Chapter 2

          "'Mione! Your little friends are here!" Hermione woke up to her mother's voice. She jumped out of bed and ran to her door.

          "Okay, Mum! I'll be down in a second!" she called.

          She changed her clothes and combed her hair in five minutes flat. She raced down the stairs and hugged Ron and Harry both.

          "Err… hi, Hermione." Ron said, choked by Hermione's arms.

          "Hi," Harry said. "How err… are you?"

          "Hello, boys!" Mrs. Granger said.

          Ron and Harry waved.

          "Hi," they said in unison.

          Ten minutes into the boys' parental torture, Hermione said, "Um… why don't I show Harry and Ron to their rooms?"

          She turned around and headed up the stairs, closely followed bye Ron and Harry.

          "Thanks, Hermione," Harry said, when they got to her room.

          "Yeah, that was… weird." Ron said, wincing at the pain in his ribs from being hugged by Mrs. Granger.

          "Why are they so…" Harry started.

          "Affectionate?" Hermione laughed. "I guess my mum just… was so thrilled with me having friends over…" she looked down at the floor.

          "Well, er…" Ron said, giving Harry a meaningful look over Hermione. "Maybe we should… get unpacked."

          "Yeah," Harry mumbled.

          "Wait! Er, Hermione? Where are is our room?" Ron asked.

          "Oh!" Hermione laughed. "I'll show you."

          "This room is very…" Harry began, standing in the doorway.

          "Girly!" Ron finished, exasperated.

          The room was covered from floor to ceiling in pink flowers and lace. It had two dainty little twin beds, covered in pink quilts trimmed in lace. The windows were decorated with long draperies sprinkled with little pink flowers. On the floor was a little pink rug.

          "Yes, well…" Hermione tried to hold back a smile, but it was futile. "My mum's mum owned this suite, then her mum before her. It's sort of an heirloom."

          "Well, I guess it will… do…" Harry said, blushing.

          "So… which bed do you want, Harry?" Ron said, still staring at the vase full of pink roses and baby's breath on the dresser.

          "Why do they want to know our great aunt's maiden name?" Ron asked Hermione, filling out his application form.

          "I don't know, just write it." Hermione said.

          "But I don't know it! Everyone just called her 'Shoe'."

          "Shoe?" Harry and Hermione asked in unison.

          "Yes. Please don't ask." Ron snickered.

          "Well then, just pretend you don't have a great aunt. Put down 'n/a'."

          "Right." Ron filled out a couple more blanks and, "Done!"

          "Good. Let me show you the telly," she said with a smile.

          "No, Ron, that's the antenna," Harry said.

          "But… how do the people get through that little string to the box?"

          "Don't try to understand it, Ron. Just remember it." Hermione sighed. "Now, let's watch the show we'll be on."  She found the remote, and turned the telly to channel five.

          "Now what's that thing?" Ron pointed at the remote.

          "Just watch the show, Ron," Harry said.

          They shifted their attention to the television, and they saw the announcer, dressed up in flashy clothes, say, "And now, we're back to Great Britain's favourite game show…"

          "High…Stakes…Trivia!!" the audience yelled.

          Two teams of three people were sitting in very comfy-looking chairs, beaming.

          "And our first question of round two is…" the announcer started, while consulting a little card. "What are the only three words in the English language that cannot be rhymed?"

          One of the contestants, who had blue hair by the way, (This got a remark from Ron- "How did that Muggle get blue hair?") stood up suddenly as he rang her buzzer.

          "Orange, purple and silver!"

          "Great job, you are correct!" said the announcer. "Our next question is… what are the fabled witches said to ride on?"

          "What?! How simple! What's wrong with these people?" Ron interjected.

          "Ron, it's a Muggle show," Harry said.

          "Oh. Right."

          A young woman, with normal hair this time, buzzed in.

          "That would be broomsticks!" she said with a grin.

          After about 10 more questions, the announcer stated that the next round would be the "Physical Challenge" round. He was walking gingerly around the outside of a large slime pit.

          "First, our contestants will trudge through this pit," he told the audience. "Then, climb over this mountain," he said, pointing to a miniature rocky cliff face. "Then, crawl through this elastic jungle," he said, pointing to a large area with what looked like long rubber bands stretched in every way. "Then, they must go back up to the starting point, and ring their bell," he announced, indicating a little gong. "Whatever rings their bell first, wins 200 points. Any questions?" Silence. "Okay then, let's play!"

          The three contestants sloshed quickly through the slime, Blue Hair Lady in the lead, and then scaled the little mountain. Normal Hair Lady passed Blue Hair Lady in the "Elastic Jungle" and went back through. But another man had already rang his bell by the time she got to hers.

           "My, this is rather exciting, huh?"  Ron said, his eyes stuck on the television.

          "Welcome, Ron, to the fantastic world of Muggle entertainment," Harry said with mock regality.

          "Wait until I show him my PlayStation2," Hermione laughed.

          "You have a PS2?" Harry said, astonished.

          "Yeah, it's-" Hermione started.

          "Shh! They're about to announce the winners!" Ron said.

          The three turned their attention to the telly, and the winner is…

          "The Purple Team!" the announcer exclaimed. Blue Hair Woman, who was now identified as the captain of the purple team, made her way to where the announcer was standing.

          "You win…" the announcer started, in a drum-roll-like voice.

          "Two… thousand… dollars!!" the audience blared.

          "Wow! Two thousand dollars? That's enough to buy… er… hmmm… well… it sounds like a lot," Ron said.

          "Yeah, it's probably enough to buy maybe… 3 Firebolts?"

          "Excellent! One for each of us!" Ron exclaimed.

          "Honestly, Ron. As if I would buy one of those," Hermione scoffed.

          "And I've already got… one…" Harry turned away, not wanting to make Ron feel bad. But he seemed not to be offended.

          "Alright then," Ron said with a shrug. "A Firebolt for me, maybe one of those PlaySituation things for Harry, and… gee… I have no clue what to get Hermione…" Ron said with sarcasm.

          "Oh, stuff it, Ron." Hermione said.

          "Okay, okay, don't go ballistic," Ron said teasingly.

          Harry yawned. "Maybe I'll go to bed. I'll leave you two kiddies alone," Harry laughed.

          At that, Hermione and Ron sprang up from the couch and said a jumble of "good nights" and "sweet dreams" and ran off to their rooms, leaving Harry behind. Harry followed after Ron, shaking his head and smiling.