Disclaimer: Alright all the Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowlings, except for the plot, Zara, Jewel, Enrique, Jasmine, Ulrich, Torrin, Alina,, Leelee, Kai, Finley and Orvin. Those are mine. So please don't sue me because I don't have anything
Chapter 12-California Here We Come
Ron carried his suitcase towards the train following after his friends, Ginny was following after him. Ron set his case down on the ground and he turned to his sister. "Are you sure you'll be alright here by yourself? You can still go with mum, dad, Fred and George to visit Charlie."
"I'll be fine Ron," Ginny smiled "You go and have fun, I want to hear all about your vacation when you get back."
Ron nodded with a smile and he picked up his case again, "well I'll see you in about two weeks. Stay out of trouble." He winked and climbed up onto the train
"I should be telling you that." Ginny shouted up at him with a hint of laughter in her voice.
Ron went into the compartment that Harry, Hermione and Zara were sitting in, and he closed the door behind him. He sat down next to Zara "so how exactly are we getting to where you live?"
"After we get off at that train station we'll have to take a muggle taxi to the airport." Zara pulled out four airplane tickets.
Hermione looked at them and then at Zara, "Zara are those first class tickets?"
"Of course, I wouldn't have bought anything but first class." Zara said with a smile, and held it out to for Hermione to take it for a closer look.
"And you bought four of them?"
Ron looked between the two girls, he really didn't see the big deal about it. "And that means what exactly?" He waited for an answer and when he didn't get it he just shrugged it off. As the train started moving down the tracks, Ron felt the need to use the restroom, "well nature calls, I'll be right back." As soon as Ron was out of the compartment Harry turned to Zara.
"You can afford to take three people including yourself in a first class section?" Harry felt a little concerned, she didn't even ask them to pitch in for the cost of the plane ticket.
"Yeah," Zara felt confused. "Is there a problem?"
"Ron isn't going to be able to pay you back for this, I mean Hermione and I can." Harry said he looked next to him at Hermione who was nodding.
"I don't expect Ron or you two to pay me back," Zara leaned back against the seat. "I invited you guys to come home with me, and I was always taught to be a good hostess. Trust me it will all be fine." She smiled with confidence.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other unsure and then back at Zara, Harry was about to say something else when the compartment door opened and Ron came back inside with a smile.
Both Hermione and Harry smiled at Ron, then cuddled closer to each other and gazed out the window watching the scenery go by. In what seemed like a short time the train pulled into the station. They got off the train at Platform 9 ¾ and walked through the barrier to muggle London. They hailed a taxi and were on their way to the airport.
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Ron was in awe at the sight of the airport, he had never seen something so wonderful in his entire life. They checked their baggage with a little man at the counter who had a symbol of an American airline pinned on his uniform. They all started walking through the airport looking for their gate number. Ron saw a moving staircase, not like the stairs at Hogwarts, these were silver and only the stairs were moving not the whole thing. It looked like they were flowing gently up stream. The stairs next to it were flowing down stream it looked so easy.
Harry and Hermione went up the moving stairs first, Ron watched with amazement as they reached the top. "Whoa," he said then looking at Zara. "Do I just step on it and it will take me up there just like them?" He pointed up to Harry and Hermione.
"Yep" Zara smiled, trying her hardest not to laugh. "This is called an escalator where I come from."
"Okay." Ron lifted his foot slowly and set it down on the next stair that came up, half of him started rising up he panicked and pulled his foot back down. He looked at Zara who shook her head back and forth.
"Look you're gonna just have to go for it, I know it's a little strange at first but you really just have to jump in if you wanna get your feet wet." Zara said and took his hand in hers. "Come on we'll do it together."
Ron nodded and he did what Zara did, they lifted their feet and stepped up on the stairs that were moving upward. With in seconds they reached the top where Hermione and Harry were waiting.
"So how was your first time up Ron?" Hermione smiled.
"It wasn't too bad." Ron said in confidence feeling like he had overcome a great obstacle.
