A few days later, Harry sat on Ron's bed in his upstairs bedroom at the Burrow, looking from one best friend to the other, wondering if they had lost their minds.
"You're not serious?" Harry asked for confirmation before he could stop himself. Hermione grinned widely in response.
"Of course we're serious, Harry. You need to have some fun in life. Now that the castle is rebuilt, and students have started coming back in droves, and before you take on the responsibility of the Auror department, you need to go out and experience the rest of the world."
"Really, now? And how am I supposed to do that, 'Mione? I don't have any kind of ID, much less a passport. I have very little working knowledge of the muggle world, and from the little bit that I have, I've little desire to go back."
"That's because you've never really experienced life as an adult. You've been under Dubledore's or McGonagall's thumb since the day you started Hogwarts. I reiterate, you need to get out and live your own life, and we…" she gestured between herself and Ron, who had helped pay for the fake papers and transportation out of the reward money they had received from the ministry. "…are more than happy to help you make that happen. As far as ID and a passport, everything you need is in here. Just keep your fringe grown out, so your scar stays covered." Hermione winked at him as she handed him the manila envelope she'd received from Anton.
"And just where am I going, and where am I going to stay, Miss Know-It-All?" Harry asked with a small grin, finally coming around to the idea of a much needed vacation. He'd been teaching Defense and helping rebuild the castle for almost ten years, along with helping the Aurors round up the last of the Death Eaters. At the beginning of the next term, Harry was prepared to take over the Auror Department from it's current head, as the man was retiring. Doing so would make Harry, at the age of 27, the youngest head of the Auror division in history.
"I rented you a suite at the Marriott in Pittsburgh. Galleons convert into quite a bit Pounds Sterling, and that converts to quite a bit in US Dollars." Hermione grinned as she handed Harry a large wad of paper notes, held together with a paper clip. "I'm wasn't sure if that's enough, so I got you one of these. The Goblins were surprisingly helpful." She handed him a pocketbook that looked very similar to the muggle cheque book he'd seen his Aunt Petunia pull out from time to time when he was a boy. The paper drafts also looked like cheques, except they had the Gringott's seal on the top left corner along with his vault number. At his questioning glance, Hermione went on. "They are automatic bank drafts. Fill it out for the amount that you need to withdraw, and the paper will disappear. Within a few moments the amount you requested in the proper currency will appear in your pocket." Hermione then flipped to the last page of the book, where there was a chart. "Here's a conversion chart, should you need one. At the moment, one galleon converts to ten dollars American. That stack I gave you was roughly two thousand dollars, or about two hundred galleons, enough to keep you in food and transportation for a while."
"Why on Earth did you pick Pittsburgh?" Harry asked, curious. Apparently Ron and Hermione had gone to a lot of trouble, and he didn't want to seem ungrateful, but he honestly knew nothing about the city, and was curious as to why Hermione would pick it. Hermione rarely did anything without a reason, and this should be no different.
"I know it seems an odd choice, but I have a cousin there who'll meet you at the airport. His name is Brian Kinney, he owns a club in the downtown district. That's about all I know about him, as I haven't seen him since the summer before fourth year, but he agreed to 'show you around' when I phoned him last week."
"Sounds like you two have everything planned out and ready to go. How can I refuse?" Harry asked, pulling Hermione to him in a tight hug.
Ron, who had so far not said anything, but rather been listening to the exchange with one ear while he skimmed a quidditch magazine, replied, "You can't, mate. Now go, have fun, and should the opportunity arise, get laid."