Chapter Two
Carolyn
I woke up at 3:30 a.m. on Friday morning. I could have slept an extra thirty minutes because we were all supposed to wake up at 4:00. But excitement and adrenaline woke me up, and I knew I would never go back to sleep now.
I walked over to the study. I figured I'd be the only one awake, and I thought I could pass the time by reading a good book.
When I walked into the study, however, I found everyone lounging in there. Geez, I thought. How long have they been awake?
"Hey Care," said Denise, who looked as if she were experiencing a sugar rush. (Care's my nickname.) "We were all too excited to stay asleep any longer. WE'RE GOING HOME!" she screeched.
The rest of us started screaming and yelling, too, until we were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Brittny went bouncing over and opened it, only to find Mrs. Kingston all dressed and ready to go. "Now, girls, I know you're excited about going back to the United States." (That got us all shouting again.) "However," she said, loud enough to be heard over us, "if you expect to make your flight at 10:45 today, you'd better start getting ready."
We all quickly darted into our rooms, loudly slamming the doors behind us. Yesterday we had all decided that we were going to take our time and look our best since we were going to be out in public with a lot of people.
So much for that idea.
I'm telling you, it was almost like a race to see who could get ready in the shortest amount of time. I slipped into a pair of denim shorts, a turquoise tank top, and my running shoes all in record time. I brushed my hair in three seconds. I barely managed to slap on a little lip gloss before running out the door.
When we were finally satisfied with our efforts (which took about five minutes), we all stood in a circle chatting excitedly until we realized one minor problem.
After all the talking, the planning, the phone calling, and the anticipation….Every single one of us had forgotten to pack.
We had been living at Mrs. Kingston's for a very long period of time, and in that time, we had forgotten to keep everything organized. We had prized belongings of ours in every room. We even had stuff in each other's rooms!
Everyone began to panic.
We all went in a mad rush around the floor, trying desperately to get everything in order and then shovel it all into our trunks (yes, the same ones we used at Hogwarts). And that's when it happened. We immediately became the Six Sisters of Doom: Shock, Bossy, Denial, Weepy, Mournful, and Klutz.
Denise was Bossy. She had somehow gotten it into her head that she knew the most about what to do in a situation like this. If someone had taken a picture of this whole scenario, she would be the one in the middle of the corridor, barking out orders to everyone who came by.
Brittny was Denial. She quickly finished stuffing everything into her trunk and had over-packed again. She was sitting on her trunk, trying to snap it shut.
"Brittny, just admit it," I said when I passed by her room. "You have too much stuff."
"No I don't!" she protested. "It's just that this stupid trunk won't give up and shut itself!" (Pitiful.)
Elizabeth was Weepy. She had brought her big white cockatoo named Sunny with her from California. Mrs. Kingston had volunteered to take care of all of the pets while we were gone, but Elizabeth did not want to leave Sunny behind.
Brittany was Mournful. She was sitting on her freshly-packed trunk, moaning over the fact that Fred and George were coming with us. (Well, not Fred.) She was doing this in a very depressing sort of way.
Lori was Klutz. She was definitely the slowest at getting her trunk packed. Somehow, as she was scurrying around to get her stuff, she managed to run into a wall.
I was Shock. I couldn't be more stunned that we had let this happen again. It reminded me of the day we were supposed to be leaving for Hogwarts. We thought we were going to miss the Hogwarts Express, but in fact…we were fifteen minutes early!
It took us another hour to get everything ready. By the time we were finished, it was 4:55 a.m.
At one point, I noticed that Lori had a camera hanging from a cord around her neck.
"What are you going to do with that?" I asked.
"Take pictures, what else?" said Lori. "This is a great opportunity. I'm going to take loads and loads of pictures, and then I'll organize them in a scrapbook. I'll have lots of group shots, individual shots, candid shots…"
"Oh no," I groaned.
"Oh yes," said Lori, and just for that, she snapped my picture right then and there.
"Are we ready?" asked Denise (a.k.a. Bossy).
"Yes!" we all replied.
"Good! Let's get downstairs to the courtyard."