They continued walking through the upper level of the airport and found their gate number. The flight attendants weren't letting people on the plane yet, the last person from the flight that had landed was getting off. They sat down in these little plastic, uncomfortable red chairs. After the new pilot and attendants went onto the plane first, a microphone was sounded. First class passengers were allowed on first as the attendant called for the seat numbers.
"That's us." Zara said with a smile. She pulled the tickets from her carry on bag and handed each one to her friends.
They walked right up to the door and handed their ticket to the attendant and she checked and tore off something, she did that for all of them and the proceeded onto the plane.
Ron looked all around him as he looked through the narrow hall way towards a door with two ladies smiling. He couldn't hear what they were saying, for some reason his ears were getting fuzzy. Ron tapped Zara on the shoulder, "I can't hear very well."
She leaned closer to his ear, "Don't worry it's perfectly normal it's just the air pressure. It will be better once we get inside the plane. It won't be much better, but it will be better than it is now."
They went through the door and into the first class section, Ron could see down the walk way that the seats were smaller and there were more of them crammed into a smaller area. He looked down at his seat which was big, he ran his hand down the chair which was made of a fine, soft leather. He wondered where they got the dragon hide to supply this leather? Ron sat down in the seat next to Zara, the seat was cushiony soft and he felt his body relax in the seat. He had more than enough leg room as he stretched his really long legs forward. He looked ahead, there was some kind of flat object on the wall. An object he had never seen before. "Zara what's that?" He pointed to the object on the wall.
Zara smiled, this was just too cute. She thought to herself. For once she felt really smart. "That's a video screen for watching movies, usually in long flights like this they show a movie to keep us entertained."
"Uh, what's a movie?" He felt so confused.
Zara patted his hand tenderly, "you'll see."
In the seats in front of them Harry and Hermione got up on their knees and looked behind them, "How are you doing Ron?" Harry asked.
"This is all so strange, I don't know if I'll be able to handle any of this muggle stuff."
"You think it's strange now, just wait till the plane takes off." Hermione said with a smile. It will be kind of like that car of yours." She couldn't say exactly what it was for she knew not to speak of such things around muggles. She hoped Ron got the idea.
Ron looked behind him down the aisle, "why are those seats much smaller than these?"
"That's the seat they paid for." Zara said.
"Shouldn't the seats be equal if you all pay the same amount?" Ron looked forward again.
Zara looked up at Harry and Hermione who shrugged. Hermione nodded and made a motion with her hand to go ahead and tell him about the seating. The flight attendant's voice was heard over the loud speaker which cut off Zara. Which she was happy for, Harry and Hermione sat down and faced the front.
They heard the attendant welcoming them all on the flight while another one was standing up in front describing with props how to buckle the seat belt and what to do if the plane goes down. Zara looked next to her at Ron who seemed petrified at hearing what to do if the plane goes down. She could see the whites of his eyes and he wasn't even blinking. Zara tapped him on the arm and he turned slowly facing her.
Ron took in a deep breath "is this dangerous?"
"It can be, you just have to be aware that nothing is fool proof. It's a pretty relaxing way to travel. Don't worry more people die in car accidents than in an airplane." She smiled with reassurance.
Her reassurance didn't help him, he felt the plane start to move and he clutched the arms of his seat tightly, so tight that he was loosing all the coloring in his hands. The plane began to pick up speed which was really bumpy making his heart race. Ron shut his eyes tight as the plane lifted into the air and he was pressed back against his seat.
The plane leveled off and was flying smoothly through the sky, Ron opened one eye and then another, yep everything was alright. He let go of the arms of chair and he felt the blood rushing back into his fingers.
"Scared were you?" Zara said with a smirk.
"Nah," Ron said with confidence as he saw Zara turn and look out the window. She smiled at the world below. It was so neat looking at the world from so far up in the air, looking down on a world that had no idea that there was a hidden secret with in it.
For the first time in his life Ron had watched a movie, Zara told him the movie was called Pretty Woman. He was so impressed by it. Never had he seen one, let alone knew about them. The lives of the people on screen were amazing and perfect, the way they looked was perfect. He had found his first actress crush he would probably never see her on screen again. "What was her name?" Ron asked.
