Work Text:
The end of the war didn't go the way that everyone thought it would. Harry Potter managed to defeat Voldemort, but not before he had already conquered England and most of Europe. Unfortunately, instead of things going back to the way they were before and the resistance starting to rebuild their governments, the death of the Dark Lord left a power vacuum that no one seemed to be able to fill, not even the Golden Trio.
The years after Voldemort's defeat were more chaotic than during the war. The resistance turned on itself and what was left of the Death Eaters went wild. Neville Longbottom had the pleasure of taking down Bellatrix but not before she had gone on a killing spree across Europe, killing no less than 73 muggles.
Muggle governments were not happy. They refused to cooperate with wizards any longer and sought to eradicate the threat from their midst. Muggle government pulled on alliances like NATO and the EU to band together. As most muggle weapons were far more advanced than simple spells, this did not bode well for wizards. Truthfully, once the countries with large nuclear arsenals got involved, it didn't bode well for anyone.
When the dust cleared, the muggles had won, but barely. The wizards that could, set up hidden fortified areas where the muggles couldn't find them. Some went underground, literally, into abandoned railway stations while others fortified magical buildings that had survived the war. Wizards that weren't as lucky were assimilated into muggle culture--given collars that restricted magic--essentially making them squibs. Muggle-born children were subjected to the same treatment. And while no one could say this way of life was good, most everyone was glad wixen weren't being burned at the stake.
Rose Granger-Weasley knew all of these facts in great detail. She was often compared to her mother for her studiousness. So, Rose knew the consequences of going along with her cousin's hair-brained scheme, but she couldn't deny she wanted to see the ocean.
It was Lily Potter's birthday, and her greatest wish was to go to the beach. James and Albus knew their parents would never agree, so they'd come up with a plan to sneak out and steal a car. Somehow, Rose and Hugo had been roped into helping.
Actually, Rose knew exactly how she had gotten roped into this mess.
James wasn't old enough to Apparate, much less transport four other people, so Rose was needed to help hotwire one of the abandoned cars outside the compound. Things were kind of boring when the only place you were allowed to go was about 3 square miles. So Rose had read every book in the compound's library twice. Lucky for James, one of those books was a manual on cars, and it included information on how their wiring worked. They'd have to try to find a Volkswagen or hope that most cars were made the same way, as the manual Rose had read was focused on VW Beetles.
Rose packed all the essentials the night before suntan lotion, a towel, ratty clothes she could swim in, and her wand. They made a plan to leave just before dawn when no one would notice them missing. They had each told their parents that they would be spending the night at the other's house with no adult being any wiser.
The party for Lily was planned that weekend and Merlin willing, they'd all be back in the compound by the end of the day before anyone noticed them gone.
James was yawning when she walked up, dragging Hugo behind her. Albus was leaning casually against the closed entrance way and Lily could barely contain her happy giggles.
The Potter boys straightened up at her approach, "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" He asked with his signature smirk, something the girls in the compound went crazy over but Rose couldn't understand at all.
Rose, never a morning person, gripped her coffee tighter and just grunted in affirmation.
The group snuck out through a hidden entrance in the wall that led to a tube station and then up to the ground level. When they finally remerged, the sun was just peeking over the horizon. Everyone took a moment to study their surroundings; no one had ever been outside the compound before.
"Well, I thought it would be bigger," Albus groused.
James cuffed his brother in the back of the head. "We're surrounded by buildings you git."
Rose chose to ignore their usual brotherly bickering in favor of finding them a usable car. To her surprise and delight a butter yellow 2004 Volkswagen Beetle lay just across the street from the tube station, and it was a convertible. She went to work on unlocking the car door, testing her skills before inevitably giving up and resorting to a muttered alohamora. Hotwiring the car wasn't nearly as hard and she had it up and running in no time.
James and Albus were still bickering when she was done. "Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to get in?"
James rushed to get in the driver's seat while Rose called shotgun. Hugo, Lily, and Albus were stuck in the back.
"No let me see..." Rose hummed to herself looking for the latch that would put the car's top down. When she finally found it she let out a triumphant, "Aha!" and the black car top neatly folded behind her brother and cousins in the back seat.
James was staring awestruck at her. "What are you waiting for? Don't you have a nickname to live up to?"
