It's a War
Summary: It's four years after the gang graduates from Hogwarts and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, and Dean are working with a few famous American aurors trying to earn a living. They are taking a break from work when they happen to literally bump into four teenage American girls. The boys quickly make friends with them in hopes of getting better aquainted with Los Angeles, but there is some thing slightly familiar about those girls..
A/N: Now I warn you, school does come first, but I will try my best to keep the pauses between chapters few and short if I get enough reviews, but I can't promise you much.
Disclaimer: I see everyone else has one of these in order to save themselves from a law suit so here is my meager attempt: I own none of these characters save Lilah, Danni, Tally, Laurel, and Martha who are based loosely on me and a couple of my friends. The Del Amo Mall really is a mall in Torrence and it has this HUGE parking lot that wraps all the way around the building and though it is not the biggest mall in LA it is fairly large. I also own the plot and the Muffin Shoppe, but that's it. On with the show!!!!
~~**~~
Chapter 1: Accidents and Conversations
~~**~~
BEEP BEEP
Hermione shot up in bed and stared around in bewilderment. ::Why the hell would someone set the alarm clock for six thirty on a Saturday morning????:: She was trying to think, then she realized. "Duh, I'm supposed to have an early breakfast with the guys and then go sight seeing. Merlin, whose idea was it to start this early? Oh," she giggled quietly to herself, "mine." Hermione sighed and kicked the covers off her legs and walked over to the door.
Ever since they arrived in Los Angeles four years ago, all that they had done was move into a fairly large house in Hancock Park that Dean had inherited from a nameless great-uncle together and work, work, work. They had bearly graduated from Hogwarts as fully fledged witches and wizards, when Fudge had offered them this opportunity, and they wouldn't miss it for anything. Although, at first her parents were a little worried that their 18-year-old daughter wouldn't be safe in a big city, they got over it once they realized how much she wanted to go. Now, she was 21 and they had been in LA for almost four years and were wondering if the town offered anything except the walls of an office. A week ago at lunch she had looked down at her planner saw that that weekend was empty and suggested that they do some sight seeing.
Now she couldn't wait to go swimming in the Pacific Ocean.
She stole softly out of her room, down the hall to Ron's and quietly pushed open the door. He hadn't heard the alarm and was still fast sleep, drool and all. Hermione kissed his forehead lightly and said, "Ron love, it's time to get up." His eyes flickered open and he smiled at her.
"Only if I have to."
"Oh you have to all right. I've waited four years to really see this city and I can't wait any longer. Now get up and wake the rest of the boys, I'll be in the bathroom." She straightened and watched as Ron slowly got out of bed and dragged himself first to Harry's room, then Seamus's, and then Dean's. She giggled to herself when she remembered how opposed she was to living with four guys. She had cringed at the thought of how messy they were and how much time it would take to clean up after them, but had quickly gotten used to it with the overload of work to keep her busy.
She yawned as she gathered her clothes and headed to the bathroom.
As she stepped out of her room she nearly ran headlong into a shirt-less Dean. "Morning Dean." She squeaked turning beet red and ran into her bathroom across the hall slamming and locking the door behind her. In the hallway Dean blinked, shrugged, and grunted "'Morning." To the spot where Hermione had been standing moments before, and continued on his way to the kitchen to get some coffee.
Hermione turned the taps to freezing cold at the faucet and splashed her face with water. "You have got to stop freaking out every time you see one of the guys shirt-less. It is going to happen." She muttered to herself. She sighed, turned off the taps at the sink and turned the shower on. She then stripped and took a quick shower, washing her hair as she went. When she was finished, she shook all of the water out of her hair, blow dried it and straightened it with a touch of her wand to her temple. She washed her face and brushed her teeth then dressed in white capris and a pink T-shirt. When she was done she went back to her room and made up her bed, fluffing the pillows in all the right places, folded her pajamas and stored them in a drawer in the dresser. She grabbed her purse off the chair by the door and went down the staircase, her thong sandals smacking the stone steps as she went. Judging from the silence upstairs and the faint sound from a TV downstairs, the boys were already done and ready to go.
