a month now and that she hadn't spoken to him in that long.

"Okay everyone, let's get cracking. I want us to go over the moves that we were practicing for our Slytherin game. These moves can all easily be practiced over the Christmas holiday either by yourself or with a family member so there are no excuses." Edward ordered

There was a tension in the atmosphere this evening that wasn't normally present. Normally Quidditch practices were practical but fun, with everyone having a good laugh. Tonight everyone had a serious expressions, nodding at Edward when he asked questions and waited for instructions. There was no talking, no laughter and no banter.

"Okay… You as a pair please." Edward barked pointing at Angelina and George "You two together and you two and Ward with Potter please." Edward said Coldly. "Start low to the ground until your confidence builds please. We don't want a repeat from the last session."

Everyone eagerly jumped into action, partly because of the cold but mostly because they were scared of Edwards grumpy mood. As she Grabbed her favourite school broom, Rose overheard Angelina whisper to the twins.

"What is going on here boys? I'm Vice Captain and this Quidditch session has come out of nowhere! We had a really important dance practice organised."

"We found out the same time as you." George muttered bitterly back. "This has come out of nowhere."

Rose caught George's eyes and raised her hands and shrugged. Walking over to Harry she couldn't help but blurt out;

"How did you know that the Quidditch practice was happening tonight?" Rose asked bluntly

"Hermione told me Oliver told her." Harry admitted.

"Then why on earth didn't you tell me about it?" Rose asked crossly.

"Hermione said that Oliver had already told you…" Harry answered confused.

Rose stood still, shocked by his answer After a few seconds she just silently nodded and they started to walk to wards the pitch. She knew is wasn't Harry's fault that she wasn't told about this surprise practice, or even the other players for that matter. She sighed heavily outwards in frustration. Did he not want her on the team? That was certainly the impression she was getting if he had told everyone but her and even went so far as to say that he had told Rose when he purposely hadn't. She turned to look back at him, he was concentrating a little bit too hard on his notebook as if he thoughts were elsewhere.

"Ready Rose?" Harry asked gently.

"Sorry Harry, miles away." Rose said smiling Turing back to face him. "Where would you like to go?

Walking a little further afield then everyone else so that they had more practice room, Rose hovered ten foot off the floor alongside Harry. Even at this height the December icy wind was painful on her skin. The goosebumps making her look longfully at her hoodie in the far distance. The first manoeuvre that Edward was so keen for them to practice he had called the windsurf. The technique involved squatting on the edge of your broom, holding the tip of the broom handle with your wand arm (as its stronger), a bit like how you would imagine a surfer. Holding your free hand out, your teammate can then grab your free hand and pull you onto the back of their broom causing confusion to the opponent team. In theory this was a game changer if the team could pull it off, but in reality only three Gryffindors had managed to achieve this last time. It was agreed that Rose would be the first to hover with Harry coming to grab her if she managed to balance correctly. Steadying herself, Rose shuffled to the middle of the broom, carefully moving her legs over the broom handle so that she was sitting on the broom with both legs dangling next to one another. The next step was the scary bit. She placed her hands out wide and started to shuffle off the broom so that she was now hanging on by just the backs of her knees and hands. The notion made her mind quickly flash images of the quidditch game, Marietta and bludger bats flashing in her mind making her panic. She gasped in fright, frantically trying to get back onto the broom as quickly as possible. Harry shot past pushing her back firmly until she was safely back on the broom.

"You okay?" He whispered

"Just a mild panic." Rose answered shakily. "I haven't really had an opportunity to think about the last quidditch match with everything that has happened since. There was just a moment back there where I felt like I was falling again, and it scared me."

"I feel the same way." Harry replied gently. "I was just not wanting to look like a whimp in front of you."

"Like you would." Rose scoffed, weakly grinning at him. "Shall we try again but take our time?"

"Sounds like a really good idea." Harry agreed.

