Chapter 2
Titanic
"It's magnificent!" said Hermione, when they entered the first-class reception on D-deck. They set their luggage down around a nearby table.
"Mind you, it cost me a fortune," Harry said, as steward came over to them.
He had copies of their tickets, which he read from: "Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Ronald Weasley will be sharing one deluxe parlor suite," he said as he gave Ron a map of the ship. He turned to Hermione; "Miss Hermione Granger will be in the smaller room on the far left side in the second suite. Mr. Fred Weasley and Mr. George Weasley will also be sharing the main room in the second suite." Fred was also given a map. "Come." They followed him up two decks and after five minutes of walking, they came to a stop in front of a cabin door. "If you need anything, my name is Latimer, just press the button on the wall by the door. Remember first-class passengers aren't allowed below E-deck, in the wireless room, and on the bridge. If you need to send a letter, give it to me and I will bring it to the wireless room and bring back the return letter." He turned to Harry and Ron, "Your cabin number is B-70. Yours is B-69," he said to the others. Latimer gave them their keys and strode off down the hall.
"Come on lets unpack," Harry told them. Ron opened the door and they walked in.
"Wow! Harry this is more than I expected!" Ron said, looking around. The room was painted white; there were two beds that had red curtains hanging around them. Matching curtains could also be found on the windows. It also had a small sofa, two wardrobes, a writing table, and a washbasin. Ron walked over to a door on the far right of the room, opened it and said, "Hey, Harry, we've got a bathroom all to our selves."
"Ron, you better unpack because I want to get up to the boat beck before we leave," said Harry.
"Ok, do you need to take anything to the purser?" said Ron.
"Nope," Harry said, "don't forget to change into your robes."
"Yeah, I know." Ron took out a pair of plain black robes from his trunk.
"Hurry, up Ron!" Harry made Ron jump.
"What's the big deal, Harry? All we have to do is apparate."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Tap, tap, tap. Pig was back; Ron went over to the porthole and opened it letting Pig in, who flew over to where Hedwig was.
"Come on, let's go!" Harry yelled, making Ron jump again.
"OK!" Crack. They both vanished.
The first person they saw was Hermione, who was hanging over the side of the ship, looking terrified. "What's up?" Harry asked her, as he and Ron reached the side of the deck. Hermione raised one shaking hand and pointed toward the dock. Harry and Ron followed her gaze; another ship was about four feet from colliding with the Titanic. Ron stood there in shock, unable to move. Harry, however, pulled his wand out of his belt, raised it, and muttered, "expel." Ropes came out of Harry's wand tip, and attached themselves to other side of the ship. Harry concentrated on pulling on the ropes and slowly, ropes creaking, the ship was pulled back to the dock.
They stood in silence for a minute, then, "Harry, is there a library on board?" Hermione asked, her voice still shaky.
"Yeah, on C-deck in second-class," Harry checked Ron's map, "why?"
"This may sound weird, especially since I dropped Divination, but I think this was real omen," she said.
"What do you think this ship is doomed, or something? Come on Hermione, it's unsinkable!" said Ron.
"This means something, but I don't know what," she said. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Harry cut him off.
"You two can argue later, it's time for lunch."
"Yeah, we still need to change into dress robes," Ron said. He and Harry disapparated.
"Which one?" they both said together, both had a pair of light and dark blue robes.
"Dark," said Ron, Harry surveyed Ron for a moment before deciding on the light blue robes for his friend. They decided on walking to the first-class dinning room instead of apparating. "This way we get to see more of the ship."
When they got there they met up with the others. Hermione was wearing robes of gray satin, Fred had on red robes, and George was wearing green robes. Hermione was even more pleased with the elegance in which they dinned. They had three courses; soup or salad, fresh fish, and apple pie for dessert.
The dinning salon was the largest room on the ship. It was well designed with hundreds of wicker tables and chairs with green padding on them. There was a huge chandelier that hung in the middle of the room, lighting all but the tables in the far corners, they had candles.
After lunch they all did different things; Hermione went back to the library, Fred and George wouldn't say where they were going, only that they had some "business to take care of." Harry and Ron went up to the boat deck.
Harry and Ron stepped out into the sunset. They walked over to the side of the railing and looked down at the dark ocean. They stood there for quite along time, without realizing that the ship was slowing down. Harry and Ron looked at each other. "Why are we slowing down?" Ron asked, looking horrified.
"Because we're anchoring at Cherbourg," said a voice behind them. Harry and Ron turned and found Hermione looking at them.
"How do you know?" Harry asked.
"I asked one of the second-class passengers if we were making any stops," said Hermione, "we're also stopping at Queenstown tomorrow. We would have arrived an hour earlier if it hadn't been for the near collision."
"How are the passengers getting to the Titanic if we aren't docking?" Ron asked. Hermione pointed across the water at two small boats coming towards them, carrying about three hundred passengers. Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched as the two boats came closer. They could see some of the first and second-class passengers. "Oh, no," said Ron. "What?" Ron pointed at the boat bring the first and second-class passengers. Harry and Hermione looked over at the boat and stared horror- struck at four people sitting in the very back.