Operation: Random
A Fanfic by Skye and Toad Rocket
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all things Harry Potter. We own nothing. We're just two bored brother-and-sister teens, with too much free time and not enough to do to keep us occupied. Now, do you REALLY think we own this? Nah. I bet you don't. I mean, you're smarter than that, right?
*~*~*
Trevor was having a tough time at football. He had jammed his finger and nearly been smashed to death by Oliver Wood and one of the Weasley twins when he had faked yet another pass. They had just leapt upon him like he was a friggin' trampoline, and this was not a good sign. If he wasn't careful, his team would lose, and lose badly. He could not have his sister gloating for the rest of the week, or longer.
This he could not accept. He could not lose! This was of dire importance. Besides, the teams were tied, and Mary looked like she was positively gloating. His grandfather was exuberant. Oliver looked bewildered, yet smug. The whole Evil Gecko team was thrilled with their miraculous comeback. This was bothering him. A LOT.
But it wasn't that they were winning. It was the fact that he could hear his sister's voice in his head saying, in a voice saturated in drippy, tooth-rotting sweetness, 'Good game, Porkchop. To bad you sucked.' His blood boiled in his veins. And boy, was Trevor getting pissed.
"Hey, Trev, catch!" Austin yelled, bringing him back to reality. He raised his arms, and a split second later the rough material of the ball was in his hands. Unconsciously Trevor began running down the 'field.' In his mind, the event switched over from being a 'friendly' game of Thanksgiving football to the Super Bowl.
He could hear the crowd cheering, or so he thought. He crossed over the imaginary line on the cement of the road, but in Trevor's head, it was lush green grass. Trevor raised his head to the sky, blew a kiss to the crowd watching, extended his arm to the sky, and did the Victory Dance.
Mary, Oliver, Neville, Ron, Harry and all the rest gaped at Trevor. Mary's stunned gaze turned into a bemused grin. She cleared her throat as her brother continued to play to a non-existent audience. Dad stepped forward to make him stop, but Mary insisted not to.
"Wait, wait, wait," she said quickly. "Let's watch. Then we can tell him how dumb he looked." Austin and Alden bobbed their heads like a plastic dog you put on your car dashboard.
This tirade continued for another few minutes, before Mary finally tired of her brother's slap-happy display. She approached her sibling and clapped a heavy hand onto his shoulder as he danced. "Hey, Poindexter!" she said loudly. " This is not a real game. Get a life!" The dancing boy stilled immediately.
"Uh, sorry," he said. "I lost my mind."
"I'll say," Alden muttered.
*~*~*~*
The Silver team made a horrifyingly grand comeback, and everyone was now gathered in the living room. The three boys, Ginny, Fred and George sat in a circle, and Mary was flopped onto a sofa, Oliver, Ron, Draco and Neville in the same fashion around the room in chairs and on the floor.
Grandma cleared her throat, and PawPaw handed everyone an envelope, even the wizards in attendance at the event. Mary passed Oliver and Neville each a stick of gum with a small flick of the wrist as she received her envelope. It was heavy and thick.
"Don't open it until everyone gets an envelope," Grandma instructed. Trevor rolled his eyes to Ginny. Alden and Austin were getting impatient, trying to open the envelope without anyone noticing. Unfortunately for them, Marleena did.
Soon, everyone had an envelope, and PawPaw told everyone to open his or her envelope. Trevor looked at the first piece of paper in the envelope, which displayed a photocopied lottery ticket. Next there was a receipt from American Airlines, for loads of coach passages to Orlando.
"What is this?" he asked loudly and, if he had to admit to it, obnoxiously. PawPaw stood up in the front of the room.
"It means that your grandmother and I won fifty thousand dollars in the state lottery!" he exclaimed. "And we're going to Disney World!"
"When?" Mary asked in a numb state of disbelief.
"Tomorrow!" Grandma yelled, throwing her arms around her granddaughter, who was now sitting up, alert, on the sofa. Mary looked stricken and very confused. Trevor, Alden and Austin began jumping up and down, and the whole room was just a mess of talking, yelling, and Grandma happily crying her little eyes out. Mary, meanwhile, was stunned and grinning and hugging Oliver and then Neville and even Percy and she was just going berserk.
*~*~*~*
Soon the family was home. Uncle Tommy and Aunt Marleena had spent the night (with their kids of course) at Grandma's the night before. They had had to make a trip to the local Wal-Mart to buy all the supplies they would need for the seven-day trip.
Mary was in her room shoving her entire wardrobe into one large and two small suitcases in order to share them with Hermione and Ginny, as Trevor did that same. It was a good thing he had more clothes than Mary did, as so many guys were going on the trip.
Whilst Dad was packing his and Mom's clothes (not as many of Mom's, though), Mom was talking to Snape, Lockhart and Mr. Malfoy about what they had missed. Snape was reluctant to come, and Lucius was even worse. Only Lockhart expressed any excitement over this.
"Hmm. Muggle amusement area? With a life-size mouse! Very curious. Very curious indeed!" Lockhart enthused.
*~*~*~*
The alarm went off again at four thirteen AM. Mary sat up as fast as possible, not thinking.
"What the heck was that!" she shouted, leaping out of bed. Hermione and Ginny got out of their sleeping bags, Hermione's on the old white sofa and Ginny's on the futon, as fast as was humanly possible.
