Disclaimer: My house belongs to the bank, my work belongs to my boss and my money is always confiscated by my wife. And Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling... Damn...
Rocking the boat
By DerLaCroix
Chapter 26: A normal day at the office?
Finally, March first came, and thus the Hogwarts visit everyone in Harry's and Hermione's little circle of friends was looking forward to.
All of their friends had given McGonagall - and Flitwick in Luna's case - permission slips to join Harry and Hermione on their excursion. Even Ginny had that slip, and being underage, a note claiming that she would be picked up at the 'Three Broomsticks' by one of her brothers to escort her. They either got Arthur to sign it or faked it well. Professor McGonagall was less than pleased with this circumvention of the rules on parental supervision, but with an adult family member picking up the student, her hands were tied.
ooOOoo
"So, how you'd think Puddlemere will fare against the Wasps?" Harry proposed a topic, as it became more and more obvious that Hermione and Ginny would take 'a bit longer' to dress.
"Dunno. I'm not much into those teams, although I'd root for Puddlemere and Wood," Neville spoke, watching Ginny come down the stairs. Hermione took one look at her and almost immediately headed back up, herself, while Ginny took her place near the fireplace to keep warm.
Naturally, the arrival of a Hogsmeade day was also marked by a weather swing from sunny and mild to cold and continuous light rain, that occurred over the morning - rumours implied Snape was involved.
Therefore both girls were alternating in getting up to their dorms again to don even more clothes for the walk down to the town.
"So what's your team?"
"Actually, the Harpies," Neville replied as Hermione came back down, having reached the end point at wearing her winter cloak.
"The Harpies?" Harry teased with a waggle of his eyebrows, while Ginny excused herself, once more.
Neville rolled his eyes in response to both statements. "You should know best that you can't see a thing of their bodies in those robes, Harry," he chided. "It's just that they pull off some amazing flying out there," he said, before giving Harry a signal that Ginny was coming back down, also wearing her winter cloak.
"Sorry we held you up a bit," Ginny said as she slipped into it, her eyes slightly narrowed as she practically dared the boys to comment on it.
"Don't bother, we barely noticed," Harry lied through his teeth, with Neville quickly nodding, and taking a mental note of that phrase for future use.
Trying to get going before the girls had time to consider going to the loo, Harry picked up his cloak from the couch and made his way to the door, offering Hermione his elbow as he passed her by.
Harry and Neville, each accustomed to being outside in bad weather due to Quidditch and Herbology; had only taken a light waterproofed cloak, each - and wisely refrained from mentioning the fact that it wasn't that cold to the two girls with the legendary tempers.
Finally, they made their way down to the entrance hall to find their last companion, who was looking out into the rain and whistling an odd tune in rhythm with the water dropping down from the entrance porch. The fact that she was wearing a light, and very colourful summer dress - and a not really less psychedelic coloured, but old-fashioned parasol - did not go unnoticed.
"Oh goody! I was afraid that I took too long to dress for the occasion and you might have gone without me," she said in still the same rhythm she had whistled before. Harry had to keep his own whistle in check as she turned towards them, showing an amount of cleavage that was as mind-melting as the dress pattern. Neville was obviously fighting the same problem, but got distracted as she clung onto his arm and handed him the umbrella to shield her.
Pulling her wand from behind her ear, she cast a warming charm on herself and then happily prompted the whole troop to get moving, or else the Warblediggers might bite them, they preferred nesting in draughty entrance halls.
ooOOoo
"Bah, this rain is evil, I tell you!" a thoroughly wet Ginny ranted as she slid around on the muddy path down to the town that the light drizzle had caused to form. It was amazing how fast Scottish ground turned into first-class mud at the slightest contact with water. "Look at all that mud!"
"I agree," said Hermione, holding tight to Harry's arm as she stumbled along. "This mud is as slippery as Slughorn," she cursed as she nearly slipped for the umpteenth time.
"Is he still avoiding you two and your questioning?" Luna said happily from under the umbrella, which meant that she was the only one of the group with a still intact hairdo. Not that the rain changed a lot in respects with Harry and Neville, but Hermione and Ginny certainly didn't look their best right now.
"Yeah, slippery as a piece of soap, that man. If we just knew a way to get a grip on him," Harry harrumphed as they walked.
"Maybe you could just use a potion on him, with your new-found Potion prowess," Neville proposed half-hearted, having overheard that part of their conversation, although most of his attention was riveted on the unusually low cut dress Luna was wearing. His girl had insisted on dressing right for the occasion and was now relying heavily on warming charms and the umbrella her beau held for her.
