I'm Dead

Red Stains on the Kitchen Tiles

James grinned then – and as soon as Rose saw that grin, she knew that whatever was about to come out of James' mouth wasn't going to be good.

'Rose is pregnant,' he announced, beaming as if it was the best news in the world. Rose gaped at him. She had not been expecting that.

The table completely and utterly erupted. A few glasses smashed on the floor as people leapt to their feet or dropped them in horror. Albus nearly toppled backwards off his chair. All the women looked gobsmacked, while the men, once they'd gotten over their initial shock, looked positively murderous.

'WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?' Ron and Scorpius yelled at the same time, scrambling to get up. Rose wanted to sink into the floor, through the many layers of the earth until she reached the inner core, where she could melt and very happily no longer exist…

Lily and Victoire were almost screaming questions at her; Mrs Weasley, Hermione and Ginny were both, for once, speechless, seemingly unable to find the right words to say; Al, Ron and Teddy and Hugo looked like they were more than ready to gather up weapons and hunt down the man who made Rose pregnant; Scorpius was staring at Rose as if he'd never seen her before; James sat back looking gleeful; and the rest just didn't know what to say or think.

Rose opened her mouth multiple times to try and say something, but she was always cut off by Lily or Victoire, or somebody else shouting. 'I'm not – let me –' she tried to shout, but was drowned out by the sheer noise of horror that was ripping around the table.

'I'M NOT PREGNANT!' she screamed at the top of her voice, having had enough of this. 'Why won't anyone listen to me?'

Everyone fell silent. Rose stared round at them all with disbelief written on her face. 'Did you really believe James when he said that?'

Ron flushed bright red, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly while glaring at James. 'Er – I don't know, I mean – is there any more shepherd's pie?'

Rose sat down and started eating again, glaring daggers at James who looked as if Christmas had come early, due to Rose's humiliation and everybody's reactions. Gradually, people began to mutter and apologise, and James got a few whacks on the arm, though that didn't wipe the grin off his face. He knew full well Rose was going to make him pay later.

After everyone had more or less settled down, James decided to open his mouth again. Rose groaned. Did this infuriating boy never take a day off?

'Actually, we do have something else to confess,' James grinned, sending a victorious, taunting smirk in Rose and Scorpius' direction. Everyone went quiet again, glancing at the eight time travellers in something close to terror.

'Gosh, you're not pregnant too, are you James?' Lily asked sweetly.

Needless to say, James never got to spill Rose and Scorpius' secret that dinner time. He was far too busy wallowing in a taste of his own medicine.

. . . / * \ . . .

Later that evening, Rose and Hermione volunteered to do the washing up. As Hermione was scrubbing a plate, she said to her daughter, 'You and Scorpius, Rose?'

'Please don't disapprove,' Rose begged, taking the plate and drying it before putting it away.

'I don't think I can – you're older than me at this particular moment, it would look strange,' Hermione shrugged. Rose laughed.

'Does that mean you're alright with it?' she asked nervously.

Hermione sighed. 'This whole thing is still odd to me. I found out a few days ago that I had two children and was married to Ron – I mean, your dad. It even sounds weird to say that.'

'But you're glad you can say that?' Rose pressed, smiling slightly. 'Oh, Merlin, don't tell me you're not, that would be horrifically awkward…'

'I am glad, don't worry! I marry Ron.' Hermione was practically beaming, then she blushed. 'Is he still a git in the future?'

'An even bigger one, I think,' Rose grinned. 'And I'm telling him you asked me that.'

'Don't you dare, Rose!' Hermione exclaimed shrilly, pointing a fork at her threateningly. Rose stared at the fork, and it was when she went cross-eyed that they both broke out into laughter. Once they started, they couldn't stop. Rose vaguely wondered what her dad would say if he knew that him being a git was the cause of their hilarity.

'I haven't laughed so much in a long time!' Hermione managed to choke out eventually. Bubbles from the water had splashed everywhere, coating the two girls. It was true: to Rose, her mum wasn't like this very often. 'There's Ginny, but I don't see her as much as I see Harry and Ron. I'm with them most of the time.'

Rose nodded in agreement. 'I'm closest to Lily, and I get along with Victoire and Roxanne the most as well, but Al and Scorp take up most of my time. I don't get much time for hanging out with girls.'

'You're like me,' Hermione said.

'A lot of people say that,' Rose said quietly.

'You don't like being compared to anyone,' Hermione stated, as if it was fact. She wasn't hurt; she understood how Rose felt. If she was being constantly compared to her parents, she'd crack under the pressure.

'None of us do,' Rose admitted.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by Rose's yelp of pain. 'Ouch!' she shrieked, louder than necessary.

'What? What happened?' Hermione asked, dropping the bowl she was washing up.

'I just stabbed myself with a fork,' Rose muttered sheepishly, inspecting the palm of her hand. A bead of blood had surfaced there. 'Can you -?'

'Oh, yes, of course.' Hermione crossed the kitchen and started rifling through the cupboards for a plaster.

'Er – Mum? We're in a wizard household,' Rose reminded her. 'There won't be any plasters.'

Hermione blushed. 'Oh. I'll go get Mrs Weasley – I can't do underage magic.'

Rose rolled her eyes as Hermione left. She glanced back down at her palm – and squeaked in alarm. Yes, squeaked.

There was a steady trickle of blood oozing out the wound, which Rose was sure had been so tiny it was barely there. She watched in horror as the trickle grew larger, until it was running down her arm and dripping off. She began to feel faint… she was losing too much blood… where was Hermione? Where was Mrs Weasley? Where was anybody?

Rose tried in vain to stem the bleeding, but the thick, scarlet liquid simply pushed past her shaking fingers and continued on. The wound was still tiny, barely a dot on her hand. How could she bleed so much from one place? A pool of blood was now forming around her feet from the droplets that were dripping off her arm, quicker and quicker… blood running faster and faster… keep breathing, keep breathing… where was help?

The dizziness got too much for Rose, and as the world went black around her, she collapsed onto the kitchen floor, her own red blood staining the tiles around her.