Barely twenty minutes later, James's and Lily's suitcases, ratty old pieces of trash that Uncle Dudley had loaned to them, maybe two feet by three and five inches thick, were waiting by the front door. There were only two- one for James, and one for Lily. Upstairs, they could hear Shelton and Pernella arguing about what to take with Uncle Dudley and Aunt Evian. "I want to take my video games." "No, you can't. You wouldn't have time to play it." "Why can't I take my IBM computer and laptop?" "Because- just because. Now get a move on."
James and Lily went to the kitchen, trying to get all the syrup off of their hands. They remained silent, hoping their Aunt or Uncle might let something slip, but no such luck came.
You know, Poison offered, I could get them to tell what they're hiding. He opened his mouth to show his fangs a bit.
Lily, who couldn't understand what Poison was saying just as much as James couldn't understand Brownie, reached down to pet Poison's head, knowing what he must be saying without understanding.
"He said that he can get them to tell us what they're hiding," James told her.
Lily thought and then turned to Brownie. She told the spider what Poison had said. What do you think?
No. Absolutely not. If they see that menace, they'll punish you two beyond belief, and you still won't find out what it says.
Lily told James.
She watched as James and Poison hissed to one another, obviously arguing. I jussst don't sssee- the snake muttered.
You don't see that they could take you away from us.
But-
No buts, no arguing about this. We'll have to try something else.
Poison looked thoughtful. What isss it they do on televisssion? Ah, yesss. It'sss called pick pocketing. Think we ssshould try that?
James looked to Lily and told her. Lily consulted Brownie.
Do what you want, the spider said at last. But when you get stuck in your own web, don't come crawling to me to get you out.
They heard a rumble from upstairs above their heads. "Honestly, Dudders, what did you pack?" Aunt Evian bellowed.
"Just some things for work."
"Mommy? May I take my dolls?" Lily smiled to herself. Pernella only played with her dolls when she was scared.
Aunt Evian's sigh was heard all the way downstairs. "All right, but not all of them."
The ceiling shook as Pernella jogged as quickly as possible to her room to get her beloved dolls.
THUMP! THUD! THUNK!
James and Lily looked at each other and then ran into the front hall, where the Dursleys were throwing suitcase after suitcase down from the stairs below. James darted between them and snatched his and Lily's suitcases.
"I hope nothing's broken," Lily said as she quickly unzipped hers. She looked inside and then breathed a sigh of relief.
James opened his and peered inside. It didn't seem like anything had been broken. He felt deeper inside, where he had hidden a baseball card that used to belong to Shelton and was now very expensive. If his calculations were right, one of the heaviest packs had landed right on top of it. Please don't be bent, he prayed. Finally, he felt a bit of plastic and pulled out the bag he had put it in. He breathed again as he saw that it was fine. He quickly stuffed it back as he heard Shelton yelling from above. "No! Don't throw that one! That has my laptop and Nintendo 64 in it!" He had yelled to late, though, and the suitcase fell to the ground, sending an audible cracking sound of plastic breaking. The sound was followed by Shelton's wails.
You forgot usss. James turned around and saw Poison slithering towards him.
Lily turned as she heard Brownie remark, You left me on the counter back there, young lady, and that's no way to behave. Now what would have happened if I had gotten squashed? Or stuck in someone else's web? Or worse, what would have happened if I had found myself in your aunt's dreadful mystery dessert?
I'm sorry, Lily said quietly.
Too late now, isn't it? I thought I'd taught you better.
James said to Poison, Hey, I'm sorry. I thought you could take care of yourself. I guess I was wrong.
The snake eyed him and dropped his head lower to the ground, curling himself up. You want to sssay that to my faccce?
"Are you talking to your pet again?"
The four turned and saw Shelton, sneering at them.
"Yes," James said with great pride. Now that he could talk to Poison in front of people, he wasn't going to bother trying to hide it. "Can you talk to yours?"
