Once the feast was over, the students in their respective Houses grouped together outside of the Great Hall. Ron and Hermione were the Prefects of Gryffindor House, which surprised Rosie to an extent (mostly with Ron Weasley becoming a Prefect, a shock to everyone). She caught a glimpse of her Slytherin friends for a brief moment before heading with the other Gryffindors up the many stairs to the seventh floor of the castle. After all these years at Hogwarts taking the same route from the Great Hall to the Gryffindor Tower, passing the same portraits and using the same staircases, despite their impulse to change constantly, Rosie managed to get used to the walk.

Rosie was relieved when she arrived in front of the Fat Lady, where someone muttered the password and she gladly opened the portrait for everyone to pile inside. The warm and cozy atmosphere gave Rosie a happy feeling in her chest, content with being back in one part of the castle she considered safe.

The first thing everyone did was head to their dormitories, with the boys and girls splitting up. The sixth years consisted of two in a dorm, and Rosie was with Katie Bell, which she wouldn't mind as much if she didn't have the feeling that the girl didn't want to be roommates with her. But with everything changing around them since the tournament, and the Slytherins (much like her friends) would possibly be more ruthless than ever with the taunting, Rosie was certain that her suspicions would be confirmed eventually.

With their trunks already in their dorm, the girls unpacked their things and changed into more comfortable clothes. Rosie picked out a pair of sweatpants and a long shirt that stuck to her arms and stomach. She headed downstairs, where some of the students in her year were starting to get situated in the common room with their own exclusive groups. While she felt lonely with having no one to talk to, she figured it was too late to try and make any friends in her House with only two years left. She could imagine talking to Gavin, while Greer sat in Adam's lap and included her input, despite her twin brother's annoyance. Adam and Rosie would look at each other and chuckle as well as shake their heads at the Thomson twins.

But no, the Sorting Hat saw something else in her that took her away from Slytherin House.

Of course, being in Gryffindor House wasn't necessarily a bad thing to Rosie. But when it seemed like everyone had something to say about her and her choice of friends. Then again, she decided to be friends with them.

"Hi again," Neville greeted Rosie as he sat next to her with his plant.

"Hey, Neville," she responded. "New plant of yours?"

He eyed it and nodded, looking back at her. "Yeah. Neat, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," was all she could say as she observed it some more.

Before the conversion could go on any further, everything stopped, with the talking all around them dying down. Harry Potter walked in, looking around at everyone that also glued their eyes onto him. His expression was blank, but like everyone else in the common room, he knew exactly why he was getting stares.

When he got to the stairs, he turned around, nodding towards Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. "Dean, Seamus. Good summer?"

"All right," Dean replied. "Better than Seamus', anyway."

Seamus slammed the newspaper down and stood up, his fists clenched. "Me mam didn't want me to come back this year."

"Why not?" Harry questioned.

"Let me see, uh, because of you. The Daily Prophet's been saying a lot of things about you and Dumbledore, in case you've forgotten."

"What, your mum believes them?" Harry asked.

"Well, nobody was there the night Cedric died," Seamus responded.

"Oh, I guess you should read the Prophet, then, like your stupid mother," Harry snapped.

"Don't you dare talk about my mother!"

"I'll have a go at anyone that calls me a liar!"

"What's going on?" Ron asked as he walked in, stopping the argument before it escalated any further.

"He's mad is what's going on," Seamus replied. "Do you believe the rubbish they've come out with about You-Know-Who?"

"Yeah. I do," he replied bluntly, then scanned around the room. "Does anyone else have a problem with Harry?" When no one said anything, Harry stormed upstairs, followed by Ron, to which the tension in the room began to go down.

"I don't understand why everyone thinks he's lying about what happened that night," Neville said to Rosie. "Harry's not a liar."

Rosie kept quiet, biting her tongue. With the conversation on the train earlier, she thought it was best for her to be silent. After all, seeing how Harry reacted so harshly at Seamus' accusation, maybe Greer was onto something about him being crazy. If he wasn't crazy now, then surely he would slowly get there, and that would definitely send him on a downward spiral, and really, that worried Rosie more than ever.

*******

"You know, it sucks that this'll be the last year we can do this."

Adam and Greer were in his bed, staring up at the ceiling in each other's embraces. Fortunately for Adam, as a seventh year student, he had a dorm to himself, which meant Greer could come and go whenever she longed for his affection. As usual, he was always there to oblige her needs.

"All good things must come to an end," he responded.

"Well, not every good thing," she pointed out, smirking up at him. "Like us."

He smiled back and slowly kissed her for a brief moment, cupping her face. "That is true."

She sighed in content, her upper body resting on his chest. "What do you think will happen to us once you graduate?"

He thought about it, a puzzled look coming over his face. "I don't know. Go serve You-Know-Who, I suppose." He paused, then continued. "It's what my parents want for me, anyway."

"And it's also what you want, too, right?" she asked, sitting up so she could look at him.

He sighed, adjusting himself on the bed. "Greer, you and I have talked about this ever since he returned a few months ago. What else is there to talk about?"

"A lot, actually, especially if Gavin and I will not be long following behind you to do the same thing." The blonde moved some hair from her face. "Maybe Draco will as well, if he grows a pair of balls soon..."

"Look, I have a year to prepare myself for all of this, okay? For now, all I want to worry about is my N.E.W.T.s this year."

"And also spend time with me," she added, smirking.

He chuckled. "Yes, that, too, and also spend time with Gavin and Rosie." His smile faded when he said her name. "Speaking of Rosie, I don't want her to know anything about this."

"What, about the Death Eater stuff?"

"Yes. I can tell she's getting curious about it for whatever reason, and we know that she's nothing like them."

Greer rolled her eyes in response. "You think I don't know that?"

"I know that you know, and you're still egging her on about it, which means you need to stop."

"It's not my fault if she's curious about the lifestyle," she protested, getting out of bed. "I can't just ignore the subject if she asks me about it. If she wants to know more, then I'll tell her."

Adam shook his head. He knew Greer was the reason why Rosie had an interest in it, thanks to the nonstop talk about the subject. It was obvious to Adam that Rosie looked up to his girlfriend, as they were pretty close friends. To him, she wouldn't be the best choice for that, but in his opinion, Rosie didn't know any better.

"I know you, Greer, and I know you'll find a way to get her to join our side somehow," he explained.

Greer was looking out the window, her arms crossed. "I have my ways of persuading others."

"But not her," he replied, getting out of bed and joining behind her. "Rosie can never be one of them. She can't handle it and none of us can protect her."

In the reflection of the window, Greer had an annoyed look on her face. "Fine, I won't say anything about it anymore, if it'll make you happy."

Adam rested his chin on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Yes, it will, thank you."

Greer smiled, tightening her hands on top of his. "You know, the year really will go by fast before we know it. We should take advantage of the short time we have together."

He eyed her, kissing her shoulder. "I know, and we will, I promise."

Adam was usually good at keeping promises, but he hoped Greer would do the same for his sake, along with Rosie's.

A/N: Well, another chapter!

Sorry it took so long, but I hope this one was okay. I wanted to include that scene with Adam and Greer (and I'll probably add in more of them as the story goes on).

Comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A