May everlasting peace reign o'er us
May heaven's blessing to us come
Against all perils, do not forsake us
God protect our isle of Guam.
Against all perils, do not forsake us
God protect our isle of Guam.
-National Anthem of Guam

Chapter 20—

Rose's POV

Scor and I had just finished prefect duty and I was returning to my dormitory after a quick kiss (ok, 10 minute snog session) when I was intercepted by Sasha; which was strange enough in itself, until I figured out what she wanted to talk to me about.

"Is Mackenzie still going out with Benjamin Armstrong?" She asks frantically.

"And why would that be any of your business?" I retort coldly, still not forgetting the incident at the Halloween ball, the incident before Hogsmead…ok not forgetting the fact that Sasha is just a bitch in general.

"It's not! Well, it is! I mean—he's just so wrong for her!"

And now I have passed the point beyond utter confusion.

"What?" is the brilliant response my brain comes up with.

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to understand, after all, your boyfriend and lovely life is absolutely-fucking-perfect!" she screeches and then rushes off.

I have no idea how to even respond to that, so I decide to continue on to my dormitory. When I get there, I see Z splayed out on her bed and the rest of the dorm mates seemed to have vanished.

"Sasha is interested in your love life again." I greet her.

She raises her eyebrows at me. "So is Al's new friend Amy…strange why does Sasha care about my love life?"

"Why does Amy care?"

"Well she just knows me and the fact that I'm dating Ben Armstrong, Slytherin extraordinaire and fabulous snogger. Ok, so she didn't add the last part, I did, but whatever."

"And by the way, Sasha is still calling you Mackenzie and apparently you're dating Benjamin that girl is strange. But anyway, you know I don't think I've ever officially met Amy Buchanan."

"Sasha is just a stuck up bitch who refuses to call people by their nicknames. But I'll be sure to introduce Amy. She's cute and actually quite nice. She even talked me out of hating her on principle!"

"You told her that you hated her on principle?" I mean I know Z can be forward…but that's pushing it a little bit.

"No! Of course not! She talked me out of it without being told! If she wasn't so cute I would expect she would be sorted into Slytherin!"

"You're dating a Slytherin," I comment as I start getting into my comfy pajamas.

"Which is proof! Ben is so cunning he somehow convinced me to snog him in the Owlery! It was quite awkward when little Johnny Jameson, you know the cute little second year, walked in on us!"

"And this had nothing to do with the fact that you actually think snogging Ben is nice?"

"None whatsoever, I blame it all on his Slytherin cunningness!"

"Whatever, just don't go into detail about it again." I shuddered remembering the in depth detail Z had given me of her and Ben's snogging session one time.

"Hey! That was only in retaliation for your little stunt that you pulled when you went into 'in depth detail' about you and Scor's snog session!" she scrunches up her nose "I didn't want to hear about my best friends snogging. I mean I love you both and I'm happy that you are together, but some things need to be kept private!"

"Fine, truce. Whatever." I say. "I still think it's weird that Sasha is distressed over the state of your love life."

I hop on her bed and lie down next to her.

"What are you working on, anyway? School's only been in session for a couple weeks and there isn't much homework. I mean, I'm not even doing anything yet!"

"Nothing" she mutters.

I glance at the pieces of parchment on the bed. "Is that my mum's handwriting?"

"Pshh, no! Why would I be corresponding with your mum?"

"I don't know, I just thought…whatever. I'm going to bed it's after midnight you should too."

"Alright mum"

"Hush up, Z"

"Yes mum!"

"Merlin, Z just back off!"

"Whoa there, it was a joke."

I spin and glare at her, "Well I don't hear anyone laughing."

"Ok, ok I'm sorry, I won't call you mum, it obviously wasn't a very funny joke, and I also happen to love you; just throwing that out there.

"Love you too, Z. Night."

"You know I wasn't comparing you to your mum right? I was just saying that you were acting like a mum in general. I didn't mean to get you upset."

I sigh, "I know, Z, sorry, it's just that I feel like I'm always being compared to her."

"Except for the whole having a romance with a Malfoy thing."

I laugh, "Except for that."

"Night Ro."

"Night Z."

Except for suddenly I couldn't sleep. I mean, at least once every day of my life someone had compared me to my mum. It was always 'Oh she has Hermione's brains alright!' 'Someone's going to give their mum a run for her money with brains like yours!' 'And you've fallen for your best friend, just like you mum! How sweet!' It was absolutely sickening.

I love my mum, truly I do, but she has left enormous, impossible footsteps for me to follow in. It also seems like every single trait that I have is not my own, but rather from some family member or other. My brains from my mother, my fear of spiders for my father, my love of Muggle studies from my grandfather, and sometimes, if I pursed my lips just so, I could look 'uncannily' like my Nan. The brown eyes were so obviously like my Aunt Ginny's and the way I could sometimes recite the rules word for word made me like my rule-abiding-almost-to-the-point-of-being-obnoxious Uncle Percy.

I tossed and turned in bed, trying to get these thoughts out of my head. I really do love my family, but sometimes I wish I could get away, maybe to some place where everyone doesn't know every little thing about my family and their history. Now that I think about it, I've heard that Guam is nice this time of year.

Of course, in order to get to Guam I would have to leave next Hogsmead trip. I've read Hogwarts, a Revised History enough to know that I cannot apparate off the Hogwarts grounds. And of course, I would love to take Scor with me…

Well that settles it. I definitely can't go to Guam. I mean, sure I could ruin my own future, but I can't ruin Scor's future just because I don't want to be compared to my mother. And chances are my dad and Uncle Harry would find me anyway with their super sleuthing Auror skills.

But now the idea just won't leave me ahead. Get away- from it all, from everything; the pressure, the comparing, the annoying people.

I drift off to sleep and wonder if maybe just maybe I could convince Z to help me. I could go this summer. But in reality, I know that I probably won't go anywhere. Hogwarts and Britain are my homes. However, the idea was still appealing and I decided to keep it in the back of my mind.

A/N: whatcha think?

~wwccd