Thanks for the lovely reviews last chapter. Hope you keep enjoying and keep reviewing. As ever, this is JKR's, I'm merely playing with her wonderful creations.

Journey to Hogwarts

"Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair

And makes my seated heart knock at my ribs…

Present fears

Are less than horrible imaginings."

Shakespeare: "Macbeth"

Harry charged up the stairs, pressing himself flat against the wall as Fred, hurtled past in the opposite direction, robes flapping out behind him in his haste. The morning was well underway in The Burrow, the regular confusion of people leaving for work paling into insignificance beside four members of the household attempting to depart for Hogwarts. Crookshanks streaked across the landing, followed by an exasperated Hermione, clutching his carrying case. She bent to scoop the enormous ginger cat in her arms, but with an outraged meow of protest, Crookshanks twisted out of her reach and bolted up the next flight of stairs, bottle brush tail held high. Hermione tutted in irritation and headed after him. Harry shook his head, and laughed, before hurrying to knock on Ginny's door.

"Gin?" he asked tentatively, pushing the door open. "How are you doing?"

"I'm all packed," she said, gesturing to her tattered blue trunk and offering him a rueful smile. "Books, robes, cauldron, your socks and I've even remembered to pack my parchment this year."

Harry chuckled quietly, remembering the chaos she'd caused the previous year by leaving all of her writing materials at home. It had taken a full week for her mother to owl replacements to her, during which time, she'd driven them mad by begging, stealing and borrowing from virtually everyone she knew.

"Are you OK?" he asked, seeing a bit of a bleak expression cross her face.

"Yeah," she smiled half-heartedly at him. "I've probably been reading too much poetry and it's making me ridiculously nostalgic. Take no notice; I'm just being silly. I started thinking about things when I was finishing my packing. I'll never be in this room again, the way I am now. Next time we're back here, we'll be married and probably have the baby on the way."

"Ginny," he sighed, wrapping his arms tightly round her. "I understand completely if you want to change your mind. It's a massive step."

"It's not that," she smiled, hugging him back. "I still want to marry you and everything. It's just a bit hard to let go, that's all. Do you know what I mean?" She wrinkled her brow.

"I think so," he said slowly. "I suppose it's how I feel about leaving Hogwarts at the end of this year. It's the security thing, isn't it?"

"Yes," she agreed. "And we have no idea what's going to happen to us, or what Voldemort might do." She looked up at him suddenly, clearly struggling to force out an admission, and he felt a massive wrench at his heart. "Harry, I'm scared."

"If I'm honest, I am as well," he whispered, wishing he could somehow magic away her fears. "Your dad's still looking into spells to protect us, and he's good at those. I mean, the Ministry has got him working on magical defences at Platform 9 and ¾ today, and that's likely to be attacked, so if anything can be done for us, your dad will find it. And it's not just him: Dumbledore's onto it, and so are we. Hermione's not stopped reading spell books all summer."

"I know," she said, shivering suddenly. There was a brief pause. "So," she continued brightly. "Are you all ready for the off?"

"Yeah. You'll be careful at King's Cross, won't you, Gin? Your dad's right, it's the perfect opportunity for Death Eaters to attack with a real impact," he said anxiously. "I'm not going to fuss, but…"

"I promise I'll stay close," she smiled. Her eyes sparkled up at him in sudden amusement. "Besides, it means I can make sure you're not doing anything dangerous."

"Would I do something dangerous?" he laughed. She raised an eyebrow.

"There's a first time for everything, I suppose," she teased, as he ruffled her hair affectionately.

"I'll get your trunk down, and just follow when you're ready. I think we've got another twenty minutes or so."

"That's everything done up here," she said firmly, collecting her wand from her dresser. "It's time to go, Harry. Time to move on." She gave a final wistful glance around her room, and Harry saw her set her jaw firmly, in a very Ginnyish manner. She shook her red hair back over her shoulders with an air of defiance, and nodded in affirmation of her silent thoughts. "Let's go," she said.

Abandoning her trunk on top of the others cluttering the narrow hallway, Harry and Ginny headed into the bustle of the Weasley kitchen. A range of red heads lined the kitchen table, with Hermione sliding into a seat opposite Ron, making cooing noises at Crookshanks who was safely confined in his wicker basket.

"We'll let you out on the train, won't we Crookshanks?" she said in the soft sing-song voice that owners often use to their animals. Ron snorted disparagingly into his porridge.

"Are you four all packed?" Mrs Weasley asked briskly, serving up food for Harry and Ginny and whisking it across the kitchen with a flick of her wand. George ducked instinctively, and the blue plates clipped the top of his hair, before settling down with a clatter on the table.

"Yes, Mum," Ginny said, buttering her toast enthusiastically and crunching into it.

