A/N: Please not guys that this is UNBETA-ED! I wanted to get this chapter to you guys before the week was over and as I don't know where my Beta's gone to I simply did a quick read through and made sure that there weren't any spelling mistakes in this before posting this for you. I wanted to give a quick shout out to the following people; Soufull, McShanna, ALICEBRODA, Seasidesimone, Alwaysoutofcharacter, BlueRose22, DIARYofJANEwhite, Fantasyrulez97 for Favourite-ing, Story Alert-ing and Reveiwing! You guys have all made my week!

Also I just wanted to give an extra shout out to FantasyRulez97 for the awesome conversation that I had with you the other day XD I just wanted to let you know that I had a very strange dream from the talk we had about who would be better for Rose and that I dreamt that Sev was "transfigured" to look like Remus in it. I guess I better start taking Divination to get to the bottom of what that dream meant lol XD

Anyways I hope you guys enjoy this! And we get to see a bit more of Remus's character and we are introduced to Bellatrix, Narcissa and Lucius this chapter! I hope you guys Enjoy and please remember to review! I will post the beta-ed version for this chapter once my Beta actually gets back to me lol.

A/N2: (30.11.11) Thank you to Mystery Tears that went over this and helped me correct all the errors. Best Beta Ever!

Chapter 9 – Taking Chances

Rose kept her head down. Dinner had been uneventful but it had been good nonetheless, as she had been with her friends, enjoying their company and the good food that had been prepared for them but now she was in the library trying to catch up on the past three day's load of homework and class work that she had missed.

She had had to escape all of her friends to be able to catch up on the work that she had asked her Professors for. It was as she was trying to tie up an essay about the difference of truth serums and how they could be applied in the wizarding world to give her defence for both positive and negative uses of "said truth serums" from Professor Slughorn that she realized that she was being watched. Rose finished writing the conclusion for her essay and placed her quill down before casting a drying spell on her essay and then rolling up the piece of parchment that she had used.

As her mind was relaxing off of the essay she sensed the thoughts of the person observing her. Rose looked up then and was pleasantly surprised to see Remus at a bookcase right across from the study area she was in, sneaking looks in her direction. Rose let down her walls, happy that they were the only ones in the room at that moment and reached out for his mind.

She let out a laugh when Remus jumped from the unexpected mental contact and she smiled brightly when he turned around and made his way over to her.

"Hello Stranger," She teased and Remus relaxed instantly at her teasing tone. "You know you don't have to spy on me to get my attention," She said seriously and then mentally added to herself, you already have my full attention.

"So is there something that you wanted to talk about?" Rose asked, as she flicked her wand to put her things away. Her belongings quickly went into her bag as Rose trained her eyes on Remus, waiting for his response as he captured her whole attention.

"No, nothing important at least, I just wanted to talk to you, get to know you better you know." Remus said giving a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

"Have you heard of the muggle game 'twenty questions'?" Remus asked, a lazy lopsided smile spreading out on his lips.

"Yes, a lot of the other students at W.I.C.C.A used to play it. The gist of it is that you ask me a question, I answer it as honestly as I can and then I ask you a question and you answer it as honestly as you can and so forth, right?" Rose asked; yes she was a Half-blood and although she had been close with her muggle father she didn't know a lot of muggle games.

"Yea that's basically it. So I'll go first, what's your favourite colour and why?" Remus asked his smile reaching his eyes as it grew on his face. He knew – by her reaction – that she hadn't been expecting that as his first question.

"Really that's your first question?" Rose asked, having expected another question about her old school and/or about werewolves. Remus simply shrugged his shoulders and Rose let out a sigh before answering his question. "My favourite colour is midnight blue, and it's my favourite because it reminds me of the night sky on a full moon." Rose gave a soft laugh at the look on Remus' face. She could tell that he hadn't really been expecting that. "Alright my turn, what's your favourite colour and why?"

"My favourite colour use to be Persian red but I think I'm starting to like forest green even better." Remus said, instinctively reaching out to brush a strand of hair behind Rose's left ear. Rose blushed furiously knowing the reason behind his change in colour preference. After a moment Remus' hand fell back to his side and he cleared his throat in an attempt to clear the tension that he had caused.

