Cars, Strange People And Dead Ends

Cars, strange people and dead ends

Chapter Three

Meeting Doug

Once Ron drove the car out of the yard, he turned right so that the three could get into the Muggle world and begin their road trip. After fifteen minutes, they came up to a crossroad. Ron looked at Hermione for advice. He wasn't sure where each road would lead.

"Turn left here," said Hermione, who had seemed to calm down after the small conversation in the kitchen with Mrs. Weasley.

Ron turned left and he was looking slightly worried. Hermione noticed and pointed it out.

"It's just - I've never driven in a Muggle world before. I've never gone on a road trip... What do I do?" asked Ron, sound a little panicky.

"Don't worry, Ron! So far you're doing brilliantly, isn't he, Harry?" said Hermione turning to look at Harry in the backseat.

Harry shook his head. He had been thinking about the boxers again, looking outside the window.

"What?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing," she said.

Harry thought he made Hermione angry so he tried to do a little talking. It never seemed to be this hard to say anything to Hermione. It felt like Harry was trying to get a nice conversation going on with Professor Snape about Draco Malfoy.

"So," said Harry, clapping his hands on his knees.

"Yes?" asked Hermione as if she was in a hurry.

"Luckily, we got to borrow Mr. Weasley's car. It would have been difficult to go on a road trip without a car," said Harry giving a nervous laugh. Ron also laughed a little but Hermione still sat there seriously.

Ron understood what Harry was trying and he joined in. "Where do you think we'll end up?"

This got Hermione talking. "That's exactly what I'm looking forward to! I hope we end up somewhere nice. I also hope the weather is going to stay as nice as this."

The weather really was nice. The sun was shining and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. There was also a nice quiet wind, which refreshed your face, when you walked against it. (Of course, Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't feel it because of being in the car.)

Harry was about to say he agreed, until he saw a young man standing beside the road, holding his thumb up.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"Oh, it looks like he's hitch-hiking! C'mon, let's give him a ride," said Hermione excitedly.

Ron gave Harry a quick look, which clearly said 'there's no stopping her'. He drove the car to the side of the road and stopped it. The man by the road ran up to the car, and Ron opened his window.

"Dude's, you like totally saved my life!" said the man. He had blonde hair down to his shoulders, tied up in a ponytail. He had a bright pink, yellow and blue scarf tied around his forehead and he had big teeth and a long nose.

Harry also opened his window and noticed the man wearing a long brown, old-looking jacket, which seemed to have patch's in several places. Under the jacket, Harry noticed the man wearing bright orange trousers, which also looked old. Instead of wearing proper shoe's the man had sandals. Harry couldn't help laughing. The man turned his head and looked at Harry with an offended look.

"Where are you going to?" asked Hermione behind Ron's shoulder.

"I'm like trying to get to the next village from here. It's supposed to be like... Well, I can't remember how far away it is. Could you dude's give me a ride? I'll repay you."

Ron began to smile immediately, when the man mentioned the word 'repay'.

"Sure, come on!" he said.

Hermione gave Ron a smile, and said, "You can come but you don't need to repay us. We're on a road trip, you know."

"Far out!" said the man, who went to fetch his things. Harry got out of the car and helped him put his bag in the trunk. The man sat in the backseat next to Harry, who couldn'thelp notice that the man smelt a little.

Hermione put out her hand as to shake the man's hand, and she asked, "What's your name?"

The man shook Hermione's hand, and said, "Douglas. People call me Doug though. It's like a lot quicker. So that if you're in a hurry you don't have to say, 'Douglas wait!' but you can say, 'Doug wait!' You see... It's so much quicker, dude! It saves a lot of time."

Before Ron had a chance to think, he said, "What kind of a moron are you?"

Hermione hit Ron on the arm, which made him slightly lose control of the car. Doug took no notice of Ron's comment and instead listened to what Hermione wanted to say.

"My name is Hermione. This idiotic driver is called Ron and that quiet guy sitting next to you is Harry."

Doug shook hands with Harry. Harry gave a quick smile and turned his head to the window again.

"Are you dude's like brothers and sister?"

"No!" said the three at the same time.

Doug looked a little startled from the quick answer and Hermione tried to give a smile.

Harry thought he'd give Hermione a break from trying to get Doug feel comfortable.

"So, where are you from?" he asked.

"I'm from home," said Doug, nodding his head. "Yeah, it's like a tough place, home. My mum and dad live there too."

Harry nodded his head trying to look interested. He had difficulties from holding his laughter and he noticed that Hermione and Ron did too.

Doug continued, "I'm trying to get away from home. It can be tough at times. Oh, I said that already! Man, I always do that!" said Doug laughing and 'punching' Harry on the shoulder.

Harry was beginning to think about what he, Hermione and Ron had got themselves into. It seemed that all three of them were thinking about what an idiot Doug was. He was a kind person - just stupid.

After half an hour of silence, Doug began to tell Harry, Ron and Hermione about his life. Hermione was the only one that was paying closely attention. Harry would every now and then give Doug a quick look to make it look like he was listening and Ron would every now and then say, "Yeah." to make Doug think he was listening. This didn't do much good though in the end.

"Then we were caught by like the police! They dragged as to the police station and we were put into like this totally smelly prison," explained Doug, "Then, when we were in prison, one guy that had been there for like several years like asked us, 'Are you guys gay?'"

"Yeah!" said Ron with a high-pitched voice. He thought if he said it like that, it would make him sound even more interested.

Doug looked at Ron for a while. Everyone went silent and Hermione gave Ron an awful look because she noticed Ron hadn't been listening to single word Doug had said. Doug patted Ron's shoulder.

"Dude, sorry... Like all this time, I've been talking about gay people, and saying how awful they are. I didn't like mean to insult you or anything. Hey, dude, peace man!"

Ron looked at Doug quickly trying to drive at the same time and now he was confused.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked, completely puzzled.

Doug seemed to be a little worried. Hermione thought she noticed him being a little frightened too.

"Dude's, you could leave me here."

Ron stopped the car, thinking they'd finally get rid of Doug. Doug got out of the car and this time Hermione helped him get his bags. Harry and Ron noticed Hermione talking to Doug for a while and in the end, she gave him a hug. Harry was a little worried now. Did Hermione really mean it, when she said that she didn'twant to see Harry in his boxers? Harry began to think that Hermione thought of him as a brother. That meant she wouldn't even care if she saw him in his boxers. Once Hermione got back in the car, Ron immediately asked her what that was all about, when Doug patted his shoulder and talked about gay people.

Hermione shook her head at Ron, and said, "You should've listened."

Hermione explained everything to Ron and Harry, who also hadn't been listening at all. Ron's ears went red and he felt as embarrassed as ever. Harry couldn't stop laughing at Ron, thinking what an idiot he had been. Hermione finally began to laugh too. In the end, Ron too smiled.