Author's Note: This interlude is basically a chapter that show how the family and friends of our wonderful HOH 'guests' act in regards to the show and all that. Any odd behaviour you see will be explained later on, so if anything strikes you as really weird, don't worry about it.
Here are the results of the poll, I figured you might want to see them (I'm taking it down now). Thanks very much to everyone who voted!
In the House of Hell, you think this person should be voted on by the winner of the road trip, or pick your top three choices:
Luna Lovegood (20 votes, 22%)
Theodore Nott (18 votes, 20%)
Ginny Weasley (9 votes, 10%)
Seamus Finnegan (8 votes, 9%)
Helga Humphrey (Draco's 'friend') (7 votes, 8%)
Riley Montgommery (Pansy's friend) (6 votes, 6%)
Other (6 votes, 6%)
Neville Longbottom (5 votes, 5%)
Dean Thomas (4 votes, 4%)
Gregory Goyle (2 votes, 2%)
Vincent Crabbe (1 vote, 1%)
Colin Creevey (1 vote, 1%)
Millicent Bullstrode (No votes)
While I was watching the votes tally up, I was just cackling somewhat evilly. I got a lot of people saying no to Ginny in reviews, though. xD. I also got a lot of people wondering if it was Helga.
Props to my wonderful beta Nikki, who also loves skittles…xD.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
-
The Grangers
"Honey, the show's going to start soon." Jane called out from the kitchen, checking her watch. She smoothed down her spotted pink lounge pants as the microwave dinged. "The popcorn is done."
"Just in time." He strolled into the room and kissed her on the cheek, pulling it from the microwave. "Let's go."
They settled themselves on the couch and turned on the television. Sheila and James's voices announced what had been going on with each team and then the show's introductory song and clips played. "Oh, good, I love the song! Hermione looks great in it." Jane munched on some popcorn and added, "It seems she's doing well. Those boys certainly are a handful."
"So's a gun." Her husband muttered darkly, drawing his fingers together in a steeple and Jane laughed softly in response.
"Ooh, she looks happy there." She pointed to the image of Hermione, beaming. "Her hair looks splendid in that bun."
"Mm." Her husband said, nodding in a way that suggested he was agreeing to placate his wife. "Well, I'm glad to see she's doing OK. I've got my daily quota of the show, now."
"Me, too." She agreed, "Is 'It's Witchcraft,' on? Ever since they installed these Wizarding channels, I've become rather fond of it. We've only missed three minutes, too."
"Of course." He murmured, feeling warmth at the sight of his companion and knowing that his daughter was happy and enjoying herself. They hadn't known if they were making the right choice in letting her go on the show, but now their worries were silenced. "To be honest, I don't really understand this show."
"We hardly watch it." She said in answer, shrugging. "It seems almost an invasion of privacy. I don't imagine the other parents watch it, either."
-
The Malfoys
"Mudblood." Lucius said immediately as Hermione's face appeared in the song. Narcissa merely watched through slanted eyes, her hand on her husband's shoulder.
"You do realize, Lucius, that if the events on this…program, continue, we may have to make accommodations?" She asked slowly as the projection displayed her son, smiling with the Muggleborn. His eyes were bright and he looked happier than he'd ever been at home.
"For what?" He asked, oblivious to what she was suggesting. She turned her cool eyes to him and then back at the screen, deciding that it would be advisable to change the topic. Her husband disliked when people tried to be subtle and make important points, and it was not a discussion she even thought was necessary. Yet.
"I need new dress robes for tonight. Come shopping with me. We'll have dinner." She stood up, smoothing down her robes with manicured hands and fixing her already impeccable hair. "There is no point in lingering over what is going on, when we can do nothing to prevent it from happening."
"Of course." Even when alone their speech was formal and to an outsider their actions would appear cold and distant. However, the light touch that Lucius placed on the small of her back and the smile that graced her previously icy face indicated their comfort and happiness with each other. Not many couples had a way of communicating so soundlessly and with such ease.
Obviously they did have their blind spots, though. Lucius had no idea what his wife had been referring to, but it had not seemed important so he dismissed it. Some things were not worth dwelling on. I suppose those plebeian blood traitors have all gathered in their little rabbit hole to watch the show. I doubt that they have anything better to do, unlike my wife and I.
"Come, Lucius." Narcissa said and the couple left the room, each lost in thought.
-
The Weasleys
"We have five minutes!" Fred Weasley called out from his position in the living room.
"Where's Ginny?" Percy asked, uncomfortably shoved into the edge of the sofa. He was holding parchment and a quill in one hand and his glasses were perched precariously on the edge of his nose. Percy, Fred, George and their Dad were crammed into one sofa, so needless to say he was less than comfortable.
"Ginny!" Molly's voice called up the stairs, "The show is soon to start!"
She hurried into the room and sat in a rocking chair with a cup of tea, looking excitedly at the projection screen from George's WCube. "Oh, this is interesting, isn't it? Seeing Ron on this show!"
