Ch 2
Holiday Inn
A/N: Woohoo, Ch 2! Read on, and review!
Disclaimer: Not only do I not own Harry Potter, I do not shut up.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Ginny watched Harry suppress an enormous yawn. "Harry," she spoke, realizing that her voice sounded rather tired too, "do you think we should stop for the night?" She found his yawn contagious and followed his lead.
Harry felt his eyelids droop; after all, it was 1 a.m. They had been driving since noon, and had grown a bit irritable, each in their own ways. Irritable for Draco meant staring out the side of the Vette and mumbling things under his breath. Hermione showed it by flipping the pages of her thick book sharply, Ron tossed his chocolate frog wrappers out the window without thought, Ginny pouted, and Cho frowned. Harry just tried to pay attention to the road.
He had imagined it differently; not some boring ride, but an adventure... an oppurtunity to spend time together and be with another before the real world grabbed them and recruited them for boring jobs with low pay.
"Sure," he replied finally. "As soon as we see a hotel."
Hermione groaned, turning another crisp page, ready to rip it out. Her back was stiff from arching it away from Draco. She had remained tense the whole time. Draco had thought she'd get over it, but she hadn't. It was a contributing factor in his inability to be somewhat pleasant. They were completely annoying the hell out of each other without saying a single word.
One Burger King, two McDonalds, and eight pawnshops later* Draco spotted a sign reading "Holiday Inn." "Hey!" said Draco. "Doesn't 'inn' mean 'hotel'?"
"Yep," Ron shrugged.
"Well then, turn in!" Draco pointed frantically to the sign and Harry made the turn just in time, car tires screeching like there was no tomorrow. Harry nearly missed hitting the curb as he parked crookedly into a spot.
"Try again," Cho urged.
Five parking attempts later, the six scrambled out to stretch their weakened legs. There were several "ooh"s and "aw"s and "ow"s as each cracked their necks and backs. With that settled, they all turned and trudged into the lobby, hauling their luggage behind them.
"Uh, hello." The young desk clerk looked bewildered to see them. "You're here awfully late."
Ron misunderstood. "What time were we scheduled to be here?"
The lady frowned, but started typing into her computer. "How many rooms?"
They turned to Cho, who had completed eight years** of Muggle Studies. "Um..." She acted like a student taking Spanish trying to string a sentence together in the real world. She had never applied her skills outside of the classroom before. "There are six of us... so preferably two, with double beds."
The lady typed some more. "Alright, and how will you be paying?"
"Money!" Ginny chirped in, proud to know of Muggle customs. The lady looked at her like she was a foregin zoo exhibit; Ginny blushed deeply.
"Um..." Cho began to turn pink under pressure. "Oh, yes, by 'cash'." She said "cash" like it was a funny word, attempting to use Muggle slang.
"Um, ok," the lady said, rolling her eyes. "That'll be $110***"
This time they looked to Harry as he rummaged through his pocket. They had dressed in Muggle clothes, so Harry wore khaki shorts and a navy "Adidas" shirt (he didn't know who or what "Adidas" was, but the Muggles seemed to accept it). He came up with a few bills rolled in his pocket. "I have $60," he said sheepishly, stuffing the other assorted things that had come from his pocket back in.
The other members of the trip scowled. Harry had known about Muggle money, so he'd been entrusted with the duty of changing the Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts into dollars and change; however, Harry was a little rickety with the conversions and had just now realized how much he had (or the lackthereof!).
The lady was getting rather impatient. "Fine!" She snatched up the $60 and threw him back a $5. "This will get you one room. Enjoy!" She slid a flat laminated rectangle across the desk to him. All of them eyed it warily; the lady gasped in frustration. "Your room key!"
"Oh..." It settled over them. Harry and Cho knew about keys, but neither had seen any like the flat one Draco now grasped loosely in his right hand. The other four had always seen locking charms or, at Hogwarts, paintings. Hermione had lived in the Muggle world, but had never stayed in a hotel. In her eleven years as a Muggle, the only night she had slept away from her home was a sleepover party in 3rd grade. Harry, despised by the Dursleys, had never been allowed to sleep in a hotel (he rarely kept the bed in his own room!).
"Room 301..." Draco read slowly off the key as they lugged their trunks out of the lobby. It was dark, and Ginny lit her wand with the Lumos spell. ("If anyone asks," Ron had advised, "say it's a foreign candle.")
After ten minutes of going up and down in the elevators and walking across the grounds, back and forth, Hermione finally figured out where 301 was located (on the 3rd floor, at the end of the hallway).
"There's a slit on the door," Ron noticed. "Maybe we should put the rec--I mean, key in it." It seemed like a sensible idea to the rest, and so Draco inserted it inside the slot.
"Nothing's happening," Draco muttered angrily.
"Try pulling it out," Ginny shrugged. Something on the door flashed green in the dark air. "Oh, Draco, look!" She pointed frantically at the door.
"Now what?" He sounded like he was in the middle of a quick, vigorous task.
