Chapter Four

Rose falls asleep

When Rose made it to breakfast that next morning she was unsurprised to see that despite the time, well past ten in the morning, both the common room and the great hall where virtually empty. Split between the four tables there were barely a dozen people. On the Slytherin table sat Scorpius Malfoy unusually he was alone normally inseparable from his best friend Charlie Zabini. He was sat reading a copy of a rather large book that could be "Hogwarts: a History" but Rose couldn't quite make out the title from half way across the room.

At the Gryffindor table Albus and Alexandra were sat kissing over a breakfast they were in the middle of sharing. Rose was some what surprised at Albus for being so forward he was hardly quiet but usually was overshadowed by the much louder figure of his elder brother James, she guessed that since James had left two years ago Albus had become louder at times. She situated herself a significant distance from the pair at the other end of the empty table but with her back to Scorpius she began to eat a bowl of cereal whilst reading her latest ancient runes textbook. Quietness radiated throughout the hall not only was there very few students but there was only one teacher sat at the head table, Professor Sinstra and she seemed to have her head in the clouds as such she was staring at the ceiling. As no one else was making a sound Rose could hear the sounds of kissing from the other end of her table. After just a few seconds of attempting to read she slammed the book shut, it gave her no little satisfaction to see both Albus and Alexandra jump. She grabbed a slice of toast and headed back up to her dormitory. Allowing the book to float in the air she a set of parchment on her lap and began to write but fatigue soon overtook and just minutes later anyone entering the dormitory would see Rose Weasley asleep fully clothed on top of her bedcovers.

"Rose? Rose," said a voice.

"Emmmm" she moaned rather unintelligently.

"Wake up," said another voice more insistently this time she recognized the voice as Lily.

"I'm getting up," she said annoyed.

"It's three pm," the first voice said this time Rose recognized it as Marianna.

"What?" she replied, "Have I slept all day?"

"I told you that would get her up," Lily smiled after the pair had watched Rose try to find her shoes for at least a minute. On hearing this Rose looked at the watch she released that she was wearing to see it was only eleven.

"You two are so dead,"

"Well you wouldn't wake up," Lily smiled coyly and Rose recognized that smile as the one Lily's mother gave one of her brothers when she realized that she had outsmarted them. "Al wanted a meeting with the Quidditch team starting about now to talk through tactics and stuff."

"I'm not on the team,"

"No but he wanted to know if you would do some charms at session make loops that chasers gave to get through targets for beaters to hit etcetera."

"That's some pretty serious charm and transfiguration work,"

"I know but you are the brightest in your year you even beat Malfoy in everything last year."

"Not everything," Rose replied little sourly.

"Oh come on Rose please," Lily said pouting a little.

"Fine I'll go to this meeting but I'll tell Albus if I think that my abilities are outside what he is asking." An hour later annoyed Rose left the common room Albus hadn't taken notice of any of her protests on charms she was sure where past some auror's let alone her but he had somehow roped her into coming to their first practice session before the game against Ravenclaw at the weekend.

The Quidditch practice on that Friday evening was rather stressful a loud Albus was shouting at his team picking at every little fault he even began on Lily at one occasion leading to a rather loud sibling-shouting match across the pitch. When Rose and a least four members of the Quidditch team had managed to calm the pair down they had to be separated to the other ends of the pitch with Albus given the task of catching the snitches that Rose had conjured up each disappearing as he touched it for another to reappear in a totally different point on the pitch.

"In case you have a long match," she pointed out he rolled his eyes thinking she was becoming a harder taskmaster than he was.

"Ro," Marianna tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the corner of the pitch to see two figures in the otherwise empty Slytherin stand.

"Who is it?" Rose asked, it was a slightly futile gesture she knew one of the figures was Charlie Zabini and thus she was not surprised to hear Marianna reply that the other was Scorpius Malfoy, captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, spying on practice no doubt to pick up on the Gryffindor teams style before their own match the following month.

"ROSE!" Albus yelled at her and she saw her single snitch had turned into six that were attempting to hit him around the head rather hard.

"Sorry," she shouted back and flicked her wand so that they all disappeared she was now so proficient in wordless spells that she did not have to open her mouth for the spell to work.