A/N: *Slowly comes out of Fall Hibernation and looks around* Wait, what? It's Christmas already? Well, I haven't abandoned you all yet! So, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Here's a special present =) In this chapter, the apprentices get into some mischief.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 8:
"Pssst… Hermione"
Silence.
"Granger… wake up."
Still silence.
"Seriously, sleeping this deeply is not safe, Granger."
A soft moan came from the pile of covers.
A yowl came from a corner of the dark room followed by a loud curse, "Damn cat!"
"SHH! Draco!"
"Pansy, do not chastise me."
"Do you even know what chastise means, you dolt?"
"I was wondering the same thing."
"What the hell is going on?"
Hermione sat up straight in her bed, looking around the room at the four other faces. The only light in the room was given by the clock which glowed 1:47 am. She drew the covers up around her shoulders and shivered. The summer had been surprisingly cold and that night was no exception.
"Be quiet, Granger," Blaise cautioned as he peered nervously at the Gryffindor's door.
"What are, what the, just what is going on here?" The bleary eyed girl peered questioningly at the faces, a coherent sentence barely forming on her lips.
"Looks like we're going shopping after all, Hermione," Pansy beamed.
Hermione groaned. "That's it? And this couldn't have possibly waited until a reasonable time?"
Pansy rolled her eyes. "For one so smart, you sure don't have much common sense. We have to leave now if we want to do anything."
Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "Somehow, I think that Mother knows nothing about this."
Pansy smirked. "What makes you think that? It's Father that can't get a whiff of this."
The Gryffindor sunk back into her sheets. "There's no point. Go back to bed." She attempted to bury herself in the soft blankets, but a with a mumbled petrificus totalus she found herself unable to move.
The dark twin smirked and sat on the edge of the bed while the other twin glared daggers at her. "Listen, Granger. You don't have much choice in the matter. We're going whether you like it or not. Frankly, I don't want you rifling through my clothes all the time, so you need to get your own stuff. Also, if you promise to be a good Hellcat, we can stop at a bookstore before we leave."
Deftly reversing the spell, Pansy stood up again, "It's not hard to see how everyone will benefit from this."
Hermione's face was set in a deep frown. "I already said no. This is stupid and if our father catches us…" She paused and looked around the dark room. "Well, I don't know what he would do, but I'm sure it won't be good. He lay down the law and I will abide by it."
Draco scoffed, "Really, Granger, that's pathetic reasoning. You can't deny that you've broken curfew a thousand times with Potter."
"Well, Malfoy, those were for a good cause-"
"Good is a subjective word."
"I don't want to hear it. It's far too early in the morning to argue with anyone. Why are you three even bothering with Pansy's madness?" The young woman sighed and sat up. Her mind had already woken up, so there was no way she was going to fall back asleep quickly. She tried to take in her surroundings in the limited light. Draco was standing at Pansy's side at the foot of Hermione's dark blue bed, while Theo was pacing by the sliding glass door that led to her little veranda. Finally, Blaise was standing by the main door. His eyes kept darting into the hallway nervously as if he was waiting for someone to walk in at any minute.
"Pansy's madness is our madness, Granger. If she wants to go shopping in the dead of night, she can. We're in because she obviously needs someone to protect her."
"Protect me? I am seventeen years old. I hardly need your protection," The female slytherin scowled.
"It doesn't really matter the reason why. We just do," Theodore shrugged. "What kind of friends would we be if we didn't?"
Hermione sighed. "This is ridiculous."
"What is?" Blaise asked, his eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"I'm considering going along with this. No! I can't. This is madness," Hermione put her hands over her eyes and rubbed. "No. No. No."
"Do you need some more persuading?" Pansy mischievously grinned.
"The last thing I need is for you to persuade me," Hermione scowled.
Pansy's grin widened. "I was hoping you'd say that."
A brief "what?" had barely escaped Hermione's lips when Draco's wand had been whipped out and Hermione fell unconscious onto the bed.
