44.

Pansy:

No secrets in front of the fire.

"Shall we put the towels away?" Aurora murmured. "Agh! Where is that wand?!"

"Didn't you put it in your bag with the other things?" Pansy, who was leaning back in the chair, asked her.

Aurora rummaged through all the objects in the bag, taking out various things there until she found her wand stuck between the towels (which had been the first thing she put away).

"You could help. No?"

"You were mad at me when I tried," Pansy muttered.

Her mother ignored her, as she put everything back in her bag.

"Okay, let's go, or we'll be late," Aurora ordered.

Pansy got up from the couch, raising her arms over her head to stretch. Today they were going to Isa's concert. It was a small problem because of the schedule, since it started at eleven at night. They were all sixteen years old, and even less (when counting Ginny and Luna), so the parents did not agree to let them go alone, to a new city and to a concert where people of legal age also were. The solution ended up being that some adults would accompany them. Now, Pansy had her doubts about how sensible it was for the two "responsible adults" to be Aurora Parkinson and Xenophilius Lovegood.

"The Burrow," Aurora said, and threw the floo powder into the fireplace, before entering it. Pansy followed her after a few seconds.

Upon arrival, she immediately found a pair of red-haired manes. Pansy rolled her eyes, because they were the twins, watching for when she and her mother would arrive.

"Miss Parkinson," both Weasleys greeted at the same time with dazzling smiles.

"Need help with your bag?" George added, taking a step forward.

Aurora was quite oblivious to them, looking at herself for dust. The Burrow's chimney from time to time caused small accidents because of how old it was, but they were both lucky, they didn't seem to have been stained with ashes this time. As she entered the kitchen she was glad to see that Hermione was already there, sitting at the table. There were also the two Lovegoods, plus all the redheads Weasley and Sirius Black.

Wait. What? Was it a mistake? Sirius Black? He didn't look like the pictures in the newspaper, where he looked haggard, with sunken cheekbones and matted hair, generally dirty-looking, as well as a wild and insane frown as he screamed. The man in front of her had shorter hair than in the photos, no beard, clean and neat from head to toe. There were no traces of fatigue, although his skin denoted that he had been away from the Sun for a long time, since it bordered on the sickly by its somewhat yellowish tone. In the friendly surroundings, dressed in simple clothes and his carefree demeanor, with his not quite white and even toothy smile, Pansy could glimpse something of that billionaire pureblood family to which he belonged, and without a doubt, she could see in him physical traits of Narcissa Malfoy, one of her cousins, whom she had come across so many times at parties. There was no doubt, it was him. Sirius Black was sitting there.

Pansy paled, taking a step back.

"Hello!" Black said, rising from the seat with a crooked smile. "It is a pleasure to be able to finally meet. Well, officially, since I did see you several times. And calm down, I promise not to cause you much suffering, your death will be... Au!" He put his hands to his head, trying to cover himself from the blows Molly gave him with a rag.

"I told you not to joke! Don't scare her!"

"Don't worry, Miss Parkinson!" George exclaimed in a gentlemanly tone.

"We'll protect you from any criminal," Fred added, winking at Aurora.

Pansy rested her hand on the kitchen door frame, feeling like she could die right now from so many upsets together. Aurora didn't seem much better, she just couldn't even react.

"Sirius is not a criminal," Hermione said calmly, rising from the table. "It is official, the Ministry acquitted him of all her charges. He did nothing, they unjustly accused him. In a week or less, all of this will be out in The Daily Prophet."

Pansy and Aurora exchanged glances, sharing the confusion.

"I'm Harry's godfather. That's why I'm here," Black explained.

"He didn't kill the Potters?" Aurora murmured fearfully, still not moving a muscle.

"He was wrongfully charged," Hermione insisted, already close enough to Pansy to grab her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "I wish I could explain all this to you in a letter..."

"And why didn't you do it?" Pansy muttered irritably.

"Yesterday was Harry's birthday, he came unexpectedly... I found out today when I arrived!"

"Hey, I'm a good guy," Sirius Black continued, who seemed to be having a lot of fun talking to upset them. "I helped you with that Slytherin bitch."

"Language!" Molly scolded him.

Pansy frowned, not understanding anything. She looked at Hermione, who smiled ruefully and explained:

"The dog in Hogsmeade?"

