Chapter Two: Anger and Water-Fights

Hermione, Harry and Ron joined the group of seventh years cloistered in the Great Hall. Hermione glanced up and saw that the sky outside was dark and desolate. Rain pelted down in torrents and lightning streaked jaggedly across the sky, marring it with blinding flashes.

Soon, all the seventh years had boarded the Hogwarts Express. Hermione sat in the cabin with Harry and Ron, who were stretched out and dropping Chocolate Frogs absently into their mouths. Hermione gazed out of the winow at the gloomy scene. The rain had grown steadily. She felt nauseous at the thought of the churning sea - and of rooming with Malfoy. She still could not get over the unfortunate partnership. Sighing, she huddled tighter into her woolen sweater.

Somehow, the seventh years survived the long, dreary ride to King's Cross station. The the captain of the crew and a few subordinates met them at the station. The captain then announced that they would be traveling the rest of the journey in their respective suite groups.

"Emerald!" he yelled, gesturing to his left.

"Ruby!"

"Diamond!" A few others mirrored him.

"Sapphire!" called a stout looking woman. Hermione hurried over to her. Soon the rest of her group met up. Malfoy stared stonily at the opposite wall, refusing to look at any of them.

"You will be transported to the harbour by vans," the captain told them. "Two groups to one. Ruby and Topaz, Emerald and Garnet, Diamond and Sapphire..."

There were a number of vans waiting for them outside the station. Hermione followed the crew member through the rain and took the back seat of the van. The others filled up the front seats, until only the space beside her was vacant. And who but Malfoy was the last to enter? Hermione watched him, groaning inwardly. He cast a wary eye around, and seemed as frustrated as her as he slowly dragged himself to the rear and sat as far away as he could from her, practically moving into the walkway. Hermione suspected he would rather have stood.

Then the bus started with a jolt and Malfoy did almost fall out of his seat. Hermione rolled her eyes as he stubbornly remained in his awkward position. He had a look of irritation on his face. They went on treating each other like vapour, with Malfoy stumbling constantly and having to reposition himself.

Finally, Hermione got annoyed enough with his incessant fidgeting and moved nearer to kick him in the calf. He whipped around sharply and met her glare with a cold look of his own.

"Stop moving, Malfoy!" Hermione scowled. She had consistently been distracted from her book by his endless shifting.

"What's it to you, Granger?" Malfoy said icily.

"I'm trying to read," she snapped.

"Like I care. Deal with it," he answered coolly.

"Just move in!" Hermione snarled at him.

"No thanks, I'd rather not sit next to a Mud - you," Malfoy said evenly.

Hermione threw up her hands in frustration. After another half hour of silence, she finally got fed up of the squeaky disturbances and hurled her thick hardback at him. It whacked him on the head and fell to the floor.

"Granger!" he yelled, whipping around and turning furious grey eyes on her. "What the hell is your problem? That hurt, you ass!"

He bent down to pick up her book, presumably to throw it back at her, when he caught sight of the title.

"'Eclipse Thine Heart?'" Malfoy smirked. "What's this, reading romance novels now, are we? Get a life, Granger."

Hermione blushed and grabbed the book back from him. "At least I don't cry over it!" That being said, she kicked Malfoy into the aisle with her foot.

Finally, the vans rolled to a stop at the harbourfront. Malfoy and Hermione ran for the exit and salvation. The rain had ceased, but the ocean waves still churned and frothed with increasing ferocity. The captain met them on the dock. "Alright, your ship should be here soon," he said, smiling a game show host smile.

Everyone began grumbling at the wait, shuffling their feet.

After awhile, a ship began to glide into view.

"There it is!" some sharp-eyed idiot screamed in excitement. Everyone whipped around so fast they cricked their necks and nearly dislocated their spinal cord tissues. They began muttering and pointing at the humongous vessel. Emblazoned across the side of it in shiny silver letters were the words, 'The Hogwarter'.

"What kind of freakin' name is that?" Malfoy complained irritably under his breath. Well, not really under his breath, seeing as how Hermione could hear him from several feet away.

Hermione began to feel an anticipation build inside her. She had been too busy worrying about Malfoy to really comtemplate the fact that she was about to spend an entire five months traveling the world in a luxury cruiseliner. Suddenly the feelings just broke through and flowed forward as her dam of anxiety crumbled. Without warning, she began jumping and down and screaming joyfully, waving her arms about and whacking Neville on the nose.

Soon, the ship was anchored next to the dock and loomed over them while they gazed up at it in awe. Needless to say, almost none of them had been on a real ship before.

"I thank the Muggles for this!" some random girl yelled, causing the others to voice their agreement.

After waiting a long while, they could finally board the ship. Hermione ascended the high, long stairs. The crew led them through into the atrium where everyone promptly gasped.