She walked into the kitchen and all of the boys turned and looked at her. Ron's mouth dropped open and cereal dropped back into the bowl in front of him. Hermione giggled and said, "After two and a half years together you still do that every time I walk into a room." She walked over and kissed him on his jawbone. The only part of him she could reach.
"It's not that, it's just that you haven't straightened your hair since that faculty banquette two months ago. You look beautiful."
"Why Ronald Weasley are you trying to make me blush in front of our friends?" At this Ron blushed and grinned his goofy trademark grin.
"No, but you do look very pretty." He scooped her up into his arms and kissed her gently on the lips.
"Ewww" Harry said, "Hermione can you just eat so we can leave and get started? Besides I'm still trying to get used to seeing my best friends kiss front of me."
"Yeah it's disgusting." Said Seamus not taking his eyes off the TV in front of him.
"Shut up to the both of you, and leave them alone, besides Seamus you didn't even see them." Dean said from the sink where he was rinsing his dish and putting it into the dishwasher.
"So? I could her them just fine."
"Oh hush we'll stop." Hermione said grabbing a bagel and checking her watch, "Well let's go. It is nine thirty, that means we have about three hours until we have to eat lunch or Ron here will die of starvation."
She walked out the back door munching on the bagel in her hand and swinging the keys to the Dinali she and Ron had bought once they had arrived in Los Angeles on her extended pinkie finger. (Who ever knew you could make so much money being an auror?) The boys turned off the TV and followed her out the door. Hermione climbed into the passenger's seat and waited for the boys to clamber into the car before handing Ron the keys.
Hermione buckled in and smiled at Ron.
"Where to?" He asked brightly.
"Well we need to go pass the Muffin Shoppe 'cause I need to get directions from Martha." She said referring to the young woman who ran the coffee shop and who had been helping them find their way around the city so far.
"Cool, Muffin Shoppe here we come." Ron said turning on the engine, but screaming when loud rock music blared through the sound system.
"Sorry. Knew I forgot to do something when I got out the car yesterday." Seamus said innocently from the back seat.
"'S all right Seamus." Ron muttered rubbing his ears and cursing under his breath.
~~~***~~~
At the same time that Hermione and the gang were pulling out of the garage. Lilah Farstone pulled her car in front of the house she shared with four of her best friends. She beeped twice on the horn and screamed out the window, "Danni Lets roll! We said we'd meet the girls in an hour and we still have to get smooties!!!!"
Danni Higgins came running out the house into the early spring morning air which was relatively warm, it being California, only stopping to untangle herself from her cat Moe, "Damn cat!", and to shut and lock the front door. She flew around the back of the hard topped Mustang convertible and jumped in the passenger's seat, just as Lilah put the top down.
"What look you so long? I woke you up nearly two hours ago, I was beginning to think you were sewing your clothes instead of just putting them on. Nice sweatshirt by the way." She added noticing that they were wearing matching hooded sweatshirts. "GO Trojans!" All of the girls had the same sweat shirts because they all grew up rooting for the Trojan football team and had at least one sibling that went there.
"Oh shut up you. Let's just get smoothies I'm starving."
"All rightie then Miss. Co. Pilot. Muffin Shoppe here we come."
They navigated their way through Saturday morning traffic to the coffeehouse with Lilah screaming insults at the drivers that got in her way, parked and walked in.
"Ahh, how I do love the smell of coffee in the morning. Too bad it turns your teeth brown." Lilah said flashing her own pearly whites, the result of many painful years of braces, and pulling out her wallet.
"What are you doing?" Danni asked her.
"Getting ready to pull my money out. What's it look like?"
"No I'm paying 'cause it's your 22nd birthday. You should know the rules missy, you helped make them."
"Thanks Danni." Lilah said turning to the counter to order her drink, then moving over so that Danni could do the same. They sat on the barstools talking while they waited for their drinks.
"Why did Tally and Lor leave early again?" Danni asked again.
"I dunno, something about buying something at some other place. I was half asleep when she barged into my room talking about this 'really cute pair of shoes that she just had to have' or something like that."
