A Chaser or a Keeper

by Pluto24

When Rose Ward (O/C) starts her first year at Hogwarts, she instantly attracts the attention of school heartthrob Edward Oliver. Join Rose over her school years at Hogwarts packed with adventure, friendships, romance, drama and heartache. A book merging characters and situations from Harry Potter and Twilight.

15. Friendship is sometimes a very fine line

Friendship is sometimes a very fine line.

The satisfaction Rose felt in the moments that followed didn't last long. Her smirk quickly left her confident face as she watched Edward disappear from the table, his expressions hallow and dark.

As her eyes followed his leave, Rose not only became aware of the confused stares of Edward's peers but of her own friends too, their faces curious in their silent accusations.

Suffocated by the sudden amount of attention, Rose leapt from the Gryffindor table, quickly following Edward's footsteps to the now empty Entrance Hall.

She had half hoped that Edward would be waiting, ready to pounce on her with his twenty questions of how she had come to the conclusion that she had. But her hope quickly melted to unease as the panic quickly swallowed her.

Rose started to frantically turn on the spot, looking for any sign of a clue to which way he went, the only sign that he had been there at all, his lavender and honeysuckle smell, which wafted heavily in the air.

"Rose?"

Rose jumped nervously as she slowly turned to see Ron standing in the entrance to the Great Hall, Hermione and Harry lingering curiously behind him.

"Rose, What's going on?" Ron continued adamantly.

"I can't tell you." Rose whispered, regretting her words instantly. "All I know is I need to make this right."

"I don't understand." Ron replied, his confusion clear.

"I've got to go." Rose begged. "I think I've made a huge mistake."

She pleaded with her eyes for Ron to understand, before quickly fleeing out of the front doors of the castle.

"Rose Wait!" He shouted from behind, his voice clearly nervous.

She held the door knob tightly behind her, grateful that Ron hadn't indeed decided to follow her. As she shut her eyes in frustration, she smelt the air in the hopes that she would continue to be able to smell Edward. But the smell had instantly stopped.

Slowly making her way down the stone steps to the grounds below, her eyes flickered around her for any signs of movement, Madam Pomfrey's warning briefly floating in the back of her mind.

*Don't over exert yourself.*

"Edward?" Rose pleaded sincerely. "Edward, if your out here, can we please talk?"

There was nothing but eery silence that followed, the cold November night, damp and isolating.

"I'll be waiting over here." Rose croaked. "If you can talk."

Rose waited in silence for over an hour, the cardigan that Edward had given her only hours before her only source of warmth. Wrapping it tightly round her, she sat shivering the darkness, her breath forming quick pools of mist in her nervousness.

Her hands slowly began to loose the feelings in the tips of her fingers, her wand wobbling as she she raised her wand light up from the shadows.

"Edward, please?" She muttered pitifully.

Reluctantly she stood, the ground now icy and slippy. As she walked back towards the warmth she felt like she was abandoning him in the darkness, regretting that she had to prioritise her health.

The castle was quiet, the atmosphere unwelcoming and stagnant. As Rose walked in the eery silence she hoped that against her better judgement that Edward would be in Gryffindor tower, and that all this had been a big misunderstanding.

The common room turned to silence as Rose entered, making it extremely obvious that several people had been talking about her moments before she had come into view.

As she looked around the room in the hopes of seeing Edward, she caught sight of her friends awkwardly sitting in the corner. It would seem that they too were purposely not making eye contact.

Disappointment rippled through her body as she awkwardly stood, not knowing where to go with everyone's eyes clearly on her. Her own friends making it quite clear that they didn't want her next to them, she reluctantly moved to sit in the only vacant seat - the lumpiest armchair Gryffindor tower had to offer.

Rose knew she needed to find and speak to him, even if he didn't want to be found straight away. Realising that she was going to have to buy her time and wait for his return she tried to ignore the constant stares of her peers. Gazing intensely into the warm fire, she waited for him in silence. By four in the morning, he still hadn't returned nor had he been visible on the border of the forest out of the bay window. The bitter realisation that he didn't want to talk to her slowly became more obvious to Rose, and by half past four she had reluctantly made her way to bed for a few hours of stagnant sleep.

By the following evening it had become apparent through overheard conversations that nobody else had seen him either. Edward hadn't turned up for any of his class, meals, nor could he be found in his Quidditch office. The later which was confirmed through Lee was a clear sign of concern.

The rumours that circulated as a consequence to Edward's disappearance surfaced quickly and hastily went out of control. Though most sounded ludicrous it was frightening how most seemed to be taken seriously. By the afternoon a new rumour involving Rose, Edward, Cedric and Angelina had risen to become the most popular - the base of the lie too close to the truth.

The public actions from both Cedric and Angelina the night before had led people to change the rumours from a love triangle to a love square, with Rose and Edward always at the heart of any story. To make matters worse for all the ignoring Rose did, Angelina seemed to encourage the rumours, happily admitting to eager listeners that Edward and herself were on "comfortable terms".

With Cedric and Edward also in silence, Angelina's words had suddenly become the truth, with people asking her the most strange and personal questions about her and Edward's love life.

The rumours of herself with Cedric however were the least of Rose's worries. Ron had asked multiple times throughout the day as to who Carlisle Cullen was, his questioning becoming more adamant, the more he realised his importance to Rose.

Though Rose had tried to explain that he was of no significance, Ron knew she was lying, his frustration mounting to an all time high by the time he went to walk Smutz with her later that evening.

"I thought you could trust me." Ron muttered, the hurt clear in his voice.

"This has got nothing to do with trust." Rose pleaded. "Because if it did, you would know with no hesitation."

"Then what is it Rose?" Ron asked desperately.

"Its someone else's truth." Rose whispered honestly.

"I haven't mentioned it to Harry or Hermione." Ron justified.

"I know." Rose bitterly smiled. "If I could, I would Ron. You have just got to believe me."

Ron snorted, shaking his head in resentment.

"What's the point in keeping this secret when our respect isn't mutual?"

"Ron?" Rose pleaded. "You have got to believe me that I trust and respect you."

Ron shot her his worst look, too angry to reply.

"Come on Smutz." Ron muttered.

She didn't call him back, too upset to make the situation worse. Rose couldn't tell him the one thing he wanted to know and because of it, she was risking breaking her trust with her closest friend. Reluctantly watching Ron walk back up to the castle, she quickly felt isolated from the darkness.

She waited ten minutes, wanting to make sure he would have the head start back to the common room without her that he wanted and needed. As she unenthusiastically walked up the slippery stone steps, she dragged her feet back to Gryffindor tower, dreading the thought of what would await her this evening.

The room was loud, boisterous and intimidating to walk into, the booming music hitting Rose uneasily as she entered the packed common room.

Angelina was stood on a high table in the centre of the room, sway dancing with a cup of butter beer in her hand whilst other students danced beneath her, their arms outreached towards her like she was some sort of God.

"What on earth." Rose muttered horrified.

Looking around her, her face full of unexpected surprise, she caught sight of Alicia, who quickly ran over with a spare beer.

"Rose!" Alicia screamed. "Welcome to your first Quidditch party!"

"Thanks?" Rose asked, excepting the bottled butter beer from her. "But why are we celebrating it now?"

"Because you are out of hospital." Alicia shouted eagerly. "And we didn't need an excuse to throw a party mid week!"

"Is Edward here?" Rose bellowed back.

"NO." Alicia replied guilty. "He might come along later though."

Rose nodded bitterly, taking a long drawn swig from the cold beer.

"Is everything okay Rose? I hope your not too upset with Angelina."

"Why would I be upset with Angelina?" Rose asked carefully.

"Because of her and Oliver." Alicia acknowledged. "I wouldn't want things to get awkward between the two of you."

"There won't be any awkwardness from me." Rose admitted. "I hope Angelina realises that too."

Alicia nodded gratefully, rubbing Rose's arm in sympathy.

"I'm going to go sit down over there." Rose muttered. "I suddenly feel tired."

Waving Alicia off, Rose managed to move over to the fireside instantly regretting coming back to the common room so soon.

Back in the lumpiest armchair, Rose took another deep swig from the butter beer, her eyes hypnotised by the flickering frames.

"You really are too smart for you own good sometimes." Fred muttered in her ear.

Crouching on the arm of her chair, he looked at her intensely as she frowned at the fire. Eventually looking up from the fireside, she looked at Fred awkwardly.

"And why am I being too smart?" Rose sighed.

"Because we have just managed to track Oliver down finally." George answered from Rose's other side.

Sitting on the other arm of her chair, Rose felt like she was suddenly squashed in a Weasley twin sandwich.

"I see." Rose muttered quietly.

Finally looking away from Fred, she now looked carefully at George;

"How is he?" She asked guiltily.

"Angry, upset, frightened. The whole works." George muttered.

"I figured." Rose agreed.

"He didn't expect you to know as much as you did." Fred addressed.

Rose looked at them both before returning to the fire.

"How much do you know Rose?" Fred asked carefully.

Rose looked back at him gingerly.

"Its okay Rose." George offered comfortingly. "We know everything."

Rose rummaged into her pocket, pulling out the ripped scrap piece of paper that had her list written upon it. Handing it over to Fred and George, they both quickly skim read her notes, both looking at each other shocked when they had finished.

"You managed to work this all out by yourself?" Fred frowned.

"Yes." Rose admitted.

"Then why does he think that you have tricked him into revealing himself?" George asked aloud.

"That's just not true." Rose defended. "I managed to find a book that confirmed my suspicions. But I also needed proof of my other theory."

"Your other theory?"

"I know he can read your minds." Rose admitted.

"I see." Fred acknowledged seriously.

"But I also know he can't read mine." Rose continued.

"How?" George muttered aghast.

"He is always asking me how I feel or what I am thinking." Rose justified.

"And how did you conclude that you were right?" George urged.

"With Edward's permission I used Ron to help me out." Rose paused. "I wrote down a name that would mean nothing to Ron but everything to Edward, and got Ron read the name in his head."

"And the name?" Fred asked.

"Carlisle Cullen"

"Shit." Fred sighed.

"Ron doesn't know a thing." Rose explained further. "He has been asking questions all day and is now so upset with me, I fear he won't recover from the hurt."

"Ron will get over it." George replied calmly. "Fred is just concerned for you."

"For me?" Rose replied in confusion.

"You know too much Rose." Fred explained. "This wasn't how you were meant to find out."

"Well." Rose justified. "It wasn't like he was going to stroll up to me and tell me."

"No he wasn't" Fred admitted.

"Well then." Rose continued. "Why is it okay for you to know and not me?"

"Because our circumstances are different to yours."

"Why?" Rose asked adamantly.

"Drop it Rose." Fred warned harshly.

Rose looked from one twin to the other, clearly bothered by their secrecy.

"I haven't done anything wrong." Rose muttered in protest. "It's not like I have told anyone."

"But are you contemplating telling?" George inquired. "You have already fell out with Ron over it, what about Harry and Hermione?"

"It's not my secret to tell." Rose replied hurt. "I wouldn't tell on him for my own selfish reasons. I understand the consequences of my actions."

The twins stared at each other looking worried and serious.

"He said that I could try and work it out." She muttered bitterly.

"I guess he never thought you would actually succeed." Fred sighed.

"It's not just about him, Rose. His family have also been told." George replied glumly. "Some have received the news better than others."

Rose swallowed guilty. She had forgotten that this could effect his family if the news broke out.

"The thing is Rose, Oliver is used to being able to keep his enemies close. Being able to hear their thoughts has allowed him to know their secrets and their moves in advance. With you he doesn't have that safety net." Fred explained "His family are therefore anxious, they have no control over what you are going to do with the information."

"That isn't to say that Oliver doesn't trust you." George continued quickly.

"If he trusted me, he wouldn't have got you two to ask that question." Rose said knowingly.

"Thats not what-" Fred started to explain.

"Its okay Fred." Rose replied. "I might not agree, but I can't not allow him to have feelings of resentment."

"He has just had pressure on him." George explained carefully. "Please don't doubt how he cares about you."

Rose nodded, looking around the room at the commotion of hysteria and then back at the glum faces of the twins.

"Why did they choose to do the party today." Rose sighed.

"Oliver told them to go ahead with it." Fred muttered guiltily. "He sent Angelina a letter earlier."

"I see." Rose gulped.

She looked at the two twins carefully;

"You have to go don't you." She acknowledged knowingly.

George smiled glumly, whilst Fred sighed.

"Do you always have to know everything." He sighed.

"Don't worry about me." Rose replied. "I'll be fine, i'll just find Smutz and go to bed."

Rose." George muttered guiltily. "Smutz is with Oliver."

"I see." Rose repeated. "I'll just go to bed then."

"We're sorry Rose." Fred acknowledged.

"Don't be." Rose replied distantly. "I think there is a muggle saying that goes along the lines of: You've made your bed and now you must lie in it.

Its quite ironic really isn't it."

"Rose" George scolded. "Your starting to sound like Oliver."

"I wish I was as wise." Rose said honestly. "Now please go to your friend."

The twins squeezed her shoulders as they passed, the notion accepted as a silent goodbye. Now alone once more, Rose's attention returned to the fire, the guilt returning from earlier.

This whole situation was a complete mess and entirely all her fault and all because she had hated Edward being so smug.

Now alone with no-one to turn to, she couldn't help but bitterly resent that even her dog seemed to have chosen his loyalty to Edward.

Sinking further into the lumpy armchair, hugging herself for comfort, she necked the rest of the now flat beer, before throwing the piece of paper she still held in her hand into the fire.

She was done with theories.

Days started to merge together, with Rose's only distraction now lessons itself.

Ron had moved next to Neville in class and had now resulted in ignoring Rose entirely. Though Rose had her friends in class, Unbeknownst to Harry and Hermione, Ron had tactically distracted them with Nicholas Flamel outside of class. With Ron smoothly taking both friends, Rose was suddenly alone.

By Thursday, most of the old rumours about Rose and Edward had stopped entirely, with even Angelina's rumours slowly falling out of circulation.

With Edward still not being seen however, a new rumour had started to circulate. It was rumoured that he was in the hospital wing because of a broken heart, Rose and Cedric the culprits behind it.

This new loneliness had other drawbacks. With Rose now isolated she was an easy target and Marietta had become confident once again in her confrontations, the rumours seeming to add to her anger.

It was with bitter irony that Rose remembered that it had only been four days since she had asked her friends to have her back, so that she wouldn't have to face Marietta alone again.

It had only been four days since she had recovered from her broken bones, four days since she had discovered Marietta's obsession with Edward.

Four days since she last saw him.

It had only been four days and yet she felt unwell without him - like she was suffering from withdrawal symptoms or a missing limb.

She found she was starting to shake involuntarily, loose concentration in lessons and even struggle to sleep with her dreams becoming too close to reality. Her isolation from her peers and family were quickly making her mental health deteriorate and made her regret that only weeks before she had, had to hide from people through her own popularity. How she wished she could talk to someone now without it being about the rumours.
But nothing was quite as suffocating as not having her dog by her side.

*Animals were meant to be scared of vampires.* She bitterly thought to herself.

Rose sat down at the Gryffindor table, surrounded by the other first years, Harry, Ron and Hermione nowhere to be seen.

"Where are the others again?" Seamus asked curiously.

"The library." Rose replied cooly.

"What are they doing in there?" Seamus continued.

"Who knows." Rose muttered. "It doesn't involve me."

"You know that makes it even more intriguing, the fact that your friends have dropped you." Dean explained. "Makes you very mysterious Rose."

"Mysterious?" Rose snorted. "Hardly."

"Sure it does." Lavender agreed. "Especially alongside what everyone is talking about."

"And you believe the rumours?" Rose asked in disbelief.

"Sure I do." Lavender replied unabashed. "I mean Oliver is in the hospital wing isn't he?"

"No. He isn't." Rose replied through gritted teeth.

"But Angelina said-"

"Choose what you want to believe Lavender." Rose sighed. "But Edward-Oliver is most defiantly not in the hospital wing"

Her peers looked at her awkwardly, their thoughts all too clear by their surprised faces.

"Excuse me." Rose announced politely, pushing herself away from the table.

Grabbing an empty goblet, she poured the chicken and sweetcorn soup into it before grabbing a chunk of sourdough.

Swiftly leaving the table, Rose couldn't help but overhear Lavender grumble;

"What did I say?" To the others, clearly annoyed.

Marching out of the Hall, Rose unlocked the front door to the castle, sitting outside on the school steps, her breathing still rapid.

Grateful to be wrapped up in warm layers, Rose watched the geese on the lake swim slowly around in their search for food. The calm water and the way the birds glided through it were a good distraction and Rose found that for a few minutes she forgot her worries from what had felt like a very miserable week.

Sighing she sipped her lukewarm soup.

"I was wondering where you were." Cedric cheerfully shouted from behind her, bounding down the steps two at a time.

"Cedric!" Rose smiled sincerely. "Hi!"

"Are you okay if I join you?" He replied, slightly out of breath.

"What did I say the other day? Rose joked.

Cedric looked at her blankly.

"You don't need to ask permission, just tag along." Rose chuckled.

She tapped the cold step next to her eagerly, not realising how much she was craving the company.

"Well, I did want to double check, especially after you know…that one rumour that went round about us two…"

"Oh!" Rose blushed awkwardly.

In her eagerness to have a friend to talk to, she had completely forgot what it might have looked like to everyone else.

Looking down at the mug cradled in her hands, she replied truthfully;

"To be honest Cedric, there have been so many rumours circulating this week that I have stopped paying attention."

"Very wise." Cedric agreed with a wink, crouching down next to her "Though it is strange that Oliver has disappeared. I hope it was nothing I did?"

"No." Rose replied reassuringly. "This is a battle that he has to go through alone."

"From my perspective he has his friends around him. It seems to be you who has all of a sudden been left with the burden of loneliness." Cedric replied sadly.

"I'm fine." Rose said convincingly. "Ron and I have had a falling out and we will patch things up again."

"Want to talk about it?" Cedric asked sympathetically.

"Another time." Rose replied carefully. "Its still a little raw at the moment."

"Sure." Cedric replied, rubbing her arm sympathetically. "I actually came out here to give you this."

Looking at Cedric with intrebgition, Rose placed the goblet next to her before leaning across and accepted the envelope Cedric was now holding.

"It says 'Top secret.'" Rose laughed. "What on earth is this?"

The feeling of amusement was nice, she hadn't laughed in days.

"A friend of mine gave it to me. It's about a competition that happens every year which I have just found out that I am in."

"Oh I see." Rose nodded, looking at the two words again. "How did your friend get this?"

"They took it from inside Flitwick's desk." Cedric said as casually as he could.

Rose looked up with a questioning stare.

"Your friend just casually goes through all the teachers desks does he?" Rose asked bemusedly.

"Not all the teachers." Cedric chuckled.

"But won't Professor Flitwick notice that it's missing?" Rose questioned.

"No, he is currently eating lunch" Cedric shrugged. "And I have his class next so I can slip it back. I just wanted to show it to you first."

"To be honest Cedric I don't feel comfortable holding such a thing." Rose joked holding the letter back out for Cedric to take.

"But there is som…" Cedric started before pausing and sighing. "You're just too much of a goodie two shoes aren't you." He smiled.

"I hold my hands up." Rose grinned. "I don't like breaking rules where I can."

"Very well." Cedric chuckled again, returning her grin and pocketing the letter.

"So are you wanting help with the competition?" Rose asked curiously.

"Yes…and no." Cedric replied.

"Go on?" Rose laughed

"Well each year it has been a miming and dancing competition, but thanks to a certain someone, the rules have changed to include singing."

"I wonder who that was." Rose joked.

"I wonder yes!" Cedric laughed. "So in that sense I'm looking forward to 'really' singing…. but the singer they have nominated me as, I am less enthusiastic about."

