The Push

Disclaimer: I don't own either Glee or Harry Potter. All recognisable characters, content or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary: No one ever said high school was easy. Its no exception when you're a student at William McKinley High, and a member of New Directions. With new friends, new experiences, and new problems, Rose Potter's life is complicated, but when is it ever not? No Magic. AU.

Rating: M for language, mild violence, mild adult themes, teenaged debauchery, including, though not restricted to: underage drinking, drug use and sex in its various forms. You've been warned.

Author: tlyxor1.

The Push

Push: Definition: v. to exert force on someone or something…

Part One: Fifteen

Chapter One: Yesterday

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

Now it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh I believe in yesterday…

Yesterday - The Beatles

Slim, dexterous fingers danced across frets and acoustic steel strings, a melody sounded through the music room, and the sable haired guitarist, with her verdant eyes and a clear complexion, began to sing. Her voice was a clear, powerful alto, and Stevie Nix's 'Leather and Lace' had never sounded better, and as her companion began to sing Don Hanley's part, she wore a smile on her pretty face.

Rosalyn Potter was certain that she and her duet partner, Artie Abrams, had the song in the bag. After a week of practise, it was a gratifying feeling, even if they were the only two to know about it. They'd taken to learning all the songs they could, just for kicks, and so far, the arrangement was working without issue..

When the song had come to a close, Rose straightened up her turquoise, hand-knitted ski cap, stirred her riotous curls and gave her handicapped team member a bright, cheerful grin. They were friends, albeit not close ones, born of a similar appreciation for classic guitars, classic music, and classic movies. She only wished that she'd gotten to know him sooner, but until Coach Sylvester had practically manhandled her into the Glee Club alongside Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce and Quinn Fabray, Rose had never had any justifiable reason to.

In truth, Rose was rather glad she'd been made to enter William McKinley High School's 'New Directions' on her coach's orders. Peer pressure and social expectations had stopped her from signing up on her own, but Rose now had her opportunity to sing and dance as she enjoyed without any real intentions towards sabotage, regardless of what had been ordered of her and what have you.

She'd never been good at the subtlety thing anyway, and in her head, there was no use trying when her heart wasn't in it. She'd also gotten to know some rather interesting people, and as Artie tugged her onto his lap, and wheeled them both off the choir room's makeshift stage, Rose couldn't bring herself to regret the choices she'd made. She would leave the sabotaging to Quinn, Santana and Brittany, though she was pretty sure the only one actively doing so was Quinn, and for as long as Glee was around, Rose would enjoy the opportunity to have some fun.

"I'd better go," Rose sighed, gracelessly clambering off Artie's lap. She packed up her borrowed guitar, deposited it in the corner and gave Artie another grin. "Catch you later, Wheels."

"Right back at you, Curls."

Rose exited the choir room to the quiet sound of Artie's guitar, and further down the hall, the football team made a mass exodus out of the auditorium. They looked sweaty and worn out, and she supposed that they were doing that dance therapy crap Kurt had been blabbering on about, but as the hallway steadily emptied of her jock classmates, and only Finn, and his mohawk friend, Noah Puckerman, lingered, Rose approached them, apparently unnoticed. it stung a little bit, because she'd harboured a small flame for the mohawked tackle for what seemed like ages, but it wasn't as if Rose would ever have the confidence to tell him.

"Quinn's pregnant. She's keeping the baby."

Brought to a standstill by those words, spoken as one spoke of their cat who'd just died, she watched as the two disappeared around a corner, struck speechless, eyes wide, mouth agape, unsure of how to take that news. A part of her, a malicious, mean part of her, found it inordinately ironic that the president of the celibacy club was pregnant, and yet another part of her was already planning out ways she could help her sort of friend, and yet another part of her was pondering the wrath of Coach Sylvester when she found out that particular bombshell.

In a mindless daze, Rose wondered out to the parking lot, found her mother's SUV awaiting her there and clambered inside, thoughts still on what she'd overheard, eyes on the rain drenched scenery passing her by, and hardly aware of it when her mother pulled up into the long, tree lined driveway of the house that wasn't really home.