Mary threw Ginny a pair of ripped jeans and a Rainbow Brite (whatever that was, Ginny thought) t-shirt, and Hermione a baggy pair of black jeans and a yellow peasant blouse. She grabbed for herself one of three pairs of unpacked flip-flops, camouflage cargo pants and a black Save the Rainforest t-shirt, slapping over her arm a Weezer hooded sweatshirt and running up the stairs to go get changed.
Meanwhile, upstairs, it was obvious that Mary should have been up at four AM sharp. Mom was in her maroon turtleneck and black pants, fastening on a pair of earrings. Trevor and Dad were already lugging out suitcase after suitcase. Draco and Ron were blinking tiredly at bowls of cereal. After Mary was dressed, Oliver confronted her. He was in green corduroys and a white sleeveless shirt. In spite of her tired brain, Mary found him to be a bit on the studly side at this early hour.
"Hey. Love the pants," she said. "I gave those to Trev for his birthday from the Salvation Army." She was sort of babbling.
"Good taste," he said. Mary nodded sleepily.
"I'm going to get some hazelnut java in a travel mug ready. Want me to make ya some?" Oliver shrugged.
"Sure, I'll try some. I guess," he said. When Mary was done, she slapped the two mugs, and, as an after thought, her mother's hazelnut CoffeeMate, into Mom's bag. Dad entered the house.
"We're ready to go!" he yelled to the house. They all flooded out to the van and car, with the same seating as the day before.
*~*~*~*
"So, Mom, how did Grandma get our guests flights?" Trevor piped up from the backseat over the blasting of Runaway by Linkin Park. He had insisted on playing it, rather than listening to 'Love Potion Number Nine,' as was Mary's intention, never mind that they had heard it four times already that morning.
Mary's Army backpack was full of notebooks and her oldies CDs. Trevor wanted to throw the backpack out into the highway rather than hear 'California Dreamin'' one more time. He had a headache from hearing 'Society's Child' for the second time. And in his nightmares he would hear 'She Loves You' (he could hear those yeah, yeah, yeah's right then in his brain) for many years to come after the seventh sampling.
Yes, indeed. Many things would be different because of those songs.
"Well, as soon as I explained the situation to your grandmother, she told PawPaw, who called their superb travel agent. Isn't that lovely?" she chirped. Mary nodded sleepily. "Sweetie, you can take a nap," Mom said cautiously.
To her surprise, Mary said, "Good idea. Wake me when we get there." She leaned her head on the cold window glass and began to snore. Loudly.
*~*~*~*
"Mary?" Oliver asked, standing over Mary. Mary snapped awake, sitting up quickly.
"Oh, hey, Oliver. Are we there?"
"Yeah. Your parents are checking bags with everyone." Mary hopped out of the car.
"Friggit! Where'd my Army bag go?" she snapped to no one in particular. Oliver edged away and handed it to her. "Oh, thank you, dear." She slung it roughly over her shoulder, grabbing his hand and hurrying to the bag checking. The plane was going to be boarding pretty soon, said the ticket.
Trevor was animatedly talking to Alden and Austin. Mom and Dad were handing various pieces of paper to a tired looking woman, as were Tommy and Marleena, and Grandma and PawPaw. Remus was whispering to Sirius, and Harry, Ron, Fred, George and Draco sat around on the uncomfy airport seats, only half-awake.
"Mom, I'm going to get a magazine," Mary said, winking at Oliver. This meant 'candy.' He followed her into the magazine store, where she grabbed a copy of 'Mad Magazine,' and also a bag of Jolly Ranchers, three Hershey bars (two plain, one almond) and three rolls of Sweet Tarts. Oliver looked at her oddly. She sighed.
"What kind do you want?" Mary asked, gesturing to the racks of candy. Oliver looked for a minute and finally took a bag of gummi bears and some Lemon Heads. "Lemon Heads and Gummi Bears. Interesting choice," she analyzed slowly. "Let's go. We're going to be late and miss our plane and have to live in the airport for a week until everyone gets back."
She paid for the candy and put it all into the backpack and hurried to catch up with her family. The plane was almost finished boarding, and soon they were passing through the metal detector. As soon as Neville passed halfway through the detector, there was a huge screeching noise. Neville looked like he might just fall down dead right then and there.
"Move aside, sir," the attendant said, and began waving the wand over Neville. When it moved over the belt he was wearing, it sounded off loudly. Trevor, Alden and Austin were practically rolling with laughter. It wasn't that they hated Neville; it was just that he was the one who had wanted the belt. Mary scowled.
"Trevor, cool it," she warned him edgily. She stormed through the detector and slapped her bag onto the 'x-ray thingy' and grabbed it as soon as it was done going through.
Soon, in the plane, Mary was shoved next to the window, sitting next to a petrified Oliver and a smug-looking Draco. Draco was nibbling at a small bag of M and M's that he had snatched from their living room coffee table. Oliver was holding onto the armrests with a white-knuckled grip. And despite her exhausted frame of mind, Mary had to laugh.
"It's not that bad, you know," she said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, CD player at a low volume. There was small chatter around, and what with what was about to happen, how could anyone, even a girl as odd as Mary, sleep at a time like this?
"I know. Just something new," Oliver muttered, putting on a stoic face. Mary shrugged.
