Star-Crossed

Chapter Thirty-Three: Flying to Hogwarts

In the car park of King's Cross station, the blue Ford Angelia was parked and waiting among a sea of other vehicles as the group of us, Harry and I and the rest of the Weasleys were absolutely rushing to make it to the platform in time.

We were running a bit late. Well, perhaps more than a bit. It had taken a while to get all of us packed in and ready this morning. I was thankful for Mr Weasley's quick use of the expanding charm on the car so all of us were able to fit.

"Ten-Fifty-eight," Mr Weasley was huffing nervously, "Come on, come on!"

"Train will be leaving any moment!" Mrs Weasley fretted, nearly dragging Ginny alongside her as she pushed her cart.

The rest of us were huffing and puffing as we ran along with our own carts of things. We finally arrived at the pillar between Platforms nine and ten and Mr Weasley wasted no time.

"Fred, George, Percy, you first." He urged, waving the three eldest boys along, and in that exact order, all three of them raced headfirst through the portal.

Mrs Weasley patted Ginny's back as she began to look rather nervous, "Okay," But the youngest of the Weasleys shoved her cart forward without another though, her mother rushing behind her and they both dove through.

Mr Weasley went as well, "After you dear," He gestured to his wife as she ducked in and then he vanished right after, leaving Harry, Ron and I on our own.

On the other side, all of the Weasleys were rushing onto the train that was gearing up to pull from the station, leaving the rest of us with very little time to board.

"Come on, Gin, we'll get you a seat," Mr Weasly pushed her along, "Hurry!" and they jogged off.

"Let's go," I decided back on the muggle end of the barrier.

Ron and Harry both nodded as we took off running toward the wall. However, instead of passing directly through, I slammed into the inexplicably solid brick wall, sending Harry and Ron crashing behind me.

I gasped as I fell flat onto the ground, part of Ron's cart stabbing into my back. That was for sure going to be a bruise later.

A station agent raced over, the very same man Harry and I had seen a year ago, having noticed the accident speaking to another woman over near platform ten. He approached us, arms crossed as the three of us stood back up, groaning and rubbing various sore spots on our bodies.

"Oy!" He shouted, "What d'you three think you're doing?"

Harry spoke up, apologising, "Sorry lo-lost control of the trollies."

The agent sighed deeply, shaking his head as he walked away, returning to the frantic woman he was speaking to before.

I loosed a breath, still grimacing as I rubbed at my back, "Why can't we get through?"

"I don't know," Ron shook his head, touching the wall and finding it still sealed shut, "The gateway's sealed for some reason."

I jumped slightly when the large clock hanging in the middle of the station chimed loudly, "The train leaves exactly at eleven o'clock. We've missed it!"

Ron looked up at the clock in horror, "Guys...if we can't get through, maybe mum and dad can't get back..."

Harry paced back and forth, trying his best to think of what we could do, "Maybe we should just go and wait next to the car."

The sound of Harry's suggestion had Ron pausing in his tracks as he picked up his things, "The car..." He mused, straightening back up.

Both Harry and I looked back up at our friend, curious as to what he was considering in that head of his.

Not too long after, in the car park the Ford Angelia was lifting off of the ground and into the air. Ron was in the driver's seat as Harry was sitting in the passenger seat again. I was in the backseat, Hedwig and Signy behind me.

Down below us, a random muggle man was staring up at us in confusion as he watched the car soar over him.

"Erm, Ron." I called, leaning up into the middle of the two seats, "I should probably tell you most muggles aren't accustomed to seeing a flying car..."

"Uh, right," Ron sputtered and pushed in a red button and the car shifted out of sight, shielding us from the view of any other gaping pedestrians below.

We were soaring out of London in no time, and about thirty minutes later we were flying over the rolling alps of the countryside on the way to Hogwarts. We were all keeping our eyes peeled for the Hogwarts Express, trying to follow the train tracks.

Then out of the blue, the car stuttered and the invisibility wore off, revealing us to the world once again.

"Oh, no!" Ron cried out, "The invisibility booster must be faulty!" He whined in annoyance.

"Well come on then, let's go lower. We need to catch up with the train." Harry suggested and Ron nodded, steering the car down toward the tracks.

We came to a steady hover above the tracks as I kept my attention sharp around us as we started to come across a bridge connecting two sides of the tracks over a deep valley.

"Now all we need to do is catch up to the train," I remarked simply.

Ron smiled softly, nodding, "We can't be too far behind."

A train whistle broke through the quiet a little further in the distance. But somehow, it sounded as though it was coming from behind us.

"Do you hear that?" I mused, straightening up to look around through the back windows.

Ron's lips pursed as he craned his neck to peer into the rear-view mirror, "We must be getting close."

Harry sat up straighter, having had a realisation, "Hold on..."

His thought flashed over to me and panic leaped into my throat as I finally noticed the train creeping up on us from behind, "Ron!" I shouted in warning.

Ron and Harry both spun around and noticed the same thing I had, both boys screaming bloody murder as Ron desperately pulled on the steering wheel. Both Hedwig and Signy hooted in fright as we just narrowly missed getting rammed by the front of the Hogwarts Express.

We dipped and turned uncontrollably as Ron shakily steered us to where we were now above the train on the bridge. But Harry's door and it's obviously faulty lock swung open, causing my brother to nearly go tumbling out of the side of the vehicle.

"Harry!" Ron and I both bellowed in panic, voices cracking.

"Hold on, Has!" I cried out, diving over the centre console and into the passenger seat to grasp his flailing free hand as he held on for dear life to the door handle.

"Take my hand!" I ordered, reaching for him as far as I could without diving out of the car myself. Ron was holding onto my ankle with one hand, trying to find a good hold through the thick denim of the slightly too big pair of pants I'd donned this morning.

Harry's hand shook as we locked fingers for a moment, but his promptly slipped right back out of mine. I gritted my teeth, jaw clenching as I reached harder, shrieking when Ron's grip faltered on my leg and I took a bit of a slide, my stomach doing flips as the plummet seemed to wobble back and forth below me.

"Ron, I swear, if you let me go-" I threatened, peering back at him for a moment, my eyes stone cold.

The ginger Weasley's head shook violently, "I won't, I'm sorry, my hand's all sweaty!"

"Hold on, Has!" I turned back and grasped my brother's hand again as he shouted back, "I'm trying! Your hands' all sweaty too!

Finally, we managed to get a good enough grip on each other and I yanked him back into the car. He slammed the door shut, fitting in next to me on the passenger seat. It was slightly squished, but after that, I'm not sure either of us really cared all that much.

"I think we found the train." I remarked, breathless as all of us stared wide-eyed in front of us, in shock.

"Yeah..." Both Ron and Harry breathed out.