Carefully Rose squatted onto the middle of the broom, her fingers starting to burn and turn red in the cold. Twisting her body around she managed to crouch onto the broom, both feet on the handle with her hands either side of them. Breathing deeply to help with the nerves, she could feel the wind really making its presence known against her body. she called out to Harry, her arms starting to shake with her body weight. She looked out and over to where Harry was positioned letting go of the broom with her right hand at the last second ready to clasp his outstretched hand. There was a brief millisecond of feeling like she was falling before she felt Harry's hand firmly gripping hers as she pushed her legs out to help give her the momentum to swing onto Harry's broom. The relief of not falling even the short distance they were practicing on was extremely satisfying. Hugging Harry's chest as she clung to him for support she did a slight whoop along with a mutual high five. The more the pair practiced the more smooth and confident they got. Rose was now managing to get onto the side of the broom in one single move instead of cautious steps she had started off doing. They were both now higher and wider in the sky than any of the others, with Rose now managing to hang of the side of the broom for elongated periods of time. They had just completed another manoeuvre successfully when from the ground they heard a small whistle blow hastily. They had traveled so high up that they could see everyone else congregating around waiting for them. The whistle must have been whistling for sometime. After retrieving Rose''s hovering broomstick they made their way down to others, who were now shivering in the cold night air. Dismounting Rose quickly grabbed her hoody before returning to see what the interruption was about.

Edward was stood at the front yet again, a look of utter disgust on this face.

"This has to be the worst session I have ever witnessed from any of you." He shouted angrily to the group.

"How can you all have forgot what I have shown you in such a short space of time? Do any of you actually listen to anything that I show or teach you? Or do you think that these practices are just a gossip session where you can have a natter with your mates? The Christmas holidays are just literally just around the corner and you have not given me the confidence I was hoping for."

Edward paused, breathing heavily before turning away from the group. Everyone held looks of confusion as they all sheepishly made eye contact with each other. Only Rose was frowning, she looked at Harry puzzled who shrugged in agreement. What had they missed whilst practicing up in the sky?
Rose turned back towards the front and met Edward's angry stare. She didn't need him to read her mind for him to see that she was confused. But his eyes narrowed to angry slits as he read everyone else's thoughts.

"You can all stare at me baffled and confused all you like." He scoffed. "But you all know you didn't have your heads in the game this evening. Angelina.…your throwing in tonights warm up was abysmal as was yours Katie.
Alicia, if didn't know you, I would have presumed that you had never rode a broom before.
Fred, George …were you even trying to do the technique I asked of you? It was an embarrassment to be called your Quidditch Captain tonight."

Frustrated by the empty stares he was faced with, Edward muttered bitterly whilst slamming his notebook onto the muddy floor in frustration. He stared at it for a few seconds before looking up, his face blank and expressionless as he looked at Rose and Harry.

"And then there was Rose." Edward hissed bitterly, turning to look at Rose for the first time in over a month.

"You have all been helping Rose with this stupid competition over the past few weeks." He softly concluded a small bitter smile on his face. " You have all been so engrossed in this pathetic competition that you haven't even considered the importance of the team, of the possibility of wining the House Cup this year. Sloppy."

"Oliver wait…" Angelina began apologetically sounding really upset. But he held his hand up stopping her mid sentence his eyes never leaving Rose's.

"I thought better of you Rose, I really did. Not only have your priorities changes but you didn't even have the audacity to turn up on time this evening. Clearly you are so busy at the moment being little miss popular that you can't commit to more than one thing a time and your loyalty is obviously elsewhere."

His words were said with such conviction and passion they hissed out of his mouth in a furious verse. Rose glowed a deep shade of maroon as he stood in front of her directing his speech as if there was no-one else witnessing, the heat radiating off her face. Everyone had unconsciously moved out of their way leaving Rose the only one in Edwards path.
They stood in awkward silence as Rose struggled to find her voice. The words he had spoken were whirling around in her head, she couldn't concentrate or think of how to reply.