"I'm so proud!" George simpered tearfully. "Our little Ronniekins, all grown up!"
"Oh, shush up, George, its starting!" Molly said, beaming as the song came on.
"If Ginny's not here, I don't see why I should be." Percy said, "I have work to do-"
"Oh, stuff it, Percy." George shushed him and the elder Weasley looked affronted. "Go find her, then. We're watching."
"Fine." He said crossly, folding up his parchment, and walking towards the staircase. "Ginny?"
"Yeah?" She called back and didn't wait for a response. "I know, I know, give me one second!"
He rolled his eyes and made his way up the stairs. He heard scurrying around and as his hand turned on her doorknob she spoke up, sounding harried. "I'm not decent, Percy!"
He waited a minute and then walked in. She had clothes piled up on her bed and a tatty suitcase half-open on top of it. "Are you packing?" He asked incredulously.
"Erm, no!" She exclaimed, flushed, and sat uncomfortably on the suitcase, as though it would hide evidence of what she'd been doing. "I'm, er, well, I'm going over to Luna's tonight!"
He almost bought it. Ginny was a girl, after all, and girls were obsessed with clothes. It wouldn't surprise him that she would spend so much time packing. However, he knew how religiously she watched the show, because the twins had insisted in turning it into some ridiculous form of 'family bonding' and threatened him if he didn't come and join them. She wouldn't miss it for something somewhat insignificant.
"What are you really doing?" He asked, crossing his arms and looking menacingly at her.
"Going to Luna's." She said promptly, her face scarlet.
"Luna and her father went to Greece to look up one of their silly creatures. You told us this a few days into the summer." He narrowed his eyes threateningly. "Are you going to meet a boy? Because so help you Merlin I will-"
"Will what?" She challenged, and he was momentarily self conscious of the fact that he'd never actually fought with someone before. But this was a case of his baby sister's honour.
"I'll set the twins on him." He said and her eyes widened. "Is it Corner? The stupid prat, I thought you were done with him-"
"OK, if I tell you, promise not to tell anyone else." She said, eyes shifting. "Yesterday, I got an owl from Sheila and James. From the show."
"I know who they are." He said testily. "What has it got to do with you?"
"You know the challenge they're doing right now? The prize for it…" She lowered her voice and began to explain.
-
Parvati, Padma and Lavender
"Oh my God it's on in…" Parvati paused mid sentence and checked her watch, where a countdown was taking place. "Three minutes and twenty two seconds!"
"Oh God, I'm so excited!" Lavender nearly jumped, "Is the popcorn done? It's the extra buttery kind, right?"
"Yep!" Padma said from the kitchen.
"Mmm. Butter." Lavender sighed, dreamily. "Salt…"
"Stop it! Before you start craving chocolate!" Parvati ordered, wrapping her silky black hair around a thick roller.
"Too late." The blonde said, slipping her feet into slippers.
"Great! Because I bought some earlier today!" The girls laughed indulgently, despite the fact that it wasn't exactly funny. "This is such a great tradition! We've got to do this every day!"
"Every day?" Padma frowned. "Parvati, the amount of unhealthy-"
"No! Don't go all Ravenclaw on me now!" Parvati exclaimed, waving her arms wildly. "I'm joking! Obviously we can't eat like this every day."
They paused, contemplating actually doing that, and then Padma checked the time. "Thirty five seconds!"
Squealing, they grabbed bowls of popcorn, candy and bricks of chocolate. Once they'd gotten settled on the plush carpet in the twins' bedroom the song for HOH began. Immediately, Lavender began to sing, joined quickly by the melodious voice of Padma and the higher, airy voice of her sister. The three watched, transfixed, as images played against the wall and then swooned when Draco's face appeared. "Oh…My…God…" Lavender said as she touched her own hair, which was curled around warm coils of metal.
"Exactly." Sighed Parvati, and Padma just laughed. A small commercial break broke in right at the end and they eyed each other, and then the food. "What happens here must never be spoken of."
"Agreed." The other two nodded and with excitement they snatched up handfuls of buttery popcorn, leaving greasy streaks on their hands and clothes.
"Mmm." Parvati said happily, munching the salty deliciousness in her mouth. "They should so serve this at Hogwarts…"
"Mmmhmm!" Padma said enthusiastically. The show came back on and they watched Blaise talk dryly in the confession box about Pansy talking to Hermione for an hour and a half, and how Pansy's team had also stopped and they were getting nowhere. "Wait, they've stopped?" She stared in horror at the television screen.
The screen changed to Pansy in the confession box, speaking but no sounds coming out. And then to Ron and Harry, who complained that it was her turn to drive but she'd been in the confession box for well over an hour. "They're still going." Padma breathed, just as Parvati said, in exactly the same tone, "I feel so betrayed!"
"You stupid whore! I trusted you!" Lavender jumped to her feet and pointed to the screen angrily, "I thought you were on our side!" She dug out another handful of popcorn and topped it off with a few gummy worms, chewing furiously.
