Study Date | James Potter

Chapter 9 - "Ten Galleons"

Rose sat on the Astronomy Tower, a familiar sight to those who knew her well, however unlike usual she was surrounded by books.

After the kiss on Christmas, Rose had avoided James for the rest of the day, but returned to Gryffindor Tower the next morning - they had to maintain appearances after all. James had been more than a little shocked to see her sitting in the common room when the Marauders came down to go to breakfast, however he seemed to realise the same thing, and so the kiss went entirely unspoken of.

Rose couldn't stop thinking about it though, and found herself daydreaming more than ever, about being with James for real. She had been doing some extra research for Defence Against the Dark Arts when she saw it: the Patronus Charm. Patronuses could change if something major happened in your life, so surely she could use it to find out if this was just a silly crush?

The New Year came, and Rose threw herself into her work. Her excuse to the Marauders was that she was studying for her O.W.Ls, but in truth, most of her time was spent researching the Patronus Charm.

The spell was a notoriously tricky one, and yet she would have to achieve it at the hardest level possible. Only casting a corporeal patronus could show her her true self. Rose had started practicing halfway through January, usually behind the mirror on the Fourth floor or up on the Astronomy Tower, but so far she had only produced the smallest whisps of blue energy, much to her annoyance.

The trouble was, she couldn't find the right memory. Her childhood had been a happy one in general, but she didn't have many specific memories, and all of them contained either Lily or Petunia, which cast a pall over her thoughts. Similarly, she had tried memories of times spent with Valentina and Matthew but the fact that they were still no longer her friends, loomed over the happy memories like a shadow.

She just couldn't think of what else to try. She had thought about moments with the Marauders too, but still no progress. Anything with James seemed to cloud her mind too much as she began thinking about the kiss. She had tried the kiss itself once, but that time, not even a whisp of blue had emerged from her wand. She supposed the memory was too muddled between her wanting to kiss him and knowing she couldn't, rather than being a truly happy memory.

So as she sat atop the Astronomy Tower, she was continuing her research on the charm, as well as thinking of memories she could try. She was a little distracted that night, however. It was the 30th January, Lily's birthday, and there was a party in the Gryffindor common room. Rose knew she wouldn't be welcome, however she had overheard Sirius saying something about 'putting in an appearance' and then leaving. Perhaps it just wasn't their type of party. Knowing Lily, there would probably be little to no alcohol there in any case.

Rose sighed, and put the book she had been reading down. She had already read it, but had been checking again to see if she had missed anything. Surely it shouldn't be so hard?

She stood up, deciding to take a break, and carefully avoiding stepping on the books and papers on the floor, walked over to the balcony area.

Rose had stood there, over a month ago now, contemplating the kiss - that stupid kiss that had changed everything. She now gazed out over the grounds, lit only by the shine of the full moon.

It had been snowing every few days since Christmas, and so the ground was covered with a thick coating that had settled earlier in the day. It would freeze overnight and become treacherously slippy for those walking outside.

Suddenly, Rose saw movement down below. Who would be out at this time of night? Only a few people would dare to break the rules in such a blatant manner (her included of course).

She peered down, but could only see vague shapes, due to how high up she was. Looking around, she grabbed a spare telescope that had been left on the tower and trained it down at the grounds.