Rosie ⎮ Tom Riddle

Three

  Infiltration

  The air was thick and hot in the Slytherin common room. The clock above the mantel clicked back and forth repetitively, the hands reaching to midnight. Rosalie took no notice of it, though her bodily clock was edging to tell her to go to sleep so she wouldn't be so tired the next day, as she usually was.

  The glow of the crackling fireplace cast shadows on the dark walls, they moved with the fire in a way that seemed to mimic the uncertainty plaguing her mind. Rosalie lay on her back on one of the black leather couches, the small of her back sticking uncomfortably to the material. 

  Rose's fingers traced along the letter she held on to, the smell of parchment filled the room as she looked over the seal, it was her father's, Gallert Grindelwald's seal.

  Some part of her never realised that he would actually check up on her while she was put on duty for this mission, but the other part of her felt stupid for thinking that. He had taken a risk, putting Rose out into the world trying to uncover the secrets of some sociopathic wizard. 

  Though she felt sadness and anger inside of her, she barely showed a thought on her face, she traced along the lines of the envelope for a few minutes, working up her courage to open it and see what he had said to her inside. 

  Soon enough Rosalie unfolded the parchment, reminding her of her duty almost automatically. Her father wrote to her of the secrets and responsibilities that came with her being at Hogwarts. How she needed to be quick and precise, and to under any circumstance, not be caught. That, she could assume, would end with her stuck at home, punished for the rest of her miserable life.

  Grindelwald also spoke of his success in the war, though how had gained that success, was a fact that he kept veiled and away from Rosalie, which she could thank him for.

  "With such success in this war, my dear Rosie, I can only assume that we will hold power in a short length of time." He wrote. Rosalie bit the inside of her cheeks at the words. 

  "I also harbour the hope that in time you will also come to find solace in our victories, and you will not get too used to attending that forsaken school." He continued to write. 

  Rosalie shivered to the thought. The strict muggle regime that her father planned was beyond anything she would ever want. It was a horrible image of prejudice and oppression, they were no different to terrorists.

  He relayed the weight of expectations he had set on Rosalie's shoulders, and how important it was that they new if Tom Riddle was a threat. 

  She already knew inside of herself that Tom was a threat, but the selfish part inside of her needed to stay at Hogwarts longer, to have a chance at a life she was never given.

  "One day you will become what you were born to be- the culmination of all my aspirations."

  "Much love, Father."

  Rosalie scrunched the parchment in her hands tightly, expressing her anger onto the paper. Without looking, she threw the paper behind her and onto the fire, hearing it crackling on impact. The paper curled and blackened.

  The act itself was a symbol of rebellion for Rosalie. In being so far away from her father, she had grown less and less scared of him, regaining the idea that she could live for herself along the way. 

  Who did Rosalie want to be? What did she want to do?

  As the last ember of the paper screamed, footsteps approached from the side of the boy's dormitories. Rosalie craned her head up slightly, ready to meet the intruder on this monumental moment of her decision to live for herself.