Meanwhile, Ron, Ginny and Trevor sat in another set of seats.
"Good lord. I'm getting a headache," Ron mused out loud. Trev nodded and began fishing in his bag. He pulled out a Muggle CD player and handed it to Ron, a CD already inside of it.
"This ought to do the trick," he said with a sly grin. Ron reluctantly put on the small green headphones. Ginny helped him to find the play button. Ron was unaware that the volume was turned up all the way.
As soon as the music started, he jumped a foot in the air and squished his eyelids together in a grimace. Trevor cracked up and instructed him how to turn the volume down. Ginny smiled at Trev.
Austin was sitting near first class next to Remus and Sirius. Austin was scowling and looking out the window. In his mind, he could see that Remus and Sirius were just a bit too close for comfort. Perhaps he was just paranoid. Yeah, that was probably it. They were good friends, wasn't that what Trev had said?
But still! They were always talking to one another in quiet whispers. Austin wondered how he would make it through this plane ride whilst keeping his mouth shut about the various 'suspicions' he was harboring. Yes, that was a good idea. Things would be better for all of them.
Across the aisle from him Grandma, PawPaw and Lucius were sitting tiredly in their seats. Grandma was singing a song she had just made up, aptly titled 'We're On Our Way to Disney World.' PawPaw was seemingly quite upset at this, and Lucius looked like his head was about to spontaneously combust.
Alden, Percy and Fred were also sitting by one another. Alden and Fred were chatting quickly and animatedly, and Percy was breathing heavily, staring at the back of his seat in horror.
"Why me, why me?" he asked quietly.
Harry, George and Hermione were sitting in front of Mary and Oliver. Hermione was informing George about how an airplane worked, whilst Harry played Pokemon Gold on Mary's Game Boy. Last but not least, all the parents sat about the plane.
Back to Mary and Oliver. Oliver was hyperventilating, and Mary had turned a bit in her seat. She was rubbing his back a little bit, as Draco laughed like a maniac. Oliver took a long deep breath and let it out slowly. Mary smiled at him and patted him on the back.
"See, it's ok." But it was just then that the captain came over the speaker.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to be heading for the runway, so if you could fasten your seatbelts and, uh, keep your tray in the upright position, and we'll be taking off shortly." Alden, Trevor, Mallory, Austin and Mary cheered loudly. Oliver felt as if he might barf up a lung. He knew his face had turned pale. Mary unzipped her bag and handed him his bag of Lemonheads and he reluctantly took one and sat the bag in his lap, gripping the armrests.
"Merlin, Wood. Don't be so frightened," Draco said with a snicker. Oliver looked down at his shoes.
"He's right, Oliver. It's not that bad," Mary agreed. Oliver couldn't believe it. She was taking Malfoy's side? Well, obviously Malfoy wasn't afraid. Suddenly the plane came to life, and to his horror, it began to move onto the runway. He yelped and turned his head away from the window.
"Is there a problem?" the stewardess asked, coming up beside Draco. She looked sleepy, but she had a kind look to her.
"Oh, no. It's his first time," Mary said calmly, putting her hand over Oliver's.
"Ah. I see. Well, you have nothing to be frightened of," The woman informed him kindly. Mary smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, that's what I've been telling him," she agreed. "He's just a little nervous, aren't you, Oliver?" Oliver gulped and nodded.
"Well, just let me know if you need anything," the stewardess offered, moving along. Mary turned to Oliver and sighed again.
"See? You'll be just fine, I swear," she assured him. Oliver stared blankly at the seat in front of him. Once again the pilot came onto the speaker.
"We are now on the runway, and have learned now that it is raining lightly. This may pick up, but for now it will cause only slight turbulence," the pilot said.
At that moment, Trevor reacted.
"Oh, crap!" he objected loudly.
"What does that mean, slight turbulence?" Ginny asked warily. She was already beginning to get a bit nervous, but from some of the louder parts of Oliver, Mary and Draco's conversation, her slight anxiety was nothing compared to the Quidditch player's.
"It means that, well, we could be in for a rough ride," Trevor said softly as the plane began speeding up. Ginny frowned.
"And, well, is this safe?" she asked, blurting the first thing that came to her mind. She sort of regretted it afterward. Trev looked blankly.
"Um, to be honest, I'm not really sure," he admitted reluctantly. Ginny sighed and smiled. It was then that she decided just to make do with this. Besides, when she got back to Hogwarts, she could tell them all how she had braved the plane in her Muggle studies class. And for some reason, she thought Trevor would be pretty cool about the whole thing.
"Take a deep breath, Oliver," Mary said as the plane picked up more speed. Oliver trembled and Mary put her hand softly over his. "It'll be okay. See? I've done this about ten times. You might even have a bit of fun, Oliver."
"Listen, I really doubt that," he countered softly. Mary sighed yet again and patted his shoulder as the plane began lifting off of the ground. Oliver game a whimper and squeezed his eyes shut. Draco gave a snicker and ate a Lemonhead out of the bag Oliver held in his lap.
The plane was a few feet off of the ground by then, and Mary was seriously worried about Oliver. She shook her head and turned the volume up on 'Eleanor Rigby' by the Beatles, closing her eyes and leaning back. Oliver was breathing so heavily that he looked like he was running out of oxygen. How could Mary sleep when they were getting farther and farther up into the sky? She must really have been nuttier than a fruitcake.
