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Rose Weasley stormed into her room and slammed the door. She flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling, seething. After a while, she sat up and took a good look around her room. It was covered in maroon and gold, Gryffindor colors. She had pictures hanging on the walls and covering every flat surface. Her friends and family waved back at her, reminding her of her years at Hogwarts.
But that was all over now.
She had graduated at the top of her class, Head Girl, Quidditch keeper. Now, school was over and it was time for her real life to begin. The problem was it wasn’t her life that she felt she was living; it was her mother’s.
It had been two days after graduation when the first reporter asked what position she was going to take at the Ministry. Since then, she had been pestered everyday by annoying paparazzi trying to get the story first. Now, almost a month later she still had no answer. Everyone just assumed that her mother would get her a job at the Ministry, and a good one at that. Rumored to be one of the most talented witches Hogwarts had ever seen, Rose was expected to go on and do great things, just like her mother.
Hermione Granger Weasley had been elected Minister of Magic two years ago. She had quickly become one of the most beloved leaders the wizarding community had ever had. If the Weasely family hadn’t been famous enough before, they certainly were now. Hermione without doubt was a good Minister. People liked her, she made good decisions, and there had been no major occurrences of Dark Magic since she held the office. (Although that last part might also be due to the highly effective nature of the Auror Office, headed by Rose’s Uncle Harry.)
Hermione certainly did have a job for Rose lined up in her administration. She had had it lined up for months before Rose even graduated. It was a stable job, with good pay in the Department of Experimental Charms, where she knew Rose would excel. She also thought it was far enough away from both her and Ron’s offices to assure Rose they were not trying to smother her.
The problem was, Rose didn’t want to work in the Department of Experimental Charms. She didn’t want to work in the Ministry at all. She really didn’t want to work for her mother. She didn’t know what to do.
Rose got up off her bed and walked over to her bookshelf. It was so stuffed with books that it was overflowing, but Rose had found spots for more pictures. She picked one up and looked at it longingly. It was a picture of her and two of her cousins, Albus and Dominique. All three of them had graduated Hogwarts together. Both Al and Dom knew what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives. Al was scheduled to start Auror training the next week, and Dom had already left for France to be a model. Rose was alone in her predicament. Al didn’t mind being like his father, Harry, and Dom was part Veela; she could make a mint being a model. Rose looked at the picture and thought about her own situation. Everyone expected her to be just like her mother. People had always expected that. She had gotten used to it at school, but the fact that the rest of the world seemed to have the same expectations was very discouraging. What if she didn’t want to be Rose Weasley: Hermione Weasley’s daughter?
Just as she put the frame back on the bookshelf there was a knock at her door. “What?” she replied shortly.
“Rosie, can I come in?” Rose heard her father ask from the other side of the door.
“Yeah, I guess,” she answered. Ron Weasley slowly opened to door to his daughter’s room. He had been in this situation before. Hermione and Rose had had some rather intense disagreements over the years, and he had learned to take everything softly and slowly when trying to rectify the situation. He crossed the room and sat on the chair next to Rose’s desk. Rose continued to stand and stare at the bookcase. They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Then Ron decided it was time to act.
“You said some pretty hurtful stuff down there,” he wasn’t looking at Rose, but instead at the Gryffindor pennants that covered the walls.
“The truth hurts,” Rose spat back.
Ron knew then that this was going to be harder than usual. By this time, either Rose or Hermione would have realized that they were wrong and started to feel guilty. They were both just too stubborn to say it first. But Ron had already spoken to Hermione; she hadn’t gotten there either.
“She’s just trying to help you know,” Ron tried again.
“What if I don’t want her help?” Rose got quiet as if she was thinking, then she started again, much softer than before, “For eighteen years, I’ve been ‘Hermione Weasely’s daughter’. No one ever tries to get to know me for me. At school it was like…whatever…I couldn’t escape it because all the professors knew her, or taught her, or whatever. I couldn’t just leave school. But now, Dad, I can finally do something else, do something for me. I need to get away from her.” Rose knew this sounded terrible, but it was the truth. She needed to be her own person now, or she might never get the chance.
