The Hidden One

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Hi! I was just wondering how you guys felt about chapter lengths. Right now they're a little over 2,000 words but I feel like the book is moving too slowly. Should I increase word count closer to 3,000 or is that too much? Comment what you prefer. Thanks!

If Rose and Harry thought they were messed up by the lesson, Neville was worse. As they all exited the class Neville stood there, staring at a random wall.

"Neville?" Hermione asked gently, as she had been the first person to notice him.

"Oh, hello. What a lovely lesson. I wonder what we're having for dinner. I'm starving, aren't you?" Neville rambled. Rose noticed that his voice was higher than normal and had more of a tremble to it.

"Neville, are you...alright?" Rose asked. Her hand was still tightly clamped in Harry's and she thought that that was the only reason why she wasn't like Neville.

"Oh, I'm fine. Very interesting dinner-oh, I mean lesson. What's for eating?" Neville said, obviously not knowing what he was saying. The quartet shared a look, not knowing how to help the boy. A clunking distracted them and they watched as Professor Moody came down the stairs. Rose unconsciously moved behind Harry to get away from the man.

"It's alright, sonny," Professor Moody said, his growl of a voice much softer than they were used to. "Why don't you come up to my office? We can have a cup of tea?"

Neville seemed even more frightened at the idea of having tea with the Professor. He didn't move from his spot.

"You alright, Potter, Dylan?" Moody asked as he looked at the pair. Rose didn't like the way he said her last name. It was as if he knew the truth.

"We're fine," Harry answered for the both of them. Moody continued to look at the pair for a while.

"You've got to know. It may seem harsh, but...you've got to know," Moody finally said before turning to Neville. "Come on, Longbottom, let's go have that tea. I've got some books that might interest you as well."

Neville looked pleadingly at the quartet, who all had to shrug. Neville was guided away and the quartet walked down the steps.

"What was that about?" Ron questioned.

"I don't know," Hermione said, looking thoughtful.

"Fred and George were right, though. Moody really knows his stuff. When he did Avada Kedavra and the spider just died, like dead as ..." Ron trailed off as he saw Harry's face. Rose noticed that his grip on her hand tightened. It suddenly hit Rose rhat Harry probably didn't really know how his parents died until then. Rose rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb and his grip loosened.

Dinner that night was quiet. As usual, Hermione raced off to the library as soon as she could, leaving Rose with the boys. Luckily for her, Cedric came up and sat next to her, slinging his arm over her shoulder.

"Hello, Potter, Weasley," Cedric greeted. The boys mumbled back responses.

"You mind if I take Lyn for a little bit?" Cedric asked. Rose was already standing up. She faintly remembered telling him to call her Rose but it seemed as if he forgot or didn't care. Rose figured that with the danger she found out she was in, it was actually for the better that he still called her Lyn.

"Actually!" Harry exclaimed, reaching out and lightly grabbing her wrist. "I need some help with Divination homework and I was hoping you would help."

"Harry, you're funny if you think that I know how to do that homework. Just write down random stuff and she won't notice," Rose said. Harry sat down with a huff and watched as Cedric pulled Rose out of the Great Hall.