The next morning, the one where classes would start, Rose woke up a bit early and, after she got ready, she went in the common room to wait for her brother and her new friends because she didn't really want to go down on her own. She only had to wait for a few minutes and, soon, they all went to take their breakfast and find out what their timetable would be.
"Hey Rose, what options are you taking?" Lavender asked her.
"Well, I'm taking Studies of ancient Runes and Care of magical creatures. I used to take Arithmancie as well but even though I had perfect grades, it kind of bored me so I dropped it once I got here. I loved Magical creatures though, most of them are terribly misunderstood." She replied.
"You'll get along well with Hagrid." Harry chuckled.
"You weren't interested in divination? It's a great subject." Parvati asked her.
"I was never interested in this branch of magic. I think Divination is real, for people who truly have a gift. I believe that for anyone else to try and study it is pointless, because you either have it or you don't. Anyway, that's what I think and since I don't have it, I see no point in studying it." Rose replied with a smile.
"What about Muggle studies?" Lavender asked her.
"I never considered taking it, my kidnaper lived mainly in the muggle world, now I know it was because she believed it was easier for her to hide there, so I know enough about it. This kind of class is for kids who are raised in wizarding families that never interact with muggles. Or lazy muggle born who want an easy passing grade." Rose replied.
"Here you go pretty Rose, your timetable, hand delivered especially for you, by yours truly." Fred said, presenting Rose with her timetable while the others were being passed down.
"Thank you." She replied with a blush while he smiled back at her and turned around to join George and Lee further down the table, having a copy of Rose's timetable folded in his pocket.
"Are you dating Fred Weasley?" Lavender asked her eagerly.
"He wishes." Hermione whispered, making Rose blush.
"Don't say that, you can't know that! I… We're just friend. He's just being very friendly." Rose shook her head to answer Lavender's question.
"I'm sorry but I have to agree with Hermione here. He obviously likes you." Parvati insisted, always eager for some gossip.
"You think? Well, anyway, no point talking about it. As long as he doesn't declare himself, there's nothing between us." Rose shook her head.
"But if he did declare himself, you'd go out with him?" Lavender insisted.
"Of course! I mean, sure, why not." Rose replied, making the other girls chuckle.
"We have Sirius this morning!" Harry told Rose after taking a look at his timetable.
He was sitting a couple of seats away and had to bend over Parvati to talk to his sister.
"That's great! But we also have potions." She added.
"Both classes are paired with Slytherin! I hate it when they pair us with them…" Neville commented.
"We're with the Huffelpuff's in Herbology, as usual. That's good." Hermione added.
"Well, let's go and see how I do in this school, shall we?" Rose declared after a while as they all stood up to head to class.
"You just can't wait to see who's better between Hermione and you." Harry chuckled, knowing his sister.
"A little friendly competition never hurt anyone. We've already agreed not to let our grades get in the way of our friendship." Rose replied.
"Have you? Really?" Ron asked, amused.
"We even shook on it." Hermione nodded seriously.
"We've agreed also to raise the bar so high when it comes to grades, that we're both fighting for first place at the top, with everyone else in our dust." Rose joked, making everyone chuckle along with her.
.
Their very first class of the morning was with Professor McGonagall and everything went well there. Rose proved how good a student she was and earned a few points for her new house when she managed to do the spell perfectly before anyone else, though Hermione was close behind her. They were supposed to change their chairs into pigs and Rose managed to make a perfectly believable pig while Hermione's pig still had wood in his ears, tails and eyes.
When they got out of the classroom, Rose was surprised by Fred who walked by her:
"Hey Rose, how's it going so far?" He asked her.
"Pretty well, thanks. You?" She replied.
"Perfectly." Fred told her with a wink before he ran to join Lee and George who were waiting for him at the end of the hall.
After that, they had Sirius and he proved to be a good teacher and managed to catch the attention of most students. he knew what he was talking about and he made things very interesting. Harry realized that he was very similar to Remus, except that he poped a joke once in a while.
A few Slytherin's had tried to create trouble but they had been caught and punished. He also managed to be fair in the point giving and point taking department and, when they left his classroom, Harry and Rose made sure to reassure him and let him know that he was great before they went to potions.
"Remember to act like you always do. And remember this summer's lessons." Rose whispered in her brother's ear before they went down to the dungeons.
Once again, on the way, they crossed Fred, Lee and George. Fred smiled at Rose as he passed by her, making her wonder if his schedule really demanded that he crossed her so often or if he did it on purpose. She couldn't see anyone else from his year in the corridor.
"Don't worry, it won't be a problem." Harry replied with a smile.
"You don't have to push it too far either." She rolled her eyes.
"It'll be fine. Plus, I applogized in advence, didn't I?" Harry reassured her.
They didn't have to wait long until Snape opened the door and let them inside the classroom. The Slytherins mostly ignored the Gryffindors and there was no incident or insult, though Harry did notice a few of the Slytherin boys looking at his sister in a way he didn't like. What if she ended up dating one of them? No! He had to try and keep them away from her.
"Miss Potter, why don't you settle between your brother and Mister Longbottom? I've heard from your previous potion professors that you're a rather good student, maybe you'll be able to raise their level, which are presently lower than the bottom of the lake. If you can perform a miracle and prevent an explosion for occurring at this table, I'll grant 10 points to your house at the end of class." Snape declared, not surprising anyone with his remark and the venom in his voice.
Rose settled her cauldron between her brother and Neville while Hermione and Ron were next to Lavender. In the last row, Parvati was sitting between Seamus and Dean.
"Now that everyone is here, open your books. We'll see if you haven't forgotten everything you've been taught last year during the summer and if you've done the work that I asked. I don't want to hear any talking. You open your mouth without my authorization, and you'll end up losing points for your house." Snape declared before he told them the page they had to open their book to and told them to get to work.
Harry started working, following every advice his sister had given him over the summer and realized that she had been right. He was capable of doing a potion that resembled what the book asked. All he had to do was pretend that he was cooking something particularly complicated for Aunt Petunia and that if he didn't do it well, he wouldn't eat.
At the end of the lesson, Snape told them to stop and to place what they had done in small vials on his desk so he could grade them.
"Well, would you look at that! It seems that Miss Potter is indeed a much better potion maker than her brother. Good to see that your mother's natural talent didn't go completely wasted. Now Mister Potter, you must be tired with all this hard work to manage a potion that resembles what the book asks. You must have worked over the summer for once. Just for this effort, I'll grant Gryffindor house 1 extra point." Snape declared with a smirk.
They knew that he was doing this to show everyone that he was still the same and, at the same time, to show them that he hadn't forgotten the discussion they had had over the summer.
"I can't believe he only gave you one point!" Seamus complained once they had left the classroom.
"Coming from him, I'm lucky he didn't take points from me pretending that he saw me cheat when he knows perfectly well that I didn't. Plus, we still got the 10 points Rose earned when nothing exploded at our table." Harry replied.
"True." Dean nodded.
The rest of the first day went well and Rose proved her talent in Charms when she was the first in the class, before even Hermione, to manage the new spell.
Just like in the morning, Fred crossed Rose between every classes and she really started to get suspicious.
What did you think?
Was Snape too easy on them?
Lorelei Candice Black