"Is that what you seriously think?" She finally managed to respond to him bitterly. The disappointment clear in her voice, her eyes showing the betrayal his words had made.

"I have had to seriously consider your worth on this Quidditch team this evening. Just be grateful you managed to pull off a half arsed attempt at that manoeuvre or you wouldn't be here to hear my lecture. You are no longer needed or wanted in this session. Go do two laps around the lake as a reminder of the warm up you basically missed." Pointing out the direction of the lake that was now only visible by the low moonlight with his hand, he stayed locked in position his eyes now away from Rose and on the floor.

"Oliver it's about to rain." George responded aghast, looking up at the clouds and back to Edward. "You can't actually be serious?!"

"She better run fast then." Edward muttered icily to George, now completely turning his back on Rose and beckoning for the rest of the team to surround him.

Rose stood momentarily beside Harry, unable to communicate to her legs that she needed to move. Breathing a deep breath and clamping on her tongue to stop herself crying, Rose stared at Edwards back for a few seconds, comprehending what had just happened. The embarrassment and upset she had received the past few weeks from Marietta and now Edward turned anger, it boiled under her skin, the adrenaline sparking electricity in her veins. Removing her hoodie, she threw it forcefully towards the changing room and tied her hair up into a high ponytail. Breathing in to make herself calm, she sprinted off into the night not looking behind her back at the others.

*Seriously what the fuck was that all about Oliver?* Fred fired mentally at Edward immediately, Georges thoughts not too far off.

Edward opened his eyes and was met by the sea of Gryffindor heads looking back at him in fear and awkwardness. Their thoughts buzzed with sympathy for Rose and confusion for his temper.

"I think we better call it a night." Edward gulped. "I'm not in the right headspace anymore and I can tell neither are you. If I don't see you before hand have a good Christmas break everyone."

Edward turned and left the pitch, making headway to his office. The relief in his head as the team members dwindled back to castle was instantly relieving. Scooping up Rose's hoodie where she had thrown it, he automatically inhaled into it without hesitation. He sighed heavily as the sweet scent relaxed his muscles. Sinking into the comfy chair he put his head in his hands. He had expected the twins to follow him and keep in company, he could hear their angry thoughts still from outside, as they watched Rose in the distance. Edward inhaled the jumper again hearing someone else's thoughts much closer to the office. Angelina was standing outside the office, debating whether to knock or not. Edward quickly stuffed the hoodie under the desk, grateful that her smell for now was on his hands.

There was a small knock on the door and Angelina carefully popped her head around the door.

"Oliver?" She gently spoke, sitting down in the chair opposite.

"Yes Ange?" He spoke calmly, trying with all his might not to read her mind. "Whats up?"

"What's up?" She answered scoffed and bemused. "Oli, I have never seen your act like that before.

"All I did was set out my authority."

"Well yes you did….but she has actuallymanaged to get under your skin!"

"I beg your pardon? What?" Edward began looking confused

"Im not blind Oli and don't treat me like a fool." Angelina replied her lips curling.

"I don't" He responded politely.

She sighed and closed her eyes in frustration. Angelina started to frown slightly at the many thoughts that were now whirling in her head.

"Please." She pleaded. "I actually thought we were actually going somewhere."

She opened her eyes longingly at Edward, her heart beating impatiently in her chest.

"Ange… we had this conversation a very long time ago." Edward said delicately.

"I know." She whispered. "But I really thought this time it was.. it could be different. I'm your Vice Captain." She laughed pointing at her badge. "But I see the way you look at her, when you think no one is looking. Even now when the pair of you aren't talking, the sexual tension is unbearable, it's suffocating. I knew she liked you Oli, but tonight you showed everyone how much you love her."

Edwards eyes were on the desk, not wanting to look at Angelina. He didn't want to think about his feelings for her, he had tried to avoid them for the past month. Those feelings had put his family in jeopardy, had made his family question not only his safety at Hogwarts but their safety at currently living in Scotland at all. No-one would could ever understand that as much as he loved Rose, he would never put his family in danger.