"What've you forgotten this time?" Fred teased. "Don't tell me…" He glanced at Harry and a wicked grin spread across his features as he continued in a far lower tone. "You haven't packed your guide to the Contraceptus Charm."

Harry felt his face flame with embarrassment, more heat radiating from his cheeks than from the kitchen stove. Now that the initial horror of Dumbledore's suggestion had worn off, Fred and George had resorted to making Harry feel as uncomfortable as possible around their little sister, with all sorts of jibes and tests of new Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, one of which had made him grow a fur for half a day, in a vain attempt to make him less appealing to their sister. Ginny had merely proclaimed that she found hairy men extremely attractive, and feeling somewhat thwarted, Fred and George had gone back to the drawing board to plan a fresh wave of attack.

"You're right," Ginny said casually, licking a glob of marmalade off her finger. "I thought really carefully about it, and then decided I'd better leave it behind for you two. I mean, it would be a terrible tragedy if you were ever to reproduce with some poor unfortunate girl. Think of it as a damage limitation exercise."

"Nice one," Ron laughed, getting up to put his bowl in the sink. There was the sound of cars approaching in the lane, and Mrs Weasley rapidly headed out of the kitchen to speak to the taxi drivers.

"Actually, Gin," George smiled at her. "Speaking of damage limitation, we thought you'd like this." He reached behind him and pulled out a fairly large box, which had been hastily gift-wrapped with bright purple paper. She regarded it with the utmost suspicion.

"It's not my birthday," she said slowly, looking from one to the other. "And even if it was, you'd only be trying to blow my eyebrows off." She wrinkled her nose at the offending package and sat back in her chair with folded arms.

"Ginny," Fred exclaimed in exasperation. "This one is fine. The one you really need to watch out for is your wedding present."

"Fred!" his twin exclaimed. "You shouldn't warn them about that. Just think how funny it'll be when it…" His voice trailed off and he laughed at the prospect, making Harry take a mental note to avoid that particular package at all costs.

"Gin," Fred insisted, his eyes twinkling with delight. "Quick! Open it before Mum gets back. There's no way she'll approve."

"OK, then, " Ginny said slowly, a grin spreading across her face. She quickly tore the bow off the parcel, and ripped through the paper until she could lift the lid. She held her breath, and winced away from the parcel as the lid raised slowly in her hands. Harry too, waited in painful anticipation for the box to ricochet off the ceiling with an enormous bang, but it never came.

"What is it?" Hermione asked curiously, leaning across the table to stare at the contents of the parcel.

"Oh wow!" Ron exclaimed, enthusiastically delving into the parcel. "There's all sorts of stuff in here. Exploding Beetle Eyes. Do you remember them, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry chuckled with a sudden delicious memory of green slime dripping off the end of Snape's nose, and the entire Slytherin cohort glooping in the same sludge. "How could I forget?"

"There's Sizzling Soap," Ginny squealed, picking a tablet out of the container. "I've been dying to try one of these out on someone for ages." She turned to Harry, who was looking somewhat perplexed and grabbed his arm. "You use the soap as normal, and after a few minutes in contact with the water it starts to fizz. Then when you try to pick it up, it hops across the bath like a frog. It's absolutely brilliant."

"And this?" Hermione said, reaching forward for a tiny circular mirror.

"Don't touch that!" Fred and George yelled in unison, making Hermione recoil her arm faster than if it had been a Blast Ended Skrewt.

"So what's all this in aid of?" Ginny said incredulously, smiling at her brothers.

"Well," George said, grinning back. "We know you're going ahead with this baby business, so we thought you could do with a real laugh in the next couple of months before you've got to be sensible."

"So we put together a box of potential mischief," Fred laughed. "See how much chaos you can cause, Ginny, and we want to know all about it."

"And don't forget to send us a toilet seat," George added, his eyes glinting in anticipation.

"But don't tell Mum," Fred urged his little sister. "She'll kill us for leading you astray if she finds out. Not that she can complain too much, because I dare say Harry will be leading you astray in other ways soon enough."

"Oh, I do hope so," she chuckled impishly, making her brothers do a horrified double take, and Harry redden further. "Thank you," she exclaimed, throwing an arm around each of her twin brothers and hugging them tightly.

"You take care," George said, perfectly serious for once. "You might be the world's most irritating little sister, but you're our little sister, and we'd quite like you back in one piece."

"Yes," Fred added, hugging her fondly once more. "And if you are going to do this baby thing, Ginny, just make sure you have a Quidditch player."

"I'll see what I can do," she giggled. "Any particular position?"

Mrs Weasley bustled back into the kitchen amidst roars of laughter, and began to usher the four of them out of the house. Trunks and bags were levered and wedged into the boots of the cars, amidst the squawking of two excited owls and the hissing vitriol of Crookshanks. Ginny's parcel was squeezed on the top. Eventually, they were ready and settled down to a rather uneventful journey through to the hustling pace of London streets and the bumper-to-bumper impatience of Muggle motorists creating a cacophony of horns.

