The Devil You Know | Wizarding World

chapter six | a lunch break

To say that Rosie was a bit overwhelmed when she left the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was an understatement.

For the rest of the morning, she found herself anxious. She did her best to pay attention, trying to drown out the thought of Harry's outburst and Professor Umbridge's defensive tone towards him. With every professor, she walked around them cautiously, just to stay on the safe side, especially after she received a stern talk from Professor Flitwick for being late.

By lunchtime, Rosie felt like she could relax, even if it was going to be for a brief amount of time. When she arrived in the Great Hall, there was a crowd of students already there. She headed for the Gryffindor table, not even sitting down as she quickly made a sandwich, wrapping it up in a napkin. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed some Gryffindors staring at her, which was not a surprise to her. While they expected her to go sit at the Slytherin table, she walked towards the big doors and exited out of the Great Hall instead. It was best that she was alone with her thoughts without everyone eyeing her.

Rosie strolled down the corridor and went to the courtyard, letting the sun hit her hard. She went on finding an area of grass away from other students that were either strolling by or sitting down. Once she got into the right position to sit without her skirt being a problem, she began to eat her sandwich, trying to process everything that went on this morning.

First, she thought about her classes so far and how there was already a good amount of reading she had to do. She had a feeling she would spend a good amount of time in the library and common room this year, especially with N.E.W.T.s being a priority next year.

The next thing that popped into her mind was the new professor again. Rosie found her teaching method to be unusual. Of course, she was skeptical at her approach on defensive spells, or even the class in general. She was different from the last four professors, where they were more hands-on with their lessons. It worried her, she admitted to herself, and she was concerned that things would only get worse.

Finally, the last thing that came into her head was her friends. She looked back at their conversation this morning after breakfast, remembering how they were acting. While Gavin was relaxed, like he usually was, Adam and Greer's body language said otherwise. Despite the two holding hands, she couldn't help but wonder if something was off. That wouldn't totally surprise Rosie, knowing what their relationship was like. But they were her friends and she hated to find out they were in rough waters. Of course, another thing Rosie was aware of was how good the two were at putting on an act for others to make it seem like everything was okay between them.

Rosie was just about halfway done with her sandwich when she spotted Adam strolling towards her, his bag slung over one shoulder, hand gripped on the strap, while the other hung freely by his side. He shot her a smile, to which she did the same.

"Hey, Adam," she greeted him.

"Hey," he replied, sitting down beside her. "Nice day to have lunch out here, isn't it?"

She nodded in response. "It is, yet you didn't bring anything to eat."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a green apple, grinning her way. "Sure I did."

"An apple is hardly enough," she said, giggling. Looking down at her sandwich, she offered the other half to him. "I know you can't resist a tuna and sweetcorn sandwich."

The boy chuckled, taking the sandwich from her. "Thank you, Rosebud." He took a bite, giving her a nod of approval. "Merlin, this is good."

"And it'll fill you up, along with the apple," she pointed out.

"You have a point there," he said. There was a brief moment where Rosie let Adam eat his food, resulting in the two sitting in silence. Once he was done, he licked his fingers, then huffed a sigh. "Well, I certainly enjoyed that."