What am I doing here?

That was the only thought running through Rose's mind as she stood outside of the door to Hagrid's hut. It was on the edge of the grounds, right next to the forbidden forest, and the threat of the unknown calling from the dark trees was only adding to her sense of foreboding. She was late because she had not intended to come, only stumbling out of the common room fifteen minutes after she was supposed to arrive out of guilt. Snape had done a kind thing for her, and it was only right that she repay him somehow. That being said, a large part of her was still convinced that it was a trick. Maybe when she knocked on the door, McGonagall or someone would step out and give her a detention for bothering the gamekeeper. It was nonsense, she knew, but she still feared it somewhat.

Maybe I should just turn back…

But to what? The dungeons, where everyone hated her? At least behind the door there was a chance someone didn't despise her. (A slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.) With a deep breath, she knocked twice.

"I'll get it!" came a faint voice from inside. It wasn't the gruff tones of Hagrid, but softer, younger, and decidedly more female. It must have been Lily Evans.

Lily Evans! The mere thought made Rose's stomach drop to her feet, and she almost turned tail and ran. From some undiscovered inner source of strength she managed to steel herself, and the door swung open. There she was – Evans, in all her glory. Stunning red hair, darker than Rose's, fell sleekly behind her back. It contrasted heavily with the frizz that Rose was trying to hide underneath a woollen Slytherin hat. Her eyes, that raked over the Slytherin as if she were a nasty bit of dirt on her shoe, where a beautiful bright green. Rose's dull brown ones suddenly felt very inadequate.

"Hi," she managed to stammer out, causing Evans to grimace.

"Oh. You came."

The tone of her voice indicated that she rather wished she hadn't.

Rose swallowed. "Yes. Well. Can I come in?"

With great reluctance, Evans stepped aside, allowing Rose to slip past her into the warmth of Hagrid's cabin. The scene was not much more welcoming there either. Snape and Hagrid were sat at opposite ends of the kitchen table, making no conversation, and both clearly desperate for Evans to return and put them out of their misery. Snape's expression lightened in satisfaction when he spotted Rose, which was to be expected. What was unexpected, however, was the way that Hagrid's face brightened too. He stood up.

"Rose Prewett! Good to see you again! Did you manage to get rid of all that blood?"

Rose blushed at the reminder. "Hello, Hagrid. And yes, I did – thanks for all your help."

"'Twas nothing, don't you worry about it," he hummed, standing up to pour her a cup of tea and putting a rock cake on a plate for her. "Muppets, the lot of 'em."

Rose watched Snape's expression sour as she took her seat opposite Evans, who was still watching her with distrust.

"And what exactly do you mean, the lot of them?" he bristled. Rose noted that his rock cake, along with Evans', remained untouched. "I'll have you know that those boys are good friends of mine –"

"In which case, I'd advise yeh ter re-evaluate who yer friends really are," Hagrid said darkly, coming to sit down with them. He passed Rose her tea and cake. She took a tentative nibble and discovered that rock was by no means a misnomer. Her teeth ached from the pressure it took to bite through. Thankfully, Hagrid was too focussed on Snape to notice. Snape had opened his mouth to retort, but Evans must have kicked him underneath the table, because he winced and fell into a moody silence. In fact, no one spoke for a moment, until Rose managed, with forced brightness,

"This is a lovely home, Hagrid!"

It worked. Hagrid's attention was won, and he smiled at her. "Aw, it's nothin' much, but it does me fine. How are you farin', anyway? People leavin' you alone?"

Tears sprang to Rose's eyes, but she did her best to hold them in. "Oh yeah, things are settling down now. Thanks."

Hagrid didn't look like he believed her – because of her shaky voice, or because Evans was raising her eyebrows, she couldn't be sure.

"All nonsense. Arthur Weasley's one o' the nicest men I ever met, and yer right ter stand by 'im."

Rose hoped that she wasn't expected to say anything in response, because truthfully she was not at all proud of how she handled her sister's marriage. Thankfully, Hagrid just shook his head slightly and changed the subject.