Harry shook his head. "Neville, he's a Potions Master! There isn't a single potion we could use on him that he hasn't already taken precautions against, I guess."
Luna took that chance to turn and look straight at Hermione. "You know, that sounds like you could use a bit of luck with Slughorn."
"Luck!" Hermione exclaimed as she stopped abruptly, jerking Harry to a sliding stop. "The luck potion! We could use it to get what we need!" she hissed at him in a whisper. As Harry's eyebrows shot up in realization, Ginny called them.
"Coming, you two? Some of us want to get out of the rain!" she shouted from twenty paces away, where the group had stopped. Her hair was hanging damp and limp over her shoulders, and her mood was as bad as her hairdo.
"We have something to do about the mission Dumbledore gave us; we'll be back in an hour, tops. Would you all wait for us at the 'Three Broomsticks'?" Hermione called back.
"Of course, Hermione," Luna said amiably. "That gives Ginny time to dry her hair and drink a butterbeer, and I could do a Nargle inspection on Neville - you can never be too sure," she said with a bright smile. The way Neville's eyes lit up at this proposal told everyone that he had no problems with it. "I hope you can achieve something memorable - Ta-ta!" Luna said with a wave, and grabbed the others to drag them off to town.
Hermione and Harry stared after her, then at each other. Then, they shrugged their shoulders at each other, all in unison. Sometimes, that girl was scary - and the jury was still out on the verdict whether she said these things on purpose or unintentionally.
Turning around, they ran back up into the school, their footsteps squelching in the mud and dirty water soiling their robes. They needed cleaning charms on top of the drying charms once they were inside - under the disapproving glare of Filch, who prodded them extra fiercely with his dark detectors for that, it seemed. Once through his gauntlet, they raced off to the tower, where Harry obediently waited in the common room while Hermione fetched the bottle from her trunk.
Deciding to conserve, Hermione decided that only Harry should drink it, since he always was the luckier, and the quicker thinker on his feet, and his being lucky would guarantee that they get the best thing to stop Voldemort. Harry agreed with her logic, if only because he couldn't find a way to argue against it, and would have lost in any discussion against Hermione, anyway. Hermione gave him a good swig of the potion, leaving the bottle half full.
Harry immediately smiled brightly as a cheerful feeling of pure bliss ran through his veins. Looking at Hermione, he smiled even broader. "You know, having you is the greatest luck in the world, I couldn't do any better," he said as he bent down to kiss her sweetly. Only her immense willpower kept Hermione from making Harry really lucky at this statement. And the fact that Harry suddenly proclaimed that they should go to Slughorn, right now.
He practically pulled Hermione after him through the corridors towards the dungeons and the potions classroom. Before they came into the moving staircase hall, he suddenly stopped and pulled Hermione into an alcove, where he embraced her for a kiss that left her toes numb and made her secretly vow to make him very lucky later. In fact, she had a sudden urge to do something that normally wasn't her cup of tea, tonight.
The kiss ended as someone stomped down the stairs, spitting mad and cursing under his breath. "Stupid thing... all in vain... start anew..." Theo Nott muttered as he brushed by without noticing them, hitting a suit of armour with his fist in frustration. Cringing and hissing in pain, he cradled his hand against his chest and stomped off, cursing loudly.
Hermione had no time to wonder as Harry pulled her further along the corridor and down after the departing Slytherin, but then turning right, towards Slughorn's office. Finally, he stopped in front of the door, and knocked in a strange rhythm she would have bet money on having heard somewhere before.
"Yesh?" Slughorn slurred lightly as he drew the door open. "Harry, Harmine!" he happily shouted as he recognized the faces. "Come in, don't be shy, come in," he said and practically pulled them into his lavish office-slash-party room. Slughorn positioned himself between them and put his hands on their shoulders, before he practically frog-marched them over to the sitting area.
"I had do ged rrrid of shome of my shd... shd... shome of deeeshe barrelsh... Nod enoush room anymore... Shad thing, shad thing... Be a piddy if it shpoilsh... Washd nod, wond nod, I shay..." he lamented, while Hermione recoiled slightly because of his breath when he spoke in her direction.
Slughorn swayed dangerously when he suddenly stopped and stood upright. "Why don'd shou help me wish dat?" he slurred, communicating his sudden flash of brilliance to the kids.