"What's your favourite book and why?" He asked and Rose's attention was brought back to the little game that they were playing.

"My favourite book is the muggle story "Beauty and the Beast". It's my favourite because it was the first muggle story that my father read to me, and because of the context of the story. That even in the worst of people there is always beauty underneath." Rose replied truthfully, the memories of her father tucking her in and reading her the story came swarming back to her.

"What's your favourite book and why?" Rose asked and it was a while before Remus' answer came. "My favourite book would have to be either "The Count of Monte Cristo" or "The Picture of Dorian Grey", I don't know why they're my favourites I just can't seem to put them down once I've picked them up." Remus replied honestly.

"What do your mum and dad do for a living?" Remus asked and then wanted to instantly take back the question when he saw her visibly flinch. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to," he said instantly trying to take back his question though she shook away his apology.

"No it's okay Remus. My father was a mortician before my mother killed him, and well I don't know what my mother does now, she used to just sit around the home when I lived with her before my father's death and now she's a Death Eater, one of you-know-who's followers. She murdered my father to get into the inner circle." Rose replied solemnly. Remus' hand reached between them for hers, and he slowly rubbed circles into her hand with the pad of his thumb.

"What do your parent's do?" Rose asked as she watched his thumb slowly rub circles into the front of her hand.

"My mum works as a wizarding event planner and my father is a labourer. They don't own much but we are happy which is the main thing." Remus replied, wishing that she'd look up and met his gaze.

"So if you don't live with your parents anymore, where do you live?" Remus asked trying to steer the girl's thoughts away from the thought of her parents.

"I live with my Grandmother, Aurora Lucinda Adams." Rose replied glancing up to meet his gaze – which she had felt over her for the past few minutes.

"You mean the Aurora that can supposedly talk to the dead, not like in ghost dead but actual dead people?" Remus asked, Rose simply nodded her head at his unintentional question. "Wow, your family is just filled with the extraordinary."

"Being extraordinary is a curse Remus, and normality is wasted on the ignorant." Rose simply stated.

"I'm closing up now dears, you better hurry along." Madame Pince said and Rose was surprised that it had already gotten this late.

"Come on we'll talk more on the way back." Remus said standing up after Madam Pince had gone. Rose got up as well and they made their way out of the library in silence.

"Do you have any siblings?" Rose asked but Remus simply shook his head, "No I was my parent's miracle baby, they had been told that they would never have children and then my mother got pregnant with me and well yea, I was their only child. Mum regrets that she could never have had a daughter but my father was overjoyed to have a son." Remus replied chuckling slightly as they started making their way up the stairs.

"What is your most embarrassing moment?" Remus asked, looking across at Rose who let out a laugh full of mirth.

"That would have to be the one time I walked in on my parent's having sex, I was about eight years old and I had wanted to ask my dad a question and when I had found them they were naked, of course at that age I had no idea what they were doing but it looked very awkward to me at the time and it's just simply embarrassing." Rose replied giving a little shiver at the awkward memory, and she heard Remus laugh, it was melodic in his deep raspy voice and it made Rose laugh again.

"And what is your most embarrassing moment?" Rose asked the boy beside her. Remus laughed again and it made Rose all the more curious as to what the memory was.

"The time that Sirius kissed me in front of all of Gryffindor. We were celebrating another victory with our Quidditch team and Sirius, James and I plus the Quidditch team and another couple of people including Lily, Alice, Mary and Frank were playing spin the bottle for a bit of fun and when Sirius took his turn to spin the bottle it landed on me, and of course I protested furiously to kissing my best mate but Sirius did it anyways, the worse part of it was that it was my first kiss so not only was it mortifying but it was also very awkward." Remus replied and Rose laugh at the imagery that filled her mind.

