A Different Start: American Harry Prequel

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Warning & Story Info: Found in previous chapters.

Reviews: Please? So beyond appreciated. Really.

Review Responses: None. Because it's not necessary. Not too many reviews either. Bit disheartening, really.

AN: Britpicker. Am very fast approaching the 'can't go any further' point where I'm writing ahead.

AN2: Random facts and trivia is up in place of a review response on the Ygroup. It includes a bit of random info about American magical system and such nuggets as why the radishes try not to take offense to Suntree.

BETAS: Megan, Jynx67, Silveredred and Madam Whitbrook. Yay.

Edit: Chapter replaced 05.10.08 with tweaked pre-story stuff and small formatting change. All previous chapters replaced for the same pre-story and formatting changes. The first two chapters revised and replaced.

Edit: Quick note, the hotel is on the beach and magical Disney is in the same place as non-magical Disney. They're taking a Portkey to and from Disney. 05.11.08

A Different Start: American Harry Prequel 21

"Guess what, Jamie?"

Harry looked up from gluing macaroni pieces together in the vague, lumpy shape of a ninja turtle. Serish hissed, unhappy at the sudden movement, but she settled around his shoulders again when he hissed back a soft reassurance.

"So freaking weird," Al muttered from where he was slouched at the other side of the kitchen table, watching the slow macaroni building process.

"Aww, does Uncle Al not like the little snake?" Harry grinned and tossed a piece of macaroni at him when he made a face. Laney gave Harry a stern look and Harry continued to grin as he levitated the macaroni back onto the table.

"Not like you're one to talk, Mom," he pointed out, adding another piece of macaroni to the shell. He glanced up as he held it in place, applying a touch of a drying charm to the glue. "You start half the popcorn fights in this house, you know." At Laney's unimpressed look, he shrugged. "So, what's going on?"

Laney's mouth turned up in a half grin. "How'd you like to go to Disney?"

Harry jerked upright in surprise. Serish threatened to swallow his head. Harry just rearranged her.

"Are you serious, Mom? Like totally serious? Really, seriously?

"Really, seriously, totally, yeah."

"You have to even ask?! That's so seriously awesome cool! Yes! When are we going?! Who's going?! How long will we be there?! When-?!"

"Calm down, calm down," Laney told him with a grin. "We were thinking next week."

"Judging from the sudden rapturous delight emanating from the kitchen, I take it someone told him about Disney?" Suntree lounged in the kitchen doorway.

"I did. I was just getting ready to answer some questions, in fact."

"By all means, before his head explodes."

Laney looked back to Harry. "We were thinking next week. And it'd be us, Al, Sunny, Tony, if you like, Cam and Kathy. The group. We'd have waited for Terry, but he won't be back until mid-July, and it'll be even hotter then."

"So way awesome cool!"

Laney laughed. "That sounds like approval to me."

"And there's more," Suntree said with amusement. "We're going to Disney World in Florida. We were thinking we'd make this our first real trip to a magical area, and we'd do a test run of this new bodyguard stuff." He raised a brow. "Since you seem to be sucking a little less at it these days."

Harry stuck out his tongue.

"We'll make it a four day trip, probably. Well, five-ish days," Laney mused. "We'll get there later afternoon on Monday and just get settled in Monday night. So Tuesday would technically be our second day there and we'd get up sort of early to visit Disney, make it an all-day event. And some of us were thinking of visiting the beach and maybe doing a little shopping and taking in some sights or something on the last couple days."

"For real? Seriously? The beach? Like, with the water and the sand and- and- scratch that last part before Al makes fun of me."

"Oh, you already said it," Al said with a grin, sitting up.

"Not now, Al," Laney told him. "If you two get to teasing each other, we'll never finish this conversation."

"Aww, not even a little teasing?"

"No. Honestly, it's like you two are brothers or something."

"Like, no," Harry said. "Al's, like, way too old."

Al gave him a look. "Excuse you. I'm barely thirty. Your mother's older than me. Are you calling her old?"

"Mommies never get old," Harry told him with a sniff. "Shows what you know."

"Smooth save, kid." Laney ruffled his hair with a grin.

Harry stuck out his tongue at Al.