"Well in the movie her name was Vivian, but in real life her name is Julia."
"Yes you said this wasn't real, but it looked so real." He said with astonishment.
"That's the magic of movies." She smiled.
"They didn't use-"
Zara cut him off "of course not, it's just a term that we all use for it." She leaned in closer so she wouldn't have to speak so loudly. "Most muggles call it magic because it just looks so real, when it isn't at all." Zara smiled.
After many hours on the plane they finally reached the San Francisco Airport which was crawling with people, it was so busy that you couldn't even walk through it without almost bumping into someone.
"Boy this place is crowded." Harry said as he looked around at all the people.
Zara laughed, "yeah and this is just the airport." Zara jumped up looking for someone.
"Zara what are doing?" Ron asked.
"I'm looking for ma." She jumped again and didn't find her. "Man I hope she didn't forget."
"Forget?" Hermione asked in horror.
"Yeah she has a tendency to forget to pick me up or take me places, even when I was little." Zara jumped again, "I might have to find a phone booth."
Zara jumped and saw a hand waving to her, she sighed with relief and started to run forward.
Her friends followed after her as she went into the outstretched arms of some strange yet very good looking man with two tattoos on his arms. Ron couldn't help the slight disgusted feeling in his stomach as he approached Zara hugging this strange looking person.
Zara pulled away from him and looked up at him. "Where's ma?"
"She was detained at the club so she sent me." He said with a smile. He then looked at Zara's new friends, whom he thought would be the ones he already knew. "So are these your new friends, where's Jewel and Enrique?"
"They decided to stay this year, and yes these are my new friends." She smiled at them and pointed to each one, "this is Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley." She smiled up at Ron and then turned to her friend. "And this guy is Guido, my ma's fiancé."
Ron felt his stomach relax and he smiled at Guido.
"Well your ma told me to take you and your friends to the club to stop by and see her." Guido replied.
"Okay well let's go." Zara said.
After they picked up their bags and suitcases at the baggage claim they made their way though the large crowd of people out into the parking lot. The got into Guido's sixty six mustang convertible and he pulled out onto the road.
Ron, Hermione and Harry were staring at the scenery of all the buildings, Zara pointed out special land marks that you could see from the distance, like the koit tower for one, which on a clear day you can see so far. She pointed out the cable cars which is an excellent way to get around. Union square and the famous piers which grab all the tourists attention and perhaps they would visit them too. They were more impressed with all the houses being so close together and that no matter where they drove, the sidewalks were crawling with people trying to move quickly and get on with their lives.
Guido pulled the car into a parking lot and the four of them got out. Zara led her friends towards a building where there were people waiting in a line to get in. A neon sign formed the letter Club Gothic. They could hear muffled music beats thumping along outside. Two bouncers were standing next to the door with their arms folded across their huge chests. Ron, Harry and Hermione were a little nervous they didn't think they would be let in. Zara told them to come on and they followed her right through the line and up to the bouncers.
"Hey Snake, Blade." She smiled "how's it going, would you mind letting us in?"
"Pretty good Zara and sure you guys come on in." Blade announced with a smile.
"Any drug problems?"
"There were a few incidents when a group tried to sneak some in, but I caught them." Snake announced with pride.
"Oh yeah and this one person actually made it inside with some, it's a shame you weren't here to set them straight." Blade replied. "She's got a mean right hook." He said looking at Zara's friends.
"Yes we know, we've seen it." Ron said recalling the day she hit Draco Malfoy in the face with such a force that it knocked him off his feet.
"Don't make this gal mad or you may need to get yourself a new set of teeth." Snake replied with a smile.
"We'll keep that in mind." Ron said.
The bouncers opened the doors and let Zara and her friends inside. As soon as Ron, Harry and Hermione set foot inside the club they had to slam their palms over their ears, never had they heard such loud music before. Zara signaled for them to follow her and they did. Zara looked at the bar and over at the DJ and on the dance floor. She knew her mom must be in the office. Zara motioned for them to follow her up the stairs. They followed.
