Disclaimer: I don't own no stinking copywrites, or papers for neither Harry Potter or the Godfather. But I could get you cats and alligators some mighty fine giggle water and teach you some keen or whacky hopping moves for the local Apple's biggest Clip joint! Yo, I sound a tiny bit splifficated or soaked with a bar rag! Pie-eyed ya know?
A/N: I'm taking some liberties with the mall. See rest of a/n at the end of the chapter.
Togged to the Bricks and Hoppin' to the Wingding
The trip to the caves was quick for the four teens. When they arrived they stepped to the side and took a look around them. The Apparition spot was situated at the top of a slight hill so the new arrivals could see all around the caves to find their destination.
The Wabasha Wizarding Caves was literally a giant cavern filled with smaller buildings. Large balls of whitish-yellow light were spaced evenly along the ceiling of the cave, providing enough light to feel as if they were outside. The interior of the cavern could fit several Quidditch Pitches inside comfortably had the small shops not been there. Indeed, Ron was excited to see a large pitch on the far side of the cave.
Harry could see several shops advertising things such as books, cauldrons, and quills, but also several shops for jokes, clothes, and an old building that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in many years that said Smith's Scrolls. A large white marble building was centered between the Apparition spot and a Quidditch Pitch. Harry could see a Goblin guard standing in front of the doors.
Several owls appeared nearby and flew to a building that had the word Post in front of the window.
All around them witches and wizards popped into the caves and wandered down to the shops. Many of the people who arrived were wearing Muggle clothes, which surprised the teens. In Diagon Alley, you were hard pressed to find an adult wizard or witch wearing Muggle clothes unless they were married to a Muggle, or Muggle-born, or lived in an area with many Muggles. Usually, adults didn't bother with Muggle clothes since they could Apparate to their destination or Floo, never having much contact with the Muggle world.
But here in Minnesota it seemed like magical folk mixed with the Muggles on a daily basis. To emphasize the point, Harry watched as a boy roughly their age popped into the area. He was wearing baggy jeans and a black tee-shirt and was listening to Muggle headphones attached to a small black box with several buttons on the top. He recognized it as a Walkman, like one of Dudley's old toys.
"Hey, Hermione," he muttered. "How do you reckon he's able to use a Muggle device here?" he asked her. She looked and saw the teen walking away bouncing to the music.
"I'm not sure. Maybe it's enhanced by magic," she muttered back.
They started to walk around looking at the sites. Every once in a while they'd point at something and exclaim at is strangeness, or similarity to Diagon Alley. Hermione decided to check out the bookstore called Baggins' Books.
They pushed the door open and Hermione inhaled deeply, with a look of bliss on her face. Ron rolled his eyes and walked towards the Quidditch section, while Harry and Ginny secluded themselves in the Defensive Magic section. Hermione flitted from one section to another for a short while just looking at the different areas.
Soon, Harry and Ginny had a small stack of books on different subjects. Harry had found a book in between the Defense and Transfiguration sections on Animagus transformations. He'd had the idea of trying to become an Animagus since he'd found out his father had been one, but had never had the time or the patience to try. Now that he was free of the Prophecy he could at least try.
Ginny saw his choice and raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She picked out a book on how to craft new spells and charms.
Ron had been searching the area with Quidditch books and found one on the popular American game Quodpot. He didn't understand the thrill of just passing a ball to each other waiting for it to explode in his face with no Keepers, Seekers, or Beaters, but being a Quidditch fanatic he wanted to learn more about the take-off game.
Hermione was searching through the ancient books in the back and found a book called Wicket's Compendium of Most Ancient Love Spells by Worvell Wicket and one called Native American Spirit Animal Magic by Chief Nakumatan. When the others gave her a look at the first title she huffed.
"Now really," she started. "It's about using Love to enhance your magic. Ring a bell? Harry's mum?" Harry suddenly looked very interested in the book.
While they were purchasing their finds, Harry reached over and grabbed one more book off the shelf nearest the counter. When the cashier set it down Ron snorted.
"Inventory of Household Handy Spells? Really Harry?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Harry frowned at him.
"Ron, do you know a dusting spell? Or a spell that can paint a room, or get rid of bugs or cook? If I expect to live alone at all, I'll need to know these," Harry said as he handed over the money. Ron looked at him.
"But, isn't that kind of stuff a wom—"
"Ronald Weasley, if the words 'woman's job' come out of your mouth I swear you will be looking for a new girlfriend so fast, your head will spin!" Hermione growled at him. The look on her face was so fierce Ron reached over and grabbed one of the books and set it on the counter.
"I'll take one, also, please!" he said to the man behind the counter. The man chuckled.
"Good thinkin' sonny," he said, making Harry and Ginny laugh. Ron paid for the book and held it between himself and Hermione. She glared at him for a moment before smirking at him and turning to walk outside. Realizing he'd been had, he frowned and looked at the book he'd just bought.