Pansy's lips pursed. "Sorry, darling, but you didn't have much choice in the matter."
Loud noises filtered into Hermione's head.
"Is she awake yet? You really didn't have to put that much force into your stupefy you dolt!"
"You know I've wanted to do that for years."
"Of course, but it still was rude, I cast an enervate on her ten minutes ago."
For the second time that night, the lone Gryffindor's head lifted and she blinked blearily. Except, it wasn't night anymore. The sun was still high in the sky, though it had already begun its decent into the sea.
The sea?
A jolt of electricity shot through Hermione and she leapt up. Where the hell was she? "Pansy Parkinson!" Hermione's eyes smoldered. "I thought I expressively said I wanted to take no part in your mad schemes."
Pansy, who at first had been relieved that her sister had finally woken up, now looked very sheepish. "You said you were considering going."
"I said no! Don't you hear a word that comes out of my mouth?" Hermione seethed.
Pansy's impish demeanor evaporated and she scowled. "Don't even get me started, Granger. I'm not here to put up with your shit. If you are going to be an ungrateful little bitch, then you can walk home."
"If I knew where home was, I'd be happy to oblige you, your highness."
The twins were now nose to nose, their identical honey colored eyes daring the other to back down first. Pansy's mouth opened to toss more insults at Hermione, but Blaise bravely slipped in between the bickering siblings.
"Caras, caras, stop making a scene. As lovely as this filthy, pest ridden dock is, I would like to go into the city. We only have a few hours before Marius gets up."
Hermione hissed at Pansy one more time before letting Blaise lead the darker skinned twin away. "I just have one more thing to do before we can get going." Hermione added. She sauntered up to where Theo and Draco were tapping their feet impatiently. With a large smile, her right hand swung out and cracked against Malfoy's cheek.
"Filthy Mudblooo-"Draco's voice trailed off realizing his mistake. He couldn't call her a mudblood anymore. "Fucking witch." He corrected himself.
"That's for hexing me, Malfoy," Hermione said, a grin still on her face "And your insults could be a little more original." With a little bounce in her step, she hurried to catch up with Blaise and Pansy. Theo began to laugh at Malfoy's glower. "I think she's too tough for you, Draco."
"Shut up Theo," The blonde touched his cheek tenderly. "Hey, wait for us!"
They had to jog to reach the other three and by the time they reached them, they had nearly reached the nearest street. Then Hermione remembered something.
"Wait! You're all in robes and I'm in my…" Hermione blushed crimson. "In my pajamas still."
Theo looked around. "Good catch, Granger…Parkinson… Have you decided which you've wanted to be called yet?"
Momentarily distracted from their actual dilemma, the young woman in question shrugged. "I am a Parkinson, so I'll probably go by that, but I won't enforce it."
Nott nodded. "We should probably just transfigure our clothing until we get to the wizarding area."
Pansy opened her mouth as if she were going to say something, but closed it again just as quickly. She wasn't spilling anything while there was a chance she could see all of their shocked faces.
They changed their clothes quickly and kept on their way. They finally broke onto a busy street.
"Fisherman's Wharf… wait, are we in San Francisco?" Hermione had to do a double take. "Muggle San Francisco?"
Pansy shrugged, but her knowing smile gave it all away. "Of course, Hellcat. Where else could we go at this time of the night in England? Los Angeles is far too crowded, Hawaii doesn't have a good enough shopping district, and Seattle is just…" She shuddered. "Eww…"
Blaise turned to Theo. "Before last night, I didn't know half of the towns she just named existed."
Theo smirked before asking Pansy. "So what are we going to do? Do you know where the Wizard Quarter is?"
Pansy smiled at him brightly. "You see, San Francisco is a very unique town. It has no Wizard Quarter immediately connected to it. If we wanted to go to the Wizard Quarters, we'd have to Floo from Alcatraz. The Quarter itself is on the Peninsula past the bridge. But we aren't going there. At least not today."
The other four gaped at her. "What?"
