CH.11
"So," A boy named Lee was sitting across from me in the Gryffindor common room. "Where did you say you were from?" He'd been eyeing me curiously since the twins introduced us. Our story was that we met at Diagon Alley before the start of term.
"I..uh...I didn't.." I answer off-handedly, shooting a glance towards George who was sitting beside him. "Does it matter, really?" He asks, catching my panic. "She's here now, so who cares."
"Oh, err, alright..." Lee makes a face, obviously thoroughly confused. "You're skipping straight to fifth year? How do you already know the other material?"
"Just drop it, alright?" Fred sits on the arm of the chair I was seated in. "She's a little genius, maybe better than Hermione."
"Hm?" A higher pitched voice asks, "Did someone call me?" We all turn to the bushy haired girl, sitting by the fire holding a Muggle book I'm fairly familiar with.
"No, no...but, now that we have your attention..." Fred smiles, waving her over. She stands with a huff, walking towards us. "If this is about your business transactions, I don't want to hear it." She states with a tone of authority. "Not at all." Fred smiles in response.
Hermione stares at him, her eyes glinting in disbelief. Obviously wanting to go back to reading her book. She crosses her arms, waiting for him to continue.
"Well, Granger, I just wanted to introduce you to Sir-Rose." He says, coughing a bit to cover his mistake.
"I'm sorry, what?" She makes a face.
"Rose," He repeats, tugging my arm to pull me into full view. "She's in your year."
"Oh," She gasps slightly, obviously surprised by there being a new student. "Hello, I'm Hermione Granger."
"Rose Evans." I say politely, shaking her outstretched hand,
"Pleasure." She says with a sweet smile.
"Likewise." I answer calmly.
"What have we done?" Fred and George ask in unison, looking between the two of us. "This," George starts, standing up beside us, "Looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
I quickly turn, smirking at him. He winks in return.
"Well, Hermione," Fred starts again, "Would you like to introduce her to Harry and Ronny? Or shall we?"
"I'll do it." She says turning away from me, her smile turning into a death glare towards the twins. "She doesn't need bad influences as yourselves." She takes my hand, gently towing me away, her smile coming back. "Come on, Rose." I follow her cooperatively, weaving through my fellow gryffindor's in the common room.
"Oi, Hermione! There you are!" Ron exclaims as we come closer. "Been looking for you, we have." He nods once. "Oh...Who's this?"
Hermione happily pulls me forward. "She's new, and in our year."
"Ron Weasley." He states, still confused.
"Rose Evans." I answer politely. It was that moment, probably a reaction to the name Evans, that Harry looked up to join the conversation. I swallowed hard at the thought of lying to him, straight to his face, about who I am. He looks at me for a moment longer than the others had, but perhaps not as long as Professor Snape.
"Hi, I'm Harry." He says, shaking his head a few times, "You're..Rose Evans? Do you come from a muggle family?"
"Err.." I pause nervously, trying to force something to come out of my mouth.
"Sorry," He adds quickly, forcing a laugh. "That sounded bad, I was just wondering...Because, er, I know some muggle Evans.."
"Oh..." I manage. "Ye-yea, I do...but well, Evans is a common name, isn't it?" I swallow the lump in my throat, wishing Fred and George had come with me to save me from these situations as they did with Lee.
"Yea, I suppose it is.." He answers, still observing my features. I quickly bring my hand up to my head, assuring myself that my scar was covered.
The four of us were awkwardly standing, silence going between us. I'm sure Harry was still processing how much I looked like Mum, and trying to figure it all out. Hermione continued reading. And Ron was polishing a chess set. I stood up straighter feeling warm breath by my ear, "Don't you have a letter to write?"
"Right!" I gasp, turning to face Fred. "Yes, I do!" I excuse myself from an annoyed Hermione, confused Ron, and still quizzical Harry. I follow Fred to the other side of the common room, repeatedly thanking him for giving me an excuse to leave.
I pull out a quill and some parchment and begin my letter,
Remus,
Hello, my first day of Hogwarts has been great. Remember Fred and George? The twins I met at Diagon Alley? They introduced me to some fifth years, they all seem nice. Harry Potter said my name sounded familiar.
Also, I was evaluated by Professors McGonagall and Snape. Professor McGonagall accidentally called me Lily, haha...wrong flower!