"Hey, Ron. Can you help me with something? What's this word I'm looking for?" Harry asked his friend. Ron looked at him quizzically. Ginny snorted.
"Harry, I think you're looking for the word 'Whipped'," she said.
"Ah! Yes, that's the word! Ron you are so—"
"Whipped!" Ginny finished for him with a grin. Ron scowled and stormed after Hermione who had taken the bag of books outside. The two laughed heartily as they followed him out of the store.
They found Hermione talking to a ghost couple.
The man was in 1930's Gangster garb, and had a Tommy-gun hung casually over his shoulder and a brief case in his hand. The woman was wearing a very short black flappers dress, a long, black feathered boa, several long pearl necklaces and fishnet stockings with stiletto knee-high boots. She had elbow length black gloves, a headband with a black feather sticking out of it and a twelve inch Beatnick cigarette holder in her right hand. She had her left arm around the mans right arm and they hovered a few inches off the ground.
"This beautiful doll and myself would be most honored to have the pleasure of your esteemed company, and the company of your truly fine fella and your well-regarded Joes as we will be wetting our mugs with some hot juice from this Armory-type establishment, after which we will be taking these two papers and slipping them to the jasper at the door where we will be taking in some most elegant song and dance style entertainment. What say you, eh?" the male ghost said to their small group.
Ron and Harry stared at him with blank looks, while Ginny and Hermione giggled at the strange jargon.
"Huh?" Ron said intelligently.
"I myself am askin' you Joes if you and your filly's would accompany myself and my kitten to the local Clip joint and share in some well-gotten giggle juice and then we'd all get togged to the bricks and go for a jolly up and have a Ring-a-ding-ding at the Gin mill. You dig, Pally?" asked the man.
"Er, I have no idea what you just said," replied Ron glancing at Harry and the others. Harry shrugged, and the girls giggled harder.
"This high hat don't know your story, morning glory. They's all wet. Let's get hoppin' to the wingding, before I take a powder and find some Johnny with some real bacon, who can show me a juicy clam bake where I can blow my wig! You dig? I didn't get dolled up smooth for no reason, Mickey," the woman said angrily.
"Come on doll face, don't be that way. I was just tripping for biscuits with these wheats and they're Molls. We'll make tracks now, and go to the Apple's biggest Clam-bake clip joint there is baby. You know I'm dizzy for you doll face," the man said as the two slid away from the teens. The four of them stood and looked at each other before bursting out into raucous laughter.
"Do any of you know what they said? Or was it all nonsense?" Ginny asked.
"I have a feeling they were inviting us to do something inappropriate but I'm not sure. I could tell they were from around the 1920's to 30's. Probably killed in some kind of Gang fight," Harry replied, earning looks from the others.
"What? My uncle liked watching The Godfather. It's not like I could ignore it when he watched it like three or four times a month," Harry replied. Hermione shook his head while Ginny and Ron looked confused.
"Why would your uncle like watching his Godfather a few times a month?" asked Ginny.
"No, The Godfather. It's a gangster movie people watch on the television," said Hermione.
They decided to keep walking and checking out certain shops and stores.
"What is that?" Hermione pointed to a fairly large building with big green letters on the front that said Muggle-Mart.
"I'm not sure." Harry shrugged, and pointed out the youth from earlier that was using Muggle head-phones and a Walkman was coming out. "But he might know."
They walked over and flagged down the adolescent.
"Excuse me, we're kind of new in town. Could you tell us, what that store sells?" asked Harry. The boy turned and looked at the store.
"Um, isn't it kind of obvious? It sells Muggle stuff," the boy said. "Usually the stuff is spelled to not need things like batteries or cords and stuff. Powered by magic, you know?" Harry nodded and thanked the boy who walked off giving them strange looks. Harry looked at the others and gestured to the store and the teens headed off to their next destination, The Muggle-Mart.
As they walked in a man wearing a green vest welcomed them. They nodded to the man who looked tired and dejected.
"That guy sure could use a Cheering Charm or two," Ron mumbled. Harry nodded. As they entered the store that saw row upon row of shelves upon shelves of things like clothing, food, electronics, and toys.
"Wow," Ginny said.
"Isn't it illegal to bewitch Muggle artifacts?" asked Hermione in a whisper.
"In Europe yes, but I guess it isn't here," replied Ron.
The four teens spent an hour wandering the isles and playing with items. Ginny giggled like crazy in the Lamp isle where she found a lamp shaped like a hula dancer, that would actually sway her hips and dance when you turned on the lamp.
Harry was enthralled with the electronics department and decided to buy himself a television and VCR plus several movies, when Hermione reminded him that the items would be illegal to bring back into the country with them, being charmed the way they were. Not to mention that they still had several days left in the country and they might need the money for something else.
