Hi guys! How you doing? I'm sorry for the gap since the last update, but hopefully I should be able to write more regularly now, because MY SCHOOL HAS BROKEN UP FOR SUMMER! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, despite its filler-type nature.

Things were going far better in the Weasley household: Rose was refusing to stay in bed any longer, and instead spent the first few days of her holiday ploughing through the homework she had been set. She hadn't been badly injured by the event in Platform 9 ¾; the bruise on the right of her face looked far worse than it actually was, but it was still painful to touch. Hermione fussed over Rose in the traditional motherly manner, with an air that reminded Ron of his own mother's reaction every time either him or one of his siblings injured themselves or each other.

Ron himself was far more laid back: he knew Rose would prefer to get on with her business and ignore the bruise until it healed up naturally. She was actually quite proud of her injury in a strange way, which was why she refused to allow Hermione to heal it with magic. That and the fact that they didn't know exactly what had caused it. The family agreed that it was very likely to have been non-magically inflicted, but even the tiny possibility that it was made the spell not worth risking, as if there had been foul play going on a healing spell could go badly wrong and make the injury worse. Which was why Rose spent the first week of the Christmas holidays with a lovely yellowing bruise on one side of her face.

The other issue in question was her letter from Scorpius. Could she call it a letter? It was just a note, hurriedly scribbled, hardly a literary masterpiece, but 'love letter' sounded far more romantic than 'hurriedly scribbled note'. The scrap of parchment itself was still hidden at the back of one of her draws- Rose had wanted to use magic to conceal it, but as she was underage she knew she wasn't allowed- and she was debating what to do with it. The young witch knew it was a dangerous possession to have, but she couldn't bring herself to destroy it, even once she'd memorised it word for word. It was the first physical thing Scorpius had given her, and it seemed wrong to get rid of something with such sentimental value, so it remained buried under her school books where no-one would ever be brave enough to look.

But Rose would have to come to a decision soon. She wanted to reply, but didn't know what to say, or how to send the owl without everyone in the house knowing, other than sending Sven out in the dead of night. Yes, her parents knew that she had arranged to correspond with Scorpius, but didn't really want to remind them of it. In the end Rose decided she needed to reply as soon as possible, as they would be going to the Burrow in a couple of days time and it would be even harder to correspond when all the rest of the family were there. So that afternoon Rose sat at her desk in her room with a pristine sheet of parchment in front of her, quill at the ready, waiting for intellectual and amusing statements to flow from the inkpot onto the parchment. Nothing came to mind. She sighed.

Dear Scorpius,

Was 'Dear' overly friendly? Too old fashioned? Would 'hi' be better? Or just Scorpius' name? He had just started with her name, but he had the excuse of rushing. Rose was technically in no rush.

Scorpius,

Don't worry, I wasn't offended, in fact I liked it.

"I can't say that!" She thought in disgust. "Keep it friendly Rose."

Scorpius,
Don't worry- I wasn't offended, I thought it was nice of you.

"That's a bit better." She thought, relieved. It implied she was ok with it without having any romantic feelings for him. Perfect.

I don't know what happened at the station after you left- what did you see? One minute I was saying goodbye to you, the next minute I was hit in the head and falling. I think I blacked out when I hit the ground, because I didn't wake up until I got home. I'm ok, though, don't worry.

My family say you were with me when they found me. I hope everything was kept civil- they haven't really told me exactly what happened. I explained that you were there because we're friends, but Hugo and Dad were really annoyed about that, to be honest. Still, Mum defended you, and I was right in thinking she put us in the same group purposely. She didn't admit it, but came really close to saying so.

So what actually happened after I was knocked out? What did my family say to you? Did they see your parents? Do your parents know we're friends? Will they freak out when you receive this owl? I'll send it at night, just in case.

I'm going to the Burrow in a couple of day's time, so you might be best sending your reply there. But if in doubt just give the owl my name and it should find me.

Thanks for staying with me until my parents came when I was injured- it was really kind of you. Most people wouldn't have bothered. Hopefully I'll hear from you soon.

