Red heads, and Roller Coasters
Chapter 19
September 18th, 1998 - Lunch
After class, Hermione and the Gryffindor 7th years ran to the common room to change and grab their things for the field trip. Hermione changed into jeans, a simple t-shirt and grabbed a flannel shirt for warmth. She made sure to grab her muggle handbag, and wallet. Although she didn’t have cash on her, she had her debit card so she was all set. She was thankful most of her housemates were comfortable blending into the muggle world. The now mixed group of 6th and 7th year students made their way to the Great Hall to have lunch before leaving.
Lunch went by without incident, until raucous laughter was heard over at the Slytherin table. Hermione looked up and noticed, the Slytherin 6th and 7th years came in looking like they were straight out of the 1800’s. They were being laughed at by their younger housemates.
“Guys, look at the Slytherins.” Hermione said.
“Should we help them?” Neville asked.
“No, just bloody leave them be to embarrass themselves.” Ron said gruffly.
“I’m going to help them.” Hermione said, glaring at Ron.
Hermione made her way over to the group of embarrassed 6th and 7th year Slytherins.
“If you’re here to laugh then shove off Granger.” Pansy said defensively.
“Not here to laugh. Promise.” Hermione said quickly, hoping to diffuse the tension. “I assume the only pictures you’ve seen of muggles were from very old, and very out of date books?”
The group all nodded.
“Do you mind if I transfigure your clothes into appropriate muggle clothes?”
“Please!” Pansy begged.
Hermione smiled at the worried Slytherin girl.
“Are pants okay? What’s your favorite color?”
“That’s fine, and purple please.”
Hermione did a little wand work, transfiguring Pansy’s 1870’s dress into acid washed jeans, a black shirt and a dark purple over shirt.
“Thank you so much Hermione!” Pansy said, giving Hermione a hug.
“I was hoping you would do something like you were wearing. You look great by the way.” Pansy whispered.
“Would anyone else like some help?” Hermione asked the Slytherins.
They all responded positively.
“Neville, Susan, Luna. I think I’m going to need some reinforcements.” Hermione called across the hall.
She was quickly joined by the three she called and Ginny. She gave the now four helpers directions on the type of clothes to change them into, then they started setting the Slytherins clothes right.
Looking around, Hermione was pleased to see that her friends managed to style everyone appropriately. She was proud that not everyone was wearing the exact same thing. Someone had moved in front of Hermione and cleared their voice.
“Could you help me as well. I assume this isn't a period appropriate outfit?”
Asking Hermione for help was Draco Malfoy. He was currently dressed in 1860’s style mens wear, complete with a top hat, and a jacket with tails.
“It would work if we were still in the 1860’s but if you’d like to join the 1990’s I’d be happy to help you.”
Draco cracked a smile.
“Well then style me ma’am.” Draco laughed, and tipped his hat at Hermione.
Hermione transformed Draco’s outfit into black jeans, a black band shirt, and a leather jacket.
“I figured you’d like this, given you tend to enjoy your all black suits.” She chuckled.
Draco was beaming. Hermione remembered that he liked all black suits, that means she did pay attention to him! He would be soaring for the rest of the day.
Hermione was unaware the entire exchange helping the Slytherins has been watched in scrupulous detail by everyone in the Great Hall. She went to turn around to walk back to the Gryffindor table when she nearly ran into the Headmistress.
“Ms. Granger, Ms. Weasley, Mr. Longbottom, Ms. Bones, and Ms. Lovegood. You have shown a great example of inter house unity in helping your classmates be properly prepared for the afternoon. I award each of you 15 points, for promoting unity among the houses.”
There was light applause among the students, and the group of five went to sit back down.
“Not so fast. Ms. Granger, who was the first person you approached that let you help them?”
“Pansy Parkinson Ma’am.”
The headmistress turned to Pansy.
“Ms. Parkinson. 15 points to Slytherin for accepting help from a classmate, and encouraging others to do the same.”
Pansy, who was never one to receive points for her house, was smiling as she thanked the Headmistress.
“Now I believe you all have a field trip to get ready for. Don’t forget to exchange your money!” The headmistress encouraged them.
The Slytherin Table
“What just happened…” Theo asked.
“I think that was a very public peace offering.” Daphne offered.
