Ok, so I am genuinely sorry that I haven't uploaded like I promised...but I had a lot of stuff going on like my dad getting Cancer, getting accepted into college and all that jazz. So I hadn't really been feeling up to writing but I realised that was stupid and I needed this. So, (so is my new favourite word along with 'Thingy' so don't be too surprised if I start using it), this is the chapter you have all been wating for...literally. I know it isn't very funny or anything special, it's quite crap if you ask me but I felt like I had to post it. (: I'll start uploading more once I edit it so yeaaaah. Have fun reading :P x
Chapter one
"Ron," breathed Harry, creeping up to the window and pushing it up so he could talk through the jail bars. "Ron how did you—? What the—?"
I stifled a giggle as Harry's mouth dropped open in shock.
His reaction was very similar to my own earlier that evening, only I was being chased out the house by a fat pregnant woman brandishing a spatula madly at me like a sword. If I remember correctly, which I do, I stood frozen in the middle of the street with my muddy brown eyes wide and mouth open and closing in shock like a fish out of water; after running from the house. I was also wearing a bright, pink, frilly death trap known to some as a dress. It just wasn't my day.
"Alright, Harry?" I asked casually as I popped my head out the window next to Ron's. A cheeky grin danced along my lips before quickly changing into a frown. "You haven't been answering my Letters!" Artie chirped angrily on my shoulder obviously agreeing with me. "WHY?"
"Uh..."
"Don't give me that look!" I growled; my Bulgarian accent started to seep through. "I said don't!" Ron pushed me out the way and I fell back into the car seat with a thud.
"What's been going on?" Ron asked. "Why haven't you been answering our letters? I've asked you to stay about twelve times, and then Dad came home and said you'd got an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles—"
"It wasn't me—and how did he know?" I let out a un-lady like snort that would surely send my aunt into hysterics and not the good kind. I crawled toward the window once more to answer his question.
"He works for the ministry," I replied as Harry just looked at me dumbly as if not quite believing I was there. Well I am and he's going have to stop looking at me like that. I don't like it. Actually that's a lie, I love it when he looks at me even though I can't...he's my best fiend. Best friends don't like best friends, end of. "—and seeing as Hermione isn't here I may as well say this; you know you're not supposed to do spells outside school—"
"Good impression," Fred smirked from the front seat.
"Could use a little work though," George added.
"Not quite squeaky enough, I suppose?" I asked, fidgeting with the locket under my dress again.
"Not at all," the twins simultaneously replied with identical smirks on their identical faces. I gave them a smirk of my own before tuning back into Ron and Harry's conversation only to find they were silently glaring at us.
"Oh, no need to stop on our account," the three of us replied at the same time. "Do continue."
I still have no bloody clue as to how that happened. It's normal for Fred and George to speak in time with each other but not with me, that was just odd, unusual, bizarre. Ron shook his head a little before turning to harry with a thoughtful look on his freckled face.
"Oh, this doesn't count," he said. Huh? What doesn't count? "We're only borrowing this. It's dad's, we didn't enchant it although Rosie probably could." Damn right I could. "But doing magic infront of those Muggles you live with—"
"I told you I didn't—but it'll take too long to explain now— look, can you tell them at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked me up and won't let me come back, and obviously I can't magic myself out, because the Ministry'll think that's the second spell I've done in three days, so—"
"Oh, shut up!" I snapped. My patience was wearing thing and Harry's yabbering wasn't making things any easier. "We've come to rescue you, you great clot pot!" No matter how gorgeously fit he is I am not a patient woman. Good go I'm turning into Hermione!
"But you can't magic me out either—"
"We don't need to," said Ron, jerking his head towards Fred, George and I while grinning like a cat that just caught his mouse. "You forget who I've got with me." A small giggle escaped my lips as I grinned back at Ron.
"Tie that around the bars," said Fred, throwing the end of a rope to Harry.
"If the Dursleys wake up, I'm dead," Harry grumbled as he tied the rope tightly around a bar.
