• • •
From childhood I had
never believed in
permanence, and yet I had
longed for it
• • •
"Rose!"
"Ginny, wait! She's asleep!"
Those were the few words Rose heard before the door of the bedroom she was sleeping in sprung open and a ten-year-old ginger girl ran into the room, throwing herself over a peacefully sleeping Rose, waking her up in an instant.
"Bloody hell!" Screamed Rose in fear, the tips of her hair spiked up at the same time her eyes shifted to yellow. "Ginny!"
"Rosie!" Ginny yelled once she saw Rose's face grow to one of happiness. Ginny hugged Rose tightly. "I missed you!"
"I missed you, too!" Rose laughed, hugging Ginny just as tight. "Look at you! You've grown so tall!"
Ginny had stood up from the bed, rolling on the balls of her feet. Rose stood up too, stretching her arms over her head in the process. In that moment, Charlie bursted in the room.
"Oh," He said. "You're up!"
"I am now!" Rose said sarcastically.
"Well c'mon, breakfast's ready." Charlie grinned, he exited the room with Ginny and Rose following behind.
The moment Rose entered the small kitchen, her nose instantly filled with the smell of bacon and eggy bread. Molly and Arthur Weasley were sitting on the table, huge smiles plastered on their faces.
"Molly!" Rose laughed and ran over to hug Molly.
"Oh, my baby!" Molly cooed as she hugged Rose and kissed her head, snuggling her closer. "I missed you!"
"I missed you so much, Molly." Rose sniffed. "I'm so glad you came."
Molly laughed as she let Rose go of her hug.
"Hello, Rose, how are you?" Arthur asked as Rose moved to hug him too.
"I'm fine, you?" Rose asked, moving back.
"I'm wonderful, thank you." Arthur beamed.
"Breakfast?" Charlie asked hopefully.
• • •
"You must be around your third or fourth year in Hogwarts, correct?" Aaron asked Rose one afternoon as they laid comfortably near the lake after christmas had passed.
"Third year, actually." Rose murmured. Even though it was winter, the sun that was glowing brightly settled comfortably through her skin. "You?"
"I don't go to Hogwarts." Aaron said, shaking his head.
"I know that!" Rose laughed. "I meant to ask what year are you in whatever wizarding school you attend to!"
"I don't go to school," Aaron shaked his head again, this time more gloomy.
Rose was shocked for a second, but the her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"
"It isn't safe." Aaron admitted. Rose urged him to go on. "It isn't safe for other students unless I have full control."
"Control is overrated." Rose scoffed, turning her head towards the calm lake.
"Oh?" Aaron was interested on the reason that she thought that way.
"Yeah," Rose's mouth twitched into a small smile. "Could you do this, if you had control?"
With one lazy move from her hand, Rose had made a huge wave spring out of the lake, taking out all the fishes with the wave. Soon, the young Gryffindor had taken all the water out of the lake and had placed it around the two teenagers, trapping them in a bubble of water. Fishes and sea folk were swimming peacefully around them, but without touching the surface. Rose's eyes were a deep blue marine colour, her hair had blonde roots and green tips.
Aaron gasped loudly, he was so amazed and so confused at the same time. "How are you doing that? I thought you were a fire-elemental!"
"Told you control was overrated." Rose smirked, waving her hand again and making all the water fall back into the lake.
"Can I ask you a question?" Aaron asked quietly after a minute of silence in which Rose catched her breath.
"Ask away, mate." Rose said, grinning hugely.
"How did you discover you were an elemental?"
Rose's smile instantly fell out of her face, her breath felt as if it was knocked out of it, her hands began to shake lightly, her eyes were a blue-grey colour. Aaron's questions had caught her off-guard and soon, Rose started having flashbacks of that dreadful day.
There was fire everywhere, Fred was getting hurt, Rose had blood running down her lips, the scent of burned flesh filling her nostrils once more, the pain in her back, the tears down her cheeks, the dryness in her throat, the helpless expression on her face.
"ROSE!" An ear-piercing call broke her out her thoughts. Her head snapped towards Aaron who was studying her with his eyes full of panic. "What happened? Are you alright?"
"Fine," Rose murmured, passing a hand through her long silky hair. Suddenly, her hair reminded her too much of her childhood.
"Are you sure?" Aaron asked cautiously.
"Yes." She assured him. Before Aaron could interrogate her some more, another voice filled their ears.
"Rose! Remus is here!" Ginny's voice called as the little girl appeared at the other side of the hill.
"Coming!" Rose yelled back, standing up and dusting off her clothes. She turned to Aaron, an uneasy smile settled on her lips. "I reckon this won't be the last time i'll see you, huh?"
"I'll see you next holidays?"
"Hopefully." She gave him one last glance, before turning away and trotted towards Ginny and into Charlie's home.
Inside the sitting room, Remus was standing holding Rose's trunk in one hand and talking to Molly and Arthur.
"Remus!" Rose screamed in delight as she ran and hugged him tightly.
"Rosie!" Remus laughed, ruffling her hair as if she was a child. "How have you been?"
"I've been great, thank you!"
"Ready to go?"
"Almost," Rose said. She walked over to the counter on Charlie's kitchen, she grabbed the first pair of scissors she saw and walked confidently towards Molly.
"Molly, I need you to please cut off my hair." Rose said, holding the scissors up. There was an uproar including Molly, Remus, and Ginny.
"What?!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Please!" Rose insisted.
"But why?" Molly asked in a concerned tone. "Ever since i've known you your hair was been so long and beautiful, why would you want the last piece you have of your— oh. . ."
"It reminds me of them to much," Rose admitted quietly. "The looks on their faces, the look on Freddie's face. I've tried really hard to change everything else about me since then, I even tried new hair colours for every month, but I think I really need this. I think I need to literally cut off one of the reminders."
Molly had such a sad look on her face, that for a moment Rose thought she might've stepped over the line. But then, Molly smiled and took the scissors from Rose's hands.
"Bring up a chair, dear." Molly said.
"I'll get the camera!"
"I'll get some tart!"
"I'll probably get a headache."