"So, you'll definitely owl us if anything changes, right?" Ginny questioned her mother, who was holding the limp hand of a very pale Arthur Weasley.
"You know I will, dear. Now come here and let me hug you all." Molly moved from hospital bed to give teary-eyed hugs to Ginny, Hermione, Harry and Ron. The two Weasley children quickly said a painful good-bye to their father, who didn't respond; who hadn't responded to anyone in a week.
The four teenagers had been promptly ripped from what had been an almost carefree summer and now didn't know exactly what was to become of them. The Burrow was destroyed, and though Mrs. Weasley had made a fairly speedy recovery from the Death Eater attack, Arthur Weasley wasn't faring so well. It turned out that while doing work for the Order, he had been kidnapped, but was found the night of the attack at the Burrow, which is why Mrs. Weasley had rushed out, not knowing if he was alive or dead. Obviously, the kidnapping and the planned finding of Mr. Weasley was all a ruse to make sure that no one was guarding the Burrow, so the Death Eaters could get to the teenagers. With the Burrow out of commission and the Weasley parents in the hospital (Molly Weasley refused to leave her husband's bedside), Harry was afraid that he was in for a miserable summer at Grimmauld Place, but Dumbledore had something else in mind for them. He said he wasn't able to disclose everything to them, but he did tell them that they would be together and safe, which is what really mattered.
Harry touched Hermione's elbow and motioned for the two of them to leave, so as not to intrude on a family moment. The two walked out of the hospital room to find Dumbledore standing next to their trunks, smiling at them.
"Ah, I see you are all packed for the next great adventure. Oh, and there are the remaining two people in our party. Let's go join the others," the headmaster said as Ginny and Ron came to join them. Ginny turned to Harry and mouthed "the others?" with raised eyebrows, but Harry was just as baffled as she was, shrugging his shoulders and grabbing her hand. The four trudged along behind their headmaster, who was floating their trunks ahead of him, through the twisting portrait-lined hallways of St. Mungo's.
"And here we are," Dumbledore said as he stopped short in front of a wholly unremarkable doorway, gesturing for the teenagers to enter. Harry stepped forward and opened the door to a completely unexpected sight. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione filed into a cavernous room with tunnels on either end, benches and a smoking steam engine. In fact, they had just walked into a train station, complete with a train that was just as vibrantly blue as the Hogwart's Express was red.
"So everyone, now that the last of our group is present, we can set off," Dumbledore was addressing a group of school-aged children and teenagers that Harry hadn't noticed at first. There were about twelve or so of these kids, ranging from a tiny little first year girl to a surly-looking seventh year. "Everyone on board… hop to, now."
"What in the world is going on here?" Harry asked, looking confusedly around at the others.
"Your guess is as good as mine, mate," Ron said, shrugging.
"You all really don't know?' Hermione huffed in disapproval, as the four climbed the steps of the train and searched for an empty compartment.
"Know? How on earth would we know anything? Dumbledore won't tell us anything," Ron snapped back at her.
"That's a protective measure, Ron, don't go taking out your anger on him trying to protect us," Harry said defensively.
"Hey, I'm not angry, I'm just making observations so why don't you just back off, Harry," Ron said as his slid open the door an empty compartment fiercely.
"Look Ron, I've had it up to here with your temper so you had better just - "
Hermione interrupted Harry, practically yelling "Well you two are frankly just immature, and if either of you had any common sense you'd know where we were going and why but since neither of you put any store by knowledge nor reading, obviously you don't know!"
"Hermione, why don't you just tell us what you are prattling on about!" Harry yelled back at her, flopping down into a seat.
"Don't you yell at her!" Ron started towards Harry.
"Don't you yell at me!" Harry screamed back.
"Ronald, I don't need you to protect me!" Hermione screamed above both of them.
However, the three fuming teenagers suddenly were incapable of screaming, no matter how hard they tried. They looked like gasping fish, their mouths moving with no sound coming out.
"Now," Ginny walked into the compartment and shoved them each into different seats in the compartment. "I really didn't want to have to do that, but you three are being ridiculous. You are best friends… there is no need for this kind of arguing, especially not in these times. You absolutely cannot turn against each other like that. I know everyone's really tense but we have to stick together. Voldemort and the Death Eaters would just love to see us turn against each other, so, if only to make them mad, we can never let some stupid argument or fight come between us. Now, I'll let this spell of you, if you hug and make up." The three older students looked guiltily at one another and then hugged, mouthing various "I'm sorry" statements, as a self-satisfied Ginny watched over them.
"Awwww, you all get an A+ for teamwork," Ginny smiled as she waved her wand, removing her silencing spell.
"Hey, look out the window everyone," Harry pointed to the unfolding scene in the train station. Dumbledore was striding quickly towards a group of Aurors who had just entered the door, and the little group conversed urgently until a sudden bang rocked the train station.
"Death Eaters," Ron hissed as about a dozen black-robed swarmed into the station. He moved to exit the train, but both Harry and Hermione grabbed him to keep him in place. Ginny, however, ducked out of the compartment quickly and ran down the corridor.
"Where is she going?" Hermione exclaimed in fright, watching as the Aurors and Death Eaters became embroiled in battle. Several Death Eaters were trying to come near the train, but Dumbledore was holding them off. They suddenly saw Ginny outside the train, and Harry took off after her. "Oh, she's getting that little girl," Hermione cried out, pointing to the small first year girl huddled next to a bench. Ginny reached the girl, ducking out of the way of several spells, and grabbed her hand. Ginny and the little girl raced back to the train, only to be met by Harry halfway back. He scooped up the little girl as Ginny threw a couple stunning spells behind them, one actually hitting a Death Eater. Hermione and Ron watched as their two friends safely boarded the train again, and Dumbledore and Remus turned from the battle, racing towards the train as well. Just as they boarded the train, the steam engine was off like a shot and Ron and Hermione stumbled to stay upright as the power flickered and the train blasted ahead.
It was certainly an action-packed beginning to… well, no one but Hermione knew what was coming next.