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Disclaimer: This story is based on characters, ideas, and situations created by JR Rowling and owned by her and her publishers. I own the orignal elements & characters. No money is being made by me, and no trademark or copyright infringement is intended.
Thursday, August 22, 1996
The 'Florida Mall', Orlando Florida

"I'm surprised you're not more interested in shopping, dear," Emma said to Hermione. "we've never been in a shopping center like this."

"Mum, over the last twelve days, we've been to Toronto, Niagra Falls, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Williamsburg, Charleston, and now Orlando. In the three days we've been in Florida, we've rushed through some studios, Sea World, Epcot, and a winery for goodness sake. And this afternoon a mall? What could I possibly want in a mall?"

"Good question," Emma agreed. "Still, why don't you go over to that shop? It seems to be all kitchen gadgets, and perhaps you can find something that interests you."

"Well," Hermione replied, glancing over towards the store, "maybe I can find something for. . . ." Her eyes went wide, and then she let out a shriek that cut through the noise of the crowded mall. "HARRY!"

Harry turned around, and his eyes sought out the source of the scream. He smiled. He didn't move, he just braced himself. Hermione launched herself at him from six feet out, but he managed to catch her in his arms.

"Now ain't that just sweet," Tonks said to Emma as she came up to her.

"At least she should be more cheerful for a while," Emma agreed.

"Well, between missing Harry and knowing she's going to be missing you, why wouldn't she be a bit down at heart?" Remus asked, coming up on the other side.

"True," Emma agreed. "Is everything going well back home?"

"Fairly well," Remus said. "There have been no more attacks on Muggles. Riddle is gathering his forces, but if you could have seen how Harry responded to the special training these last thirteen days. . . ."

"Special High Intensity Training," Tonks muttered.

"What?"

"That's what Harry called it by Saturday night," Remus said with half a smile. "James would have been proud, and disappointed that I didn't get it straight away."

"Get what?" Emma asked. Tonks snorted.

"Think of the acronym," Remus replied.

"Special High . . . oh. Moderately clever," Emma agreed.

"Still, to go on about Harry . . . he is remarkable."

"Can you put it terms I can understand?"

Remus thought and then said softly, "In some ways, he has a long way to go. By the end of this next school year, though, he'll be well prepared in hand-to-hand, and even if he still might not have the range of spells an auror or hit-wizard might have, he already has a greater command of the spells he knows than anyone I've met, other than Dumbledore. He can defend himself against anyone, and he will protect Hermione. Hermione and his other friends will be given some of the same training. I know you can't help but worry, but believe me, barring really bad luck, they'll do well."

Harry and Hermione came over to them, hand-in-hand. Harry was smiling contentedly, while Hermione was now grinning broadly. Dan, who had stopped to stare at a store devoted to golf, caught up to them.

"Here's where we say goodbye, princess," he said, hugging Hermione tightly.

"But. . . ."

"I know you thought our flight was Saturday. Your friends arranged an alternate mode of transportation. Your Headmaster also arranged for you and us to have some of that special paper Harry had last month, so we can stay in close contact."

Hermione said nothing. She just hugged both of her parents, and then Harry shook their hands. The group then broke apart quickly, Remus going with the Grangers and Tonks with the teens. Remus would give the Grangers their portkey in their hotel room, and then bring Hermione's things to the new hotel.

While Remus, Emma, and Dan went back out the front of the mall, Tonks, Harry, and Hermione went to the large side entrance. "Do you have a bathing suit?" Tonks asked. "Maybe we should get you a bikini," she suggested. "There's a pool at the motel."

"A suit, yes, a bikini, no," Hermione said.

"Ah. Harry don't you. . . ."

"Hermione should be comfortable," Harry said wisely.

They therefore stopped and Harry bought Hermione a conservative two-piece suit, a light beach robe, flip-flops, sun screen, and a straw hat. They also purchased large fruit smoothies and made their way out of the mall.

"Where's the car?" Hermione asked. The Grangers had arrived by taxi. "Or are we going by cab?"