Behind the girls, the door opened several times, several pairs of flip flops walked across the stone floor of the café, a female voice talk to the store owner and a male voice order four coffees and a strawberry smothie. But took no notice of the actual people.
While they waited, the group of people were given their coffees and a number for their smothie.
A little while later both numbers were called and two people got up to get the orders. One person was Lilah and the other was Harry. Lilah's table was closest to the counter so she got there first. She picked up the smoothies and turned around to leave, but instead of walking through thin air, she walked into Harry's chest spilling smoothies all down her front. She jumped back a foot but the damage was already done. Her prized sweatshirt was ruined. "Oh no." She moaned pulling it off to get a better look at the stain.
"Oh my, I am so sorry, I really didn't see you." Lilah looked up at the sound of a thick British accent and was startled to see hunk that looked about her age standing in front of her. He had messy jet-black hair and sparkling green eyes. He had a chiseled face and a muscle-in-all-the-right- places body. Woah!!!!!
**~~~**
Wham!
Harry was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt something small and hard hit him square in the chest.
"Woah!" He looked down at a cute petite brunette who was looking down at a ruined sweatshirt and looked like she was about to cry.
"Oh no." She mumbled more to herself than to anyone else.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I really didn't see you." The girl's head snapped up and at first she looked like she would kill him, then her eyes slowly widened as she took in his hair and his eyes. He in turn looked at her and realized that now that he could see her face, she wasn't just cute, she was beautiful. She had slightly curly red/brown hair that was up in a loose bun, light milk chocolately skin and very hazel, almost yellow eyes and very, very red cheeks.
"Oh dear look what Harry did now." Said a taunting Irish voice from the direction of the table that the large group was sitting at, "I certainly do hope he knows how to fix this one." Lilah stole a glance around the hunk that the voice called Harry and saw three male faces and one female face behind Danni's shocked one.
"Shut up Seamus." Harry said. Before turning back to Lilah and continuing with his apologies. "I really am sorry, I was lost in my own world and didn't even see you."
"That's all right." Said the girl in front of him, "By the way I'm Lilah, Lilah Farstone."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Harry Potter." Harry said reaching behind Lilah and grabbing a few napkins off the counter and wiping most of the smoothie residue off her beloved sweatshirt.
"I'm really sorry about your sweatshirt, it's such a nice color too." He said gently touching the maroon fabric and turning around to grin at Ron who glared back. He only remembered all too well the hideous sweaters that his mom made him every Christmas and had purposely left them all at the Burrow in England "By the way I hope you don't mind me asking, but who are the Trojans?"
At this, Lilah's mouth dropped open and she stared at Harry and waved frantically at Danni to come to her. Danni got up and approached the pair.
"What's wrong Lilah?"
"Danni, I think these people are new here."
"How could you tell?" Danni asked sarcastically, "It was the accents wasn't it?"
"They don't know about the Trojans." Then Danni's mouth dropped open and she stared at Harry too.
"What?" He asked, "Is there something on my face?"
Lilah promptly shut her mouth and shut Danni's for her. Lilah cleared her throat, "Where are you from? How long have you been here?" She asked directly.
"England." Called the girl from the table, "Although Seamus here is Irish. We've been here for four years, why?"
"Merlin, four years and they still don't know about American football, sheesh. The USC Trojans, they are a football team at one of the UC colleges around here. Their biggest rivals are the UCLA Bruins." This last part she spat out showing obvious dislike for the last team.
"Yeah well anyway I'm sorry about your sweatshirt. Here let me buy you more smoothies to replace the ruined ones." Harry turned around and told the cashier the necessary information and then faced everyone again. "By the way these are my friends Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan."
"Nice to meet you all. Um, this is Danni Higgins." Danni waved hello and then everyone sat in silence for a moment.
The group from London all thought the same thing, ::They all look so familiar.::
"Well it was nice meeting you, but we have to get going, gotta figure out how to get to the Del Amo Mall before it closes." Hermione said breaking the quiet reverie.
"Well if you needed to get to Del Amo why didn't you just say so, we're on our way there now. Why don't you guys follow us."
"That'd be great!" Hermione said brightly.