"Don't worry; I'll become a princess before that happens." Fred revved up the car while I just chilled out in the back seat while petting a rather grumpy Artie. He hadn't been getting much sleep lately which has been worrying me. I suppose he is getting quite old now, he wasn't exactly a chick when I rescued him from the not-so-sharp claws of my Aunts lazy excuse for a cat Boris.
"So don't worry Harry," I smiled reassuringly.
"Stand back," Fred warned. "Rosie, sit tight and keep a good hold of Artie." I nodded before doing just that. Artie hates loud noises these days, he freaks out.
I held Artie close to my chest as the car revved louder and louder until suddenly, with an alarmingly noisy crunching sound, the bars were pulled clean out of the windows. Alas, I hadn't a tight enough grip on Artie and he had a panic attack and was soon flying circles around Ron's head, literally.
"Control your bloody bird!" Ron snapped as he ducked away from artie for the third time. Impatient, I lunged forward in the direction of my feathered friend but he was still in panic mode. He swooped away from my grasp and headed for Fred and George in the front seat; effortlessly dodging their hands, crap.
"I thought I told you to keep hold of him!" Fred growled at me light-heartedly before George caught him. I let out an enormously relieved sigh before slouching across the seat wearing a peaceful smile.
"Bloody hell..." Ron sighed, like me, before turning to face a rather amused looking Mr Potter.
"Sorry," I grinned sheepishly before placing Artie in my pocket. George had tied his wings together with a thin white piece of string he found on the floor. It was to keep him from doing that again, you know...escaping, panicking and/or flying literal circles around Ron's head.
I shuffled along the seat to the other side, grabbed the bars from Ron and then tucked them away neatly before turning back towards them and giving them the thumbs up.
"Ok, now that that's sorted...get in," I said with a toothy grin.
"But all my Hogwarts stuff—my wand—my broomstick—"
"Harry, just get your smelly arse in here!" I screeched; my Bulgarian accent coming on much stronger than before once again, only this time there was a little frenchyness.
"Shut up Rosie, Harry where is it?" Ron snapped.
"Shut up Rosie," I mocked my red headed friend as he glared right back at me.
"Locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and I can't get out of this room—"
"No problem," George said from the passenger seat. "Out of the way, Harry." Fred, George and I climbed in through the window almost catlike and into Harry's bedroom. My heart began to pound erratically in my chest and my palms begun to sweat all because I noticed the distance between the window and the, gulp, ground.
Once I was in I shuffled past Harry, who was now staring at my dress, and pulled a hairpin from my hair.
"Why are you wearing a dress?" Harry asked as he stared dumbly at the hideous...thing I was wearing.
"A lot of wizards would probably think it's a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick," I said as I continued to fiddle about with the lock and the hairpin completely ignoring his question.
"But we feel they're skills worth learning, even if they are a bit slow." Fred finished. And voila; after a small click the door swung open and Fred, George and I stood there grinning at our achievement like Cheshire cats only less cat-like and more human.
"So—Fred, George you go get his trunk—Harry, grab everything and anything you need and hand it to Ron while I'll keep watch." I whispered before handing Fred and George a Hairpin each, just in case. I doubt they would have one anyway unless they are secretly girls, I wouldn't be surprised. I only had one from sneaking out the house earlier...though I wouldn't really say sneak seeing as I got caught and chased out the house by a fat aunt and her spatula, wonderful.
"Affirmative," Fred and George replied before sneaking out the door.
I watched with a mildly amused expression as Harry dashed madly about his room, collecting things and pretty much throwing them in Ron's face. He looked sort of cute with his hair all a tussle and his glasses askew.
While that was going on I snuck off down the stairs to help Fred and George heave the trunk up the stairs. In reality I just wanted to observe but they forced me to help.
"Geez, what's in this thing?" I whispered slightly out of breath as I gripped onto the trunk as if my life depended on it.
"Books," Harry's voice echoed softly from somewhere above me. "Lots and lots of books,"
"I'm not surprised," I mumbled. "Come on, be a man harry. It's not very gentlemanly of you to let a growing woman handle such a...er...such a heavy...trunk such as this!" I was trying my hardest to get out of carrying it and for once Harry did actually listen to me. Artie chirped quietly from in my pocket, I could feel him attempt to escape the string but George tied it tight enough. I suppose it is animal cruelty but he acts like a human half the time anyway so technically its not it's just...cruelty I presume.
