Bella and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter Five

Renee woke me up the next morning with a smile and a cup of tea. I got dressed, brushed my teeth and hair, and was just trying to persuade an unhappy Hetty to get back into her cafe when Harry and Ron banged their way into my room. Harry was cleaning his glasses whilst Ron was pulling a sweatshirt over his head and looked irritable.

"The sooner we get on the train, the better," Ron said as I was shoving my hair into a messy bun. "At least I can get away from Percy at Hogwarts. Now he's accusing me of dripping tea on his photo of Penelope Clearwater. You know," Ron grimaced, "his girlfriend. She's hidden her face under the frame because he nose has gone all blotchy..."

Harry looked at me and just by looking into his eyes I could tell he was still thinking about what we heard last night. We still haven't spoken about to one another, and we haven't mentioned it to Ron or Hermione. And judging by the look he was giving me, I knew he wanted to tell Ron right now. I sighed and nodded. 

"We've got something to tell you," Harry began, gesturing to me, but we were interrupted by Fred and George, who had looked in to congratulate Ron on infuriating Percy again.

"Is my room suddenly a meeting place for you Weasley's?" I ask, smiling. 

I've got to admit, I'm kind of thankful that Fred and George interrupted Harry. Dealing with Ron's anger and Hermione's surprise first thing in a morning is something I don't want. 

We headed down to breakfast, where Mr Weasley was reading the front page of the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow and Mrs Weasley was telling Hermione and Ginny about a Love Potion she'd made as a young girl. All of them were rather giggly. I glared at the back of Ginny's head. I hope she's not planning on making one for Harry!

"What were you saying?" Ron asked Harry as we sat down. 

"Later," Harry muttered, as Percy stormed in looking rather unhappy.

Myself or Harry never had the chance to speak to Ron or Hermione in the chaos of leaving; we were too busy heaving all our trunks down the Leaky Cauldron's narrow staircase and piling them up near the door, with Hedwig, Hetty, and Hermes, Percy's screech owl, perched on top in their cages. A small wickerwork basket stood beside the heap of the trunks, spitting loudly.

"It's all right, Crookshanks," Hermione cooed through the wickerwork. "I'll let you out on the train"

"You won't," Ron snapped. "What about poor Scabbers, eh?"

He pointed at his chest, where a large lump indicated that Scabbers was curled up in his pocket. 

Mr Weasley, who had been outside waiting for the Ministry cars, stuck his head inside.

"They're here," he said. "Bella, Harry, come on"

Mr Weasley marched me and Harry across the short stretch of pavement towards the first of two old-fashioned dark green cars, each of which was driven by a furtive-looking wizard, wearing a suit of emerald velvet. 

"In you get," Mr Weasley said, glancing up and down the crowded street. 

I climbed in the car first, followed by Harry. We were then shortly joined by Hermione, Ron and, to Ron's disgust, Percy.

The journey to King's Cross was very uneventful. The Ministry of Magic cars seemed almost ordinary, though I noticed that they could slide through gaps that I knew Charlie's car couldn't have managed. We reached King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare; the Ministry drivers found us trolleys, unloaded our trunks, touched their hats to Mr Weasley and drove away, somehow managing to jump to the head of an unmoving queue for the traffic lights.