A/N: Yay! Another update! I was quite fast with this one, compared to some others *cough2monthscough*. But I'm not sure how often I'll be able to use the computer in the next few weeks, so don't expect the next update to be as fast.
On the plus side, I now have through chapter 23 written, I just need to get it onto the computer.
A big thank you to flutegirl98, my fortieth reviewer! And I also want to thank all of you who have reviewed at any other time, or favourited, or followed. I don't have space here to name you all, but you know who you are :-)
One last note: Hovertag is a game I invented. It's like Freezetag but played on brooms. If you get tagged you have to hover in mid-air wherever you are until someone frees you again (hence the name).
The next month quickly sped by.
One Friday at the end of March, Rose was summoned to Professor McGonagall's office. When she arrived, she found James, Louis, Albus, Lucy, Hugo, and Lily there as well.
Professor McGonagall looked at them all over the top of her glasses and began.
"As I'm sure you all know, you have been given permission to go home a week early, as you are needed for your cousin's wedding preparations. We have sorted out your travel arrangements. You will leave tomorrow evening, on the overnight train from Inverness to London. It stops in Hogsmeade at nine p.m. A carriage will be waiting at the gates tomorrow at eight thirty to take you down to the station. The train arrives at Platform 3 ½ at seven a.m., where your mother," she nodded at James, Al, and Lily, "will meet you all. So please have your trunks packed before dinner tomorrow. Any questions?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Well, then, run along and have lunch."
"Thank you, Professor," Al said as they rose to leave.
The Headmistress smiled. "Oh, it wasn't any trouble, Potter."
As they headed down the spiral staircase, Rose said: "You're such a teacher's pet, Al."
Albus widened his bright green eyes innocently. "I can't help it if they all like me. I suppose it's due to a combination of my winning personality and my good looks." He smirked.
Rose looked him up and down. "Your good looks?", she said sceptically. "I wouldn't quite say that. But the fact remains, all the teachers like you, and you don't get half as many detentions as you should."
"Except from Professor Spinnet," Al said, frowning slightly. "She gives me way too many, I think."
"It's for your own good, you know."
"You sounded way too much like Aunt Hermione just then," Al remarked.
"Well, you just looked exactly the way Uncle Harry does when he's done something silly that he doesn't want Aunt Ginny to know about," Rose retorted swiftly.
The conversation subsided into teasing banter.
The next afternoon, once Charms was over, Lucy and rose went upstairs to pack their trunks. When they had finished, they carried them down to the Entrance Hall. Rose went back up to the Owlery to get her owl, Artemis. She brought her downstairs and deposited her, in her cage, on top of the trunks.
Dinner was noisy; but Rose knew from experience that having all the Weasleys and their relatives together in one place would be a whole lot noisier. When they had finished eating, Rose and Lucy said goodbye to Emma and headed out to the front gates, where a carriage was waiting. The house elves had already put their trunks inside. James was the last of the cousins to arrive; he always took forever over his meals.
The carriage rumbled away from the school and down through the village to the station on the other side. Though it was already quarter to nine, and the sun had long since set, Hogsmeade residents were still up and about. A bang emitted from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes as they drove past, followed by a bunch of fireworks that an unwary customer had accidentally dropped. Laughter and singing came out of the Three Broomsticks, followed by a thump as someone bumped into a table.
Hogsmeade station was quiet, lit only by a lamp in the middle of the platform and a light in the ticket seller's office. Louis stepped up to the window.
"Five adult and two minor's tickets to London, please," he said.
The ticket seller, who had been nodding off to sleep, jumped. "Eh? What?", he asked blearily. Louis repeated his request. "That'll be sixty Galleons, sir," the seller said.
Louis handed over the money, received the tickets, and led them all onto the platform. They had just finished dragging all the trunks through the barrier when a low rumbling announced the approach of the train.
Rose saw the lit-up sign "Inverness—London" as the engine whooshed past. The train braked, slowed, and came to a halt. Assisted by the conductor, they heaved their trunks onto the train and found two compartments.
As the train started to pull away from the station, Rose looked around the compartment that she, Lucy, and Lily had been ushered in to. On either side, in place of seats, were two sets of bunk beds built into the wall. Underneath the window was a washbasin. There were even—Rose chuckled at the sight—toothbrushes and washcloths laid out all ready for use.
"I get the top bunk," Lily said, swinging her bag up onto it.
"I get the other," Rose announced.
Lucy sighed. "I guess that leaves me with a bottom one then."
The train sped on through the night, with only a few stops. The girls slept, ignoring the clatter of the engine and the voices from the boys' compartment next door.
