"Hey Al."

Albus turned around, his face full of laughter. Upon noticing his cousin, who's sleek ginger hair matched the red of her robes, his smile faded, and his face turned urgent. "What are you doing over here?"

"I could ask you the same question. You haven't talked to me in days, and you haven't said a word to your brother since you got here! What's up with you?" She wasn't taking care to keep her voice down.

"Not here," he whispered, "Later."

"No, right now."

"Please."

"Why are you so embarrassed to talk to your cousin in front of all your new friends? Am I not good enough for you anymore? Don't want to be seen talking to a Gryffindor?"

"No Rose," he pleaded, "I'll talk to you later. Someplace else."

"Hey! Leave him alone," a dark-haired, freckled girl yelled, "What did he ever do to you?"

Before Rose could respond, Albus turned back to the girl, "It's fine, Alice," and then to Rose again, "Just... meet me by the library tonight, around seven."

She nodded sadly and walked away. Rose had to admire his quick thinking. The library, around which they couldn't talk loudly, and at seven, meaning they could not stay long because of curfew. Albus was truly intelligent, even devious. Perhaps he did make for a good Slytherin.

The clock seemed to be broken in Charms class. Every time Rose glanced over, what felt like ten minutes had only been one. Perhaps it was the struggle that was going on inside her. As Professor Flitwick talked about the charms they would learn that year and what they are useful for, conflict was running laps through her mind.

She shouldn't have confronted Albus like that. Or maybe she should have. What did he deserve? Was he acting this way on purpose, or was it peer pressure? Did he really believe he should ignore his family in order to fit in with his friends?

Did any of this really matter in the first place, or was Rose just overreacting?

"Miss Weasley," Flitwick called, and Rose bolted up, suddenly realizing how absentminded she appeared, "Could you tell us the proper incantation for a hover charm?"

Rose racked her brain - she knew this. After all, her mother was always the brightest witch of her age. Hermione would have known the answer in an instant, but sadly, Rose didn't spend every moment with her nose in a book. Then, it came to her, accompanied by a memory of her mother laughing about how she was almost killed by a mountain troll in her first year.

"Wingardium Leviosa, sir."

"Yes, Miss Weasley, just like your mother, you are."

Rose smiled.

Herbology followed Charms that day, and Professor Longbottom was easily Rose's favorite teacher. Witty, entertaining, and not very strict, he proudly showed the first years through Greenhouse Two. He told them about equipment and fertilizer as they walked through the warm building full of lively plants and enchanted watering cans. The vines moved like the tentacles of a squid gliding through silent water. Despite her lack of interest in plants, Rose curiously observed each as they walked past, hoping not to get touched with one. "During your first year at Hogwarts," announced the professor, "We'll be studying several type of plants in the greenhouse and learning about their uses and how to identify them. Next year, second years take a more hands-on approach in class while we study the properties of Mandrakes.

"I expect you each to read a chapter of your textbook, 1000 Herbs and Where to Find Them, at least once a week. I don't expect you to list all 1000 by the end of the year or even by the end of your magical education, but reading these chapters will give you a basic knowledge of plants. I want you all to read the first chapter on Aconite by next Wednesday please."

After class on Wednesday, Rose walked back to the Gryffindor common room to start on her night's homework. It was around six o'clock when two boys ran into the common room and jumped onto the plush sofa. James and Fred were laughing hysterically, and mixing up their words.

"Did you see-"

"Her face?"

"I know! Lorcan-"

"Guys," Rose asked curiously, suppressing a giggle, "What did you do?"

James was the one who answered while Fred was shaking from laughter. "Professor Trelawney was walking down the stairs from our Divination classroom to go down to lunch, and we were hiding under- well, we were hiding, and Lorcan casts all these flowers on the stairs and a dozen birds from his wand. Trelawney tripped over the flowers, and I reckon the birds are still following her around!"

It must have been a "you had to be there" moment, because Rose only laughed politely while Fred was practically rolling on the floor.

"Well, as fun and entertaining that sounds, I have somewhere to be," she said, hoping to leave early so that she wasn't late back to the common room.

"Somewhere to be? Don't get caught after hours," James told her protectively.

"Yeah, like you haven't done it."

Rose ran upstairs to stow away her books before setting off. She decided against taking any shortcuts, especially while the castle was dimly lit by only a few torches in most corridors. The Grand Staircase, however, was, as usual, illuminated by a beautiful crystal chandelier. It was hardly a problem to navigate down to the second floor, into the Charms corridor, and to the Library.

