"Aren't we there yet?" Ron moaned several hours later as they neared Los Angeles.
"Stop whining Ron, we're getting close now. There's the Los Angeles county sign. It shouldn't be more than an hour," Hermione said just as they entered very thick traffic. "Or two…"
"Oh, come on Ron! You don't get to see Los Angeles every day," Ginny piped in.
"I'm bored," Ron said.
Hermione made a noise of annoyance, but didn't say anything
"Come to think of it," Harry said, leaning toward Ginny. "I think I'm starting to get a bit bored, too."
"You are, are you?" Ginny leaned in so that their faces were inches apart. "I can fix that," she whispered.
Ron groaned as they started kissing again, and looked at Hermione as if asking her without speaking to tell them to stop.
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Don't look at me like that, Ron, I'm driving. You don't want us to crash, do you?"
"What?" Ron asked, confused. He and Hermione looked at each other funnily. They both blushed and turned back to the road, as if nothing had happened. "So how long do you bet they'll keep at it this time?" Ron asked in a would-be casual voice.
"At least until we pass through L.A.," Hermione said.
"How much you wanna bet they'll still be going when we pull into the hotel?"
"No way! That's over an hour from now."
"How about a sickle?" Ron asked.
"You're on," Hermione said, grinning at her friend.
Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny were paying no attention to Ron and Hermione's discussion whatsoever. Or so Ron and Hermione thought.
"Can you two be quite?" Ginny asked irritably. "I'm kissing Harry but I keep on hearing Ron's voice. It's really disturbing."
Hermione rolled her eyes and continued to plow through the thick, but dangerously fast-moving traffic.
Ron starting counting the lanes on the southbound side of the freeway. Two carpool lanes, which are illegal to cross…six regular lanes…and an exit lane… "Hermione, there are nine lanes of traffic, and you are right in the middle," Ron said matter-of-factly.
"Thank you for that highly useful bit of information," Hermione said sarcastically, eyeing the four lanes on each side with unease.
"Did you know that about 3,600,000 people live in Los Angeles?"
"Now how do you know that?" Hermione asked, giving Ron a curious look.
"That sign that we just passed said so."
"I see you're being observant for once," Hermione said with an unreadable tone.
"Now what are you insinuating?" Ron asked angrily.
"Ooh, insinuating? That's a big word," she teased.
"Hermione, what is the matter with you today?"
"I like it, Ron! I'm just not used to you using big words and noticing things."
Ron turned slightly pink. "Oh…well…" he said, clearly at a loss for words. "What hotel are we staying in?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Residence Inn. It's only a few blocks from Disneyland. We'll be able to go there tomorrow."
"What is Disneyland anyway?" Ron asked, as they passed the exits for Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.
"Didn't I tell you?"
"No."
"Why didn't you ask earlier?"
"I did, but you just said 'you'll see.' It was when you were trying to perform the mobilia spell, remember?"
"Oh yeah. I didn't answer because I was trying to concentrate."
After a pause, Ron said, "Well?"
"It's a theme park, Ron. You know, like an amusement park, but with a theme."
"What's an amusement park?"
"Ron, do you know what a rollercoaster is?"
"No."
"You're going to love it."
"Okay, fine. So, what is a rollercoaster? What is a theme park?"
Hermione smiled. She loved torturing him like this. "You'll see."
Ron opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Harry. "How much longer, Hermione?"
"Ha!" she shouted making them all jump. "They stopped kissing! You owe me a sickle, Ron!"
"No we didn't. Harry just wanted to ask how much longer," Ginny said.
"It's probably over an hour, Harry. Just sit tight."
"You got it!" He then swooped back down onto Ginny.
"That doesn't count, Hermione," Ron said. "They only stopped kissing for a few seconds."
"It doesn't matter! They still stopped."
"No way! We bet on them still kissing when we pulled into the hotel. As long as they're still kissing when that happens, I'll win!"
"No, Ron. We bet that they'd be kissing the whole time without stopping."
"That's a bit extreme, Hermione. I don't remember that part of the deal."