"You have been nominated a singer to preform?" Rose asked in confusion. "But what happens if the singer doesn't suit your singing style."

"Thats part of the game." Cedric shrugged. "It has always been like that."

"Oh." Rose frowned. "So who are you?"

"Robbie Williams" Cedric replied with a wrinkled nose.

"Well.." Rose replied diplomatically. "He has at least got some good songs."

"Yes. But his dance moves are poor." Cedric replied bitterly.

"Yeah, that does make it more difficult." Rose agreed. "I am a little surprised that Professor Flitwick chose Robbie Williams, his music knowledge is Really vast!"

"It's not the Professor who chooses." Cedric chuckled. "Good grief Rose where have you been all week, under a rock?"

"Admittedly I have been distracted" Rose sighed. "Why, what have I missed?"

"Everyone in the school has been voting on who they want the house representatives to be." Cedric answered with a tone of surprise. "And then the frog choir secretly decide what artist they want each individual performer to be."

"Oh." Rose frowned. "I have had no idea that this has been going on."

"Clearly." Cedric agreed, shaking his head is bemusement. "You won't have long to wait to find out the rest of representatives though, according to the letter, Flitwick wants to mention it tonight."

"I might stick around for dinner then." Rose replied with a small smile indicating to her now cold lunch.

"You should be eating three meals a day Rose." Cedric frowned.

"I know." Rose agreed. "Its just hard to do it when you've lost your appetite."

"Things will get better." Cedric said confidently. "This competition could be a good distraction."

"I hope so." Rose agreed. "And for what it's worth, I am more than happy to help you too Cedric, if I can that is."

"I think you are going to be very busy with your own representative." Cedric replied with certainty. "But thanks Rose, that means a lot."

"Your welcome." Rose replied meaningfully.

"I've got to go." Cedric announced apologetically. "I would stay, but I've got to try and get this letter back promptly. - Thanks for the lunch date, I'll see you soon!"

And with that, he quickly stood.

Sitting there in the aftermath of her talk, Rose couldn't help but feel guilty as to how Sunday had gone with Cedric. He was a good guy and as it had turned out a good friend. Maybe in her own bias toward Edward, she had harboured unhelpful opinions of others.

That evening, the Great Hall buzzed in an excitement that hadn't been present since the Quidditch match. Now aware why everyone was so excited, Rose made her way down the table to Harry and the others. With a small smile to both Harry and Hermione, Rose cautiously sat next to Ron, offering him a small nod which went ignored.

Awkwardly helping herself to the lasagne in front of her, Rose became all too aware of the soft whispers that circulated around the hall.

"He's back."

She didn't need to look up to know who they were on about, her spine was already tingling from his presence. If she was in any doubt over her senses, Angelina's prompt reaction as she stood from the table to gaze at him made it clear. - Edward was back.

The twins in front, their faces harsh and unfriendly, they walked past Angelina without glancing towards her. Edward who was close behind, was flanked by Lee, his eyes focused purely on the back of the twins heads.

Rose allowed herself the briefest of side glances, not daring herself to look fully at the man she had hurt. Even with the controlled viewing, her emotions nearly got the better of her, her heart beating fast in her chest, it yearned for her to look at him.

Rose stayed focused on her food, pushing the pasta from one side of her plate to the other, her small appetite now completely vanished.

Angelina had now sat back down, her eyes showing confusion and hurt as she stared down the table toward Rose. Rose glanced nervously back, showing her own puzzlement. Why was Angelina looking at her like that?

With the Hall being busy, Rose hadn't factored in where the twins, Lee and Edward were going to sit. They were already squashed more tightly in then they normal would.

Seeing Lee and Fred appear next to Harry and Hermione, it dawned on Rose why Angelina had given her the odd look.- Edward must be close.

Edward's smell made her hands shake with adrenaline, the notion making her drop her cutlery subtly so the action would go unnoticed. It frightened her slightly how much her body longed for the smell and sight of Edward and she worried what was going to happen once he disappeared once more.

Rose slowly turned first to Fred and Lee and then George, grateful that from her angle she couldn't see Edward.

They all looked exhausted, their eyes puffy from the lack of sleep. Rose gulped guiltily, the lump she had managed to get rid of returning in earnest.

"Rose." George nodded formally, filling the silence.

"George." Rose whispered back.

He gently pattered her leg, the notion meant to be reassuring, it instead making her feel worse.

"Eat your dinner." George muttered knowingly.

Rose snorted bitterly, holding the fork more tightly in her hand. She looked down at his empty plate and then to Fred's. It was unusual for them not to be eating.

"I could say the same to you." Rose uttered.

Fred weakly smiled, pushing some lasagne onto George's plate and then his own. In silence they all pushed the pasta around their plates, pretending to eat to reassure each other.

"Can I have everyone's attention please!" Flitwick shouted.

The room instantly became quiet, it was unusual for interruptions during dinner and everyone had become eagerly curious.

Rose looked up from her plate, turning in her seat so that she could view Flitwick. On the next table along and further down, Rose easily found Cedric who instead of looking at Flitwick was seeking her out with his gaze.

Cedric put his finger to his lips, before tapping his nose and winking at Rose. Understanding his message, She nodded with a small smile, before returning her attention back to Flitwick.

There was a loud bang beside her, making her jump. Looking over to where the noise had come from Rose instantly saw that Edward had moved positions, now holding the table edge with some force. His knuckles an icy white, he was holding onto it like his life depended on it. - clearly something was bothering him.

"EVERY YEAR" Flitwick shouted over the noise of the room. "We hold a singing and dancing competition.

But this time, for the first time in Hogwarts history the competitor can decide whether they want to mime or sing along.

The rules are simple. Two pupils from each House, one first year and one from any other year, battle it out to become House Champion. The successor then takes on the other winners from the other houses over three rounds until we have our Singing Champion.

We have decided to have two rounds before Christmas and two rounds after, with the first round commencing Sunday night-"

"No way!"

Flitwick was cut off by an overexcited witch, the crowds noise soon escalating as everyone started to speculate who had been chosen.

There were two strongly different opinions in regards to the competition. As Rose looked round at her first year peers she couldn't help but notice their nervous mutterings. Their bodies shrunken into their seats they glanced nervously around. Rose managed to glance at Ron slightly - he had changed to a strange shade of grey.

The complete contrast of the older students was comical. They watched on in amusement, as if this was some sort of light entertainment for them. A weird arrogance to their body language, Rose noticed even her own Quidditch teammates glancing at them like they were in a zoo. There was no denying it, there were two tribes that had suddenly formed.

"Alright, Alight! Settle back down, please! And yes way, Miss Hatty I wasn't kidding!" Flitwick giggled. "Which means each contestant has now got roughly seventy-two hours from now, to get their act in gear.

This week we have had you all cast your votes of who you have wanted to represent each house. There has been an astronomical amount of votes and I on behalf of all the teachers thank you for you participation. The votes have been counted and verified and I can now tell you who the House representatives will be:

Let's start in the right hand corner of the room with Slytherin.

Our first year nomination this year is Miss Millicent Bustrode. Miss Bustrode would you please stand?"

Millicent stood awkwardly, her face non distinctive and calculating. Promptly sitting back down, Flitwick quickly continued;

"Our other Slytherin representative who will be against Miss Bustrode to have a place in the quarter final is Mr Marcus Flint."

"Eughhh!" George muttered in disgust. "Do we really need to see him dance?"

There was slight titters of laughter, clearly George wasn't the only one with an opinion of Marcus Flint.

"Our first year nomination for Hufflepuff will be Miss Susan Bones who will be up against Mr Cedric Diggory, a round of applause for them both please."

Susan gingerly rose from her seat looking green in the face. It was horrific to witness her looking so traumatised by the ordeal, especially compared to Cedric who was beaming from ear to ear - The notion gaining a hysterical round of applause from the crowd.

"Ravenclaw's first year nomination is Mr Stephen Cornfoot, whilst back to the stage by popular demand is his competitor Miss Marietta Edgecombe."

Stephen and Marietta rose to accept their round of applause. Though Stephen looked mildly amused by being voted to do the task, it was Marietta that had instantly gained her whole attention. Her eyes landing directly on Rose, her smirk was all too obvious - She was up to something.

"And finally, last but defiantly not least we have Gryffindor's nominations.
As with Miss Edgecombe, there was an impressive amount of votes for both these representatives.

The Gryffindor first years have Miss Rose Ward as their representative."

Hermione gasped loudly, looking at Rose in concern, as did Harry and Ron. Rose understood why, she was yet again in a competition with Marietta after she promised herself she would avoid her at all costs.

"With Miss Angelina Johnson as her competitor."

Rose instantly stood, her smile spreading to a laugh when she saw Angelina's scowl sent her way. Looking out to the rest of the school, Rose was relieved that she didn't look nervous like the others.

Sitting quickly down, the Hall instantly swarmed into mummers and whispers so loud it sounded like a swarm of angry bees.

How stupid had she been? Looking back at her conversation earlier with Cedric she should have worked out more quickly that Cedric had been warning her that she herself was in the competition.

She laughed again, realising that with all the rumours that had been circulating, of course herself, Angelina and Cedric were all going to be in this competition. It was like the Hogwarts equivalent to a gladiators ring. - People wanted them to fight one another to cause pain…

"Oh." Rose muttered in realisation.

Turning to Hermione, Ron and Harry she continued;

"Marietta has set me up again hasn't she."

"Of course." Hermione whispered in surprise. "Flitwick mentioned that the votes were higher than normal. She wanted you all in the competition on purpose."

"To try and humiliate us all." Rose agreed.

Hermione shook her head, reaching out and comfortingly patting Rose's hand.

"You don't have to do the competition Rose." She muttered sternly. "You could always forfeit."

"Forfeit?" Rose scoffed. "Come on Hermione."

"Rose, last time this girl took a shot at you she broke your face." Harry hissed.

"All the more reason to continue in this competition." Rose replied adamantly. "What type of message would I be sending her otherwise?"

"One that said that you didn't care." Harry urged. "You have changed the way this competition is even done, you have nothing to prove."

Rose looked at her three friends and then down the table at the other first years, Ron's face in particular sending the message loud and clear.

"Oh I get it." Rose laughed in disbelief. "This is your psychological way of trying to get out of doing the competition yourselves. To 'help' your friend, I nearly believed you."

She shook her head again, her breathing hitched as her body attempted to laugh again. The feeling felt alien and awkward to produce.

"I wouldn't laugh out loud too much Rose." George muttered under his breath.

Rose's face quickly faded, her face becoming blank and serious.

"Trust me George, there was nothing humorous about it." Rose sighed back.

George leant closer to her, his tired eyes reading her carefully.

"I can tell your not nervous." George said knowingly. "But look around the room Rose, everyone else is crapping themselves."

Rose looked quickly around the room, her eyes landing on Susan Bones, her body visibly shaking.

"Its just a singing competition George." Rose replied with a frown. As she spoke she noticed Edward twitch slightly in his seat. He was listening in.

"Yes, it is." George replied, pausing slightly in hesitation. "But singing can only get you so far now Rose.

This competition was deigned as whole new way of humiliating first years once they have settled into Hogwarts. This is the second time Angelina has had to do it, she was her first year representative and it went horrifically bad."

"Why?" Rose whispered.

"She forgot her words." George shrugged. "But thats not the reason why I brought her up. Angelina is going to come at you with both barrels and you need to be ready."

"I can take on Angelina." Rose whispered confidently. "She doesn't even sing."

"And if it was a one to one, I would be betting on you hands down." George winced. "But in the first round you are only allowed help from your fellow first years whilst Angelina has got the help from the rest of us.

To top it all off, you now only have a matter of days to pull this off with Neville as one of your guys, I don't fancy your chances."

Rose sent George a harsh look, he was starting to sound just like the rest of them.

"Its doable." Rose replied harshly. "And don't be horrible about my classmates."

"I'll be rooting for you Rose." George replied with a sigh. "Just don't tell Angelina I said that."

Rose smiled bitterly, patting his arm sympathetically.

"Can you do be a favour though?" George whispered.

"Sure."

"Be careful." He replied seriously. "No first year has EVER got through to the second round. Watch your back."

Rose nodded before looking down the table at Angelina.

Angelina still looked a little surprised by the news but you could tell that she was confident. She already had a small group congregated around her, discussing ideas.

Looking up from her peers, she gazed upon Rose, offering her a small nod. Reciprocating the move, Rose turned to her own classmates cautious of the smirk that she noticed in the corner of Angelina's mouth. It was clear that Angelina saw no competition between the two of them, she knew she was going to win.

"Rose?" Hermione asked carefully.

Looking at Hermione and then each nervous first year in turn, Rose replied confidently.

"I'm not going to force any of you to do this competition with me. I know this has been set up to be cruel and humiliating, but if you can dance or sing in tune, help me. Let's break this stereotype and show everyone what first years can do with three days notice."

They all looked at her abashed, their nervousness gone replaced by surprise.

"Can I have all the competitors come up and collect their nominated artist and song list please." Flitwick shouted over the buzz of the crowd. "You now all have seventy-two hours to organise yourselves accordingly, good luck!"

Rose looked at their surprised faces once again before nodding her goodbye to George. Standing tall and confident, Rose stood from the table walking to the front of the Hall, her spine tingling from the adrenaline.

"I did try and warn you." Cedric whispered from behind.

"I instantly realised." Rose sighed in frustration. "Thank you for at least trying to help."

"No worries." Cedric said soothingly. "Good luck for Saturday."

"Thank you." Rose replied gracefully. "You too. This competition is certainly going to be an interesting one."

"Its not really a competition though is it?" Angelina interjected. "I mean, you have the better singing voice for sure but it's a 'group effort.'"

Her eyes lingered over to the Gryffindor table, her smirk reappearing.

"I have confidence in my friends." Rose scolded.

"Good." Angelina replied innocently as she received her envelope. "Its just from my perspective they look nervous."

Cedric and Rose looked at one another before both looking back at the Gryffindor table. It was true, Rose's peers had returned to looking nervous, the jibes from the older years not helping their low confidence.

With a sympathetic smile Cedric retrieved his envelope and waved goodbye.

"Good luck." He said sympathetically.

Returning her attention back towards the front, Rose walked up to Flitwick.

"Ah Miss Ward!" Flitwick announced affectionately. "All the information you need is in this letter. Any questions you know where I am."

"Thank you Sir." Rose replied carefully.

"Good Luck." He whispered.

Rose walked quickly back to the table, conscious that a lot of people had now wished her good luck in such a short space of time.

Sitting down promptly, Rose opened the envelope instantly, skimming the letter quickly.

'Dear Miss Ward,

You have been nominated to represent Gryffindor House in this years singing Competition.
Along with your other first years, you now have seventy-two hours to come up with a song and dance for the first round. For each round you have 5 Galleons to spend. This can either be used on an individual round, or saved up for future rounds dependant on how far you make it into the competition.
The artist that has been chosen for you is 'Lady Gaga'. You will either need to mime or make your voice sound as convincing as you can to mimic hers. You need to dress like she does and follow her dance moves as closely as you can feasibly. Bellow is the list of songs that have been selected for you to choose from. This list will not change for the others rounds so choose carefully.'

"What does it say?" Hermione whispered impatiently.

"Read it for yourself." Rose sighed, pushing the parchment towards Hermione who grabbed and read it, Harry looking over her shoulder.

"Who did you get?" Fred asked seriously. "Angelina has been given Beyoncé"

"Lady Gaga." Rose replied automatically.

"But her voice suits yours.. Why give you something to your advantage?" Fred replied clearly intrigued.

"I don't know." Rose shrugged. "I mean I will have to change my voice still, she has an American accent."

"Whats the song list like?" Fred asked curiously.

"Oh hang on."

Rose leant over to get to get the letter, her hand stopping midway. Out the corner of her eye she had suddenly become aware that it wasn't just Fred who was listening.

Leaning across the table towards him she whispered;

"Aren't you technically in competition with me now? I mean, I should be really careful about what information I give out from now on. It could be held against me."

Fred ginned proudly, before turning around and noticing the curious bystanders. Tapping his nose knowingly he whispered back;

"Thats my girl! Good luck."

Quickly standing, Fred beckoned for the others to follow, it was clear they wanted to go before they got dragged into the competition.

Watching the four friends leave, the emptiness soon returned as Rose watched Edward go, only the back of his head visible to her as he promptly left.

Hollow and disheartened, Rose slowly pulled herself back to the task at hand.

"Well?" Murmured Hermione sympathetically "What song do you think is best?"

"You mean your going to help?" Rose asked cautiously.

"I will help anyway I can." Hermione replied warmly. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding earlier."

"Me too." Harry said sympathetically.

Rose paused, looking down at the letter that Ron was skim reading.

"I don't want to do it." Ron muttered, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Then like I said before, you don't have to." Rose replied seriously.

Rose looked at him carefully, her face purposely blank of emotion. Ron's moody face softened as they made eye contact, his face reddening as he turned to face Hermionine and Harry. Their faces etched in disappointment.

"I need the letter back Ron." Rose asked cautiously.

Ron pushed the parchment towards her, his face still glowing.
Reading down the list, she sighed thoughtfully as she weighed her options.

"I think…" Rose paused carefully. "With the amount of time that we have to organise ourselves, we can at least discount a lot of these. If we can find a song that has uncomplicated dance moves, I can worry about learning the song at a later date."

Skimming the list again, she noticed that they were in order of how Lady Gaga had released them.

"Poker face," Rose breathed knowingly. "The dance moves are quite simple for that song as it was one of her first to be released."

"I will go round up all the others." Harry announced with authority. "I'll meet you back at the common room in an hour.

We are all behind you Rose."

The last words were not only said with purpose, but were directed only at Ron.

Walking into the common room exactly an hour later was like walking onto a battlefield.

Numerous pairs of unfriendly eyes squinted at Rose and Hermione untrustingly as they walked through the tunnel. With unspoken words, one sixth year pointed to the dark corner of the common room to where the other first years were. It was clear that this area, and this area alone was where they were allowed to congregate.

Walking past her friends, her Quidditch friends and even her family, Rose felt the odd sensation of disappointment towards what this competition had quickly done to people's personalities - even Percy was purposely looking in the complete opposite direction refusing to look at her. The only source of comfort was Fred and George who reached out as she passed, tapping her arm sympathetically with guilty glances. Edward, Lee and Smutz however were nowhere to be seen.

"Well isn't this snug." Seamus muttered sarcastically.

"At least they have given us somewhere to sit." Lavender replied cheerfully.

"There is that." Rose agreed.

"So what is the plan Rose?" Seamus asked nervously. "I think I can say on behalf of everyone here, we are so glad that it was your name that was called out."

"Be careful Seamus, there are other years it could be you." Rose chuckled darkly.

"I'll take my odds." Seamus shuddered.

"Well…." Rose started. "Wait where's Ron?"

"He will be back down in a moment." Harry urged. "Don't worry, I'll fill him in on anything he has missed."

"Okay." Rose sighed. "Our main problem is the lack of time we have to organise ourselves. The majority of her songs need a lot of dancers and a lot of choreography to make a visual impact that matches the song.

Now we need that visual impact and we need bright lights and good costumes. I have had a look at the list of songs I have been given and I think the best song for the first round is Poker face."

"You sound so confident that there will be other rounds." Parvati observed curiously.

"Thats because I feel it in my gut that we will be doing more than one round." Rose replied confidently.

"So in my naivety." Lavender asked carefully. "What happens in Poker face?"

"Well, when Lady Gaga preformed it, she had men in suits as her backing dancers." Rose acknowledged.

"Then what would we do?" Parvati asked in disappointment.

"I don't know whether the boys even want to do this." Rose replied in earnest. "But if I am lucky enough to have everyone on board, I will need all the help I can get with costumes, lighting, hair and make up. There are always more dances in the future-"

"Yeah…right" Ron scoffed from behind. "I heard Fred and George earlier. The first years are thrown into the lions ring as a warm up act for people to laugh at."

