Rose managed to make her way to herbology, only getting lost once or twice on her way to the greenhouses. As it turned out, Hufflepuffs were the perfect people to have Herbology lessons with – they were all very supportive of Rose if she happened to make a mistake during the lesson. Rose shared her station with Hannah Abbott, the cheery girl she had met on the first night.
"Hannah!" she'd exclaimed when she saw her helping Professor Sprout assemble the pots before class, "it's me, Rose!" Hannah seemed reluctant at first, likely because of the green and silver crest that Rose now wore, but once Hannah noted Rose's bright smile, she couldn't help but run toward her and offer her a big hug.
"I was just helping Professor Sprout here," said Hannah, walking back toward the table of pots, "she's the head of Hufflepuff – she's absolutely amazing"
"Oh, you flatter me, Ms. Abbott," said Professor Sprout with a smile, "and you are?" she asked, smiling at Rose.
"Er, I'm Rose" she replied, "nice to meet you! I'm excited for your class."
"Oh! Are you a plant owner yourself?"
"Not exactly, but my sister and I are always trying to get plants to grow from the supermarket fruits. Though hers always live longer than mine," laughed Rose. In that moment, she felt content, chatting and laughing with Professor Sprout and Hannah Abbot – her peace was disrupted, however, once the other students began to flood into the room – namely, the other Slytherins.
Rose wished she didn't feel so grossly unwelcome among the people who were meant to be her "family" at Hogwarts, but it was just the way it was. Looking at Hannah and seeing her warm smile, Rose felt sure that she was placed in the wrong house, as it seemed that everyone who was king to her was anything but a Slytherin.
Interrupting her thoughts, Hannah asked, "have you seen Padma or Parvati at all? I haven't talked to them since that night on the boats, but Parvati was in my charms class this morning."
"No way, Padma was in my charms class! I think we should all get together sometime! How fun would that be?"
"How about tonight?" replied Hannah, "we could meet somewhere after dinner, I could send out my owl!"
"That sounds great!" said Rose. She remembered Draco's note:
Meet me by the common room fireplace after dinner.
"Erm, actually…" began Rose.
"Yeah?" replied Hannah, her kind eyes wide and eager.
Rose couldn't possibly let her down after seeing her excitement, so she just said "Nevermind, I thought I was busy tonight but I'm not. Where should we meet?"
"How about we get together in the hall after we're done eating and then we can all go to one of our common rooms?"
"Yeah, sure. That sounds great, Hannah," Rose said with a smile. She'd just have to meet Draco another night. She hoped standing him up wouldn't ruin their chance at friendship, but she thought she'd better play it safe and let him know that she had plans already.
Just as Rose began walking toward Draco, Professor Sprout began the lesson, and she was stuck on the other side of the greenhouse for the rest of the lecture.
Rose and Hannah had a great time identifying the different types of plants, and they took turns figuring out how to harvest the berries off a tricky plant with moving branches.
"This is called Devil's snare," said Professor Sprout over all the commotion. "These are just little sproutlings, but the adult plants can be very nasty. The berries are poisonous to eat fresh, but they can be cooked down and are very useful in potions. We'll be handing these over to Professor Snape to be used in your Potions classes" Just then, Justin Finch-Fletchy let out a shriek, as the Devil's snare had wrapped tightly around his finger when he tried to pick one of the small berries.
"Not to worry!" cooed Professor Sprout, "Lumos Solem!" She gave her want a good wave as she said the spell, sending a bright ray of sunlight from her want to Justin's finger, which was now turning blue. The Devil's Snare slowly unraveled itself and retreated back into the pot, looking almost upset at the light. "Remember: It's deadly fun but will sulk in the sun! Sunlight will shock the Devil's snare and set you free if you ever become entangled. It's quite fascinating!"
"Quite stupid is more like it" muttered Draco a bit too loudly from the opposite corner of the room. Rose looked at Professor Sprout, who looked a bit hurt, but pretended not to hear. Rose was glad she was skipping her meetup with Draco, who had proven continuously to be a very mean person.
When class was finished, Hannah made sure to let Rose know that she'd send an owl to the Patil twins before her next class, and Rose was pleased. "Hannah," Rose began, "is there any way I could invite my friend Hermione as well? She doesn't really know many people here and I think you'd like her. She's in Gryffindor, like Parvati!"
"Sure!" replied Hannah, "why don't I include her on the parchment for my owl?"
"That's perfect! I can try talking with her during my next class too! I have defense against the dark arts with Gryffindor after this. Either way, I'll see you after dinner!"
"You, too, can't wait!" The girls gave each other a hug and Rose left the room. She was absolutely beaming. She hadn't been this happy since she arrived, and she felt at home when she was with Hannah, whose bright energy reminded her a bit of her little sister, Addy.
Rose walked along the corridor with a beaming smile, holding her books tight to her chest, finally excited about her future as a Hogwarts student. She approached one of the large stone staircases and began walking towards Professor Quirrell's classroom, when the staircase jolted and began to move. A bit afraid of where it would take her, Rose looked around frantically. When she looked behind her a few steps down, she was relieved to see two familiar faces staring up at her – one dotted with freckles, and the other adorned with a lightning scar.