-1
Harry, Ron and Hermione walked out into the Great Hall, where Filch was scanning the kids with a secrecy sensor, as they walked out of the wide mahogany doors.
The three of them were dressed in their muggle clothes.
Harry finally got to walk out of the doors, and looking around, he saw Ebony waiting for him over by one of the many thestral-drawn carriages.
Harry was stunned at her choice of attire. He had always thought of Ebony as sort of calm and collected, and not the type for provocative looks. She was wearing a tight fitting black school shirt, and a matching black tartan skirt. Her hair had a red head band in it.
Harry thought to himself how lucky he was to be going with her.
"Nice shirt" Ebony mentioned to Harry. He was wearing a baggy rammstein T-shirt that was a hand-me-down from Dudley.
Harry laughed, "I think otherwise. This is a hand-me-down from my wanker of a cousin Dudley"
They both laughed at this.
Ebony was first to get into the carriage.
"Who are you with, Potter?" Draco sneered as he walked past. He stopped, and craned his head into the carriage compartment. "My, my. If it isn't Wallflower Way and Master Potter. I never thought you had it in you, Way!" Draco laughed between himself and his two cronies as he walked away. It had always stunned Harry that Malfoy had decided to surrender information about Voldemort's horcruxes, in a trade for protection from the school.
Harry looked over at where Ebony was sitting. She looked almost as if she was about to cry.
It took Harry a moment, but then he realised, "You love Malfoy, don't you?".
The carriage started to move. For a good ten seconds, Ebony remained silent. She turned her head towards Harry. Tears were welling in her eyes.
Slowly, she nodded her head.
Harry lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's okay." he was rather annoyed at Malfoy now.
Ebony brought herself together, "I really should get over him, after all, it's only a crush."
Harry was never that good at understanding the opposite sex. He was rather confused as she drew her tears back into her eyes. She started to smile, and drew herself back up into a straight backed pose.
"Harry, have you ever been to the muggle town that surrounds Hogsmeade?"
Harry looked even more confused. He could not understand the sudden mood-swing, nor the "Muggle town", "What?"
She laughed. "of course not," She began to smile slyly like a child hiding something from a parent. "Take a short walk in any direction from Hogsmeade, and you'll eventually end up in the muggle village of Sow's Tail."
"What do you mean, any direction?"
"Well," She began, her voice was teasing. "I'm sure Granger-girl has told you that Hogwarts and Hogsmeade are unplottable, hmm?"
"Yeah, she's always quoting Hogwarts: a history."
"Well, the way to get to the town is easy. Because of the unplottable charm, they had to add an immediate escape route: in this case, Sow's Tail, that meant if you wander too far from the boundaries of Hogsmeade, you'll end up there."
Harry, still a little bit confused, asked "But I thought the charm made us unplottable to muggles, too. If we went to all that trouble to conceal ourselves, why would we situate ourselves by a muggle town?"
Ebony laughed. She was having fun concealing this from Harry, "Harry, Hogsmeade and Hogwarts aren't actually near that town. Or near to the rest of the wizarding population, actually." She gave a thoughtful look out the window, "The charm only gives us one way out. Just because we walk any way away from Hogsmeade doesn't mean that we can walk in any direction to get back to it. You have to know exactly where it is to get anywhere near it."
Comprehension dawned on Harry's face, "So, it's designed to let you away, but not let you in?"
Ebony beamed, "Exactly"
The carriage stopped.
Harry and Ebony jumped out of the carriage . Harry patted the thestral that drew the carriage first, before the two of them walked away from the rest of the students, in a direction towards the forests that surrounded the Shrieking Shack.
"Why are we going this way?" Harry asked. He had a feeling that Ebony loved being in control.
"You know what I told you about the muggle town and stuff?"
Harry nodded. Ebony began again, "Well, it just so happens that the other band members are muggle-born and raised wizards and witches."
"What?"
She laughed, "So, they live in a muggle town," She was gleaming again, "Which also happens to be where I own a house."
"You own a house?" Harry began. He realised then that he did too, "How did you get that?"
"My inheritance"
"Rich girl, eh?" Harry began. He saw the smile on her face vanish quickly, "Um.. Sorry…"
Ebony looked back at him as they began a climb up a steep hill, where the forest only got thicker.
"No need." She still had a grim face, "My parents died defying the Dark Lord." She suddenly looked proud for a moment, "So Hogwarts raised me, you know? This house, however, I bought with my own money that I've made from my job"
"What's that job?" Harry asked.
Ebony Way smiled. "Selling songs and lyrics to clients"
Wow Harry thought. This girl has really got it sorted.
"what kind of customers do you usually get?"
"Rich couples, mostly." She said matter-of-factly. She was talking in between pants, the climb had got quite steep, "Customised wedding songs and stuff, you know?"
Finally, the two of them reached the top of the hill. Harry looked from one end of the horizon to the other, taking in the view of Sow's Tail.
"Harry, look behind you." Ebony said as she sat down to catch her breath.
Harry turned around, and was stunned. Gone was the forest they had walked through, and now there was a beautiful white sand, clear water beach. All along the coast line, families were enjoying their day off, the odd couple here and there, kids splashing each other with the beautifully clear sea water.
"Ebony, where exactly are we?"
She got up. It seemed she had rested enough. "A small island in the pacific, not sure where though."
Harry was astounded. He thought that they might have ended up in another part of Europe, let alone the Pacific.
"Follow me." She said, walking away. Harry obediently following.