She had never seen the Hogwarts library before. It was dark as well, but there were oil lamps at each row of bookshelves to shine over titles. Several tables were scattered throughout the place where a student could find solitude in doing their homework or reading for pleasure. Because, however, Albus told Rose to meet him near the library, Rose simply waited at the entrance.

Soon enough, footsteps echoed down the corridor, and Albus turned the corner, accompanied by his best mate, Scorpius.

"Why is he here?" she asked Albus angrily.

It was Scorpius who answered, "Why not?"

"Because! This is none of your business!"

"Oh?"

"Look Rose," Albus interrupted, "I wasn't trying to ignore you. And I'm too afraid to talk to James. He's going to judge me."

"He won't-"

"But he will, Rose. He'll ask me questions! How are the dungeons? You know what he's like."

"Alright, I understand. I'm sorry I overreacted."

As soon as she said it, Albus hugged her, and all her uncertainty was washed away. There was just Albus, her favorite cousin of many. Albus, who was like a brother to her. He was perhaps more of a brother to her than Hugo.

"Sorry to split up this touching family moment," said Scorpius, who had been watching awkwardly, "but Rose really should get going. It's a lot longer of a walk up to the Gryffindor common room than it is down to the Slytherin one."

"How do you know where the Gryffindor common room is?"

"I walked by the Fat Lady portrait and saw Gryffindors piling through. Anyways, there's a staircase down that hall," he pointed through the dark corridor ahead, "that'll take you upstairs quicker."

Was it safe to trust a Malfoy? "And how do you know-"

"Relax, I had to go from Charms to Defense Against the Dark Arts yesterday, and I just used that shortcut. I promise."

"Alright. Thanks," she said, "Bye Albus, goodbye Scorpius."

"Bye, Rose," they both called as she turned away and walked towards the dark staircase illuminated only by several candles that hung from the walls.

The idea did seem sketchy. How did Malfoy, a Slytherin, just happen upon the portrait of the Fat Lady when there are no first year classes on the seventh floor? Perhaps he had a sense for adventure, and simply wanted to explore that part of Hogwarts...

The heartbeats in her chest quickened. Step by step, Rose treaded an unfamiliar place in the castle. Unconsciously, her left foot crossed over her right while walking, and her head collided with the stone wall. Upon steadying herself and opening her eyes, Rose discovered she was staring into something other than stone. The candles that lit the staircase were shining past the wall and into another room beyond it.

She pressed both hands to the wall, ignoring the pain of the bruises her clumsiness just stirred. Her brown eyes found a dark tunnel in which no end could be seen. The rounded walls and the flat floor seemed to be made of the same stone Rose was standing on at this very moment, but she couldn't see much else through the tiny crack she was looking through. For no apparent reason, Rose hoped desperately to gain passage, but no there was no obvious way. Like the many trick doors at Hogwarts that had no lock, yet never opened, this was another hopeful mystery that could not be solved.

While pushing her hands up from the wall, Rose discovered that the bricks were unsteady. Using her better judgement, however, she left them be and hurried off to the common room before curfew, careful not to lose her footing again.

When she climbed through the portrait of the Fat Lady, the common room wasn't quite as quiet as it usually was. Loud music was playing, and at least thirty Gryffindors were lounging around, talking to friends, and some were stealing romantic moments in corners. Rose found her cousin, James, and asked him whether this happened often.

"No, this is nothing compared to the parties we throw after Quidditch games. You wait until the season starts, little first year."

Trying to ignore the noise, Rose shuffled upstairs to her dormitory to finish tonight's homework. When she walked through the door, she found the room empty except for Kayleigh, lying on her bed reading a book titled "The Battle of Hogwarts".

"Your parents are in here, you know," she said when Rose sat on her bed, "They're quite heroic."

"Yes, thank you. They don't like talking about the battle to me, though."

"Well yeah, I can see why. A lot of people died. I'm just amazed at how they were able to repair the castle after all the damage it had! You could never tell today that this castle was once being burned to the ground or blown apart."

"Yeah, amazing..." Rose wasn't listening. She was too tired and too overwhelmed with the amount of work she had to do and too preoccupied thinking the rest of her days at Hogwarts couldn't be any more dramatic.

Like on several occasions before, Rose Weasley was wrong.