" Hermione," he said, pulling it along behind him, " Kindly remove yourself from my trunk."

" But Harry, I’m so TIRED!" she whined.

" Stop griping!" their pal Ron Weasley said, " At least your sister didn’t barf all over you on the way here."

" Uhhh," Ginny Weasley moaned, following along behind them.

" Don’t pick on her Ron, you brat!" Hermione snapped, " It’s not her fault she has motion sickness!"

" Whatever," Ron muttered as they joined the other campers at the spot where they would pick up their bunk assignments. " I hope I don’t smell too bad for my first day at camp."

" Hey, Harry!" called a female voice. Harry turned to see his former girlfriend Cho Chang, and her friends Lavender Brown and Pavartti heading his way. They were all grinning and wearing too much makeup.

" Hello," Harry said. Hermione got up off his trunk and stood behind him. Harry felt bad for her, but he had to be nice to Cho and her friends. They had never been mean to him—he really didn’t understand why Hermione didn’t like them.

" Maybe we’ll get in neighboring cabins, Harry-boy." Cho drolled. " Wouldn’t that be cool?"

" Ac-TU-ally," Hermione said, not looking at her, " The boys and girls cabins are on different sides of the lake." Ron snickered.

" Sorry, Hermione—I guess we didn’t all research the camp before we came." Pavartti said snidely, and Lavender laughed. Harry knew they were being mean, but they had a point. Hermione was being a know-it-all.

" Attention, boys and girls!" came a voice over a loudspeaker, before a fight could break out between the girls. " Please make your way to your cabins and put your things away—orientation in ten minutes at the lake!"

" Oh, boy!" Ron said, " I hope we got in the same bunk, Harry." They walked over to where the assignments were posted, and fought their way through the crowd to check it out.

" Hmm…" Harry said, " I’m in cabin 1."

" Aw," Ron said, " I got in 3."

" Well I just hope I’m not in Cho’s." Hermione muttered. " I’m in cabin 1 on the girls side."

" Hey," a voice suddenly said, " That’s my cabin!"

They turned to see a small girl with a bob of bouncy brown hair grinning at them.

" The name’s Yuffie!" she said, throwing out her hand. " Yuffie Kirisagi. I’m from Wutai. Where are you guys from?"

" London," Hermione said, shaking her new cabinmate’s hand. " I’m Hermione, and this is Ron and Harry."

" Hey, cutie," Yuffie said, winking at Harry. He blushed. Two boys jogged over to them, one blond and gruff looking, and the other tall, thin, and pale with long, dark hair.

" Hey, Yuff-puff!" shouted the blond boy, snapping Yuffie’s brastrap. Yuffie yelped, and grabbed him in a headlock. The taller boy just stared.

" This idiot is Cid," Yuffie said, tightening her death-grip on Cid’s neck as he struggled, laughing. " And this here’s Vinnie."

" Vincent," the tall boy said, looking annoyed.

" We met on the bus ride over," Yuffie explained, shoving Cid away. " Cid’s from Rocket Town, and Vinnie’s from Nielbihiem."

" VINCENT," Vincent said again, darkly.

" Whatever!" Yuffie said with a grin. " C’mon, Hermione, let’s go check out our bunk!" Hermione waved goodbye to Harry and Ron, and trotted off with Yuffie, talking excitedly about all the cute boys.

" So," Cid said, " What bunks are you English blokes in?"

" Number One," Harry said, " You?"

" I’m in three," Cid said.

" Hey…" Ron said, " Me too." He didn’t sound too excited about this.

" Alright!" Cid smacked him hard on the back. " Let’s go before the other dweebs take the good beds!" Ron cast a fearful look back at Harry as Cid dragged him off. Harry laughed.

" What cabin did you get, Vinnie—er, VINCENT?" he asked. Vincent gave him a strange sideways glance.

" Four." He said, " Like it matters. I’m just here to improve my casting skills. Social interaction is useless." With that he walked off, throwing his black ponytail over his shoulder.

Harry headed for his cabin to see who he’d be living with for the next 6 weeks. Cabin number one was near the lake, across from the girl’s camp and shaded by many tall pine trees. A boy with spiky blond hair was sitting on the front steps, playing with a huge sword.

