Chapter 21

Back in America, Harry and his family, along with the Grangers, the Weasleys, the Maceys, and the Kennedys were enjoying the second week of their month long stay in America. Now, they were back in Florida, where they'd do another live broadcast of Sunday Nights the following Sunday from the ballroom of the Sheraton hotel.

Needless to say, this didn't go without another barrage of screaming girls, only his time, dressed in lighter clothing.

The Maceys and the Kennedys were staying over at the Sheraton, while the Potters, Grangers, and Weasleys were staying over at the Potters' place at the BalMoral. To Harry, it was especially exciting having his magically extended room crowded with all his friends.

You might be expecting Harry to say,

"I love magic…"

…because of that.

But no; as long as I'm around, he'll be saying,

"I love the narrator who shall remain nameless…"

…and don't you forget it.

Anyways, it was during this second week that they went over to the Parrot Jungle Park. Harry and Hermione had been here with Danny and Rachel the year before, so it was particularly exciting to the Weasleys. As they stared up in awe at the lush, beautiful scenery and colorful birds, James and Sirius ended up with birds all over their heads and shoulders. Now the Weasley boys knew what Harry was laughing about at the Central Park Zoo.

Do I even need to talk further about their reactions?

"No," Harry answered, trying to catch his breath.

Lovely.

The kids spent the rest of the week doing the usual things; you know, the stuff they did when they were down in Florida at Christmas, both last and the year before, except seeing three movies on the same day, going to Dolphins games, and going ice skating.

Unfortunately, when they visited the Disney Store, they didn't find as much stuff they wanted to buy as they did last time.

"You'll get your chance when we go to Disneyland this summer," Hermione promised.

I can hardly wait to write about that… and one other thing, but I'll get to that at the end of the chapter.

Anyways, the kids ended up spending the rest of the week by the pool or on the beach.

The adults were all over at the Sheraton poolside bar sipping drinks and enjoying some time to themselves. Also, James, Sirius, Art Macey, Jim Sr., and Kent Kennedy were having a rather important discussion; they were confirming the dates chosen for the Seekers' first tour.

"What do you suppose the kids are up to?" Lily asked James.

Well…

Fred and George saw some kids having Super Soaker or water pistol fights. Naturally this gave them an idea for a new type of prank product.

Harry was busy giving Hermione a piggyback ride around the edges of the pool. Jim was also in the pool, doing the same thing to Larissa. Ron was sitting by the edge of the pool, wishing Lavender was there so he could do the same for her.

Ginny and Sarah were standing on one of the cabana rooftop decks watching the whole scene. Sarah doubled over on her back, laughing hysterically, while Ginny just stood there, longingly wishing that Peter was there so he could give her a piggyback ride around the edges of the pool too.

Jim's sisters were watching from the rooftop deck also, looking for something to gossip about. It seemed safe to say that Jim "could hardly wait" for Ruth to join him and Samantha at Hogwarts next year and really spread the gossip around. Needless to say, the three sisters and Sarah hit it off immediately and couldn't wait until the other sisters came to Hogwarts, too.

Anyways, they finished off their little side trip to Florida with another dinner at Jaxson's before doing their next broadcast in the Sheraton ballroom and heading back to New York for the last of their three appearances on Sunday Nights.

I don't really feel the need to talk about their Florida appearance, except for the fact that they almost weren't headlining. Before them, it was famous witch singer Celestina Warbeck lined up for the gig... the Shirley Bassey of the Wizarding World, according to the author of the original timeline. But sadly Warbeck pulled out and the Seekers filled their void, thus resulting in three appearances instead of one.

I forgot to mention that the Weasley parents were there as well, I think you can imagine they wouldn't want to miss this. But the absence of Mrs. Warbeck seemed to raise the despondency of a certain Weasley matriarch.

She forgot all about her troubles when she saw her boys up onstage performing and attracting a large number of admirers in the process.

"And I thought she was Warbeck's biggest fan," Fred whispered to George.

Anyways, when they got back to New York, they ended up staying in the Plaza… again… and ended up dealing with another mass of screaming girls following the Rolls-Royce around from the airport.

Anyways, once they got there, they were surprised to find Danny and Rachel there waiting for them.

"Surprised?" Danny asked.

"We had Presidents' Day weekend off from homeschooling, so we thought we'd come and surprise you!" Rachel cheered.

Needless to say, she and Hermione started squealing and jumping up and down like little girls… again… as the group headed off to spend the week together and do some of the things they weren't able to do in New York a couple of weeks ago.

Some of these included the more enlightening spots, such as the Museum of Modern Art and the New York Public Library.

Needless to say, Hermione wanted to spend the whole day in there, until Harry had to go in and drag her out so they could get to where they were going next.

"Come on Harry," she begged. "Just one more book!"

"Hermione, we've got to get going," Harry insisted.

"Harry, you don't understand" Hermione begged "I just have to be here, this is the place of my dreams…"

But Hermione's dreams were interrupted by a visit to the one place in New York she'd never even dream of visiting; the Empire State Building.

They ended up taking three elevators up to the top so the whole group could get up there at the same time, and when they did, Harry had to pry Hermione's hands off her eyes tog eat her to look out over the city.

When they got to the bottom, Hermione looked as if looks could kill.

"That wasn't funny, Harry," she growled.

"Come on, I'll make it up to you," he offered. "How about a trip to the Disney Store?"

"You little sneak!" she giggled.

They ended up going to the giant Disney Store near Times Square… which was in a totally different location at that time, don't be fooled. It was even bigger than the one there now, so there were so many more choices for things to buy.

As they looked around, Hermione started feeling despondent again after seeing posters for the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast and hearing the original cast soundtrack recording playing over the speaker system.

Rachel simply smiled at her.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing?" Rachel shrugged, trying not to giggle.

As Harry looked around, he nearly saw a Lion King display which said,

Coming to Video, March 3, 1995.

Danny sighed in relief, as he had a little surprise for Harry up his sleeve and was glad it wasn't ruined.

Anyways, soon enough the big night came and Danny and Rachel were allowed into the secret studio, no doubt thanks to me. This time, though, the screaming seemed even louder than it did two weeks ago. The two of them were covering their ears, trying to drain out the sound, which wasn't working in the slightest.

"I can't even hear myself think!" Danny shouted.

"What?" Rachel shouted back.

"Exactly!" Danny shouted affirmatively.

"What?" Rachel repeated.

Anyways, I toned down the screaming so they could hear the boys play and as soon as they were finished, Kent Kennedy took center stage for some final announcements before signing off.

"Thank You all for tuning in, once again. And those of you in the rest of the country will be very happy to know that the Seekers will embark on their first national and transatlantic tour this summer."

The screaming started doubling over again until Kent signaled them to quiet down so he could finish.

"Tickets go on sale, April 1st, so check your papers for further details and listen in again on Sunday night, March 26th. That's all the time we have this week, so Goodnight America, and keep the good times with you."

The boys awoke early the next morning as they got ready to head back to Britain to rehearse and get ready for their first tour; the Transatlantic Tour.

Harry, naturally, was very excited. But little did he realize that as soon as he got back, Danny would have a rather special surprise sent over to him from New York, with some of my own embellishments added.

Also, he'd find a rather disturbing surprise awaiting him too…