He put them all back sadly, but perked up later when he decided to buy a Walkman and several mix tapes instead. Hermione could not discourage him when he looked so excited, so she let it pass for the smaller items. A television would have been hard to hide in a trunk.
Soon they were exiting the store and wandering onwards down the lane. Eventually they made it to the opposite side of the cavern next to the Quidditch and Quodpot stadium. Ron was jumping up and down and begging to go inside and check it out. So Hermione finally relented and the four wandered inside.
What they saw was a stadium that could seat several thousand spectators, a large green pitch with several lines on the ground apart from the one basic circle they were used to, and twenty-three people in the air on brooms. There were a couple people on the ground shouting up at the fliers Harry took them as the coaches.
"Why are there so many people in the air?" Ginny asked.
"I think they're playing Quodpot, not Quidditch. See how there's a cauldron at each end of the field?" Ron was pointing out this to Ginny when they all saw the big red ball explode loudly in a man's face. Hermione gasped and took a step forward as if to run to help, but stopped with the opposite team cheered loudly. They watched the man, who no longer had eyebrows, fly unsteadily to the ground and sit on the grass.
Ron and Harry shared a look and the four walked over to the man.
"Erm, excuse me, sir? Are you okay?" asked Hermione. The man saw a shadow and glanced up. Seeing Hermione's concerned face he smiled. They saw a canine tooth missing from his upper mandible.
"Hold on a moment, sweetheart. I gotta let my hearing come back!" he said loudly. Hermione looked at the others then nodded at the man. They all sat next to him on the ground and waited. Ron grumbled about strange men calling girls they don't know sweetheart, and when he sat down he sat in a way that had Hermione between his legs and leaning against his chest.
Hermione rolled her eyes but sat down with Ron anyways, a faint smile on her lips. Harry and Ginny chuckled and rolled their eyes as they sat side by side next to their friends. They sat and watched the game while they waited.
After a few minutes, the man, who had been digging in his ear with his finger, twitched and then sighed.
"It's the popping noise that bugs me, not the loosing my hearing part. I always jump when the ear drum pops," he said casually in a normal tone of voice. They others stared at him like he was insane so he chuckled.
"My names Derek, how are you?" he said sticking his hand out to them. They shook his hand as they introduced themselves. They heard another explosion and saw a teammate of Derek's floating down towards them.
"Harry Potter, sounds kinda familiar. You in the news recently?" he asked. Harry turned red in the face.
"Kind of. Its not really a big deal though," he said bashfully.
"Harry Potter, isn't he the one that defeated that Dark wizard in Scotland a few weeks ago?" asked the new teammate. Derek's eye's lit up.
"That's it! I remember now. So you defeated that wizard huh? I thought you'd be, I don't know, older," he said as he sized up Harry. The new teammate looked at Harry quizzically.
"He ain't Harry Potter, Derek. To defeat a wizard as bad as Voldemort the real Harry Potter has to be at least out of school, if not in his seventies or something like that Dumbledore guy. This kid doesn't look like he could defeat a Bowtruckle if he wanted too, let alone a Dark flipping wizard. Jeez Derek, how gullible are you?" asked the newcomer with disdain.
At his comment Harry burst out laughing while the others looked either flabbergasted at the man's rudeness, or dumbfounded at Harry's response.
"Excuse me, my name's Grant. What're your names?" asked the man. The girls and Ron answered him tersely while Harry smiled. When the man got to Harry he smiled.
"Now, I know your not really Harry flipping Potter, so what's your real name, dude?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint but my name really is Harry Potter," Harry replied with a huge grin. The man looked at Harry closely for a few minutes.
"I follow the news fairly well. I've seen articles about this Harry Potter fella, and I'm pretty sure that you ain't him," said Grant.
"Hey, Grant! Get over here," shouted the coach. Grant stood up and trotted over leaving Harry chuckling, and the others fuming.
"How can you be laughing Harry? That guy just insulted you," replied Ginny.
"No he didn't, he treated me like a human being, and he gave me a good laugh. I've beaten much worse than a Bowtruckle, and if I don't look like it, I don't care what others think. Just as long as they aren't following me around like love-struck puppies, I'll be fine with how good or bad they treat me," he said softly. The others calmed down seeing that Harry wasn't upset. Derek watched the whole scene with interest.
"You really are Harry Potter aren't you?" he asked quietly. Harry nodded at him.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Harry. Congratulations on winning the war," said Derek with a nod.
"Thank you. Could I ask you a few questions about the game you were playing?" he asked. Derek nodded and they were off in a sports discussion that Hermione and Ginny soon lost interest in. Ginny may have been a Quidditch enthusiast, but she held no interest for Quodpot. Bludgers were one thing, but having the ball explode in her face was not appealing in the least.