They continued making their way up to the Gryffindor common room on the seventh floor in silence. Remus had so many questions that he wanted to ask the girl, Do you have a boyfriend? Have you ever had a boyfriend? When was your first kiss? Being amongst them but he couldn't ask her any of those questions. He had known ever since he had been turned into a werewolf that he could never have a girlfriend, never share a kiss, or be intimate with a girl, be close to anyone, in fact, without them knowing of his secret. It wasn't that his secret was a necessary fact that had to be known between himself and someone else, it was the fact that not only did he think it wasn't fair for the other to not know but also because he wanted there to be no secrets between himself and his other half. He wasn't a man who had been made to keep secrets although he knew that he had to keep this one, or nobody would look at him the same well nobody but his best mates who had known ever since his first few transformations at Hogwarts.

They were quickly approaching the Gryffindor tower and Remus spluttered out "When was your first kiss?" He instantly regretted the loss of control that he had over his mouth.

Rose looked at Remus surprised not only had he broken the silence but also because he had broken the silence to ask her when her first kiss had been. Was it obvious to him that she hadn't ever been kissed? "Oh! I haven't been kissed by anyone before, well other than my father but that doesn't really count." She told him, the words rushing to get out of her mouth and she kept her eyes on his face trying to gauge his reaction – which was one of surprise; he must have thought that she had been kissed by a million guys.

Remus was surprised by the reply that he wanted to give, especially since it wasn't a very polite thing to say in front of a lady but all he asked is "Why not?" as his eyes shot up to meet hers.

"I don't know, I guess I just never found the right guy that I wanted to share that first moment with." Rose replies, their eyes continue to remain locked to each other's and it seems to Remus as if her eyes are searching for something within his.

Unconsciously Remus leaned in towards Rose. She wanted to kiss him, wanted to get to know him on that level but she knew that she couldn't, knew that even if they both wanted a relationship they were barely friends, that they barely knew each other and that it wasn't the right time, even if he may be the right guy to share a kiss with, to share this moment with each other.

"I'm sorry Remus," Rose said before quickly pulling away and she watched as Remus's eyes blinked a few times as if he was returning to the world of the living. Rose quickly walked away before she could see his emotions on his face and made her way into the common room, up the stairs and she didn't stop until she was in her bed, the curtains drawn and her face nuzzled into her plush pillow that she realized that Remus was the type of guy that she could fall for.

Rose woke up early again, she could tell that the sun had barely even risen by the faint ethereal glow that flitted into the window. Rose got up and prepared to go for her usual early morning run. She slipped on a pair of track pants, and a sports bra plus a loose fitting singlet and her sneakers and socks. She tied her hair back into a tight ponytail and made her way down stairs.

Rose soaked up the cool morning sunlight, her hair swaying as she ran her new route through the trees spread out on the Hogwarts grounds and she made her way over to the final destination in her run, the boat house and the beautiful sea green lake that spread over the land as a crystal-clear glassy liquid pool, surrounded by mountains towering over the landscape. And then her eyes darted to the raven-haired boy with his feet dipped into the very same lake she had just been admiring.

"Hello Severus," Rose said as sat down next to the boy, his same scornful and then delighted look passing over his smooth yet sharp features.

"Hello Rose," Severus replied when he had finally gotten over the fact that he wasn't alone anymore, though, truth be told he had been out here waiting for her in the first place.

"Why are you up this early?" She asked him, curious as to why he was out here in the first place.

"I couldn't sleep," Severus replied honestly. His onyx eyes shot from the ethereal scene before them to the ethereal girl sitting next to him.

"I'm sorry about what happened yesterday," Rose said softly as her eyes met his. Severus could see the honesty in her eyes and his hand reached between them for hers giving it a soft squeeze before letting it go. "It's okay Rose,"

"I love watching the sun rise, especially after a full moon. Watching the sun rise is a reminder that the horrors of the night is over and that it's a new day," Rose whispered softly remembering all the times she'd watch the sun rise – especially on a full moon when Coxly and his pack would meet up with her to watch the sun rise together.

"It's peaceful," Severus agreed softly. They continued to watch the sun rise, when it was getting close to seven Rose stood up.

"I've got to go and get change, I'll see you later?" Rose asked Severus and he shot her a wicked grin.

