The Knight Bus

by

Ruby

Al didn't much like family dinners. There were always crowded and noisy. Especially when it was it parents turn to host them. The fact was Grimmauld Place was just not big enough to hold all of them. There were the five of them, two sets of four Weasleys, two sets of five Weasleys, plus the grandparents, and let's not forget Teddy and his grandmother. That is twenty five people all together in one place. It was fine more so when all of the kids were little and they did take up too much space but now that the youngest is fifteen space is very limited.

Al was up in his room when he started hearing people arrive for dinner. He was sitting on the floor packing a rucksack. He would be leaving for a week to a friend's house after dinner and he wanted to make sure he was ready to go. He finished putting the last things he needed in there when he heard his father call his name.

"Al, come down here dinner is almost ready." Harry called.

"Alright." Al grumbled to himself. He got up off the floor and headed down stairs. He arrived in time to see his Aunt Fleur walk through the door. He turned away so he wouldn't have to worry about greeting and walked into the dining room which was already almost full to the breaking point. He squeezed in and found himself a space in the back next to Teddy who was reading what looked a memo from his work.

"Whatcha got there?" Al asked.

"A notice to all aurors about a specialized homicide unit being created. Some of the auror forces are going to be used for training and command of this new unit until it gets on its own two feet." Teddy explained. Al who was entering his last year of Hogwarts found this particularly interesting for he hadn't figured out what he wanted to do yet.

"Are you being re-distributed into this new unit?" Al asked.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to help with training." Teddy responded.

"What are the requirements for one of the specialized homicide people?" As he thought about it more and more Al was quite interested in becoming part of this new unit.

"You need N.E.W.T.S. is Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. And O. in Herbology and Potions. From what I know you also then have to take a one year training course before going out into the field." Teddy said.

"How are they handling the personnel influx?" Al asked,

"Well we are creating one squad so a team of five each year for five years, we are also trying to find people to train new squads at the same time, we are hoping for a few people a year for the training positions. Most of the people we are trying to pull will come from recent Hogwarts graduates. For the lead positions we are trying to get retired aurors or aurors who plan on retiring in the next few years until people are experienced enough in the specialized homicide department to take the lead themselves." Teddy tried to remember if there was anything else as he sat down for dinner was being serves. Al sat next to him to see if there was any more information about this new homicide unit that was forming.

"So how does one apply for this position?" Al asked before scooping some food into his mouth.

Teddy swallowed what he had in his mouth before replying, "Said person just has to give their name to a trainer and then the trainer if they think the person is capable they will give it to two other people and if those two people approve then the person will be called in for training."

Al nodded not replying. It would be so cool to take this job but was he capable that was another question. He knew Teddy would think so but would the other two people he had to impress think he was capable? That was another question all together. Al looked at the clock. He only had about a half an hour before he was to leave for his friend's hour, thankfully long before the dinner would be over. He was getting out of it early and he was happy for that but still he wish he could learn more about the homicide unit that was forming but if he wanted to make sure he ate before he left he didn't have time for conversation with his foster cousin. He need time to think about the joining the homicide unit anyway maybe after some though he would send Teddy and owl to get more information that he needed.

The dinner went on without much disruption. Fred did cause a little explosion over Victoire which caused her to fling mash potatoes at him but that was all in all a pretty normal occurrence at one of these dinners. Shortly after that display it was time for Al to leave. He looked at his father who was at the head of the table. His father nodded at him and Al got up from the table.

Al patted Teddy on the shoulder and said "Keep me updated on the specialized homicide unit please."

"Will do Al. Where you going?" Teddy asked.

"To a friend's house. His parents don't like late visitors so I have to get going." Al explained.

"I'll see you then." Teddy nodded a goodbye at Al.

Al put a hand on his father's shoulder as he left the dining room and headed up to his room to grab his bag.

As he climbed down from Number 12 he flung out his wand. He stepped back knowing that he didn't want to get run over by the violently purple bus that would soon be arriving. A second after he stepped back the Knight Bus found its way to the spot in front of him.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizzard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunkpike, and I will be your conductor for this evening."

"Here." Al handed Stan the money for his trip.

"Where abouts are you headed?"

"Garnish Moore." Al replied.

"You look familiar have you been on here before?" Stan asked.

"No." Al lowered his head and climbed on the bus. He didn't feel like being recognized today. The bus was fairly empty as Stan led Al to a bed on the first level.

"Are you a Weasley?" Stan was apparently still trying to figure out why Al looked familiar. All shook his head. "Nah of course not. You don't got no red hair." Al didn't want to point out the some of his cousins did not have read hair. "Wait I know who you are?" Al looked up anxiously. "You're Harry Potter! Ern it's Harry Potter!"

"I'm not Harry Potter." Al said firmly.

"Then why you look like him?' Stand asked impertinently.

Al sighed and said. "I'm his son."

"Will you look at that Ern, Harry Potter has a son that looks exactly like him." Stan stared at him. There was a loud bang and finally Al was at his destination. He hurried quickly off the bus and to the front door where he knocked. His friend opened the door.

"Thank goodness you here. Mom was just about to star ranting about lateness. Come on in." His friend stepped aside to let Al in and he closed the door behind him.

A/N: Thanks to Sunshine72 and Soma Younn for reviewing. :D