How should she sign off? Just Rose? Rosie? She used Rosie to her family, but of course Scorpius wasn't family. He had called her Rosie a couple of times, and she was fairly sure that on the note he had written 'Rosie', before crossing it out and replacing it with Rose. Well, if he wasn't prepared to use a nickname, she shouldn't be either. She dithered over whether to put kisses or not, and in the end decided to stick a singular 'x' on the end. There. That wasn't overly flirty but was still friendly and affectionate.

She read over the letter once, folded it and shoved it in an envelope hastily, before she could try and re-write anything. There was nothing else on that front to be done until the owl could be sent that night, so Rose sighed and moved on to the mountain of homework that had been set for her. She had already done a lot of it, but wanted to have it complete before she went to the Burrow so she had nothing to worry about whilst she was there and nothing to do for her last few days of the holidays when she came home.

Christmas at the Burrow was always an experience. Rose's grandparents loved to see as much family as they could whilst their grandchildren weren't in school, so they invited all of their children and their families to stay with them over the Christmas period. Every year Rose's family and her Aunt Ginny's family would spend about a week at the Burrow, with Uncle George, Aunt Angelina and their kids staying for a several days. Lucy and her parents would only spend a couple of days there, but that was more than Rose's Uncle Charlie, who wouldn't always return from Romania. This year he would be spending the Christmas abroad with his friends. Which only left Uncle Bill, Aunt Fleur and their three children. Victoire, Dominique and Louis would be coming to the Burrow for a few days with their cousins, but Bill and Fleur themselves were going to see Fleur's parents in France over the festive season. Gabrielle's family would be there, and her parents had wanted to see Victoire, Dominique and Louis too, as living in different countries meant that Mr and Mrs Delacour did not see their grandchildren on Fleur's side often. However, the three Weasley's vastly preferred Christmas in the Burrow to Christmas with their French cousins who ate French food and told French jokes and made French conversation. Yes, Victoire, Dominique and Louis all spoke the language fluently, and did like their grandparents, but the whole atmosphere was far more uptight and formal than it would be in the Burrow. They got on with their English cousins far better, despite the two girls having left Hogwarts. Victoire, especially, was keen to go to the Burrow, as her boyfriend, Teddy, would be there.

Teddy was practically a member of the family as he had grown up with Arthur and Molly Weasley as acting parents, going to Hogwarts with the eldest of the Weasley clan, attending family events with them all and none of them would have it any other way. Yes, he often drew attention to them as his ever-changing hair (usually blue, though, as it was his preferred colour) stuck out like a sore thumb amongst a family where everyone was ginger or raven-haired, but it wouldn't have felt right without him.

Rose sighed in relief as she finished her essay on goblin rebellions for History of Magic, and flexed her wrists and fingers, which had gone slightly numb after her excessively long piece of writing.

"Rose! Lunch!" Shouted Ron up the stairs.

"Coming!" She responded, jumping out of her seat and rushing down the stairs towards the smell of bacon and sausage balms- traditional Sunday lunch in their household. Ron was in charge of cooking, which has taken him a while to get the hang of, but could now fry to perfection. Hermione was buttering the toast, which Hugo has been cooking on the open fire in their living room, so Rose took her position of making the sandwiches. This was probably the most important job, as everyone liked theirs differently. Ron wouldn't eat his without the correct amount of brown sauce, but Hermione wouldn't touch the stuff. Rose loved ketchup on the sausage balms, but not the bacon ones, and Hugo had both sauces on both pieces of meat. She shuddered every time she doused her brother's lunch in red and brown goo.

Once everything was ready, the four of them munched on sandwiches silently for a moment, savouring the great taste of unhealthy food. Normally eating in the Weasley household was far less structured and was usually down to one person to cook a delicious healthy meal, but Sunday's were special. Whatever healthy-eating scheme Hermione had in place at that moment was thrown out the window, and they just devoured fried food with lots of buttered toast, and they all played their part in making it. Yes, they could have used magic to do the majority of it, as they did the rest of the week, but it was one of the few times they were together as a family, and Ron insisted they kept up the tradition of working together on something every week.