Harry and Ron learned that the game had eleven players a side. The teams flew around similar to chasers in Quidditch and tossed the Quod from team member to team member until either the ball exploded or got tossed into the cauldron at the either end of the pitch. Inside the cauldron was a solution that prevented the Quod from exploding. If the team could get the ball into the cauldron before it exploded that team got a point. If the Quod exploded in the hands of someone, like it had for Derek, they were out of the game and the other team got the new ball to start with. The game could only last three hours and the mercy rule sat at fifty points. The game was won by either making it to fifty points or making it to the three hours with at least one player and the most points.
"So, Marty and I've been trying to come up with a spell that will re-figure the Quod after it explodes, but so far all we have is a pile of exploded balls and several Quod's that, for some reason, explode, re-figure itself, then immediately explodes again. It's a never ending cycle. We figure if we can get a ball to explode and re-figure itself back to a ball that is playable and will explode again after a random amount of time, and keeps working this way for more than a few weeks, we can sell it on the market, and maybe it will become a more popular game for families and get-togethers.
"The biggest marketable issue for Quodpot is that once the ball explodes or gets put in the solution it can't be used again unless it's re-spelled. So people are constantly having to buy many Quod's at the same time, and do it constantly.
"Pick up games almost never make it to fifty points, because no one can afford fifty balls, let alone several dozen more than fifty to cover the ones that explode. An average fifty point game uses about seventy-five to eighty balls." Derek rambled on and on about his and Marty's idea and why it was such a good one for several more long minutes before someone called him over to meet with the team.
"Well, I got to go. Nice meeting you Harry, guys. I hope you enjoyed the game!" he said before running off.
"Nutter," Ron mumbled. Hermione snickered.
"How can someone be so obsessed about a game where the ball explodes in your face? Or uses eighty bloody balls for one game. What a waste of money," he grumbled. The others shook with silent laughter as they walked back out of the stadium and down the lane towards the Apparition point where they popped back to their hotel room.
Agreeing to take a look at the Mall of America for an hour or two, they called a cab from the hotel and arrived in front of one of the largest buildings that had ever seen.
Harry paid the cab driver and turned around. The others were staring at the large brick building and the huge Mall of America sign with the even larger red, white, and blue star and banner above the words.
While the building wasn't very tall, only about five stories, it was extremely long. They glanced at each other with surprised looks on their faces.
"I think this place might take longer than a couple hours," Ginny said in awe.
"Maybe more like a couple weeks," replied Ron.
As they headed in, Hermione grabbed four pamphlets off a kiosk that contained a map, and a list of all the major retail stores in really small writing.
"Three floors for retail, and the fourth floor contains a restaurant, a bar, and a large area of theaters. Wow, listen to this, overall this mall is 4.2 million square feet, or 230,000 square meters, and only 2.5 million square feet is dedicated to retail outlets. There's a theme park called Camp Snoopy after the Charlie Brown character, and an Underwater Adventures where you can walk through and under a 1.2 million gallon aquarium. They even let you pet sharks and sting rays!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.
"Let's go right now!" Ginny said bouncing up and down. The girls started walking away together.
"Er, girls?" Harry called after them. They turned and looked at him. "We need to divide up some money so we all have some. Then, this is a huge place. Practically a country of its own. What do we do if we get separated?" he asked. Hermione looked shocked that she, the more logical and rational of the four, hadn't thought of that.
"Oh," she muttered. She pulled out her pamphlet and started looking through it. She found a fairly central location on the first floor, called Legoland. "How about if we get separated we'll meet at Legoland an hour after we get lost?" she asked. The others looked at each other and nodded.
Once Hermione had made sure that each person's pamphlet had Legoland circled and was safely in their pockets. She and Ginny turned and walked towards a shop for clothes.
"Well, I guess we get to sit for a while and watch the girls try on a dozen outfits, again," Ron mumbled to Harry who chuckled.
"Or we could 'get lost'," he muttered back, earning a grin from Ron. The two watched the girls turn around to look for them when they darted behind a large group of Muggles and then through a store and out a different entrance into a hallway. Next, they ran up to an escalator and Ron whooped at getting to ride another one. They made it to the second floor and slowed to a walk.
Downstairs, Ginny and Hermione caught the look on the boys faces when they had turned around and watched the guys jump and run. The girls made no move to stop them as they wanted a couple hours to themselves also.
Harry and Ron spent an hour roaming the second and third floors just checking out what kind of stores there were in the largest mall either had ever seen. Harry stopped and bought some All-Star Converse shoes at a shoe store, and they both bought lattes at the Starbucks and ice cream cones at Dairy Queen. Otherwise their wallets stayed in their pockets for the most part.