We all rushed downstairs and out the door. Mrs. Kingston was waiting for us on a bench in the courtyard. Then we all piled into her car. Our plan was to pick up Hermione and Harry, and then all of us would be dropped off at the Burrow. Mr. Weasley had volunteered to drive us maniacs to the London International Airport and keep an eye on all of us until we boarded the plane.
Mrs. Kingston used her mobiliarbus spell to hoist our trunks into her car. Then we were finally on our way!
First stop was Hermione's house, which is about a half hour away from Mrs. Kingston's. We drove until we reached a quaint two-story house with white walls and hunter green shutters with a matching roof and door. We had barely parked in the driveway when Hermione came bounding out of the house, followed by her parents. (Her mother looks just like her!)
Click! Lori took a picture of Hermione and her parents.
After Mr. and Mrs. Granger finished giving Hermione the third degree about where we were going and where we were staying, we drove to Harry's house. (Although I'm not sure if you can really call it his house. He's considered more of a household insect than a person.)
That was another half hour drive from the Granger's. We saw Harry with his face pressed against one of the front-door windows as we pulled up. He came running out the door a few seconds later. His uncle and aunt didn't even bother to come out to see him off. I mean, the only reason why he's allowed to come is because we convinced his uncle and aunt that two weeks without him would be pleasant. (I know it sounds horrible, but that's really the only way they'll agree.) They didn't even bother to make sure that we had come for him at all, the scum.
Click! A picture of Harry.
By the time Harry joined our party, Mrs. Kingston had to expand the trunk of the car and the backseat. Even then, we were still pretty squished.
Click! Lori got out of the car and snapped a picture of all of us squished in the backseat.
On to the Burrow. It took us an hour and a half to get there. When we did, we found Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley waiting for us on the lawn in front of their house. Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George were all standing by a pile of trunks.
Mrs. Kingston barely had time to put the car in "Park" when Harry and Brittny opened the doors and we all bounced out of the car. We all ran to the Weasleys, all of us trying very hard to keep our excitement under control. (Click! A picture of the Weasleys.) Then we all started jabbering at once.
"Hey Ron, I forgot to ask," Harry put in at one point. "How are we going to drive to the airport, exactly? Your dad didn't get a new car, did he?"
"Nope. He's borrowing a car from the Ministry of Magic," answered Ron. "He says that even if we still had the Ford Anglia, he doesn't think there's enough magic in the world to make us all fit."
"Where is it?" asked Denise.
"Over there." Ron pointed to the left.
We all turned around and we gasped. That black thing was not a car, it was a limousine. It was super shiny and slick. In other words, it was the coolest thing I've ever seen.
"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed. "Your dad got that for free, just because he works there?"
Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George all nodded and beamed proudly.
Click! A picture of the car.
"All right everyone," said Mr. Weasley from afar. "It's already 7:45. We need to leave."
"7:45? Already?" said Denise, looking down at her watch.
"Yes. And it's going to take us another hour to get there," said Mr. Weasley.
We all groaned. Another hour riding in a car. (Oops. I mean a limousine.) Oh well, at least we'd have more company.
So that's what we did. We all clambered into the limo (with Brittany and George sitting as far away from each other as possible). And we resumed our particularly loud chatter. Mr. Weasley climbed into the driver's seat.
"Hey Dad," said Fred at one point. "Don't we get a chauffer?"
Mr. Weasley gave Fred a look that clearly said, Don't act spoiled.
"Well sorry," said Fred. "It's a limousine. I just thought that a chauffer comes with it. Like built-in or something."
"Hey, Mr. Weasley? Sir?" asked Brittany. "Does this limo have a CD player?"
"I suppose so. It is a Muggle car, it's just enchanted," he answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I have a CD here that I think we'll all enjoy," said Brittany.
"Why, sure! Hand it over," said Mr. Weasley, extending his hand toward the backseat. Brittany gave him a CD. It was "Laundry Service," by Shakira.
"Oh my God, no way," said George. "We are not listening to that."
"And why not?" asked Brittany defensively. "You've never even heard it before."
"Yeah, but you like it, so it must be horrible," said George.
That time everybody turned around to glare.
"Geez, people! Back off!" said George, trying to shoo us all away. Mr. Weasley had been giving him the evil eye through the rear-view mirror. When he turned his eyes back on the road, Brittany turned around and stuck out her tongue.
