¤*~ Spring Break in SoCal ~ Chapter SIX!! ~*¤
**** If you haven't already read the first five chapters, I strongly suggest you do =)
A woman dressed in a navy blue jacket, skirt, hat, and shoes greeted them as they walked through the doors of the 747.
"Good afternoon. Thank you for choosing England–America International Airlines." She beamed and tossed her perfectly styled blond hair.
"Hello, nice to meet you." Said Harry politely, and returned the woman's smile.
He and Hermione walked down the amazingly clean aisle past rows of businessmen with laptops and richly clothed women cleaning the faces of small children. They continued to walk and look around until they came to a two–person seat containing Ron, and across from that seat was another containing Ginny. Ginny was reading the latest issue of a teen magazine, and Ron already had his headphones on. He looked up to see Harry staring down at him.
"Umm…can I sit next to you?" Harry asked, quickly looking down at the carpet.
"Sure." Said Ron, and moved his bag from the seat next to him onto the ground.
Harry stepped over Ron's legs, shoved his bag in the overhead compartment, and sat down. He turned to look at Ron.
"Sorry."
"I'm not mad at you." Said Ron, removing his headphones.
"It seemed like you were."
"Why?"
"Because you haven't spoke to me since I left back there at the airport."
"So?"
"So it seemed like you were mad at me."
"Why did you have to leave in the first place? What I said wasn't that bad, was it?"
"Well, sort of. But it wasn't just that, a lot of things haven't been going well for me right now."
"Like what?"
"Why are you interrogating me?"
"If things are making you this messed up, I want to know what they are."
Harry sucked in his lips and looked down at his hands. "I don't want to talk about it."
"You did to my sister."
"And how would you know that?"
"It's pretty obvious, Harry. You both leave at the same time, you both come back at the same time, and all of a sudden you're some kind of super- friends."
"Super-friends?"
"You know what I mean. If you and I are such good friends, why can't you tell me anything?"
"Remember last year when I tried to tell you that I didn't enter myself in the TriWizard tournament? You didn't believe a word I said, and you hated me for over a month." Harry frowned as the whole experience that he tried to forget started to come back to him.
"I already apologized about that. Anyway, that was totally different."
"How? It's the same exact story. Something bad happens, I turn to you, and somehow you switch everything around and start hating me. Then you yell at me over some misunderstanding."
"I didn't yell at you."
"You told me to die, then you called me a stupid orphan. But you didn't yell at me."
"Okay, fine, I yelled at you. Sorry."
They sat in silence. After a few minutes of staring at his own feet, Ron looked up at Harry. He looked very pale, and he was staring into space.
"Why do you always look so sad?"
Harry was snapped out of his thoughts. "What are you talking about?"
Ron exhaled in exasperation. "Stop dancing around the subject. Just tell me."
Harry shuddered involuntarily. "I killed Cedric. If I hadn't dragged him into that whole Voldemort thing, he wouldn't have died."
Ron's jaw dropped open. "You're STILL thinking about that? God, Harry! It was an accident!"
Harry paused for a moment, and closed his eyes. Ron could tell he was trying to calm down before he spoke. Harry took a deep breath, then began.
"You weren't there. You wouldn't know."
"You're not a killer."
"I'm not saying I MEANT to kill him. But I did."
"Shut UP. What's wrong with you? I mean, is this low self-confidence talking? Or is this just stupidity?"
"I'm not stupid."
"Then what? You hate yourself?" Mused Ron sarcastically.
"Yes."
Ron paused uneasily. "I was just joking, Harry."
"I wasn't."
As this argument was developing, Hermione struggled to fit her large bag of books in the overhead compartment without disturbing Ginny's huge suitcase full of clothes and makeup.
"Lord, Ginny, did you bring your entire wardrobe?"
Ginny momentarily closed the magazine and simply stated, "Not quite."
Hermione rolled her eyes and plunked down next to Ginny.
"Well, what did you leave out? A bracelet?" Huffed Hermione indignantly.
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Why would I leave out a possible accessory? If you must know, I left out my winter jacket. I won't need that in California." She noisily flipped a page.
Hermione laughed and shook her head. Then she leaned past Ginny to observe Ron and Harry, who were seated across the aisle to Ginny's left.
"Where did Ron get that muggle CD player?
"Dad gave it to him for Christmas."
"Interesting." Hermione leaned even farther forward to see Harry. "What's with Harry?"