" Hey!" Harry called, " Are you in this cabin?"

" Uh-huh," he said, " I’m Cloud. Who are you?"

" Harry Potter," he said, sitting down next to Cloud and throwing his bag onto the porch, " I’m in this bunk, too."

" Cool," Cloud said, " What materia do you have?"

" Huh?"

" Materia," Cloud looked at him like he was an idiot. " I heard someone at camp has a comet materia, and I want to fight them for it." He pulled open a slot on his sword. " I’ve got fire, all, ice and bolt. My girlfriend has all my cures."

" Okay…." Harry wasn’t sure how to respond to this.

" Don’t you even have a sword?" Cloud asked in disbelief.

" Yeah," Harry pulled Godric Gryffindor’s sword out of his duffel bag, " I’ve got this—I’m clumsy with it, though."

" Man, oh man!" Cloud said, upon examining Harry’s sword. " There aren’t even any materia slots! How do you LIVE?"

Before Harry had a chance to reply, another boy walked up to the cabin. He was tall with floppy blond hair, and pointy ears.

" Hello," he said, with a friendly grin. He had a medium size sword strapped to his back. Harry was starting to wish he’d taken some swordsmanship classes before coming to camp.

" I’m Link," the pointy-eared boy said, " You guys in my bunk?"

" Sure are," Cloud said, standing. " Haven’t YOU got any materia, either?!"

Link laughed, " No," he said, " But I’ve got a lot of weapons. Want to look at them?"

" Yeah!" Cloud said. Harry wondered why these other boys were so into fighting… he knew they came from more magical parts of the world than London, but still.

" Pikachu!" they heard someone shouting, and looked up so see a little yellow thing running at them. It sort of looked like a demon to Harry. Link raised his sword at the thing.

" Pica, pica!" it screamed, and Link prepared to strike.

" WAIT!" came a scream, and they saw a boy with wild black hair and a dorky ball cap running down the path. " Don’t! He won’t hurt you!" The boy ran onto the porch and snatched the little animal up in his hands. There was a large bird on his shoulder, and an orange, dinosaur-like lizard was following him.

" Oh, NO!" Cloud said, slapping his forehead, " Don’t tell me we got stuck with a POKEMON trainer in our cabin!"

Cloud seemed to know a lot about everything, but Harry was totally lost. The boy looked like some sort of animal charmer to him—he hugged the yellow demon-thing to him and looked embarrassed.

" Are you in our cabin?" Harry asked. The boy nodded.

" Yeah," he said, " Cabin one… sorry, Pikachu got a little excited."

" Pika?" the yellow thing looked wearily at the other three boys.

" What is that beast?" Link asked curiously, finally lowering his sword.

" He’s a Pikachu!" The boy said, " And my name is Ash. These are my pocket monsters—they fight battles for me."

More talk about fighting! Harry had a feeling that he better toughen up if he wanted to live through the summer.

" I’d like to see that thing face off against this baby!" Cloud said, giving the air a few slashes with his sword.

" Or my fire staff!" Link said with a laugh, " They’re cute, though. My friend Saria would like them—she loves animals. Zelda, too."

" Yeah, well," Ash said, looking a little downhearted, " When Charmander evolves he’ll be a huge, fire-breathing dragon… And Pikachu can give off electric shocks!"

" Here’s hoping nobody throws him in the lake!" Cloud said, slapping Ash on the back. Harry and Link laughed.

" C’mon," Harry said, " Let’s go inside and claim bunks!" The other boys agreed that this was a good idea, and Harry followed them in, wishing he had even and electrocuting yellow demon to defend himself with.

Hermione and Yuffie found their cabin on the girls’ side of the lake—it was near the mess hall in a sunny spot by the water. Hermione thought it looked rather picturesque. They walked inside to find a small girl in a long, pink dress nervously braiding her long, brown hair.

" Hey," she said, standing up. She was wearing big, brown boots and a darker pink sweater over her dress. " I’m Aeris Gainesbourgh—are you guys staying here, too?"

" Sure are," Yuffie said, throwing her stuff on a bed, " Whew, I’m beat! I’m Yuffie by the way. Of Wutai."

