A/N: I won't apologize for the lack of update, I do it too much. :S But I think the most interesting yet hard to write part is coming up after this chapter. So, be excited! : )
Before he got a chance to know what was going on, George felt himself hit a hard, stone, floor. "Ouch! What are we even-" George stopped talking as he realized he was alone.
"George, where'd you go?" Et was calling to him, but it sounded as if it were coming from far away.
"Somewhere hard," he called back, as loud as he could manage. He doubted it would be much help, but he really did have no idea where he was, except that he was somewhere in the Australian Outback, and that wouldn't help at all.
He simply sat there, on the cold, hard, floor, for about ten minutes. But when he heard a dingo howl somewhere in the distance, but closer sounding than Et was, he decided to get up and look around. It hurt a lot to get up, the landing had been that hard. George had a feeling he was lost. He looked up and gasped. The walls were at least a hundred feet high! There was no way he'd be able to get out. He frantically pulled out his wand, only to find that it was missing.
"Just great! I'm in a hundred foot high room and I don't have a bloody wand!"
Because it was the only thing to do, he started walking around slowly, putting little weight on his left foot, which he'd landed on. It was just a tunnel, covered in so much dust, it was probably four inches narrower than it used to be. There was nothing spectacular about the place. George had a feeling this was where the Watch ya Kiyama Mwaminifu was located, straight down the tunnel. He didn't want to continue without Et, she knew what she was doing. Then again, he knew he would go mad staying in an empty, dusty, room for who knows how long. Figuring it was the only choice, George started walking slowly down the tunnel. He must have walked a kilometer before anything happened.
George cursed under his breath. There were two tunnels here, forking off the main one. There were also two signs, barely visible, that George nearly missed. The one pointing to the left tunnel said 'die painfully' and the one pointing the right said 'find the Watch ya Kiyama Mwaminifu'.
It was so obvious which one to take. Too obvious, in fact. George was about to take the right one, when he realized something. This wasn't supposed to be such an easy mission. Resurrection is meant to be impossible. These signs, in fact this whole mission, could just be a trap. George racked his brains, remembering the last tunnel they entered. He was pretty sure it had gone on more beyond the spirits. He was thinking the right tunnel could lead right back there.
"Oh Merlin, please let this be the right decision." George sighed as he took the left tunnel. It was hard to ignore the sign bearing 'die painfully'.
He walked on, and on, and on. He started getting hungry as time wore on. Finally, after three hours of walking, he saw an opening in the tunnel. No hot pink glow, so he definitely wasn't headed to the portal to hell. George sped up a bit, ignoring the increased pain in his left foot. There was a cave there, with water that was so high, it would even be waist-deep to Ron. Luckily not waist-deep to Hagrid. Then he'd have to swim… and George wasn't the best swimmer, having always lived in the UK, where it wasn't often warm enough for swimming, and they didn't even have a pool.
George focused his mind back on the cave. He remembered Et saying that it would be a half-flooded, dirty, small cave where the Watch was hidden, on a high ledge. There was mold and mildew all over the cave's wall.
"Disgusting, not just dirty." George muttered.
In the middle of the cave, there was a rather high ledge. In fact, George couldn't even see the top. This must be a tall cave. There was a narrow, winding, staircase leading up. George took it.
The stairs went on for a while. Finally, after about a half hour, George reached the top. There was a faint ruby-colored glow on the whole rocky surface, about 20 meters circumference, and the whole glow gave off the feeling that you'd forgotten something important. George remembered he needed to find Et. He was about to leave, but as soon as he left the glowing area, he remembered that he needed to get the watch more than anything right now. He prepared to just charge on, no matter what, and grab it, then leave.
As soon as he reentered it, he remembered needing to go look into buying a Hogsmeade branch of the shop. But he also remembered needing to get the watch, and he decided to do that first. George approached the tree trunk on which the watch was resting. It was silver, and had rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and pearls around it. For hands, it had glowing diamonds, and the numbers were in such a fancy script, it made calligraphy look plain. George simply grabbed it. Nothing happened. Just as he was about to leave, a ladder made of vines suddenly started growing out of the tree trunk. George stared at it. It stopped growing just as the top was out of his sight. He didn't know where else to go, so he started climbing. It was really quite easy. When he reached the top, George gasped.
