The Hogwarts Express
Harry would never have imagined a summer quite like this past one, he was really looking forward to going back to school and seeing Ron again. He was still wondering who the man they crossed paths with in Diagon Alley could possibly be. The best guess he and Hermione could come up with was that he had a new job in the area. After the breakfasted they retrieved their trunks, Hedwig, and Crookshanks and headed down to the train station for the train back to school.
As usual, Kings Cross was more than a little crowded. There were people rushing to get to their trains on time wherever you looked. When they reached the barrier they charged at it and soon they arrived at Platform 9 3./4. After finding Molly a seat they found Ron and said their hellos. As the train began to move out of the platform the three began to look for seats for themselves. One of the problems with looking for seats while the train's moving is always that most of them are taken.
They did find a compartment only half full near the back of the train. Most compartments could hold six if they smushed in close to each other. The only compartment with seats empty was occupied by two third year and a second year in their own house. They took the seats with Third years Stewart Ackerly (Ravenclaw) and Stefano Montoya (Hufflepuff), and their friend, a second year named Euan Abercrombie (Gryffindor). The trio sat down and started talking about their summers.
Harry told Ron about his miserable two weeks on Privet, and spending the rest of the summer with Hermione; and the two of them told him about the man they crossed paths with while in Diagon Alley. Ron was very amazed with the amount of detail the two of them gave. He told them about Romania and it sounded like he had a good time. His entire family was there: his parents, Bill, Percy, the twins, himself, Ginny, and of course, Charlie.
They finally figured out through what Ron told them, that it was sounded like Charlie had gotten married to one of his friends' sister. She fit in pretty well with the family. They also learned that Percy had married Penelope within the last year as well. They were quite relieved to have an explanation to why he was in Romania all summer. HE also explained that he couldn't put that in writing in case Pig got intercepted or his letter fell into the wrong hands.
Harry and Hermione were so happy with this news that they were grinning from ear to ear. They weren't that surprised with the news that Percy was married, but that Charlie was as well was a happy bit of news. They were so excited talking that they didn't realize that they were only about ten minutes or so from Hogwarts. When they got there they said their hellos to Hagrid and headed for the carriages and for the castle desperately hoping that Molly would joining them in Gryffindor.