Hey, this is Ash (mrscedwardpattinson) of United Writers. We are a group of 5 authors from the HPFC collaborating for a pass-the-fic story in the Harry Potter fandom. The next chapter will be written by someone else, then someone else will write chapter 3, then so on. Check out our United Writers forum on our profile page.

(From our Forum)

"The United Writers Project was an idea by mrscedwardpattinson, which first started as a challenge in HPFC…

… [including] CoverGirlInLove, Kashy, xxx-angelin-xxx, XxrandomxX

Two of us are australian, two american and one greek and we are sure that something truly great will come out of this mix."

We don't own, so don't sue. JKR owns. WB owns.

Constructive criticism accepted! Thanks for reading!

"Mum, please don't worry, I'll be fine," Louis Weasley said.

"Oh, you are so grown up, Louis; I don't know what I'm going to do weetout you." Fleur embraced her son in a tight hug.

"Lou, just remember that we'll always love you, no matter what," Bill said.

"Thanks, Dad," Louis said.

Dominique, Louis' older sister, threw her arm around Louis' shoulder. "You excited, Louie?" Dominique asked, using her personal pet name for her baby brother.

"Yeah, only 'cuz I won't have to see your face," Louis joked.

Dominique laughed. "Charming, Louis, I'm sure you're going to impress all the French girls with your amazing sense of humour."

Louis blushed. He did not like bringing up the subject of girls in front of his parents, especially Fleur, who was currently waiting on her eldest, Victoire, to announce when she would be expecting her first child with her husband, Teddy Lupin.

"Don't worry about Dominique, here, mate," Bill said. "She's got her mind in a twist with her new job."

"Dad, I'm going to be student-teaching, it can't be that difficult, can it now?"

"Wait until you have Fred and James at the same time, then you can tell us how difficult it is, eh?" Roxanne said.

"Hey, Roxy, when'd you lot get here?" Louis asked.

"Just a minute ago; Dad had to make everyone leave the shop for the afternoon, so Fred took off, but Mum and I were stuck helping Dad. You'd be surprised how stubborn some customers can be."

"Well, it is always nice to see you, Roxanne," Fleur said.

Roxanne smiled and hastily glanced around the Burrow. "Oh, there's James, I have to talk to him about Quidditch practise schedules for next term. I know Rose has her NEWT classes, and I have my OWL exams coming up, but if we want to beat Slytherin this year, we're going to have to make some sacrifices."

Louis and Dominique stood awkwardly in silence.

Roxanne realized that it was time for her to leave. "I guess I'll see you lot later, then."

"Thanks for coming, Roxy," Louis said.

"Don't mention it." Roxanne went to bother her brother Fred, and her cousin James.

"Hiya, Fred."

Fred rolled his eyes. "What do you want Roxanne?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to say hello. Is something wrong with that?" Roxanne shot Fred a scathing look. "So James, have you talked to the rest of the team about Quidditch practise for next term?"

James adjusted his glasses, which he only wore in front of his family and during class. "Yeah, Michael and Lily said they're both in for whenever I can book the pitch."

"That's Michael, Lily, you, me, and Fred. What about Rose and Finnigan?"

"I talked to Declan the other day, but I forgot to mention practise."

"James! You know how important this is!"

"Okay, Roxy, I'll get on it."

Roxanne smiled. "Thank you James." She gave her cousin a quick hug.

"What? No hug for me?" Teddy asked.

"Teddy!" Roxanne hugged her cousin's husband. "What's up?"

Teddy pushed his turquoise hair out of his face. "Nothing much. I talked to Scorpius earlier and apparently he and Rose are still not getting back together."

"Good riddance," James said. "The less we see of that bloke the better."

"What do you mean?" Teddy asked.

"I'm sorry, mate, but he's your cousin, not mine."

Teddy's hair changed to a bright red. "He's nothing like Draco was, James."

James scoffed. "Then why would the slimy git break up with our Rose?"

"Scorpius and Rose have their own problems. Just leave them alone," Teddy said. "Besides, what's this going on between you and Wood?"

"Nothing! Nothing is going on between me and her. She hates me."

Teddy smirked. "Just like your grandfather, Harry would say."

James kept a stolid expression on his face. "I'm going to go find Al."

Over by the tremendous warmth of the fireplace, Al, Lily and Hugo were immersed in their own conversation.

"Hi, James," Lily said. "Do you want something?"

"To get away from Teddy and Fred over there. Just for a minute." James lowered himself onto the couch next to his brother. "So what's going on over here?"

"We are talking about school," Lily said as though she was hiding something.

James looked at her for a good minute. "Is that so? Mind telling the truth to the master of manipulation and pranks?"

Lily glanced at Albus.

"Albus Potter has a problem," James enquired, Lily's quick glance giving the whole secret conversation away.

