Emily Potter - Book 5 - Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 16 - Hogwarts Express

Emily had been having troubled nights of sleep ever since that incident with the Boggart, her nightmares had become more so vivid than before. Her parents wove in and out of her dreams, never reaching out to her nor saying a word; Mrs. Weasley sobbed over her own dead body as well as her brother's and her sons and husband, and yet again Emily found herself in the stone pit with the wrecked ancient arc. She awoke abruptly with her scar stinging her neck to find her brother, sitting over at the end of her bed with the same pained expression done by the scar.

There was a lot of commotion in the house. From what she heard as she dressed at top speed, Emily gathered that Fred and George had bewitched their trunks to fly downstairs to save the bother of carrying them, with the result that they had hurtled straight into Ginny and knocked her down two flights of stairs into the hall; Mrs. Black and Mrs. Weasley were both screaming at the top of their voices. "— COULD HAVE DONE HER A SERIOUS INJURY, YOU IDIOTS —"

"— FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS —"

Hermione came hurrying into the room looking flustered just as Emily was putting on her coat; Hedwig was swaying on her shoulder, and she was carrying a squirming Crookshanks in her arms, "Mum and Dad just sent Hedwig back," Said Hermione as the owl fluttered obligingly over and perched on top of her cage, "Are you ready yet?"

"Does it look like we're bloody ready?" Emily muttered under her breath, making it difficult for Hermione to hear her.

"Nearly — Is Ginny all right?" Harry spoke up instead, shoving on his glasses.

"Mrs. Weasley's patched her up," said Hermione, "But now Mad-Eye's complaining that we can't leave unless Sturgis Podmore is here, otherwise the guard will be one short."

"Guard?" said Harry.

Emily buttoned the cuffs of her gloves, an eyebrow raised, "We have to go to King's Cross with a guard?"

"You have to go to King's Cross with a guard," Hermione corrected her, "Both of you, actually."

"Why?" said Harry quite irritably, "I thought Voldemort was supposed to be lying low, or are you telling me he's going to jump out from behind a dustbin to try and do us in?"

"I don't know, it's just what Mad-Eye says," said Hermione distractedly, looking at her watch. "But if we don't leave soon we're definitely going to miss the train. ..."

"WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!" Mrs. Weasley bellowed and Hermione jumped as though poked with a branding iron and hurried out of the room. Harry seized Hedwig, stuffed her unceremoniously into her cage, and set off downstairs after Hermione, dragging his trunk followed by Emily with her own caged owl and trunk. Mrs. Black's portrait was howling with rage but nobody was bothering to close the curtains over her; all the noise in the hall was bound to rouse her again anyway.

"Harry, Emily, you're to come with me and Tonks," shouted Mrs. Weasley over the repeated screeches from Mrs. Black, "Leave your trunk and your owl, Alastor's going to deal with the luggage. Oh, for heaven's sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said no!" She said as she saw that a bearlike black dog had appeared at Harry's side as he clambered over the various trunks cluttering the hall to get to Mrs. Weasley, "Oh honestly ..." said Mrs. Weasley despairingly, "Well, on your own head be it!" She wrenched open the front door and stepped out into the weak September sunlight. The twins and the dog followed her. The door slammed behind them and Mrs. Black's screeches were cut off instantly to their relief.

"Where's Tonks?" Emily asked, looking around as they went down the stone steps of number twelve, which vanished the moment they reached the pavement. "She's waiting for us just up here," said Mrs. Weasley stiffly, averting her eyes from the lolloping black dog beside Harry. An old woman greeted them on the corner. She had tightly curled gray hair and wore a purple hat shaped like a porkpie, "Wotcher, Harry," she said, winking, "Better hurry up, hadn't we, Molly?" she added, checking her watch.