"Do you think I would ever put anyone here, let alone myself in any immediate threat of being laughed at?" Rose snapped.

"No, I think you know what your doing." Dean said confidently.

"Thank you Dean." Rose replied warmly. "Music is my passion. I feel like I know what I am doing here."

"But can you dance?" Parvati asked nervously.

"We had dance lessons growing up." Rose replied nonchalantly.

"You had dance lessons?" Seamus muttered to Ron.

"Thanks Rose." Ron growled.

"Well its true." Rose replied defensively. "So did Percy, Fred and George and now look at them all, they are against us!

Everyones logic here is that the first years will be rubbish because they will allow themselves to become nervous. I just need you all to have faith in yourselves. I believe that you can do this."

There was a moments pause whilst Rose made eye contact with everyone individually.

"Promise you won't laugh if we make mistakes?" Neville asked nervously.

"I'm not going to laugh at you." Rose replied sincerely. "Its through mistakes that you truly learn."

"I don't mind doing the costumes Rose." Parvati announced softly. "I have had to make a lot of clothes in the past."

"And I'll help Hermione doing sound and lighting." Lavender agreed.

"Thank you." Rose replied in relief. "That is a metaphorical weight off my shoulders."

Turning to the five boys she asked timidly;

"Are you all with me?"

"Of course we are." Seamus said boldly. "But where are we going to be able to practice, this room is too cramped."

"I tell you what." Rose thought out loud. "If we discuss the lighting and costumes tonight and work out how much of the five galleons we want to spend. Tomorrow we will find a disused classroom and practice in there with all our spare time. Sound like a plan?"

And thats what they did.

The following lunchtime, the first years grabbed a picnic and headed to an available classroom ready to learn the first steps to the dance.
Rose was most impressed with Neville, who as it turned out had nothing to worry about. His footwork was impeccable and could do the most elegant of lifts without needing to be taught twice. The normally clumsy boy was cast as the lead dancer, proudly stood in the middle alongside Rose, he was in charge of doing the most dance moves and lifts. Their idea was simple, they wanted to surprise and shock their audience at all times, keeping them wowed until the song ended.

In the opening seconds of the song, five spotlights would flood the stage, one boys stood underneath each light, forming a V shape on the otherwise empty stage.

Rose would be standing on the other side of the room, by the doors to the entrance hall, her entrance concealed from the public view. Once the music started however, a single spotlight would cast down revealing her. Strutting onto the Gryffindor table like it was a catwalk, Rose would walk in time to the beat towards the front of the room, jumping down and joining the boys on stage. From there, they would then do a fast dance to the rest of the song, with each boy having his own sequenced dance.

"And a five, six, seven, eight-"

"Mum-mum-mum-mah"

"Thats it! Hit your canes down and lean…. and lean!"

The boys were in the V shape from the start of the song, with Rose observing and directing.

"Mum-mum-mum-mah"

"So when I say 'I wanna roll' I will be holding Neville's right hand with my left. I will then spin to grab Ron's left hand with my right. Okay?

I then twirl with Ron and grab Seamus's right hand on 'with him, a hard' and link with Dean's left hand on the word 'pair we will be'.

Finally I will get to you Harry on 'hey'. Spin me out, so that I can raise my one hand that is now out of hold. I will then be facing the front with you all on my right."

"That's a lot to do quite quickly." Seamus said impressed.

"It is." Rose agreed. "Its why I'm singing it slowly, so you can get used to landing on a certain beat, Once we have nailed the routine we can slowly make it quicker."

"Gotcha." Seamus answered confidently.

"Okay! from the top everyone."

Moving back to the start Rose waited for the boys to start the song.

"Mum-mum-mum-mah." They sung in harmony.

"P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face" Rose sang slowly, directing the boys hands to coordinate with the song

"Mum-mum-mum-mah."

By Saturday evening, they had not only choreographed a whole song, but had managed to complete at sped, with only one mistake, four run throughs in a row.

They were just scraping the time before curfew kicked in, and the boys competitive edge was now being to show as their confidence skyrocketed.

"One more go, lets do this." Dean muttered to the other boys.

"I don't think I can lift again." Neville said guilty. "Not that your heavy Rose, it's just I don't want a bad back for tomorrow."

"No offence taken." Rose chuckled. "Besides we need to head back to Gryffindor tower, Lavender and Hermione have been discussed lighting and staging with Flitwick and I'm sure you're just as curious as me to find out if he has agreed to our requests. Parvati is also up there currently making our costumes within budget, so I should see if she needs any help.

It looks like we are as on top of it all as we can be, lets call it a night."

"Okay we will head up." Dean replied reluctantly. "But we will continue to practice in the dormitory."

"Agreed." Ron said seriously. "We cannot look like idiots out there tomorrow."

"You guys need your rest." Rose answered seriously. "Honestly I couldn't be more proud of you all. Don't forget that we will be practicing for the majority of the day tomorrow. You don't want to end up tired."

"We are proud of you too Rose." Harry grinned fondly. "It must have been difficult avoiding all of Fred and George's questions on the radio earlier."

"I was howling." Dean agreed.

"Yeah they were funny." Rose replied distantly, a sadness forming in her chest.

On air was the only opportunity she had had to speak to them since the announcement, their time separated between dancing and Edward.
It had been a strange morning in general. With the warmth that the twins had offered her in company, the lack of Edward's presence on the radio and even Lee's was noticeable.

"Rose?"

She looked back at the boys, their faces full of concern.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about the radio." She explained honestly. "Lets head up, its getting late."

The following morning over breakfast, Parvati excitedly explained to them all that their costumes were ready.

"So would you be okay trying them on after breakfast? I need to know if there is any altering that needs doing before this evening."

"Of course." Rose replied enthusiastically. "I'm meeting the boys in the classroom in half an hour. I'll meet you up there."

Slightly later than anticipated - Peeves had decided to throw conkers on anyone who passed the second floor landing. Rose rearranged her slightly messed up hair before entering their classroom.

The boys were already wearing their black tailed suits, each costumed dinner jacket adorned with two glossy buttons. Their black satin bow ties sat neatly over the top of their school shirts, masking their original use.
Alongside the five top hats, five sets of canes and sheriff style sunglasses, the first year boys looked more like 1940's movie stars.

"Oh my goodness" Rose breathed out. "You all look amazing."

Slowly walking into the room, she couldn't help but stroke Dean's arm, the detail was incredible.

"Parvati, you did all this by yourself?"

"It was nothing." Parvati grinned. "Would you like to try on your costume?"

"Yes." Rose said eagerly.

"We will just leave to give you privacy." Seamus coughed whilst blushing deeply. "Let us know when we can reenter."

"Okay." Rose chuckled.

"Here." Parvati said nervously.

"Thanks." Rose replied curiously.

Accepting the faux leather outfit, she was intrigued by its colour - a soft shade of lavender.

"I've done a bit of research to what Lady Gaga wore when singing Poker face and this seemed to be a popular choice." Parvati explained. "Finger hugging, the leotard has these diamond panels missing to show off your sides."

"Its perfect." Rose said confidently.

"Try it on first." Parvati chuckled. "It should feel like a second skin."

Parvati turned around to allow Rose to underdress, the costume was indeed skin tight, with the diamond panels exposing everything close to her naval. Luckily Parvati had put some skin colour mesh to hide her cleavage, the leotard reminding Rose of an provocative swimming costume.

"Well its not what I would wear to church." Rose chuckled. "Do you think it's too short?"

"I'm glad I put the mesh in." Parvati admitted out loud. "But there is no way I can make the leotard longer unfortunately.

Here, I have also made some matching purple leather driving gloves and found some black suede stiletto heels."

Accepting the rest of the outfit, Rose put the gloves and shoes on. Standing in front of the mirror, Rose closed her eyes and thought of what Lady Gaga looked like with her iconic long poker straight hair with boxed fringe, her hair instantly mimicking the look.

"Wow." Parvati breathed. "You look eerily like her."

Slowly opening her eyes, Rose too looked into the mirror. Parvati was right, she looked more like Gaga than she did herself.

"One last thing." Parvati whispered. "You need your sunglasses."

She held out her home-made silver glittery sunglasses.

"Thank you Parvati!" Rose replied humbly. "The detail in all of this is truly amazing!"

"I couldn't resist, they are so Gaga!" Parvati laughed.

Rose grinned in agreement.

"Shall I go show the boys?"

"abso-freakin-lutely" Parvati giggled.

Rose walked confidently towards the door, leaning around it in her glittery sunglasses.

"Did someone say Gaga?" She said confidently.

The boys stunned silence was music to her ears.

"I think you did well." Rose called back to Parvati. "They don't seem to recognise me at all."

Grateful that her costume didn't require makeup apart from the quick application of red lipstick (thanks to the sunglasses) Rose was able to plow through more dance rehearsals with the boys until their four thirty deadline.

The none existent sun in the sky letting them know that private practices were out of time, they packed up and in Rose's instance applied a cloak for warmth.

They were one of the last groups to arrive at the Great Hall gaining stares from the other students already there.

The house tables had been temporally removed and smaller round tables allocated to each individual team.

Rose gave a small smile as she passed Cedric's table, grateful when she got a grin in return.

Sitting adjacent from Angelina's table, Rose and the others sat quickly down, the others focused on the stage upfront.

Subtly Rose glanced towards the other Gryffindor table catching sight of Angelina.

As Angelina was deep in conversation with her neighbour, Rose was able to be mesmerised momentarily by her flawless costume. The glistening diamond embellishments alone easily out of her five galleon price range. Her long wig and make up was pristinely done, and her jewellery had been intricately thought out.

Grateful that Parvati was as gifted as she was, Rose sat up a little taller. There was no arguing that Angelina looked absolutely stunning.

Angelia turned to look at Rose, her face quizzing. Noticing that Rose's own face was relaxed and smiling, Angelina beamed when she saw Rose give her outfit the thumbs up.

"Thank you." She mouthed, flicking her hair confidently.

Turning back to her original conversation, the movement revealed a stilted Edward sitting next to her.

Rose's breath hitched as she caught sight of him, it was after all the first clear view she had had of him since he had fallen out with her.

Her surprise quickly formed to jealously as she pondered why he was there. He hadn't been seen out in public since the competitions announcement and Rose could only conclude that he had come out of hiding to be part of the team that would be trying to humiliate her. He was after all aware of the rumours that were already circulating, this was only going to enhance them.

Rose couldn't explain why she felt so betrayed by Edward when she didn't feel that way about her cousins. Was it because she had already seen them help Angelina or was it because her feelings for Edward were different? All Rose could think of in the seconds since first seeing him again was that she had to stay strong - Edward was for now the competition.

Swallowing the fresh lump that had appeared in her throat, Rose turned to her friends who were sat behind her. She knew how important this final rehearsal was. Not only was it the last opportunity to practice the song before the rest of the school came to watch, but it was also the first time that her competitors got to observe who was going to survive. It was therefore paramount that her friends stayed confident in themselves and each other.

Flitwick walked between the grouped tables to the front of the room. Producing his wand from his robe sleeve, he moved the teachers table to the far side of the room, ready for it to become the judging panel. With one flick of his wand, the stage moved out from under the stone steps and a platform raised up to the same height as the tables.

"Okay everybody." Flitwick announced. "I'm very conscious of the amount of time we have before the rest of the school arrives. You will all get one practice run each. Please be sympathetic and encouraging to one another as this may be the first time some have sung in front of a crowd before.

Since you were first here, Miss Edgecombe would you like to sing first?"

Marietta's entourage stood confidently from the table closest to Flitwick, quickly changing the lighting to suit their needs and set the stage with props.

Marietta stood in the middle of the stage, a group of dancers surrounding her, from her outfit alone it was clear she was impersonating Kylie Minogue.

As the song began, Marietta began to mime perfectly along to the soundtrack, her moves direct and accurate.

Though Rose hated Marietta for what she had done and continued to do to her personally, in Marietta's performance Rose couldn't fault. Rose subtly looked over to the other Gryffindor table, surprised to see Angelina sniggering, her hand hardly covering her mouth. Even Cedric's peers seemed to find something amusing, but to what Rose couldn't understand.

Rose looked back to the other first years, the boys eyes wide and faces pale.

"Don't worry." Rose whispered encouragingly. "Keep the faith guys."

The other performances continued, the other participants reacting in a similar way to each performance.

It was clear that nobody wanted the other contestants to do well, their subtle giggles and jibes suffocating to listen too.

By the time Angelina had completed her mimed dance to Beyoncé's 'Halo' the first year boys had shrunken back into their seats. Their fear was clearly showing - the comments they had already had to witness hitting home.

"Miss Ward, your up next." Professor Flitwick quipped from the stage.

"Yes Sir." Rose replied confidently.

Turning her attention to Hermione and Lavender, they both nodded their understanding, moving quickly towards the stage to set up.

Now standing, Rose turned back to the boys to make sure they were ready to go.

Her heart stopped momentary. They were all still sat, huddled together muttering amongst themselves. Neville in particularly looked truly worried.

"Neville, what's the matter?" Rose asked leaning into the group, her voice full of concern.

"I know we have been practicing all day and haven't gone wrong, but we just don't want to let you down after you believing in us all week." Neville muttered in embarrassment. "There is just one particular bit of the song where it's just a lot of remember, and we were wondering… well I was wondering if we could just go over the dance routine again like we did right at the start when we were learning the dance, you know.. when you played the steps and chords on the piano. That way we can really concentrate on all the moves." He asked nervously.

"I see." Rose weakly nodded in understanding. "And you all agree, that this is what you want to do?"

Rose looked at the others individually, it was clear that they did indeed agree.

Rose carefully looked at them, if she went with their suggestion she knew that it would make them look unprepared and naive. But if she ignored their worries then she wouldn't be acting as a team. It didn't matter that she knew they were perfect, she needed them to feel as confident as she did.

She briefly turned to look at Flitwick, the teacher patiently waiting for them.

"Give me two seconds to tell Hermione and Flitwick the change of plan." She whispered to them with a reassuring smile.

Their relieved expressions and relaxed shoulders told her she had made the correct decision instantly.

Breathing nervously in, Rose walked towards Hermione and Lavender trying her best to ignore the judgemental mutterings from around the room. Moving over to stand beside Flitwick, Rose quickly explained the change of plan and why, relieved when he eagerly nodded in return. Flitwick raised his wand once more, summoning the schools old piano from the corner of the room. The instrument elegantly glided across the room, stopping centre of the stage.

If people weren't staring before they were now. Ignoring the buzz of curiosity from their audience, Rose walked over to the piano stool waiting patiently for the boys to get into their first positions. Clearing her throat, she hovered over the first chords, ready to play the music at the pace Neville wanted.

"Ah one, ah two, ah one, two three, four;

I wanna - hold 'em - like they - do in- Texas, please Fold 'em - let 'em hit me -raise it baby -stay with me…"

Her eyes fixed purely on the boys, Rose continued to play the song at the slowed down pace.

She knew it sounded and looked strange, their movements stilted and awkward when slowed down to such a speed, especially Neville who was having to pretend to lift an invisible person. To the rest of the room, this looked like organised chaos at best.

Finishing the last notes of the song, Rose stood and clapped her teammates encouragingly, their timing was yet again impeccable.

"Well done." Rose grinned. "No mistakes again!"

Rose was grateful that their confidence was back as the attitude from the rest of the room was so quiet you would hear a feather drop.

"Come on." She whispered encouragingly. "Lets sit back down."

As they walked past the tables, it was abhorrently clear that everyone thought that they were the worst performance.

Angelina was trying her hardest to hide her laughter as Rose passed by, but sadly she was one of the more subtle ones. Marietta looked like Christmas had arrived early, her wicked smile on full display as she laughed obnoxiously.

Rose tried her best to keep her posture as straight as she could when she sat down. She needed to stay focused, confident and most importantly not show any signs of weakness.

Fred and George were wearing concerned looks as they exchanged deeply worried glances to one another. The look resembling as if someone had died. Even Cedric looked worried by the performance, politely telling his peers to shush.

As if the laughter, taunts, worried concern that her friends and peers were displaying were't bad enough, Rose also couldn't help but notice Edward's visible anger.

Rose frowned as she continued to stare at the other Gryffindor tables odd reactions. Why was Edward so angry with her? He was after all, the only person in the room besides Flitwick and the other Gryffindor first years who knew why they had just done what they did.

"Wow talk about a showstopper " Seamus whispered, his bemusement clear. "I cant wait to kick their asses."

Rose jumped at his response, moving her eyes away from Edward.

"Please ignore everyones reactions." Rose whispered seriously. "I don't want you lot getting nervous again."

"Oh trust me, I know we are better than everyone else out there." Seamus responded. "If we don't get through, I'm claiming bullshit."

Rose couldn't help but laugh at his comment.

"Thats the fighting sprint I want to hear!" She chuckled, high-fiving him.

"Seamus is right guys, we only need to kick Angelina's butt tonight." Ron announced eagerly.

"Thats going to be easy peasy." Dean muttered confidently. "She hasn't sorted out her line up yet."

"How do you know that?" Rose asked curiously.

"Overheard a couple of boys in the toilets earlier." Dean replied awkwardly. "It wasn't relevant to mention it sooner, but it is now. There is a reason why she has the biggest table. She hasn't cut anyone out yet."

"It also explains why Fred and George weren't on stage." Rose mentioned intriguingly.

"And Oliver." Ron said slyly.

"Yes. Him too." Rose replied cooly.

Ron looked at her harshly before continuing;

"I really hope we do win." He said meaningfully. "Especially as Fred and George are looking like they are attending one of our funerals at the moment."

Rose turned to follow Ron's finger back at the twins and Edward, who were indeed still miserable.

She physically sighed, looking at Ron briefly before retuning her gaze.

"Nothing like a bit of family confidence." She muttered in disappointment.

An hour later, all parties involved in the completion were shuffled through the door to the side of the stage and through the room that Rose had used the previous month for the singing greenroom. Led back down the side corridor by Flitwick, he brought them back to the Entrance Hall.

"Why did we go through all that to arrive back here?" Flint asked confused.

"Because Mr Flint, your audience are now in the Great Hall waiting for you to preform." Flitwick explained. "If you had walked straight past them, it would have killed the excitement."

"Oh." Flint replied, his look implying he still didn't understand.

"Now, treat the Entrance Hall as your greenroom." Flitwick announced warmly. "I do however recommend that you support one another by watching the performances. There are benches at the back of the room for your sole use. I just need to do a few things before the completion is ready to start. Settle in!"

Carefully opening the door to the Great Hall, Rose could observe that the house tables had returned to normal and the candlelight's were lowered to the bare minimum amount of light.

"Where do you want to linger for now?" Neville asked the others.

"How about over there near the other Gryffindors." Rose suggested eagerly, noticing that, that was as far away from Marietta as she could be.

"Okay." Harry replied enthusiastically, noticing the notion.

Taking the lead, Rose walked over to the staircase. Beside the bottom step was a big table with water and cups. Helping herself to the water jug, Rose poured herself and the boys some water. It had been a while since they last drank.

As she poured the water, Rose noticed Angelina sat midway up the marble staircase, her notebook in hand. She was deep in concentration, muttering to herself about who to drop.

Looking sympathetically at her momentarily, Rose turned and handed out the desperately needed drinks.

"Shall we sit on the bottom step." Rose suggested.

The Greenroom was awkwardly quiet, with the eight groups clearly separated. The animosity from some of the students verging on threatening, Rose and her fellow first years were again visibly unusual. Not only were they the most relaxed but they actually seemed to be enjoying themselves, sharing sweets and jokes as they waited.

"Can we join you?" Fred asked Ron in frustration. "The conversations we have had to be part of are insufferable."

