Word Count: 408
Rose takes a deep breath, adjusting the straps of her backpack as she stares at her reflection. The backpack is too much. She doesn't want to look too eager, even though really is too eager.
She removes one strap, dangling the backpack absently from one shoulder. Dominique can pull it off; it makes her look ambivalent, like she doesn't care one way or another about what the day may bring. Rose, on the other hand, just looks ridiculous.
With a frustrated cry, she drops the bag to the floor before throwing herself onto the bed. It shouldn't be a big deal. How many kids stand in front of a mirror and try to decide on the perfect way to wear a bloody backpack on the first day of school. She's being ridiculous, and the worst part is that she can't seem to help it. Everything has to be perfect.
There's a knock on the door. "Rose, honey?" her mother calls.
"Come in."
Her mother enters, frowning when she sees Rose's clear distress. She sits beside Rose. "What happened?"
Rose's cheeks burn. She hates talking about it. It feels like a weakness, like something she should be able to control. "I had another episode."
Her mother understands. Her mother has told her time and time again that she was a perfectionist as a child, though Rose is, apparently, more of one.
"I just want tomorrow to be perfect," Rose says. "I want to look like I'm prepared, and I want other kids to like me."
The last part hurts the most. She has her cousins, of course, but they're family. They don't have a choice but to love her. But other kids? Kids she hasn't spent her whole life around? She isn't sure what to do with them. She remembers her mother's stories about her early days at Hogwarts and feeling like an outcast. That isn't the life that Rose wants.
"You're going to be fine," her mother assures her. "Know how I know?"
Rose shakes her head.
"Because you are a Granger-Weasley," she answers. "Granger-Weasleys can do anything they set their minds to."
Rose considers this for a moment, anxiously chewing her thumbnail in silence. Finally, she nods. "Promise?"
"Pinky promise."
She is too clever to truly believe that everything will be perfect. There are too many things that can go wrong. Even so, Rose smiles, relieved. "Thanks, Mum."
She will overcome this. It's just what Granger-Weasleys do.