Extra love,
Rose Evans
I carefully construct my letter, hoping to give enough details, though not too many. In case it's intercepted, as warned. I hand my letter to Fred, who double checks it.
"Seems good." He nods, handing it back. "Perfect actually, you gave a hint of warning that you're being recognized, but playing it off. Subtly giving him our back story, while also saying you're starting to talk to the others putting the plan into action. You really are a genius."
I smile, sliding the letter into an envelope. "I hope he passes everything on to Sirius..." I sigh tucking the letter into my robes. Promising myself I will send it first thing tomorrow, since it's past curfew now.
"He will." He assures me. "It's part of the deal, isn't it?"
"I guess so..." I pull the letter out again, looking at it for a few seconds before scribbling on a post script.
PS, Give the dog some love as well, I miss my Snuffles dearly.
"Smart." George reads over my shoulder. "Good job."
I smile, continuing to look over the letter. "I couldn't just forget about Snuffles, it felt wrong."
"Rose," I hear Hermione's voice from behind me, and quickly stuff the letter back into my robes. "I'm going up to bed, care to join me?"
Fred and George push me towards her, despite my displeasure to the action. "Go," George whispers in my ear. "Make friends...remember?" Fred adds. With a huff, I walk towards Hermione.
We head upstairs together, she talks the whole time. I tune her out for a bit, until we reach the dormitories.
"So, just let me know if you need any help!" She states enthusiastically. "In any subject. I'd be happy to help."
"I'm sure that won't be necessary," I smile sweetly. "But, thank you."
"Anytime." She smiles, then goes to her bed. "Well, goodnight then."
"'Night." I answer quietly, then curl myself into my blankets, quickly falling to sleep.
The morning came all too quickly. Being used to sleeping in until whenever I wanted for my entire life, waking up on schedule was tough. The other girls in my room giggled as I woke up last. Ignoring them, I quickly dressed, took my books and when down to the common room where Fred and George were waiting.
"Finally.." They laugh in unison. I roll my eyes, walking past them, knowing they would follow. "Not a morning person, note taken." George laughs from behind me.
We enter the Great Hall, earning some glances towards me as we walk to the Gryffindor table. They set me beside Fred, and also across from a girl who looks like a mini female version of them.
She looks at me for a moment before speaking. "Hi, I'm Ginny..." She says carefully. "Did you just transfer here?"
"Mhm." I nod, smiling. "I'm Rose. Nice to meet you."
"You too." She smiles. "What year are you?" She shovels some food into her mouth, while waiting for my answer.
"Fifth." I answer, then realizing I shouldn't know, ask "How about you?"
"Fourth." She sighs, "But I'm also in Gryffindor, so we'll see each other around."
"Okay, cool." I smile, enjoying her presence.
"Well," Fred starts, looking between us. "I would say this went a bit better than Hermione, hm?"
I roll my eyes, shoving him. The only reason Hermione and I didn't get on was because she acted like she knew more than me, which she should. And it got awkward when I was introduced to Harry.
"Do you, err, know each other?" Ginny asks, her voice laced with confused.
"Yea, we met before the start of term." George says, joining the conversation. "At Diagon Alley."
"Oh, cool." She nods, accepting the story. "Well, I'm their sister."
"Oh, right." I nod, smiling. "They've told me about you. Said you were a bit scary at times." I add.
"Did they?" She shoots them a death glare. "I'm nothing compared to them, honest."
I laugh, beginning to eat my meal as I feel someone sit beside me. I glance up to see the back of someone's head, with messy black hair. And a lump forms in my throat as I realize who it is, and subtly move closer to Fred.
Feeling the movement, Harry turns to face me. "Oh I'm sorry did I..." He trails off, seeing me. "Was I, eh, in your way?"
"Oh, no." I shake my head, swallowing the lump. "Not at all."
He nods, turning back to Hermione and Ron. Hermione gives him a look before turning to speak with me. "Want to walk to class with us, Rose?"
Fred kicks my ankle. "Sure." I say with a smile. "That'd be nice."
Hermione smiles, then goes back to her meal. I swear I heard her mumbling something to Harry and Ron along the lines of, "See it wasn't so hard, was it?"
"Freddie?" I ask, calling his attention from Lee who was doing something to his toast. "How do I get to the owlery?"
