Rosie had a hard time focusing during Dumbledore's Army meetings for the next few weeks.
After what happened in Umbridge's office with the tea spiked with Veritaserum, she couldn't help but worry over what the woman was up to regarding finding out about the organization. She didn't say anything about the incident to Harry, not wanting to feed her anxiety onto him over what happened. Besides, she was still thinking about how he'd react if he found out that she told Adam about Dumbledore's Army.
It seemed like being paranoid was all Rosie did nowadays, but really, who wasn't concerned with how things were going all over the castle and Wizarding world at the moment?
It was a nice Saturday afternoon as Rosie was eating lunch in the Great Hall, finding it to be the start of a relaxing afternoon for herself. She was enjoying a sandwich and some fruit when she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione entering the Great Hall and strolling in between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables, their expressions blank as they took seats near Rosie.
"Afternoon, Rosie," Harry said.
"Afternoon," she repeated.
"Did you hear about Umbridge's High Inquisitorial Squad?" Ron spoke up, letting out a scoff afterwards. "Apparently, she's now got them patrolling with Prefects after hours."
"Well, we all know why she's doing it," Harry added. "And we're not going to let any of them catch Dumbledore's Army."
Rosie stayed quiet as she tried to finish the rest of her lunch. In all honesty, this was the last subject she wanted to hear about, and it made her tense up a little.
"Is everything all right, Rosie?" Hermione asked.
Snapping her head up, she glanced at the three staring at her, to which she quickly nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. If you'll excuse me, I need to get some air." Rosie shot up from her seat before any of them could ask her any more questions, hurrying out of the Great Hall and down the corridor, not slowing down even when she made it outside.
The spring air was just a relief as Rosie took a deep breath and continued to walk farther away from the castle. She needed some time alone, time to think about everything and what to do once things did get worse, which she had a feeling that they would. But when that day would come, she had no idea. Either way, just having to prepare for it was worrisome, as she didn't know where to even start.
"Rosie!"
She turned around, stopping when she saw Adam dashing her way, and she was close to rolling her eyes.
"Hey," he said as he approached her, panting.
"What do you want?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"I need to talk to you."
"About what?"
"About...well, you know what."
Rosie shook her head in response. "There's nothing to discuss. You clearly don't want my help."
With a sad look, Adam sighed. "It's...it's a complicated situation, Rosie, and the last thing I want is for you to get hurt."
"I won't get hurt."
"You don't know that."
Her face fell. "I just hate that you're miserable in this relationship, and imagining you and Greer married--"
"I know." He paused, another sigh escaping his mouth. "But I really am handling it. Everything will be sorted soon."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
A small smile formed across her face, knowing that Adam could get out of this if he fought hard enough. Still, she couldn't help but have doubts over it, scared that maybe it wouldn't work out in the end. It was just another thing Rosie had to worry about.
"So, um, anyway, how's it going?" she spoke up. "You don't have much longer until you're done with school for good."
"Yes, it's exciting," he replied, nodding his head. "But I'm going to miss this place. my professors, my classes, my friends..."
"It's nice to know you'll miss me."
He chuckled in response. "Of course I'll miss you, Rosebud. Are you going to miss me?"
"You know I will." As Rosie stared at Adam with soft eyes, a warm feeling grew inside her, grinning harder the longer she looked at him. She always liked his smile, the way he talked and laughed so crisp that it was perfect. So perfect that she could listen to him all day and never get bored. He was perfect.
Merlin's beard, was Rosie...developing feelings for Adam?
Oh, no.
"Adam!" The two turned around to find Greer heading their way, a wide smile on her face. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you."
"Well, I saw Rosie coming out here and had to speak to her," he explained.
"About what?"
Adam and Rosie glanced at one another, their mouths opened as they tried to figure out what to tell her. Of course, they couldn't tell her the truth, as that wouldn't end so well. The tension only got more awkward with every second they were quiet. It had been like that, anyway, since Rosie hadn't talked to Greer (or Gavin for that matter) since before the holidays. Rosie wasn't used to going so long without speaking to Greer, but the circumstances were different this time, as everything was changing around them at a very fast pace.
"Just him finishing up school in a couple of months," Rosie finally answered. It wasn't a complete lie, which would hopefully be good enough to convince Greer to move onto another subject.
But of course, Greer had her suspicions, with eyebrows raised and her smile dropping a little. "Is that all?"
Rosie was beginning to feel a bit intimidated by her cold eyes.