He gently pushed me out of the way before heaving the suitcase up the stairs only pausing once when his Uncle coughed.
"Ok, now Fred, George go get in the car. Harry and I will pass you and Ron the suitcase and stuff." I said to the two panting out of breath twins, who were leaning against each other, and Harry.
I felt my heart race in my chest as Harry leaned his head against my shoulder, exhausted, and I tried in vain to stop thinking about Harry as more than a friend and get over that pathetic little crush of mine but It's impossible to when I'm conscious of how freaking close his head is next to mine!
"Ok," Fred had recovered rather quickly and hopped into the back of the car faster than a blink of an eye...literally, I just blinked and he was in already. Creeped me out a little bit.
George gave me a not too subtle wink before hopping into the car with his brothers. I lifted up the trunk effortlessly while harry struggled on the other end, Hah!
"I thought...you...found this heavy?" Harry asked me as he struggled to lift the trunk up towards the window.
"No...I just couldn't be bothered; it is bloody heavy though...I admit that." With a big shove the trunk went effortlessly through the window and into the arms of George and Ron. Fred was in the front waiting to drive off like a mad man if necessary.
Harry's uncle coughed again making me leap into the air like a frog. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins and I'm sure my face was an image of pure shock. With a few deep breaths I was soon back to normal.
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly as Harry glared at me. I may have stepped on his foot during that episode. "Ok, let's go." I didn't like that glare and I never, ever want to see it on his face again. I would do pretty much anything as long as he didn't glare at me...how pathetic am I? He's supposed to be my friend, my best friend.
Harry clambered out of the window and into the car and at the same time as I was about to leap from the window to the car when a shrill shriek erupted from behind me.
"Holy crap I'm going to die!" I squeaked and Artie let out a terrified squeak.
"No you're not it's just Hedwig, I've forgotten Hedwig!" Harry panicked. I slipped down off the window.
"I'll get him." Just as I was reaching out for the cage a terrifyingly loud yell shocked me to the core.
"THAT RUDDY OWL!"
I did not know who that voice belonged to but it scared the bajeebers out of me. I'm not even sure if that word exists, I seriously doubt it.
"Quick Rose, Hurry!" Duh!
"I am, what do you think I'm doing playing chess?" I hissed before shoving Hedwig into the out stretched arms of harry and watched silently as he passed her over to Ron.
The air blew my long, dark auburn brown hair in my face as I stuck my head out the window while trying my hardest to avoid looking down. I still have a slight fear of heights but I promised myself I'd try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year. I think I might try-out for a chaser position or maybe sub-seeker. Anyway, less thinking about that and more focusing on ways of how not to fall down and go splat like a friggin pancake.
My heart beat unsteadily in my chest at the notion that I could breathe my last breath or splat to the ground like a pancake...not good.
When a hand reached forward to grip mine I focused on only that, instead of pancakes. That hand belonged to Harry, the boy I do not have a crush on, and the person who very well could save my life. I reached out shakily to grip it when loud banging came from the door like a ram was butting his head against it...repeatedly.
I turned around quickly and only a second later the door swung open revealing a large, rounded, fat man with his foot floating in mid-air as if he just kicked it open with his foot. He probably did mind you. Judging by the description harry gave me this man appeared to be Harry's uncle. He described him well 'Fat, round and has a face that goes from red to purple depending on how angry he is,' and right now his face is purple.
"I'm trying...holy shit that mans fat!" I exclaimed as Harry's Uncle Vernon stood in front of me.
"Who are you?" He looked genuinely puzzled before turning red again. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?" and the he made a really weird sound before diving towards my ankle...MY ANKLE! It wasn't the first time this had happened to me today either but that's another story.
George, Harry and Ron gripped my arms and pretty much any part of me they could reach and pulled as hard as they could but Harry's uncle was much stronger, stubborn and just wouldn't let go.