There were about a hundred thousand kangaroos standing there, all bouncing around happily. He smiled. They looked so nice.
He knew he had somewhere to go, though, so he started backtracking, going along the tunnel, which he knew was far below him. He probably got a little off, but oh well.
"Et, where are you?" George called, after reaching an area he believed to be the entrance to the tunnel. "I got the Watch!"
"George!" Et ran towards him. "I'm so glad you're back! Oh, you got the watch? Great job! That was supposedly the hardest to get!"
"Really?"
"Yes, but I personally think the next one looks harder. So let's not separate again. Now, tell me what happened."
George started explaining everything that happened. She was a good audience, at first appalled when he chose the 'die painfully' tunnel; but later relieved after hearing what happened, and his suspicions about the right tunnel.
"Wow. Some adventure!"
"I know. Oh, I forgot to mention, I lost my wand somewhere in between…"
"Oh no! Well, I don't- oh, I know! Accio George's wand!" George's wand flew in from somewhere to the east of them, and Et caught it smoothly before giving it to George.
"Well… thanks."
"No problem. Now, let's go, I've been here too long…"
"Okay, but can we have lunch?"
"Yeah, we can stop at McDonalds on our way to the next destination."
"Um… what's McDonalds?"
"A Muggle fast food restaurant."
"Oh. We can try it."
"Well, let's go then."
"Right…" The pair Apparated out.
"Here we are," Et said. It had been a while since George had seen the island. It's warm, sunny, paradise-like feel was very nice compared to the Outback. If George had to visit Australia again, he would definitely go to a civilization somewhere in the east. Maybe the beach.
"Does the watch go there?" George asked, pointing to a watch shaped hole.
"Obviously." Et laughed as she put the Watch in the hole.
"Is this McDonalds?" George asked, seeing the building a little ways away. They'd had to Apparate to an alley nearby, so no Muggles would see them.
"Yes, that's the McDonalds in Taunton, Massachusetts, America."
"How did you even know this place, in America?"
"Well, I've been here once. It's pretty tasty. Plus, we have to go to Nevada, America, for our next step."
"Oh."
The two of them walked in. George looked around. It was a pretty nice place, actually. A few Muggles looked at the two of them strangely. George didn't blame them. Muggles are not used to seeing a woman in a black cloak with the hood up, let alone standing with a one-eared man with bright red hair, but at least he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Although it was rather warm here.
"We'll have 2 McChickens, 2 medium fries, and 2 medium Dr. Peppers. Oh, and 2 Apple Pies." Et said to the woman at the register.
"Alright. That'll be $8.12 please." Et gave her the money, which to George were just strange pieces of paper and coins. "Thank you. Your order will be ready in a minute."
"Good thing I brought American money." Et said to George as they walked away to wait for their order.
"Yeah. What's a McChicken, and what's a Dr. Pepper?"
"A McChicken is a chicken sandwich, and a Dr. Pepper is a type of soda. Drink." How could he not know what a soda is? Et thought, she was a half-blood, raised as a witch, and she knew what soda was.
"Okay…"
They eventually accepted the food, George learning why it's called fast food, and ate it. George thought it was pretty good.
"Well, now that we've eaten, I suppose we should go." Et said as they left McDonalds, heading back toward the alley.
"That we should."
A/N: The longness is, I suppose, to make up for the long wait. I just guessed at the price, assuming everything's on the Dollar Menu (although I don't think that's the case) and adding some random change which wouldn't actually work for Massachusetts tax. Lol. And I dedicate this chapter to whoever owns my local McDonalds (even though I don't know them, and they'll probably never read this) because they did a good job and now it's being reconstructed to be 2 stories. Lol, my first dedication is to McDonalds… Review please! : )