A/N I hope you people have an amazingly fantasticly bookish New Year! 2013 for the win (points if you know what other story posted today has that in the bit before it) ;)!
The flying Ford Anglia was not Arthur Weasly`s last car, much to his wife`s dismay. After his first grandchild was born, Molly Weasley was constantly going to Shell Cottage to visit, and somehow Arthur managed to convince her that if they had a car, they could visit the baby easier. After all, wouldn`t it be dangerous traveling by the floo network with a baby? What would happen, for instance if, for even just a moment, the baby slipped out of the arms of the accompanying adult?
And so it was that Arthur managed to acquire a rusty pick-up truck that, when Molly wasn`t using to visit her grandchildren, was slightly improved upon in the shack behind the Burrow. A few buttons were added, a few more precautions put in place to prevent another incident like what had happened with Harry and Ron, and Molly Weasley was none the wiser.
Several years passed, and the truck got rustier and the grandchildren grew older and more of them arrived.
One sunny afternoon, the summer before Roxanne Weasley went on the Hogwarts Express for the first time, the Weasley grandparents were on babysitting duty. The Borrow was, needless to say, turned upside-down with chaos.
"Where`s my doll?" Whined Lucy, throwing a pillow at her sister.
"I don`t have it." Molly said, chucking the pillow back at her. She missed, hitting Fred in the side of the head.
"Oi!" He spun on her and threw a cushion back in retaliation.
"Sor-Oph!" Molly gasped. She pushed Fred. "I wasn`t aiming for you, dummy."
"Moll, give me my dolly!" Lucy stomped her feet in frustration, punctuating her angry squeal.
"Quiet down now, everyone!" Their grandmother scolded.
Molly blocked another cushion from Fred. "I don`t have it!"
Rose was chasing Albus around the kitchen. Albus tripped on Lucy`s doll and fell onto Lily, who hit the tile floor hard. Lily started to cry. "G-g-grandma, Al pushed me and my a-arm is bleeding!" She cradled her arm, tears flowing down her face.
The older Molly Weasley cradled Lily and yelled, "Dominique! Get the first aid kit!"
"James, help me crush Molls." Fred whispered, and he and James each took a cushion and put it in front of themselves like a shield and went of either side of Molly, who was occupied with finding the doll.
Dominique turned to run upstairs, but collided with Victoire, who was carrying a large pitcher of lemonade that spilled all over both of them. Victoire backed up in shock, completely forgetting about Hugo, who was behind her carrying the empty glasses for the drinks.
"Rose was the one who pushed me into Lily! It`s her fault!"
"You tripped all by yourself. Besides, I was just playing around!"
"I WANT MY DOLL!" Lucy screamed to anyone who was listening.
Fred and James charged at Molly, ready to crush her between them in the cushions, when Roxanne pulled her out of the way, narrowly saving Molly from certain pain. The boys crashed into each other, and Fred pitched his cushion at Roxanne, who ducked. The pillow sailed through the air and smacked Teddy in the side of the head.
"Thanks." Molly (the younger) said.
"Where`s that first aid kit?" Molly (the older) said.
Victoire glared at her sister. "You ruined my dress! No, don`t move, you`ll step on the broken glass! Just, UGH!"
"My arm HURTS!"
Louis jumped out of a closet. "What happened to hide-and-seek? Nobody found me! Did you guys even look?" Nobody could hear his small voice among all the yelling.
"Get off!"
"I wouldn't have tripped if you hadn`t pushed me!"
"MOLLY STOLE MY DOLL!"
"I DIDN`T TOUCH YOUR STUPID DOLL. STOP BLAMING ME!"
Arthur Weasley happened to walk into the Borrow at that moment amid the chaos and shrieking. He quickly and quietly retreated back out the door.
"EVERYBODY, FREEZE!"
Although the elder Molly hadn`t used her wand, every single Weasley, Potter, and Lupin inside the Borrow didn`t move a muscle.
"Arthur, get in here."
He peeked his head back in the door. "Yes, dear?"
Molly used her wand to clean the glass and lemonade off the floor. "Victoire, Dominique, go upstairs and change into clean clothes." Dominique wiped her hands on her jeans and bolted up the stairs with her sister close behind.
"Hugo, Louis, James, Fred, Lucy, and Albus, go outside and degnome the garden. Teddy, be a dear and please go fetch the first aid kit for Lil. Roxanne, Molly, Rose…. Arthur, can you bring them on a drive or something?" Arthur`s eyes lit up at the mention of driving the car.
" My doll is still missing!" Lucy said, slightly less shrill than before.
Molly hurried out of the house before things could escalate again. "Shotgun!" yelled Rose as they raced across the yard to the car. Roxanne got there first, her hands hitting the red truck seconds before Rose`s and Molly`s.
"Fine. I`m sitting in the trunk." Molly said, jumping up into the open back of the pick-up truck. Roxanne and Rose followed, Rose deciding that this was more fun than riding shotgun.
There was muffled yelling from the house.
Arthur walked over to the truck, keys in hand. "Sorry, girls. Your grandma says the trunk`s too dangerous. Come on, Roxanne, you`re up in the front with me." He climbed in as the girls slid out of the back.
