Knock, knock, knock.

Rose opened one of her eyes to peek at her door and wondered who was behind it. Nobody in this hallway knocks. The door creaked open to emit Max. He leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"Well," he said, looking around. "This place is a sty."

Rose scowled and pointed at Mary who was sleeping on a pile of soiled linens and garbage. She stretched, then sat up from bed and propped her head on her elbow where she blinked back into sleep.

"Oh, no," Max shook his head, striding into the room and lifting her out of bed. "Rocky has given me instructions to get you up. You have a Quidditch match, remember?"

Rose stood straight abruptly. "That's not until tomorrow!" she said hurriedly.

"Yeah," Max shrugged. "Apparently, Madam Hooch's fives that looked like a lightning bolt on the schedule were actually fours. Your game is on the fourteenth, not fifteenth. She came running into the common room frantically shouting at Fred and Roxanne for not having the commentator's box ready. So, we have twenty minutes."

Rose leaped from his arms to dig through her stuff in a mad haste.

Rose ran into the bathroom to burst out two minutes later in her white blouse and skirt. She slipped her arms through her sleeves and began at her tie as Max came behind her talking non-stop though she caught none of it. She hardly felt him pull her hair up into a bun and tie it off. He pulled her pins from his mouth to hold her curls back as she finally finished with her tie and spun around to find her shoes. Max was holding up her red rubber rain boots.

"No, Max. I need my school shoes." She continued rummaging around and bent to look under her bed.

She felt two firm hands take her by the arms and hoist her back to her feet. Max held up the boots again with a kind smile.

"It rained all last night. You need these unless you want to be ankle deep in mud."

He set them on the floor where Rose jumped into the boots and took for the door. Max followed briskly behind her with his arms behind his back quite composedly. Rose smiled to herself with a backward glance at him. There was a time where he was a complete grouch in the morning. He would have bags under his eyes, his hair wouldn't be combed, and his tie would be askew. It was now that he woke her, perfectly cheerful and collected.

"Wait," she thought as they exited the common room. "How did you get up the stairs?"

"I hitched a ride with Dominique," he replied, taking her by the sleeve to avoid her colliding with the suit of armor she was about to crash into.

"Am I the last one?" she asked.

"To get to the changing rooms? Nah, James was asleep under the couch last I saw; you'll be fine."

Max was right about the rainboots. As soon as she stepped from the castle and onto the grounds, her feet sank into the squelching mud. The clouds were thick though the hidden sun was burning their eyes. A light sprinkle was still trickling from above. She stomped through the soggy ground, trying to make it to the Quidditch pitch in time and wishing that she hadn't left her broom all the way in the shed. Her stomach growled, and she threw her arms over it to muffle any sound and ignore how hungry she was. She thought it best not mention anything to Max; she was afraid he would try'n run back to fetch her food. He was always so helpful, especially when it came to Quidditch and it sometimes made her feel sorry.

"Al and Scorpius have breakfast ready in the changing rooms," said Max as though he could read her mind.

"That's peculiar," she thought allowed. "They haven't been about this early in a while."

"Apparently," he started mysteriously. "They're taking a break."

"From what?"

"From you know what."

"But they can't!" Rose stopped suddenly and almost fell forward as her foot was still caught in the mud. Max grabbed her by the hood and held her back from falling. "Sugamina isn't a backburner deal!"

"Don't you think it would be good for Al, though? He needs to breathe. Just think, we could have him back for a little while."

Rose thought for a moment as Max pushed her on. It would be nice to have her cousin back and to maybe speak about classes, or Quidditch, or cooking once again.

The Quidditch stands were filling with students, most of which looked ruffled or tired, a couple were even still in their pajamas. None of them looked too pleased about having to get up early, unexpectedly.

From a good distance away, the smell of bacon, grits, biscuits, and sausage wafted from the Gryffindor dressing rooms. It was like magic to open the curtains from the cold damp outside to be hit suddenly with warmth and fresh breakfast which was all laid neatly across the benches. A few Gryffindor players sat on the floor to eat or drink from their goblets, a few more were by the lockers, pulling on capes and lacing up boots. Albus and Scorpius sat on either side of the bench unoccupied with food. They were in their green Quidditch robes and looking, for the first time in weeks, well rested.

"Ah!" cried Rocky excitedly. "There you are, Weasley! Now we just need Potter. Quick, take a seat, eat something."

"Morning," said Albus casually.

