The Rules of the Game

We never thought we'd get so troubled
We could never think that much
It should never get this bad

-- Matchbox 20, "Shame."

On the Wings of Disaster

Eddy had told Bill that flying was one of the most popular ways of Muggle transportation. However, Bill didn't know how Muggles could enjoy such means when the food served was beyond atrocious. It was like someone had melted together plastic and dragon dung and served it in a pretty wrapper.

Pushing the plate away, and opening the packet of peanuts instead (the bag had said, "WARNING: PACKET MAY CONTAIN NUTS"), Bill looked out of his window. This being the first time he had flown, both Eddy and Rani had allowed him to sit next to the window, while Rani took the aisle, claiming that she liked to be closer to the exit.

"What are these for?" Bill asked Eddy, signalling to his headphones.

"See that little hole in the side of your armrest?" Eddy said. "Just put the plug in - with the little end there - and you can listen to music." He put on his own headphones to demonstrate.

Bill did as he was told, always being one to love music. "Wow," he exclaimed, perhaps too loudly since he wasn't accustomed to headphones. "Little men are singing in here!"

"Bill, shut up!" exclaimed Rani, looking nervous. "You don't have to shout. It's just a radio."

Bill grinned sheepishly, and took off the headphones. Maybe too many Muggle things at once wasn't a good thing.

"I have to go to the toilet," announced Rani after a while. "Eddy, please make sure Weasley doesn't do anything else stupid. And by that I mean don't let him do anything else besides breathing."

"No, wait, I'll go with you," Bill said, getting up. "I could use the toilet."

"You know," said Eddy. "When a man and woman go into a plane's bathroom together, it only means one thing: sex."

"Yeah, somewhere else where we aren't," snapped Rani. "Come on, Weasley."

Bill grinned at Eddy and followed. Must be pretty interesting having sex in the toilet.

The line for waiting consisted of three people, but Rani didn't look happy.

"Peanuts?" Bill asked, offering her the small packet.

Rani raised an eyebrow. "No, thank you."

"Do you come onto airplanes a lot?" he asked. He was trying to make small talk, and wondered why she didn't join him. Surely she couldn't hate him that much.

"I love flying. The food sucks, the lines to the toilet are always too long, but I love flying. It reminds me of my life before, well, this." Rani played with a lock of her hair. "My dad use to tell me that he met my mum in an airport. They bumped into each other and his briefcase flew open, so she had to help him pick everything up. They were taking the same flight, and were sitting practically near each other. I always thought it was romantic."

Bill grinned. "My parents didn't have a romance like that. They met at Hogwarts."

Rani smiled. "It's a lie. They didn't meet in the airport, they met through friends. My dad just liked telling me that story, and my mum enjoys it as much as I did."

"Oh." Bill laughed. "Er, I think it's your turn." He indicated the vacant toilet.

*

Caracas was noisy. It was like being at the Leaky Cauldron on a Saturday evening. When Madam Charlotte stripped for the birthday boy, and Lady Tisha did a belly dance with no clothes on. Sure, such a thing had only happened once, and Bill hadn't been there (really!), but that was what Caracas was like at the moment.

Rani was looking around for their translator, and Eddy looked nervous. He resembled a bunny in Professor Snape's classroom. Although, Bill supposed Snape wasn't fond of bunnies. But that was what Eddy looked like, clutching his briefcase with such paranoia.

Bill, however, liked Venezuela. There were pretty women everywhere. They winked at him, and wore little clothes. Some even stopped to say "hola" to him. And there was also food at every corner. Men and women waved packets some sort of fried bananas in plastic wrappings. He had already purchased various items of food, just by waving a five thousand Bolivar bill in their faces. They smiled and called him "gringo." Which must have been Spanish for good-looking. Obviously.

"Bill, Eddy," Rani called, waving at them. She was standing next to a man and a dog. The man was wearing a black shirt with seven white stars and looked in the need of a shave. The dog was a Jack Russell, and immediately approached Bill, wagging its tail and nipping at his ankles playfully.

"This is José Gregorio," Rani explained. "He'll be our translator. And this is his dog, Zorro."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," José said, shaking both Bill's and Eddy's hands. His accent was thick, causing his English to be a bit drowned out. "Your reservations at the hotel have been set. I'll drive you there. We set off for the Amazonas tomorrow afternoon."

"I'm not too fond of dogs," Eddy said, using his briefcase to swat at the hyper Zorro. "Got bit in the ass by one when I was six. Took a chunk right out, and the Mediwitches could never replace it."

Bill laughed. "I'm sure Zorro wouldn't dream of biting your arse, Eddy. Who knows what you've sat on."

"And there's that British humour we all love," Eddy said dryly.