"Sure." Ron nodded sympathetically, readjusting his body to fit both the twins onto the step. "Do you want a Bertie Botts?"

"Yes!" George replied eagerly, reaching into the bag.

"Just one George." Ron scolded. "You know they are my favourite."

There was a light 'thwack' as Fred tried to get a bean.

"Ouch!" Fred whined. "There were no need for that Angelina."

It would seem that Angelina had glided down the stairs.

"A word? Now please you two."

Indicating that they were to follow her back up the stairs, she grabbed George harshly by the arm.

Rose and Ron shared a worried glance, looking back at the twins they looked guiltily at them. Not only were they currently too busy to see them because of Edward, but it would seem even when they could, they weren't allowed.

"What on earth do you two think you were doing conspiring with the enemy?" Angelina hissed.

"The enemy? Angelina they are our family." George argued.

"Not tonight they're not." She urged.

Either Angelina didn't realise or she didn't care, but the first years and most of the greenroom could now hear her conversation with Fred and George with ease.

"Your being ridiculous." Fred replied. "Do you seriously think we are going to pay attention to your antics?"

"Well I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you both." Angelina cooed in fake apology. "But I think I'm inevitably going to have to drop you two from the performance tonight.

I just feel like any association with Rose after her earlier performance could reflect badly on me tonight."

Rose could feel herself blush crimson with embarrassment, the laughs from around the room all too audible. Feeling twenty feet high all of a sudden, she wanted to disappear into the wall beside her.

She felt the gentle nudge of Harry shoulder bump beside her;

"Ignore her, please don't take this to heart." He whispered.

She nodded, weakly smiling back at him.

"I won't" she mumbled.

Fred and George were also laughing, but their's was sarcastic, their amusement coming from a different source.

"Damn" Fred finally managed to muster, clicking his fingers in disappointment "What are we going to do now George?"

"I don't know Fred, maybe cry all night? We could always take up knitting to fill in the void."

"Or arson?" Fred suggested.

"Anything! Anything to distract ourselves from the woes of not making a mockery of ourselves in this stupid dancing completion." George replied sarcastically.

"You mean we get to keep our dignity George?" Fred replied shocked.

"Yes Fred…for now at least we do." George grinned.

"Oh haha." Angelina retorted. "My dignity is fine thank you, unlike your cousins."

"Oh yeah? It's just I recall a little birdie telling you not to underestimate her." George winked.

"I honestly don't know what you are on about." Angelina muttered unbelievably.

"Really?" Fred scolded. "I somehow find that very hard to believe. I am I to presume correctly you know to which little birdie we are on about?"

"Yes." Angelina hissed.

"Then let me ask you this." Fred smirked. "If you are that paranoid of having us around because of our association with Rose, why are you keeping the little birdie around as your main man this evening? After all, isn't he strongly associated with Rose?"

"They haven't spoken in weeks" Angelina snapped.

"So that's your logic." George chuckled. "Good luck Angelina, your going to need it."

Fred and George turned casually on the spot, walking down the stairs with amused grins. Whistling 'Poker face' loudly in harmony, they walked up to Ron, grabbing an handful of sweets as they passed.

"Just wanted to say good luck!" Fred bellowed. "We're proud of you bro, proud of you cuz!"

"We will be rooting for you." George continued, winking as he passed.

Loudly making their exit known, they pushed open the Great Hall doors with a lot of force, just in time for Flitwick to appear with a velvet bag.

"Can one representation come for each House please" Flitwick squeaked. "I have the performance positions written down on four separate pieces of parchment. From there, whoever draws can decide whether they preform first or second."

Rose turned to look at Angelina. She was still working in her notebook, not listening to what Flitwick was announcing.

Accepting it was going to be her to retrieve the positions, Rose stood gracefully from the stairs.

Marietta and Cedric were already ahead, waiting for Flitwick. They silently retrieved their pieces of parchment, handing the numbers anonymously over.

"Okay Miss Ward, when your ready." Flitwick asked gently.

Feeling around in the large smooth bag, Rose searched around until her fingers brushed passed a tag. Grabbing hold of the small object, Rose slowly retrieved the strip of Parchment.

'1'

Rose turned the parchment around so that Flitwick could read the number. He nodded in understanding, writing down her and Angelina's names next to the associated number.

"I will need to know who is preforming first for Gryffindor." Flitwick asked knowingly.

Rose looked back at Angelina, it was clear she wasn't going to be ready anytime soon.

"I will." Rose replied adamantly. Getting a surprised gaze from the Professor.

Rose knew that under normal circumstances this was deemed the worst position to be in, but tonight she couldn't help but feel relief when she pulled it out.

Being first would mean that no-one had time to get nervous and it gave Angelina a little bit more time to sort herself and her team out.

"Very well." He agreed seriously. "Gather everything you need. You have about ten minutes."

As Hermione and Lavender left to set up the lights and music, the boys went discreetly through the side passage and through the side room ready to enter the stage from the right.

The Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin performers were called through to watch, slipping subtly into the Great Hall to sit on the benches along the back wall to the room.

The Entrance Hall was now empty, cold and suppressive. Angelina's entourage staying silent and nervous.

Moving closer to the open doorway to the Great Hall, Rose faced the darkness of the room beyond, her mind concentrating on the task at hand.

Removing her cloak, Rose placed the sunglasses on and loosened her shoulders.

She felt a warmth from next to her, Angelina joining beside her.

"I thought I would watch your performance." She explained.

"Thank you" Rose replied sincerely. "Good luck Angelina."

"Thank you Rose." She acknowledged. "Ditto, I guess."

The response was said with such insincerity that Rose wondered why she had bothered replying at all. Disappointed in Angelina slightly all Rose could do was nod stiffly, grateful for the sunglasses.

There was a slight ripple of movement by the doorway that led down to the dungeons. Not wanting to give away her observation, Rose glanced out of the corner of her eye, again pleased that the sunglasses hid her stares. She caught herself smiling as she turned back toward the Great Hall. Edward was hiding in plain sight and if she didn't know any better, he had been there all night.

"Are you ready Miss Ward?" Flitwick whispered from the darkness of the Great Hall.

"Yes Sir." Rose agreed.

"Okay, move into position, I'll let Miss Granger and Miss Brown know you are ready to start."

Rose moved from the doorway of the hall to the first line of benches.

Subtly placed on the floor was the marker that Hermione had left out for her, so that she knew she had the right amount of step counts to get to the stage on cue.

The Gryffindor house table straight in front of her leading to the stage, she could just about make out the step that Hermione had also placed at the end of the table. Darkness swallowed the room. The audience instantly silent as they eagerly anticipated the start of the show.

The spot lights came on the stage revealing the five boys who were standing underneath each one. They were leaning forward on their canes, their sunglasses on and looking intimidating.

The background beat to the music erupted the silence as a spot light instantaneously cast down revealing Rose's location. Loud gasps appeared from the audience as they hadn't expected Rose to be at the back of the room.

Not a second had passed before Rose started to walk forward towards the boys, stepping in beat to the music. She landed onto the step on one beat and landed onto the Gryffindor table on the next.

There was another round of gasps as the students watched in shock and awe as Rose strutted down the Gryffindor table like it was her own personal catwalk. Confidently staring ahead, Rose marched in the limelight of the spotlight, her eyes never leaving Neville who was centre stage.

She arrived at the boys perfectly in sync and started to perform at the head of the V shape they had now all formed. Grabbing hold of Neville's hand for the first spin and lift, feeling the confidence in his grip.

There was another round of shocked applause as Neville lifted Rose high up the air. The fluidity of how he did it was nothing but spectacular.

The next two minutes went by in a blur, full of spins, twirls and lifts. The boys floorlessly stepping in time, their hold powerful and neat.

Most importantly with all the dance rehearsals, Rose hadn't had much time to practice her Lady Gaga impersonation. Relieved that her voice had the right amount of New York twang to sound like the artist, Rose's voice staying clear, powerful and strong.

"P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face

(mum-mum-mum-mah)"

Ron placed her feet onto the floor on the final beat. Out of breath, but grateful it wasn't heard in the song, Rose couldn't resist a small cheer as she embraced Ron and the others in a group hug.

"You did it. You guys did it!" She said with relief.

"And thank fuck we never have to do it again." Ron muttered.

As they exited the stage, Rose looked towards the Hall entrance to see Angelina, but it wasn't Angelina's silhouetted outline she could now see, but Edward's.

She followed the others through the doorway of the normal greenroom, still able to hear the impressed claps and applause from the Great Hall. There stood Angelina, her face expressionless.

Nodding again as she passed her by, Rose walked quickly through the side corridor and back to the hall. Quickly sitting down on an empty row of benches, they waited, ready to watch Angelina's act.

Angelina had cut her dancers by a third since the final practice earlier, Edward now being the only male. Stood rigid like a marble God, his ivory biceps and torso stretched the black t shirt he had been given so thinly that you could clearly see each individual muscle protruding.

Rose blushed as she observed his physic, her blush reddening as she caught word of the whisperers that surrounded her. She clearly wasn't the only one who had noticed.

She gulped bitterly as she admired his toned arms, feeling dirty for doing so. It was an awkward situation to be in, attracted to a man who couldn't make his distain for her more clearer.

She eventually pulled her eyes away from his body, almost jumping out of her skin - Edward eye's were staring directly back at her, there was no denying it. His amber eyes still mesmerising through their intimidation, there was nothing Rose could do but gaze back. Her eyes locked in place.

"Rose, you know Oliver is staring right at you." Harry whispered.

"I know." Rose acknowledged, her blush darkening under the intenseness of his gaze.

"But it's pitch black in here." Harry replied impressed.

"He saw us sit down here before he left to go on stage." Rose mumbled, improvising on the spot. "Maybe he needs a friendly face."

"I thought you two aren't talking." Harry muttered.

"It doesn't mean I'm not his friend." Rose replied distantly.

Edward's eyes softened at her words, the notion making Rose's heart twang in hope.

Why was Edward choosing to stare out at her through the crowd now, when he had purposely chosen to ignore her presence for so long?

The dance commenced and Edward continued to stare, his mind so focused on something other than Angelina's routine that he was even forgetting to blink. He moved so elegantly compared to the other dancers that it made him look even more inhuman than before.

He twirled Angelina as she clumsily danced heavily on the stage, her dancing looking elephant like in comparison to Edward's. Edward even lifted her effortlessly into an impossible lift, yet his eyes still stayed focused on Rose. The message couldn't have been clearer to the room as he purposely never once looked at Angelina.

As the song ended and Angelina was back down on two feet, Edward instantly snapping his eyes away Rose, his focus back on the room at large.

Rose instantly felt relief. Her palms were sweaty and her spine was throbbing with the intensity of the tingles. It had felt like she had been hypnotised into focusing purely on Edward and her body was high from the adrenaline.

Rose sighed outwardly, realising that she had been breathing heavily for sometime. Blinking a couple of times to make sure that she was back in the right head space, she ruffled her long hair.

She subtly looked around her, seeing quickly that it wasn't just her. She could hear and see a lot of the girls fanning themselves after the commotion of coming out of an Edward daze.

*Try having him intensely staring directly at you.* Rose thought disapprovingly as she continued to observe.

Nibbling her lip in contemplation, Rose realised that she hadn't actually witnessed the dance itself, too caught up with Edward and his golden pools.

Leaning across Harry, Rose thought Seamus was the best one to ask, he was after all quite frank.

"What did you think?" Rose asked Seamus curiously.

"It was utter shite." Seamus answered with glee. "As my Mam would say, you can roll a turd in glitter but at the end of the day it's still a turd."

"I don't really follow." Rose laughed.

"I think what Seamus means." Neville answered diplomatically. "Is that Angelina's moves and mimed singing was extremely poor this time round and Oliver was the only thing that made that a success."

"Even the other dancers were rubbish." Ron agreed.

"So if we don't go through then like I said before, this entire competition is a fix." Dean added.

Rose didn't initially respond, she didn't want to be that team who looked cocky and smug. She was fully aware that Dean wasn't far off with his comments. The teachers were playing their own diplomatic game to whom they wanted in the competition and she needed to win over voters such as Snape.

Angelina soon marched in from the back of the room, her entourage quickly following behind her. With a loud huff she sat directly behind Rose, the sound of her whimpering clear above the sound of Cedric's team setting up.

The noise was unbearable to hear, the disappointment, the anger and the competitive nature that made up Angelia reflected in the reaction she was now showing.

Rose couldn't blame her dismay. Angelina had heard all week that she was going to get through and now she had been knocked down to reality. She could be going out in the first round yet again.

Rose sat there guiltily for a second, pondering what she would do if the shoe was on the other foot. After all, she had made sure she and the boys had a fighting chance of success, but that didn't mean she had secured her place in the second round.

Looking up at Cedric, his body relaxed as he preformed, Rose realised what she needed to do. Cedric had been a friend to her this week, and right now she needed to do the same.

Without hesitating a moment more, Rose twisted her body around, reaching out into the darkness to grab Angelina's soggy hands firmly.

Rose lowered her body to the floor, her back flat against the bench. Though she was unable to see Angelina's face through the darkness, she continued to stroke her hands in a sympathetic soothing pattern. The movements done in the hope to help calm her down.

Angelina continued to not say anything, the only indication that the comforting embrace was working through her slowed sobbing. Soon only the thick droplets of her tears could be felt bouncing off their joined hands.

"Please don't be upset Angelina" Rose whispered in earnest. "We all did our best out there. Surely you can be proud of that?"

"You saw my performance. What on earth have I got to be proud of."

"You stood up in front of a room full of people." Rose replied confidently. "Thats something a lot of people wouldn't be able to do."

"Yeah." Scoffed Angelina sarcastically. "So brave."

"I think you are." Rose soothed. "You have been in this situation before and yet you held your head up high and proceeded in doing it anyway."

"And yet you know you were miles better than me." Angelina replied bitterly. "In hindsight I might as well not of bothered."

Even through the darkness Rose could feel Edward stare at her. Her left hand side aware of his intense gaze. It didn't seem to matter that she didn't know how far down the bench he was sat, the power of his attention like a radio signal.

She knew he was intensely listening, curious to why Rose was soothing her competitor. It disappointed Rose that this would surprise him, surely he would know that she wouldn't want others to be upset.

"I can't answer that." Rose admitted eventually, her full attention back on Angelina.

"You can't admit that you were better? Oh please!" Angelina scoffed again. "Just admit it Rose, I've been cocky all week knowing I was in prime position. No wonder your sitting here before me smugly, you've just blown it out the water from underneath me."

Rose sighed bitterly whilst gripping Angelina's hand harder.

"If that's what you think I am doing here, then you really don't know me at all." Rose scolded, the hurt clear.

"No. That's not what I truly believe." Angelina admitted. "It's just, how could I have messed up so badly?"

"In what way do you think you did?" Rose asked carefully.

"You can feel when the room admires the routine." Angelina muttered knowingly. "I've seen it often, but there has been a special electrical buzz the two times you have preformed.

In rehearsals, I thought I was on top of everything, but I now realise I really wasn't.

The buzz in my own performance was down to Oliver, everyone was so fixated on him dance. The irony of knowing that he wanted to distance himself away from me as much as he could."

"I see." Rose gulped, nervous Edward had been brought up.

"I'm sorry I dragged him into this." Angelina admitted. "I know you two aren't talking at the moment and I did do it for selfish reasons."

"The rumours can do that to you." Rose sighed.

"Yep." Angelina admitted. "But after tonights performance, I think the rumours will probably stop."

"Gosh I hope so." Rose agreed.

Angelina chuckled darkly, her hands suddenly tightly gripping Rose's.

"Thank you." Angelina whispered meaningfully. "You didn't need to comfort me but you did."

So caught up in their conversation that neither girl had noticed that Angelina had stopped crying.

"Don't mention it." Rose replied reassuringly.

They continued to sit in silence, their hands still interlocked.

Hearing the final song come to an end, there was a loud round of applause as the whole room celebrated the end of the first round in the competition.

"We missed the rest of the competition." Rose whispered in surprise "That went ridiculously fast."

"It did." Angelina agreed. "Now we just have to wait for the judges to cast their votes."

The candlelight subtly became stronger as the room once again got absorbed in twinkling light.

Her eyes still a little puffy, Angelina looked at Rose a little surprised.

"I didn't realise you were on the floor all this time, you must be freezing!" She uttered.

"I'm fine." Rose replied adamantly.

"Please sit down back down on the bench." Angelina urged.

Rose looked at her amusingly, before nodding in agreement. Subtly rising onto the bench, she twisted back around on the cold wood. Her back now facing Angelina.

Moments later, Flitwick walked onto the stage.

"Well wasn't that an interesting evening?" Professor Flitwick shouted into the the crowd.

The crowd exploded into a boisterous eruption of noise. The cheering lasting longer than Flitwick had attended.

"Good grief!" Flitwick chuckled. "I will take that as a yes then!

The Hogwart's teachers have now casted their judge's votes for the four individuals they would like to proceed in this competition. Can I now ask that all our participants from this evening please come forward and join me on the stage."

There was another rumble of noise as everyone started to question who they believed had gone through.

Harry subtly placed his hand on Rose's back, the notion instantly gaining Rose's attention.

"Time for you to go up Rose." Harry said confidently.

Rose smiled at him nervously, before looking at the other boys individually. Gracefully standing from her seat she turned back around to Angelina, who was still sitting, almost unwilling to get up.

Without hesitation, Rose once more outreached her hand to Angelina. The elder Gryffindors surprised by the public display of friendliness.

"Together?" Rose offered reassuringly.

"We are after all Quidditch Team mates." Angelina sniffed a weak smile.

"Exactly." Rose grinned. "And at least for now we know it's one of us that has won, and I'lll settle on that as a win."

"Your always so positive Rose." Angelina sighed.

"I'm really not." Rose replied knowingly, her eyes briefly glancing towards Edward.

Gripping her hand firmly as she rose, Angelina stepped over the bench and walked directly beside Rose.

As they walked towards the stage, the crowds now looking at them curiously, Rose could still feel the intense stare of Edward tingling her spine.

The last to make it onto the stage, they stood to the right hand side of the other competitors. Thankful that she was on other end of line away from Marietta, Rose couldn't help but remind herself how lucky she was to not have had to cross her path throughout the evening.

Turning to face the front like the others, Rose heard Angelina take in a shocked intake of breath. It was the first time that they could truly appreciate how many individual faces were in fact in the crowd.
Flitwick went along the line, shaking everyones hands and whispering words of encouragement. Once he got to Rose and Angelina, he whispered.

"Thank you."

"What for Sir?" Angelina asked curiously.

"For making this a joint competition." Flitwick answered. "There is nothing better than seeing Camaraderie."

"Oh." Angelina answered, looking at Rose guiltily.

Subtly squeezing Angelina's hand reassuringly Rose nodded to Flitwick gratefully.

"Thank you Sir." She muttered gratefully.

Flitwick turned back to face the front motioning for the audience to quieten down.

"The votes are in." Flitwick announced proudly.

Opening a large envelope and pulling out a thick piece of parchment, he paused to read the results, the concentration clear on his face.

Flitwick cleared his throat again, folding the parchment clean in half.

"Before I start, I think the room should be made aware of how difficult it is to come onto this stage and preform to a large audience at the best of times." Flitwick explained seriously. "But to then on top of that have to act, dance and sound like an artist that has been chosen for you can be an impossible task. So everyone on this stage should be commended for what they have done tonight."

The room roared with applause of recognition, the claps lasting for well over a minute.

"With that all being said, it is even more difficult to do all of this with only your year group to help you preform, making up part of the reason no first year has ever got through to the second round of the competition."

Flitwick paused again to gauge the room.

Angelina was the one to now squeeze Rose's hand as comforting as she could. - Flitwick had after all just admitted the outcome for all the first years fate. Angelina was through.