“It looks like Draco just fell further in love with Granger.” Blaise said.
“Fuck off Blaise.” Draco said in response.
“I’m so glad we don’t have to carry around those dresses all day Daph.” Pansy laughed.
“For real. Who knew muggle clothes could be so comfortable.” Daphne agreed.
“What I want to know is how we were so off in appropriate muggle attire?”
“Draco, we literally copied the picture in the Muggle Studies book that was on the common room bookshelves.”
“I know Pans, but how are we this out of touch? Did your parents also tell you muggles were out of date and stupid? I feel like everything we’ve learned today has completely blown away what my parents tried to teach me.” Draco exclaimed.
"We're all with you mate. It's starting to become more, and more clear that the agendas our parents had, are not as entrenched into society as they tried to teach us." Theo said in agreement.
The group of 7th year Slytherins all agreed with Theo.
"Are you guys planning on getting muggle money for the field trip?" Daphne asked.
"I am."
"Me too."
"Same here."
"Yupp."
The other four Slytherins answered, then the group walked over to exchange money with the professor.
1pm - The Great Hall
Those who planned on exchanging money were finishing up with Professor Campbell. The other 6th and 7th years were talking quietly amongst themselves waiting for further instruction.
“Good Afternoon everyone.” Professor Campbell said to the class. “We have been given special permission to portkey directly from the Great Hall to an area close to our destination. Now, we will be going from our portkey destination, to the theme park via muggle transportation. It will be similar to the Knight Bus.”
There was a slight grumble among the students about the Knight Bus. Those who had taken it, definitely didn’t have fond memories, and were hoping muggle transport wouldn’t be that similar.
“To facilitate our trip, we have rented out the ballroom of a local hotel. This is the location we will portkey into. Let me just make sure we have everyone.”
She started a head count to verify she had all of the 6th and 7th year students. Once satisfied with her headcount, she directed everyone to the portkey.
“Now, if you could please grab hold of the portkey.”
Professor Campbell was holding up a rope which would be used as the portkey.
“Everyone take hold, we leave in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”
The Field Trip
With a flash the portkey transported the group of nearly 60 students into a hotel ballroom. There were varying reactions. Some students fell flat onto their faces, while others managed the landing like old pro’s.
“Are we all alright?” Professor asked to check in with her students.
Grumbles echoed throughout the room as the students regained their footing. Professor Campbell wasn’t wasting any time. She soon started ushering the students out of the ballroom, towards the entry of the hotel, where a red double decker bus was waiting to take them to Alton Towers.
“Okay, now that we’re settled. I have your admission passes to the park.”
Professor Campbell passed out admission tickets to all of the students.
“Meet back at the entrance at 6pm sharp! Please pair up in groups!”
After she finished speaking, the bus pulled up to the park entrance. The students were all in awe of what they were seeing, and couldn’t get off the bus fast enough.
Once off the bus, they started to organize themselves into groups. Hermione looked for Harry, Ron, and Ginny but they were nowhere to be found. She was also unable to find Neville or Susan.
“Hey Hermione!”
Hermione heard her name called.
“Hermione!”
She finally turned around to the source of the yelling. It was Pansy Parkinson who was yelling for her attention. Pansy was walking in her direction with her Slytherin friends in tow.
“Hi Pansy.”
“We just wanted to say thank you again for your help with the outfits!”
“No problem whatsoever! I’m glad I could help.”
“Who are you looking for?” Pansy asked.
“In their excitement, my friends seem to have left me behind.” Hermione said, annoyed. “Not the damn first time either.” She added under her breath, which earned a raised eyebrow from Draco who managed to hear.
“Why don’t you join us? That would make us an even six.” Daphne asked.
Hermione looked around, and couldn’t see her friends anywhere.
“You know what, I’d be happy to.” She said, much to the surprise of Theo, Blaise and Draco.
Daphne, and Pansy linked arms with Hermione, then started pulling her towards the entrance. When they got to the entrance, they stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Hermione asked.
“What the hell are those things?” Pansy asked, pointing to the turnstiles.
“Those are turnstiles, they scan your ticket, and count the number of people in the park.” Hermione answered. “Here, follow me. You’ll scan the barcode here, then push your way through.”
