(A/N: Hello readers! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a LONG time. School hasn't been good to me lately in terms of grades and the people. I've been stressing out about my grades every damn day of my life and I'm getting SO much homework it's not even funny. My teacher's are giving tests on the same day and it's a hassle to study for them. It's amazing how I still have a 3.7 GPA. Hooray for AP -_- I've also been having some writer's block and starting a new fic for a new band that I've been listening to. I'm not done with the first chapter yet, but I'll give you guys a link to it eventually. The band is called IM5 and they are so fucking awesome. If you guys can, go and check them out. DON'T JUDGE ME, I JUST FUCKING LOVE THEM SO MUCH. So yeah. Anyway here's the chapter. I hope you guys don't mind me venting and losing my shit on here again. Remember to favorite, follow, review etc. Enjoy! ^_^)
Chapter 8: Aloha Hello and Goodbye
"Welcome Hawaii, Ginny," Hermione cheered.
Ginny stood awestruck at the setting sun at the horizon as she rode in a cab next to Hermione. Her eyes did not blink and her jaw hung open. The young girl had no idea that a setting sun could look so beautiful, yet so boring back home. "I love it here already and I haven't even seen the rest of this beautiful place," Ginny burst out without breaking her gaze at the sun.
"Just you wait because when you see the beautiful sights, you're never gonna want to leave," Hermione chuckled.
Within ten minutes the witches arrived at a small, quiet neighborhood. Ginny rolled her window down and took in the sounds of birds, swaying palm trees, and the nearby beach. As they rounded a cul-de-sac, they saw Hermione's cousin's home. The house was one story, but looked beautiful nonetheless. The front lawn wore a stunning shade of green grass. Part of the grass continued a nearby beach, but gradually got replaced by soft, white sand. The front door to the house was nowhere to be seen, but there was a pathway that could be seen at the edge of the driveway. The house itself was painted a soft blue and had white frames that wrapped around the edges of the windows.
Hermione and Ginny got out of the taxi, paid the driver, and retrieved their bags from the trunk.
"Well let's go greet my cousin," Hermione suggested. Ginny's eyes lit up and nodded. T
The girls took their bags and headed towards the path that led to the front door. As they rounded the corner, they noticed a tall green hedge that wore pink hibiscus'. While walking, towards the front door, the girls saw a man no older than twenty-one fling the door wide open and run outside to welcome the girls. The man was wearing a plain grey tank top with black and grey Quicksilver board shorts and flip flops. To complete the ensemble, a shark tooth hung down from a necklace around his neck. As Ginny examined his features, she noticed that he had long, wavy, sandy brown hair that ended past his thick eyebrows. The thickness of his eyebrows accented the chocolate color of his eyes. Also, he had tanned skin that greatly contrasted Hermione's, but the feature that stood out the most was his perfect smile.
As soon as he was within arm distance of the witches, he began speaking in a Hawaiian accent. "Hermione, it's been so long. Look at you, you're all grown up," he shouted, hugging his cousin and lifting her off of the ground.
Hermione laughed, "Oh I know, I'm long overdue for a visit, aren't I?"
He gently placed Hermione on the ground and looked at Ginny, who looked very amused. "So who's your friend," he questioned, with a smile.
"This is my best friend Ginny. Ginny, this is my cousin Devon," Hermione began.
Ginny enthusiastically offered her hand to Devon and shook it. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise." He turned to Hermione and said, "Wow, 'Mione, you never told me your best friend was soooo pretty." Devon grinned,
A small giggled escaped Ginny's mouth, earning her a wink from Devon.
"Honestly, Devon, can't you go one minute without flirting," Hermione scolded, rolling her eyes.
In response, Devon smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Why don't you guys come inside?" He took a bag in each hand and led the girls inside.
"You're cousin seems very nice," Ginny commented.
"You think that now, but just you watch, once you get to know him he's insane."
