Taking a deep breath, Hermione quickly gathered her thoughts. "Okay so this, however real, is still a movie and we both know that in this movie's world there are no witches so technically until the movie comes to an end we probably won't have any access to our magic. At least that's the theory I'm going with at the moment."
Ginny seemed relieved to have some hope that it was only temporary. "So we just have to wait it out then?"
Hermione's brows furrowed, "Unfortunately no."
"No? What do you mean no?" The redhead said agitated.
"The spell... we said 'rewrite', so if we don't change the story I'm not sure the spell would break. It could put the world in a loop and give us a second chance or just make it where we can't leave and have to live in a non-magical 80's version of America."
"So, what you're saying is if we don't change anything we could be stuck here."
"Possibly."
Ginny looked annoyed at her bookworm friend's lack of answers.
It made the brunette huff in frustration, "This isn't an exact science and it wasn't something I've ever researched okay? It was just a stupid drunken spell that neither of us were prepared for, so we will both be going into this spell blind."
Ginny looked down at her feet chastised. "Sorry... I just wanted a more solid answer, I know you don't know everything."
"Not for lack of trying," the brightest witch of her age joked.
Ginny cracked a slight smile at that before getting more serious and asking, "So how do we plan on changing this movie then?"
"Well, I'd like to stay as far away from the Santa Carla vampires as possible but I'm not sure that's an option."
"I'd like that too. Why isn't it an option? I mean, the movie has other characters. Ones that aren't psychopathic killers."
"Vampires," Hermione said mockingly.
It took the redhead a minute, but she got that her earlier words were coming back to bite her and not in the fun way. Though, she supposed that in this world there was no pleasant way to be bitten.
"That's not fair. I was drunk when I said that."
"Still said it." Ginny stuck her tongue out at her fellow magicless witch. "Really mature Gin. Anyways back on topic, I think we will have to interact with the Lost Boys because of the intent behind the spell."
"What intent? We said we'd change the story and there's gotta be a dozen or so ways to do that from the sidelines."
"Yes, but before we said the spell we talked about saving the Lost Boys. So if this was cast with that intent then that's how we break the spell."
"...You really think the intention matters that much?"
"We could only get one shot at this, so I think we need to proceed like it does."
The redhead's freckles suddenly became a much more noticeable feature as all the color seemed to leave her face.
"I know it'll be dangerous, but we've been through worse we'll get through this."
"Ya..." She mumbled, and Hermione feels like she's missing something. "Ginny... your intention was to save the boys when you cast the spell right?"
"Yes!" Her voice was much too high to be a completely honest answer but before she could confront her on it the younger girl started sending rapid fire questions her way, "So where do we start? What part of the movie are we at? Where are we going to stay for the rest of our time here? My throat is dry where can we get a drink?"
"Gin calm down and let me think!" It took a few minutes of silence until Hermione finally put her thoughts into words.
"First, I think we're at the start of the movie when they eat the couple, so the Emerson's should be coming tomorrow or something... The movie didn't give exact timelines but it's safe to say that we need to find somewhere abandoned to hole up in for now. As for food and drinks... guess we steal them, though stealing money might be easier."
"How do we do we steal without our magic?"
That was a good question and one that hadn't come to the slightly older witch's mind even though it should have.
"The old-fashioned way..."
"Have you ever done that before?" The redhead asked.
"No... but I'm sure if plan it out right we can manage it."
At least she was hoping a little bit of brain power would pull them through, otherwise she wasn't sure how they'd survive the streets without magic.
-
"That was the worst plan ever!" Ginny said wiping her mouth.
"It worked though." Hermione held up the wallet.
"Next time you let him slobber all over you then." She threw the brunette a glare, still wiping her mouth.
"You didn't seem to mind at the time." Really, Ginny had looked into it and it was disturbing but she had kept her mind on sneaking around to get his wallet while he was busy kissing. Or, as Ginny said, slobbering on her friend.
"That's because I know how to fake it even when it's a drunken asshole who can't kiss and gets too grabby," Ginny said with disgust.
Feeling guilty for the plan, the bushy-haired girl apologized, "Sorry." Then added optimistically, "but hopefully this will last us for a while."
"Is there enough in there for mouthwash... or a soda?" The younger one questioned.
Hermione checked the contents of the wallet. "Hmm, not as much as I'd hoped but probably more than I should have expected. Still, if we're careful it should-"
Ginny cut her off and grabbed the cash, "Great, let's eat."
