Disclamer: Yeah...I still don't own Fairy Tail or Harry Potter...
In no time at all, it was the last day of term. Everyone had accepted their invitations, except Laxus who was spending the holidays with his Grandpa, and Hermione had also invited Harry for the holidays and Ginny, Neville and Luna for the post-Christmas party she had decided to host on Boxing day. She had invited the rest of the Mahoutokoro students, all of Durmstrang and a select few from Hogwarts. Even Remus and Sirius had been invited, though the latter had to decline for obvious reasons. Hermione and her guests had commandeered two whole carriages of the express, and the brunette flitted between compartments before finally stopping in the one housing Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Erza, Harry, Sting, Rogue and Yukino. The journey passed quickly, everyone talking about the Yule Ball and eating sweets from the trolley.
"So, Hermione, how come your family's so rich?" Natsu asked with a mouth full of pumpkin pasty, earning a slap over the head from Erza.
Hermione tilted her head thoughtfully. "Lots of reasons, but the main one is probably the fact that we own most of the Midlands and about half of Northern England."
Harry started choking on his chocolate frog, and Sting thumped him on the back. "Bloody hell, 'Mione!" He exclaimed, drawing confused glances from the others.
He summoned a map of England and a pen and gave it to Hermione, who understood, and started to draw squiggly lines on it.
He almost passed out when she gave it back to him, and turned it so the others could see. "So, you know how big the UK is, right?" At the blank looks he got, he guessed not. "Well then, Japan is a bit bigger, so if you cut off about a third, they'd be roughly the same size." He held up the map. "And Hermione's family owns this much of it."
Once again, nobody spoke, and Hermione blushed a bit.
"Damn, Hermione!" Lucy said. "My family's pretty rich as well, but it's nothing in comparison with this!" Thankfully for Hermione, the train was nearing Kings Cross, so she quickly went round all the other compartments and made sure all her guests had their bags. As the train stopped, she led the group through the wall to where a convoy of limousines was waiting, much to the disbelief of all the other Hogwarts students, and they all piled in. Finally, Hermione and her closest friends piled into the last one, and they set off for the Granger family Manor, watching films on the DVD player to kill time.
When they arrived, Hermione's parents were stood on the steps, looking the picture of aristocratic perfection. Mrs Granger rushed down the steps to gather Hermione in a hug, and everyone was led into the entrance hall.
"Welcome! Welcome, everyone. Your bags shall be taken to your rooms, and as I'm sure you are all very hungry after such a long journey, we shall adjourn to the dining room," Mr Granger said, his booming voice carrying easily through the large room. The large group walked through numerous hallways, and eventually came to a room with large oak doors, and a matching table that could comfortably fit twice as many people as were there. After they were all seated, Mr Granger clapped his hands, and servants began carrying the platters of food in - there was something for everyone! From ratatouille to steak to sushi, and that was just the savoury dishes. The Grangers took the opportunity to catch up with Hermione and greet some of the guests, those sat the closest to them.
"Also, mum, dad, this is Rogue, one of the Mahoutokoro champions," Hermione looked nervously between them, and Rogue gave her an encouraging nod. "He's, um, also my Yule Ball date," she said, blushing.
Mrs Granger smiled, and Mr Granger clapped him on the back. "You've done well, m'boy. Women like Hermione and my lovely Jean are rare finds in this world! I don't have to tell you to behave, because I'm sure Hermione is perfectly capable of, how do you magic folk say it? 'Hexing your balls off.'" The older man let out a jolly laugh, and Sting and Harry snorted into their napkins as Rogue and Hermione blushed. Soon, the food was cleared away, and everyone was led to their rooms, saving the couple further embarrassment.
"Sorry about that," Hermione muttered, face still red.
Rogue smiled at her. "No need to apologise, after all, I agree with your father. I believe you can and would 'hex my balls' off if I did anything to hurt you - in fact, I give you my full permission to do so." He hugged her good night, and walked with Sting and the rest of the boys to the wing where they would be staying. Hermione ignored Lucy's snickers and led the girls to their wing.
"Alright, ladies. There are enough rooms for you all to have one each, but I thought it would be more fun if we stayed in groups - like dorms or something. Anyway, in the first suite we have Lisanna, Mirajane and Yukino. In the second, we have Wendy, Chelia, Carla and Frosch. Then, in the third one, Erza, Minerva, Juvia and Cana. Finally, Lucy and Levy will be bunking with me," Hermione said, and the girls said goodnight before getting some rest.
The next day, everyone met up at the breakfast table and started talking about random things, like how beautiful the Manor was, and how lovely the gardens must look in spring.
"So, what is there to do round here, Hermione?" Natsu asked, although with a mouthful of toast it sounded more like 'tho wut ith der to do rand hir, Hrminee?'
Whilst Erza was punishing the pinkette for his lack of manners, Hermione summoned a piece of paper and started a list.