"So all agreed that Disney and the beach are a great idea?"

"Totally, Mom! That's so way awesome cool that there aren't even words to describe the awesome coolness of it."

"And yet you always find them," Laney said with amusement.

"I try," Harry said modestly.

Laney laughed and looked over to Sunny. "Go ahead with your Disney plans, then."

"Woo, we're off to Disney World." Suntree mimicked waving a flag. "Where dreams come true. Or something."

"All prepared for the Portkey?"

"As prepared as I'm going to be," Laney muttered.

"We have nausea potions with us." Kathy gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"We ready?! We ready?! We ready?!" Harry skipped excitedly into the room.

"Yes, we're ready." Suntree checked a pocket watch then pulled out two scarves, one yellow and one red. "Cam, Kathy and Al, you'll take the first Portkey and the luggage. The rest of us will follow in five minutes."

There were nods from everyone and the two groups split. Harry watched, bouncing on the balls of his feet, as the luggage was bound together with magical straps and Cam, Kathy and Al each took a firm grip on one of the straps. When the Portkey activated to Suntree's countdown, the entire group disappeared without a problem.

Suntree looked the rest of them over. "Ready?"

"Yeah!"

"I think I forgot my toothbrush," Tony said with a bit of a smirk.

Harry gave him a look. "Tough. Buy a new one."

"I'm quite attached to it."

"Good. It'll be waiting for you when you come back."

"I don't think I could cheat behind its back with another toothbrush."

"Then walk around with stinky breath. I don't care."

"Stop teasing Jamie," Suntree told Tony. "Here, grab the scarf." Suntree rested a hand on Harry's shoulder. Tony put an arm around Laney. She gave him a startled look.

"If you're going to be feeling sick when you get there, I doubt you want to fall over."

She flushed a little. "Oh, um, of course. Thanks."

"In three, two, one-"

The Portkey jerked them all to the side by the navel. The jostling, jerking trip seemed to take twice as long as usual before their feet met the ground. Suntree helped keep Harry steady and on his feet and Tony wrapped both arms around Laney as she swayed with a groan.

"Here you go." Kathy pressed a vial into her hands. "Up and down. Now just give it a few seconds to work…"

It was more than a few seconds before Laney stopped looking sick and was able to stand confidently on her own feet, but it was less than a minute. When Tony pulled away he didn't remark on her flushed face.

"All right, everyone grab the bag you're responsible for," Suntree instructed, tucking away his watch and winding the scarves together and tucking them away.

Bags in hand, they left the room and found themselves in a spacious lobby. At first glance it looked like any other posh hotel lobby with luxurious seating arrangements, plants and trees spread around, a fountain in the foyer, a water feature off to the side and a bank of elevators behind them and to the left. But the normal image didn't stand up to a closer look.

The fountain had a statue in the center of it of two entwined mermaids. The tails twitched and flipped as they giggled, waving and smiling and laughing silently at people who stopped by the fountain. The water feature was a waterfall that took up the entire left wall of the large lobby. The water seemed to appear from thin air just below the ceiling and it cascaded into a pool at floor level. Beside the elevators, there was a floor directory that answered questions. Off to one side, a broom was sweeping the floor all by itself. At the check-in counter a state was offering to hold someone's bag as the bag kept trying to escape.

Harry looked up at the enchanted ceiling. It showed a perfect blue sky dotted with perfect cotton ball clouds. "Wow…"

"Come on," Suntree said, snapping Laney and Harry out of staring. "We're six floors up. We have a nice view of the ocean from the rooms." He led the way to the elevators as Cam and Al followed, directing the luggage along with their wands.

By the time they caught up with the rest of the group, the elevator doors were open and Suntree ushered everyone in. Harry watched in wonder as the elevator expanded a little as each of them got on until it fit them all comfortably.

"Wow…"

"Expanding space charm," Kathy told him, catching his look.

"What's that?"

"Sixth floor, please," Suntree informed the elevator.

"Know the layering space charm?" Kathy asked. "Where you can make a space inside bigger than the outside? This is the same thing, but you add a sort of elastic edge to the visual perception of the room. The elevator itself isn't actually getting bigger, the space is already expanded and it's just visually showing more of itself as more people step in."

