A/N: Hope you enjoy!
"Where are we?" Rose asked as she looked around an unfamiliar place. Scorpius looked round too and shrugged. Both of them were clueless of the place. Rose sighed and sat on the rock closest to her, looking tired. "What do you think happened to Dad then? He seems to want most of the bad memories removed," she muttered grudgingly for she never gets to see the whole story of what happens to her father. It's always pieces and parts that she sees.
Scorpius nodded. "I've noticed that too, but I can't blame him. After all, who doesn't want to forget those things?" He looked further and finally saw Ron walked towards them with a pail on his hand and a shovel on the other. "I think we're at the beach," he said. He looked up and saw the hot sun blazing. "There's Ginny too," he said, pointing to the little girl.
Rose turned. "I don't recognize this beach though," she said.
"It might be the one Dad used to talk about," replied Scorpius. He said there was some old man-made beach that they turned into an industrialized place. It didn't attract too many people. It's a Muggle beach though, that's why Dad was happy to see it go."
"Look, Ginny, there are shells here too," said Ron as he clamored up the small cave. "I think the shells are really wicked." He picked up one colorful shell. "Look at this," he said as he held it up to Ginny. Ginny's eyes widened in amazement. "I'm glad Dad thought about this vacation. I don't want to go home just yet. Too bad work is always bothering us from trips like this."
Ginny picked up another shell. "It doesn't matter. We're here already." She threw the shell into Ron's pail. "How many of these do you think Fred and George has gotten by now?" she asked as she searched for more shells that were lying around.
Ron shrugged. "I have no idea, but I think they're way ahead of us. Knowing them, they'd have two pails of shells by now," he replied. He picked up another shell. "But I'm sure we'll win over Percy and Dad. Percy's a nerd when it comes to things like this. Not to insult him, but he comes short in adventures," he said as he found another one lying beside a big rock. "Hey, this one looks nice as well," he said as he threw it into the pail.
"I hate it when sand gets between my toes," said Ginny as she shook her foot. She looked at Ron. "I don't think there are any more shells around here. Want to try back at the seashore?" she asked. Ginny straightened up her body and wiggled the sand out of her hair. "How about Bill and Charlie? How do you think they're doing?" she asked.
Ron tilted his head. "They'll probably be a match for Fred and George," he replied. Bill has a knack for finding things anywhere. Charlie's a Seeker, remember? He can spot the tiniest shell I bet. They're a perfect team," he said. Ginny nodded in agreement. The both of them sighed simultaneously and sat on the rock near them. "Do you think we have enough shells?" Ron asked as he held up his pail. Ginny shook her head. "Figures," muttered Ron.
"Aren't they cute?" said Rose. Scorpius rolled his eyes. "They look adorable when they're together. Up until now, Dad looks out for Auntie Ginny. When she and Harry needed help, Dad and Mum are there to help him. It's fun to see how Dad and Auntie Ginny were when they were younger." Her eyes twinkled at the sight.
Scorpius sat beside Rose. "Looks like they're having a contest on who could collect the most shells," he said as he looked at Ron's pail which carried shells half full. "At this rate, they won't win the contest, not if they're sitting around just like that." He looked at Ginny and Ron who were giggling about something. Rose giggled too. Scorpius looked at her. "What did they say?" he asked.
"Listen," replied Rose.
"What about the time when you kissed that kid Brad?" asked Ron suspiciously. Ginny turned scarlet all over. Ron smirked at her. "You did it on purpose, didn't you? You like him, don't you?" Ginny turned redder than ever, if that was even possible at the moment. "Ginny likes Bradley! Ginny likes Bradley!" chanted Ron teasingly. "Ginny likes Bradley!"
"I do not!" countered Ginny hotly. "It was Fred. He dared me to."
Ron laughed. "You're turning red, Ginny. Come on, tell your big brother. You like Bradley, don't you?" Ginny crossed her arms across her chest. "You like Bradley if you be so defendant about it. That's why they tell you never to kiss and tell." Ginny threw a dirty look at him. "Well, that's the rule, Ginny. You aren't supposed to kiss and tell. Admit it! You like Brad! See, you're turning even redder now. Oh wait till Fed and George finds out."
"You're so mean!" cried Ginny. Tears sprang to her eyes. Ron suddenly looked guilty. Ginny stood up. She kicked the pail. All the shells that they had collected scattered on the floor. Ginny looked at Ron angrily. "I will never ever team up with you again. I knew I should've said yes to Dad when he asked me to team up with him. I was just worried you wouldn't get along with Percy. I hate you, Ronald!" she exclaimed and stomped out of the cave.
Ron looked at the shells and hesitated for a moment before going after his sister. "Wait up, Ginny." He ran alongside her as she angrily tried to avoid him. "Gin, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to get angry like this. I was only joking. You can't be serious! Don't get angry at me like that! I know you don't mean it. I know it was a dare. Come on, Ginny. Don't be so angry about it, please!" he begged as he tried to keep up with his sister.