" Oh, Wutai!" Aeris said, " I’ve been there on vacation. Lovely mountains!"
" Yeah," Yuffie said, yawning.

" I’m from Midgar," Aeris said, " My mom’s got a place in Sector 7."

" Whoa, the city?" Yuffie asked, " You’re brave."

Aeris laughed, " It’s not so bad… I’ve got my bodyguard!"

" You’re what?" Hermione asked.

She laughed again, " Cloud, of course!" she said. " He’s my boyfriend. But we met when I hired him as my bodyguard."

" Bodyguard against what?" Hermione asked curiously, sitting on her bed.

" Oh, just the Turks," Aeris said, " They’re this gang from my hometown; always trying to kidnap me for some reason."

" Um, okay." Hermione was confused. The door to their cabin opened and a tall girl with funky orange hair walked in. Behind her came a duck and a turtle.

" Hey, you guys!" she said, her voice annoyingly chipper. " Are you my roomies?"

" Yeah…" Yuffie said, " Are pets allowed in the bunks?" she asked, eyeing the animals that followed the orange-haired girl. She laughed.

" Oh, these?" she said, " These are my Pokemon. They’re used for fighting. Haven’t you got any to defend yourself with?" she asked.

" Well," Aeris said, " No….but I’ve got my staff, and I can do most healing spells and some wind magic. And Yuffie’s a ninja."

They looked at Hermione.

" Heh," Hermione said, " I…um, can do this," Hermione said, producing a little purple flame in her hand.

" Oh, boy!" the orange girl said, " My water Pokemon could squelch that in an instant." She put down her bag and showed them a starfish and some other odd creatures. " By the way," she said, " My name’s Misty."

" Don’t worry old girl," Yuffie said, clamping a hand on Hermione’s shoulder, " By the time we’re through with you, you could take on even Sephiroth!"

" Oh, good," Hermione said, " I was hoping to work on my defensive magic this summer."

Misty took out some gum and offered it around to everyone. " Who’s Sephiroth?" she asked.

Yuffie and Aeris looked at her in shock.

" You’ve never heard of the great Sephiroth?" Aeris asked in disbelief. " He’s an incredible warrior. The only one who can defeat my Cloud!"
" It’s true," Yuffie said, " But he’s a real jerk."

Hermione hoped, for Harry’s sake, that he hadn’t gotten into a cabin with this Sephiroth person. He was a skilled defensive magician, but against these other people who were armed and loaded, she had no idea how he’d fare off.

That night at the mess hall, Harry searched the place for Hermione and Ron. He was with Ash—Link and Cloud had gone off to sit with their friends. Ash had left his Pokemon back at the cabin, and he was looking awfully nervous without them.

" There she is," Harry said, spotting Hermione talking to an orange haired girl and someone else on the other side of the cafeteria.

" Hey, that’s Misty!" Ash exclaimed in his weird scratchy voice. " And Brock! Those are my friends from home."

" Oh, cool," Harry said, " Let’s go." They walked over and had a seat at Hermione’s table.

" Harry!" Hermione said, beaming, " I was wondering where you were. Ron’s not with you?"

" No," Harry said, starting in on his hamburger, " Haven’t seen him since this morning."
" Well this is my bunk mate, Misty, and her friend Brock." Hermione introduced them with a small smile.

" Hello," Brock said, " We should battle sometime! Hermione was telling us your pretty good with a wand." He grinned condescendingly, " I’d like to see what kind of damage it could do to my rock Pokemon!"

Harry looked at Hermione and she blushed.

" Hermione was telling us that you saved the world!" Misty said, " What was that like?"

Hermione blushed again. Suddenly someone grabbed her shoulder, and she turned to see Aeris.

" Hermione!" Aeris said, " Come over to my table, there are some cute boys I want you to meet!"

" O-Okay," Hermione said, casting a quick glance at Harry and getting up, leaving him with the Pokemon trainers. Aeris led her over to a table filled with people. Hermione recognized Cid and Vincent, from that morning.

" Hey, you guys," Aeris said, " This is my pal Hermione. She’s bunking with me and Yuff-Puff."

" Don’t call me that!" Yuffie screamed, and Cid cracked up. Aeris introduced Hermione to her boyfriend Cloud, who was probably the only one Hermione thought to be cute. Of course he was taken, and very much so, with Aeris in his lap every five seconds. Vincent was kind of good-looking, but definitely strange. And Cid seemed to have a thing for Yuffie.

