The secrets of Rowan Khanna (Y6 spoilers)

Hogwarts (Chapter 13)

Rowan was standing in front of the mirror in her room, looking at herself. She was wearing her school uniform, and... it brought back memories. A lot of them...
Not good ones...
"Ah, still fits perfectly." Ophelia said, brushing through Rowans hair. "It will be okay, Rowan. You will see, everything will be alright. Don't worry. It's your last year, you will have so much fun..."
Rowan wasn't sure if her Mum was right. But she had realised that her parents were right about something. She needed to finish her schooling. Even if she was unsure what she wanted to do with her life now, finishing school was important. No matter how hard it would be... There was also some truth in the fact that they needed someone there because of Hazel, at least during her first year. She was the kind of person that often forgot to take her medicine if she was busy, so having Rowan there to remind her was important.
The hope was that she was going to become more mature and responsible as time went on, so she wouldn't need supervision anymore.

"One last dinner together before the both of you go to Hogwarts..." Rudra said, brushing through Hazels hair. " I wanted to make it special."
He had prepared a feast large enough to feed a small army it seemed. Ophelia had laughed when she had seen it, saying that maybe he went a little bit overboard.
But he said that a feast was in order, their little one was going to Hogwarts after all, and their older daughter was starting her last year... it called for a great family meal.
Rowan ate while trying to keep a straight face.
She didn't want her family to know how anxious she was. How much she wanted to just run and hide to avoid having to go. She felt like she was suffocating, like she couldn't get enough air even if she took deep breaths... but she didn't want the others to know... they seemed to be having such fun, laughing and chatting...
So even though it was like there was a heavy weight sitting on her chest that wouldn't go away whatever she did, she pretended to be calm and collected.

In the late evening, Rowan finished packing her things.
While she was on the floor closing her suitcase, Barnaby Jr. hopped on her lap. She stopped to pet him, which made him rub up against her hand. She needed to give him back tomorrow... even just the idea of doing that, talking to Barnaby... even just that made her panic. And that was even though he still seemed to like her...
She put the Puffskein back down and tried to close the suitcase. There was way too much stuff in it, she couldn't seem to close it... so she called for backup. "Hazel!" 

Her little sister immediately came rushing into the room, asking if something was wrong. She seemed quite relived when Rowan just asked her to sit on the suitcase so she could close it.
So she did just that, and Rowan closed it with ease.
"Rowie, can I ask you something..?" she asked, a little shy. "Do you think I will be okay at Hogwarts..?"
Rowan looked up at Hazel. She didn't expect her of all people to be nervous, she had seemed so excited all the time...
Hazel explained that she worried because of her heart condition, that something would happen. The idea of being so far away from her parents was scary, even if she didn't want to admit it. Rowan shook her head, and softly pulled her onto her lap, hugging her. "But I'm still there... I do know more about you condition than you think Haze..."
"But you are-" she wanted to argued, but quickly held her tongue. 

Rowan sighed, saying that she knew she wasn't in the most trustworthy condition right now, but she would watch out for her, it was her duty as the big sister.
Hazel hugged her, hiding her head in her shoulder. She was of the opinion that her sister had done enough for her for a lifetime...
After all, everything that had happened was because she wanted to protect her from Rakepick... And she wanted to give back now, so she vowed to make Rowan as comfortable as she possibly could. Of course she couldn't take all that fear she felt away, but maybe she could make it a little better...

The next day Ophelia and Rudra brought their daughters to platform 9 3/4.
They were quite worried about both of them leaving, but tried not to show it, happily encouraging them.
Hazel ran ahead, all of yesterdays doubt seemed to be gone.
Rowan was still doubtful, but felt at least somewhat ready to go now...
That readiness disappeared as soon as they arrived at the platform. Every body seemed to be staring at her... of course, people were interested to see the girl that had "died" only to be discovered in R.'s basement.
Her father pulled her close, in an effort to comfort her. He shot everyone that was staring at her an angry glance. Couldn't they tell that she had been through enough?? She really didn't need this now.