"Let go of me you fat bastard!" I spat before literally spitting in his face.
He released me at once in shock, an appalled expression across his features. He then proceeded to wipe it off his face, dramatically in my opinion, as if it were skin-burning acid...or bleach.
Harry, Ron and George pulled me into the car effortlessly and slammed the door shut.
I was shaking hard. Harry kept telling me to take deep breaths and everything would be fine. It surprised me how much that boy could have such a big effect on me.
"Put your foot down, Fred!" Ron yelled in my ear, accidentally of course. I shot Ron a menacing glare before trying and failing to get the ringing to stop.
"Hehe, sorry Rosie," At least he had the nerve to look sorry about it.
I turned around in my seat to find a rather elated looking Harry staring at me. His ebony hair was all a mess and not to mention he had the worlds most goofy grin on his face. He was free. I was free. We were free. That was all that mattered right then in that moment. So I didn't give a flying fart in space when Harry stuck his head out to yell at the Dursleys; don't worry, I did it too when Ron, George and Fred rescued me from my evil aunt's clutches I leaned out the window to yell "I'm freeeeeeeeee! Muahahaha!"
"See you next summer!" Harry yelled.
"Goodbye fatsos!" I yelled in a deep, creepy voice. I laughed at the shocked looks on their faces but I hadn't known then that they couldn't see mine. Infact, none of them had been able to see mine all that time. It was too dark and they had thought me to be a strange little boy wearing a robe or a ghost of some sort. Not wearing a ghost of course, that would be plain weird.
Harry and I turned to each other before bursting out laughing. I hugged him tightly, tears were nearly spilling from my eyes and if I had been able to see Harry's face I would have seen his goofy grin get even goofier. That certainly would have been a sight.
"It's good to see you again Harry," I sighed in his arms. That may have sounded awfully romantic but trust me it's not. I had to sit in his lap while Ron attempted to let Hedwig out his cage and Artie. He had bit my finger when I untied his wings so we decided he could hang about with Hedwig outside until he cools off.
"You too Rose, you too,"
Then it dawned on me. This boy hadn't written to me all summer. This boy, whom I was hugging, didn't even write to tell me he was alright. This boy...was now looking at me very strangely.
"What are you looking at?" I grumbled not liking the look on his face.
"You-are-wearing-a-dress" He stated dumbly.
"Yes?"
"Why are you wearing a dress?"
"Long story...sort of...but why didn't you reply to any of MY LETTERS?" I growled and then I slapped him, hard...on the face.
"OWW!"
"I wrote, slap, to you, slap, all summer, slap, risking my life, kick, by sneaking into my Aunts, slap, study for paper to write with, scratch, and you didn't have the, slap, decency, whack, to write BACK, WHACK!"
"Oww, Jeez Rose, just let me explain!" Harry exclaimed under my attack. I wasn't usually violent towards him but desperate times come for desperate measures plus I was very, very pissed off. "Was that a spatula?" I ignored that question.
"Fine," I crossed my arms over my chest before staring into Harry emerald green eyes. They were really lovely eyes... 'FOCUS Rosie FOCUS! You are mad at him, remember?''My mind screamed at me.
Harry then turned to me and began spewing a loud of rubbish about a houself named dobby that tried, and failed, to stop him from returning to Hogwarts...by stealing his letters. I did however laugh at the mention of the dinner party where a couple of guests ended up in cake.
"Why are you laughing?"
"First of all my Aunt married a Rich builder named Paul Mason, second of all she hates Owls and thirdly three days ago she came home from a dinner party wearing cake." Soon they all joined in on the laughter.
"Fishy," Fred stated after we stopped laughing. I fiddled with my necklace before looking up at him with wide confused eyes.
"No...I thought it was grape."
"Not the pudding, Harry's excuse." George said slowly as if talking to a toddler.
"Oh shut up...but I suppose you're right. It is deffinately dodgy that dobby didn't even tell you who's supposed to be plotting all this...this stuff." Fred and George nodded in agreement; clearly they'd been thinking the same thing as me.
