AN: This chapter wasn't the best. But I felt like I needed to put something up before I went on a two week vacation in case I didn't have a chance to update. (Yeah, I know, I'm sorry.)

Disclaimer: I nly wn the plt. I'd like to buy a vowel.

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Seven wizards arrived at the flagged entrance to the carnival. They didn't look like wizards because they were wearing muggle clothes, but they didn't have that odd look that wizards trying to pass off as muggles had. This was all thanks to Harry and Hermione. Harry had lent the teenage boys some decent clothes (they weren't Dudley's hand-me-downs this time), Hermione had lent an outfit to Ginny, and Hermione's parents were gracious enough to lend Mr. and Mrs. Weasley some of theirs. All of the outfits were basic T-shirts and blue jeans except for Draco, who had gotten into the habit of either wearing an arm band around his arm or wearing long sleeves to hide the Dark Mark.

The group went over to the ticket booth to get wristbands. They were a bit more expensive than buying a pack of tickets, but would end up being a better deal since they were going to stay the whole day. Harry and Hermione paid, since they were the only two with muggle money, but everyone else had agreed to pay them back in wizarding money. Well, everyone except Draco, who thought it was a big waste of time.

Harry and Ginny had looked at each other mischievously as Hermione was buying the wristbands, all of them different colors. When the cashier had pushed them towards Hermione, about to give her change, Harry grabbed two, took Ginny by the hand and said, "We'll see you guys later!" as they ran towards the rides.

Ron, who looked upset shouted back, "You can't run off with my sister! Come back!" but by then they were long gone.

Upon seeing this, Draco whispered to Hermione, "Ron has some over-protectiveness issues, doesn't he?"

"That's the understatement of the year," Hermione responded laughingly. She turned to the Weasleys and handed out the wristbands. She had given Ron a pink one without realizing it.

Draco took the opportunity to make fun of him. "Why hello, ickle pink princess. Aren't you missing your tiara?"

Ron, who had already been upset over his best friend running off with his little sister (He could have asked) became even more so. His eyes narrowed and nostrils flared.

Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Why does Ron get so worked up over the stupidest insults?' she mentally asked herself. She gave Mr. Weasley a look as if to say, "Restrain him, please."

Mr. Weasley put a firm hand on Ron's shoulders, signaling that he would get in a large amount of trouble if he so much as blinked in Malfoy's direction. Meanwhile, Molly asked Hermione if she could speak with her privately for a while.

Once they were out of earshot, Molly asked her, "Would you mind going around with Malfoy for a bit? I don't think anything good can come from Ron and him being within ten feet of each other. It would be much appreciated."

"Alright," Hermione responded.

"Thank you so much dear. I'll try to keep Arthur under control. I'm sure once he goes on a few rides, he'll get overexcited."

"If people stare at you weirdly, just tell everyone that you're from some communist country, and that you've never been to an amusement park. That'll probably get people off your back. Oh, and always remember to put the restraining devices on firmly; some of the rides can get crazy."

They walked back over to a fuming Ron, a smirking Draco, and a tired-looking Mr. Weasley.

"Mr. Malfoy, since you and Ron can't seem to get along, you are going to have to stay with Hermione for a while." Now speaking to both Draco and Hermione, Mrs. Weasley said, "We'll meet up around twelve at the food pavilion for lunch. Tell Harry and Ginny if you see them. See you two later."

"Have fun," Hermione said to the retreating figures of the Weasleys. They were headed towards a merry-go-round with looks of curiosity. "Well, Malfoy, it's just you and me. If you try anything funny, you are going to regret it." Hermione looked around. "Where do you want to go first?"

"Granger, I don't think you understand the term 'muggle hater.' It stands for a person who does not like to know, understand, remember, or care about anything having to do with muggles—"

"I thought that was part of the definition of 'ignorant,' "

Draco continued as if Hermione hadn't interrupted. "Therefore, I, a muggle hater, would not know or care where we started."

"Okay, I get your point, Hermione said. "Let's go on the swings!"

That was how Draco found himself on an undersized chair suspended from the overhang of a thick column via four chains surrounded by swarms of small, muggle children. His nose wrinkled in disgust. 'Leave it to Granger to pick the worst ride first.' Draco grumbled mentally. He attatched the latch from the chair to the metal bar in front of him, and soon the swings lifted off the ground and began to spin.

Hermione was enjoying the breeze that blew as the ride spun. She looked backwards to see a scowling Malfoy. She smiled. It made the ride that much better.

When the ride had stopped, Draco walked over to Hermione and said, "That was the stupidest thing I have ever experienced in my life."

"Fine, grumpy. You pick the next ride."

"Alright, how about…that one." Draco pointed to a ride that resembled a mallet with the handle pointing upwards.

"Okay."

They walked over, and luckily there was a small line. Up close the ride resembled a bus with no wheels sporting a door for every double seat. The front and the back had large, plexiglass windows and the sides had small windows that resembled the kind one will find on airplanes. The ride attendant opened the doors, which swung up vertically.

"Ladies first," Draco offered.

