Day Off
Harry was confused. "Huh?" he wondered
aloud. Professor Dumbledore was telling him that
all of the 7th years get a day off before their
graduation. To go get a good look at the real
world. "So, when is the day off?" asked the
confused 7th years in their common rooms.
"Your day off is May 16th. Please do not
complain. The only date we could assign," he
answered.
"I'm not going out there. I have to study,"
bustled Hermione. She was always like this but not
as much as a studier as before. She liked boys
more this year.
"You have to, Hermione. If you don't, you
will never survive," teased Ron who decided that
having her as a girlfriend was through the actual
fact of teasing her. That's how everyone else got
their way around girls.
"Shut it, I'm trying to listen," said
Lavender. She was really getting annoying.
"So, kids, you will be leaving around, um,
about 8:00 a.m. and I don't expect you to be back
until about 12:00 p.m. around the next day," he
twinkled, "Dismissed. Head to dinner."
As all of the now taller 7th years scuffled
there feet to get to their dinner, Harry,
Hermione, and Ron discussed Ron's family.
"What do you think George is going to do,"
asked Harry
"I think he wants to go work with Charlie.
But I'm not sure," answered Ron.
"What about Fred?" Hermione had gone out
with him until they were spread apart. Now she is
single.
"He wants to work at the Ministry of Magic
and classify the beasts that come in there. I
think it's a pretty cool job," he added
"That's great," Pansy, the Slytherin 7th
year, imitated rudely.
"Yeah, and Pansy," they heard someone say
behind them, "Your a jerk." It turned out to be
Draco Malfoy.
"But I thought there was something between
us," she said in a high shrill voice.
"Yeah", said Malfoy, "HATE," he cracked up
and sped after her; ready to trip her if he had
to.
"Why did Malfoy stick up for us like that?"
Hermione whispered. Malfoy heard.
"Because I wanted to get back at the little
brat," he said in her ear.
"That's not very nice," said Ron.
"I know," answered Draco, laughing again.
"So, where are you guys going for the day off?"
"Uh, we haven't talked about it much," said
Harry.
"Oh, o.k. I was just wondering," said
Malfoy.
"We'd better hurry up, or we'll miss
dinner." Hermione jogged of, her short blonde hair
flowing behind her.
"We have to go too, Harry." Ron pulled his
arm and they all joined up at dinner.
The plates were filled. The goblets were
filled up to the top with sparkling grape juice.
If you want to call it that. It actually contained
no alcohol. The plates were all full with
sandwiches and carrots. The bowls filled with
ranch dressing and ice cream.
At dinner 3 VERY familiar guys joined them.
"OY! Harry! It's me!" Shouted the oh so
recognizable voice of...
"OLIVER! What are you doing here?" Harry got
up and shook hands with the big guy, "What are you
up to?"
"I'm your new teacher. Fr.." A HUGE
EXPLOSION cut him off!
The 2 Weasley twins were riding on top of a
large purple wave. It was juice.
"WHOOO HOOO!" Harry heard them scream. The
wave disappeared and Prof. McGonagal appeared.
"WHAT AN APPEARANCE!" She screamed,
apparently outraged. "I LOVE THE SHOW! YOU TWO ARE
SUSSPENDE..."
"McGonagal, we aren't even in school any
more!" Fred cracked up laughing. The professor
turned as red as a tomato, brighter than Ron's
hair.
"PLEASE! Gentlemen. Your appearance is quite
amusing, but you two cannot afford to loose your
jobs to a small problem like that." Dumbledore
interrupted.
"O.k. Sir. I'm sorry." George was starting
to giggle under his breath, then stopped.
"Now, kids, we have an important
announcement to make. We have a new student. She
is from the states." Dumbledore began.
Large cheers erupted from the crowd. They
didn't know what it was like to have an American
come to their school.
"ANND! She is 17; she needs 4 students to
come on a plane to pick her up. Her name is
Jaissa," he tried to continue.
"SHE WILL BE COMING ON YOUR DAY OFF!"
McGonagal said VERY LOUDLY.
Groans filled the room. "Who will
volunteer?" Said Dumbledore.
Hermione volunteered. "Miss. Granger, pick
two friends to come with you." Said McGonagal
Hermione grinned at Harry and Ron. "Harry
Potter and Ron Weasley." She said proudly. Draco
snorted.
"Mr. Malfoy, you will pack today, all the
rest shall do the same. Your tickets are here. Get
your things and be off," said Dumbledore. "Time
for bed."
All of the students scuffled and headed to
their dormitories. "Let's go pack," said Ron
glumly.
"I know, we'd better." Said Harry.
"Let's go then." Hermione hurried up to the
girls' dorms and got packed, so did Harry and Ron.
Then they slept.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Harry! Ron! Get up, we need to leave, NOW!"
Whispered Hermione. It was May 16th.
"Ugghhh, I don't wanna." Ron pulled his 4-
poster around him.
"I'm up, I'm up. Don't have a cow!" Harry
told her.
"I'll get some coffee. I think the map says
that we can get it on the airplane." Hermione
bustled about, carrying the boys' belongings.
Ron was trying to get dressed, but Hermione
was standing there. It was a pretty embarrassing
moment for the two.