"Yes, that's all, Greer," Adam intervened when he noticed Rosie's uncomfortable shift. "And it was a pleasant conversation."
"Oh." Greer glanced at her boyfriend, forcing herself to look happy again. "Well, we better get going, Adam. We've got plans today." She grabbed his hand, pulling him towards her as she looked back at Rosie. "We'll see you later, okay, Rosie?"
"Yeah, see you later." She gave Greer a wave, then did the same for Adam, who turned back to face her for a brief moment and weakly smiled before facing the opposite direction again. When they weren't looking at her anymore, Rosie noticed the tight grip Greer had on Adam's hand, and the happy feeling she had before was no longer there, with her blood now boiling.
What Rosie Clarke was feeling now was a terrible thing called jealousy.
*******
"Make it a powerful memory, the happiest you can remember. Allow it to fill you up. Keep trying, Seamus."
In Rosie's opinion, this was the most difficult charm they had to learn so far. She had only been able to get the indication and a small blue light to flare up out of her wand. Although, it seemed that she wasn't the only one that was having a hard time, especially with Neville standing next to her, struggling the most. Her only problem was picking out a memory powerful enough to conjure the spell.
"A full-bodied Patronus is the most difficult to produce, but shield forms can also be equally useful against a variety of opponents," Harry continued, a grin on his face when he saw Ginny Weasley had managed to succeed with the charm, a horse galloping above him. "Fantastic, Ginny!"
"Merlin's beard," Rosie mumbled, staring at the Patronus in awe.
"Just remember, your Patronus can only protect you for as long as you stay focused." Harry watched Luna Lovegood for a moment, then turned towards Rosie and Neville. "Think of the happiest thing you can," he told them.
"Expecto Patronum," Neville muttered, to which he got poor results, shooting Harry a sad look. "I-I'm trying."
"I know. It's good." Harry gave him a nod and continued making the rounds. "This is really advanced stuff, guys. You're doing so well."
Rosie kept pondering over a memory that she thought would be strong for this spell. First, she thought about the fun times she had with her parents growing up, but there was nothing from her childhood that stood out. Next, she went through memories of her with Adam, Greer, and Gavin over the last year, though given how things were going with them as a group, she figured none of those would work, either. Lastly, Adam popped into her head, and the first thing that came to mind was their short time together on Christmas Eve. They hardly did things like that, and now with what she was feeling when they spoke to each other recently, it became special to her.
So Rosie concentrated on the memory, picturing the snow falling and the shops they passed and the smiles and words they exchanged. With her stance and wand at the ready, she took a deep breath and said, "Expecto Patronum," and she was surprised to find a flash of blue light shoot out at the end, forming a vixen that was leaping all around her.
"Well done, Rosie!" Harry exclaimed.
The longer she let the memory replay in her mind, the longer her Patronus continued to work. It was when the warm feeling she got around Adam came back to her again that Rosie concluded that she really had it bad for him. And if Greer ever found out...
All of sudden, Rosie was snapped out of her thoughts when the sound of rumbling was heard, and everyone stopped what they were doing. With the glass chandelier tinkling and the lights flickering, a bad feeling settled at the bottom of Rosie's stomach, assuming it was the same with the other students. As the thudding grew louder, everyone gathered around, facing the entrance, where the front mirror began to crack and shatter in just a matter of seconds, with Harry and Nigel, the boy from the meeting at Hog's Head, going to look through the small hole in the triangular brick wall.
"I'll make short work of this," Professor Umbridge's voice echoed from the other side of the wall. She paused for a moment, which gave Harry and Nigel time to quickly back away. "Bombarda Maxima."
There was a loud BOOM, followed by screams and rumbles as the wall exploded, where everyone turned their heads in attempts to shield any dirt or rocks getting into their eyes. When the smoke finally cleared, the students lifted their heads to see Professor Umbridge with Mr. Filch by her side and a group of Slytherins (most likely members of the Inquisitorial Squad) behind her. Rosie had never seen a stern look on the woman's face, which meant they were really in trouble now.
"Get them!" the woman hissed.
So one by one, the Inquisitorial Squad took Dumbledore's Army (with the exception of Harry) to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where everyone was seated while being watched by the Slytherins with smug looks on their faces. Rosie felt nothing but defeat, her heart sinking as she glanced at the other students, who were keeping their heads down. She couldn't believe this actually happened, especially after all of the hard work everyone had put in this organization, how hard they all tried to keep it a secret from anyone who would dare try to take them down, much like what Professor Umbridge and the Inquisitorial Squad just did.
