I felt my feet hit the ground and instantly the smell of Shepard's Pie bombarded my nose. My stomach growled and I realized that I hadn't eaten since breakfast before my car driving incident. "James quickly step out of there so I can clean you off" I hear Grandma Weasley say and I do. As soon as I step out she starts to dust off my clothes with a huge duster.
There was a bang and I turned to see Albus fall out of the fireplace. Laughter erupted from my mouth as I watched Grandpa help him up. "Still haven't gotten the hang of floo travel have you Ally?"
"Still haven't gotten the hang of driving a car Jamie?" he retorted.
"Boys stop fighting or I'll tell Mum and you'll have to deal with her wrath" Dad said causing both of us to go silent immediately. There was a laugh coming from the doorway and I saw Uncle Ron standing there. Al and I ran over to give him a hug just as there was a flare in the fireplace and I knew that Mum and Lily were here.
"How are you boys doing?" Uncle Ron asked.
"Good" we chorus but hear a disgruntled noise coming from by the fireplace. Turning around we see Mum glaring in my direction and I smile angelically at her.
"Your nephew over there decided it would be a brilliant idea to go speeding down the motorway and crash our car" Mum says starting another round. I shrink back slightly and my smile falters.
"James! That's dangerous!" Grandma cries "No wonder your Grandfather just got back. You have to be careful!" Great I was being double-teamed by Mum and Grandma now. This was going to be a wonderful end of the holidays.
"That's what I told him Mum" Mum agreed "He doesn't seem to grasp the fact that it's dangerous to expose ourselves and that he could've gotten killed."
"Or worse expelled" Uncle Ron muttered under his breath causing Al and I to laugh. With a loud smack we turn to see Aunt Hermione standing next to him.
"I heard that Ronald" she says but she has a smile one her face. "What's this I heard about someone crashing your car?" I sighed again and she turned and looked at me shaking her head "Should've guessed." I couldn't help but smile at that I had the reputation already as a troublemaker and I was proud of it.
"Go upstairs and unpack boys" Dad said trying to defuse the tension. Laughing I quickly grabbed my things and climbed the many stairs up to the very top which used to me Uncle Ron's and Dad's room. Setting my things down I waited for Fred to arrive so that I could finally talk to someone about my adventure who would find it cool.
As if being summoned Fred walked in five minutes later smiling as always. I jumped up as he threw his things on the other bed and we did our secret handshake. "So tell me about crashing the car!" he said eagerly after we finish our handshake. His eyes are twinkling the same way they do when we are discussing a prank so I launch into my story telling him every detail. His reaction was just as it should've been and I finally felt proud and confident that I had done the right thing.
"Dinner's ready!" we hear Grandma call up the stairs and we share identical grins as we run down the many steps. I was excited to hear Uncle George's stories and eat the good food.