Chapter Two

Running Away

Voldemort turned his wand on Sirius now, but Sirius also had his wand back. Sirius moved back on the ground, trying to stay away from Voldemort. Suddenly Ron was jerked away from the window. He was tossed a cloak and his Mother shoved him over to the fireplace.

"We need to get out of here!" she said, "Go to Platform 9 ¾, Fred and George already left."

Ginny took a pinch of powder and threw it down.

"Platform 9 ¾!" she yelled and disappeared.

They could hear the Dementors coming closer and the voices of the Death Eaters growing louder.

"Mum, what about Sirius?" asked Ron.

"He'll be fine," said Harry, before Mrs. Weasley had a chance to reply.

"You need to leave!" yelled Mrs. Weasley. "Quickly!"

The back door fell with a bang; the dementors and Death Eaters were inside the house.

"Mum, you leave right now," said Ron, "We'll be fine!"

Molly nodded and kissed Ron's cheek.

"I'll see you at Hogwarts," she said as she ran out the door.

Ron reached out for the bag of floo powder, but it was empty.

"Oh damn it!" he exclaimed.

"What?" asked Harry.

"There isn't any floo powder," explained Ron.

"You're joking!" Harry gasped.

Ron shook his head. Voldemort's footsteps echoed through the house and Harry grabbed Ron's arm. They ran to Ron's room and Harry grabbed their brooms.

"We'll have to fly," explained Harry, "It's the only chance."

The exited through the window and took off. Ron looked at Harry and yelled to him.

"Harry, it's a long way to London" he said, "We might not make it."

"We need to try," said Harry flatly.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion behind them. Ron was almost knocked from his broom but when he turned around he expected to see the burrow, but it was gone. The only thing left was smoldering ashes and a large dark mark, which floated in the sky. Harry looked at Ron.

"We need to keep going," said Harry. "They'll catch us if we don't."

~~~***~~~

About three hours later they reached London and it had begun to rain. Ron's broomstick was starting to die too. It bucked as Harry stayed next to him.

"Climb on my broom!" yelled Harry.

Before Ron could even react, his broom plummeted down into an alley below. He fell into a trash bin and heard a loud snap. His leg stung with pain as he weakly pulled himself out. He grabbed his broom, and it was snapped in two as well. Ron sat down on the hard cement floor of the alley and pulled his good leg up to his chest and he set his head on it. His eyes were full of tears and the picture of his Father lying there dead came back to him. He tightly held his wand and growled.

"You all right?" asked a voice.

Harry set his hand on Ron's shoulder and Ron grinned slightly. Harry looked at Ron's leg and saw it was bleeding.

"You'll need to get that fixed," he said, helping Ron. "C'mon, we need to get to Kings Cross Station."

It was several minutes until Ron spoke again. He was limping badly and it caused him to stumble every few steps.

"Harry," asked Ron. "If the Hogwarts Express is only at the station at the start and end of term, why would it be there now?"

Harry slowed slightly. He hadn't thought of that.

"It'll be there," he assured Ron.

Ron couldn't remember how long they walked for but by the time they arrived at the station and found the barrier between platforms nine and ten the sun was rising. Ron touched it and went right through, with Harry right behind him. Inside the platform it was empty, except for Fred, Ginny and George, who were sitting against the wall. Ginny was asleep in Fred's arms.

"Ron, Harry, you're all right!" exclaimed George, running over.

He saw Ron's leg, and pulled out his wand.

"Let me fix it," he said, "Repairo. "

Ron felt most of the pain leave, though he still limped.

"You'll have to be careful, though," explained Fred.

Ginny opened her eyes and looked at Ron and Harry and almost cried with joy. She jumped up and hugged Ron tightly.

"I was so worried," she said.

Ron smiled and looked over and Fred and George.

"Where's the train?" he asked.

"Mum sent a letter to Dumbledore right before we left," explained Fred, "Speaking of which, where is Mum?"

Ron shrugged and looked at the others. He wasn't sure what to think. The last he had seen her was at the Burrow.

"We've got to find her," ordered Ron.

George shook his head.

"No, Ron," George said firmly, "We need to stay here."

"You're just going to let Mum die out there?" questioned Ron, sounding enraged.

"You don't know if she's dead!" yelled Fred. "George is right. We're staying right here."

Ron grumbled but stayed put. They were probably right.