"Move it, Ginny, your head is blocking the Hollywood sign!" Ron said as he shoved his sister aside. They were driving down the freeway and Ginny was sitting in between Ron and the car window with the best view.
"Don't push! I'll move on my own!" Ginny bickered back. Ron and Ginny were not really angry with each other, but siblings fight sometimes just to let out energy and excitement.
"Don't make me come back there! I got a long distance owl from your mom yesterday and she told me to keep an eye on you two!" Charlie shouted over the noise of Ginny and Ron fighting position.
"Harry, have you thought anymore about Kindora Poppe? How are you going to meet her?" Hermione asked, half jokingly, half actually curious.
"I haven't really though about it. But I think I'll have my people give her people a call." Harry said sarcastically.
"But, dude, you are going to try to meet her, right?" Ron asked, "You don't let a tabloid story like this go wasted."
"Ron, I don't know. I'm not even that interested in meeting her. I barely know who she is. And she's probably never heard of me. And if we do meet, then that will only fuel more stories, and I don't want to be in the public eye anymore. This is my vacation. I wanted to get away from the stares."
"But…" Ron tried to say
"Ron, drop it." Hermione interrupted. And Ron said no more on the subject for the rest of the morning.
Charlie drove around a lot until he found parking. They all were eager to get out the car after a two hour drive. But Ginny was the most eager to leave. They had parked in front of a music store and Ginny rushed immediately inside.
"What are you doing, Ginny?" asked Hermione as she unfolded the star map they had bought a few street corners back.
"I want to see what Jeremy Titan's cd looks like!" She called as she disappeared inside. Harry shut his car door and determinedly followed her in. He wanted to see what this Jeremy guy looked like.
Harry found Ginny staring a large cardboard cut out of a young twenties guy. There was a sign next to him over a large display of cds that read, "Buy Jeremy Titan's new cd, J Tite, now and receive a free J Tite baseball cap!"
"So that's the guy who sung that song we heard all day yesterday." Harry scoffed at the cardboard picture of him, "What do people see in him?"
"Are you kidding. People see an amzing
singing talent wrapped up in a very nice package. Don't you see it? J Tite is the da bomb!"
"Da what?"
"Bomb. You know. It's really in the hizzo. A rapper was saying it on a radio interview yesterday. Weren't you paying attention yesterday in the car?" Ginny said, while attempting the rapper hand motions. You know, that two handed inward flick of the wrist. Not many people can do it. In fact, I'm not sure that anyone really looks cool like that.
"No! I didn't listen to that stuff!" Harry laughed. He had never seen Ginny act so free and goofy before around him. The Weasley's had always told stories of how Ginny never stops talking and how she can be real lively, but this was Harry's first glimpse into that other side of Ginny. She was being hilariously entertaining.
"Anyway, I can't buy it now, even though the baseball hat deal ends tomorrow. I just don't have the bling bling." Ginny said.
"What?!" Harry laughed. She couldn't be serious.
"Bling bling. You know money, diamonds, luxury, all that wealth. The bling! Oh come. on! I'm just trying to blend in. I'll bet everybody in California talks like this."
"Right. I'm sure too. But hey, do you really want that cd?" Harry asked, looking directly at Ginny's pretty face.
"Yeah. I love him." Ginny replied, with mock seriousness, disguising the fact that she really was a sucker for the pop music. It's just so darn catchy…
"I'll get it for you. It'll be a
present." Harry said.
"I can't let you do that. It's really ok. I'll get the bling from somewhere else." Ginny said, now very embarrassed, both about the money and about the way she had been acting. She had always kept this side of her form Harry. She had always wanted him to see her a serious person, not as Ron's goofy sister. But now she loosened up. "What the heck, he doesn't like me anyway," she thought, "oh yeah, and neither do I. I almost forgot about that."
"No really. You can't refuse a gift." Said Harry, glad he could do something for Ginny.
"Thank you. Really." Ginny said, and she meant it. She looked at Harry with such kind eyes that he would have bought her every cd in the store if she'd shown any interest in them.
"I really do like her," Harry thought as he carried a copy of J Tite to the cashier. "Am I being to obvious? It's too bad I only found out now. It's a little late for this I guess. Why didn't I notice her before, Ginny is way prettier than Cho, and ten times nicer…"
When the pimply muggle cashier scanned the cd, a bell went off inside the store that made Harry momentarily stop thinking about Ginny.
"What?" The pimply clerk said, hitting the cash resiter on the sie to see what happened.
"Stop hitting that!" Said the manager, "That bell means that this cd is the winning one. The person who buys it gets to meet Jeremy Titan!"
"Oh Wicked!" Shrieked Ginny.
"Yeah, congratulations! Here is the information packet. You can call his publicist and set up the appointment." The manager said, handing the packet to Ginny, not Harry, because she really seemed to be the one that was into it.
Harry was happy to see her so happy. And yet a little jealous that she was so worked up over a guy that she hadn't even met, and had only known about for a day.
"Oh, Harry! This is wonderful! Really a dream vacation! Thank you!" Ginny threw her arms around him. Harry was surprised by this sudden hug, so he only managed to pat her back lightly before she pulled away. But in that short moment of togetherness, Harry felt all the little resentment towards Ginny float away.
They waited a moment longer in the store for the clerk to put the cd in a bag along with the complimentary baseball cap, and then they raced outside to tell Ron, Hermione, and Charlie the good news.
They had a really fun time walking along Venice beach and seeing all the crazy people and stores. "Who knew muggles could be so weird?" Ron observed.
Ginny had found a pay phone (Charlie didn't have a cell) and called Jeremy Titan's publicist. To Ginny's delight, Jeremy was in town that day, and was free for a quick meeting at around four o'clock at a Los Angeles In-N-Out.
So, at three o'clock, Ginny insisted that they all wait outside the restaurant for him, in case he came early.
Of course he didn't come early. Jeremy showed up at 4:30. Everyone was pretty ticked off with Ginny for making hem waste over an hour of their L.A. time, but she was so delighted to see him, that they couldn't' begrudge her this, not now at least.
"Hi, I'm Jeremy Titan" he said as he walked to sit next to Ginny at their table. Ginny had given his publicist a description of herself so Jeremy could recognize her, "Thank you, Jenny, for buying my cd."
"Oh your welcome! It rocks! I listened to it all day. And I'll listen to it all of tomorrow. And I'll listen to it when I go back home." Ginny said, not bothering to correct his pronunciation of her name.
"Yes, you do have an accent. Where are you from? Australia?" Jeremy asked her, looking at her with his practiced look of intense interest. Ron snickered at Jeremy's mistake. Hermione smiled too. Harry would have found it funny, but he was hanging onto every word of the conversation. He was getting an idea.
"No, actually. I'm from England. The four of us are English. Charlie is our American guide for the summer." Ginny said. Her eyes were just glazed over, she was so caught up in his famous blue eyes that she didn't notice Ron and Hermione's giggles.
Jeremy only stayed to chat for about fifteen minutes. He had started to attract a crowd of paparazzi and fans. But, before he left, he gave Ginny a lock of hair from his head. "I want you to keep this, Jenny, and remember our wonderful conversation, because I know I will." Jeremy said, with a perfect wink.
Harry looked eagerly at the lock of hair that Ginny now held possessively in her hands. "Hey Gin, could I see that for a sec?" Harry asked,
"I guess you could, but give it back." Ginny said. She was very protective of this personal gift from a muggle superstar.
Harry took it carefully from her. He pretended to be interested in the dirty blonde color. But he pocketed a few thin strands. He'd need those to complete his plan. And the more he thought about what he wanted to do, the quicker he wanted to get started.