"Um here is my cell phone number in case you get lost." Lilah said writing her number on a napkin and handing it to Hermione, who took it and read it a couple of times.
"Then here is mine." Hermione said as she whipped out her cell phone and logged Lilah's number in, and Lilah did the same with hers.
"Well let's go." Danni said checking her watch, "We are likely to hit a lot of traffic and we were supposed to meet our friends fifteen minutes ago and Lilah here can be little demon driver when she is in a rush. So you'd better stay close behind us." With that all three girls walked out talking and giggling about things that no boy would understand and who knows what else.
"Friends? There're more of them? I hope they look just like those two do. If they do I think I might just ask one of them out." Seamus watching all three girls approach a red convertible and climb in. The boys walked out the café and walked over to the sports car.
"Guys, I'm going to ride with Lilah and Danni all right? Don't drive Ron crazy." She kneeled on the back seat and planted a soft kiss on Ron's lips. "Drive safe," she said slipping him her cell phone so that they could reach each other. Lilah gassed the engine and looked at the boys who were just standing there.
"Well? Are you coming or not?" All of the boys scrambled around the red car and jumped in the black Diniali parked next to it. Lilah pulled out of the parking lot and started on the way to the mall.
"So how long have all of you known each other?" Danni asked turning around to face Hermione.
"Well we've been going to school together since we were eleven and now were 22, well at least Harry will join us tomorrow. But Ron and I have gotten a little closer in the past two years if you know what I mean."
"Yeah I know exactly what you mean." Lilah said smiling thinking about how much closer she would like to get to the hunk that smashed into her. What was his name again? Oh yeah Harry Potter he looked really familiar . . .
"How long have you known each other?"
"Well, I've known Danni since I was three, met her at a daycare center in Beverly Hills in a building where our parents worked. I've known Torrence since I was born seeing as she's my mom's best friend's daughter, and we met Tally Kaves and Laurel Robinson in grade school, you'll meet them once we get to the mall, then we all went to the same boarding school as soon as sixth grade started."
"Wow, that's a long time."
"You're telling me, I can read Danni here like an old book. The other two are a little tough though." They all laughed at this and had a great time for the rest of the ride to the mall.
~~~***~~~
"So what did you guys think? Can they be trusted?" Ron asked from the driver's seat.
"Well, when Lilah took off her sweatshirt, you could see the inside of her arm and she didn't have the dark mark so she isn't a Death Eater and I'm guessing her friends aren't either." Dean said from behind Ron.
"Yeah I guess you're right." Ron said.
"Those times are over, let's just pass that over and get on with life, it's been four years." Seamus said.
"Sea's right, but they sure were pretty. If their friends look just like them I'm sure we'll all have girlfriends by the end of the week if they aren't already taken, and I don't doubt that at least one of them already is." Dean said.
"Yeah." Said Harry quietly thinking of Lilah's curly hair and her odd but beautiful eyes. And how her eyes had filled with tears at the sight of her ruined sweatshirt, she obviously had some sentimental value tied to it. He reminded himself to ask her later and hoped she wouldn't cry again.
"We all know who Harry has his eye on." Said Seamus from the back, "The pretty brunette who he nearly killed."
"Well, I didn't nearly kill her, but I would like to get to know her."
"You know what they say, you only get one chance, and you might as well take it." Dean said reassuringly. "And mate, I think she likes you too."
At this Harry smiled to himself and wondered for the millionth time in his life what it would be like to have a serious relationship with someone.
"Oh look that must be it. The Del Amo Mall." Ron said.
"Looks big, I hope Hermione doesn't keep us here too long."
"Probably not seeing as she really wants to go to the beach sometime this weekend." Harry said.
"Yeah I hope we get to do that."
"What the hell happened here????" Ron muttered under his breath seeing a completely empty parking lot, save one car near the front.
"Something is wrong. Something tells me that this parking lot isn't usually like this."
~~**~~
A/N: Well, I hope you liked the subtle but obvious changes! Ignore that thing down there, I have no idea how it got there and I can't figure out how to make it go away.
Also, if anyone knows how to do italics and bolds and stuff, please tell me!