"Professor, I don't think that this is a good..." Hermione tried to get a word in, edgewise, but Slughorn waved her off dismissively. "Nonshenshe - shou have sho take a drink with me, drinking alone ish no fun," he told them as he shoved them towards the couch.
"If you insist, Professor," Harry relented, winking back at Hermione when she glared at him behind the man's back. Harry was certain his luck potion still worked when she settled with rolling her eyes at him.
"Shplendid! Mead for all!" Slughorn cheered, not noticing the kids exchanging looks. Harry gave Hermione another wink and a smile, letting her know that she should just play along, which she did, not even glaring at him.
Sitting down, they only had to wait a moment before two mugs were dropped onto the table before them. Slughorn righted Hermione's mug, toppled it over again and managed to get it to stand still at the second try, using both hands. He then poured some mead into their glasses, filling Harry's perfectly, but as he tried Hermione's mug, he practically emptying the small barrel on it, flooding the table and nearly soiling her clothes.
"Oh poo…" The man slurred, looking at the barrel and his own empty mug in consternation for a bit, before suddenly having an epiphany.
"Dumbledore's! Yesh, that's right, musht be here shomewhere... there!" he said as he dropped the old barrel and stepped over to a cupboard to rummage in.
"Tad-daaa!" he giggled as he re-emerged with another barrel. "A piddy. Shuch a good drop, god it for Dumbletor," he told the kids as if it were important. "Alwaaaish have a good preshend for the uppity-uppersh!" he giggled as he broke the seal of the barrel. "Oag-matured, meand sho give it sho Albush for Christmash... ah! Had a shdudent geddit for me, but it'sh shoo late, anyway," he spoke to himself as he filled his own mug.
"To friendship, to youf, to... to... wadevaaah!" he toasted, and drank, the kids nipping their mugs politely as he chugged his mead.
"Lemme tell ya," Slughorn began after a loud belch, but never continued as he suddenly started jerking and spasming. The kids looked in shock as the convulsions got worse and worse, until foam started dribbling out of his mouth. The next moment, his eyes rolled up and he dropped like a stone, twitching on the floor while slowly turning blue.
"We must do something! He's poisoned!" Hermione screamed as she realized what happened. Harry jumped up and ran out of the door, roaming the shelves of the potion ingredients cabinet. Finally he found what his flash of insight had told him to look for. In a tiny scribble, there had been a note in the Antidote section of his Potions book - 'Just shove a Bezoar down their throat!'
Luckily, the stone, looking like a shrivelled up plum was in the first cabinet he opened, and he rushed back to the man, whom Hermione had made vomit already and then put him in a stable side position, as learned in first aid. He brutally shoved that stone down the man's throat, and suddenly, the man gave a shudder, and then laid still.
"Is he..." Hermione asked fearfully, but Harry shook his head.
"I don't think so," said Harry without checking. "You wait here and watch for him, I'll go and get Pomfrey and McGonagall. Don't touch or change anything, I'll be back shortly," he said, and with a kiss for extra luck, he left the room.
Just to re-enter two minutes later, leading Pomfrey, who just happened to pass by the corridor near the dungeons entrance when Harry left the dungeons, into the room. She had sent a Ravenclaw second year that stood nearby to get McGonagall and the Headmaster, and immediately followed Harry to Slughorn's office, while Harry filled her in.
"Do you know how he got poisoned?" Was the first question after Madam Pomfrey had ascertained that Professor Slughorn was in fact alive and not yet actively dying.
"It probably was the mead, his mug lies over there, but he drank from it before. It might be the mead in this barrel," Hermione said, pointing out the small barrel on the table.
"Did any of you drink this, too?" Pomfrey asked while waving her wand over the barrel.
"No," answered Harry. "Professor Slughorn poured us from the other one over there; he was the only one to get a mug of this."
Pomfrey furrowed her brow as she got the results from her spell. "And that is good so, Mister Potter. This mead is so full of poison that you could rightfully say that there is mead in the poison," she stated in a fine display of British humour.
"So it's not an accident?" Professor McGonagall, who had just entered with Dumbledore, asked.
"Certainly not, there is half a gallon of poison in this barrel; I doubt this could happen accidentally," was the sour answer from Pomfrey. "If Potter didn't think of the Bezoar that quickly, I would be stamping the papers now," she harrumphed as she started conjuring a stretcher.
"But why him?" McGonagall wondered. "It makes no sense!"