Pansy's mouth fell open in disbelief. Come to think of it, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been acting very strange about the whole Black thing when that Death Eater escape happened earlier in the year, shortly before Valentine's Day...

"Hey Sirius," Fred said, "your cousin was too challenging for you, but was a teenage girl a match for you?"

Black clenched his jaw, glaring at him.

"Bellatrix didn't beat me."

"I don't understand," Aurora murmured.

"Oh no? Didn't you fail in your mission in France?" George scoffed.

"She wasn't there, it's not my fault she managed to evade us all!" He yelled irritably.

"I don't understand either," Pansy murmured to her mother, tensing as she heard Black's abrupt change in demeanor. That man was crazy!

Hermione, under her breath, insisted that "she could explain everything."

. . .

To recap, Harry was now living in a place called Grimmauld Place with the murderer of his parents, who all this time was not actually their murderer, but his godfather. The real killer of the Potters had been Ron's pet, a rat Crookshanks had always suspected. Pansy was still... confused, really. Although she was very amused that a cat was better at catching criminals than an entire auror patrol.

Also, it appeared that she had already crossed paths with Sirius Black during an outing to Hogsmeade. He used his animagus transformation to be that big black dog that had helped them with Daphne. Again she began to worry about the ability of the aurors, since a supposed criminal had walked among thousands of students without difficulty and with the help of Headmaster Dumbledore, to top it off. Pansy added to her thoughts that the Headmaster was a bit nuts. What if he was wrong? What if Sirius Black was actually guilty? After all, justice hadn't exonerated him at the time, and he had no proof of his innocence until Hermione, Harry, and Ron discovered the whole mystery... if at all, by Merlin! Thanks Crookshanks! The true guardian of Hogwarts.

However, the important thing seemed to be that Sirius Black was not going to kill them all. And Harry was happy to see him and live with him, so she... Was she okay with all of this too? Shocked, but okay. Probably. Whatever! This was Harry's problem. Better to focus on the beach.

They had arrived at Chalkwell Beach with a portkey located several blocks from the Burrow. There they met Rachel and Sophie, who had been too shy to visit the Weasley home. Also, Neville, who couldn't get there earlier because his grandmother needed his help. They would have loved to meet Isa here too, but they had rehearsals with the band that they couldn't postpone. Still, they promised that they would try to visit them on the beach at sunset.

"I've never been to the beach before," Harry commented with a hopeful smile.

"It's not one of my favorite things. And I think you'll understand why," Sophie said, tapping the frame of her glasses a few times with her finger.

"Don't forget to put on a protective spell!" Luna exclaimed.

Pansy almost laughed when she remembered how red Luna had been from the burns she got on vacation in some ancient ruins. She was speaking from experience, better pay attention to her. The two adults were in charge of applying the spell to the young people before the reminder, as they were the only ones who could do magic.

They were all walking down the street toward the ocean. By that hour, quite a few people were heading there, some with umbrellas, others with large hats that covered their faces from the sun. Pansy wore black glasses, since the strong light used to easily irritate her eyes. She was also holding a small bag, everyone had something on them, things they would use for their day at the beach.

"What do you think about adding some gold here? Fringed," Xenophilius said.

"Are you serious?" Aurora asked, trying to control the expression on her face, which almost didn't scream "What bad taste!"

"Of course. I took a course on fashion design, after taking one on interior design. I know what I'm talking about," he commented proudly.

"Of course you do," she conceded in a sarcastic tone.

"You could even model for The Quibbler! I can show you some things I have planned, it would be an honor for the magazine to have a model of your caliber."

"Thanks but…"

"Oh, I know!" He interrupted her. "You would look splendid in a vest made with peacock feathers!"

"Why do I have a feeling that you would get along splendidly with Lucius Malfoy?" She teased, sounding edgy and dry.

"We go to the same hair salon, actually I spoke to him a couple of times," Xenophilius confessed.

Pansy bit her lip, shuddering as she tried to swallow her laugh. She would have done anything to listen to that conversation! That surely was an absolute disaster. Aurora seemed to be in the same situation as she had turned her face so as not to laugh in the man's face.

When they reached the beach, they stopped near some white painted wooden stairs. Aurora didn't seem too excited as she spent more time with Luna's father, but she didn't openly express her displeasure.