"I called shotgun though." Rose informed her grandfather.
He smiled sadly. "Sorry Rosie, Roxanne`s the oldest. You`ll be able to sit up here in a few years."
Rose sighed sadly and climbed into the back seat with Molly. The girls sat down in the little seats, the hot leather burning into their backs. Roxanne cranked down her window to let the stale hot air out of the car.
Arthur gunned the engine and it rattled to life. He pulled out of the driveway and soon they were off, driving through the English countryside.
"Where are we going?" asked Molly from the backseat.
"You`ll see."
"Does that mean you don`t know, or you don`t want us to know."
"Yes." He chuckled.
After a few minutes of boiling in the back seat, Rose cracked the window open. The cool wind blasted in her face and made her classic Weasley hair stream behind her.
When Molly felt the blast of cool air, she turned and saw Rose`s open window. Molly opened her window as far as it would go, inspired by her younger cousin`s brilliant idea.
Roxanne turned on the radio.
Arthur drove fast for a man of his age. While he drove, his right elbow rested on the ledge of the open window, in a way that if he drove for long enough, he would have sunburn two centimeters up his elbow but no further.
Rose and Molly started to stick their arms out the windows, challenging themselves to see how far out they could go. When Roxanne turned and them, she knew instantly she could do much better that an arm, because her window open further and was larger than theirs. She ducked out of her seatbelt so it only restrained her waist, and stuck her whole head out the window. She had to squint because of the wind, and her hair swirled around her, whipping at her face. The cold wind stung her cheeks but in a good way, and Roxanne got a rush of adrenaline, feeling like she was flying. No wonder dogs stuck their heads out the window all the time.
From the backseat, Molly and Rose marveled at their cousin. She now had both her arms out as well, in a superman like pose. "You guys have to try this!" Roxanne shouted into the wind.
Arthur poked her and she pulled her head and arms back in the car. "I`ll show you something really cool as long as you promise not to put more than one appendage out the window at a time." He said.
"Okay!" The girls agreed.
Arthur pressed two of the buttons that isn`t found on most muggle cars, and suddenly the car started to lift off the ground.
Molly`s eyes widened. "Whoa." She gasped.
They were soon far above the treetops, soaring along.
"Won`t the muggles below see us?" Rose asked.
"Nope. This button makes the car invisible. Your father and Uncle Harry got in trouble a while back because they didn`t remember to make the last flying car invisible." He said, smiling despite the fact that the flight had disastrous results.
"So cool…" Roxanne whispered as they passed over the Burrow.
"Just don`t tell your grandmother about this, alright girls?"
Six years later, Roxanne was at the wheel of the rusty red pick-up truck.
"I wanna ride! Grandma, can Lil and I go first?" Hugo asked.
"I don`t see why not."
Molly crossed her arms in objection. "We asked first, right Roxy?"
Roxanne didn`t answer, and instead stared at the key in the ignition. Was she really ready for this?
"Let the little ones go first." Their grandmother said.
Rose sighed. "You always let them go first. It`s favoritism." Turning to Molly, she whispered, "Stereotypical grandmother fawning over the cute little kids and prioritizing them first."
"I heard that, young lady! Keep at it and you won`t go at all!"
"They did ask me first." Arthur told his wife, trying to calm her down. "Roxanne can just take them for a quick spin and then take the little ones."
Molly and Rose climbed in the back before their grandmother could protest. Their grandfather took the passenger seat. Roxanne didn`t move.
"Alright, Roxy. Turn the key." He said gently. Roxanne closed her eyes and turned the key, and the truck rattled to life with a vicious roar. Her face went pale. She opened her eyes and slowly pulled out.
The car was going so slow that a person walking by would have been faster than them.
"Go faster. You`re driving like an old lady!" Rose said.
Normally, Roxanne was daring. Molly leaned forward. "What`s wrong?"
Roxanne`s knuckles were white from clutching the wheel. "It`s like driving a tank." She said through gritted teeth.
Arthur realized the problem. "You know," He said, pressing a few buttons, "Sometimes in order to walk, you must first run."
The car started to lift off the ground. Roxanne`s eyes widened. "No… I can`t…"
"It`s okay." He said, as they towered over the trees. "I`ll control the altitude. There`s nothing you can hit up here, just focus on getting used to driving."
Roxanne relaxed and sped up.
"Look out for that bird." Rose joked.
"Shut up." Roxanne said, regaining confidence.
Eventually, Roxanne let her grandfather lower the car down and she tried driving on the road.
When she went around a particularly sharp turn, screams erupted from the backseat.
"Did you just feel that? Two wheels just lifted off the ground on my side of the car!"
"The turns! Too many turns! I`m feeling sick! Gah! We`re gonna die!"
Roxanne rolled her eyes.
Molly and Rose smiled at each other and stuck their arms out the window as far as they could go. Although they had no idea what the other girl was thinking, they both were excitedly thinking about when they would be at the wheel of the Weasley family car as it soared through the sky.
"By the way," Arthur reminded the girls as Roxanne drove back to the Burrow, "It would probably be best not to mention the flying bit around your grandmother."
See you all in the new year!