"Thanks." Hermione thought to herself, 'I guess he has manners after all.'

After climbing in, Hermione pulled down the safety harness. Draco did the same.

"You know, I usually don't go on rides that go upside down," Hermione said in an effort to have a conversation.

"Wait. This goes upside down?" Malfoy looked panicked.

"Duh. Why do you think there's a harness that goes over the top half of your body?"

"Um, I have to get off. Now."

"But they've already closed the doors, and look, the ride is starting to move! Don't worry, this isn't so bad, and it lasts less than two minutes."

Draco currently had a death grip on the handles located on the front of the harness. Hermione saw how white his knuckles were, and realized his phobia.

"You're afraid of going upside down?" She asked in disbelief. "But you're a Quidditch player. Don't you sometimes have to do weird stunts to avoid getting hit by bludgers?"

Draco could now beat Snow White in the "Who looks like a sheet of paper?" contest that exists solely in this fic. Part of the reason he was so visibly blanched was because they were now at a ninety degree angle to the ground. The other part was that Hermione had the means to blackmail him now. Maybe if he pretended he didn't hear her…

"Wow, Malfoy. Are you so scared you can't talk?"

Bad move.

"No, I just---AAAAAH!" Malfoy was now suspended upside down at the mercy of the harness and the strength of the roof of the "bus" in case the former wasn't so merciful. Draco hated the feeling of blood rushing to his head. It felt like any second his veins were going to burst. Then came an equally worse feeling: the weightlessness that came from falling. It tore at his nerves and conjured bad memories.

One time, at five years old, Draco had wandered into an unknown room in the Malfoy mansion. He had been about to pick up something particularly shiny from a large wooden desk when his father had glanced in while walking by. The shiny object Draco almost picked up was obviously very important and most likely fragile, dangerous, or both, because Lucius had shouted a levitating spell and hung Draco out the third story window upside down. Lucius kept Draco outside, dropping him and levitating him repeatedly while yelling at him never to touch anything wasn't his. On that day, Draco had acquired his fear.

When the ride had stopped, Draco felt weak and could barely climb out. Hermione quickly ushered him to a nearby bench.

"Are you alright?" She asked with genuine concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just give me a minute."

'Damn, why did she have to see me like this? Malfoys are not supposed to show weakness or fear.' Right then, Draco resolved to cure his fear as quickly as possible.

He stood up shakily.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. Didn't I already tell you?"

Hermione's eyes were doubtful and worried. They reminded him of his mother's eyes on the night she died. Draco paled again.

"Maybe I'm not okay yet."

"Just sit down for a while. I'll go get you some water. Stay here. I'll be right back."

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Ginny and Harry ran from the ticket booth

"We'll see you guys later!" Harry exclaimed.

'I thought we'd never get a chance to be alone,' Harry and Ginny thought at the same time.

You see, Harry and Ginny had been secretly going out for a few months. Harry didn't want Ginny to get hassled by those reporters from Witch Weekly or other such magazines, and Ginny didn't want Ron to be on her back every time she was going to spend time with Harry, so they decided that they should lay low for a while.

"So, what should we do first?" Ginny asked Harry. They had slowed down to a walk once they lost sight of the others.

"How about the rollercoaster over there?"

"Sure. I love going fast and dropping from far up. But no roller coaster can compare with riding fast on a broom."

"Shh, Ginny. We're not supposed to talk about…stuff."

"Oh, come on, Harry. Nobody's going to care. Let's just get over there before there's a long line."

They walked over to the line for the roller coaster, which, as fate would have it, was very long, and curved over near the merry-go-round.

Harry put his arm around Ginny's shoulders and gave her a light kiss on the forehead just as his best friend had been walking by with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been curious about the merry-go-round, but Ron had been curious about a suspicious-looking couple a few yards away.

'That can't be…'

"…Harry?" said Ron.

Harry and Ginny turned around, and once they saw who it was, pulled apart as fast as they could. Ron was shocked. His best friend….his little sister…What was going on?

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Blueskyshymoon08: Thanks for the compliment. I tried hard to make it funny. I figured I needed some snogging since it's in the summary, but seeing as how Draco and Hermione hate each other, it had to be against their will.

Anonymous (Alejandro…I know it's you): Thanks.

XILOVE THE FERRETX: thanks, that hex actually came to me during summer school.

Londonmalfoy: Don't we all wish we were Hermione? I mean, Draco's hot!

Imissdumbledore: I miss Dumbledore too, and thanks.

Fallen angel (anon): thanks. I try hard to keep everything as realistic as possible.

Guiltyuntilproveninnocent: thank you for all your constructive comments. I realize the chapters aren't that long, but I'm leaving for NY today, and all the week before I was trying to get all my ideas out as fast as I could before I left…I'll try to update while I'm on vacation though. And thanks for saying that the people were "in character." Keeping characters true to the books is hard when you're trying to accomplish something that wouldn't really happen.

Re-o-ko: I'm glad you thought it was funny!

Malfoy572: Thanks. Yes, Ginny is certainly a piece of work.