Ok guys, sorry I took so long with this update! I got super busy studying, AND I just got back into town from a funeral I had to go to. I was also asked to sing at the graveside, which was really interesting, but I did it anyway. I worked on this chapter while I was gone, so I hope it lives up to your standards. If not, you'll get over it when I post the next part ^_^. At the end of this update, you'll find the summary for the next fic I told you I was working on. So read that, then tell me what you think! I'll be posting it when THIS story is finished (which isn't far off). Only about 4 or 5 more updates after this. Thanks guys!
One More Day (Part 1)
The four of them walked a good distance before Hermione decided it was time to stop. They were still in the darkness of
the surrounding trees, but Hermione had found a nice place for them to talk about what was going on. Each of them
followed her into a mess of bushes off the path they were walking on, and into a clearing not far from that. There was
a picnic table and each of them took a seat. Hermione stood at the end of the table, taking charge in the situation, to
inform them what their next plan of action was.
Harry sat at the end, closest to her. Ron and Josie sat opposite from Harry and waited eagerly for some explanation.
Hermione was perfectly aware of their impatience with her, and reached into her pocket, to pull out the small, blue, swirling cube she snatched from Chloe's hut. It floated again in her hand and she gazed carefully at each of them as they looked on.
"Everyone," she paused "this is what is going to get us back to the ship so we can continue our vacation."
They all looked at her strangely.
"What is it exactly," Harry asked to break the silence, giving Hermione a sincere, yet challenging smile.
Hermione turned the corners of her mouth up at him, then looked at Ron and Josie. "It's a map."
The looks in all their eyes flashed before her, revealing excitement, as well as confusion.
"What do you mean it's a map? I don't see how it could display anything significant. It's too small!" Ron pointed out.
As expected, Harry, Hermione, and Josie all rolled their eyes at his denseness. And it was quite true that Ron could be very dense at times, especially during those situations that demanded most of his brain power. It was a bad habit for him to be a skeptic when it was most inappropriate.
Hermione turned the little cube over in her hands a few times then stopped. It started spinning, faster and faster, then shot open to a large blue, flat surface. Proving her point that not everything is as it seems, Hermione placed the now enlarged map flat on the table surface.
"How did you do that," Josie questioned, looking up at Hermione with a little skepticism behind her eyes.
Hermione just smiled. "I just turned it and flipped it until it unlocked. It's protected by a combination."
They all nodded at her then stared at the map. It was now a thin satin-like cloth, but easy to tell what the different things were on it. Everything was miniature, not just pictures. There were little trees displaying forests, and pools of swirling water for the small lakes and ponds on the island. Out of curiosity, Harry ran his finger across the top of one of the small pools of water. Hermione watched closely for his reaction when the map changed; now showing everything that could possibly be living in the pond it represented. Harry's eyes widened in curiosity and he touched the water again. This time the map returned to its original state, showing the whole island and the surrounding ocean.
"Oh, I get it! You touch an area to see it up close. That's bloody brilliant!" Ron proclaimed, leaning over the table for a closer look.
Hermione smiled at his correct observation. "Right! So naturally I already know where our ship is. Chloe was right. It's headed straight for the Caribbean as we speak."
"Well what are we going to do?" Harry asked, smiling up at the very girl that had stolen his heart just a few short days ago.
Hermione narrowed her eyes in a mischievous look. "We locate the exact position of the ship, utter a small spell, and then we're back on board. It's as easy as that. For now, we hide. I took this without anyone seeing me and surely they're out looking for us right now."
Something didn't make sense to them as she said this. "But Hermione, what happened to make you take this?" Josie spoke up.
Hermione took in a deep breath. "I saw Chloe go into her hut for something. So I followed after her, thinking she could use some help. She had a very suspicious looking box on her desk, one I've seen on the bad list at the ministry. I tucked myself away in a corner and watched as my suspicions were confirmed. The box was protecting the map, and I took it because it's on the wanted list at the Ministry."
Harry creased his forehead in thought. "Are you saying this is one of those voodoo maps?" He asked eagerly. Hermione nodded.
What Harry was referring to was actually a map where you can move things around, completely changing the geography of certain places if you wanted to. The Ministry was after these maps because criminals would use them to hide things and no one would ever find them. People would even hide themselves in certain locations, never to be heard of again.
