A/N- Enjoy! Thanks for the reviews!
Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter, or Pride and Prejudice, or airline peanut packaging.
Chapter 2- Arrival Gifts
"So… can I bring books?" Hermione asked, pushing her sweater down as hard as she could.
Ginny scanned her checklist. "It doesn't say you can't." The two were in Hermione's flat, packing their bags. The rules for Survive That said that you could pack as much as you wanted in a small duffel bag that they had provided. This proved a challenge for both girls.
"I can't fit Pride and Prejudice in here!" Hermione groaned, trying to shove it down.
"Mione, why do you need a book? It's an island, I doubt you're going to have time to read."
"I wouldn't be talking, Ms. Of Course I Need My Mascara!" Hermione said, giving up with the book. "Fine. No reading."
"Good. Well anyway, you need to finish soon because-" Ginny was interrupted by a loud, urgent knock on the door. "-they'll be coming soon!" She raced to go open the door, Hermione hot on her heels. Wrenching it open, Ginny revealed a tall, blonde woman who seemed to be somewhere in her thirties and a skinny cameraman.
"Hello! You must be Ginny Weasley, and… Hermione?" the blonde woman asked. The two girls nodded. "Goodie! I remembered from your acceptance forms! Hi, I'm Cindy. Cindy Merridew." She outstretched her hand for them to shake, and they accepted. (A/N- Yes, I will be using the name Cindy Merridew in all of my fics that I have an OC in. XD)
"Paul, come here, get a shot." Cindy gestured to the cameraman, who complied. "Hello, Cindy here, along with two of our four female contestants, Ms. Ginny Weasley and Ms. Hermione Granger!"
They both waved awkwardly at the camera. Cindy grinned at their hesitancy. "Come now, no need to be shy. Let's go see what you've packed."
"This way," Hermione said, leading them to her room. She gestured at her messy bed, covered in things she couldn't pack. She silently thanked the fact that she had packed her wand underneath her bras. Like they were going to look down there.
"Ah!" Cindy picked up her discarded copy of Pride and Prejudice. "Couldn't fit?"
Hermione nodded.
"Oh, too bad," Cindy turned to the camera. "Hermione is quite the bookworm, excelling in all of her academic goals and even graduating first in her class!"
Hermione glared at Ginny, knowing that she had probably revealed that. Ginny smiled sheepishly.
Cindy continued. "Which is quite opposite to Ginny, who is more of the glamour girl, but also plays professional sports. The two insist that they are best of friends, but could being trapped on the island change this?"
Both Hermione and Ginny shook their heads furiously. "Oh no. Mione will always be my friend."
Cindy winked. "Don't think we missed that little glare Hermione sent you, dear." She whispered.
Hermione gave an inaudible groan. What kind of drama-fest did they get themselves into?
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"No, no, no! If I can't bring all of this," Draco gestured at his hair-care products, "I will be utterly pissed."
Blaise laughed. "Get over it, mate. The list says no!"
"Damn Muggles." Draco muttered. "Just because they can survive with their hair being a filthy mess doesn't mean that we all can!"
"You're going to need to work on your attitude. You are soon going to be on national television!"
"Not until tomorrow."
"Not quite." Blaise said with a grin. "I called them. They're coming to film us packing."
"What? Blaise Zabini, I am one day going to kill you in your sleep. And then you will regret making my life hell!" Then the Manor's doorbell rang, loud and low in the echoing halls. They were here.
"If I'm dead, how do I regret it?"
"Stop being so damn smart and get the door." Draco said, trying to shove his conditioner into the duffel bag's pocket. A moment later, Blaise arrived with a dirty-blonde host, a nervous- looking cameraman, and a very chatty Pansy Parkinson.
Draco leaned over to whisper in Blaise's ear. "I hate you."
"Get over it."
"Hello!" The dirty-blonde man came over and held his hand out for Draco to shake. Draco gave it a look of extreme distaste, but unwillingly shook it anyway. The man didn't seem to notice. "I'm Jeff. Jeff Yates, co-host of Survive That."
Draco gave a half-hearted smile. "Draco. Malfoy."
"Nice place you got yourself here. What's your occupation?" Jeff said, while instructing the cameraman to get some shots of the Manor.
"I'm a businessman." Draco said venomously. "Own a company."
"Ah, so you're used to the high-and-mighty rich boy life, are you?" Jeff winked at Blaise.
"I suppose you could say that." Draco liked this man less and less with every second.
"Yes, you could," Pansy interrupted. "But back to what I was saying."
