Harry Potter and the Stalkers of the Night

Chapter 2

Disclaimer- same as before

Rumble, rumble… POP! Rumble, rumble… POP! Hermione's car was not the best made vehicle. Inside of the white metal beast Hermione was driving with her hands precisely at ten and two, he body twelve inches from the steering wheel. Ron was riding shotgun with his one foot propped up on the dashboard. Leaning back, he looked at Harry in the backseat, leaning against Hedwig's cage.

"So mate," Ron called back to Harry over the music playing on the stereo. "Wasn't quite expecting that one huh?"

Harry nodded, lifting his head from its position on Hedwig's cage. "You could say that. It might've been nice if you gave me, I don't know, five minutes warning…"

"Naw." Ron let out a laugh, "Gotta live in the moment, mate. Besides, I thought it would've been more entertaining… and I was right!" He grinned triumphantly first to Harry then over to Hermione. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes from the driver's seat.

"I told him he should've owled, Harry." She called back to Harry, lowering the volume on the radio, "But did he listen? No…"

Ron scoffed, "you said no such thing!"

"Hermione cast a quick glare to Ron before putting her eyes back to the road. "You know I did, Ronald! Right after dinner when you got the bright idea in your head. My mum looked at you like you had three heads."

Ron shook his head "Well, you seemed pretty up for it at the time, so I wouldn't be talking if I were you…"

"So when's the wedding?" Harry piped in. Ron and Hermione's eyes widened as they looked first at each other then back to Harry. "Bill and Fleur's?" He elaborated with a hint of a smirk on his face. He struck a chord. An awkward moment passed where Ron and Hermione tried to hide their sighs of relief.

"Oh, er, next week. Huge thing at the burrow. I never knew Fleur had such a huge family…" Ron got a distant look in his eyes until Hermione slapped him against the arm. He recoiled and grabbed the spot she hit as Harry bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

They continued to drive in silence, bidding farewell to civilization as they entered the countryside. Looking out the window now, Harry finally saw one lone star. He let a small smile escape… until he realized it was an airplane. He leaned back against the headrest and let out a sigh, listening to the CD Hermione had playing

This is because I can spell konfusion with a K
And I can like it
It's to dying in another's arms
and why I had to try it
It's to jimmy eat world
and those nights in my car
when the first star you see
may not be a star
I'm not your star
Isn't that what you said?
What you thought this song meant

Harry had to lift his head a bit. "Uh Hermione, what are we listening to?"

"Something Corporate. This song's called Konstantine. I absolutely love them. Why? You think they're bad or something?" She asked him with an air that she didn't really care what his answer was.

"No, not at all… I just had a moment like the song." Harry tried to shrug it off. Why did he have to be so… what was the word Dudley used? Emo. Now he walked around with other kids purposely looking like him with thick rimmed glasses and dark hair. Why anyone would want to look like him was completely beyond Harry. He looked down to his hands and started to wring them, thinking of the year that lay ahead of him. Hogwarts would've never been the same. Ginny would never forgive him.

This is to a girl who got into my head
with all these fucked up things I did

Harry wanted to either thank or punch the man singing for being so spot on about his life. He hadn't heard from Ginny all summer. According to Ron's last letter she was now dating Lee Jordan again. 'Good for her' he thought 'She needed to move on… and so do I'.

The next thing Harry knew they were pulling into Hermione's driveway. She lived in a modest home and as he got out of the car, Harry could feel the moist dew of the early morning in the air and under his feet. He took a breath and let it out slowly.

Freedom… it's not all it's cracked up to be

a/n- damn that chapter sucked. I just needed a transition until Hogwarts, or at least the wedding. Hopefully they'll get better. This is the awkward period of my writing where I'm not sure how to get from point a to point b, only that know I need to get there.