Disclaimer- I still don't own it. Not HP, not Disney. I would be very rich, especially if I owned both.
Severus seems to have freaked out a bit after last night. They'll heat up again, though. Their relationship will blossom, but they won't be calling each other Sevie-poo and Hermie-cakes anytime soon.
EPCOT- what kind of word is that?
The morning came way too fast for the Hogwarts crew but excitement filled the air as the wondered what would be in store for the day.
As his shirt said, Severus was certainly Sir-Snarks-a-lot today. Hermione didn't know what happened. They had so much fun yesterday. She guessed old habits died hard as his sneer was fixated seemingly permanently to his face.
Albus told them they all had to wear their special name shirts. At the look on Severus's face, he said, "Yes Severus, you WILL wear the shirt. I have discovered that we DO have a little magic here in the hotel and if you don't put it on willingly I will magic it onto your body with a permanent sticking charm so you will never be able to remove it." After much grumbling, Severus changed his shirt, not willingly, but he did it.
Hermione threw on her favorite khaki skirt. She managed to generate enough magic to transfigure her new shirt into a baby tee. She chopped off the sleeves and cut the neck hole a bit larger. Her favorite silver necklace and bracelet helped accessorize the outfit. She put her hair back into its messy bun and slid on her favorite brown clog sandals. A touch of light makeup and she was ready to go.
When Ginny saw her shirt she begged Hermione to fix hers too. She threw on her favorite khaki hip hugger shorts, a bit of makeup and was ready to go.
Hermione walked out into the sitting room. "Honestly, Ms. Granger," he said, "have you ever considered wearing a skirt that was more than a quarter in length. Hermione looked hurt. Her skirt was short, but that's the style. Besides, it was comfy and cool; gods know the temperatures were hot and humid (and she was not used to it).
"Hey, if you've got it, flaunt it." Retorted Ginny. "And she's got it."
The boys emerged from their room, they had decided to wear their new tees with khaki shorts too. She had to laugh as they emerged wearing their mouse ears.
"Today," said Albus, "We are going to go to Eptock."
"What's an Eptock?" Asked Ron.
"Not Eptock, EPCOT you dunderhead." Sneered Snape.
"Severus..." Albus warned.
"EPCOT: Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow." Said Hermione.
"Aren't we just a little-know-it-all this morning?" Sneered Severus.
"Yup," replied Hermione. "That's what the shirt says. And that's LADY Know-it-All to you Sir-Snarks-A-Lot."
Everyone laughed except for Severus. If looks could kill Hermione would have been deader than a dead.
After breakfast they hopped on the monorail and rode to EPCOT. As they walked through the gates they all 'ooo-ed and ahhhed' at the large ball that loomed over them.
"Amazing," Said Ron. "They built that without magic! Or do you think they have some wizards on their planning committee?"
Severus rolled his eyes and asked him how he had gotten so far in life with so few brain cells.
Hermione wondered what his problem was.
"Let's start out over here," said Minerva, glancing and pointing at her map. We can come back to this later. McGonagall was told, by one of the other hotel guests, to start at Test Track and go counter-clockwise. People tended to start at the opposite side, she was told. Even though they had their special passes, they didn't want to deal with overly-thick crowds. So they took the man's advice and headed to something called Test track.
The car seated six so Ron and Harry were put with another group. Hermione hoped Ron wouldn't make any slip-ups in front of the muggles.
Severus, Hermione and Minerva sat in the front of their car. The others sat in the backseat. They were taken up a three story ramp.
"Oh boy! Another roller coaster!" Said Minerva, gleefully.
"Perhaps I should put my Lemon drops away, then." Said Albus, sadly.
"No, maybe you'll choke on them. " Hermione heard Severus mumble.
As the car moved to the second level, it went over various road surfaces, some were quite bumpy, but it was such fun. They moved into something called the Environmental Chamber Test where their car was exposed to terrible hot and icy cold air. Big robots sprayed some sort of mist on them. The car veered and swerved, it sped up and slammed on its breaks. They all yelled and screamed at the excitement.
"It was fun," said Minerva, "but it certainly wasn't a roller coaster."
Albus discovered a cart that sold chocolate covered ice cream on a stick shaped like a Mickey head. It wasn't even 10:00 a.m. and the man had started on sweets!
After Albus polished off his treat, they went into something called the Universe of Energy. They sat in long rows of benches, for once they could all sit on the same row! The benches were situated in front of a big screen where a movie was projected. Draco couldn't help but marvel at the technology- the picture was so big!
Hermione was careful not to lean on Severus or bump up against him. She wasn't sure what set him off but she didn't want to be on the receiving end of his sharp tongue.
After the movie, a door slid closed blocking off the aisle and the entire movie theater filed out in long, wide trains! The trains took them through what appeared to be the dinosaur period, complete with prehistoric plants and animals! It was so realistic, even Severus was impressed, though he wasn't in the mood to admit it.
Only Minerva had the guts to go on Mission Space. At every turn there were health warnings and cautions. It seemed like such an intense ride. They all chickened out by the time they got to the front of the line. Harry and Draco actually sat down on the ride, but when the cast member asked one more time if they were sure they wanted to ride, they bailed.