"I'll go drink at the bar there," Aurora pointed out, so the teens would know where to find her. Pansy narrowed her eyes, causing her mother to cross her arms, offended. "By Morgana! I'll just have an iced tea or something, it's noon."

"Oh, it sounds splendid! We can discuss The Quibbler there."

Aurora gave Xenophilius an awkward smile in response, now she regretted just being able to have tea or another non-alcoholic drink. But whether she wanted to or not, she could no longer drink. Pansy had ended up begging her to start going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to overcome her addiction, and she ended up agreeing. She seemed to be striving to improve.

"So they'll both be across the street?" Luna confirmed, with that soft and kind voice so characteristic of her.

"Yes, I'd rather not go in," Aurora said, looking out at the ocean. "I don't like the beach, it burns my skin unevenly. Now, if we were talking about a nude beach…"

"Mom, please," she stopped her, dead with shame.

Hermione and the others looked quite surprised; Harry, Neville and Hermione especially, who were uncomfortable looking at the ground and feigning deafness. Everyone except Luna, of course, she continued with the same dreamy and calm expression as always. Ginny seemed to be trying hard not to laugh, at the same time that she felt disgusted, as Rachel whispered something into her ear. Aurora shrugged in amusement, while muttering "children."

"Did you go to one, Auri? I like them, I don't see a valid reason to be ashamed of our bodies as they are."

"Auri," the aforementioned repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes, and you can call me Xeno. Come on, let's continue at the bar. I wonder if they serve cold chocolate milk…"

Luna's father stepped forward, and Aurora, letting out a heavy sigh, followed him, walking much slower. Surely she didn't get to hear Xenophilius as he spoke, and even more sure she was purposely missing what he was saying.

"Not a word," Pansy muttered to Ginny as she crossed to her side, as she caught her sneering smile out of the corner of her eye.

"I like your mother, I think she will become a great friend of my father," Luna commented, as she walked towards the stairs.

"She certainly doesn't have filters..." Hermione said.

She was still recovering from her last encounters with Aurora; In fact, she felt that Pansy and her mother had this "air that promised nothing good" in common, which made her nervous easily.

Once they all got out, they looked around. They had to be especially careful on the beach, as there was no designated space for magicians only. Although according to Hermione, it was easy to figure out who was what, since wizards are too quirky and Muggles ended up calling them weird and purposefully avoiding them, as if they were plagued. The teens chose a spot near some small sand dunes, well away from the water because they wanted some shade. They loosely dropped all the things they were holding onto the ground.

"All set?" Ginny asked anxiously. "Can we go to the water now?"

"We should set up the tent, the towels and..." Hermione tried to explain, but was interrupted by her best friend.

"We can do it later!"

"Ginny," she scolded her.

"Let's pitch the tent, Harry," said Ron. "I know how to do it, my dad taught me."

"Are we getting things out then?" Sophie asked, beginning to open the bag closest to her.

"Pss," Ginny hissed. "Luna."

"Yes?" Said the aforementioned.

"You coming?" Ginny asked, as she began to remove her shirt to reveal a bathing suit.

"I don't know... I want to make sand castles," she replied.

"Well, I'll help you wet the sand, let's go!" She grabbed Luna by the hand, pulling her up.

"Wait! I must get my shovel and my bucket."

"Can we build the castle together?" Neville offered, rejoicing at Luna's effusive nod to his idea.

"You know we can hear you, right?" Hermione reminded them, somewhat annoyed.

"And do you know, Rachel, that I'm watching you try to escape?" Sophie asked. "Drop that ball and help me."

"But!" Rachel complained, shrugging and groaning in frustration as she dropped the toy on the sand.

"Pansy, you help too," Hermione growled.

"I was just waiting to be assigned my task, officers," she joked with a half smile, going over to the bags to find the towels.

She had lied. Actually, she was hoping they would forget about her and leave her to watch them do all the work without lifting a finger... How lazy! She surely would have gotten away with it if it weren't for Ginny's nonsense.

"Auch!" Harry snapped. "Ron, be careful, you'll gouge my eye out with that stick."

"I'm sorry! I can't fit it... Where are the instructions?" He asked himself, searching through the boxes in the tent.