"Lavender, you're turning to food for comfort." Padma said wisely, "You think it will help you get over this, but it won't."
"I'm not going to be able to wear my school robes back!" The blond wailed, "I'm going to be so obese!"
"Obese. You sound so clever." Parvati said enviously and looked with horror at the few unpopped kernels in their bowl. "Oh, no. We've eaten all the popcorn! In five minutes!"
She'd barely finished when the microwave dinged. "I put some more in. I thought this might happen." The wiser of the three said, "No one will judge you if you go get it, Lav. Even though the show hasn't gone to commercial, yet."
The blond nodded and then dashed to the kitchen. Parvati gave her loud play by play accounts of what was happening on screen until she came back. After chewing a sour key heartedly, the Gryffindor Patil sighed. "Muggle candy is truly the best."
"Cheers." The others said, eyes glued to the screen.
-
The Dursleys
"This is not the news." Vernon Dursley said grumpily as the letters HOH popped up on the screen. To his horror, images of teenagers began to strut all over the screen and he let out a loud roar of rage when Harry's face appeared. "It's cursed! The bloody television is cursed!"
"What?" Dudley asked, as close to real tears as he'd ever been, lumbering into the room. "Can I still watch my shows? I need to see them. What the fuck-"
"No swearing!" Petunia said nervously, her horse-like features accentuated by her unease, laying a hand on her son's shoulder. "Of course it will work. His kind are probably just disrupting satellite frequencies. That's what they do, with their strange behaviour."
"Fix it! I need it fixed!" Dudley's chins began to wobble.
"Oh, shush, Dudley!" Vernon roared in outrage as the hideous images filled the screen. "They said we'd be rid of him-"
"Vernon, the neighbours will hear you!" Petunia whispered, looking over her shoulder at the window and into the quiet evening of Private Drive. "We mustn't cause a situation."
"A situation!? That boy is on our television! He's everywhere! Probably right outside the house!" He looked around wildly and began to lift up silver objects around the house. He finally got Petunia to take the tin foil and cover the door and windows, and accidentally triggered their neighbour's – who had gone to Cuba - security alarm when Dudley threw a tantrum and tossed his fifthteenth digital camera out the window. The family, believing it was some sort of invasion signal, began to scream.
Eventually, Mrs. Figg became aware of the disturbance and the Ministry of Magic had to get involved. They cancelled the Wizarding channels on the television and gave the Dursleys short term mind wipes. By the end of the night, the only evidence of what had occurred was in the Ministry of Magic, as the late shift workers guffawed over the foolishness of a certain family of unnamed muggles.
-
Mrs. Zabini
Blaise's mother smoothed down her dress and stared at the small orb sitting innocently in front of her, resting on the deep, glossy wood of her desk. As though it was not tempting her, promising the news and sights and words from her son that she craved. As though the very opportunity it held did not increase her regret and then defensiveness and only offered happiness and comfort. As thoughshe could just casually pick it up, turn it on and watch the show without being faced, once again, by her guilt.
No one was there.
No one would know if she just took a look.
It was her right.
He was her son.
Was my son. She corrected automatically, now from habit and not obligation. Until he revealed the monstrosity that he is. The shame he has brought upon me… Now he is just a boy. A boy I have no business concerning myself with.
She stood up and swept the orb roughly off her desk, paced back and forth in front of it and then sat back down. Her hands reached for parchment and she wrote instinctively, not focusing on what words were appearing on the parchment. She had not realized she had addressed it to Blaise until she had written half a paragraph, apologizing and begging for him to come back.
With an agonized huff she threw it in the fire, her composure shattering as she fell onto her knees and began to hunt around on the floor, hands scrabbling against the hard wood for the orb – her only connection to him. He was the only male she had ever been able to love, yet it was a love so different from that she simulated with male suitors. He was her child – her flesh and blood.
With shaking hands she found it under the desk and opened it. It was already on the channel she wanted from the previous night and it showed, with amazing quality, the beauty of her son. His every emotion, displayed in his eyes if one looked closely – just like the hurt and betrayal she had seen in them that day. She remembered the day she had disowned him like it was yesterday. In the clip, he was talking with a lazy elegance he must have received genetically from his father.
An aching pain slowly enveloped her heart and, for the umpteenth time since she had seen the first episode of the show, she put her head in her hands and cried.
-
Theodore Nott
Theodore Nott sat alone in his room, the cherry wood floors, dressers and bed posts surrounding him positively leaking extravagance. His attention was focused not on his surroundings but solely on the image across the room; projected onto a wall. His eyes were narrowed and he frowned as Pansy turned away from the camera, still speaking into her cellphone. The unsuspecting, exasperated faces of Draco and Blaise were talking about meaningless things while Pansy was cheating and getting away with it.
Theo absently traced the thorns inked on his skin and bit his lip thoughtfully. He was enraptured by the screen. It looked so fascinating; all colours and sounds and so bright. He was even able to see people who weren't with him as though they were beside him. It was astonishing that the WCube had been based off a Muggle invention. Astonishing and slightly unreal.
