Rose Dursley: The Girl Who Lived

25. Back to Hogwarts

The next two weeks were very peaceful and relaxing for Rob. He helped Mrs Weasley in the kitchen a few times. And he spent some time with Mr Weasley explaining what all the muggle objects were that he had collected.

Mrs Weasley had gone to buy some more clothes for Ron and the twins. While she was at the shops, she also bought some new underwear for Rob. So now he had boys pants and vests to wear, along with some sports bras.

Rob felt more comfortable with his body once he was wearing his new clothes.

The weeks passed quickly, and soon it was time to return to school. The children all piled into the back of the car, and Mr Weasley drove them to the station.

Rob felt nervous when he stepped onto platform 9 3/4. He had been here many times before, but this was the first time the others would see his new look.

Rob followed Ron and the others as they walked towards the train. As he did, he noticed a lot of the other people going quiet and staring at him. He could see them pointing and whispering between themselves. Rob started to feel uncomfortable.

As they walked further, they went past Pansy Parkinson with a group of Slytherins. When Pansy saw him, she nudged a few of her friends.

"Hey, Dursley. Nice haircut," she said, sarcastically.

The Slytherins behind Pansy started laughing.

"You look more like a boy," said Pansy.

"Yeah, that was the idea," Rob said.

Pansy laughed cruelly. "Could you be any more weird, Dursley," she said.

"Leave him alone," shouted Ron.

"Him? What are you talking about?" said Pansy.

"He's trans, so stop being horrible," said Ron.

"Let's just go," said Rob.

Rob walked forward and climbed onto the train. He walked through looking for an empty compartment with Ron and Ginny. He opened the next door, and found Hermione sitting alone.

Hermione looked up at Rob and smiled. "I like your hair," she said.

"Thanks," Rob said, as he sat down next to Hermione.

"You look upset. Is everything okay?" Hermione asked.

Rob shrugged.

"It was that Pansy Parkinson," said Ron. "She said some mean things about Rob."

"Forget her," said Hermione. "Those Slytherins are always like that."

"Yeah, I'm sure everyone else will be fine," said Ron.

"I hope you are right," said Rob.

Meanwhile, Pansy had gone to find Draco Malfoy. She found him in a compartment with his friends, Crabbe and Goyle.

Pansy sat down with a mischievous grin. "Hey Draco," she said. "You had a crush on that Gryffindor girl, Dursley, didn't you?"

Draco blushed. "Maybe," he said. "Why do you want to know?"

Pansy smirked. "Just asking," she said.

Draco grinned "Well, yes. I do like her," he said.

"And have you seen her new look?" Pansy asked.

"A new look? No, I haven't seen her since before Christmas," said Draco.

An evil smile spread across Pansy's face. "Well she's different," she said. "She's a boy now."

Draco's face was a mixture of shock and confusion. Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other and laughed.

"Eww, Draco's got a crush on a boy," said Crabbe.

"He loves a boy. Yuck, that's so gay," said Goyle.

Draco's face turned red with anger. "Shut up, both of you," he shouted. "I'm not in love with a boy."

"Sorry, but you are," said Pansy.

"Urgh, that filthy mudblood," shouted Draco. "I'm going to hurt her when I see her."

Draco got up and stormed out of the compartment. His face was burning with shame and embarrassment. The other three burst out laughing as he went.

After a few hours, the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmeade station. Rob kept his head down as he got off the train. He was starting to feel self conscious about all the stares and whispers that were happening around him.

When everyone else got back to the castle, they made their way to the Great Hall for the welcome back feast. Rob stopped when he reached the main entrance to the castle.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked.

"Yes, but you go on without me," said Rob. "I want to go and talk to Professor McGonagall first."

Ron nodded and carried on into the Great Hall with Hermione and Ginny. The Hall went noticeably quieter when they saw Ron and Hermione enter. But after a moment the whispers started again. Ron scowled angrily and went to sit at the Gryffindor table.

Meanwhile, Rob made his way up the stairs towards McGonagall's office. He reached the door as she was about to leave.

McGonagall gave a small gasp of surprise at Rob's appearance. "Oh, Miss Dursley," she said. "You, err, look quite different."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Professor," said Rob.

"Well you better come in then, dear," said McGonagall.

She opened the door again and led Rob inside her office. Once he was inside, McGonagall closed the door and motioned towards some chairs. Rob took the hint and sat down.

"So what did you want to tell me?" McGonagall asked.

Rob took a deep breath and tried to decide where to start. "After we talked before, I have been really thinking about myself," said Rob. "And I came to realise that I felt more comfortable as a trans man."

"I see," said McGonagall.

"I realised that I had a gender identity as a male. I want to start using male pronouns, and I have changed my name to Rob," he said. "And I hope that everyone will be okay with that."

McGonagall didn't know what to say. She knew the truth about what had happened all those years ago when he was a baby, but she could not tell him. She had seen the prejudice and discrimination in the wizarding community. She knew this was not going to be easy. But she did not want to be the one to tell him all this. Dumbledore had to be the one to explain everything that happened.

Instead, McGonagall tried to change the subject. "Well, everyone has a gender identity," she said. "It's just that most people don't think about it because it matches their sex at birth."

"Oh, yeah. I guess that is right," said Rob. "It is just for me, I realised that my identity is male."

"Yes. Well thank you for letting me know," said McGonagall. "Now, you run along to the Great Hall. The feast will be starting soon."

Rob got the feeling that McGonagall was trying to get rid of him, and he was unsure what to do. "Oh, okay," he said. "I guess I will talk to you again some other time."

"Yes, that's fine," said McGonagall. "Off you go now."

Rob got up and walked out of McGonagall's office. Then he headed down the stairs towards the Great Hall.

As soon as Rob was out of sight, McGonagall left her office and ran as fast as she could towards Dumbledore's office.