Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. (If I did, so many things would have happened differently in the epilogue! … Yeah, I'm one of those people)
Chapter 1:So It Began
Rose gave her professor a strange look.
"Do you have something to say, Ms. Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked expectantly.
"No Professor," she replied immediately, then hesitated. "It's just… Why this particular assignment?"
"Well, as a large part of the current criteria for most secondary educational institutes is literacy, and composition, along with your previous experience I thought it would be appropriate for the seventh year submissions," McGonagall stated matter-of-factly.
"Then are we not to add any personal experiences, just educational ones?"
"No, no dear, your personal experiences will be very important! You should make sure there is almost an even distribution of educational and personal experiences, in fact."
Rose finally nodded, and thanked McGonagall, keeping silent until McGonagall dismissed the conference of seventh years a few minutes later. Albus was at her side in moments as she carried herself at a brisk pace to the door.
"Off to the hospital wing, are you Rosie?"
"I am in fact, Al. Would you care to come with me?" Rose asked as she swiftly pulled back a tapestry and slipped into the passage behind it, Albus trailing after her.
"Nah, sorry. Quidditch practice, you know. Give him my regards, will you?" Even if he didn't sound anything but uncomfortable, Albus looked genuinely sorry he couldn't come with her, which honestly surprised Rose. She knew leaving his best friend in the hospital wing while he went off to Quidditch must be killing him, but he usually hid it better.
"Of course, I'll see you in the morning, alright?" Rose stopped a moment and turned to hug him before he left, giving him a patient smile. Albus let his usual mischievous smile slip out to reassure her, before kissing her cheek, as and evident thank you. A moment later he turned to leave, robes swishing in the wind behind him.
Watching him go, Rose felt a pang of inexplicable loneliness. She knew it was unwarranted, but she couldn't help it.
After a few minutes Rose had made it to the hospital wing. She opened the door discreetly, and was almost relieved to see his sleeping form in the bed by the window. She really needed some time to collect her thoughts.
Rose set down her bag and took off her black school robes, draping them on the back of her chair. She wore now a wide-sleeved, fluttery, white tunic tied at a high waist over navy blue leggings. She slipped off her sandals and sat down cross-legged on the large hard wood chair next to the bed.
After a moment of silent contemplation, she pulled out a notebook and a muggle pen. She always had thought they were easier to use, and when she didn't have to turn something in, she did. She paused for a moment, pen poised to write, but not a word came to her.
Glancing at the pale face of her love beside her, she let her left hand drift to his face to brush a lock of white blond hair from his forehead. Her heart was pounding and she wanted to cry, looking at the raised pink line just barely visible on his neck.
Rose let only a single tear fall before closing her eyes and wiping at them with the back of her hand, forcing her breathing to even out. Trying to focus on the task at hand, Rose thought back, eyes glazing over.
When she finally snapped out of the past, almost an hour had passed, and she could see the sun setting through the glass of the window beside the bed. Readjusting her hand, she let her pen flow through word after word, no longer able to stop.
"Looking back on my life, however short it may have been thus far, I realize that life is not quite the open road some say. When we are born, there is always some kind of expectation as to what we will do, and who we will be. It often does not go over well when one does not do their best to conform to such expectations… "
… 6 Years and 7 Months Earlier …
Rose glanced anxiously around the corner of the corridor from where she stood at the doorway, wishing every minute more that the lit tip of her wand was dimmer. The stone halls of the castle were so eerie without the warm light of the torches lighting them up. She started with a gasp as she suddenly found Albus' face right before hers.
"Hey Rosie," he said, the mischievous smile apparent on his face.
"Albus!" she sighed with relief as she threw her arms around his neck.
"Rosie," Albus began when she let go, sounding extremely excited. "Look what Teddy gave me!"
He held out to her what looked like a map. After a moment of scrutiny, Rose caught sight of her own name, and next to it Albus'.
"What is this?" she asked, bringing her eyes up to meet his. Albus smiled, his green eyes sparkling in the cold light of her wand.
"Teddy's owl came to the window of my dorm right after the feast. He wrote in his letter that this is the Marauder's Map. He said that my Dad's dad, and his dad, and their best friend Sirius made it while they were at Hogwarts together, and that it has a huge history. He said I'd find out someday from Dad what it is, because it wasn't his story to tell…" Albus trailed off there, for a moment, then starting again with renewed energy. "And he says it's a map of Hogwarts, and it shows every one here, and where they are! I used it to get here Rose it's great! We could go anywhere with this and not get caught!"
Rose smiled lightly as Albus went on, and on about everything they could do here. She was just glad to see him again. At the Sorting Feast a few hours ago she had been put into Ravenclaw, while he had been sorted to Gryffindor, as she knew he would be.
On their way out of the Hall, Albus had stopped to whisper in her ear to meet him at the empty classroom Neville – er, Professor Longbottom – had brought them to before the feast in 2 hours. She had nodded and scurried to catch up to her cousin Lucy – a 6th year Prefect in Ravenclaw – to follow her to what she hoped would become a second home to her. Lucy had smiled and took Rose's hand, telling her once again how excited Lucy was to have her in Ravenclaw. This had reassured Rose not to be scared, even if she had been separated from Albus. For a while at least.
After a short pep-talk, Lucy had left her to go into her dorm room alone. When she entered the crescent-shaped room, 4 other girls were already there. They were each in their respective beds, which were arranged in a half circle along the wall, spaced out with dressers and a trunk next to each. One girl was obviously asleep on top of her comforter, but the other three sat at the end of their beds, talking to each other. As soon as they saw her the whole room was silent, and Rose's nerves were back in full force. She threw out a quite hello in their general direction along with a tight smile, and walked over to the last empty bed, glad to see her trunk was already there. As she got closer she saw the Ravenclaw crest was embroidered onto the middle of her fluffy blue comforter. It had an open winged eagle over blue and bronze stripes and below it a ribbon design with the motto "Wit Beyond Measure, Is a Man's Greatest Treasure".
Rose had stood starting at it a moment, tracing over a letter with her fingers, letting to sentiment sink in. She would have stood there much longer, but she heard a chorus of whispers start up behind her, pulling her from her thoughts. She did her best to ignore them as she opened her trunk and pulled out some clothes to sleep in. She changed quickly into the long sleeved blue sweater tunic and grey leggings before sitting on the cold stone floor and lighting a candle. The whispers continued as she went on to pull a muggle pen and some paper from her trunk and settled them on its closed top. She wrote a short letter to her mother by the light of her wand, intending to send it in the morning after breakfast, since it was a Saturday and they wouldn't have classes.
Not long after the whispers had died down, she blew out her candle. She crawled into bed and waited, glancing at her watch every few minutes. When the time came she had crept out of the room, grabbing a small fuzzy blanket from her trunk to wrap around herself after feeling the chill air before she left.
And now she was here, listening to the comforting voice of her excited best friend.
When Albus finally stopped talking he was out of breath, and she took the opportunity to ask him something she was desperately curious about, but had tried not to think about all night. If she had the curiosity would have driven her insane.
"Albus, have you seen the Malfoy boy?" Albus looked up at her curiously before speaking, a slow, calculating look passing over his face.
"Actually Rosie, he's in my dorm. Why?"
"I was just wondering… After all, it was a shock for every one when he got sorted into Gryffindor." Albus nodded, a decidedly thoughtful look on his face.