Chapter Twelve-James and Fred
There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Rose Weasley loved her strange and sometimes chaotic family unconditionally. However, she also liked being able to take breaks from them. She looked forward to it, in fact. A lot. Not that her always oh so wonderful cousins needed to know that.
And that was why she always enjoyed the annual trip she and Hugo would take not long after the school year ended. Without fail, every year Rose and Hugo would spend several days with their muggle grandparents on a bit of a vacation. From the very beginning, Hermione had mandated that these be entirely non-magical visits. It was a vacation from the world the pair of siblings had just spent ten months fully immersed in and preparation for a summer holiday where magic wasn't allowed.
And although this would be the first summer that Rose would be legally allowed to use magic, she was glad for her mother's restrictions. Even if it did take her out of contact with her boyfriend for a few days, it also took her away from all of the wedding madness. And, as only a cousin of the bride and not technically any sort of immediate family, Rose felt like she was being forcefully subjugated to far too much wedding madness. So, in short, a break from it all was quite nice.
It was all too brief, though.
Rose and Hugo had left for their visit immediately following Rose's joyful return from her final dress robe fitting. Their time spent in Australia with their grandparents had been lengthened considerably due to Rose's shinynew apparition license and Hermione's concession that more time spent in the muggle world would be good for them, but it was still time for them to return to England again before they knew it. Rose knew she, at the very least, would be back quite soon, though. Her grandmother in particular had been quite thrilled to find out about Scorpius' newly-revealed role in her only granddaughter's life.
So yes, her vacation (ahem break from her more than slightly crazed cousins) had been quite short, but coming back home wasn't altogether necessarily a bad thing.
"Do you think mum will let me sleep for the next two days?" Hugo questioned as he and Rose walked side-by-side through the back garden, where Rose had apparated them to. "I hate the time change."
"We weren't there nearly long enough for it to effect you in any way," Rose replied. "If anything, it was a positive reinforcement of your habit of sleeping all day like you always do during the summer."
"I'm a growing boy. I need my sleep," Hugo retorted.
"Which is why you always stay up until obscenely early hours of the morning all of the time, I'm sure," Rose said dryly. "But mum won't let you sleep through the next two days either way. You'd miss the wedding, and then you'd have to deal with Victoire."
"I suddenly feel quite awake," Hugo stated. "In fact, I don't think I'll need to sleep again for another week, at least."
"Good," Rose said, opening the back door and stepping into the kitchen, her tone less than enthusiastic. "Because we've got that family dinner tonight."
"No need to sound so excited," Ron's voice sounded from the other side of the room. Rose turned to see her dad seated at the kitchen table with a half-eaten plate of food and the Daily Prophet before him. "I'm sure you missed each and every one of your cousins while you were gone."
"Just the cousins, though, mind you," Hugo chimed in, entering the kitchen behind his sister. "No aunts or uncles. Come to think of it, no parents either."
"Naturally," Ron stated, as if this was the most reasonable thing in the world. "So how was your visit?"
"I don't care if it's winter there, the weather was positively lovely," Rose told him. "Seeing Grandma and Grandpa was nice, too," She added as an afterthought.
"Rosie couldn't wait to get away from them," Hugo informed Ron. "They kept grilling her about Scorpius. It was quite entertaining."
"Yeah, only after you told them he was my boyfriend and that we're practically engaged," Rose shot back at her brother before hurrying to continue, "Which we aren't at all, dad. Hugo is just slightly maniacly insane."
Slowly, Ron's face faded back to it's normal color and he lowered his fork back to his plate as all of the food that had previously been on it had fallen off due to how much his hand had been shaking.
"So dad," Hugo began brightly," What are you doing home so early? Did you get let off because you finally rid the world of evil wizards and there's nothing left for the Auror office to do?"
"Not quite," Ron replied. "It's more like your mum couldn't stand the thought of her two teenaged children coming home from abroad to an empty house and my boss was more understanding about giving me time off than hers was. In fact, she's got to work a bit late tonight so she'll meet us at the Burrow."
"I have always rather liked your boss," Hugo conceded. "A nice fellow, that Harry Potter character."