"Can you...um, leave?" Ron tried to suggest
politely. He noticed that Harry was waiting too.
"I will," she left with their suitcases.
"Ron, uh, I have to go to the owlery." Harry
said as he pulled on his 'muggle' clothes. A pair
of jean shorts and a white Adidas t- shirt. He had
NO IDEA what the heck Adidas was. He saw Ron pull
on a pair of faded, baggy blue jeans and an orange
Nike t-shirt. He didn't know what Nike was either.
"Why?" Ron was ready. "Because, um, Hedwig. I need to say bye." He answered. "O.K. Let's see if Hermione will let us." Ron headed out the door. "Hermione, I need to go to the owlery. To see Hedwig. I don't want her worried about me." Harry put on sad, puppy eyes. Hermione was just overwhelmed. He was just soooooo cute! "Sure, go ahead. Be back in about, um, 5 minutes," she checked her watch and spun on her heal. "Let's go." Ron was running up the stairs to the nasty- smelling room. They were there really quick. "Hi, girl. I'm going to be away for a while. Please don't be mad." Harry said. He acted as if he were talking to a girlfriend. Hedwig hooted softly and nipped his arm carefully, then flew away to join her friend. "That's settled, let's go!" Ron pulled on his arm. "I'm coming." Harry said a last goodbye and headed down to the Great Hall. "You people were late!" Hermione walked over to him. She was wearing faded blue jeans and a white tank top that said 90% Devil, on the back, 10% Angel "I bet you're more of a devil than that." Malfoy was near the teacher's table. He walked over to them. "I bet you'd better mind your own business before I slap you again." Draco turned red. "Just shove off, Malfoy. We have to get going." Ron stuck up for Hermione, again. "My dad said I couldn't." Draco looked to the floor. "YES!" All three of them said. "Hey! I'm not that bad!" Malfoy then ran off. "What's his problem?" Harry gave Ron a weary look. "Who knows?" Hermione then saw Hagrid walking towards them. "HAGRID!" " 'Ey, I came to pick 'u up to go to the 'ates." He said to them. "Good, when are we leaving?" Harry asked. "You know how to drive a car, right?" Hermione gave them a spectacled look. "DUH! What did you remember from our 2nd year?" Ron laughed. "What kind of car?" Harry asked Hagrid. "Uh, uh, a Convertible." He answered while scratching his head. "ALL RIGHT!" Harry had no idea what a Convertible looked like; all he saw was Uncle Vernon's car. " 'Ell, let's be off." Hagrid bounded out the door. When they found the car, they were already exhausted from carrying the luggage. "I hope the seats can be expanded from that one simple spell." Hermione pointed her wand at the car and on the outside it stayed the same, but the inside was large! " 'U can't be doin' that in the muggle world!" Hagrid covered her wand and safely stuffed it into her trunk. "I'll drive!" Harry hopped in the front seat while the rest chose their seats. He stared the engine, waved to Hagrid, and drove off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ "We've been driving for hours!" Hermione complained. "So. We've got to find some kind of eating place before we get to the airport, so we don't die of starvation." Ron teased Hermione. "I've seen some restaurants. But I don't know how to use muggle money." Ron tried to count out the small bills and change in his hand. "Here, I'll help." Hermione started to take the money away from him and the rain poured down through her open window. "ROLL IT UP!" Ron shouted at her. "I'm trying!" she finally rolled it up and shook off the water. Suddenly a black figure jumped out in front of the Convertible. "AHHH!" Harry screamed and swerved to the side of the road and pulled over. He jumped out of the car and immediately noticed the person under the hood. Ron had already jumped out too. "DRACO MALFOY?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Ron roared at him. "M-my dad, he kicked me out of the limo. H- he wanted me to be a death eater. But I couldn't accept. It was too hard." Draco was shivering very badly. "C'mon, Draco, get in the car." Hermione ran over to them and helped him over into the back seat with her. "So, you said that your dad kicked you out of the car because you decided not to become a death eater?" Harry asked when they were back on the road, looking in the review mirror. Malfoy nodded in his direction. "HEY," he suddenly shouted, "There's a place to eat!" He pointed to a nearby broken down place. "O.K. We'll eat here." Harry pulled into a parking space and walked into the small restaurant. They heard a small ding. It was a bell on top of the door. Then a short, stubby waitress appeared. "Hello, how many today?" she asked mannerly. "Um, 4 people." Hermione answered. "O.K. I am Joanne, I will be your waitress today," she walked them to a small booth, "What will you be drinking?" "I'll have, uh, a water." Ron told her. "Me too." Hermione said "Same." Harry told Joanne. "I'll have one too." Draco told her. "I'll be right back." she disappeared into the back of the restaurant. "So, when do you expect us to get to the airport?" Ron asked Hermione. "Well, it's about 3:45 p.m. right now, so, we'll probably get there at 6:00 to 8:00" Hermione was getting out the map again. "So we'll be on the plane and about 13 hours we'll be in the states!" she quickly folded the map up and looked around at the boys. She was out-numbered. :) "Good, the sooner I get away from my dad, the sooner I can be happier." Draco mumbled. He was sitting next to Hermione so she could hear him. "What exactly did your dad say?" Hermione leaned in close so he could whisper to her. Instead of whispering, he kissed her warmly, looked at her in surprise, and ran into the boys bathroom. "That