Suddenly, quicker than last time, he couldn't look away. His eyes remained transfixed at the images on the screen and he was frozen, unable to breathe, until the camera angle changed and he could suck in a deep breath. He was thinking of investigating the health of his lungs, actually, because that had been happening abnormally often.
With an absentminded 'hmm,' he stood up and began to pace around the room, his body tense and his energy high. He hoped he didn't have some sort of panic attack disorder.
I wonder if they've arrived yet.
-
Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas
"Any other summer plans?" Dean asked Seamus from where they lounged on the sofa in his room. "Besides visiting family, and all?"
"Naw." Seamus said, shrugging. "It'll be such a bore…Hey, d'you want to come?"
"To your family reunions?" The dark skinned male asked, not willing to admit that the prospect wasn't very exciting. Seamus's family often had one large, two week family gathering where they all went to someone's home and spent time together. The fact that they only did it once a year was explainable by pointing out the two week time span.
"Yeah! They'll love you, I know it! You should teach us how to play football, we could have some games! I wanted you to come last year, but then we vacationed in Greece, right!" The Irish male was getting excited; the increase in the speed of his speech was a sure sign.
"Are you sure they'd want me there? Isn't your family kind of…exclusive?"
"Trust me, they'll love you, its impossible not to!" Seamus waved on his concern, leaning in. "You'll know for sure when they start asking if you've got a girl. If not, they'll want to set you up with someone in the family."
"No, thanks." Dean said hastily and Seamus looked slightly hurt. "I just mean…Er, well, you know, with… Ginny and I over so…y'know…soon...ago"
"Yeah, of course. Must be hard." He said sourly and Dean frowned. Seamus had never seemed jealous of his relationship with Ginny before. Of course, that could have been because she'd always seemed to be thinking about Harry, a deciding factor in the end of their romance. "You should come, though. I'd prefer if you did, my cousins are all such bores…"
"Is that supposed to encourage me to get with one?"
"I thought you were struggling with your unrequited love for Ginny?" Seamus asked mockingly. Dean hit him with a pillow. "OK, OK. Sorry."
"I'll ask mum." His friend said, "She'll be home later tonight."
"Cool!" The other Gryffindor beamed and then glanced at Dean slyly, the appearance of nonchalance in his casual sitting position. "You know, HOH is on. Fancy catching a bit of it? It'll be good to see how Hermione and Harry and Ron are, yeah?"
"Might as well, we're not doing anything else." Dean responded with an equal amount of indifference. "Let's go."
"Oh, cool, we didn't miss the song." Seamus said enthusiastically and shrugged when his dark skinned friend raised an eyebrow. "Might as well watch the whole thing. Besides, it looks really cool when Harry fights the guards."
"Really? I think the part where it shows the car chase is the best-" He broke off, slightly embarrassed. "Do you watch it a lot?"
His friend snorted. "Every bloody day."
"Me, too!" Dean admitted, and they grinned.
"So, who do you think is going to win?" Seamus asked, settling back into the soft couch.
"Probably Harry's team." Dean said slowly as they watched the show, halting when something caught his eyes. His Irish friend looked outraged and their jaws dropped. "She's cheating! She's - she just lied and said they'd stopped!"
"That cow." Seamus said, aghast, and repositioned himself again. "This is the most interesting episode yet!"
"This is even better than the last one, when they did the performances." Dean agreed, "Which was pretty cool, even though we saw it live, too. You know, I drew a picture of The Pansy Pickers' finishing pose."
"Really?" Seamus asked, intrigued.
"Yeah."
"Can I see it?"
"Sure…" The dark skinned Gryffindor glanced at the projection hesitantly.
"Next commercial break."
"Next commercial break." Dean agreed hastily.
-
The Parkinsons
"You know, Pansy is on that show right now, and all you're concerned about is that stupid bill for the Ministry." Mrs. Parkinson said testily from across the table at him. "Did you even hear when I asked if you wanted to watch it the past five times?
"This is important, Victoria."
"Really? More important than your daughter?" She snapped, standing up and slamming down her cup of tea.
"Is this even about Pansy anymore?" He countered, laying down the parchment. "Because every bloody time you bring this up, it's always about you! Do you even care about our daughter?"
She recoiled as though she'd been slapped. "Of course I care about my daughter! I can't say the same for you-"
"How dare you insult me that way!" He shouted, standing up. "The only reason I'm still in this marriage is because of her."
"How dare you!" His wife screamed, balling her hands into fists. "How dare you insult me-"
"Insult you?!" He bellowed, "You're the one who's fucking someone else! Not me! I remained faithful to you and my daughter! I took care of you! I make money, and you go sneaking off with another man-"
"Maybe if I was satisfied I wouldn't go to someone else!" She shrieked. "Maybe if you paid one speck of attention to me I would still love you-"
"I don't care if you love me! I certainly don't love you, you devil woman! Why don't you go owl your fuck partner, because you're not welcome in my house anymore! I'll have the House Elves pack your bags, I never want to lay eyes on you again." He threw his glass against the wall, where it shattered, and then stormed from the room.
