Granger Family Reunion

A Very Long Flight

"Ron, the plane's not going to crash," Hermione repeated for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"How can you be so sure? It' Muggle technology," her husband responded, as if that explained it all. 

Rolling her eyes, Hermione grabbed a magazine from the seat pocket. She leaned back in her own seat, waiting for take off. 

Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were currently sitting in a plane, taking a relatively short flight to Paris. Hermione, having been on planes many times before, had no problem just relaxing until it was time to leave the airport. Ron, however, had many doubts, and was very vocal about them. 

"Hermione..." he whined, poking her in the shoulder. 

"Ronald, you're acting like a child." 

"Hermione, it's not right. How do they get these... death traps to fly anyway? I'm quite certain that there are no brooms attached to the bottom, but perhaps they're invisible.."

Hermione nearly laughed at the ridiculous suggestion. She knew that often times, her husband could act very childlike, and though she pretended to dislike it, she actually found his antics quite entertaining. 

"No, they've got engines." 

"That's bloody scary, that is. Engines. It sounds so.. terrifying." Ron replied, while shuddering. 

This time, Hermione did laugh. When it came to anything Muggle, Ron's ignorance always made the situation hilarious. 

"Ron, do you even know what engines are ?" she asked through her laughter.

Ron blushed furiously, and hesitantly replied, "No.." Then, deciding that his pride was at stake, he defended, "It doesn't sound right! Muggles have things like people who cut each other up, and those bloody wooden things that drop you from heights! They're crazy, they are. Who knows what other insane things they've got? Engines could be one of them!"

"You mean doctors and rollercoasters? Ronald, doctors save people's lives, and rollercoasters don't hurt you; they're supposed to be fun!"

"That's not an excuse," he huffed. 

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a deafening roar. 

"What's happening?!" Ron yelled over the noise, attracting many disapproving stares.

"We're taking off Ron, we're not dying." his wife rolled her eyes, returning to her magazine. 

Ron scowled, and turned to the window, where the scenery was changing (very, very slowly, mind you). 

A few minutes later, a startled Ron was pushed back into his seat, as the plane began to slowly take off. As they began to rise higher, he felt something pushing on his chest, and he panicked, not knowing what else to do.

"Hermione!" he whisper-screamed. "Hermione, I can't breathe! I'm dying!"

"Honestly, have you got to overreact to everything? It's normal! You'll be fine!" 

Ron glared at her, but felt better in a few minutes, just as she had predicted. He returned to watching the window, completely mesmerized by the view. 

***

An hour later, a woman in a uniform came by with a large cart. She had a strange hat on her head, and as Ron was about to point this out to Hermione, she silenced him with a glare. 

"What will you have, miss? And you, sir?" 

Thinking quickly, Hermione spoke for both of them, lest he say something stupid, and blow their cover. 

The woman poured two cups of Coca-Cola and handed them each a bag of peanuts. She then moved onto the next set of seats, and as soon as she was outside of hearing range, Hermione felt it safe to explain the situation to Ron, who was looking at his Coke skeptically. 

Before she could, however, Ron voiced his concern. "What is this, and why was that woman here? It's not like we're in a restaurant." 

"That is Coca-Cola. It's a Muggle drink, and let me just say, it's incredibly sugary. My parents would never let me have any as a child. Secondly, she's an air hostess. It's her job to make sure that all the passengers are comfortable during the flight." Hermione whispered. 

Ron hesitantly raised the cup of Coke to his lips, and took a tiny sip. "It's good!" he exclaimed, looking quite surprised. "Muggles sure do have a lot of strange things."

Hermione looked affronted. "So do wizards, you know! Why would you want a frog made of chocolate that has a mind of its own? Or jellybeans that taste that disgusting?" 

"Hey, I'll have you know, Chocolate Frogs are awesome, and Bertie Bott's are very delicious!"

"You actually like  vomit-flavored beans? That's quite sick, you know." 

"I never said that! Who would like vomit-flavored beans?" Ron asked indignantly.

"Dear Merlin, this conversation is getting out of hand. We're going to stop this stupidity now." Hermione said, rolling her eyes again.

Ron huffed, and said, "You started it."

His wife chose to ignore him, and it seemed like it was only moments later when they arrived at the airport. 

***

Two loud squeals echoed, and it felt as if they shook the earth. Two blonde girls ran straight for each other, leaving their suitcases in the hands of two very confused bell boys. 

"Courtney!" one shrieked, engulfing the other in a hug. Designer sunglasses were perched on the top of her head, and her pink handbag was resting on her forearm. Her hands were cluttered with several rings, and her lipstick-covered mouth was stretched into a smile.

"Haley!" The other girl, apparently Courtney, was wearing a black and white striped shirt with ridiculously short shorts, and had a huge straw hat hanging off her head. 

"You look wonderful, Haley," commented a woman, who, by the looks of it, was very snobby. 

"Thanks, Aunt Sidney," Haley said, letting go of her cousin and twirling around as if to show off her outfit. She was wearing a leopard print top, and white jeans.

Like that, greetings were exchanged between the family, and they walked into the hotel, with the two bell boys struggling to bring all of the bags in.

The two cousins began reminiscing about previous reunions, laughing at the appropriate parts, and sympathizing at the others until a rather sensitive topic came up. 

"Remember that dork, Hermione? We haven't seen her in forever!" Haley sniggered. Hermione's father was their fathers' brother, so they saw a lot of her in their childhood. Too much, in fact.

"God, I hated her!" a new voice chimed in. It was Courtney's younger brother, Alex. They'd never particularly liked him, until his dislike for Hermione also became apparent. That was the one thing all three of them bonded over. 

"I know, right? The way she'd always try to show off! She was so weak." 

"Do you think she's going to come this time?" asked Courtney. "I mean, I know that Aunt Jean asked her, but I don't know."

"I hope not! I don't want to see what she looks like now! If it's as bad as before.." Haley said, shuddering for emphasis. 

Little did they know, the very subject of their conversation was in a cab, heading towards their hotel at that exact moment. They were definitely in for a big surprise.