Hermione was seated on the soft two-seater couch in the tent. In the wizarding world, tents are equipped with facilities such as showers, kitchens and ample space for beds. Size from the outside doesn't matter. The tent in which they were occupying was the size of a two-bedroom apartment, complete with a living room.
"Pass me the chips please!" Ron called out across the room.
Hermione glanced down at the packet of BBQ-flavoured chips she was gorging on. She had managed to finish the whole packet in 5 minutes.
"Sorry, I finished everything already." She replied, laughing.
Harry hurled a fresh packet of caramel popcorn at Hermione.
"Here you go, you little piglet." He said, "We shall fatten you up and cook you for dinner!"
Hermione giggled. She would have to do a whole month's worth of exercise to burn off all the calories from all the snacks she was eating.
"E-nee-weey, baa to beesh-nush." She said, struggling to open the packet with her teeth.
Ron strode across the room, snatched the packet from Hermione and ripped the packet open with one deft pull. Harry laughed.
"You were saying?" Ron teased, handing the popcorn back to Hermione.
"Shut up." She glared, nibbling at the popcorn, "Anyway, I was thinking that we can do our research on the pendant back in the library. Because I think I saw it in one of the books before."
"Okay, go on." Harry said, chewing on Chocolate Frogs.
"The only thing is, it's in the Restricted Section." She continued, flicking a sticky wad of popcorn off her red baby-tee, "Meaning, we would have to take a midnight walk."
"So you're saying?" Ron asked.
"We need a new Invisibility Cloak." Hermione responded, looking pointedly at Ron.
Harry snickered. Ron looked annoyed.
"Hey, it's not my fault I have over-active hormones." Ron said, folding his arms over his chest.
Hermione rolled her eyes. Male ego.
"Isn't there a duplication spell somewhere in our syllabus?" Harry asked.
"Well, there is." Hermione answered, "But since the cloak is a powerful magical object, I'm not sure whether the spell would bound. And when it does, it will duplicate whatever it hits. Which means if any of us happened to stand in the wrong place at that point in time…"
"Then we'll get 2 Harry's or 2 Hermione's!" Ron exclaimed, "Cool!"
"Or there could be 2 Ron's too." Harry said, finishing the rest of his Coca-Cola and tossing it across the room into the waste paper basket.
"Plus, even if it would work, we still haven't learnt that spell yet. It's a NEWT thing." Hermione said, "I haven't had the chance to read up on it yet."
"Okay then, so we'll do all our stuff when we get to school." Ron said, heading towards to kitchen to raid the fridge.
The trio fell into silent mode again. It always happened when all of them were thinking about one thing or another. If that weren't the case, it would be because they were too engrossed in their food.
"Hermione?" Ron said, walking back into the room and breaking the silence.
"Yeah?" She said, looking at him.
"Since you're Head Girl now, Harry is just a normal prefect and I'm a nobody, would you still come over to the common room and visit us?" He asked, dropping to the floor next to the sofa.
Hermione looked at Harry, who was looking straight at her. It was an awkward moment. She knew her two best friends, especially Ron, felt a bit left out when she received the news that she was to be the Head Girl at Hogwarts. The Head Girl and Head Boy both had their individual rooms quite far away from the house common rooms. Plus, both the Head Girl and Boy had other activities going on and won't have much time to interact with other students.
"Of course I will, Ron," Then she added, "And Harry. You guys are my best friends. I would never forget you two."
"Promise, Hermione?" Harry said, coming over to sit on the sofa.
"Yeah, I will." She said, pulling the both of them into a big hug. "You two come and visit me too, okay?"
"Sure." Both of them said together.
Hermione let go of them and sat back on the sofa.
"I wonder who would the Head Boy be." Ron said, leaning on the sofa.
"Yeah." Hermione said, "I hope it's some one nice. I won't want to be stuck with a Slytherin git for the whole year round. Especially not Malfoy."
Harry pulled a disgusted face.
"Don't mention his name." He said, "It gives me the creeps."
"But in the event that Malfoy becomes the Head Boy…" Ron started, but was cut off by Harry's enraged look. "What? He's got good grades and he's certainly got Snape's vote."
"Yeah, but he's a slimy bastard!" Harry said, raising his voice.
"I said in case, Harry. Chill!" Ron said, grabbing some peanuts from the coffee table. "Anyway, in case, we would be camping outside your door for the whole year and we would only go back to the dorm when Filch comes, right Harry?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks guys, I really appreciate it." Hermione said, "If not mistaken the Head Boy, whoever that is, would have to share a common room with me, that's it. I think Dumbledore would have enough wits to give us separate bathrooms. Even then, you guys are welcome to camp at the common room if you want to."
"Okay, that'll be good." Harry said.
"Hey, I think we've run out of chocolate." Hermione said, as she rummaged through the pile of food at the coffee table. "It was my turn just now, so some one else has to go this time. Ron? Harry?"
Hermione looked up and found that both the boys were missing. She stood up just in time to see the door to the boy's room slam shut. She could hear the both of them struggling not to laugh.
"Boys will be boys." She muttered as she grabbed her wand and alohomora-ed the door.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hmmm…I think this whole story thing is getting a 'lil draggy. Think so? Please give me your review so I can change some stuff (if necessary) before I post up the following chapters. BTW, thanks to Gabriel for reviewing. YOU ARE MY VERY FIRST REVIEWER, muaks! I've got the whole plot worked out in my head, just that I'm having my exams now and can't really go on the net that often. I'll only post a chapter each time. Thanks to all.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own all the characters mentioned in the story.