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Harry was having an odd dream.
He was trying to get to Hermione, but the closer he tried to get to her, the farther she got away from him. They were walking in a loud, crowded corridor, oddly reminiscent of the halls of Hogwarts. He could see Hermione directly in front of him, but the people wouldn't move. He tried to explain to them that he had something he had to tell Hermione. He couldn't remember what it was, but he remembered that it was something he really, really needed to tell her, before-before-
Then it happened.
A dark figure, all of a sudden, appeared next to Hermione. He had dark hair and even darker clothes. He couldn't identify him, but Hermione's written description of a certain person echoed in his head: 'You have to see him to believe him, Ginny...'
He tried to yell: 'No! No! Hermione!!,' but the words wouldn't come out.
He realized what the figure was doing before he actually did it. He knew instinctively knew who it was. Angel. He watched in horror as Angel's arm slowly came around Hermione's waist. Hermione turned slightly and shot him a sad smile before recommencing walking down the corridor. Out of her line of sight, the figure smirked triumphantly.
Harry tried to run, tried to get to the two to break them up and tell Hermione what he so severely needed to tell her, but all of a sudden there was a weight on his arm. He looked down to see Ginny clutching his arm tightly, and grinning triumphantly at all of the people around him. He attempted to shake her off, but found that he couldn't.
Then her voice seemed to penetrate through the cacophony around them.
"Harry! Oh, Harry!"
He shot her an irritated glance and increased his efforts get to Hermione. "Hermione! Hermi-"
"Harry!"
He sat up with Hermione's name on his lips. He finally realized why he had woken up so suddenly; Ginny was apparently standing outside his bedroom door.
"Harry! Oh, Harry! It's time for breakfast!"
He held in a groan that threatened to spill from his lips.
"Alright, alright! I'm up!" he called back, tiredly.
As he dressed, he thought about the strange dream he'd just had. He couldn't help but wonder what it could possibly mean.
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Finally dressed, he opened the door and was surprised to see Ginny still standing there.
"Good morning," she said, brightly.
She stood there, hands behind her back, looking up at him expectantly.
He just glanced at her oddly before returning a hesitant, "Good morning."
He yawned widely and ran a hand over his hair, trying to force it into some form of order.
"Here, let me get that!" Ginny said, eagerly.
Harry fixed her with another odd look.
"Err, no, I think this is about as good as it is going to get," he explained, "I'll just have Hermione fix me some of that potion she uses on hers...when she gets back, that is," he finished, dishearteningly.
He began to walk down the stairs, Ginny tagging behind him.
This mention of Hermione seemed to further lower Ginny's bright disposition. A pout had already been put in place after he had refused her help with his hair, but it had become a full on frown once Hermione was mentioned.
"Oh, yeah. Good, old Hermione," she said in a mocking tone, "When is the frizzy haired bookwork we all know and love coming back?"
"Early tomorrow morning, at the absolute earliest. Apparently, they had to make special arrangements due to this 'Angel' person she's been talking about..."
Saying his name left a bad taste in Harry's mouth.
"Ha. That's rich. Who does this guy think he is?" Ginny sneered.
Harry didn't answer.
Upon reaching the end of the stairs and the threshold to the dining room, Ginny shocked Harry greatly by grabbing his hand. Harry could just stare dumbly down at their entwined fingers as they turned into the dining room.
Seated at the table were Ron, Remus, and surprisingly, Fred and George. Mrs. Weasley was on her feet, cooking.
Seeing her family, Ginny made a show of hastily releasing his hand and made an effort at blushing that didn't work out so well.
"Mornin,' mate," Ron greeted him, smiling oddly at him, "Have a good sleep?"
Harry almost flinched at the memory of his dream. He couldn't answer. Fred/George greeted him, saving him from answering the painful question.
"Good morning, my dear Harry," Fred, (or George, he couldn't tell) greeted him also.
"Yes, top o' the morning, my good man," the other answered.
"Morning,' Fred, George. Remus," he added.
Harry had finally conceded to call the ex-professor by his given name after he had chided him about calling him 'Professor' about a thousand times.
Pulling up a chair, he sat down wearily next to Remus. He closed his eyes and held in a grimace when he heard the screeching of another chair being dragged across the floor. He wasn't surprised to glance to his left and see Ginny beaming up at him.
"Cor, Ginny, give the man some room to breathe!" Fred/George exclaimed.
The one who had not made the exclamation simply rolled his eyes.
Ron was beaming almost as brightly as Ginny.
Fred/George and George/Fred noticed this and just had to say something about it.
"You know, Harry, if you're not careful, ickle Ronniekins here, will have your entire wedding planned out before lunch," one said.
"Don't forget the kids' names," the other added.
"Oh, stop," Ginny retorted.
Harry almost found himself missing the days in which she would have run out of the room at a remark half as bad as that one. Now, she just smiled coyly and winked at Ron.
Remus laid a hand on his arm in sympathy.
Harry felt like banging his head into something. Hard. Again. And again. And again.
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Hermione and the Scoobies were on a red eye flight that would only take them about halfway to their desired destination, but it was necessary to ensure that Angel would not be exposed to sunlight. After taking this flight, they would stop and check into a hotel to sleep, and wait for the sun to set once more.
Having boarded the plane, they each settled into their respected seats.
It was Buffy with Angel, Willow with Oz, Cordelia with Xander, and Hermione with...Giles.
Hermione spent the first hour talking with Giles about various creatures and forms of magic before the librarian had pulled out a pillow and announced he was going to nap.
Now, with nothing else to do, Hermione looked around at her fellow passengers. There weren't that many. The plane was mostly quiet; except, that is, for Cordelia and Xander. They had barely taken off and they had already begun arguing.
Xander, noticing Hermione's glance over at them, grinned and waved eagerly. Cordelia scowled from behind Xander. Hermione looked away quickly.
Willow had fallen asleep on Oz's shoulder. Oz had laid his head over hers and appeared to be on the verge of sleep himself. He also noticed her gaze and gave a solemn smile.
She smiled back faintly before moving her glance to Angel and Buffy.
Buffy was leaned over so that her head was under his, resting on his chest. He held her hand in his, playing with their fingers. She noticed for the first time their matching rings. She couldn't help but feel slightly envious at the sight of the two murmuring quietly to each other. She wondered vaguely if she and Harry would ever be like that. Well, she could at least dream. With this though now in her head, she pulled out her own pillow and laid down her head to sleep.
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