Hermione sighed but didn't complain. After all, Ginny was the one who did the hard part. Hermione just had to grab the wallet while he was distracted, and he was very distracted. She was going to need to have that obliviated from her mind at some point.
After eating the two searched for an abandoned building that wasn't housing homeless people which was harder than they'd thought. Santa Carla's population seemed to consist of more homeless runways than actual residents from what they could tell.
Once they finally did settle in for the night, they found it hard to sleep. Ginny because she wasn't used to sleeping anywhere that wasn't an actual home with a bed and Hermione because she was trying to fight off memories from her time on the run by constantly reminding herself that this was nothing like back then. It did little to ease her restless mind though, so the two girls started to bounce ideas off of each other until they fell into an exhausted and uneasy sleep; only to be awakened a few mere hours later by the sun shining on them.
Now they had until the sun set to get ready for the night on the boardwalk which would be when it all started. Until then they'd do the boring necessary stuff and maybe some Frog hunting if the season was right Hermione's mind supplied.
Hours later they'd spent all the stolen money on breakfast and a backpack which they stuffed with supplies that two young women would need for a few days.
"At least neither of us is currently on the rag," Ginny said trying to lighten the mood now that they were broke again and only having gotten the bare minimum of what they needed.
"You could always flirt with a person in a store and keep him distracted while I grab a few more things," the redhead scoffed having had her fill with being the one doing the distracting.
"Right because I can really pull that off."
Hermione frowned at the thought. It had never bothered her how bad she could be when it came to boys, or flirting in general, but now she wished she had a tad more experience to help out. Not that she could let someone paw at her like Ginny had without tearing the guy a new one but that wasn't the point.
Ginny shook her head, "Come on I've seen you flirt. You're not that bad..."
"I'm not that good either. Face it Gin if one of us needs to use our feminine wiles it's gonna have to be you."
The younger witch made a face. "You just need a bit of practice is all."
"I've only ever dated one person and that was your brother," she reminded her friend in exasperation.
"Ya well, I'm not asking you to date anyone. Just try fluttering your eyes and giggle a few times and you should be fine."
"Flutter my eyes... if I do that it'll look like I've got something in them that I'm trying to get out and I can't just giggle on command." How anybody could do that and not sound like a complete fake, the bushy-haired witch couldn't understand.
"A makeover would boost your confidence. Like that year at the Yule ball did."
"Gin, in case you missed the whole point of this conversation, we're broke."
The younger girl did not, in fact, need a reminder of this. Still, it looked like she'd have to take things into her own hands again.
Really what would she do without me, Ginny thought.
"Hmm, not for long. Watch my back. I'll get us some money and then it's make over time."
"What? No. You don't need to do that again and we can't waste money on looking nice anyway."
"Hermione, Hermione, Hermione, what am I going to do with you? Of course, we need to look nice. How else does one attract a murderous vampire?"
The brunette's eyes widened, "We aren't trying to attract them! We're just keeping them from getting offed is all."
"And that's exactly why we need to get an 80s makeover to blend in with the other girls. Of course, we'll still be hotter than them," she says confidently with a wink.
"An 80s look... Okay, I get it, but all we need to do that is get a hold of two sets of clothes from this time."
"David's not gonna notice you with that attitude towards fashion. I mean you have seen Star, right?"
"Wha? I don't wan-"
Ginny continued on as if she hadn't just interrupted her friend, "Though you have the right hair for the look, especially after last night."
This caused Hermione's hands to fly to her hair self-consciously and start to try and pat it down some. Ginny laughed and shook her head. "Don't bother. It won't work. Besides your hair is finally in fashion so no need to fight it anymore."
Grumbling, she slowly took her hands away before spotting her new target, "Ready?"
Sighing, she nodded. At least this time Ginny was volunteering herself, so Hermione didn't have to feel as bad about using her friend like this.
-
The two girls found that it wasn't as easy during the day and when the subject wasn't drunk. "Do you think we took it a little too far... I mean knocking him out like that."
"He deserved it. No means no. It's not my fault he wouldn't listen."
The older girl nodded, all the while thinking that she did lead him on and then suddenly wanted to stop just before what he would've considered the good part. Hermione decided to drop it, though, given that Ginny did have to go further than she wanted because Hermione couldn't find a good opening to take his wallet. At least it was worth it.
"How do you manage to get the guys with more than a few dollars on them?"
"It's easy to tell who comes from money when you grew up without much yourself but enough about that, let's go beautify ourselves."
"I'm not sure..." Hermione hadn't stopped thinking that something was up, and she wanted to know what, "Ginny why do you want to look nice for them?"