"Of course, I'll see you later." Severus replied, excited at the prospect of seeing the girl again. Rose walked away and made her way back to the castle, feeling Severus' eyes on her the whole way there. She rushed up to her dorm room in Gryffindor tower and quickly dressed herself after casting a quick cleaning charm over herself before making her way back down stairs for the rest of her classes that day.

Rose had been, in a way, avoiding a confrontation with Remus. She hadn't saved him a seat in class, she hadn't waited for him at breakfast but she knew that it was inevitable in the end, that plus the fact that she didn't want him to think that she hated him.

Rose had just evaded Remus again, and now she was running down the hallways and making her way to the great hall to pick something up to eat. She could hear footsteps slapping against the ground, almost matching her own as they came closer and closer towards her. She could feel a hand wrapping itself around her upper arm and just as quickly as the hand had found her she was being pulled into a dimly lit corridor, void of people except for herself and whoever was pulling her along.

The guy that had grabbed onto her pushed her up against the wall, and quickly pinned her to it with his own body, it wasn't until his face was inches from hers that she realized that it wasn't just anybody, it was Remus, and with this realization in her mind she also realized the reaction her body was already having towards him.

"I'm sorry for being so forward Rose but you've been avoiding me like the plague," Remus apologized, he could feel the heat of her body as he pressed it against the walls with his and he blushed deeply at the reaction of her closeness caused to his body.

Rose lowered her eyes as she ducked her head slightly, she couldn't stand to see the hurting in his eyes, the hurt that she knew she had caused on him. "It's alright Remus, I… I just overreacted, forgive me?" Rose asked she refused to look up into his eyes but she couldn't help herself when his strong fingers wrapped around her chin and gently pulled her head up so that she would look at him.

"As long as you forgive me," Remus replied; there was a twinkle deep in his amber eyes and Rose couldn't do anything but smile and simply whisper "I forgive you." Remus backed off of Rose then, he was smiling now too.

There wasn't much said between the two as they made their way down to the Great Hall for lunch, the rest of their group was chatting away furiously, and James smiled his lopsided smile when she and Remus sat down together and Rose fell into an easy conversation with the rest of the group.

"Professor McGonagall asked me to get a group of students together to plan the Halloween Ball this year, are you in Rose?" Lily asked from across the table; to be quiet frank Rose was surprised that Lily had asked her but she shot the fiery red-head a grin. "Yea of course Lils; who else were you thinking of?"

Lily let out a squeal at her agreement to help and started gushing as she rattled off the names of her other helpers so far. "Oh Alice and Mary are going to help, and I was thinking of Andromeda Black, Gildory Lockheart, and Emma Vance from the Ravenclaw bunch, Susan Bones, Ludo Bagman and Rita Skeeter from the Hufflepuff bunch and Narcissa Black and Bellatrix Black from the Slytherin's. I know you don't like your cousins Sirius but you have to admit that they do know how to throw a party and with people from all houses it makes it a bit more fair, don't you think Rose?" Rose could tell that Lily was trying to please everybody but she had to agree with the fact that if opinions and votes came from all the houses nobody would be able to complain.

"Yea sounds great; do you want any help with getting them to help out?" Rose replied; she could see that Lily was virtually on the point that her excitement would cause her to start bouncing uncontrollably in her seat.

"I would love it if you could talk to Narcissa and Bellatrix for me, I'm not very popular with the Slytherin's you see, for the most part because of the fact that I'm muggle born." Lily said nonchalantly the words almost blurring as they escaped her mouth but Rose could see the hurt in her eyes, and feel it coming off of her in waves. "But just steer clear of Severus Snape, he's trouble." Lily said quiet clearly even though the waves coming off of her had intensified.

"He's not as bad as all of you make him out to be, but sure I'll talk to them for you Lils." Rose said scooping up some of her shepherd's pie and taking a bite. They continued to talk about classes and their plans for the weekend, James and Sirius also struck up a conversation on Quidditch.

"I can't wait to get started on this," Lily said and there was a mutual agreement amongst the girls. They discussed plans for the big Halloween party, of costumes and decorations. It wasn't until the bell rung that all of them dropped their conversations and started making their way out of the great hall.