She walked over to her desk and opened a little drawer on the side. She pulled out a brightly colored pamphlet and handed it to her father.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about it and I think I know what I want to do. I know she’s not going to like it, but its my life, not hers.”
Ron looked down at the materials in his hands. “Yale University?” he questioned.
“It’s a Muggle University,” she said very quickly, “Before you completely freak out, I’ve thought it through. I’ll go here for a while and while I’m studying all the Muggle stuff I can still study magic too, you know, to stay sharp.”
Ron looked confused. He continued to read the pamphlet until he came across the most disturbing piece of information: “Connecticut?!” He looked at Rose. “This place is in…”
“America, yeah I know. I think it’ll be a really good experience for me, you know, to go abroad. Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur let Dom go to France.”
“Rosie, America is so much further away than France.”
“I know that, but it’s the same general idea, right?” She looked at Ron with pleading eyes.
“Don’t you have to apply and be accepted to places like this? That has to take a while,”
“I’ve already been accepted,” Rose replied looking at her feet. She handed Ron an official looking letter with a funny crest on the top. Ron read the letter that invited Rose to join the incoming class that fall. He couldn’t help but smile. Even though Rose had gone behind their backs to do all of this, he was still proud of her. She was a smart girl.
“What about all the information they needed about your other school. I don’t imagine they take NEWT scores.”
Rose looked a little embarrassed. “Well, I might have fabricated a few things on the application. By the way, according to the Yale Admissions office, I was home schooled. But they’re really keen on getting international students, so they didn’t care very much, and I wrote a really good essay.”
“On what?”
“What I would do if I had magical powers,” Rose smiled and Ron let out a little laugh, “It was seriously a question. They commented on the ‘vividness of my imagination’,” she put finger quotes around the last phrase. Ron couldn’t help but laugh. Mostly because he knew Rose actually had a very limited imagination (she took after Hermione on that one too, he guessed she only got the red hair from him).
“You mother isn’t going to like this idea,” Ron said after a second.
“That’s why I talked to you first. Because you’re the one that understands me Dad. You’re the only one that can talk any sense into Mom, right?”
“You overestimate my influence over your mother,” he sighed.
Rose pouted, “Please Daddy,”
Ron sighed. He knew he was going to be the one to talk to Hermione. He knew it wasn’t going to go well. He knew he would probably be sleeping on the couch for a few nights. But there was something about Rose, something about the way her face lit up when she talked about it, about how her eyes were pleading with him. He may not be a big fan of the idea himself, but somewhere he knew this was what was best for her.
“If she kills me because of this, I will personally haunt you for the rest of your life. Do you understand me young lady?”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you Daddy,” she flung her arms around his neck. He stood up and headed for the door. Before he left, he turned around one last time and looked at his daughter, she beamed at him, looking happier than she had in months.
Rose watched the door as it closed. She heard Ron’s footsteps heading down the hall to his bedroom, where she knew her mother was hiding. After a few minutes of silence Rose heard her mother’s voice echo down the hallway.
“SHE WANTS TO DO WHAT?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two weeks later Rose stood at the security gate of Heathrow Airport with Ron, Hermione and her younger brother, Hugo. She couldn’t believe it; she was actually going! It had been a battle with Hermione, but she reluctantly agreed when she realized Rose was planning on going with or without her permission. They were saying their goodbyes because no one was allowed passed security without a boarding pass.
There was no easy, magical way to get across the Atlantic Ocean. So Rose decided that if she was going to be going to a Muggle school, she would have to get used to Muggle forms of transportation, including airplanes. She had never been on one before and was a little skeptical of the way they stayed in the air without magic, but she didn’t tell anyone that. Ron seemed equally as nervous, but wasn’t as good at hiding it. “Those things are really big. How on earth do they keep them up without magic?”