There were three marble staircases arching off into the right, left and center that led to higher and yet higher walkways. Arches were etched into the walls, leading off to other rooms. Bars and lounges were scattered all over the place, clearly visible. An immense, intricately shaped half-moon glass skylight was built into the ceiling. Everything was made of a shiny marble or glass, so the atrium seemed to come alive with colours and reflections. The whole place was furnished beautifully, with warm golden colours greeting them. In the middle of the hall stood a gold fountain, shooting jets of silver water into the air. Around the fountain were several large, plush velvet couches. Glass elevators stood on the right, next to the reception desk. Soft, gentle music played all around them. Everyone was in complete awe.

The captain smiled. "Yes, beautiful, isn't it? But we have to get on to other matters. Each of you have been assigned to a suite, and I hope you know where you are. I shall call out the names of the suites, and I would like the respective groups to come up and collect the keycards. Then you can head up to your suites to unpack. Take the elevators if you wish. The floor number of your suites are printed on the cards.

"On your beds you will find a pamphlet containing a map of the ship. It also has information regarding meal times and details of the visits to other countries. The regular dining restaurant has appointed times and will only serve food then. However, there is no fixed time for meals at the Crescent Moon restaurant and you may go down to eat there whenever you wish. There is also a storage of food in your suite. However, it would be better if you could all eat together in the regular dining area. Meal times are great for idle chat, you know.

"Also, Dumbledore has expressed his wish that you socialise with your own suite members. I understand that you may have difficulties and differences, but try to be tolerant. The whole point of this cruise is to unite houses and give you a break before you have to go back to the working world. Out there you will encounter many unfortunate situations which require you to work with people you don't like, so you may as well get used to it now.

"You may do whatever you wish for the next five months. But as we alight at different countries, I hope you will adhere to our safety boundaries. Watches will be extremely useful. Please be back by the time we ask you to, for we will leave on the dot.

"One more thing. I know that you are all of age. However, we request that you do not use magic on this trip. We will know if you do. We would like to see if you can get along and live in harmony with your roommates without it. Even for the most skilled wizard, it is not advisable to depend heavily on your wand. You will be surprised at how much harder some things are without magic.

"There is only one more thing I request of you. Have fun."

The captain beamed at them again. Most of the students had fallen half-asleep from his monologuing. They jerked back to full attention when they realised he had finished. Everyone unconsciously wore grins bigger than the ship itself from their excitement. Hermione could barely stem her emotions herself.

The crew began calling out the suite names. When 'Sapphire' was called, Lavender, Parvati, Hermione, Neville, Dean and Malfoy all took their cards from the attendant and walked towards the elevator. Lavender and Parvati were giggling incessantly and squealing at regular intervals. The rest were barely suppressing the urge to scream and hop around like bunnies. Excepting Malfoy. He just looked nonchalant.

Then the elevator 'pinged' and everyone ran out and along the corridor, searching for the suite entrance.

"Found it!" Lavender finally screeched. Without waiting for the rest to catch up, she slid her keycard in the machine and threw the door open. They heard her shriek in joy. Hermione joined up with her quickly and gasped in awe, perhaps even more loudly than in the atrium.

"I think I'm going to be perfectly fine without magic," said Hermione wryly.

The suite was large, with windows that gave a view of the rolling sea below. The door opened to the main room. There was a 60-inch television set placed in the nearest corner to the door. There were red velvet couches - much like the ones in the atrium - in front of it. A large refridgerator stood next to the built-in cupboards in the wall. It was stuffed full of frozen and junk food. A microwave and kettle were placed on the counter next to it. The kitchen section took up less than half of the space. It was separated from the recreational section by a long bar top-like counter. High four-legged stools were placed in front of it. Also, spread across the rec portion of the room were numerous beanbag chairs.

The main room led off to two spacious bedrooms, with three beds each. The bedrooms were connected through two joint bathrooms. The first room was decorated with flowing red silk curtains and bedspreads. The beds were against the left side of the room. Pictures of romping and sleeping puppies decorated the walls. The carpeting was of the softest white faux fur. A long joint mahogany closet took up the whole north wall. It had three separate sections and doors. The bathroom doors were built into the right side of the room.

The other room was mostly the same, except that it had light blue navy spreads and pictures of the sea instead of puppies. The girls decided on the red room - because the puppies were adorable. The bathrooms were larger than normal hotel standard too. The bathtub was almost the same size as their own king-sized beds and the taps were adorned with delicate crystals.

"What's next, a gold toilet seat?" asked Dean amusedly with an eyebrow raised.

After unpacking and gushing over the suite some more, they all met in the rec room, settling down in bean bags or couches.
"You know, I think I love Dumbledore," said Dean with his eyes closed. He was stretched out on a three-seater.

"Well, duh," answered Lavender absently, busy burying Parvati in bean bags. "This totally rules!"

Hermione was absorbed in the pamphlet. "It says here we're going to Iceland first!"

"Iceland?" Parvati frowned. "Isn't it, like, all cold there?"