jerk!" Ron started to get up, but Hermione reached across the table and sat him down. "It's o.k. I'll be fine." she smiled. Harry sat, dazed. That was weird he thought. "I'm gonna get back at that scum." Ron whispered to himself. "Here are your waters. Anything to eat?" Joanne pulled out her little notepad and pen. "I'll have a cheese burger and fries. We'll all have the same." Hermione glanced at the guys who nodded in agreement. "All right. Coming right up." she hurried away. "I thought that was kind of...desperate." Harry said, taking a sip of his water. "It was." said Hermione, still grinning. "You liked it didn't you?!" Ron looked kind of hyped out. "No!" Hermione was lying to her 2 BEST friends in the whole entire world. "Sure." Ron turned and faced the other way. "I seriously didn't like it, guys, c'mon! You know I haven't liked him since the day we met him. Remember? On the train?" "I remember," Ron mumbled. "Then we were all like, I HATE THAT GUY!" They all laughed. They soon become quiet again. Trying to remember the good times. Hermione couldn't believe that she was soon to be on her way to be an older girl, in search of new adventures. She would be a teacher at Hogwarts. "Oh, no." she said aloud. "What?" Ron looked up. "I just noticed that we'd be going our separate ways soon. That'll be scary. My two best friends not here to protect me! I'll be all alone." "Oh, no! I just realized it too. We'll probably never see each other again!" Harry was soon overwhelmed with the thought of never seeing his best friends again. "Here comes that lady." Hermione pointed. "Here are your cheeseburgers. Eat well." She walked to another table. "Here comes lover- boy!" Ron glances at Draco who grudgingly sat down and ate his small, wasted meal. "I'm sorry." Draco looked up at Hermione and then down at his plate. "Look at the poor guy!" she whispered franticly to the other two. "He's soooooo mad at himself. Please?" Ron nodded, Harry followed cue. "Well, I'm done." Hermione rubbed her stomach and got up and went to the car. "We'd better leave then." Ron got up, so did Harry and Draco. They forgot to pay! "We'd better get moving. We'll have to get right back on the road." Hermione glanced at the map; she then flinched because Draco's leg touched hers. Then as she sat back, their shoulders touched. Harry pulled out of the restaurant parking lot and drove towards the exit that said: AIRPLANE EXIT! AIRPORT AHEAD! "So, we'll get of this exit." Ron pointed to the sign and Harry swerved into the roadway "Duh! You people don't pay attention, the next exit was the..." Hermione tried to explain but the engines of the airplanes were WAY too loud. "WE'RE ON THE RUNWAY" Draco shouted, suddenly jumping out of his trance. "AHHH!" All three of the students jumped out of the car as the airplane and it collided with all of the might put into that steel. BIG EXPLOSION. The kids were knocked off of their feet. "Good thing we didn't ..." Hermione began. "OUR LUGGAGE!" Ron was tugging at his hair, "NO! WE have all of out lives in there! We need out spell books, wands, clothes, uniforms, our... NOOOO!" "Settle down, maybe we can get the car, stripped...if that's the word?" Hermione was shielding her eyes with her hand, looking for other planes. "Terrific, we just ruined our every chances on getting on a plane..." Harry began, Hermione cut him off. "Don't you remember? You put your passports in your pocket see?" Hermione showed them as she pulled her passport out of her pocket. "Good thing that I kept mine, I would've been left here," Ron grinned, "Draco, don't you have yours, from when you WERE going to come?" "Yes, I never took it out of my pocket. Pretty lucky," Malfoy showed them his ticket, and with that they headed into the airport. "Flight Number 503, please report to the main desk immediately," said a scratchy voice over the loud speaker. "That's us, let's go," Harry rushed through the crowd and got to the flight attendant. "Follow me," the attractive blonde woman said. "She's a cutie..." Draco began, but the blonde woman cut him off. "All right, here is your plane, we've been expecting you," she led them into the top of the line, 1st class plane with almost the most important people on it. "Oh my gosh," Hermione pointed to two seats next to each other and Ron followed her and sat down. "Guess it's just you and me, Draco," Harry went to the seat right across the aisle from Ron and Hermione. "I guess," Draco sat down next to Harry, "Are you sure we're on the right plane?" "Yeah, look at our tickets, look at the woman who led us here... why would she say: 'We've been expecting you'," asked Harry. "OK, I'm just worried, where does she live?" Ron turned around and asked. "She lives in New York City...that's what the ticket says;" Hermione was turned around too. "So, let's ask where this plane is going," Draco got up and saw the woman who led them here, "Ma'am, um, can you tell us where this plane is landing?" "We're landing in the New York, NY Nationwide Airport;" she then turned around and instructed an elderly couple how to put their seatbelts on. Malfoy headed back to his seat next to Harry, "We're on the right plane," he said. "Oh, good, now I feel better," Hermione said, "I guess we can all rest for awhile, maybe close our eyes...." she never finished, she was asleep. "Good idea," all the rest closed their eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep. Harry dreamt that he was in America and he had gotten to the wrong place and all of his is friends were laughing at him. He turned up in a dark alley in New York, NY, all he heard was: I love it when you call me Big Pappa. Throw your hands in the air if you's