Chapter 3

The three of them made their way down Essex Street in Salem, each of them taking in the different sights along the street. Hermione's eyes, of course, were planted on the many historic places along the way while Ron and Harry were more interested in the shops and, in Ron's case, the restaurants.

“We should keep our eyes open for our inn. It's located right here on Essex Street,” Harry said, looking at the numbers on the signposts.

“What' s the number, Harry?” Hermione asked, looking around at the numbers as well.

“Erm, it was 331, I believe.” He consulted a piece of paper that he held in his hand. “Yeah, 331.”

“There it is,” Hermione said once they had gone down the road a bit more. “Harry, it looks beautiful!”

His cheeks turning crimson, Harry smiled. “Yeah, well, I wanted us to stay someplace nice. Come on, Ron.” Harry looked around for Ron, not seeing him nearby. “Where'd Ron go?”

Hermione turned around and looked, shielding her eyes from the sunlight. “There he is,” she said, pointing at a tall figure in the distance who had stopped outside a window. “Think he found a sweet shop?”

“Probably.” Harry grinned at her as they walked together back to where Ron stood. But to their surprise, he hadn't stopped at a sweet shop or a restaurant. He had stopped to read a sign on a window.

“Shame we didn't come next month. They have a lot of wicked stuff for Halloween, looks like.”

Harry and Hermione read the sign as well. It did look as if Salem put a lot of emphasis on Halloween.

“Maybe next year we can come back for Halloween,” Hermione said with a smile. “It does look like a lot of fun. Now come on, we found the place where we are staying.”

Fifteen minutes later they were back at the Salem Inn and checking into their two rooms.

“You don't have to worry about hiding your wands and magic here,” the woman at the desk told them. “We are a magical establishment, and we cater only to magical community. In fact, the Muggles can't even see our building.” She took the money from Harry and had them sign the registration book. “Your rooms are on the second floor, side by side and connected by two doors. If you go out of our rear door, you will find yourself on Enchanter's Way. There you will find any potion ingredients or other items that you will need from the magical community. There is also a branch of Gringotts where you can change your wizarding money to Muggle American money if you want to."

“Thank you,” Hermione said with a smile.

“Here are the spells which are specific to your rooms,” she said, handing them each a piece of paper. “They constantly change with guests, so the guests who stayed there before you cannot enter your rooms. And if you need anything, there are sashes in your room that you can pull to summon the house-elves. If you take that elevator over there, it will take you to your floor.”

“Thank you again. We'll go get settled in now,” Harry said before exchanging a look with Ron.

Before Hermione could comment on the house-elves, Harry and Ron hurried her to the elevator and pushed the button for the second floor.

“You know, you didn't have to do that,” Hermione said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest.

“What?” Ron said innocently, giving Harry a sidelong glance. “What did we do?”

“You bustled me off before I could say anything about the slavery of house-elves, that's what. Aren't you going to ever let me live that down? It was four years ago, you know.”

“Tell you what, Hermione. We'll let you live that down when you stop bugging us so much about playing Wizard's Chess instead of studying,” Harry teased.

“That's not fair. Okay, I won't say another word about it on our vacation. But when we get to Hogwarts, all bets are off.” Hermione tried to look stern, but joined Ron and Harry who had burst out laughing.

By the time the doors opened on their floor, the three of them had tears rolling down their cheeks from laughing so hard. They were laughing so hard that they had to wait to calm down because they weren't able to cast the spells to get into their rooms.

“You know,” Hermione said, catching her breath, “that felt really good. I can't remember the last time the three of us laughed like that.”

With that sober thought, the laughter quickly died down in the hall, and Hermione reached into her beaded purse to get the rucksacks. Once everyone had their luggage, she cast the entrance spell to her room and unpacked her own bag. She didn't know how her parents had done it when they were traveling, but she was glad that she didn't need to carry a heavy suitcase around.

Several minutes later, a knock came from the adjoining room when she was putting the finishing touches on her hair and makeup. She knew that the feelings that she had for Ron had been buried during the Horcrux hunt and the aftermath, but they were beginning to resurface and she wanted to look her best.

When she opened the door, she was greeted by the smiling, eager faces of her friends..

“So, are we headed for Enchanter's Way?” she asked, fully knowing the answer.

“'Course we are,” Ron said with a grin. “Maybe they carry some great Quidditch stuff there, or maybe they have ice cream...”

“Or maybe they have a good bookstore,” Hermione retorted. Spying something on the table in her room, she read the pamphlet, which was titled 'A Visitor's Guide to Enchanter's Way'. “Well, here is a pamphlet, and it lists all of the stores on it.”

“Enchanter's Way, here we come!”