There was a flash of light, followed closely by a huge crash of thunder. The window behind Edward suddenly began being pelted with thick horizontal rain. Edward briefly looked up to see Angelina looking at the window with a small sad smile.

*She is going to be drenched.* She thought in concern.

She caught Edwards eye repeating the same small smile.

"I think you need to give Rose this." She sighed, unclipping her Vice Captain badge and handing it to Edward.

He slowly reached out and accepted the badge silently allowing Angelina to continue.

"You need someone around who will keep you on your toes Oliver, somebody that can push your buttons without you fully loosing your temper and she does that. You listen to her more than anyone else around here, you can see how much you really respect her."

She stumbled the last few words out as if she genuinely believed that she was not appreciated. Though Edward wanted to speak out and let Angelina know that she was indeed respected, he knew deep down that it would be falling on deaf ears. She needed to release herself from any fantasy daydreams she had of Edward and he needed her to feel in control. They stayed in silence for a few minutes Edwards guilt increasing as he now had no escape from Angelina's lustful thoughts. He had been so distracted with Rose he had failed to notice her feelings blossoming once again. Thunder struck again, making Angelina snap out of her emotional thoughts. She looked at Edward, who was staring at the desk with a confused bitter look. Nodding to herself, knowing it was time to leave, she gracefully rose from her chair and walked slowly to the door with every step wishing that Edward would stop her from leaving. Knowing he wouldn't she turned giving him one last bitter smile "Merry Christmas Oliver." She whispered.

Edward gripped the badge tightly in his hand, eventually looking up from his desk and out at the dark corridor which was now visible, Angelina hadn't shut the door. Sighing in frustration Edward stormed over to the doorway, shutting the door gracefully and locking it for good measure. He wasn't in the mood for talking. Sinking back into the chair Edward sighed heavily picking up Rose's hoodie and drinking in an elongated sniff of pure floral heaven. For that one moment his mind went elsewhere, no thoughts or worries it was a quick high. He sniffed again, this time getting a more sweet Turkish delight smell. BOOM! Edward jumped dropping the hoodie and badge in his shock. He had been so distracted, he had been completely ignoring everyones angry thoughts. Fred had kicked the door open with such force that it hit the wall, leaving an indent with the door handle. The lock still protruding out of the side of the door.

"What the hell was that!?" Edward shouted out startled

"Me showing you how fucking pissed off I am." Fred roared bitterly pointing his finger at Edward. "If you weren't so bloody distracted you would have heard me debating whether to do it or not."

"I locked the bloody door because I wanted my privacy Fred."

"Well you don't get that after tonights fiasco."

"Tonight wasn't a fiasco." Edward muttered sulkily.

"Oh please!" Fred barked bitterly. "Tonight's spontaneous practice was purely because you were jealous and wanted to spend time with her wasn't it?" Fred inquired. "Edward you lost you shit with everybody tonight and all because you can't keep your feelings under control."

"I have kept them extremely under control under the circumstances thank you very much." Edward hissed. "Besides she has probably given up and gone back to the castle." Edward grumbled, not convincing himself or Fred by his words.

"Oh good you remember your moment of insanity then." Fred responded in sarcasm. "For a moment I seriously thought I would have to remind you of all of tonights events. You know full well how stubborn Rose is. You said two laps she will bloody well make sure she does both."

Edward sighed sinking lower into his chair. He grabbed the hoodie not caring if the Fred noticed.

"Has she ran past yet?" Edward shouted pinching his nose.

"No she hasn't." Fred replied bitterly. "Hence why George is currently sat out in the rain waiting for her. I thought she would have by now as its late but we lost sight of her as she ran past the forbidden forest. We are so pissed with you, Oliver."

"I really couldn't tell." Edward replied sarcastically. "I have a right to be in angry with her." He hissed.

"Oh not this old chestnut! You know full well we have told her why!" "We have supported you in every way we can and have been distant from her ourselves, and you know how difficult that has been."