a true playa, cuz I see some ladies tonight who should be havin' my baby, baby. And some big, large colored man walked up in very big, baggy clothing with a huge CD Player, with a gold chain around his neck, he said: "Yo, dude, I don't think you should be hangin 'round our crib, aright?" Just then many visions of Voldemort killing his parents, green light, then the vision of all of the disguises Voldemort put up with, Harry gasped. And after that, Harry woke with a cold sweat, his scar throbbing. He saw it was dark out. He tried to wake up Ron and Draco, but only Hermione paid attention to Harry's cries. "Harry, what's the problem?!" Hermione put her hand against Harry's head and said, " Oh, god, Harry, you're burning up," Hermione woke up Malfoy and moved over by Ron and she sat down next to Harry. "My scar, it hurts, owwwww," he moaned, Hermione called over an assistant travel lady. "Ma'am, we have a very hurt person over here," she explained, the woman ran over and slapped Harry to wake him up, Hermione stared at her hard. Seeing the look on Hermione's face, the lady explained, "We have to keep him awake so he doesn't slip into a coma." "OK, Ron, Draco, wake up, Harry's hurt, really bad," she turned to wake up the 2 sleeping beauties. "What? What happened," Ron sat up and rubbed his eyes, "HARRY! Wake up, bud, what happened to him?" "He woke up in a cold sweat and his temperature is rising rapidly, 103.5 degrees," the woman explained, she was stuffing ice cubes down Harry's shirt. Harry sat up and immediately started coughing. "HARRY! Your OK!" Hermione hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, "What happened," she asked when the lady left to get more washcloths. "Voldemort," Harry gasped, "He's on the plane, somewhere," "Its ok, Harry, you're fine, did he try to kill you," she saw him drifting off to sleep, "Please, don't sleep," she had tears in her eyes, "Here comes the lady." "Ok, hon, how are you feeling," the nurse put a cold washcloth on his forehead. "I was faking it," Harry grinned, the lady smiled. "Seriously," she said. "I don't know, I just don't feel good," Harry pressed the washcloth against his forehead harder. "Well, I'll go and do rounds for the other passengers, we'll be landing soon," the woman walked away. "So, what really happened?" Hermione poked him and grinned. "Well, it was just another horror dream, then at the end, Voldemort showed me his new disguise, it was a, I can't remember. Now that we're away from Dumbledore, I can't go with you, I need to get back, before I get killed," Harry looked up at Hermione and smiled warily. "No, I can beat out You-Know-Who any day," she raised her right hand and saluted him, he did so back. "We'll just have to try to be as careful as possible. What did he pose as, not the way he was clothed, what did he pose as?" Hermione asked. "He was a parent of some sort, I think maybe a dad helping a little girl, remember Moody? Well, he's using the polyjuice potion," how could she forget? "I remember... I'm just really worried..." "Don't worry, it'll be OK," Harry looked at her with those deep green eyes, steady gaze fixed on Hermione, flowing right through her... "OK, I'm just really scared..." Harry was SOOOOOO cute! "We'll be fine, believe me," He sat up and yawned, "I'm really tired, I think I'll go back to sleep now." In hours time, they would be reaching America to pick up their exchange student. But until then, they all slept, so at noon the next day, the lady over the intercom said: "The plane will be stopping on the runway in a few moments, please stay seated until we have completely stopped, thank-you." "Harry, Ron, Draco! Wake up! The ride is over!" Hermione shook their shoulders in turn and sat down again, they were finally awake. "Good, my bum was starting to ache," Ron stifled a huge yawn. "Well, we'll be landing in the New York, NY Nationwide Airport," Hermione addressed them. "We know, oh, we've hit the runway," the plane came to a halt and they took off their seatbelts, the three students stood up and received their carry-on luggage, Hermione's purse, Harry's jansport, Ron's book bag, etc. "All passengers may exit the plane the way they entered. We hope you have had an enjoyable trip." Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Draco exited he plane and headed to the airport. A girl who looked about 17 walked over to them, "Hello, are you from London?" she asked excitedly. "Yes, you must be Jaissa, This is Harry, Ron, and Draco, My name is Hermione, um, we have a very huge problem." "What is it?" Jaissa was a tall, attractive girl. She wore a orange tank top , with a pair of sand colored Mudd shorts with a big black belt. Her brown, with natural blonde highlights, was into a messy bun, tendrils hanging down. She had on a pair of Nike sneakers. "Um, Harry here, parked the car into the middle of the runway at the airport, and we have no clothes, no books, no anything," Hermione was very wrung out by the experience. "Well, that's what a mall is for," Jaissa smiled, dimples in her cheeks, "Anyway I have a car. We can crowd around in that." "Good, we were getting worried," Harry, Ron, and Draco were too stunned to speak, so they just nodded. "Let's get going then, I'll drive," Jaissa led them to a very expensive car, "I know, looks too good for me right? My dad bought it for me." The car was a brand new 2002 Pontiac Grand AM with A/C, DVD and CD player, installed TV, VCR, Sky Roof, plus a phone. "Whoa, nice car, wish we could've gotten that treatment," Harry spoke for the first time since Jaissa and them met. "Yeah, it pays off to be daddy's little girl, right?" Jaissa watched the three guys in the rearview