Summary: It's four years after the gang graduates from Hogwarts and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, and Dean are working with a few famous American aurors trying to earn a living. They are taking a break from work when they happen to literally bump into four teenage American girls. The boys quickly make friends with them in hopes of getting better aquainted with Los Angeles, but there is some thing slightly familiar about those girls..
A/N: Now I warn you, school does come first, but I will try my best to keep the pauses between chapters few and short if I get enough reviews, but I can't promise you much.
Disclaimer: I see everyone else has one of these in order to save themselves from a law suit so here is my meager attempt: I own none of these characters save Lilah, Danni, Tally, Laurel, and Martha who are based loosely on me and a couple of my friends. The Del Amo Mall really is a mall in Torrence and it has this HUGE parking lot that wraps all the way around the building and though it is not the biggest mall in LA it is fairly large. I also own the plot and the Muffin Shoppe, but that's it. On with the show!!!!
~~**~~
Chapter 1: Accidents and Conversations
~~**~~
BEEP BEEP
Hermione shot up in bed and stared around in bewilderment. ::Why the hell would someone set the alarm clock for six thirty on a Saturday morning????:: She was trying to think, then she realized. "Duh, I'm supposed to have an early breakfast with the guys and then go sight seeing. Merlin, whose idea was it to start this early? Oh," she giggled quietly to herself, "mine." Hermione sighed and kicked the covers off her legs and walked over to the door.
Ever since they arrived in Los Angeles four years ago, all that they had done was move into a fairly large house in Hancock Park that Dean had inherited from a nameless great-uncle together and work, work, work. They had bearly graduated from Hogwarts as fully fledged witches and wizards, when Fudge had offered them this opportunity, and they wouldn't miss it for anything. Although, at first her parents were a little worried that their 18-year-old daughter wouldn't be safe in a big city, they got over it once they realized how much she wanted to go. Now, she was 21 and they had been in LA for almost four years and were wondering if the town offered anything except the walls of an office. A week ago at lunch she had looked down at her planner saw that that weekend was empty and suggested that they do some sight seeing.
Now she couldn't wait to go swimming in the Pacific Ocean.
She stole softly out of her room, down the hall to Ron's and quietly pushed open the door. He hadn't heard the alarm and was still fast sleep, drool and all. Hermione kissed his forehead lightly and said, "Ron love, it's time to get up." His eyes flickered open and he smiled at her.
"Only if I have to."
"Oh you have to all right. I've waited four years to really see this city and I can't wait any longer. Now get up and wake the rest of the boys, I'll be in the bathroom." She straightened and watched as Ron slowly got out of bed and dragged himself first to Harry's room, then Seamus's, and then Dean's. She giggled to herself when she remembered how opposed she was to living with four guys. She had cringed at the thought of how messy they were and how much time it would take to clean up after them, but had quickly gotten used to it with the overload of work to keep her busy.
She yawned as she gathered her clothes and headed to the bathroom.
As she stepped out of her room she nearly ran headlong into a shirt-less Dean. "Morning Dean." She squeaked turning beet red and ran into her bathroom across the hall slamming and locking the door behind her. In the hallway Dean blinked, shrugged, and grunted "'Morning." To the spot where Hermione had been standing moments before, and continued on his way to the kitchen to get some coffee.
Hermione turned the taps to freezing cold at the faucet and splashed her face with water. "You have got to stop freaking out every time you see one of the guys shirt-less. It is going to happen." She muttered to herself. She sighed, turned off the taps at the sink and turned the shower on. She then stripped and took a quick shower, washing her hair as she went. When she was finished, she shook all of the water out of her hair, blow dried it and straightened it with a touch of her wand to her temple. She washed her face and brushed her teeth then dressed in white capris and a pink T-shirt. When she was done she went back to her room and made up her bed, fluffing the pillows in all the right places, folded her pajamas and stored them in a drawer in the dresser. She grabbed her purse off the chair by the door and went down the staircase, her thong sandals smacking the stone steps as she went. Judging from the silence upstairs and the faint sound from a TV downstairs, the boys were already done and ready to go.
