the badger and the lion.

Left Behind

The groaning of the taxi engine chugged under you as it sped towards Kings Cross station on Monday morning. George sat up front with the driver, and you and Fred occupied the back seats. You noticed the car struggled a lot more than the cars you were used to, and realised the weight of the three trunks in the boot and part of the back seat weighed it down immensely.

As you stared at the buildings rushing past you against the rain drops on the window, you tried to piece together the events of this morning. You had woken up earlier than you planned to the spatter of rain on Ginny's window, which refused to let you get back to sleep. You accepted that you were now awake, and crept down to the kitchen, and were met with a fright in the living room. Fred was sitting slumped in one of the couches, shrouded in darkness and he snored quietly. He jumped awake when he heard your footsteps, and you giggled at his reaction. He came out here because he couldn't sleep either - the rain was hammering loudly on the roof, and the ghoul in the attic was especially rampant in the night. You sat next to him, and leaned your head on his shoulder as he spread the blanket on his lap over you. He began to groggily apologise for not spending a lot of time with you this week. You told him that it was okay, and that you understood how busy he was. Jokingly, you said that to make up for it he had to spend every minute with you next term, but he didn't seem to feel obligated by this - he said that it wouldn't be a bad thing. You managed to fall asleep again, thinking about what he meant by that last statement, and woke up to the sound of people coming down the stairs a few hours later, cooing as they saw you two snuggled up together. You were both embarrassed, but everyone seemed to have forgotten by breakfast. You also remembered Amos Diggory's face appearing in the fireplace as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley rushed around the house before he was off to work. He mentioned something about Mad Eye Moody, the infamous auror, being broken into, but Mr. Weasley didn't seem too fussed about it until Mr. Diggory mentioned Mad Eye's new job, which sounded important. Mr. Diggory then left with a helping of toast from Mrs. Weasley, and Mr. Weasley left for work, wishing you all the best for the new term.

Before you knew it, you had pulled up to Kings Cross Station, and the rain began to set in again. You opened the door of the taxi, and stepped out onto the cobblestone path, pulling the hood of your jumper up over your head, and waited while the driver opened the boot. He looked slightly wide-eyed as he stared at Beetle, who was alert in your arms, and let you take your things out. After this morning, where Fred's trunk accidentally opened as the driver grabbed it and his collection of wet-start, no-heat fireworks started to explode out of it, you realised that this would be best for everyone. He was also extremely quiet for most of the ride, even as George sat in the front and asked him endless questions about his car.

After George grabbed his trunk, the driver slammed the boot shut, and climbed into the front seat, taking off as quickly as he could.

"He was a bit weird," Fred said, watching the taxi speed off into the distance.

"Oh definitely," George said. "Not the people with owls and cats and exploding suitcases. He was the weird one."

Bill and Charlie came over to you to help you get your cases over the curb, and onto some trolleys they managed to find. You then began to push yours towards the station entrance, following Mrs. Weasley as she rushed through with Ginny by her side. You couldn't recognise anyone else with Hogwarts cases or caged owls, and you knew that your group was sticking out like sore thumbs amongst the hundreds of business people moving around you. You tried not to draw attention to yourself, but the loud trolleys behind you and Pigwidgeon, Ron's new owl, squawking in his cage didn't help.

"Will you keep that thing quiet?" Hermione asked him through her teeth.

"He doesn't listen to me!" Ron said defensively.