"Weren't you supposed to know how to put it together?" Ginny scoffed.

"Ginny, help!" Hermione demanded.

By working together, the tasks were done quickly. Before they knew it, Ginny bolted out to sea to dive headfirst into the water, Luna hot on her heels with her hands full of plastic buckets, shovels, and rakes, and Neville even further behind, following them at a slow pace as he looked carefully at the ground (sometimes he bent down to pick up a stone he liked). Rachel was dying to play beach volleyball ever since she had bought a ball in an impulsive act on the way here, so she ran to a nearby court where some strangers were playing. Harry and Ron had left with her, happy to play some sports.

Sophie, Hermione and Pansy preferred to stay out of the sun, so they were under an umbrella, near the tent (Pansy laughed a lot seeing Ron get frustrated with the tent for not remembering how it was set up, luckily Harry found the instructions and read them to figure out what to do). Hermione would always be Hermione, so she was sitting in a beach chair with a little book, reading. She wore a light buttoned shirt that covered her to mid-thigh; its thin fabric did not make her suffer from the heat. Sophie and Pansy chose to spread towels on the sand to lie on.

"At the concert, do you think Isa has something planned? Like letting us go backstage, maybe," Sophie said.

"I have no idea," Pansy replied, taking off her dress. It was one with buttons on the front, which made everything easier and faster. When she finished she sat down on the ground.

"I'd love to see what everything is like behind the scenes."

"Yeah? Sounds boring to me."

"Are you really not curious?" Sophie, who was already lying down, was surprised.

Pansy hugged her legs, using her knee to rest her cheek on it. She took a moment to think about her answer.

"I'd bet my soul that they only put them in a broom closet to change clothes or something like that," she said. "I care more about the dance floor, or the bar... surely it is even more interesting to go to the balcony where the smokers are concentrated."

"I hate you breaking my illusions," she complained, closing her eyes to enjoy the heat. "But yeah, you're right, it probably is as you say."

She laughed in response, finally laying down too. She kept her legs bent and crossed one of them over the other, so she could move one of her feet in the air. She rested her hands on her stomach and glanced at Hermione. Her hair was tied in a bun, but a few stray hairs were moving a bit in the wind. Her feet were bare, she had dug them into the sand. She expected Hermione to recite some of what she read to her if it was interesting to her, she liked that she did that, and she would hate it if she stopped herself just because Sophie was with them too. To her surprise, Hermione's gaze left the pages of the book for a second, staring at her. She resisted the urge to smile at her, since with her black glasses on, she didn't realize that Pansy could see her.

She was used to catching stares, and she liked it. Although there was something special about Hermione being the one who saw her and not anyone else, because she couldn't help but get excited, feel a pleasant sensation in the pit of her stomach. She loved having Hermione's attention. And even more so when she knew that she was appreciating her beauty. She closed her eyes, pleased, deciding to be nice and not tease Hermione this time. After all, could she blame her for being distracted from her reading like this? Her bikini fit her to die for, and she knew it.

Hours passed. Sometimes she would open her eyes and enjoy watching Hermione read, other times, she would rejoice at being eaten alive by the gaze of her girlfriend. She wondered if Sophie would realize that, Pansy knew her friend was quite observant, but luckily for Hermione, she also turned out to be a good person. If Rachel had been in her place, for example, she would have enjoyed using that information against her.

"Hey. Do you want something to drink?" Sophie asked, sitting up. "I'll go get a bottle of water."

"I'd like one too," Hermione said.

"Not me," Pansy clarified when they looked at her.

"Well, I'll be right back."

"Thanks Sophie," Hermione said.

Pansy sat up as well, turning her face so she could see Hermione. Sophie walked away, heading for the stairs that led down to the beach.

"So..." Pansy snapped, grinning.

"So?" Hermione repeated, also mimicking the smile.

"Do you know that the fun of the beach is wearing less clothes?"

Hermione snorted as she closed her book, using one of her fingers to mark the page.

"Well, your ankles are sexy too, don't worry," Pansy teased.

"Idiot," she muttered, laughing.

She shook her head, begging Hermione to sit with her. She hesitated for a few seconds, but accepted, putting her book on the chair. She walked over and sat on the sand, cross-legged, not caring about getting a little dirty.

