AN: YES:jumps in happiness: My reviewers came back! Thanks much to: nobody, mysteriouscharm, Shatteredangel2006, PrincessLuckyCML, Shadowed Rains (they bombed Scotland because if they hadn't there would be no plot :smile: And hey, London was just bombed :cries: …), Margaret, SmrtDancrGrl, centaur219 ( :feels highly complimented: ), yongweeperson, Kitaru, gidget89 (now I could swear that I said I didn't know the dollar-pound ratio in the Author's Note for chapter 8 and said I was just going to use dollars… however, now I know that a dollar is equal to 1.90 pounds), Tay, orlandoroxmysox (I don't know how you managed to review twice…), skyfire2459, Hermione-Potter-52036, -RWAR-, maraudersrock77 (yay for new reviewers!), GinnyGin, and a HUGE thank you goes out that my ONE HUNDREDTH REVIEWER: stacey! You rock:big smile:
Now, I don't know why, but a lot of you had this strange notion that Harry and Hermione were stupid enough to snog in public… honestly, don't you think they (or at least Hermione) know better than that?
And also, although I now know what is equal to a pound in dollars, I'm too lazy to change the references in the entire story so I'll leave it in American currency. :big smile:
Chapter 10: The Owl
Harry and Hermione were still thinking about how great it was that they were hired an hour later.
"Hermione," said Harry suddenly. "How much did he say we were being paid?"
"I think it was a total of two hundred twenty dollars and fifty cents for both of us per week," responded Hermione.
"But at sixty dollars a night, that's... over four hundred dollars a week."
"But he said we'd be getting tips, too, remember?"
"That can't be that much, though," said Harry.
"You'd be surprised," said Hermione. She opened the nightstand drawer and pulled out a calculator. "Let's think about this. If each party that comes in is an average of three people, that's about thirty dollars per meal. Most people give about a sixteen percent tip, so..." she quickly punched in some numbers on the calculator. "About four dollars and eighty cents per meal."
"That's not much, Hermione," said Harry. Hermione's fingers started rapidly pressing buttons on the calculator.
"Keep in mind, Harry, we're working six hours a day. Now, there would be an average of about, oh, I'd say four tables served an hour, so, that would be approximately nineteen dollars and twenty cents per hour. Multiply that by six hours a day and that's a hundred fifteen dollars and twenty dollars a day, times three days a week is three hundred forty five dollars and sixty cents a week. Add that to our two hundred twenty already and that makes five hundred sixty six dollars and ten cents. Approximately."
"Wow, so we'll have money to spare," said Harry.
"But we have to save it. Remember, we're still trying to get plane tickets to my house, which should only take about another two weeks."
"But Hermione, didn't you say your parents would be home in about two weeks?" asked Harry curiously. Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Yes, I suppose they would be, actually, you're right. So we can just call them and ask them to pick us up!" she said excitedly. Things were actually starting to get better for them.
"Wow, Hermione, I thought this rain cloud over us would never lift. It seems like it's finally dissipating," he said with a smile. Hermione glanced out the slider door.
"And look! It's stopped raining outside, too!" she pointed out.
"Want to take a walk?" asked Harry. He had come to like their walks that they had started at the Johnson's.
"Sure, why not?" responded Hermione. Harry opened the slider door and they walked onto the pier hand in hand.
The next day, Hermione and Harry reported for their job at eight thirty as they had been told. Once they were inside, Mr. Larrep gave them each a white shirt, dark blue pants, and a red apron, plus nametags. He showed them to the restrooms to change, and once they were in uniform, he gave them a short briefing on the restaurant policies, how their jobs should be done, and where they would be serving and bussing that day. Harry and Hermione were both fairly excited as they waited for the doors to open in five minutes.
"Wow, Harry, I can hardly believe it... we have jobs now!" said Hermione.
Her good mood stayed throughout the day, even when she got an irritable couple that complained about everything she did around the lunch hour. She was just refilling the husband's drink of that particular couple when she saw something that made her heart stop.
An owl flew past the window.
She was so intently staring at the bird sitting on the outside railing that she didn't notice when the man's soda started pouring over the rim of the glass.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" said the man, outraged. Hermione gasped and stopped pouring immediately.
"Oh sir, I'm so sorry, I just got distracted..." she said.
"Obviously!" he said. Hermione apologized again and again while she mopped up the sticky mess with the table napkins, and then she went to find Harry, who turned out to be in the kitchen. She quickly walked up to him.
"Harry, something's up," was all she said.
"What do you mean, 'something's up'?" asked Harry.
"I just saw an owl fly past the window. It's sitting on the outside railing, and if someone sees it..."
"What!" said Harry. "There's an owl outside?"
"Yes, I have to go and get it! Cover my tables for me real quick, will you?" she asked.
"Okay," said Harry, and Hermione dashed out the front doors of the restaurant and to the side where there was a ramp that led to the side door with a railing, on which the gray eagle owl was sitting.
That's funny... Hermione thought. I could swear that I've seen this owl before...
She brushed the thought aside and looked to see if the bird had a letter, and it did. She raised a tentative hand toward it, and when it made no objection to her grasping the letter, she untied it from the owl's leg. Turning it over, she saw the names on the front and her breath caught in her throat. There, clearly printed in shining black ink, were two names.