"Montanez hasn't arrived in Venezuela yet," José informed Rani while they walked to the car. "He made a detour in Aruba, and probably won't arrive until tomorrow night. He doesn't have a clue you're here early."

"How are we going to be managing the tombs?" Rani asked.

"We'll be portkeying to Puerto Ayacucho, which is the only town in the whole state," explained José. "From there, a car will be ready for us, so we can drive as far as the road leads us south. And then it's sailing the river until we reach the tombs."

"Must be a lot of people if there's only one town," commented Bill.

"Si, unless you count the Indians that live there," José said. "We'll be trying to avoid them, though. They don't like us very much."

"The tombs should be easier. We'll set up camp a distance from it. Eddy manages his computer outside, Weasley and I will take the inside," Rani said. "We'll have to work fast to find this Sphere."

"I've broken into worst ombs within a day," said Bill. "It'll be a piece of cake."

Rani scowled. "This isn't just about wand waving, Weasley. We're up against another team. A team with guns, remember?"

Bill waved his hand dismissively. "We'll do it. You'll see."

Eddy smirked. "Especially when you see what Bellamont sent us. Cameras, microphones, the top Muggle technology."

"I'm not familiar with most Muggle things," Bill said, embarrassed.

"No problem, Billy," Eddy said, shrugging, "I don't know what half this stuff is for either."

Rani rolled her eyes. "While we're staying at the hotel, try to keep a low profile. Don't talk to people unless you have to. Don't try to make an attempt to speak Spanish, unless you are positive you know how. Keep an eye out for Montanez's men, and report to me the moment one of you gets into trouble."

"You're insulting me, Rani," Eddy said, puffing out his chest. "I know how to speak Spanish a bit. I did live in Florida after all."

"Yeah, such as?" Rani asked.

"I can say bathroom," said Eddy, proudly. "El toileto, right, José?"

"Si, gringo," said José, laughing.

Bill wondered why he called Eddy good-looking. Maybe José was gay.

*

Bill had never really been in a hotel, much less in a Muggle one. But he was quite impressed to say that Muggles didn't do a bad job, at least not in Caracas.

José had brought them to what he said was the number one hotel in Caracas, if not the entire country: El Tamanaco. It was huge, and the people were friendly. And there was this dreamy-looking swimming pool in which Eddy had taken over, winking at some girls from New York who were spending the week. José had gone to the bar, promising to be back before nightfall. Zorro had accompanied him.

Bill had wanted to hit the restaurant, try some of those Venezuelan delicacies. Of course, Rani had other ideas.

"You boys will sleep in the living room," she announced, lugging her suitcase into the bedroom. "The sofa can be turned into a bed, and there's plenty of floor."

"Wait a minute," Bill objected, following her. "You can't make us sleep there. We don't fit. Eddy and José can take the sofa, you and I will share this room."

Rani raised an eyebrow. "There's ne bed in here, Weasley, and I will not be sharing it with you."

"It's a big bed!" exclaimed Bill. "The both of us and Eddy could fit in there." Not that, of course, he'd wanted to be sharing a bed with Eddy.

Rani hmphed, but didn't say anything.

"It's just one night," added Bill. "And I'll keep to my side."

"Fine," said Rani. "But if so much as one of your red hairs cross onto my side, you'll be sleeping in the bathtub."

Bill shrugged. "I'll pretend I'm sleeping under the Angel Falls. I'll make Eddy play the ukulele. Maybe Zorro could howl and pretend to be a wolf."

"I don't think there are wolves near the Angel Falls," Rani said.

"There aren't supposed to be people playing the ukulele either."

Rani smiled and shook her head. "You're something special, Weasley."

"I like to think so," Bill said. "Accompany me to eat something. José says Venezuelan cooking is really good."

"You just ate on the plane!" Rani exclaimed. "And then all that junk food in the airport."

"That stuff they served us on the plane was not food," Bill said. "I'm well acquainted with food, and that wasn't it."

Rani looked incredulous. "Well, the restaurant by the pool serves pizzas. We can probably have Eddy join us."

Bill rubbed his hand together. A predatory look gleamed in his eyes. "Excellent!"

*

Rani never had brothers of any kind, nor did she tend to associate a lot with men. So it came as a big surprise to her to see that both Bill and Eddy ate a lot. The amount of what they ate together was probably enough to feed a small African country.

"Waiter," called Bill, waving his bread roll in the air, "another hamburguesa please." He signalled towards the last bit of his hamburger to emphasize his point.

"Si, señor, ¿algo más?" the waiter asked.

"Pizza," was all Eddy mumbled. He was drinking his fifth glass of coke.

"Don't you two think you have eaten enough?" Rani asked. She had consumed only two slices of Eddy's pizza and a fruit punch. Bellamont wasn't going to be happy when she saw the bill.

"Eat lots, live merry," said Bill. "That's what my family believes in."

