LESSONS IN LOVE
Chapter Three

After the great hall, Harry and Rose went to take a tour around Hogwarts. Rose was very happy that she was now in the presence of the greatest wizard of all time. She had wanted him ever since she had seen him in the Daily Prophet. She looked at him and blushed instantly.

"Over there is the Quidditch Pitch. Since I made captain last year, I am going to do tryouts for the new team," Harry said.

"Captain. Awesome. Never been with a captain of a Quidditch team before." Rose looked at him now, just wanting to get closer to him. "Harry, have you ever had a girlfriend before?" she asked him.

"Well, not really. No one ever wanted to be associated with me, since Voldemort is always after me. I had to turn down a few, like Ginny and Cho Chang." He leaned against a tree.

"I see haven't you ever want someone who was there for you, someone who you could count on," Rose hinted.

"Yeah, well, Hermione's always there, and so is Ron." Harry had no idea what she was talking about.

"That's not what I mean, Harry." She walked closer to him.

"What do you mean, then?" Harry wondered what she was talking about.

"Well!" She came closer to him, attracted to him more than she had ever hoped when she first met him.

He looked at her, and she came closer and closer. She brought him so close that they were now face-to-face. Harry blushed and looked down. "Look at me, please." Rose liked it when he looked at her. "Kiss me, Harry." She leaned forward and stood on her tiptoes to reach him.

He leaned down and kissed her. She melted at his feet. She put her arms around his neck, and in the process, his glasses got foggy. He liked Rose Weasley. She was unlike any girl there at Hogwarts.

"I've never kissed by anyone like that before," Harry said.

"Glad to be the first, Harry. We're going to have a lot of first times, aren't we?" She walked away and blushed, knowing damned well what she was doing.

Harry caught up with her and turned her around. "What does that mean?"

"You know, Harry. You know. So, have you been to the Room of Requirement?" She smiled.

"Wait. How do you know about the Room of Requirement?" Harry wondered how she could possibly know about that room on the seventh floor.

"You'd be surprised the things I know about you and this school. I did my homework, and read Hogwarts history." She knew the history, but not the surroundings.

*****

Later that day, Harry got a message from Dumbledore. He knew it was urgent. It was the first time he had contacted him since he came to school. He knew Dumbledore was up to something concerning Voldemort. The prophecy he had told him about last year had been on Harry's mind all summer. He was to meet him shortly after midnight. He had promised to meet Rose after his studies just before bedtime.

Harry bumped into the Slytherin group, just hanging around near a tree. Draco stood tall over Harry. He had grown a few inches more than Harry. "So, Potter, planning to get anymore students killed?"

"Not anymore than your father has," Harry retorted.

"What are you talking about?" Malfoy asked.

"You know what I mean, Malfoy. Your father is cruel and vile." Harry walked away.

Just as Harry had walked away, Malfoy was taking out his wand. Rose saw, pointed her wand, and shouted, "Levicorpus!"

Malfoy was hanging upside down by his ankle. He had dropped his wand, unable to reach it. He started to shout at Rose, so she said another spell, "Langlock."

Malfoy could no longer speak. She bent down next to him. "Don't ever do that again. As long as I am around, you don't touch him. You got that? Now, I will let you down and you will keep quiet and go away, or I'll do something much worse."

Malfoy nodded his head, and Rose shouted, "Liberacorpus!" He got up and ran away.

Harry was surprised that she had done that. He hardly knew her, and he liked her already. He went to hold her hand. "Nice job!"

"Thanks. I had to learn everything I could at the academy. I even put in extra time." She kissed him on the cheek.

Jack had seen. He knew he had lost her the minute she saw Harry. It was official. She was now dating him. Jack went up to Rose and looked at her. She was in Harry's arms now, going to their common room.

Jack got the nerve and spoke up. "Rose?"

She turned around and looked at Jack. "Be right back, Harry."

"Sure. Meet me in the common room." He smiled and headed to the Gryffindor common room.

"All right." She winked at him. "What's up, Jack?" Rose looked at him in his Slytherin robes.

"I was wondering if you could help me in Advanced Potions. I’m having a bit of a problem and I would hate to fail this course." He wondered if it was appropriate for him to ask a Gryffindor to teach him potions. Slytherin and Gryffindor never mixed.

"Sure. Let me see my schedule and I will see when I can tutor you," Rose said, thinking it would not hurt to teach him.

"All right. Thanks, Rose." He smiled at her, glad to be in her presence.

"You’re welcome." She smiled and walked away.

Jack smiled to himself. At last he would have her by his side without Harry.

*****

Rose headed up to the Gryffindor common room. Harry was on the couch, talking to Hermione and Ron. She didn't pay attention to their conversation. She just sneaked up on Harry and kissed him on the lips. Ron moved away and let Rose sit down with them. "Don't stop your conversation on my account." Rose looked at Harry.

Rose knew she knew nothing about Harry's past. She felt like an outsider, but she intended to know everything there was to know about Harry James Potter, whether he liked it or not. She knew about veritas serum, but she would not use that on Harry. She did not want to resort to that, not with him.

Hearing their conversation was kind of intriguing. They were talking about classes and such, studying for their newts. She already knew about that. She was not what you would call dumb. She knew her magic.

When Hermione and Ron split, it only got more interesting to learn about Harry. "Harry, can we talk?" Rose sat close, looking into his eyes.

"Sure. What's on your mind?" Harry turned to look at her.

"Tell me about yourself. I mean, I know a few things, but not the whole story." She leaned against him.

"Well, what can I say? Voldemort killed my parents, and I am the chosen one to kill him. I can speak to snakes. Uh…that's really about it." He didn't know what else to say.

"I see. I heard that your godfather was killed at the Department of Mysteries." She nodded.

"Yeah. He was trying to save Tonks from his cousin Bellatrix. She pushed him into the death chamber." He had never gotten over his uncle being killed.

"First it’s your parents, then your teammate, Cedric, then your godfather. Who's next? Dumbledore?" She put her head down.

"I don't know, but you see why I don't like anyone close to me. That's why I can't be with you." He got up off the couch and paced the room.

"Shouldn't that be my decision? I’m not giving you up, no way, no how, no matter for life or death. I would die happy, knowing that I was with you." She ran to him and hugged him. "Don't push me away. I am not Ginny and not Cho Chang. I can hold my own. Please." She looked up into his eyes.

"I’m not pushing you away. I am just telling you what you’re in for." Harry kissed the top of her head, never wanting her to leave his side.

Chapter Four
Stories