Rose was referring to James' self-proclaimed "speed demon" title. James grinned and threw the car into drive.
Their destination was about an hour and a half outside London, following the River Thames. Rose brought along a map and her knowledge of the point me spell, and when the A20 took them away from the river, she was able to guide James in the right direction.
They were blessed with a sunny day, and although the radio dials on the Beetle no longer worked, they found an abandoned neon pink iPod in the glove compartment. The iPod was filled with songs from every era, from Ella Fitzgerald to James Taylor to Lady Gaga.
The beach they found themselves at wasn't as glorious as the beaches they'd seen displayed in muggle films and TV shows, but it seemed to please Lily, and that was all that mattered. After thoroughly lathering themselves in suntan lotion, they set into the waves, laughing and splashing and passing the afternoon by. Rose had never felt so carefree. There was no apocalypse hanging over her and no expectations to live up to.
When the sun was getting low in the sky, they decided to start packing it in. After packing up all their belongings, Rose double-checked the fuel tank and was happy to find a quarter of a tank still left. Lily was so preoccupied with her preparations that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching her.
"You there!" A voice sounded behind her. She jumped and bumped her head on the car's doorframe. "This is a restricted area!" The same voice called.
James and Albus had gathered up Lily and Hugo at the noise and were slowly moving to where Rose was standing near the car.
"I'm sorry, Sir. We didn't know," Lily responded politely. "We'll be going now."
"Not so fast. We need to see your identification."
Rose shared a look with James knowing they didn't have any muggle form of identification.
"Okay," James placated holding his hands up. "Do you mind if I just put the little ones in the car? They're rather tired," James gestured to Lily and Hugo who yawned on queue.
The burly men shifted their stances and fingered their guns but nodded in assent. James quickly ushered Lily, Hugo, and Albus who was slinking by unnoticed into the back seat. Rose went around the passenger side and looked in the glove box as if their identification would be in there, her heart pounding a mile a minute.
James continued to chat up the muggle officers as Rose tried to think of a plan. Her wand was hidden away in a bag in the backseat, and she cursed her stupidity of leaving it there. Struggling for time, she pulled a few random bits of paper out of the glove compartment and handed them over to the officers.
Just as they took them, James shouted, "Now!" And she bolted into the front seat as James tore away from the beach to the sound of screeching tires.
The muggles struggled to gain their barring's but managed to get a shot off, that hit James in the shoulder. The car stalled for a moment as James groaned in pain.
"Albus!" Rose screeched pulling her cousin into her lap. "You have to drive! I'll try to heal James."
Albus climbed into the front seat and pushed his brother further into Rose's lap.
"I don't know how!" he cried.
Rose checked the rearview mirror to see the muggle men had gotten in their car and were starting toward them. "Left to go, right to brake! Just go!" She shouted at him.
Albus floored it and they were off. Rose looked up every now and then to bark a direction at Albus, whose driving was admittedly much worse than James. Rose's healing skills weren't as good as she had hoped, and she had only just managed to stop James' bleeding with spells and her hands.
The muggles were keeping pace behind them quite easily, and Rose wondered if she should have offered to drive. Lily and Hugo were crying silently in the back seat, the wind whipping their tears away. As they neared London, it became clear that whatever gas was left in their tank was not going to make it all the way.
Albus was screaming and crying while holding down the gas pedal and Rose just continued to shout "Keep going!" They were so close when everything went sideways. Albus whipped the car around to the right, but he was too close to the nearest building and the tail of the VW Beetle hit the corner causing the car to fly into a tailspin.
When they came to, the car was sideways, Albus was unconscious, Hugo had been thrown from the car, and Rose had only been saved by James' body.
"Albus," She called trying to wake the boy. His forehead was split open and leaking an obscene amount of blood. "Albus!" She screeched.
She hyperventilated but when she saw the muggles approaching their car, she called upon every happy memory she had to cast a Patronus to her mother.
"Help!" She screamed. "We need help!" She urged the monkey Patronus off towards the compound and prayed it would reach them in time.
Within minutes, but what felt like years, three cracks of Appritation sounded, and Rose heard the sound of her mother, father, and uncle casting spells against the offending muggles. Knowing she was safe, she passed out.