This shouldn't have been anything, but she missed her cousin saying good morning. Usually, his morning greetings consisted of, "Hey! Guess what!" or "Look what I found!" or "Come on! There's no time to waste!" This simple greeting did much to improve her mood. Rose took to the changing room rather than sitting for a bite. She pulled on her uniform, fitted into a turtle neck, laced up her boots, and strapped on her gloves. Rose was tying the front on her cape when she emerged.

"We have three minutes before we have to be out there!" Rocky called. "So, for Merlin's sake, eat something, Weasley! Max, please find James!"

Albus looked at his day light dali. Both he and Scor had the same watch and were finally learning to read it well.

"Yeah, we best be getting to our side of the pitch," said Scor.

The two boys stood to stretch, took a muffin in their mouths, and high-fived the team on the way out, all calling good luck and well wished to their opponents.

"Thanks for the food!" called Watson Trout. "You guys are life savers!"

"We know," waved Al before giving Rose a friendly salute.

This small meeting with Scor and Al lifted her spirits a great deal. They were back! Just for a moment! But why had they decided to take a break on Sugamina? That part wasn't like Albus at all.

"Come on, Weasley!" Rose blinked to find that the Gryffindor team was lining up at the tent flaps. The commentary had begun. Fred and Roxanne were having their usual fun staging fake advertising sponsors like in a muggle baseball tournament while everyone waited for the final touches to be ready.

"And finally," called Fred as his voice echoed around the stadium. "Let's have a great round of applause to our generous sponsor that made this all possible, Wepton Window Wipers. (So quick, you'll forget they're even on)!" To Rose's amusement, the crowd actually cheered. She knew less than half of them even knew what window wipers were.

"That concludes the sponsors!" called Roxy. "We have our okay to begin! First, we have the ever so swift, ever so clever, Slytherins Serpents!" The green side of the pitch erupted with cheers and booms and shouts. A few from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff clapped too as the Slytherin team emerged from their tent.

Rose was watching through the crack in the curtain from under Isaac's arm. Albus and Scorpius was third and forth in the lineup. They looked rather posh and relaxed. She was surprised to see Scorpius so composed; this was his first ever match.

"Next!" called Roxy. "Little introduction be needed for the bold, the competitive, Gryffindor lions!"

More screams and applauds met them as they strode onto the soggy ground, but looking around, James was still absent. Rose was truly wishing she had gone back to fetch him from under the sofa, but at the time, she thought it to be humorous, but it was not funny now. The two teams stood parallel to each other. Beaters parallel to beater, chasers to chasers, seeker to seeker, and keeper to… the Slytherin keeper, Paul Keith, was staring confusedly at no one. He glanced at Rocky and shook his head in question. Rocky didn't return the glance. He was staring directly at Albus Potter, sweating badly. Al mouthed for him to take a deep breath, which was wise, he was turning purple.

"Mount your-" Madam Hooch started, then stopped suddenly. She strode to the other side of the lineup and stared at the absence of James. "Where's your keeper, Rockward!" she barked.

"He's coming," Rocky croaked.

Madam Hooch stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Rockward, you know I can't postpone the game pass its scheduled time. If your keeper doesn't show, you will have to play without him, and we both know what that means."

"He's coming," Rocky tried again.

"We must begin," Madam Hooch whispered. "The clock starts on its scheduled time, and I can't stop it." Many murmurs and pointing were coming from the stands. She placed her wand to her throat and opened her mouth to announce the start of game.

"Madam Hooch!" called Isaac desperately. "I love your hair! Did you do something new to it?" he referee narrowed her yellow hock eyes at him. "You didn't spike it up differently? Or… in the back?"

"Staling will do you no good, Fisher." She put her wand back to her throat. "I would like to direct your attention," she started to the crowds, her voice magnified to a hundred times its usual volume and echoing around the stadium. "To- the Gryffindor keeper!" she screeched excitedly as James and Max came running onto the pitch.

James gasped and clutched his chest as he slid through the mud to stand before Paul Keith.

"Good of you to come," Rose heard Keith say. "It'll make it a fair game."

James looked terrible. He had bags under his eyes, and his hair was sticking up on one side and flat on the next. He resembled like a drunk who had found little sleep. Max skidded beside him with James' cape and slung it over his shoulders. James' boots were unlaced, and one of his gloves were on backward.

Madam Hooch shook her head and pressed her wand to her throat for the third time. "Players! Mount your brooms!" she called. The two teams did as she instructed and rose into the air.

