The ride was relatively uneventful, if you didn't count the numerous times in which the entire car screamed when George slammed on the brakes...
"Oy! You big babies! That wasn't even scary!" George cried, after glancing in the back to see the passengers all holding on for dear life.
Hermione begged to differ, but of course didn't say anything.
Harry had breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that Ginny had apparently rode in the car with Buffy and her friends. His sigh was also in part due to the fact that Hermione was sitting next to him. He finally had the chance to talk to her and catch up, but for some strange reason, he couldn't bring himself to even look at her. He knew he was able to talk to her about anything, but for some reason he couldn't seem to formulate the words to tell her how much he had missed her and how happy he was to see her again.
"How odd..." he mused to himself, not realizing that he had said it aloud.
"What's odd, Harry?" Hermione asked, touching his arm gently.
"O-Oh, nothing," Harry stammered.
Hermione looked at him oddly, but didn't say anything further. Turning slightly, she looked out the window, watching the scenery go by.
Inside Harry was seething.
'What is wrong with me? I'm not a bloody first-year asking to sit next to some girl on the Hogwarts Express! I'm seventeen years old, damn it! And Harry Potter! Yeah, I'm him too!'
As he'd been thinking these things, his face had screwed up in consternation. Hermione was still looking out the window, but Ron had noticed.
"Harry, you all right there, mate?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Harry answered, striving for offhandedness, but only getting as far as croaking.
"Listen, mate, I know what's wrong," Ron confided, leaning forward as if sharing some big secret, "and it's nothing to worry about.
"It isn't?" Harry asked, dubiously, glancing over at Hermione in hopes that she hadn't been listening and caught on as Ron apparently had.
"Oh no, man," Ron replied, assuredly. "I know you're feeling weird because Ginny's sitting in the other car with that Angel bloke, but it's only a passing fancy! You know she really cares for you as much as you care for her. So don't worry about it!"
And with that, Ron sat back in his seat and sighed the contented sigh of a man who honestly believes he has shed some light on his best mate's current conundrum.
But of course, said best mate was currently harboring a secret urge to strangle this obviously disillusioned man.
"Oh, yeah. Thanks, mate," Harry replied caustically, painfully aware that Hermione's hand was no longer on his arm.
"Anytime, man," Ron replied.
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"SHE IS SUCH A STICKY LITTLE WET...THING!" Buffy whispered vehemently in Angel's ear.
"Yeah, but I think Cordelia is about to deck her..." Angel replied.
Ginny was apparently orchestrating a valiant attempt to make Angel jealous by draping herself all over Xander. Xander, stuck between said sticky little wet thing and Cordelia, was emitting terrified little squeaks and looking frantically between the two. Ginny was apparently too caught up in trying to communicate with Xander through babytalk ("Oh, you are so cute, my yiddle Xander! Oh yes, you are! Oh yes, you are!") and shooting sidelong glances at Angel to notice the way that Cordelia was cracking her knuckles.
Buffy was honestly afraid that sooner or later she was going to have to "break up" the fight threatening to ensue, while getting in a couple of hits of her own, of course, until Willow distracted Ginny with a discussion about magic.
"Well, of course, Harry is naturally very gifted, but he practices every day just in case he ever needs to protect me, of course," Ginny said airily.
Buffy mimed barfing into her hards behind Ginny's back.
"Protect you? Oh, I can't imagine anyone wanting to hurt you..." Cordelia said, almost convincingly.
"Oh, of course, I can't protect myself," Ginny replied, heatedly. "I have a mad Bat Bogey Hex. Maybe I should demonstrate it to you sometime, Cordelia..."
"Maybe you should!" Cordelia replied darkly.
"Well, Ginny," Angel began pointedly, intervening, "Hermione is also very gifted, is she not? I sense a certain power around her."
"Weeeeelll," Ginny replied, drawing out the word, "she's alright, I guess. She should be, what with the amount of time she spends with her nose in a book. Honestly, if you have that much free time that you can spend your entire day in the library, you really need to get a life."
Oz had to hold Willow back with all his strength.
"Um, how much longer?" Xander asked.
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