"I fear it was targeted at you, Headmaster," Hermione told them. "Professor Slughorn told us that he had a student deliver him that barrel as your Christmas present. He seemingly forgot to give it to you."
"That's the fourth attempt, Albus," McGonagall said in a concerned voice, seemingly forgetting for a moment that students were present. "Shouldn't we cancel the Hogsmeade outing?"
"No, Minerva, this attempt has been planned months ago, and has nothing to do with today's events. I don't see how this would mean any danger to the students," Dumbledore replied evenly. Noticing that two of said students were still present, he immediately addressed them. "Mister Potter, Miss Granger, thank you for your time and your actions. I think 20 points, each, are in order. You are free to go and continue your day," he dismissed them, and Harry quickly took Hermione's hand and pulled her after him, out of the door, before their luck ran out.
ooOOoo
"The assassin is a student, you know," Hermione said as they left the dungeons and stepped into the corridors towards the Entrance Hall.
"Why? It could as well be a Death Eater," Harry replied evenly as they stepped into the Entrance Hall.
"I doubt that, Harry. The poisonous mead was brought by a student, on Slughorn's demand; this means that the student must be involved in it somehow," she rationalized.
"Maybe Malfoy? He has the mark, after all," Harry thought loudly.
Hermione laughed out loud at that. "That I strongly doubt. Malfoy was trying to woo Slughorn to be invited in his circles all the time, remember? I doubt Slughorn would talk to him about needing a Christmas present," she set her boyfriend right, proving that his luck had run out for today.
Or maybe not, because Hermione still had some plans for him as she laughingly took his arm and dragged him out of the castle and down to town.
ooOOoo
"Look who's coming!" Ginny yelled over the din in the 'Three Broomsticks'. Obviously, the news of their saving Slughorn already made it to town; Harry and Hermione have to wade through crowds of well-wishers, as everybody and his dog tried to slap their backs. Harry took this as a sign that his luck had really run out for today. The crowd was nearly too thick to get through, with even some Slytherins approaching them, but George came to their aid and shouldered some people out of their way to clear a path for them.
"Figures, you two go and do something heroic and send poor little old me to the bar, to chaperone those two," Ginny told them as they finally had reached the table near the Floo, thumbing over her shoulder towards the other two members of their group.
"Not very successfully, it seems," Harry teased with a look at the snogging couple, before he gave Fred a nod in greeting.
"Sue me," Ginny returned acidly. "Are you done saving the world for today? This crowd is getting on my nerves," she grumbled.
Harry didn't comment on that and started shouldering his path over to the fireplace, and flooed out immediately. Hermione shrugged at Ginny over her boyfriend's behaviour. "Give us a minute to open the wards for you, and then follow us," she said, and reached for some Floo powder, herself
A short journey spinning through the ethereal space connecting the fireplaces, Hermione stepped out of the grate, smiling as she saw Harry dusting off his knees, frowning something fierce.
"Are you alright?" she asked compassionately, reaching for his hand to squeeze.
Harry gave her a won smile as he grabbed it and pulled her near. "No, it's just this hero worship I can't stand. This and Malfoy - I saw him heading my way, and I wasn't in the mood for his stupid taunts," he said as he rested his head on her shoulder, inhaling her scent in order to calm himself down again before he would open the Floo connection for his friends.
ooOOoo
About five minutes later, his bad mood had evaporated as he watched his friends dart around in the arrival lounge of the Villa. Luna was smiling serenely as she looked out of the window, with Neville beside her. The only difference was that Luna was watching the ocean in the distance while Neville's eyes were firmly on the lush vegetation closer at hand. He could get lost for months in that jungle and would probably not even notice.
Ginny, on the other hand, was channelling a four year old. Yeah, that description would fit well if you imagine that four year old on Christmas day, after about a pound of sweets for breakfast. She was running from window to window, squealing and whooping in joy at every new sight. Harry had to smile as he saw his honorary sister in such glee over something she never thought she would ever be able to witness in her life. At first, she had not believed Hermione that the Caribbean had temperatures in the thirty degrees Celsius range all year round, but now she was really glad she did take her swimsuit with her. The twins were standing nearby, watching their sister with the same smiles.
"Hello there!" Henry's voice boomed as he strode in, Margret hanging on his arm, while Tonks and Remus were right behind them and added their greetings.
"Hey everybody, I'm Margret, Hermione's mum," Margret said as she went straight towards the newcomers. "Hermione and Harry still have some stuff to discuss with Mister Lupin and Miss Tonks, so why don't you just follow me down to the beach for a swim while they do their boring stuff," she offered the eager audience. The others didn't need to be told twice and happily followed Margret and Henry out of the door, accepting towels from the house-elves as they passed them.