One by one the 5 Slytherins followed Hermione through the turnstiles. Now inside the park, the Slytherins were looking around mystified.
“So what do we do now?” Theo asked Hermione.
“Well, we can either walk around, and look at things or start getting in line for rides.”
“What do you mean rides?” Blaise asked.
“Follow me, I’ll show you the closest roller coaster. They’re meant to be fun speed rides.”
Draco, Theo and Blaise, looked enthused, while Pansy and Daphne looked skeptical. They walked over to the Wicker Man observation area, where they watched one of the roller coaster cars pass.
“That looks like a death trap!” Pansy exclaimed.
“I promise it’s fun, and that you won’t die.” Hermione reassured her. Starting to walk the group towards the line entrance. She somehow managed to convince all the Slytherin’s to give it a try.
“Have you been on one of these before?” Draco asked.
“I have, and I haven’t died. We used to come here all the time when I was younger, as we live less than an hour from here.”
As the group of 6 got closer and closer to the loading area, they could hear the riders' screams getting louder. Pansy looked terrified, Daphne looked concerned, Theo, Blaise and Draco looked excited.
“Granger, if I die I swear I will come back to haunt you!” Pansy said with a playful sneer.
“You won’t die, Pansy.” Hermione replied, rolling her eyes. “Do you like flying?”
Pansy nodded.
“Just close your eyes and think that you’re riding on the back of Krums broom during the World Cup.”
Pansy’s eyes got wide. Apparently that was not the visual the nervous girl wanted to have.
“She’s not that big of a fan of flying.” Draco, who had not left Hermione’s side, whispered in her ear.
“Shit really?”
Draco nodded. Hermione gulped.
“Well this should be interesting then…”
After not too long of a wait, the group were about to board the roller coaster. Daphne sat with Pansy, Theo with Blaise, leaving Hermione to sit with Draco. They all secured their seats, and the ride started.
Pansy and Daphne seemed fine until the first drop. That’s when the screaming started. Hermione could hear Blaise and Theo laughing. Draco, who was sitting next to her, looked scared, but also enthused. At some point he had grabbed Hermione's hand, instead of shaking him off she squeezed his hand in reassurance to let him know it was okay.
Following a few more drops, some smoke, and darkness, the ride was pulling back into the station. The group unloaded, staying silent until they were outside of the ride. Hermione was prepared for the group of snakes to attack, but ended up pleasantly surprised.
“THAT. WAS. AWESOME!” Pansy shouted at the group, catching everyone off guard. “At the first drop, Hermione, I thought I was going to avada you… But by the end, it was completely exhilarating! Please tell me we can do that again!”
“We can do that again, there’s also a few more roller coasters like that in this park!”
Pansy’s eyes lit up in excitement, also surprising was Daphne’s enthusiasm to ride more coasters. Blaise, and Theo also seemed more than happy to ride more roller coasters. Surprisingly silent, was Draco. After the ride, he stayed quite close to Hermione, but didn’t protest when the group headed to the next coaster.
“Hey Pansy, this is where we are headed next.”
Hermione pointed at a newer roller coaster that was inverted, and flipped you upside down. The group all watched with nervous excitement, but were still excited to get in line after watching. Again Draco didn’t leave Hermione’s side. He had also started escorting her forward with his hand at the small of her back. Hermione was oblivious, but it was clear to the Slytherins that Draco was making a claim.
The group made it to the loading station. Draco, Hermione, Pansy and Daphne ended up sitting in the front row of the coaster. Once again there was plenty of screaming, laughter, and Draco reaching out for Hermione’s hand in reassurance. Again she squeezed his hand in reassurance.
Once they came off Nemesis the group decided to do a little shopping as they made their way to the next ride. Everyone wanted to get some souvenirs to remember their first theme park. This is where the group hit their first snag. Pansy had forgotten how to count the muggle money, embarrassed she whispered to Hermione for help.
“Psst, psst. Hermione, can you help me with this, please. I’m bad at maths, and I forgot what the coins are worth.”
“Of course.” Hermione quietly helped Pansy figure out her money, then the group went on their way.
The rest of the afternoon continued much like before. They went on every ride they could, Draco stayed close to Hermione, and Hermione never saw her Gryffindor friends. At quarter to six, the group started walking back towards the entrance.