"Wow… So I could, like, walk through the wall because it's an illusion?"

"Not quite," Suntree remarked, rapping on a wall. "There's a barrier up so things can't slide behind the illusion and get lost, like luggage, pets or small children."

The elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal a nicely decorated hallway that stretched in either direction.

"Sixth floor," the elevator told them. "Enjoy your stay. Be sure to try some fresh squeezed Florida orange juice during your visit."

"Need help finding your rooms?" a portrait across from the elevator asked them as the piled out into the hallway.

"Thank you, but no."

"You're welcome." The portrait, a man in swim shorts and a surfboard, gave them a jaunty wave and took off running for the waving in the background.

"Wow…" Harry trailed along after Suntree.

The rooms were normal in comparison and Harry found it to be both a relief and a letdown. He wandered through the space slowly. There was a living room area with a kitchenette, a bedroom with one wall that was almost entirely a glass window looking out over the ocean, and a bathroom attached to the bedroom that was the most noticeably magical, being far bigger inside than it should have been. The pictures on the walls were of the ocean, seashells, sunsets and other beach orientated things. Harry stopped to look at one closely and saw that they did move, but it was very subtly.

"Smell that ocean air," Kathy said with a sigh, using a previously unseen door handle on one of the windows. As the door opened, a balcony suddenly appeared attached to the suite. "Don't worry," Kathy told Laney at seeing her uneasy expression. "The balcony is always there, there's just an illusion on it so it doesn't break the view."

"Okay…"

"Wow!" Harry bounced onto the balcony to stare down at the beach and ocean. "It stretches forever!"

"Not quite forever," Kathy said fondly. "But it does go on for a while."

"And- are those people on brooms!? Over the water?! That's so awesome! Flying over the water!"

"Magical private beach. The only non-magicals that can find this place are the ones that already know it's here.

"Look at that huge sandcastle!" Harry pointed at it excitedly. "Look at that! Oz! People are actually going inside!"

"Ah. That's a beach café."

"Can we visit!?"

"Of course. Sometime while we're here."

"Awesome!"

"Hey, Kath?" Suntree peered around the door. "The rest of us are going to set up in the two rooms to either side if you need us."

"Okay."

"The air smells awesome!" Harry called out from the balcony.

Suntree chuckled. "That it does, Jamie."

"Jamie, don't lean over the railing like that," Laney called out sharply.

"Aww, Mom. There's spells all over it. I couldn't fall if I wanted to."

"Jamie Featheridge!"

"Okay, okay," Harry muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Mom!"

"Come inside and help unpack."

"I'll help. Let him stare for a while." Kathy came back into the bedroom. "Might keep him from begging us to take him down there the very second we're unpacked."

Harry stared in wide-eyed wonder as the group headed into the dining room located a floor below the lobby. The floor and three of the four walls were made of glass. Beyond the glass fish and other curious things swam and the clear water seemed to be standing still.

"Are we…?"

"In the ocean, yes," Suntree answered Harry, settling into his seat. "Sit down, Jamie."

Harry sat slowly, almost missing the chair as he continued to gaze at the far wall.

"The east side of the hotel extends out over the water," Suntree continued. "Two of the floors are located mostly or completely underwater."

"Perfectly safe of course," Kathy added for Laney's benefit.

Harry continued to stare. "So awesome…"

"You sure you don't mind sharing this with the rest of us?" Cam asked as they watched Harry bounce around the room excitedly, obviously impatient for everyone to finish getting ready to go to Disney.

"Not at all." Laney gave Cam an amused look, stifling a yawn. "If you guys weren't here, I'd have to keep up with Jamie all by myself. And seeing as how we're getting dragged out of bed at dawn," Laney cast a sour look in Harry's direction but he was too excited to notice, "there's no way I could keep up with him by myself today."

Cam snickered. "Ah. It all becomes clear. Very devious, this plan of yours. I see where Jamie gets it."

Laney rolled her eyes. "We're taking another Portkey to the park, aren't we?" Laney asked after a few moments, sighing a little.

"Yep. Don't worry; we've got plenty of stomach-settling potions."

