Hi! Er, next chapter here… 7th, I think…

Title: The Future is Waiting

Chapter 7: Defense and Punishment Doors

Rose was the first to get out of the room. When Harry had shut the door behind him, he found Rose waiting for him.

"Er…" said Harry, unable to think of something to say. Rose started to walk down another blank corridor, Harry walking nervously beside her. "So… What's our next class?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Rose shortly without looking at Harry. She just continued to stare down the corridor as they made their progress.

"Er, who's our teacher?" Harry added.

"Yamamoto-sensei."

"Sorry?"

"Professor Shinha Yamamoto. But she prefers to be called Yamamoto-sensei. She's Japanese. 'Sensei' is Japanese for something like 'Sir' or 'Ma'am'."

"Oh…" Harry ran out of things to ask about. He remained silent for a couple of minutes, still walking along the long, blank corridor when Rose spoke.

"I heard you were good at Defense," she said, now with a hint of interest in her voice.

"What? Oh… well, not really," Harry said.

"Lupin told me," she added.

"You know Lupin?" Harry said, quite surprised.

"A little," she said shortly again.

"How do you know him? I mean, where did you meet?" Harry asked eagerly.

"My mother's friend," she replied.

Just then, Rose stopped in front of a handsome looking brown, wooden door Harry had not noticed they were approaching. She knocked on it three times, and it opened by itself, revealing a classroom that looked very much like one in a Muggle school. Harry was amazed yet stupefied how a Muggle classroom could have been lost inside Bridgework.

"Do you want to move or not?" he heard a girl whisper to him. He was called back to his senses, and Rose pulled him into the room. The brown door closed of its own accord.

"Ah, yes…" came a wheezy woman's voice.

"Konnichiwa, Yamamoto-sensei," Rose said in fluent Japanese, bowing. As she did so, Harry felt a tug on his robe's sleeve and realized that he had to bow too.

"Good afternoon as well, Miss Ashworth," said a woman with long frizzy hair and a thin face in robes of deep purple. "I see you have brought Mr. Potter with you."

Murmurs broke out again at Yamamoto's words, but Yamamoto did not seem to mind.

"Miss Ashworth, Mr. Potter, take your seats beside Mr. Malfoy," Yamamoto said. Harry stared. Perhaps this was their punishment for being late? "You will find that I have already grouped you, as we always do here in Bridgework. The groupings are by threes and the three of you will spend the rest of the year studying together in every subject, and basically sitting side by side in every class. As you have been delayed, I must inform you, you two are in the same group and your other groupmate is Mr. Malfoy. Well then, on to our lesson."

Harry thought the idea of being grouped with Malfoy for the rest of he year was downright revolting, but having someone "neutral" in the group seemed to lighten it up a bit. Rose simply refused to take sides when Malfoy defiantly asked her at the end of the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson who she thought was better company.

"Isn't Potter a bit of an idiot?" Malfoy said as the three of them walked out of the Muggle classroom.

"A bit? No. Are you?" she simply said, turning to Harry. Harry, however, was too appalled to speak. "Well, there you are," she turned back to Malfoy. "He's no idiot. He's just shy."

Malfoy remained quiet for the next minutes, but Harry could have sworn he heard Malfoy muttering his name and cursing under his breath.

They headed to the library to immediately research for their homework in Defense Against the Dark Arts: a three-foot long essay on Oriental magical defense.

"Erm, why do they have to divide the batch into groups?" Harry asked when they finally reached the corridor where the library was located.

"It's not only this batch. Every batch in Bridgework is broken up into groups of three. They say that it's a studying system. Honestly, it's no use," said Rose. Harry gave a small snort of laughter but Malfoy remained quiet. Harry was under the impression he was still thinking of something to say to convince Rose that Harry was an idiot.

"Oriental magic… Oriental magic…" Rose muttered under her breath, walking sideways facing the books along the aisle.

She was looking for books that would help them on their homework. Harry and Malfoy, excusing that they were not yet familiar with the place, sat on a table at the end of the same aisle.

"Does Invisibility count as defense?" said Rose, approaching the table and laying down a maroon hardbound book entitled "Intermediate Defense: A Guide to Defense Against the Dark Arts for Seventh Years."

"Er…" Harry said. Malfoy, who was sitting across the table, continued to glare at Harry.