He gives me directions distractedly, then goes back to watching Lee. I stand, taking my things and heading in the direction he told me. I go into the dirty room of owls, and quietly call out for Emiliani. She flies down, perching carefully on my arm.
"Hello pretty girl." I carefully stroke her feathers, then pull out my letter. "This is for Remus.." I tell her. I tie the letter around her ankle, and send her off.
"Ah,hem.." I turn to see the short toadlike professor standing behind me. "And who might you be writing to on the morning after you've arrived? You've barely been away from home." She says in exaggerated sweetness.
"My, err, father.." I answer, trying out the feel of the words. "I promised I would write first thing."
"And why is that?" She twists her fave into a look of sweetness mixed with confusion. "You're obviously old enough to handle yourself, aren't you my dear?"
"Well, Professor," I swallow hard, "I'm new here, and he was nervous."
"Oh." She raises her eyebrows. "You must be Miss Evans?"
"Yes, professor." I nod.
"Mhm.." She turns, leaving me in the owlery, exhaling sharply. Terrified of the confrontation.
I take a deep breath, running my hands through my hair. Which was soft and detangled due to me forcing a brush through it this morning.
"Rose?" I hear a voice, and then to see Ginny Weasley. I quickly fix my hair as she talks. "I thought I'd come to make sure you found your way...I heard what happened with Umbridge. She has no right." She huffs, crossing her arms.
"Yea," I shrug. "I mean, it's not like it's illeagal to owl home..."
She nods, then opens her mouth as if to say something, but quickly closes it.
"What?" I question, tilting my head to the side.
"Nothing." She shakes her head, her natural smile coming back. "Come on, we should head back...especially if you still want to walk with the others."
I nod, allowing her to take my arm towing me back to the Great Hall. We arrive just as Harry, Ron, and Hermione were leaving. "Rose!" Hermione gasps, grabbing my arm from Ginny. "There you are! Come on, we have potions."
"Well, I'll see you..." Ginny calls, waving.
"Yea, later!" I wave, still being dragged away by Hermione. Eventually she let's go, allowing my to walk beside them like normal.
We go into the Potions room, by the dungeons and find seats. Ron quickly sat with Hermione, claiming he needed all the help he could get. "Want to sit over here?" Harry asks hesitantly, then quickly adds, "Unless you don't want to sit together...which is alright too."
I nod, hiding my smile slightly. "Sure." I follow him to seats by Ron and Hermione. We set up our things, waiting for Snape to come in and get started.
He walks through, looking straight forward until passing our table and glancing at us. It was barely visible, and you could have missed it if you blinked.
"He doesn't care much for me.." Harry whispers. "Sorry, you might not want to sit by me.."
I laugh quietly. "It's alright." I assure him. "I met him yesterday, he's not too bad..."
"Potter." Snape says coldly, facing us. "If you're going to distract Miss Evans I'll have to separate you." Harry bows his head, silently shooting me an apologetic look. "Five points from Gryffindor." There were audible groans, but Snape ignored them and continued to scribble directions on the board.
I set up my ingredients as he writes them, preparing the potion. By the time he's finished, I'm already chopping, slicing, and crushing. While the others are still sorting out their ingredients.
"Sorry for embarrassing you.." Harry mumbles as he chops his daisy roots.
"Not at all..." I laugh quietly. "I'm fine."
He nods, focusing on his potion.
Once finished, I put some of my potion into a flask, and take it to Snape's desk to be examined. "Professor? My potion, sir." I say politely, he turns, looks at me for a moment, then takes my flask.
He examines it for a moment, before looking up at me. "Practically perfect." He states, raising an eyebrow. "Five points."
"Thank you, professor." I smile proudly, then go back to my seat. I wave my wand, cleaning our my cauldron. "Don't worry about getting the points taken, I earned them back." I inform Harry, he smiles slightly in response.
I wait patiently as each person finishes. A boy named Neville completely ruined his potion, and Seamus's blew up. Hermione's came out wonderfully. And though Harry and Ron's were better than most, Snape insulted them harsher than any else. He even seemed to be disappointed at how wonderful Hermione's potion was.
None of the Gryffindors seemed to like Snape much, and after seeing how he acted in class...I couldn't blame them.