A/N: Usual disclaimer. Please read and review!
As a slight side note, for those of you who haven't seen Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban please go do so. It is really good, but leave before the last few minutes unless you wish to say "man that was cheesy."
"Miss Hammock," a deep baritone voice sounded from the fireplace. Ashley glanced over to see Snape's head in the fireplace.
"Yes, anything up?"
"No, just curious, what should I pack?"
"Muggle clothes, also make sure you have some clothes for church. Shirt, tie, and nice dress pants should be fine."
"Church?" Severus repeated quizzically to Ashley.
"Well Dumbledore wants you to experience American life and church is a part of it in the South. Also, bring clothes that you wouldn't mind if they got dirty. I am sure that they will put you to work."
"All right."
"Bring your stuff over and I can help you pack, if you want."
"Fine. I'll be there shortly."
Ashley went back to packing, and a couple of minutes later, Snape appeared with a black suitcase under his arm. Severus placed his bag on the bed as Ashley looked over his clothes. "Have you tried other colors than black or green?"
"No, why is there a problem?"
"Well some jeans and khakis would be nice." Severus leered at her as she continued to critique his clothes. Ashley zipped her bags as well as his. "Right after the students leave, we are taking a portkey to Heathrow Airport, and then we take the direct flight from London to Washington D.C."
"Washington?"
"Yeah, my car will be waiting for us at Dulles. From Dulles we are going directly to Midlothian."
"You are driving?"
"Yes, nervous? Plus apparation is strictly regulated in America so I prefer driving instead of a portkey."
"Nervous, no just slightly curious."
"Oh. Well we won't stay in Midlo. long, just long enough to attach the dog trailer, then we are going to Rocky Mount, North Carolina for the weekend. I know you would probably want to avoid people but I'm sorry. There will be at least 40 people there."
"You must be joking, right?"
"No, at least 40 of my relatives. Just call us the American version of the Weasleys."The students left the next morning. Some students stayed but most left. Ashley and Severus walked to the edge of the grounds and searched for the portkey. They found it a few minutes later, a deflated soccer ball. They barely had 30 seconds to wait.
20...15...10...5...4...3...2...1. They were being pulled towards the ball as they spined. They came to a sudden stop in a crowded parking lot. They checked their bags with the person at the front desk. She quickly questioned Ashley about her dog but Ashley was ready. Ashley pulled out a stack of papers from the side of Brandon's carrier.
"Here are his health certificates, shot records, pedigree, registration papers with both American and British Kennel Clubs, vet records, and PETs certification."
"Ok, everything looks in order, will he be checked or carry on?"
"Carry on."
"Ok, Miss Hammock and Mr. Snape please enjoy your flight."
Both Ashley and Severus nodded politely to the lady as they walked away towards their terminal. As the reached the edge of their terminal, they were stopped and had to go through the metal detectors. Ashley took her purse and dog, and placed it on the conveyer belt. She placed all of her metal items in the little tray and walked through. She collected her things as Snape walked through without removing a thing. Ashley glanced over her shoulder at him. "Didn't bring anything with you to pass the time?"
"Yes but I shrank them."
"Oh, I was beginning to get worried that you didn't bring anything for the flight. It is around 8 hours long." Ashley glanced down at her ticket and looked at it in surprise. "Whoa."
Severus looked over at her, as she stood at their terminal with her mouth gaping open. "You might want to close your mouth; people are beginning to stare."
"Let them, Dumbledore bought us first class plane tickets." Ashley collapsed into one of the chairs. "I can't believe it, no annoying children poking me, no fat men snoring behind me, no half-balding men checking me out across the plane. Yes!" Snape peered over her, smirking slightly while trying to hold in a burst of laughter. "You have no idea of what flying in coach is like. The seats are too close together, families with small children are all around, and of course the fat people come and want to sit right next to you and start asking mundane questions like 'Have you ever flown before?' 'Where are you from?' in hopes that they might get slightly lucky later on and join the mile high club. Simply awful."
This time Severus couldn't contain himself, he let out a short burst of laughter. "Mile high club?" Snape questioned.
"Oh God. The mile high club is where.... Ermm...you go into the bathrooms with somebody else and have sex mid-flight." Ashley said quickly while growing beet red. "I don't even think that it is physically possible but that is just my opinion."
Severus smirked at her while her face grew redder and redder. "So I take it you are not a member."
Now it was Ashley's turn to laugh. "Hell no. God can you imagine how painful and uncomfortable that would be. Yuck. I mean they were designed to fit one person so that they can stand up and turn around. Plus if they hit an air pocket or some turbulence. Ouch, that would really hurt." Ashley felt her face getting hot and muttered a quick "Damn it," before looking out the window towards the plane. Snape smirked at her in amazement at the bluntness of her comment. He had never had anyone be so frank and honest with him.
Ashley glanced up as they started to board. Finally it was their turn to board. Ashley and Severus walked over to the counter and handed the flight attendant their tickets and passport. They walked down the long tube that led toward the plane. Ashley could hear the humming of the plane's engines as they stepped in. They were lead to their seats, which were leather and were spaced very nicely. Ashley let Severus have the window seat as she placed her purse over her head in the carrier. She placed Brandon at her feet and told him to keep quiet. He squirmed slightly but didn't make a sound other than him happily gnawing on his squeaky toy.
Around five minutes later, the flight attendants did a safety demonstration and made sure that everyone was buckled in. The pilot then came over the intercom, said his name, which Ashley soon forgot, where they were flying, how long it would take, and how high they would be flying. Soon they were taxing out and were instructed to place their chairs and seats in the upright position. Snape glanced over at Ashley, who was chewing on some gum. Ashley chanced a glance back at him, just to see him stiffen up and gaze thoughtfully out the round window. "You might want some gum or something to chew on."