For the first time, something Hermione said actually sparked her interest. Ginny placed her magazine in the pouch of the seat in front of her and turned her head to look. Ron and Harry were arguing about something serious, and Harry looked like he was going to explode.
"He looks upset." Said Ginny.
"Well, obviously. But why?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at Ginny, who swallowed. "You know why, don't you?" She grinned mischievously.
Ginny bit her lip. There was no way she was going to tell Hermione anything. "I'm not at the liberty to say." 'Little vulture,' Ginny thought. 'He's MINE.'
Hermione narrowed her eyes and frowned stubbornly. "And why is that? Did he TELL you that you couldn't tell anybody?" 'Oh yeah,' Hermione thought evilly, 'This would definitely get it out of her.'
Ginny blinked. "Well...not exactly."
"So why can't you tell me? I AM one of his best friends. I have the right to know more than you do."
Suddenly an idea hit Ginny. "If he wanted you to know, he would have told you." 'Yes! She'll never get past this one!' thought Ginny triumphantly.
Hermione's jaw dropped and shattered her resolve. 'My God, she's right,' thought Hermione, 'Maybe he doesn't like me after all. Maybe I'm...just his friend! No! This can't be!' "Well...he only told you because you followed him."
"That's not true."
"Then what is? Just tell me what's wrong, and maybe I can fix it."
"Go ask him yourself. If you think you should know, then he'll probably tell you. It looks like he's telling Ron right now. Hey, wait a minute...that makes you the only person here that he hasn't told, doesn't it? I wonder why that is."
Hermione was shocked. "You little b-"
Fortunately Hermione was cut off by a shout from the seat next to them. They both closed their mouths and leaned to see what was happening.
"Just leave me alone!" yelled Harry.
"What's wrong with you? Why can't you just admit it?"
"It's not true! Would you just STOP bringing that up? If I wanted to tell you, I would!"
"Okay...but sometime during this flight I want to talk about it with you."
"Just- don't talk about it ever again. I don't like that subject."
"Harry, we have to discuss it sometime or it'll be looming over every conversation we have."
"Lord, Ron, shut-up! It will not! "
"I'm not going to leave you alone until we talk about it. I want to have this problem resolved before we get off this plane."
"There is no problem."
"You wouldn't be so mad if there wasn't."
"I'M MAD BECAUSE YOU WON'T LISTEN TO WHAT I'M SAYING! IT'S LIKE TALKING TO A BLOODY WALL!"
A woman with brown hair and the same navy blue uniform as the woman at the door sauntered in between the four teenagers with a dinner cart. "Alright, kids. Who wants steak and who wants lobster?" The woman smiled just like the blond woman at the door.
"Steak? Lobster? What kind of plane are we ON?" Exclaimed Ginny in disbelief.
Harry peered across Ron to answer Ginny's question. "Those were first-class tickets," he said with a calm smile. Ron was a bit surprised by Harry's sudden change of temperament.
"Really? Wow." Replied Ginny. She tossed her hair and smoothed her shirt in new-found pride. "I would like lobster."
The woman handed her a beautiful plate of lobster.
All this elaborate food excited Ron. "I'll have the steak, please."
The woman smiled at him, and he blushed. Then she handed him a plate of finely garnished steak.
"I've flown on first-class before, and it wasn't as nice as this. How much did those tickets COST?" Asked Hermione to the brunette woman just after she was handed a plate of lobster.
"Well, I would estimate that those tickets cost well over a thousand dollars each." The woman turned towards Harry, who, like the rest of his friends, was positively shocked. "What would you like to eat?"
"I didn't even KNOW plane tickets could cost over a thousand dollars!" Harry stopped to look up at the woman, who was chuckling to herself. "Oh...er...sorry. I will have..." He looked like he couldn't decide. "Do you have some kind of chef on board? I mean, this food is REALLY lavish for being on a plane."
The woman beamed at him. "Why, thank you. Here at EAA, we serve our passengers to the best of our extent." Losing her business tone, she continued, "You look familiar...I'm SURE I've seen your face somewhere before..."
"I'm not sure where," lied Harry.
"Why don't I give you the...steak?" she asked, then handed him a plate of the steak.
"Sure," Said Harry, receiving the plate and placing it on the plate in front of him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll be coming around in an hour or so with the dessert cart." The attendant continued to walk down the aisle, serving other passengers and striking up small conversations.
"Anyway..." Began Hermione awkwardly after what she had heard Ron and Harry arguing about.
"Riiiight..." added Ginny in the same uneasy tone as Hermione.
