Chapter 6: Scholarships

The next handful of days went by quickly. The day reader read 'day 7', and the cursor didn't leave once. The four were exhausted once again. It always had each of them work. Sometimes it would be homework; sometimes yard work. Their fun bars were so low for so long, an annoying clown appeared and followed them around, sneaking and jumping at them at odd moments. Harry soon had lost hope in the cursor disappearing. He started spacing out when the cursor told him to do something. He amused himself by thinking this was how the Sims in the actual game acted.

Harry stooped low to the ground and picked the dark paper up from the sidewalk. Walking quickly to the bin on the side of the road, he dropped it into the bin. Suddenly, he was pushed and fell forward a foot. He landed on his knee rather painfully. Jumping back to his feet, he whipped around. It was that annoying clown. Harry scowled as it turned around and cackled. He angrily grabbed the second old newspaper and threw it hard into the bin. As he turned back toward the house, he saw Ron, Hermione, and Ginny walking outside. He realized numbly that the yellow bus had pulled up behind them. The four silently climbed on.

Five minutes later, they were back. Before the report card and homework appeared in their hands, four messages appeared.

"Harry is doing extremely well in school!"

"Ron is doing extremely well in school!"

"Ginny is doing extremely well in school!"

"Hermione is doing extremely well in school!"

Their report cards appeared. So did their homework. They all walked inside and sat on the floor as they always did to finish their homework. Once sitting, they checked their grades. Each of theirs had A's on them. Hermione smiled weakly.

"This means we will probably be going to University soon." Everyone turned to her startled. She had not spoken a word in nearly two days. Harry finally registered what she had said, and noticed Ron had reached over to hold her hand. She continued to explain, after clearing her throat. "We all have A's, so that means we can get scholarships." Hermione sighed and turned to her homework, seeming reluctant to let go of Ron's hand.

Sure enough, as soon as Hermione finished her homework, she was told to apply for scholarships on the phone. She stood up and walked slowly to the phone. Harry quickly told Ron and Ginny how to work a phone as Hermione dialed. Soon, a message appeared.

"Congratulations Hermione! You have qualified for the SimCity Scholar's Grant! If you maintain your excellent grades, then you will receive a grant of $1,000 toward you next semester in college!"

Hermione hung up the phone. She turned around, slightly smiling before being told to put away dishes in the kitchen.

One by one, as each of them finished their homework, Ron. Harry, and Ginny were all told to apply for scholarships. One by one, each received the same message. One by one, each were sent off to work at something.

At six that evening, the cursor had them all meet in the living room. Harry walked to the phone, wondering what the cursor wanted him to do this time. He was told to call a taxi. He quickly said that he needed a taxi fast. He hung up and sat on the couch. A message said that a taxi would come to pick them up shortly. Hermione smiled brightly.

"Good! We get to go to a lot that has either games or shopping. And food." Ron perked up.

"Food? Good, I'm starving." Five minutes later, they heard a horn beep. They walked outside where a small yellow taxi was parked up against the curb. Harry climbed in quickly, hoping that the cursor wouldn't be wherever it was that they were going. Ginny climbed in after him and sat down beside him. Ron and Hermione climbed in the seats behind them.

"It's been a while," she said suddenly, "a while since we've had to talk or anything." Harry nodded glumly. They sat quietly until taxi started moving. Ginny eventually looked over at him. "So, Harry, what do you think-"

Before she could finish, everything turned black. Harry heard Ginny breathe in sharply, feeling her arm wrap around his, before everything disappeared.

Harry opened his eyes to find that he was still in the taxi. He noticed that Ron and Hermione were climbing out, and that Ginny had already exited. He felt himself being forced out of the car. As soon as they were all on the sidewalk, the taxi pulled away and left. Harry turned away from the road and looked around.

They were in front of a large building. There was a huge yard in front of the building with a large assortment of items. There was a hot tub by the side of the road that was bubbling softly. Nearby was a single red and blue swing like the ones Harry had seen on Mongolia Road, except this one wasn't broken. A barbeque was placed right in front of the doors, and was surrounded by a group of picnic tables. A medium-sized pool like the one at their house was positioned on the side of the building. And right in the middle was a huge fountain, with four spurts of water shooting out from it. Harry stood, awed at the sight, compared to the single plain home they were coming from. He was awakened from his trance when he was told to go inside. The four walked towards the doors. Harry walked closer to Ginny as they passed the magnificent fountain.

"You doing okay?" He asked her.

She shrugged, but smiled at him. "Glad to be doing something different besides staying in that house. It was driving me crazy. Plus, I was missing talking to you." She reached over and caught his hand, squeezing and shooting him a wink. He felt his face grow warm.

Hermione reached the door first ahead of them. She held it open for the rest.

They entered what seemed to be the entertainment room. Against the outside wall was a Television exactly like the one at their house. Next to the door was a treadmill, with someone running on it. On the right wall was a second TV, surrounded by a group of armchairs. On the far edge was a desk with a computer on top. Various video games lined the left wall. And in the center was a drum set, a bass guitar, and an air guitar. Two doors leading to bathrooms were on one side, while a door leading to another room was on the other. Ron and Harry slowly headed to the TV, while Hermione and Ginny went to the bookcase next to the chairs.

