Rose Weasley and The Beast of the Black Lake, year 2

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin

Knock, knock, knock.

Rose opened one of her eyes to peek at her door and wondered who was behind it. Nobody in this hallway knocks. The door creaked open to emit Max. He leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"Well," he said, looking around. "This place is a sty."

She scowled and pointed at Mary who was sleeping on a pile of soiled linens and garbage. Rose stretched, then sat up from bed and propped her head on her elbow where she blinked back into sleep.

"Oh, no," Max shook his head, striding into the room and lifting her out of bed. "Rocky has given me instructions to get you up. You have a Quidditch match, remember?"

Rose stood straight abruptly. "That's not until tomorrow!" she said hurriedly.

"Yeah," Max shrugged. "Apparently, Madam Hooch's fives that looked like a lightning bolt on the schedule were actually fours. Your game is on the fourteenth, not fifteenth. She came running into the common room frantically shouting at Fred and Roxanne for not having the commentator's box ready. So, we have twenty minutes."

Rose leaped from his arms to dig through her stuff in a mad haste.

Rose ran into the bathroom to burst out two minutes later in her white blouse and skirt. She slipped her arms through her sleeves and began at her tie as Max came behind her talking non-stop though she caught none of it. She hardly felt him pull her hair up into a bun and tie it off. He pulled her pins from his mouth to hold her curls back as she finally finished with her tie and spun around to find her shoes. Max was holding up her red rubber rain boots.

"No, Max. I need my school shoes." She continued rummaging around and bent to look under her bed.

She felt two firm hands take her by the arms and hoist her back to her feet. Max held up the boots again with a kind smile.

"It rained all last night. You need these unless you want to be ankle deep in mud."

He set them on the floor where Rose jumped into the boots and took for the door. Max followed briskly behind her with his arms behind his back quite composedly. Rose smiled to herself with a backward glance at him. There was a time where he was a complete grouch in the morning. He would have bags under his eyes, his hair wouldn't be combed, and his tie would be askew. It was now that he woke her, perfectly cheerful and collected.

"Wait," she thought as they exited the common room. "How did you get up the stairs?"

"I hitched a ride with Dominique," he replied, taking her by the sleeve to avoid her colliding with the suit of armor she was about to crash into.

"Am I the last one?" she asked.

"To get to the changing rooms? Nah, James was asleep under the couch last I saw; you'll be fine."

Max was right about the rainboots. As soon as she stepped from the castle and onto the grounds, her feet sank into the squelching mud. The clouds were thick through the hidden sun that was burning their eyes. A light sprinkle was still trickling from above. She stomped through the soggy ground, trying to make it to the Quidditch pitch in time and wishing that she hadn't left her broom all the way in the shed. Her stomach growled, and she threw her arms over it to muffle any sound and ignore how hungry she was. She thought it best not mention anything to Max; she was afraid he would try'n run back to fetch her food. He was always so helpful, especially when it came to Quidditch and it sometimes made her feel sorry.

"Al and Scorpius have breakfast ready in the changing rooms," said Max as though he could read her mind.

"That's peculiar," she thought allowed. "They haven't been about this early in a while."