Hello everyone!!! I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update.. School… I really had to get my grades up. Here's the latest chapter so far, and I hope you like it! Please review!!! Thanks to all!! By the way: There are so many things that I missed out here… let's just say that the head boy and head girl thing is out in this story for a while, alright? Hehehe… Tell me what else I missed and what should I improve.. thank you!!!

Chapter 7

Harry Gasped, Ron Mocked, Draco Smirked

They have been flying for Merlin knows how long. Above them, Hedwig flew majestically through the clouds. Harry Potter's legs were probably lifeless and his fingers have grown numb from the crisp cold night air which the moon dragged as it made its way to the starry night. But Harry Potter didn't care. Between his arms and his broomstick, Hermione Granger was trembling. He didn't know if it was the dementor shock or the sudden drop in the temperature, but he held her close nonetheless.

"We need to rest, Potter," an icy voice called out from behind him.

Harry looked over his shoulder. Malfoy and Ron had eventually regained their strength, thanks to the chocolate frogs he had shoved into their mouths earlier. But they weren't strong enough to fly their brooms themselves which is why Harry cast a magical rope to bind them to his Firebolt.

"I know," he replied. And did he ever. After what seemed like an eternity, the three sex gods finally lowered their broomsticks on one of the mountains northwest from Azkaban Prison. One by one, they landed on the soft ground of the earth, feet to grass.

"Now that was a bloody good ride, wasn't it," Draco said with dry humor in his voice.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Ron barked at him, bow-legged from their long trip.

"Can't believe I lost my invisibility cloak in Azkaban," Draco shook his head. "Cost me a few galleons, that one."

"Quit the belly aching," Ron said as he put his hand in his bag and threw something unseen by the naked eye at Malfoy's face. "Unlike you, I had the presence of mind to pick up a valuable thing instead of just running away from a dozen dementors. Reparo!"

The cloak, which was torn in half before, was now good as new again. It mattered a lot to him, but Draco Malfoy would never in a million years admit his gratitude to a Weasley.

"Come on… Say it…" Ron teased. "Oh Ronald Weasley, let me kiss your feet! I am forever your slave! I'd rather lick your armpits than lick any other girls'—"

"Get away from me," Draco retorted.

"You guys," Harry interrupted. "Grab my bag. WE need to pitch up the tent 'cause it looks like we're going to spend the night here."

Draco turned his head to look at Potter who was helping Hermione lean on a big rock. He was sick of this fluffy friendship. Ron nodded while Draco protested.

"Wait a minute! You can't boss me around like that, I'm a Malfoy. You do it…"

Harry stood up and walked over to Draco. They were both the same height, and they were looking at each other eye to eye. "Listen, Malfoy. If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead by now." Harry glared at him. "I just saved your life. Now the least you can do is drive a couple of nails on the bloody ground and help Ron put up the tent! Is that too much to ask?"

"Listen, Potter," Draco replied. "If you would have been with us in the first place, maybe we would never have gotten close to being kissed by those fuckin'—"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Draco stopped in mid-sentence. Both boys rolled their eyes to Hermione who was lying on the ground, back on a huge rock, and wand aimed right between them.

"Don't you ever get tired of badgering each other all the time?" She asked, eyes weary and exhausted. "Now let's set the records straight. From now on, everyone will follow my orders, yes, including you, Ron," she added, when she saw him about to complain. "If I see so much as a middle finger raised at any one of you, I will hex your lights out, got that? But if you really can't help being the sick, savage, uncivilized barbarians like all men are, shut up Ron, You will have to tell me first, after which you will be required to strip off your clothes, butt-naked, and do a hand to hand combat until one of you is dead. Have I made myself clear?"

Silence.

"Hermione!" Harry gasped.

"Yes, Professor Granger," Ron mocked.

"Kinky, are we?" Draco smirked.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you're gonna indulge yourselves in puny fist-fights, I think it's only fair that I get something out of it too." She said with a smile. All three boys snorted and shook their heads.

"Well what are you waiting for?" She raised her voice playfully. "Harry, you and Draco set up a tent and build a fire. It's freezing here. Ron, hand me the book Dumbledore gave us and prepare our dinner. There's a lot to be done tonight."

