Disclaimer: I may have been missing in action in the fan fic world for a couple months, but I still don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 17: The Zoo (finally)
"Oh George," Hermione said in awe as she looked around at the sprawling zoo. He chuckled, understanding her excitement.
"I bet you had no idea there was so much of the wizard world you knew nothing about. Thought you had it all figured out, didn't you?" George teased, smiling down at Hermione. She laughed good-naturedly as they set off down one path. They passed cage after cage of creatures, some familiar, some completely new, and a few invisible. Hermione and George paused in front of one habitat where an ape-like, silky haired creature flickered between visibility and invisibility. Hermione hurried over to the placard labeling the creature as a "Demiguise" and giving information about its natural habitat and magical uses. Further along the path, they passed a petting zoo where little girls clustered around a beautiful, majestic unicorn. They hurried, hand in hand, past an exhibit of magical bugs, which made Hermione shudder and explain that she hated bugs (they made her feel itchy just looking at them).
Up ahead they saw a building, which Hermione would compare to the muggle aquarium. There was a variety of brightly colored fish swimming gracefully through walls made of water. On a placard, Hermione read the names of various fish and water creatures: plimpies, remoras, shrakes, and even grindylows. She chuckled to herself when she read about the shrakes' uncanny habit of destroying muggle fishing nets. A large gasp issued from Hermione when she read one particularly interesting placard.
"What is it?" George asked her.
"It's real!" She exclaimed, still eagerly reading the information provided.
"Um, what's real?" George asked again, obviously bewildered.
"The Loch Ness monster!" She squealed.
"Well of course it's real. Don't muggles know that?" George asked her.
"Well they do, sort of. Most people just think it's a myth or something. They have no idea that kelpies actually exist. Wow, wait till my dad finds out about this," Hermione exclaimed. George laughed at the glow of excitement in her eyes and couldn't resist pulling her close into a hug and kissing her hair.
"If you think this is exciting, wait till you see the Griffins. They were always my favorite as a kid," George said, pulling her out of the marine animal building.
"Aw," Hermione laughed, "always a Gryffindor at heart, weren't you?" He gave her his most winning smile and tugged her down one of the winding paths lined with zoo exhibits. About halfway there they nearly collided with a little boy running helter-skelter in front of his mother.
"Isaiah! Watch where you're going!" The woman, presumably his mother, shouted tensely. There was a blond haired, pigtailed girl attached to the woman's arm, pleading for one last look at the unicorns. The woman also pushed a baby stroller with a whimpering baby inside. A diaper bag hung haphazardly from her shoulder, threatening to spill its contents on the sidewalk.
"Oh, it's ok, no problem," Hermione said, mustering up a sympathetic smile for the overwhelmed woman. There was something familiar about her, actually. "Lavender?" The woman's head popped up from where she was digging through her diaper bag.
"Hermione? Is that you?" Hermione nodded, not quite sure how to react. It had been a long time since she'd seen her former dorm-mate, and they had not exactly been on good terms considering all that had happened with Ron that year. The thought made Hermione blush a little but she willed herself to forget the awkwardness of their past.
"How are you? Are these, um, your kids?" Hermione asked with a smile.
"Um, yeah, this is Isaiah, Emily, and little Christopher," she said pointing at each child in turn.
"Mommy, I want to seee the unicorns," Emily whined, tugging at her mother's hand. Lavender managed a tight smile.
"Hold on please, mommy is talking to some friends," Lavender scolded the girl. She turned to Hermione and George, who had remained mute thus far, with a smile. "So what are you doing here with one of Ron's brothers Hermione?" Hermione's eyes sprung open in wide surprise, so much for forgetting the past, she thought. How in the world was she supposed to answer this one? Luckily George rescued her, gallantly stepping in to shake Lavender's hand.
"I'm George. Hermione and I are seeing each other, actually." It would have been hard to decipher who was more surprised by this statement, Lavender or Hermione. They had not even told his family yet and here he was blabbing the biggest gossip Hermione had ever met. She managed a nervous smile in the direction of Lavender, not really daring to meet her eyes.
"Oh, I see," Lavender said primly. "I suppose I just assumed that you and Ron had gotten married. You just seemed sooo in love. What a pity." Hermione was suddenly overcome with the desire to hit Lavender, hard. George, seeming to sense this, put his arm around Hermione's shoulders and beamed at Lavender. "Well, I really ought to be off, Emily just loves those unicorns. Enjoy the rest your day," Lavender said pristinely before maneuvering the stroller past Hermione and George.
"Well, that was delightful," George said once Lavender was out of earshot. Hermione looked at him incredulously before realizing that he was only joking.
"Oh what a pity, you seemed sooo in love," Hermione said in a high-pitched voice, mimicking Lavender. "She disgusts me," she announced grouchily. George smiled down at her empathetically.
"Feel like calling it a day?" He asked, though they had not even made it to the griffins. Hermione nodded emphatically.
"That horrible, spiteful woman has ruined the zoo for me," she said.
"Oh poor little Hermione, do you want to go pet the unicorns before we leave?" George said a patronizing voice.
"Hush!" Hermione said, now laughing. They walked arm in arm out of the zoo and used a return portkey to make it back to Ottery St. Catchpole.
A/N: Oh guys, I am a horrible fan fiction writer. I am so sorry that it has taken this long, I've had a busy last couple months with moving to Illinois and starting my junior year of college. I hope you like this chapter. Thanks for sticking with me! Although I planned for this to go on much longer, I think I will finish it up after a few more chapters (I already have the last chapter written). If you'd like, review, perhaps it'll motive me to pop out another chapter soon! Oh, and any info about the magical creatures came from the Harry Potter Lexicon.