embarrassing. solo Closed

Anyway… that’s all for now, I think! I’ll see you when school starts.

With love,
Rosie Parker

With that, Rosie folded the paper into an envelope. The letter would be going to Serena, someone she couldn’t visit over the summer. In fact, she couldn’t really visit any of her friends over the summer. With the prestige families, huge mansions, and purist mindsets, she couldn’t really see herself at any of their houses. Well, except for Dymph’s, maybe. But with how busy she was during the summer, Rosie had just been writing letters to her as well. At the least, she could catch up with them come September, but writing letters was fun! So here she was, finishing up a letter to her early childhood crush. Rosie was trying to decide if it had been long enough to where she could start making jokes about it. She paused… Was the ‘with love’ a little too on the nose? Rosie held the letter in her hands for a moment, staring at it as if it would answer her. “Hm.” She hummed lightly, before shaking her head and setting the letter down at the table. She’d think about that later!

The girl dashed down the stairs, sliding on the railing halfway down. She grimaced as she suddenly remembered she was not meant to do that anymore, years of sliding had not been well on the railing, and it began to creak under her weight. It was also loud. “ROSALINE!” One of her dads, Eren, yelled from the kitchen.

“SORRY!” Rosie called, grinning nervously as she hopped over one of Benny’s toys. Her younger brother was finally starting to grow up, but at the moment, he was only around four. In the fall, he’d be off to pre-school. How times changed… Rosie missed a lot of his development with being away from Hogwarts all the time. That’s what made the summers so important. So maybe, in a sense, she was glad she didn’t see her friends that much over the time. She saw them for the other months! At least, that’s what she’d tell herself to make her feel better over it.

“Can you grab your brother for lunch?” Her step-dad, Max, called, poking his head out of the kitchen, before quickly heading back in. Over the years, the Parker household had finally reached a stable and calm atmosphere. When the two had first married, Rosie’s mom’s side of the family was quite angry. So was her biological dad. Family parties were always hit or miss, most of the time they would have to leave early. Sometimes, they didn’t show up at all. But they had come to realize, cheesy enough, as long as they had each other, they didn’t need the whole Parker family tree to celebrate the holidays.

Thus, after a whole lot of family bickering, the family was finally left in peace to cherish each other during the summer. With Rosie only home for that time, she just wanted to act like she was a normal muggle at least for a few months. Aside from writing letters to her friends. After dropping off the letter she was meant to send Serena at the table by the door, she went and sat down at the table. “Oh! Benny.” She got back up and picked up her little brother, setting him on his chair before sitting down at the table next to him.

As Eren walked into the kitchen again to join them, he glanced sparingly at the letter Rosie had left off. “Another one? That’s like the third letter this week, you’re giving the mailman a run for his money.” He joked, ruffling Rosie’s curly hair before sitting down at the table.

Rosie blinked as she watched him lower to the table, her cheeks burning slightly. “A- Well, I’m missing my friends from school, that’s all. Wanna make sure they know I’m thinking about them.” She rubbed her face lightly, swinging her legs under the table.

“Come to think of it, you could’ve visited them, right? I wouldn’t mind taking you down to see them.” Max called, coming to set down plates on the table. “One of them has to live in London, right?” He smiled at his stepdaughter, coming to sit down across from her.

“Ah, well… It’s complicated.” Rosie scratched her cheek lightly, smiling nervously. “My closest friends are usually pretty busy during the summer, with their families and all, so I’m settling with letters.” She couldn’t really explain the full truth, but she wasn’t really lying either. She couldn’t imagine what a wizard family summer was like. She paused before taking a sip of her water, not explaining much else.

“I see… Well, I hope they know they’re always welcome here. I think the only thing they’d have to worry about is Mr. Fluffers.” Max mused, glancing at the elderly Persian cat curled up at the window. It was as if he could understand the people talking about him, and he turned around and glared at the humans. It was hard being the cat king of a house…

Eren smiled at the suggestion, nodding. “Of course, I’d love to meet the people you’ve been meeting over the years. If you’ve turned up like this, you must have a good crowd at school.” He ruffled Rosie’s hair, who blushed at the remark.

“You have too much faith in me dad, I could be a total troublemaker at school.” Rosie grinned, shaking her head. She wasn’t, really. She had been a prefect, a part of the Quidditch team, and out of her friends, probably held the least amount of a temper. “But I suppose you would’ve heard about it by now if that were true.”

“We definitely would’ve, which means you must have a good head on your shoulders.” Eren encouraged, before getting into his food.

Rosie paused for a little while, staring at her food. Her parents were so interested in the friends she had, the fun she had been having at school, but for some reason, she felt stuck. Over the years, she had made a lot of good memories. But those bad memories, even if there weren’t a lot, they kept her up at night. Those bad memories came from the so-called friends that she had. They had come from the people that Rosie wanted to make friends with. And come the end of the year, Rosie was off home as if nothing had happened to her. She gripped the fork lightly, her jaw tightening. “Why do you guys care so much…?”

