Rose Dursley: The Girl Who Lived

22. A New Beginning

When they reached the Gryffindor common room, Hermione collapsed on the sofa in front of the fireplace. Ron went over and threw some more logs on the fire. Rose came and sat on the other end of the sofa, and looked at Hermione.

"How long were you under the water?" asked Rose.

"Since last night," said Hermione. "But it was okay, they put us to sleep so it didn't feel like any time had passed."

"Cool," said Rose.

Ron was deep in thought while crouched in front of the fireplace, idly jabbing the flames with the poker. Then he stopped and turned round and looked at Hermione. "Hey, did you know about Rose being attracted to girls?" he asked.

Rose froze with shock, and her face turned bright red. "Hur ba burr," she mumbled.

Hermione stared at Ron with her eyes wide open. "What? I, umm..." she said.

Rose stood up and rushed towards the staircase. Her eyes were filled with tears as she ran up the stairs to the dormitory. She threw herself down on her bed and covered her face with her pillow.

Hermione watched her go up the stairs, then once she was out of sight, turned angrily to Ron. "You bloody insensitive idiot!" she shouted. "Why would you do that?"

"I... I'm sorry," said Ron. "I didn't know it was a secret."

"It's not about it being a secret," said Hermione. "You can't out someone like that without their permission."

Hermione stood up and walked up the stairs to find Rose. Ron felt guilty about what he had done. He stayed sitting on the floor by the fire, as he didn't know what else he should do.

When Hermione reached the dormitory, she saw Rose laying on her bed. Hermione walked over and sat beside her.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess," said Rose. "It's not that I didn't want you to know. I wanted to prepare myself first, you know?"

"Urgh, Ron is so stupid sometimes," said Hermione.

"No, it's not his fault," said Rose. "I know he didn't mean to upset me. I guess he assumed I would have talked to you before I told him."

"So why did you tell him first?" Hermione asked.

Rose thought about it silently for a while. "It's complicated," she said. "I guess it's just easier with him."

"I suppose you two have always been close," said Hermione.

"That's right," said Rose.

Rose sat up in her bed and looked thoughtfully at Hermione for a few minutes. Hermione waited patiently until she was ready to speak.

Rose had a lot she had been thinking about for the past two days. Since her conversation with Professor McGonagall, she had started to think more about her gender.

Rose took a deep breath. "Have you ever questioned your gender?" she asked.

"No," said Hermione. "Why, have you?"

"Yeah..." said Rose. "I feel like I'm not really a girl, and maybe I would be more comfortable if I was a boy. If you know what I mean?"

"Oh, you mean you are trans?" asked Hermione. "That's great. I read all about it in 'Transgender History; A Journey of Change'."

"Oh. Where did you read that?" Rose asked. "Was it in the library?"

"Yes, but not the library here," said Hermione. "I went to the muggle library back home over the summer holidays. There is nothing like that in the Hogwarts library."