Chapter 3, On the Way
"Harry…..Harry!"
"Hmm? What?" Harry said groggily.
"It's time to leave, mate, get up!"
"O…….O…….okay," Harry said through a yawn.
Harry jumped out of bed, realizing that if he took too long that they'd miss their plane.
"Hey Ron, why are we taking the plane again?"
"Good Lord, Harry! Don't you remember mum and dad's discussion? Ginny's not old enough to apparate for one thing, and it's also a very long way for anybody except people who are experts at apparation to do so. Thus the plane trip."
"Of course, sorry mate…..it's too early to be up."
"Yeah, yeah. We better head downstairs before mum comes up here…believe me, we do not want that!"
" 'Aight, I've got your point, I'm gone."
Harry jumped out of bed and gave the room a quick once-over to see if there was anything he might've forgotten to pack. Not seeing anything, he followed Ron out the door to the stairs. They passed Hermione and Ginny's room, which was empty.
"It's about time, boys! Now hurry, we've still got to make it to the airport," Mrs. Weasley said while they were descending the stairs. "Arthur managed to get us a portkey, but we'll still have some traveling to do before we reach it."
"Allright everybody, do we all have everything we need? Yes? Good. OK, we've got a little more than 30 seconds, so everybody get situated around it and--"
"Dad, we know how to use a portkey," Ginny said to her anxious father.
"I know, but I just wanted--"
Nobody ever found out just what Mr. Weasley wanted because right then the portkey had engaged and was sending them hurling through the air to a grassy field about a mile out of sight of the airport.
"Umph, Won, gerroff me!" Ginny struggled to say.
"Well, I would if Harry would get off of me!"
"I'm working on it, hold on a second."
Fred, George, Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley all landed with much more grace than everybody else. Hermione had landed on her feet, but the momentum from the portkey kept her moving toward the ground. She was preparing herself for the pain that would surely come as she barreled toward the ground, but two strong arms grabbed her.
"Woah, easy there!" Fred said.
"Thank you! I was afraid I'd be aching for days from that fall!"
"You'll never fall again as long as I'm here to catch you," Fred said as he looked at Hermione with a serious look on his face and a slight glint in his eye.
Hermione looked into his eyes, then sheepishly looked toward the tangle of bodies that was Ron, Harry, and Ginny and said "Maybe we'd better go help them." She then walked over to Ginny and asked if she was ok, knowing full well that her fall had to hurt when the two boys landed on her.
"Allright everyone, let's head to the plane."
Once inside the airport, everything went surprisingly smoothly. Everybody made it past airport security, even with their wands stowed away. Before they knew it, they were boarding the plane and on were on their way to the USA.
