"Ashleigh, Hermione, Ginny. Time to get up, dears. We need to get to Diagon Alley early." I was awoken at the crack of dawn by Mrs. Weasley. Beside me, I heard Hermione moan and Ginny mumble about indecency. I had to agree with her. Waking someone up before the sun has fully risen is indecent. I crawled out of bed and dragged myself to the bathroom, Hermione and Ginny following behind me, all of our hair a brutal mess. The boys met us in the bathroom, looking just as weary and we all brushed our teeth together. It was quite difficult, because there was only one sink and we all had to take turns spitting out our toothpaste. I wondered how the Weasley family managed.
After we all filed out of the bathroom to get dressed and comb our hair, we all met downstairs in time to see Mrs. Weasley putting the most delicious assortments of breakfast food I had ever seen in my life on the table. There was bacon, hashbrowns, sausage, eggs, pancakes, omellette, and enough pumpkin juice to satisfy an army. I sat down at the table beside my brother, Harry. My mouth was watering. It was hard to wait for everyone else to take their seats. Mrs. Weasley began piling food onto my plate. Once she was finished with mine, she proceeded to do the same with Harry. The rest of the Weasley's looked like they would have to get their own food. I always wondered why parents were nicer to other people's children than their own. Across the table, Ginny yawned.
"Mum, why do we have to get up so early? It's not like it'll be crowded. That place has been a ghost town ever since You-Know-Who came back." Mrs. Weasley frowned at her daughter.
"Well, it's nice to get a fresh start, anyway." she argued. Inwardly, I groaned. I was up at the crack of dawn for no reason? Oh well. At least the food here is good. Once Bill and Fleur, the last people to arrive in the kitchen, sat down, we all started inhaling our food like we were human vacuum cleaners. Before I fully had the chance to enjoy my breakfast, Mrs. Weasley was throwing our cloaks at us and ushering us into the living room. I felt a little left out, because all the others had long, robe-like cloaks that swept the ground and I had a normal, ordinary jacket which I had gotten from my favourite place... The Salvation Army. We were all cramped in the Weasley's tiny little living room. I wondered why we were here if we were going to this Diagon Alley place. Wasn't the front door in the hallway?
"Okay, everyone." Mrs. Weasley said as she took a large jar filled with weird powder off the mantelpiece above the fireplace. "Take a handful. Hmmm, we're running low again." she murmered. Everyone walked forwards and took a handful of the powder. They all seemed to feel this was normal behaviour. What was going on? When Mrs. Weasley offered the jar to me, I looked at her quizzically.
"Mrs. Weasley, Ashleigh doesn't know how to travel by Floo Powder." Harry told her.
"Oh, yes. I forgot. Sorry, dear." Mrs. Weasley smiled.
"You just grab a handful of Floo Powder, throw it in the fire, say the place you want to go, then jump in." My brother told me. I was confused.
"You want me to jump into fire?" I asked him. I didn't know about everyone else here, but I had been taught NOT to touch fire since childhood. Ginny giggled.
"Don't worry. It's perfectly safe." she said.
"Unless you say the place wrong and end up in Knockturn Alley, like Harry." Fred howled. I was starting to tell him and George apart a bit easier. Harry scowled at Fred, but said nothing. I was still doubtful, but decided to give it a shot.
"Okay, I'm trusting you guys." I said. Shaking my head, I grabbed some Floo Powder, watched my brother step into the emerald flames and whirl out of sight, then followed suit. "Diagon Alley!" I yelled into the fire, and walked in the flames. Immediately, I was whirling around and around in some strange vortex. Images of other fireplaces whirled past. I was spinning around and around until I thought I might toss my breakfast, until suddenly, I was thrown unceremoniously from the strange swirling tube onto a hard floor. I looked up and my jaw dropped!