Harry Potter: 19 Years Later

Chapter 67: Rose Has An Epiphany

The morning after the group's visit to the Chamber of Secrets last night consisted of lots of yawning and slugging around like zombies. The group of friends didn't get back to their dormitories until nearly two in the morning, and what they found in the chamber plagued each of their minds for the remainder of their slumbering hours. Though the one affected most by it was Rose.

As soon as she returned to her bedroom, she immediately pulled out her gently used copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, flipping frantically through the pages and studying various pictures of eggs that possibly resembled the one she and Scorpius came across earlier. No such luck happened, so Rose did the same thing with her Care of Magical Creatures textbook, praying she'd find something that remotely bared resemblance to the strange egg she had pictured clearly in her mind. Again, she was stumped, but Rose was persistent.

"Rose, go to sleep already!" Holly had told her countless times as she noisily flipped through book pages for hours.

"I must figure out what that egg is," Rose replied drowsily each time, continuing her relentless search for answers. She craved to know the truth like vampires craved blood. Rose's curiosity was a scary thing.

After what seemed like the millionth time she'd flipped through the entire set of books, Rose sighed and frustratedly threw herself onto her bed, deciding to continue her search in the library after classes tomorrow. Wait...

The first day of classes started tomorrow! How could she forget?

With her lack of sleep, tomorrow was sure to be a disaster.

* * *

"You look like me when I drank firewhisky for the first time," Albus joked, taking in Rose's exhausted appearance when she walked into the Great Hall and sat down with her friends at Gryffindor table. She woke up so late, she almost missed breakfast.

Rose sent an icy glare in her cousin's direction, making him fidget in his seat. "Shut it."

"You weren't up all night studying again, were you?" Xander asked cautiously, knowing Rose's temper wasn't in control right now.

"You could say that," Rose muttered, trying to keep her head up. Bloody hell, she was tired.

"You were up all night researching that bloody egg- salad!" Scorpius yelped out when Albus kicked his leg under the table, reminding him that Xander was sitting with them. "You were researching egg salad recipes all night, weren't you?"

Nice save, Rose thought, trying not to laugh.

"Egg salad?" Xander questioned, looking back and forth between Rose and Scorpius, obviously confused.

"Yup!" Holly answered for Rose confidently. (Maybe a little too confidently.) "She's had a mad craving for it lately! She was up for hours flipping through pages searching for a recipe, weren't you Rose?"

Holly purposely emphasized hours, making Rose wince in apology.

"Uh, yes!" she quickly agreed with Holly, shrugging in an oops gesture. "Guilty as charged! And sorry about that, Holly..."

"Mhm," Holly replied, hiding her smirk by taking a long sip of pumpkin juice.

"Okay then..." Xander trailed off, staring at the four friends skeptically. Being a Ravenclaw, of course he was able to see through their lie. "I'm gonna go ahead and head to Divination since it's kind of a long walk from here. See you guys in Charms, yeah?"

Once Xander had exited the Great Hall with his friends from Ravenclaw, Rose smacked Scorpius's arm as hard as she could, whispering furiously, "You idiot! What were you think announcing our confidential information out of the blue like that?"