𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒔 ☆ 𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑦𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝑌𝐸𝐴𝑅 𝐹𝑂𝑈𝑅 ☆ 15

But Dumbledore did.

"You are drawing similarities between Neville and yourself, Rosalyn, and because you couldn't help yourself, your parents, you want to help him," he said simply.

"It's not fair," Rosalyn cried.

"I am truly sorry, Rosalyn, but no one can change that now. And, forgive me for saying, I think you need to focus on the third task."

Rosalyn looked at him and he said. "It will be dangerous, Rosalyn, and I take no shame in wishing you luck with it, but I think it would be best for you to retire to your dormitory."

Rosalyn did leave this time, but she didn't quite go back to her dormitory. She climbed up to the astronomy tower and sat on the edge, tears running down her cheeks, hair blowing in the cold night air.

She was so overcome at that moment. Neville, dragons, Tristan, tasks, tournament, fear, torture, death, glory. It was all rushing through her head. All the pent up emotion of not being believed to falling out with her friends to breaking whatever relationship she had with Tristan to saving two people at the second task to finding out that Neville had parents unable to speak and recognise him had finally come up. She had broken down right there.

She couldn't think straight, she just sobbed until the sun came up. I'm weak, she thought, crying like this, stupid really...

But what nobody had ever told her in life was that it wasn't considered weak to cry, especially with what had been and was on Rosalyn's shoulders this year. Many of her friends and peers thought that she was brave, admirable, for coping with what had happened, but she couldn't see that.

At dawn, Rosalyn was lain on the astronomy tower with a wet face and red eyes. She sat up and performed a charm on herself to clean herself up then she walked back down to Gryffindor Tower.

As soon as the portrait hole opened a dozen people swept down upon her.

"Rosalyn where have you been?"

"You weren't in your bed last night!"

"What were you doing?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Rosalyn answered. She sat down in an armchair and said. "I was just- with Dumbledore. The Crouch inspection took longer than I thought."

Almost everyone believed her. Seamus, Dean, Parvati, Lavender, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Fred and George walked off. Neville took another look at Rosalyn before going with them, but Rosalyn knew she wouldn't have to work a lot harder to convince Harry, Ron and Hermione. Her three best friends.

"So..." waid Ron, craning his neck to see if they had gone, and once he could no longer see them, he grilled her. "What were you actually doing?"

Rosalyn sat down in an armchair, her hands at her face, a long, heavy sigh emitting from her lips. "I can't do this," she answered.

"What?" The three of them asked.

"The tournament," Rosalyn said. "I've been- I've been putting a brave face on it for so long... but I can't do it. All the pressure... the stress... it's all been building up, and I cracked tonight."

She stopped for breath. "And I'm weak. I shouldn't cry, I'm a champion, and if anyone knew... I couldn't- I wouldn't-"

Hermione chuckled slightly. "Rosie... you know that everyone here has expected you to break a long time before this, don't you? The stress you must be under..."

"What?" It was Rosalyn's turn to be confused, frowning at Hermione.

"It's okay to feel down, it's okay to cry your heart out- Rosie- I don't think you quite understand that no one is disappointed in you!"

Rosalyn had needed to hear this.

"Yeah... what she said," Ron said, letting them all have a laugh.

"Listen, Rosalyn..." Hermione said meaningfully sitting on the rug below her best friend. "You're not weak for crying, crying is normal. It's okay to feel down as long as you get back up afterwards. And us three will always be there for you, we're there for each other. Always."

Rosalyn looked up at her. "Promise?"

"I promise."

Ron and Harry smiled at the girls and soon, the four of them were laughing and Rosalyn was getting ready to play a game of wizard's chess with Harry. She smiled as she looked around her, surrounded with her three best friends, knowing in her heart that what Hermione said was true. They would always be there for each other.

☆☆☆

Rosalyn had just come out of divination and she was walking around the castle. Harry and Ron were with Dean, Neville and Seamus and Hermione was in the library. Rosalyn was alone.

She was just walking along a corridor when she heard angry voices. Seconds later, a door opened ahead. Snape and Karkaroff were revealed in a potions store cupboard, they looked angry. Rosalyn also noticed that Karkaroff with his left arm extended.

"Have you got a scar too?" Rosalyn asked half awkwardly, half sarcastically. She showed her right arm with the lightning bolt on it to finish it off.

"Less cheek, Potter," Snape remarked as Karkaroff left the room curtly.

Snape turned round and climbed a ladder. Rosalyn stood nervously in the doorway as he looked for a potion on the shelves. "Very impressive performance in the second task, Potter," Even though this was a compliment, it was said in a curt, cold and hard way. Snape turned on the ladder. "Gillyweed, am I correct?"

"Yes, Sir," Rosalyn said. She wasn't sure where Snape was going with this.

"That is quite a sparsely sourced plant, Miss Potter," Snape stated. "And, as far as I know, I am the only one in Hogwarts that has access to this particular plant..."

He trailed off and went on searching for the potion. Finally, he found a small glass bottle with a clear substance in it. Despite it being clear, Rosalyn wasn't stupid. It wasn't water.

"Do you know what this is, Miss Potter?"

"No, should I?" Rosalyn asked. This wasn't class. Snape could dock points from her but no one was here to laugh if she got told off.

"What did I say about cheek, Miss Potter?" Snape asked. He held the bottle in his hand, letting her see its crystal clear contents. "This is veratiserum. One drop of this would have anyone, even the dark lord, spilling their darkest secrets."

Rosalyn said. "And...?"

"And the use of it on students is, obviously, forbidden. However, if you just so happen to steal from my personal stores again, you might just find that my hand slips-" he tipped the bottle ever so slightly "-over your morning pumpkin juice."

"I haven't stolen anything," said Rosalyn adamantly, stubborn that she hadn't. And this time, she wasn't lying, she actually hadn't stolen anything.

Snape was not convinced. "That you may say, but boomslang skin, lacewing flies, you and your little friends are brewing polyjuice potion and believe me, I'm going to find out why!"

He slammed the door in her face and Rosalyn, after pursing her lips and running I haven't stolen anything though her head a couple of times, she started to wonder. Even if she hadn't brewed polyjuice potion, boomslang skin and lacewing flies were undoubtedly polyjuice potion ingredients.

And if they hadn't been brewing polyjuice potion, who had?