Ron decided it was his turn to change the subject. "So what do you think San Diego will be like?"
**** If you haven't already read the first five chapters, I strongly suggest you do =)
A woman dressed in a navy blue jacket, skirt, hat, and shoes greeted them as they walked through the doors of the 747.
"Good afternoon. Thank you for choosing England–America International Airlines." She beamed and tossed her perfectly styled blond hair.
"Hello, nice to meet you." Said Harry politely, and returned the woman's smile.
He and Hermione walked down the amazingly clean aisle past rows of businessmen with laptops and richly clothed women cleaning the faces of small children. They continued to walk and look around until they came to a two–person seat containing Ron, and across from that seat was another containing Ginny. Ginny was reading the latest issue of a teen magazine, and Ron already had his headphones on. He looked up to see Harry staring down at him.
"Umm…can I sit next to you?" Harry asked, quickly looking down at the carpet.
"Sure." Said Ron, and moved his bag from the seat next to him onto the ground.
Harry stepped over Ron's legs, shoved his bag in the overhead compartment, and sat down. He turned to look at Ron.
"Sorry."
"I'm not mad at you." Said Ron, removing his headphones.
"It seemed like you were."
"Why?"
"Because you haven't spoke to me since I left back there at the airport."
"So?"
"So it seemed like you were mad at me."
"Why did you have to leave in the first place? What I said wasn't that bad, was it?"
"Well, sort of. But it wasn't just that, a lot of things haven't been going well for me right now."
"Like what?"
"Why are you interrogating me?"
"If things are making you this messed up, I want to know what they are."
Harry sucked in his lips and looked down at his hands. "I don't want to talk about it."
"You did to my sister."
"And how would you know that?"
"It's pretty obvious, Harry. You both leave at the same time, you both come back at the same time, and all of a sudden you're some kind of super- friends."
"Super-friends?"
"You know what I mean. If you and I are such good friends, why can't you tell me anything?"
"Remember last year when I tried to tell you that I didn't enter myself in the TriWizard tournament? You didn't believe a word I said, and you hated me for over a month." Harry frowned as the whole experience that he tried to forget started to come back to him.
"I already apologized about that. Anyway, that was totally different."
"How? It's the same exact story. Something bad happens, I turn to you, and somehow you switch everything around and start hating me. Then you yell at me over some misunderstanding."
"I didn't yell at you."
"You told me to die, then you called me a stupid orphan. But you didn't yell at me."
"Okay, fine, I yelled at you. Sorry."
They sat in silence. After a few minutes of staring at his own feet, Ron looked up at Harry. He looked very pale, and he was staring into space.
"Why do you always look so sad?"
Harry was snapped out of his thoughts. "What are you talking about?"
Ron exhaled in exasperation. "Stop dancing around the subject. Just tell me."
Harry shuddered involuntarily. "I killed Cedric. If I hadn't dragged him into that whole Voldemort thing, he wouldn't have died."
Ron's jaw dropped open. "You're STILL thinking about that? God, Harry! It was an accident!"
Harry paused for a moment, and closed his eyes. Ron could tell he was trying to calm down before he spoke. Harry took a deep breath, then began.
"You weren't there. You wouldn't know."
"You're not a killer."
"I'm not saying I MEANT to kill him. But I did."
"Shut UP. What's wrong with you? I mean, is this low self-confidence talking? Or is this just stupidity?"
"I'm not stupid."
"Then what? You hate yourself?" Mused Ron sarcastically.
"Yes."
Ron paused uneasily. "I was just joking, Harry."
"I wasn't."
As this argument was developing, Hermione struggled to fit her large bag of books in the overhead compartment without disturbing Ginny's huge suitcase full of clothes and makeup.
"Lord, Ginny, did you bring your entire wardrobe?"
Ginny momentarily closed the magazine and simply stated, "Not quite."
Hermione rolled her eyes and plunked down next to Ginny.
"Well, what did you leave out? A bracelet?" Huffed Hermione indignantly.
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Why would I leave out a possible accessory? If you must know, I left out my winter jacket. I won't need that in California." She noisily flipped a page.
Hermione laughed and shook her head. Then she leaned past Ginny to observe Ron and Harry, who were seated across the aisle to Ginny's left.
"Where did Ron get that muggle CD player?
"Dad gave it to him for Christmas."
"Interesting." Hermione leaned even farther forward to see Harry. "What's with Harry?"
For the first time, something Hermione said actually sparked her interest. Ginny placed her magazine in the pouch of the seat in front of her and turned her head to look. Ron and Harry were arguing about something serious, and Harry looked like he was going to explode.