"Hmm, I dunno," Lavender said sarcastically. "I suppose Iceland is all warm and tropical."

"I didn't bring any winter clothes!" Parvati wailed. "Where am I supposed to get them now?"

"There's a boutique down on one of the lower decks," Hermione told her, idly flipping through the pamphlet.

Parvati grabbed Lavender and they both ran towards the elevator and took it down, chattering excitedly. Half an hour later, they both came back, armed with bags of clothes.

"You don't have winter stuff too?" Dean asked Lavender.

"No, I do, but everything was just so cute!' Lavender exclaimed, promptly bursting out into giggles. Hermione rolled her eyes but with a smile on her face.

"I'm bored," Malfoy said haughtily, apparently irritated that he was being left out of the conversation. "It's bad enough I have to room with all you...people. I'm not going to waste five months doing nothing."

Glancing at him glowering at them, Lavender and Parvati started giggling - again. Neville seemed to have been forgotten, and was watching everyone else silently.

Hermione ignored the two girls and began reciting their entertainment choices.

"We could to the gym. There's also a spa. And a theatre...but they don't have any plays or movies on today. Or we could to the arcade. Or go to some lounge and laze around 'people-watching'. Or play ping-pong slash badminton. Or go to the disco - no that's only at night. Or...we could go for the classic swimming."

"Swimming!" yelled Dean, thrusting his fist into the air. "Let's go," he said abruptly, sitting up and going into his room to change.

Lavender and Parvati ran into the room, already discussing what bathing suits to wear. Hermione and Neville went into their own rooms too at a non-insane pace.

In a matter of minutes, they were by the side of Dolphin Lagoon; which was they had christened the expansive pool. A high water slide stood next to it, and Dean, Lavender and Parvati immediately rushed for it, laughing. Neville was sliding himself gingerly into the water. Hermione and Malfoy were lounging on deck chairs, completely ignoring each other. He was wearing black swimming trunks, and her, a dark green one-piece suit. She had never been as daring as Lavender or Parvati.

Hermione lay on the deck chair, sunning herself with her eyes closed. Malfoy was reading something. Curious, she idly slid open an eye and glanced at the title of his book. Then, suddenly, she jumped up and yelled, "You hypocrite!"

Malfoy had shot out of his chair as well. "What? You can read it but I can't?"

"You're the one who criticised me in the first place!" Hermione shrieked at him, running forwards and snatching the her copy of 'Eclipse Thine Heart' out of his hands.

"So?"

Hermione was getting extremely irked by his unreasonable disposition. Without thinking, she shoved him angrily - causing him to fall right into the pool. He surfaced, spluttering, before she even realised what she'd accidentally done. Furious and eager for revenge, Malfoy grabbed her around the ankles and pulled her into the pool. Hermione growled and splashed water into his eyes. He retaliated and they had a mini water-fight - completely maniacal now - when they realised they were actually having fun.

The others had by then noticed the goings-on and Dean cheered and yelled, "Gung ho! Go Hermione!"

But she was already making for the side of the pool, shocked that she had actually been having a water-fight with her worst enemy - and not trying to claw his eyes out at the same time. Malfoy had realised this at the same moment, and seemed as horrified as her.

Hermione had already climbed out of the pool when she noticed her expensive, limited edition copy of 'Eclipse Thine Heart' floating serenely in the water.

A/N : Why Iceland? It's one of the familiar places I know and it's quite close to the U.K. I was looking at the Atlas and decided that since of course there will be romance in Paris, it was too near. Because there're still enemies, after all. I'm trying to slowly dissipate their hatred. And besides, as the Queen of Duct Tape said, cocoa does evoke cute scenes. :) I like the cold anyway. I'm trying to work on a route, even though I said I was too lazy. I want it to at least make a little sense. I think. Bleh. Research is boring. But I know Paris and Hawaii are definitely in. They always are.

Queen of Duct Tape - Yeah, hehe I actually was thinking of putting the Bermuda Triange in. :)

LiLbLueangeL1223 - Was thinking about that too. Heh. But I haven't ever been to Disneyland - I know, it's unheard of - so I'll have to do some more research. :( Or perhaps one of you could save me the trouble and recount your experience. :P

Weirdly - I dunno about that, I'm not really familiar with Ron/someone ships. Besides, Pansy's too obsessed with Draco anways. Heh. Maybe a little with Padma, (he did go to the Yule Ball with her) but I'm trying to concentrate on DM/HG first.

I'm doing too much research on these things. Hee. Since I've never been on a cruiseliner before, I went and looked stuff up. It may not be that accurate though. I was half-lazy and it was boring. But anyway I hope this update was fast enough. :D But I can't really write that much on weekdays cause of school. Sigh. It's break this week. But starting tomorrow I'll have to go back. Nuuuuuuuuuuuuu... (sobs) Ah well. Well, so I definitely won't be doing a chapter a day updates. :(