xvi: Letting Go

"Ron?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you still awake?"

"Obviously," he said, rolling his eyes even though he knew that Hermione wouldn't be able to see them in the dark. She'd been tossing and turning all night, so sleep was evading him.

"Oh. Stupid question. Sorry."

Ron smiled to himself. She was really quite endearing when she was like this. "What is it, then?"

"Don't laugh. Are you sure Rose has everything she needs?" she asked agitatedly.

He managed to refrain from groaning. "I'm sure she has. We can double check in the morning. And if it turns out she's forgotten something, we can just owl it to her."

Hermione sighed. "Of course we can. Sorry. I can't help worrying. I remember being completely exasperated when my mum was like this before I went to Hogwarts, but now I understand how she felt. And it must have been even worse for her; she'd only just found out that magic exists."

"Hermione," Ron said firmly, "listen. Our Rosie's a bloody genius. She'll be fine. We were fine, and we had the whole You-Know-Who thing to worry about."

She snorted, momentarily distracted. "Seriously, Ron? You still can't say his name? It's been nineteen years."

"Sorry! I was terrified of it for eighteen years; it's hard to get rid of the habit," he said defensively. "You were brought up by Muggles. It's hard for you to understand."

"Whatever," Hermione said, dismissing the subject; she couldn't see the point in arguing over it. "But I'm still worried about her. What if she lets her temper get her into trouble?"

"Hey, my temper didn't get me into trouble! Much," he amended - though he couldn't see Hermione properly, he knew that she'd be glaring at him. Snape and McGonagall had never been fans of Ron's attitude. "And Rosie's cleverer than me; the teachers will fall in love with her straight away. Promise."

"I hope so," she said, snuggling up to Ron and sighing. "I'll miss her. It'll be so quiet with only us and Hugo in the house. He's never been much of a talker."

Ron laughed. "Maybe without Rose here he'll get a chance to get a word in edgeways. And she'll be back before we know it."

"Really?"

"Really. Think how quickly Christmas came around when we were at Hogwarts."

"I... yeah. I suppose so," she said reluctantly. "But I'm her mother. You know how it is. It's hard to let go."

"I know it is. It's hard for me, too," Ron admitted; Rose had always been a Daddy's girl. "But she can look after herself, I'm sure. Try and sleep now?" he suggested.

"Okay," Hermione agreed, sounding like she was a little girl again. Ron smiled to himself once again.

But despite his reassurances, she didn't sleep a wink that night.

A/N: For the prompt "agitated" on the OTP boot camp. Just a little idea that came to me while I was on a train journey this morning... hopefully I'll have time to write a longer one soonish. :)