Once the last of the sandwiches had disappeared, they would have a family talk and discuss the plans for the oncoming week. Today was no different.

"You know we're going to Grandma's tomorrow?" Ron asked them.

"I thought it was Tuesday?" Rose said, surprised. "I don't know if I'll have all my homework done!"

"Just leave it until you get back, Rose, you'll have plenty of time." Her father suggested at the same time as Hermione said:

"Take it with you and Lucy will help." Hugo laughed at the difference in their parents' reactions, whilst Rose grimaced at the thought of asking Lucy to help with her homework. Hermione read her daughter's expression. "Ok, James then. Or Dominique." James was also a no-go, but Dom would probably be helpful. Or she could just blast through the last of it today and pack quickly.

"Or you could, you know, just wait until after Christmas." Hugo suggested. "You need a break, Rose."

"Hugo, have you done your homework yet?" Hermione asked sharply.

"Ye- Well, nearly. I just need to do my potions essay and a few other bits and bobs..."

"You haven't started it, have you?" Hermione sighed. Hugo shook his head and Ron smiled slightly. "Don't you encourage him!" Hermione snapped at Ron, seeing his face in her peripheral vision.

"It's all right, love, he'll do it now, won't you, Hugo?" Ron asked pointedly, his arm around his wife.

"Yes, dad." Hugo sighed, and went to get up.

"Not so fast! We haven't been over tomorrow's timetable." Hermione exclaimed.

"Mum, we're not in school, we don't have a timetable." Rose pointed out, sighing.

"You should always have a timetable, Rosie."

Rose, Hugo and Ron exchanged a glance, clearly sharing the belief that Hermione had a touch of OCD when it came to organisation.

"We need to be at the Burrow for lunchtime, which will be one o' clock. But we should try to be there earlier so we can help with the cooking. Harry and Ginny will already be there, so that's an extra nine people your parents will need to cook for, Ron, themselves and Teddy will make it twelve. I say we get there for 11am. Any issues with that?"

"Other than I'll have to get up before midday?" Hugo interjected.

"Any real issues? Such as homework levels." Hermione snapped back, catching her son out. Hugo slumped back in defeat, gesturing for the others to go ahead. "No? Good. So tomorrow morning we all need to be packed for a week and completely ready to go; lined up by the fireplace at 11am exactly. Got that?"

"Yes." Ron, Rose and Hugo replied in synchronisation. When Hermione was in the middle of planning what she considered to be a major operation her family had long since discovered that the best plan of action was just to go along with it and behave exactly how she wanted them to.

"Ok. Now, Rose, Hugo, have you packed yet?"

The two teens exchanged nervous glances. "Not exactly, but-"

"It doesn't matter. It's your first job this afternoon."

"I thought my first job was homework?" Hugo asked indignantly

"Well, you should have already done most of that, so you'll just have to fit both jobs in." Hermione snapped. She was getting to the point where she was going to start shouting any minute, due to the 'disorganisation' of her family. "Take this." She thrust a piece of parchment at both her children, covered in the elegantly swirled handwriting that belonged to Hermione. "It's a list of what to pack." She explained as though they couldn't read. "As long as you pack everything on there, you'll be fine."

They nodded and waited for her to continue. "What are you waiting for?" She asked. "Go on!" So Rose and Hugo trudged upstairs, glad to leave the country cottage appearance of the house for the stylish interior of their bedrooms.

Once in her room, Rose collapsed onto her bed, staring up and the red and gold ceiling and made a mental note never to become as freakishly organised as her mother. As much as she loved Hermione, it was times like these when she saw her fatal flaws. Groaning, she pulled out the list and looked at it. The first item was 'wash bag'. Funnily enough, I established that might be useful. Rose thought to herself. Normally Hermione was so much more thorough. The next item was 'clothes', which was followed by 'shoes'. Was she having a laugh? The list finished with 'other'. What?! It then occurred to Rose that the list probably did contain more information, just hidden slightly, so it could be compacted down. Hermione was all about tidiness after all.