"Ah, yes! Ms. Parkinson here claims that there is some unsolved romantic tension between her and Draco." Jeff said to the camera.
Unsolved romantic tension? What is that supposed to mean? thought Draco.
Pansy continued. "Yes, well, we were in a relationship for quite awhile-"
"Pansy, we dated for a week in school." Draco corrected.
"Oh?" Jeff said, surprised. Pansy glared at him.
"Yeah, now we're just friends." Draco said. "No romantic feelings at all."
"But Pansy seems to disagree," Jeff insisted. "Are you sure?"
"Very. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish packing. Don't you have other contestants to go bother?"
Jeff looked slightly appalled. "Well… yes, I suppose. Nat, let's go." And with that, he and the cameraman left.
Once they were gone, Blaise burst into laughter. "Oh, Draco, the public's gonna love you!"
Pansy looked furious. "What the hell Draco! You were supposed to play along! Drama is what they look for."
Draco just flung his hands in the air and fell back onto his armchair. "Stupid Muggles!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"You were right, Tom. He's certainly going to be fun." Jeff said brightly into his cell phone.
Voldemort chuckled on the other side of the phone line. "Yeah, he's a handful. You see why I said to pair him up with her?"
"Can't say that yet. Haven't met her, but from what I read in her acceptance form, she's definitely capable of handling him."
"Well, I know them both. I know all of them, so stick with the couples I gave you. Even though it may not seem like it at times, trust me."
"Well, most would say that you're the last person anyone should trust, but I will. This is certainly going to be an… interesting first season."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Yes, well, I am pretty well-known," Harry said as he tugged on his jacket. "I work for the police force, see, and recently solved a big case."
Jeff nodded, pretending to buy Harry's story. He knew, of course, that this was the famous Harry Potter, but had to pretend he was a Muggle. He turned to Ron. "And you- you helped him?"
Ron gave a fake modest shrug. "I was, y'know, there, and yeah, I helped quite a bit."
"No need to be modest, boys! We all want to know about it." Nat the cameraman gave an overenthusiastic nod in response to Jeff's words.
"Well…" and the launched into a slightly Muggle-modified version of the Final War.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"I am so happy to be leaving." Hermione said breathlessly, taking one last look at her office before slamming the door shut. Spinning around, she ran into the looming figure of Blaise Zabini.
"Oh! Sorry, Blaise," she said. The two were on first-name terms, as Blaise was one of the few people in Malfoy's company who would actually talk to Hermione. The rest were too busy, stuck-up, or scared. Hermione was quite intimidating in her high heels.
"Hey Hermione," he said. "What're you doing?"
"Just packing up my office. I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Oh, yes, Draco told me. So am I."
Hermione squinted slightly. Could he be… "Are you-" she stopped. No, he couldn't be going to the game show. Anyone who knew her, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Luna well enough to enter them in a game show would know that it wasn't a good idea to stick them there with Slytherins. She shuddered at the thought.
"Am I what?" Blaise asked.
"Oh, nothing. I've really got to get going now, it's late." Hermione rushed. "I have dinner plans."
"Okay then. Bye, Hermione."
"Bye."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Hermione laughed when she saw the directions on the airline packet of peanuts:
Step One: Open bag.
Step Two: Eat peanuts.
What else were you supposed to do?
"What's so funny, Hermione?" Harry asked. Hermione leaned across the cramped airplane aisle and pointed out the directions on the food. He chuckled. It reminded Hermione of the day at the Ministry that they had agreed to go on the game show, and they filled out their acceptance forms. It was a good thing the show had provided two forms, because Harry had fun with the first one:
Health
Please list all that apply:
Health Issues: Urinary dysfunctions
Mental Issues: Multiple personalities (No you don't! Yes I do! No you don't! Stop talking to me, voices!)
Allergies: Peanut butter, certain grasses, Lord Voldemort
Physical Impairment: Er… glasses? I also am incapable of wiggling my left pinky toe.
About You
Personal Goals: I want to get wasted every night straight for a week. Oh, you mean like life goals? I suppose getting a nice job and settling down with a family might be worthwhile…
One Adjective That Describes You: My friends call me special.
What Makes You Unique? I am the Boy-Who-Lived!
Academic Achievements: I managed to cheat off Hermione six times without getting caught.
Describe You: I was the face of hope in the darkest of times. I was the ray of light in those looming shadows. I was the one person who everyone else turned to in moments of extreme despair. I was Harry Potter. That being said, I also see myself as a rather modest person.
Other
Criminal Record: Okay, fine! One time, I drove 67 mph when the speed limit was 65. And I might have murdered a couple Death Eaters here and there…
Occupation: I rid the world of evil.