"Why?"
"It helps your ears pop, unless you want your ears to pop all at once so you can loose your hearing for more than ten minutes, and it will hurt like hell."
"Fine, I'll have a piece." Ashley handed him a piece of her winter mint flavored gum. "How many times have you flown before?" Severus questioned, while trying to figure out what was going to happen next.
"Oh, I don't know, around thirty or so I guess. Nothing beats taking off though. It is like a weird and really fast roller coaster." Ashley glanced at him as the plane straightened up on the runway. "Here we go." Ashley said with a smile. The plane began to gain speed as Severus felt himself sink into the seat. As the plane sped up he glanced over at Ashley who was gazing off at the ceiling. With a jolt, the plane was in the air and gaining altitude.
About twenty minutes later, the plane leveled off and Ashley looked over at Severus who was clutching the armrests. "Well what did you think?"
"Interesting, is it always like that?"
"Yeah, now is the boring part, sitting for about seven hours. I hope the in flight movie is good."
"What about landing, you avoided mentioning that?"
"I hate landing; it is so jerky and bumpy." Ashley found the flight info packet and began to look through it, hoping to find out what movie was going to be playing. She finally found what she was looking for the schedule for the in flight movies. For this trip they were showing Jack and The First Wives Club.Before Ashley knew it, the pilot was on the intercom again saying that they were making their descent on Washington D.C. Ashley and Severus had made idle chitchat during the flight, nothing major. Severus noticed that Ashley had fun changing the movie into different languages with the headphones. As they got closer to the ground, Ashley clutched the armrests, nearly in a death grip. Severus smirked at her as her fingernails went into the side of the armrest.
They touched down and as much as he hated to admit it, Ashley was right, landing really wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. Once the plane came to a stop, Ashley and Severus left the plane and headed towards the terminal. They proceeded to the baggage claim and waiting for their bags to arrive. Ashley set her watch back to EST and noticed that it was only noon.
They found their bags and walked out towards the parking lot. "This must be a really bad first impression of America. Tons of cars and confusion. My car is down here." Ashley said walking towards the drop off area. Ashley muttered a quick "Thanks mom" under her breath as she loaded up her Black Honda CR-V. Severus walked around to the left side of the car. "Other side, unless you want to drive." Ashley said with a slight chuckle.
Ashley navigated around the confusion of Dulles Airport and Washington D.C. expertly. At times her frustration with other drivers on the road would slip out and Severus would just smirk. After she got past D.C., there was hardly any traffic on I-95. Ashley was grateful that they planned to travel mid-day on a Friday. After they pasted Fredericksburg, Ashley began to play with the radio until she stopped at 95.3. Severus glared at her, "What is this?"
"This is country music. You better get used to hearing it, that is all my relatives listen to except some of the odd ones that listen to Rod Stewart. Also, all the stations around here aren't that good, they either play slow stuff or Rap. K95 is the only country station so that is what I listen to."
"Are there any classical stations?" Severus questioned hopefully.
"The classical stations are nothing to be proud of; they play the same songs over and over but just different variations. If you want, I have some soundtracks in the visor. Just pull it down and you should find some classical stuff."
"What's this?" Severus held a CD with the words 'Concert Mix' written on it with a blue Sharpie.
"Oh, that should be a mix of my last band concert when I played. It isn't bad, but can't you find something else. I might run off the road if I listen to that again, I like to critique everything that I play." Ashley said quickly, noting Severus' confused expression.
Severus chose another CD, and held it. "Ok, I picked one, now what do I do with it?"
"Just put it through the little opening there." Ashley said while holding on the wheel and pointing at the CD player. "I will play once it is in there." Severus slid it in and the soft classical music began to play. "Nice choice, Ever After. One of my favorite movies and soundtracks."
They listened to the music and talked while Ashley drove. Severus kept on scanning the window. Ashley entered Richmond and got on 288 towards Midlothian. About twenty minutes later, Ashley pulled into a long paved driveway. She stopped at an iron fence and entered the access codes. The gates opened and Ashley continued down the long driveway. As she got closer to the house, a Great Dane began to run along side the car. "Must be cleaning the kennels" Ashley said to Severus. She parked the car and got out while restraining the Dane. She opened the back and the Dane jumped in.
Severus got out of the car quickly; "you definitely know how to get me out of the car."
"Oh come on, Mars was just trying to say 'hi'."
They walked up to the house. Severus kept a blank expression as he looked at the beautiful brick house. "You used to live here?"
"Yup, still do. I never sold the house. My house elves keep it clean for me and my mom comes over from time to time to check on it. She lives in Virginia Beach. I love this house, my brother designed it and my dad helped build it. All I had to do was buy the land, all six acres of it."
"Nice deal. " Severus commented as they walked in. They walked into a nicely decorated hall with tile floor and moving pictures of different music artists, all were autographed. To the left was a spacious dinning room with hardwood floors, there was a Baldwin baby grand piano in a corner and a mini bar in the corner opposite, the rest was a china cabinet and a table. To the right was what Ashley called her "everything room", it had a drum set, sofa, recliner, wide-screen TV, stereo system, grooming tables, dog beds, and tons of ribbons and trophies.
They walked to the back of the house and looked out at the yard. There was a building towards the back with a trailer parked right next to it. Ashley loaded up the dogs into the trailer and attached it to the back of the car. Severus looked around and noticed that Mars wasn't loaded into the trailer, "I think you forgot him."
"No, he rides in the car. He will get sick if he rides in the trailer so he sits in the back." Ashley commented while helping Mars into the back. She attached him to his special harness and shut the door. "All right, let's go. I want to be there before it gets dark."A/N: That is the end of Part 1, Part 2 will be coming soon. Please read and review.
