Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 12 - The Flying Car

I have news! I've entered the Harry Potter Fanfic Awards 2020 (@HPfanficawards- ), which is very exciting. There's some serious competition out there but hey - you can't win if you don't enter. I may have tagged some of you in it if you've commented or added this story to your reading list - hope you don't mind :) - but yeah! Deffo go and check it out. Anyways, onto the next chapter - starting year 2!

Also, thank you for 500 reads!

 Al was sat in the garden drinking lemonade on the gloriously hot summer day. She'd just received a new cd player for her birthday a few weeks ago and was playing an Abba CD because that's what Harry had wanted to play and he was in the garden too. But unlike Al, Harry was doing some gardening, which she was under strict instructions not to help him with because her hands couldn't get muddy. She had to stay neat and clean because of some fancy dinner they were having that night.

 Harry paused in his handiwork and looked up at the hedge. He seemed to be watching something in it - probably just a bird, "Are you okay, Harry?" Al called down the garden. He looked away as if snapping out of a trance and gave her a thumbs up.

 A few things had changed since arriving down at Privet Drive. Instead of sleeping under the stairs, Harry now had Al's spare room that she used for storing seasonal clothes and gifts or toys she didn't want or use. She made it clear to Harry that he could help himself to any of this stuff, although she couldn't see why he'd want to. Harry's trunk, school books, and broomstick had been locked away under the stairs, along with both their wands because, "We are not having any of that funny business in the house," according to Al's Pa.

 She had been allowed to have her textbooks and parchment upstairs to complete her homework, but only as long as Harry didn't have access to it. To Al, it seemed as though her parents were doing everything they could to stop him going back to Hogwarts, including getting him expelled. She still tried to slip him a book and some parchment when she could though.

 Within the next couple of hours, Al had a new dress on and her Ma had done her hair and they were all waiting in the living room for Mr. and Mrs. Mason to arrive. The doorbell rang and in walked the couple - around fifty or sixty years old. She engaged in polite conversation about how she had top grades at school and she lied about liking English when asked what her favourite subject was.

 They sat down for dinner and began their main course. They were about halfway through when the banging upstairs began. There was a silent but unanimous decision to ignore it. But then it happened again, "I'll go and check on that - probably just the boiler," her Pa said, getting up and heading upstairs. When he came back down, there was no more banging and Al wondered what Harry could be doing.

 All five of the group sat back in the living room before dessert. Her Pa was just telling some joke about golf when Al saw a flash of mucky, grey fabric flap around the door to the kitchen. And then, to Al's horror, the big violet dessert began hovering through the room towards Mrs Mason. 

 Al had to do something. She made her excuses about going to the toilet and grabbed the dessert on her way out. But it kept moving towards Mrs Mason despite her being in the way. She pulled and pulled on it, but to no avail. And soon she had no alternative. Al let the pudding lead the way to make it look like she was the one carrying it.

 "Stop," her Ma mouthed.

 "I can't," she replied, also mouthing. And then she felt the full weight of the dessert on her hands. She moved it to the side, "Pudding!" she announced. She placed it on the coffee table with a smile and her Ma said she was going to get plates. And then, just as Al sat down of the sofa, the dessert threw itself directly at Mrs Mason's face.

 The two of them stood up in disgust and Al's Ma rushed off to get some towels. There was angry complaining from Mr Mason and then - as if things couldn't get any worse - an owl swooped into the room, causing Mrs Mason to scream in terror. "Is this some kind of joke to you, Dursley?" Mr Mason roared, "My wife is terrified of birds!"

 Al's Ma continued to fuss over Mrs Mason, but Al had noticed that the owl was carrying a letter made of thick parchment. She quickly grabbed it and opened it up as Mr and Mrs Mason left in a hurry. Something about underage magic...not allowed. Well, everyone knew that. She wondered why Harry had used a levitation charm though - that wasn't part of the homework.

 Al's Pa stormed back into the living room, "Was that you?" he demanded. She shook her head. "Right!" he shouted and stormed upstairs, just as Al was realising what he was doing. She followed him up, but couldn't get into Harry's room. She stood waiting for the shouting to stop so she could show Harry the letter, but as soon as the door opened it was closed, "Downstairs, now," her Pa ordered.

 She stood there, "No, I want to talk to Harry."

 "No? I will not be disrespected in my own house! Get downstairs now, or you can stay in your room too!" She weighed up her options.

 "Fine," she said, and huffed into her room, shutting her door hard on her way.

 "Don't you slam my doors!" Al heard, but she wasn't bothered again.

*****

 Al hadn't seen Harry in a week. She tried to get him as much food as possible, but her Ma was keeping a close eye on her. There were now six locks on his door and bars on his window. And it didn't look like he'd be let out to go to Hogwarts. And Al was getting worried. She was considering stealing the keys and helping him run away at night when she heard an unusual sound for the dead of night. An engine.

 She peered out the window, but no cars were in sight. And then she saw two pairs of floating lights accelerating towards her house. Soon a car appeared and hovered next to Harry's window. She opened hers so she could hear, "We're rescuing you, mate!" she heard Ron saying. She squinted at the car and saw two more redheads in the front - the twins!

 "Anything I can do to help?" she whispered out her window. The four boys jumped in surprise and looked over Al.

 "Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed.

 "Al-" one of the twins said.

 "-how's your Summer?" the other asked.

 "Alright, yeah. Better than Harry's," she replied glancing round.

 "Enough chit chat," Ron interrupted.

 "Yeah get me out of here," Harry piped up.

 "Make sure your Mum and Dad don't wake up," Ron instructed, "and then show Fred and George where Harry's stuff is." Al nodded and dragged her desk chair, placing it against her parent's door handle. Then she heard six clicks, and Harry's door swung open to reveal Fred and George.

 "Cupboard under the stairs," she told them before rushing past them and giving Harry a hug. She was helping to load Harry's trunk into the car when there came a loud thud from behind them. Al's Pa had woken up. "Go, go!" she whispered, pushing Harry forward.

 "You coming?" One of the twins asked her with a smile.

 "No, I'll be alright," she told them. They nodded and she went back to her room to watch the car fly into the distance.