Minerva came out in a frenzy and said, "that was BETTER than a roller coaster!"
The Living Seas was an interesting experience. They had never seen such sea creatures!
Then, they entered The Land and found something called 'Soarin.' They sat down in seats that looked like hang gliders.
Hermione gasped, grabbing onto Severus, burying her face in his arm as they were lifted forty feet into the air; she hated heights and snarky mood be damned, she was scared! He rolled his eyes but didn't push her off. He could feel her tremble and remembered hearing from Madam Hooch of the witch's acute fear of flying. He almost felt bad for her. It was a lot like a broom, he noted, as the giant screen-dome surrounded them with aerial views of California. The girl, with her head buried into his shoulder, didn't looked up. He placed his arm around her and whispered, "look," as they flew over the Golden Gate Bridge. He saw her lift her head up just a bit and heard her say "ooh!"
As they seemingly swooped down she hid her face once more, resting her forehead on his arm. And, though he was in no mood to comfort her, (heck he didn't even know how to comfort someone) he noticed that she calmed down when he rubbed her arm.
"It'll be over soon," he said, taking in the beauty of redwood forests and Napa Valley.
It seemed so real with the blowing wind and scents of orange and pine trees. When it was over, he helped her off of the ride. She was still quite shaky and he kept his arm around her, letting her lean on him as a crutch, as the group walked to another ride in the building called Living with the land. He noticed Ron and Harry staring at them, but they didn't say anything.
"What I don't understand," he said, "is why you aren't afraid of flying in a plane."
"I just feel vulnerable on a broom," she replied. "That ride, with the winds blowing and the way it moved, reminded me of my broom-riding experiences; none of which were good."
"Yeah," said Harry, "there was the time you fell into the trees in the forbidden forest."
"...and the time you fell in the lake and the Giant Squid saved you." said Ron.
"That happened twice, Ron." Reminded Ginny.
"Remember when she almost ran into Gryffindor tower?" Laughed Harry.
"Gee, thanks guys." Hermione said. "I never really noticed how many times I wound up falling. You really know how to make a girl feel good."
They boarded the boat in Living with the land and were taken through green houses. Hermione couldn't help but think of Neville. He would have loved this ride!
In Imagination they rode a ride with a crazy purple dragon named Figment. The little guy was cute, with big eyes and orange wings. Hermione and Ginny cooed at how "precious" he was. Severus rolled his eyes and Ron pretended to gag. They were taken through labs and studied sight, sound and smell. Severus noticed that this entire place seemed to be an educational institution disguised as an amusement park. He wondered if Albus was going to try to start making them conduct classes with rides and talking creatures.
Figment showed them his upside down house and Severus just thought that was stupid. Who would want to live in an upside-down-house?
After the ride, Ginny and Hermione bought stuffed Figments. Draco and Harry both decided to get tee shirts with Figment on it and Severus wondered how Lucius would react to his son wearing and buying muggle clothes.
Next they went to see another movie, Honey I shrunk the audience. It was positively bizarre! They made the entire audience put on glasses.
"But I don't wear glasses," Severus tried to explain to the very confused looking cast member.
"These are special," Hermione tried to explain to the group discreetly. "Just take them," she told them.
"This is a 3D movie" She explained once they were seated.
They were shocked, amazed and a little frightened when items on the screen seemed to reach out to them. Hermione noticed Severus taking his glasses off several times and reaching into the air.
"Look it's pointing at me!" She heard Ginny whisper.
"How can it point at you, when it's clearly pointed at me?" Minerva asked.
As the movie progressed, the entire audience was shrunk by a misdirected laser beam. The movie was great, but it was almost better to watch the wizards watch the 3D movie.
As they walked toward the next attraction, Harry tried to grab at the streams of water that were launched into the air as they jumped from one place to another.
Ron saw a drinking fountain and asked the group to wait up. He returned looking quite confused
"That water fountain just talked to me!" He said. They all just nodded and smiled. Perhaps the heat really hit him harder than the rest.
Albus got another Mickey ice cream as the group made their way to something called Innovations. He threw his stick away and when he returned, he was laughing.
"The trash bin just talked to me." He said. "Quite a sassy bin it is, too." He said chuckling.
Severus began to worry. Maybe it was something in the air. Maybe they caught some sort of sickness that made inanimate objects appear to talkā¦
In Innoventions, they toured a very impressive "Smart House." Ron, Harry, Draco and Ginny played video games as Severus and Hermione investigated something called Medicine technologies. After one short show, the Cast Members took photos of the group and made them into a calendar for them to take home.
Albus loved Club Cool. He tried all of the sweet soda samples from around the world. Even Severus tried a few. One was called Coke and he really like it. Perhaps the headmaster could start serving it at school.
"That's loaded with caffeine," she told them.
"Really?" Asked Severus, as he poured another glass. "I think I will start drinking this rather than iced tea at my meals. Iced tea is rather odd, after all."
'Great,' thought Hermione. 'That's all we need, Albus on a sugar high and Severus on a caffeine high.'