mirror closely. "I guess," Harry nodded and Ron did too. They drove along the crowded streets of New York, looking at the attractive shops and oddly shaped buildings, they ended up in front of a huge shopping mall. Jaissa parked and led them into the nicely air conditioned place. "Wow," Draco said, real drawn- out like. "Cool, huh?" Jaissa showed them around. "Here is where you can find your m-u-g-g-l-e clothes, for the 2 days you'll be here. And then you guys can just chill in these," Jaissa stepped inside a JCPenny clothing department. "Whoa, these are really whacked out styles," Hermione pointed to a skirt that goes way up past your thighs and a sweater that was all rags. "Here is where you wanna be," Jaissa showed them the Easy- Going Side. "Oh, I see now," Ron found a pair of regular blue jeans in his size and put them in the cart, how about this shirt, he picked out a Basketball is Life t- shirt. "Ooooh, this would look good on you, Hermione," Jaissa held up a strappy, hardly held together, tank- top, that had pictures of the Empire State Building on it. "Yeah right," But Hermione put into the cart anyway. "I found something really cool," Harry picked up a huge t- shirt that said: This is the Life, with two men looking at girls on the beach. "Good idea," Pretty soon the 4 of the excited teens went into the dressing rooms and tried everything on. Hermione came out first in the tank- top. "Oh, my god!" Ron's jaw dropped open. She looked perfect in the outfit, her slender size was made for it. She was kind of self- conscious in it. "You're sure I look okay?" She asked the guys. Instead of answering, they nodded their heads, if they didn't close their mouths soon, drool would be dripping out. "Well, I think you should get it," Hermione also had on very tight jeans that also looked great. "O.K. I will," Hermione went back in and tried in all of the outfits and was satisfied. So, the guys went in and they were al happy, so they bought 6 outfits each. "That will be, um, $106. 83, please?" The person at the register said. "I'll pay," Jaissa held out the money and received 17 cents back. "Now, let's get some shoes!" Jaissa pulled the other four into Payless. "I like these sneakers," The 3 guys held up each pair. "Good choice, " Jaissa took the shoes up to the register and handed her a credit card. "Let's get going then." She walked out of the mall and got into her car, so did everyone else. "Anybody hungry?" Jaissa asked. "Kind of," Hermione answered. "Yeah," Ron said. "Uh-huh," Harry nodded "Yes," Malfoy answered. "Well, let's go to a burger king or something, I love their fries," Jaissa, carrying 3 shopping bags, walked out to the parking lot and unlocked her car. As soon as they got in, she buckled up and turned on her radio on. A song called Without Me, came on. Jaissa turned it up a little bit louder and was bopping her head a little bit to the music. Harry, Ron and Draco like the song, it was loud, and entertaining. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've decided this is a PrEtTy long chapter....
"Why?" Ron was ready. "Because, um, Hedwig. I need to say bye." He answered. "O.K. Let's see if Hermione will let us." Ron headed out the door. "Hermione, I need to go to the owlery. To see Hedwig. I don't want her worried about me." Harry put on sad, puppy eyes. Hermione was just overwhelmed. He was just soooooo cute! "Sure, go ahead. Be back in about, um, 5 minutes," she checked her watch and spun on her heal. "Let's go." Ron was running up the stairs to the nasty- smelling room. They were there really quick. "Hi, girl. I'm going to be away for a while. Please don't be mad." Harry said. He acted as if he were talking to a girlfriend. Hedwig hooted softly and nipped his arm carefully, then flew away to join her friend. "That's settled, let's go!" Ron pulled on his arm. "I'm coming." Harry said a last goodbye and headed down to the Great Hall. "You people were late!" Hermione walked over to him. She was wearing faded blue jeans and a white tank top that said 90% Devil, on the back, 10% Angel "I bet you're more of a devil than that." Malfoy was near the teacher's table. He walked over to them. "I bet you'd better mind your own business before I slap you again." Draco turned red. "Just shove off, Malfoy. We have to get going." Ron stuck up for Hermione, again. "My dad said I couldn't." Draco looked to the floor. "YES!" All three of them said. "Hey! I'm not that bad!" Malfoy then ran off. "What's his problem?" Harry gave Ron a weary look. "Who knows?" Hermione then saw Hagrid walking towards them. "HAGRID!" " 'Ey, I came to pick 'u up to go to the 'ates." He said to them. "Good, when are we leaving?" Harry asked. "You know how to drive a car, right?" Hermione gave them a spectacled look. "DUH! What did you remember from our 2nd year?" Ron laughed. "What kind of car?" Harry asked Hagrid. "Uh, uh, a Convertible." He answered while scratching his head. "ALL RIGHT!" Harry had no idea what a Convertible looked like; all he saw was Uncle Vernon's car. " 'Ell, let's be off." Hagrid bounded out the door. When they found the car, they were already exhausted from carrying the luggage. "I hope the seats can be expanded from that one simple spell." Hermione pointed her wand at the car and on the outside it stayed the same, but the inside was large! " 'U can't be doin' that in the muggle world!" Hagrid covered her wand and safely stuffed it into her trunk. "I'll drive!" Harry hopped in the front seat while the rest chose their seats. He stared the engine, waved to Hagrid, and drove off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ "We've been driving for hours!" Hermione complained. "So. We've got to find some kind of eating place before we get to the airport, so we don't die of starvation." Ron teased Hermione. "I've seen some restaurants. But I don't know how to use muggle money." Ron tried to count out the small bills and change in his hand. "Here, I'll help." Hermione started to take the money away from him and the rain poured down through her open window. "ROLL IT UP!" Ron shouted at her. "I'm trying!" she finally rolled it up and shook off the water. Suddenly a black figure jumped out in front of the Convertible. "AHHH!" Harry screamed and swerved to the side of the road and pulled over. He jumped out of the car and immediately noticed the person under the hood. Ron had already jumped out too. "DRACO MALFOY?