She walked into the kitchen and all of the boys turned and looked at her. Ron's mouth dropped open and cereal dropped back into the bowl in front of him. Hermione giggled and said, "After two and a half years together you still do that every time I walk into a room." She walked over and kissed him on his jawbone. The only part of him she could reach.
"It's not that, it's just that you haven't straightened your hair since that faculty banquette two months ago. You look beautiful."
"Why Ronald Weasley are you trying to make me blush in front of our friends?" At this Ron blushed and grinned his goofy trademark grin.
"No, but you do look very pretty." He scooped her up into his arms and kissed her gently on the lips.
"Ewww" Harry said, "Hermione can you just eat so we can leave and get started? Besides I'm still trying to get used to seeing my best friends kiss front of me."
"Yeah it's disgusting." Said Seamus not taking his eyes off the TV in front of him.
"Shut up to the both of you, and leave them alone, besides Seamus you didn't even see them." Dean said from the sink where he was rinsing his dish and putting it into the dishwasher.
"So? I could her them just fine."
"Oh hush we'll stop." Hermione said grabbing a bagel and checking her watch, "Well let's go. It is nine thirty, that means we have about three hours until we have to eat lunch or Ron here will die of starvation."
She walked out the back door munching on the bagel in her hand and swinging the keys to the Dinali she and Ron had bought once they had arrived in Los Angeles on her extended pinkie finger. (Who ever knew you could make so much money being an auror?) The boys turned off the TV and followed her out the door. Hermione climbed into the passenger's seat and waited for the boys to clamber into the car before handing Ron the keys.
Hermione buckled in and smiled at Ron.
"Where to?" He asked brightly.
"Well we need to go pass the Muffin Shoppe 'cause I need to get directions from Martha." She said referring to the young woman who ran the coffee shop and who had been helping them find their way around the city so far.
"Cool, Muffin Shoppe here we come." Ron said turning on the engine, but screaming when loud rock music blared through the sound system.
"Sorry. Knew I forgot to do something when I got out the car yesterday." Seamus said innocently from the back seat.
"'S all right Seamus." Ron muttered rubbing his ears and cursing under his breath.
~~~***~~~
At the same time that Hermione and the gang were pulling out of the garage. Lilah Farstone pulled her car in front of the house she shared with four of her best friends. She beeped twice on the horn and screamed out the window, "Danni Lets roll! We said we'd meet the girls in an hour and we still have to get smooties!!!!"
Danni Higgins came running out the house into the early spring morning air which was relatively warm, it being California, only stopping to untangle herself from her cat Moe, "Damn cat!", and to shut and lock the front door. She flew around the back of the hard topped Mustang convertible and jumped in the passenger's seat, just as Lilah put the top down.
"What look you so long? I woke you up nearly two hours ago, I was beginning to think you were sewing your clothes instead of just putting them on. Nice sweatshirt by the way." She added noticing that they were wearing matching hooded sweatshirts. "GO Trojans!" All of the girls had the same sweat shirts because they all grew up rooting for the Trojan football team and had at least one sibling that went there.
"Oh shut up you. Let's just get smoothies I'm starving."
"All rightie then Miss. Co. Pilot. Muffin Shoppe here we come."
They navigated their way through Saturday morning traffic to the coffeehouse with Lilah screaming insults at the drivers that got in her way, parked and walked in.
"Ahh, how I do love the smell of coffee in the morning. Too bad it turns your teeth brown." Lilah said flashing her own pearly whites, the result of many painful years of braces, and pulling out her wallet.
"What are you doing?" Danni asked her.
"Getting ready to pull my money out. What's it look like?"
"No I'm paying 'cause it's your 22nd birthday. You should know the rules missy, you helped make them."
"Thanks Danni." Lilah said turning to the counter to order her drink, then moving over so that Danni could do the same. They sat on the barstools talking while they waited for their drinks.
"Why did Tally and Lor leave early again?" Danni asked again.
"I dunno, something about buying something at some other place. I was half asleep when she barged into my room talking about this 'really cute pair of shoes that she just had to have' or something like that."