Harry had to force Ron away from the two large shops that sold nothing but chocolate, but they spent more than a few minutes ogling the mannequins in the Victoria's Secret windows, to shy to enter the store. They also spent a few minutes questioning the sanity of the Muggles for having not one but two entire stores devoted to just sunglasses.
They wandered up to the third floor and found a novelty photo shop that allowed customers to dress up in period costumes and get professional photos taken and they decided to bring the girls back there later.
Meanwhile, downstairs on the most crowded floor of the building, the girls window shopped for an hour, buying only a few tops and a skirt each for later in the week. They also bought a coffee drink from Starbucks and found the entrance for Camp Snoopy and the Underwater Adventures.
They squealed and search for an outfit for Teddy at the Baby Gap, laughing about a huge store like that for just babies. They treated themselves to a large stock of spa supplies and beauty supplies at one store. They watched a teddy bear shop make custom teddy bears, shared a glance and bought an adorable multi-colored teddy bear for Teddy.
After an hour of separate exploring the girls headed towards the meeting place and waited for five minutes for the guys.
When the boys showed up the girls made a point to express their disappointment at being ditched, but Harry made a quick save by explaining that they explored two floors while the girls explored the much more occupied first floor. They had all scoped out stores and shops they wanted to visit, now they could save time by just doing the things they wanted to do.
"Nice save there Harry, I though Ginny was going to bite off your head back there," Ron whispered. Harry nodded and smirked back at him.
It was getting close to lunch time so they all made the decision to divide into their respective couples and find separate restaurants to eat in for the afternoon and meet up an hour and a half.
Ron and Harry hadn't seen many good restaurants on the second and third floors, other than fast food stands and counters so they girls dragged their boys off to the few that they saw on the first floor.
Hermione had seen and Italian bistro called Tucci Benucch and asked Ron if he'd like that. He agreed so they headed off towards the west side of the mall.
"So, did you see anywhere you liked?" Harry asked Ginny.
"Actually, yes, I did. I'm surprised Hermione didn't drag Ron there, she thought it looked cool too," she replied as they headed to the eastern side. They arrived in front of a very large tropical looking store front that read, Rainforest Café. Harry was impressed at the extravagance of the front of the building. Large, mechanical Macaws and Toucans were perched inside. A large waterfall and coi/wishing pond was on both side of the entrance. A young woman was standing at the podium waiting for a customer to come in.
"Hello. Welcome to the Rainforest Café, would you like Smoking or non-smoking?" she asked them.
"Non-smoking," Harry replied.
"Alright, is it just the two of you?" Harry nodded and she asked them to follow her. She seated them next to a large pool that had a fairly life-like Elephant coming out of the wall on the other side. They ordered sodas and the waitress left them with a long menu. Once they had picked out their food, they looked around.
The place wasn't very crowded at the moment, but several tables were filled with families. The whole restaurant had a feel of being in a large tree house. The ceiling was made of branches and leaves, like a real jungle canopy. The floor was made of wood planks like a tree fort. At the center of the room was a large plaster tree trunk surrounded by more foliage. Spaced carefully around the ceiling were gaps in the flora allowing a faux-sunlight into the room and several large rubber snakes were hanging down in a few places. Bird cages hung around the room with either real stuffed birds or very realistic fake ones. Many areas of the outer wall had large mammals that could be found in the jungle. Tropical sounds were piped in from speakers unknown, but created a very comforting effect.
"Ginny, I am glad we came here. I would have wanted to come here even if Ron and Hermione had come too. This place is so cool," Harry said. Ginny smiled. She too was amazed at the creativity of Muggles. No wizard in their right minds would think of this for a good restaurant, but the feel of the environment of the place was so laid back, yet family-friendly and classy at the same time.
"Hello, my name is Bonnie, I'll be your waitress this afternoon. Have you too decided on what you want to eat?" asked the waitress. Harry looked at the menu.
"Ginny, do you want to go first?" She nodded.
"What's calamari?" she asked.
"Calamari is Italian for squid. We deep fry our calamari with our own house spices and serve it with marinara sauce," the waitress recited.
"Squid huh? Harry, you still want to get the sampler?" she asked him. He nodded.
"I'm adventurous, Squid can't be that bad," he replied with a smirk.
"Okay, but if I don't like it, your eating it all. We'll take the Awesome Appetizer Adventure for the appetizers. I'm in the mood for seafood, I see that you have English style fish and chips? I think I'd like to branch off, but I've never really had much else for sea food. Is there a particular dish you'd recommend?" Ginny asked quickly. The waitress thought for a moment.
"Personally, I'm not a seafood person, but they have us try each new menu item so we can answer this question. I think the Macadamia Crusted Tilapia is pretty good for fish, but I would suggest getting it with the Coconut Shrimp also. Gives you a good choice between items, and the shrimp is really good dipped in the tangy teriyaki glaze and mango puree." When she was finished talking Ginny was smiling and nodding, also trying to hold in the drool.