"Won't you two just give it a rest?" Harry asked angrily, pulling away from Ginny again. "Bickering all the time! It drives me nuts! You realize that, don't you? You two are always arguing. It's like you're already married!"
Harry and Ginny returned to their previous activity while Ron and Hermione blushed and looked back to the road ahead of them.
After an hour or so of silence except for the noises Harry and Ginny were making, Hermione took the Katella Avenue/Ball Road exit.
"We're almost there! Why don't you two stop making out and look at the scenery!" Hermione said rather shrilly.
"No way are they going to stop," Ron said, snickering. Hermione looked aggravated.
"Look, you can see the top of Matterhorn Mountain!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing.
"What's that?" Ginny asked, pushing a protesting Harry off of her and looking out of the window.
"It's part of Disneyland! It's one of the rides, the Matterhorn Bobsleds." Hermione squealed with anticipation. "Ooooh, I can't wait!"
Harry snickered. "The Dursleys never took me to an amusement park before… I'm sure it'll be exciting." He gazed at the fake, snow-covered 'mountain' and imagined rollercoaster cars zooming around it, the classic sound of a rollercoaster screaming and shrieking around him.
"How do you know so much about this 'Matterhorn Mountain'?" Ron asked.
"Do you think I'd travel half-way across the world without researching it first?"
Harry vaguely mumbled "I wouldn't" as Ron said, "But you just found out about this trip yesterday. There just wouldn't have been enough time," forcefully reminding them all of third year when Ron had said almost the exact same words to Hermione over breakfast one morning.
"Oh, well, I just zipped down to the library and read until I fell asleep. You can still sort of see the mark the book made on my face," Hermione said, pointing to her cheek where there was a slight red mark the shape of a book. Harry, Ron, and Ginny all laughed while Hermione grinned embarrassedly.
"Here we are!" Hermione exclaimed, pulling into the Residence Inn, and parking in an empty space between a coupe with an Arizona plate and a pickup with a California. They got out and locked the car with a familiar honk and walked briskly to the entrance.
"Hi, I have a reservation…" Hermione said to the man behind the counter.
"Last name, please?"
"Granger," Hermione replied, glancing at a large fish tank near the entrance, where several large, colorful fish were hiding underneath a layer of rocks. On the wall behind the counter was a clock shaped like Mickey Mouse, with a mouse tail for a pendulum, which proclaimed that it was almost 6:00 P.M.
"Two bedrooms, four double beds?" Hermione nodded. "Room 416." He brandished a map of the hotel and began to point out the elevators, parking areas, stairs, restrooms, and dining room, circling several things in the process. He then told Hermione about a bus that they could take to and from Disneyland, and that she could buy entrance tickets to Disneyland at the front desk. Harry fell into a stupor. "If you have any questions or concerns, just dial zero on the telephone and you'll be connected to the front desk."
"Thank you!" Hermione said, taking the four room keys he was handing her. "Harry? Come on, Harry, we're going…"
Ginny pinched Harry and he tore his eyes away from the Mickey Mouse clock on the wall, an embarrassed flush appearing on his cheeks. "Eh… right."
Hermione led the way back to her car and opened the trunk. They each took their suitcase out of it and pulled it along with them back to the hotel.
Harry averted his eyes from the Mickey Mouse clock as they passed through the entryway and stood in front of a pair of elevators.
"We're on the fourth floor," Hermione said, pushing the elevator button so that it glowed orange. Ron looked on in amazement. "So we should have a pretty good view of the park and the fireworks!"
Ron stared as the elevator doors opened and they stepped onto it. "Fireworks?" Harry asked as the elevator started ascending. "There are going to be fireworks tonight? Why?"
"It happens every night," Hermione said casually.
They stepped off of the elevator at the fourth floor and proceeded down a hallway. "Well, here we are!" Hermione proclaimed, stopping at the door with the number '416' on it, and sticking her plastic key downward into the slot on the door handle. "Home at last."
Harry smiled. Ron and Hermione had completely forgotten about their bet on whether or not he and Ginny would continue kissing all the way to the hotel.