Rose experimentally noted the parchment to see if anything happened. Nothing did. She tapped the word 'wash bag' and suddenly the original list was replaced by another one, full of pictures of items such as a toothbrush and deodorant. Bingo. She thought. She was just getting up to collect the following items when she had a thought. Could her Mum have made this even easier for her? Rose touched the picture of the toothbrush, hoping it would appear as a 3D object in front of her. No such luck. She tried again with another object, but it didn't work. Then a brainwave hit her. Rose closed her eyes and moved her hand as though to pick up the toothbrush. Sure enough, the parchment let her hand go straight through it, and she felt her fingertips clasp around a piece of plastic. She pulled her hand out and there was her travel toothbrush, in the flesh. Or in the plastic, in this case.

Rose instantly forgave her Mum for being so organised and went about 'picking up' all the objects in the 'wash bag' section, before going back to the original list and swirling the word 'wash bag' around until the letters jumbled up and formed a picture of her wash bag. She then pulled that out of the parchment too, and put all the items inside it. Within minutes Rose's shoes, clothes and everything else she'd need were on her bed and there was nothing left to pull out of the parchment. She was just thinking about where she had put her trunk after coming home for Christmas (was it in the attic or under her bed?) when the parchment jumped out of her hand and floated to the floor. It folded itself up until it was about 1cm3, then unfolded itself, changing colour and texture and growing until it was her dull brown leather trunk sitting on the floor in front of her.

Rose had seen some good magic, and this was definitely up there with the most useful she had seen. It did cross her mind as to why Hermione hadn't just packed everything for her, but Rose assumed her mother would have considered discovering the secret of the parchment a really fun little activity for her kids. She wondered if Hugo had figured it out or if he was traipsing around the house trying to find his things .

She dragged her case to the stairs hurriedly, checked there was no one at the bottom and then pushed it with all her might. With a CRASH, SMASH and a BUMP Rose's trunk landed at the bottom of the stairs, having taken a couple of chunks of plaster with it. Almost instantaneously Hermione and Ron appeared next to the case.

"ROSE WEASLEY!" Her father yelled. "WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"Sorry," Rose grinned sheepishly. "It was too heavy to carry and I can't use magic, so this was the quickest way."

"You've ruined the stairs!" Hermione exclaimed. "I hope you realise that you would be fixing them if magic outside of Hogwarts was allowed. I'm tempted to get you to fix them Muggle- style, but you'd problem do more damage in the process!" Huffing, Hermione waved her wand and the plaster that had come loose returned to its place. "Honestly, Rose, you're supposed to be the responsible one!"

"Oi" Shouted Hugo, appearing next to his sister. "Why is Rose responsible? I'm so much more responsible than her!"

"Responsible for trouble, maybe." Ron said, grinning. "But you take after me in that one."

"Humph." Said Hugo.

"Mum?" Asked Rose.

"What is it, Rose?" Hermione asked, sounding tired.

"Thanks for the help with the packing."

Hermione smiled at her daughter, all anger gone now she realised her magic had not gone to waste. "You're very welcome."

"Hey, wait a minute! Why did you help Rose and not me?!" Hugo asked, annoyed.

Rose and Hermione smiled at each other again. "But she has helped you Hugo! You're just not smart enough to notice." Rose responded, before darting back to her bedroom and bolting the door, leaving Hugo outside, demanding answers.

So there you have it: Chapter 28. Chapter 29 will be at the Burrow with all the Weasley family mentioned earlier in the chapter, and I know it's the wrong time of year to write about Christmas, but that won't stop me! ;) There may also be a letter from Scorpius, if it fits in timing-wise with the rest of the chapter. So remember to follow/favourite me/ the fic if you haven't already because otherwise you'll miss the next update. And if you have any suggestions or questions just drop me a review or PM and, providing you're not on a guest account, I'll reply.
Also, to everyone who has reviewed from a guest account, I am really sorry but fanfic doesn't let me reply! I want to thank you personally, but as I can't over PM I'll say it now: THANK YOU!
Keep reading,
Lucy x