"Why do you think Chloe had this, and why aren't we running for our lives right now," Ron inquired.
A small smile crept out on Hermione's lips. "Because I can see if they're headed our direction and stop them if they are. With this map, I can take us to a total different location and they'll never find us."
"Impressive," Ron commented with the explanation. They all shared a small laugh.
"So why don't we just get back to the ship right now then," Josie asked softly, staring at the contents
of the map before them.
Harry looked up at Hermione with adoring eyes, waiting for her to answer Josie's question. She was plotting something. With that look in her eyes, something was definitely reeling through that smart brain of hers.
"Because I don't want to go back yet. Wouldn't it be fun to just hang around this island for one more day as if we owned it? With this map we can explore all the interesting areas then leave for the ship and finish out our vacation whenever we want. What do you say?"
The three sitting at the picnic table looked at each other thoughtfully, then up to Hermione, whose eyes were sparkling with a plan. They all shrugged with broad smiles on their faces.
"Sounds fine to me," Harry said playfully, staring up at her.
Hermione bit her bottom lip and smiled back at him, taking in the incredible sight of him. He was without doubt, very good looking all dirty and sweaty. It was very appealing to her as she thought of all the possibilities one more day on the island could bring. Inwardly she smiled at that inclination, with Harry smiling back up at her.
Lunchtime was finally ticking in everyone's stomachs. With the day's events, they all forgot that eating was part of their daily routine. The frustration of deciding what to do, was starting to drive everyone crazy. Since they were all really hungry, all rational thought was very scarce at this point. Harry being the quick thinker he was, thought of a very simple solution for all of them.
"Why don't we just pick a cozy spot and eat?" he asked.
Everyone stopped their bickering immediately and looked at him.
"Or did you forget that we can use magic," he added sarcastically.
Ron and the others shrugged and began thinking up their lunch. A few minutes passed, the lunch was finally done being `created', and Ron and Josie decided to go off by themselves to eat and talk about the day's events. In the meantime, Harry and Hermione decided to leave the picnic site and find something a little cozier. The two of them ended up in a sunny clearing under some trees. Harry conjured up a blanket with his wand and sat down; Hermione following immediately after.
**
"So what do you think of your vacation so far," Josie asked Ron.
He stopped mid-chew, with his sandwich taking up most of the space in his mouth. Ron roughly swallowed, to be able to answer Josie's question without his food falling right out onto the ground. "It's great! It's good for Harry and Hermione too. They sort of needed this to push them together, you know?" he paused to look at Josie, who seemed to be enjoying herself. "Besides, I kind-of like having someone else to hang around, while they're getting all cozy and touchy-feely. They always thought I was bad when I was with a girl, but-"
Ron stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the odd smirk on Josie's face. She was sitting across from him as he leaned up against a large palm tree. Slowly and saucily, she crawled over to him and took the sandwich out of his hands. Ron didn't utter one word of protest, but just stared at her in awe, and in shock. She smiled and found her place right beside him, but still faced him straight on.
"You won't be needing that," she said as she made the remainder of his sandwich disappear.
His jaw fell open a bit, and he gulped.
Josie ran her fingers slowly and lovingly through his hair. Still, his mouth was open a bit; perfect opportunity for Josie. She stared suggestively at him for a few moments. Ron got what signals she was sending and…
***
Harry helped clean up his and Hermione's lunch from their blanket under the trees and splotchy sunshine. Something popped into his head as he made things disappear, one by one, and stole small glances at Hermione. She was sitting on the corner of the blanket, with her head tipped back, exposed to a bit of sunshine coming through a gap in the trees above. It was very silent between the two of them while Harry took care of things. He smiled down at her, with her eyes closed, enjoying the warmth on her already pink skin.
"Hermione?" asked Harry.
"Hmmm?" She didn't make an effort to pull her head back up, but continued to let it hang back.
Harry smiled and sat down next to her, interrupting the sun rays washing over her skin. "Do you think our vacation is ruined now?"
Hermione finally brought her head up, and looked next to her, where Harry sat watching her. "I don't think it's ruined, just interrupted. Besides, I've enjoyed not having to worry about Peter, or even that other guy that was hitting on me a couple days ago."