"Dad!" cried George. "Brittany just did something rude!"
"Settle down, George," said Mr. Weasley. He looked menacingly at George through the rear-view mirror again.
"What? I didn't do anything!" George protested.
"Oh my God! You are such a baby," said Brittany.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you, you nasty little worm."
"GEORGE!" yelled Mr. Weasley.
"You don't have anything to say about it, you disgusting little maggot!" Brittany yelled at George.
"Stop it, you guys!" Lori cried before Mr. Weasley could say anything else. "Can't we all just get along?"
"NO," said Brittany and George in unison.
"Dad," said Ron, "could we just put on the…um…what's it called? An EB?"
"CD," Denise corrected.
"Yeah. The CD," said Ron.
"What? Oh, right, the CD." Mr. Weasley slipped the CD into the car stereo. "Oh, this is so exciting!" said Mr. Weasley, the die-hard Muggle fan.
Loud Latino music came blaring out of the speakers. Everyone was silent at first, just listening. Then we began chattering again. The talking grew louder and louder until we finally had to turn the volume up in order for the CD to be heard.
Can you imagine? Twelve loud, yakking, and occasionally singing teenagers. If any other adult had been driving the limousine, I would have felt very, very, very sorry for them.
But not Mr. Weasley. Oh no. He was actually trying to sing along with the Shakira CD – and he was actually pretty good! Sometimes we'd join in and sing ourselves silly. It was hysterical, particularly when we came to a song that was sung all in Spanish. All thirteen of us sounded like a herd of very sick moose. (Well, except Brittany, because it was her CD and she practically memorized the whole thing. But that didn't stop her from getting thrown-off when she heard the rest of us.)
Click! A picture of us singing.
Click! A picture of Mr. Weasley singing.
You know, at times I think my friends and I are just crazy. The stuff we come up with (and actually go through with) are so completely mind- boggling, it's enough to drive anyone bonkers. Think about it: two little sisters, two arch-enemies, seven giggling girls, four redheads, and a guy who's had an incredibly bad history with Lord Voldemort. D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R, right? Not if we planned and played our cards right. We could get through this in one piece.
How hard could it be?
Carolyn
I woke up at 3:30 a.m. on Friday morning. I could have slept an extra thirty minutes because we were all supposed to wake up at 4:00. But excitement and adrenaline woke me up, and I knew I would never go back to sleep now.
I walked over to the study. I figured I'd be the only one awake, and I thought I could pass the time by reading a good book.
When I walked into the study, however, I found everyone lounging in there. Geez, I thought. How long have they been awake?
"Hey Care," said Denise, who looked as if she were experiencing a sugar rush. (Care's my nickname.) "We were all too excited to stay asleep any longer. WE'RE GOING HOME!" she screeched.
The rest of us started screaming and yelling, too, until we were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Brittny went bouncing over and opened it, only to find Mrs. Kingston all dressed and ready to go. "Now, girls, I know you're excited about going back to the United States." (That got us all shouting again.) "However," she said, loud enough to be heard over us, "if you expect to make your flight at 10:45 today, you'd better start getting ready."
We all quickly darted into our rooms, loudly slamming the doors behind us. Yesterday we had all decided that we were going to take our time and look our best since we were going to be out in public with a lot of people.
So much for that idea.
I'm telling you, it was almost like a race to see who could get ready in the shortest amount of time. I slipped into a pair of denim shorts, a turquoise tank top, and my running shoes all in record time. I brushed my hair in three seconds. I barely managed to slap on a little lip gloss before running out the door.
When we were finally satisfied with our efforts (which took about five minutes), we all stood in a circle chatting excitedly until we realized one minor problem.
After all the talking, the planning, the phone calling, and the anticipation….Every single one of us had forgotten to pack.
We had been living at Mrs. Kingston's for a very long period of time, and in that time, we had forgotten to keep everything organized. We had prized belongings of ours in every room. We even had stuff in each other's rooms!
Everyone began to panic.
We all went in a mad rush around the floor, trying desperately to get everything in order and then shovel it all into our trunks (yes, the same ones we used at Hogwarts). And that's when it happened. We immediately became the Six Sisters of Doom: Shock, Bossy, Denial, Weepy, Mournful, and Klutz.
