Disclaimer: Yet again, I am not the owner of Harry Potter or anything remotely even close to it, except copies of the books and various merchandise that I myself purchased. The only thing I own is my ideas, some of them crazier than the rest. I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

Chapter 4: On the road again

When the Sunday finally came, Hermione woke up earlier than her parents. Not to pack, she had finished packing as soon as she was done speaking to Blaise on the phone the Friday before. She woke up due to her restlessness caused by her excitement. She had also woken early because she had the same strange dream where she was still back in England, but instead of being at her old school, she was in a castle, carrying a piece of wood, waving it and watching some sparkly material come out of the end, hitting a desk in front of her and watching it as it morphed into a pig.

When Hermione finished taking a shower and getting dressed, she went into the living room and saw that her parents' room was still dark.

Sighing because it was already six am, she went back upstairs to her room to entertain herself until her parents awoke, by seeing if Harry and Ron were on instant messenger.

'They should be awake by now. After all, it is early afternoon for them.'

And just as she suspected, they both were logged on. As soon as she had logged on herself, there was an instant rush of "Hermione!" 's.

"Hey guys, how are you? We haven't chatted for a long time." She clicked away at her keyboard feverishly.

"I'm alright. We both have new girlfriends," Popped up a reply from 'Strength in Numbers' (Harry).

"Wow, really?"

"Yes. I'm going out with Parvati Patil, and Ron's with Padma."

"What happened to Ginny, Harry?"

"Unfortunately, Ginny went back to Dean after she and Harry broke up a while back. Do you remember them from school?" This time, the reply came from 'Flameman' (Ron).

"Yes I remember them. I'm so happy for you two. You both deserve to be with someone after some of the relationships that you two have been through in the past."

"Thanks 'Mione. But so do you. I mean, your last boyfriend broke up with you ages ago. Just because he made a bad decision and broke it off through his brother so he could go on a date with anther girl, doesn't' mean you're together still. So he never actually came up to you to tell you it was over. So what? You can't keep pining for him. That makes it easier for him to maintain a sense of power over you, thinking that that will keep you around for if this other relationship ends up not working again. He's turning you into his trump card. Is that what you want to be, Hermione?"

"No, Harry. You're absolutely right."

"Well then, tell us. Is there someone in the United States who has come to peak your most valuable interest?"

"Ron? Did you take some smart pills or something? And you two must have rehearsed this part of the conversation. Actually, I've made a couple new friends. One is a major gossip around the school, and the other is the hottest guy at Roseburg High. And no, I don't feel that way about him we're just friends."

What she didn't want to admit to her two oldest friends was that, in fact, she'd had developed a slight crush on Blaise since she'd first met him in Math class in October. Her crush on Blaise slowly turning to something else; especially when she realized that she could talk to him for hours on the phone, on instant messenger or in person, about the most random of things.

"Hmm, if you 'say' so Hermione. What are your plans for Christmas?"

"Actually Harry, my family and I are going to a resort with Blaise's family over Christmas. We're heading over to his house in a couple hours. I'm only up this early because I'm kind of excited about going and I had another one of those strange dreams I told you about last time we talked."

"That's interesting. You've been having these types of dreams for, what? Six months now? I wonder what they mean."

"Your guess is as good as mine, Ronald. Harry, you're thinking again."

"Hermione?! How could you possibly be able to know that? You're over 4000 miles away!"

"Felt the vibes through the computer monitor." She shrugged as she typed, knowing neither of them could see her through the computer.

"Oh."

"Anyways guys," Hermione went typing on, "my parents are waking up and that means that we'll be leaving in approximately two and a half hours."

"Wow you are definitely excited. You're counting down the hours."

Hermione counted herself lucky that Harry and Ron weren't able to witness her blush.

"Well, I'd better go so I can make sure that I have everything I need for my trip and to go start tea for my parents. I'll talk to you guys later, okay?"

"Alright."

"Alright Hermione. Take care. Tell us all about your trip when you get back."

"I promise."