The interior of the house looked smaller from the outside in Ginny's opinion. The walls wore a soft cream color, which contrasted the green tiles on the floor. To the right of the front door was the living room. A brown sofa sat pointing at a television set with matching ottoman and a pair of love seats on either side of the sofa. In front of the sofa was a black coffee table, and top of it were magazine neatly piled on top of each other and a coaster with a glass of water.
"Hey, you actually cleaned up in here," the brunette observed. She turned to Ginny and whispered, "Last time, I visited I swear I couldn't see the floor!"
"Shut up, 'Mione. It wasn't that messy," Devon exclaimed.
Ginny took another look around the house. The TV was mounted on the wall and below that was a long, two shelve cabinet that held a DVD player, a Playstation 3, a DVR, and a Wii on the top. Below that were the games that went with the various game stations. On both sides of the TV were two tall shelves that had DVDs neatly organized. As the youngest Weasley looked up, she saw a window with a perfect view of the beach. From a distance, she could see people playing in the water and making sandcastles in the sand. She diverted her attention away from the beach and continued walking around the house.
To the right was a kitchen which was composed of brown cabinets and drawers. In the middle were four stools surrounding a granite island with a connecting sink. The island's support was the same color as the wall and had various spots, each a different color. Huh, must've spilled food a lot, she thought. Along the sides of the kitchen was a stove with a smoke regulator underneath a microwave. Below the stove was an oven with a stainless steel surface. A grey magnetic refrigerator fit perfectly inside a large space between the brown cabinets.
Past the kitchen was a living room with brown leather couches and a single brown coffee table on top of a white rug. Next to one of the sofas was a sliding glass door which led to the back yard.
Ginny turned right and noticed the dining table with six chairs and a beam of hanging lights.
After admiring the details of the house, Ginny couldn't find Hermione or Devon. "Hey, where are you guys," she shouted, looking around aimlessly.
"We're in the hallway, Gin," answered Hermione.
Ginny followed the sound of her voice and ended up in a long hallway filled with doors. She looked both ways and found her best friend with her cousin on the left.
"Wow, Devon. You're room looks completely different from the last time," Hermione pointed out. "I remember when you went through your Marvel and DC phase. You never stopped talking about your superhero collection and how you could never pick just one over the others." She turned to Ginny, who had just walked up to Hermione. "Did you know his room used to be divided in half with one side being DC and the other Marvel," she teased.
Ginny said nothing, for she could only laugh.
"That may be true, but I redid my room 'cuz I'm a grown ass man. I'm twenty-two for fuck's sake," Devon retorted, throwing his arms up and running a hand through his long, thick hair.
Ginny walked over and took a look at his room with Hermione and Devon trailing behind her. This room was painted white and had posters of Bruce Lee and Bob Marley all over the walls. Along the center of the left wall was a king sized bed with blue bed sheets with night stands on either side. On top of one night stand was a fishbowl with a colorful blue-purple beta fish. On the other was a plain white lamp and an alarm clock. Next to that were two big windows covered with blinds. In front of the bed were drawers with a TV with a white Wii and a Playstation 3 next to it. The hard wood floors were shiny and did not have any trash on it. The sliding closet doors wore more posters with the Beatles and Michael Jackson.
Hermione shot Devon an amused look which Devon returned with a sheepish expression. "Well you can say that I haven't changed much I guess."
"I like his room," commented Ginny.
Next Devon's face contorted into a demeanor that said "I told you so." Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled at her cousin.
Devon began staring at Ginny with a loving look in his eyes. Hermione, noticing her cousin's actions, changed the subject. "So, Devon, which room can we take?"
Hermione's cousin broke his glares and led the girls down the hall and into the guest room. The room looked the same, but it had two beds and lacked the posters.
"Well you guys can settle down and rest up, I know you guys had a long flight," Devon suggested. "Tomorrow I can take you to some of the iconic sights."
"Alright then, we'll see you tomorrow," Ginny called.
When Hermione wasn't looking, Devon winked at Ginny. His lips formed a cheeky smile as Ginny giggled. He slowly backed out of the guest room and into the hallway.