Denise was Bossy. She had somehow gotten it into her head that she knew the most about what to do in a situation like this. If someone had taken a picture of this whole scenario, she would be the one in the middle of the corridor, barking out orders to everyone who came by.
Brittny was Denial. She quickly finished stuffing everything into her trunk and had over-packed again. She was sitting on her trunk, trying to snap it shut.
"Brittny, just admit it," I said when I passed by her room. "You have too much stuff."
"No I don't!" she protested. "It's just that this stupid trunk won't give up and shut itself!" (Pitiful.)
Elizabeth was Weepy. She had brought her big white cockatoo named Sunny with her from California. Mrs. Kingston had volunteered to take care of all of the pets while we were gone, but Elizabeth did not want to leave Sunny behind.
Brittany was Mournful. She was sitting on her freshly-packed trunk, moaning over the fact that Fred and George were coming with us. (Well, not Fred.) She was doing this in a very depressing sort of way.
Lori was Klutz. She was definitely the slowest at getting her trunk packed. Somehow, as she was scurrying around to get her stuff, she managed to run into a wall.
I was Shock. I couldn't be more stunned that we had let this happen again. It reminded me of the day we were supposed to be leaving for Hogwarts. We thought we were going to miss the Hogwarts Express, but in fact…we were fifteen minutes early!
It took us another hour to get everything ready. By the time we were finished, it was 4:55 a.m.
At one point, I noticed that Lori had a camera hanging from a cord around her neck.
"What are you going to do with that?" I asked.
"Take pictures, what else?" said Lori. "This is a great opportunity. I'm going to take loads and loads of pictures, and then I'll organize them in a scrapbook. I'll have lots of group shots, individual shots, candid shots…"
"Oh no," I groaned.
"Oh yes," said Lori, and just for that, she snapped my picture right then and there.
"Are we ready?" asked Denise (a.k.a. Bossy).
"Yes!" we all replied.
"Good! Let's get downstairs to the courtyard."
We all rushed downstairs and out the door. Mrs. Kingston was waiting for us on a bench in the courtyard. Then we all piled into her car. Our plan was to pick up Hermione and Harry, and then all of us would be dropped off at the Burrow. Mr. Weasley had volunteered to drive us maniacs to the London International Airport and keep an eye on all of us until we boarded the plane.
Mrs. Kingston used her mobiliarbus spell to hoist our trunks into her car. Then we were finally on our way!
First stop was Hermione's house, which is about a half hour away from Mrs. Kingston's. We drove until we reached a quaint two-story house with white walls and hunter green shutters with a matching roof and door. We had barely parked in the driveway when Hermione came bounding out of the house, followed by her parents. (Her mother looks just like her!)
Click! Lori took a picture of Hermione and her parents.
After Mr. and Mrs. Granger finished giving Hermione the third degree about where we were going and where we were staying, we drove to Harry's house. (Although I'm not sure if you can really call it his house. He's considered more of a household insect than a person.)
That was another half hour drive from the Granger's. We saw Harry with his face pressed against one of the front-door windows as we pulled up. He came running out the door a few seconds later. His uncle and aunt didn't even bother to come out to see him off. I mean, the only reason why he's allowed to come is because we convinced his uncle and aunt that two weeks without him would be pleasant. (I know it sounds horrible, but that's really the only way they'll agree.) They didn't even bother to make sure that we had come for him at all, the scum.
Click! A picture of Harry.
By the time Harry joined our party, Mrs. Kingston had to expand the trunk of the car and the backseat. Even then, we were still pretty squished.
Click! Lori got out of the car and snapped a picture of all of us squished in the backseat.
On to the Burrow. It took us an hour and a half to get there. When we did, we found Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley waiting for us on the lawn in front of their house. Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George were all standing by a pile of trunks.
Mrs. Kingston barely had time to put the car in "Park" when Harry and Brittny opened the doors and we all bounced out of the car. We all ran to the Weasleys, all of us trying very hard to keep our excitement under control. (Click! A picture of the Weasleys.) Then we all started jabbering at once.
"Hey Ron, I forgot to ask," Harry put in at one point. "How are we going to drive to the airport, exactly? Your dad didn't get a new car, did he?"