Rose and Hugo spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and spending time with Ron. It was nice for the siblings to just spend some quiet down time with their dad as they had only been home for a week before leaving to visit their grandparents, and he had been at work for a majority of that time. After a more in-depth conversation about their time in Australia and their still-recently-completed school year, Rose took a book out to the back garden, where she alternated between reading and glancing up to see her dad and brother playing what she could only assume was some variation of Quidditch. It was hard to tell sometimes with those two…
Whatever they were doing, though, it appeared to be a very tiring game as the pair didn't even argue about coming down when Rose told them it was nearly time for the three of them to be leaving for their family dinner.
"Why are we having dinner at the Burrow?" Hugo asked. He was currently seated at the kitchen table, freshly showered after an afternoon of Quidditch and was now attempting to untie his laces, which had somehow become impossibly knotted up after lying abandoned on the kitchen floor for the past quarter of an hour. "I mean, the wedding is going to be at Shell Cottage, right? Knowing Vic, they've probably had everything set up and ready for the wedding for at least the past month. And besides, there hasn't been enough room for all of us at the Burrow since…well, ever."
"I'd say not since the founding of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," Ron said thoughtfully. "That was the summer Bill and Charlie actually spent some time at home; it was the beginning of the nightmare of mealtimes."
"Meals with nine people rather than eleven weren't a terror before that?" Rose questioned doubtfully.
"Eh, I got fed," Ron replied with a shrug. "And as for eating at Shell Cottage tonight…do you want the bride to have a panic attack about everything being ruined with so little time left before the wedding to fix it all? Besides, you know how your Gran loves having everyone over. And speaking of mum," Ron glanced at his watch, "We're about to be late. Have you figured your shoes out yet, Hugo?"
"I swear they have a mind of their own," Hugo muttered to himself, jamming his feet into the aforementioned (now formerly) knotted up shoes.
"Let's get going then," Ron said, holding the back door open and gesturing for Rose and Hugo to walk through it.
"Do you mind if I take the Floo, dad?" Hugo questioned swiftly. "I think I've had enough apparating for one day. Have I ever mentioned how strongly I dislike international travel?"
"Just get going," Ron said with a shake of his head and within moments Hugo had disappeared in a swirl of emerald green flames.
It was several minutes later that Ron and Rose were finally approaching the door that led into the kitchen of the Burrow. Just as Ron was reaching out for the handle, it opened to reveal Hugo on the other side, apparently going to join the customary game of Quidditch that was always played in the orchard.
"What held you up?" Ron asked, surprised that Hugo was only now just making his way out of the house.
"I…er, well, see…erm…it was Gran!" Hugo finally managed to stutter out. "She, er, was in the kitchen. And, well…er, it's been a while since she's seen me apparently. You know how Gran gets sometimes."
Ron gave an understanding nod, but Rose couldn't help but be suspicious about Hugo's utter lack of eye contact with both his father and his sister throughout his entire explanation of where he had been. And the way he had explained what had held him up, it was as if he had made the entire story up on the spot. How unusual…
There was no time to question him, however, because he was out the door and halfway across the yard in the blink of an eye.
"See you later," He called back over his shoulder, off to join the game.
"Only because Gran hasn't put the food out yet," Rose muttered, distracted from her musings.
Ron nodded approvingly, then glanced back over his shoulder in the direction of the orchard, where the sounds of a very colorful game of Quidditch were drifting over from. "You know, I think I'll go…er…supervise the game."
Rose merely gave him a look that made her look like a miniature version of her mother. "Sounds like Uncle George is already over there providing plenty of moral support."
"Just tell your mum where I'm at if she gets here before dinner is ready," Ron told his daughter, before tracing his son's steps across the yard.
Rose shook her head slightly and finally made her way into the house. Upon entering the kitchen, she found it surprisingly empty. She knew her gran had to be somewhere nearby, however, because there was a roast on the counter that looked as if it had just been taken out of the oven. Rose was just passing the pantry as she crossed the kitchen, intent upon finding some family member somewhere in the house, when she felt a pair of hands grab onto each of her arms and pull her into the confined space.
