Chapter Two: An Eventful Trip
"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Potter and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, we have been expecting you. Your things are already in your rooms. If you will follow me I will show you the way," she said.
"Um, do you mind telling us where we are?" asked Hermione.
"Do you not know?? Why deary you are in one of the most beautiful places in the world."
"And where might that be?" asked Ginny.
"You are in Honolulu, Hawaii!"
"What?!" said both Hermione and Ginny at the same time.
"Wow! How in the world did you manage to keep this a secret, Ron?" asked Hermione.
"It was really quite difficult. I almost told you every single day this past week and you never once picked up on it."
"Well, I have been preoccupied with planning our wedding after all."
"Oh no, there they go again," said Harry.
"Let's go on up to our room and let them be," said Ginny.
The witch kindly showed Harry and Ginny up to their room while Ron and Hermione continued to argue. The room was decorated in red and gold, which they had to snicker about. Oil lamps hung down from the ceiling, shining just enough light down on them. As they walked into the suite, they saw a beautiful couch placed directly in front of an ornate cabinet. They thought to themselves that a TV wouldn't get much use while they were here. Ginny went and looked out the window. It was so beautiful outside. There was a cobblestone walkway surrounded by palm trees that led down to the sandy beach. The water was glistening in the rising sun. It looked so peaceful and Ginny couldn't wait to go for a walk with Harry along the beach. At that moment Harry snuck up behind her and then wrapped his arms around her waist.
Ron and Hermione had finally settled the argument and were back to being lovey dovey. The witch showed them up to their room. It looked just the same as Harry and Ginny's. The window overlooked almost the exact same spot and Hermione found it absolutely breathtaking. She was still having trouble believing this day had really happened. It had been just like a fairy tale and she felt like a princess for only the second time in her life. She knew that this time would be different. Even if she got mad at Ron again, she knew that it was just silly things and they would make up in more ways than one now. All that mattered now was how much they loved each other.
Ron walked up to Hermione and took her hand. He could feel the warmth from her hand starting to warm him up too. He looked into her eyes and she smiled. Trying hard not to laugh, she began to move closer to Ron. She wrapped her arms around his neck and began to kiss him passionately. Their eyes met again and they knew that they were thinking the same thing. Even though it was only a few minutes after 9 am, they knew what each other wanted and couldn't wait any longer.
Harry and Ginny stood looking out the window for a few minutes. Everything was perfect, they couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. The thought that they weren't technically married yet in Hawaii since it was morning again was very amusing to both of them. Harry wished that they could stay like this forever. Life was finally perfect, Voldemort was gone for good, he was head of the Auror Department, he was now married to the woman of his dreams, and they would soon be starting a family together. He wanted his children to have the things he never had and with Ginny as his wife, he knew they would.
"Let's go for a walk on the beach," said Ginny.
"Sound like fun," replied Harry with a smile.
As they walked along the warm, sandy beach they talked about anything and everything they could think of. They decided they wanted three kids, it was a good number. They wouldn't have to keep track of as many as Molly and Arthur had to, but they wouldn't have an only child like Harry was. They would move into Grimmauld Place since it was still Harry's, even though he hadn't been back in there since before the Battle of Hogwarts. Ginny said that she would redecorate it and make it look welcoming to friends and family. There would be no house elves working there, that would make Hermione happy. In a year or two they would have a nicer house built on a big piece of land so that their future kids could play in the yard and practice Quidditch just like Ginny and her brothers had done growing up.
By the time they returned to the hotel room, it was about 5 o'clock and they decided to go eat in the hotel's restaurant. Everything was decorated for Halloween, with jack o' lanterns on every table. The table clothes were orange, black, and brown and there were brooms flying all around the ceiling. Harry and Ginny loved the room and when the waiter came to take their order, they decided to each order something and then share it. But, they both ordered butterbeers to drink. After supper they decided to walk around and explore the hotel some more. They saw rooms with all different themes for different groups of witches and wizards to come and have meetings in safety. They found the gym and pool area and thought about jumping right on in. They decided not to though, when they saw two young children come running into the pool area. They could wait and in the meantime, there was something else they had waited awhile for and so they returned to their suite.
Hermione laid her head on Ron's chest and smiled. She still felt like this was all just a dream. Ron looked down at his wife and smiled at her. Yesterday had been the best day of his life and he had gotten to share it with his best mate. After they finally got out of bed and changed, they went down to the breakfast buffet where Harry and Ginny were waiting for them.
"Hi Harry, hi Ginny, how are you both this morning?" asked Hermione.
"We're good, how are you?" replied Ginny. "Have you had time to explore anything yet?"
"Well, not exactly, we have been kind of busy, if you know what I mean," said Hermione trying not to laugh too hard.
Ginny laughed, "Well, if you ever do get out of your room again besides to eat, you simply must go down to the beach. It is absolutely beautiful."
"We will probably do that today, but there is no rush, after all we are here for two whole weeks."