"Touchy isn't she?" said Scorpius, grinning at Rose. He looked back at the two who were headed out to the sea. "I guess sibling rivalry isn't uncommon. Now I understand why you and Hugo get into a lot of argument. I can imagine Hugo teasing you about the time you kissed me even though it was only for a dare," he said, snickering a bit. Rose shot a warning look at him. "Okay, I'm shutting up now," said Scorpius and turned is attention back to the Weasleys.
"You better," mumbled Rose.
Ron grabbed Ginny's arm. "You can't go into the sea. Mum said we ought not to go into that unless she's watching." Ginny tried to wretch free from Ron's hand, but her brother held onto her pretty tightly. "You can be so stubborn at times. You're going to get into trouble when Mum finds out you went for a swim and you aren't with any adult. Stop struggling. We're going to lose the contest at this rate we're going," he reminded her.
Ginny pulled her hand away from Ron with all her might. "I don't care about the contest anymore. I'm quitting it. Let go of me, Ron!" Ron shook his head vigorously. Ginny continued to pull with all she's got. "Let go of me. I want to go for a swim. I won't go into the deep water, let go of me!" she said angrily and pulled again. "Ron, let go!"
"No way am I letting go," said Ron firmly. He sighed and pulled his sister backwards. Ginny stumbled and fell on her bottom. Ron still held onto her. "I already said sorry. I always tease you and you never get angry. You know I don't mean everything I say. You know I know that you don't like Bradley. Why do you have to act so childish?" he asked as he helped his sister up.
Tears ran down Ginny's cheeks. "I am a child," she pointed out. "And I hate you whenever you tease me. You always do. You along with Fred and George. I bet if Percy is as lively as you, he'd be out to tease me too. Just because I'm always the smallest of all of you and I'm the youngest and I'm the girl you always tease me!" Ginny cried. "Just because I'm the youngest and I'm the girl you always pick one me and tease me and never each other."
A smile crept to Ron's face. "Who said they never tease me? Fred and George always do," he replied. He slightly pulled Ginny. "Stop crying now. It's all right. I'm sorry for teasing you. I never knew you weren't finding them funny. You know you can tell me anything." Ginny looked at him. Ron nodded. "You're my little sister. Of course I don't want to see you sad. You always laugh along when we tease you and I thought you never got offended by them." He placed his arm around her. "Now let's go and find some shells. We still might have a chance to win, you know."
Ginny started to wipe away her tears. "Okay," she said in a small voice.
Ron looked at her and stopped walking. "Are you really all right now?" he asked. Ginny slowly nodded. Ron smiled at her. "I promise I won't tease you again if it hurts you that much. We don't tease you because you're the youngest and you're the girl. Fred and George even cuts you some slack because of it. You don't know what they're capable of," he said.
Ginny finally smiled back at him. "I know. I can see how they tease Percy sometimes," she replied.
Ron bent over and picked up a shell. "We have to start all over again, but I bet we still have a chance. Dad said we can look all over the place until the sun sets." He looked at the direction to the west. "I reckon it will take an hour or so." He pulled Ginny's arm. "Let's go back up to the cave and get back the shells we've already collected," he suggested.
As they walked, Ginny looked at her older brother. "Don't you feel upset when Fred and George tease you?" she asked.
Ron nodded. "I do. I'm also the youngest among the boys and you know how it is to be the youngest. They're rough on me a lot of times; making me do things I don't want to do. I remember though that I made a promise to them that I'll never tell on them so I don't. After a while, I got used to their pranks and teasing. They're always at it anyway. Remember the ice on my bed?" Ginny laughed and nodded. "It's all in fun. I reckon Fred and George won't go as far as really hurting me," he said.
Ginny found another seashell and picked it up. "They'd get into trouble if they do," she said.
Ron nodded. "Oh yes they will. I remember the torture Mum gave them. Three months of pure vegetables. I can't blame George for losing so much weight." Ginny picked up another shell on the way. "How come you never told us that you never liked us teasing you?" he asked.
Ginny shrugged. "Maybe because I didn't want you to think I was a kill joy. Fred always says Percy is a kill joy because he never wants to be teased and prank upon. Bill and Charlie don't seem to mind when Fred and George comments about them. I seldom see you blow off your steam when they tease you so I figured that I have to be like all of you. I don't want to be Percy," she admitted, causing Ron to laugh at her last line.
Ron pointed to a smaller cave. "Hey look, Ginny. There's a smaller cave there. Want to check it out? There might be wonderful shells there. If we can't find many, we might as well find something beautiful. Who knows? We might even run to a pot of gold? Merlin knows we need the money," he said. Ginny agreed as they went into the cave. Ron picked up a rather big shell. "Look at this, Ginny. It's big," he said and handed it to his sister.
Ginny smiled. "You can say that again." She looked around. "Look, there's plenty more over there." The both of them went to the corner and started to gather all the big seashells they could find. When they couldn't hold on to any more, they stopped and went out of the cave. Ginny looked at Ron. "Well, that was a great find," she admitted. Ron nodded.