Harry went to press his face against the glass doors of their room, grinning as the balcony appeared and disappeared as he moved one hand a little closer to the invisible handle and then a little farther away.

"I'm done in." Laney fell backwards on the bed. "Never. Moving. Again."

Harry climbed up beside her with a giggle. "Mom."

"Never."

"Guess you're going to miss the beach tomorrow, huh?"

"Though I might feel better by tomorrow."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I bet."

"Never moving again tonight."

"Kathy, Mom's being silly."

Kathy gave him a look from where she was collapsed in a chair. "I completely agree with her."

"But we took tons of breaks today! Like ten or something!"

Laney groaned. "Only three more days, Laney," she muttered to herself. "Think of the beach. Think of the shopping."

"Knock, knock." Suntree came into the bedroom with an amused look. "Just wondering if anyone's up for a late dinner."

"I'm sleeping, go away," Laney muttered. "Disney World has stolen my will to move."

Harry shook his head with a sigh. "Mom's being silly."

"How the heck are you still on your feet, Sunny?" Kathy asked, giving him a half glare.

"It's a gift."

"Come on, Mom, you gotta get up." Harry bounced on the bed several times. "Foood!"

"Go with Sunny. You don't need me there to eat."

"Mooom!"

"Come on, Jame." Suntree motioned him over. "So far the only other person up for it is Tony."

Harry rolled his eyes and bounced off the bed, adjusting his Mickey Mouse ears as he followed Suntree from the room.

"Did you enjoy Disney?"

"It was fun! And those magical shops were awesome! The little cartoon figures that really walk and talk are so neat! And those huge glasses with the color changing lenses! You look kind of weird in purple, did you know that?"

"I do now."

"And wow! Those huge lollipops that keep changing flavor! And the bite sized candy apples! Those were so cool!"

"Did you like the rides?"

"Oh, yeah, they were pretty awesome. But, you know…"

"Can't quite beat a broom for thrills?"

"Yeah!" Harry gave Suntree a bright smile. "I mean, they were fun. Tons of fun. Awesome cool. But just for sheer excitement… they were mostly just okay. Some of them were better than others, but…"

"I know what you mean."

Tony gave them a raised eyebrow look as they approached, his own Mickey Mouse ears at a jaunty angle atop his head. "Just the Jamie?"

"Rar! I am the Jamie!" He dashed over to Tony. Tony picked him up effortlessly with a chuckle.

"Everyone else is too exhausted to go out," Suntree explained.

"Hey, more food for me," Tony said with a shrug.

"How d'you figure that?" Harry adjusted his own Mickey Mouse ears so they were jaunty like Tony's. "Not like we're gonna order food for them even though they aren't there."

"Yeah, but your mom won't look at me funny for ordering a lot of food."

Harry giggled.

"And we can sneak the Jamie some dessert."

Harry giggled again. "Rar!"

"So how did the bodyguard thing go?" Laney asked, digging her toes into the sand as she watched Suntree and Harry splash each other in the ocean.

Tony sat down on the towel beside hers, muttering a spell that brushed the sand from his skin and off the towel. "Pretty good. Really good. Mind you, Disney is any bodyguard's nightmare. You just can't control that sort of environment. But the beauty of it was that the chance of him being recognized there was nearly non-existent. So it was also a dream dry run. We had to work in a potentially high stress place, but didn't actually have the stress."

"So things went well?"

He nodded as he muttered another charm and then pulled his shirt off to begin to rub sunscreen on. Laney glanced over at him several times before looking fixedly off toward the water. "I'm actually really impressed with Jamie. He's a lot more disciplined than I expected him to be. He's taking this very seriously, even though he doesn't have a real reason to yet. It's not really real to him, being important."

"He's a sharp kid."

"He is."

Cam came jogging up. "Hey, there's a bunch of us going to play a game of Quodvol. Wanna join in?"

Laney gave her a look. "Knowing magical people, I fear to even ask. But… what's Quodvol?"

"Well, like, you know how in Quodpot, the Quod explodes after a while? This is like that, but it's a volley ball kind of thing, and when it explodes it's like a water balloon."

"I see. No, I think not today."

"Tony the Tiger-?"