Across the aisle, three rows ahead, Sirius and Remus were exchanging quick, nervous glances. Austin was frowning darkly as he read out of a novel from his school's library. Why did they stick him with two adults who ignored him like so?
Mom and Dad were sitting close across the aisle from Austin with Neville. Mom was making casual conversation with Neville as Dad worked out some math equations on a sheet of paper resting on his lap. He was going to fax them to his work as soon as they arrived at the All Star Music Hotel in Disney World.
Apparently it had been a big controversy whether Dad should bring his briefcase. Mom was very upset, and there had been a small skirmish over this the night before. But Dad had assured her that only on the plane, and only at night when they were at the hotel would he be working. It was important.
Grandma had gone silent and was now reading a small novel. PawPaw had his wallet out and was showing Lucius the picture of the whole family out at the caboose that he had owned since Trevor was a little baby, maybe even before. Lucius actually seemed like he was slightly interested, nodding along with what Paw-Paw was saying.
Alden and Fred were continuing to discuss playing pranks on their siblings. They seemed to have a lot in common, and they would probably end up becoming good friends. Percy had managed to loosen up a bit and was now reading the novel which Mom had given him out of the basement. It was a horrifying tale of true crime, and Percy was morbidly fascinated by the gruesomeness of it all.
Snape was sitting next to Aunt Marleena and Uncle Tommy. Uncle Tommy was interrogating Snape, just like he did at his job as a police officer. Snape was sitting in stony silence, answering each question shortly and impatiently.
In an ironic display, Lockhart had been bumped up to first class. He was now being served champagne, and the good bags of peanuts. No one knew how it had happened, but one minute he was in coach like the rest of them, and the next he was in first class. This had pissed off the five cousins in an extreme way, but unfortunately, there wasn't much that they could do now.
Oliver's shaking knees brushing against Mary's had woken her up.
"Are you okay?" she asked, slipping her headphones off, voice hoarse. She put an arm around the wizard sitting next to her. He leaned into her partial embrace.
"I feel really stupid," he said with a shaking tone, looking at his fingernails. Draco was flopped in the seat, sleeping, next to him.
"Don't," Mary snapped. "It's okay. You're scared or whatever. Perfectly normal. But I guess I'm just worried about ya," she admitted softly. The plane hit an air pocket and bucked. Oliver turned ashen. "It's okay. You're fine, see?"
"Y-yes," he said shyly. The plane shook again and he let out a shaking breath. "Thank you." Mary smiled and lay back in her seat, slipping into slumber. The plane shook and Draco awoke with a start.
"What was that?" he snapped to Oliver. Oliver turned to face him as Mary snored loudly.
"I don't think it was anything, Malfoy," he said, sounding exhausted. "Anyways, how should I know?" Draco scowled.
"Just go to sleep, Wood," he replied tiredly, lying his head back. Oliver did the same, and soon, he was asleep.
*~*~*~*
"Now, see? I think that that's Georgia," Trevor said, pointing out the window, speaking to Ginny. Ginny looked a bit puzzled.
"How can you tell?" Ginny asked, confused.
"No idea," he admitted. "I'm guessing it's harder without the grid lines, state names and alternating colors like on the map."
"That could be true," Ginny agreed. On her other side, Ron was in heaven. The stewardess had brought him a small cup of Coke, a bag of peanuts and a large sugar cookie. He was nibbling at the bag of peanuts, and it made him kind of resemble a little squirrel or chipmunk or something.
"Enjoyin' that drink, R-Dog?" Trevor asked Ron. Ron nodded and gave him an intentionally cheesy thumbs-up. Trev returned the cheesy-ness and turned back to Ginny. "Don't you want a drink?"
"Not really," she informed him. He gave her a blank look. "I'm just not thirsty. And I don't want to have to go to the bathroom."
"It's not that bad, Ginny!" Ron argued. "It's a little room with a toilet in it. Really interesting, if you asked me." Trevor cocked one eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Ginny.
"Ron, is that rum and Coke?" Trevor asked suspiciously. Ron laughed and shook his head.
"No, no, Ron loves sweets, but has a low tolerance for sugar. It makes him a bit wired," Ginny informed him. Trevor made a small 'ah ha' sort of noise and nodded.
"You sound like my sister," he grumbled. The three turned to look back, where Mary had flopped down into her seat and was snoring loudly.
"Is that a good thing?" Ginny asked.
"Meh. Sometimes it's just annoying, but others, it's pretty freaking funny," he explained. "Especially the time that we were at this big awards ceremony for Dad and she ate all these mint thingies, and so she couldn't hold still the whole time Mom and Dad were up on stage accepting some award. So what did she do?" The brother and sister gave Trevor a blank look. "When the man is explaining why Dad got an award, Mary yells 'Go Mom! Go Dad!' at the top of her lungs. Man, I thought Mom would kill her!" Trevor doubled over in laughter, clutching his sides.
"Good lord. Mum would have strangled us if we did that," Ron told him. Ginny nodded gravely.
"Oh yeah. Mom was none to happy. Mary got grounded for a day though. Mom doesn't stay mad for long. Now she thinks it's pretty hilarious, though," Trevor said glumly, obviously wishing the story was more exciting.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We'll have the next chapter posted, ASAP.
