A little something for Fire The Canon's March Tournament at HPFC, where we had to write a fic based on a character before they leave for Hogwarts. I hope you enjoy it!
Just Like You
"Daddy?"
Ron looks up from his book (a Muggle book called Jane Eyre that he only reads after Hermione is in bed, because if she saw him reading it she'd get that smug look on her face) to see his daughter standing in the doorway. "What's the matter, Rosie?"
"I can't sleep."
She's wearing the blue pyjamas they gave her for her ninth birthday. They're much too short for her now but she refuses to stop wearing them.
"Would you like to sit with me for a little while? I won't tell Mummy."
She nods and curls up next to him on the couch, twisting a piece of hair around her finger like she always does when she's anxious.
"Is everything all right, sweetheart? Are you nervous about going to Hogwarts?"
"No," she says defiantly. "I'm not nervous. I'm just ..."
Ron knows better than to push her. She's stubborn like her mother. The wrong move can put her straight on the defensive.
"I'm worried about Hugo."
This isn't the answer he expected. "What are you worried about Hugo for?"
"I'm afraid he'll miss me when I'm gone."
Sometimes it's hard to believe that Rose is only eleven; she's vivacious and intelligent, logical to the extreme like her mother, but bossy and outgoing like her aunt. At this moment, though, Ron can only see the little girl, the one who's scared about leaving and missing her family, but too proud to let on. It reminds Ron of the time when she was five and got stuck in a tree, but refused to let anyone help her. She knew if she got up there on her own, there must be a way down, and sure enough she'd found a way.
"You know what, sweetie? He probably will miss you. You're his big sister and he loves you. But he'll have Mummy and me, and all your little cousins to keep him company."
"Do you promise?"
"I promise. We'll look after him."
She still doesn't look convinced.
"You know what else would help, Rosie? I bet he'd feel so much better if you wrote him letters. You could write to all of us and tell us all about Hogwarts. Then we'd all write back and you'd know we were all okay. How does that sound?"
She thinks about this for a moment. "Okay," she says at last. "But I probably wouldn't tell him all about Hogwarts. Otherwise it would be no fun for him when it's his turn to come."
"Very true," says Ron. "Hugo's lucky to have a sister like you, Rosie."
"I know," she says with a cheeky grin.
"Do you feel sleepy now?"
"No," she says, but she yawns almost immediately and Ron struggles to hide his smile.
"Well, maybe just five more minutes," he says as he opens his book. He feels her head settle on his shoulder only a minute or two later, and after waiting a couple more for her to fall asleep, he puts his book down carefully and carries her back to her room.
He finds Hermione awake when he gets into bed. "Was that Rose? Is she okay?"
"Sure," he says. "She's a bit nervous about leaving for school, I think. But she'll be all right."
"How do you know?" Hermione asks, and he can see the little anxious girl in her, too.
"Because she's just like you."