"I'll drink to that," Eddy agreed, clinking his glass with Bill's.

"You should try the arepas, Rani," Bill said, passing her the basket of arepas. "They're really good."

Rani scrunched up her nose. "No, thank you. I think I'll save them for supper."

José approached them at that moment, and Zorro dove under the table, nipping at Bill's feet playfully.

"If you'd like to get a bit of feel for Venezuela, señores," he said, "tonight there's going to be a drum band playing in the Plaza Bolívar. It's always nice to go and dance. I'll be happy to take you."

"I'm not much of a dancer, but it sounds like fun," Eddy said.

"Dancing to drums is easy," Bill said, smiling. "Piece of pie. Anyone want desert?"

*

Bill was wrong. Drum dancing was not easy. He had thought it was just bopping up and down to the strokes of the drum, but it was not a piece of pie. The beat was fast and frequent. José had told him the dancing was all in the hips. He had to, and he was appalled to say this, shake his hips. He calmly told José that British men did not shake their hips.

Rani had explained him it was like belly dancing. All in the hips, a shimmer here and there, and lots of foot work. Drum dancing was a tradition in Venezuela since it had been discovered by Columbus and Africans had been brought over as slaves.

Of course, Rani managed to drum dance wonderfully. Bill couldn't.

Eddy was having a blast. He couldn't dance either, but that didn't seem to stop him. He had made friends with a Venezuelan girl, and she was teaching him to dance. Every so often she'd laugh.

"Come on, Weasley, dance with me," begged Rani. She was shaking her hips in time to the music.

"My hips don't shake," he said over the music.

"Pfft," muttered Rani, and she grabbed his hands. "Look, it's easy. Just move your hips from side to side with the music." Bill tried, and felt foolish. Rani smirked. "Left, right, left, right. Hear the bum, bum, bum? That's what you follow."

Bill tried again. It wasn't too hard. Left, right, left, right. Whoops, he stepped on Rani. She didn't seem to mind, though. Left, right, left, right. The music was getting faster.

"Good job, Weasley. Now the fast the bum, bum-ing, the faster you change sides." She demonstrated with a particular difficult piece. Her hips looked like a blur in time with the music.

"Your turn," she announced.

Bill tried, and he did pretty well. Ron would have laughed until he had a coughing fit if he could see his older brother like this.

"Look at Billy go," Eddy said, joining him. "Sweet things these Venezuelan girls. Always helpful."

Rani smiled at both of them, waggled her hips some more, and went to dance with José.

It was then that a blonde woman approached Bill, her hips also moving towards the beat.

"Hola," she said, smiling at him. Eddy nudged him in the ribs and winked.

"No hablo español," Bill said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

The woman laughed. "Then I'm happy I took those English courses," she said, laying a hand on his arm.

Bill grinned. "I'm Bill Weasley," he said, with a small bow. He pushed Eddy slightly, who took the hint and sulked away.

"Susanna Reyes," she introduced. Her hand hadn't left him arm yet. "I'm a professor at the University of Andres Bello."

"I haven't visited that yet," Bill said, wondering if he could talk Rani into a short stop. Probably not. Although she'd probably be impressed he wanted to see a university.

"I'd be glad to show you around," Susanna said. She smiled flirtatiously.

"Bill!" Bill cringed as he heard Rani call him. She was stalking towards them, and she did not look happy.

"Bill, we're leaving," she announced. She glared at Susanna.

Susanna gave Bill a sad puppy look, but didn't say anything.

"Uh," muttered Bill, wondering since when Rani had him on a very tight leash. "Rani, this is Susanna. She's a professor at one of the universities here."

"That's lovely," Rani said coldly. "Let's go Weasley." She was tugging on his arm.

"Maybe you'll stop by the university some time," Susanna said.

"I'd like that," yelled Bill, as Rani dragged him away. Once Rani had him in the car, he turned towards her, "I was having fun, you know?"

"Well, I'm glad you're having fun while we're suppose to be looking for an object that might destroy man-kind as it is," Rani snapped. Eddy was trying not to snicker, and even José, who was concentrating on driving, was smiling.

"There you go sounding like a bloody book again," Bill said. "Read too much, Zahra?"

Rani glowered. "Do I have to leave a trail of women towards the tombs just to get you there, Weasley?"

"Nah," said Bill dismissively. "Just strip down to your knickers, and I'll follow."

Smack! Rani's hand slapped his face, and hard. Bill touched it, and flinched. "You bloody twit," he snapped.

Rani just glared, and crossed her hands across her chest.

"Now children," said Eddy, "don't make me put you in separate corners and think about what you've done. We're going to be together for a long time, no need to have fist fights."

Bill and Rani just glared. They were sharing a bed tonight, and neither was happy about it.