They climbed up back to the cave. "Ron! Ginny!" Molly ran to the two of them and gave them both a tight embrace. She gave them both a kiss on the forehead. "I was so worried about you." Behind her stood Percy and Arthur, Arthur looking as worried as his wife. "Percy and your father found the pail and the scattered shells and couldn't find you. We thought something bad had happened to the two of you. Where have you been?" she asked. She looked at Ginny's wet body. "You haven't been swimming, have you?" she asked.
Ginny shook her head. "No, Ron stopped me," she replied.
Molly smiled proudly at Ron. "Oh how good of you to get some sense into your sister." She kissed him again. Molly turned back to Arthur and Percy. "The sun is setting. Let's go back. I fixed something for all of you and something special for our winners," she said with a wide smile on her face. She placed a hand on each of the two's shoulder. "Come on, now."
Rose smiled. "Grandma is still Grandma. She worried about losing me and Hugo in the mall once," she explained. Scorpius laughed at the thought. "Dad's really nice to Ginny, isn't he? I'm glad he didn't lose his temper back there. If he did, things would've gotten worse," she said.
Scorpius nodded. "You're right about that." They followed the lot down the cave. "Your grandmother sure fusses a lot about her kids and gives them a lot of hugs and kisses." He recalled the scene and envied it a little. His father didn't even hug him when he was sent off for his first year at Hogwarts. He looked at Rose. "Did your parents hug you when you went off to Hogwarts?" he asked.
"Every time," Rose replied calmly. She pulled Scorpius's hand. "Come on, they're by that ice cream stall. Looks like they're about to announce the winner of their little contest," she said as she practically dragged Scorpius to the place.
"Look what we've got?" asked Fred as he poured out all the shells they've collected into the sand. "We've counted them. Forty-seven in all," he said proudly as he marveled at the number of shells and his twin brother had found. "We even went to the reef to find some. A good number, this one, if you ask me," he said. He looked at Bill who was grinning impishly. "How many did you get then, if you're so confident," he said.
Charlie poured out the contents of his bucket. "Sixty-seven," he replied for Bill. "I guess you two lose." George pouted at the sigh of the many shells that came out from the bucket. He looked at his mother. "What does the winner get to ear, Mum?" he asked as he smacked his lips. He stared at the picnic basket that his mother had prepared before they came to the beach, but no one had seen its contents when she packed it.
"It's not over yet," said Percy. He smiled and poured out all the shells that he and his farther collected. "Me and Dad, we've got sixty-nine," he said happily. Fred looked at all the shells unbelievingly. "Dad's got a knack for finding shells even without using magic," he said proudly.
Finally all of the attention turned to the youngest two. "How many have you got?" asked Bill. He reached for their bucket and his eyes winded. "Hey, look at what these two have been collecting," he said and turned the pail upside down, emptying its contents. "These are not just shells…these are…"
"…the ones with pearls in it," finished Charlie. He reached out for one big oyster and cracked it open. A shiny pearl sparkled before their eyes. He looked at the two, very much stunned. "How could you have been collecting things like this? Have you two been going out for a swim?" he asked suspiciously. "We had a rule about that, you know," he reminded them.
Arthur studied the oyster. "Even if they did go for a swim, they wouldn't have found anything like this one. These things only go deep under the sea." He smiled and ruffled Ron's hair. "Well done, son. Where have you two been gathering the shells? Do you know how much these beauties cost?" he asked, his eyes dazzling very cheerily. Arthur couldn't take his eyes off of the pearl that was inside the oyster. "Wonderful," he whispered.
"We went someplace before we went into the cave," Ron replied. He turned around. "It was over th-" He stopped. Ginny looked as shock as he did. "I swear there was another cave below it, Dad," he said as he looked at the lower part of the cave where they had gone into. "Dad, I swear there was a little cave under that one," he said, looking at it unbelievingly.
"Ron's making it all up, the pointy nose liar," taunted Fred.
"Stop that!" snapped Ginny, which had Fred taken aback. The whole family laughed when they saw this. Ginny looked at Ron. Their eyes met for a moment. Without a word to be said, they understood each other with one look.
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So if you're mad get mad
Don't hold it all inside
Come on and talk to me now
Hey, what you got to hide
I get angry too
Well I'm a lot like you
-Pretenders-
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Scorpius looked at Ron. "You did see the cave too right?" he said. Rose nodded undoubtedly. Scorpius looked around. Everything started to darken again. "I guess we're off to another scene," he muttered. He looked at Rose sideways. "You look as if you're thinking too deeply about something. What is it?" he asked her. She knew Rose was thinking about something by the look on her face.
"Don't you remember about the Cave of Wishes? The one they told us about in Hogwarts last term?" she asked Scorpius looked at her. "I believe that was it. Didn't Dad say something about a pot of gold?" She looked at the fading picture with delight. "I'm happy that they found a small source of income at least!" The scene then completely blackened.
A/N: I know this part was kinda weird...but I hope you liked it...Please review. A few more chapters to go! D
NEXT CHAPTER: Birthday Gift for Mum