"Remus will pay for a cab," Tonks answered. "Don't worry. We've got reservations at that Best Western right across the street."

"Have you ever been to a motel?" Hermione asked Harry as they crossed the busy street.

"Only when Uncle Vernon was fleeing the Hogwarts letters," Harry answered. Hermione had heard the story.

"Well, come along," Tonks called to them. They had to walk aways around a security fence to get to the motel entrance. "Keep your questions for a while, and don't act like it's all new," she instructed. They followed her into the large lobby, and watched her check them in and Remus in. She took their room key-cards and led them past the dining room, outdoors past the pool, and to the rooms at the far end of the row of bedrooms. There were two buildings of bedrooms facing each other, their doors opening to the outdoors.

"Okay, in here," she pointed to the last room. She showed Harry how the key-card worked.

"Now, this is room in mine and Remus'. Hermione, Harry, you're in the room next door. There are two beds, and that's all I'll say on the subject. Any objections?" Dumbfounded, the two teens shook their heads 'no'. "There's a four hour time difference, so it's a bit past One o'clock but for us it's Five." She handed Harry a small vial. "Go to your room, use the bathroom if you need to, then take this diluted sleep potion. It will put you to sleep for less than thirty minutes. Your body clock should be reset then. I'll knock and Remus will bring over your things when he gets back, Hermione. Tomorrow, we'll see the so-called Magic Kingdom. Saturday, we go to Potter Place. Okay?"

The two teens agreed.

Harry and Hermione hurried to their room. Harry did not immediately take the potion. Instead, they merely held each other for ten minutes, glad they were together again. Only then did Harry do as he had been told. He managed to fight the potion for a few minutes as he lay on the bed, Hermione partially laying atop of him.

When Harry finally drifted off, Hermione sat up and just sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes, watching Harry sleep.

Compared to the Harry she had seen that first afternoon in July, he looked like he had been managing to get some sleep, although he still looked tired. She would be shocked to learn that Harry had been working out and practicing magic at least six hours every day since the morning she had left, and studying three hours on top of that. He had certainly earned a vacation.

Hermione realized that except for the two weeks he had spent alone in Diagon Alley and the time they had been taken to the World Cup, Harry had never been on a real vacation. She got up and changed into her suit and put on the robe. Even though it was amazingly hot and humid outside, the room was quite cool.

She sat in a chair and watched Harry sleep some more.


Remus came by just before 2:00. Harry woke up as Remus enlarged Hermione's baggage. He then cast a glamour on Harry's scar and handed him a plain baseball cap. When Harry didn't look too thrilled by the red cap, Hermione dug out one she'd bought on a whim at the winery the previous afternoon.

Harry preferred the dark blue cap. He ducked into the bathroom and came out in his speedo and flip-flops, wearing the Lakeridge Winery hat and sporting a pair of tinted wire-rim glasses.

"You've been working outside a lot," Hermione said. Harry had probably added ten pounds of muscle since he had first arrived at the Grangers and he was well-tanned all over.

"Tonks had me swimming laps in the stream for twenty minutes every afternoon, rain or shine," Harry answered.

There was nobody at the pool (which was surrounded by five sets of buildings with the motel rooms and the lobby/giftshop/restaurant), since all the other guests were out being good tourists or conducting their business. That evening, the pool area would be full. Harry and Hermione took a pair of chairs under one umbrella, and spent the afternoon catching up on what they had been doing and jumping in the pool every fifteen minutes or so to stay cool. Tonks did much the same.

Since Remus was so scarred, he stayed dressed in a very light and loose cotton outfit. He made certain that they all had plenty of drinks to stay hydrated. The quartet only abandoned the pool around 5:15, when the area started to fill up. They returned to their rooms and took quick showers. Afterwards, they walked back over to the mall, to eat at the California Cafe, a fancier experience than Harry was really used to, although he liked the food (Remus, however, grumbled that the wine was served far too warm).

Filled with good food, they made their way back to the motel. In the case of both couples, they fell asleep early (just after 10:00), but had been in bed since before 8:00.


