A/N: What did you think of the third chapter? Review and let me know!
Disclaimer: I own nuthin', especially Harry Potter. If I did I'd be RICH! But as I said before, I own nuthin'. Well I do own two guinea pigs, but... they aren't named Harry Potter... So I guess that doesn't count for much...
*Narrator's Booming Voice*When we last left our beloved characters: There was Fred's real fun, err Funeral.
The next few days went well and the Burrow had a much happier atmosphere. Mrs. Weasley, and the rest of the family for that matter, suspected something was up, because Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione stayed in the tent and only came out for meal times. Molly attempted to keep them from planning; giving Ronald and Ginny numerous chores and attempting to keep the other two busy with various activities, but was quite unsuccessful. The four finally decided to walk into town and continue planning in the park unhindered, after catching Mr. Weasley trying to spy on them, who they suspected was sent to do so by Molly.
Finally the day came when it was time for them to leave. Hermione made her way up to the attic to check on Ron's progress. "Ron, are you ready to go?" Hermione called on the final steps of the stairs up to his room. As she entered, she found books floating in the air, and clothes flying everywhere. The only sight of Ron was his red hair in the center of the chaotic whirlwind of rushing objects.
"You haven't packed yet, have you?"
The cyclone of flying objects stopped turning and fell to the ground as Ron looked up, "Um… Yeah I just couldn't find something." he sheepishly grinned. She rolled her eyes.
"Do you need help finding this something?"
"Yes," he gave in with a sigh.
"Fine let's start with shirts. We approximated it would take at most two weeks, so find seven shirts. We will do laundry while we are there. Bring four pairs of pants, two different pairs of shoes, bring four or five pairs of socks," both of their eyes widened at the realization of what one very personal piece of laundry was, and they awkwardly avoided mentioning it, "and… well I think you can …um finish up from there. Grab your toothbrush and, if there is any space in the bag, put what you think we might need. Don't forget to pack you delumintator. We may need it," she said and then exited the room.
She went and found Ginny in the room they shared when she came to visit, when Aunt Muriel wasn't there. She shrunk Ginny's suitcase and placed it in her bag, which still had the expansion charm. They headed down stairs, where they found Harry waiting with his sack full of clothes, on account his only other piece of luggage was his Hogwarts trunk, which was too heavy for the trip. His sack was placed in the bag and Ron appeared on the staircase.
"Where is you luggage?" Hermione asked.
He grinned. "It's already in your bag. I used a shrinking and vanishing spell."
"Very clever Ronald." Hermione said obviously impressed, while Ron's face turning a shade of red similar to his hair. "Okay time to go. Harry you-"
Suddenly Mrs. Weasley came bursting into the room.
"Where are you going, Ginerva Weasley?! I may no longer have control of Ron much anymore, but you are still underage! You are not going!"
" Mum! I'm going! You can't run my life!"
"I can too! And you're not-,"
"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry bravely interrupted.
"What?"She asked snappily, eyeing him suspiciously.
"With all due respect, I believe that after everything Ginny has been through that she is able to defend herself." Harry paused, glancing at Ginny, "If any problems were to arise, she is more than capable of handling any situation thrown at her." Ginny smiled flirtatiously at Harry, visibly enjoying his compliments, and Harry smiled back, "And, no offense, but I think the Carrows did more damage to her than this trip will. I will protect her with my life." Ginny beamed at his statement, clearly wanting to kiss him then and there, but she held off with her mother in the room.
Mrs. Weasley seemed to take his word for it.
"Fine, but if she gets so much as a scratch, one of the family will kill you. Whether it's me or Bill, I don't know, but it will happen," she told him only half joking. Harry seemed to realize this and both Hermione and Ron could tell what he was thinking; the headline on the Daily Prophet passed through their heads: "Potter Beat You-Know-Who, but Not Mrs. Weasley?"
"Mrs. Weasley, Ginny would only be injured over my dead body, as I am willing to risk my life and limb for her." Ginny raised her eyebrows in realization, and smiled, her need to kiss him increasing with every gallant word he spoke.
Impressed, Molly replied with, "Good. I'm glad you understand." before leaving the room.
"Whew that was close.." Ginny let out a relieved breath before kissing Harry passionately.
"Oi!" yelled Ron, and Hermione tried to shush him.