"I know. I know you have had to make difficult choices." Edward murmured quietly.

"Then please for Christ's sake go after her Oli." Fred begged. "She is going to catch a fever or something worse at this rate."

Edward breathed heavily looking at Fred's worried face. Edward could see how exhausted Fred was from all the late nights keeping him company and he could see plainly how scared he was.

"Head back to the castle with George. I'll sort things out with Rose." Edward responded in a defeated tone.

He took a deep breath in as he sprinted out of the office door. He could smell Rose's scent on the cold wet air not too far away to the right. The thick droplets of rain were cascading down with a harsh icy force, Edward hadn't realised how heavy the downpour was.
He ran as fast as he could, with each breath, Rose's Turkish delight smell became stronger and more delicious. He could see her shadowy form now in the distance so he sped up using all of his strength until he was within one hundred yards, slowing his sped down to match hers. Rose was looking at the floor, concentrating on her steps as she slide on the muddy grass, her white converses drenched and caked in a thick layer of mud. Her sped had slowed down significantly with tiredness and she was breathing quick, puffs of air, her breath visible in the cold night air. Wiping her face to clear her eyes from the rain, Rose's eyes jumped as she suddenly saw Edward running towards her. Her surprise didn't last long, the shocked mask replaced with anger and hurt. Without hesitation Rose whipped around, and started to run the way she had just come. The action caught Edward off guard causing him to laugh, the feeling felt strange after not doing it for so long. He had never actually seen her angry and the sight made his heart twang.

"Rose don't do that." He shouted bemused.

But she continued, her shadowy silhouette making its way back toward the forest. Gritting her teeth as she did so, Rose was determined to not listen to his commands. Sighing a huff of frustration, Edward picked his speed up running beside her in a matter of seconds, she carried on as if he wasn't there at all.

"Rose please stop now." Edward Ordered. "Stop- please!"

He reached out and grabbed her right arm, the electric shock and warmth making his muscles spasm. With a little persuasion he managed to guide her under the nearest tree, its thick branches though bare created a dry shelter from the storm. Hesitating slightly Edward waited until he was confident she wouldn't run again, finally gently letting go of her arm. Rose instantly turned to face away from him, her arms folded defensively against her chest. Edward could see that her arms and torso had visibly large goosebumps on them from the cold and the rain, her body shivering ever so slightly. Her leggings and sports bra were tightly clinging to her body, showing her figure off in its entirety. Her high ponytail was slowly dripping rainwater down her spine collecting in the arch of her back. Edward gulped, her scent was overwhelmingly strong in the rain and Rose was looking far too unintentionally sexy. Shaking his head to snap out of his dirty thoughts, Edward coughed awkwardly to try and get her attention.

"Lets get you back to the castle." He whispered gruffly.

"No."

It was a firm blunt answer.

Edward sighed quietly;

"Rose, your going to get unwell if we don't.…"

"Well you should have thought of that earlier." Rose hissed, her face still turned away.

Edward gingerly walked towards Rose, slowly reaching out and touching her arm in an attempt to guide her back to the castle. Rose jerked his hand away and whipped around with such force that her hair splattered Edward's face with rain. Her face was livid, jabbing him sharply in the chest with her index finger she seethed;

"How dare you speak to me like that. That is never going to happen again, do you understand me?"

Edward took a step back in surprise.

"What have I actually done to you huh?" She continued, jabbing him again in the chest.

"What do you mean what have you done?" Edward replied annoyed. "You tricked me into revealing that I am a mind reading Vampire."

"I didn't trick you Edward." Rose spat. "You just feel resentment that I was clever enough to work it out. Your angry because you gave me a false promise."

"I did no such a thing."

"OH PLEASE." Rose laughed sarcastically. "In your arrogance are you seriously going to try and deny it. You stood there on multiple occasions saying that if I guessed my theory correctly you would confirm it, you even agreed for me to use Ron's help…"

"Tricked."