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
Harry, who had been watching from inside, quickly called over another waitress and asked her to look over Hermione's tables while he went outside to check on why Hermione was looking so shocked.
"Hermione what is it?" asked Harry.
"It's a letter... addressed to us..." she said faintly.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Open it, let's see what it says," said Harry. Hermione carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. She silently read it while Harry looked over her shoulder.
To Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, if you're alive:
We don't know exactly what happened as of yet, but, as you most likely know, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry no longer exists. However, there were survivors. Yes, you read correctly. The entire sixth year Potions class is still around, some in worse conditions than others. A few are still unconscious, but most are badly wounded. Don't worry, nothing life-threatening. I was the first to recover enough to be able to use a quill, so I was the one appointed to write you this letter. If you do get this, please send a return letter with the sent owl, telling us where you are, and we should be able to get a team of wizards together to come and rescue you.
Draco Malfoy
Harry looked at the letter, at Hermione, and then back at the letter again. Hermione, meanwhile, was scanning the letter once more.
"Hermione?" said Harry, his voice shaking.
"Yes, Harry…?" she asked quietly.
"Does that say what I think it says? And is it from who I think it is?"
"Yes, Harry. Draco Malfoy wrote to us to tell us there were survivors," she responded simply.
"Well, we need to write back!" said Harry urgently.
"Not now! We have to wait until we get back to the motel. If you could take this owl back to our room, if it doesn't have any objections, I'll cover for you," said Hermione. As she walked back inside, she saw Harry walking across the road, with the owl perched on his arm. She then returned to her tables and told the waitress covering them that she could go back to her own tables and that Hermione would split her tips for those tables with her. She noticed the irritable couple from earlier was done with their lunch, and she walked over to them.
"I'll take these plates for you," she said, taking the two empty dishes up off of the table. "Can I offer you two any dessert?"
"Coffee, if you have it," said the man. "Two cups, and bring cream and sugar!" he snapped.
"Yes, sir, I'll have them right out," said Hermione, grumbling in her mind about impolite people. On her way to the kitchen, Mr. Larrep stopped her.
"Excuse me, Hermione? Have you seen Harry?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, he went back over the motel real quick to get medicine, he's got a bit of a stomach ache. He should be back really soon," said Hermione, making up a lie on the spot.
"Oh. Well, you tell him when he comes back that we have plenty of medicine around here for our employees, okay?"
"I'll do that, sir," said Hermione. Mr. Larrep nodded, smiled, and walked away.
The next three hours seemed to drag by for Harry and Hermione, but finally they were walking back over to the motel.
"What did you do with the owl, Harry?" asked Hermione curiously.
"I wasn't sure what to do with it, actually. I sort of just left it in the room and told it to be good…" said Harry sheepishly.
"Well, I hope it's a well-behaved owl," said Hermione as they walked down the motel hallway. She pulled their card key out of her pocket and slid it through the lock, then opened the door. She was expecting pillows to be torn, bedding to be shredded, droppings all over the floor…
But there was the owl, sitting quite contentedly on Harry's bed. Nothing was disturbed at all. Hermione was truly amazed.
"That's right where I left him," said Harry in disbelief.
"Come on, let's write a reply. Hermione found a pen by the television and turned the letter over to reply on the back. After the two of them decided on what to say and crossing several things out, they came up with the final letter:
Draco Malfoy,
You have no idea how glad we are to hear that there were survivors. We were both outside of the castle when it happened. As to what exactly did happen, it was apparently a muggle combat practice, and fighter planes bombed Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. I guess the disguise charms on the castle and the village caused the muggles to think that both sites were abandoned and no one would miss them. We are currently staying at the Lake Shore Motel in Dufftown. We won't tell you the whole sob story, but let's just say that it will be nice to see some familiar faces. Please let us know an approximation of when you'll be coming to pick us up, as we have developed a sort of lifestyle here in Dufftown. And also, could we please have a status report of everyone that survived? We're worried about everyone and would like to know their condition.
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
"Well, I think that's sufficient," said Hermione, reading it over for the twentieth time.
"Yes, that's what you said when you read it the third time, let's just send it out," said Harry, who was eager for "rescue."
"All right, all right," said Hermione. She walked over to the owl still sitting on the bed and re-tied the letter to its leg.
"You have a safe journey and bring us more news soon, okay?" said Hermione to it gently. She then let the owl perch on her arm, opened the slider door, and let it fly away.
"Well, Harry, it seems like every cloud really does have a silver lining," she said.
"Really? Name the silver linings for all the dark clouds that have been over us for the past two weeks," said Harry.
"Okay. Our argument actually brought us closer together; Hogwarts' demise actually had survivors; walking fifteen miles made our legs stronger; although Mr. Johnson kicked us out, we met very nice people while staying with them; staying in a motel and getting jobs has taught us responsibility. Need I say more?"
"No, you've made your point. I guess you're right. I really need to start being an optimist like you," said Harry.
"Me? An optimist? You must be joking," said Hermione with a giggle.
"Nope, not at all," said Harry with a devilish grin, and he quickly pulled her into a long kiss.
AN: Okay, now I trust you guys to be just as good about reviewing as you were last chapter:begs: Please, please, please, please, make sure you review!