Chapter 49: Airplanes

March 5, 1994

Filch growled.

"You all will be in my class," he muttered. "And I will be teaching you to clean the school."

The students looked down glumly. Filch could guess why. They wanted to go on the dumb cruise. He was glad he wasn't going. Beaches and ships and oceans. And Ms. Norris probably wouldn't be allowed.

Yuck.

"I'll also be your teacher!" announced Grubbly-Plank. "Classes will start from tomorrow, when the other students will leave for the cruise. Everyone must have a mop and a rag! And something to cover your nose with. We will be doing the bathrooms first. It might stink."

The students glumly nodded.

"Good," Grubbly-Plank said briskly. "Now I must go to my business to attend. I will see you all tomorrow at class!"

Filch snarled and stalked away, Ms. Norris at his heels.

"Good girl," he muttered.

Liana, accompanied by Kylie and Candice, walked into the Great Hall. Dumbledore was going to explain how they were going to get to Marseilles.

"Welcome, welcome!" exclaimed Dumbledore "Everyone please take your seats."

Liana looked around, frowning. "The House tables aren't here." True to her word, the House tables had been propped up against the walls, and chairs were scattered across the floor.

"Right! Since we won't be here, it's time the Great Hall got some cleaning. The elves finally get a break."

Hermione sniffed.

"Just pick any seat," Dumbledore said. "Now. We'll be using a plane, which is a really large bird made of metal. It's got seats inside and you can sit in it." He frowned. "I don't think I've got the best explanation. Would anyone like to…" Hermione's hand flew up in the air. "Ah, Granger, go ahead."

"A plane is a vehicle that flies in the air. Like a train. It has wings. All made out of metal. It can crash, but they have life vests and everything to protect you if that happens. Plane crashes are super common. But what's rare is coming out of it alive. There's also turbulence. Thank you." She sat down.

"No!" cried Percy, wagging a finger in the air. "N-O! NO!"

"Fascinating!" cried Dumbledore. "No is spelled… N. O." Whether he was being sarcastic or not, Liana really couldn't tell.

"I will not allow us to go on such a dangerous bird!" yelled Percy.

"I am the boss here, not you," Dumbledore reminded him. "Sit down."

Percy scowled.

"The plane takes off at something called an airport. We'll go there and show them our passports and then we take off," Dumbledore explained. "We will be frisked to make sure we are not carrying anything illegal. Like plants. I hear you can't carry soil or anything internationally. We walk through something which detects metal."

"Won't they just use a Metallum spell?" Penelope asked.

"No. Remember, they are Muggles."

"How will we get our wands through security?" demanded Dean.

Dumbledore's eyes glinted. "I am an old man who collects sticks. You will all give your wands to me, and I will be a collector."

"Okay."

"To get to the airport, we'll use the Hogwarts Express through hidden railways. Then we will go in. Try to pack in suitcases… we don't want to stick out," Dumbledore advised.

"Okay," chorused the students.

"And this concludes our last information session!" he cried. "Any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Frequently check your notice board. Remember, pack! And visit Charity if you need anything! She is very helpful and informative."

The students burst out in cheers.

"Hey, Blaise," greeted Draco, trying to hide his nervousness. Just because he was tough on the outside didn't mean he was like that on the inside.

"Hi." Blaise looked him up and down. "What do you need?"

"Well, er, are you going on the cruise?"

His face twisted into a scowl. "No."

"Oh." Draco hadn't known that. "Well, er, I hope you have fun here."

"Learning to clean the school? Yeah, no. I don't think so."

Draco grimaced. "I'm sorry for you, mate."

"It's fine. Lucky you get to go."

Blaise was honestly pretty cool. Draco really wanted to become his friend. Not with the dunderhead Crabbe. And Goyle. "Yeah. It would've been a lot more fun if you got to come along, though."

"I know. It would've been a lot more fun to me too."

Draco grinned. "I'll make sure to let you know what's going on."

"Please do."

"Well, then… I'll be on my way," Draco said slowly, not wanting to push too far. He needed to take the friendship one step at a time. "Have fun. I'll see you around, yeah?"

"Yeah," mumbled Blaise.

Draco smiled once, and then he was out of the door.

Ginny and Andrew Kirken were talking to each other on the Hogwarts grounds.

"…and then she said, 'No way!' and I was like 'Yes way!'" exclaimed Andrew, laughing.

Ginny giggled. "She's so crazy."

"Yeah, exactly." He grinned. "Then she said… 'Why's your broomstick brown?' and I was just like, 'All broomsticks are brown.' And then once again, she went, 'NO WAY!' and I was just done with it, you know?"

"Yeah. I know."

Harry and Ron walked up to them at that moment, frowning. "What are you doing, Ginny?" Ron asked.

She scowled at her brother. "I'm talking to my friend. What do you think I'm doing?"

He looked around, and Harry looked uncomfortable. "Can I talk to you?" Ron requested.

"Yeah. Go ahead."

Ron looked pointedly at Andrew. "In. Private."

Andrew crossed his arms over his chest. "Hey! I'm not a baby, you know, I can handle-"

"Shut up," Ron told him. "I need to talk to my sister."