"Yeah, it does," said Rose, answering her own question. "It says here."

"Er… What's the difference between Oriental magic and the magic we do at Hogwarts anyway?" Harry said.

"What? Difference?" Rose said, distracted by the book. She took her eyes off it and looked at Harry as she spoke. "Well, for one, Western magic mostly involves the wand. I mean, you could do everything with it, can't you?

"Oriental magic is a whole lot different. That's not really obvious with Bridgework because it's kind of Western. Oriental magic does not require a wand. It involves your belief that you can make something happen. So, if a Muggle has great conviction that he can do magic, he really can. Basically, Oriental magic is easier to understand. It's easier to do, yet enormously powerful."

"So, Oriental wizards don't use wands?" Harry asked. He noticed Malfoy scowling at him.

"No. I know the school nearest here has students as many as Hogwarts holds but not one of them has a wand," said Rose.

"Where are we anyway?" Harry suddenly asked. He did not quite know where Bridgework was actually located.

"We're in Japan," Rose said, smiling slightly. Malfoy's scowl became more pronounced.

"Japan?"

"Just as Hogwarts is hidden in Britain, isn't it?" said Rose. At this, she got up and went down the aisle once more, replaced the Intermediate Defense and went to look for another book.

"What is your problem?" Harry said through gritted teeth as Malfoy continued to scowl at him.

"I'll tell you what my problem is," Malfoy said in a bare whisper. "You fancy her, don't you?" he said through narrowed eyes. "You think it's easy, chatting around, trying to get close?"

"What!" Harry said in a whisper as well.

"You – don't – know – who – she – is," Malfoy said, stressing every word. "I've known her longer than you have – like, for years. You understand?" he added, leaning in on the table closer to Harry.

"And your point is?" Harry said, leaning as well.

"You can't have her!" Malfoy said in a faint hiss. Just then, Rose approached the table with a big black book this time.

"You don't like each other, do you?" Rose said, looking at Harry's and Malfoy's angry faces leaning across the table. Harry leaned back on his chair. Malfoy did the same, but the angry look on his face did not vanish. "Listen, I don't care if you want to kill each other. At least try to get past this first homework, okay?"

"Erm, yeah…" Harry said.

Rose jotted down important facts about Oriental magic and told Harry and Malfoy to rewrite them while they were still in the library. However Harry tried to do so, he felt Malfoy's glare at his head when he bowed it, so he can't write properly. They sat all their library session scowling at each other.

"Give me that," Rose said, finally irritated. She snatched the papers on which she wrote stuff for their homework and decided to rewrite it herself.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry, Rose, and Malfoy were walking to the sixth years' common room, Malfoy talking nonstop to Rose, gloating about himself.

"Listen, does your father know you're this talkative at school?" Rose said, stopping in her tracks and turning to Malfoy.

"What?"

"When you're in front of your father, and your mother anyway, you're all quiet," Rose said in a casual tone. Harry found it amusing; she was embarrassing Malfoy once more.

"I – well, I – What are you smirking at?" Malfoy yelled at Harry.

"I'm not smirking," Harry said, fighting to keep his face straight.

"I'll – I'll see you in the morning, Rose," Malfoy said, hurrying off ahead. When he had turned the corner of the corridor, Harry broke into a fit of laughter, unaware of anything else.

"Ha – ha – Did you see his face?" he said in between laughs. He leaned sideways onto the blank wall, weakened by laughter, when he realized Rose was laughing too.

"Never fails – that one – really – ha ha – effective – " said Rose. She, too, was apparently happy to see Malfoy disconcerted like that. "Oh – no! Don't – lean on that!" she said, pulling Harry away from the wall, which did not appear to be blank anymore. The part of the wall where Harry had swayed onto now had a small black wooden door that looked oddly sinister, set along the elegant hallway.

"What – How'd that appear there?" Harry said, overcoming his laughter and suddenly becoming slightly panicky.

"This," said Rose, tapping the door with her wand. "is why you should never let down your guard."

"What? Why?" Harry said, staring at the door. For a moment, he thought Rose tapped it for nothing, then the door began to grow pale, until it became invisible. "How'd that happen?"

"That's one of the Punishment Doors."

"Punishment Doors?"