Zara opened the door to the office and there was her mother on the phone and she was angry. Zara saw her mom smile and wave lightly at her. Zara turned and waved her friends to come inside and she closed the door behind them blocking out all the noise from the club.
Zara noticed her mom was angry, but she didn't have that business look of anger it was something else. She always knew when the conversations switched, "now look you said that I would have that order by Monday and it's Friday. I've dealt with your company before and you always fuck with me." Mrs. Reynolds paused, "Look I'll use any language I damn well please, you have better fill that order and I better have it tomorrow or I'll see you in court do you understand me." She slammed the phone down "Asshole." She breathed then smiled at her daughter. "Zara, I'm sorry I couldn't pick you up at the airport."
Harry noticed that Mrs. Reynolds was speaking with a British accent. Yet she looked very similar to Zara, the same brownish gold skin tone, the dark eyes.
"It's alright, Guido said you were detained." Zara replied
"As I was dear," she looked over at her daughters friends. "Ah so these are the young people you wrote to me about." Mrs. Reynolds said with a smile as Zara went and introduced them for the second time today.
"Well it's good to meet you three." She turned to her daughter, "why don't you take them home and let them get settled in. I'm sure they had a long flight." She smiled at the four of them.
The three of them nodded and they all looked so tired, Guido then stepped inside the office and closed the door. He went over to Mrs. Reynolds and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Did you get everything cleared up Crystal?" Guido searched her eyes but she shook her head no. she looked over at Zara and her friends, "um Guido why don't you take Zara and her friends home we can talk about this later."
"Well why don't you just give me the keys, and you can stay here and talk with ma?" Zara said to Guido with an innocent smile.
Guido looked at Zara suspiciously "me, give you the keys to my sixty six mustang convertible. Hmm, do you have a valid drivers license?"
"Of course." Faster than light she whipped out her license and flashed it before Guido's eyes.
He inspected it then asked, "what about any DUI's?"
Zara looked up at the ceiling and then back at Guido, "it was only that one, and it was a long time ago. I'm responsible now. Please Guido." She begged like a child would beg for candy.
Harry, Ron and Hermione found that slightly humorous, they had never seen Zara beg for anything since they've known her. It seemed like now that she was at home, a more childish side was coming out.
Guido sighed "okay, but be careful. The last thing I want to see it little bits of Zara and her friends all over the highway on the eleven o'clock news." He held the keys out for her.
Zara snatched the keys from his hand joyfully and she started from the office, her friends followed after her, Ron was the last one out as he was leaving her heard Guido ask "so was that him on the phone, and what did you say?"
"I said no, what do you think I said?" Ron heard Crystal reply and he then closed the door behind him. He followed after them.
They went out of the club and back into Guido's car. "Alright are you guys ready for some fun?" She turned the engine on and a huge smile plastered across her face. "Listen to that." She turned to Ron, "isn't that a beautiful sound." She was referring to the engine and Ron nodded. Zara turned and pealed out of the parking lot and sped on down the road at a high speed. Luckily there were no cops to pull her over.
Zara pulled into a different kind of area of houses on the outskirts of San Francisco, the houses were still close together but not touching like they had seen before. The houses and yards were much bigger, bigger than Ron had ever seen. He looked up as Zara pulled the car into the driveway and turned off the engine. "Well we're here this is my home." She jumped out of the car and started for the front door.
Ron, Harry and Hermione looked up at the enormous house, Ron took a breath he felt so small and very, very poor. He now knew she came from a very wealthy family, how could he ever compare himself with her. He was not good enough for her. He looked over at Hermione and Harry who were just as astounded as he was
"How am I gonna-" Ron started to say but was interrupted by Hermione's voice.
"Ron, she likes you a lot. Not for what you have or don't have. But just for being you."
Ron looked at Hermione, "sure you say that now Herm but look at this." He made a wide arm gesture as he looked up at Zara's huge home. "She has no idea of where I come from."
"I don't think it really matters to her Ron." Hermione replied with a smile as she and Harry followed after Zara.
Ron looked up at the house and then started walking after them I don't know about that Hermione. He thought to himself as he went inside the open door.