"He looks upset." Said Ginny.
"Well, obviously. But why?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at Ginny, who swallowed. "You know why, don't you?" She grinned mischievously.
Ginny bit her lip. There was no way she was going to tell Hermione anything. "I'm not at the liberty to say." 'Little vulture,' Ginny thought. 'He's MINE.'
Hermione narrowed her eyes and frowned stubbornly. "And why is that? Did he TELL you that you couldn't tell anybody?" 'Oh yeah,' Hermione thought evilly, 'This would definitely get it out of her.'
Ginny blinked. "Well...not exactly."
"So why can't you tell me? I AM one of his best friends. I have the right to know more than you do."
Suddenly an idea hit Ginny. "If he wanted you to know, he would have told you." 'Yes! She'll never get past this one!' thought Ginny triumphantly.
Hermione's jaw dropped and shattered her resolve. 'My God, she's right,' thought Hermione, 'Maybe he doesn't like me after all. Maybe I'm...just his friend! No! This can't be!' "Well...he only told you because you followed him."
"That's not true."
"Then what is? Just tell me what's wrong, and maybe I can fix it."
"Go ask him yourself. If you think you should know, then he'll probably tell you. It looks like he's telling Ron right now. Hey, wait a minute...that makes you the only person here that he hasn't told, doesn't it? I wonder why that is."
Hermione was shocked. "You little b-"
Fortunately Hermione was cut off by a shout from the seat next to them. They both closed their mouths and leaned to see what was happening.
"Just leave me alone!" yelled Harry.
"What's wrong with you? Why can't you just admit it?"
"It's not true! Would you just STOP bringing that up? If I wanted to tell you, I would!"
"Okay...but sometime during this flight I want to talk about it with you."
"Just- don't talk about it ever again. I don't like that subject."
"Harry, we have to discuss it sometime or it'll be looming over every conversation we have."
"Lord, Ron, shut-up! It will not! "
"I'm not going to leave you alone until we talk about it. I want to have this problem resolved before we get off this plane."
"There is no problem."
"You wouldn't be so mad if there wasn't."
"I'M MAD BECAUSE YOU WON'T LISTEN TO WHAT I'M SAYING! IT'S LIKE TALKING TO A BLOODY WALL!"
A woman with brown hair and the same navy blue uniform as the woman at the door sauntered in between the four teenagers with a dinner cart. "Alright, kids. Who wants steak and who wants lobster?" The woman smiled just like the blond woman at the door.
"Steak? Lobster? What kind of plane are we ON?" Exclaimed Ginny in disbelief.
Harry peered across Ron to answer Ginny's question. "Those were first-class tickets," he said with a calm smile. Ron was a bit surprised by Harry's sudden change of temperament.
"Really? Wow." Replied Ginny. She tossed her hair and smoothed her shirt in new-found pride. "I would like lobster."
The woman handed her a beautiful plate of lobster.
All this elaborate food excited Ron. "I'll have the steak, please."
The woman smiled at him, and he blushed. Then she handed him a plate of finely garnished steak.
"I've flown on first-class before, and it wasn't as nice as this. How much did those tickets COST?" Asked Hermione to the brunette woman just after she was handed a plate of lobster.
"Well, I would estimate that those tickets cost well over a thousand dollars each." The woman turned towards Harry, who, like the rest of his friends, was positively shocked. "What would you like to eat?"
"I didn't even KNOW plane tickets could cost over a thousand dollars!" Harry stopped to look up at the woman, who was chuckling to herself. "Oh...er...sorry. I will have..." He looked like he couldn't decide. "Do you have some kind of chef on board? I mean, this food is REALLY lavish for being on a plane."
The woman beamed at him. "Why, thank you. Here at EAA, we serve our passengers to the best of our extent." Losing her business tone, she continued, "You look familiar...I'm SURE I've seen your face somewhere before..."
"I'm not sure where," lied Harry.
"Why don't I give you the...steak?" she asked, then handed him a plate of the steak.
"Sure," Said Harry, receiving the plate and placing it on the plate in front of him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll be coming around in an hour or so with the dessert cart." The attendant continued to walk down the aisle, serving other passengers and striking up small conversations.
"Anyway..." Began Hermione awkwardly after what she had heard Ron and Harry arguing about.
"Riiiight..." added Ginny in the same uneasy tone as Hermione.
Ron decided it was his turn to change the subject. "So what do you think San Diego will be like?"