"I'm not a tiger," Tony interrupted dryly.

Cam grinned. "You up for it?"

"I'll pass."

"Spoilsports." She pouted and jogged off.

Laney sighed a little. "I can't believe she's wearing that."

"That's modest compared to what some of these other women are wearing," Tony said with amusement, looking around. "She looks like she's wearing a one piece bathing suit with the middle cut out. Some of these other women…"

"I'm just glad Jamie's so young," Laney muttered. "A couple more years and he'll be right smack in the middle of puberty and this is the last place I'd want to take him."

Tony chuckled. "The young men are dressed a little more respectably."

"And thank goodness for that. I don't want him taking away any weird ideas about appropriate beach wear being the equivalent to a handful of cloth and some string."

Tony gave her a very amused look.

"What?"

"Nothing, Lane."

She looked out at the water again. Off to the far right, she could just make out Al in his electric orange swim shorts riding on something like looked like a surfboard crossed with a windboard. He wasn't riding any waves, just skimming at high speed along the surface of the water. "What are those called again?" she sighed.

"Seaboard."

"I can't believe I agreed to let Jamie try that later."

"As Suntree pointed out: it's safer than a windboard."

"I'm aware. I'm not reassured."

"I can't believe Al's wearing those shorts."

Laney snickered. "I can't believe he thinks he's a lady's man."

Tony shook his head with a grin. "Bless his little delusional heart."

"You look like you have a bit of a sunburn. Come here; let me put some lotion on you."

"Lane." Kathy tossed over a bottle of magical ointment. "This will clear it up quick."

"Thanks." Laney sat Harry down and started to rub it onto his back. "You have fun today at the beach?"

"It. Was. Awesome!" Harry gave a little bounce. "The sand just got everywhere, but once Tony taught me that way cool charm, it was just awesome. And that sand castle café, way awesome! I mean, we sat at tables made of sand! Isn't that just the coolest ever? And the seaboard- awesome! Just awesome!"

Laney laughed.

"And Sunny wants to take me out diving tomorrow, Mom! Can I?! Can I please?! Please, Mom?!"

"Don't see why not."

"Yes!"

"But I want to talk to him first, of course."

"Yes!"

"And…" Laney trailed off at a tap on the suite door. Kathy got up to answer it and came back trailed by Al, still wearing the electric orange swim trunks with a lime green T-shirt. Laney just shook her head and sighed.

"Al, you look goofy. You totally don't match," Harry told him with an eye roll.

"Fine, see if I invite you out tomorrow."

"Out?" Harry perked up. "Out where? Where we going?"

"If your mom will let you."

"Mom totally will. Won't you, Mom? Please, Mom? Please? You're the best, Mom. Bestest ever. Can I go out? Please? Most awesome Mom ever? Please?"

"Where are you going?"

"There's a windboard competition tomorrow afternoon I'd like to take him to."

"Oh… so totally awesome! Mom! Please?!"

"Sunny said he'd go with us after diving. I think Tony will come along, too."

"Mom! Totally awesome!"

"Us girls could have a girls' day tomorrow," Kathy suggested. "And we'll spend the last day seeing some sights and being all touristy."

"Mom! Totally awesome!"

"Oh, all right."

"Mom!" Harry twisted around to hug her tightly. "Totally awesome!"

"You'd better believe it."

"That. Is. Totally. Awesome." Harry wriggled in his seat, making Tony chuckle.

"You know… this is rather like skateboarding in the sky," Suntree remarked from the bleacher row below them. "But on longer boards."

"Don't analyze it, man," Al said, eyes glued to the air. "Jamie, look at Nine." He pointed to a man to the far right doing tricks. "That's a double howser. And ooh! Seven has a sweet triple twist flip."

"Wow…"

"I think Three's wearing a Turtles T-shirt," Tony commented, holding out a pair of omnioculars. Harry grabbed them eagerly. After a quick demonstration on how to work them he was eagerly pressing them against his glasses to spot the Turtle shirt.

"He is! Awesome!"

"Completely," Al agreed.

"I so want to learn how to do that."

"You will, kid. Your mom can't say 'no' forever."

"Wanna bet? She's got a spoon."