Disclaimer: All characters, settings and basically everything else belong to J. K. Rowling. Enjoy.

Chapter Three

Rose rushed frantically to her History of Magic lesson, halting suddenly at the already closed door. She knew she was still on time, in fact due to the unpopularity of the class she expected the classroom itself to still be more than half-empty. Faltering a little, she took a deep breath, yanked open the door and walked confidently inside. Despite the many empty desks that were scattered around the room, Rose was not surprised to find Professor Binns already at what seemed the middle of a lecture. Rose suspected that Binns never really ceased teaching – he simply carried on with his constant, monotonous drone regardless of whether students were actually present at the time or not. Ignored by Binns, Rose stomped over to her desk, her footsteps echoing heavily around the dusty room. When she reached her seat, she violently slammed her books onto the table with as much force as she could manage and in doing so woke the desk's other inhabitant and most of the other students in the perimeter.

"Blimey Rose!" Exclaimed the boy next to her, his voice croaky from tiredness; the sentence half-muffled by an involuntary yawn. "What's up with you?" Although his expression was bored, Rose couldn't deny that there was genuine concern written over his face. The boy in question was Samuel Spinks, a fellow Gryffindor and a popular one at that, though - unusually - he was nice to almost everyone, which gained him a considerable amount of respect. He was a prefect, a chaser on Gryffindor's Quidditch team and the favourite of practically every teacher - with the exception of Rose of course. As Rose met his concerned gaze, her frown couldn't help but soften; shockingly she was quite fond of him, and that was a rarity for Rose: she wasn't about to snap at him and mess that up because of Scorpius "arrogant-is-my-middle-name" Malfoy.

Nevertheless, Rose ignored Sam's question and her eyes locked upon a Quick-Quotes-Quill that was writing away in his notebook. "I believe that's against the rules." She whispered with a tone of disapproval, nodding towards the enchanted quill, half serious and half just mentioning it to change the subject. However, instead of acting guilty or embarrassed and attempting an excuse, Sam simply shrugged and flashed both a cheeky smile and his prefect badge in her direction. "What am I going to do?" He inquired casually, "Give myself detention?"

Rose began to laugh at his nonchalant attitude but stopped herself and grabbed his robes, bringing the badge closer to her face, her mouth opening in shock. "You're Head Boy!" She exclaimed, the 'O' of her mouth forming into a smile of disbelief. "You smarmy git, how'd you manage that?" She added, pushing him into his seat and shaking her head.

He shrugged once again and raised both his arms. "What can I say...? I was the perfect candidate." He winked at her, only to receive a light slap on his arm in return.

"Just because the badge says "Head", Samuel Spinks, doesn't mean you should let it go to yours!" Rose teased. "You won't fit through the portrait hole if it gets any bigger than it already is."

"That would be embarrassing... her wide frame is rather infamous... If my head couldn't fit through the Fat Lady, why, I would be a laughing stock! My authority as Head Boy would be drastically compromised... Thank you, Rose Weasley! I shall cease my arrogant ways at once!" He was doing a fantastic job keeping a straight face; Rose had to give him that.

"Oh shut up will you." She replied, somehow managing to sound serious and playful at the same time. Aiming her focus finally to the front of the classroom, Rose opened up "A History of Magic" by Bathilda Bagshot, her mind flashing to facts about the author and the stories her mother had told her; she skimmed the first few pages of the chapter to catch up. It didn't take that long considering the rate at which her professor spoke; Rose reckoned she could recite the entire alphabet backwards in the time it took for Binns to string out a sentence – being sure to annunciate every syllable and emphasise any word, date or name he deemed somewhat important. Meanwhile, Sam resumed his previous position: sprawled out over closed books while his enchanted quill recorded Binn's lecture for him. After a while the only sounds Rose could hear were Binns' depressing and dull voice, the scratching of quill on parchment and the gentle snoring emitting from the seat next to her. Rose shook her head and tutted every time she glanced over at Sam, but a small smile resided on her lips whenever she did.

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"I honestly don't know why you take History of Magic." Rose stated simply as she and Sam vacated the classroom at the sound of the bell; he looked at her perplexed.

"What do you mean? I love History of Magic." He explained, apparently serious. Rose couldn't help but halt in the middle of the corridor only to laugh and stare back at him with avid curiosity. "You fall asleep in every lesson, Sam!" She replied, speaking slowly as if he had forgotten or was seriously confused or something.

"I said I loved History of Magic – the subject. In no way whatsoever do I love those bloody awful lessons with Binns. To be honest, I sleep for my own safety: if I had to consciously attend one of those lessons, I would seriously consider using an Unforgivable Curse on myself." He started walking again, and Rose followed, mirroring his pace and suppressing the urge to laugh. "You see... I just study the books and the notes my quill makes in my own time. You should try it Rosie, hasn't failed me yet. How'd you think I got that Outstanding in my History of Magic OWL? Not through Binn's teaching, I can guarantee you that!"

"Okay, okay. You've made your point, but – no thanks. I can get an outstanding all on my own thank you! I don't need an easy way out; I've been doing just fine – better than fine in fact. Don't forget I also got an O in my OWL Samuel Spinks, 120% to be exact."

"How could I forget when you got one in every subject?" Rose laughed at his exasperated expression, as if he still couldn't believe such academic talent was possible in a witch of her age. When the two reached a crossroads in the corridor after more small talk and teasing, they stopped. "What do you have next?" Sam asked her, tugging his satchel full of books up a bit and placing both hands casually in his pockets.

"Potions..." She stated: disappointment clearly apparently in her tone. He grimaced and patted her on the back pityingly, suppressing a chuckle at her misfortune. Rose gave him one of her signature glares but then softened as she sighed, fixing her gaze in the direction of the descending staircase. "I should probably make my way down to the dungeons... What have you got next?" She asked instead, deliberately delaying.

He smiled smugly and stretched his body tall, almost on tiptoes. "I don't: free period."

"Bastard..." She whispered harshly, giggly as she cursed; Sam was one of the few people to know she used such language: it was definitely a trait she inherited from her father, if her mother heard her say anything of the sort she'd freak out. He shook his head and laughed at her, then he spun on his feet and started walking in the other direction up the stairs, glancing at her over his shoulder with a cheeky smile on his face. "Where are you off to so quickly?" Rose called after him.

"I promised I'd meet Amelia in the Common Room – later Rose!" He shouted back, quickly disappearing into a crowd of students. Her mood instantly deflated; she had no idea how someone as vile as Amelia Fenwick could have won over Samuel Spinks, there was no logic in it, absolutely none at all. She shook her head at the stupidity of the world and reluctantly descended the staircase towards the dungeons. She was anticipating another annoying and over-dramatic speech from Scorpius Malfoy about the benefits of having him as her potions partner. The only benefit, in Rose's opinion, was the perfect opportunity to poison him with a silencing draught of some sort – but however tempting that thought was, it still wasn't quite tempting enough.

My apologies for the lateness and shortness: I was very busy recently, but do not be afraid, this story is still very... much... alive. Excuse the Tom Riddle reference. ;) Hope you enjoy this – I rather like Sam. How about you guys? Reviews appreciated and encouraged ;)

Love, Jordan. xox