Behind the girls, the door opened several times, several pairs of flip flops walked across the stone floor of the café, a female voice talk to the store owner and a male voice order four coffees and a strawberry smothie. But took no notice of the actual people.
While they waited, the group of people were given their coffees and a number for their smothie.
A little while later both numbers were called and two people got up to get the orders. One person was Lilah and the other was Harry. Lilah's table was closest to the counter so she got there first. She picked up the smoothies and turned around to leave, but instead of walking through thin air, she walked into Harry's chest spilling smoothies all down her front. She jumped back a foot but the damage was already done. Her prized sweatshirt was ruined. "Oh no." She moaned pulling it off to get a better look at the stain.
"Oh my, I am so sorry, I really didn't see you." Lilah looked up at the sound of a thick British accent and was startled to see hunk that looked about her age standing in front of her. He had messy jet-black hair and sparkling green eyes. He had a chiseled face and a muscle-in-all-the-right- places body. Woah!!!!!
**~~~**
Wham!
Harry was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt something small and hard hit him square in the chest.
"Woah!" He looked down at a cute petite brunette who was looking down at a ruined sweatshirt and looked like she was about to cry.
"Oh no." She mumbled more to herself than to anyone else.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I really didn't see you." The girl's head snapped up and at first she looked like she would kill him, then her eyes slowly widened as she took in his hair and his eyes. He in turn looked at her and realized that now that he could see her face, she wasn't just cute, she was beautiful. She had slightly curly red/brown hair that was up in a loose bun, light milk chocolately skin and very hazel, almost yellow eyes and very, very red cheeks.
"Oh dear look what Harry did now." Said a taunting Irish voice from the direction of the table that the large group was sitting at, "I certainly do hope he knows how to fix this one." Lilah stole a glance around the hunk that the voice called Harry and saw three male faces and one female face behind Danni's shocked one.
"Shut up Seamus." Harry said. Before turning back to Lilah and continuing with his apologies. "I really am sorry, I was lost in my own world and didn't even see you."
"That's all right." Said the girl in front of him, "By the way I'm Lilah, Lilah Farstone."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Harry Potter." Harry said reaching behind Lilah and grabbing a few napkins off the counter and wiping most of the smoothie residue off her beloved sweatshirt.
"I'm really sorry about your sweatshirt, it's such a nice color too." He said gently touching the maroon fabric and turning around to grin at Ron who glared back. He only remembered all too well the hideous sweaters that his mom made him every Christmas and had purposely left them all at the Burrow in England "By the way I hope you don't mind me asking, but who are the Trojans?"
At this, Lilah's mouth dropped open and she stared at Harry and waved frantically at Danni to come to her. Danni got up and approached the pair.
"What's wrong Lilah?"
"Danni, I think these people are new here."
"How could you tell?" Danni asked sarcastically, "It was the accents wasn't it?"
"They don't know about the Trojans." Then Danni's mouth dropped open and she stared at Harry too.
"What?" He asked, "Is there something on my face?"
Lilah promptly shut her mouth and shut Danni's for her. Lilah cleared her throat, "Where are you from? How long have you been here?" She asked directly.
"England." Called the girl from the table, "Although Seamus here is Irish. We've been here for four years, why?"
"Merlin, four years and they still don't know about American football, sheesh. The USC Trojans, they are a football team at one of the UC colleges around here. Their biggest rivals are the UCLA Bruins." This last part she spat out showing obvious dislike for the last team.
"Yeah well anyway I'm sorry about your sweatshirt. Here let me buy you more smoothies to replace the ruined ones." Harry turned around and told the cashier the necessary information and then faced everyone again. "By the way these are my friends Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan."
"Nice to meet you all. Um, this is Danni Higgins." Danni waved hello and then everyone sat in silence for a moment.
The group from London all thought the same thing, ::They all look so familiar.::
"Well it was nice meeting you, but we have to get going, gotta figure out how to get to the Del Amo Mall before it closes." Hermione said breaking the quiet reverie.
"Well if you needed to get to Del Amo why didn't you just say so, we're on our way there now. Why don't you guys follow us."
"That'd be great!" Hermione said brightly.