Special abilities: I can do magic. Ooo- And I'm double- jointed!
Hermione laughed again, this time a little quieter.
Ginny, who had been sleeping next to her, woke up. "Are we there yet?" she said groggily.
Hermione checked her watch. "Not quite. About ten more minutes, I think." She looked at her attire again. She had dressed as sensibly as possible, seeing as they were probably going to put them to work right as they got there. She was wearing an old t-shirt and capris, wavy hair pulled back into a low ponytail.
Ginny was wearing something similar, but she had insisted on doing her make-up to perfection. She wasn't a big girly-girl, but she liked to look good.
Harry and Ron were on the other side of the old plane, laughing and joking while pointed into the newest issue of Witch Weekly, which they had charmed to look like a Muggle magazine. It featured an article about the hottest bachelorette witches of the year. Hermione happened to know that Harry and Ron had been on the bachelor list at least once, and Draco Malfoy numerous times. Even when he was dating someone, he was still on the list.
Luna was sitting alone behind them, reading the Quibbler, which she now managed as a side job. Although Luna's quirkiness had subsided slightly over the years, she was still the same eccentric girl from Hogwarts. Her blonde hair was wavy now, hanging freely down her back and reaching her waist. Her blue eyes were pale, but wide, and she had a wonderful smile. She had grown into quite a beautiful young woman in the four years since school.
As for the other three contestants, they hadn't received any news on them. Apparently, they were from London too, but had a private jet to take them. The lucky ones.
There was a little ping! from above as the pilot began to speak: Attention passengers, we will be landing soon. Please prepare for arrival.
Hermione loosened her seat belt slightly and slung her backpack over her shoulder. She nudged Ginny awake. "We're here!" Just as she said it, she could feel the plane's wheels touching firm land. Then it jerked, bumped, and settled to a standstill. "Merlin, I hate these bloody Muggle contraptions." Ron had muttered. The five friends unbuckled and prepared to get off when two familiar faces popped into the doorway. It was Cindy and Jeff.
"Hello!" Jeff said. "We're here! You have just landed on the side of the island that is closest to the outside world. We installed a landing strip here, but the rest of the island has no modern technology at all. We have just received news that the other contestants are arriving now…" he faltered as wind began howling outside. The other plane was here.
"I'll go greet them!" Cindy volunteered.
"Okay then, let's go." Jeff said, leading the five down the plane stairs and onto the island. They were on a strip of cement, quite in contrast to the thick forest right next to them. On the other side was sparkling clear blue water, reaching as far as they could see.
"They seem like the snooty type." Ron said, leaning over to Hermione. It was true- the jet was shiny, new, and looked to have cost a fortune.
"Ron, don't judge them until you've met them!" Hermione whispered back. Thank goodness there weren't any cameras around to hear that… They could probably make it sound scandalous and assume that Ron automatically hated the other contestants.
A moment later, the jet door opened, and Cindy walked out. Behind her came three completely unexpected people.
First was a light- brown haired young woman who was wearing a skimpy tank top and short- shorts. She had enormous sunglasses on, which she lifted onto her head of hair, revealing a heavily made- up face. She looked oddly familiar.
Next came a slightly darker skinned man with a more familiar body build to Hermione. He was wearing sunglasses and a ball cap, though, so Hermione couldn't tell who he was.
Lastly, walking with a saunter and displaying a haughty disposition was someone that Hermione did recognize. And he was the last person that she wanted to see.
Once the three caught sight of Hermione, Harry, Ron, Luna, and Ginny, and they got a good look at them, there was the quite comical sight of eight jaws promptly falling at once, then eight backpacks simultaneously dropping to the ground.
"Granger?"
"Malfoy?"
"Potter!"
"Zabini…"
"Lovegood?"
"Weasley?"
"Weaselette!"
"Parkinson?"
Jeff watched the scene unfold with a huge grin on his face. "Great- so you all know each other?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
A/N- Ah, that was fun. In case you were wondering, they are all 21, except Ginny and Luna, who are 20. They lied, however, on their forms and put 20.
The application idea came from the fic "Harry Potter Signs Up For Life Insurance" or something like that. Go look at it. It's quite funny.
READ PLEASE: Hey, could you guys give me ideas for things that should happen on the game show? I have a few, like hut- building and first aid and stuff, but I need more. Like things they did on Survivor and shows like that. Please! Thanks!
PLEASE REVIEW! I love all of your reviews! You guys are responding so much! Thanks!
~Potato