Shelton laughed cruelly. "I'm not a freak. Go talk to the birds outside, DooLittle."
"Boys? Enough," Uncle Dudley snapped as he came down the stairs.
"But Dad, he was-"
"I know what he was doing. And don't criticize him for it, either, or I swear, boy... Hurry. Let's get all of our stuff and then get to the airport. We have first class tickets to New York in an hour."
It took close to half an hour to get the backs packed in the back of the van, and they left Shelton's broken laptop and Nintendo 64 inside. James and Lily kept their suitcases with them, clinging the handles tightly in their hands.
Uncle Dudley dropped a heavy suitcase on his foot and jumped around the driveway, screaming, as Brownie retreated to hide under Lily's hair, and Poison managed to tie himself once more around James's stomach, nearly suffocating the human.
"What was in that! That HURT! WHO packed THAT BAG!" Uncle Dudley rubbed the sore spot on his foot.
Aunt Evian turned around in her seat in the van and smiled sweetly at him. "You packed that bag, dear. Remember? Your office things?"
Uncle Dudley quieted and looked at James and Lily. "In the van," he said.
Before he got in, he looked around quickly, as if watching for anyone who may have been spying on them. Aunt Evian, also, looked around nervously during their drive to the airport.
Brownie commented on this to Lily. I think they're scared of someone.
I think they're scared of something.
Maybe both.
Maybe us.
They parked at one of the farthest possible parking places since they got to the airport so late.
"Everyone," advised Uncle Dudley, "hurry." He handed them their separate tickets, hesitating a few moments before giving James and Lily theirs.
With that, everyone grabbed their suitcases, or suitcase, and ran as quickly as they could to the airport entrance. James and Lily made it first, handed in their tickets, and waited impatiently. New York! They were actually going to New York!
"Anyone riding with you two?" the man asked.
James pointed at the Dursleys, who were huffing and puffing across the parking lot.
The man nodded. "Gate 32A. Have a nice trip."
James and Lily ignored the baggage area. Their suitcases were small enough to take on the flight as carry-on. The two ran all the way to Gate 32A and handed their tickets in to the lady standing there, waiting for the last minute people.
James muttered out of the side of his mouth, "Wouldn't it be funny if the Dursleys missed the flight, but we made it?"
Lily frowned. "It wouldn't be funny at all. We'd need money, wouldn't we? Excuse me, ma'am," she said as she gave her ticket to the woman. "Our relatives are being... held up. Would it be too much to ask for the plane to wait a few moments until they come?"
The woman smiled, showing all of her white teeth. "No problem. The planes don't take off right away, anyway, and there's a bit of a traffic jam on the runway. So I think we can wait on them."
Lily smiled and thanked her.
"Poison is in my shirt," James whispered to her. "I don't think they'll let snakes on the plane. Spiders too. Is Brownie all right?"
Lily asked the spider, to which Brownie responded, Of course, girl. What do you think I am? Stupid? I'm a spider, for Athena's sake.
The two children grinned at each other as they entered the cabin.
"Excuse me, sir," James said with a bit of hesitation. "Could you help us find our seats?"
The man took one look at their tickets and then led them to two seats in the front of the first class section. "Thank you."
Yeah, thanksss for nothing, Poison muttered as he tucked his head out from under James's shirt and saw a blank wall in front of him.
"Ladies first," James said to Lily, adding to it an elegant bow as he waved her to her seat.
"Thank you, good sir." Lily gave a low curtsy to him before she went and sat down. As she heard the crinkle of paper, she jumped up. "Hello! What's this?"
James took the envelope from her and looked at it. "Hey, look at the address. It's 'The Worst Seats in First Class.'"
You got that right, Poison muttered.
James laughed and told Lily.
"Poison! Really, they're better than some seats. And we can move around once the flight starts," she told him.
Isss ssshe sssaying sssomething to me? Poison wondered aloud.