He and Harry led her under a tree.

"Ginny, you have to be careful!" Ron cried.

"Careful?" Ginny racked her brain. "Andrew won't knock over my porcupine again, Ron, we don't have to worry about-"

"Not that," Ron whispered. "You know… he's a boy. You're a girl. He might like you! He could be a creepy stalker. I mean, he's twelve, so hopefully he won't be that bad, but still. You really need to be careful. Mom's not here, Dad's not here. They can't supervise you. So what you need to do is be careful, okay? You're a red-head. I don't trust Andrew Kirko!"

"Kirken."

He stared at her in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

"No. It's Kirken."

"Not that! After I say all that to you… that's all you have to say?"

"Actually, no," she said coolly. "Seriously, Ron, this is useless! I understand your concern because I'm twelve, but like, I know what I'm doing! Andrew's my friend."

"No, Ginny, no!" snapped Ron. "I won't allow it! You're to go inside and hang out with Elizabeth. She's in your year."

Ginny wrinkled her nose. "No way. She's awful and stuck up."

"Ginny." Ron sounded annoyed.

Ginny turned to Harry. "What do you think? Do you agree with Ron on this?"

"Er," - Harry looked uncomfortable - "yeah. I'm with Ron on this one, Ginny, you need to be-"

"Argh!" Ginny stamped her foot and whirled around, stalking back to Andrew.

Harry didn't feel the same way for her that she felt for him.

She knew that.

So why was she feeling so… betrayed?

"I don't get it," muttered James. "What's a TV?"

"It's short for television," Remus explained.

"You said that was a big thing," he accused. "So how is it going to be on a plane? And how does everyone have one?"

Remus sighed, wondering how to explain. "It's… a mini screen. They make it smaller. Then they attach it to the back of every seat. The people sitting in a seat face the back of the other seat, so they face the screen. And then they can click around and watch movies."

"Oh."

"Muggle movies, of course," Remus elaborated.

"Got it," he replied, running a hand through his hair. "Do they have other things?"

"Games."

"How do you play Gobstones on a television?" James asked incredulously.

"First off, there isn't going to be Gobstones. Muggles don't know about those games. Second, I mean, you tap the screen once and a Gobstone gets chucked to the other side."

"But there's no skill at all! No aim!"

"Yeah, well, you'll just have to cope," Remus replied.

"Aw, dang."

Remus rolled his eyes, fighting a smile. "You can survive. Muggles are actually pretty smart. They even have magazines and crosswords."

He nodded, then frowned. "The plane won't crash, will it?"

"Not likely," answered Remus truthfully.

"But Hermione said so! She gave us the facts!"

"Hermione… Hermione's outdated. All that happened when she was a child. We're going to get out alive. Plus, we're wizards. And witches. We can Apparate. We can save everyone with a quick, Wingardium Leviosa. It's unlikely that we'll die."

"Okay," agreed James. "Now what's turbulence?"

"So the plane will shake. Like, kind of dip and soar. But nothing big. Just like how you're on a broomstick, it can get kind of wobbly and you almost lose your balance. Like that," explained Remus.

"Got it." James mussed his hair. "Why did Tonks tell me it'd be better if I brought, like, gum or earbuds?"

Remus smiled. "Yeah, she's right."

"Of course she is," he sang.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Shut up. Anyway, the air pressure is going to change really rapidly once we take off or land. Then your ear will sort of feel… blocked. Earbuds, yawning, chewing, they can all help pop your ears."

"But that doesn't happen on a broomstick," complained James.

"I told you. Muggles are different."

James groaned.

The Trolley Witch sighed.

She couldn't remember her name. Was it Christine… Was it Deborah? No, that couldn't be right. Oh, great. Everyone just told her, "Give me this," or "Give me that." Nobody ever said, "Hey, how you doing, Alice?" No, wait! It wasn't Alice.

She was having a fun time in California, with the American people. Super trendy. Just then, a glistening phoenix flew up to her. Luckily, she was in a Wizarding community.

"Hello, Trolley Witch." What a greeting. It was Dumbledore's voice. What did he want? "I'm sorry to disrupt you from whatever you are doing, wherever you are, especially in the middle of the year, but you must come back to Hogwarts. Immediately! I have contacted the driver of the Hogwarts Express. He will be on his way too. I did not want to bother you, but a Hogwarts Express ride just would not be the same without you and your sweets! You enforce rules, anyway. I will explain more details later, once you arrive, but we are all needing to go to the Muggle Airport. I hope you will manage to make it! I will not allow it if you don't… Yeah, one second, Filius, I shall be right out… Right, so, that's Filius with the cruise arrangements! What's that? Oh, Severus is not being compliant? I shall discuss with him. Must go! Bye! Come back."

And the Patronus dissolved into silvery mist.

Cruise arrangements?

What?!

The Trolley Witch's eyes narrowed. Dumbledore had ruined her very peaceful vacation, and he was going to pay.

Oh, yes he was.

Once she figured out how.

Sirius coughed, turning back into Sirius.

Right. Forgot to mention. He was Padfoot before.

Aka the dog.

"Myrtle?" he asked hoarsely.