"So..." Pansy said again.

"I don't know if I'll be amused playing your game," she answered this time.

"Just in case... Do you know that you are very attractive?"

"I guess so…"

"Very. Very very very attractive."

"Your techniques for trying to undress me are splendid."

"I know thanks. Years of experience."

Hermione rolled her eyes before answering:

"You know I don't feel comfortable wearing little clothes. Also, I hate swimming, it doesn't make sense."

"You could get a tan, like me."

His girlfriend just shrugged shyly. Pansy sighed, deciding not to insist further. She was sorry that she couldn't convey her confidence to her or make her understand that she really was, as she said, very very very attractive. Or that even if she was ugly as a troll (or Ginny Weasley, comparable), she didn't have to worry about other people's stares. The beach was to have fun and be comfortable, it was not a requirement to look good, the point was to enjoy the time without worrying about others. But hey, maybe Pansy wasn't the most objective in this matter... Hermione loved her and was dying to see her.

"Since you don't leave me a choice, I'll use my imagination to see you in a bikini," Pansy resolved, with a sly smile. Hermione didn't say anything, so she stepped on the edge more: "Or better with nothing…"

"Pansy," she muttered, her cheeks flushed slightly.

"Hey, your parents both work. We should go to your house when they are gone."

"Stop planning times to have sex," she said, angry and embarrassed.

"What? You don't want to?" Hermione was silent, so she insisted. "You don't want to?"

"Hmn," she stammered, fixing her attention on the sand.

"You did not like it?" She asked seriously, to scare Hermione.

"No... I mean, yes," she mumbled, still not wanting to see her. "Yes I liked it, but leave it, you pain."

"I already suspected, they all want a repeat with me."

"Pansy, you were a virgin too!" She exclaimed, exasperated.

She roared with laughter, which got even louder when Hermione hit her on the arm with her elbow.

"You're not going swimming then?" She asked. "You're totally sure?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I want to go to the water. Is it okay if I leave you with Sophie?"

"Of course. I'll keep reading, and I'm looking forward to the drink anyway…"

"Great," she said, removing the only ring she was wearing from her hand. "Take this."

Hermione stared at the object in confusion as she held it out to her, and then searched her eyes, wanting an explanation.

"I don't want to lose it, I prefer not to take it to the ocean and have it slip off by accident, or if I leave it in a bag it might fall out…"

"Oh," she realized. "I'll take care of it for you, don't worry."

"Put it on if you want," she said. "It will be more comfortable."

Hermione nodded, as she did what she asked. It was a little looser on her than Pansy, but it held onto her finger anyway.

"Thank you," she said, leaning in to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll kill you if something happens to my ring."

"How romantic," she complained.

From her grumpy gesture, she couldn't resist giving her another kiss on the lips. And another on her cheek before getting up. Hermione kept her brow furrowed, but her smile danced, forming, even though she tried to stay serious. She took off her glasses as well, putting them on Hermione's head. She winked at her before leaving.

When she reached the water and touched it with her feet, she shuddered, it was cold. Still, she kept walking until she was deep enough to float. She took a deep breath and then put her head under the water. She held her breath there for several seconds, then went out to get air. She wiped the traces of water from her eyes and pulled her hair back, brushing it from her face to look around.

"Hey, Ginny!" She called, because she was sure she had seen her hovering nearby.

"Pansy!" Rachel yelled.

"Weren't you playing volleyball?" She asked, surprised to find her here.

"I didn't like it very much, it's difficult, so I decided to swim," she sighed dejectedly.

"I told you not to buy the ball," she said, laughing.

"Hey, you two!" Ginny exclaimed, who had heard the call. "A race to the dock?"

"Ready to lose Weasley?" Pansy asked haughtily.

"Can kittens even swim? Doesn't water scare you?" Rachel added.

"Ha ha ha," Ginny feigned laughter.

Rachel and Pansy approached her, starting from the same place for the race.

"Ready to lose?" Ginny returned once they were all shoulder to shoulder.

"We'll start when you tell us," Rachel said.

Ginny widened her smile and in the blink of an eye she began to swim. She shouted "Go!" From several meters ahead, the very cheeky one. Pansy frowned. Damn cheater, she thought, throwing herself forward to try to catch up with her, determined to beat her.