“Dad stop worrying so much, it’s going to be fine,” Rose gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I’m gonna miss you.” Ron returned the kiss on her forehead.
Next, she turned to Hugo, who as a sixteen-year-old boy, didn’t really show much emotion. She gave him a big hug as well. “See ya Hugo. Take care of Hogwarts and make sure Gryffindor wins the cup this year.” She winked at him. Suddenly he pulled her into an even tighter hug.
“Don’t get yourself into trouble over there ok?”
“I won’t, I promise, love ya Hugo,” she kissed him on the cheek.
Finally she faced her mother. Hermione and Rose hadn’t really been on speaking terms since the night of their big fight. Most of their communication had gone through Ron or Hugo. Both men stepped back when the mother and daughter faced each other, both giving them time by themselves, and being out of the way if they should start fighting again.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye then,” Rose looked a little uncomfortable.
“I guess it is,” There was an awkward silence. Hugo gave Ron a concerned look. He thought they would have been able to make up before Rose left. “Your brother is right, don’t get into trouble.” Hermione’s voice sounded like she was talking to someone on her staff, not her only daughter going abroad.
“I won’t,” Then they gave each other the coldest, most awkward hug Ron or Hugo had ever seen. “Bye Mom.”
“Bye Rose,” Rose turned and headed for the security gate and Hermione turned back to face Ron and Hugo. As Rose gave her newly acquired Muggle passport to the bearded security worker, she turned and saw her family walking away.
Hermione took Ron’s hand as they were walking. “Are you alright?” Ron asked.
“I’m fine,” she replied in her most official, Minister voice, “I have to get back to the office, I have a lot of work to get done.” Ron noticed, however, as they left the airport a tear fell down Hermione’s cheek. He didn’t say anything; he just held her hand tighter.
Rose smiled as she waited in line to go through the crazy, evil-detectors. She was amused by the contraptions Muggles come up with to substitute for magic. As a stubby little man waved an imitation wand over her arms, she couldn’t help but think this was the start of the rest of her life.
But that was all over now.
She had graduated at the top of her class, Head Girl, Quidditch keeper. Now, school was over and it was time for her real life to begin. The problem was it wasn’t her life that she felt she was living; it was her mother’s.
It had been two days after graduation when the first reporter asked what position she was going to take at the Ministry. Since then, she had been pestered everyday by annoying paparazzi trying to get the story first. Now, almost a month later she still had no answer. Everyone just assumed that her mother would get her a job at the Ministry, and a good one at that. Rumored to be one of the most talented witches Hogwarts had ever seen, Rose was expected to go on and do great things, just like her mother.
Hermione Granger Weasley had been elected Minister of Magic two years ago. She had quickly become one of the most beloved leaders the wizarding community had ever had. If the Weasely family hadn’t been famous enough before, they certainly were now. Hermione without doubt was a good Minister. People liked her, she made good decisions, and there had been no major occurrences of Dark Magic since she held the office. (Although that last part might also be due to the highly effective nature of the Auror Office, headed by Rose’s Uncle Harry.)
Hermione certainly did have a job for Rose lined up in her administration. She had had it lined up for months before Rose even graduated. It was a stable job, with good pay in the Department of Experimental Charms, where she knew Rose would excel. She also thought it was far enough away from both her and Ron’s offices to assure Rose they were not trying to smother her.
The problem was, Rose didn’t want to work in the Department of Experimental Charms. She didn’t want to work in the Ministry at all. She really didn’t want to work for her mother. She didn’t know what to do.