Ginny giggled, "We are stuck here so we might as well have fun with it right? Besides flirting with a vampire might be fun."
The brightest witch of her age couldn't help but feel upset at that answer. She must have been looking too deep into things.
"If you really feel that way then when we get back home I'll find you a nice safe vampire to flirt with."
"What if I don't want nice?" Her voice was sincere and lacked the flirty tone and that worried the older girl.
"...Are you still taking this seriously? This isn't Hogwarts. You could really get hurt by these guys." Hermione wasn't sure what was going through her friend's mind and that needed to stop. They only had each other here after all.
Sighing, the girl looked away, "I am, I was thinking about what you said about intent all night and... My intention when casting that spell wasn't purely about saving them. Hell, it may not have been to save them at all."
"What are you saying?"
"I was drunk and in my drunken wisdom thought it'd be a good idea to shag a vampire... specifically Paul." Ginny's expression looked slightly shamefaced as she admitted this to her friend. The only one she had in the world, literally, at this moment.
Hermione's mouth dropped open. "I-I could be wrong about the intent!" She all but yelled at her fellow witch.
"When are you ever wrong?" She said without humor.
"Occasionally and this could be one of those times," Hermione insisted.
"But if you're not wrong?"
Hermione didn't know what to say to that. Suddenly things got that much more dangerous.
"But... you can't sleep with him. He'd probably kill you." She paused, "Scratch that, he will kill you!"
Ginny shrugged, "I plan to cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, I figured I'd just get him to want me first and then go from there."
"No, we can figure out something else," Hermione insisted again.
"Maybe but I doubt it. So until then I need to look nice and so do you."
"What, why? I didn't cast the spell with shagging anyone in mind." Not that she could recall anyway. Now she was starting to get slightly worried. No, she was sure that she hadn't been thinking about shagging anyone then.
"That's probably true but we were both drunk and you did mention David before that."
"So?" The older girl tried not to let her worry at her own question show.
"So, it doesn't hurt to have him at least express an interest in you. Besides you need to look closely at what exactly you wanted when the spell was cast... just in case."
What had she been thinking that night. She couldn't recall all her thoughts clearly what if... damn. "Oh my god... this is a nightmare. Okay, I'll try and remember if I had an alternative motive." She prayed that she hadn't. After all, it was going to take all of her effort to find a way for Ginny to not have to sleep with a vampire or to live through it if she did go through with it.
"Cheer up. I get to shag a dangerous hottie so it's not that bad and your hair is almost perfect. We both know that David likes girls with hair similar to yours if Star is anything to go by."
Ignoring the first part of that sentence she agreed to follow her younger friend's lead, "...Let's just get this over with."
"Careful. All that enthusiasm could kill you," the redhead joked, "Really though just think about the positives."
"Like?"
"How awesome muggle food is in the 80s, that we are technically in America and it didn't cost us a single Knut, or that your hair is in style!"
The brunette rolled her eyes, "Would you shut it about my hair?"
"Fine but just for now." Ginny knew her hair was a sensitive subject as far as the other girl's looks went but over the last couple of years the fizz had calmed down and Hermione started using Wizarding hair products in her daily morning routine to help control the rest. But the sea air plus the lack of hair products really did make Hermione blend in with the locals, at least as far as her hair was concerned. The clothes were another matter.
At that thought Ginny wondered what she should have done to her own hair. It had always naturally been straight but making a change would be nice and she could just use magic and change it back when she got home if she really wanted to.
-
Later that night found the two newly freshened up girls with their new hairstyles wandering the boardwalk. Ginny had a new curler look but Hermione looked almost like always, just with more volume
Probably from all the hairspray the salon lady tried to choke me with, she thought sarcastically.
The redhead's new outfit was a dark green dress that stopped just above her knees with dark gray leggings and a pair of cute, but simple, pair of black boots. A black leather jacket completed the ensemble, which she stole when Hermione was distracting the sales lady with outrageous demands for an outfit before storming out after pretending to be insulted at their selection.
She knew it was wrong, but she'd felt bad after what Ginny had had to put up with during their time here to get them money. So, when she saw her friend eyeing the expensive jacket she decided to go for it and put her acting skills to the test. Much easier to do than flirting in her opinion.
Hermione's outfit was a gray-blue shirt with an off shoulder look on one side, which showed her black bra strap, and a pair of Capri jeans with a simple pair of flats to finish her outfit off. It wasn't the sexy look that Ginny wanted her to wear but it was certainly more comfortable than anything her younger friend had tried to force on her.
