Chapter 10:
There was a sudden yell of "Dad!" and "Mum!" from all of us as we ran over to hug our parents. I was smiling like an idiot when I reached my dad. He gave me a hug before warning me:
"If you ever do anything like this again I swear I won't be as nice!"
"Dad, I never want this to happen again!" I smiled.
"Professor McGonagall, you are looking as good as ever!" George complimented her.
"It seems you have not changed Mr Weasley!" she said. "I would say the same but you seem to have lost an ear!"
"A little accident happened." George joked.
As I looked round at the rest of the class, the younger versions of Dad and Harry were shell- shocked. I couldn't blame them, seeing your older self in person must be really creepy. Ron who had come in with them looked really happy not to creped out.
"We should go and find our other kids." Dad said.
"We really should" Ginny confirmed.
"But first answer this …" Fred interrupted "What are you doing here? You said you would get here tomorrow morning!"
"It seems the time continuum doesn't work the same way as the normal time." Harry answered.
"That explains why it was evening when we got here and not lunchtime!" I said.
"Exactly!" Harry replied.
"Brilliant, not only is time messed up but when we get back hardly a day will have gone by!" Louis snarled.
"Trust me your mum is going ballistic Louis! She has noticed the absence of her son!" Ginny said. "Speaking of sons where has James gone?"
James had been hiding behind his dad who kindly moved out of the way so that Ginny could see him.
"Hi Mum." James said nervously.
"If you EVER drag Lily and Albus into one of you death traps EVER AGAIN, I swear you will not see the light until you are in your twenties!" Ginny warned.
"It wasn't my fault!" He protested.
"The day you have nothing to do a scam or a death trap is the day Rose will!" Ginny said.
"Sure I took Dad's time-turner but it wasn't my fault it broke!"
"He's telling the truth you know." I defended him.
"Next thing we are going to hear is that you had nothing to do with this either!" Dad shot back.
"Honestly!" James began. "Casey had nothing to do with this and I only played a small role. Rose and Louis are the ones to blame!"
"Rose?" Our parents said in disbelief.
"She tried to take it out of James's hands when he was putting it away." Louis explained. "Rose wanted it off him and went for the time-turner. I stepped in and pushed the both of them apart making James fall backwards."
"You are kidding?" George grinned. "I told you bro that ALL Weasley's have the trouble gene!" He patted Ron on the back at the same time.
"You're telling the truth Louis?" Ginny asked.
"All the way!" He assured her.
"I never thought I would see the day that Casey would have nothing to do with a disaster and Rose would!" My dad joked.
"I think I need to go and find Rose." Ron said shakily.
"No need they're here." Ginny pointed out.
The rest of them were standing in the doorway along with Teddy and Victoire. There was another rush of "Mum" and "Dad" as they all came in to the classroom. Lily jumped into her mum's open arms whereas Aidan gave our dad a quick hug. Harry was the first one to see sense in the situation.
"We probably should get out of here and let you finish your class, Professor!"
"No, no, no." McGonagall said. "There is too much going on for me to teach the class. You must follow me to Dumbledore's office so you can explain how you are intending to get back! Class dismissed!"
She walked out of the classroom followed by our parents much to the applause of the students themselves. We were told to stay with them while they go up to the headmaster's office.
We decided to back to go back up to the common room and wait. We all sat down and it was my young dad that spoke first:
"Well, this has been a couple of bizarre days!"
"You're telling us!" James laughed.
"When you think about it if we hadn't got blasted back in time…" Roxy grinned.
"… You two idiots would never have got together!" Lily finished.
"They're a couple?" Victoire asked, obviously shocked. "Finally!"
"You owe me five galleons Ted!" Fred remembered.
"Damn it!" Teddy coughed up 5 galleons and handed them to Fred.
"Not you too?" James asked.
"There was a lot of money to be made in this bet!" Teddy smirked. "I had 4 bets on and I have lost 1, but I've probably won the others. It depends on how you answer this: Who made the first move?"
I felt my cheeks burn but James said proudly that he was the one that did. I saw money being swapped over between everyone. I seemed Aidan, Jake, Teddy, Lily and Roxy had betted on James making the first move.
"Wait until we tell the parents!" Teddy laughed.
This is when I felt really awkward. Everyone was looking either at James or at me. And to be honest it was really uncomfortable. I hadn't thought about telling my dad yet. James had already had a girlfriend so it wasn't going to as bad. James was the first boy I had ever gone out with. I remembered when Aidan told Dad he was dating Haley. At first it seemed to pass but over the years Dad would keep on asking questions about his relationship and the longer it had latest the deeper the questions got. I was not looking forward to this.
"Tell the parents what?" older Harry asked as he came into the common room with the others.
I felt sick but managed to pull it together.
"I think I'll go and gather my stuff together!" James said as he turned to go up the stairs.
"Oh, no you don't!" Teddy caught his god-brother by the shoulders and turned him back round to face us.
"What's going on?" Ginny asked.
"James and Casey have got something to tell you all!" Fred beamed.
"You two are enjoying this aren't you?" James growled at Fred and Teddy.
"I'm loving it, my dear cousin!" Fred winked.
"Will someone please tell us what is going on?" Ginny pressed.
"We've got nothing to say!" I lied. "Have we?"
"You are a brilliant liar sis!" Aidan said. "And you have probably fooled the parents but for once not us!"
"Will you please just spit it out?" Ginny snapped.
James and I looked at each other for support but I could tell he hadn't found a way out of this. To be honest I hadn't found a way either. It seemed we have to come clean: better sooner than later, right? Sadly our little glance gave the perfect opportunity for Fred to reveal it for us.
"Seeing as they both have seemed to lose themselves in each other's eyes, I'll get it over with! The two of them are finally going out!"
I felt my face burn as I looked away from James to lock my gaze on Fred. James had done the same.
"Are you a good runner, Fred?" he asked.
"Why do you ask?" Fred replied.
"I just hope you are!" I answered.
In a flash second, Fred caught on and made a run for it with James and I on his tail. He didn't get far and neither did we. As soon as we had started heading for him, our dads had respectively stopped us by grabbing hold of us.
Fred who had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady turned round and smirked as he saw us being held back. He came closer and stood next to his dad while that smile still pasted on his face. The rest of the "kids" were laughing their heads off and that was including the younger versions of our parents.
"Fred, you better watch out or Taylor might get a little love note in the next couple of days from you!" James warned.
"You wouldn't dare!" Fred challenged.
"Trust me, he would!" I shot back. "And if he doesn't, I might accidently turn up at the library and reveal all."
That was when Fred's smile faltered. He knew I was capable of it. That's what I had done when James liked Maisy. She had been going on about him for weeks. I had had enough and told her to get a grip. She didn't and continued. I couldn't take it any longer and told James. That was actually my first mistake. Because James liked her, he thanked me for telling him and ran off to ask her out.
"Can we please calm down?" Ginny proposed.
I felt my dad's grip loosen and once he released me I chanced a look at James who was to my right. I met his eyes and they clearly showed he didn't have a clue what to do next. But apparently others did.
"Casey, James, why don't we step outside for a minute?" Ginny insisted.
"I'm sure you two could do with the fresh air." Dad agreed.
We both headed for the portrait hole with not another word. My heart was racing; I was not looking forward to the next minutes of my life. Ginny, Harry and Dad followed us out. Once the portrait of the Fat Lady closed, Harry led us down the secret passageway that James had led me down earlier. He stopped just around the first corner and leaned against the wall. Yes, the same wall James had pushed me against earlier and at the same spot. Great, as if this wasn't awkward enough.