Chapter 1- Rose

In retrospect, agreeing to the road trip had been a really awful idea. I could have backed out that last morning at Hogwarts, but I'd felt bad and Albus had helped me out with homework so many times that I felt compelled to return the favour. I shoved another book in my bag, glaring at the rain falling down outside my window like it was personally to blame for my predicament. I was still glaring when my mum walked in.

"You alright?" she said, sitting down on the bed next to me and absent-mindedly refolding my clothes.

"I would honestly rather sit through my Potions exam again than go on this road trip."

Mum laughed, "If you're so against it, then why on Earth did you agree to it?"

"I may have been slightly…inebriated at the time."

Mum gave me a pointed look.

"Mum! I'm eighteen years old for Merlin's sake!" I protested, and she relaxed slightly.

"Alright," she smiled, "But I'm guessing you would prefer it if I didn't tell your father."

I groaned. My dad wasn't exactly strict, but he still seemed to view me as his little baby, and would definitely blow a fuse if he found out that I'd been drinking copious amounts of alcohol.

"You need to stop being so pessimistic." She declared, pulling out one of the itchy woollen jumpers my gran had made for me and putting it in my bag, much to my horror. "Road trips are fun! Besides, all you would be doing if you were here is applying for jobs, working out what you want to do with your life –"

I groaned.

"Just as I thought. And surely you would want to make your last summer of freedom one to remember?"

She had a point. After all, all I had planned to do this summer was sit in my room, read and ignore all my responsibilities. A road trip sounded like more of an adventure, and I was very partial to adventures.

"Fine, you've won me over." I said, and she smirked. There was nothing my mother liked more than winning an argument. "But if Al starts going on about how we should do things 'the Muggle way' –"

"Oi!" she said teasingly, "I did things 'the Muggle way' for eleven years of my life, and it never did me any harm!" Her tone softened, "You'll have a good time, I promise."


Just at that moment I heard tell-tale footsteps on the stairs, and Al appeared in the doorway, carrying bundles of maps in his arms. Ducking his head under the rafter (he seemed to have gotten even taller and ganglier since the last time I saw him) he sat down on the bed, practically vibrating with excitement.

"I have a plan for the route!" he exclaimed, laying out an enormous map of England on my bed that was already covered in his distinctive scruffy scrawl.

"I'll leave you two to it," Mum said, leaving the room, unperturbed that her nephew had burst into her house uninvited; as being my next door neighbour, Albus had a habit of turning up at my front door unexpectedly.

Turning back to face Albus, I'd realised he'd already started explaining 'The Road Trip of Doom' as I'd dubbed it. The route itself was surprisingly simple, considering Albus had created it. We would travel down to Bournemouth, along the coast to the tip of England, then travel back up to Bristol and Stratford-upon-Avon before returning home. Seeing the route mapped out, excitement bubbled in me, not least at the mention of Stratford-upon-Avon. I added a mental note to pack more suncream, since driving along the coast meant sunbathing, and sunbathing meant inevitable sunburn (whilst Hugo always returned from holidays with a glowing tan, I managed to turn an alarming shade of pink every time.) Much more reassured, I only had a few questions.

"Al, why do we have to go on this random detour in Wiltshire?" I placed my finger on the map, pointing at the circle around a spot in a forest.

He swallowed, "Umm…Rose, I may have neglected to tell you something…"

"What?" My voice was already growing harsher and apprehension built up in me.

"I kinda invited Scorpius along too…"

"For fuck's sake!" I burst out. Scorpius was…well he was fine, but I'd never had a conversation with him, and now we would be crammed in a car together for the best part of three weeks. Why didn't Al tell me earlier? By this point, Albus had turned a similar pale colour to the time when he broke his dad's famous glasses.

"Please don't punch me." He whimpered, no doubt remembering the many times our arguments had turned to full on fist-fighting (well, me beating the crap out of Albus.) Instead of making me pity him, this only made me more furious.

"I'm not going to bloody punch you!" He flinched anyway. "You need to stop being such a child and tell me this shit to my face, and not at the last minute!"

"I thought you liked Scorpius –"

"I barely know Scorpius! And I wouldn't have minded if you'd just bloody told me –"

I was interrupted by a cough from my doorway. Hugo was standing there, his guitar brandished in his hand like some sort of weapon.

"Do you mind?" His voice was always softer than mine, but right now it was plain he was irritated "We're trying to have a band practice downst–"

"I don't give two flying fucks about your band practice, Hugo!"

Feeling the need to escape before I said something I would regret, I pushed past him and stormed downstairs, past a group of sixteen year old musicians who quickly backed away from me, past my mum's office (feeling slightly guilty about the number of obscenities herself and whoever she was on the phone to must have heard) and into the living room. My dad was already in there, slumped on the tattered sofa watching Quidditch on the TV. I collapsed down beside him and sat for a moment in a fuming lump. I had always felt a connection to my father, cemented further by our pasts as Keepers of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and our short tempers. We had a relationship where both of us could sit next to each other in amiable, or in this case irate, silence. However, my father's curiosity got the better of him.

"I thought you were upstairs with Al?"

"I was, but then he told me that he invited Scorpius bloody Malfoy without my permission, and didn't have the balls to tell me until now, so I…err...ditched him."

"That's not fair," Dad said, trying not to grin. He'd been at the receiving end of my rants about other people far too many times to take it seriously.

"What, the Scorpius thing or the ditching thing?" I had calmed down slightly.

"Both." I looked at him quizzically. "Obviously Al should have told you earlier, but I think deep down you're not angry at him at all, you just don't like change at the last minute. However, going off on one at Al and storming out makes it seem to him like you really are angry, and he's going to be beating himself up about it for the next century until you go and apologise to him."

"Alright there, Mr Therapist," I said and he grinned, "But I guess you have a point."

I rested my head on his chest, like I used to when I was little, and we both stared at the TV for a little while.

"Besides," he said, "Scorpius is alright, I mean Al could have invited Bernard Bulstrode or someone, right?"

I burst out laughing, "Merlin, I would chuck myself off the White Cliffs of Dover!"

"You'll have a great time, even with Nerdy Malfoy." Dad said, attempting to be serious, but his jokey nickname lightened the tone. "Now, go on and apologise to your cousin."

I dragged myself off the sofa, feeling considerably better. Even with Scorpius, the trip still seemed appealing, and for now there was suncream to be packed and apologies to be made.