"That's true, I know Harry has some things planned for us to do, but once again he is keeping it all a secret."
"What is with him and Ron with all these secrets?"
"I don't know, but I wish they would stop. I hate surprises and Harry should know this by now."
"Excuse me, I am looking for a Mr. Potter," said a strange man as he approached the table.
"I am Mr. Potter. How may I help you?"
"I was wondering if I could interview you and your lovely wife for our local newspaper."
"I am sorry, but I will have to say no. Maybe the next time we come. My wife and I would like our privacy these two weeks."
"Yes sir, I understand. Congratulations to you and Mrs. Potter. I wish the best of luck to you both."
After the man had left the table, Harry turned to Ginny and said "I am so sorry about that. I asked the hotel to keep it a secret that we were here. But I guess you can't always trust people. If you have any problems just be polite like you usually are and they will go away."
"You would think that they could give you a break for once in your life," said Ron.
"I am used to it now, but I don't want the rest of my family to always be in the public's eye."
"Harry, don't worry about me, you know I can handle them if they get bad."
"That's exactly what I am afraid of dear."
And with that everyone couldn't help but start to laugh. They finished their breakfast and decided to go for a walk and explore the rest of the beautiful city.
Throughout the day Harry felt as if someone was always watching him. He didn't let the others know this since it would only make them worry. This was the only bad thing about himself, everyone knew him and they knew about what he and his friends had done. Yet his friends never got the same amount of attention as he did. In a way it was better because the rest of them got to live their lives in peace.
They found a quaint little restaurant to eat lunch in. Once again a reporter came up to him asking for an interview. Harry politely told him that he wasn't interested at the time. The reporter walked away complaining to no one in particular. Harry began to dread the rest of his vacation for this reason, but then he looked over at Ginny and saw her smile. He forgot all about the reporter and he knew that he could handle it just as he had done for thirteen years. And after all, who could be worse than the nosey Rita Skeeter. He had survived her slanderous reports and still had his pride and dignity.
After lunch Harry and Ginny went back up to their room for some alone time, this after all was what the honeymoon was about. Hermione and Ron decided to keep walking around town.
"Ron, can I ask you something?"
"Sure honey, what is it?"
"How soon do you want to have kids?"
"Well, I was hoping to at least spend our first year as man and wife with just you and then see how we both feel. What about you?"
"I agree. I am not ready to have a child just yet. But your little sister on the other hand..."
"Don't say that Hermione! I don't want to picture my sister and my best mate like that. I know they are ready for a child, Harry was talking about it just before the wedding yesterday. I just don't want to have that image stuck in my head."
They continued walking and found a souvenir shop. As they were looking around inside, they saw a shelf full of little models of none other than themselves, Harry, Ginny, Luna and Neville They decided to buy two of each, one set to keep and the other to their friends. They had the ones of Luna and Neville wrapped and went to find an owlery. They couldn't wait to see what the others thought of the figurines. Hermione decided it would be best if she wrote the letter.
Dear Luna,
Hope this letter finds you doing well. Ron and I saw this and thought you might love to have one. Hope to talk to you when we return home.
With Love,
Hermione and Ron Weasley
Dear Neville,
Hope your first year of teaching is going well. Don't let the students intimidate you. We saw this in a store and thought that you would love to have one for yourself.
With love,
Hermione and Ron Weasley
They attached each letter to a brown owl and gave each one the parcel to deliver to their friends. The owls took off out the window headed for London and Scotland. Ron paid for the delivery and then went outside to rejoin Hermione who was buying a Popsicle for herself and when she was Ron, she asked what he would like. Ron asked for a shaved ice. He thought it looked interesting and wanted to try it since it was something he had never had before.
Harry and Ginny had just reached the hotel when about ten journalists and photographers mobbed them.
"Harry, over here, how does it feel to be married?"
"Mr. Potter, our readers want to know where you will be living with your wife."
"How many kids do you and Ginny plan on having?"
Camera flashes were going off left and right. The questions just kept coming and coming. Every time Harry would try to lead Ginny into the hotel, a reporter would cut him off and ask another question. Finally after about twenty minutes of this, a police officer showed up and told the reporter and photographers that he would arrest them if they came within a hundred yards of Mr. and Mrs. Potter again during their stay. After they were all gone, the officer turned to face Harry and Ginny. It was none other than Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"What are you doing here?" asked Harry.
"I thought the only person that would be able to handle any situation that may arise would be I. I left, well, your brother in charge while I am gone. I am sorry it took me so long to get here though. Hope there weren't too many problems before now. No reporters should bother you now."
"Thank you Kingsley'" said Ginny.
"It is my pleasure madam."
Kingsley started to walk into the hotel and as soon as he did a photographer snuck up from around the corner. Without thinking this time, Ginny fired off a bat bogey hex.
When Kingsley noticed they hadn't followed he came out to see the photographer and said "Nice one Ginny, I will get him taken to St. Mungo's right away. You both should go on inside now."