Time faded on.

Rose actually managed to produce a needle in Transfiguration and Snape had been unable to find anything to criticize about her potion-work thus far, much to her smug pleasure. Malfoy still sneered at her but she was getting used to it by now and she only had to put up with him in Charms class so it wasn't all that bad. She'd also snuck off to her secret room a few more times and checked out some interesting books from the library. All in all things were going quite well.

One day a notice appeared in the common room bulletin board: Flying Lessons would be starting soon!

It was a Wednesday so that night in Astronomy Rose took the chance to chat with Hermione a bit.

"Did you hear the news about flying?" Rose asked as they set up their telescopes

"Yeah." Hermione answered, she sounded none too thrilled.

"You aren't excited?" Rose asked, tilting her head.

"No way! I'm terrified. What if I fall off?" Hermione grumbled.

"If you think that way you will fall off. Positivity, Hermione." Rose told her friend, that was something else dad said a lot.

"Positivity won't stop me from breaking my neck, Rose." Hermione replied, her voice a bit snippy due to nerves.

Rose didn't get a chance to reply since Professor Sinistra called them to order.

The day of their flying lesson came, bright and clear just like Rose's attitude. They gathered on the sloping lawn by the forbidden forest, the trees swayed lightly in the breeze. The flying teacher, Madame Hooch, greeted them cheerfully.

"Welcome to your first flying lesson. Everyone step up to the left side of a broomstick, go on then." Madame Hooch told them.

She gestured to twenty or so broomsticks lying on the grass. None of them were as nice as the ones that Rose had seen in Diagon Alley. Rose approached one standing between Susan and Megan as was usual for them. Hannah and Justin were across the row. Some people looked nervous, others looked confident, and for once Rose was one of the latter.

"Now, you stick your hands over the broom and say up." Madame Hooch instructed

Rose looked down at her broom and, concentrating hard, stuck out her hand, "UP!"

Rose let out a gasp of slight shock as the broom jumped into her hand, but it was one of the few that did. Susan's did as well, but Megan's did nothing except roll on the ground and Ernie Macmillan's sprang up and whacked him in the face.

"You okay, Ernie?" Rose asked.

"Yeah.." Ernie answered, his face flushed with embarrassment. Once everyone had a broom Madame Hooch showed them the proper grip.

"Alright. On the count of three I want everyone to kick off hard and then hover for a few minutes. Keep steady and then come back down by leaning forward slightly. Got it?" Madame Hooch asked, looking around at the class.

As everyone nodded, Rose felt her heart leap with anticipation and excitement.

"Alright. One, two, three and-" there was a sharp blast from the whistle Madame Hooch was wearing around her neck. Rose and the others kicked off,

What a wonderful feeling! Rose felt the wind whip at her hair and it whistled in her ears as she soared upward. She pulled the broom to a stop and hovered in the air, this was so cool. She looked down at the ground feeling on top of the world, her mind filled with wonderful visions of Quidditch cup victories.

Another blast from the whistle, "Come on down everyone!"

Rose reluctantly pointed her broom handle slightly towards the ground and landed smoothly back on the grass, looking around at her fellow students. Susan looked just as charged up as she was, Ernie was a bit pale and Megan had toppled to the ground on landing. Rose helped her to her feet, still grinning slightly. One thing was for sure: She couldn't wait to get back into the air.

"Be brilliant to make it onto the Quidditch team next year, wouldn't it?" Susan asked Rose later that night as they both filled their dinner plates with some delicious looking beef stew.

"Definitely. I know I'm gonna go for it." Rose answered eagerly

"We could be teammates." Susan quipped, her eyes bright at the thought

"That'd be awesome." Rose said, nodding. Her eyes were shimmering just as brightly. It really would be.

Rose munched on her stew looking around at the packed Hall and up at the enchanted ceiling, she'd been here for about a month and things couldn't be going any better. Hogwarts had become her second home.

After dinner she said goodbye to Susan, using the excuse of running to the library, so that she could sneak off to her piano room for a while. As much as she loved all the friends she was making she still sometimes needed the solace of time alone.

As she approached the door however she realized that solace wasn't going to come. She heard the sound of a peaceful piano melody coming from inside. Someone had found her secret. Rose pushed open the door to peek inside.

Draco Malfoy was sitting at her piano. Just great. Could it be any worse? Still though, he was good at it. His peaceful music rang in her ears as she took a couple of steps into the room but then the music stopped. Rose saw Draco stiffen, he'd noticed she was there.

He spun around on the piano bench to see who had interrupted him. His eyes narrowed when he saw her, just as they always did but Rose was also able to discern a bit of embarrassment behind the scowl.

"What're you doing here, Rivers?" He demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing, Malfoy." Rose countered, "This is my place."

"Yeah right," Draco sneered, "like you know how to play."

"I do." Rose said simply.

"Let's see it then." Draco answered, standing up from the bench and moving over to the couch on the other side of the room. He reclined comfortably with his feet up like he owned the place and watched Rose with a raised eyebrow. He clearly wanted to see her fail.

Rose could hardly wait to wipe that smug grin off his face. She confidently strode over to the piano and settled down on the bench. She wondered what she should play. The choice came fairly easily. She imagined herself back in the sky playing in her first Quidditch match. She began to play. It was a quick tempoed melody that easily conveyed action and excitement. She brought the music to an end after a few minutes and looked back at Malfoy who was staring at her in shock.

"Good enough for you?" Rose asked smugly. Draco was silent for a bit.

"Yeah.." He finally said quietly. Rose smirked and started to play again. This time a softer paced peaceful song that mimicked what she'd heard Draco playing while she'd been outside the door. She was so enamoured with her playing that she didn't hear Draco's footsteps as he walked up behind her. He sat down beside her on the piano bench and Rose's fingers fumbled over the keys as she looked over at him in shock.

"What're you doing? You don't even like me." She pointed out. Draco said nothing. Rose rolled her eyes at him and then started to play again. She received another shock when, without warning, Draco started to duet play with her. She gave him a little sideways glance but he still didn't speak.

The two of them carried on like that for a while before Draco stopped abruptly.

"I've gotta go. My mates will be wondering where I am." He said, standing up.

"Mine, too." Rose answered.

Draco paused for a moment, "Maybe we could do that again some time." his voice was hardly above a whisper.

"Yeah. Maybe."

The two of them walked to the door together and Rose stood back to let him leave first.

"See you around, Rivers." Draco said before he walked out into the corridor. Rose blinked, stood there for a moment and then followed him out.

What on earth had just happened? Rose stuck her hands in the pockets of her robes as she made her way back to the hufflepuff common room feeling extremely confused.

"How was your trip to the library, Rose?" Susan asked, looking up from her potions homework as Rose dropped into the armchair next to her by the fire.

"Uhh...Interesting. Very interesting." Rose answered.

Indeed it was.