After she signed off, she just sat there for a few minutes thinking about Harry and Ron and wondering if she was ever going to see them again.

With a sigh, she got up; making sure everything that she needed was packed in her suitcase and the groceries were ready. Hermione headed down to the kitchen to start heating water for her parent's tea.

Two and a half hours later, the gear was packed and the groceries were packed into the back of the car. Hermione was nervous about whether they would get to Blaise's house on time because it had taken her mother half an hour deciding on what kind of dessert to bring when they went to the store to get some last minute things. Then her mother took another ten minutes to decide on a wine, even though Hermione had insisted that they didn't need to bring anything but a dessert. Unfortunately, there was no way of dissuading her mother once she decided on something.

'So that's where I got it.' Hermione thought to herself, rolling her eyes as they finished packing the back of the car.

When they finally got out of the local food mart, they were due at Blaise's in twenty minutes. Blaise may have said anytime between 10:30 and 11:00, but Hermione wanted to get there as soon as she could.

"Hermione! It's about time you got here. I knew you were coming, but my parents weren't sure." Blaise said as he met the Grangers in the drive way of his massive home.

"I was starting to wonder if we were ever going to get here myself, we took so long getting here." She replied as she cast a soft glare at her mother who just smiled back at her.

Blaise looked up from Hermione to look at who she was glaring at and laughed at the look of surprise Hermione's mother was returning to her daughter, then turned to look back at Hermione.

"Shall we go in before we pack the cars and leave?" He asked, mostly directed back at Hermione.

"That sounds wonderful." She replied, turning away, hoping to hide the desire that she knew was obviously in the depths of her eyes.

"Alright then, shall we?" Hermione's father said aloud in the moment of silence.

Inside the house, the first room they came to was the foyer. Hermione couldn't help but stare, open mouthed, at the beauty of the room before her.

There were high vaulted ceilings were made from intricately carved mahogany paneling that went all the way to the tan stone tiles on the floor. As she finished looking at the room around her, her eyes drifted around the part of the room in front of her in time to see Blaise's parents descending the grand marble stair case with banisters made of the same mahogany, smiles covering their faces.

"Welcome! We're so glad you could make it. Blaise has been worried…"

"…That you will start saying too much mom!" Blaise cut in loudly, turning red. This caused Hermione to laugh.

"Anyways," Blaise went on over Hermione's giggling. "Let's go to the den for some coffee and cocoa." Every one nodded and voiced their agreement as they all headed towards the den.

"Okay Blaise, here's how this trip is going to go," Mrs. Zabini exclaimed to her son as she brought out a silver platter with coffee and cups from the kitchen. "You and Hermione will take the Lexus while the adults ride in the Land Rover. We'll pack all the food and the decorations for the house in your car, and the ski gear and all luggage will go with us in the rover."

"Alright. Come-on Hermione lets get start packing the Lexus. Hermione?"

"Huh? What?" Hermione said, shaking herself from a surprised state after hearing the assignments from Blaise's mother.

"I said, 'come-on Hermione lets start packing the Lexus.'"

"The Lexus? What is a Lexus?"

"Hermione…it's my SUV. You've ridden in it before. What's wrong with you?"

Hermione jumped. "Nothing's wrong." She replied, blushing. "Let's start packing."

'Hermione is sure acting strange. I wonder if…' Blaise thought to himself, shaking it off as they both got up and went to get Blaise's luggage from his room and move it down to be put in the Land Rover.

Blaise's room was magnificent; Hermione realized that she had never actually been in his room. Every time she went to his house, she would always drool over how beautiful it was, but they had always spent time in the den or raiding the kitchen during study breaks, never having a reason to go up to his bedroom. Blaise's room wasn't quite as large as some of the rooms, but it definitely wasn't small. The over all décor wasn't quite what Hermione had expected of a teenage boy's room when she visited for the first time a month and a half ago. For some inexplicable reason, what she had seen before and saw before her now seemed vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen it before. Focusing on one element at a time, Hermione noticed that, instead of posters of girls and games covering the walls, like Harry and Ron, Blaise had a deep red paint which was just enough to accent the red and gold based interior.