The wood suitcase that she had by her side sprung open with a wave of her wand. 'click' she released the bludgers which zoomed into the air and readied to cause pain. 'click' she released the snitch that whizzed up and out of sight in a flash of gold; both seekers stared at where it had gone. Then, one, two, three, Madam Hooch threw the last red leather ball into the air which Ishmael snatched immediately, and the game begun.

'WHACK!' Rose hit a bludger away from Enoc and toward Olive Farmore. It was difficult to resist the urge to hit the bludgers away from Al and Scor. She didn't want them in any pain either. But she luckily wasn't forced to aim the pain balls at them, that was left to Enoc who didn't enjoy it either.

'WHAM!' Scorpius was hit in the back while he was swatting the second bludger away from Alexander Pepsy.

Rose clutched her bat tighter and hopped that it would only leave a bruise. Funny, she thought, was the idea of Scorpius being a beater when he vomits at the sight of blood.

"Andersen passes to Alexander who passes to Olive, who- Oh! Drops the quaffle while dodging a bludger! Retrieved by Isaac who passes to Watson who shoots and- blocked by Keith!" Roxy spit out as quick as she could.

"Fifteen minutes into the game and we still have zero to zero!" Fred called. "Perhaps the teams have been focusing too much time on their defense! What do you think, Roxy?"

"Let me tell you, Fred, I can't tell if I am getting bored or overly intrigued by such occurrences!"

Rose was getting bored. She, of course, was still on her toes all throughout the game, swatting at budgers and likely saving lives in the process. It was a feeling similar to when you're a cashier at a grocery store during Christmas rush. You are bored out of your mind but are also constantly on your toes and incredibly busy. Twice, she felt the snitch zoom by her ear. Once, she was nearly knocked off her broom, as both seekers dove for it.

A loud crack filled the stadium as Scorpius hit a bludger away from Rose. She spun to look at him.

"Just this once, Weasley!" he called impressively, leaning back on his broom. He yelped and rolled over because of a bludger that she had just hit at him, accidently, really. "He straightened up and looked at her, shocked. "So, that's how you wanna play?" he smiled maliciously.

Rose was about to apologize, but instead, she smirked back. And so, their game begun. Perhaps it was selfish that they were leaving the protection of six other team members to Enoc and Michael, but the thought left her head as they found that it was just the two of them in the sky. Well, the two of them plus two bludgers. She swung her bat around in her hand and whipped it at Scorpius to dodged and reciprocated. The ball caught her broom tail causing a great many pieces of twig to fly from and to the ground.

She laughed. "Miss fire, Malfoy!"

Little attention was given to the rest of the match nor to the leader board. They smirked and fought each other as though they were in third grade. Max was her best friend, Al was like her brother, but Scorpius had a way of making her forget about school or work and simply making her feel carefree.

The cold wind swept her hair from Max's bun as she slapped Scorpius on the back of the head before speeding away laughing. He called her surname before chasing after her. Suddenly, a noise ripped through the fun in the sound a screaming.

Rose spun around as quick as she could to see with horror, Rocky right on the golden snitch and with a bludger on his tail and nearing his head.

"WEASLEY!" he bellowed.

Rose was so startled that she almost dropped her bat before zooming after her captain. She zoomed after the bludger, her bun almost completely fallen in her face. By the time the wind blew the last curl from her eyes, she SLAMMED into something solid. Zeak Andersen bellowed as he dropped the quaffle and Rose's apology was lost halfway from her mouth as it was replaced by a gasp. She spun around. Her bat was falling to the ground with the red leather ball, but unlike the quaffle, her bat was not retrieved by Isaac.

"WEASLEY! GET THIS THING OFF ME!" Rocky bellowed.

There was no time to head back. Rose whisked toward her captain, bat-less. What in the world was she going to do without a bat? Enoc was protecting James mostly as was their plan. She neared the bludger that was now scraping Rocky's robes. She wished she didn't gain so fast; she had no time to decide what to do.

Rose was within arm distance from the bludger. Albus was zooming from the other side of the pitch, having just noticed that Rocky had the snitch practically in his palm. She reached out a hand – not enough – both hands. What would Fred and George do? She thought about her predecessor beaters and came up with only one conclusion. The commentary box was booming, and she heard her name but listened to no more.

