Two more hours passed and Rose had shifted slightly in her sleep so she was now curled up against Draco's chest with one arm thrown around him as if he was her stuffed dragon back in the dormitory.

Rose woke first, her eyes opening blearily. She felt cozy and warm. It took a few minutes, in which she continued snuggling not really comprehending what was going on, before her brain caught up. Draco had woken too and the two of them just stared at each other for a minute before jumping apart as if they'd been scalded. Rose felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment and Draco looked as if he wanted to vanish on the spot.

"I..uhh..we..should.." he stammered, running a hand through his hair.

"Go..yeah..we..should go." Rose finished for him, rushing to gather her things.

They didn't even stop to say goodbye as they quickly left the room.

As the next few days passed Rose noticed that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were looking increasingly stressed whenever she talked to them in Astronomy or at mealtimes. Especially Hermione who looked as if she was burning herself out with studying. Draco seemed to be watching them closely but Rose couldn't ask him what was up because ever since their snuggle in the piano room he'd been avoiding her. Not that she minded. The whole incident had gotten her even more confused.

One morning as she walked to breakfast she noticed something interesting. The hourglasses that recorded the house points had changed overnight. Gryffindor had been in the lead before, thanks to their victory in the latest Quidditch match, but now they were dead last. Rose was confused. How had a hundred and fifty points simply vanished?

As she passed by the Gryffindor table she paused to talk to her friends, noting the bitter and confused looking faces all around her. Harry and Hermione looked the most miserable of all.

"What's going on, guys?" she asked curiously.

Harry stared at his breakfast and Hermione didn't speak either, she looked as if she'd been crying.

Ron was the one who answered in a low whisper. Harry and Hermione, along with another Gryffindor named Neville, had been caught out of bed last night and had all gotten detention and fifty points each taken from Gryffindor. When Rose asked why on earth they'd been out of bed in the first place the three of them abruptly looked down at their feet and she couldn't get anything more out of them.

As the day went by, the story began to spread and Rose overheard many Gryffindor whispers and Slytherin jeers. Rose noticed that Draco wasn't joining in the jeers and teasing with his housemates. This struck her as odd considering the animosity between him and the Gryffindor trio. She didn't talk to him at first, still feeling a bit odd after how their last meeting had ended, but after their next Charms lesson she decided to approach him as he seemed to look stressed out.

"Just go guys, I'll catch you up later," Draco was saying to Crabbe and Goyle as the class headed out to lunch. The two boys gave dumb nods and then walked off ahead of him. Once they were gone Rose approached and fell into step beside him, keeping her eyes forward.

"Let's talk after we've finished eating," she whispered.

"Alright, sure," Draco replied, his voice sounded tense.

After a hastily gulped lunch, Rose slipped out of the Hall and went to meet her secret friend. Draco arrived still looking stressed out. He threw his bag on the couch and then plopped himself on the piano bench and started to play. After listening for a few moments Rose joined him. His song was sad and she played the cheer up again, leading him slowly into a more up-beat melody, just as she had before she was letting him know he could confide in her, and she would help him. Maybe she'd actually give this piece a name, she liked it.

"I'm in big trouble," Draco whispered as the song continued.

"Why?" Rose asked.

"I got detention," he sighed back.

"You, too?" Rose asked.

"Yeah," Draco mumbled

He then launched into a crazy story about Hagrid, a dragon, Harry and Hermione and getting caught by Professor McGonagall. This filled in the blanks of the story Ron had told her this morning.

"And now they're probably going to write to my father and I'll be in huge trouble," Draco concluded, leading their song back into its sad and slow tone.

"Aww, it won't be that bad," Rose reasoned. "He'll be mad, sure, but there's no need to freak out."

Draco stopped playing and glared at her.

"I thought I told you, Roselynn, it isn't that simple. I can't be anything less than perfect."

Rose sighed and paused her playing as well, "Chin up, Draco," she said, mimicking what her dad always said when she was sad or upset. Draco nodded and let his fingers begin to dance across the keys once again, playing his sad melody and Rose immediately began leading him into a happy tune.

They kept the song going for a while, Draco occasionally leading them down into the sad song Rose would follow and then lead him back to the happy part. They didn't speak again. The bell rang for afternoon lessons and the two of them headed out for class. They walked side by side, their bags slung over their shoulders, knowing that the corridor outside the piano room was pretty much always deserted. Rose looked over at Draco, a strange urge overcame her. It would be so easy to just–

She reached over and grabbed her friend's hand. Draco froze and Rose felt him stiffen slightly.

"What?" Rose asked.

"I..umm..nothing…" Draco replied. "Come on. Before we're late."

The two first-years walked hand-in-hand down the rest of the piano room corridor. They paused right by the staircases and Draco dropped her hand.

"See you later, Roselynn," he said with a small smile and a wave before he disappeared down the staircase. Rose smirked before shifting her bag higher on her shoulder and followed him, heading off to her next class.

Time continued on and Rose continued to work hard with her studies and enjoying the progress she was making with flying lessons. The teachers didn't ease up on their workload as the exams came closer and closer and Rose often found herself staying in the common room working late into the night. Wanting to keep up with her work and determined to do well, Rose would complete her homework and study in her favorite chair by the fire, often until it had burned down into embers. At times she even fell asleep in her chair and would be shaken gently awake in the morning by Susan or Cedric who both looked at her with concern.

Rose met up with Draco a few times a week and the two of them would play and study together, they'd also developed the habit of holding hands all the way down the piano room corridor, before parting ways at the stairs. He told Rose about a letter he'd received from home during one of these meetings, his father had written him. Rose had arrived to find Draco playing a quick and low song that easily conveyed anger.

"What's the matter?" Rose asked, flopping down on the couch to listen to his song.

"I got a letter from father this morning," Draco answered easily.

"What did it say?" Rose asked tentatively.

"He's furious," Draco snorted. "I've apparently forgotten my 'Malfoy responsibilities' and I'd better get my act together because I need to make the family proud."

Rose sighed. "I'm sorry, mate."

"It's okay. I'm used to this by now. I've never been good enough for him," Draco replied

Rose's head dropped to one side and she frowned deeply. She made her way to his side and sat down next to him on the bench and joined in his song.

"You're good enough, Draco," she whispered. He gave her half a smile and Rose grinned back.

Rose also spent a fair few mealtimes and Astronomy lessons trying to cheer up Harry and Hermione who were suffering the aftereffects of all the points they'd lost. They explained that the rest of Gryffindor had stopped talking to them, as had some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws over the whole matter and they were both depressed. Harry had said he'd even offered to resign from the Quidditch team since it wasn't much fun with all of his teammates angry with him. Rose took Ron's optimistic view that everyone would be over it in a few weeks but it didn't cheer the others up much.

Rose felt like she was caught between two worlds. One world where she was friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione and her housemates, and the other where she was friends with Draco. It made her upset and she found herself laying awake at night, cuddling her stuffed dragon, stressing about exams and wondering why everyone just couldn't get along.