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Ron roared at him. "M-my dad, he kicked me out of the limo. H- he wanted me to be a death eater. But I couldn't accept. It was too hard." Draco was shivering very badly. "C'mon, Draco, get in the car." Hermione ran over to them and helped him over into the back seat with her. "So, you said that your dad kicked you out of the car because you decided not to become a death eater?" Harry asked when they were back on the road, looking in the review mirror. Malfoy nodded in his direction. "HEY," he suddenly shouted, "There's a place to eat!" He pointed to a nearby broken down place. "O.K. We'll eat here." Harry pulled into a parking space and walked into the small restaurant. They heard a small ding. It was a bell on top of the door. Then a short, stubby waitress appeared. "Hello, how many today?" she asked mannerly. "Um, 4 people." Hermione answered. "O.K. I am Joanne, I will be your waitress today," she walked them to a small booth, "What will you be drinking?" "I'll have, uh, a water." Ron told her. "Me too." Hermione said "Same." Harry told Joanne. "I'll have one too." Draco told her. "I'll be right back." she disappeared into the back of the restaurant. "So, when do you expect us to get to the airport?" Ron asked Hermione. "Well, it's about 3:45 p.m. right now, so, we'll probably get there at 6:00 to 8:00" Hermione was getting out the map again. "So we'll be on the plane and about 13 hours we'll be in the states!" she quickly folded the map up and looked around at the boys. She was out-numbered. :) "Good, the sooner I get away from my dad, the sooner I can be happier." Draco mumbled. He was sitting next to Hermione so she could hear him. "What exactly did your dad say?" Hermione leaned in close so he could whisper to her. Instead of whispering, he kissed her warmly, looked at her in surprise, and ran into the boys bathroom. "That jerk!" Ron started to get up, but Hermione reached across the table and sat him down. "It's o.k. I'll be fine." she smiled. Harry sat, dazed. That was weird he thought. "I'm gonna get back at that scum." Ron whispered to himself. "Here are your waters. Anything to eat?" Joanne pulled out her little notepad and pen. "I'll have a cheese burger and fries. We'll all have the same." Hermione glanced at the guys who nodded in agreement. "All right. Coming right up." she hurried away. "I thought that was kind of...desperate." Harry said, taking a sip of his water. "It was." said Hermione, still grinning. "You liked it didn't you?!" Ron looked kind of hyped out. "No!" Hermione was lying to her 2 BEST friends in the whole entire world. "Sure." Ron turned and faced the other way. "I seriously didn't like it, guys, c'mon! You know I haven't liked him since the day we met him. Remember? On the train?" "I remember," Ron mumbled. "Then we were all like, I HATE THAT GUY!" They all laughed. They soon become quiet again. Trying to remember the good times. Hermione couldn't believe that she was soon to be on her way to be an older girl, in search of new adventures. She would be a teacher at Hogwarts. "Oh, no." she said aloud. "What?" Ron looked up. "I just noticed that we'd be going our separate ways soon. That'll be scary. My two best friends not here to protect me! I'll be all alone." "Oh, no! I just realized it too. We'll probably never see each other again!" Harry was soon overwhelmed with the thought of never seeing his best friends again. "Here comes that lady." Hermione pointed. "Here are your cheeseburgers. Eat well." She walked to another table. "Here comes lover- boy!" Ron glances at Draco who grudgingly sat down and ate his small, wasted meal. "I'm sorry." Draco looked up at Hermione and then down at his plate. "Look at the poor guy!" she whispered franticly to the other two. "He's soooooo mad at himself. Please?" Ron nodded, Harry followed cue. "Well, I'm done." Hermione rubbed her stomach and got up and went to the car. "We'd better leave then." Ron got up, so did Harry and Draco. They forgot to pay! "We'd better get moving. We'll have to get right back on the road." Hermione glanced at the map; she then flinched because Draco's leg touched hers. Then as she sat back, their shoulders touched. Harry pulled out of the restaurant parking lot and drove towards the exit that said: AIRPLANE EXIT! AIRPORT AHEAD! "So, we'll get of this exit." Ron pointed to the sign and Harry swerved into the roadway "Duh! You people don't pay attention, the next exit was the..." Hermione tried to explain but the engines of the airplanes were WAY too loud. "WE'RE ON THE RUNWAY" Draco shouted, suddenly jumping out of his trance. "AHHH!" All three of the students jumped out of the car as the airplane and it collided with all of the might put into that steel. BIG EXPLOSION. The kids were knocked off of their feet. "Good thing we didn't ..." Hermione began. "OUR LUGGAGE!" Ron was tugging at his hair, "NO! WE have all of out lives in there! We