Closed Secrets to be told

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose had been searching far and wide for a room that was semi hidden and not well known to others. She had found a couple of secret passages between floors, but they weren't handy as a secret hide out. Rose had only recently explored the North Tower and found a trapdoor leading to a small area that didn't seem like it had been found in a long time. Thick layers of dust, grease and spiderwebs were an apparent sign that it had been forgotten. The area had a tiny window and was big enough to use as a place to share secrets, fun and memories.

In the last couple of days she had cleaned every nook and cranny of the small area and brought pillows and blankets up. Doing it all at times when there were less people around. Very early in the morning or after her astronomy lessons. She had even left a plant of up once or twice to set up the setting. Today was the day she had invited her friends to look at her find. She had nicked some sweets from the great hall and brought some drinks with her. This was going to be amazing, she had asked her friends to come after their lessons and now it was time.

Hopefully they weren't followed nor did anyone overhear their little chat. Rose had been very vague and knew it required a specific person to reach the destination she had set in mind.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella had been intrigued about the idea of a space where only her and her friends could hang out. Places like the student lounge were too communal, especially if they wanted to share secrets with each other that no one else could know. When Rosemarie had told them all about a place in the North Tower, Estella couldn't help her excitement. It was a bit far from their common room, but maybe that was a good idea. After all, they didn't want people following them, and they could always use the excuse that they were going up to the owlery to send a letter if anyone asked. During the lesson before they had planned to meet there for the first time, Estella couldn't hold her focus. She was just so excited, and she was one of the first to leave the classroom when she was finally dismissed. She raced up to the North Tower, following the steps that Rosemarie told her, and when she found the place, she beamed at Rosemarie who was already there. She giggled at the small plants Rosemarie had placed. "This is so cool!" Estella said, taking a seat on one of the blankets that was there. Her friend had also bought sweets for them all, and she couldn't wait for Tilly and Ana to join them soon.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Following Rose's instructions, Tilly still managed to get lost on the way to the place Rose had told them about. Her body was aching from Quidditch practice- she had a shiny new bruise on her shoulder. The bruise on her cheek was almost healed up, dulled to brown, and her leg was finally working comfortably again. Tilly was proud- and probably stupid- not to have gone to the Hospital Wing yet.

She felt nervous about squeezing her oversized body through the trapdoor, but she mustered up the courage and held her breath. It wasn't as tight of a fit as she'd expected. Soon, she was reunited with Rosemarie and Estella. She smiled at her friends.

"Whoa!" Tilly said, plopping down on one of the pillows and snatching a cauldron cake. "You said this was all dusty and cobwebby before? Nice work."

Tilly was doubly impressed, since they still had to learn cleaning spells. The fact that Rose had likely done most of this by hand amazed her. She wondered if Rose would invite any of the other Hufflepuffs to join them.

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

When Rose had mentioned some sort of secret hangout for their little group of friends Ana Sofia had definitely been interested. It sounded like a whole lot of fun and she couldn't wait to get to see it. She was a bit disappointed about how many stairs she had to walk to get to the right place, but then again it seemed more likely to find a sort of secret spot somewhere higher up in the castle where less people came than in one of the more crowded halways like the first or second floor. After their lessons of the day Ana had headed back to the common room for a second to grab some things, leaving her to probably be a little bit later to arrive than some of the other girls. Once she had reached the tower she tried her best to remember Rose's explanation of where she had to go, "Hi!" Ana greeted her friends softly with a smile when she had finally gotten to where she needed to be, not wanting to be too loud in case there was a possibility that people could hear them and steal their new hang out spot. "This is cute." She said as she looked around, unintentionally looking to see if there were things in there she could paint.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Soon her friends had found the hideout and Rose was glad there was still plenty of space left. Rose walked over to the trapdoor to close it and walked back to her spot of pillows. Rose was glad everyone had come, a special place was created. ''Yeah took me a while to get rid of all the dirt and cobwebs'' Rose replied to Tilly. Rose greeted her friends and smiled when Ana named it cute. ''Ana you can paint and decorate to your hearts contend if you wish.'' Rose was sure the Professors didn't know how this place the layers of dirt and cobwebs had been shocking.

''This will be our safe place to enjoy and tell each other things we worry or care about'' Rose muttered ''Like that I can't stand the Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons although the Professor is very nice'' Rose mused ''I think most of you already know I am not continuing that subject'' Rose laughed the lessons were horrible to say the least. ''Oh and I am starting to care about this Ravenclaw boy'' Rose added ''What about you guys?'' Rose smiled broadly eager to listen and hear everything.