James smiled and shook his head. He wasn't going to be like a mother to his pet. Instead, he held the envelope, ready to tear it open. He looked at Lily. If she said it was okay, everyone but his family would say it was okay. "Think we should?"
Lily nodded slowly, staring at the envelope so hard that Brownie had to instruct her, Careful, girl. You're beginning to drool. At this, Lily straightened and said, "We'd better, and quick. Or else we'll never find out what it says."
"Not to mention who's writing this to us," James agreed.
He tore the envelope open greedily. He took two pieces of paper out. He hastily but carefully unfolded the first page. "Wait a minute. Lily? Read that. Make sure I'm reading it right."
Careful. Brownie poked her with one of her eight legs. There are two people standing over James's chair.
She didn't need to look to see that no one was there. You must be imagining things, she told her spider.
She took it as he handed it to her. "Hogwarts School of Wizardry." She looked at him. "Think it's a joke?"
James ran a hand through his hair, even though most of it sprang back into place. He quickly rearranged his bangs to cover up his lightning-shaped scar. "Who knows?"
"Then again," Lily muttered, mostly to herself, "whoever sent this went through a lot of trouble. They find out where we live, not just that, but in what room we live in. I thought that could have been a trick of Pernella's or Shelton's, but then the way Uncle Dudley and Aunt Evian acted..." Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Brownie climbing on the chair. "And then they knew to find us here, on the way to New York. And look at the address that time. So either someone is stalking us, for some reason, or this might actually be real."
James rubbed his head. "As those Americans would say, Oh brother."
"You know, we say that too."
"But we always say, 'As those Americans would say, Oh brother.'"
"Well, we're going to America, so maybe you could drop the first part."
"All right. As those Americans would say, brother."
Lily laughed.
"Ow!" something screamed.
The two children spun around, facing the invisible air. Many of the other people in the cabin turned to look, too; except that while James and Lily were looking behind them, the other people were looking directly at them. Lily flushed crimson and sank in her seat. James turned around and stuttered as he mumbled, "Suitcase hit my foot." Then he, too, sank into his seat, a deep crimson in his face.
On the nape of her neck, Lily felt Brownie settle back into her usual spot. See? Brownie told her sharply. There was someone there. If that brute who calls himself a snake had been paying attention, he would have seen too. She added proudly, I bit one of them.
Lily patted the her hair gently so as not to crush the spider. Thank you. I'm sorry I doubted you.
You mean the part where you said I was 'imagining everything?'
Yes. But could you tell me if you see them again? I think we might want to talk to them.
In the name of Athena, of course. What do you think I am? Blind and stupid?
Lily smiled and told James.
He shook his head. "A school of wizardry and now invisible people. What next?" He took out the letter again, holding it so the two of them could read.
Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice that made them jump. "Just what, exactly, are you doing? And what is that in your hand?" They looked up and saw Uncle Dudley, laden with carryon luggage, a pile of which he had let go of so he could point at the letter the two were holding.
"Uh, nothing," Lily said quickly, as she pulled the letter away from James. She was about to stick it in her pocket after crumpling it a bit to prove it was worthless when Uncle Dudley dropped all of his luggage and dived for it.
She tried to pull it out of his reach, but he was faster than he looked. "Give me that," he grated, "or else spend the rest of your life locked in that closet!"
She slowly handed it to him. Maybe they could get another chance. Or another letter That would be even better. Nevertheless, she didn't want to spend the rest of her life in that dingy hole. She didn't want to spend more time there than she had to.
He grabbed it, snarling, and walked off to gather up the items he had dropped.
Shelton and Pernella came up behind him, both red in the face from the mad dash from the van to the plane.
"My, my, Little Lily," Pernella crooned evilly. "It seems as if you ticked off Daddy a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if he locked you in that closet anyway, after the way you two have been behaving."
"Yeah, getting those letters that upset Daddy and Mum so much. I'll bet you planted them, just so you could have a good laugh."
"Go run into a concrete wall," James shot back. "Oh, I'm sorry. You'd just bounce off."