"No Edward. I asked and you agreed, its not my fault you had to be all macho with Cedric."

"Don't bring Diggory into this." Edward responded in a jealous tone "I just didn't want to put you in danger."

"Well I was going to be in danger whether I knew what you were or not." Rose replied seriously. "I don't want to hear a speech about how dangerous you are or how I should stay away from you either."

"Your not taking this seriously."

"You just haven't got a clue have you?" Rose whispers angrily shaking her head in disscontempt. Her face was now so close to Edwards that he could feel and smell her sweet breath on his face. He stared at her, looking closely for the first time at her eyes. She was breathing heavily, the pain evident in her features.
"Don't you dare say I haven't taken this seriously." She continued between controlled breaths. "I have respected your privacy and kept well out of your way, I haven't spoken to Fred and George properly for over a month as they have needed to be with you and the most difficult of all, I have had to push Ron away to keep YOU safe. I have never felt so isolated and alone. But the worst part? You have known all this, known how lonely I have become and done nothing about it."

Edward watched in silence as a single tear fell from Rose's eye and bounce onto her red cheek.

"I can keep your secret Edward" Rose murmured to the floor bitterly. "But I can't handle you hating me anymore." More silent tears fell directly onto the floor as they both stood in the Moonlite shadows. All hurt, anger and bitterness had left Edward long ago and he was now left with an overwhelming passion to embrace the girl he had fallen for. He lifted her head up with his hand and looked deeply into her wet eyes with sorrow and guilt. He ignored his thoughts of what he felt he should or shouldn't do and instead leant across and kissed Rose, his lips greedily feeling for hers. He locked his mouth on hers, pulling her body close to his. Their bodies tingled as they embraced, both being enveloped in a powerful warmth and electricity. His throat purred as he felt her kiss him back, her tongue finding his. She sighed, reaching out and placed her arms around his neck. The feeling of the embrace felt wonderful on Edwards skin, he couldn't get close enough to her. He responded by scooped her up, holding her bottom in his hands, her thighs on his hips. Moving carefully backward he pushed her against the tree to help support her. Their kiss quickly became powerful and aggressive, their tongues dancing and tingling at the touch, resulting in Edward growling in satisfaction. Rose reached out, running her hand through his bronze hair and eventually placing it on Edwards cheek, the electric warmth from the touch radiating through her entire body. Edward purred again, unable to resist the moment of intense pleasure, he pulled away from her, lightly kissing her lips again and again before reaching down to kiss her neck. This kiss felt different, being able to feel the blood flow through her veins made his lips buzz but not because he was aroused. His mouth filled with venom, the taste immediately made him abruptly stop. Slowly removing his mouth from her neck, Edward quickly became aware once again how fragile Rose was. She was looking at him with a look of confusion, her arms still around his neck. He leant forward so that their foreheads touched. He had waited decades for a moment like this and he didn't want it to end. Caressing her cheek, he leant forward to kiss her forehead, and placed her gently back onto the ground, his head returning to leaning against hers.

"That shouldn't have happened." Edward whispered. "I nearly got too carried away."

"I wasn't complaining." Rose whispered back, reaching out to hold his hand, which he greedily accepted.

"No, I know." He agreed, his crooked smile back again. "But I can't loose control like that with you Rose. I'm sorry… this shouldn't have happened."

"Don't push me away Edward. Not again."

"I promise it won't be like before. I won't treat you like I have been doing."

"But your going to keep me at a distance?" Rose responded disappointed.

"I cant trust myself to not act like I have done."

"And do I get a say in this?"

Edward smiled bitterly and with a sad sigh moved his head away from Rose's. In a flash he was leaning against the tree next to her.

"Remember the first time we sat under this tree?" Edward muttered softly.

"I do." Rose smiled sadly looking out at the pitch black lake.

Her mind thought back to that sunshine day with Edward and Smutz. How her stomach and heart had reacted at the mere sight of Edward and how happy she felt in his company. The fond memory felt distant and sad now.