Breathing out a soft elongated breath, Rose smiled exultantly, purposely looking out to the back room to the first year boys.

Blowing them a kiss full of her appreciation, she hoped that they would look back and be proud of what they had achieved.

Flitwick waited for the room to die down, his feet tap-dancing in anticipation. Once the room had quietened down to silence he continued;

"So when you add this all together as well as only having a couple of days to get a performance of that quality together, I cannot be prouder to announce that two records have been broken tonight by Gryffindor."

Rose stood locked into position, still staring at Ron from across the room, his shock as clear as hers. It was only at hearing a relieved gasp escape Angelina's lips, that Rose's brain caught up with the situation at hand.

"Rose?" Flitwick announced gently. Please step forward."

Her joint's stiff from the shock, Rose managed to unlock her hand from Angelina's and move forward. The movements feeling alien to do so.

"Rose Ward, currently in first place with the highest score so far." Flitwick announced proudly. "Next we have Marcus Flint in second place for Slytherin, Marietta Edgecombe in third place for Ravenclaw and Cedric Diggory currently in fourth place for Hufflepuff. Please all step forward!"

There were another three rounds of cheers for the successful House contenders as they all stood forward grinning at the room.

Beaming at the first year Gryffindor's celebrate at the back of the room, Rose grinned back as she shared their contagious joy.

"Our fantastic four everyone!" Flitwick squeaked, raising his arms in celebration.

She didn't know how long she stood there, taking in the glory from the crowd, but she increasingly became aware of him. The tingling sensation returning.

The noise of the crowd became muffled, as her eyes drifted over to Edward, who was now leaning against the back wall.

He was watching, her senses accurate. His eyes observing her as they always did. It was difficult to gauge his emotion by his lack of eye contact, making his face difficult to read. All Rose could conclude was that he didn't look angry or happy.

"Rose?"

"Hm?" She replied distantly.

"You okay, you look like you have seen a ghost?"

Turning to look at the voice, Rose saw Cedric eagerly looking back.

"What got you so distracted away from the applause?" He chuckled.

"No-thing." Rose stuttered.

Quickly glancing back towards Edward, her heart missed a beat. He had disappeared once again.

"Good." Cedric laughed. "Shall we go over to Flitwick?"

"Sure." Rose agreed.

The first to arrive beside Flitwick, they waited patiently for the other two candidates to make their way over from the crowd.

"Well done again to all of you." Flitwick said warmly. "It really was a fantastic evening all round.

I just wanted to remind you all that you all now have three weeks where you can practice your next routine with the whole of your House.

Your budgets have all been extended to a further 5 Galleons which just like before can be used fully now or at a later date if you are feeing confident. The next stage will be preformed the night before the Christmas holidays start. Good luck everyone."

Eagerly returning to the common room, Rose was desperate to see if Edward and Ron were there. Hoping that this competition had somehow time warped everything back into normality.

Entering the jam packed room, to the sound of celebration and laughter, Rose caught sight of Angelina yet again in the centre of the room, a butter beer in hand.

The party lasted into the early hours of the morning, with Rose and the other first years celebrating alongside the other years more freely than they had in the past.

People came up to congratulate Rose throughout the night, ecstatically asking to be part of the proposed team moving forward. Realising that people need not ask to be part of the competition, Rose quickly designed a register, the name form full by the course of the evening.

Though the party was wonderful to be part of, Rose quickly noticed the people she had longed to see most were visibly absent. With Edward's absence once again meaning the loss of the twins, Rose turned her attention to the disappearance of her own Wesley comrade.

"He has already gone up." Hermione answered her questioning gaze.

"I really hoped he would have forgiven me after all this." Rose sighed, backing into the closest wall.

"Me too." Hermione admitted. "I hate leaving you by yourself, I don't see why me and Harry can't separate our time betw-"

"Because that's not fair on either of you." Rose replied bluntly. "I accept the consequences of my actions, I don't expect you and Harry to be drawn into this."

"But we already are." Hermione protested.

"Only skin deep." Rose whispered more to herself. "Me and Ron's disagreement will heel. It's got to."

"I hope so for you sake Rose." Hermione sighed bitterly. "I know you have the competition to distract you for now, but eventually the loneliness will sink in. You know you have me around, if you need me."

"I know." Rose smiled weakly. "And Harry too. I just know that Ron needs you both more and that's my sacrifice for his happiness."

"Very well." Hermione agreed. "But since Ron isn't allowed in the girls dormitory, shall we head up?"

The following morning, Rose woke up to a thick layer of ice on the inside of the dormitory window. The grounds outside the castle were coated in slippery layers of unfrosted ice and as the days itched closer to the Christmas holiday, the landscape truly started to reflect a wintery wonderland.

On the rare occasion that Rose had Smutz, she walked around the isolated grounds reflecting on how her first term at Hogwarts had gone. She regretted her decision to decline spending Christmas with her family, at the time reluctant to leave Ron behind -they had after all never celebrated it apart.

Looking back at the castle in her background, Rose couldn't help but swallow bitterly. To see the castle dressed so beautifully for Christmas and yet not feel remotely festive was cimmerian.

Rose checked the time on her watch, aware that the time for rehearsals was approaching. Motioning with her hand for Smutz to return, Rose carefully climbed the slippery stone steps back to the castle.

Rehearsals as predicted were the only time outside of class or the dormitory where Rose got to distract herself with the company of others. With everyone in agreement that the dance classes took up one hour each night to comply with other commitments and homework, it was the only time that Rose now got to see Fred and George.

The Gryffindors had agreed on 'Born this way' as their next song choice. Twenty three boys and girls had volunteered from across the school years including the whole Quidditch team, if you didn't include Edward.

Parvati was now joined by a seventh year called Violet Bennett who were both put in charge of costume design. Rose had given them the whole budget which included the left over money from the first round for them to spend on the costumes as well as staging and lighting.
Staging was Lee's domain. Not only was he was fantastic at lighting but he was a wiz at all things that needed levitating. Sharing his time away from Edward with the twins allowed Lee to come up with a complicated light show that worked alongside their dance routine.

As the second week rolled into fruition, the dance routine was really pulling together into a professional looking sequence. With everyone keen to push their talents, the one hour rule was quickly dropped as the competitive nature of the Gryffindors kicked in. They knew their routine was good, but they now wanted to win again.

Rehearsals weren't the only thing dominating Rose's spare time. The suspicious silence that Marietta had held for the first round of the competition didn't last long.

Noticing that Rose was still by herself, Marietta had started to vocally taunt her, the abuse getting louder and crueler by the day. After days of loneliness and verbal abuse, the self conscious thoughts had started to bubble to the surface. The taunts finally having the effect that Marietta wanted.

Today had been a particularly cruel day.

The last to leave Sprout's greenhouse after asking about the use of Devil's snare, Rose quickly ran up the steps to the castle, not worried about missing lunch once again.

Closing the heavy oaked front door behind her, Rose's spine tinged in warning, the feeling different from Edward's stare.

"Gotcha." Marietta announced gleefully.

Turning slowly to meet Marietta, Rose tried to take a step back, her body now pushed against the wooden door. Marietta was now standing so close to her that Rose couldn't stop Marietta's breath hitting her face, her breath smelling of her lunch- onion soup.

"Marietta." Rose replied cooly. "I'd like to get past please."

Marietta ignored Roses's words, instead with a obnoxious sneer she said loudly;

"You know, I didn't know that your parents were freaks?"

Rose looked around, a slight blush tinging her cheeks. A small crowd had started to form around the bottom of the staircase, curious to the commotion.

"I'd like to get past." Rose repeated more harshly.

"I don't think you quite heard me." Marietta shouted. "I've come to understand that your parents are freaks and that's why the Weasley's are forced to put up with you."

"I don't know who told you that but its not true." Rose replied bluntly. "My parents aren't freaks."

"Squibbs are freaks." Marietta announced so that the whole corridor quietened down to hear her. "Us wizards used to burn them in the seventieth century for fun."

"So did Muggle's to witches and wizards, that didn't make it right." Rose retorted, her teeth clenched. "Being a Squibb doesn't make you a freak."

"Keep telling yourself that." Marietta cackled. "But it would explain why your so freakishly tall. Your DNA is all fucked up because of your genetics."

Rose stood taller, towering over Marietta, her eyes cold and direct.

"Say that again Marietta?" She addressed challengingly.

The crowd behind muttered curiously. The talk of a fight quickly moving around in Chinese whispers. Marietta's eyes darted from Rose's adamant face to the people behind her.

"I thought so." Rose announced with the confidence she didn't feel. "Now get out of my way, you pathetic little girl."

"I wouldn't say things with such confidence Rose." Marietta smirked.

"Why? Are you going to smash my face in?" Rose replied bitterly.

Marietta's face dropped slightly, the wording clearly making itself known.

"I wouldn't dare." Marietta whispered sweetly.

"Then move out of my way." Rose seethed.

Brushing past Marietta, their bodies having to touch from the lack of space, Rose quickly marched through the crowd, sprinting back to the common room once she was adamant she wasn't being followed.

Her body shaking from the adrenaline, Rose flung herself onto her bed, drawing the curtains around her. She looked down at the lyrics of the song which were still on the bed, the irony of the song not missed on her.

Here was a powerful song about embracing who you were and being proud of yourself and yet Rose was acting like the complete opposite.

Wiping a hot wet tear off her cheek, Rose allowed the tears to keep coming.

It felt good to cry, the emotions from not just today but Marietta in general bubbling to the surface. She had been so distracted by Edward and Ron that she hadn't had time to dwell on the phycological and physical emotions she had felt from her ordeals with Marietta.

It was clear that she wasn't going to stop, unperturbed by Edward's lack of presence. She was going to have to be one step ahead, if today had shown Rose anything, Marietta wasn't expected to be challenged.

Wiping her snotty nose on the back of her hand, Rose lay down in the foetal position, her breathing slowing. She took a deep breath in, her breathing still shaky from the adrenaline.

The smell of cut grass, lavender and honeysuckle hit her nostrils with force. The smell of Edward appearing out of nowhere.

She sat up, he couldn't be in her dormitory… could he?

Without hesitation, Rose drew the curtain from around her bed, the smell increasing as she did so.

She walked confidently around the room, the smell increasing further by the window. She shut her eyes, breathing in his smell repeatedly, the smell never loosing its pungency.

Once the smell had completely disappeared, she slowly opened her eyes, the room still empty with all the other beds vacant of occupants.
Rose sighed in disappointment, reluctantly returning to her warm bed. She was really starting to imagine Edward in the most ridiculous of places, convincing herself that she could smell his scent. It always seemed to happen when she needed him most, her brain rationalising that she was imaging these occasions because she missed him.

Of course she missed him, she had never denied it. She missed their conversations and how they joked together. She missed his ever changing eyes and his messy bronze hair that he would ruffle when frustrated. She missed the sound of his voice, the sound of his laugh, the way he moved elegantly and even the way he went into a mood over the slightest thing. But most of all, she missed his crooked smile. The one he only seemed to do for her.

Another tear fell as she thought bitterly of how the last few weeks had tuned out. She truly was sick of keeping secrets.

Shutting the bed curtains, she collapsed back onto the bed. With silent sobs sinking into her already wet pillow she eventually fell into a light sleep. Her afternoon class forgotten.

The following morning, Rose awoke to Hermione gently pushing her awake.

"Morning." Hermione whispered gently.

"Hi." Rose replied, stretching her aching body.

Though her eyes didn't betray how she felt, Rose could still feel the sad feelings in her chest.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked anxiously. "I heard what happened with Marietta."

"You did?" Rose replied, her voice concerned.

"You had quite the audience, though something tells me it wasn't you who instigated the fight."

"No it wasn't." Rose agreed. "And I didn't have to fight her, luckily."

"Im not leaving you out my sight today." Hermione shuddered. "There have been too many close calls."

"I'm fine Hermione." Rose replied distantly. "Ron needs people around him more than me."

"Just because Ron is upset doesn't mean he does care." Hermione tutted. "He is really worried."

Rose gulped guiltily, it was starting to feel like she couldn't do anything right.

"I know he cares." Rose whispered eventually. "Its just, I feel like I'm loosing sight of what matters."

"Do you want to talk about what you and Ron fell out over?" Hermione asked carefully.

"No." Rose replied thoughtfully.

"Is this about Oli-?"

"Hermione." Rose swallowed bitterly again, her eyes closing. "I can't."

"Okay." Hermione nodded in understanding. "You have the weight of the world on your shoulders."

"It certainly feels like it." Rose sighed.

"You did really worried me yesterday." Hermione admitted. "It's really not like you to miss class."

"I'm sorry." Rose croaked.

"Luckily your Grandmother understood." Hermione smiled. "She gave me the homework for you to do today. She said you would know the answers anyway."

"No pressure then." Rose sighed.

"There is one more thing." Hermione whispered hesitantly. "You missed the dance rehearsal last night."

"Oh shit." Rose cursed. "What is wrong with me? The competition is tomorrow."

"Everyone understands Rose. It's a lot of stress to undergo at the best of times" Hermione replied patiently. "Its the reason I've awoken you early. They are all waiting for you downstairs to practice before breakfast."

"They are?" Rose replied eagerly.

"They are." Hermione agreed.

Rushing out of bed, Rose quickly threw on some exercise clothing, hopping towards the door whilst still getting dressed.

"And Rose?" Hermione asked sternly.

"Yes?" Rose replied innocently.

"Please eat breakfast today." Hermione replied seriously. "I'm not the only one who has noticed your avoiding meals again."

Gulping guiltily, Rose nodded before waving goodbye to Hermione.

The dance rehearsal went well, with no mistakes made by any of the dancers. Apologising once again for the night before Rose showered and got changed, ready for Thursday's lessons.

With no dog to walk Rose walked down to breakfast, relieved that some of her dancing partners were also making their way downstairs - at least she wouldn't be alone.

Sitting alongside Harry and opposite Hermione, they were unsubtle as they watched Rose help herself to a piece of toast and ladleful of apple and cinnamon porridge.

Their eyes intensely watching Rose eat every mouthful, Rose couldn't help but look to Ron to see if he could see the oddity in their behaviour. Ron however was eating his own breakfast, his eyes focused purely on his bowl ahead.

Safe from Marietta at mealtimes - even Marietta wasn't stupid enough to hurl abuse with teachers being so close by. All Rose had to do was sneak around the castle the rest of the time to avoid accidental meetings.

Relieved that she had managed to avoid Marietta all day, Rose arrived at dinner unenthusiastic to eat. She had avoided lunch, the dance group had met up at lunchtime in Gryffindor tower for an hours practice.

Though she got to see Harry at the dance practice he was back to being on food patrol, his face serious and determined.

"Come on, eat your dinner." He said seriously.

Nodding solemnly at him, Rose sat beside Hermione, who had already dished her a large plate of food up.

"This is no bigger than you would normally eat." Hermione said bluntly. "And your not allowed to go up and practice the dance until you are finished."

"Its bad to dance on a full stomach." Rose replied desperately. "I'll get stitch."

"That's why we are having an early meal." Hermione replied defensively. "Dance doesn't start until six-thirty which means you have an hour and a half for your food to digest. That's plenty of time."

The rest for the meal was held in silence, the others too intent on watching her eat and Ron ignorant to Rose's presence. Though it was odd to be looked after by her friends in such a way, there was no denying that Rose craved the company and safety of her friendship group.

After the silent dinner, Rose and Harry said goodbye to the others as they headed upstairs to practice. Now away from the pressurised atmosphere of dinner, they were able to talk more openly, the conversation light and good humoured.

"Oh shit." Harry suddenly exclaimed.

"Everything okay?" Rose asked amused.

"I left my gym kit in the library, we were looking for Flamel at first break."

"Have you got a spare set?" Rose asked desperately, looking at the time on her watch. "The practice starts in half an hour."

"Not one that's clean." Harry confessed. "If I sprint, I'll be back with loads of time to spare. Go on ahead, I will be back before you know it, honestly."

Smiling guiltily, Harry jogged towards the staircase, leaving Rose alone.

She knew she was close to Gryffindor tower, the chances of bumping into Marietta slim. But there was something in the atmosphere that made her feel like she was being watched, the familiar tingle on her spine present. Reaching subtly for her wand, Rose angled it out, ready to jinx.

Nothing.

The fat lady portrait now in plain sight, Rose promptly made her way over to the door whispering;

"Balderdash Bunions"

As quickly as she could.

The portrait swung open, the heat from the common room hitting her as she quickly climbed through.

Already a handful of people were congregated in the centre of the room, chatting and drinking water, waiting for the practice to begin.

"Hey Rose." Alicia shouted. "I've been looking forward to this all day!"

"Me too." Rose grinned. "Its really come together. I really cant wait to see our costumes."

"Yes, tell me about it!" Katie agreed. "They have been really secretive about the designs."

"You can't blame them." Rose replied. "After all, if they shared their ideas I guarantee that everyone would want something changed."

"Especially…" Alicia chuckled, her eyes indicating to Angelina. "We had to change her costume three times last time."

"It was incredible." Rose replied carefully. "I'd wear it."

"True." Alicia laughed.

"Anyway, I'm just going to get changed out of my uniform. As everyone else arrives can you do a warm up of some kind with everyone?" Rose asked gratefully.

"Sure." Alicia and Katie agreed. "We are only missing about five people anyhow, we could always start early!"

Smiling at their enthusiasm Rose went to her dormitory, changing into charcoal grey leggings, black nike running shoes and a midnight blue sports bra. The last item was her nike navy blue hoody, which she put on instantly feeling the soft warmth around her. Tying her hair into a high ponytail, styling it like she was going to have it the following day, so that she could get used to it with the dance moves.

The common room was obviously more quiet than it had been ten minuted before, the noise level eerily muffled. Surprised that everyone wasn't already here and that Alicia and Katie hadn't started the warm up, Rose started to move the armchairs to one side of the room with her wand, the new room roughly the size of Great Hall's stage.

Turning to the group of dancers Rose's heart stopped for a moment, where were Harry, Fred, George, Angelina, Katie and Alicia?

"Lawrence?" Rose asked, the concern clear in her voice. "Where did Angelina, Katie and Alicia go?"

"They just muttered something about Quidditch and left." Lawrence shrugged in confusion.

"Quidditch?" Rose asked confused. "Are you sure?"

"I think that's what I heard." Lawrence replied, his face frowning.

"And have you seen Harry return?" Rose asked, her panic building.

"No." Lawrence replied.

"Fred and George?" Rose squeaked.

"Not since this mornings practice."

Rose weakly nodded. Counting the number of dancers, she realised with apprehension that everyone was there apart from the Quidditch team.

"They were over there before they left if it helps." A sixth year called Lucy offered.

"Thank you." Rose replied cautiously.

She slowly turned towards where Lucy was indicating, the notice board the only obvious thing.

Amongst the random advert for brooms and lost property was a small neat note, placed purposely in the centre of the board. Curious, Rose walked over to it, noticing as she got closer that the note was in large capital letters.

'THURSDAY 21ST DECEMBER:

URGENT QUIDDITCH MEETING AT 18:30 SHARP ON THE QUIDDITCH PITCH.

NO SHOW = NO PLACE ON THE TEAM.'

Looking down at her watch and then back up at the note. The practice was going to start in a matter of minutes.

Rose frowned as she continued to read the note over and over. Why had nobody told her this? They could have waited around for her and still had plenty of time to make it to this last minute practice. There was something suspicious about this ambiguous note, and she found it hard to believe that they could have all read it.

"Shit." She whispered to herself.

She knew she needed to get to the Quidditch practice, her place on the team more important than her chance in the dancing competition. Sighing she turned to the dancers, who were all waiting patiently for her.

