survivor | HARRY POTTER

-Chapter 3-

"I'm tired and I want to die." Was all that Alyssa said when Harry asked her what was wrong the next morning. She had barely even closed her eyes before Mrs Weasley game toddling it at stupid o'clock in the morning proclaiming loudly that they needed to get up and start getting ready for the Cup.

Harry chuckled in understanding and glanced out of the window, wincing when he saw that it was still dark. It must have been around four in the morning. They were all sat around the breakfast table, (all meaning Alyssa, Harry, Jess, Ron, Millie, Fred, and George.), and a heavy silence hung over them, a cloud of tiredness snatching away conversation and casting a spell of grogginess over those there. Mrs Weasley was stirring the contents of a large pot on the stove, looking completely wide awake and humming a small tune beneath her breath, while Mr Weasley was sat at the scrubbed table beside Ron, checking a large sheaf of colourful parchment tickets.

"Mr Weasley, what are you wearing?" Millie asked as she cast her gaze over the man, who was proudly dressed in what appeared to be an inside-out golfing jumper and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt that looked like something a cowboy would wear.

"What d'you think?" He asked anxiously, standing up so that the others at the table could inspect his questionable choice of clothing. "We're supposed to go incognito - do I look like a Muggle, Harry?" He turned to Harry, who was the closest Muggle-raised teenager there, and grinned at him expectantly.

"Uh - yeah. Very good." Harry nodded. When Mr Weasley nodded approvingly and sat himself back down, Harry shot a grimace at Alyssa, who scoffed and rolled her eyes. She was dressed in something much more 'incognito' than Arthur, having settled for a pair of ripped denim jean-shorts and a black halter top that had the words 'don't talk to me' engraved on the front.

"Where're Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" Jess asked, failing to stifle a huge yawn. She turned her face into Fred's jumper, grumbling and shaking her head when he chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to rub her back.

"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" Mrs Weasley said, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."

"No fair." Millie grumbled, dropped her face down onto the table with a loud smack. Red, who was perched precariously on her shoulder, hopped down to sit on the back of her head, one of its twig-like paws poking her hair repeatedly as she swatted him away without lifting her face up.

"So, they're still in bed?" George asked grumpily, pulling a bowl of porridge forwards and pushing it in front of Jess, who glared at it out of the corner of her eye with her face still pressed into Fred's chest. She was surrounded by his warmth and smell and she found herself gradually being lulled back to sleep by the steady beating of his heart and the soothing circles being rubbed onto her back. "Why can't we apparate too?"

"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test."

"You have to pass a test to apparate?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh, yes." Mr Weasley nodded as he tucked the tickets safely back into the large pocket of his oversized jeans. "The Department of Magical Transportation had to fine a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a licence. It's not easy, Apparition, and when it's not done properly it can lead to nasty complications. This pair I'm talking about went and splinched themselves."

The Weasley's and Alyssa winced collectively, whereas Harry, Millie, and Jess frowned in confusion. "Er - splinched?" Harry asked, turning to Alyssa, who let out a small laugh at the bewildered expression on his face.

"They left half of themselves behind. They would have been stuck. When you splinch yourself, you can't move either way."

"Exactly." Mr Weasley nodded. "Had to wait for the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair bit of paperwork, I can tell you, what with Muggles who spotted body parts they'd left behind."