As soon as the door fell shut, Dobby popped in and set a tray with cold beverages on the couch table. "Does Master Harry or his Grangy be needing anything else from Dobby? If not, Dobby be helping Winky making picnic for Master Harry'ses friendses," the now much more restrained elf asked. The days on the island certainly changed his behaviour, but his pidgin was getting even worse from talking to the townsfolk. At least, he hadn't started using terms like 'mon', yet.
With a slight shake of his head and a heartfelt "No, thank you, Dobby," Harry dismissed him, and like the dutiful elf he was, Dobby immediately popped away to find other duties.
Grabbing a can of Pepsi for himself and a diet Coke for Hermione - they had decided to live with the fact that they couldn't agree on one brand - he sat down on the couch next to his girl, trying to press the can against her neck.
Hermione had already foreseen this, and quickly relieved him of her drink, settling down and popping her can while the others got themselves some drinks and settled down for their briefing.
"Anything new on the Riddle issue?" Harry asked.
Remus leaned forward in his seat as he began his report. "Well, now that we do know what he has done, Dora and I had looked up everything we could. First of all, how to dispose of them."
"Have you gotten in touch with Bill, yet?" he asked the twins, who had taken a seat on a single chair, each on one armrest, leaning against each other.
"We have, Moony."
"I believe he might be willing to support us,"
"And most importantly, he won't tell anyone."
Remus nodded slowly. "Good. You might want to ask him whether he knows a good way to destroy a Horcrux safely. We only know about Basilisk venom and the Sword of Gryffindor, and both are hard to come by and to close for comfort. A curse-breaker might know some tricks of the trade that might be safer than brute force."
"Would a killing curse work?" Harry asked.
"What?" He asked when everyone else in the room looked at him as if he had farted. "It is a piece of a soul, so it should work on it."
"Theoretically, yes," Remus relented. "But that's not really what I'd call a safe way. This curse is not to be used lightly."
Harry shrugged it off. "If that's what it takes..."
"We hoped to find a pattern to his creations. We know that he hasn't used random junk items, except for what we believe to be his first Horcrux. But even then, he used his personal diary," Tonks continued.
"We think he used items that had some personal meaning to him," Remus explained.
"So he used Slytherin's Locket because he is a heir to Slytherin?" Hermione stated.
"Probably. And the ring was something that belonged to his family, as well. What do you know about it? Was it another Slytherin heirloom?" Tonks took over.
"According to the memories Dumbledore showed us, it was a heirloom of an old family. Peverell, I think," Harry replied, looking at Hermione for confirmation. She replied with a nod, while Tonks whistled slowly.
"Peverell? That's a legendary ancient house. That's quite a trinket on itself. A Heirloom of Slytherin and of Peverell? That's quite a collection."
"Collection!" Hermione shouted suddenly enough to make Fred fall from the armrest.
"Could it be that easy?" Hermione queried while her gaze darted around the room.
"We can't quite follow you, Hermione," Remus tried to fish for an explanation.
Hermione turned to Harry, almost shouting at him. "Harry! Don't you remember? The memory when Dumbledore fetched Riddle - the secret stash!"
"I think you are on to something," Harry replied, with all eyes now resting on him.
"With his megalomaniac mindset, he might very well have gone for it," Hermione argued, and Tonks had enough of this.
"Gone for what?" she interrupted them.
"Trophies," Hermione excitedly stated. "He went for big trophies!"
After this was said, they sat silent for a few moments, each of them trying to come to grips with the new information.
"Okay," Remus took up the thread after the pause. "We'll look into this. The next point on the schedule - our problem with access to the island," he started. Hermione perked up at that, while Harry sighed, shrugged and took another swig of his can.
"That's our codeword," Fred said as he rose from his seat. "Yeah, see you in the sea, Harry," George joined in as both made their way to the door.
"Don't let the sharks bite you," Harry shouted after them.
"Sorry... Please carry on," he said as he noticed Remus had stopped and waited for him to finish the banter.
"I took my time to ask Matty, and he pointed out that it the relative isolation of this island was by choice, and due to the fact that the Blacks were a bunch of paranoid bastards," Remus continued as he leaned back into the couch, grinning smugly. "Thus, the portkey entry point is not public, but only for own portkeys, and in this room instead of the market square."