"I'm so sorry guys." Rose pleaded. "There has been a last minute Quidditch practice and if I don't go, I loose my place on the team."

"Why is Oliver doing a session so close to Christmas?" Lawrence asked confused.

"I don't know." Rose replied desperately. "But are you all okay to practice without me?"

They all nodded enthusiastically, Lawrence moving to the front to take charge.

"Thank you." Rose replied sincerely. "I really do appreciate it."

Grateful to already be wearing exercise clothes, Rose didn't hesitate as she sprinted out the common room and through the dark corridors. Flinging herself down the moving staircases she eagerly jumped over the missing step, landing perfectly on the corridor floor. Down the marble staircase she ran, not taking in how noisy she was being as she lunged at the front door to the castle.

She darted down the glassy ice stone steps, her feet slipping on the frost because of her speed. Unperturbed by the danger, Rose continued her pace, hastening through the school grounds towards the Quidditch pitch, all too aware that she was already five minutes late.

Arriving out of breath, hot and sticky, Rose pulled her hoody off and threw it to the side of the Quidditch headquarters. Making her way to the back of the group. she staggered beside Alicia, too angry to make eye contact.

Edward, who was stood at the front of the group, didn't pause his instructions at her arrival, her lateness seeming to go unnoticed. Continuing the warmup as if she wasn't there, Rose followed the next lot of instructions, stretching her back and thighs, wondering why she was the last to arrive.

"Okay everyone, let's get cracking. I want us to go over the moves that we were practicing for our Slytherin game. These moves can all easily be practiced over the Christmas holiday either by yourself or with a family member so there are no excuses." Edward announced with authority. "Please remember to start low to the ground to begin with until your confidence builds, we don't want a repeat from the last session."

Looking at Fred and then Angelina knowingly, Edward continued;

"I've made a note of who I think will work well together, please pair up once you hear your name and find a place on the pitch, you will need to spread out so you have room."

Looking at the group to see if they understood Edward persisted;

"Angelina with George,
Fred with Katie,
Harry with Ward and Alicia your with me." Edward announced coldly.

Rose raised her eyebrows, surprised from his tone and use of name. It felt like years and not just a month ago that he had scolded her for a similar thing.

There was a tension in the atmosphere this evening that wasn't normally present in their Quidditch Practices. Tonight everyone seemed to have serious expressions, nodding at Edward when he asked questions and waited for instructions. There was no talking, no laughter and no banter. Instead it felt like a strange sort of punishment.

"Come on everyone, what are you all waiting for? Time to practice Quidditch!" Edward barked, retrieving a whistle from his pocket and blowing loudly.

Everyone eagerly jumped into action, not knowing what to do apart from to look active, they all moved in different directions.

Rose walked promptly over to the confines of the Gryffindor headquarters, grabbing her favourite school broom off the wall. As she returned outside, she walked past Angelina and the twins who were leaning beside the door.

"What is going on here? I'm the vice captain of this team and yet I found out through word of mouth about this Quidditch practice."

"We found out the same time as you." George muttered bitterly back.

"You weren't in the common room waiting for the dance practice to begin." Angelina muttered.

"No, we were with Sir Nibbs over there when he decided he was going to hold this session last minute." Fred sighed.

"So this has come out of nowhere." Angelina acknowledged. "I was worried we had missed the note for sometime."

Rose turned back around, dressing Angelina clearly.

"But why didn't you wait for me?" Rose asked, the hurt clear.

"I was under the impression you already knew." Angelina replied innocently. "When we all read the note, Oliver was out in the corridor waiting for us. He said that you knew about the note and it was your choice to come or not."

Rose caught George's eyes, the pair of them silently communicating. Something wasn't adding up.

"Edward said I already knew about the note?" Rose repeated.

"Yes." Angelina frowned.

"I see." Rose agreed.

Nodding her goodbye, she marched over to Harry, who was waiting for her on the side of the pitch.

"Harry. How did you know that the Quidditch practice was happening tonight?" Rose asked bluntly.

"Hermione told me Oliver told her." Harry admitted.

Rose sighed in disappointment.

"Then why on earth didn't you tell me about it?" Rose asked crossly. "You still had enough time after the library to come and get me."

"But Hermione said that Oliver had already told you…" Harry replied the confusion clear in his voice.

"Harry." Rose sighed. "Surely you realise that, that in itself sounds odd? Edward isn't talking to me."

Harry looked mortified for a moment, before quickly recovering.

"Then how did you know to come tonight?" He asked curiously.

"There was a note on the noticeboard." Rose sighed.

"But why would you read the note? You were about to begin a dance practice."

"I know." Rose agreed bitterly. "Its almost like he doesn't want me here."

"Don't say that Rose." Harry said soothingly.

"Why else make it so difficult?" Rose scoffed.

"I don't know." Harry replied honestly. "But even in his anger, Oliver must remember how much of an asset you are to this team."

Rose stood still for a moment, her mind replaying Harry's answer. She turned to look back at Edward, noting that he was concentrating a little bit too hard on his notebook - his concentration clearly elsewhere.

She sighed heavily outwards in frustration, she knew Harry was right. After a few seconds she silently nodded.

"Ready Rose?" Harry asked gently.

"Sorry Harry." Rose muttered in earnest. "I should have known that you would have come and got me if you'd known."

"I think out of everyone here you are allowed to act a little paranoid." Harry replied softly. "Shall we go over there away from the others?"

Walking a little further afield so that they had more practice room, Rose looked around nervously before looking at Harry.

Mounting the familiar broom, she couldn't help but notice the dried blood that had sunk into the handle from their last match. She stroked the handle, the last memory of the match flashing in her mind.

Shaking her head to disperse the memory, Rose kicked harshly from the ground hovering ten foot off the floor alongside Harry. Even at this low height, the December icy wind was painful on her skin, numbing the surface of her skin and making her look long-fully towards her hoodie in the far distance.

The first manoeuvre that Edward was so keen for them to practice had been nicknamed the windsurf. In practice the more you tried this technique the more the amygdala part of the brain would switch off. This was important to rehearse alongside the safe instructions of the windsurf manoeuvre as the amygdala is primarily involved in emotion, memory, and the fight-or-flight response.

Now squatting and leaning backwards on the edge of her broom, Rose held the tip of the broom handle with her wand arm. She looked out towards Harry, her hand shaking from the uncomfortable position. As the wind caught in her hair, the movement reminded her of Marietta, her breathing hitched as her body started to sweat. Quietly panicking, all Rose could do was wait for Harry to come within range.

Harry lent forward on his broom, his eyes concentrating on Rose's spare now outstretched hand. He flew quickly through the air, grabbing her hand, but the grip wasn't strong enough and Rose just about managed to grab her broom to stop herself fall.

Rose pulled herself back on the broom, out of breath and shaky.

"Rose are you alright?" Harry shouted worried.

"Again." Rose said stubbornly.

"Not until I know your okay." Harry replied. "That was completely my fault. When I grabbed your free hand, I was at the wrong angle to pull you onto the back of my broom. I lost my strength."

Rose sighed, looking at Harry carefully. He had misunderstood her reaction.

"It wasn't just you." Rose admitted. "I hesitated at the last minute, I think I had a mild panic attack.

I haven't really had an opportunity to think about the last quidditch match with everything that has happened since. There was just a moment back there where I felt like I was falling again, and it scared me."

"I completely understand as I feel the same way." Harry replied gently. "I just didn't want to look like a whimp in front of you."

"Like you would." Rose scoffed, weakly smiling at him.

"I thought this manoeuvre was meant to trick our brains into not being scared." Harry replied light heartedly.

"It is." Rose agreed. "But I guess because we still have a bit of trauma the amygdala part of our brains is still trying to protect us."

"How?" Harry asked bemused.

"Its telling us to take flight instead of fight." Rose replied knowingly.

"Ah I see." Harry sighed. "So what do you want to do? Announce that our Quidditch careers are over with?"

"That doesn't sound like either of us, does it?" Rose chuckled darkly.

"No it doesn't." Harry agreed. "So shall we try again but take our time?"

"Now that Mr Potter, sounds like a really good idea." Rose agreed.

Carefully Rose shuffled to the middle of the broom, lifting both legs up individually she tucked them under her chin until she felt balanced. Taking a deep breath in she slowly lowered her back off the edge of the broom, her fingers burning from the cold and her weight.

Breathing deeply to help with the nerves, she could feel the wind already making its presence known against her body. she called out to Harry, her arms starting to shake violently from her body weight.

She looked out and over to where Harry was positioned, letting go of the broom with her right hand at the last second ready to clasp his outstretched hand.

There was a brief second of feeling like she was falling through the air before she felt Harry's warm hand firmly grip around hers. Pushing her legs out to help give her momentum to swing onto Harry's broom, she swung around the side of Harry, landing neatly behind him. Surprised that the technique had worked, she hugging Harry's back as she clung to him for emotional and physical support.

"We did it Harry!" Rose whispered in surprise. "It might not be fifty foot in the air, but we did it!"

"Your trembling." Harry admitted. "Do you want my hoody?"

"Don't worry." Rose grinned triumphantly. "I'm still ecstatic we managed to pull that off, I can always go back and-"

"Preep! Preep! Preep!"

The whistle rang out throughout the silent night, interrupting everyone instantly.

"Something tells me, he doesn't look happy." Harry muttered nervously.

"No he doesn't, does he." Rose gulped. "Come on, let's go down and join the others, at least we were successful."

After retrieving Rose''s hovering broomstick, they made their way back to Edward. Dismounting beside the headquarters, Rose quickly grabbed her hoody before returning to stand beside the rest of the team.

Edward was stood at the front of the group with a look of utter disgust.

"This has to be the worst session I have ever witnessed from any of you." He shouted angrily. "How can you all have forgotten what I have taught you in such a short space of time? Do any of you actually listen to anything that I show or teach you, or do you think that these practices are just a gossip session where you can have a natter with your mates?

The Christmas holidays are literally just around the corner. This has not given me the confidence I was hoping for."

Edward paused, breathing heavily before turning away from the group, with his hands on his head.

There were quick looks of confusion as everyone sheepishly made eye contact with each other.

Rose looked at Harry with a frown, relived when Harry's puzzled face shrugged in agreement. What had they missed whilst practicing up in the sky?
Turning back towards the front, her eyes met Edward's jealous eyes. She didn't need him to read her mind for him to see that she was confused. His eyes narrowing to angry slits as he read everyone else's thoughts.

"You can all stare at me as baffled and confused as you like." Edward scoffed. "But you all know that you didn't have your heads in the game this evening. None of you were successful with the windsurf technique."

Harry started to lift his hand to contradict Edward's statement, only to look hurt as Rose gently lowered his arm down.

"Not now Harry." Rose whispered knowingly.

"Angelina." Edward continued harshly. "Your throwing in tonights warm up was abysmal as was yours Katie."

"Oliver we literally had ten minutes notice of-"

"Slytherin are going to ambush you continually in the game Angelina. Naïvety isn't a defence." Edward argued. "But your not alone;
Alicia. If didn't know you, I would have presumed that you had never rode a broom before.
Fred, George - Your childish demeanour and aberrant rule breaking was disappointing. It was an embarrassment to be called your Quidditch Captain tonight.

Harry. Yes I did notice your short success of the windsurf technique, but its hard to celebrate alongside you, when the other half of your time was spent talking and hugging instead of practicing."

Harry took an intake of breath, clearly hurt by the comment, Rose didn't need to see his face to feel his upset. Her eyes glued to Edward, she looked at him, her head shaking in disapproval. This wasn't the Edward she knew.

He looked out at the crowd, frustrated by the empty silent faces. Slamming his notebook onto the muddy floor in frustration, he muttered bitterly to himself as he stared at the book for a few seconds.

As he looked up, his expressionless face landed on Rose and Harry.

"And then there was Rose." Edward hissed bitterly.

He walked slowly through the crowd, until he came face to face with her, his eyes looking directly at her for the first time in over a month.

The resentment was clear, his eyes cold and untrusting.

"You're so engrossed in this stupid completion that your in, that you have dragged everyone else on this team down to the same pitiful level as you.

Because of you, their heads and their hearts were't here this evening. They were instead focusing on some stupid dance moves that don't matter." He spat.

"I never asked anyone to join me." Rose replied courageously, her heart beating in her chest. "Everyone volunteered to be by my side because they care."

His eyes flickered, he understood her wording perfectly.

"You think I don't care?" Edward hissed, taking a step closer to her.

"I think your angry and upset." Rose replied carefully.

"Oliver?" Angelina begged apologetically, her tone sounding really upset.

"No Angelina." Edward replied bluntly.

He held his hand up to stop her continuing, his eyes never leaving Rose's.

"Angry and upset is an understatement. Not only have your priorities changed over the past month, but you didn't even have the audacity to turn up on time this evening.

It's clear that you are so busy being little miss popular at the moment that you can't commit to more than one thing a time. Your loyalty to me and this team is obviously elsewhere."

His words were said with such conviction and passion they hissed out of his mouth in a furious verse.

Rose started to glow a deep shade of maroon as he stood directing his speech as if there was no-one else witnessing, the heat radiating off her face.
They stood in awkward silence as Rose struggled to find her voice. The words Edward had spoken, whirling around in her head.

"Is that what you seriously think?" She was finally able to ask regretfully. Her eyes showing the betrayal of his words.

"I have had to seriously consider your worth on this Quidditch team this evening." Edward answered bitterly. "You should just be grateful that you managed to pull off that half arsed attempt at that manoeuvre or you wouldn't still be here, to hear my lecture.

You are no longer needed or wanted in this session. Go do two laps around the lake as a reminder of the warm up you missed."

Pointing out the direction of the lake that was now only visible by the low moonlight with his hand, he stayed locked in position, his eyes now away from Rose and on the floor.

"Oliver, there is an expected thunderstorm on its way." George responded aghast, looking up at the clouds and back to Edward. "You can't actually be serious?"

Looking at Rose one last time, he muttered icily;

"She better run fast then."

Promptly turning his back on Rose, he beckoning for the rest of the team to surround him, the action instantly isolating.

Rose stood momentarily beside Harry, unable to communicate to her legs that she needed to start moving. Breathing a deep breath in, she clamped her teeth onto her tongue to stop herself crying.

The embarrassment and upset she had received over the past few weeks from Marietta and now Edward swirled in her head and her heart, making her breathe uncontrollably. She was at a loss as to what to do next. She had kept everyones secrets and this was what she had to show for it. Her bitterness soon turned to resentment, the anger boiling under her skin.

Adrenaline sparking electricity into her veins, as she boldly removed her hoodie, throwing it with force towards the changing room. Spinning on the spot away from her teammates she sprinted off into the distance, her anger fuelling her.

*Seriously what the fuck was that all about Oliver?* Fred fired mentally at Edward immediately, Georges thoughts not too dissimilar.

Edward opened his eyes and was met by the sea of Gryffindor heads looking back at him in fear and awkwardness. Their thoughts buzzed with sympathy for Rose and confusion for his outburst.

"I think we better call it a night." Edward gulped. "I'm not in the right headspace anymore and I can tell neither are you. If I don't see you before hand have a good Christmas break everyone."

Waiting for most of the group to walk away, the relief in his head as the team members dwindled was instantly relieving.

Scooping up Rose's hoodie where she had thrown it, he automatically inhaled into it without hesitation. The heavenly sweet scent relaxed his muscles, making him sigh in satisfaction.

He walked back to his office, trying to ignore the thoughts of his friends that remained behind. He knew he had been out of hand, his temper too quickly lost, but seeing Rose embrace another had tipped his fragile state too far.

Sinking into the comfy chair he put his head in his hands. He had half expected to have the twins follow him into the room, their angry thoughts still clear from outside.

He shut his eyes as he watched the world from their perspective, their anxiousness of where Rose was, their eyes only just able to see her in the distance. Edward inhaled the jumper again, the smell bringing with it comfort. He didn't know how he was going to fix this.

Edward paused his own thoughts, realising he could now hear someone else's thoughts much closer to the office.

It was Angelina, standing outside the office debating whether to knock or not.

There was a small knock as Angelina carefully popped her head around the door. Edward quickly stuffed the hoodie under the desk, grateful that Rose's smell for now, was on his hands.

"Oliver?" She gently addressed, sitting down in the chair opposite.

"Yes Ange?" Edward replied calmly, trying with all his might to not read her mind. "What's up?"

"What's up?" She scoffed. "Oli, I have never seen your act like that before."

"All I did was set out my authority." Edward protested.

"Well yes, you did that perfectly." Angelina agreed. "But she actually managed to get under your skin. All this time I thought that wasn't possible and yet this past month has shown me it is."

"I beg your pardon?" Edward replied, his confusion clear.

"I'm not blind Oli, so don't treat me like a fool." Angelina replied, her lips curling.

"I don't." Edward protested politely.

Angelina sighed, closing her eyes in frustration. So many thoughts whirled through her head as she thought of the best way to address her apprehension.

"Please." She pleaded. "Please put me out of this misery. I thought we were actually going somewhere."

She opened her eyes longingly at Edward, her heart beating impatiently in her chest.

"Ange… we had this conversation a very long time ago." Edward replied delicately.

"I know." She whispered. "But I really thought this time it was.. it could be different. I'm your vice captain." She laughed pointing at her badge. "The rumours were so real, I couldn't help but get swept up in this imaginary life of me and you.

You allowed me to touch and talk to you in a manor that you didn't before, you even danced with me onstage in front of the whole school.

I thought I was on track to finally have you, but each time I noticed that your concentration has and always will be on one person.

I see the way you look at her, when you think no one is looking. Even now when the pair of you aren't talking, the sexual tension is unbearable, it's actually suffocat-"

"Ange please?"

"Let me finish. I allowed you to stop me earlier, but I need to say this before I think you make a huge mistake.

I always had an inkling at how much Rose liked you Oli, but tonight your heart betrayed you. You showed everyone how much you love her."

Edward's eyes were on the desk, not wanting to look at Angelina. He didn't want to think about his feelings for her, he had tried to avoid them for the past month. Those feelings had put his family in jeopardy, had made his family question not only his safety at Hogwarts but their safety at currently living in Scotland at all.

No-one would ever understand that as much as he loved Rose, he would never put his family in danger because of her again.

There was a flash of light, followed closely by a huge crash of thunder. The window behind Edward suddenly began being pelted with thick horizontal rain. Edward briefly looked at Angelina who was looking at the window with a small sad smile.

*She is going to be drenched.*

She caught Edward's eye repeating the same small smile.

"I think you need to give Rose this." She sighed, unclipping her Vice Captain badge and handing it back to Edward.

He slowly reached out and accepted the badge silently allowing Angelina to continue.

"You need someone around who will keep you on your toes Oliver, somebody that can push your buttons without you fully loosing your temper and she does that. You listen to her more than anyone else around here, you can see how much you really respect her."

She stumbled the last few words out as if she genuinely believed that she was not appreciated. Edward wanted to speak out and let Angelina know that she was indeed respected, but he knew deep down that for now it would be falling on deaf ears. She needed to release herself from any daydreams she had of Edward and for that he needed her to feel in control.

They stayed in silence for a few minutes, Edward's guilt increasing as he now had no escape from Angelina's lustful thoughts. He had been so distracted with Rose he had failed to notice her feelings blossoming once again, even though Rose had pre warned him.

There was another thunderclap, this time rattling the window frame. The noise instantly snapped Angelina out of her emotional thoughts. She looked at Edward, knowing herself that it was time to leave.

Gracefully rising from her chair, she walked slowly to the door, her heart wishing with every step that Edward would stop her from leaving. Turning to give him one last bitter smile, she whispered;

"Merry Christmas Oliver."

Edward gripped the badge tightly in his hand, eventually looking up from his desk and out at the dark corridor which was now visible as Angelina hadn't shut the door. He sighed in frustration, not knowing how long he had sat there in his own thoughts. Reluctantly standing, he shut the door gracefully, before locking it with the key and spell. He wasn't in the mood for any more talking.