--Toad and Skye
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all things Harry Potter. We own nothing. We're just two bored brother-and-sister teens, with too much free time and not enough to do to keep us occupied. Now, do you REALLY think we own this? Nah. I bet you don't. I mean, you're smarter than that, right?
*~*~*
Trevor was having a tough time at football. He had jammed his finger and nearly been smashed to death by Oliver Wood and one of the Weasley twins when he had faked yet another pass. They had just leapt upon him like he was a friggin' trampoline, and this was not a good sign. If he wasn't careful, his team would lose, and lose badly. He could not have his sister gloating for the rest of the week, or longer.
This he could not accept. He could not lose! This was of dire importance. Besides, the teams were tied, and Mary looked like she was positively gloating. His grandfather was exuberant. Oliver looked bewildered, yet smug. The whole Evil Gecko team was thrilled with their miraculous comeback. This was bothering him. A LOT.
But it wasn't that they were winning. It was the fact that he could hear his sister's voice in his head saying, in a voice saturated in drippy, tooth-rotting sweetness, 'Good game, Porkchop. To bad you sucked.' His blood boiled in his veins. And boy, was Trevor getting pissed.
"Hey, Trev, catch!" Austin yelled, bringing him back to reality. He raised his arms, and a split second later the rough material of the ball was in his hands. Unconsciously Trevor began running down the 'field.' In his mind, the event switched over from being a 'friendly' game of Thanksgiving football to the Super Bowl.
He could hear the crowd cheering, or so he thought. He crossed over the imaginary line on the cement of the road, but in Trevor's head, it was lush green grass. Trevor raised his head to the sky, blew a kiss to the crowd watching, extended his arm to the sky, and did the Victory Dance.
Mary, Oliver, Neville, Ron, Harry and all the rest gaped at Trevor. Mary's stunned gaze turned into a bemused grin. She cleared her throat as her brother continued to play to a non-existent audience. Dad stepped forward to make him stop, but Mary insisted not to.
"Wait, wait, wait," she said quickly. "Let's watch. Then we can tell him how dumb he looked." Austin and Alden bobbed their heads like a plastic dog you put on your car dashboard.
This tirade continued for another few minutes, before Mary finally tired of her brother's slap-happy display. She approached her sibling and clapped a heavy hand onto his shoulder as he danced. "Hey, Poindexter!" she said loudly. " This is not a real game. Get a life!" The dancing boy stilled immediately.
"Uh, sorry," he said. "I lost my mind."
"I'll say," Alden muttered.
*~*~*~*
The Silver team made a horrifyingly grand comeback, and everyone was now gathered in the living room. The three boys, Ginny, Fred and George sat in a circle, and Mary was flopped onto a sofa, Oliver, Ron, Draco and Neville in the same fashion around the room in chairs and on the floor.
Grandma cleared her throat, and PawPaw handed everyone an envelope, even the wizards in attendance at the event. Mary passed Oliver and Neville each a stick of gum with a small flick of the wrist as she received her envelope. It was heavy and thick.
"Don't open it until everyone gets an envelope," Grandma instructed. Trevor rolled his eyes to Ginny. Alden and Austin were getting impatient, trying to open the envelope without anyone noticing. Unfortunately for them, Marleena did.
Soon, everyone had an envelope, and PawPaw told everyone to open his or her envelope. Trevor looked at the first piece of paper in the envelope, which displayed a photocopied lottery ticket. Next there was a receipt from American Airlines, for loads of coach passages to Orlando.
"What is this?" he asked loudly and, if he had to admit to it, obnoxiously. PawPaw stood up in the front of the room.
"It means that your grandmother and I won fifty thousand dollars in the state lottery!" he exclaimed. "And we're going to Disney World!"
"When?" Mary asked in a numb state of disbelief.
"Tomorrow!" Grandma yelled, throwing her arms around her granddaughter, who was now sitting up, alert, on the sofa. Mary looked stricken and very confused. Trevor, Alden and Austin began jumping up and down, and the whole room was just a mess of talking, yelling, and Grandma happily crying her little eyes out. Mary, meanwhile, was stunned and grinning and hugging Oliver and then Neville and even Percy and she was just going berserk.
*~*~*~*
Soon the family was home. Uncle Tommy and Aunt Marleena had spent the night (with their kids of course) at Grandma's the night before. They had had to make a trip to the local Wal-Mart to buy all the supplies they would need for the seven-day trip.
Mary was in her room shoving her entire wardrobe into one large and two small suitcases in order to share them with Hermione and Ginny, as Trevor did that same. It was a good thing he had more clothes than Mary did, as so many guys were going on the trip.
Whilst Dad was packing his and Mom's clothes (not as many of Mom's, though), Mom was talking to Snape, Lockhart and Mr. Malfoy about what they had missed. Snape was reluctant to come, and Lucius was even worse. Only Lockhart expressed any excitement over this.
"Hmm. Muggle amusement area? With a life-size mouse! Very curious. Very curious indeed!" Lockhart enthused.
*~*~*~*
The alarm went off again at four thirteen AM. Mary sat up as fast as possible, not thinking.
"What the heck was that!" she shouted, leaping out of bed. Hermione and Ginny got out of their sleeping bags, Hermione's on the old white sofa and Ginny's on the futon, as fast as was humanly possible.