The girls unpacked in comfortable silence until they were interrupted by an annoying tapping sound coming from the window. They stopped unpacking and opened the blinds to see a light brown owl holding a box.
"Zelda, what are you doing here," Hermione asked, opening the window.
The owl flew into the room, dropped the box on one of the beds, and flew to Hermione. She extended her left arm and Zelda flew to Hermione's arm. When the owl landed on the witch's arm, she hooted and walked to her owner's shoulder.
"Hey, 'Mione, I don't know who this is from."
"What do you mean," Hermione questioned, while playing with Zelda. The bird began to nip at her hair.
"There's no name on it," Ginny answered, holding up the box and turning it on all sides as proof.
"Well, that's strange." She walked to where Ginny was standing. The owl hooted and flew from Hermione's arm to the head board of one of the beds. "I guess Zelda will be staying with us," Hermione chuckled.
Ginny handed the box to Hermione, "Maybe you should open it."
Hermione shrugged as she took the box from Ginny and shook it. The object inside made loud noises as it hit the top and bottom of the box. "Sounds like it's something heavy," Hermione speculated. She tore the tape off the top of the box and opened the flaps of the box. Inside the box was a large, black, book. She let her fingers roam the center of the book, feeling the texture of the design of the cover. In the center of the book was a latch that locked the book. Protecting the lock was a heart-shaped cover. The brunette took her thumb and slid the cover off of the lock, revealing the shape of it. The key to open the book, judging from the shape of the lock, had to be a heart-shaped locket. Hermione put the book down on the bed and found the locket in the box.
"Merlin, the locket is beautiful." The locket was silver with diamonds outlining the shape of it. Inscribed in the center of the small necklace was an infinity symbol. On the back of the locket was the word "always" with a small heart below it.
"What's all that," Ginny questioned.
"Someone sent me a heart-shaped locket that opens a diary."
"How do you know that's a diary?"
Hermione looked at her friend and shook her head, "Well, why else would you lock a book up. Plus, the key is a heart-shaped locket, which is a bit of a red flag," replied Hermione. Merlin, she really is Ron's sister.
Ginny got up from the bed, retrieved a pair of pajamas from one of the drawers, and went to the bathroom across the hall.
When her best friend left the room, Hermione got the locket, opened it, and pressed it against the lock. Instantly, the latch popped loose. Then, she put the locket around her neck. She took the latch apart, took out the locket, and opened the book. A neatly folded letter fell out of one of the pages, sparking the Gryffindor's curiosity. Hermione picked up the letter and opened it. Her heart sank as she read the letter.
I've admired you from afar these past few months and from the very first moment I fell for you, you've been tattooed into my heart and my mind. Your sweet, chocolate eyes aren't just beautiful, they are windows to the world I want to be a part of. I believe that you are the true creator of beauty. All angels in the heavens above hide their face in shame at your divine beauty and your euphonious voice.
As you can see you are my inspiration, Hermione. I want to tell you who I am, but I do not know how you will react to this. I sent you this diary and locket to show you that my love for you is as constant as the stars in the sky. This is not just any old diary, this one is a magical diary that is linked to another which allows two people to communicate instantly. I have one as well and sent you the diary linked to mine. Until I muster up the courage to reveal myself, I hope we can write to each other.
Anonymous
Hermione let let out the breath that she didn't know she had been holding. She processed the information and debated whether she should take the chance on writing to a complete stranger.
Amidst her silent debate, Ginny walked into the room dressed in a T-shirt and pajama bottoms with her hair in a ponytail. "I'm going to sleep so I can have a lot of energy for tomorrow. See you in the morning, 'Mione," Ginny chorused, indicating her excitement.
"Good night, Gin," Hermione called. She watched as her best friend climbed into bed and closed her eyes. Hermione transfigured her clothes into pajamas and placed a silencing charm around her bed. She decided to write a small message in the diary.
I got the package. How do you know me, may I ask? Do I know you?