The kissing stopped with Ginny looking quite happy, Harry slightly red with mild embarrassment, Ron looking slightly disgusted and Hermione slightly jealous that Ron was not such a hopeless romantic. Awkwardness filled the room. Ginny giggled at Ron's frustrated behavior and Hermione decided to break the tension by suggesting that they leave soon. They gathered near the room's fireplace, and Hermione pulled a small emerald draw string purse of floo powder from her beaded bag.
"Ok Harry you first," said Hermione. Harry stepped into the fireplace, scooped a handful of powder from the pouch, threw the powder to the ground and yelled: "MINISTRY OF MAGIC!"
Ginny followed suit leaving Hermione and Ron to go last.
"Okay Ron, go ahead."
"No, you go first."
She sighed at his response. "Ronald not now. Just go."
"No. Ladies first."
At this comment she rolled her eyes. "I don't care, stopping picking a fight."
"What's taking them so long?" asked Harry. He and Ginny stood by the fountain waiting for their two friends to come out the fireplace.
"I don't know, but then again do we really want to know?" replied Ginny, raising her eyebrows suggestively.
"Ginny…"
"Well…"
"Ron's probably trying to be a 'gentleman' and Hermione is picking a fight about it."
"Probably." Her eyebrows rising again. Harry rolled his eyes.
"I'm not picking a fight, just go ahead of me. Please?" Ron requested cordially.
"Fine." Hermione said, stepping into the fireplace and using the floo powder. Ron went after her, and they arrived seconds apart in one of the Ministry's Floo Network fireplaces. They proceeded to walk together over to Harry and Ginny waiting near the fountain.
"They've changed it since we were here last." commented Ron. Hermione only huffed, still irritated with him, and led them to the department they were looking for.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic's Department of Transcontinental Floo Transportation. How may I assist you?" asked a young witch, as soon as they opened the door.
"Whoa... That's a mouthful." Ron commented. "Try saying that five times fast," Ron whispered to Harry. Soon after attempting it himself, Hermione rudely elbowed him in the ribs. Ron grunted and began to complain. He narrowly sidestepped another of Hermione's jabs, this one instead hitting Harry. Eyes watering, Harry backed away, out of reach of any more of Hermione's blows to follow. Ron sniggered at Harry's beating, and Hermione walloped him soundly upon the chest knocking the wind out of him, leaving him wheezing and Ginny trying to conceal her giggling.
"We are here for our 11 o' clock appointment." Hermione said looking at her watch, which read 10:55.
"Oh, yes. Straight through those doors," the witch pointed, after flipping through some files.
The group walked through the doors to reveal a security checkpoint. "Please hand your bags and jackets to me to be checked for contraband items while you are being inspected by my colleague." said the jaded auror, as Hermione was checked by a witch with a sneakoscope.
Hermione gave her bag to a wizard, who performed a few spells, checking to see if there was any contraband inside her bag. He politely handed it back to her and she moved forward to be searched by another wizard. Hermione waited while Harry and Ginny went through the same process. Ron went last and as his jacket was checked, he thought of the deluminator in his jacket pocket and asked nervously, "W-what kind of contraband are you looking for anyway?"
The auror looked at him suspiciously and Ron began to grow restless and began to stutter, "Uh… N-n-not that I have any w-w-with me…"
The auror whispered something to the witch with the sneakoscope and her eyes widened. She backed away slowly and ran down the hall a ways into an office, the doors slamming behind her.
"Wh-wh-what did you tell her?!" Ron stammered. The auror had no time to reply, because the witch returned with two large aurors sprinting behind her toward the check point. Screaming like a little girl, Ron turned and ran for his life, only to trip over Hermione's beaded bag. Falling face first onto the floor, and still screaming, his yelps barely audible by the marble tile as the two aurors body slammed him farther in to the marble flooring. Hermione gasped as Ron grabbed her ankle as the aurors dragged him across the room yelling and screaming for the help of his three friends. The larger of the two already gigantic aurors shoved Ron against a wall and began interrogating him.
"Why did you run?"
Ron continued to whimper, and the other auror jabbed him in the neck with a thick black wand threateningly. "Why?" the other asked again.
"W-well what the bloody hell was I-I supposed to do?! You were charging at me!"