"Try opening it!" Cho's eyes gleamed; she was obviously having an adrenaline rush from all of the excitement.
Draco fumbled awkwardly with the doorknob until he grabbed hold and turned it. The door swung open, and the green light stopped flashing. Draco propped it up with his suitcase. He looked rather triumphant.
"Don't be so smug, Draco!" Hermione spat. "All you did was open a door."
He seemed to bite his lip to stifle a reply as they shuffled in, Draco closing the door behind them. There were only two beds, each only slightly bigger than their beds at Hogwarts.
"Sleeping arrangements?" Ginny eyed the rest. They quickly figured out that the most practical thing to do was to have Ginny and Ron share, since they were siblings, and Cho and Hermione to take the other, because they were the other two girls. Harry volunteered to sleep in the bathtub, and so Draco curled up on the small but efficient sofa-chair.
By that time, it was 1:30 a.m. and they were all pretty tired. Harry felt himself drift to sleep in the hard, cramped tub when--
"Ow!" A loud outburt erupted from the other room, followed by fits of giggles and laughter. Harry heaved himself up and walked in. There he saw Ginny lying on the carpet, rolling around and giggling very childishly. The others were laughing hysterically as Ron blushed a cranberry color. Ginny spotted Harry staring at them all, and laughed even more.
"Harry..." she got out between outbursts. "Ron... he rolled over and knocked me.. off!" She was gasping for air, and Harry found this awfully amusing.
"Real smooth!" Draco chuckled in his own demure fashion, which surprised Harry a little.
"Oh, Harry!" Ginny laughed between breaths. "I'm sorry If I--"
Harry's playful grin was brief--he jumped onto Ginny and they rolled around, laughing and laughing. "I can't resist!" Hermione giggled and joined in on the barbaric activity. Ron's fruit punch blush faded and he pounced atop, soon joined by Cho. Only Draco stayed away and watched them. They looked so carefree... for a moment, they were all forgetting their problems and worries about the future... and living for the moment. Draco had a feeling he'd never live it down, but, with a deep breath, he catapulted off of the Weaslys' bed and landed atop Hermione.
She laughed loudly, not seeing it was Draco, and the six remained a mangled mess; they fell asleep and woke up on the floor, tangled with each other, carpet burns and all.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
*They didn't go inside, I'm just saying that Draco spotted all those places
**Remember, Cho stayed back to continue Muggle studies
***I don't know how much, just estimating
A/N: Hello! KidRoch--ty but it's not all songfic...maybe one more ch later, just 4 u, k? ty very much!
Holiday Inn
A/N: Woohoo, Ch 2! Read on, and review!
Disclaimer: Not only do I not own Harry Potter, I do not shut up.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Ginny watched Harry suppress an enormous yawn. "Harry," she spoke, realizing that her voice sounded rather tired too, "do you think we should stop for the night?" She found his yawn contagious and followed his lead.
Harry felt his eyelids droop; after all, it was 1 a.m. They had been driving since noon, and had grown a bit irritable, each in their own ways. Irritable for Draco meant staring out the side of the Vette and mumbling things under his breath. Hermione showed it by flipping the pages of her thick book sharply, Ron tossed his chocolate frog wrappers out the window without thought, Ginny pouted, and Cho frowned. Harry just tried to pay attention to the road.
He had imagined it differently; not some boring ride, but an adventure... an oppurtunity to spend time together and be with another before the real world grabbed them and recruited them for boring jobs with low pay.
"Sure," he replied finally. "As soon as we see a hotel."
Hermione groaned, turning another crisp page, ready to rip it out. Her back was stiff from arching it away from Draco. She had remained tense the whole time. Draco had thought she'd get over it, but she hadn't. It was a contributing factor in his inability to be somewhat pleasant. They were completely annoying the hell out of each other without saying a single word.
One Burger King, two McDonalds, and eight pawnshops later* Draco spotted a sign reading "Holiday Inn." "Hey!" said Draco. "Doesn't 'inn' mean 'hotel'?"
"Yep," Ron shrugged.
"Well then, turn in!" Draco pointed frantically to the sign and Harry made the turn just in time, car tires screeching like there was no tomorrow. Harry nearly missed hitting the curb as he parked crookedly into a spot.
"Try again," Cho urged.
Five parking attempts later, the six scrambled out to stretch their weakened legs. There were several "ooh"s and "aw"s and "ow"s as each cracked their necks and backs. With that settled, they all turned and trudged into the lobby, hauling their luggage behind them.
"Uh, hello." The young desk clerk looked bewildered to see them. "You're here awfully late."
Ron misunderstood. "What time were we scheduled to be here?"
The lady frowned, but started typing into her computer. "How many rooms?"
They turned to Cho, who had completed eight years** of Muggle Studies. "Um..." She acted like a student taking Spanish trying to string a sentence together in the real world. She had never applied her skills outside of the classroom before. "There are six of us... so preferably two, with double beds."
The lady typed some more. "Alright, and how will you be paying?"