Friday, August 23, 1996

The 'Magic Kingdom' opened early, so the quartet woke up even earlier. They had a light breakfast in the hotel's restaurant and took a bus that made the rounds of some of the hotels and the various Disney sites.

Thorough in this as in everything else, the Grangers had looked over a map and a list of attractions. Hermione didn't mention any of this to Harry, however. Instead, Harry was telling her of even more events since she had been gone, although it looked more like he was whispering endearments in her ear.

"The dementors have been behaving themselves," Harry said, "but the captured Death Eaters haven't been sent back to Azkaban yet, just the other criminals have been. Riddle's been reported in central Asia, working on a new power base of some sort."

"There are a few traditionally dark communities there, although most were rooted out the Soviets and their wizarding allies back in the 1930s," Hermione noted.

Harry almost remembered Binns mentioning that, so merely nodded. "Ginny sent a nice apologetic letter -- she and Neville are getting along really well -- but Ron's still a bit shirty. The twins told him about the investment, of course, and he's also heard more about the manor."

"I'm not surprised he didn't take that well," Hermione agreed.

"There will be quite a crowd there Tuesday," Harry said, his whisper softening.

"Who? Why?" Hermione asked. Then her eyebrows went up. "Luna? Ginny and Ron?"

"All three will show up on Monday," Harry said. "Tuesday night Ernie, Justin, Hannah, and Susan from Hufflepuff; Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot, Lisa Turpin, and Padma Patil from Ravenclaw; all our year from Gryffindor, and even Blaise Zabini, Tracy Davis, and Daphne Greengrass are all coming. We're going to form the core of the new D.A."

"Are you alright with the Slytherins?" Hermione asked.

"The Headmaster arranged a meeting for me with Zabini," Harry answered. "Hopefully, with Malfoy and Bulstrode in prison, we'll even have some effect on Slytherin. Pansy-the-Pug and a few others will likely cause trouble, but Zabini feels he can win a majority of the House."

"What did Ron say about that?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," Harry answered. "Bill was going to be telling him and Ginny the full plan today. He's probably already done it."

"Who will be overseeing us?"

"Remus, Tonks, Moody, Bill, and Fleur," Harry answered.

"It's a good thing you got all those toilets installed," Hermione teased.

"Grandfather told me that his wife was from a very traditional household, chamber pots only. She apparently fell in love with the idea of plumbing and drains at Hogwarts," Harry said with a shrug. "Anyway, you and I will have the master suite -- technically it does have two bedrooms. Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville will be in the same part of the manor, the 1896 wing. Remus and Tonks will, too. The other students are in the 1830 wing, along with Bill and Fleur. Moody wants to sleep in a different room every night for some reason."

"Constant vigilance?"

Harry shrugged. "I suppose."

"You seem a little wistful," Hermione pointed out."

"I just wish Dumbledore could have found some family who could have stayed with me at Potter Place. I might have grown up happier."

"Why couldn't he?"

"Well, whoever he got to live with me would have been at a disadvantage, since I would have owned everything," Harry pointed out. "None of them would have had any real authority over me, if I had any personality traits like Malfoy."

"But you don't," Hermione retorted. Before Harry could say anything, she acknowledged, "I know, I know, the Headmaster couldn't know that then."

"Right."

Hermione frowned. "And you wouldn't have had any blood protection there."

"On the island, I wouldn't have needed it," Harry answered. "Of course, then I couldn't have left the island." He shrugged. "Who knows; maybe things have worked out anyway."

Hermione leaned over and kissed Harry's temple. "Let's look at the Disney map. There's a Haunted House, that might be fun."


Of the four, only Hermione had ever been to an amusement park of any kind. In that respect, Disney was a very remarkable experience. Hermione wasn't overly-thrilled with fast roller-coasters, but she put up with them. Tonks and especially Harry of course loved them all. Hermione contented herself with holding tightly on to Harry and insisting that they have at least one slow ride and a walk between any of the coaster-type rides.