Harry intervened as the Aurors continued to search him and yell questions at the trembling Ron. "Hey let him go!"
"Why should we? He could be a Death eater for all we know. You could be one too." The auror inquired gruffly.
"We aren't Death eaters! We fought the death eaters! I even defeated-," Harry retorted, but was interrupted by Ginny.
"Voldemort!" she finished for him, "He's bloody Harry Potter for Merlin's sake! Let my brother go!"
"Yeah right. Show us your scar then Harry Potter."
Harry stepped forward and lifted the hair from his forehead, revealing the lightning bolt scar left by Lord Voldemort.
The Aurors gazed at the scar then turned beet red and their eyes widened in realization. "H-Harry Potter?" They both asked in incredulity and in shock. "The Harry Potter??"
"Yes. Release Ron NOW!" Hermione ordered.
The Aurors let go of the wobbly Ron, and he dropped to the floor in a heap, slamming his face against the marble pavement once again. Hermione ran forward to Ron and helped him to stand. He stood shakily and gasped something incoherently, which she guessed to be a "Thanks 'Mione".
All the while Ginny had been laughing at the reactions of all the wizards and witches in the room. A few other traveling witches and wizards had entered the room and had been waiting to be inspected at the Security check point. They had craned their necks to watch the scene that had unfolded before them.
Hermione glanced at Ron's throbbing red face, noticing that his face resembled that of Harry after she had disfigured it before they were snatched. Ginny saw Ron's face too and began laughing uncontrollably, receiving a glare from Hermione as she straightened his shirt and dusted him off.
Embarrassed, the aurors began to profusely apologize to Harry. Harry began to look irate and barked, "Why are you saying sorry to me?!"
"You nearly bludgeoned me to death you bloody oafs!" Ron bellowed haughtily, exaggerating the situation after regaining his confidence.
The Aurors began apologizing to Ron copiously, one even handed him a nearly full box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and an unopened chocolate frog from inside his robes. The other auror even went as far as to hand Ron small purse of coins, but Hermione snatched it away from Ron and shoved it back at the auror angrily as they left the room. Ginny was still sniggering at the peculiar predicament and Ron looking disappointed at losing the opportunity of free money. The four, led by Hermione, left the room.
Once the whole ordeal was over they found themselves in a room filled with several fireplaces all leading to different ministries in different parts of the world. They walked up to an elderly witch who was working at a desk. She looked up as they approached.
"Ah, you must be the 11 o' clock. Ok, take a seat," she said conjuring up four chairs. "First, what are your names?"
"Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Ginerva Weasley, and Harry Potter," Hermione answered. The witch raised her eyebrows at the last name and looked over her spectacles at Harry, but made no comment. She wrote something down on a piece of parchment in front of her. Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
"Ages?"
"Harry, Ron, and I are 17. Ginny is 16." The witch wrote something down before continuing.
"Reason for flooing to Australia?"
"To find my parents. I sent them there during the war so they would be safe… they are, uh muggles," She said, less confident than before. The witch nodded curtly and wrote something down again. This time Hermione shifted in her seat.
"Very well. Everything checks out. That will be 480 galleons," she said. This amount didn't seem to faze Harry but both Ginny and Ron raised their eyebrows. Hermione gave her the money, before the witch stood up and walked over to a fireplace with 'Australian Ministry of Magic' engraved above it.
"For experienced and first time transcontinental flooers please pay attention," she said apparently saying the prepared speech from memory, "Please enter the designated fireplace and grab a handful of floo powder before entering the fireplace. Upon entering throw the floo powder down. Do not yell anything, as this is unnecessary. You will then travel to the designated destination. Thank you for flooing with the Ministry of Magic's Department of Transcontinental Floo Transportation," she stated. She then stepped aside and picked up a bowl of blue grey silvery floo dust.
Hermione stepped forward first and grabbed a handful of shiny grey powder before stepping into the fireplace and disappearing. She opened her eyes momentarily, and watched the fireplaces rush by, but quickly shut them after her eyes began to sting. After a while she found herself flying out of a fireplace, less than gracefully.
