Rat race - Chapter two, The race is underway.

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"We'll take this." Ron said as he sat in an old, beat-up truck. He bent down and started looking at the wires inside.
"You know how to hotwire a car!?" Hermione asked in amazement. She looked around. They had gone to the airport to find a car and to see if anyone was taking a plane.
"No, not really. But how hard can it be?" Ron asked. Hermione groaned. She knew Ron well enough to know that she should get out of the car.
"This one? Maybe this one? Hmm..." Ron mumbled. He brought two wires close together and examined them.
"Hey Ron, I bet it's out of petrol anyway." Hermione said, leaning forward. Her arm hit the shift stick, changing the shift to backwards.
"There! I think that's it!" Ron said triumphantly. He held the two wires together and took a breath. "GYAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" he shouted. Static ran through his hair and his clothes. When he finally stopped screaming, he noticed something. The car was moving the wrong way.
"What happened?" he asked, turning around. They were headed towards the fuel farm.
"Well, if it's out of petrol, there's plenty right there!" Hermione screamed. Ron looked at her a minute. He didn't see the danger. "Things explode if they hit a lot of fuel!" she explained.
"WHAT TO DO YOU MEAN THEY EXPLODE?" he shouted. The truck was surprisingly fast, and they were only a few feet away from the fuel farm.
"Explode, as in, go boom!" Hermione said, panicked out of her wits. She grabbed the door, but it was stuck. "Ron, how hard did you slam the door!?" she demanded. "And why did I get back in the stupid car?"
Ron climbed into the back of the truck and found a rope attached to a hook. He threw it out of the opened window and around a tall, thick tree. The truck stopped moving. He sighed with relief and climbed out the window, immediately followed buy his girlfriend.
"Where did you get that rope?" she asked. Ron shrugged.
"Found it in the back." He said, patting himself on the back. A loud creaking noise brought his attention back to the truck. The rope snapped in two, and the truck headed towards the fuel again. "RUN!" he said to Hermione. But she was already going.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Ron shouted as he jumped, pulling Hermione down as well. BOOM!
All kinds of noises sounded as the fuel farm exploded. Hermione and Ron got up, shook off the dust, and ran as fast as they could.
"We could be expelled for this!" Hermione shouted.

"All flights have been cancelled. We are having technical difficulties concerning the fuel farm." a voice said throughout the airport. Groans sounded everywhere.
"WHAT! HOW DARE YOU!" Pansy said, smashing the sun hat she had brought. "COME ON, DRACO!" she added, grabbing his arm.
"Why me?" he asked weakly as Pansy steered him to the exit.
Pansy pointed to a car. "We're taking this, and you're driving." she said, buckling herself in the passenger seat.
"When did I learn to drive?" Draco asked, before he was silenced with a 'do it or die' look. Draco groaned and grabbed the steering wheel. "How do we start it?"
"Like this!" Pansy said, grabbing the two correct wires and starting the car. Draco looked at her in amazement and started the car.

"He said we have to get to a train station, right?" Parvati asked.
"Yeah..." Lavender said as she examined a map.
"Then why not take a train directly there?"
"Because I can drive."
"Do you really feel like driving all the way to Texas?"
"...Let's go." Lavender said, realizing that Parvati had a point.

"STOP!" Pansy yelled after a while. She pointed to a train station. "Look. Let's make sure no one takes it today." she said, pulling her wand from her belt.
"What the...!?" Draco asked himself as he got out of the car, thinking that it was better not to question her judgement.
"COME ON!" Pansy said, laughing like a maniac. She bent down besides the track and muttered a couple of well chosen words. "The first train that comes," she explained, "will of off the rails, so no one participating in the race would've been able to buy a ticket to the first train today. It's perfect!"
"The sorting hat did make the right decision then." Draco muttered to himself, before he and Pansy resumed their journey.

"Due to technical difficulties, no trains will be running today." a voice called through the station.
"Now what?" Parvati asked Lavender.
"Hey, I didn't plan this or anything! I didn't even see it in my tea leaves!" Lavender responded. "What are you doing?"
"Checking out our options." Parvati said, watching the news flash. "That's weird, the airport's closed..." she mumbled. Lavender looked out the window and immediately started to drool.
"Chocolate ice cream!" she cried. An ice cream truck was right outside. "Hey Parvie, I have an idea..."

"Now what?" Hermione asked. They had ran all the way to a harbor.
"Let's swim to Texas." Ron laughed. He pointed to the water.
"No, I have a better idea..." Hermione said. Soon they were in line for a ferry.
"I wonder if I get sea sick?" Ron asked.
"Does it matter?" Hermione responded. Ron sighed.
"Guess not, huh..."
Soon they had paid with the muggle money that Hermione carried with her (for emergencies), and were enjoying the sea wind blowing on them.
"We'll get there in no time!" Ron said. [1]

"How do you turn the music off? I'm sick of hearing 'The Fast Food Song' [2]!" Lavender complained.
"Well...if I turn this..." Parvati said. The music stopped.
"Ahhh..." Lavender said, sighing in relief. She heard something.
"Wait! I want ice cream!" a little girl called.
"Here!" Lavender said, thrusting one into her hands. She didn't have time to deal with money. "Come one, step on it Parvie!" Lavender said. "We don't need to deal with anymore half-pints."

Pansy pulled out her compact and put on pink lipstick. 'I'm going to have every shade of pink ever imaginable! Just wait!' She thought as she rubbed her lips together.
Draco stared at her, just how did she get so demonic so fast?

Pictures of the teams flashed across a gargantuan screen. Rich and important looking people sat before it, holding wads of money and papers with their bets.
"Ahh, I am going to win the bet!" said a man who had put money on Ron and Hermione.
"No, I am!" said the one who had bet on Lavender and Parvati. "And I'll get an ice cream, too."
"Tch! You know that babe with the hat is gonna win!" another man protested. As they argued and joked, the man who had started it all stood in the shadows.
'I'm getting billions out of this one! This is my best one yet!' he told himself. He chuckled softly as the men increased their bets.

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[1] I don't know if there's a harbour in LA or not, it's better than all of the characters stealing cars.
[2] The ice cream vans in Stoke do actually play The Fast Food Song so I decided to write it in.