"I'll take that," Ginny said. Even Harry had to admit it sounded mouthwatering.
"Would you like a salad to start with? It takes a little while for the main dishes to come," Bonnie said after writing down the fish dish. Ginny perused the menu and replied with the China Island Chicken Salad. Bonnie turned to Harry.
"I'll take the Volcanic Cobb salad, and the Pastalava," he said with an evil grin.
"Harry, no! I refuse to sleep in the same bed as you tonight if you eat that. You'll be sleeping with Ron again," Ginny warned.
"Hey, I said I was adventurous, and this says 'Only for the truly adventurous'," he said with a shrug and a classic Harry grin.
"I'll warn you Harry, most people who order it can't finish it, it's so hot. Kind of dangerous," Bonnie said warningly, but with a smile at Ginny's reaction.
"I laugh in the face of danger, bwah-ha-ha-ha," he said loudly. Even Ginny smiled a little at this.
"Okay, mister Danger, go ahead and order it, but if you can't finish it, I reserve rights to say I told you so," his girlfriend said condescendingly with a mock snooty look on her face.
"I'll eat it all, and lick the bowl clean afterwards," Harry said challengingly. Ginny looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Bonnie watched with an amused grin.
"Deal, I say you can't finish it and lick the bowl clean by the time we have to leave. If I win, you have to buy me something, if you win…" Ginny thought for a moment not seeing Harry's smirk.
"If I win, I get to give you a big, wet kiss afterwards, and sleep in the same bed as you tonight. There is no way I'm getting into the same bed as your brother ever again," he said. Ginny looked about to disagree but Bonnie cleared her throat.
"So, Volcanic Cobb, and the Pastalava?" Harry nodded. "Might I recommend ordering a bread basket? You can mop up the leftover sauce with that, instead of licking the bowl. But it's just a thought," she said smiling. They agreed and she went back to the kitchen to place the orders. Within ten minutes their appetizer tray was at their table. They had a fun time trying the different cocktails. Harry particularly hated Calamari, while Ginny surprised him by eating each piece, except the piece he tried and spat out.
Soon enough the salad's were at the table and they were eating.
"So, Gin, do you remember anything from last night?" Harry asked between bites.
"Well, I remember the shot that Jessie shared with us was really good. Pineapple cake or something like that. I also remember going inside and meeting someone with a spice or herb name. Paprika or Basil or something. She was laughing a lot. I think it was because I was singing," Ginny said thinking hard. Harry snorted.
"Why were you singing?" he asked.
"I had a song stuck in my head," she replied casually. They talked a bit more about the night before, neither remembering much after the first hour.
Soon they were talking about the Dursley's.
"Harry do you think you're ready for this? The last time you saw them you couldn't use your wand," she asked quietly. He thought for a few bites before answering.
"I remember Dudley's reaction to the fact that I wasn't going with them. It surprised me a lot that he was worried about me. There was no doubt in my mind that my uncle was very happy to be rid of me, he almost treated me like a human, but still couldn't make the last gesture of peace between us. Petunia, after seeing Snape's memories of her as a child, I understand more why she acts the way she does toward me. I have something that she wanted and couldn't have. All the hostility over the years toward me was a latent jealousy that she carried over from my mum to me." He paused for a moment with a look of astonishment on his face.
"Huh," he muttered. "Snape hated me because of my father, but helped me anyways. Petunia hated me because of my mum, but helped me anyways. My life is filled with these half-hearted relationships," he shook his head. Ginny took his hand.
"Harry, I know that this is going to be hard, but I love you, and so does the rest of my family. If they are bad to you when we get there, just remember this: you have no more obligations to them after this. Once they are back at their cookie cutter house, living their cookie cutter lives, you can forget them forever.
"But," she paused. "If they are nice to you, you could have a relationship with them. At least with Dudley if he's pleasant enough."
She didn't want to get his hopes up for a familial relationship with his abusive relatives but if Dudley showed promise before last year's split, then maybe after living for a year with wizards Dudley at least might have loosened up a bit.
Harry looked at her with a skeptical look while he took another bite of his salad.
"You know what I mean, Harry. Dudley's spent the last eleven months with a magical family, he might have changed. But don't get your hopes up too far, I could be grasping at straws."
"Here are your entrées. Seafood for the lady, and Pastalava for Mister Danger here," said Bonnie as she set down each plate, and a large bowl of homemade bread loaf slices between them.
"Just flag me down for a refill on the drinks, you'll be needing them. Since this dish is so hot, anyone who orders it gets free refills for the rest of their meal. Would you two like to pre-order your desert now?" They decided to wait for the end of the meal to decide on desert. They didn't know how full they'd be.