Rose got up off her bed and walked over to her bookshelf. It was so stuffed with books that it was overflowing, but Rose had found spots for more pictures. She picked one up and looked at it longingly. It was a picture of her and two of her cousins, Albus and Dominique. All three of them had graduated Hogwarts together. Both Al and Dom knew what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives. Al was scheduled to start Auror training the next week, and Dom had already left for France to be a model. Rose was alone in her predicament. Al didn’t mind being like his father, Harry, and Dom was part Veela; she could make a mint being a model. Rose looked at the picture and thought about her own situation. Everyone expected her to be just like her mother. People had always expected that. She had gotten used to it at school, but the fact that the rest of the world seemed to have the same expectations was very discouraging. What if she didn’t want to be Rose Weasley: Hermione Weasley’s daughter?
Just as she put the frame back on the bookshelf there was a knock at her door. “What?” she replied shortly.
“Rosie, can I come in?” Rose heard her father ask from the other side of the door.
“Yeah, I guess,” she answered. Ron Weasley slowly opened to door to his daughter’s room. He had been in this situation before. Hermione and Rose had had some rather intense disagreements over the years, and he had learned to take everything softly and slowly when trying to rectify the situation. He crossed the room and sat on the chair next to Rose’s desk. Rose continued to stand and stare at the bookcase. They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Then Ron decided it was time to act.
“You said some pretty hurtful stuff down there,” he wasn’t looking at Rose, but instead at the Gryffindor pennants that covered the walls.
“The truth hurts,” Rose spat back.
Ron knew then that this was going to be harder than usual. By this time, either Rose or Hermione would have realized that they were wrong and started to feel guilty. They were both just too stubborn to say it first. But Ron had already spoken to Hermione; she hadn’t gotten there either.
“She’s just trying to help you know,” Ron tried again.
“What if I don’t want her help?” Rose got quiet as if she was thinking, then she started again, much softer than before, “For eighteen years, I’ve been ‘Hermione Weasely’s daughter’. No one ever tries to get to know me for me. At school it was like…whatever…I couldn’t escape it because all the professors knew her, or taught her, or whatever. I couldn’t just leave school. But now, Dad, I can finally do something else, do something for me. I need to get away from her.” Rose knew this sounded terrible, but it was the truth. She needed to be her own person now, or she might never get the chance.
She walked over to her desk and opened a little drawer on the side. She pulled out a brightly colored pamphlet and handed it to her father.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about it and I think I know what I want to do. I know she’s not going to like it, but its my life, not hers.”
Ron looked down at the materials in his hands. “Yale University?” he questioned.
“It’s a Muggle University,” she said very quickly, “Before you completely freak out, I’ve thought it through. I’ll go here for a while and while I’m studying all the Muggle stuff I can still study magic too, you know, to stay sharp.”
Ron looked confused. He continued to read the pamphlet until he came across the most disturbing piece of information: “Connecticut?!” He looked at Rose. “This place is in…”
“America, yeah I know. I think it’ll be a really good experience for me, you know, to go abroad. Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur let Dom go to France.”
“Rosie, America is so much further away than France.”
“I know that, but it’s the same general idea, right?” She looked at Ron with pleading eyes.
“Don’t you have to apply and be accepted to places like this? That has to take a while,”
“I’ve already been accepted,” Rose replied looking at her feet. She handed Ron an official looking letter with a funny crest on the top. Ron read the letter that invited Rose to join the incoming class that fall. He couldn’t help but smile. Even though Rose had gone behind their backs to do all of this, he was still proud of her. She was a smart girl.
“What about all the information they needed about your other school. I don’t imagine they take NEWT scores.”
Rose looked a little embarrassed. “Well, I might have fabricated a few things on the application. By the way, according to the Yale Admissions office, I was home schooled. But they’re really keen on getting international students, so they didn’t care very much, and I wrote a really good essay.”
“On what?”
“What I would do if I had magical powers,” Rose smiled and Ron let out a little laugh, “It was seriously a question. They commented on the ‘vividness of my imagination’,” she put finger quotes around the last phrase. Ron couldn’t help but laugh. Mostly because he knew Rose actually had a very limited imagination (she took after Hermione on that one too, he guessed she only got the red hair from him).