Which, speaking of, Rosie noticed that neither Greer or Gavin were here. She knew they were members of the squad, but where were they?
Before she could think about it any more, Professor Umbridge and Harry entered the classroom, to which all eyes went to them.
"Well, I must say, I am very disappointed in all of you," she announced. "And I'm sure Hogwarts has never seen this sort of behavior in all the years it's been here." When no one said anything, she kept going. "So, as your new headmistress, I will be enforcing the punishment for your actions."
Everyone's eyes went wide at the word headmistress. Where the hell was Dumbledore?
"Now, you will remain in the Great Hall after dinner tomorrow night. No exceptions. Is that clear?" The students nodded their heads in response. "You are dismissed. I will see all of you tomorrow night."
With that, everyone stood up and walked past the professor and the Slytherins, shooting the latter glares as they exited the classroom and made their way down the corridor.
"How the hell did she find out about Dumbledore's Army?" Zacharias asked, breaking the silence. "We've been careful the entire time."
"Someone must've heard or seen us," Hermione stated. "Maybe a Prefect or someone from the Inquisitorial Squad."
"Or one of you told someone when you weren't supposed to," Ron added in a bitter tone.
"I doubt that, Ron," Ginny said. "We all agreed to keep quiet about it. Who here would've said anything?"
Rosie began to tense up, avoiding eye contact with anyone and hoping no one would notice. But unfortunately, Harry did.
"Rosie?" he called. "Did you say anything about Dumbledore's Army to any of your Slytherin friends?" She stayed quiet, not even turning to face him. "Did you, Rosie?"
She finally huffed a sigh and glanced at Harry. "Maybe I told Adam Lewis--"
"What?!" Ron interjected, his eyes going wide. "Bloody hell, I told you we couldn't trust her!"
"No, Adam isn't like the others," she protested.
"And that's supposed to make us feel better?" Ron snapped. "How do we know he isn't the one who went running to Umbridge about Dumbledore's Army?"
"He's different, that's how," Rosie retorted. "I don't expect any of you to understand, but I know him and I know he wouldn't do this."
There was a pause as everyone gave Rosie hard stares. She wasn't sure what else to say that would convince them that Adam really was a good person.
"Well, why don't you ask him now?" Harry finally stated, motioning his head behind her.
Rosie whipped her head around and saw Adam standing there, his expression filled with confusion as she walked up to him.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Dumbledore's Army got caught by Umbridge," she said.
"Oh, damn," he replied.
"Yeah, everyone knows I told you, so they seem to think that you ratted us out," she explained, then raised her eyebrows. "You...you didn't rat us out, did you?"
Adam opened his mouth to respond, though nothing was coming out right away. "Rosie--"
"Did you tell anyone, Adam?"
He sighed, becoming more reluctant to say anything again. "I...I told Gavin."
Her face fell. "What?"
"Rosie, I can explain--"
"I trusted you."
"I know, but--"
"I trusted you with this secret and you betrayed me."
"Rosie, just listen to me--"
"No, I won't. In fact, I can't even look at you right now." Rosie turned around to go back to Dumbledore's Army, but seeing the hurt looks on their faces, she couldn't face any of them. So instead, she ran past Adam, who was calling after her, and sprinted down the corridor, stopping once she was just about out of breath. Leaning against the wall, she panted for a moment, then felt a lump in her throat before she bursted into tears.
How could Adam betray her like that? She confided in him, thinking he was the one person that she could count on. Now, their friendship was ruined, their trust broken and demolished into nothing.
The problem? Rosie still felt her heart tugging at the mere thought of him.
Rosie wasn't too sure how long she stayed there, but she was glad that Adam or no one from Dumbledore's Army found her in the state that she was in. However, out of the corner of her eye, Rosie swore she spotted a wave of blonde hair disappearing around the end of the corridor, and she immediately knew that it was Greer.
On the way back to the Gryffindor Tower, Rosie wondered how long Greer had been watching her, making it a habit to check her surroundings every so often until she got in front of the portrait and muttered the password. After changing into her pajamas and settling down for the night, she laid awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling in deep thought.
And it was at that moment Rosie Clarke made the choice to never let her guard down anymore.
A/N: Well, rip Dumbledore's Army (sort of). I know Umbridge found out about it through some other students, but for the plot of this story, I changed it.
Anyway, what did you think?
Comment, vote, more soon!
-A