"I don't think he could," Harry said. "I told you, every time he got close to letting something slip; he started banging his head against the wall." Fred and George looked at each other.
"What, you think he was lying to me?"Harry exclaimed.
"Well," began Fred. "Put it this way—house-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they can't usually use it without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back to Hogwarts. Someone's idea of a joke. Can you think of anyone at school with a grudge against you?"
"Yes," Harry, Ron and I said together, instantly.
"Draco Malfoy," Harry and I explained...again at the same time.
"He hates me." Harry said.
"Yeah...but he loooooves Rosie," Ron sang.
"Oh shut up!" I whacked him on the head with my Aunt spatula I stole on my way out of that hell hole. "It's a love/Hate relationship...sort of," I explained.
"Draco Malfoy?" said George, turning around. "Not Lucius Malfoy's son?"
"Must be, it's not a very common name, is it?" Harry said, playing with a lock of my hair. If he kept up with this I'd soon be naming our future children.
"Amelia and who?" Harry asked me. Crap. I had said that out loud. Crapetty crap.
"No one in particular, I was just thinking...you know me...hehe...love to think, I do." Harry nodded, not completely convinced. George completely ignored me and continued to speak.
"—He was a big supporter of You-Know-Who."
"And when you-know-who disappeared," Fred suddenly piped in.
"EYES ON THE ROAD...er...clouds?" I shrieked to Fred who had long forgotten about driving anywhere particular. Maybe I should have said 'Eyes to the sky' it rhymes, sort of, and it makes more sense...sort of.
"Sorry," he grinned at me. "Anyway, Lucius Malfoy came back saying he'd never meant any of it. Load of dung—Dad reckons he was right in You-Know-Who's inner circle."
I had heard rumours about Malfoy's family before so I wasn't at all surprised. I just hoped mini Malfoy didn't turn out like his father, he would be a nuisance.
"I don't know whether the Malfoy's own a house-elf..." said Harry.
"Oh but they do." I piped in. "Mini Malfoy has bragged to me often during potions about how rich his father was and how he had his house elf do his homework for him."
"Besides, whoever ones him will be an old wizarding family, and they'll be rich," said Fred.
"Yeah, Mum's always wising we had a house-elf to do the ironing," said George. "But all we've got is a loudly old ghoul in the attic and gnomes all over the garden."
"From what I've read, House-elves usually come from big old manors and rich family's...god I sound like Hermione." I mumbled the last bit to myself. Harry suddenly went very quiet. "You weren't stupid harry for believing him, you're never stupid...well apart from that time how you didn't believe me about Squirrel...I mean Quirrel." Harry cheered up at my mistake while Ron just full on laughed. I gazed out the window slightly, watching as Hedwig and Artie raced against each other. It was dark out and stars were dusted across the sky like Icing Sugar on the Lemon Drizzle Squares I baked for my Aunt the other day out of sheer boredom...and a little hunger.
"I'm glad we came to get you and Rosie, anyway," said Ron. "I was getting rather worried when you didn't answer any of my letters. I thought it was Errol's fault at first—"
"Who's Errol?"
"Ron's owl, he crashed through our kitchen window and into the casserole. I just picked out the feathers and fed it to them...what she didn't know didn't hurt." Ron, Fred and George chuckled at this story.
"He's ancient. It wouldn't be the first time he'd collapsed on a delivery. So after the incident at Rosie's, I tried to borrow Hermes—"
"If you ask who I am going to whack you with this spatula...and don't ask why I have a spatula!" I growled at Harry. "Hermes is the owl Ron's parents bought Percy when he was made prefect."
"But Percy wouldn't lend him to me," said Ron. "Said he needed him,"
"Percy's been acting very oddly this summer," said George. It didn't make much sense...Percy had written to me a couple of times. "And he has been sending a lot of letters and spending a load of time shut up in his room… I mean, there's only so many times you can polish a prefect badge… You're driving too far west, Fred," he added, pointing at a compass on the dashboard. Fred twiddled the steering wheel.
"Percy wrote to me a couple of times." I admitted.