Being used to real ghosts, the Haunted Mansion made them laugh for reasons other than the ones amusing the Muggles. They rode most of the rides, explored most of the stores, watched the bands, the parades, and the characters, and enjoyed watching the people and looking at the grounds. They spotted the magic flowers that added special colors for the young witches and wizards, since only they could see them. They bought some simple toys that would amuse Mister Weasley, and what for the British teens were odd American-flavored sauces and syrups for Mrs. Weasley along with some Disney dinner-wear and stem-wear which would please Mrs. Weasley and amuse her husband. They also bought some odd little trinkets that would inspire the twins, and hopefully amuse Charlie, Bill, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, and others.

They stayed late, watched the fireworks, and went back to the hotel, tired from the day out.


Saturday, August 24, 1996

The quartet got up very early. Remus had checked them out the evening before. "Why are we up so early," Harry grumbled. They were standing in Remus and Tonks' room with all their luggage. It was 5:12.

"Remember the time change," Remus said. "This way, we'll be tired enough to go to bed at a reasonable time."

Harry wasn't happy, but said nothing as the portkey swept them back to England.

All the elves were waiting for the quartet. Hermione frowned when she saw that Winky was wearing a pillowcase. Still, she had to admit, the elf was clean and sober, which was an improvement. She resolved to see if there were any books on house elves in the Potter libraries. Remus had them put all their things down on the luggage.

Toby took charge. He bowed to the quartet. "Dobby is to take care Master Harry." Dobby came forward and disappeared, taking Harry's suitcase, bookbag, and the bag of souvenirs off. "Winky is to take care of Mistress Hermione."

Hermione blushed. Winky came forward shyly and disappeared with Hermione's two suitcases, the other souvenirs, the two bags of books she had bought at the Mall when she had realized that she would be portkeying home, and several others sacks of odds-and-ends.

"These three boxes are other gifts," Remus said. "I'll sort them out." Toby bowed and said, "Letys will take care of Mister Remus and Miss Dora." Toby turned to Harry. "Would Master care for brunch soon?"

Harry was about to answer, when he realized that as the host he should consult the others. He looked at them.

"Maybe we should clean up first?" Hermione suggested. Remus and Tonks looked agreeable.

"Half an hour?" Harry asked. The other three nodded. Harry turned to Toby.

"Would Master care to eat in the Breakfast Room or the Dining Room?"

"The Breakfast Room," Harry said. The other elves disappeared and the quartet went off to their rooms.

Harry told Dobby what he wanted to be done with his things and went into the large common bathroom. He quietly looked into Hermione's room. He smiled to see Hermione and Winky in a silent struggle over putting Hermione's things away. So far, they had not even started.

Harry called Hermione over. "What?" she nearly snapped from the stress.

"Hermione," Harry said softly, "Winky is not a slave, even if she still thinks as one right now. She is a servant and wants to serve you. Tell her what you want done and let her do it, or send her off to check on the guest rooms or something. Neither of us is going to take advantage or overwork or abuse the elves. If you want to study how they act, then you have to win their trust, and you won't get it by arguing."

Hermione grimaced, and then said, "Mistress Hermione?"

Harry shrugged. "This is the bedroom suite of the master and mistress of Potter Place. I hope you'll share it with me."

Hermione sighed, admitting defeat. "Winky? The clothes in that suitcase are all dirty. Take care of those and whenever you're done, put the clean clothes on the bed. I'll unpack everything else, so that I'll know where they are, and that includes those boxes." All of Hermione's things from the Granger household were here as well. "Once you see where I put things away, then you can take over, alright?"

Winky bowed, "Thank you, Mistress." She grabbed the suitcase and disappeared.

Hermione turned and glared at Harry.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"It's worse than having servants," Hermione groused.

"It is," Harry agreed. "They won't complain. We need to figure out how to get around that. Maybe if we listen to Dobby enough, we can figure out how to get them to understand us."

Hermione smiled. "I love you, Harry."

"That's good, since I love you, too." Back on the same wavelength, they retreated back into the bathroom, so Hermione could have a wash-and-brushup before brunch.