The entry was floor was made of white marble, and Ron stepped down onto the shiny tiles standing next to Harry and Hermione. There was a staircase to the left and one to the right, the railings were golden or gold paint Ron concluded. He dropped his suitcase and just stared up at the white carved walls. The ceiling had a stained glass window of wine grapes so that when the sun would shine through it during the day it would sparkle heavenly. The floor that led out of the entry way towards the other part of the house was carpeted in a pinkish wine color. That same carpet ran up the stairs as well. It did look most elegant, too elegant for the likes of him Ron thought.
Zara came out of a room that was beyond the entry way and she closed the door behind her. "Alright follow me I'll show you to your rooms, our loyal servants have the evening off, they will be around in the morning."
Even though the thought of her having servants as well bothered him he didn't let on, he followed his friends up the stairs.
"We have five rooms up stairs and the master bedroom which is my ma's room down stairs." Zara smiled and opened the first door, "alright then Hermione this is your room." She smiled.
Hermione stepped inside the elegant pale pink room and set her suitcases down next to the door. She glanced about room, the walls had a rich looking colored paint and the furniture was made of fine mahogany, where three bookcases aligned three walls, there was a desk in the corner of the room with a touch lamp resting on it. What caught Hermione's eye was a nice king sized bed in the middle of the room, it looked so comfortable and fluffy soft. She hoped it was a soft as it looked. She was dead tired.
Hermione followed Zara out of the room and across from hers, Zara opened the door, "okay then Harry, here you go."
The room looked similar to Hermione's except the walls were an orange red color instead of pink, Harry sat his stuff down inside his and the followed Zara down to the next room which was next door to Harry's and Zara opened the door.
"Alright Ron, this is the room for you." She smiled at him as he stepped inside the bluish room which looked very similar to Hermione's and Harry's. He was just staring inside, he never felt so uncomfortable in his whole life. Zara noticed he was uneasy about something. "Ron is everything alright, are you disappointed in the room? Cause if you are I have other rooms you could take a look at if you want to change?"
Ron turned and looked at her forcing a smile, "no I'm alright Zara. This room will be just fine." He looked back into the room and he finally stepped inside.
She knew something was bothering him, she placed a hand on his shoulder. Zara saw him turn and look down at her "something is bothering you isn't it?" she searched him for an answer.
"No, not really." He lied, "I suppose I'm just tired from the journey." He smiled briefly.
Zara nodded, "well of course you are, it's been a really long flight and we did pass through a large time zone so I'm sure your nerves are a little raw." Zara turned her wrist over and looked at her watch it was nearing eleven. Even though they have stayed up later before, the change in time zone did have certain effects on people.
"I think I'll just get some sleep." Ron announced. And everyone else agreed that it was a good thing to do.
Leaning up Zara gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and wished him good night and she, Harry, and Hermione left the room.
Zara smiled then turned and walked down the hall to her own room which was all the way at the end. She waved to both Harry and Hermione and they waved back to her and she closed the door.
Hermione and Harry just stared at each other for a little while until she let out a large yawn.
Harry thought it looked really cute, "tired?"
Nodding, "so tired." She said sleepily with another smaller yawn.
"Me too." Harry moved towards her putting put his arms around her. He held her for what seemed like a long time. "Well good night then." He looked down at her as she looked up at him. His lips pressed against hers softly, he didn't want to start anything tonight that he couldn't finish. He was way too tired. Harry thought Hermione must have had the same idea because she pulled out of his arms smiling at him.
"Good night." Hermione said and she backed into her room closing the door. Harry did the same.
Ron had stood there watching them, his two friends had nothing standing in their way. He felt slightly jealous of the easy relationship that they two had, his brain told him that there was no way that Harry and Hermione's relationship was easy, it was way difficult. But there was no money matters between them. He argued with himself. Hermione said that Zara didn't care about money, but he didn't get that impression at all now. He closed the door to his room. He would try not to harp on the matters of money right now, he needed to get some sleep. Ron changed into his soft cotton pants and plain blue t-shirt and climbed into the bed.