It was a large and ostentatious three storey affair, with six bedrooms, a home theatre, and still not enough space to break the tension between James and Lily, but as Rose hurried into her bedroom, and her younger twin brothers, Angus and Jude, intermittently shouted loudly enough to be heard over their game of Call of Duty, Rose tried not to dwell on the house of cards that was her parents' failing marriage.

Rose had less than four more years left before she would head out of state for college, and she was hopeful that the eventual explosion wouldn't take place until she was long gone. After all, Rose had known for years that it was an inevitability, and the girl had long since decided that she had no desire to be present for the resulting fallout.

It was painfully obvious that they were only together for the sake of their children, and as much as Rose wished for them both to be happy, she was also selfish enough to not want to put up with the custody agreement, and the constant relocations, and everything else that could and probably would come with her parents' divorce.

As Rose dropped her Cheerios duffel and her leather satchel onto her window seat, plugged her iPhone into her docking station and blasted Queen throughout her mounted speakers, she shook herself of those gloomy thoughts, reconsidered what she'd overheard between Finn and Puck, and contemplated calling Quinn.

In truth though, Rose and Quinn Fabray weren't friends. They were acquaintances, sure, as fellow Cheerios and more recently, members of the same show choir, but they were in different grades, and Rose had never really cared about popularity beyond remaining out of the 'popular' students' firing line. She'd therefore never bothered to suck up to the blonde, or joined her Christ Crusaders, or Celibacy Club, or her merry band of giggling fan girls. Therefore, she wondered if it was her place to get involved.

Who else did the head cheerleader have, though? Most of the Cheerios weren't her friends, and Rose was almost certain Santana would sooner stab Quinn in the back. Brittany would follow Santana's lead, unwittingly or not, and therefore, aside from Finn, Rose was almost certain that the blonde was alone.

As Rose could attest to, after however many years, it was a miserable place to be.

With an exasperated groan, she dropped into her desk chair, produced her homework from her satchel and set to work completing it, determined to keep her mind busy with anything but her family dramas, and Quinn Fabray's problems, and the building tensions among the Glee Club. Her mind kept wandering to those problems though, and as Rose once again contemplated calling Quinn, she asked herself: what was the worst that could happen?

Rose finished up her homework as the sun made it's descent below the horizon, the forget-me-not sky stained pastel shades of yellow, and orange, pink and purple. She stared at the sky for a few moments, momentarily awed by its splendour, but then picked up her guitar to play mindlessly, still unsure of how she should proceed with the information she'd unwittingly received. She'd never been a blabbermouth, so there was no temptation to tell anyone, but her parents' marital problems notwithstanding, she'd never been one to ignore a problem either - it was just not in her nature. At least, when the issue didn't concern her.

When she'd been ten and her best friends at the time, Ron and Hermione, had been arguing, rather than pretend as though nothing was wrong, and go along with the fact that the two had insisted on talking to each other through her, Rose had instead locked them in her bedroom until they'd sorted out their differences. It had taken half an hour, and a great deal of nerves on her part, but they'd resolved their issues and had been best friends again and for the time being, all had been well.

At least until they'd found out she was moving countries at the end of the school year.

With all of that said, it was fairly safe to say that Rose was a person of action, and yet the question remained: what should she do? Her classmate, her team member, her captain was pregnant, and more or less alone. Finn Hudson was an idiot more often than not, Quinn's parents were the orthodox Christian type, and Rose had never known when to leave things be. This time was no exception, but a part of her wondered if it should be. It wasn't her business, after all, and she doubted Quinn would appreciate her butting in, well-intentioned or not.

What would Hermione do? Rose didn't talk to the brunette often, and when they did, it was generally an exchange of emails, or on occasion, a Skype conversation when the time zones weren't at risk of screwing with their schedules. They were friends though, if only the distant, childhood kind, and over the years, Hermione had become something of an authority when it came to moral and ethical quandaries.

Hermione would help, Quinn's attitude be damned, and Rose rolled her shoulders back, determined. She would do the same. It was, after all, the right thing to do.