Chapter 52
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything.
James sat eating breakfast with Harry and began explaining what the plan was for the rest of the week.
"Today we'll stay here and go to the beach. Tomorrow we're going to Italy, where I'll take you to amazing restaurants. The following day we'll go to France, where we can go cycling. Then the next day we'll stay in France, I want to take you to an amazing castle. Then the next day we'll go to Wales, just so I can show you more places that me and Lily wanted to take you. Then on Thursday I want to take you to America! I've seen your wardrobe, and I hate to say it son, but you need more clothes. And I don't want to see one single item of clothing from the Dursleys again. I brought you enough to last you till we go to America. Any objections? Anything you don't want to do? Anything you do want to do? Oh, and Friday we need to go home because I want to visit some old friends, you can come too, if you want to, it really is up to you." James explained.
"Well... wow! Now, I'm getting all excited! America and Italy... and France and Wales! I've never been anywhere like those places before. And I definitely have no objections. Except... I saw this go-kart place not too far from here. Can we go?" Harry asked.
"What's a go-kart?" James asked.
"Oh, Dudley had a go-kart party when we were little. But adults can go on them too. It's like a small car... without a roof. They go really fast and you race around these tracks. I obviously wasn't allowed to have a go at the Dursleys, but I really wanted to. So, can we dad, can we?" Harry asked like a hyperactive five year old.
"Of course. Now you've explained it I think I remember driving past it. We can go there this morning and then after we can go to the beach!" James said with a smile.
Harry grinned and ran upstairs to get ready for another day.
The Potters walked into the go-kart place and looked for the manager.
James told Harry about a spell that he was going to use so that everything anyone said in another language would be translated for them and they would hear what they say in English. Then when either of them spoke the Spanish people would hear them speaking fluent Spanish. He had already cast the spell and they approached a man with a name tag.
"Hello, how can I help you?" he asked.
"We'd like to have a go on these go-karts for a while." James said.
"Have either of you been on one before?" he asked.
"No." James said.
"Well, I can help teach you what to do. You need to go over there; there is a rack of helmets. Find the ones that fit you and you'll need to wear them. It'll be twenty euro's for an hour." The man said.
James handed over the money that he had found at his house. The man pointed them over to the helmets and the father and son began trying them on.
Once they had found their right size the man showed them to their go-karts and explained how to work them. James and Harry both listened and then when they got in the go-karts, they looked at each other with a smile and James said "I'll race you."
The race was on. They sped around the track, dodging tires and corners. James was in the lead at first but as he turned around to send a grin to his son, who had a look of pure concentration and stubbornness on his face, the man crashed into a pile of tires. He was unharmed and so was the go-kart. But Harry laughed as he drove past James.
James pouted and managed to get the go-kart to turn around so he could continue on the track.
In the end Harry won the race.
They both got out of the go-karts, laughing and pulling their helmets off.
"Did you enjoy yourselves?" The manager asked.
"Oh, yes, it was very good!" James said.
Half an hour later Harry and James were setting up their place on the beach, both putting their towels down in a relatively quiet spot, but there were still a few families around.
James put the umbrella up.
"Dad, Dudley always used to complain that when he went to the beach Uncle Vernon just sat there eating or sleeping, you're not going to do that are you?" Harry asked.
"No way! I came here to have fun. What's the point of sleeping on the beach anyway? Now, have you put more sun tan lotion on since this morning?" James asked seriously.
"No." Harry answered.
"Well, you can do yourself; remember the tips of your ears. Keep the hat on. Are you going to wear that shirt, or will you need me to help put some on your back?" James asked.
"Erm... you know I have some scars... from the Dursleys, so I don't feel comfortable taking my shirt off." Harry said awkwardly.
"Oh, well that's fine. When we get back to the villa I can get one of the house elves to go to the nearest wizard hospital and get some healing cream. It won't make the scars disappear completely, but they will be less prominent." James explained.
"Really? Would it work on this scar?" Harry pointed at the lightning bolt on his forehead.
"Sorry, son, but that's a cursed scar. Nothing could hide that." He said, James felt sorry for his son, having to have the scar etched into his forehead so that every time he looked in the mirror he saw what he lost.
Harry smiled and they spent the day at the beach. They swam in the sea for a while and played Frisbee on the sand. Harry couldn't remember the last time he felt so free and at ease with everything.
They went back to the villa and James came into Harry's bedroom where his son was reading a book on defence against the dark arts. He had the healing cream.
Harry sat up properly and began un-buttoning his pyjama shirt. He felt extremely uncomfortable; he had never shown anybody his scars. But they were on his back and he couldn't reach them, and he trusted James more than anyone.
James gasped at first sight of his son's back. There were burns and belt buckle marks all down his back.
Harry stiffened at James' gasp.
"Erm... sorry, it was just a shock. I'm so sorry you had to go through this." James said sadly as he unscrewed the lid of cream and dipped his fingers into it.
Harry shrugged. "It's not your fault."
James began to gently cover Harry's scars with the cream. The cream, like many magical medicines, made the patient tired. So when James was finished he lay Harry on his front and gently lay the cover on his half asleep son.
"They will look less bad in the morning." He whispered, kissed Harry's temple, and left the room.
And true to James' word as Harry looked at his back in the mirror in the morning, he saw that the scars were a lot less prominent. He jogged into James' room and bounced to kneel next to his sleeping father.
"Dad! Look they're almost gone; you can hardly see most of them!" Harry said happily.
James mumbled something incoherently, but as he woke up more he saw the wonders that the cream had done.
"Great!" he said "Hopefully now you'll feel more comfortable. Oh, and Harry, never worry about me, Remus and Sirius seeing these scars, we completely understand and know that there is nothing to be ashamed of when we are around. You can tell us anything. Even horrible embarrassing moments, and because you are a teenager there will probably be many more to come, we've all had them too." James said with a smile.
"Thanks dad." Harry said.
"And do you remember where we are going today?" James asked.
"Italy!" Harry said excitedly.
Author's note: I hope you are enjoying my story! Please please review! I have over 300 now and I always have a thrill of excitement when I read them. You are all so kind and I appreciate every word you say. I had some spare time earlier today and I basically wrote out a basic time-line for this story, so don't worry about me hitting writer's block any time soon. Please forgive me, but I have important exams coming up, so I can't update every day, but I will obviously use any spare time I have towards writing more chapters for you. Please tell me what you think so far and what you think of this chapter, I really appreciate what you have to say.
Thanks for all the reviews!
With love from:
Fantasybean xxx