"Hey!" Rachel complained, starting to swim chasing the other two.

. . .

She sat on her towel as she rummaged through a bag for something to dry off. Next to her was Sophie, lying down, she seemed to have fallen asleep. Hermione looked up from her book, smiling at her.

"I just read a part that I liked," she commented.

"Tell me."

She pulled out a towel, starting to dry her legs. She felt cold and a bit tired, she had been swimming for more than an hour. It surprised her that Ginny and Rachel still had energy.

"Life flees: do not show yourself so difficult to the happiness that presents itself," she recited.

She lifted one corner of her lips, as she now wiped her arms, the last thing she lacked.

"The French, always so deep!" Pansy said humorously.

"Don't tell me you don't like it."

"No, no. I did not say that. It's good." She looked up at Hermione. "I like when you read to me."

Hermione looked down at the book, her cheeks turning a little red. Pansy took the opportunity to find some clothing to cover herself, she had goosebumps.

The others did not take long to appear. Ginny, Luna, and Rachel sat at the entrance to the tent while taking turns drawing with a stick in the sand. Harry and Ron were close to Hermione, joking that she "never stopped studying, not even on vacation." Neville was sitting in the sand near Sophie, going through all the things he had collected.

"Well, you guys never do more than think about sports," Hermione said, defending herself.

"But what we're doing is play, Hermione, not homework," Ron excused himself.

"Novels, fiction books, are not homework."

"Pansy reads a lot too, I never would have guessed it of her," Sophie said.

"Right, before I met her I thought she was just putting makeup up her nose," Rachel added.

"Even now on the beach, they talk about phrases from books and their opinions..." Sophie replied.

"You were supposed to be asleep," Pansy said, annoyed.

"Dozing, more like," she confessed, grinning.

"Looks like they had fun!" Exclaimed a new voice, it was Xenophilius, who was taking the last steps to reach them. Aurora was a few steps behind him, she seemed to suffer from a headache and to be in a very bad mood.

"We did, Mr. Lovegood," Harry said.

It was getting dark, so Pansy was distracted by the sight. Everything was much more orange now and watching the Sun sink into the ocean was too pretty. She looked back at the adults, then she realized that someone was approaching them: Isa.

"I'm glad I found you, I was walking around for about... twenty minutes?" Isa greeted, although upon noticing the two unfamiliar adults, they shrugged their shoulders and gave them a friendly, tense smile. "Hello."

"It's Isa," Luna said.

"Our rock star!" Ginny added.

"I don't..." Isa freaked out, waving their hands in denial.

"Do you want to stay on the beach?" Aurora asked, ignoring Isa. "I am bored. I think there are interesting shops for pedestrians, it's like... three streets up."

"Oh that sounds so fun Auri!"

"Doesn't it?" She agreed with a tense kindness, her mother seemed desperate to kill Xenophilius.

"Actually..." Isa said in a low, shy voice, looking at their friends. "There is a place that I would like to show you. We would go through that part, where the plants grow."

"I'm not going to walk through the trees," Aurora warned.

"I... uh... I'm of legal age now. I can use magic. Nothing will happen, I've gone many times. I'll take care of everything. We can even go together to the bar where the concert will be when we finish…"

"Oh, you give me so much confidence," Aurora said wryly at Isa's hesitation.

"Sounds good," Xenophilius said. "They are all together and Isa can show up to look for us if something goes wrong. We must not go in and spoil the fun of the youngsters! We will be at the shops if you need us for an emergency. It's not very big, they'd find us easily." He turned, starting to walk away from the beach as he added, "Auri, we should go to Kukulupudus."

"What?" Asked Aurora, her brow furrowed and her arms crossed. "What kind of business is that?"

"You will love it!"

"I don't... Hey!" She growled, when Xenophilius grabbed her hand to pull her, forcing her to walk as well.

"Your mother will be fine, right...?" Hermione asked, a little worried. Pansy just sighed and shrugged.

"Should I help you put everything away?" Said Isa. "My backpack has an extendable spell, you can store everything there, it will be more comfortable."

"Why didn't we use one earlier?" Ron complained.

"My mother said she wouldn't do that spell because she liked making me carry things by hand," Pansy replied, rolling her eyes. "Supposedly I didn't help her at home. But she didn't want my help, I swear!"