With both arms outstretched, going the same speed as the bludger, she placed her hands beside the ball and felt it whizzing on under her light touch. With one deep breath and little time left to think because Al was practically there – this whole idea happened within four seconds – she clutched the ball and pulled it to her chest.

It was painful. The ball screeched and fought, trying its utmost to free itself from her firm grip. It pounded against her chest and sliced her fingers as it spun. A loud whistle blew announcing the win of the game. Rose glanced up, her hair now hanging back in her face because, being stationary, she didn't have the wind keeping it back. Slowly, and as carefully as she could, Rose glided to the ground. The bludger seekers who took to the air at the end of every game to round up the two crazy balls stared around with one bludger frozen in the air. Rose whistled. The B.S's glanced down where she nodded to the squirming rock in her arms. The two Bludger seeker streaked down and pulled the ball from her.

"Dear Merlin," one of them said. "Never touch a bludger! How did you hold it for so long?"

Rose shook her head, utterly perplexed. Was that unordinary? The second B.S walked away with the first, shaking his head as though she were mad.

"Where the hell were you!" Rose cringed, this was expected. She turned with her arms pressed tightly in a cross against her chest. Enoc was striding toward her, red-faced, sweating profusely, bleeding in some areas, and looking like an enraged wolverine.

"I-" she thought. She had excuse. I was playing with Scorpius? Of course, she couldn't say that! "I'm sorry, Enoc," she bowed her head.

"Sorry?" he bellowed. "Look what happened!" he pointed to a figure that was being magically placed on a stretcher.

It was Ishmael Stewart. Rose gasped. "I was chasing after Watson's! He was on your side of the field and had the quaffle too!"

Rose tried to conceal the tears of guilt rolling down her face; she didn't want to cry in front of all these guys. A small commotion caught her attention. She looked toward Ishmael to see that he was fighting Abigail, the healer apprentice, as she tried to calm him down.

"I'm fine!" he called. "Get off me! I can walk!" he rolled off the stretcher and quickly limped from the young matron with a backward glance as though she were crazy. "Healers," he mumbled angrily. "They'll do anything to get you on one of those if it means breaking your leg themselves."

"Ishmael," Rose cried, with glistens of water welling in her eyes. "I am so sorry! I was supposed to be protecting you, and I wasn't! I'm not making excuses; it was all-"

"Shut your tiny mouth!" Ishmael interrupted making everyone silent. "And show me your hands."

Rose was confused. She did not reveal her fingers which were still clasped in crossed arms. Ishmael took her hands and forcefully revealed them. She was surprised herself. Her finger tips were raw and bleeding. The palms of her hands were red, and the first layer of skin was peeling away. Even her forearms that Ishmael had forced her sleeves from were purple with bruises and speckled with blood.

Ishmael looked at her sadly, then raised her arm to face the rest of the team. He brandished her wounds as though they were guilty.

"Did you miss what she did?" he called.

"No, I was too busy saving all your necks!" Enoc called.

"What in the world happened there?" asked Watson.

"She caught the bludger, in her arms because she lost her bat, you idiots!" Ishmael hollered. "Here you are accusing and belittling her when this, rather small, second-year girl just preformed the most spectacular feat known to beaters! Now you can shut up, Enoc. I understand you're angry but what I saw from laying on the pitch," he looked at Rose admiringly. "That was something else."

"Uh, I caught to snitch," said Rocky after a moment of silence.

Rose almost laughed. She, and everyone else, had forgotten about this matter and their win to the game. Everyone cheered and clapped their captain on the back.

"What's the score?" Watson asked, turning to the score board.

They all stared incredulously. Slytherin zero to Gryffindor one-hundred-fifty.

Had nobody scored a single goal? Her attention was captured now, by the Slytherin team on the ground. The greater part of them looked angry while they scorned Scorpius. Though, for being a slightly tender boy who strived to please, he didn't look put off. Scor glanced across the pitch and caught her eye, then winked.

"Well," started James as they made their way from the pitch to the common room, not bothering to change. "Considering that there are no more Gryffindors in the stands, halls, or outside, I advise you all to prepare for an afterparty."

He was quite right. As soon as the password was mumbled, "Victory," and the portrait swung open nearly each of them were attacked by banners and cheers and congratulations. All except for Rose who was instead, attacked by an owl. Cromwell came sweeping from nowhere and landed on her shoulder to snuggle her face. In his beak, he held a single letter.

"May I have that, Cromwell?" The owl dropped the note into her palm and hooted merrily.

