Hermione checked the clock when she woke up the next day. "We've been married almost 24 hours."
"What time is our flight?" Snape asked. He sounded tense.
"4:50 this afternoon. You're not nervous about flying, are you?"
He didn't answer her question. "Why are we flying in an airplane? We have better ways to travel."
"Because Mum and Dad are paying for the trip and because it's good for us to do things like a Muggle occasionally. Have you been on a plane before?"
"Twice, but not for years. I didn't enjoy it."
"It's not a long flight. Unless our plane crashes. In that case the flight will actually be shorter and we won't care. Or maybe the flight will be delayed and we'll have to sit there for a long time just waiting for takeoff. But don't worry, they serve alcohol and there's a special drink for people like you. It's called a control freak cocktail."
"So this is marriage. Making sport of your husband the day after the wedding. Is the honeymoon over before it begins?"
"I don't think so." Hermione switched tactics. "You seemed to like my tan lines, having mentioned them once or ten times. I'm planning to lie in the sun all day. Then you can have your way with me all night."
"All night? You're optimistic."
"I have reason to be based on your past performance."
Plans for the honeymoon had been made a few weeks after Easter when they visited Hermione's parents again. The Grangers handed them a flat package when they arrived. "We didn't know what to give you for an engagement gift until we found this."
It was a framed photograph of a beach. On the sand in the foreground a family laughed into the camera. The little girl had brown hair in pigtails and a buck-toothed grin. The Grangers were in their 30's but looked much the same minus the grey in Simon's hair.
Hermione and Snape smiled when they recognized the little girl but then Hermione gasped in shock and Snape looked stunned. In the background at the water's edge, almost directly behind Hermione, stood a tall, thin figure looking out to sea. His black hair was blowing back from his face and it was obviously Snape in his 20's. He was barefoot and wore a plain shirt and shabby trousers rolled above his ankles.
"I can't believe it," Hermione whispered. "This is incredible."
"Do you remember that holiday?" Mr. Granger asked. "You were only five."
"Yes," Hermione replied, "Because it was my first time abroad and I started school when we came home."
"It was my first time abroad, too." Snape said.
"I noticed you," Jean Granger told Snape. "I thought you seemed slightly familiar when we first met. It took me a while to remember. I almost asked you to take that picture for us but a woman came along just then and saw my camera and offered."
"We should go there after we're married," Snape suggested.
"Perfect!" Hermione agreed. "We want to go away for a week after the wedding but we couldn't decide where," she explained to her parents.
"And we've been wondering what to give you for a wedding present," Simon Granger said. "Let the trip be from us."
Later Snape told Hermione how he came to be in the south of France. He had been teaching at Hogwarts for several years and had pretty well explored England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. That summer was the first time he could afford to go farther. He had traveled each summer since then until Voldemort returned.
"Our paths kept crossing," Hermione said. "On that beach, when I started at Hogwarts, taking tea with Minerva. I wonder if we met anywhere else that we don't know about."
"I bumped into a pregnant woman in London 20 years ago. No doubt it was your mother."
Snape might joke but he knew how remarkable that photo was from 15 years ago.
The small resort wasn't famous or trendy. It was still a place for families. Parents and children were out all day but went in early for supper, baths and bed. The beach was already deserted when Hermione and Snape took their first walk at dusk. Hermione immediately saw this as an advantage.
"Do you know what we should do?"
"I can speculate."
"Are you up for it?"
"I will be later."
At midnight they went back and made love on the beach.
"Why didn't we bring a blanket?" Snape grumbled afterwards. "I feel as if I have sand in every crevice of my body."
"I don't feel any sand."
"You're on top."
"You weren't complaining a few minutes ago."
"I was distracted."
The incoming tide lapped at them. Hermione giggled. "Let's rinse off, then."
So they rolled into the water and let the surf take them out a few feet. Not surprisingly, they got distracted again.
They had a suite in the same hotel Hermione and her parents had stayed at. It was a little old-fashioned and Hermione loved it.
"You really do like our house as well, don't you?" Snape asked.
"Of course I do. I told you it was charming the first time I saw it."
"I thought you were being kind. It's structurally sound but I haven't done much to it for years. We can sell it and live somewhere else if you like," he offered.
"Do you want to? If there are memories you'd like to get away from ..."
Snape shook his head. He had hated his home while growing up but in the past 20 years it had become a refuge.
"Let's live there when we're not at Hogwarts," Hermione said.
Snape saw a gleam in her eye that he recognized. "This is your next project, isn't it?"
"I might do a little updating," Hermione admitted. "It has potential. I won't make it a showplace that we're afraid to sit down in, but we could use some new furnishings. I'm not snogging you on that sofa."
"You already have."
They slept late most mornings then Hermione worked on her tan before the sun got too hot. Snape stayed under an umbrella and read. "I am an Englishman and we're proud to be pasty. Besides, I don't tan, I burn."
Hermione privately thought he liked the contrast when they were naked. So did she.
They took 'naps' in their room after lunch. They played tourist, shopping and seeing the sights. And they had their picture taken at the same spot on the beach.
"A magic photo would be nice," Hermione said. "But Mum and Dad couldn't display it and I want them to have a copy."
Their week in France was everything a honeymoon should be. But on the last evening Hermione couldn't resist making a list of her plans for the house in Spinner's End. Snape smiled. It was time to go home.
A/N: If you haven't read my other stories, take a look at "Vampires and Witches and Wizards, Oh My!" It takes place after this chapter. I didn't include it in this story because it's also a crossover with Moonlight which was a vampire series on CBS.