Sinking back into the chair Edward sighed heavily, picking up Rose's hoodie before drinking in an elongated sniff of pure floral heaven. For that one moment, his mind went elsewhere concentrating purely on the details of her scent. There were no worried thoughts or concerns, just pure concentrated Turkish delight -

BOOM!

Edward jumped, dropping the hoodie and badge in his shock. He had been so distracted that he had completely ignored everyone's angry thoughts.

Fred was standing in the doorway of the office his hands in balled fists. It quickly became clear that Fred had kicked the door open with such force that it hit the wall. Not only did it leave an indent with the door handle but the lock was still protruding out of the side of the door.

"What the hell was that!?" Edward shouted out startled.

"Me showing you how fucking pissed off I am." Fred roared bitterly pointing his finger at Edward. "If you weren't so bloody distracted, you would have heard me debating whether to do it or not."

"I locked the bloody door because I wanted my privacy Fred."

"Well, you don't get that after tonights fiasco." Fred retaliated.

"Tonight wasn't a fiasco." Edward muttered sulkily.

"Really?" Fred barked bitterly. "I was under the impression that tonight's spontaneous Quidditch practice was created purely because you were jealous. That this was the only way you could gain control and get to spend some time with her. Wasn't it?"

Edward stayed quiet, his arms folded and eyes focused on the wall behind Fred.

"Oliver, you lost you shit with everybody tonight and all because you couldn't keep your feelings under control."

"I have kept them extremely under control under the circumstances." Edward hissed. "Besides, Rose has probably given up in this downpour and gone back to the castle."

Fred scoffed at his comment bitterly;

"Oh good you remember your moment of insanity then." Fred responded sarcastically. "For a moment, I seriously thought I would have to remind you of everything that has happened this evening, but even I shouldn't have to remind you of how stubborn Rose is. You two are very similar in that instance, you said two laps and you can bet that she bloody well will."

Edward sighed sinking lower into his chair. He grabbed the hoodie, not caring if the Fred noticed.

"Is she on the second lap yet?" Edward muttered awkwardly, pinching his nose.

"No she isn't." Fred replied bitterly. "Hence why George is currently sat out in the rain waiting for her."

"She can't be too far off returning." Edward replied curtly.

"Who knows." Fred barked. "She has had to run passed the forbidden forrest, anything could have got her-"

"I wouldn't ever put her in immediate danger like that Fred."

"Who knows what your fucking thinking at the moment." Fred roared. "We lost sight of her as she ran towards forest and she hasn't been seen since. It's raining and thundering outside, she could get pneumonia from the cold and her only item of clothing that she has to keep her warm, your currently sniffing as a soother. We are so pissed with you Oliver, I'm actually struggling to stay rational."

"I really couldn't tell." Edward replied sarcastically.

"Don't" Fred warned, his finger wagging.

"I have a right to be in angry with her." Edward reminded him cuttingly.

"Not this again." Fred said bitterly. "You know full well we told her why you were angry.
We have supported you in every way we can, even distancing ourselves from her. Do you know how difficult that has been for us? For her?"

"I know." Edward murmured quietly. "I know you have had to make difficult choices."

"Then please for Christ's sake, undo this." Fred begged. "She is going to catch a fever or something worse at this rate."

Edward breathed in heavily, looking at Fred's worried face. The exhaustion in Fred's eyes from all the late nights he had kept him company was suddenly clearer than before. Edward could see plainly how scared he was.

"I never thanked you for all you and George have done for me." Edward whispered truthfully. "Thank you. You truly are my best friends."

"We would do almost anything for you." Fred replied poignantly.

"I know." Edward nodded in understanding.

Edward took in a deep breath, his hands gripping even tighter around Rose's hoody.

"I think I'm ready to talk to Rose." Edward whispered distantly, more to himself than to Fred. "I need to know."

"Need to know what?" Fred asked puzzled. "Oliver? OLIVER?"

Edward sprinted from the room, running from the warmth into the freezing December air. He could see George standing in the rain, his body hunched to try and stay warm. The thick droplets of rain were cascading down with a harsh icy force. Edward gulped guiltily, he hadn't comprehending how heavy the downpour actually was.

"Go back to the castle George." Edward shouted.

"I'm not leaving her." George replied adamantly.

"I know." Edward pleaded. "But I am going to try and fix this and for that, I need privacy."

Walking towards his friend, he cupped both his arms, his eyes showing he was speaking the truth.

"Is she still on the first circuit?"

"Yes." George swallowed. "I think the weather and the mud have slowed her down."

Nodding, Edward tapped George on the shoulder.

"Go. I promise I will get this sorted."

George looked at him questioningly before looking behind to Fred who was still standing to the doorway to the headquarters.

"Don't fuck this up Oliver." George replied honestly. "You only ever truly get one shot."

Frowning at his reply, the words not too dissimilar to Angelina's, Edward nodded bitterly. Subtly smelling the air, he could easily pick up Rose's scent on the cold, wet air not too far away to the right.

Nodding his farewell to George, Edward ran as fast as he could towards her scent, the icy droplets hitting his stone skin like bullets.

Out in the distance, still too far away for human eyes, he could see her. Rose's shadowy form now clear.

Edward sped up, using all his strength to get to her as quickly as his could, his heart propelling his momentum. With just one hundred yards to go, he slowed his sped until he had stopped completely. Looking out to Rose intensely, his breath became heavy from passion, the seconds feeling like agonising minutes.

Slowly Rose lifted her head, the tingly sensation on her spine letting her know that Edward was near. Unsurprised to see him standing before her, she abruptly stopped. Her eyes displaying her hurt and anger.

She remained silent, her puffs of breath released quickly into the air.

"I brought you your hoody." Edward announced awkwardly.

Approaching her slowly, he outstretched his arm showcasing her navy hoody.

"I don't want it." Rose replied bluntly.

"Rose- " Edward began.

"Don't Rose me." She snapped.

Walking past him, she walked quickly into the distance, her anger bubbling quickly to the surface once more.

"Where are you going?" Edward shouted from behind her.

"To finish the two laps." Rose muttered.

There was an audible sigh as Edward quickly arrived by her side. Reaching out, he gently grabbed her right arm, the electric shock and warmth making both their muscles spasm.

"Come on." He muttered seductively.

With a little persuasion, Edward managed to guide her under the nearest tree, its thick branches though bare creating a dry shelter from the storm.

Placing her hoody onto the floor, he kept hold of her arm, a little hesitant to let go. After a few moments he felt her tricep relax subtly beneath his fingertips, giving him the confidence to gently let go of her arm.

Without looking at him, Rose instantly turned her back to face the tree with her arms folded defensively against her chest. Her arms and torso had visibly large goosebumps on them from the cold and the rain, whilst her body shivering uncontrollably.

Edward couldn't help but stare at her leggings and sports bra, which were both tightly clinging to her body, showing her figure off in its entirety. Her high ponytail was slowly dripping rainwater, the consistent trickle pouring down her spine, collecting in the arch of her back.

Edward gulped nervously. Between her tight, wet clothing and her scent which had become overwhelmingly strong in the rain, Rose was far too unintentionally sexy.

Shaking his head to disperse his dirty thoughts, Edward coughed awkwardly trying to gain her attention.

"I think we need to get you back to the castle." He whispered gruffly.

"No."

It was a blunt but firm answer.

Edward sighed quietly;

"Rose, your going to get unwell if we don't-"

"You didn't seem to care about my wellbeing earlier." She muttered bitterly, her face still turned away.

Edward sighed again, but this time out of desperation. Gingerly walking towards her, he slowly reaching his hand out, touching her arm again in an attempt to guide her back to the castle.

Rose whipped her body around with such force that her hair splattered Edward's face with rain. Her face was livid, jabbing him sharply in the chest with her index finger she seethed;

"Don't you dare try and take me back to the castle." Rose announced adamantly. "I've already explained that I am going to finish the two laps."

"Rose." Edward pleaded. "You don't seriously think that I expect you to do that still? I was being really…stupid. Extremely so. I put your safety in danger and I am certainly not wanting you to continue my ridiculous request."

"This isn't just about your stupid demand." Rose retorted, her finger jabbing harder into his chest. "This is about integrity. How dare you speak to me like that."

Edward took a step back in surprise, her face was scarily fierce.

"What have I actually done to you?" She continued, jabbing him again in the chest. "What did I actually do to deserve your mind games and isolation?"

"What do you mean what have you done?" Edward replied his voice clearly now annoyed. "You tricked me into revealing that I am a mind reading Vampire. I think that by itself explains my mood the past month."

"I didn't trick you Edward." Rose spat in frustration. "You just still feel resentment that I was clever enough to work it out. You're angry because you gave me a false promise."

"I did no such a thing."

"Oh please." Rose laughed sarcastically. "Are you that arrogant that you are to deny it?

You stood there on multiple occasions, agreeing that if I guessed my theory correctly that you would confirm it. You even agreed for me to use Ron's help…"

"Tricked." Edward interrupted .

"No Edward." Rose reprimanded. " I asked and you agreed. It's not my fault you only agreed because of Cedric."

"Don't bring Diggory into this." Edward responded in a jealous tone.

"Its just the truth." Rose whispered.

"Well. My truth is that I didn't want to put you in danger." Edward muttered.

"I was going to be in danger whether I knew what you were or not." Rose replied seriously. "Do you not think I have the common sense to evaluate how dangerous you could be if you wanted to be. That you could kill me in a mere second."

She moved closer to him, her breathing heavy and passionate.

"I don't want to hear a rehearsed speech about how dangerous you are or how I should stay away from you."

"Your not taking this seriously." Edward sighed.

"And I'm left wondering how you came to that conclusion." Rose whispered angrily.

Her face was now so close to Edward's that he could feel and smell her sweet breath. As he stared back at her, he looked closely for the first time into her watery violet blue eyes.

"Don't you dare say I haven't taken this seriously." She continued between controlled breaths. "I had to do the most difficult thing I could do. I had to push Ron away to keep you and your family safe.

I have respected your privacy and kept well out of your way. I have hardly spoken to Fred and George or Lee so that you would have your support group. So that you had everything you needed. You even took my dog from me.

I have never felt so isolated and alone and in need of a friend, and what has made this all worse, is knowing that you have known all this. Known how lonely I have become and yet done nothing about it."

Rose's lip trembled, as if she couldn't face saying the next line. As Edward watched in silence, a single tear fell from Rose's eye, bouncing onto her red cheek.

"I can keep your secret Edward" Rose whispered bitterly. "But I can't handle you hating me anymore."

More silent tears fell directly onto the floor as they both stood in the Moonlite shadows.

Edward lifted her head up with his hand and looked deeply into her wet eyes with sorrow and guilt.

"I didn't have everything I needed." Edward whispered. "I didn't have everything, because I didn't have you."

Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against hers tentatively for the first time. Taking a deep breath, he looked into Rose's gazing eyes, his heart beating faster at the confirmation he needed to see.

"If you want me to stop, tell me now." he urged.

Rose cautiously reached up and pulled Edward towards her, the rest of his thoughts lost against her mouth. As Edward kissed her gently and delicately, his lips greedily felt for hers, his mouth locking around her warm plump lips, the sensation euphorically addictive. Pulling her body close to his, their bodies tingled as they were enveloped into powerful electrical warmth.

Soon the gentle kisses weren't enough, not now, not after all this time and Rose knotted her fists in his shirt, pulling him harder against her. Edward groaned softly, his purr low in his throat as his arms circled her. Gathering her against him, they moved carefully backward as Edward pushed her against the tree to help support her, his kisses slow and deep.

Rose sighed, reaching out as she placed her arms around his neck. The feeling of the embrace felt wonderful on Edwards skin, no matter how he held her, he couldn't seem to get close enough to her. He eagerly responded by scooped her up, holding her thighs in his hands, her legs tightly gripping his hips.

Their kiss quickly turned aggressive, their tongues dancing passionately, tingling at each others touch, resulting in Edward growling in satisfaction again. Reacting to his enjoyment, Rose reached out, running her hand slowly through his bronze hair, eventually placing it on Edwards cheek. The electric warmth from the touch radiating through her entire body, resulting in Edward purring again.

Unable to withhold his pleasure, Edward pulled away from her, before quickly kissing her lips again, this time the kiss more controlled, intense and slow.

Edward pulled away again, kissing her nose, her forehead, her lips and her cheek.

"I just want to kiss you everywhere." He sighed passionately.

Kissing her lips briefly he reached down to kiss her neck.

"Your smell." He whispered. "The rain has made it even more irresistible."

Repeating the movement, Edward kissed her neck slowly, his moist lips carefully moving over Rose's skin. As he felt her body tingle with the excitement, his lips tingled from the reaction of her nerve endings.

He smiled to himself, the satisfaction of both enjoying and giving enjoyment far too pleasing.

He drew closer to passionately kiss her again, his lips eager to find her again. This time he kissed harder, his body yearning for him to display his passion and eagerness. But this kiss felt different from the others.

The new surge in blood flow to her neck was making his lips buzz from venom as well as arousal.

Abruptly stopping, he slowly and carefully removed his mouth from her neck. All too conscious as to how fragile Rose suddenly was.

Looking up he met Rose's eyes, her face displaying calm confusion, her arms still tightly clinging to his neck.

Not wanting to break his hold on her, Edward leant forward so that their foreheads touched. He had waited decades for a moment like this and he didn't want it to end. Caressing her cheek, he leant forward to kiss her forehead before gently placing her back onto solid ground. As soon as she was stable he returned to bowing his his head against hers. All too aware of his neediness to be beside her.

"That shouldn't have happened." Edward acknowledged guiltily. "I nearly got too carried away."

"Who says I was complaining?" Rose whispered back, a blush quickly forming.

Carefully reaching out to hold his hand, she was visibly relived when he greedily accepted.

"Neither was I." Edward replied eagerly, his crooked smile back again. "That was.. that was incredible. But I can't risk loosing my control like that with you again Rose."

"What are you saying?" Rose pleaded. "Are you just going to push me away again?"

"I promise it won't be like before." Edward soothed. "I won't treat you like I have been doing."

"But you're going to keep me at a distance?" Rose responded, the hurt clear. "After everything we have put ourselves through the past month, denying our feelings, your happy to put them back on the shelf?"

"No. I'm not happy about it." Edward replied passionately. "I have waited for you for nearly one hundred years, but for a creature that is designed to be selfish I am trying to not put myself first here. I can't trust myself to not act like I have done again. To put you in danger.

If I ever hurt you, I don't know what I would do."

Rose looked carefully beside her, her eyes showing her disappointment and hurt. Watching him in silence for a few moments, she contemplated whether to fight his decision, his explantation making some sense.

"And do I get a say in this?" Rose asked calmly, gripping his hand tighter.

Edward smiled bitterly;

"Would you be the girl I'm in love with, if you didn't make your argument?"

Rose sighed, crouching down to the foot of the tree, resting her head on her knee.

"What did I say?" Edward asked confused, following her lead and sitting beside her.

"To know that you care for me as much as I do you, after all the doubts and the self criticism." Rose explained nervously. "I want to plead with you, to shout at you to change your mind, but the truth is I know you too well. You've made up your mind and I can't change it for you."

Wiping a new tear from her face, Rose looked out towards the pitch black lake, hoping for a distraction from her sinking heart.

"Here." Edward soothed, handing over her hoody. "Lets keep you warm."

Placing the hoody properly on her, he leant his arm around her, holding her in a protective embrace.

"Do you remember the first time we sat under this tree?" Edward muttered softly.

"I do." Rose replied distantly, a small sad smile appearing.

The memory of that warm September day came quickly back to her, the strange nostalgia filling her heart. It was the first time she had truly been alone with Edward, the mere sight of him had sent her heart into palpitations. It was a wonderful memory, but a painful reminder at how easily and happy she was in his company.

The fond memory felt distant and sad now.

"Tell me what your thinking?" Edward asked anxiously.

"I'm thinking, it's ironic." Rose replied sadly, looking at Edward honestly. "You asked me if we were friends back then."

"I did." Edward nodded. "It was important for me to know if you saw me as one. I had been so desperate for you to know and like me but I didn't want to force myself upon you."

"I would believe that more if I wasn't looking at you." Rose replied cooly. "Your perfect. Why would you be so worried what I thought?"

"Because I see you as perfect." Edward replied honestly. "And I can't see inside your mind. For the first time ever, I didn't know whether someone liked me."

Rose nodded her understanding, facing back towards the lake.

"There is more to your thoughts?" Edward asked knowingly.

"There is." Rose sighed.

"Please?" Edward pleaded.

"What are we now?" Rose asked cautiously. "Are we just friends?"

Edward paused before cupping her face in his hand.

"I don't think I can be just friends with you." He answered honestly.

"Then what are we?" Rose asked seriously. "Friends with benefits?"

"No." Edward urged. "But I have honestly seen you more than a friend for quite some time."

Rose looked at him questioningly, he was avoiding the question.

"So what am I?"

"My soulmate." Edward whispered. "I've known it since you shook my hand. I haven't told a living soul."

"Why?" Rose asked dumfounded. "Why not tell anyone?"

"Because, it's between me and you." Edward smiled.

"When you say, from the moment I shook your hand. Has this got something to do with the electrical buzz?" Rose asked curiously.

"So you feel it too?" Edward sighed in satisfaction. "I've been dying to know whether you can feel it."

"Oh I can feel it alright." Rose gulped. "It really threw me to know that everyone finds you cold."

"So even when its not skin to skin, you feel warmth?" Edward asked curiously.

"Oh yeah." Rose admitted. "Its like being hugged by a duvet right now."

Edward chuckled, snuggling her even tighter.

"Now that Miss Ward, it music to my ears."

"Is this also why you can't read my mind?" Road asked intrigued.

"No. I'm not too sure why that is." Edward admitted. "And no, it's not to do with your gift either."

Rose nodded guilty.

"There is one other major give away that your my soulmate." Edward continued.

"And that is?" Rose asked curiously.

"Your natural smell that makes you, you. It's incredible."

"Is that what you meant earlier?" Rose chuckled. "But to be fair, you always smell amazing, all the girls think so."

"That's a vampire thing." Edward grinned. "When your sense of smell is as good as mine, when I say you smell good, what I mean to say is irresistible."

"Not that I'm paranoid, how I smell right now or anything." Rose chuckled nervously.

"Beautiful as always." Edward soothed.

Rose smiled sadly, reaching out and taking his left hand. With her spare she stroked his cheek, Edward automatically leaning into the touch.

"If the last month has taught me anything Edward is that I hate it when your gone." Rose whispered honestly.

"I've always been closer than you think." Edward uttered back, his words sounding resentful.

"Why do you sound so disgusted?" Rose queried.

"I was in your dormitory the other day" Edward answered guiltily. "I have only done it a handle of times, but every time I do I feel possessive and perverse afterwards.

I lingered longer than I should have done the other day but I needed to be close to you, especially when you were hurt and upset."

"You heard about Marietta." Rose nodded in understanding.

"Yes." Edward muttered bitterly, rubbing Rose's back soothingly. "But most of the time it's been to watch you sleep."

"What's so interesting about watching me sleep?" Rose asked nervously.

"You are a very delicate sleeper." Edward chuckled. "But when I want peace of mind I come to watch you. It's easy to drown out the others thoughts or dreams when I get to watch you."

Rose looked carefully at him, his face looking both guilty and disgusted with himself.

"Thank you for being honest." Rose replied quietly, hugging his arm.

"Your not angry?" Edward frowned.

"No." Rose replied honestly. "I think the other girls would be if they knew you were in there though."

"Maybe." Edward agreed wearing his crooked smile. "Its a good thing I'm not after their dreams."