Bonnie stood there watching Harry take his first bite. Ginny held off taking a bite of her fish to watch Harry. She noticed a few other waiters and a man in a white chef's outfit watching from afar. She smiled. This was one bet she was for sure going to win and she knew exactly what she wanted him to buy her later. She had seen an advert at the beauty store for an Aqua-Massage, on the third floor. It was out of her personal price range that she was willing to spend on herself. But Harry on the other hand could fork over some money for this, if he lost the bet.
Everyone, even people from other tables saw that this was a big deal, watched as Harry took a bite, chewed and swallowed. They waited with baited breath and counted silently. At roughly seven seconds Harry's eyes widened and he breathed in sharply with his open mouth. He reached over to grab his soda and started gulping. Everyone in the store started laughing loudly.
"Might I suggest," Bonnie said as she leaned over with a huge grin. "Eat some bread after every bite. Just a bite or two off a slice. It helps cool it down. The carbonation of the soda usually makes the burn worse," she chuckled as Harry stuffed a whole slice in his mouth and chewed furiously, his eyes watering, and his face slightly red.
Ginny was laughing loudly and silently apologizing to Ron for having to endure Harry later that night, but cheering for her stiff muscles from the night of partying.
Forty-five minutes later the two walked up to Hermione and Ron outside of Legoland.
"What happened to you two?" Ron asked when he saw Harry's beet red, sweaty smiling face and Ginny's sulking, disbelieving scowl.
"Never mind, Ronald. Just mind your own business," she muttered. Harry laughed loudly.
"She's sulking because I finished the Pastalava, and licked the bowl clean with three minutes to spare. She's just lucky I didn't die first from third degree burns inside my organs," he laughed. Ginny scowled and stormed into the Legoland entrance walking away. Hermione and Ron looked confused so Harry explained the Rainforest Café's spicy dish and his and Ginny's bet. They laughed along with him at her misfortune as they followed her around the Lego store.
"The best part was that because I could finish it, the meal was free. They said that anyone who put that much spice in their bodies in one sitting, should save their money for the antacid's they were going to need later," he chuckled. Hermione frowned.
"This is not going to be a pleasant night for Ginny. I think I'll help her out with a bubble head charm before bed," she said which caused Ron and Harry to burst out in raucous laughter.
Harry had explained the terms of the bet to the others, but afterwards Hermione pulled him to the side and told him what Ginny probably had her eye on if she had won. They made a deal that he would still buy her the massage since she'd gotten a really rotten deal by him winning. He pulled her off to the side and told her that when he and the others were playing a round of mini golf (Hermione guaranteed it was fun and really wanted to play) she was going to get a massage. She squealed and jumped up to hug him and then ran over to tell Hermione.
They all agreed that after they wandered through the Underwater Adventures they would go play mini golf so they headed over to the largest underground aquarium in the country.
After taking the escalator down a level, they paid for four day passes that covered everything, plus a behind the scenes pass, and wandered through the gift shop. On the other side was the entrance to the aquarium starting with the turtles.
"Harry look at that one, it's huge!"
"Awe, Ron. Look at the little baby turtles!"
The girls squealed and pointed while the guys studied a particularly beastly looking turtle called an Alligator Snapping turtle.
"I'd hate to cross that thing in the water," Harry muttered. Ron agreed emphatically.
"Be glad we don't have any in the lake at school," Ron chuckled. Harry looked horrified and back away from the tank.
They wandered through and into the Tunnel which was a seven foot high, clear tunnel that ran under and through the aquarium. They watched as sharks of all species and sea turtles and sting rays swam around them only inches from their finger tips. The four were speechless as they meandered through the three hundred foot long tunnel gaping at the thousands of sea creatures they were seeing.
They watched as several people in full scuba gear swam into view. A few divers made sure the others were safe from sharks while the others searched the bottom for shark teeth to sell in the gift shop. One of the divers swam over to the glass tunnel and placed his hand on the glass next to a small family.
"Mommy, is that Daddy?" asked a little girl.
"Yes it is, sweetie. See he's waving," replied the mother. The four watched as the mother raised the girl up and let her wave to her father. Ron and Harry shared a look and walked towards her.
"Excuse me, does your husband work here? Or is this like a special ticket kind of thing?" asked Ron.
"Hm, oh, no my husband doesn't work here, but he is a trained Scuba diver. If you have the certificate and most of the gear you can pay about two hundred dollars and dive with the sharks," she replied. Harry and Ron thanked her and walked back to the girls.
"I wish I could try that," Harry said wistfully as they watched the divers for several more minutes.
"Yeah, sure Harry, whenever you feel like it. It's not like you have had the most eventful life. You need some adventure, really, you're getting quite boring," Ron said sarcastically while the girls laughed. Harry gave him a mock glare.
"I'll have you know, I am quite adventurous. Didn't you hear about the Pastalava?" he asked. The others giggled and walked on after the divers left their sight.