"Students are not supposed to loiter around the corridors – these blank corridors anyway. When you fall into one of those, or if the people behind it catch you when they occasionally open the door, you'll be given detention. It' more like relying on luck, honestly,"

"You'd be given detention just because you were seen walking down the corridor?" Harry said incredulously.

"That's the thrill of studying here. You never know what'll happen," Rose replied, smiling. "Much like the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts, isn't it?"

"You've been to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Of course I have!" said Rose. "Loads of times! Anyway," she said, placing her hand in Harry's. "Let's go, before that door opens and throws us in detention!" she said smiling. She then pulled on Harry's hand and they ran the length of the corridor, laughing.

"Wait, there are corridors here that aren't blank?" Harry asked when they finally reached the bottom of the marble staircase that led to the sixth years' common room.

"Yeah, a few," said Rose, looking up at the stairs. Harry looked up just in time to see Hermione and Ron coming down.

"Hey," Ron said stiffly, as though fighting an outburst of emotion.

"Hi, Harry," Hermione said, her eyes stared at Harry, then traveled down his arms, to his hands, which, Harry realized a second too late, was still clutching Rose's tightly. Horrified, he suddenly let go of Rose's hand as though it was something hot.

"Erm, thanks," Rose muttered, massaging her hand.

"So, had a good study?" Ron said in the same stiff voice. Harry thought Ron's mind was off the subject because, knowing Ron, he would not asked if Harry had a good study given that he was grouped with Malfoy. But then, Harry realized another horrifying thing; Ron was trying to taunt him about Rose.

"Er, not really… With Malfoy? Not a chance…" Harry answered defiantly. "Er, Ron, Hermione, this is… er…"

"Rose," said Rose, looking up at Hermione and Ron.

"Right. And this is Hermione and Ron," Harry continued. Rose reached out a hand and shook Hermione's and Ron's.

"See you tomorrow then," said Rose, climbing up the first step of the marble stairs.

"Aren't you going to dinner?" Harry asked.

"I still have a lot to do. I'll be going down later. Thanks," and she started walking up. "Oh, Harry," she said, turning around. "Would you do tomorrow's essay? I mean, I've done tonight's. And then, Malfoy can do the next day's,"

"All right," Harry nodded. Rose walked on and disappeared from view. Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked towards the dining hall.

"Oh, Harry," Ron said in a shrill voice while they were walking. "She your new girlfriend or something?"

"Shut – up," Harry said, staring down the hallway.

"No, serious. Have you replaced Cho Chang?" Ron asked.

"You call that serious?" Harry said to Hermione. Hermione smiled.

"Don't be so nasty, Ron. Rose Ashworth's not bad," Hermione said. "I mean, we thought she was a little spoiled brat but –"

"It was only you who thought that!" Harry and Ron said together.

"Okay, okay. Well, I thought she was one, but now I see that she can get along quite well with Harry so that's okay –"

"Would you quit the 'getting along quite well' thing? It's not like we're in a relationship or something –"

"Well, there you go! That didn't come from us! You were obviously thinking along those lines!" Ron laughed.

"I wasn't –"

"Don't try to worm your way out of it! You fancy her!"

"I don't –"

"Honestly, Harry. I don't know if she's better than Cho, but overall, she'd be good for you," Hermione said.

"What do you mean good for me?" said Harry irritatedly as they entered the dining hall.

"Well, I think, if you'd go into a relationship, you'd understand each other better since, you're both – both – well, you have the same story," Hermione said quietly. Harry remained silent. Ron broke into hysterical laughter.

Harry simply could not understand what he was feeling at the moment. He felt happy that he'd been on speaking terms with Rose Ashworth; she even told him to call her by her first name. He also felt viciously pleased that Rose also enjoyed embarrassing Malfoy. He delighted in the afternoon that he was chatting with Rose, and the memory of Malfoy scowling as he enjoyed his conversation just added the fun of it. Then, he snorted into his dinner as he imagined what Malfoy's face would look like if he found out that he, Harry, had run the length of two corridors hand in hand with Rose. Harry could not remember any other time when he'd felt so elated, so at peace with the world.

Maybe, just maybe, maybe Hermione was right. Maybe what he needed was someone who'd understand all his emotions, his worries, someone who was actually in the same position as him. But still, Harry wondered, he did not know what he really felt for Rose Ashworth at the moment.