The Diary Of Rose Weasley- Sixth Year And Pregnant

Crossing Off James' Bucket List

[edited: 26/04/2016]

Chapter 7

Crossing Off James' Bucket List

"NO!" we exclaimed, almost unanimously. It seemed to bounce right off James' thick skull.

"James, you'll kill someone," Al said firmly. "Don't be a prat."

"My parents will kill me!" I moaned.

"Nah," James replied cheerfully. "I'll just drive up to the steps, I promise. Get everyone talking without any unwanted trips to St Mungos."

"The only unwanted trip to St Mungos will be yours, if you don't go and park somewhere discreet on the grounds right now," Al replied darkly.

"Was that a threat, Albus?"

"Absolutely. Come on, James, McGonagall will skin you alive."

"It'll be worth it," he grinned. "Fred, when I say now, I need you to open the gates."

"What?" Fred asked. I suspected he hadn't been listening.

"Gates, Fred. Alohamora."

"Oh, right, yeah," Fred agreed. "Cool."

"Cool," James confirmed. They seemed to have an agreement.

James sped up, heading towards the gates, and for a moment I was sure they weren't going to open and that Professor Flitwick would find our heads on the spikes, warding off any other students who had the same ridiculous plan. I buried my face in my hands, hoping that death was painless. "Now!" James exclaimed and I braced myself for impact against the drivers' seat, my heart pounding in my throat when – when we landed with a gentle bump on the drive. I barely had time to be relieved that I hadn't lost my actual life, because James was still driving forward, and then he'd opened the doors with his own wand, and I knew that my real death was coming because McGonagall was going to slaughter us when we burst into the feast, and James was still driving and my head was down between my legs, in the hope that no one would recognise me, but who else would the redhead in a car with James and Albus Potter be, and I thought I could hear the hum of a start of term feast, and Al was swearing constantly beside me, words which I would have committed to memory if I'd be concentrating on anything other than my impending death, because they sounded quite effective, and then we'd stopped, and I thought my heart had probably stopped with us.

"JAMES POTTER!" Professor McGonagall had exploded. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Just making our way to school," James replied cheekily. If I hadn't been hiding behind his seat, I'd probably have strangled him.

"MY OFFICE! NOW!" she screeched. I sunk lower in my seat, hoping I could pretend I hadn't been in the car at all, but I knew she was weirdly omniscient. "ALL OF YOU!"

"I'd rather just die on the spot," I muttered to Al.

"I am going to murder him," he replied grimly.

We climbed out of the car slowly, avoiding everyone's eyes. For about three whole seconds, I was glad to have James and Fred with us because they were taking it in their stride, and it drew the attention away from me and my obnoxious ginger hair.

"Get upstairs!" McGonagall hissed. "I will be with you after the feast. The password is Phoenix."

We nodded subdued and left the hall speedily. I was horribly aware of every single pair of eyes in the hall staring at my back, and then I caught sight of Malfoy's cocky smirk, and I thought I was probably going to throw up. I didn't need him to have anything else up on me, but he hadn't arrived to school in a flying fucking car, so he did. The second we were out of the hall, we started to scramble up the stairs hurriedly. I didn't have time to dwell on the fact that I'd never missed a start of term feast before.