And so for the next half an hour, all four of them had gotten together normally. Harry and Draco managed to set up the tent, with Draco being silent about his fascination for that muggle portable shelter. Ron, on the other hand, had gotten too much food from Dobby back at Hogwarts and was having a hard time deciding what to eat now and what to eat later.

"Engorgio! No, wait… Reducio… Strawberry shortcakes! Engorgio! Mm… butterbeer, engorgio! Ack! It spilled!"

"Just say Eenie Meenie Minie, Mo, will you," Draco had said. "We're starving."

Before long, they were gathered around the fire, cloaks over their shoulders, enjoying a surprisingly civilized conversation.

"Man, I wish I was there to see Dumbledore…" Harry said as he fed Hedwig some cakes.

"So really, Harry, what made you change your mind?" Ron asked between bites.

"God, I've been acting like a real prick," Harry paused after taking a gulp from his butterbeer. "Guess my motivation came in late. I went to the Library to get a map so I'd know where Azkaban is. That Skeeter girl somehow knew our plan. Published in on the Hogwarts Forum."

"Damn," Draco shook his head. "Wonder why she's not in Slytherin."

"Speaking of which, your housemates weren't so happy about you and…" Harry pointed at him and then the three of them. "And this whole thing."

Draco snorted. "I'm surprised they even care."

Ron bit his lip. He noticed Malfoy not saying anything further about it. He hesitated asking him any more questions about his redemption and decided to keep quiet. Harry had figured the same thing and kept his mouth shut He didn't want to be hexed by Hermione anytime soon. For a while they just sat there, letting silence take over.

"Oh my god," Hermione gasped as she uttered her first three words since she buried herself in The Craft Underground.

"What's up, Hermione?" Ron asked.

Hermione closed the book with a soft thud and faced her friends. "You guys should read that… Memorize a few pages. Read everything, we won't even need a wand."

Harry and Ron looked at each other while Draco stared at the book.

"But first things first." Hermione explained. "We need to invoke spirits. That way, we can… generate their powers… Now there are four corners in the earth—"

"North, south east and west." Draco interrupted.

"Exactly. We need to represent them and call upon them. But here's the catch. We have to be exactly like them."

Harry frowned. "Where are you getting at?"

Hermione absent-mindedly twirled a lock of hair and licked her lips. "It says here that north is earth. It represents all things material, strength and prosperity. East, which is air, is intellect and imagination while west or water is emotion and intuition. Fire is for south or, for people with will and passion."

They looked at each other. Finally, Draco stood up and stared at the sky. "Well that settles it then," he looked for the brightest star in the sky and stepped right under it. "The North star. I have natural wealth, natural wizard blood flowing through my veins, and a natural blond at that."

"He forgot natural jackass," Ron whispered to Harry.

"What did you say, Ron?" Hermione cast a knowing look at him.

"Nothing," he cleared his throat. "Guess I was born to be fire." He pointed his hair, and everyone had nothing else to say about it.

"West is perfect to you Hermione," Harry told her. "Women are usually emotional, and you're the only woman around her."

Hermione didn't know if it was a compliment or an insult. "East for imagination. We've got enough proof about that snake you accidentally turned lose and blowing up your Aunt Marge." She smiled at him.

Draco impatiently tapped his foot on the ground. "So… shall we?"

*          *          *

"Damn it, nothing's happening!" Ron complained.

They have memorized their lines by heart and stood on their designated positions, but after more than a dozen trials, they still had no progress.

"I don't understand it!" Hermione exclaimed. "We did everything! We followed all the steps in invoking the spirits, but how come I don't feel anything different?"

Harry was silently thinking on what they should do while Draco on the other hand was trying to test his powers, if ever he had any. He faced his palm open on a small rock and decided to summon it. But since he didn't need a wand, he decided to say something else instead.

"Come to me!" Nothing happened. The rock was still there. "Come… Come rock… Come rock here…. Come to me rock, here…"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Malfoy, stop it!" Ron pleaded. "You look stupid."

Draco realized he was right. He grabbed his wand and pointed at the rock. "Disintegrato!" It exploded into a thousand pieces. Stupid rock, he thought.

