northern stars [rosie]

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Georgie was beginning to think that she was more than a little crazy for agreeing to this. She and Rosie barely knew each other, yet here they were, sitting next to each other on an airplane, ready to cross an ocean. Georgie had spent most of the week previous packing, trying to remember all the little bits and bobs that were going to be necessary for successful transcontinental travel. It was surprisingly easy, since Georgie didn't have much by way of possessions anyways. She was a little worried about everything being able to fit into the truck that she was borrowing from her brother - and boy, had that been one of the more awkward conversations of Georgie's young adult life - but she decided not to stress too much about it. The plane was taxiing on the runway, and Georgie knew that any moment they were going to take off. She reached down for the knapsack between her feet, withdrawing a packet of gum she had purchased at a convenience store before coming to the airport, where everything was overpriced. Georgie nudged Rosie's shoulder, holding up the pack of gum. "Want any?" She asked, figuring it would be better if Rosie didn't start the trip cranky because of popping ears.

rose harriet granger-weasley

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Rosie watched out the window as the plane began to move, driving towards the runway. In the next few minutes, she would be on her way to America. She’d be spending a month exploring a new country with a girl whom she barely knew, but was excited to get to know. How the two of them had gone from not knowing each other, to agreeing to travel together, she wasn’t actually sure. It was a little foggy. But boy was she excited! Rosie had no idea what she wanted. She had no idea what to expect and she was actually a little anxious about being on her own for such a long time in a place where she had never been before. Rosie felt a nudge against her shoulder and turned her head, letting the world inside the plane come back into focus. The small blonde girl next to her was offering her a stick of gum. Rosie nodded and took one. “Yeah, thanks.” She said. “Are you excited? It’s kind of crazy isn’t it?” she said, running a hand through her long, brown hair. Rosie had never done anything like this before, but it felt good to take such a crazy step in her life.

@georgiana

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Rosie accepted her gum, which was a step in the right direction, because it brought their number of non-awkward interactions up to… one. Georgie took out a stick of gum for herself, unwrapping it carefully and shoving the wrapper into her pocket so that she could have it for later. Rosie asked if she was excited, and Georgie shrugged her shoulders noncommittally. “I’m more nervous than excited.” There were so many things to be nervous about – the fact that she was going home, the fact that she barely knew Rosie, the fact that they barely had a plan of what they were going to do – that Georgie almost didn’t have enough room to feel anything else. The plane whirred beneath them, and they began hurling down the runway, causing Georgie to pause a little, peering out the window as she watched the earth fall away beneath them as she chomped furiously on her gum. That was so weird. They were going to America, and there was no way out of it unless they wanted to skydive out of the plane or something. “Hopefully this isn’t a mistake.” Georgie muttered to no one in particular.

rose harriet granger-weasley

[Deleted]

Rosie had never in her life been so spontaneous. She had never thought of anything less. Normally, she had lists upon lists of reasons why and why not to do something, especially a major life decision like this. Dating Brandon hadn’t exactly been a list making event, but it had happened slowly and did require a lot of thought at the time. However, that was a fairly safe decision and wasn’t the same as going halfway around the world with a mostly stranger with limited funds and with no itinerary. What had she been thinking? She hadn’t been thinking. And not thinking was oddly refreshing. It was odd hearing her companion saying that she nervous but then Rosie not feeling the same way. She was oddly confident. Maybe it was because she didn’t yet know what she was actually getting into. The plane lifted up and suddenly they were off the ground. They’d be living in a big, metal tube for the next 13 hours while flying across the Atlantic ocean and finally they’d land somewhere sunny and bright. “Well maybe we can use some of this time to think about what we want to do…” Rosie suggested, taking the tourist magazine out from the seat back pocket in front of her. “I’ve always wanted to go to Disneyland!” she admitted, hoping that maybe a distraction would help the girl next to her.

@georgiana

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Rosie said that they could use some of the time on the plan to think about what they wanted to do, and Georgie nodded her agreement. They’d be landing in Myrtle Beach, and then driving wherever they wanted to go, so knowing where they wanted to go would help keep them from spending too much time driving, since they could plan their route to hit all of the places they wanted to go. Rosie took one of the magazines out of the seatback pocket, and, against her better judgement, Georgie leaned over to look at it. “That’s across the country from where we’re landing.” She reminded Rosie. “We’d have to stop places along the way so that we aren’t just driving for five days straight.” Georgie honestly didn’t know as much about America as she would have liked, so what exactly they could do in the middle, she had no clue. “You know, we’re going to be there for Independence Day…” Georgie said slowly. “Would you want to visit D.C. to see the fireworks?” That would be fun, Georgie thought, and definitely less work than driving all the way to California right out of the gate.

rose harriet granger-weasley

[Deleted]

Disneyland was across the country - of course. Rosie was already getting ahead of herself. Getting on the airplane in the first place had been getting ahead of herself. Deciding to go on the trip had been getting ahead of herself. Never in her life had she been so spontaneous. But she was already flying over England, and soon they’d be flying over the ocean. There was really no turning back now, and Rosie wanted to embrace the spontaneity. Georgie, who knew more about American than Rosie did, brought up that they would be there over a major American Holiday, Independence Day. Georgie brought up going to Washington D.C for the firework display and Rosie nodded, “Yeah - D.C is the capital of the country, right? So I can imagine that there’s a big display there. Let’s go! Is it very far from Myrtle Beach?” she asked. Rosie set the magazine down, and instead, pulled the road map of the USA that she had bought in the airport terminal before they boarded the plane. She began to unfold it over the two of them so she could get a better idea of where everything was. “So we land...here…” Rosie said, finding and putting her finger on Myrtle Beach on the map.