need out spell books, wands, clothes, uniforms, our... NOOOO!" "Settle down, maybe we can get the car, stripped...if that's the word?" Hermione was shielding her eyes with her hand, looking for other planes. "Terrific, we just ruined our every chances on getting on a plane..." Harry began, Hermione cut him off. "Don't you remember? You put your passports in your pocket see?" Hermione showed them as she pulled her passport out of her pocket. "Good thing that I kept mine, I would've been left here," Ron grinned, "Draco, don't you have yours, from when you WERE going to come?" "Yes, I never took it out of my pocket. Pretty lucky," Malfoy showed them his ticket, and with that they headed into the airport. "Flight Number 503, please report to the main desk immediately," said a scratchy voice over the loud speaker. "That's us, let's go," Harry rushed through the crowd and got to the flight attendant. "Follow me," the attractive blonde woman said. "She's a cutie..." Draco began, but the blonde woman cut him off. "All right, here is your plane, we've been expecting you," she led them into the top of the line, 1st class plane with almost the most important people on it. "Oh my gosh," Hermione pointed to two seats next to each other and Ron followed her and sat down. "Guess it's just you and me, Draco," Harry went to the seat right across the aisle from Ron and Hermione. "I guess," Draco sat down next to Harry, "Are you sure we're on the right plane?" "Yeah, look at our tickets, look at the woman who led us here... why would she say: 'We've been expecting you'," asked Harry. "OK, I'm just worried, where does she live?" Ron turned around and asked. "She lives in New York City...that's what the ticket says;" Hermione was turned around too. "So, let's ask where this plane is going," Draco got up and saw the woman who led them here, "Ma'am, um, can you tell us where this plane is landing?" "We're landing in the New York, NY Nationwide Airport;" she then turned around and instructed an elderly couple how to put their seatbelts on. Malfoy headed back to his seat next to Harry, "We're on the right plane," he said. "Oh, good, now I feel better," Hermione said, "I guess we can all rest for awhile, maybe close our eyes...." she never finished, she was asleep. "Good idea," all the rest closed their eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep. Harry dreamt that he was in America and he had gotten to the wrong place and all of his is friends were laughing at him. He turned up in a dark alley in New York, NY, all he heard was: I love it when you call me Big Pappa. Throw your hands in the air if you's a true playa, cuz I see some ladies tonight who should be havin' my baby, baby. And some big, large colored man walked up in very big, baggy clothing with a huge CD Player, with a gold chain around his neck, he said: "Yo, dude, I don't think you should be hangin 'round our crib, aright?" Just then many visions of Voldemort killing his parents, green light, then the vision of all of the disguises Voldemort put up with, Harry gasped. And after that, Harry woke with a cold sweat, his scar throbbing. He saw it was dark out. He tried to wake up Ron and Draco, but only Hermione paid attention to Harry's cries. "Harry, what's the problem?!" Hermione put her hand against Harry's head and said, " Oh, god, Harry, you're burning up," Hermione woke up Malfoy and moved over by Ron and she sat down next to Harry. "My scar, it hurts, owwwww," he moaned, Hermione called over an assistant travel lady. "Ma'am, we have a very hurt person over here," she explained, the woman ran over and slapped Harry to wake him up, Hermione stared at her hard. Seeing the look on Hermione's face, the lady explained, "We have to keep him awake so he doesn't slip into a coma." "OK, Ron, Draco, wake up, Harry's hurt, really bad," she turned to wake up the 2 sleeping beauties. "What? What happened," Ron sat up and rubbed his eyes, "HARRY! Wake up, bud, what happened to him?" "He woke up in a cold sweat and his temperature is rising rapidly, 103.5 degrees," the woman explained, she was stuffing ice cubes down Harry's shirt. Harry sat up and immediately started coughing. "HARRY! Your OK!" Hermione hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, "What happened," she asked when the lady left to get more washcloths. "Voldemort," Harry gasped, "He's on the plane, somewhere," "Its ok, Harry, you're fine, did he try to kill you," she saw him drifting off to sleep, "Please, don't sleep," she had tears in her eyes, "Here comes the lady." "Ok, hon, how are you feeling," the nurse put a cold washcloth on his forehead. "I was faking it," Harry grinned, the lady smiled. "Seriously," she said. "I don't know, I just don't feel good," Harry pressed the washcloth against his forehead harder. "Well, I'll go and do rounds for the other passengers, we'll be landing soon," the woman walked away. "So, what really happened?" Hermione poked him and grinned. "Well, it was just another horror dream, then at the end, Voldemort showed me his new disguise, it was a, I can't remember. Now that we're away from Dumbledore, I can't go with you, I need to get back, before I get killed," Harry looked up at Hermione and smiled warily. "No, I can beat out You-Know-Who any day," she raised her right hand and saluted him, he did so back. "We'll just have to try to be as careful as possible. What did he pose as, not the way he was clothed, what did he pose as?" Hermione asked. "He was a parent of some sort, I think maybe a dad helping a little girl, remember Moody? Well, he's using the polyjuice potion," how could she forget? "I remember... I'm just really worried..." "Don't