After she finished writing her short message, she closed the diary and locked it. She placed it on the nightstand near her bed, and fell asleep.
The next morning, at 8;30, the girls woke up to the sound of crashing waves on the shore and the smell of bacon. Hermione got up and opened the window to let Zelda get some fresh air. Zelda hooted as she flew out of the window. The Gryffindor watched as her owl flew to the nearest tree on the beach. She smiled and closed the window, but left the blinds up.
"Mmmm, Hermione, it smells good in here," came Ginny's groggy morning voice.
Hermione giggled and added, "I know. Come on, get up so we can eat!"
The girls got up and proceeded to the kitchen. Once there, they were met with the sight of bacon, eggs, and pancakes.
As they entered the kitchen, they noticed Devon making breakfast. He was wearing a plain, red shirt with black shorts. His hair was sticking up in about twenty different directions. The same shark tooth necklace was around his neck. "Good morning, ladies. How did you sleep," Devon asked, while he was making pancakes at the stove. Next, to the pancakes on the stove was a sizzling pan of bacon.
Hermione and Ginny took their seats at the island and watched as Devon prepared breakfast. "We slept well thank you," replied Ginny. "I can't wait to go out today."
"Yeah where did you plan on taking us," Hermione asked with obvious excitement.
"Well, I thought maybe after breakfast we could go to the beach just outside the sliding glass door for a few hours. After that we could go to Waikiki so you girls can go shopping and treat yourselves to lunch while I'm at work. Thankfully, my boss let me work half of the shift I'm supposed to take so I can show you guys around," he said, while smiling.
"Thank you, Devon. You didn't have to go through all that trouble with work to show us around," Hermione laughed, while serving herself some breakfast.
"Oh it's no trouble at all. My boss is pretty cool," he assured. He finished making the pancakes and announced "Breakfast is finished. Dig in!" He placed the pancakes from the pan, to the plate filled with pancakes and took the bacon and put it in the plate. Hermione took a napkin and dabbed the bacon to get the excess grease and oil out. While she was doing that, Devon went to the fridge and took out the mild and orange juice and got three glasses from one of the cabinets. Hermione and Ginny filled their glasses with the juice while Devon went with milk.
Ginny filled her plate with pancakes and bacon. She was about to take a bite out of her pancakes when she noticed that there were small bits of something in them. "Hey, Devon, what are in these pancakes?"
"Bacon. When we were little, our grandparents made pancakes and bacon for me and 'Mione all the time, but we ate mostly bacon," Devon chuckled. "One morning, Hermione asked 'why can't the bacon be inside the pancakes?' My grandpa didn't think that was a bad idea, so he made bacon pancakes for the both of us and we loved it."
Ginny took a bite of the pancakes and her eyes went big. "HOLY CRAP THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER EATEN," she yelled, causing Hermione and Devon to laugh.
"Devon, we've turned her over to the dark side," Hermione uttered with a serious tone with an expression to match. Not being able to contain her charade any longer, she burst into a fit of giggles.
"I'm glad you like them, Ginny," Devon beamed with a gleam in his eye. He sat next to Ginny at the island and began to serve help himself to the food. In the middle of eating, he got up and turned on the TV. "I hope you guys like Adventure Time," he boomed.
"I like how you still watch cartoons, Devon," Hermione teased, as she cut her pancakes.
"Don't judge me, 'Mione," Devon retorted jokingly.
"Oh, no I'm totally not judging you, right now," his cousin snickered.
"Hey. I don't steal and I don't hurt people, this is who I am," he proclaimed, with his eyes growing wide and his hands in the air. Soon enough, the three were laughing louder than the show's theme song blaring from the television. They finished their breakfast and watched Adventure Time for a half hour.
After the show was finished, the three got ready to go to the beach. As Hermione packed her things for the beach, she noticed that her diary was glowing a subtle red color.
"What the heck," she gasped. She walked to the diary on the nightstand, and unlocked it with the locket. Upon opening it, she saw a new message below her previous one.