Hermione stretched; glad to be off the cramped plane. She had never been a big fan of flying, no matter what the case was. Planes, brooms, and flying creatures may have been frequent in her life, but that didn't mean she liked them. Malfoy on the other Ferret face on the other hand, had loved the plane ride. He switched places with her because he wanted to see the ocean while they were flying over it. Hermione knew she shouldn't be surprised. He played Quidditch, so why shouldn't he love airplanes? Still, she had hoped for something to hold over him. Then again, when she saw Malfoy's face as they walked into the Atlanta airport, it was all she could do not to burst out laughing. She had to admit, it was a huge airport.
"So where do we go now?"
"Umm, hold on." She fished McGonagall's directions out of her bag. "First, we need to exchange our money for American money. Then we need to find the chauffer who will take us to the school."
"Where are we supposed to get American money?"
"No idea. Let's ask at the welcome desk." They walked over to the desk and Hermione gave the clerk an award-winning smile. Draco just glowered. "Excuse me, but we're here on an exchange student program and we have no idea how anything works. Where can we exchange our money?"
The clerk returned the smile and gave them specific directions on how to get money and where to find their ride. Hermione thanked him and they went off to follow his directions. As soon as they had done that, the two of them walked to the main door to find their chauffer. There were many people holding up a variety of signs. Draco finally found the one that said Liberty High School Foreign Exchange Student Program. He started walking towards it. Hermione tagged along behind.
The chauffer was a large man with glasses and a goatee he smiled at them as they walked up to him. "You two must be the exchange students! Christina and Josh, right?"
"No, that's not us," Hermione said.
"Yes, it is!" Draco said. "No one ever calls her by her full name though. That's why she didn't recognize it." Draco realized that McGonagall never told the Mudblood about their false names.
"Oh, okay! If you two will follow me, I'll give you a ride to the school, so you can meet the principal."
When the chauffer turned his back, Draco poked Hermione in the arm, "You almost blew it back there! Did McGonagall not tell you about our cover names?" Hermione shook her head. "Your Christina Wilson and I'm Josh Smith. We attended a prestigious private school that no one knows about, but does exist. Its name is the Wiley Boarding School. It's the same ages as Hogwarts is."
"Oh."
The ride to the school was filled with an awkward silence. Hermione spent the time memorizing who she was supposed to be. Draco spent it, messing with his fingernails. The ride from the airport was a surprising long and boring one. Riding in an automobile was new to Draco, but he showed no excitement over it. He did seem slightly impressed by the size of the interstate and the number of cars on it, though. Hermione watched him carefully. She knew about Muggle things. He did not, and that could endanger their chances of surprising. As Hermione continued to watch Draco, she noticed that he wasn't really that bad looking. In fact, he was somewhat nice looking.
Hermione! Stop that! Are you insane! It doesn't matter what he looks like! He's your enemy. E-N-E-M-Y! He's a rotten-brained, cold-hearted ferret face! He almost killed Dumbledore! That stopped it. The thought of Dumbledore's death sent Hermione into a sad mood. She stayed like that until they pulled into the driveway of Liberty High School.
"We're here. This is Liberty High School," the chauffer said.
Draco and Hermione climbed out of the car and followed the chauffer into the building. He directed them to the front office to the right of the main entrance, and then left. Hermione walked into the office with Draco sullenly following.
"Ah, you two must be the foreign exchange students. Welcome to America. I hope your travel wasn't too unpleasant," the secretary said.
"It was fine. Thank you. I believe we're supposed to meet with the principal," Hermione replied.
"Yes. Right this way." She led them behind the counter and down a short hallway, and then stopped at the last door on the left. "Here you are. Principal Walters is waiting."
"Thank you," Hermione said, always polite. The secretary left, and taking a big breath, Hermione reached for the knob.
"Welcome to America! I think you'll find your stay here quite amazing. I'm Principal Walters and remind me of your names again. I seemed to have misplaced the sheet with your information underneath all this mess." He shuffled through one of the many stacks of papers on his desk.
"I'm Christina Wilson," Hermione said.
"And I'm Josh Smith," Draco said.
"Yes, I remember now. Oh, here are your schedules. Why don't I give you a tour of the school, and then I'll show you the ES House. That's the Exchange Student House by the way. Come on now." Principal Walters led them out of the room an out into the hallways of the school.
Hermione was paying close attention as they walked through the many hallways of Liberty High School, when she had a sudden thought. Could it be? When Principal Walters stood up, I could have sworn I saw something in his pocket. But that can't be right. I couldn't have really seen what I think I saw in his pocket! But what if…