"Alice," he said bluntly and gazed directly at the red-hot flames. James smirked. He did love teasing his little brother about girls, but he'd been chasing this one for a while now. It was actually fun to see him watching her in what could almost be love. Maybe this time he would listen to his older brother and something would happen between the two of them.

"Alice hates me," Al said, still staring into the fire.

"Hates you? Why would she hate you?" James asked.

"She doesn't really hate him," Lily explained. "She's dating someone else, and that's made Al jealous."

Al lifted his head up from his knees to face Lily. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous?" A blush slowly crept onto Al's face, particularly his ears. "She can date whoever the hell she fancies for all I care!"

James sighed. "Al, if you like her so much, just ask her."

"I can't! Don't you understand? She's dating Scammander for Merlin's sake! There's no way she would go out with me. I'm just Harry and Ginny Potter's son! It doesn't matter how much I love her or not, she won't even look at me that way!" Al's eyes began to water.

"Hey, where's Rose?" James inquired.

"Outside," Hugo whispered. "She's still upset over the whole Scorpius thing."

James glanced out the window. Sure enough, despite the blistering snow, Rose was nestled beneath a tree, reading one of her Muggle novels that her mother must have given her for Christmas.

Al wiped his eyes. "Um, I reckon someone should go check on her, make sure she's alright." Tears continued to creep down his face.

"You go, Al, you're her friend," Lily said.

"I'm also Scorpius' friend. I told you, Lil, I'm not getting involved in that ordeal. It's more complicated than me and Alice."

An awkward silence enveloped the room.

"Alright, then, I'll do it," Hugo said.

"Thanks, mate," Al replied to his cousin.

"Sure." Hugo grabbed his coat, scarf, and slipped past the adults who were immersed in their own little world.

Rose was still reading under the tree when Hugo came to sit down next to her.

"What are you reading?" Hugo asked.

"Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare," Rose replied, not looking up from her book. "I feel a sort of connection to it, you know?"

The siblings sat in silence for a minute while snow flurries fell onto their coats.

"Rose, I know that it's been bothering you, but you have to come inside, at least. You'll catch cold if you stay out here any longer."

Rose slammed her book shut. "Because talking to them is much more enjoyable than freezing to death."

"Actually, it is," Hugo smirked. He picked up a mound of snow and threw it at Rose's face.

"Hey! Watch it, you!" Rose laughed. She put her book in her large coat pocket and attacked Hugo with snowballs.

"You two come in now!" Hermione shouted from the door. "You don't want to spend your first week back at school in the hospital wing, do you?"

Hugo and Rose laughed.

"Come on, let's go inside." Hugo dragged Rose by her arm to the house.

"Wait," Rose said.

"What?"

Rose scanned the land around her. "If I tell you something, you'll promise not to tell anyone, right?'

"Sure," Hugo said. Now this was interesting.

"I think I love Scorpius still," Rose blurted.

"Wow, Rose, are you sure?"

Rose nodded. "I know, I know, that's it's a bad idea, but I just can't stop thinking about him."

"But isn't he dating that Goyle girl?"

"Veronica? They've been dating since the start of first term," Rose confirmed.

Hugo placed his hand on his sister's shoulder. He was two years younger, but about six inches taller than her. "Rose, I don't want to see you get hurt, and neither does anyone in there." He glanced at the Burrow. "If I were you, I wouldn't mention Scorpius to our family, especially Dad."

Tears stronger than Al's welled up in Rose's eyes. "Don't tell anyone, please. I don't even know if I really do love him, or if it's just some infatuation with hating him."

"It's okay, Rose, I know how you feel."

Rose giggled. "Hugo, you've never had a girlfriend. The only love you have is the shop."

"Then maybe I don't know how you feel, but if Malfoy treats you bad, tell me so I can kick his ass."

"You might not need to," Rose said. "He won't talk to me."

The Burrow door swung open to reveal Lucy and young Molly Weasley, the twins of their generation.

"When are you two coming in?" Lucy demanded.

"Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur are about to toast to Louis," Molly said.

"Alright, alright, we're coming," Rose dragged Hugo to the living room where the entire family was crowded around Louis.

Bill stood next to his son with a glass of Firewhiskey in his hand. "Now, I know my son Louis is a smart boy. However, when he told me he was going to France for six months, you can imagine that Fleur and I were more than surprised. Mostly because our Louis here doesn't know a word of French."

The family laughed. Louis rolled his eyes at his father's attempt to be a comedian.

"But because Louis is a smart boy, I know that he'll make all the right choices. Right, Louis?"

"Right," Louis said. The family laughed again.

"To Louis!" Fleur shouted.

"To Louis!" the family repeated, raising their glasses.

When everyone had downed their drinks, Louis cleared his throat to speak.

"I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for coming here today. I know I'm going to miss you all a lot, but I promise I will write to you every week!"

Fleur embraced her son. "Don't worry, Louis, you will love France."

Louis returned Fleur's hug. "I just hope France loves me back."