Mary threw Ginny a pair of ripped jeans and a Rainbow Brite (whatever that was, Ginny thought) t-shirt, and Hermione a baggy pair of black jeans and a yellow peasant blouse. She grabbed for herself one of three pairs of unpacked flip-flops, camouflage cargo pants and a black Save the Rainforest t-shirt, slapping over her arm a Weezer hooded sweatshirt and running up the stairs to go get changed.
Meanwhile, upstairs, it was obvious that Mary should have been up at four AM sharp. Mom was in her maroon turtleneck and black pants, fastening on a pair of earrings. Trevor and Dad were already lugging out suitcase after suitcase. Draco and Ron were blinking tiredly at bowls of cereal. After Mary was dressed, Oliver confronted her. He was in green corduroys and a white sleeveless shirt. In spite of her tired brain, Mary found him to be a bit on the studly side at this early hour.
"Hey. Love the pants," she said. "I gave those to Trev for his birthday from the Salvation Army." She was sort of babbling.
"Good taste," he said. Mary nodded sleepily.
"I'm going to get some hazelnut java in a travel mug ready. Want me to make ya some?" Oliver shrugged.
"Sure, I'll try some. I guess," he said. When Mary was done, she slapped the two mugs, and, as an after thought, her mother's hazelnut CoffeeMate, into Mom's bag. Dad entered the house.
"We're ready to go!" he yelled to the house. They all flooded out to the van and car, with the same seating as the day before.
*~*~*~*
"So, Mom, how did Grandma get our guests flights?" Trevor piped up from the backseat over the blasting of Runaway by Linkin Park. He had insisted on playing it, rather than listening to 'Love Potion Number Nine,' as was Mary's intention, never mind that they had heard it four times already that morning.
Mary's Army backpack was full of notebooks and her oldies CDs. Trevor wanted to throw the backpack out into the highway rather than hear 'California Dreamin'' one more time. He had a headache from hearing 'Society's Child' for the second time. And in his nightmares he would hear 'She Loves You' (he could hear those yeah, yeah, yeah's right then in his brain) for many years to come after the seventh sampling.
Yes, indeed. Many things would be different because of those songs.
"Well, as soon as I explained the situation to your grandmother, she told PawPaw, who called their superb travel agent. Isn't that lovely?" she chirped. Mary nodded sleepily. "Sweetie, you can take a nap," Mom said cautiously.
To her surprise, Mary said, "Good idea. Wake me when we get there." She leaned her head on the cold window glass and began to snore. Loudly.
*~*~*~*
"Mary?" Oliver asked, standing over Mary. Mary snapped awake, sitting up quickly.
"Oh, hey, Oliver. Are we there?"
"Yeah. Your parents are checking bags with everyone." Mary hopped out of the car.
"Friggit! Where'd my Army bag go?" she snapped to no one in particular. Oliver edged away and handed it to her. "Oh, thank you, dear." She slung it roughly over her shoulder, grabbing his hand and hurrying to the bag checking. The plane was going to be boarding pretty soon, said the ticket.
Trevor was animatedly talking to Alden and Austin. Mom and Dad were handing various pieces of paper to a tired looking woman, as were Tommy and Marleena, and Grandma and PawPaw. Remus was whispering to Sirius, and Harry, Ron, Fred, George and Draco sat around on the uncomfy airport seats, only half-awake.
"Mom, I'm going to get a magazine," Mary said, winking at Oliver. This meant 'candy.' He followed her into the magazine store, where she grabbed a copy of 'Mad Magazine,' and also a bag of Jolly Ranchers, three Hershey bars (two plain, one almond) and three rolls of Sweet Tarts. Oliver looked at her oddly. She sighed.
"What kind do you want?" Mary asked, gesturing to the racks of candy. Oliver looked for a minute and finally took a bag of gummi bears and some Lemon Heads. "Lemon Heads and Gummi Bears. Interesting choice," she analyzed slowly. "Let's go. We're going to be late and miss our plane and have to live in the airport for a week until everyone gets back."
She paid for the candy and put it all into the backpack and hurried to catch up with her family. The plane was almost finished boarding, and soon they were passing through the metal detector. As soon as Neville passed halfway through the detector, there was a huge screeching noise. Neville looked like he might just fall down dead right then and there.
"Move aside, sir," the attendant said, and began waving the wand over Neville. When it moved over the belt he was wearing, it sounded off loudly. Trevor, Alden and Austin were practically rolling with laughter. It wasn't that they hated Neville; it was just that he was the one who had wanted the belt. Mary scowled.
"Trevor, cool it," she warned him edgily. She stormed through the detector and slapped her bag onto the 'x-ray thingy' and grabbed it as soon as it was done going through.
Soon, in the plane, Mary was shoved next to the window, sitting next to a petrified Oliver and a smug-looking Draco. Draco was nibbling at a small bag of M and M's that he had snatched from their living room coffee table. Oliver was holding onto the armrests with a white-knuckled grip. And despite her exhausted frame of mind, Mary had to laugh.
"It's not that bad, you know," she said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, CD player at a low volume. There was small chatter around, and what with what was about to happen, how could anyone, even a girl as odd as Mary, sleep at a time like this?
"I know. Just something new," Oliver muttered, putting on a stoic face. Mary shrugged.