"But other than that, it's a standard area ward," Tonks happily concluded.
"So Harry could make portkeys for others to use?" Hermione asked for confirmation of the obvious.
Tonks smiled as smug as a person in complete control of her facial expression could as she replied with a question. "Could you see a Governor making portkeys all day, to provide for the people's need to travel?"
Harry could only snort as he tried to picture an island's version of Lucius sitting and enchanting various rubbish items, with people standing in line in front of his ornate desk, waiting for their turn. "Not really," Hermione admitted at the same time.
"He could, of course, but there is a simpler way. He can appoint a ward keeper," Remus smiled.
"So you're applying for that position?" Harry smiled back.
Remus let out a howling laugh. "No, cub. My portkeys are crap, and international ones are even worse. If I were to aim for London, you'd wind up in Marseille, if you're lucky. Let Tonks handle this."
"Ok, how is it done?"
Remus stood and went over to the knot board. "Come here, what you have to do is..."
ooOOoo
"And how is the duelling with Flitwick going? I heard he is great, how are you faring?" Tonks asked eagerly after they settled the 'business' part of their meeting.
Harry beamed a smile in return. "Brilliant! I have yet to beat him, in fact, I have yet to hit him with something serious."
"Indeed, he is amazing," Hermione added. "The way he wields his magic is far beyond everything I ever thought possible. In a duel with Dumbledore or Voldemort, I wouldn't know on whom I would bet my money."
"Voldemort, for sure. They had a fight once, the one where Moody lost his leg. Voldemort is an excellent dueller, is as powerful as Dumbledore, and ruthless. They had taken four Death Eaters down in a raid, when suddenly, he and Bellatrix arrived. Moody took on Bellatrix, while Flitwick and your dad managed to hold him off until the others could take down the wards and then they all portkeyed out. Flitwick was out for a full week after that fight, as was your dad. Without them, we would have lost the whole team," Remus said, and Harry was not at all amused about these news. Not even the fact that it was a new story about his dad could lighten his mood.
"So a 15 years younger Flitwick - with help - couldn't match him? Great!" he huffed. "I can't even hit Flitwick, and he is always four steps ahead of me, even while holding back! How on earth do you expect me to fight Voldemort!"
"I believe you don't use your battlewand and full power on Flitwick, do you, Harry?" Remus tried to alleviate the boy's fears. "Your power is a huge bonus, especially if you manage to draw the fight out - Voldemort will tire, you not," he said as he sent Harry an supportive smile.
"And remember, you will have more help than Flitwick had," Hermione said, with all the other people present nodding gravely.
"Enough of this depressing stuff, I didn't get here just to sulk in the sun instead of the fine Scottish weather," Harry huffed as he slapped his legs, beginning to rise. "Come on, we better get ourselves out on the beach and into the water; really, Hogwarts has a way to make you forget that you ever felt warm," he laughed as he pulled an eager Hermione to her feet, aiming for the door to get changed.
Tonks and Remus followed in a more sedate way, Tonks casually shrugging off her kimono-like robes to reveal a bright red one-piece suit, with Remus only opening the two buttons that held his flowery shirt closed.
They were halfway out of the villa, when they were surpassed by a giggling Hermione in a bikini and cover-up being chased by Harry in shorts. As soon as she had cleared the threshold of the entry hall, Hermione apparated away. With a shout of "That's cheating!" Harry disappeared, as well.
Shrugging their shoulders, both followed the teens through the ether, re-materializing down at Skull Beach, to witness an all-out water battle between the kids, with Harry currently propelling a squealing Hermione a few feet high into the air by wandless levitation, from where she elegantly dived back into the sea, head first.
Before she had resurfaced, the twins were already bothering Harry to do the same to them.
Tonks was shaking her head at them before she had to tackle Remus to stop staring at Luna in her outfit as the blonde sauntered by. Not that she could blame him, but teasing would be well within the line.
Neville, for one - and not alone in this - definitely approved of her outfit, and had even commented positively on it, after he had managed to break his petrification at seeing her carelessly drop her dress right in front of him once they had reached the beach. Of course, she had worn a bikini swimsuit underneath, but for a split second, Neville's surprise and imagination got the better of him before he noticed the suit. The fact that it was so small as to be easily overlooked enhanced his problem. Even Hermione was wondering where the strange girl had gotten that suit from; or the concept of a thong, in case she made it herself.