She turned it over. It was from Teddy. Rather early for a reply, but she expected that he was likely bored out of his mind in bed because of the Malaclaw bite. Max had just climbed through the portrait hole holding an armful of butterbeers which were immediately snatched from his arms to be placed on the food table where they wouldn't remain for long. Rose sat on the couch and ignored the many pats on the head and slaps on the back; there was no way to get them to stop anyway. She tore open the envelope and read,

"Dear Rosie,

Sorry to hear about your roommates; Mary sounds awful. Pity you weren't in Hufflepuff. My mates were the best! As for getting her to stop taking your stuff, you'll need to hide them. I'm sure you've thought of that option before, but few people know or even have what I'm about to tell you. Some common rooms have trapped doors under the floor boards. They're put there from past Hogwarts students who also wanted a place to put their stuff. You have to use a spell to see them. 'Revelio' is probably a safe bet. I'm not sure whether yours has one; I don't reckon that the past girls would have made a secret door, but it never hurts to check. And if you find that you don't, you can always build one. It's not too easy, but I expect it'll be worth it as long as Mary doesn't see or know.

Anyway, I hope you're well. Good luck on the Quidditch match if my letter arrives before you play and don't rub your win in Al's face.

-Love, Teddy."

Rose smiled at the letter and tucked it into her pocket. Trapped doors, now that was a fun idea. She took a butterbeer and popped off the top. Maybe she should check, the idea was ringing at her and Mary was currently trying to get a game of limbo going. Rose took a swig of butterbeer before handing it to Hugo and rushing up her steps. The girl's hallway was completely deserted. She strode into her dormitory and glanced around. Well, the middle of the floor beneath the carpet was the only area eligible for a trap door that she could get to over all her roommate's junk. She unconcernedly kicked clothes and scrap jewelry from the round shag carpet before throwing it up to stare at blank wood flooring. She paused for a moment as she got major déjà vu. Why did this feel so familiar? The carpet fell from her hands as she suddenly remembered.

Rose ran down the stairs as quick as she could and pushed past people who were trying to ask her questions about her bludger catch.

"MAX!" she screamed over the noise.

Max, who had been by the food table, jumped so hard that he sloshed butterbeer down his front. He looked at the stain irritably and exasperated. Rose took him by the hand and drug him through the crowd with a faint sound of glass breaking which was probably the bottle she made him drop.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she pulled him up the stairs.

"I received a letter!" she called excitedly. "The floor bored is squeaky! I'm not crazy!" she laughed.

"Wanna bet?" said Max under his breath, though there was no mistaking a pinch of amusement at her antics.

She turned up the boys' staircase and dashed down the hall to burst into Max's dormitory. Calvert, who was on his bed drawing, glanced up at them and shut his book while rolling his eyes.

"I'm leaving," he grunted, standing up and striding toward the door. "I reckon things are about to get weird. They always seem to with you guys," he added under his breath.

Rose flung the rug from the floor to be thrown across the room. Max watched with his hands casually in his pockets. He didn't try to stop her anymore. Not when she got like this. Rose groped for her wand before remembering that she was in her Quidditch robes and did not have it.

"Max, use your wand to reveal!"

Max seemed rather confused but did as he was told. He pulled his wand from his back pocket and cleared his throat before saying "Revelio," and waving the wand above the floor.

For a moment, nothing happened. Until a faint creaking grew louder, like a door that hasn't been open in several years. Max leaned closer to watch four lines appear across the wood floor, slowly stretching until they met their parallel partners and made a square. With another 'click' an iron pull ring joined the party. Max backed toward the door and locked it.

Rose's heart leaped with glee. She found it! She knelt to her knees with Max who was doing the same.

"You open it, it's your room," she said.

"No, you found it, and it's your family heritage. The Marauders for Heaven's sake, you open it."

She secretly hoped that he would refuse so she could do the honors. Rose took the iron pull ring and forced it up abruptly, but it wouldn't budge. She tried again, nothing.

"Do you think it could have been protected by other magic?" she asked.

"Nah," Max replied, taking the knob with her and standing. "I just think it hasn't been open in a very long time."

Together, they heaved with extraneous force on the warped door before, with a little more than a 'pop,' the door flung open, knocking the both of them off their feet. Rose laughed slightly and crawled forward, almost afraid to see what's inside. She wrapped her fingers over the mouth of the opening and peered in.

Hey, guys, this was such a long chapter that I was forced to split it in half. Thank you!