"Whoa! Look Hermione, these are real books!" Ginny flipped through the book she was holding, then closed it. She noticed the title. "Oh! They're muggle books!" She sat down with the book in her hand, Murder, She Wrote. Hermione brightened, and searched the volumes. She picked up And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and sat down next to Ginny. Within a minute, they were both absorbed in their books.

Harry and Ron flipped through the channels. There was a kid's channel, a cooking channel, and a fitness channel. It seemed that here, the shows were more animated than they were at the house. Harry stopped when he saw what he realized was a football game. Ron watched it, awed.

"Is this that game that Dean has a poster of?" he asked, watching the screen. Harry nodded, grinning. He tried to explain the rules of the game to him.

An hour later, the cursor stopped them from doing what they had been doing. Hermione and Ginny reluctantly put their books away. They all walked to the door on the side of the room. Harry pushed the door open.

They walked into what seemed to be a small store. There were two aisles with freezers and bins full of food. Magazine and book racks lined the back wall with arm chairs and couches in between. Clothing racks stood in various places. Changing rooms were placed near the clothing. Harry walked in a few more paces to let the others in. They started towards the couches and sat down, each picking up a magazine. Harry flipped through the magazine pretending to read; he really was looking around the room. He noticed a girl behind the cash register older than him. She had her chin resting in her hands looking extremely bored. Harry wondered if she was real.

Ten minutes of 'reading' later, the cursor told them to buy the magazines. They walked to the register and the girl. She sat up and took the odd 'simoleon' coins from them. She stuffed the magazines into a bag and gave it to Ron, who was the closest to the counter.

"Have a nice day," she said monotonously. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny walked outside. The cursor told Hermione to call a taxi.

"We must be going home," she said, obviously disappointed, as she walked to the phone booth. A minute later, she walked back. A message appeared. 'A taxi will be here to pick you up shortly.' They all sat down on several of the benches that lined the pool.

No one talked. It seemed that they were all exhausted. Harry glanced at everyone's bars. Yep. They were all tired. In fact…Harry looked closer. They were all hungry. And needed social. They were all low in all the bars. Harry sat up. The taxi had appeared. He slowly stood up after Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and followed them into the taxi. This time, he was next to Hermione.

The taxi started. This time, it did not turn black, going straight to the house. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all stepped out. Their energy was their lowest bar, so the cursor told them all to go to bed. Harry glanced at his watch before he laid down on the bed. It was midnight. As soon as he hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

It wasn't until 10 in the morning that Harry woke up. He sat up and looked around. No one else was awake yet. It must have been a weekend, or else the cursor would have woken them up earlier. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He noticed the cursor in the sky, but it wasn't moving. He glanced at his bars. He needed a shower. He walked to the bathroom. A quick shower later, he walked to the living room. His hunger was down, so he went to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Ginny and Hermione had also woken up. Ginny looked up into the sky, and saw the stationary cursor.

"I wonder why it isn't moving."

"The person probably just left the computer on, or something." Hermione walked to the door. Ginny walked to Ron's bed and shook him.

"Wake up, Ron," she said. Ron just pulled the covers over his head. Ginny rolled her eyes. She yanked the covers off him. "Come on, Ron. The cursor isn't doing anything now, but if you keep sleeping, it probably will come back by the time you wake up." Ron groaned but sat up. He slowly stood and followed the two girls out of the room.

Harry was eating breakfast by the time the other three showed up. They grabbed a plate of the pancakes from the counter and sat down next to him. As soon as they finished, the cursor came to life. They collectively let out a groan. They all watched as it descended towards them. It clicked on Hermione. Then it moved to the phone. 'Call…' was chosen, then 'University'. Hermione stood up from her chair. She walked to the telephone. A list of choices appeared in the sky. "Review Accepted Scholarships", "Apply for Scholarships", and "Go to University." The cursor picked go to college. Hermione hung up. Another message appeared. "Hermione is going to college. A Taxi will come pick her up soon."

A taxi honked from outside. Hermione glanced at the others. "Well, I guess I'll see you in University." And she left, a bit of a smile on her face. They could hear the Taxi as it pulled away. A second message had appeared, but no one read it. Ron had been told to call the University. He stood and walked to the phone. The same choices were brought up for Ron. A second taxi honked. Ron looked back at Harry who grinned half-heartedly. He walked out the front door. Ginny stood up as the cursor chose her. She did the same thing as the other two.

"See you, Harry," she said quietly. She walked out. Harry suddenly had a thought. What if the cursor didn't send him to University? What if he had to stay in the house while the others left? What would he do? His worries faded however, when the cursor told him to call the University. He let out a breath as he walked to the lone telephone hanging on the wall. He dialed a random number.

Nancy walked into the room. "Have a good time, hon. While I hope I'll be seeing you four again when you finish, I also hope I've found my way out of here." She waved, and he waved back as he headed outside. He barely heard the taxi through the pounding in his ears. He walked quickly to it and got in. Harry sat in silence as the car went past the end of the road, and into the darkness.

A/N: Yay! I got it done! Thanks!