Mrs. Parkinson screamed after him, "Fine! Break our daughter's heart! Ruin her life!"
"You already have, you bitch!"
"You'll hear from my lawyer!"
"We have the same lawyer!" Yelled his furious voice and his footsteps thundered down stairs.
"Not anymore, you bastard!"
She screamed in frustration and threw her own cup against the wall. Tea streamed down the side and onto the expensive, five hundred galleon carpet. She snapped her fingers and her House Elf, Tipsy, appeared before her. "Pack my bags and get the lawyer."
"I'm taking the Dickinson Worford carpet!" She yelled to the silent house and then slammed the door. It felt so good that she opened it and did it again, and again, and again.
-
Riley Montgommery
"Riley? What are you doing?"
"Nothing, mum!" Riley called downstairs, eyes not leaving the WCube's projection.
"You've been spending a lot of time upstairs in your room!" His mother's footsteps headed up the stairs. "Are you watching that show again?"
"Er, no." He said quickly, rolling over and pulling out the first bit of reading material he could find. The projection from the orb cut off as he shoved it under his bed.
"Is that The Quibbler? You know we don't approve of that magazine." Genvieve Montgommery said, wiping her hands on a dish towel.
He glanced at it and tossed it to the side. "Right, sorry."
She stayed standing outside his door. "Riley…"
"Yeah…" He said slowly, mimicking her tone.
"Were you watching the show?"
"No…"He said. She didn't move. "OK, yeah…"
"You know we don't want you watching it! It doesn't set a good example of how you should live your life and we do not approve of that Pansy girl-"
"I don't care if you approve of her. She's busy this summer anyway, and in case you haven't noticed, we don't even go to the same school." He said, rolling onto his stomach and glaring at the floor. "In fact, I don't go to any school."
"Do you like her?" She completely ignored the part of his statement that he most wanted her to notice.
"Is that any of your business?"
"Riley Jackson Montgommery, stop mocking me and answer my question!" She barked and he rolled his eyes.
"No, I don't like her. We're just friends, trust me."
"Good. Now, dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes. You should be studying." She said sternly, before leaving his room. He counted to sixty, pulled out the orb and resumed watching the show. Even if he didn't like Pansy, it was an interesting show.
His parents seriously needed to chill out.
-
-
The House of Hell
A big blur rushed past Hermione and she could only gape as Blaise and Draco were tackled, thrown backwards and slammed into the wall. She stared in complete astonishment as Theodore Nott grabbed the two Slytherins and hugged them, rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet.
"We won?" Draco asked, his voice muffled by his friend's shoulder.
"We won?" She echoed, feeling slightly dazed.
"You won!" Theodore called out happily, releasing his friends and looking around, eyes wild. Hermione was still in shock, especially due to the fact that the new addition to their team looked so hyper.
"We won!" They all cried out at the same time and before she could stop herself she let out a small, 'Oh my God!'
Their group began to jump up and down excitedly and she was, once again, swept into a hug and pressed up against Draco's warm, lean body. He's quite nice feeling. She though dazedly, and looked up into his face. He was gazing at her, almost like they were back at the club, staring across the stage at each other, like he could see into her soul-
"I can't believe it!" Blaise exclaimed, jaw hanging open. "I thought for sure we'd lost! After Pansy-"
"Yes, we'd actually like to mention that, Pansy." Sheila said, turning to the suddenly pale girl. "Incidentally, we specifically said no magic was allowed, and that's why your car had a bit of a…failure."
"What do you mean, no magic?" Ron asked, staring between his team mate and the hostess. "We didn't do magic."
"Someone did." James said, stopping his off-tune humming of Who'll Stop the Rain to looking disapprovingly at the blonde.
"You used magic?" Harry rounded on her, looking shocked.
"Yes! Fine, I used magic!" Pansy finally burst out. "I knew they were going to win!"
"What did you do?" The two males asked in unison, expressions of stunned horror donning their faces.
"She told me she wanted to talk to me, convinced me to stay holed up in some bathroom listening to her talk about her problems while you three drove away happily." Hermione said testily and her team grew solemn. A tense silence filled the air.
"What magic did she do?" Ron asked, frowning and crossing his arms.
"A silencing charm." Hermione replied, feeling her annoyance rise just from talking about it. She hated being deceived, and finding out that the girl had betrayed her after they'd become sort-of-friends had been a big blow.
"You used a silencing charm?" The boys watched Pansy, aghast at her behaviour.
"Stop looking at me like that!" She snapped, throwing her hands up in the air. "I actually wanted to win! I was stuck with you dolts, so obviously I was a bit desperate!"
"We're the dolts?" Harry snapped, temper snapping up. "We're not the ones who made us lose!"
"I wanted to bring someone on more than you did! God, you're such an imbecile!" Pansy snarled, balling her hands into fists. "All you wanted was that little whore Weasl-"
"Shut up about my sister!" Ron yelled, face turning red in his fury.
