A Gryffindor Falls For A Slytherin: The Angelic Witch and Draco Malfoy (Book 2)

The Illegal Journey

The end of the summer vacation came too quickly. William had dropped off Heroneka's trunk at the burrow, along with everything else she asked for.

On their last evening, Mrs Weasley conjured up a sumptuous dinner, ending with a mouthwatering treacle pudding. Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Filibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for the last mug of hot chocolate and bed.

It took a long while to get started the next morning. They were up at dawn, but somehow they still seemed to have a great deal to do. Mrs Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills; people kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands; and Mr Weasley nearly broke his neck, tripping over a stray chicken as he crossed the yard carrying Ginny's trunk to the car.

Mr Weasley had made some alterations in his Ford Anglia so all the Weasleys, along with Harry and Heroneka could fit in there.

"Not a word to Molly," he whispered to them as Mr Weasley opened the trunk and showed them how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily.

When at last they were all in the car, Mrs Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said, "Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" She, Heroneka, and Ginny got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?"

By the time they all got in the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high.

Mr Weasley glanced at his watch and then at his wife.

"Molly, dear--"

"No, Arthur --"

"No one would see - this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed - that'd get us up in the air - then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser--"

"I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight--"

They reached King's Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station.

They rushed to the platform. Since there were nine of them, they had to do it in pairs.

"Percy first," said Mrs Weasley, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier.

Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Mr Weasley went next; Fred and George followed.

"I'll take Ginny and you three come right after us," Mrs Weasley told Heroneka, Harry and Ron, grabbing Ginny's hand and setting off. In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

"Go on!" Heroneka was almost ready to dash behind Ron and Harry. "I'm right behind you!"

"Let's go together, we've only got a minute," Ron said to Harry.

Both of them bent low over the handles of their trolleys and walked purposefully toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, they broke into a run and--

CRASH.

"What the-" Heroneka left her trolley aside.

Both trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backwards; Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump, Harry was knocked off his feet, and Hedwig's cage bounced onto the shiny floor, and she rolled away, shrieking indignantly; people all around them stared and a guard nearby yelled, "What in blazes d'you think you're doing?"