Fire And Ice - Yin and Yang (Harry Potter fanfiction)

Santa Claus is coming...to town

The end of the summer vacation came too quickly for Azalea's liking. She was looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts, but her month at the Burrow had been the happiest of her life. It was difficult not to feel jealous of Ron when she thought of the Dursleys and the sort of welcome she could expect next time she turned up on Privet Drive.

Probably not a nice one, considered she'd melted the bars on her window.

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

It took a long while to get started 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.

The morning was a mess. Three times they had to turn the car around to get something someone had forgotten. By the time they were on their way, everyone was in a tense mood.

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.

"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 Azalea, Periwinkle and Ron, grabbing Ginny's hand and setting off. In the blink of an eye they were gone.

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

Azalea made sure that Seze's cage was safely wedged on top of her trunk and wheeled her trolley around to face the barrier. She felt perfectly confident; this wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as using Floo powder. All three 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!

All trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump, Periwinkle was knocked off her feet, and Seze'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?"

"Lost control of the trolley", Azalea gasped, clutching her ribs as she got up. Ron ran to pick up Seze, who was causing such a scene that there was a lot of muttering about cruelty to animals from the surrounding crowd. Atlas did not make a sound, but she glared icily at Periwinkle.

"Why can't we get through?", Azalea hissed to Ron.

"I dunno -"

Ron looked wildly around. A dozen curious people were still watching them.
"We're going to miss the train", he whispered. "I don't understand why the gateway's sealed itself -"

Periwinkle looked up at the giant clock with a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. Ten seconds ... nine seconds ...
She wheeled her trolley forward cautiously until it was right against the barrier and pushed with all her might. The metal remained solid.
Three seconds ... two seconds ... one second ...