"Look, why don't we rest for the night?" Harry offered. "I think there's still time for us to know what went wrong. We need to get our energy; we've still got a long way to go."

"Oh my god, you're right," Hermione agreed. "We're lucky you picked this mountain Harry."

Harry looked at her. "Why?"

Hermione grinned at him. "I found a note Dumbledore slipped in the book. We have to go to sleep now, and get up at the break of dawn."

"But that's only a few hours from now!" Ron complained.

"That's why we need to sleep now." Hermione said.

"Okay then." Harry held up his hand. "Let's get inside the tent and get some shut eyes."

One by one, the golden trio went inside it, leaving Draco outside. "Oh shit. You mean we're going to sleep on the ground?"

Hermione's head appeared on the flap and pulled Draco inside. "Come on!"

*          *          *

He knew he was awake. But his body didn't respond to it just yet. It was his first night that he didn't have any dreams. Why would he wake after all? There was still no sunshine, his bed was as hard as wood and…

"Draco? It's time to get up now."

Draco slowly opened his eyes. Hermione was looking down at him, smiling as she ran a finger through his hair. He had forgotten to bring his Gel with him, and now it fell completely on his eyes. She kissed his forehead. "Are you awake now?"

Draco grumbled as he rubbed his eyes. "Damn, that Weasley of yours could snore. The whole mountain probably couldn't sleep."

Hermione giggled. "Come on, Harry and Ron are outside now. It's almost time."

Draco still didn't understand Hermione, but decided to follow her. He shook himself awake and grabbed his bag and broom as they went outside. Harry and Ron were standing a few feet in front of them. Harry pointed his wand at the tent, and muttered a reducing spell. He put the tent inside his pockets.

"Now tell us again why we're standing out here and not riding on our brooms instead," Ron asked Hermione. "You know we're wasting time."

Hermione smiled at herself. "Patience is a virtue. Besides, this is faster."

"Huh?"

But Ron never got his question answered. As soon as the sun came up to greet them, something happened. The whole sky glistened like a rainbow prism, like it was covered in a thick, plastic sheet. All four of them opened their mouths in awe. It was beautiful. Harry looked mesmerized at the sight. He reached out his hand to touch the sheet which was just a couple of feet in front of him and he gasped. His fingers went through the jelly like sheet.

"Come on. Just take a step forward. Trust me on this." She held Draco's hand tight in her left hand and Harry's in her right. Harry did he same to Ron on his other side. "On the count of three… One… Two… Three!"

And simultaneously, the stepped forward and got sucked inside the jelly sheet. Then Draco's ears immediately screamed in pain. There were loud honking noises, a lot of bright lights and big metal contraptions on wheels producing so much more noise. So much more louder than a howler. Draco squinted his eyes to see better. There was big, tall gray buildings everywhere, and the people, were dressed in… in muggle clothes…

Hermione took a deep breath. "Gentlemen, welcome to London."

*******************************************************************************************************

A/N: hehehhe… so that was it! What do you think about it?? Like it?? Hate it??? Please review!!!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

Don't take me credit for that hand to hand combat suggestion of Hermione… I got it from a book called Everworld… hehehe.. everything else is from me!

ERICA G: I emailed you already, right?? Hehehe… thanks for reading my fic! That rob Schneider thing really just popped in my mind… keep reading!

NAMI1: Nope… Draco and Ron are with Harry and Hermione… damn, I knew I wasn't good in describing things… thanks for stating that confusion!

CREARULIAN ANGEL: Aw… thanks so much… (bows down)… thanks again…

AZNANGELGAL: Yay! Another Filipino!! Hehehe… that part with goyle… I couldn't make up any latin sounding spells… so I used Filipino instead.. hahaha!!

SERPENT DU FEU: Hahaha… responding to the nudge… Ow!! Not the ribs! Hehehe.. thank you thank you thank you…

OREO69: Get up from your bow!!! Thanks for boosting up my ego… hehehe… keep reading!!

SUPERNIMBIS: Hehehe.. people are confused with Prof. Lickorpuss… he's gay.. hehehe… not that I have anything against gays!!! Hehehe.. they just make the story funnier… hehehe

TO EVERYONE ELSE: I know I've emailed you and let you know how truly grateful I am!! Thank you so much!!!