“You mother isn’t going to like this idea,” Ron said after a second.
“That’s why I talked to you first. Because you’re the one that understands me Dad. You’re the only one that can talk any sense into Mom, right?”
“You overestimate my influence over your mother,” he sighed.
Rose pouted, “Please Daddy,”
Ron sighed. He knew he was going to be the one to talk to Hermione. He knew it wasn’t going to go well. He knew he would probably be sleeping on the couch for a few nights. But there was something about Rose, something about the way her face lit up when she talked about it, about how her eyes were pleading with him. He may not be a big fan of the idea himself, but somewhere he knew this was what was best for her.
“If she kills me because of this, I will personally haunt you for the rest of your life. Do you understand me young lady?”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you Daddy,” she flung her arms around his neck. He stood up and headed for the door. Before he left, he turned around one last time and looked at his daughter, she beamed at him, looking happier than she had in months.
Rose watched the door as it closed. She heard Ron’s footsteps heading down the hall to his bedroom, where she knew her mother was hiding. After a few minutes of silence Rose heard her mother’s voice echo down the hallway.
“SHE WANTS TO DO WHAT?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two weeks later Rose stood at the security gate of Heathrow Airport with Ron, Hermione and her younger brother, Hugo. She couldn’t believe it; she was actually going! It had been a battle with Hermione, but she reluctantly agreed when she realized Rose was planning on going with or without her permission. They were saying their goodbyes because no one was allowed passed security without a boarding pass.
There was no easy, magical way to get across the Atlantic Ocean. So Rose decided that if she was going to be going to a Muggle school, she would have to get used to Muggle forms of transportation, including airplanes. She had never been on one before and was a little skeptical of the way they stayed in the air without magic, but she didn’t tell anyone that. Ron seemed equally as nervous, but wasn’t as good at hiding it. “Those things are really big. How on earth do they keep them up without magic?”
“Dad stop worrying so much, it’s going to be fine,” Rose gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I’m gonna miss you.” Ron returned the kiss on her forehead.
Next, she turned to Hugo, who as a sixteen-year-old boy, didn’t really show much emotion. She gave him a big hug as well. “See ya Hugo. Take care of Hogwarts and make sure Gryffindor wins the cup this year.” She winked at him. Suddenly he pulled her into an even tighter hug.
“Don’t get yourself into trouble over there ok?”
“I won’t, I promise, love ya Hugo,” she kissed him on the cheek.
Finally she faced her mother. Hermione and Rose hadn’t really been on speaking terms since the night of their big fight. Most of their communication had gone through Ron or Hugo. Both men stepped back when the mother and daughter faced each other, both giving them time by themselves, and being out of the way if they should start fighting again.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye then,” Rose looked a little uncomfortable.
“I guess it is,” There was an awkward silence. Hugo gave Ron a concerned look. He thought they would have been able to make up before Rose left. “Your brother is right, don’t get into trouble.” Hermione’s voice sounded like she was talking to someone on her staff, not her only daughter going abroad.
“I won’t,” Then they gave each other the coldest, most awkward hug Ron or Hugo had ever seen. “Bye Mom.”
“Bye Rose,” Rose turned and headed for the security gate and Hermione turned back to face Ron and Hugo. As Rose gave her newly acquired Muggle passport to the bearded security worker, she turned and saw her family walking away.
Hermione took Ron’s hand as they were walking. “Are you alright?” Ron asked.
“I’m fine,” she replied in her most official, Minister voice, “I have to get back to the office, I have a lot of work to get done.” Ron noticed, however, as they left the airport a tear fell down Hermione’s cheek. He didn’t say anything; he just held her hand tighter.
Rose smiled as she waited in line to go through the crazy, evil-detectors. She was amused by the contraptions Muggles come up with to substitute for magic. As a stubby little man waved an imitation wand over her arms, she couldn’t help but think this was the start of the rest of her life.
