Secrets Lie Within: Year 1

Secrets Lie Within: Year 1 Part 4

Chapter 4:

The Hufflepuff girl seems to have a bit of confidence in herself since becoming Professor Quirrell's favorite student. A shadow of a smile paints on her face almost wherever she goes, but a slightly wider smile appears when Roselia's in her Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Hermione noticed this strange behavior. Granger's frustrated with Softpaw but doesn't know why. She sees the quiet girl excuses herself from the table after eating dinner.

Roselia secretly heads towards Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "Professor?" she softly calls out, knocking on the door.

"Roselia!" the voice of her Professor freaks out from the other side of the door. "O-One moment, please!" Professor Quirrell hurries around to make himself more presentable. "Come in!" he calls out, smiling.

She opens the door with a soft smile. "Good evening, Professor Quirrell," the first-year student greets him.

"E-Evening, Roselia," Quirrell greets with a soft smile.

"I-Is everything alright, Pr-Professor?" Softpaw asked, a bit concerned about what she heard earlier.

"E-Everything's alright," he assures her. "Ready f-for your private lesson?"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

In a short time, Roselia has preferably opened slightly to someone for the first time in her young life. Sure, Professor Quirrell isn't the most fantastic Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts; he taught the theoretical knowledge and the basics. She feels a kinship with him because of their common shy nature and doesn't have knowledge of many things.

"Th-The holidays are-are coming up in a-a few weeks," he mentions at some point of the lesson. "D-Do you have pl-plans?"

Roselia was a bit surprised by this. Yes, they have talked about personal lives briefly, but they never discussed future plans of any sort. "M-Mother and Father a-are going on-on a holiday."

"That s-sounds great!" Qurriell smiles, but relaized her words. "Y-You're not going?"

She shakes her head for a no.

"Wh-Why is that?"

Her shoulders shrugged.

"O-Oh, I see." A comfortable silence cloaks over them. "I-If you-you like w-we c-can spend the W-Winter Holidays together," Qurriell suggests with a smile.

His words surprised her gratefully. "A-Are you sure, Professor Qu-Quirrell? I-I don't want t-to interfere with your h-holidays."

"Non-Nonsense! I don't ha-have anyone at home any-anyways," the Professor smiles nervously. "Be-Besides, no one should b-be alone during the-the holidays."

Roselia thinks for a few moments. She probably trusts him more than her parents, even though they first met a few months prior. "O-Okay, professor," she finally makes a decision. "I-I spend the h-holidays with you-you," a smile softly curls on her lips.

"Gr-Great! Well-Well, o-our lesson is over the-the night," the Professor announces. "Go-Go, run along. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes, Professor," Roselia mumbles, smiling.

She begins to leave, and as soon the young secret wolf appears outside of the classroom, Softpaw is startled to see Hermione Granger on the other side of the door as if she was listening to what's happening inside.

"H-Hermione?"

"Don't go home with Professor Quirrell," Granger warns her, seriously.

"Wh-Why? He-He's my friend."

"Just don't for your own safety," was all the Gryffindor said before walking past her towards the Gryffindor Tower.

The warning didn't startle or scared the Hufflepuff. It just confused her like crazy. As far as she knows, Professor Quirrell is the sweetest being on Earth and cares for the strange little girl.

A few weeks later, the students received their end-of-term report cards. Many are pleased with their grades and can't wait to show them to their parents, while others are scared of their parents' reactions. Roselia Softpaw received Exceeds Expectations in most of her classes while Outstanding in Herbology, Potions (surprisingly), and Defence Against the Dark Arts.

An actual soft smile curls on her face when she sees those grades. Maybe it will make her parents proud of their little girl, instead of seeing a disgrace to the pureblood family.

"H-How did you-you, R-Roselia?" her favorite Professor asked when they met up in the hallway.

Roselia smiles, showing him her report.

"Oh, w-wow!" he gleams at the grades. "I-I'm so proud of you."

"Th-Thank you, Professor. So, when a-are we-we leaving?"

"W-We will leave t-tomorrow morning with Fl-Floo powder."

"Okay!"

Hermione is in the same hallway with her friend in the distance, watching the strange girl with her Professor.

"Hermione?" another Gryffindor girl asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Y-Yea," she glares at the Professor before walking in the opposite direction with them.