@georgiana

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Georgie nodded when Rosie asked if D.C. was the capital of the United States, feeling a little weird at answering such a basic question. The other Hufflepuff was right in saying that there was a big display, though if she was honest, she was pretty sure that every major city had some sort of fireworks display. In the South, there were also plenty of people who shot off fireworks in their own backyards. Rosie brought out a map she had got at the airport terminal, and managed to find Myrtle Beach on the map, pointing at the map. “Yup. My brother said we can use his car, so we just have to get a taxi there…” Georgie said, though that information was mostly irrelevant. “This is where D.C. is.” Georgie said, jabbing a spot that was north of Myrtle beach. “This is Disneyland, by the way.” The blonde added, poking a part of the map that was close-ish to where Disneyland would be, though not the exact city. The distance seemed even larger on the map, and Georgie wondered if they were crazy to try to get across the whole country and back again in a month.

rose harriet granger-weasley

[Deleted]

They were in the air. This was happening. Rosie’s mind kept realizing that suddenly as she looked about her and as she spoke with the blonde girl sitting next to her. She was on her way to America. And they had no plan to speak of. This was crazy. Totally crazy. As they looked at the map that Rosie pulled out, Georgie explained that they were going to go pick up her brothers truck, but first they had to take a taxi from the airport. “I don’t know how to drive…” Rosie admitted, wondering why she hadn't thought of that before. Was Georgie old enough to drive? Was there some charm that would make the car drive itself? Was it easy enough to just learn? Gosh the Hufflepuff had so many questions. Georgie then continued to point out landmarks and Rosie felt her chest go tight, she was getting very overwhelmed by the vastness of this country. She loved her little Island. And her entire island was smaller than most of the single states in America were. “We’re going to drive all the way around this?” they had a month. An entire month. It was possible, but was it too crazy? “We should try to figure out a route.” Rosie insisted, pulling a few pencils out of her bag also.

@georgiana

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Rosie admitted that she didn’t know how to drive, and Georgie had to take a deep breath to keep from snapping. It was okay – driving couldn’t be that hard, right? There was just the gas pedal and the brake. As long as they stayed on the back roads, it would be easy to keep them both from dying… Georgie hoped. Maybe she knew more about driving than Rosie did? But Georgie was obviously pretty young – she was worried that the police would stop them, and while Rosie was old enough to use magic legally, Georgie would rather not have to Obliviate any police officers. That could get them in a ton of trouble with MACUSA, and Georgie was already not the biggest fan of the American magical government. Rosie asked if they were going to drive all the way across the country, and Georgie nodded. “If you want to go to Disneyland, that’s where Disneyland is.” They could Apparate, but that kind of took all the fun out of a road trip. Rosie said that they should try to figure out a route, and Georgie had to suppress a sigh. She didn’t like having to plan everything. “Interstate 95 is a straight shot from Myrtle Beach to Washington D.C. And we can take that up to New York City.” That kind of went against the whole ‘back roads’ thing Georgie had been considering, but it was a lot simpler than having to swirl their way through the countryside to get to the same destination.

rose harriet granger-weasley

[Deleted]

Rosie heard the blonde girl next to her take a deep breath, and Rosie blinked. She didn’t want to upset her travel companion, especially since they were now trapped together for the next month at least. Maybe this really had been a bad idea. Maybe she should have brought someone whom she knew better and was more comfortable with. Maybe Georgie was too much for her. Maybe she was too much for Georgie. Oh well, it was too late for those kinds of thoughts. They were over the ocean now. Georgie pointed out Disneyland on the map, literally the opposite side. Rosie nodded, slowly. “Okay, well, we’ll see if we get there, then.” honestly, if she didn’t get to go to Disneyland on this trip, she was sure there would be another trip. Or, she could go to Disneyland Paris, which was a lot closer and a lot cheaper to get to on any given weekend. “Yeah that sounds good. And then from New York, it looks like we could either keep going North, or just cut and go West?” she suggested, “maybe we can see which one c-calls to us?” she stuttered, that sentence going against her every nature. But this trip was all about being spontaneous and going wherever the wind took her. “Unless you have a strong preference?” she added. Washington DC and New York city were both very big, important places and deserved to be stops along their trip, Rosie thought. But besides a few other big named cities, she didn’t do much. She hadn’t done any research besides buying this map.

@georgiana