A/N: OOPS! I just realized that it says earlier that they're going to New Orleans. That was the first plan. I'm not sure yet out to edit a previously posted chapter, but they're starting off in Atlantic City, NJ.
PART 6
Jane Granger found her daughter curled against Harry when she went to wake them up. They were fully clothed and she trusted her daughter, so she didn't have the urge to strangle them. She had peaked in on Harry the first night he was there and heard him crying. She speculated that Hermione had found the same last night. She wasn't sure what had happened at the end of the school year, but Hermione had made it clear that it was terrible and something that hurt Harry badly. The whole point for Harry being there was to help him get over this terrible thing, whatever it was. After meeting the Dursleys, Jane knew that they were callous toward the boy. She had had no respect for those people ever since Hermione had asked for food to send to Harry years prior. She couldn't find it in her heart to begrudge them the comfort they gave one another.
She decided to not embarass them by waking them up. Instead, she went into Hermione's room and made her alarm clock blare loudly. That would get them out of bed.
In about 30 minutes, both teens were downstairs, dressed and ready to go. Both had puffy eyes. Mrs. Granger thought they both looked like they'd had a rough night and it wasn't simply a case of not sleeping. Eyes only looked like that after many tears had been shed.
"You both look awful," she commented as they sat at the table in the kitchen. "It's a good thing we loaded the van yesterday."
Hermione yawned. "How can you be this happy this early in the morning?" she asked. She was glad that her alarm had gone off before anyone found them in bed together. Even if it was innocent, she didn't want to explain things. Funny, she didn't remember setting her alarm.
"Honey, we're going to America! We're going to have a great time!" Jane was practically bubbling with excitement.
Hermione grunted. Harry caught her eye and gave her a smile. She couldn't help but return it. Her mood brightened greatly seeing him smile.
Harry had had the most peaceful few hours of rest that he could remember. He thought he could have stayed with Hermione like that forever. But he was very eager to arrive in the USA too. He was looking forward to a holiday from his life in England. No one in the USA was likely to know who he was or why he had a scar on his forehead.
Within the next half hour, they had left for the airport. Harry and Hermione snoozed on the way. Harry found airport security to be very thorough. His stomach was in a lurch from the excitement. He wondered if flying on a plane would be as exciting as flying on a broom.
The plane had 5 seats in each row, two on one side and three on the other. Harry and Hermione were together in a row with Harry by the window. He offered the window seat to Hermione, but she said she didn't want it. She wasn't looking forward to flying and thought it would be easier to ignore that that was exactly what she was doing if she didn't look down and see the Atlantic Ocean.
"Floatation device?" she whispered to Harry as the flight attendant gave instructions. She felt nauseated. The next thing she knew the woman at the head of the plane was showing them where the little bags were. "Well, isn't that convenient," she muttered.
Harry laughed. "You'll be fine," he told her, taking her hand. "I'll hold your hand the whole way. And if worse comes to worse, we'll get out our wands and cast a great big wingardium leviosa."
"Don't even joke about it, Harry." She took his hand, squeezing it tightly. Her heart was racing.
"Airplanes are safer than cars. I'm sure you've read that," he teased.
"I'll just be glad when we can apparate to New Jersey."
Jane Granger noticed that her daughter was holding Harry's hand and looking terrified. She was the one being comforted this time. She smiled watching them. Harry was good for her. Hermione had never been comfortable with other children. She was always unsure of her looks and tended to make a bad first impression. She tried too hard to make up for her insecurities by flaunting the one area where she was secure--her intelligence. It was obvious that Harry cared about her and respected her intelligence. Jane would guess, based on the way he smiled at her, that he found her to be pretty too. She knew Hermione thought that Harry was brave, loyal, noble, caring, and smarter than he gave himself credit for being. She'd never mentioned his looks though. They had a relationship that went far deeper than the superficial.
After they had been in the air for a while, the flight attendant came by offering cookies, pretzels, and drinks. "You're such a cute couple," she told them. "First time to the States?"
"Yes, it is," Harry answered. "She's a little nervous."
"Don't worry, dear. I've been flying for 20 years and the worst I've experienced is some nasty turbulence. The hardest part of flying will be changing planes when we get to Atlanta if you're going somewhere else." She patted Hermione's shoulder. "But it is a nice excuse to hold that cutie-pie's hand, isn't it?"
True to her word, changing planes in Atlanta was worse than the trip to Georgia. She overheard someone telling his companion that if someone was flying to hell he would have to change planes in Atlanta.
"This is a nightmare!" Hermione sighed. "Why don't they put all the connecting flights next to each other? They could put the British Air flights in one place, all the Delta flights in another, all the American in another?. And why didn't we fly into New York City or Newark and then take another plane to Atlantic City? This is stupid!" They went from plane to conveyer belt to train to get from their arriving gate to their departing gate.
"Tell you what, when we get back to London, write them a letter." Harry said, almost out of breath as they ran toward the next gate. They had an hour and a half between flights, which they thought would be more than enough time, but they found themselves sprinting to get to their flight on time. Their seats were being called as they arrived.
"Insanity!" Hermione huffed when she finally had her seat belt fastened and could take a steady breath. Contrasting with the plane from England, this one was very small with just 4 people per row and only about a dozen rows. "What? Are we taking a crop duster?" she wasn't sure she liked this plane. It was making her feel clausterphobic.
"We'll be fine. We're be there in no time." Harry took her hand again. His own felt empty without hers.
The connecting flight did seem very short, compared to flying across the Atlantic. Harry encouraged Hermione to look out the window, down at the clouds. She finally gave in and was marveled by the beauty of it all.
"It looks like a field of marshmallows," she commented. "It's so pretty."
"You can sit next to the window next time, if you want," he promised.
"As long as I'm next to you, it doesn't matter."
It was a quick trip up the eastern seaboard. They landed smoothly in Atlantic City. The four of them were astonished at the difference in the airport compared to London or Atlanta. "This has got to be the smallest airport in the world," Hermione commented. As they passed a newsstand, Harry pointed out a t-shirt that said, "Welcome to New Jersey. Now go home." They all laughed.
"I'll have to get one of those before we leave," Harry said.
They collected their baggage and hailed a cab. "The Borgata," John Granger told the driver.
"Ah, nice place," he commented.
They checked into the hotel. Harry and Hermione were surprised that they were going to be allowed to share a room. "We trust you," Jane said. "We'll have very different schedules, especially the first week since your father and I will be at boring conventions. I know you kids will want to stay up late and sleep late. You're responsible, smart, and you've both been at boarding school for 5 years. We're sure you know how to behave. Most of all, we trust that you're not the kind of kids who would abuse our trust," she said firmly.
"And Harry knows I'll kill him if he touches my daughter," John added jovially.
"Cool!" Hermione grinned.
"So," John checked his watch that he'd set to Eastern Standard Time when they arrived. "Let's get settled in our rooms and take some time to rest. We'll meet you in 4 hours and we'll go to dinner together."
They all agreed that getting some rest was a wonderful idea.