"Anyway, enough about all that. I hear from Professor Slughorn that you're aces at potions."

Rose flushed with pride. "He really said that?"

"Oh yeah, and he's not one to lie. Our little Lily over here is also a fiend at the old potion-making mind, aren't yeh?"

Lily shot an apologetic glance at Snape, who Hagrid had failed to mention. Then she said, humbly, "I do my best. I'm much better at charms though."

"Oh, I wish I was," said Rose jokingly, trying to endear herself to the Gryffindor. "Anything that uses a wand and I'm about as useful as a toad."

It didn't work. Evans was still watching her with a shrewd expression. "Well, wand work does take a lot of practice."

This was indeed part of the problem. Rose had only ever been good at magic that came naturally. With Potions and Herbology, she could feel the right answers in her soul – most of the time she didn't even have to think. Anything more complex, like Astrology and Charms, and she floundered. "I really should try and get some tutoring."

Hagrid's face lit up. "Perhaps Lily could tutor you!"

From his shadowy corner of the table, Snape snorted.

Rose balked. "Oh, I don't know about that, Hagrid – I really am very terrible, and I'm sure Lily is very busy –"

But Hagrid cut her off. "Nonsense! You tutor quite a few of yeh classmates, don't yeh Lily?"

"I do," said Evans grudgingly, "although I might not be the best person to tutor you in all subjects. I could do Charms, but were you looking for anything else?"

She thought about it for a moment. "I suppose Transfiguration, Astronomy, and Defence Against the Dark Arts would all be good too."

Surprisingly, Evans seemed to be taking Rose's plight seriously. Rose had thought, considering their past antagonism, that she would be more mocking. It was disconcerting to see her rise above all the pettiness, and it made Rose feel very childish for carrying around her own grudge.

"I don't know about Transfiguration, but I could definitely help you with Astronomy. As for Defence Against the Dark Arts, my friend Remus could help you – although I'd have to ask if he would want to…"

Rose noticed the veiled slight, but she was more interested in something else: Remus. There was that boy again! Rose thought back to yesterday and tried to visualise her would-be saviour, but aside from the light hair, she couldn't. It would be good to see him again, to try and thank him and apologise for her behaviour. Then again, would he even want to see her? She had been so rude, and if Potter and Black had given him a talking to since the train station then he was probably ready to avoid her at all costs. She was so deep in thought at this, that she forgot to respond. It was Hagrid who spoke next.

"Ah, Remus is a lovely boy, I highly doubt he'd say anything other than it would be a pleasure!"

Evans, who was clearly less convinced, frowned. "Well, I'll certainly ask."

Snape had long since given up on contributing to the conversation, but he caught Rose's eye and shot her a dark look of which she could not grasp the meaning. She tried to catch his eye again to shoot him a questioning glance in return, but he was skilfully avoiding her gaze now. Concluding that it was probably something she had said, Rose stuffed more of the rock cake into her mouth to prevent putting her foot in it again.

"Speaking of Remus," said Hagrid, thankfully redirecting them all, "how are things going with that Potter boy? Have you two made up yet?"

For the first time that evening, it was Evans who was on the back foot. She blushed to the tip of her roots. "No. And I have no intention of making up because we were never friends. He's an arrogant toerag."

"Quite right," muttered Snape into his tea.

Rose was surprised. Evans was the most popular girl in Gryffindor, and James Potter the most popular boy. She had always assumed that they were somewhat of an item, or at the very least friends. Perhaps they had had a falling out?

"He's not so bad…" said Hagrid gently. "An' he always asks after you, yeh know."

"That's because he's obsessed with her," spat Snape with shocking vehemence. "It's not sweet, it's disgusting."

Hagrid didn't say anything to that, though from the look on his face it seemed that he rather wished Snape wasn't here at all. "Well, I'm just sayin', people can change! Just look at Rose here."

Rose wasn't sure this was the best example considering the fact that Evans clearly didn't think she had actually changed at all.