They continued walking on the boardwalk looking for the familiar places from the movie where they'd come across the Lost Boys. It was decided that they would hopefully delay them outside of the video store in hopes that Michael would take Star for that ride before David and his boys could stop them. Maybe Michael wouldn't be come a half-vampire tonight if things worked out.
It wouldn't be their first change as they had not been wasting the day. With any luck it would stop or delay Sam meeting the Frog brothers, after all their store couldn't open if they had no comics to sell. It was mean, but way too easy, to get the Frog brothers out of the way and chasing after a comic thief that they'd bribed with free food to steal said comic.
With the comics all burnt, even if Sam met them they would not be giving any free comics to the boy. So no 'Destroy All Vampires' for the teenager this time around.
Just as Hermione finished that thought she heard an eerily familiar laugh followed by others that caused her to shiver. They were right there in her sight now and way too real looking coming out of the video store.
"Cool made it just in time," Ginny whispered and started to make her way over only to stop when she noticed that her friend wasn't following. In fact, she was frozen.
"Hermione?" The younger girl whisper yelled her name to get her attention. She shook her shelf out of it before quickly rushing after the redheaded witch who was giving her a 'what the hell was that look'. Hermione bit her lip before mouthing 'later.'
Luckily the boys were still close enough to catch up with. Hermione usually knew what to say when confronting people but this time she wondered if she might be better off leaving it to her friend. However, when Ginny did speak she regretted her internal decision instantly.
Ginny had caught up and grabbed Paul's arm causing him to stop, thus causing all of the other boys to follow suit. She was acting way too friendly with him given that he was a stranger, but he didn't seem to mind. "Hey there! You look like you know a thing or two about fashion. What do you think of my new jacket my friend here just got me?"
Hermione wished that she hadn't been dragged into this. Even though she knew she should help keep them distracted, when she felt their eyes on her she clammed up again. She was feeling quite angry at herself but kept quiet only because she still couldn't find her voice.
"You wanna know my opinion on your jacket?" The vampire, whose name they knew to be Paul but hadn't been properly introduced as yet, asked. He had a smirk as he looked her up and down obviously checking her out as the other boys smirked and laughed.
"Well you could tell me what you think of my entire outfit, but yes I'm asking if you like my jacket." Ginny winked at him letting his arm go and doing a quick twirl so that he could get a good look at her outfit.
Sometimes Hermione wondered what it'd be like to have no shame like her fellow witch before her.
Dwayne looked at Paul and stated, "I'll bet he likes what's in it."
Paul nodded with a wicked grin, "Yeah I do."
Marko whistled and winked, "I bet he'd like her better out of it!"
The others laughed and David just shook his head at the boys, but his expression was still the same. Hermione has a feeling he thought they were easy food.
Before this could get any further David's smirk fell and he turned, expression unhappy. Hermione's the only one who notice. Her eyes followed his and she saw why. Star, and she was on the back of Michael's bike and they were taking off. Well looks like they made a real change to the story after all.
Until David spoke up, "Come on boys we have somewhere we need to be. You'll have to excuse us ladies." He mock tipped his head as if he was wearing a hat before taking his leave quickly.
The other boys picked up on their leader's mood and were quick to follow. Paul was last to go giving Ginny a wink as he left. They stood there quietly the redhead questioning why they had left but Hermione said nothing; just stood there watching the way they had departed. It wasn't but a few minutes later that the boys were on their bikes and heading out in the direction where the brunette had seen Michael leave.
"Damn." They were following Michael and Star. Would things still happen only with the riding order slightly different?
"What is it?" Ginny asked seeing them leave but not knowing where to or why like the brunette.
"They're following Michael and Star... we haven't changed anything!"
Ginny frowned but then caught sight of a familiar figure, "Not true look there," the other witch turned to where her redheaded friend was pointing. They saw Sam heading into the video store and walking up to his mum.
"No 'Destroy All Vampires' comic for him."
"Not yet... I'm starting to think that this world is going to fight to stay on track." Hermione might be wrong or paranoid, but it seemed like the world was out to stop them, at least from her view.
"Well, we will just have to fight back even harder then!" Ginny pumped her fist in the air. "Come on Hermione. I thought you liked a challenge and what's a better opponent than the world?"
The older girl laughed at her fellow witch's words. Why not be more optimistic like her? It wouldn't hurt the outcome either way and she would have to worry a little less for the time being.
"You know what? You're right," Hermione smiled as she looked to the sky. "Okay world bring it on. Next time I'll be ready."
She just had to outsmart a world that she helped make real. No problem. She could do that.
Hopefully.