Chapter 51: Lots of Food

March 6th, 1994

Marseilles, France

"I am hungry," proclaimed Pomona.

Charity threaded her fingers through her blonde hair. "Okay. Let's go to a restaurant."

"Yes, please!"

"Can we invite a few people to join us?" Charity offered.

"Yes, yes, but hurry up!"

"Okay. Er… Minerva! Sybill!" Charity cringed at the name, but she knew Minerva would be glad to have some company other than Sybill Trelawney. "Do you guys want to come grab a snack with us?"

"A snack?" Pomona looked affronted. "I want a meal!"

"Oh, right!" Charity said cheerfully. "Well, do you two want to join us?"

"Yes," Minerva said, giving Trelawney an annoyed glance before making her way over to them.

"Can we go now?" pleaded Pomona.

"Yeah, sure. Er… anyone else?" She scanned the crowd to see if anyone looked annoyed, and she found her prime target. Well, he always looked annoyed. "Severus! Filius! You two want to join us? We're getting a snack?"

"No, thank you," Severus replied stiffly.

"I want to go!" squeaked Filius. "And Severus, you're my partner. You have to come along too."

"Filius, I don't know where you got into your head that as your travel partner, I am obliged to accompany you wherever-"

"HURRY UP!" barked Pomona.

"Yeah. Come on, you two," Charity said.

"I'm hungry!" Sprout wailed.

"Yes, yes, we're coming," Charity said quickly, as Flitwick dragged Snape up to them. "That's it? Okay, wait, let's see if anyone else-"

"CHARITY!" yelled Pomona.

"Okay, okay, sorry!" Charity apologized quickly. "Let's… go, then?"

Pomona nodded desperately and the six of them set off across the streets of Marseilles until they found a roadside restaurant next to the sea that looked comfy and didn't look shady.

"A table for six, please," Charity told the waiter brightly.

"Yes ma'am," he said, ushering them towards a table that had a nice overlook to the gently rushing waves with a shade of pristine blue. "Here are the menus."

Charity scanned her menu. "Er… I'll take fries with ketchup. And a strawberry smoothie?"

"Sure." He turned to Sprout.

"A bowl of soup, tomato soup with garnish and pepper, a double burger with herb bread, Italiano variety, lettuce, extra cheese, lots of ketchup, hold on the tomatoes but put lots of onions, and then… oh, did I say oyster crackers in the soup? Yeah. Oyster crackers. And then a large cup of apple juice, and pudding. Pudding, apple pie à la Mode. Oh, right, and nachos." She scrunched up her nose. "Did you get that down?"

"Holy…" muttered Charity.

"I did."

"A vanilla smoothie," Severus ordered smoothly. Charity cast him a bright grin, which he didn't return. McGonagall, Flitwick, and Trelawney all placed their orders as well.

"So," Charity started quietly as the waiter came back with their food, "vanilla, huh?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Hey, hey, it's cool!" Charity grinned at him, stirring her smoothie with her straw and taking a sip. "I like vanilla. Everyone's got a… a flavor."

He didn't say anything.

Charity shrugged and turned to Minerva, the only sane one amongst the rest. Sybill was going crazy about a conspiracy, Pomona was stuffing her face with food, Flitwick was chirping on, and Severus was quiet as ever. Cold as ice. Hard as stone.

Huh. What a nice simile. Or was it a metaphor? She didn't know.

"How's it going, Minerva?"

"Fine, fine. I can't believe Albus let us go on a cruise, though. That's just wild."

"I know, but what else do you expect from Dumbledore?"

"I… Good point."

Charity grinned and popped a fry in her mouth. "When's the cruise leaving?" she asked.

"It's leaving tonight," Severus answered, "but we have to board no later than four thirty."

Charity checked her watch. "It's three. Should we just go now, then?"

"Wosh wish shibit!" mumbled Pomona through a mouthful.

"What?" Minerva asked.

"She is predicting the holy-" started Trelawney.

"Shut up!" snapped Minerva.

Pomona took a dramatic swallow. "I mean, once we finish."

"Oh." Charity giggled. "Tell me when you're finished, then. Because I am."

"Me too," Minerva replied.

"I am!" squeaked Flitwick.

"The Inner Eye predicts that I am finished," whispered Trelawney dramatically.

"Good for you," McGonagall said dryly. "Hurry up, Pomona, are you a child?"

"No, I'm just really hungry!"

Charity stifled a laugh, looking at the still full plate. "Yeah, I know. Just… speed it up, will you?"

"Yes… I'm trying! I'm almost there."

Charity burst out laughing.

"Oh, no," moaned Terry, lugging himself into the building. It was really sunny out there.