Remus chose to spare himself further humiliation by joining Henry at the pit, aiding the man's endeavour of lighting the fire with a few well-placed charms. He could already smell the marinated steaks in their containers, as well as he could imagine the smell of the sausages and burgers soon to be sizzling on the grill.
Margret was helping Winky to spread a few blankets on the beach, which proved tricky in the slight breeze, and due to the fact that sticking charms didn't work too well on sand. But with a few well-placed heaps of sand and driftwood, the setting was soon ready for the meal.
Hermione and Ginny were currently cheering for the twins, who were making more and more convoluted spins and turns in the air, trying to make the biggest splashes on impact. The fact that Harry was already launching them as high as about twenty feet high into the air - he had taken hold of his battlewand to improve trajectories - made those splashes exorbitant.
Fred was currently going down in the thinker's pose, with Ginny whistling her approval, while Luna was still doing her best to drown Neville with a full splash and dunk attack on the timid boy.
Finally, Neville found his courage to splash water back at Luna. Ginny used that excuse to join her forces, splashing water with both hands. After finding his courage to fight back , Neville proved to be rather proficient at it, big hands and strong shoulders from all the weed pulling. Finally, the girls scored a decisive victory when Luna distracted him profoundly, with Ginny using his shocked state to shoot a huge splash of seawater right into his gaping mouth.
The water activities were cut short when Luna somehow attracted a pair of dolphins who weren't averse to getting petted by the girl. The others were allowed to touch the sleek creatures as well, but Luna even managed to let herself be pulled through the water for a bit under the disbelieving stares of all others, before the dolphins disappeared as quickly as they had come.
Deciding to end the swim on that high note, and sufficiently hungry to devour a herd of Hippogriffs, the group joined the adults on the beach. There, the fun continued in a nice meal, with the twins trying to outdo each other as to which one could make the biggest burger they still could bite into. It was hilarious when the ten inch concoction George came up with popped into his face, the sauces spilling all over him, and leaving Fred as the winner. Not that his victory dance was less saucy...
ooOOoo
The joy over their outing at the beach intensified into near ecstasy when the two new girls were led into the Robery and their eyes fell on the huge assortment of various dresses and accessories. Watching the red-headed streak dash all over the place in a futile attempt to look at all the clothes at once, Harry, chuckling, shook his head and grabbed his outfit on the way to the dressing rooms while Hermione went for her wardrobe. Luna joined Ginny in the rush for an outfit, but more sedate, gliding through the racks, touching one or the other item appreciatively, as if she were a starlet shopping at Harrods.
Dressing at the usual high speed only men are capable of, Harry stepped back into the room and went to help Neville, who was rather sedately looking for something fitting. As Harry offered his assistance, Neville declined, telling Harry that he had promised Luna that she could decide on his outfit.
That talk was cut short as Luna arrived, carrying a huge bundle of various fabrics. After eyeing the display and Neville with a keen eye, Luna nearly randomly reached out and handed Neville the items she had grabbed before she sauntered away. Suddenly doing a face-about, she snatched a black tricorne from a rack and put it on Neville's head. Giving him a peck on the cheek, she gave him a bright smile and pronounced him ready to go, especially with the hat, which would help to ward off the Spumefrogs.
Surprisingly, the outfit was somehow consistent. Beige trousers, black slipper shoes and a yellow shirt were the basic layout, and a purple vest completed the picture. As Neville had already expected to end up looking as colourful as a parrot, he was rather relieved and happy with his new style.
After tearing through various racks under loud squeals that had Margret shaking with laughter, Ginny had found herself a really nice emerald green and white laced dress that looked spectacular with her pale skin and red hair. The wide fluted sleeves were a bit outdated, and she didn't really fill out the bust, but she loved it. She decided on some low heels and grudgingly accepted a parasol at Hermione's command. After all, she knew how easily she would burn in the sun.
When she saw what Hermione used for clothing, she was rather tempted to get a similar outfit as well, but knew she lacked the bravery and more importantly, and depressingly, the rack to pull that off. As she intended to spend most of the day in her swimsuit on the beach, anyway, she decided to keep her dress.
Luna, on the other hand - something they should have expected of her, since they wouldn't have expected it from her - used only a long piece of cloth and a very, very, very short top she came up from somewhere in the exotic corner. She used the cloth as a kind of skirt, folded triangular, slung around her hips somehow and thrown over her shoulder, leaving it knee length on one side, and about mid thigh on the other. She then added about every necklace she could find, claiming that this style was very famous in this area on something called the 'mad grass' festival, and even tying some around her waist as belts until she looked very much like a much younger, and definitely much hotter version of Trelawney.