"If you had any sense, you would know you were in mine anyway." Rose blushed profusely.

Looking away as she continued to blush, all Rose could do was mentally curse at her word vomit. There was a shiver of relief. Her hand felt the tingly touch of Edward, as he placed a warm passionate kiss on her hand.

"Please don't blush." Edward pleaded. "You must know if I could sleep, my dreams would only consist of you too."

Rose gulped, her heart giving away her feelings for Edward to hear clearly.

"You know my sister Alice warned me about you?" Edward muttered softly with a fond grin. "She was trying to block me from reading her thoughts at Kings Cross station.

It took me a little while to realise why she was acting so conspicuous, but as soon as I lay my eyes upon you I knew. It was you."

"How was Alice able to warn you about me?" Rose queried, her eyebrow gently rising. "She has never met me before."

"Try telling Alice that." Edward chuckled. "To her, you two are best friends and she has known you for years."

Rose frowned, her face clearly curious.

"I realise I haven't answered your question." Edward admitted. "Alice knew you would become important to me and was therefore able to some extent warn me because she can see the future."

"Which is why you phrased your answer so specifically earlier." Rose acknowledged. "You didn't tell a living soul because Alice theoretically isn't alive."

"Yes." Edward sighed. "We make a good team, no-one can tend to have secrets with both of us around."

"It must be nice to have someone to relate your gifts too." Rose asked delicately.

"It is." Edward admitted. "But her mate Jasper also has a gift, so he can also share our burden."

"What is his?" Rose asked curiously.

"He can control and feel emotions." Edward replied carefully. "It is a blessing and a curse."

"I can imagine." Rose agreed. "But apart from the three of you, the others don't have any?"

"No." Edward sighed. "It is still seen in the vampire world as unusual to have powerful gifts. We therefore do need to be careful who knows of our powers."

"Which is why it wasn't mentioned in the library book I read?" Rose asked carefully.

"A book?" Edward asked in disbelief. "Are you trying to tell me you uncovered my darkest secret from a book?"

"It only confirmed what I already thought." Rose admitted. "I first became suspicious from my dreams."

Edward looked at her wearily. As if he didn't quite believe that she was indeed telling the truth.

"And where is the book now?" Edward asked urgently.

"In my schoolbag." Rose replied calmly. "In my dormitory, under my bed."

"Good." Edward sighed. "I was worried you handed it back to the library for a moment then."

Lifting her head to face Edward purely to give him a harsh stare, Rose continued;

"Why did Alice feel she had to warn you about me?" Rose asked seriously.

"Because as much as she can see the future, it's only as it stands at that precise moment. Anyone can alter their own future according to their own decisions, but of course if your interlinked, one persons decision can change more than one persons future."

Rose frowned more, if she understood what Edward had just said correctly, it could mean Edward was now changing his as well as her own path intentionally away from what Alice saw.

"And what did Alice see in my future?" Rose asked precisely.

"She didn't directly say." Edward answered carefully. "But from all her letters you are very important to her, so I can guess."

Rose went quiet.

"Rose?" Edward asked nervously.

"Did she tell you your future?" Rose whispered, the excitement clear.

"Yes."

"And?" Rose pleaded.

"It doesn't matter now." Edward admitted softly.

Rose nodded bitterly in understanding. Edward was purposely changing both their futures whether she wanted him to or not.

Eventually Rose returned her gaze to Edward, her eyes betraying her disappointment.

"Thank you for telling me the truth." She muttered.

"I always thought I was unusual having a sixth sense." Edward smiled glumly. "I do hate the fact you can tell when I'm lying."

"I on the other hand, find it very useful." Rose sighed.

Edward chuckled, giving her hand another comforting squeeze.

"I would like to meet Alice and the rest of your family one day." Rose responded sadly. "If that would be okay or appropriate?"

"It would be my pleasure to equant you." Edward sighed from beside her.

Rose wryly smiled. Edward had after all, sounded like he was indeed from a different era.

"Whats so funny?" He replied curiously.

"I guess for a moment I was reminded at how old you actually are." Rose replied honestly.

"Oh."

Edward dropped his hand from Rose's, his smile now completely gone.

"That wasn't a negative comment." Rose responded seriously, her hand quickly reaching out to hold his again. "I don't think you will ever believe me when I say that you being a Vampire really doesn't bother me."

"It should." Edward swallowed bitterly.

"How can it, when you have always proven otherwise?" Rose replied cooly.

"There is more to being a vampire than meets the eye." Edward muttered bitterly. "If we completely ignore my natural diet, even the genetics that make me, me are fundamentally bad.

I have no soul Rose. And without a soul what am I?"

"You do have a soul Edward." Rose replied confidently. "Just because you have died, doesn't mean your soul departed from you."

"That's exactly what it means." Edward announced, the disgust clear.

"No it doesn't." Rose retorted. "Just like your long dead heart still feels things - like love."

Rose gulped, her hand touching his toned chest gently.

"You have been existing in bitterness and resentfulness for so long, I think sometimes you have forgotten to live."

"I'm too scared to." Edward admitted, his face full of pain. "When it comes to you, I'm scared if something goes wrong. I'm scared if it goes wonderfully right."

Rose looked carefully into his eyes, making sure that Edward was concentrating purely on her. With her one hand still touching his chest, she detached her other from his hand, cupping his face carefully.

She leant forward, brushing their noses together.

"That's the cost of living." She whispered passionately.

Edward shut his eyes bitterly, clamping his lips shut. It was almost like he was afraid to speak his thoughts.

Pulling slightly away from Rose, so that her face was now fully clear, he sighed in defeat.

"There is another cost to being alive." Edward muttered resentfully. "You will eventually forget me."

"What?" Rose stuttered. "How can you say that with such confidence?"

"Because you are human." Edward answered knowingly.

"And what has that got to do with how I feel about you?" Rose snapped.

"Your heart isn't as stubborn as mine." Edward smiled bitterly. "I may be your soulmate, but you can still be swayed by others."

"And you seem to be under the impression that is what I want or intend to do?" Rose seethed.

"If we don't pursue our feelings for one another, eventually yes, you could become acquainted with someone else's feelings."

"I don't believe this." Rose managed to muster. "I'm trying to tell you to become more human and take action on your feelings and here you are telling me my feelings for you are weak and feeble-"

"Rose your missing my- "

"No Edward." Rose snapped. "Your missing mine. If you want both of us to stay miserable, ignoring our feelings for one another then that's on you. But don't you dare tell me to start looking for the comfort of another man. I'm not a possession you can just toss to one side when your finished with it."

She stood passionately from the floor, the heat from her rage fuelling her beating heart.

"Rose calm down." Edward pleaded. "Your hearts going into overdrive."

Grabbing both her hands, he embraced her into a comforting hug.

"Please just give yourself the Christmas break to let your hair down and not worry about me." Edward justified. "I won't be there to distract you and you never know. You might get along with someone new.

If you could hear the thoughts of most the boys in this school, you would realise that there are so many that are eager to chat to you.

If you let me me go Rose, you will notice that there are others that are eager for you to notice them, and for you to know them."

"I feel like my points have fallen on deaf ears." Rose sighed in disappointment.

"Not at all." Edward justified. "I just feel like you haven't noticed others right in front of you as you have had me distracting you.
You have my rusty heart Rose, that will never change. But you have options of happy relationships with people you have more in common with."

"And you think you being away over Christmas will stop me loving you?" Rose smiled bitterly. "You really are a fool Mr Wood."

"I'm just asking you to try Ray." Edward pleaded.

"Has Alice seen me with one of these boys of whom you speak?" Rose asked fiercely.

"Rose that's not my point."

"But it is mine" Rose answered seriously.

"I haven't dared ask her." Edward whispered truthfully. "I was too frightened to know."

Rose smiled bitterly. She may be human, but she knew her own feelings even if Edward wasn't as convinced. Her heart still angry at him for his condescending comments, she reluctantly looked at him, her mind reminding her that she hadn't seen him for over a month.

"Your angry." Edward acknowledged knowingly.

"Fuming." Rose whispered.

"I don't want you to be angry with me." Edward replied.

Rose turned to him folding her arms in defence.

"Its hard not to be, when you seem to be in control of everything I do." Rose justified. "If it isn't how the last month has played out, it's whether we actually get to become an item or to whom you see fit that I somehow get in a mystical relationship with."

"I'm not actually telling you to get into another relationship." Edward replied cooly.

"No but you are suggesting it." Rose reprimanded. "And are you to give me your blessing if I do go and snog another boy? Or will you be giving us both your harsh stare from the sideline?"

"I don't have a harsh stare." Edward defended.

"You know you do." Rose smirked bitterly.

"But yes, of course I would give you my blessing. It is after all my wish for you to move on." Edward replied calmly.

"Then I guess we are done here." Rose whispered, clearly upset.

"Ray please."

"No." Rose replied in defeat. "You don't get to call me that right now."

Turning to face the lake, Rose walked towards it, her mind swirling with thoughts and emotions.

Bending down to pick up a stone, Rose threw it passionately, the round rock bouncing on the ice a couple of times before cracking and falling through the ice.

Her spine throbbed knowingly, as Edward silently stood beside her. Her hand quickly interwoven with his.

"Dawn." Edward announced knowingly.

"Its still dark to human eyes." Rose whispered bitterly.

"And will be for sometime." Edward smiled gently. "But it's a subtle sign that we should head back. I can't quite believe we have managed to stay out all night."

Pulling her away from the lake, Edward smoothly guided her towards the dark castle.

They walked in silence, their hands still interwoven, neither wanting to let go of the other.

"Talk to me." Edward urged. "I don't want to feel like the night has been completely ruined. I was after all warned not to mess it up."

"Oh I think we can both confirm you have done just that." Rose half joked. "I feel like I have been on an emotional rollercoaster."

"Your not alone." Edward agreed.

"Tell me, would you have gone out with me if I hadn't of known about your secret?" Rose asked.

"No I wouldn't." Edward replied quickly. "In hindsight I'm relieved you know."

Rose nodded, her lip chewing as she contemplated her next question.

"Would you have told me you are American?"

Edward paused, turning to her in the darkness, only the moonlight showing his facial details.

"Is it a problem that I am?" He asked curiously.

"No." Rose replied honestly. "It was a shock. After all, there is no trace of an accent to human ears."

Edward chuckled, showing his perfect set of pearly white teeth.

"Carlisle really has rubbed off on us all." He replied knowingly.

Rose nodded in agreement, squeezing his hand comfortingly.

"I was however slightly hurt to read that you play piano and also write music." Rose sighed. "Why have you never told me?"

"I guess because I wanted to show you." Edward shrugged. "To me playing music is more of a therapy than for others to witness and enjoy."

Rose frowned in confusion, his answer had sounded contradictory.

"Let me explain." Edward chuckled, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear. "I don't want to preform in front of large audiences to show off my talents. I do however enjoy writing songs and preform them intimately with ones I love."

"So I will get the opportunity to hear you play?" Rose asked eagerly.

"You will." Edward agreed. "That's if your still okay coming to my house at some point?"

"Do all your friends get an invite over to the 'Wood' household?" Rose asked curiously.

"No." Edward admitted. "But not everyone has a song written for them either."

Rose blushed, her heart yet again betraying her guarded thoughts. Edward chuckled from beside her, his hand gripping hers more tightly.

"I do love it when you blush." He muttered seductively.

Rose glowed a deeper shade of red, the heat warming her cool body.

"I do have another curious question." Rose asked carefully.

"Sure." Edward purred. "I'm sure you have several."

"How many schools and names have you had?"

"Not so many as you think" Edward answered honestly. "This is my first time at Hogwarts. But I have now been to all the wizarding schools as well as some muggle ones."

"Good grief." Rose replied in shock.

"A seven year cycle I'm afraid." Edward chuckled. "After this I will do what my siblings have done and get 'proper jobs'. I vowed this was my last school."

"Why this one?" Rose asked curiously.

"I don't know, there was something pushing me to come here." Edward answered thoughtfully. "I guess maybe I had to wait for you and I didn't know it yet."

"Or it's because it was the one wizarding school you hadn't attended." Rose replied honestly.

"I had other opportunities to come here." Edward replied knowingly. "But there was defiantly something different when I decided to accept this time."

Rose smiled, gripping his hand harder. She wanted desperately believe that it was her that had drawn Edward to Hogwarts to eagerly await her. But there was some self doubt that it wasn't one hundred percent true.

"And Ten." Edward replied smoothly.

"Ten?" Rose asked curiously.

"Last names." Edward explained. "Mason, Cullen and then in turn my siblings and Esmae's. Wood was my Mother's maiden name and has been our last name for the last two decades."

Rose smiled, she had been curious how Wood had fallen into their names.

"I think I like Wood the best." Rose replied confidently. "Like I said before it suits you."

"Thank you." Edward replied proudly, a slight smirk to the corner of his mouth.

They had reached the common room, the inky blue sky outside casting dark shadows on all the furniture. The room cool from the un lite fire.

"Lumos." Edward muttered.

It was like the past night hadn't occurred, the chairs still all to the one side from the previous evenings dance rehearsal.

Smutz jumped down from the sofa adjacent from the fire, his body slightly trembling from the cold.

"Smutz." Rose sighed in happiness.

"He has missed you."

The words didn't come from Edward, but from the sofa.

"Ron?" Rose announced stunned. "What are you-?"

"Harry mentioned that you had been in a fight with Oliver." Ron explained. "When Fred and George returned without you I couldn't sleep. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Rose anxiously stepped towards him, her eyes watery and cautious.

"I thought you…" Rose stuttered.

"I can be angry and still care." Ron replied bitterly.

"I can understand that." Rose replied truthfully, looking from Ron to Edward.

Edward hadn't moved his face though blank was calm and gentle.

"I'll head to bed then. Now I know your safe." Ron announced distantly.

"Ron you don't need to go." Edward responded carefully. "Your not interrupting anything."

Ron paused mid-step, looking from Edward to Rose.

"It certainly doesn't seem like that from my perspective." Ron announced knowingly.

Casting Rose a careful look, Ron disappeared from sight, leaving the two of them alone.

"Do six senses just run in your family?" Edward half joked.

"Ron knows me better than I know myself." Rose shrugged distantly, sinking into the couch he had just vacated. "He knows I like you, his mind must have jumped to the right conclusion."

"Actually he thinks we have been shouting all night." Edward admitted. "He was worried at the way you were holding yourself, your body language is off."

"Oh." Rose gulped guiltily.

Edward walked smoothly over to her, sitting next to her their legs touching from the close contact. Without thinking he put his arm around Rose, his hand closing around her hip.

Rose looked at him carefully, wanting to remember every distinguishable feature that made Edward him.

"What are you thinking?" He asked quietly.

"Nothing in particular." Rose fumbled. "I'm just taking you in."

Edward smiled smugly, his spare hand cupping Rose's face longingly. Leaning into his hand, Rose closed her eyes, praying that this night wouldn't end.

She eventually opened them, she was met by Edward's honey orbs looking intensely back at hers.

A small sigh escaped her mouth as Rose turned her attention back on the rest of the common room, aware that soon people would be awakening.

There in the corner was the noticeboard, the neat note still clearly visible.

"I was so jealous of everyone spending time with you and I got a little bitter." Edward explained nervously. "I subtly placed the note there as I needed to know."

"Needed to know what?" Rose asked in confusion.

"Whether you would notice this small insignificant piece of parchment when you were so busy with your own meeting." Edward sighed. "When I saw you rushing down the lawn having seen my message, my heart skipped a beat. I knew you still cared."

Rose looked back at the note, not knowing how to respond her mind quickly becoming tired and foggy.

"You thought I didn't care." Rose asked curiously.

"I think if I'm being truthful I had convinced myself that you didn't, as it made being angry with you easier to rationalise." Edward sighed. "But I did know deep down you cared, how could I think otherwise?"

Rose gulped, placing her head on Edward's shoulder.

"Why do I get the feeling that we are saying goodbye?" Rose whispered sadly.

Edward sighed bitterly, gripping Rose even tighter.

"Because you know me better than I would like to admit." Edward confessed. "I'm torn between leaving Hogwarts now by running back a day early or…"

"Or?" Rose replied curiously.

"Or wait another evening and be with you."

Rose gulped again, her head nodding automatically as she managed to produce a small, bitter smile.

"Why run?" Rose asked thoughtfully.

"It gives me the headspace I need to empty my thoughts of unneeded clutter and to focus on what's important." Edward replied openly.

"Can you wait here a moment?" Rose asked carefully.

"Sure?" Edward nodded. "But where are you going?"

"I just need to get something." Rose replied. "But I didn't want you to disappear."

"Ray, I promised earlier I wouldn't." Edward responded passionately. "I wouldn't just up and leave you right now."

"Okay." Rose croaked, releasing herself from Edward's secure hold.

Quickly dashing up the stairs to her dormitory, Rose quietly knelt beside her bed, grabbing the singular parcel that had been neatly wrapped in brown paper and a red velvet bow, the attached tag clearly reading;

'Edward.'

Retained within was her book of sketches, the book finally filled over her month of isolation. Consisting mostly of scenery, friends and observation sketches, Rose nervously fiddled with the corner of the wrapping paper. - After all there was an undeniable amount of drawings of Edward.

Would Edward remember the other promise she had agreed to that day? Their friendship had been discussed twice under the same tree, but would he remember she promise to one day give him her drawings?

Rose nervously fumbled with the paper, unsure on whether this was the right moment to give him such a gift.

She returned apprehensively to the common room, Edward's curious look not helping with her anxiousness.

"This is for you." Rose blushed, carefully presenting the present from behind her.

"This is for me?" Edward replied, the shock clear in his voice. "I haven't had a surprise Christmas present in quite some time Ray."

"Well." Rose paused guiltily. "Please don't get your hopes up, but theoretically it is something you had asked for."

"Its not the vampire book is it?" Edward half joked.

"No it's not." Rose chuckled. "And you aren't to open it until Christmas Day either."

"Yes Ma'm!" Edward nodded enthusiastically. "But how did you wrap it so fast?"

"I wrapped it a while ago." Rose admitted. "I was going to give it to Fred or George to give to you."

"Oh." Edward gulped guiltily.

"But I've managed to give it you in person." Rose smiled. "And if you do decide to go tonight, at least I know you have it."

Edward nodded, a small smile on his face as his fingers traced the packaging.

"Thank you." He replied sincerely. "I hate that I have nothing to give in return."

"I wasn't asking-" Rose began.

"I know." He replied seriously, leaning forward so that their foreheads and noses touched.

After a few moments, Edward pulled away, looking out the window clearly deep in thought. Reaching out to hold Rose's hand, he smiled triumphantly - an idea must have come to him.

"I have a proposition." Edward announced smoothly. "It's not exactly a Christmas present but it will hopefully suffice."

Pausing, he looked carefully into Rose's eyes, a passionate sparkle clearly visible in his.

"Tell Ron everything." Edward explained confidently. "In fact tell Harry and Hermione too."

"What?" Rose stuttered. "Edward you can't be serious?"

"You trust them." Edward justified. "And keeping this secret has nearly ruined your relationships with those that mean the most to you.

If they know my truth, they might understand why you had to do what you did. They might even see me differently to how you do, which would also be good for you to hear."

Rose watched Edward's body language and facial expressions change from certainty to sad and scared.

Releasing one of her hands from his loose hold she cupped his face, the warm tingle making him loosely smile and look up to meet her gaze.

"Thank you." She whispered passionately, leaning over to kiss his hard cheek. "That in itself is the best present you could give."

Slowly pulling herself away from his intense gaze, they both unintentionally stayed in close proximately, their lips as good as touching .

"Merry Christmas Ray." Edward whispered smoothly, his eyes pleading with her not to go.

"Merry Christmas Edward." She replied sadly, her fingers slowly untangling from his.