"Money!" Ginny chirped in, proud to know of Muggle customs. The lady looked at her like she was a foregin zoo exhibit; Ginny blushed deeply.
"Um..." Cho began to turn pink under pressure. "Oh, yes, by 'cash'." She said "cash" like it was a funny word, attempting to use Muggle slang.
"Um, ok," the lady said, rolling her eyes. "That'll be $110***"
This time they looked to Harry as he rummaged through his pocket. They had dressed in Muggle clothes, so Harry wore khaki shorts and a navy "Adidas" shirt (he didn't know who or what "Adidas" was, but the Muggles seemed to accept it). He came up with a few bills rolled in his pocket. "I have $60," he said sheepishly, stuffing the other assorted things that had come from his pocket back in.
The other members of the trip scowled. Harry had known about Muggle money, so he'd been entrusted with the duty of changing the Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts into dollars and change; however, Harry was a little rickety with the conversions and had just now realized how much he had (or the lackthereof!).
The lady was getting rather impatient. "Fine!" She snatched up the $60 and threw him back a $5. "This will get you one room. Enjoy!" She slid a flat laminated rectangle across the desk to him. All of them eyed it warily; the lady gasped in frustration. "Your room key!"
"Oh..." It settled over them. Harry and Cho knew about keys, but neither had seen any like the flat one Draco now grasped loosely in his right hand. The other four had always seen locking charms or, at Hogwarts, paintings. Hermione had lived in the Muggle world, but had never stayed in a hotel. In her eleven years as a Muggle, the only night she had slept away from her home was a sleepover party in 3rd grade. Harry, despised by the Dursleys, had never been allowed to sleep in a hotel (he rarely kept the bed in his own room!).
"Room 301..." Draco read slowly off the key as they lugged their trunks out of the lobby. It was dark, and Ginny lit her wand with the Lumos spell. ("If anyone asks," Ron had advised, "say it's a foreign candle.")
After ten minutes of going up and down in the elevators and walking across the grounds, back and forth, Hermione finally figured out where 301 was located (on the 3rd floor, at the end of the hallway).
"There's a slit on the door," Ron noticed. "Maybe we should put the rec--I mean, key in it." It seemed like a sensible idea to the rest, and so Draco inserted it inside the slot.
"Nothing's happening," Draco muttered angrily.
"Try pulling it out," Ginny shrugged. Something on the door flashed green in the dark air. "Oh, Draco, look!" She pointed frantically at the door.
"Now what?" He sounded like he was in the middle of a quick, vigorous task.
"Try opening it!" Cho's eyes gleamed; she was obviously having an adrenaline rush from all of the excitement.
Draco fumbled awkwardly with the doorknob until he grabbed hold and turned it. The door swung open, and the green light stopped flashing. Draco propped it up with his suitcase. He looked rather triumphant.
"Don't be so smug, Draco!" Hermione spat. "All you did was open a door."
He seemed to bite his lip to stifle a reply as they shuffled in, Draco closing the door behind them. There were only two beds, each only slightly bigger than their beds at Hogwarts.
"Sleeping arrangements?" Ginny eyed the rest. They quickly figured out that the most practical thing to do was to have Ginny and Ron share, since they were siblings, and Cho and Hermione to take the other, because they were the other two girls. Harry volunteered to sleep in the bathtub, and so Draco curled up on the small but efficient sofa-chair.
By that time, it was 1:30 a.m. and they were all pretty tired. Harry felt himself drift to sleep in the hard, cramped tub when--
"Ow!" A loud outburt erupted from the other room, followed by fits of giggles and laughter. Harry heaved himself up and walked in. There he saw Ginny lying on the carpet, rolling around and giggling very childishly. The others were laughing hysterically as Ron blushed a cranberry color. Ginny spotted Harry staring at them all, and laughed even more.
"Harry..." she got out between outbursts. "Ron... he rolled over and knocked me.. off!" She was gasping for air, and Harry found this awfully amusing.
"Real smooth!" Draco chuckled in his own demure fashion, which surprised Harry a little.
"Oh, Harry!" Ginny laughed between breaths. "I'm sorry If I--"
Harry's playful grin was brief--he jumped onto Ginny and they rolled around, laughing and laughing. "I can't resist!" Hermione giggled and joined in on the barbaric activity. Ron's fruit punch blush faded and he pounced atop, soon joined by Cho. Only Draco stayed away and watched them. They looked so carefree... for a moment, they were all forgetting their problems and worries about the future... and living for the moment. Draco had a feeling he'd never live it down, but, with a deep breath, he catapulted off of the Weaslys' bed and landed atop Hermione.
She laughed loudly, not seeing it was Draco, and the six remained a mangled mess; they fell asleep and woke up on the floor, tangled with each other, carpet burns and all.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
*They didn't go inside, I'm just saying that Draco spotted all those places
**Remember, Cho stayed back to continue Muggle studies
***I don't know how much, just estimating
A/N: Hello! KidRoch--ty but it's not all songfic...maybe one more ch later, just 4 u, k? ty very much!