An Unbreakable Vow ~ Harry Potter

iii - in which they fly a car to hogwarts

Valerie looked nervously around, humming in anticipation. After the long break, she would finally see her friends again. She had gotten pretty close to Harry and Ron, albeit Hermione studiously being distant to her.

She waved when Harry and Ron approached her, grinning, which was a sight compared to the rest of the family, frantically rushing towards the platform. She could hear Mrs. Weasley.

"Percy first."

The boy strolled casually over to the wall at platform nine, walking through it easily and disappearing into thin air.

Harry and Ron ran over to her side, huffing and puffing.

"Mum whined the entire time here," Ron complained, rolling the luggage carrier to a stop. "'We're late! We'll be late! Ronald Bilius Weasley, get over here!'"

Valerie put the back of her hand to her mouth to muffle a laugh and turned her head discreetly towards Mrs. Weasley. Harry chuckled and took her hand off of her mouth, sticking his tongue out, which caused them both to burst out laughing.

Ron looked a bit perplexed. "Was my impression that good?" he scratched his head.

The two couldn't answer, because they were both trying to look away from each other. They started giggling furiously if they made eye contact.

"Children! I'll take Ginny and you come right after us, okay?" Mrs. Weasley addressed them, one hand gripping Ginny's shoulder and the other holding tightly onto her luggage.

They all nodded and watched as Mrs. Weasley and Ginny walked through the wall of the station. In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

"Let's all go together, we've only got a minute," Ron said to Harry and Valerie.

Valerie helped Harry nestle Hedwig's on top of his trunk and wheeled her own trolley around to face the barrier. They were all pretty confident, knowing what to do this year.

Valerie steeled herself and walked low toward the barrier next to the two boys, picking up speed, and then started running —

CRASH.

All three trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump, knocking Valerie's books to the ground, Harry was knocked off his feet, and Hedwig's cage bounced onto the shiny floor, and she rolled away, shrieking indignantly; people all around them stared and a guard nearby yelled, "What in blazes d'you think you're doing?"

"Just lost control of the trolley," Valerie answered, throwing a look over her shoulder as she ran to help Harry up. He was clutching his ribs and moaning something about them being broken, and she scoffed. "Glad you still have your sense of humour."

Ron ran to pick up Hedwig, who had made such a fuss that the muggles at the station were murmuring something about animal cruelty.

"Why can't we get through?" Harry hissed to Ron.

"I dunno —"

Valerie shook Ron's arm and forcefully whispered, "get it through your thick skull and think! The train's gonna close soon!" She was painfully aware of the muggles still watching curiously.

Harry pressed his trolley carefully against the wall of the barrier and pushed. Nothing. "It's gone, the train's gone," He said hollowly.

"D'you have any muggle money?" Ron asked, earning a smack on the arm from Valerie. "Ow! What did I —"

Harry grimaced. "The Dursleys haven't given me pocket money for about six years."

"Oh! What are we going to do?" Ron complained. "I don't know how long it'll take Mum and Dad to get back to us."

"We should probably go wait by the car —" Valerie started, before being cut off by Ron.

"Of course! The car! We can take that to Hogwarts!"

"But I thought —"

"Oh, c'mon. I think in Article something or other it mentions that magic can be used in emergencies."

"But —"

"C'mon,Valerie! Harry?"

Harry sighed and pushed his glasses up on his face. Valerie noticed they were broken and muttered a short Oculus Reparo under her breath, mouthing a "don't mention it" when he looked at her curiously and touched the now-repaired frames.

Valerie's feeling of panic suddenly turned to excitement. "Can you fly it?"

"No problem," said Ron, wheeling his trolley around to face the exit. "C'mon, let's go. If we hurry we'll be able to follow the Hogwarts Express —"