Wednesday came and Rose found herself getting more and more distracted as the morning wore on. It didn't help that the last class before lunch was History of Magic which she still never managed to stay awake in for long. As Professor Binns droned on, Rose's attention quickly waned and she started staring out the window at the cloudy gray sky, different thoughts drifting across her mind. Christmas was getting closer, she'd get to see mum and dad, and that afternoon she'd get to talk to Draco. An unconscious smile flitted across her face at that thought.

A strange excitement coursed through her, she couldn't explain why to herself but although she still had doubts about it, this secret friendship was oddly fun. It was special in a way. She pulled her attention away from the window long enough to copy down the homework assignment at the end of the lesson and nearly jumped out of her seat as the bell rang, heading right for the door.

Susan caught her up in the hallway, looking oddly at her.

"You hungry or something?" she asked.

"Nah. Just wanted to get out of there. Binns is so boring," Rose replied.

Rose greeted Harry, Ron and Hermione as she passed them in the Great Hall, telling them she'd see them in Astronomy that night. She ate her lunch quicker than she normally would have done and then said goodbye to Susan and headed off to her meet-up with Draco.

He'd arrived before her this time and was sprawled out on the couch, looking a little more comfortable than he had last time.

"Hey there, Rivers," he said, giving her a small grin.

"Hey, Malfoy."

Rose walked over and sat down next to him.

"How've you been?" she asked

"Alright, you?"

"Alright. That was some Quidditch match wasn't it?"

Draco looked a tad bit annoyed at her mention of the game.

"That capture was cheap. It shouldn't have counted."

"Oh, come on. Don't be a sore loser. You've got to admit, Harry was impressive,"

Draco just rolled his eyes and jumped up from the couch to go over to the piano. He started to play and Rose put her feet up on the couch, content just to listen for the moment.

"What class have you got this afternoon?" She asked

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Draco answered. "What about you?"

"Transfiguration."

They went quiet for a bit and in the silence Rose decided to join Draco at the piano. As they played, Rose felt her hand brush against his. Draco's hand twitched away quickly and he stopped playing.

"Sorry," Rose said quickly, "did I mess you up?"

Draco paused for a moment.

"Yeah. Watch what you're doing," he answered.

"Sorry," Rose said again, shrugging. Draco got up and moved back to the couch.

"How about you play for awhile?"

"Sure."

Rose played for a bit, thinking about what had just happened. She stopped abruptly and frowned at Draco.

"I didn't mess you up at all did I?" she asked suddenly.

"What're you talking about?" he replied.

"You pulled away because I'm a muggle born, not because I messed your playing up," Rose accused.

Draco just sat in silence. It spoke volumes to Rose who stood up and walked over to plop herself on the couch beside him.

"I don't get it," she said, scowling at him. "What makes us so different?"

"I..I dunno..it's..you're…"

"Exactly," Rose said, talking over his stammering. "We're about as different as water and rain. We're exactly the same."

The bell rang for afternoon lessons and Rose stalked out of the room, snatching her bag up as she went, leaving Draco behind her looking a bit stunned.

A few days later Rose went back to the piano room, it was empty but there was another note, right beneath the last one.

I'm sorry about the other day. Hope you don't hate me.

It was signed with another little dragon. Rose just sighed and left a note of her own

I don't...I just wish I could understand what you're thinking. Maybe we'll be able to talk about it someday.

She signed it with a rose again and then sat down to play. A bit slow and sad. This whole friendship was complicated yet she didn't want to break it off. He made her mad but she liked him.

November faded into December.

One Saturday morning Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. Rose bundled up and went out to have some fun. She wasn't the only one- there were quite a few other students out enjoying the snow. She found the Weasley twins in the middle of a snowball fight.

"Could I join you?" she asked, smirking as she made her way over to them.

"Sure," they answered together. They immediately both took handfuls of snow and tossed them at Rose who giggled as she was hit and then fired back, smacking one twin in the back of the head with a particularly large snowball while his brother laughed hysterically.

After a few wild minutes they calmed down a bit

"You're not bad," said one twin, smirking at Rose.

"Yeah, what's your name, little Hufflepuff?" asked the other.

"Roselynn Rivers. But you can call me Rose."

"I'm Fred Weasley, and this is George."

"Nice to meet ya, Rose. You seem like fun."

"Yeah. I am."

Suddenly a snowball struck Rose from behind. She shook her head wildly to get the snow out of her hair and then spun around to see who'd thrown it and was surprised to see Draco there, wearing a smirk that could have been friendly or sneering. It was hard to tell.

"Keep your eyes open, Rivers," he snickered, turning away and starting to walk off.

Fred and George glared at him but Rose just smirked and picked up a handful of snow and tossed it at him, hitting him in the back.

"Never take your eyes off an opponent, Malfoy," Rose shot at him, he turned round and gave her a bit of a glare but, if you paid attention you could see a hint of amusement in his eyes as well. He didn't say anything, choosing instead to walk back off towards the castle.

Fred and George snickered and George clapped Rose on the shoulder. "Nice one, Rose," he said.

At that moment Professor Quirrell walked by and Fred and George's faces split into identical evil grins.

"Wanna see something hilarious?" Fred asked.

"Umm…Sure…" Rose answered.

Fred drew his wand and pointed it at the snow, muttering a spell. Several snowballs formed and immediately launched themselves at Professor Quirrell, bouncing repeatedly off the back of his turban. The twins snickered again and Rose couldn't help but join in.

Quirrell turned around looking for the culprits and Rose quickly bailed before he could spot her.

"See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya,'' she called over her shoulder at the twins as she rushed back towards the warmth of the castle and her favorite chair in front of the roaring fire in the Hufflepuff common room. Note to self: Be very careful when hanging around with the Weasley twins. Although she had to admit, that had been pretty funny. She wondered how much trouble the twins would be in if they were caught.

She also wondered about the little exchange with Draco. It was the first time he'd interacted with her outside the piano room, although to anyone watching it could have looked like he was just being a jerk but it may have also been a subtle way of joining in the game without giving too much away. Maybe they were going in the right direction after all.

Meanwhile, nobody could wait for the Christmas holidays to start. Although there were nice warm fires in the common room and Great Hall, the corridors were bitterly cold and wind rattled the classroom windows. Potions down in the dungeons was the worst. They could see their breath and they all stayed close to their hot cauldrons.

The Great Hall however had been decorated spectacularly with holly, mistletoe, and no less than twelve huge Christmas trees which were themselves stunningly decorated with tiny icicles or flickering candles.

Rose was almost sorry she wouldn't be able to enjoy them for long but she was also excited to be going home. She'd really been missing mum and dad lately.