Myrtle's eyes widened. "THE DOG JUST TURNED INTO A HUMAN!" she yelled, swooping backwards. "Sirius B-"

Sirius swam forward and tried to cover her mouth, but since she was a ghost, his hand went straight through her.

Oh, right. Another thing to mention; they were in a lake.

The Black Lake, to be exact.

"Don't come close!"

If he didn't do this right, he was in big trouble. Now she would tell everyone, and Sirius's very good cover would be blown. He stayed in the lake as a dog, coming up every now and then to breathe. When it got too much, or he needed to be human, or he was just super exhausted, there was a very good spot by the trees he liked to sit in. But now she would ruin it all.

"Wait! Stop!"

She didn't stop, she kept plunging through the water.

Sirius bit his lip. How would he get her to stop? Before she told the castle? "Do you want to hear some cool gossip?" Sirius asked, and she froze. Taking advantage of that, he went on. "I can give you extremely cool gossip. Lots of secrets. Lots of drama. Something none of the humans in the castle know."

Myrtle turned around cautiously, but he could see the curiosity in her eyes. "How do I know you're not lying to me?"

Sirius shrugged. "I won't come close to you and attack you. I'm not wearing weapons, anyway. And I mean… How can drama hurt?"

"Okay. Tell me the gossip."

Sirius debated whether to tell the truth. The story probably sounded crazy, anyway. He needed to know what people thought of it. What their reaction would be.

If they would believe it.

If they would believe him.

So he told her. He explained about Azkaban, though he didn't mention his friendship with James and Remus, Peter Pettigrew, carefully avoiding to mention just how Peter was a rat, and dodging some details. For example, he didn't tell her about Peter being in Hogwarts. He didn't know if he was going to share that.

Yet.

"No way," she replied. "That can't be possible!"

"It is," Sirius said stubbornly. "It happened."

"Wow!" simpered Myrtle. "That's so cool."

Sirius nodded smugly. "Now, you don't tell anyone. Now you tell me, what's happening at Hogwarts?"

"Ella and Ella like Seamus. There was a girl who-"

"Major details," cut in Sirius impatiently.

"Right, right. They're going on a cruise."

Sirius's head snapped up at this. "No way. Who? Why?"

Myrtle explained. It was kind of confusing, honestly, something about a prank war and Dumbledore deciding to give them a reward. Myrtle's explanation was pretty biased; she kept grumbling about how jealous she was and how she wanted to go on the cruise.

"Wow," murmured Sirius. "And this is… this is Dumbledore? We're talking about the same guy who single-handedly defeated Grindelwald?"

"Yes."

"And he's letting them go on a cruise while the rest of the kids have to sweep the school?"

"Yes."

"Brilliant!" Sirius grinned. "Okay, wait, so who all pa-"

"WHO'S THERE?" boomed a voice from the doors of the castle.

Sirius's eyes widened and without another word, he took a deep breath and plunged deep into the water, cursing himself. How could he almost give himself away? He heard Myrtle take the blame and the source of the voice nodded, walking away.

Sirius carefully made his way towards the shore when he stopped dead, seeing something.

A pair of yellow eyes.

Tonks walked over to Liana, who was sitting on the Grounds, flipping through a magazine.

"Hey, Liana," Tonks said casually. "What are you reading?"

Liana looked up, her eyes judgeful. "What Witch Wear. Why?"

"Your mom reads that magazine, doesn't she?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I'm just wondering. I thought I'd pop by and say hi," Tonks lied. "Since like, I barely know you."

"You barely know Candice," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but you're James and Lily's daughter. Not that that defines you, of course," Tonks added quickly, knowing how the girl's mind worked. "Obviously. You're you."

She nodded.

"Are you excited for the cruise?"

"Yeah, except I kind of wish both my parents weren't coming. They can be all hovery." She glared at Tonks. "You'd better not tell them."

"I won't, don't worry."

She shrugged, leaning back against the tree.

"So… how have things been going with your dormmates?" she asked casually. "Kylie, Candice, Sia, Valentina?"

Liana raised an eyebrow. "You know Sia. Why don't you ask her?"

"I know her side of the story," Tonks explained. "I want to hear yours."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know. I can help you guys out, too."

Liana frowned, and then she sighed. "She's annoying. She was mean to us on our first day. So was Valentina. It's like she thinks she's better than us. We just sort of have a rift running, and we're fine with it. I don't want to be her friend, and I highly doubt she wants to be mine."

Tonks considered that. "I get it. I get that you don't want to be friends, but you guys can at least… be okay with each other."

"Tell her this!"

"I have, but friendship isn't a one-person thing. Or at least, mutuality isn't a one-person thing."

"Yeah, yeah."

"She might be going through a hard time," Tonks continued. "You're not the only one with a less-than-perfect life."

Liana muttered something incoherent.

"I'll leave you to your magazine," Tonks said, standing up and brushing the dirt off her jeans. "Just… think about what I said."

And without waiting for a response, she was off.

A/N: And from here on, we're going into the vacation! It's probably the most fun thing we've ever written, and it's going to be so much fun!

Thank you to all our fabulous reviewers, and stay tuned! :)