"Rather, we're going shopping in the muggle district. Do not look at me like that. Muggles do not bite. Draco Malfoy, put that finger down. And even though you don't have the common decency to say thank you, Hermione, you're welcome."
There would have been an awkward silence surrounding all of them if silence had been an option, but the vast numbers of people walking near them kept the noise level fairly high.
Finally, Hermione broke out of her trance. "Thank you! I love San Francisco. I haven't been here for years though! Oh my, Pansy. You are simply amazing."
"So you've forgiven me for dragging you along?"
"Oh, I had already forgiven you the moment I slapped Draco."
"Nice to know I'm the catalyst for your friendly relations."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Pansy beamed, grabbing one of Blaise's arms and one of Draco's. "Hermione, you keep an eye on the four-year old."
Hermione looked at Theo. He was staring at all the muggle fashions and cars. His eyes seemed a little bit glazed over. Hermione chuckled a little. For a wizard going into the muggle world for only the second or third time, San Francisco was definitely culture shock. "Nott. Come on, Pansy is determined to leave anyone who can't keep up behind."
"Oh. Okay." Nott said, snapping out of it. "So where are we going to go?"
"To the shopping district. To get there takes a little time, though. We have to take a trolley."
"What's a trolley?" Nott asked, his dark eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"You'll see."
About three hours later found three utterly exhausted boys and two giggling and elated girls squished on a bench watching the sun finally sink into the ocean. Hermione was in the center of the bench with Pansy and Draco on her left and Theo and Blaise on her right. The twins in the middle were free of bags, but the boys were completely covered.
"Pansy, I can't believe I just spent that much. I feel so guilty." Hermione admitted, her cheeks turning red.
Pansy just laughed. "Darling, you're one of the richest purebloods around; money will never be an issue again."
"Speaking of money," Blaise cut in, "Nice going at the restaurant, Draco. That poor muggle looked so confused when you handed him that pile of galleons."
"Well, not a single one of you noticed until he asked if I had dollars. I'm completely innocent."
"Oh, just as innocent as a baby lamb, I'm sure," Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Hey Theodore, how are you holding up. You looked positively green after the trolley rides," Pansy looked at the older boy.
"I did not."
"Oh, just admit it, Dora."
"For the last time, do not call me Dora."
"Well, stop acting like a girl."
"Be nice Malfoy."
"Shut up, Granger, you're not in this."
"Well I am now."
"Well, you can get right back out."
"Will both of you can it? I'm trying to take a nap. By the time we get back, it'll already be five." Blaise said, lazily opening one of his eyes.
Hermione stood up. "We should probably get going then. We were just waiting for the sun to set anyway-" Her sentence was cut off by a massive yawn. "So when is the international port-key set to go off, Pansy?"
Pansy looked in her purse. "Umm.. pretty soon. I think I had it set for 8:30." She pulled out a small replica of the golden gate bridge. "Yes, here it is. And there is another 3 minutes. I totally forgot about it."
"Come on, we need to get somewhere out of the sight of muggles," Draco said, standing up and helping Pansy up in the process. They all quickly evacuated the area and in a few minutes they swirled away from the American West coast.
They landed more or less gracefully in Pansy's room. The sun was beginning to peek out from behind her heavy velvet curtains. The lack of sleep was finally beginning to catch up with them. Depositing the numerous bags on the floor, the three boys said their goodbye's.
"So, I guess we'll see you on the train tomorrow," Blaise said.
"That is, if we don't end up crashing something of yours today," Draco smirked.
"I was planning until sleeping until two this afternoon, thank you very much." Theo chuckled. "So count me out of anything."
Pansy rolled her eyes. "You've never been able to get out of anything Theo. But no, I don't think we'll be seeing you for the rest of today."
"Okay then, see you tomorrow."
Soon after, the two girls were fast asleep in their beds.
A pair of glowing red eyes watched them with interest.
A/N: I'm glad I'm back. Now, as far as I know, I should be updating a lot sooner. Next Chapter: Harry and Ron make their entrance.