"Tell me what your thinking?" Edward asked anxiously.

"The irony of these two moments." Rose replied sadly looking at Edward. "You asked me if we were friends."

"I did. It was important for me to know if you saw me as one." Edward nodded. "I have been so desperate to get close to you, for you to know and like me but I didn't want to force myself upon you."

"If the last month has taught me anything Edward is that I hate it when your gone."

"I've always been closer than you think." Edward uttered ashamed on the floor.

"Where you in the dormitory the other day?" Rose queried, thinking back to when she felt a presence.

"Yes." Edward nodded, looking away guiltily. "I have only done it a handle of times as I feel possessive and perverse afterwards, but I needed to be close to you. Especially when you were hurt and upset."

Rose looked back towards the lake hugging her legs for comfort. Here Edward was telling her that he cared for her and yet he wasn't going to do anything with his feelings.

"You know my sister Alice warned me about you?" Edward muttered softly. It was if this secret and burden had been bothering him and he needed to get it off his chest.

"She was trying to block me from reading her thoughts that day."He said with a fond grin. "It took me a little while to realise it was you that she was hinting at but as soon as a set my eyes upon you I knew it was you."

"How would Alice be able to warn you about me?" Rose queried, her eyebrow gently raising.

"She can see the future… as it stands anyway. But anyone can alter the future according to their decisions."

"And what does Alice see?"

"She hasn't directly said." Edward answered. "But from all her letters you are very important to her so I can guess."

Rose was quiet, reading Edwards face. He turned to look at her.

"Sounds crazy doesn't it."

"No." Rose replied, shaking her head. "And more importantly it's the truth."

"Ahh your sixth sense." Edward smiled glumly. "I do hate the fact you can tell when I'm lying."

Rose paused, thinking about this new piece of information. Chewing her lip she looked at Edward puzzled.

"Why did you just tell me this?"

"Because I know I can trust you with my whole heart. I know I haven't shown my gratitude recently, but I do."

She nodded her understanding, appreciating that he was trying to at least show that he did trust her.

"I would like to meet Alice one day." Rose responded sadly. "If that would be okay?"

"It would be my pleasure to equant the two of you."

Rose couldn't help but grin slightly. For a moment Edward did sound like he was indeed from a different era.

"Whats so funny?" He replied with a cheeky smile.

"I guess I can't quite believe how old you actually are." Rose replied honestly.

"Ohh." Edward replied his smile completely gone.

"That wasn't a negative comment." Rose responded seriously, her hand quickly reaching out to hold his arm. "I don't think you will ever believe me when I say that you being a Vampire really doesn't bother me."

"It should." Edward swallowed bitterly.

"You being American on the other hand… that was a complete shock." Rose joked.

Edwards tenseness relaxed instantly and he laughed.

"The accent has nearly gone hasn't it." Edward grinned, showing his perfect set of pearly white teeth. "Carlisle must have really rubbed off on us all."

They continued to talk until the darkness changed from a midnight blue to a steely colour. Neither of them wanted to leave the others side, not wanting the night to end. As they slowly made their way back towards the castle the realisation of how their relationship had changed caught up with Rose. She turned to Edward, her chest tight with the questions she needed to ask.

"What happens now?" She asked.

"In what way?" Edward replied solemnly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I cant just brush aside how I feel." Rose replied honestly. "Or forget what happened tonight."

"I'm certainly not going to forget that moment with you." Edward replied seriously. "That was the most magical feeling I have ever felt and something I will never feel again."

"Then I will ask you one last last time. Please can we try?"

"You will forget me." Edward said with a bitter smile, grabbing both her hands and pulling her up from the floor. "Give yourself the Christmas break, let your hair down and chat to everyone who wants to talk to you. You will see that there are so many boys interested in you, who are desperate for you to know them. You will eventually let go of me and be interested in them instead."