"Nope. He's borrowing a car from the Ministry of Magic," answered Ron. "He says that even if we still had the Ford Anglia, he doesn't think there's enough magic in the world to make us all fit."
"Where is it?" asked Denise.
"Over there." Ron pointed to the left.
We all turned around and we gasped. That black thing was not a car, it was a limousine. It was super shiny and slick. In other words, it was the coolest thing I've ever seen.
"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed. "Your dad got that for free, just because he works there?"
Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George all nodded and beamed proudly.
Click! A picture of the car.
"All right everyone," said Mr. Weasley from afar. "It's already 7:45. We need to leave."
"7:45? Already?" said Denise, looking down at her watch.
"Yes. And it's going to take us another hour to get there," said Mr. Weasley.
We all groaned. Another hour riding in a car. (Oops. I mean a limousine.) Oh well, at least we'd have more company.
So that's what we did. We all clambered into the limo (with Brittany and George sitting as far away from each other as possible). And we resumed our particularly loud chatter. Mr. Weasley climbed into the driver's seat.
"Hey Dad," said Fred at one point. "Don't we get a chauffer?"
Mr. Weasley gave Fred a look that clearly said, Don't act spoiled.
"Well sorry," said Fred. "It's a limousine. I just thought that a chauffer comes with it. Like built-in or something."
"Hey, Mr. Weasley? Sir?" asked Brittany. "Does this limo have a CD player?"
"I suppose so. It is a Muggle car, it's just enchanted," he answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I have a CD here that I think we'll all enjoy," said Brittany.
"Why, sure! Hand it over," said Mr. Weasley, extending his hand toward the backseat. Brittany gave him a CD. It was "Laundry Service," by Shakira.
"Oh my God, no way," said George. "We are not listening to that."
"And why not?" asked Brittany defensively. "You've never even heard it before."
"Yeah, but you like it, so it must be horrible," said George.
That time everybody turned around to glare.
"Geez, people! Back off!" said George, trying to shoo us all away. Mr. Weasley had been giving him the evil eye through the rear-view mirror. When he turned his eyes back on the road, Brittany turned around and stuck out her tongue.
"Dad!" cried George. "Brittany just did something rude!"
"Settle down, George," said Mr. Weasley. He looked menacingly at George through the rear-view mirror again.
"What? I didn't do anything!" George protested.
"Oh my God! You are such a baby," said Brittany.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you, you nasty little worm."
"GEORGE!" yelled Mr. Weasley.
"You don't have anything to say about it, you disgusting little maggot!" Brittany yelled at George.
"Stop it, you guys!" Lori cried before Mr. Weasley could say anything else. "Can't we all just get along?"
"NO," said Brittany and George in unison.
"Dad," said Ron, "could we just put on the…um…what's it called? An EB?"
"CD," Denise corrected.
"Yeah. The CD," said Ron.
"What? Oh, right, the CD." Mr. Weasley slipped the CD into the car stereo. "Oh, this is so exciting!" said Mr. Weasley, the die-hard Muggle fan.
Loud Latino music came blaring out of the speakers. Everyone was silent at first, just listening. Then we began chattering again. The talking grew louder and louder until we finally had to turn the volume up in order for the CD to be heard.
Can you imagine? Twelve loud, yakking, and occasionally singing teenagers. If any other adult had been driving the limousine, I would have felt very, very, very sorry for them.
But not Mr. Weasley. Oh no. He was actually trying to sing along with the Shakira CD – and he was actually pretty good! Sometimes we'd join in and sing ourselves silly. It was hysterical, particularly when we came to a song that was sung all in Spanish. All thirteen of us sounded like a herd of very sick moose. (Well, except Brittany, because it was her CD and she practically memorized the whole thing. But that didn't stop her from getting thrown-off when she heard the rest of us.)
Click! A picture of us singing.
Click! A picture of Mr. Weasley singing.
You know, at times I think my friends and I are just crazy. The stuff we come up with (and actually go through with) are so completely mind- boggling, it's enough to drive anyone bonkers. Think about it: two little sisters, two arch-enemies, seven giggling girls, four redheads, and a guy who's had an incredibly bad history with Lord Voldemort. D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R, right? Not if we planned and played our cards right. We could get through this in one piece.
How hard could it be?