"Hey guys, did you hear about Professor Black?" Katie Bell asked them as she came into the Great Hall.
"What did he do this time?" Harry asked with an amused smile.
"The Headboy was patrolling the corridor last night and it was also Professor Black's turn to patrol. He crossed him and… Professor Black had Peeves with him! They were both laughing their asses off and he told me that it's not the first time they've been seen together. Apparently Filtch loves it when it's Professor Black's turn to patrol the hallways because Peeves is always calmer on these nights. And I've heard that he's caused a lot less trouble since the beginning of this year." Katie explained.
"I'm not surprised. Peeves probably knew him back when he was a student and knowing who he and my father were, they probably caused trouble together." Harry replied.
"Not trouble, Harry: mischief." George corrected him, trying to remain serious.
"I've heard Peeves calling Sirius 'Sneaky Blacky' at the beginning of the year and Sirius just winked at him. He definitely seems to respect Sirius more than he did Remus." Hermione remembered.
"Remus was probably the more serious of the Marauders, Peeves obviously preferred Sirius and James if they were more like him." Ron suggested.
"I wonder what they'd do if they caught a student out of bed during one of these nights." Rose wondered.
"They'd probably let him fall prey to their mischief." Ron suggested.
"I think I'd rather be found by Snape and get detention" Harry replied, making everyone laugh.
"Don't say it too loudly, he could get ideas." Fred added with a chuckle.
"Actually they did catch a student out of bed last week, I know what they do when they catch you." Luna told them as she walked behind them.
"Really? What do they do, Luna?" Rose asked her, inviting her to join them.
"He gets punished. Last week's student was a third year from Huffelpuff, I forgot his name but he regrets it. For a week, Peeves followed him everywhere, annoying him, spying on him and spilling his secrets to anyone around to hear it. He followed him even in the shower, in the bathroom or in his bed." Luna explained.
"Clever." Harry complimented.
"Better be careful from now on." George frowned.
.
When Saturday arrived, Cho looked extremely upset and had been glaring at Rose and Hermione for the entire week, ever since Harry told her that he knew she was using him and wouldn't be going out with her, adding that if he wanted for the newspapers or magazines to talk about him, he'd give out interviews himself.
He had tried to keep the confrontation as private as possible to prevent her from being humiliated in public, but she had attracted a lot of attention when she over reacted to his dumping her. She had hoped to get people's sympathies but instead they all looked at her like a gold digger and Harry is the one they supported. Everyone present could see that she was over reacting and over playing it. Even the Slytherin students who didn't like Harry Potter, like Pansy Parkinson and her friends, made fun of her, though they did so because she was getting so worked up over Harry Potter of all people.
Indeed, right before he talked to her, he even heard her telling one of her friends that she'd sell an interview with Witch weekly to tell them all about her date with Harry Potter and that she'd get a few easy galleons this way. It had hurt and angered Harry to hear this. If he wanted to be in newspaper, he'd do so himself.
.
Since Rose could dress in something other than her school uniform, she wore one of the outfits she had bought during the summer. It wasn't too cold yet but it wasn't warm either so she decided on a dress she loved and tights. Of course, she always wore the necklace Fred had given her for her birthday, she never took it off and she could see his eyes sparkle with joy every time he spotted the golden chain around her neck.
"I don't know why you're taking so much care in how you dress, you're going to be wearing a coat anyway." Hermione told her friend as she tried to dress her hair.
"Because we won't stay out the entire day. Eventually we'll go inside and I'll get to take my jacket off." Rose smiled.
"You look very pretty like this." Lavender complimented Rose before she and Parvati left to join Padma.
"Do you think Ron would pay more attention if I tried a little harder?" Hermione asked her friend.
"Of course he would. Do you need help?"
"I… I don't know, I think I'll be fine. I'd like to try on my own first. Anyway, aren't you going to be late to join Fred if you help me?"
"You're right. Well, here, in this book you have spells for hair, maybe you'll find one to sort your hair the way you want quicker. And feel free to borrow anything of mine if you want. I know that if it doesn't fit completely you'll be able to sort them out with a spell and put them back as they were before. See you later!" Rose told her friend with a great smile before she left the dormitory and took the stairs to join her boyfriend.
She had her jacket on her arm and a big smile on her face.
"Beautiful as usual, my Rose." Fred complimented her.
"Thanks." She blushed.
"Let's go. We can get some breakfast and then we'll go so we can spend as much time as we want there. Is there anywhere you'd like to go?" he asked her.
"Well, it will be my first time there, so you can show me everything, give me a tour. I'm sure there are places you need to go, too." She replied with a smile.