"Like you're any better!" She exclaimed, "Fawning over that stupid girl you text all the time!"
"At least she likes me!" Ron shot back, "Unlike that Riley you're in love with-"
"I'm not in love with him!" She shouted back, "You're just stupid Gryffindors-"
"Are you so stupid you have to resort back to house-"
"If we had a choice you wouldn't even be in this gr-"
"I hate yo-"
"This entire idea is so fucked up-"
The Bloody Fuckers watched in shock as their friends' voices rose to an indistinguishable level. Ron and Harry stood side by side, yelling at Pansy, who was squared off ahead of them. Her face was red and she was gesturing madly with her arms, which was accompanied by an abnormal about of hair swishing and foot stomping.
"This is like those muggle reality shows we saw!" James exclaimed excitedly over the noise as Hermione's team watched them fight.
Shaking her head she moved towards the arguing trio. "Stop it! Stop it right now!" She put a hand on Ron's shoulder, tugging, and he looked at her in surprise. Her disruption attracted the attention of Harry as well and soon it was just Pansy who was screaming, but she broke off quite quickly when Hermione glared icily at her.
For a moment there was only silence, punctured by James's poor rendition of the song. "Who'll stop the ra-a-aaaain." He sang quietly and Blaise visibly cringed.
"Thank you, Hermione." Sheila said, smoothing down her dress's skirt. "Now, if we could carry on?"
Looking somewhat shamefaced Harry and Ron stepped back, shooting glares at Pansy. Blaise was whispering excitedly to Theodore, who still had a slightly manic expression on his face while Draco listened, nodding.
"Congratulations goes out to The Blood Fuckers, who won the Road Trip challenge. Now, in honour of the ending of this journey, we've put together a small video to summarize your experiences! We'll be handing out copies at publicity events and such, and each of you will be given one." Sheila explained while James set up his WCube. "Without further ado, here we are!"
They all turned expectantly to the projection wall, but nothing happened. "Er, James, did you set it up right?" Sheila asked impatiently, looking down at her perfectly manicured nails.
"I think so." He picked up the orb – Hermione had never realized how strange that it was called a WCube but was, in fact, circular – "Oh! Good golly, I forgot to remove the protective cap from the screen."
"Idiot." Sheila muttered, rolling her eyes. After James fiddled with it for a bit they turned back to the wall and it began to roll. First it summarized the trip of The Pansy Pickers, where they seemed to be getting along well, and then showed brief clips of the challenges along the way. The brunette exchanged looks with Draco, who was wearing an expression that described how she felt. How had they gone from that camaraderie to their fighting?
'However, tensions arose. Ron's constant attention to his cell phone and Harry's temper quickly annoyed Pansy.'
James's voice spoke ominously and clips were shown of several yelling matches, resulting in Pansy sulking in the back. There was about a minute of clips of Ron using his cell phone and Harry's temper getting the best of him. It moved on to what she'd done to Hermione in an attempt to sabotage her group's chances of winning, at which Harry and Ron glowered. She resisted pointing out that, in essence, they'd wanted her to do it to her own team, because they were, of course, different circumstances. It was quite lengthily, and she saw the tension between the team members rise visibly on screen.
'How have The Bloody Fuckers fared through this adventure?'
"'How could they do this to me?'" The Hermione on screen was ranting furiously. '"I hate this show! You put me in a small car, for fourteen days with Malfoy and Zabini?"'
'"Granger being here is kind of a disappointment."' Draco's voice drawled out. '"I was expecting it, obviously, but she's like a rabid beaver. Always freaking out at us, and wanting to dismember us and use our limbs to build a beaver dam or something."'
'"I didn't really care,"' Blaise said, shrugging from his casual perch in the Confession Box. '"Until she started freaking out in here. It doesn't exactly help that we don't get along, so hopefully we'll all remain intact for the remainder of this trip. And by intact, I mostly mean alive."'
The images on the screen flashed around as it showed their various arguments – from when Draco had been irritated by her tapping foot, to Blaise refusing to turn on the radio, to a minor quarrel between Draco and Blaise about which exit they were supposed to take. In fact, that particular topic went on for quite awhile and she couldn't help but giggle slightly under her breath as the clips just went on and on and on.
'But was it a cover-up for something more?'
She was actually quite enjoying this. The way it twisted all the events that had happened, such as when Draco had seen she was awake in the mirror and she'd closed her eyes quickly and made it out into a big, dramatic eye lock with violin music and everything. It was absolutely ridiculous, but once you got over the initial injustice, it was quite entertaining. There was Draco, smiling and pulling her to his side in the fast food restaurant, and then them laughing in the car.
The next series was of Blaise's many, er, conquests, and it flashed picture after picture of him locked in embraces until Hermione could only look incredulously at the dark male. "How did you even meet that many people?" She asked, eyes flickering back and forth between the screen and the somewhat embarrassed looking black male.