"Okay, so there are a few villages and towns nearby that we could visit, or we could take a portkey and go further afield. Actually, we could spend a few days here on the grounds. There's an indoor pool in the East Garden, and we could go visit the zoo," she said, and at her friends shocked expressions quickly continued. "No no no! Technically we own the zoo and the land it's on, but it's a public attraction - not private. That would be a bit excessive. Oh! I almost forgot, we have to go and visit Razalaston at some point. It's the only completely wizard settlement in all of England - Hogsmeade is technically in Scotland. They have the most beautiful decorations, and the Christmas tree is absolutely gorgeous!" She said enthusiastically, a dreamy expression on her face.
"Okay then," Lucy said. "Could we go and see the zoo today?" She asked, and everybody else nodded.
"Sure," Hermione said, and soon the group was being loaded back into a convoy of SUVs to make their way to the far end of the estate.
Winter wasn't a very busy time for the zoo, as most people preferred to stay indoors and watch TV, where it was warm, but Hermione just cast a few heating spells over everyone, and it felt less like Winter. More like...Spring.
"No!" Harry said in disbelief as they got closer. "No way!"
Hermione looked at him quizzically. "What, Harry?" She asked, and her friend grinned.
"This is the zoo we went to for Dudley's eleventh birthday - just before I got my Hogwarts letter!" He replied, and Hermione laughed.
"I remember, you told me about that. When your fat whale of a cousin interrupted the conversation you were having with the snake, the glass disappeared and he fell in the tank. The keepers never did find Barry." The witch tilted her head to one side, deep in thought. "I don't know how I never realised it was our zoo you were talking about!"
Harry stared at her. "You called an exotic Brazilian boa constrictor Barry?! No bloody wonder he was desperate to leave!"
By this point, everyone in the car was laughing, and this continued for a few minutes until they reached the side entrance to the zoo.
After everyone was stood together again, Hermione spun round and clapped her hands. "Okay you guys, the muggle part of the zoo is pretty cool, but the really good bit is the new section - the magical section! After my parents found out I was a witch, they got introduced to the magical world as well, and they started up Britain's first magical zoo! It's not actually open to the public yet - the opening date was scheduled for Spring or Summer, but that's only because that's when more customers will come. It's practically all up and running now," she said, and lead them through the gates.
Natsu, Gray and Harry grinned when they saw the lions, and Elfman started going about how 'manly' they were. The girls all cooed over some cubs, as did most of the guys. By lunch time, they had seen all of the muggle zoo, and were headed to the food court so Natsu would shut up about his 'poor, poor stomach'. Initially, Erza had punched him in the stomach to stop him complaining about being hungry, so that was probably what he was moaning about, but everyone else was hungry now as well.
"Should we go to the magical part next?" Hermione asked the group, and all of the nodded - well, except for Natsu, who had recovered, and was busy inhaling several portions of fries.
After Erza had convinced - read: beaten - Natsu into leaving the food, they all made their way to the new entrance.
"Awesome!" Sting breathed when they stepped through.
Keeping in with the wizards theme of things being slightly...haphazard - Diagon Alley for example - creatures were everywhere. The more dangerous ones, like the dragons and fire crabs, had their own pens, but in the field directly across from the entrance, several hippogriffs, unicorns and thestrals wandered around, munching on grass. It was alarming for those who couldn't se the thestrals, as it seemed clumps of grass were floating in the air before disappearing. Hermione grinned, and bowed to one of the more inquisitive hippogriffs that had approached the group. After a few moments, the gesture was returned, and she mounted it before taking off, nodding at the others.
Everyone else looked on in wonder - especially those that had been present at the flying lesson - as Hermione performed smooth loops and tricks The brunette had seemed uncomfortable flying on a broom, but now...it was like watching a completely different person.
Hermione bowed exaggeratedly in response to the applause once she was back on the ground. "If anyone wants to try it out, I'll get a handler to come help later. Now - first stop the dragons!"
She led them through the grounds, stopping only to flash an ID pass at the guard outside the dragon gate.
"This should be obvious, but try not to aggravate them. Dragons aren't the most even tempered creatures." At the slayers looks of indignation, Hermione rolled her eyes. "I mean these kinds of dragons, idiots! Your dragons were more sentient...more understanding. And definitely more intelligent. The only things that common dragons care about are their nests, mates and offspring."
This made the slayers mutter about how much better their dragons were.
Hermione rolled her eyes, and led the group through the gate, and everyone's attention was immediately caught by a huge Chinese Fireball letting out a stream of fire.
"Awesome!" Natsu said under his breath, and the others nodded in agreement, whilst Hermione grinned at them.
Over the next few hours, they saw the fire crabs, manticores, nifflers, mooncalves, occamies and countless other magical creatures.
The day ended after a lesson from the handlers on how to fly a hippogriff, and the tired group piled back in the car to head back to the manor.
A/N - Had to put Barry in here, can anyone guess where the name of Razalaston came from?
Ta for the reviews, you know I love 'em •^_^•