Her dads paused at their food and glanced up at Rosie, looking at each other before addressing her once again. “We’re just curious, love, you don’t talk about them much--” Max began, before he was interrupted by Rosie standing up abruptly.

“Do you guys think I’m lonely at school or something? Is that why you keep asking?” She rose her voice, her hands on the table as she glared at her parents. “Everytime I come back, it’s just asking about who I’ve met!”

A bit confused by Rosie’s seemingly dramatic outburst, Eren lightly rose a hand. “You know better than to raise your voice at the table, especially over something so out of nowhere.” He idly lectured, narrowing his eyes. “We’re just worried, everytime you’ve come back here, you’ve just gone back to dancing and only writing letters. You don’t try to seek any of them out, or invite them here. That’s all.”


“I TOLD YOU THEY’RE BUSY.” Rosie snapped, her fists clenching. “They’re busy with their stupid dumb rich families! With all of their own business! You wanna know why they don’t want me there? Or why don't they want to come here? They’re FUCKING EMBARRASSED OF ME.” She stared down at the table, almost surprised at her own outburst.

Eren, who was very much used to these sort of scenarios, took a slow breath. “Go up to your room.” Cursing wasn't a bad thing in the Parker family, but never at them when she was angry. “Now.”

Rosie tightened her jaw again and slammed her fork down, leaving the living room and rushing upstairs. What was up with her? She slammed the door behind her and fell onto her bed, screaming into her pillow. Why did it bother her so much? She could’ve stayed at Hogwarts for summer camp if she was so desperate for friends, but she didn’t. She was home. She wrote letters, and that was it. She couldn’t go see them, because god forbid a mudblood walked into a mansion. She rose her head, her tears falling on her pillow case. She told herself she wasn’t going to get sad anymore. Get mad. Get mad.

--

After some time to relax, there was a knock at Rosie’s door. The girl had curled up in her sheets, but at the knock, she stuck her head up from the sheets and looked at the door. “... Come in.”

In came Eren and Max, the two usually tackled these issues together. They walked towards Rosie’s bed and sat down at the end of it, one on each side. Rosie sat up and wiped her eyes, quiet for a little while. “... I’m sorry for swearing at the table.” She mumbled, lightly pulling at her fingers and avoiding looking at them.

Eren shook his head and scooted over, hugging his daughter and kissing her head. “I’m not mad about that anymore, I shouldn’t have sent you away when you were clearly upset about something unrelated. I’m sorry.” He mumbled, pulling his head back. “But we are worried, more so now after that.”

Rosie sighed and shook her head. “It’s nothing, really, I just miss them. That’s all.” She paused again. She couldn’t tell them much. Not about why she couldn’t go see them. Truly, there was nothing stopping Rosie from asking them to come visit her, other than herself. She would have included it in the letter, but she figured they’d be too embarrassed to come see her and her normal family. “Their families… They’re a lot different from us. I just get worried they’d be ashamed of me in front of their parents.”

Max paused for a little while, lightly putting his hand on her step daughter’s head. “If they are, then they’re really missing out, dear.” He managed a soft smile, shaking his head. “You’re a light. Rich or not, you’re you. You’re their friend in school, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be their friend when you’re here. If they’re embarrassed, then that is not your problem.” He paused, trying to find his words. “As they get older, they’ll realize that they’ll be able to make that decision for themselves, not because of what their family will think.”

The young Hufflepuff stared down at her hands, before looking up to her dads. She sniffled and managed a sad smile, nodding. “I know. I know you’re right, it’s just…” She had to make it vague. It was just how things were. “I wish things were different.”

Eren paused for a while, before coming up with an idea. “Is there a way we could go eat out with them? They don’t have to come here, we don’t have to go there, we can just find a place to eat and have lunch.”

Rosie paused for a moment. Perhaps..? “I could try sending a letter out to a friend, yeah… I’m not sure how it’ll go, though.”

Max smiled and shrugged. “The worst thing they can say is no, love. Then you’ll see them anyway in school and you can beat them up for saying no.”


As Rosie laughed, Eren jokingly glared at Max. “Hey, I didn’t raise a fighter! There will be no fists flying while I’m still here.” She went over to ruffle the girl’s head again, before his phone started ringing. “Excuse me.” His face turned serious as he got up to go answer his phone.

Her stepdad paused as he watched his husband leave to go answer the phone, lightly resting a hand on Rosie’s head. “I think that may be the hospital, we all have to go in for appointments tomorrow, alright?” Max smiled down at his daughter, who smiled back and nodded.

“Roger that, I’m gonna be taller this year, promise!” Rosie grinned at him, before starting to whine after Max teased her for her lack of height growth within the few years he knew her. Even with the anxiety about her friends, Rosie was happy at home. Things were good. She was good. Her family was good.

That fateful call from the hospital, however, would be the first of many in regards to Eren’s health.