"Um here is my cell phone number in case you get lost." Lilah said writing her number on a napkin and handing it to Hermione, who took it and read it a couple of times.
"Then here is mine." Hermione said as she whipped out her cell phone and logged Lilah's number in, and Lilah did the same with hers.
"Well let's go." Danni said checking her watch, "We are likely to hit a lot of traffic and we were supposed to meet our friends fifteen minutes ago and Lilah here can be little demon driver when she is in a rush. So you'd better stay close behind us." With that all three girls walked out talking and giggling about things that no boy would understand and who knows what else.
"Friends? There're more of them? I hope they look just like those two do. If they do I think I might just ask one of them out." Seamus watching all three girls approach a red convertible and climb in. The boys walked out the café and walked over to the sports car.
"Guys, I'm going to ride with Lilah and Danni all right? Don't drive Ron crazy." She kneeled on the back seat and planted a soft kiss on Ron's lips. "Drive safe," she said slipping him her cell phone so that they could reach each other. Lilah gassed the engine and looked at the boys who were just standing there.
"Well? Are you coming or not?" All of the boys scrambled around the red car and jumped in the black Diniali parked next to it. Lilah pulled out of the parking lot and started on the way to the mall.
"So how long have all of you known each other?" Danni asked turning around to face Hermione.
"Well we've been going to school together since we were eleven and now were 22, well at least Harry will join us tomorrow. But Ron and I have gotten a little closer in the past two years if you know what I mean."
"Yeah I know exactly what you mean." Lilah said smiling thinking about how much closer she would like to get to the hunk that smashed into her. What was his name again? Oh yeah Harry Potter he looked really familiar . . .
"How long have you known each other?"
"Well, I've known Danni since I was three, met her at a daycare center in Beverly Hills in a building where our parents worked. I've known Torrence since I was born seeing as she's my mom's best friend's daughter, and we met Tally Kaves and Laurel Robinson in grade school, you'll meet them once we get to the mall, then we all went to the same boarding school as soon as sixth grade started."
"Wow, that's a long time."
"You're telling me, I can read Danni here like an old book. The other two are a little tough though." They all laughed at this and had a great time for the rest of the ride to the mall.
~~~***~~~
"So what did you guys think? Can they be trusted?" Ron asked from the driver's seat.
"Well, when Lilah took off her sweatshirt, you could see the inside of her arm and she didn't have the dark mark so she isn't a Death Eater and I'm guessing her friends aren't either." Dean said from behind Ron.
"Yeah I guess you're right." Ron said.
"Those times are over, let's just pass that over and get on with life, it's been four years." Seamus said.
"Sea's right, but they sure were pretty. If their friends look just like them I'm sure we'll all have girlfriends by the end of the week if they aren't already taken, and I don't doubt that at least one of them already is." Dean said.
"Yeah." Said Harry quietly thinking of Lilah's curly hair and her odd but beautiful eyes. And how her eyes had filled with tears at the sight of her ruined sweatshirt, she obviously had some sentimental value tied to it. He reminded himself to ask her later and hoped she wouldn't cry again.
"We all know who Harry has his eye on." Said Seamus from the back, "The pretty brunette who he nearly killed."
"Well, I didn't nearly kill her, but I would like to get to know her."
"You know what they say, you only get one chance, and you might as well take it." Dean said reassuringly. "And mate, I think she likes you too."
At this Harry smiled to himself and wondered for the millionth time in his life what it would be like to have a serious relationship with someone.
"Oh look that must be it. The Del Amo Mall." Ron said.
"Looks big, I hope Hermione doesn't keep us here too long."
"Probably not seeing as she really wants to go to the beach sometime this weekend." Harry said.
"Yeah I hope we get to do that."
"What the hell happened here????" Ron muttered under his breath seeing a completely empty parking lot, save one car near the front.
"Something is wrong. Something tells me that this parking lot isn't usually like this."
~~**~~
A/N: Well, I hope you liked the subtle but obvious changes! Ignore that thing down there, I have no idea how it got there and I can't figure out how to make it go away.
Also, if anyone knows how to do italics and bolds and stuff, please tell me!