"Make sure you remember to ask them," Lily said as they parted ways. Rose promised to ask them when she could but honestly she didn't even know how to bring up such a conversation with two students that she didn't even know, let alone two Slytherin students she didn't even know.

Rose spent Ancient Runes and Arithamancy in a quiet, studious mood, although from time to time she allowed her mind to wander from the task at hand to the conversation she had started to dread with the Slytherin's.

Rose made her way down to the Potions classroom in a stupor; it wasn't until she was sprawled on the ground after she had collided with a solid but soft body that she was pulled out of her stupor.

"Watch where you're going Gryffindor." The very feminine voice sneered; Rose ignored the sneer on the raven-haired girl and offered her hand to the other girl once Rose was standing on her own two feet.

"I'm Rose Ashmore and you are?" Rose asked simply waiting for the other girl to give Rose her name.

"I'm Bellatrix Black," Bellatrix replied eyeing the hand that Rose was still offering to the raven-haired girl. A blonde girl with the same petite nose and high cheekbones walked up to the two girls.

"Hello I'm Narcissa Black; I see you've met my sister." The blonde girl said; Rose was surprised by this, as they didn't look very alike except for their same aristocratic petite noses.

"I'm Rose Ashmore," Rose said to Narcissa and then continued, "I'm sorry for running into you like that Bellatrix, I wasn't watching where I was going. Listen I wanted to talk to you about joining the Halloween Ball Committee, I hear that the two of you are great with throwing a party and thought that it would be good to have some Slytherin opinions seeing that we have the opinions of the other houses as well. I completely understand if you don't want to or if you're too busy." Bellatrix scoffed at this and Rose raised an eyebrow incredulously at the raven-haired girl.

"That's rich a Gryffindor being generous," Bellatrix sneered, Narcissa motioned for her sister to hush.

"We'll consider your offer. We'll let you know before Monday." Narcissa said and then turned to walk away but stopped before she actually did. "You said your last name was Ashmore right?" The blonde girl asked; Rose simply nodded her head in reply.

"Yea I did, why?" Rose asked, eyeing the girl's look suspiciously.

"As in Kayley – The Black Widow - Ashmore?" Narcissa asked, knowing that she heard the name Ashmore before, and from Lucius no less.

"Yea she's my mother," Rose replied, she wanted to laugh at the "title" her mother had claimed for herself.

"We'll that's convenient. I think this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship Rose," Narcissa said giving the girl a wicked smile before turning around and walking away going back to the Slytherin Common room.

Rose simply shook her head as she watched the Black sisters walk away. She made her way into the potions room and took her seat in the front row and waited for her Slytherin friend to join her as her thoughts turned dark, as her mother "The Black Widow" entered into them.

"Hello, Darling" Narcissa said as she joined Lucius on the couch placing a quick kiss on his lips.

"Hello to you too," Lucius replied, smiling wickedly as he stole another kiss from his girlfriend.

"You'll never believe who I just met." Narcissa exclaimed and when Lucius made no conscious move to guess she continued, "I just met Rose Ashmore, as in Kayley – the Black Widow – Ashmore's daughter." Narcissa gave a jubilant laugh.

"Really the new girl is the Black Widows daughter?" Lucius asked giving his girlfriend an incredulous look.

"The one and only. She ran into Bella and then asked the two of us to join a Halloween Ball committee. She was just adorable, and very unlike any Gryffindor I've ever known." Narcissa said relaying her thoughts onto the man that she loves.

"Perhaps she is more Slytherin than Gryffindor, we'll just have to wait and find out but for now, I have a better idea to fill our time with," Lucius gave Narcissa a wicked smile before attacking her mouth with his and pushing her down onto the couch that they were sitting on. The couple embraced, their fevered kisses chasing away thoughts of the Black Widow and her Daughter; Rose Ashmore.

A/N: This week's title is from a song lyrics if you can guess what the song is called, who it's by and where it's from (hint: I listen to GLEE) then you will get an extra long preview (remember reviews are nessecary for you to tell me what your guesses are) if you just review without guessing then you still get a review. Can't wait to see what you guys thought of this week's chapter! Thank you all for reading!