"Keep your eyes open," Harry muttered grimly to Ginny on the stone forecourt, as he heaved their trunks onto station trolleys, and balanced Hedwig's cage on his own. The snowy owl opened one sleepy amber eye and hooted softly at him before submerging her head back under the fluffy downiness of her wing. Mrs Weasley was fussing around them more than ever, and the anxiety appeared to be infectious. Ron appeared to have accumulated the obligatory trolley with the wonky wheel that squeaked ostentatiously as they made their way nervously through the main concourse. Sharp-suited Muggles hurried past at top speed, gazes firmly focused on the square inch of grubby white flooring immediately in front of them, briefcases clenched in one hand, telephones clamped to their ears by the other. Snatches of conversations could be caught as they passed by.

"You've left it where? How many times have I told you how vital that was? Can't I trust you with anything?"

Harry's eyes were constantly alert, scanning the area around him for anything untoward, yet as they approached Platforms 9 and 10 and the magical barrier through to the Hogwarts Express, he had seen nothing.

"I'll be pleased when you're all safely back at school," Mrs Weasley said, looking rather pale. "Harry, why don't you take Ginny through first, and we'll follow right behind you? We've not got long before the barrier's sealed."

Harry glanced at the dominant black hands on the enormous clock that was suspended from the rafters of the station, and realised that there were a mere five minutes to go before they departed. He nodded, his reply drowned out by a foggy tannoy announcement that reverberated about the delayed ten twenty-eight to Bristol Temple Meads. He put one hand over Ginny's as they pushed their trolleys forwards, determined that if some Dark wizard had somehow turned the barrier into a port key or portal, at least they'd end up wherever it was together. Unobtrusively they slid through and materialised as normal in front of the scarlet steam train bearing the legend Hogwarts Express.

Ron, Hermione and Mrs Weasley emerged from the barrier almost instantly, and without speaking, they hurried towards the furthest end of the train, to where Mr Weasley was regarding the entire scene nervously. One thing struck Harry, as they wound their way down the curving platform; there was a marked reduction in the quantity of pupils and parents. The area was still littered with groups of people saying their goodbyes, but it was nowhere near the quantity they were used to. He felt a spasm of uneasiness wondering why this was so. Had people been killed, or were parents simply too afraid to let their offspring return to the castle?

"I'm pleased you're here," Mr Weasley said, in a strained voice, helping them to stow their belongings in a empty carriage. "We need to get the train off as quickly as possible. You remember Darius Parker? He's in charge here today, and he's about to explode with all this tension. We've got every inch of the track covered between here and Hogwarts, but that doesn't mean anything these days." He regarded all four of them seriously. "I want you to make sure you all stay together until you're actually safely in the castle."

"We will," Hermione promised readily, and the others nodded.

"We'll come through at the end of October if we can," Mrs Weasley whispered tearfully, kissing her daughter goodbye. "But not if it's going to put you in danger. Either of you."

"We'll be fine," Ginny said, smiling sideways at Harry. "And I'll keep you posted about what's happening."

"Be careful what you write, Ginny," her father reminded her in an undertone. "Don't forget, letters are easily intercepted, and it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that they're watching out for Hedwig. She's very distinctive."

"But…" Ginny began.

"I'm serious, Ginny," her father interrupted forcefully. "Keep to the castle, and do nothing where you could be at risk. It's not a game and you know that better than most people."

"We'll owl when we get there," Ron said, hugging his mother. "Try not to worry, Mum. We'll all look after her."

"I know you will," Mrs Weasley smiled at him through her tears. "You be good as well!"

The guard blew his whistle, and amidst plentiful hugs and kisses they clambered hastily aboard, waving frantically. The train screeched as the pressure built up inside the engine, shooting clouds of billowing steam into the air. With a gentle jolt, they staggered sideways and were off. Panting and puffing the train gathered speed, until the figures on the platform became merely tiny red-headed blurs in the distance.

"Well," Ron proclaimed, sighing heavily in relief, and collapsing into one of the seats in the compartment. "That was fun!"

"They're just worried, Ron," Hermione explained patiently, sliding the window up to close it and settling down herself. She leaned over and pulled a book out of her bag, skipping through the pages until she found her place. Harry inclined slightly sideways and read the title of the volume, "Dark Arts: Defence and Defeat."

"Any good?" he asked curiously.

"It's really interesting," Hermione replied earnestly. "There's a section here on different types of spells to protect from extreme Dark Arts attacks. It's got the Fidelius Charm in it, and another possible one, called the Obmolior Charm. I think that might be worth looking into Harry. It creates a form of shield around you, but there are all sorts of varieties of this spell, and I've not got very far with it yet."