“Thank you guys for inviting me to join you. I had a great time.”
“So did we.” Daphne said, speaking for the group. “Please, don’t hesitate to hang out with us again in the future.”
The group of Slytherins all nodded.
“I will. This is honestly the most relaxed I’ve been while hanging out with school friends in a long time.”
The group looked at one another confused.
“What do you mean?” Pansy asked.
“When I’m with Harry, and Ron they always expect something from me. Whether that’s me being a boring bookworm, or help on their homework. They probably ditched me today because they thought I would be no fun.” Hermione hung her head down as she finished her statement. She was frustrated that she felt she could never be herself around Harry, and Ron.
“I’m sorry that’s what you go through with them.” Draco sympathized.
“Their loss, not mine. I’m done pretending to be someone I’m not for other people’s comfort.”
“There we go Hermione! You show them.” Pansy said, with Daphne nodding right alongside her.
The group kept laughing and telling jokes as they made their way to the front of the park. The group of classmates waiting for the bus was easy to find. That was the first time she saw her Gryffindor friends since they got off the bus.
“Warning Weasel looks pissed.” Draco whispered to Hermione.
“What the hell, Hermione.” Ron yelled, making a scene. “We haven’t seen you all day, and now, you show up with a group of snakes?”
Harry, and Ginny tried getting Ron to shut up, and back off.
“Who I spend my time with, is no concern to you Ronald.” Hermione replied, trying to stay level headed.
“It clearly is my concern when you ditch us out of nowhere to hang out with a bunch of death eaters, who a year ago would call you a mudblood without blinking.”
The group of Hogwarts students were now paying attention to Ron.
“Ronald Weasley, that’s enough from you.” Hermione yelled, surprising the group of students who had never heard her raise her voice at the boys.
She walked up to Ron and continued right to his face, poking him in the chest with every word. “I got off the bus and waited for you all. Guess what, none of you waited for me. No one, not a single person from Gryffindor.”
Shame started to show on the faces of the Gryffindors. Ron’s face started turning red with embarrassment.
“Pansy saw me alone, and asked if I wanted to hang out with them. I accepted. I came here excited to have fun, and I wasn’t going to let anyone ruin that. So that’s exactly what I did. I had fun, and I made five new friends in the process.”
“But you can’t be friends with Malfoy.” Ron stuttered.
“Ronald Weasley, you hear me out right now.” Hermione started loudly, with an edge to her voice. She was going to make sure he and everyone else here got the point.
“You do not own me. You are a friend, nothing more.” She sneered. “With some of the behavior I’ve seen out of you in the past year, I wonder if you’re even worth that some days.”
Ron was finally hearing her words, and looked like if he could curl up into a corner he would. The problem was, Hermione wasn’t done, and she had the ear of all 6th and 7th year students.
“It’s becoming more clear that you don’t know me, you only see me as the annoying, bushy haired, bookworm you bullied in first year. I am done going out of my way, trying to get you to see me for who I am, when you only want to see the girl you met in the first year.”
Ron looked like he could cry. Harry was surprised by Hermione’s outrage, as he didn’t know that’s how Hermione felt. Ginny was smiling, and started clapping for Hermione, as she had finally chosen to stand up for herself.
Then there was Neville… Neville looked pissed. The head boy looked at Susan, and whispered something to her. Susan then nodded in agreement.
“Ronald Weasley, 5 points will be taken for calling a group of students Death Eaters, 15 points will be taken for using the term mudblood. A further 30 points will be taken for causing a scene during a school event, in public. That’s a total of 50 points from Gryffindor.” Neville said without batting an eyelash.
“What!” Ron shouted, furious.
“Shut up and get on the bus, or it will be 60 points Ron.” Neville said, which shut Ron up quickly.
A deflated Ron Weasley shut his mouth and got onto the bus.
Ginny walked up to Hermione, and gave her the biggest hug.
“I’m proud of you. I’m sorry I didn’t get them to wait for you.”
“Don’t worry about it! To be honest, I’m glad you didn’t. I had a really great day and made some new friends in the process.”
Ginny hugged Hermione again, and whispered “I think Malfoy likes you.” before she went to join Harry, and Ron on the bus.