The next stop on the Adventures was a ride called The Plunge. The ride was shaped like a giant yellow submarine. Inside was a very large movie screen and several smaller ones spread out like windows to the deep. Each one would show different views of the underwater oceans and different creatures and explain information about each animal or amphibian. The ride was roughly fifteen minutes and the group learned a lot, while also getting a bit motion sick from the rocking.
Next stop was Seahorse Kingdom, where they learned more about the seahorse than they ever expected to know. After that they strolled into a newer area that included a large circular pool. There were several people in uniform standing around the pool instruction people who were sticking their hands in the water.
As the foursome walked up to the pool they saw several Stingrays and baby sharks swimming around. The staff members were guiding people and teaching them how to respect the fish and their space. If a person wanted they were allowed to pet the fish and get a sticker that said I Pet a Shark!
Ron and Ginny were skeptical. They had never seen live sharks before their trip to the aquarium, but they had read enough about them to know that they bite, but Harry and Hermione petting them gave the two Weasley's the courage to stick a finger in the water. Once they saw that they weren't going to be bitten and lose a finger they found that the slimy feel to the skin was very cool to touch.
Each of the four left the Aquarium with stickers on their shirts and smiles on their faces.
After an hour of mini golf, and in Ginny's case a drool worthy massage, the four headed down to the theme park. After a quick walk around the park, they decided to skip the rides as Hermione had planned a trip to a different theme park called Valleyfair later in the week. They left the mall in a cab and headed back to the hotel with the plan that they would swim for an hour or two at the pool and then order room service for dinner.
"You know, for being out and about in two large shopping areas, we spent a lot of money on nothing," Ron said.
"Oh, I disagree Ron. We just survived a war, anything we buy right now that's completely frivolous is completely worth it. We deserve this trip, even if it's to get my pathetic relatives I intend on spending lots of money and having a great time. I know when we get back to Britain we're going to have to deal with grief and pain. I've dealt with that for so many years, I think I deserve a break. Even if it is just a temporary one," Harry said quietly. The others got sad looks on their faces as he realized what he brought up.
"Guys. Fred, Colin, Tonks, and Remus would have wanted us to have fun. I know that you guys are probably feeling a little guilty right now since it's only been two weeks, I know I've had my moments, but I'm finally starting to take the advice that so many have said to me in the past. They would have wanted us to move on, have fun, smile, laugh, and most of all…live. For the first time in almost two decades we're free. Free from tyranny, free from oppression, but most of all, we're free to live our lives the way we want too.
"I know it will take a while to over come the grief of loosing your brother, and I know you think of him several times a day. I see your faces in unguarded moments after sharing a laugh, you remember him and feel guilty because he's not here to share it with us. But…and I know this is kind of hypocritical of me to say since you have all been saying it to me for years now. But he would have wanted you to laugh and enjoy this freedom.
"Next week, we're going to be back in Britain and dealing with the aftermath. George will need us more than ever to get Weasley's Wizard Wheezes up and running again. Denis needs us. Teddy and Andromeda need me. Your parents will need you two. Plus, the trials, the restructuring of the Ministry, and the goblin fiasco…we deserve to enjoy this week. Remus, Tonks, Colin, and most of all Fred would not fault us for this."
Harry finished his mini speech and watched Ginny's eyes watering. Ron too looked like he wanted to let the tears fall. Without sharing so much of a glance Harry and Hermione went to their respective mates and cuddled with them. Ron and Ginny both cried on their shoulders, and Harry and Hermione shared in their grief.
The four fell asleep sometime around two in the morning after crying their eyes dry and in the arms of each other.
A/N: Awe such a touching ending. Tell me what you thought of the gangsters!!! They were so much fun to write! And the Pastalava scene.
I'm taking some liberties with the mall. Some stores I know probably weren't around in 1998, but I can't for the life of me find a detailed map of the mall from '98 or a list of stores. I also couldn't find out when Underwater Adventures opened. So I'm just using it as part of the mall as it was then. I'm sorry if it bothers anyone that I'm doing it that way. I try and stay as close to the right timeline as possible.
Must read: On another note, Anyone who wants me to send an update to you when I load a new chapter, PM me (or email me directly) an email address for you. I'll make a list and make sure whenever I update, I'll send you an email letting you know of the new chapters. I know that there is an Author/story alert, but you have to be a member to be able to use it, and I have been getting more and more "anonymous" reviews so this is a good faith gesture to my 'anonymous' reviewers.
Chelsea: You're review was very touching, thank you! It made my head swell that you think I write as well as JKR! I'm so glad you like the story!
Emilio Rivera, h., and rr, thanks for reviewing. I'm not going to go into detailed review replies for everyone who reviewed but I will say thanks. This a/n has gotten obscenely long.
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