"What do you think o' James, Rose?"

They were all looking at her expectantly. Her brain whizzed as she took a sip of her tea to wash down the cake, trying to think of an answer that would please everyone. She realised quickly that there wasn't one. Instead, after a few seconds of contemplation, she was forced to admit, "I always thought he was a bit of a prick."

Snape snorted into his tea yet again, and for the first time since she had arrived, Rose could have sworn she saw the ghost of a smile grace Lily Evans lips.

Hagrid, on the other hand, looked decidedly miffed. "Right cheeky sods, you lot."

The walk back to the castle was decidedly awkward. Lily Evans had seemed to warm to Rose over the space of the evening, but there was still some resistance there. She wasn't exactly surprised – Lily Evans was Muggle-born, and Rose's old friendship group, whether she had ever cared to address it or not, had never been pro-Muggle. She could only hope that, little by little, Lily would come to see that she had changed, like Hagrid said. Or, perhaps more accurately, was in the process of changing.

"Prewett, are you deaf?"

Rose jumped at the sound of Snape's voice. It appeared that Evans had been speaking to her, from the bemused expression she was wearing.

"Lily was asking you if you're free this weekend."

"Free?" Rose was shocked. "To study?"

"No, just to hang out," said Evans. She and Snape were walking slightly ahead, and Rose could see the waterfall of her hair swishing from side to side. "Remus and I are going to Hogsmeade to do some shopping since we're allowed to start going there this year, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for you to meet him."

"Oh – um. Yes, that sounds good. Thank you."

"You could bring a friend of yours along too, if you like, to make things more comfortable for you."

"Like Prewett has any friends," muttered Snape airily, earning himself a sharp look from both of the girls.

"Actually, that would be great," Rose replied pointedly as they trudged into the entrance hall. "Do you know Leah Liebowitz?"

Evans, whose nose had turned a blush pink from the cold, brightened. "Oh Leah! Yes, I know her from Muggle Studies, she's great. You're more than welcome to bring her with you. It should be fun, all things considered…"

And quite unexpectedly, Rose was confident that she meant it. "Great! Thanks again."

"It's nothing," said the redhead blithely as she started to ascend the stairs that would eventually lead her to Gryffindor tower. "I'll see you then! And I'll see you tomorrow break Sev."

"See you," he called after her, turning towards the dungeons. Rose sent her an embarrassing little wave that she immediately regretted, though Lily was polite enough to return it. Noticing that Snape was already halfway down the stairs to the Slytherin Common Room, Rose hurried after him.

"Lily seems nice!" she panted when she had finally caught up, her pleasure at a successful evening evident on her face.

"Yes," he drawled. "I told you she would be."

They walked down the gloomy corridors in silence for a few moments. They weren't far from the common room now – one could just about hear odd bursts of chatter as people opened and closed the door up ahead. And then Snape suddenly turned around and pulled Rose into a dark alcove nearby, so that they were face to face. Rose had to push herself back against the brick wall in order to ensure they weren't pressed up against each other in the tiny space.

"However, Remus Lupin is not."

Rose blinked. "Um…"

"I would not say this in front of Lily, because she is mistakenly rather…" He paused to grimace. "…fond of Lupin, but let me make it quite clear that he is no better than Potter and Black. In fact, I would go so far as to say he is worse."

"Right." She didn't quite no what to say. A vein was twitching in Snape's forehead that made him look slightly deranged in the shadows. "And you're telling me this because…?"

"Because," he said shortly, "I think you've proved that picking friends isn't your forte."

Rose blushed. "Well. Lily said she liked him, and she seems a rather good judge of character."

"And what makes you think that?" he responded snidely. "The fact that she's friends with me, or the fact that she thinks you're an arse?"

She knew it was somewhat true, but it still stung to hear. She blinked furiously to get rid of the tears.

"That isn't fair."

He scoffed. "Neither is life."

And with that, he ducked out of the alcove and continued on his way to the common room, leaving Rose confused and alone in the dark.