Meanwhile, Ron, Ginny and Trevor sat in another set of seats.
"Good lord. I'm getting a headache," Ron mused out loud. Trev nodded and began fishing in his bag. He pulled out a Muggle CD player and handed it to Ron, a CD already inside of it.
"This ought to do the trick," he said with a sly grin. Ron reluctantly put on the small green headphones. Ginny helped him to find the play button. Ron was unaware that the volume was turned up all the way.
As soon as the music started, he jumped a foot in the air and squished his eyelids together in a grimace. Trevor cracked up and instructed him how to turn the volume down. Ginny smiled at Trev.
Austin was sitting near first class next to Remus and Sirius. Austin was scowling and looking out the window. In his mind, he could see that Remus and Sirius were just a bit too close for comfort. Perhaps he was just paranoid. Yeah, that was probably it. They were good friends, wasn't that what Trev had said?
But still! They were always talking to one another in quiet whispers. Austin wondered how he would make it through this plane ride whilst keeping his mouth shut about the various 'suspicions' he was harboring. Yes, that was a good idea. Things would be better for all of them.
Across the aisle from him Grandma, PawPaw and Lucius were sitting tiredly in their seats. Grandma was singing a song she had just made up, aptly titled 'We're On Our Way to Disney World.' PawPaw was seemingly quite upset at this, and Lucius looked like his head was about to spontaneously combust.
Alden, Percy and Fred were also sitting by one another. Alden and Fred were chatting quickly and animatedly, and Percy was breathing heavily, staring at the back of his seat in horror.
"Why me, why me?" he asked quietly.
Harry, George and Hermione were sitting in front of Mary and Oliver. Hermione was informing George about how an airplane worked, whilst Harry played Pokemon Gold on Mary's Game Boy. Last but not least, all the parents sat about the plane.
Back to Mary and Oliver. Oliver was hyperventilating, and Mary had turned a bit in her seat. She was rubbing his back a little bit, as Draco laughed like a maniac. Oliver took a long deep breath and let it out slowly. Mary smiled at him and patted him on the back.
"See, it's ok." But it was just then that the captain came over the speaker.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to be heading for the runway, so if you could fasten your seatbelts and, uh, keep your tray in the upright position, and we'll be taking off shortly." Alden, Trevor, Mallory, Austin and Mary cheered loudly. Oliver felt as if he might barf up a lung. He knew his face had turned pale. Mary unzipped her bag and handed him his bag of Lemonheads and he reluctantly took one and sat the bag in his lap, gripping the armrests.
"Merlin, Wood. Don't be so frightened," Draco said with a snicker. Oliver looked down at his shoes.
"He's right, Oliver. It's not that bad," Mary agreed. Oliver couldn't believe it. She was taking Malfoy's side? Well, obviously Malfoy wasn't afraid. Suddenly the plane came to life, and to his horror, it began to move onto the runway. He yelped and turned his head away from the window.
"Is there a problem?" the stewardess asked, coming up beside Draco. She looked sleepy, but she had a kind look to her.
"Oh, no. It's his first time," Mary said calmly, putting her hand over Oliver's.
"Ah. I see. Well, you have nothing to be frightened of," The woman informed him kindly. Mary smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, that's what I've been telling him," she agreed. "He's just a little nervous, aren't you, Oliver?" Oliver gulped and nodded.
"Well, just let me know if you need anything," the stewardess offered, moving along. Mary turned to Oliver and sighed again.
"See? You'll be just fine, I swear," she assured him. Oliver stared blankly at the seat in front of him. Once again the pilot came onto the speaker.
"We are now on the runway, and have learned now that it is raining lightly. This may pick up, but for now it will cause only slight turbulence," the pilot said.
At that moment, Trevor reacted.
"Oh, crap!" he objected loudly.
"What does that mean, slight turbulence?" Ginny asked warily. She was already beginning to get a bit nervous, but from some of the louder parts of Oliver, Mary and Draco's conversation, her slight anxiety was nothing compared to the Quidditch player's.
"It means that, well, we could be in for a rough ride," Trevor said softly as the plane began speeding up. Ginny frowned.
"And, well, is this safe?" she asked, blurting the first thing that came to her mind. She sort of regretted it afterward. Trev looked blankly.
"Um, to be honest, I'm not really sure," he admitted reluctantly. Ginny sighed and smiled. It was then that she decided just to make do with this. Besides, when she got back to Hogwarts, she could tell them all how she had braved the plane in her Muggle studies class. And for some reason, she thought Trevor would be pretty cool about the whole thing.
"Take a deep breath, Oliver," Mary said as the plane picked up more speed. Oliver trembled and Mary put her hand softly over his. "It'll be okay. See? I've done this about ten times. You might even have a bit of fun, Oliver."
"Listen, I really doubt that," he countered softly. Mary sighed yet again and patted his shoulder as the plane began lifting off of the ground. Oliver game a whimper and squeezed his eyes shut. Draco gave a snicker and ate a Lemonhead out of the bag Oliver held in his lap.
The plane was a few feet off of the ground by then, and Mary was seriously worried about Oliver. She shook her head and turned the volume up on 'Eleanor Rigby' by the Beatles, closing her eyes and leaning back. Oliver was breathing so heavily that he looked like he was running out of oxygen. How could Mary sleep when they were getting farther and farther up into the sky? She must really have been nuttier than a fruitcake.