Several hours later, Rose awoke to the sound of a whistle blowing and doors closing all along the train. They had evidently just stopped in a station. Rose caught a glimpse of a sign saying "Leavesden" as the train pulled out. She got up and got dressed, and then started to wake the others.
"What time is it?", Lucy yawned.
"Six thirty. We'll be in London in half an hour."
The countryside gave way to small towns, which became bigger as they neared the city. They pulled into Platform 3 ½ at King's Cross at 7:05. Rose leaned out of the window as the train slowed down.
"Aunt Ginny! Aunt Ginny! Here we are," she called, waving to the tall, red-haired woman on the platform.
Ginny waved back, smiling. She waited for the train to stop before asking: "How was the journey?"
"I don't know," Rose chuckled, lifting her trunk down onto the platform. "I slept for most of it."
"I didn't," Hugo yawned, appearing in the doorway. "The others kept me awake with all their talking."
"Excuse me?" Lily laughed. "I heard you the loudest, dear cousin." Everyone laughed.
As they walked out of the station, Rose asked: "Why are you the only one meeting us, Aunt Ginny?"
"Your mum, Percy, and Audrey are all at work," Ginny explained, leading the way to where she had parked. "Ron," she gave a snort, "is most likely still in bed. And there was no reason for Bill and Fleur to travel all the way up from Shell Cottage just to greet Louis. So since you're all staying at our house anyway, I volunteered to come get you."
Lily turned around so that she was walking backwards, facing her mother. "They're all staying at our place?", she said, looking confused. "Why?"
"Because we have so many people coming for the wedding who need somewhere to sleep that we decided it would be easier to just put all you cousins in one place, and out house was best," Ginny said, reaching out and grabbing her daughter's arm. "Lily, watch where you're going."
Lily turned to the front again just in time to miss a letterbox. They came to a halt at a big blue van which was taking up nearly two parking spaces. Rose stared at it.
"Is this ours?"
"Surprise," Ginny announced with a flourish. "Since we were tired of always having a fleet of cars every holiday, we decided to buy a fifteen-seater van instead. It has two seats in the front, four in the back, and three rows of three in between. In fact, because the Weasley clan encompasses slightly more than fifteen people," she chuckled, "we bought two. The other one, which is green, is parked at Nan and Granddad's house. This one will stay at our place when not in use." Ginny laughed outright at the looks of surprise on everyone's faces.
"Wow," was all that Rose managed to get out.
"Why didn't you tell us?", Lily demanded.
"And where on earth did you get them?", Louis added.
"How long ago did you get them?", Albus put in.
"What make are they?", Hugo asked.
Ginny held her hands up, laughing. "Whoa, everybody. Slow down. I can only answer one of you at a time. We didn't tell you because we wanted it to be a surprise. We got them from a used-car dealership in Muggle London, last month. And I have no idea what make they are, Hugo, you'll have to ask your granddad about that. He's the one who chose them." Ginny smiled around at them all. "All questions answered? Well then, hop in."
They arrived at the Potters' house at eight thirty. It was out in the country, about halfway between Godric's Hollow and Ottery St. Catchpole. The drive up to the house was lined with Flutterby bushes. The house itself stood in a grove of beech, oak, and chestnut trees. When the Potters first bought it, it had been a five bedroom house with a front porch, but over the years it had been added to and rebuilt and renovated so many times that it resembled a cross between a farm and a summer villa. The main building stood in the center. It was flanked by guest cottages on either side, with three bedrooms each. At the back was a large garden sloping down to a stream. Off to the right, hidden by the trees, was a Quidditch pitch.
Ginny drove into the sunny, stone-paved courtyard and parked the van.
"Who's staying where?," Lucy asked as they got out.
"You can fight it out amongst yourselves," Ginny responded. She waved her hand at the cottage on the right. "You've got those three bedrooms. One of you girls—"
"Rose," Lily interjected swiftly.
"—will be in Lily's room," Ginny continued. "Louis, you're with James, as I can't put either Fred or Hugo in with him if I don't want the house blown up, and Al's room is too small. The rest of you are in the cottage. And don't forget," she said over her shoulder as she turned to go into the house, "that Dominique, Fred, Roxanne, and Molly are coming too. They arrive tomorrow."
By lunch time everybody was settled in. Lucy adamantly refused to share a room with her sister, so she was going to have Roxanne in with her, and Dominique and Molly were to share another, which left Fred and Hugo the third.
Over lunch, which was chicken noodle soup, Rose asked who was going to be staying in the other cottage. Ginny gave a mischievous look around the table before replying.
"The Malfoys."
There was silence for a minute. Then the uproar began.
"Who?"
"Why are they coming!"
"Do they have to stay here?"
"You've got to be joking!"
"Are they seriously coming to the wedding?"