She quickly stood up and straightened herself out, dusting the glittering floo powder remnants off her clothing. She looked around at the change in surroundings; instead of black marble like the ministry in England, this ministry had white marble and looked much more cheerful. She was in a room with a rotunda in the middle filled with various types of plants. Though she noticed many of them had no magical qualities, some of the plants did such as several brightly coloured Umbrella Flowers and a numerous clumps of vibrant Fanged Geraniums.Without a moments notice Ron came shooting out of the Fireplace she too had just exited. It was only then that she realized that there was more than one fireplace in the hall, much like back at the ministry in England.
"Well this is a change in scenery," said Ron brushing the soot off of himself and she laughed at his still red face.
"What? What's so funny?" he asked.
"You are! Oh Ron…" she said before blushing. This went unnoticed by Ron, as he had instead noticed a furry brown squirrel appear out of a fireplace a few meters away; it hopped a few paces then looked around bewilderedly, Ginny interrupted his thoughts by also rocketing out of the squirrel's fireplace. The squirrel went unnoticed by the girls and Ginny hollered, clearly annoyed, "Hello I'm right here!" as she looked up at Hermione and Ron. He rolled his eyes and helped her up. Seconds later Harry came zipping out. After he brushed himself off as well, they made their way around the rotund to find a handsome wizard at a desk with his back turned to them. Ron's shoe squeaked on the flooring and the young man whipped around with his wand pointed at them with a startled look upon his face. Upon seeing that it was, in fact, no one threatening, he began apologizing very profusely, mostly to Hermione, which Ron noticed with much annoyance.
"Um, okay well, G'day mates, let's see here. You are the 11 from England?" he said in his thick Australian accent, also winking at Hermione. Ginny laughed silently as Ron's hands turned into fists.
"Yes, we are the 11 from England," repeated Hermione, slightly flirting with him. He smiled revealing a beautiful set of white teeth.
"Hermione," Ron whispered and nudged her arm, but she ignored him. Ginny continued to laugh and nudged Harry pointing this out to him, who also found this funny.
"Well," he said charmingly, "here in Australia it is 10:30 p.m." He paused, "So what brings you to Australia?"
"We are trying to locate my mum and dad. I sent them here once the war began."
"Hermione…" Ron whispered again.
"Ah, yes. We had some death eaters here too. Though it wasn't as bad here as it was in England now was it?"
"No. Our ministry was taken over. Voldemort had control of everything."
"You're brave to say his name."
"Hermioneee…"
"Having fear in the name only causes more fear in the thing itself."
"Very smart."
"Hermioneee…" Ron whined.
"Thank you, now that the war is over, Harry, Ginny, and Ron are accompanying me in my search."
"Is he the Harry Potter?"
Hermione nodded.
"Oh, well are you twoo…?" he asked presumptuously.
"Oh! No, no..."
"Hermioneeee." Whispered Ron even more desperate than before.
"Oh well in that case do you need any help finding you parents?"
"We-"
"No thank you. We've got it covered," Ronald said through gritted teeth, taking control of the situation.
"Ok well you are almost all set. In a moment you can exit through those doors. Just one last thing. What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked with a smile.
Before Hermione could answer, Ron told him angrily, "She'll be snogging me," before pulling Hermione into a long kiss.
"Oh well um sorry," he said before getting up and walking around to the other side of the rotund.
"Okay Ron... He's gone now, you can stop sucking Hermione's face off." groaned Ginny clearly disgusted. Hermione giggled beneath Ron's lips.
A/N Key: In the A/Ns, bold is me, Lil' Llama, and italics are my Story Collaborator, LlamaiiiiXlovesXSeddie. Who is totally awesome. Oh Shush. =P
A/N: Teehee how'd you like it? :D Read and Review!! Please? *puppy dog eyes* Random squirrel FTW!
Also if you are wondering about the price they paid to floo, it is about the equivalent to 4 plane tickets from London to Sydney, Australia. 480 galleons is about $4800 in US currency and I think about £2400. I wasn't sure if this would be excessive, but oh well. Can I say something? No. Okay…
SPeCiAL tHaNKs tO: LlamaiiiiXlovesXSeddie for lots of help writing this chapter, with out her help, 'this chappie would be crappie.' She thinks that 'we should rework Chappies 1 & 2 so they all mesh better.' But I'm not sure… What do you think? Say yes!
Also: Name for the Character? And new title? Hello? Anybody out there? Suggestions? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Ferris Bueller's Day Off reference FTW!