worry, it'll be OK," Harry looked at her with those deep green eyes, steady gaze fixed on Hermione, flowing right through her... "OK, I'm just really scared..." Harry was SOOOOOO cute! "We'll be fine, believe me," He sat up and yawned, "I'm really tired, I think I'll go back to sleep now." In hours time, they would be reaching America to pick up their exchange student. But until then, they all slept, so at noon the next day, the lady over the intercom said: "The plane will be stopping on the runway in a few moments, please stay seated until we have completely stopped, thank-you." "Harry, Ron, Draco! Wake up! The ride is over!" Hermione shook their shoulders in turn and sat down again, they were finally awake. "Good, my bum was starting to ache," Ron stifled a huge yawn. "Well, we'll be landing in the New York, NY Nationwide Airport," Hermione addressed them. "We know, oh, we've hit the runway," the plane came to a halt and they took off their seatbelts, the three students stood up and received their carry-on luggage, Hermione's purse, Harry's jansport, Ron's book bag, etc. "All passengers may exit the plane the way they entered. We hope you have had an enjoyable trip." Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Draco exited he plane and headed to the airport. A girl who looked about 17 walked over to them, "Hello, are you from London?" she asked excitedly. "Yes, you must be Jaissa, This is Harry, Ron, and Draco, My name is Hermione, um, we have a very huge problem." "What is it?" Jaissa was a tall, attractive girl. She wore a orange tank top , with a pair of sand colored Mudd shorts with a big black belt. Her brown, with natural blonde highlights, was into a messy bun, tendrils hanging down. She had on a pair of Nike sneakers. "Um, Harry here, parked the car into the middle of the runway at the airport, and we have no clothes, no books, no anything," Hermione was very wrung out by the experience. "Well, that's what a mall is for," Jaissa smiled, dimples in her cheeks, "Anyway I have a car. We can crowd around in that." "Good, we were getting worried," Harry, Ron, and Draco were too stunned to speak, so they just nodded. "Let's get going then, I'll drive," Jaissa led them to a very expensive car, "I know, looks too good for me right? My dad bought it for me." The car was a brand new 2002 Pontiac Grand AM with A/C, DVD and CD player, installed TV, VCR, Sky Roof, plus a phone. "Whoa, nice car, wish we could've gotten that treatment," Harry spoke for the first time since Jaissa and them met. "Yeah, it pays off to be daddy's little girl, right?" Jaissa watched the three guys in the rearview mirror closely. "I guess," Harry nodded and Ron did too. They drove along the crowded streets of New York, looking at the attractive shops and oddly shaped buildings, they ended up in front of a huge shopping mall. Jaissa parked and led them into the nicely air conditioned place. "Wow," Draco said, real drawn- out like. "Cool, huh?" Jaissa showed them around. "Here is where you can find your m-u-g-g-l-e clothes, for the 2 days you'll be here. And then you guys can just chill in these," Jaissa stepped inside a JCPenny clothing department. "Whoa, these are really whacked out styles," Hermione pointed to a skirt that goes way up past your thighs and a sweater that was all rags. "Here is where you wanna be," Jaissa showed them the Easy- Going Side. "Oh, I see now," Ron found a pair of regular blue jeans in his size and put them in the cart, how about this shirt, he picked out a Basketball is Life t- shirt. "Ooooh, this would look good on you, Hermione," Jaissa held up a strappy, hardly held together, tank- top, that had pictures of the Empire State Building on it. "Yeah right," But Hermione put into the cart anyway. "I found something really cool," Harry picked up a huge t- shirt that said: This is the Life, with two men looking at girls on the beach. "Good idea," Pretty soon the 4 of the excited teens went into the dressing rooms and tried everything on. Hermione came out first in the tank- top. "Oh, my god!" Ron's jaw dropped open. She looked perfect in the outfit, her slender size was made for it. She was kind of self- conscious in it. "You're sure I look okay?" She asked the guys. Instead of answering, they nodded their heads, if they didn't close their mouths soon, drool would be dripping out. "Well, I think you should get it," Hermione also had on very tight jeans that also looked great. "O.K. I will," Hermione went back in and tried in all of the outfits and was satisfied. So, the guys went in and they were al happy, so they bought 6 outfits each. "That will be, um, $106. 83, please?" The person at the register said. "I'll pay," Jaissa held out the money and received 17 cents back. "Now, let's get some shoes!" Jaissa pulled the other four into Payless. "I like these sneakers," The 3 guys held up each pair. "Good choice, " Jaissa took the shoes up to the register and handed her a credit card. "Let's get going then." She walked out of the mall and got into her car, so did everyone else. "Anybody hungry?" Jaissa asked. "Kind of," Hermione answered. "Yeah," Ron said. "Uh-huh," Harry nodded "Yes," Malfoy answered. "Well, let's go to a burger king or something, I love their fries," Jaissa, carrying 3 shopping bags, walked out to the parking lot and unlocked her car. As soon as they got in, she buckled up and turned on her radio on. A song called Without Me, came on. Jaissa turned it up a little bit louder and was bopping her head a little bit to the music. Harry, Ron and Draco like the song, it was loud, and entertaining. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've decided this is a PrEtTy long chapter....