"Sounds like it might work," Harry said, feeling a bit more optimistic. "We've got to see Dumbledore when we get there tonight, so I'll ask him about it then. Thanks Hermione."

The train rattled along the lines heading north, the greyness of the towering London skyline giving way to the fertile fields, now harvested of their crops. Furrows ploughed up and down the rich brown soil seemed to comb the landscape into neat submission, sunlight shining brightly on the scene, the trees and hedges still green with summer leaves. The soft southern images blended with the more rugged variety of the north, as hedging turned into dry stone walling that fractured the landscape, snaking up and over the hills. The sky was darkening with rain clouds swirling heavily overhead, indicating an impending downpour on the heathery moors.

Ginny had dozed off, and shifted slightly against Harry, making him smile; her head, lolling on his shoulder, responded to every lurch of the train. The carriage had been unusually silent, each of them caught up in their own web of thoughts, as the engine puffed them ever closer to their goal.

"Can't be far now," Ron commented suddenly, as the rain began to pelt down on the window.

"About an hour, I think," Hermione said, glancing at her watch. "The Ministry seem to have got us all well protected."

At these words there was a sharp squeal of brakes from the scarlet steam engine, and the lights in the compartment flickered unevenly, casting an eerie glow across their alarmed faces. Harry felt his mouth go dry, as the train shuddered to a standstill and stood there panting. Ginny blinked sleepily and sat up.

"W-What's going on?" she yawned in bewilderment, pushing her hair back out of her face.

"Dunno," her brother remarked, getting to his feet and peering out of the window, up and down the track. "Last time anything like this happened was back in our third year when the…" his voice broke off and he looked at Harry.

"Dementors," Harry's voice cracked, and he reached instinctively for his wand.

"It can't be," Hermione said, attempting to sound brisk, but failing dismally. "There haven't been any reports of Dementors in this area, have there?"

"No," Ginny said quietly. "But that's not to say there aren't any." She picked up her wand from the seat and headed over to the compartment door, opening it slowly. The babble of confusion from their fellow students assaulted their ears, some of the younger students sounded as if they were in tears as the lights dimmed ominously once more.

"I'm going to go and find out," Harry said, leaping up, and squeezing past Ginny in the doorway. "I can't just sit here."

"Harry, you can't," Hermione cried. "We promised we'd stay together until we got there."

"What am I supposed to do?" Harry yelled at her frightened face. "Hermione, you can't expect me to stay here and wait like some kind of sitting duck." A pause. The train carriages creaked slightly in the wind, the rain dripping noisily on the roof.

"Stay," Ginny whispered, reaching for his hand. "If only for the reason you're the only one of us who can do a proper Patronus. If you go and it is Dementors…" Her words trailed away but the implication of his actions were clear. Harry sighed heavily, and came back into the compartment, closing the door firmly behind him. The dim yellow lights flickered feebly and then went out, plunging them into the purplish-blue darkness of early evening. Terrified screams echoed along the corridor, making Harry's heart begin to pound, his senses heightened. He adjusted his grip on his wand. Slow footsteps could be identified heading in their direction from the front of the train, step by step as if with a premeditated determination. Harry steeled his nerves.

"Lumos," Ron muttered, a thin beam of light appearing out of his wand. He cast it around the compartment, illuminating the whiteness of their faces, and then he twitched it to the door, as the footsteps came to a decided halt right outside. The door slid slowly open, the blackness of long garments illuminated in the wand light which rose shakily up the figure. A whimper emanated from someone behind him, and Harry lifted his wand, waiting for the wave of chilling coldness to rush over him, mind focused on what he had to do.

"I've been looking all over for you!" a familiar voice rang out of the darkness, bringing with it a shuddering sense of anti-climax and relief.

"Neville!" Hermione exclaimed, dragging him into their compartment. "We… we thought you were… Oh, never mind."

"I wonder what's happening," Ron mused, rocking nervously back and forth on his heels, as the lights suddenly glimmered back into a little life.

"The wards have gone down over part of the track by Hogwarts," Neville explained, his round face eager with the news. They stared at him incredulously. "They're trying to get them back up, so they stopped us where we're safe."

"How do you know?" Harry asked quickly.

"I went up to the front to see that witch for some chocolate frogs," Neville confessed. "I was asleep earlier when she came round with the trolley. The owl arrived from the Ministry when I was there."

There was a universal sigh of relief. That would certainly make a lot of sense, especially after what they knew from Mr Weasley's involvement in this operation. Harry sank back into his seat, pulling Ginny with him, and hugged her tightly. They waited.

The train jerked forwards suddenly, with a hiss of pent up steam, and they were on their way once more, rattling along the rails to Hogwarts and safety.