Hermione later called that outfit a 'Choli' with a Sari, 'of some kind, only much shorter'.
With everybody adorned properly, the group headed out to the town. Harry with Hermione hanging on his arm took the lead, Ginny quickly falling in step next to Hermione, chatting excitedly about everything she saw. Luna and Neville followed behind then, along with the Grangers, Neville pointing out exotic plants with magical properties, with Luna telling the Grangers about creatures that fed on these. Tonks and Remus took the rearguard, both biting down hard on their lips at Luna's outrageous creations.
Soon, the palisade of the town came into view, and with them the first inhabitants. Shouts of "Ahoi, Captain!" and "Greetings, Governor," rang out, announcing their presence to others to take up the calls. Harry had to chuckle, as did the other 'salty' members of his crew. That behaviour wasn't entirely out of politeness, it was a way of alerting all people inconspicuously of the arrival of visitors.
"This is awesome, Harry," Ginny said in hushed tones as they walked along the promenade, taking time to eyeball the goods for sale at the market, of varying quality and not always legally procured. Neville was currently haggling over some dried botany. Well, he was choosing the merchandise and Luna was haggling. Very effectively, as her state of dress seriously diminished the ability of the vendor to keep track of the current offer.
She had drawn more than the odd stare from the people passing by, Harry had noticed, and alerted Hermione and Tonks to that.
"We'll watch out, but I doubt there would be problems. She's with Neville and us, so no one will try to hire her, and Esmeralda's girls will notice instantly that Luna's no professional, so they won't try and protect their turf," Tonks calmly stated, watching out for potential misfits.
Hermione sighed softly. "She certainly knows how to get attention, look how Neville isn't leaving her side all the time - I bet that was her plan," she whispered while they were watching Luna looking for some colorful scarfs, with Neville shielding her from passers-by. Some younger ones were trying to accidentally bump into her, while most of them were giving her strange looks and whispered amongst each others.
As they were on limited time, they passed the 'Red A' in order to continue the tour, arriving at the harbour.
"Wow, is that your ship, Captain Harry?" Ginny teased as they found the Pathfinder at anchor, currently getting unloaded of what looked like wheat sacks. The fact that they also had an ornate table and chest sitting among the goods told Harry that they had found an opportunity to make a 'fire-sale bargain' along the way back.
"Actually no," Harry replied truthfully, "this is the town's ship. I have one of my own, but it's currently away from harbour," he continued as truthful, but less than precise.
"So you're waiting for you ship to come in," Luna said dreamily, "how romantic. Wouldn't it be nice to have one of those at Hogwarts, Neville? We could sail around the Lake."
Neville only shrugged. To him, everything was fine as long she was happy.
"Neville, Neville," George teased. "We really have to take you aside for a talk sometimes."
Fred nodded in agreement. "True - in no time, he will 'Yes, dear' all her comments."
"So you will teach him to be in control and more assertive? That would be nice - although I think Harry would be better for that job," Luna happily chatted back. Harry was already treating Hermione to the evil eye, ready to fire a broadside, when Luna's comment of "After all, he is Captain of a ship and stuff," defused the situation.
While Harry was trying to apologize nonverbally for his assumption, Luna again caused another commotion.
"Look, there are Serena and her family," she shouted, running over to the dock's edge. "SERENA! NERID!" She shouted out loud, waving frantically at the dolphins that could be seen passing by in the distance. Harry was already mentally trying to sink into the ground at her behaviour, as the people were now staring even more. All work on the dock had slowed when she was running by, and when the dolphins even answered in their resounding chatter, all movement ceased as people stared at her slack-jawed.
"So sweet of them to say goodbye," Luna said as she returned, a few moments of waving later, after the dolphins submerged again. Hooking her arm into Neville's, she pulled him along back on the road, ignoring how the sailors practically jumped out of her way when she passed them.
After that strange event, they continued their tour of the town, but Harry couldn't fail to notice that most people were giving them a wide berth now, whispering among each other, staring and occasionally pointing at Luna. More curiously, Harry couldn't fathom why they all kept mentioning that type of Caribbean dance music in hushed tones every time they pointed at Luna.
AN:
I seem to be on a run with this story, and thank the people busy with keeping the errors under control. Once more, my sincere thanks go out to joelawyer, embirsiphonelilathia, and alix33.
"Normal" is a relative term in Harry's life...