Across the aisle, three rows ahead, Sirius and Remus were exchanging quick, nervous glances. Austin was frowning darkly as he read out of a novel from his school's library. Why did they stick him with two adults who ignored him like so?
Mom and Dad were sitting close across the aisle from Austin with Neville. Mom was making casual conversation with Neville as Dad worked out some math equations on a sheet of paper resting on his lap. He was going to fax them to his work as soon as they arrived at the All Star Music Hotel in Disney World.
Apparently it had been a big controversy whether Dad should bring his briefcase. Mom was very upset, and there had been a small skirmish over this the night before. But Dad had assured her that only on the plane, and only at night when they were at the hotel would he be working. It was important.
Grandma had gone silent and was now reading a small novel. PawPaw had his wallet out and was showing Lucius the picture of the whole family out at the caboose that he had owned since Trevor was a little baby, maybe even before. Lucius actually seemed like he was slightly interested, nodding along with what Paw-Paw was saying.
Alden and Fred were continuing to discuss playing pranks on their siblings. They seemed to have a lot in common, and they would probably end up becoming good friends. Percy had managed to loosen up a bit and was now reading the novel which Mom had given him out of the basement. It was a horrifying tale of true crime, and Percy was morbidly fascinated by the gruesomeness of it all.
Snape was sitting next to Aunt Marleena and Uncle Tommy. Uncle Tommy was interrogating Snape, just like he did at his job as a police officer. Snape was sitting in stony silence, answering each question shortly and impatiently.
In an ironic display, Lockhart had been bumped up to first class. He was now being served champagne, and the good bags of peanuts. No one knew how it had happened, but one minute he was in coach like the rest of them, and the next he was in first class. This had pissed off the five cousins in an extreme way, but unfortunately, there wasn't much that they could do now.
Oliver's shaking knees brushing against Mary's had woken her up.
"Are you okay?" she asked, slipping her headphones off, voice hoarse. She put an arm around the wizard sitting next to her. He leaned into her partial embrace.
"I feel really stupid," he said with a shaking tone, looking at his fingernails. Draco was flopped in the seat, sleeping, next to him.
"Don't," Mary snapped. "It's okay. You're scared or whatever. Perfectly normal. But I guess I'm just worried about ya," she admitted softly. The plane hit an air pocket and bucked. Oliver turned ashen. "It's okay. You're fine, see?"
"Y-yes," he said shyly. The plane shook again and he let out a shaking breath. "Thank you." Mary smiled and lay back in her seat, slipping into slumber. The plane shook and Draco awoke with a start.
"What was that?" he snapped to Oliver. Oliver turned to face him as Mary snored loudly.
"I don't think it was anything, Malfoy," he said, sounding exhausted. "Anyways, how should I know?" Draco scowled.
"Just go to sleep, Wood," he replied tiredly, lying his head back. Oliver did the same, and soon, he was asleep.
*~*~*~*
"Now, see? I think that that's Georgia," Trevor said, pointing out the window, speaking to Ginny. Ginny looked a bit puzzled.
"How can you tell?" Ginny asked, confused.
"No idea," he admitted. "I'm guessing it's harder without the grid lines, state names and alternating colors like on the map."
"That could be true," Ginny agreed. On her other side, Ron was in heaven. The stewardess had brought him a small cup of Coke, a bag of peanuts and a large sugar cookie. He was nibbling at the bag of peanuts, and it made him kind of resemble a little squirrel or chipmunk or something.
"Enjoyin' that drink, R-Dog?" Trevor asked Ron. Ron nodded and gave him an intentionally cheesy thumbs-up. Trev returned the cheesy-ness and turned back to Ginny. "Don't you want a drink?"
"Not really," she informed him. He gave her a blank look. "I'm just not thirsty. And I don't want to have to go to the bathroom."
"It's not that bad, Ginny!" Ron argued. "It's a little room with a toilet in it. Really interesting, if you asked me." Trevor cocked one eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Ginny.
"Ron, is that rum and Coke?" Trevor asked suspiciously. Ron laughed and shook his head.
"No, no, Ron loves sweets, but has a low tolerance for sugar. It makes him a bit wired," Ginny informed him. Trevor made a small 'ah ha' sort of noise and nodded.
"You sound like my sister," he grumbled. The three turned to look back, where Mary had flopped down into her seat and was snoring loudly.
"Is that a good thing?" Ginny asked.
"Meh. Sometimes it's just annoying, but others, it's pretty freaking funny," he explained. "Especially the time that we were at this big awards ceremony for Dad and she ate all these mint thingies, and so she couldn't hold still the whole time Mom and Dad were up on stage accepting some award. So what did she do?" The brother and sister gave Trevor a blank look. "When the man is explaining why Dad got an award, Mary yells 'Go Mom! Go Dad!' at the top of her lungs. Man, I thought Mom would kill her!" Trevor doubled over in laughter, clutching his sides.
"Good lord. Mum would have strangled us if we did that," Ron told him. Ginny nodded gravely.
"Oh yeah. Mom was none to happy. Mary got grounded for a day though. Mom doesn't stay mad for long. Now she thinks it's pretty hilarious, though," Trevor said glumly, obviously wishing the story was more exciting.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We'll have the next chapter posted, ASAP.
--Toad and Skye