Shelton gave a little humph and walked off, followed closely by Pernella, who left with a flouncing of her skirts.
"Did you read any of the rest of the letter?" James asked Lily quietly.
She shook her head. "I was hoping you had time to. I only read the Hogwarts School of Wizardry part."
James and Lily held each other's hand as a few minutes later, the plane took off. It took forever, but the final roar and the feeling of being pushed down into your seats, yet at the same time made them feel as if they were air, was both exhilarating and frightening. James would have felt more frightened, but he saw Shelton grabbing his armrests and pale as a ghost, which cheered him up a bit. Lily, also, would have been much more afraid, had it not been for the sight of Pernella holding all of her dolls close to her, screaming, "Mommeeeeeee!!!!!"
This is about as much fun as having a bird wreck your new web, Brownie muttered in disgust.
I think I'm going to be sssick, Poison consented.
"Well? Isn't this a lovely plane ride?" Ron asked Hermione sourly.
"Oh, Ron. You're just angry because that spider bit you."
"Wouldn't you be mad? The darn thing was poisonous, too."
"It didn't hurt that much, you big oaf. And besides, I suppose you made it bite you. Maybe you put your hand in its territory or something."
"Spiders don't have territory," Ron said sulkily. "And did you see it afterwards? It crawled straight to her! It went under her hair, and she didn't even seem to notice, much less care."
Hermione clapped her hands together. "Why don't we find out?" she asked.
Ron looked at her skeptically. "What do you mean by that?" He saw her excited face and clapped his own hand over his mouth. "Surely you don't mean- talk to them, do you? Actually talk to them?"
"Well why not? I've been waiting nine years to talk to them, Ron. And now look. We've missed so much. The least we could do is have a conversation with them. Find out a little bit about them. Besides, we'll have to talk to them to get them to Hogwarts and Diagon Alley, won't we?"
Ron still looked doubtful.
"All right. Look, we don't have to tell them who we are. We don't even have to tell them that we're connected to them."
Ron bit his lip. "I guess. I've been waiting nine years, too. And I am curious. Well, let's get this over with before my conscience catches up with me." He got up, muttering, "Isn't it your job to care about the morality of things?"
She simply grinned as he pulled on her hand and led her to the front of the plane. All of the lights were off, but the moonlight shining from outside in the night sky gave enough light for them to see the two white heads topped with the unruly black hair.
"Well? What now?" he asked Hermione.
"Uh. To be honest, I'm not really sure. I guess I hoped so much..."
"Yeah, don't worry. I know the feeling."
"Maybe we could wake them up?" Hermione asked hopefully. She sat on the arm rest of a chair across the aisle. Then she looked back to where James and Lily were sleeping peacefully. Lily had her head in James's lap, while he was leaning back against the seat with his head slightly resting on her head. "No. I suppose not."
They turned back to head to their own seats. Ron caught a glimpse of the sleeping Dudley, who was so big that his round body covered the armrests on both sides of the chair, and it looked as if he might slide off at any moment.
"Dudley," Ron said harshly between grated teeth. "Look at him. Do you know what I'd like to-"
"Save it for New York, Ron," Hermione advised.
Ron stared at Dudley, saying nothing. Then he slowly nodded and continued back to his seat, muttering, "I guess he didn't heed our warnings."
"He'll regret it. I'm not one to speak about muggles, but he's-" Hermione choked on her next few words in anger. "How could he do that to them?" she whispered hoarsely at Ron in the dark. "Harry could barely fit into that room, but both of them! They get less than Harry ever had."
"Now who gets to say, 'Save it for New York?'" Ron asked, smiling slightly.
Hermione grinned tiredly. "I suppose. But you can't call me Ron."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
They settled down for the rest of the trip to New York.
"Where's the Invisibility Cloak?" Ron asked, whispering frantically.
"Right here in my seat. I thought you might forget."
"Gee, thanks." Ron turned over and fell asleep.