Harry shook his head. "You're so much more relaxed since we've been away from the Ministry."
Hermione had tipped her head back again to soak up the sun, and had shut her eyes. "That's because it's incredibly stressful on me, don't you think?"
He nodded back to her. "You deserve this vacation more than anyone else. But at least when you go back, you'll have something to start fresh with."
"Yeah? What's that?" she tipped her head back up.
"Chloe's map."
"Oh." She sighed and put her head on Harry's shoulder as he leaned back on his hands. He stroked her hair and nearly lost himself in her, feeling her skin on his chest.
"I mean, they've been looking for that map for ages, right?"
Hermione nodded her head.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you get promoted for this," he finished with a smile.
Hermione smiled and turned around to face him. She crawled over his lap and straddled him. Slowly, she began running her fingers through his hair. Harry's eyes were closed now as he felt fingers darting through his jet black hair. He smelled of the trees and ocean around him, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Hermione thought to herself.
Before Harry could open his eyes and enjoy the look on her sweet face, she had her lips pressed against his, with her hands softly rested on each side of his face.
He immediately responded to her advances and sat up taller, wrapping his arms tightly around her as they kissed.
Birds were fluttering and chirping above them in the trees, and the sound of the ocean waves in the distance added to the natural music of the island.
Harry pushed forward and now had Hermione on her back underneath him. He pulled away to look down at her. She was smiling brightly, and had one hand trailing down his chest. He shivered a bit, but looked down at her, with just as much admiration as she showed him. Her hair was spread out on the blanket underneath her, with a few locks in her face. Harry gently smoothed them away and went back down to continue their few moments they had alone with each other.
A few minutes went by before Ron and Josie found Harry hovering over Hermione, assaulting her lips with his own. Ron cleared his throat, which broke the two of them apart.
"Oh, hey Ron," Hermione said from underneath Harry, who hung his head down low, disappointed that they had been interrupted so soon.
"We've got a problem," Josie said to break the silent tension.
Harry and Hermione immediately sat up, composed themselves, then looked at them.
"Why, what's going on?" Hermione said as she smoothed out her hair.
Ron and Josie looked at each other, then back at them. "We think we heard some people back off in that direction," Ron said, pointing back to where they had all been gathered not too long ago.
"Where's the map, Noni," Harry asked her, with a kiss on the cheek.
Hermione wrinkled her forehead and reached into her pockets, searching frantically. Her forehead wrinkled some more and she pulled her hands out of her pockets. "I…I don't know! I just had it, I swear!" Hermione jumped up from her spot and looked around hers and Harry's picnic spot, for some sign that she could have dropped it. There was nothing around to help her figure it out.
"Looking for this?" A voice called from behind Ron and Josie.
Harry stood up, helping Hermione to her feet as well.
Chloe was looking directly at them, with the boxed map floating in the palm of her hand.
Thanks for reading! In the next chapter, you'll find out what happens to Chloe, and how the quad (Ron, Josie, Harry & Hermione) get back on the ship. There will also be a twist that leads up to the ending. Now read my summary below ^_^
(Harry Potter &) The Alliance of the Protector, by Michie
Only JKR original characters will be appearing in this story.
It is Action/Adventure. Originally it would have been another fluffy fic, but that changed after I started actually writing it. A/A will be considered the main contents of the story. And L/R is the secondary base.
The title says a lot, but I can't totally tell you what.
It starts during 6th year, and also follows with the results of book 5. There are a LOT of spoilers, so if you haven't read it, don't read my fic.
The dating circuit of certain Hogwarts students is a bit complex, and there's a big secret that you have to read along and see if you can figure it out because it's not made known right away.
H/Hr shippers may be a bit peeved with the first couple of updates. But it's not my fault if they totally freeze up and don't read on to find out what's really up.
Lots of action sequences in this...and it's very suspenseful!
The summer after 6th year, which is close to the beginning of the story, is filled with a lot of happenings, and when they return to school for 7th year, Snape gets a big surprise from a few certain students. Let's just say `check-mate' in this case! Also, the Head Boy and Girl are announced close to the beginning, and I think you'll like what I've decided. I just have to shout out a THANKS! For this situation. You know who you are…*wink*