The Hidden One

16. the final match

Rose was constantly bombarded with questions. The trio and the Weasley's were the only people who ever left her alone. Even Cedric was constantly asking her questions, although he claimed it was only because his friends were asking him questions.

The only relief Rose got was when she was with the trio or her godfather. The trio told her everything she had missed. Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw and Harry snuck into Hogsmeade again and was almost caught by Snape. Moony had taken the Mauraders Map from Harry, and the trio admitted that this was the first time they had seen the Professor since Rose had gone missing. The most concerning part was that Hagrid had sent Hermione a letter that Buckbeak had been sentenced to death.

Remus told Rose stories about her parents time at Hogwarts and even about the night the Potters were murdered. Remus and Rose tried to put together exactly what happened that night and why Pettigrew betrayed his friends, but they often got too upset and instead ate chocolate and talked.

A large majority of the time spent with the trio and Cedric was spent studying. Hermione was almost always in a panic and even missed the charms class once, much to everyone's surprise. And divination was even worse. Hermione walked right out of the class, much to the amusement of Rose. While she felt bad for her friend, seeing her finally storm out was funny.

Rose had to work extra hard to learn what she missed while she was gone. She wanted to help Ron research information about trials to help Buckbeak, but all her time after class was spent in tutoring. When she got back to the common room after classes, tutoring, and studying, she was exhausted and always went right to sleep.

Oliver Wood was constantly annoying everyone with comments to Harry about the quidditch final against the Slytherins. Tensions between the two houses were so tense that hexes were sent in the hallways and people had taken to surrounding Harry to protect him. Rose, Ron and Hermione often went to class without Harry because he was late due to the amount of people around him. Annoyingly enough, Harry was also locking up his Firebolt and would race up to his room just to check on it. Rose was so annoyed anytime anyone mentioned quidditch.

"I can't work. I can't concentrate," Hermione said on the night before the match. Rose just scoffed. The common room was full of noise. Everyone could tell that Harry was extremely nervous.

"You're gonna be fine," Rose reassured Harry, whose face was pale and his whole body was shaking slightly.

"You've got a Firebolt!" Ron reminded him. Rose had to fight back a groan upon hearing Firebolt once again. Harry just nodded, still looking unsure.

"Team! Bed!" Wood shouted. It didn't take long for everyone to go to their dorms to sleep and get ready for the next day. Rose decided to take advantage of the quiet common room and stayed down there to study. It didn't take long until she was asleep. She almost fell off the couch when a pained shout filled the room.

"Ow!" A voice shouted. Rose sleepily looked up to see Harry holding his toe.

"What's your problem?" Rose grumbled. Harry fell to the ground in shock and a laugh left Rose's mouth. She sleepily rubbed her eyes, yawning as she sat up.

"I didn't know you were down here!" Harry replied.

"Obviously," Rose replied with a small laugh. Harry blushed a little and cleared his throat sheepishly.

"I came down here for some water but I stubbed my toe," Harry explained. "Sorry for waking you."

"You're fine. I needed to study more anyways," Rose replied.

Harry started to reply, but rushed over to the window before he could say anything.

"What is that?" Harry asked. Rose stood up and saw what Harry was looking at. Prowling across the lawn was an animal of some sort. Rose could immediately tell that it was her dad in dog form and her breath got caught in her throat. Harry quickly dashed up to his room and returned with his glasses. He was too late as Sirius had already ran into the forest and Crookshanks was the only animal out there. Both children stared for a few seconds before the dog reappeared.