"We were all punished for Pansy's laziness?" Ginny wailed.

Between all the things they kept in Isa's backpack, between conversations and jokes, they walked together towards the part with vegetation. Their feet sank a lot deeper than normal into the sand going up the dunes, but it wasn't difficult. Luna seemed happy about that detail, kicking the sand a bit from time to time to make it fall, sliding down the hill as if it were water.

"Watch out for the branches, please," Isa said, leading the way through some bushes and trees.

There were not many branches, but it was true that if you were distracted you could scratch your skin with them or hurt an eye. Pansy looked back to search for Hermione. She still had her glasses on her head. She should ask for them back, protect her precious eyes... But Hermione looked so cute with them on her hair! So, it looks like she was willing to stupidly lose an eye for the sights.

On the other hand, she was feeling a bit frustrated that Hermione managed not to show off more skin. Pansy almost did not drool when she saw her naked for the first time, amid all the novelty. When they did it the second time she enjoyed it much more and took the opportunity to look better. Hermione's hips were wide, wider than hers, creating a curve that was, in her opinion, very sensual. And her back? She never thought she could say that from a back, but it turned out so... By Circe, she would have done anything to see Hermione in a bathing suit. And going into the sea? Watching her swim, with her hair wet and the water sliding down her skin… She would sacrifice all the necessary Weasleys in order to see something like that one day.

When they emerged from the plants, Rachel was the first to gasp and squeal "it's beautiful." They were at a considerable height, on a cliff. The blue ocean was framed by trees and grass, which had a deep green color that showed that they did not lack water. The ground was stone, but had traces of sand. The warm light and the noise of the waves caused a pleasant sensation. It was true, the place was beautiful.

"It's colder up here," Sophie said.

Another great truth. With the sunset, the beach became much colder, the salty and cold wind made her shiver a little, even with the extra clothes on top of the bikini. Her hair being somewhat wet from swimming did not help too much.

Isa moved among the plants, grabbing several fallen twigs. They tossed them in the center, well away from the vegetation, and drew their wand. They muttered a spell, which caused the kindling to ignite, creating a small fire.

"Band tradition," Isa explained. Find a cool place in the places we visit, sit by the fire and…" They opened their backpack, putting their arm in completely (due to the proportions it should be impossible, but thanks to the extension spell, they could safely put their full body in there without problems). And extracted drinks and snacks.

"How wonderful!" Ron exclaimed, approaching the makeshift fire. Isa smiled, tossing him a can of beer that the redhead managed to catch."

"Five points to Gryffindor," Sophie teased. "I guess you're not such a bad keeper.

"What do you mean? I am a good keeper!"

All the teenagers sat on the ground, surrounding the fire and looking out to the open sea.

"Not bad," Harry commented with a half smile, as Ron held out his can for him to drink.

Pansy moved a little to the right, to get closer to Hermione. She searched for her hand, intertwining their fingers. Hermione looked down, and tugged on her hand, resting it on her leg.

"It's freezing," she said, using her other free hand to encircle Pansy's completely.

She leaned closer, leaning her shoulder against Hermione's. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the sensation. It felt like déjà vu. How many times had she been in this position? It was cold, so her mind went blank. Cold, white snow. The icy air seeped into her lungs and chilled the tip of her nose. It smelled of salt, by the sea. And lavender too, Hermione's shirt was still drenched in that smell. This was her safe place. But fire was also added, the one that always overshadowed her fears. Maybe, if it weren't for the strong and loving grip on her hands, for the presence of her friends, Hermione... maybe, if it wasn't for the love that surrounded her, she would be worried that the fire was slowly melting the snow. The end of winter was imminent, and that was fine.

She felt a kiss on her hair and smiled, opening her eyes. She could see that Rachel was talking to Isa several feet in front, with a huge smile as they chomped on some chips. Sophie was chatting too, but with Neville, Harry, and Ron. Ginny was laughing as she watched Luna wrinkle her nose from trying some beer. Hermione was at her side, stroking her hand. She felt a metal scratch, dig into her skin, but not painfully. She looked at the fire head-on, she wouldn't run away. She would not consume her. She would also look at her fondly, focus on her light and not her shadows.