"Er…You know. Here and there." He said offhandedly. "But it's not like I did them all. Just quick snogs, mostly."
"'Them all.'" Draco muttered, rolling his eyes and making Hermione laugh.
Their recap ended on a completely dramatic note, and then Sheila and James turned back to them, beaming. "Now, wasn't that fun?"
"Yeah." Pansy said sarcastically, rolling her eyes nastily and crossing her arms.
"You know, Pansy, surliness is very unattractive, especially when combined with such a negative attitude. Besides, your complexion really can't handle that expression." Sheila advised the blond, who looked highly affronted. "Now, if you do recall, we mentioned there would be a surprise?"
"It's quite a big one," James said, looking casually jovial, if such a combination was possible. "We'll need to speak to each of you individually, except for Theodore, of course…So, before we can continue this little show, I'd like Harry to follow me into this room."
The raven-haired Gryffindor followed his suspiciously, and then James's wife turned to the rest of them. "Intrigued? To speed this up, I'll take Draco in with me. No use waiting for such a long time…"
Draco looked at Hermione and they shared a look of confusion, before he trailed after Sheila into another room. Hermione turned back, her eyes catching Ron's across the room. He strode over, slipping his phone into the pocket of his trousers as he did so.
"Hermione, you know Harry and I had no idea about what Parkinson did, right?" He looked imploringly at her, his light blue eyes scanning her face in worry. "We wouldn't do that. I know we suggested you do, but obviously we knew you wouldn't."
"Of course, Ron." She said, watching with amusement as his earnest face split into a grin. "I saw it on the show when I found my WCube under a seat. It was just her."
"Good. I wouldn't want you thinking that Harry or I would ever sink as low as a Slytherin." He muttered the word like it made his lips dirty.
"All Slytherins aren't bad, you know Ron." She said, thinking fondly of the past two weeks.
"Yet. Right now they're OK, but just wait until they're older." The Weasley shook his head, speaking sinisterly. "Wait until they turn on you, then you'll know."
"Hi, Ron." Blaise said suddenly, coming to stand beside them. The way he stood suggested that he'd heard his words, and the corner of his lips were turned up.
"Oh, hi." Ron said amicably, glancing at him and returning his voice to normal. "How's it going?"
"Good." The other male winked at Hermione and she giggled, before he turned away from them and sauntered back over to the wall.
"There's something else I should probably tell you." Ron bit his lip, eyes flashing from amiable to anxious, looking worried.
"What is it?" She asked, sensing his concern and resting her hands supportively on his shoulders.
"Well…You know I've been talking with someone lately…right…?"
"Yeah." She prompted, when he didn't seem inclined to continue. "Ron, what's wrong?"
"Er…"
"Granger, they'll take you now." Draco had returned, his brows furrowed and he looked at them for a long moment. Well, he really glowered at them, his eyes moving from Hermione's face, to her hands on Ron's shoulder and then to Ron, where his entire expression narrowed with dislike. "Or am I interrupting something private?"
"Don't be silly." She removed her hands from Ron quickly. For some reason she didn't like the idea of her blond team-mate seeing them standing that way. "We'll finish this later, OK?"
He nodded and she turned. Her brown eyes were drawn to the thick brown envelope in Draco's hands as she passed, and she asked him what they'd wanted. It looked much like the envelope they'd gotten with the House Rules and such at the beginning of the show.
"Can't say." He replied and she followed James, dissatisfied with his answer. What could possibly make Shame draw them out one by one and talk to them in private? Had there been a complication in the show?
"Hermione, Hermione, Hermione." James said genially when she took a seat in the chair resting opposite from him. "I'm sure you're very curious about why you're here."
"Yes." She said in a business-like way, crossing her legs. "Obviously."
"This is quite a big opportunity." He leaned in seriously, hands flat on the table in front of him. "We're giving you a choice, right now. If you want to, you can leave The House of Hell."
Her jaw fell open in shock and he nodded, satisfied with her surprise. "Really?"
"Yep. That's right. Right now, we're giving you the chance to walk away." He nodded gravely. "Right up and out the door. Onto the lawn. Into a car. And drive away. Well, actually," he added as an afterthought, "You'd probably want to pick up all your stuff. So you'd have to pack it up. And you might want to say your goodbyes, and all. But in essence, you know, you can walk away right now."
"Why?" She asked, her mind going frantic as she thought of the implications of his words. She could leave. No more ridiculous challenges, no more Slytherin team mates, no more being stuck with people she didn't want to see, no more Draco…
"I don't want to leave." Her traitorous lips burst out before she could think about it. "I'd like to stay. If that's alright."
"You know, we thought you'd be difficult." James said, smiling at her. "I suppose not. Well, I'm going to continue as though you didn't interrupt. The reason we're giving you this option is because of recent reconstruction of the House of Hell program. We've spoken to our sponsors, and have added several things into the show. For starters, we are going to start eliminating House Guests."
She gaped at him, unable to contain the response. Eliminate people? Why would they want to do that? She couldn't understand where the man in front of her as going with their conversation, but listened attentively instead of interrupting him like she wanted to.