"WHAT?" All four boys chorused, Ron sounded confused, the twins sounded amused and Harry sounded furious...though I don't know why he would.
"No need to shout, I have perfect hearing."
"Sorry,"
"Anyways, He just wrote to me asking about this and that...you know me and my big brain...can't forget anything. It was strictly business" Actually, that's not fully true. Percy had been asking me stuff but it wasn't about school like they would assume...it was actually about girls. What we like, how to impress us...it was quite amusing actually but I promised I wouldn't say a thing. So I haven't, not yet anyway.
"So, does your dad know you've got the car?" said Harry. I was very, very bored and very, very tired. I rest my head on Harry's lap and stretched my legs out on Ron's and closed my eyes hoping to sleep.
"Er, no," said Ron, "he had to work tonight. Hopefully we'll be able to get it back in the garage without mum noticing we flew it," was the last thing I heard before I drifted off into unconsciousness. Dreaming of a life where everything was simple, Voldemort was just a weed in the garden and Malfoy was a Chihuahua.
"Rose, wake up." A familiar voice whispered in my ear. I gripped hold tighter to my pillow, burying my face in its warmth. "Err...Rose...you're squishing me...Rose."
"Touchdown!" Fred's voice yelled. I woke up in fright; my head knocked against something unbelievably hard.
"Oww, bloody hell Rosie...you've got one hard head!" Ron yelled.
"Oh shut up Ron, help me up." I was currently in a crumpled up heap on the floor of the car. With a quick yank of my hand I was up and out of the car in no time. I breathed in the fresh air before dropping down to the ground to kiss it. "Land! Oh how I've missed you!"
"I would kiss that...don't know what's been there." George's voice echoed from behind me. I could literally hear his smirk. We had landed next to a tumbledown garage in a small yard; the grass didn't taste that bad. I got up off the ground to have a look at Ron's house for the first time, like Harry.
It was slightly crooked and several stories high with four or five chimneys perched up on top of the red roof. It was very quaint and practically screamed home. It was certainly a change from My Aunt Mirielle's perfectly organised pink rooms, even the fence was painted pink.
There was a lopsided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance which read, THE BURROW. Our sign said 'The Masons' in frilly pink writing. I'm not a Mason so I never felt at home there at all but this...this just practically screamed it at me.
Around the front door lay a jumble of rubber boots and a very rusty cauldron, Mirielle never would have allowed that within ten feet of the place. Instead of cats were several fat brown chickens pecking their way around the yard. It was cute, very homely and I liked it.
"It's not much," said Ron.
"It's wonderful," Harry and I chorused, grinning from ear to ear before sharing a look.
"Most certainly a change from all that...pinkness, if I had a choice I'd live here forever." I winked at Ron while waiting patiently for the others to vacate the vehicle. A dreamy sigh escaped my lips as I imagined myself living in a house very much like this only with harry by my side and our eleven children.
"Now, we'll go upstairs really quietly," said Fred breaking me out of my severely embarrassing thoughts of the future, "and wait for Mum to call us for breakfast Then, Ron, you come bounding downstairs going, 'Mum. Look who turned up in the night!" and she'll be all pleased to see harry and no one need to know we flew the car."
"Wait, what about me?" I asked feeling slightly left out not even failing to hide the hurt expression on my face.
"Err...not sure, we can just say you're Ron's girlfriend."
"Right," said Ron. "Wait WHAT?" Really? I can't be that bad now can I? "Oh all right, come on, Harry, I sleep at the—at the top—" Ron stopped halfway through his sentence. I watched with amused eyes as Ron had gone from slight pink to a nasty greenish colour, his eyes fixed on the house. All four of us wheeled around to see what was going on. Mrs Weasley was marching across the yard, scattering chickens, looking terribly scary like she was going to eat us all for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"Ah," said Fred.
"Oh, dear," said George.
"Crap," thought I.
Well, there you have it people.
Review and such, tell me your thoughts and ideas and oh...if you must know I plan on having Rosie live a full and happy...ish, life...in the future...maybe ;) So don't worry, she's not dying anytime soon... xx