Chapter Three
Beans, Frogs, and the Hogwarts Express
The next morning, Alex slid out of bed at nine o'clock. He had stayed up pretty late talking to Harry and Ron last night about Quidditch, and other things. He looked at Harry, who had fallen off the cot he was sleeping on, then to Ron, who was snoring rather loud he had also turned the opposite direction sometime in the night. Alex opened the door to the room and was met by the good smell of Mrs. Weasley's cooking. Alex, managing to overcome the urge to go downstairs, walked to the bathroom, freshened up, got dressed, then walked downstairs. Mrs. Weasley's back was turned to him. He looked at her, then spoke. "Morning Mrs. Weasley," Alex said. Mrs. Weasley jumped and turned. Apparently, Alex had scared her. "Alex! You scared me. How did you sleep?" she asked. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you. I slept just fine," Alex said. "That's good," She replied. Alex nodded. "Are the others up yet?" she asked. "I'm not sure about the girls, but I know Harry and Ron aren't," Alex told her. "Alex, would you be a dear and go wake the boys up, and see if the girls are up," Mrs. Weasley asked him. "Sure," Alex replied. He walked back to the stairs, walked up them, and opened the door to the room he slept in. He stopped just inside the door. He smirked. "FIRE!" screamed Alex. Harry and Ron jumped up, and saw Alex standing in the door, laughing. "That wasn't funny!" Ron snapped at Alex. "I thought it was good. I was already awake, so I knew there wasn't one," said Harry, who was smirking. "Well, Mrs. Weasley said to get dressed and go downstairs," Alex said, then left the room. He walked across the hall and knocked on the girls' door. "Come in!" said Ginny's voice. Alex opened the door. He saw Hermione sitting on the bed reading, and Ginny laying on the floor writing in what looked like a diary. "Good that you're ready. Mrs. Weasley says to come down for breakfast," Alex told the girls. Alex looked at Hermione. It was like she had gotten cuter over night. He liked her a lot. He was going to have to tell her sooner or later. He sighed, and followed the girls downstairs.
When they got down there, they saw that the table had been set already. "Wow Mrs. Weasley. That was fast. I was only gone for about a minute," Alex said. "It comes with having a big family," she said. Alex had totally forgotten about Bill and Charlie. He shook his head. "Well it smells and looks good Mrs. Weasley," said Alex.
After they had finished eating, they walked to the fireplace. They were going to Diagon Alley to get new school stuff. George went first. "Diagon Alley!" he said. Immediately he was consumed in green flames. Fred went next, followed by Ron, then Ginny, Hermione, and then Harry. It was finally Alex's turn. He stepped into the Flue, took a hand full of Flue Powder, and said, "Diagon Alley!" and threw the Flue Powder on the ground. He was consumed now in green flame. He came out of a fire place somewhere in Diagon Alley. All the others looked at him. "You made it. Was that your first time traveling by Flue Powder?" asked Ron. Alex nodded, brushing himself off. "You did better than Harry's first time. He ended up in Knockturn Alley," Ron continued. Harry looked at Ron and shook his head. Just as Alex stepped away from the fireplace, Mrs. Weasley appeared with a loud rumble of flames. "Oh good! You all made it! Well lets go!" she said.
It took them about four hours to get all their stuff. They had to find third year, fifth year, and seventh year stuff. They walked back to the fireplace they all came out of. One by one they went back to the Burrow. It was now one o'clock. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alex went outside to talk, Ginny went up to her room to write in her diary, and the twins went off some where. You'd never know with them.
Harry, Alex, Hermione, and Ron walked to a log not far from the house and sat down on it. "So Ron, you going to try out for the Quidditch team this year? You know, it needs a Keeper," said Harry. Ron looked at Harry. "I don't know. I might," he said. Alex looked at them. "Well I'm going to try out to be a Beater, even though they have Fred and George, I still want to at least try, you know?" he said. Hermione looked at them. "Well that sounds good on top of your Prefect duties, Alex. How are you squeeze in Quidditch practice?" she asked. "Its possible," Alex replied. Hermione shook her head and looked at Harry. "They aren't going to make you try out are they Harry?" she asked. Harry shook his head. "No. They won't make me try out. I'm to good of a Seeker. They said they know that they don't want a new Seeker until they need one. And right now they don't need one," said Harry. Hermione nodded. "What makes you think that you'll get to be a Beater, Alex?" Harry asked curiously. "I don't know. I think I'm pretty good at doing that," Alex said. "Well, since we haven't seen you doing it, we won't know until you try out," Hermione said to him, with a slight smile on her face.
"Lunch is ready you four!" Mrs. Weasley hollered. The four got up and walked inside. "Hey mum, did you know that Alex is going to try out for the Beater position on the Gryffindor team!" Ron said. "That's good! The team could use a change in players," Mrs. Weasley replied. "Alex claims he's a pretty good Beater," Harry said. "Does he now?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "Well I don't think I'm that good," said Alex as he glared at Harry. Harry looked down at his food and took a bite of food. This conversation went on the whole time they ate lunch. After lunch was over, everyone went off and did their one thing. Eventually, night came and it was time for bed. The next day they had to get on the Hogwarts Express and go to Hogwarts. Reluctantly, they all retreated to bed, including Mr. And Mrs. Weasley.
The next morning was a hectic one. Everyone was rushing around. Mrs. Weasley was trying to get Ginny out of bed. She was being stubborn. But once Mrs. Weasley said that she was going to miss the train for Hogwarts, Ginny sprang up, and started getting ready. At ten o'clock everyone was ready. They piled into the new car Mr. Weasley had gotten two years ago. They got to the train station at ten 'til eleven. Mr. And Mrs. Weasley sent them on their way, with a couple brief goodbyes, then the train started pulling out. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley headed back to the car and drove off.
On the train, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Alex, and Ginny, all settled into a compartment. Then the food trolley came by. Alex looked at them, then got some Bertie Bot's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, and some other candy items. "Enjoy you guys," Alex said, as he tossed Ron a thing of Bertie Bot's Every Flavor Beans. "So guys, and girls. How does it feel being on this train heading back to Hogwarts?" asked Alex. "I think its great. I can't wait to start the work!" said Hermione, enthusiastically. Ron rolled his eyes. "Figures. Yeah…I'm really going to enjoy being in Snape's class again!" said Ron sarcastically. Ginny said nothing, neither did Harry or Alex. They rode the rest of the trip in silence since they had, one by one, dozed off.