The Start of Third Year

The elderly Bennetts were well liked in town. After their fish-and-chips recipe was improved, Rose also used every sales strategy she knew to help them attract a large number of customers.

Business at the shop was booming. Rose had to arrive before dawn every day and could only hurry back to the orphanage late at night.

Mrs. Bennett worried it wasn't safe for her to travel back and forth every day, so she suggested that Rose move into a small room on the second floor.

Rose suggested to Mrs. Bennett that the rent could be deducted from her wages, but she smiled and refused. She said, "You generously and kindly gave us the recipe, letting us continue to pursue the dream we had when we were young." The room had originally belonged to their daughter, but she hadn't been back for over ten years.

Rose was delighted to be able to move out of the oppressive, crowded orphanage early. She returned that very day and told Mr. Johnson she'd found a job that included room and board. He quickly approved her request without showing the slightest concern for her safety.

Before Rose moved in, Mrs. Bennett made a point of cleaning the room and putting on a new bedsheet patterned with little purple flowers that she'd bought at the town supermarket. On the day Rose officially moved in, she also bought a bouquet of fresh pink gerbera daisies for the room.

Mrs. Bennett said they had been her favorite flowers when she was young and that they stood for having the courage to pursue a colorful life.

Now Rose no longer had to set out before dawn every day. In the evenings, she even had spare time to sit at the little table by the window, enjoying the free wind blowing in from the open fields as she worked on her History of Magic homework.

The days of that summer holiday were comfortable and busy, and Rose's schedule was packed every day. Several times, she couldn't help falling asleep at her desk while doing homework at night.

But she thought it was the happiest summer she'd ever had.

Soon, it was late August, and Rose hesitated over how to tell Mrs. Bennett she needed to stop working a few days early. She still had to make a trip to Diagon Alley before school started.

Mrs. Bennett thoughtfully saw what was on her mind. She paid Rose her wages early and pressed the money on her, refusing to take no for an answer. It was a considerable sum, enough for Rose to buy another set of new robes.

Rose felt the kindness of the elderly Bennetts. They didn't ask where she was going to school, only told her that she was welcome to come back next summer and that the room would always be kept for her.

After saying goodbye to the Bennetts, Rose headed to Lily's house. They had made plans on the train: Rose would travel to see Lily on the day before the end of August, and they would go to Diagon Alley together again this year.

Hot air blew through the open window against Rose's face. In the distance, Lily jumped off a bench at the station and waved vigorously at her. Her long, deep-red hair danced in the sunlight, making even the sun lose its color.

Lily started talking the moment she saw her and didn't finish telling Rose about the quarrels she'd had with her sister Petunia and Snape over the summer until they reached home.

"Petunia hates Severus. She says he's a bad boy," Lily said, troubled. "Petunia won't even talk to me anymore, Rose. What do you think I should do?"

Rose understood that the conflict between Lily and Petunia wasn't about Snape, and the thing troubling Lily would never be resolved.

She shook her head, saying she didn't know what to do either. She said she had no experience getting along with siblings—the children at the orphanage didn't talk about that.

Lily guiltily realized she might have said the wrong thing. She hugged Rose tightly and declared that she was her sister.

That evening, the Evanses prepared a whole tableful of dishes to welcome Rose. At dinner, they asked her in detail about how Lily was doing at school, and Rose told them everything: how the professors praised Lily's cleverness and how much her friends at school liked her.

Mrs. Evans's almond-shaped eyes curved with her smile, and Mr. Evans was even happier and prouder. Only Petunia silently ate the food in front of her, then soon made an excuse to return to her room.

Her sister's distance made Lily a little sad, but the arrival of her good friend soon cheered her up.

Rose slept in Lily's room that night. They lay in the same bed, chattering late into the night-girls always had endless things to talk about.

The next day, when Mrs. Evans came to wake them, both girls took half an hour to struggle into their clothes. As they ate breakfast at the table, they had dark circles under their eyes and couldn't stop yawning.

Mr. Evans drove the family to London. The girls had to enter Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron.

Petunia didn't go. She didn't seem at all interested in Diagon Alley, and she said she'd already arranged to go to the bookshop with a classmate that day.

Rose bought herself some new things according to the list she'd made the previous term, but she didn't touch the money she'd earned over the summer, so she had to give up on the new robes.

Mrs. Evans bought each of the girls a huge ice-cream cone covered in chopped nuts from Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour. They sat under a large, colorful parasol, chatting as they slowly licked their ice creams.

When they got back that evening, they fell asleep as soon as they touched their beds. They got up bright and early the next morning and hurriedly packed their luggage.

Once again, Mr. Evans drove them, taking them to King's Cross Station.

At half past ten, on the bustling platform, Rose hugged Mr. and Mrs. Evans in turn. After bidding their warm embraces goodbye, she and Lily passed through the wall together and boarded the train to Hogwarts.

"Marlene isn't on the train. I hope she doesn't miss it because she's late—that happens to her quite a lot!" Lily walked through the carriages one by one and finally found an empty compartment near the back of the train.

"She'll definitely come looking for us." Rose slid the compartment door open and went in. After putting away her luggage, she sat down by the window.

"Severus isn't on the train either," Lily said worriedly.

"Maybe he's sitting with his Slytherin classmates."

"They don't spend much time with him," Lily said with a sigh. "He's always all alone."

"He still has you!" Rose teased her in a sing-song voice. Lily's ears visibly turned red, and Rose's heart skipped a beat. Could Lily really like Snape?

"Oh, Severus is my best friend." Seeing Rose's reproachful look, Lily added, "One of them—but you know, he's a little different to me. He was my first friend in the wizarding world."

Rose added in her heart, But the paths you choose will be different in the end. She didn't say anything, though.

The compartment door slid open, and just as Rose thought it was Marlene, Mary, or Natasha, James Potter walked in.

"We sent you letters over the summer, but you didn't write back even once!" He sat down angrily across from Rose, then looked up and met Lily's green, almond-shaped eyes. His casual manner turned a little awkward. "Hi, Evans. Did you have a good summer?"

"Pretty good-until I saw you a minute ago," Lily said coldly.

James seemed a little discouraged, but he soon rallied and began striking up a conversation with Lily now and then. He didn't get up until Marlene and Mary came into the compartment.

"Come over there after the start-of-term feast. We have something to discuss," James said, gesturing to Rose as he backed out of the compartment. "Ow—who bumped into me?"

A first-year boy darted past him from behind, and James roared angrily, "Stop-why, you little brat, Leg-Locker Curse-"

"Potter! You can't cast a spell on a first-year!" Lily pulled the compartment door open, held down James's raised wand, and glared at him.

James suddenly met Lily's eyes and became completely lost in their green depths. He even thought the tiny freckles on Evans's face were sparkling.

"Er—you're right." He blinked dazedly, then turned stiffly and left.

"Potter's beyond saving." Rose collapsed into Marlene's arms, her shoulders shaking, and the two of them dissolved into muffled laughter. "He's completely smitten with Lily!"