"What the-?" Rose managed to splutter indignantly. Both pairs of hands released her and one reached past her to pull the door shut while the other pulled his wand out in the confined space, knocking several jars over in the process.
A bright light suddenly lit up the darkness, momentarily blinding Rose before revealing her cousins James and Fred to be her captors.
"What are you two on about?" Rose questioned, just a tad cross with the pair of them.
"Rosie, we're very disappointed in you," James began solemnly.
"Actually, I'm pretty pissed," Fred interrupted cheerfully. "But yeah, we can say disappointed, too."
"This had better not be about Scorpius," Rose said with a groan, all annoyance quickly disappearing as realization dawned on her.
"But Rosie," James protested, "What other thing have you done recently that would cause your dear, beloved family to feel lied to and cheated of the chance to set you up with someone?"
Rose raised an eyebrow at her cousin. "So you're saying you didn't try to set Scorpius and I up a month ago by locking us in the library?"
"Were those the words that came out of my mouth?" James asked innocently.
"I…can't…believe…you!" Rose exclaimed, punctuating every word with a rather forceful punch to James' shoulder.
"Hey! I'm going to need that arm one day!" James protested, throwing his hands up as if they could offer some kind of protection from his semi-angry cousin.
"I know it was you!" Rose shot back, punching him once more for good measure.
"And what proof do you have?" Fred questioned lightly, appearing to be a bit too disinterested as he picked at his nails.
"Aunt Ginny told me so," Rose replied.
"Mum?" James questioned, looking taken aback as he lowered his arms, finally, in surprise. "How the bloody hell did my mum know about out Grand Master Plan to get you and Scorpius together?"
"Ha! So you're admitting it now!" Rose said triumphantly. "I knew it!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we tried to set you up with Scorpius, and, personally, I thought we did a damn fine job of it, until I found out from your brother that you've been keeping your relationship a secret from all of us for the past year. But let's focus on the more important issue here, shall we?" James demanded. "My mum: did she or did she not know about our top secret plan that was never discussed in the presence of others not involved in the planning?"
Rose smiled sweetly at her cousin now. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Jamie."
"I hate you sometimes," James informed Rose.
"'Course you do," Rose replied. "Now, was there anything else the two of you needed to discuss with me or am I allowed to leave the pantry?"
James glanced at Fred and the pair appeared to have some kind of silent conversation in the span of about three seconds before they both turned back to face her at the same time.
"You can go," Fred informed her in an offhand sort of manner. "But we might want to discuss this with you further at a later point in time."
"Attempt to lock me in an overly small, confined space with the two of you again and I'm telling Gran," Rose threatened, before pushing her two cousins aside lightly and exiting the pantry.
"I told you we should have tricked her into a game of Quidditch and then cornered her in midair!" Fred exclaimed, rounding on James. "But no, we just had to question her in the pantry!"
"Personally," James said in an aloof manner, attempting to ignore his cousin, "I find pantries to be very intimidating locations to be questioned in."
Fred just shook his head slightly as his cousin. "I give up on you; you're a lost cause."
"And that, my dear Freddie, is why we get along so well," James informed the other boy. "Now, back to the party?"
James was halfway out of the door when he suddenly stopped dead, causing Fred to literally run into him.
"Hey Freddie?" James questioned, spinning on his heel to face his cousin.
"Yes Jamie, dearest?" Fred replied, rubbing his nose lightly.
"Why did we let Rosie go?" James demanded. "We never hassled her about not telling us about how she thwarted our Grand Master Plan! Clearly we're slipping; completing our education was a bad idea."
"I blame you," Fred informed his cousin. "You were clearly too distracted by the fact that you can't hide anything from your mother, no matter how hard you try."
"It's only because my mother is bloody insane," James insisted.
Fred merely rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Jamie. Whatever you say."
a/n-Yay for finally being home after two months in a tent with no internet access! Just so you know, the next chapter should be the last. Also, all above references to a certain incident in the library are chronicled in my story Library Conspiracy, in case some of you haven't read it yet.