His body relaxed on the soft bed and pulled the blankets up, he turned over to sleep. Within a few minutes he was drifting off- He was walking through the gardens of Ulrich's house, he was told to wait out here for him. He hated to see Ulrich but he had to get the information that Jasmine wanted on his father. He knew he was taking a big risk in trying to prove Salazar guilty of dark magic, but he agreed. And for some reason Ulrich agreed to give it to him.
He looked up and saw a young woman walking among the gardens as well, she was hugging herself tightly probably trying to keep herself warm. He recognized her as the woman that was given to Ulrich on his birthday. He glanced about her she was wrapped in lavender silk and holding the fabric tightly around her. Her face wasn't veiled like it was at the party. She had a small jeweled head piece worn like a headband around her head. He thought that she had beautiful Black hair, he noticed she seemed uneasy. His heart went to her, she was far away from her home and her family. He knew she did not want to be there. He decided to make his presence known.
"Excuse me miss." He said.
The young woman lifted her head and stared at him, she nodded but did not speak, she looked at him but there was no happiness in her eyes.
"I bet you miss your family, don't you?" He noticed she didn't speak, instead she hung her head. And he knew she did. "My name is Kai, do you have a name?"
She looked up at him and then lowered her eyes, "Leelee." She said quickly.
"Leelee, that's a lovely name." He smiled, even though Leelee did not lift her head he could see that her face flushed at the compliment. "Do you like it here Leelee?"
"No." she answered truthfully.
"I wouldn't blame you, I don't like it much myself." He smiled again.
"It's too cold." She said.
Kai knew she must have been trained to speak English, her family probably knew they were going to be selling her off to an English speaking master. "Ah yes you come from a warmer climate don't you."
Leelee nodded.
"Do you miss your home?"
"No."
Kai found that odd.
"I was raised to be a slave" she said probably trying to ease his confusion.
Kai nodded in understanding, "I'm sorry to hear that."
Kai heard a voice calling for her, it wasn't Ulrich's voice but his fathers.
Leelee looked up at Kai, "I-I must go." She started to turn.
"Leelee can we talk again sometime?"
Kai saw Leelee thinking and then she nodded. He heard the voice calling for her again this time agitated. He watched Leelee take off quickly back towards the huge mansion. He could hear Salazar yelling at her "didn't you hear me calling woman? Honestly, can't they send one decent slave?" Kai heard that and he didn't like it, he saw Ulrich coming outside. Kai's mood just dropped, getting worse.
He saw Ulrich approach him, Kai was so angry he would have thrown a punch. But he remembered what Jasmine needed and he held himself back. Ulrich handed Kai a large written diary.
"Here, that should be enough. I had to make a copy." He twirled his wand about like a pro. "If my father knew I was giving this to you he would surely kill me, and I'm not kidding."
"Well it's a shame really, maybe I should alert him to your sneaky ways. Then you'll be out of all our hair."
Ulrich glared at Kai, "what have I ever done to you to make you loath me so?"
"Let's just say you were born." Kai turned to walk away.
"Does this have something to do with Alina? What you're not in love with her are you?"
"No I'm not in love with Alina, but I will protect her from the likes of you. Torrin I could handle messing with her. But not you. You'll break her heart and she's the closest thing to a sister I have." Kai shouted at him.
"Yes she is a half breed, your no good father went around fucking all the little wenches muggle or non muggle and look what turned up."
"You leave my family out of this." Kai rounded on him he had his wand pulled and ready to strike.
"Your mother won't even recognize her as one of your family, all because of your fathers-" He was cut off by Kai's angry face. Ulrich backed off.
Kai knew Ulrich was just trying to anger him, he restrained himself from doing any harm to Ulrich. Jasmine needed his help and she was his friend. He would not ruin her plans over his anger towards Ulrich. He turned and stormed from the mansion grounds-- Ron turned over clutching the blankets tightly.
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Ron's first airplane trip WOW. But he sure has some self esteem issues wouldn't you all agree? Anyway stay tuned for chapter 13-Zara's Rival. Please Read and Review, thanks, Ryoko