Then another boy sat down near the end of the table. He was Hermione’s age, about 14, and he had pretty light green eyes and sandy blonde hair. He looked kind of lonely, so Hermione got up and went to sit next to him.

" Hello," she said, " I’m Hermione Granger—you want someone to eat with?"

" I guess so," he said, looking up. Hermione couldn’t help noticing that he was very cute.

" Everyone else brought their friends to camp with them—but all of my friends are much too old to come here."

" How old are they?" Hermione asked, nibbling on her pizza.

" The average age is about 45," the boy said, " I’m a Jedi knight in training, see, so mostly I’m just around other Jedi’s. There aren’t too many that are my age."

" Oh, you poor thing!" Hermione said, " We learned a little about Jedi’s in school. The Force that you use has always fascinated me."

The boy smiled, " I could teach you a few tricks," he said, " My name’s Anakin by the way. Anakin Skywalker."

" Everyone here seems to be so concentrated on fighting, and battle," Hermione said, sipping her Pepsi, " Are you into that?"

Anakin shrugged, " Partly," he said, " The Jedi’s are the main defenders of our galaxy. We have to know these battle procedures… but we’re not encouraged to use them for trivial things. My master would look down on me if I fought with these other kids at camp."

" Your master? You’re still an apprentice?"

Anakin laughed, " Yeah," he said, " You apprentice until you’re about twenty."

" Man," Hermione said, " We’re considered adult witches at eighteen."

" Well, I guess you aren’t into fighting too much, either, huh?" he asked her. Hermione shook her head.

" Nope," she said, " We should hang out. I can’t find my friend Ron… but you’d like him, too. He’s very passive." They both laughed.

" I never said I was passive…" Anakin said, giving her a look with his cool green eyes.

" HELP!" They heard a sudden scream from outside. Anakin and Hermione jumped up. Most of the students in the cafeteria ran to the door to see what was going on out there.

Harry pushed his way to the front of the crowd to get a glimpse of the action. He saw Ron, surrounded by four or five boys, the biggest of them holding an enormous matsume sword and chuckling quietly. The boy with the sword looked older, he had long silver hair and cold blue eyes.

" Sephiroth!" Harry heard someone shout, and turned to see Cloud, eyes blazing, hand on the handle of his own huge sword. " Let him go!"

Sephiroth laughed, " Stay out of this, Strife," he said, " This boy had the nerve to look the great and powerful Sephiroth in the eye on the way to the commons. He shall pay!" The other boys standing around laughed. They were all wearing black, and they all had sunglasses on though it was dark.

" Pick on someone your own size!" Cloud shouted, raising his sword.

" Stop it boys!" someone screamed, and Harry saw a big-busted girl with long brown hair push her way toward Cloud. " C’mon, Cloud." She said, pulling on his arm, " Just cut it out. We’ll tell one of the counselors, okay?"
" Back off, Tifa," Cloud said, shaking the girl off. Suddenly Harry had an idea. Sephiroth had his back to him—maybe he could use his disarming spell. He grabbed his wand and screamed the magic word.

Sure enough, Sephiroth’s huge sword went flying from his hands as he was knocked down. Sephiroth gasped in surprise, and then jumped up and whirled around.

" WHO DID THAT?" He screamed, looking through the crowd of people who were watching. Harry bravely raised his wand.

" I did," he said, " Ron is my friend and you need to leave him alone. He didn’t do anything to you."

" Ha ha!" one of the boys in sunglasses laughed, " Man, you don’t know who you’re messing with, kid!"

" Shut up, Rude!" Sephiroth screamed at the boy who spoke. " Reno, Tseng—get his arms!"

Before Harry could move, the other two boys in sunglasses had grabbed his arms.

" Harry! Stop it!" Hermione screamed, but a blond-haired girl in sunglasses grabbed her before she could intervene.

" Good work, Elena!" Sephiroth commended her. " Now," he said, looking at Harry, " That’s one ugly scar you’ve got there. Shall I cut you another one?"