Lucy said nothing, but merely flashed a knowing look in Rose's direction. Then she leaned over and whispered, under the cover of the others: "You're blushing, Rose."
Rose blushed even harder, dropped her napkin, and bent to pick it up. By the time she had surfaced again, she was sufficiently recovered to be able to send a glare in Lucy's direction. Ginny gave Rose a half smile before turning to the others.
"Alright everyone, quiet down." When they had stopped, Ginny continued. "The Malfoys have been invited because they are the only blood relations Teddy has, apart from his grandmother. Draco and Astoria and their children are coming. They need a place to stay for the night because their eldest daughter, Stella, is flower girl, and as such is needed for the rehearsal. So they're coming two days before the wedding, and leaving the day after. And to answer your question, James, they're staying here because the Burrow is full, as are Shell Cottage and Percy and Audrey's. George and Angelina only have space for two people, and I didn't think that it would be a good idea to have them stay at Ron's. so the only place left was here." Ginny looked especially hard at James and Hugo. "And I don't want any comments about their family, or what they may or may not have done in the past. Alright?"
James and Hugo nodded.
The silence was broken by Lily inquiring what the plans for the rest of the day were.
"Dad will be home around four," Ginny said as they continued eating. "Then I thought we'd take a picnic down to the river. How does that sound?"
"Wonderful," Lucy said.
"Can we take our brooms?", Albus asked.
"I don't see why not. And one more thing: the Scamanders are coming too." Rolf and Luna lived only half a mile away, which resulted in a lot of visiting between the two families.
Lily and Hugo immediately began chattering excitedly. The Scamanders had just come back from a month in Brazil, and since they had taken the twins with them, Lily and Hugo hadn't seen Lorcan and Lysander since the end of January.
That evening they set off for the river. James, Louis, Rose, Al, Lucy, and Lily had their brooms along. Hugo, taking after his mother, preferred to keep his feet firmly on the ground. Harry surprised them all by pulling out his old Firebolt and announcing that he needed to practice his flying skills.
Rose laughed. "You don't need any more practice," she chuckled. "Last Christmas, your team beat Uncle Charlie's 210 to 70."
"You never know when you may need your skills," Harry said, his bright green eyes twinkling. "So it's best to be up to standard."
"What would you need your Quidditch skills for, Dad?", Lily inquired. "And what standard?"
But Harry wouldn't tell them anything else, even though they pestered him all the way down to the river.
When they reached the banks, Ginny spread out the picnic blanket and cast a protective charm around the basket, so that no one—especially Hugo, who had his father's appetite—would sneak any unauthorised food before dinner. Two sharp cracks announced the arrival of Rolf, Luna, and the twins. Lily and Hugo immediately rushed off to talk to Lorcan and Lysander, and Luna settled herself on the rug next to Ginny.
"Let's play Hovertag!", James called out.
"I'll be it," Lily said.
"Me too," Lysander added. They started counting.
"10…9…8…"
The others started to mount their brooms and take off.
"7…6…5…"
"Uncle Harry, are you playing?", Rose asked.
"I guess so."
"Well, come on, then."
"4…3…2…1…Here we come!" Lily and Lysander swung into the air after the others.
Soon the air was full of people swooping, hovering, diving, screaming, and just generally having fun.
Finally, everyone had been caught, and they all landed, put their brooms to the side, and ate dinner. After dinner, someone started a game of Chinese Whispers, which everyone participated in. Funnily, nearly every sentence, even if it started out completely differently, ended up with the word "Quidditch" in it.
They headed back home around nine. Rose and Lily said goodnight to the rest and headed upstairs to Lily's bedroom on the top floor. Rose was about to get changed for bed when Lily stopped her.
"James said if we can sneak out to the cottage at ten thirty, they have marshmallows, chocolate, and biscuits. Up for it?"
"Sure."
The rest of the evening was spent eating sugar, getting hyper, and trying to keep the noise down so that Harry and Ginny wouldn't hear.
Rose was giggling madly at a joke of Hugo's that wasn't even remotely funny when James announced that they should probably go to bed, as it was twenty to one.
Rose and Lily tiptoed back inside and up to the top floor, trying to calm down and muffle their giggles. At last, Rose fell asleep, eagerly looking forward to the weeks of chaos, fun, and family ahead of her.
A/N: Yes, I do like Percy Jackson. Yes, that is why Rose has an owl called Artemis. Yes, there is a very interesting chapter coming up when the Malfoys arrive.
Flofo and Aister97, in three chapters there will be more about Scorpius' sister Stella :-)
I hope you liked it! If you did, it would be really awesome if you could leave a review *makes puppy dog eyes* The more reviews I get, the more I'm inclined to update faster.