"You know me well." He nodded.
They ate their breakfast together. Their friends weren't far but they left them alone to their day long date. When the couple stood to get out of the Great Hall and make their way to the village, they crossed Cho who glared at Rose.
"You! Get out of my way!" Cho spat at Rose angrily.
"You could ask nicely, I was there first and there's plenty of way to go around. No matter how big your head and your anles are, there's plenty of room for you to go around us." Rose replied, a bright smile on her face.
"How dare you! You've ruined everything I had going and I should be nice to you? Why?" Cho replied, just as angrily, in a voice that grew louder with every word.
"I only protected my brother from your manipulative grasp. Now I've got to go but you should try and be a little more cheerful, you never know who could be falling in love with your smile!" Rose said, turning to leave and pulling Fred by the hand when Cho got her wand out and cast a curse at Rose.
Unfortunately for Cho, the curse never hit its target because Harry, who had walked closer as soon as he noticed what was going on, and Fred had cast a shield at the same time. Cho's curse hit the combined shields and bounced back at her, making her fall on her ass painfully and angrily.
"Miss Chang, you just cost 50 points to your house and you'll follow me right away. We're going to have a little discussion with your head of House about that behaviour of yours. We'll see how he feels about you attacking a younger student who had her back tuned to you but I think you won't get the privilege of going to Hogsmeade anytime soon. This is completely unacceptable behavior! 20 points to Gryffindor for Mister Potter and Mister Weasley's quick reaction to cast the shield." Snape declared in a strong voice before he pulled Cho away, scolding Cho the entire time about the fact that she could have seriously injured Rose and that if she was a member of his house, he'd have sent her home.
"Good thing Sirius went home to spend the weekend with Remus, who knows what he'll have done to her." Ron commented with a frown.
"He'd probably have asked Peeves to help with her punishment. Thanks boys." Rose told Harry and Fred.
She hadn't expected to be attacked and she wouldn't have been able to defend herself. Without her brother and her boyfriend, Cho would have had the upper hand. Rose had never been attacked from behind and she found it dirty and unfair. Definitely not loyal. She hated people who behaved this way.
"I guess Mad-Eye is right when he says 'Constant Vigilance!'" Fred nodded at Harry, thankful that he wasn't the only one watching over his love.
"Rose, wait up!" Marietta called out.
"What is it?"
"I… I wanted you to know that I'm sorry for what Cho did, I don't agree with her. I also hope that it won't cost me my spot on the team. I know that you can't expel me from my house team but you could shut me out of the common team and I would hate that. I really love what we do together."
"Of course not. I'm not about to punish you for your friend's actions, that would be completely unfair. Your spot on the team is your own and definitely doesn't depend on who you hang out with. You could start dating Pansy Parkinson and you'd still be able to keep your spot." Rose smiled before they finally left the castle.
.
"Is everything going well for Remus?" Fred asked Rose on the way.
"Pretty well, yes. He's just very tired. Dumbledore asked him to infiltrate the werewolf community and it's not an easy task because Remus is pretty civilized compare to some of them. He's trying to convince them that things are ready to change. Umbridge was arrested and they're changing laws about werewolves. A law passed this summer that allows them to be guardians of children they're not the biological parents of, that's how Remus can be my Godfather and my official guardian, and they're working on changing old laws that would allow them to find work much easier. He's managed to convince a few of them but it's not easy when he has Greyback opposing him, scaring people and werewolves into following him by Voldemort's side. Now that I can make wolf bane potion, I try to order enough ingredients to make a lot of it so that he can share it with them. It helps to convince them but it still isn't easy and some of the ingredients are more expensive than others, because they're pretty rare or hard to find. Remus said he knew where one of those rare ingredients could be found and he's going to go and collect a bit for me though." Rose explained.
Ever since she had arrived at Hogwarts, Rose had been exchanging mail with Remus, her godfather and she received about one letter a week from him. It helped her get to know him better and she loved the relationship she was building with her guardian. She knew that she could trust him completely, with anything.
"I get it. Isn't Greyback the one who changed him when he was a child? I think I remember him saying so over the summer." Fred asked her.
"Yes, he is. Thankfully he hasn't had to face him directly yet. I know he's a bit afraid of what his reaction will be once he does. He probably thinks he'll be as afraid as he had been when he was a child." Rose told her boyfriend.
"He'll probably be afraid but he's brave, he'll face him and make him bite the dust." Fred smiled, having complete confidence in the Marauder.
Did you think Cho attacking was too much?
Review please
Lorelei Candice Black