"Maybe." Rose said with a stiff nod. She had received Edwards message loud and clear. "I know I'm younger then you Edward, but my feelings aren't that flimsy."

"But you are human." He said with a sad smile. "You have my rusty heart Rose, that will never change. But you have options of happy relationships with people you have more in common with."

"And has Alice seen me with one of these boys of whom you speak?" Rose asked.

"Rose that's not my point."

"But it is mine" Rose answered seriously.

"I haven't dared ask her." Edward whispered truthfully. "I was too frightened to know."

They walked in silence, their hands still interwoven, neither wanting to let go of the other. By the time they had made it up to the common room the sun had started to rise and the pink warmth of sunrise lite the the empty room. It was like the past night hadn't occurred, the chairs still on one side from the previous evening. Rose glanced at the noticeboard at the neat note.

"You?" She whispered.

He nodded gingerly, ruffling his hair as he did so.

"I was so jealous of everyone spending time with you I got a little bitter. The note was placed there as I needed to know whether you would notice me. Notice this small insignificant piece of parchment when you were so busy setting up. I rushed in and out the room you wouldn't have noticed me even if you were looking straight at me. When I saw you rushing down the lawn having seen the message, my heart skipped a beat, as I knew you still cared."

Rose looked back at the note, not knowing how to respond her mind tired and foggy.

"I'm sorry." Edward continued looking sorrowful. "Tonight has been a mixture of emotions for both of us." He sighed. "I will leave you to your own thoughts, especially as you have much to do today."

"Why do I get the feeling that your saying goodbye?" Rose whispered sadly.

"I am a little torn." Edward confessed. "Whether or not to leave Hogwarts now, and run back home a day early. It would give me the headspace that I feel I need or…" He paused

"Or?" Rose responded with raised eyebrows.

"Or wait another evening and be with you."

Rose swallowed a bitter smile. Those words meant everything to hear and yet were a verbal slap at the same time.

"Wait here a moment." Rose replied.

Quickly dashing up the stairs to her dormitory, she grabbed a parcel that had been neatly wrapped in brown paper with a red velvet bow. It was a books of sketches, some of scenery, some of friends but most importantly it contained images of Edward. The conversation under the tree had meant even more this evening under the circumstances. She had agreed once that she would one day give him some drawings and she was relieved she was actually able to give it to him this Christmas. She returned to the common room in just under a minute. Edward was now sitting by the window, waiting for her to return. A look of intrigued surprise on his face when she reappeared.

"This is for you." Rose blushed, presenting the present.

"For me?" Edward replied shocked. "I haven't had a surprise Christmas present in quite some time."

"Well… please don't get your hopes up it really isn't significant." Rose responded embarrassed.

"And you can't open it just yet you have to promise to wait until Christmas. I'm only giving it to you now so that if you do leave I know I have given it to you."

Edward nodded, a small smile on his face as his fingers traced the packaging.

"Thank you." He said sincerely. "I hate that I have nothing to give in return."

"I wasn't asking.."

"I know." He said seriously.

He paused, looking out the window in deep thought. He smiled, an idea must have come to him.
"I have a proposition, it's not exactly a Christmas present but it will hopefully suffice."

He shuffled so that he was facing Rose, he hesitated momentarily before grabbing her hand as if it gave him comfort.

"Tell Ron everything." He looked at Rose seriously. "In fact tell Harry and Hermione too."

"What?" Rose responded shocked.

"You trust them, and keeping this secret has nearly ruined your relationships with those that mean the most. If they know, they might understand. Even if they see me differently to how you do."

Rose paused a little stunned. She looked back Edward reading his body language and facial expressions. He was looking at the floor a sad scared look on his face. She released one of her hands from his loose hold and cupped his face. The warm tingle made him loosely smile and look up to meet her gaze.

"Thank you." She said seriously, leaning over to kiss his cool cheek. As she pulled away they briefly hovered both trying to resist the other.

"Merry Christmas Rose." He whispered smoothly.

"You too Edward."