"Well, actually, the viewers are going to eliminate House Guests. We're just going to watch them do it." He seemed to think that was a rather clever, witty remark and was offended when Hermione didn't respond with hysterical laughter. "Anyways, that's why we need your consent to remain on the show. Most of you are adults in the Wizarding world, so it isn't up to your parents. Technically, all this time you really could have left…"
Hermione didn't have the energy to feel disgruntled.
"Your team has now been completed, we don't feel it's necessary to add on any more people. The House is ready, and we've got loads of challenges and exciting things for you to do. The whole mid-show recuperation has done wonders, really. So we have a contract for you to read over." He pulled out a piece of parchment with flourish and the bushy-haired female immediately began to scour it.
After her third time reading it over, she decided it was safe. There was nothing that would keep her tied to the House afterwards – the time period was specified for a date in August, or for when she left the House and was no longer a Guest – and there was nothing that obligated her to do anything. In fact, it was fairly open and even stated that if they decided to negotiate anything on the contract – it was an informal contract, which meant it was quite flexible - they could do so with either Sheila or James, and should they feel the need they could contact the owner of the network.
After asking James a few questions she signed it, handing it over. "Here you are."
"Thank you, dear." He said, taking it from her and setting it on the table beside him, where another similar looking parchment lay.
"Did Malfoy choose to stay, also?" She asked eagerly, suddenly remembering him when James handed her a thick envelope like the one the blond had had under his arm.
"Yes, yes he did. These are basically the rules, which you already read in the contract, and your keys and such." The man smiled at her and she grinned, suddenly feeling excited. It was a new era of The House of Hell! "We ask that you don't reveal your decision to anyone in that room who hasn't been in to see us, or tell them what this is about. They'll learn in due time, anyway, and its important that we inform them of this alone."
"Oh. OK." She couldn't find anything wrong with that and stood up. "So I can leave?"
"Of course."
She moved towards the door, but turned around while her hand rested on the doorknob. "How will I know who decides to stay?"
"If they come back into that room, then they've agreed to stay. Draco has agreed, as has Theodore. Oh," he looked down as another contract joined hers and Draco's. "It looks like Harry has as well. Excellent."
She felt a glow of happiness and slipped through the door, joining her group on the other side. Blaise walked through after being called and she beamed at Draco. He looked questioningly at her, eyes darting to the door and she nodded, mouthing, 'I'm staying.' He grinned shortly, before catching Theodore's glance and becoming nonchalant.
It didn't surprise her that they all decided to stay, even when Pansy stormed back into the room and returned to the corner she'd been haunting. Of course, they'd all complained about the show earlier on, but the road trip had changed things for the better. She already felt like the show was already more fun and was excited to start exploring their new house.
"We're all staying?" Ron asked loudly, eyeing their group and letting his eyes linger significantly on Draco. "Hmph."
"God, this'll be a riot." Theodore said, practically bouncing on his heels. Hermione looked at him speculatively, wondering what kind of person he was. He seemed so enthusiastic, completely unlike the impression she'd always gotten from his quiet, withdrawn personality at Hogwarts and the bored looking person she'd brought onstage. "I can't believe you brought me on."
"Who else would we bring?" Blaise rolled his eyes at Theodore's apparent stupidity.
Sheila was watching them with interest as her husband placed the contracts into a folder and tucked it under his arm. "One question," Hermione said suddenly, looking inquisitive. "Why? What's the point of eliminating us off, one by one? Why would you want there to only be one more person?"
"Oh," Sheila laughed softly with two fingers over her lips. "It's not us who wants there to be one person."
"Your supervisor thinks a show of one person is interesting?" Harry asked doubtfully, shaking his head with dismay.
"No, I mean its you. You'll want to be the last person on the show." James seemed to be trying to make them realize what he was saying without actually saying anything important. It was quite confusing. "We have…a reward."
Noticing their lack of comprehension, Sheila finally leaned forward, her glossy hair falling around her head in a shower of shiny brilliance. Her words made Hermione's brain momentarily short-circuit.
"Oh, I think the one million galleon prize at the end is incentive enough."
-
Author's Note: Surprised? I know I said this was just an interlude, but...He-he. Then that happened. I think you understand my amusement with the polls now. Why Theodore Nott? I was pondering this for quite awhile, wondering why people wanted him to come on the show…
Which leads to my next thing. I have a few requests for you! The first is, I'm wondering who you voted for, if you voted. So if you could tell me who you voted for in your review and give me a quick explanation of why, I'd be forever grateful!
The second is, is there a question about this story you'd like me to ask in a poll on my profile? If you have anything you'd like to know, such as who most people's favourite characters are, or whatever, it would be cool if you could let me know in a review or PM, because I can't think of anything to put in a poll right now. :)
I'd also really like to thank all of you guys for your support. Reviews never fail to brighten my day and my make me smile, and it's really great to hear from you readers. So thank you! :)
Review review review!