Suddenly Harry heard a humming sound coming from behind Sephiroth. The taller boy turned, to see another guy standing behind him, looking calm and holding a laser sword at his throat.

" Rude!" Sephiroth screamed, " How could you let his happen?" Rude shrugged.

" I was eating my hot dog!" he said, " You made us miss dinner."

" Yeah," Reno said, letting go of one of Harry’s arms, " I’m hungry! This is unfair labor!"

Harry yanked his arm out of the other boy’s hand and retreated into the crowd.

" Reno, you idiot," Tseng barked, " He’s getting away!"

" I don’t care!" Reno cried, " I want a hamburger!"

After the little scene at the cafeteria, Hermione let Anakin walk her back to her cabin. It was pitch dark out, and she wasn’t about to brave the route back to the bunk alone.

" Thanks so much for helping my friend," Hermione said, nervously picking at her nails. The light purple nail polish that Aeris had put on earlier was chipping off.

" I would have helped him even if he wasn’t your friend," Anakin said, " But, you’re welcome."

They got back to the cabin, where Aeris was making out with Cloud on the porch. Hermione cleared her throat.

" Oh, hey Hermione!" Aeris cried, not embarrassed at all. " Yuff Puff was worried about you, after that little scene at the cafeteria. I can’t believe Elena grabbed you like that! She’s such a jerk. She’ll do anything the other Turks say."
" Are the Turks Sephiroth’s gang or something?" Hermione asked, worried about Harry. If they had it in for him, it would be one long summer for her poor friend.

" Yeah," Cloud said, " They’re mostly bumbling idiots, and usually they wreck things for him more than helping, but Tseng is pretty cunning," he explained, " Watch out for him. Reno and Rude are total morons, and Elena is kind of weak."

" Well there’s the big hero!" Aeris said, talking to Anakin, " You were awesome," she added with a grin. Cloud looked jealous.

" Yeah," he mumbled, " You really caught him by surprise."

" I just wanted to help," Anakin said quietly. Hermione liked that he was humble. She liked everything about this teenage Jedi. They said goodbye, and then Cloud and Anakin headed back to the boy’s cabins together.

Hermione was going inside with Aeris when she heard a voice calling to her from the bushes.

" Psst, Hermione!" she looked down, and saw Harry climbing up onto the porch, " Hey," he whispered.

" Harry!" she said, her heart beating fast, " What…are you doing here?"

" Hiding out from Sephiroth!" Harry hissed, " The word around camp is that he’s got a death wish for me."

" I’m not surprised," Hermione said, " But you did the right thing, standing up for Ron."

" Yeah," Harry muttered, " And now my life is over!"

" Oh, Harry," Hermione said, giving him a reassuring pat on the head, " Buck up. You’ll learn some new stuff this summer—you’ll be able to kick his butt soon enough!"

Harry smiled, " You think so?" he asked. Hermione nodded.

" Hurray up and kiss her already!" they heard someone shout, and turned to see Yuffie pressing her face up against the screen. She ducked down as they looked at her, and giggled inside with Aeris and Misty. Hermione’s cheeks blushed a bright crimson. She could kill them!

" Ha," Harry said nervously, " Do they think I’m your boyfriend or something?"
" No!" Hermione said quickly, " They’re just messing around." Harry nodded.

" Well I’ll see ya," he said, " I gotta get back. Maybe Cloud can show me how to use some materia or something." Hermione nodded. They looked at each other for a long moment, then heard the girls snickering inside. Harry gave her a quick grin and walked off.

Hermione walked inside, fending off teasing from the girls. What was going on with her and Harry? And what about this Anakin kid? What about Sephiroth trying to kill her two best friends!? It was sure going to be an interesting summer.

" Hey guys," Yuffie said with a wicked grin, " Cid says we can play truth or dare with him and the boys tomorrow night at the lake," she smiled, " Sounds like fun, huh?"

" You just want an excuse to lock lips with him!" Aeris said, giggling.

" Na-uh!" Yuffie screamed, throwing a pillow at her. Aeris ducked, and the pillow hit Misty, knocking her side ponytail out of place. This started a huge pillow war that raged on until dawn. Hermione knew she needed her sleep, but she couldn’t help staying up. She was so excited! Anything could happen in a summer like this.

To be continued!