New Roommates

Rose's stomach was stuffed full from the overly lavish dinner, leaving her head a little hazy.

By the time she followed the Prefect back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Professor McGonagall's speech seemed hazy and distant. Leaning against Lily, she couldn't wait to see the dormitory she would live in for the next seven years.

As soon as Rose returned to the dormitory, she flopped onto the spacious four-poster bed and buried her head completely in the soft, fluffy scarlet pillow. Without a thought in her head, she fell into a deep sleep. It was the most comfortable sleep she had enjoyed since coming to this world.

The next morning, Rose woke to Lily calling her softly.

She sat up and glanced out the window. Morning sunlight streamed through the intricately patterned window set into the wall, spilling across half of Rose's bed.

"Lovely weather." Lily was arranging her red hair in front of the mirror, holding up a hair clip and repeatedly trying it at the back of her head.

"It looks lovely on you," Rose said hoarsely. She cleared her throat and climbed out of bed.

"She's right. It sets off your eyes beautifully, dear." The mirror's compliment sent Lily into a fit of giggles.

"Thank you, but if you don't hurry up, I'm afraid you might miss breakfast, dear Rose." Lily tied her red hair into a ponytail, picked up her schoolbag and spoke to Rose cheerfully.

"Oh, come on," Rose wailed. "You'll wait for me, won't you?"

While Rose hurried through her morning routine, Lily got the books she needed for today's classes ready for her.

"Transfiguration, Charms and Herbology." Lily counted her textbooks. "We have forty minutes to eat and find the Transfiguration classroom. If you're quick enough, we can still catch the Prefect and have them take us there. Professor McGonagall said last night that they were supposed to show the first-years around."

"Of course. I'm ready!" Rose announced loudly. Giggling, she took Lily by the hand and climbed out of the Gryffindor Common Room with her.

The Great Hall was less crowded at breakfast than it had been the night before. Most students hurried over to the long tables, grabbed a few pieces of bread and ran back out the door.

"I can't believe we have to wait another week for Flying Class!" Before Rose had even reached the Gryffindor table, she heard Potter complaining loudly.

"Come on, mate, at least we don't have to wait a week for Potions Class," Black said in a peculiar voice.

It was common knowledge that Hogwarts tradition had Gryffindors and Slytherins attending Potions Class together in the dungeons, and Sirius Black was probably one of the people who hated Slytherin most in all of Hogwarts right now.

"Oh, you made it!" A brown-haired girl waved to Rose and Lily, indicating that she had saved them seats.

Lily led Rose over to sit beside her and another girl. Seeing Rose's puzzled look, she explained, "You fell asleep too quickly yesterday, Rose. They're our roommates."

Pointing at the brown-haired girl, Lily said, "This is Mary Macdonald and Marlene McKinnon. There's another girl too-oh, she isn't here right now."

"Natasha went to find the Prefect. She wanted to ask about the timetable." Marlene McKinnon, a blonde girl with a round face, was cutting up a greasy piece of bacon with her fork.

"I'm Rose Claude." Rose greeted each of them in turn.

"We already know you. Lily told us about you after you fell asleep yesterday." Mary leaned closer. "Were you friends before you came to Hogwarts?"

"No, Lily and I met on the train," Rose said. "But we hit it off right away." She rested her head sweetly on Lily's shoulder, and Lily played along, patting her head with her free hand.

"Potter—I saw that!"

James Potter made an exaggerated show of being disgusted by them, and Rose shouted at him.

Lily took Rose's hand and rolled her eyes at Potter. She had disliked him since their time on the train, not only because of what he had said about Severus, but even more because she had sensed a spoiled arrogance in them.

"Don't mind them, Rose." Lily turned the back of her head toward Potter and the others.

Rose thought the Hogwarts curriculum was terribly unreasonable. She didn't believe any eleven-year-old could stay focused through a lesson lasting nearly two hours, even if they were a wizard who could use magic.

Professor McGonagall taught them Transfiguration, and Rose went from being eager at the start to casting spells mechanically later on. This reached its peak when, near the end of class, she heard Professor McGonagall assign a seven-inch essay. Immediately afterward, they rushed to the Charms classroom, then hurriedly ate a few bites at noon before heading to the Third Greenhouse outside the castle for Professor Sprout's Herbology class.

By the time the day's lessons finally ended, Rose, Mary and Marlene were all utterly exhausted. They agreed that what they ought to do now was lie down in bed and get some proper rest.

"Oh, I mean, you go ahead. Severus and I arranged to go to the library tonight." Lily looked at them apologetically, and Rose could see her longing for knowledge of the magical world in her eyes.

"All right..." Rose relented. She really didn't have the energy to go with Lily today. Seeing the curiosity and eagerness for gossip on Marlene and Mary's faces as they watched Lily leave, she explained, "Severus Snape. He's the friend Lily knew before school started."

"I noticed that name at the Sorting Ceremony," Mary said hesitantly. "He seemed to be a..."

"Slytherin." Rose shrugged. Neither girl looked particularly pleased.

"Come on, he might be one of the good Slytherins." Smiling, Rose draped an arm over Marlene's shoulders.

"No... that's not what I meant," Marlene said softly. "You know, I come from a wizarding family, but not every wizard is like my family. Some families believe in Pure-blood supremacy, and most of them are in Slytherin..."

"And Lily, Rose and I are all Muggle-born wizards," Mary added.

"Hey, friends, we're only eleven!" Rose laughed, cutting short the two girls' serious discussion. "My greatest wish right now is for there to be Yorkshire pudding on the table tonight!"

The three girls jostled one another as they ran into the Great Hall to enjoy their dinner to the fullest.