Blaise had a good sized bed which was covered with a rich red comforter. If Hermione hadn't known better, she could have thought that she had walked into a five star hotel room instead of Blaise's abode. There was an elegant mahogany desk in a corner next to a window. On the desk there was a large flat screen computer that showed a screen saver of his favorite book series bouncing off the sides of the screen. Looking from the desk, which was covered in their class's Christmas homework, she turned to look out through the bay window that was right next to his desk, and Hermione found that Blaise had a beautiful view of the city. It did help, however, that the house was perched on top of a small mountain.

Turning around to look at the room from a different point of view, Hermione noticed that Blaise was sitting on the corner of his bed, watching Hermione as she explored his room like he had found her exploring the library- raw and free. While she was looking around, Hermione saw that there was a door half hidden by a tall chest of drawers that she hadn't noticed before. Feeling overly curious, Hermione moved towards the door and, turning the elaborately cast bronze handle, moved through the door. When she went passed the door jam, she found that it lead to one of the largest bathrooms she'd ever seen in a house before.

The bathroom's color scheme was the same red and gold as in his room. The only difference between the two was that the bathroom didn't have mahogany panels on the walls. Instead, the walls were covered in a deep ivory colored tile that was covering every flat surface, from the top of the wall, down to and covering the floor. But what caught her attention most was a giant tub that was set into the ground. It had jet openings along both ends and was big enough to fit three grown adults comfortably. The bronze fixtures on the middle side of the tub only added to the grandness of the room, causing Hermione to sit on the toilet and stare around in awe. When she finally came out of her reverie, Hermione remembered that she was supposed to be helping Blaise pack.

As she was coming out of the bathroom, she started explaining, "Sorry about deserting you Blaise, I couldn't help but admirer your beautiful rooms. Do you still…" but she couldn't finish, for her mouth had just gone dry at the delectable sight before her hazel eyes.

There was Blaise, standing over the foot of his bed, bent next to his suitcase… with no shirt on. Hermione just stood there, mouth agape and eyes wide because she hadn't known just how well defined Blaise's upper torso actually was under his semi-baggie shirts. His upper torso looked like it was chiseled from stone, his abs looked as if sit ups came naturally, and his arms looked like pull-ups were like lifting a sheet of paper. In one word to describe Blaise that would do him any kind of justice, Hermione decided that he reminded her of a Greek god, with his jeans sitting comfortably low on his slender hips.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that you were changing, Blaise. I'll just go back into the bathroom until you're done changing your clothes." She exclaimed, turning away as her face tinged pink.

The fluster that she put herself in at how embarrassing the situation obviously was to her made Blaise chuckle as he responded, grabbing her arm before she could go to the bathroom. "Wait Hermione, please? It's alright; I was just trying to decide on what to take to Sunriver when you caught me in between shirt changes."

"Oh." She replied as he let go of her arm. "Are you almost done packing then?"

"Almost. Would you be willing to take my tuxedo bag downstairs to the entryway for me while I finish packing?"

"Why are you taking your tuxedo?" She asked as she grabbed the bag and started looking at it.

"Because there is always a formal Christmas Eve party for all the property owners and any guests they decide to bring with them, at the lodge." Blaise shrugged, and then paused at Hermione's confused expression. "Didn't I tell you?"

"No, I wish you had though. I would have gotten a dress." Hermione replied, shaking her head.

"Well, you can get a gown at the resort or in the local town. There are all sorts of stores there that carry clothing and dresses. We can go shopping!" He added excitedly.

"That sounds great. I just hope my parents give me souvenir money. This will be the first time leaving Roseburg since moving from England." She replied, smiling at his excited expression.

As per Blaise's request, Hermione took Blaise's tuxedo bag downstairs to where everyone's luggage had been assembled in the entrance hall. At first, as she left Blaise's room, Hermione walked calmly out his door, but as soon as she was out of earshot and the doorframe, she shot off like a bullet, down the hallway, sliding down the banister on the stairs, and over to the entrance hall to place the bag on the growing pile luggage at the door. The moment she had set down the bag, she then spun around on her heel and shot off again, running up the stairs two at a time. She ran up the stairs and down the hallway so fast that she had to stop quickly outside his door; she ended up stopping so quickly that her feet came up from under her, landing on the ground with a loud THUD. Getting up and rubbing her sore bum while cursing in her mind, she took a moment to completely catch her breath and regain her composure before she went in hopes that Blaise both hadn't noticed that she had completely missed his door when she slid, going right past it and that he hadn't put a shirt on yet.

Hermione found that she was saddened for she had had no such luck on both accounts. By the time she got back to his room, Blaise had already donned a shirt and was currently folding a pair of jeans and placing them in his rapidly filling bag.

"Wow, that was quick." He remarked, placing another shirt in his bag before closing it.

"Yeah I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure I was back soon just incase you needed me to take something else down." Hermione lied as she sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Hey, do you know what that crash was that I heard just a few minutes ago?"

"Yeah," she said blushing and looking away. "That was me…I kind of slipped on the rug and fell."

"Oh, are you alright?"

"Yeah, my bum is a little sore, but no permanent damage, I think."

"Alright." Blaise replied as he looked at her strangely. "All I have left is to take these two suitcases down. Then we can pack my car and head out."

"Would you like some coffee or breakfast before we get out of town?" Blaise asked once the vehicles were packed and they were seated, waiting for their turn to leave, their parents in front of them. "I know this place that makes great coffee and smoothies."

"That sounds wonderful. I have an urge for a strawberry smoothie."

"Sounds good. I'm usually more of a plain, black coffee person myself. However, a smoothie seems like a good way to start a day of travel. Plenty need for energy that coffee could never give someone."

She smiled warmly to Blaise as he pulled out of the driveway and onto the highway. 'I've never met anyone like him before.' She thought to herself.

"You know? I'm glad I moved to the United States." She said thoughtfully once they were on the road after getting smoothies and bagels.

"Rearry? I's dat?" Blaise replied through a mouth full of cheese bagel, part of it sticking out of his mouth from taking too large of a bite.

Hermione laughed at Blaise's attempt to speak. 'Well for one, I met you and I want to suck those succulent lips right off your face.' Drooled the teenage part of her brain, however, the logical thought better of it. "Because I've met so many new people and going to a public school in the United States is a different experience for me. Don't tell my parents this, but they were right."

Blaise laughed out loud after he finished swallowing his bite, "I won't tell them anything, but how were they right?"

"They told me that this would be an adventure, and it has been. I don't care if I ever go back to England. Well that's not entirely true. I do want to go back eventually because my other best friends are back there." At this last bit, Blaise saw sorrow born upon her beautiful face, causing him to worry deep down.

"I'm glad you moved here too, Hermione. My family and I fly back to Italy once a year to visit my grandparents in Venice. That is always fun. Hey! Maybe you can come with us this year! We're going during our Spring Break…"

"What's a 'Spring Break'?"

"Oh yeah, um…" he had to pause to decide how to explain it that would make it understandable. "Really, it's exactly as it sounds. A break from school studies in spring time. It usually happens in March and lasts a week. The reason for it is, um… because our last break was Christmas and, as we are still children to the state and local governments, we need a longer break than just weekends."

"Oh, "she replied. "That sounds like a lot of fun."

"It is a lot of fun. You know, I should teach you some Italian."

"But what if I can't go?"

"Then it would be fun to just learn anyways? You could curse at anyone and not get in trouble because no one would know what you were saying."

"Ooh, that sounds interesting. Okay, count me in!"

"Great! We can start this weekend if you want."

"Okay." She replied, looking at him warmly.

Two and a half hours of various conversations and laughter, they finally pulled into the long drive leading to his family's vacation home.

Okay, by a raise of hands (by reviews), how many of you drooled when Hermione ran up and saw Blaise with out a shirt on? I know I did, and I wrote it! Ahh, gotta love the power of the human imagination, hehe. REVIEW! Please?