The line was large. Really, huge. And he had to go through this alone. Everyone else had partners they were laughing with, but he was on his own. Well, McGonagall, his "mother" was behind him. Fake mother, of course.

How fun.

He waited for around twenty minutes in the line until he finally got admitted to the desk.

"Boarding pass, please." The woman sounded bored, and Terry handed her his pass. She punched a hole in it. "Thanks. Here's your card. Don't lose it. Go through that door. And then board the ship."

"Thanks," Terry mumbled, wiping his sweaty hands on his shirt and racing out the door, leaving McGonagall behind. He climbed up the stairs and got stopped by a man.

"Would you like to take a picture with our backdrop?" he asked, gesturing to a picture with pink palm trees. "And your mother?"

Terry glanced back, where McGonagall was huffing as she made her way up the stairs.

"Uh, sure. Can I do one alone?"

"Certainly." He positioned Terry in the middle of the backdrop and snapped a picture. "There you go! Would you like to buy it?"

"Yeah, sure."

He reached into his bag and pulled out a couple of Euros, pressing them into the man's hand.

"Great! Here you go! Would you like it framed?"

Terry shrugged. "Sure."

"What color?"

"Can you do… Can you do green?"

"Certainly." He pulled out a green frame and stuck the picture in it, handing it to Terry. "Any more customizations?"

"Er, no. This is fine. Thank you."

Terry continued forward until he reached another man, who handed him a wristband. "Don't lose it," he said. "This is your cruise wristband to prove that you're part of the cruise. Don't take it off, and don't lose it. Okay?"

"Okay."

"The cruise is just here. Walk across that bridge-like thing, son."

Terry exited the building he was in, opening a door, and it led to a bridge with railings that was way above the ground.

"Oh, shoot," he mumbled. He'd always been scared of heights. He carefully stepped across until he reached the door. He opened it, and he entered the cruise.

"Holy Merlin," whispered Ron.

Harry couldn't agree more.

The cruise looked… marvellous.

That was putting it lightly.

There was a huge chandelier from the ceiling. There were sofas, intricate designs all over them, fluffy carpets, details, halls leading away in every direction, staircases in a swirl planted right in the middle, lots of people lounging against couches with this small rectangular thing they kept staring at, and it was just…

Beautiful.

"Which direction do we go?" Seamus asked.

"I don't know." Harry scratched his head. "I'm going to get lost here."

Dean frowned. "Can we ask someone?"

"We're room 3041," Ron offered unhelpfully.

"It's that way," came a voice. Harry looked to see Ginny standing there, an impatient look on her face. She was pointing right.

"Wait, which way?" Harry asked.

She looked at him, her face hard as stone. "You go right, you dimwit. Through the casino and then you take the stairs until you're on the third floor."

"Okay. What floor are we on now?"

"The first," she snapped.

"Oh. Okay." Harry frowned. How was she talking to him? And why did she sound angry? "Are you mad at me?"

She ignored him and turned to Seamus. "Does that make sense?"

"Er, yeah. Go right until the stairs. Then the third floor?"

"Yeah," said Ginny, the anger on her face melting away. "The sign will say which way your room is, like 3000 - 3050 is on this side and 3050-3099 is on that side. Maybe something like that." She shrugged.

"Thanks," Harry put in.

She didn't look at him.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" Ron asked.

She still didn't say anything. So she was talking to Seamus but not him and Ron?

"Er, Ginny?" asked Dean.

"Yeah?"

"Aren't kids not allowed to go to the casino? It's 18 years of age or older."

"Yeah, but as long as you're not actually gambling and like, you're just passing, then you'll be fine. You can always explain it to the authorities if they ask you, but I doubt they will."

"'Kay. Thanks."

Ginny nodded.

"Ginny?" asked Harry. "What's wrong?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and turned away, leaving without answering his question.

Harry frowned, puzzled.

What had he done?

Myrtle was in the Mediterranean sea now, just next to the dock. All she had to do was float through the bottom of the boat, and she would be on the cruise.

She floated upwards until she passed right through the bottom of the ship, and she reached a deserted hallway. She floated right in between a wall, and moved up to the next floor. Making sure nobody had seen her, she squeezed into the nearest room, where a boy named Terry stayed.

That would work.

He was alone, so she had less of a chance to get caught.

She floated through the wall into his bathroom and squeezed herself into the cupboard under the sink, floating up into a pipe. Nobody in their right mind would check there.

Then again, nobody in this place was in their right mind.

She just prayed that she wouldn't get caught.

Tonks looked over at Remus. "Do you want to go grab some dinner?"

"Sure," Remus agreed. "They're bringing our luggage to our rooms, right?"

"Yeah. We don't have to do anything," Tonks replied.

"Fun. Do you know where the restaurants are?"

"Nope, but there should be people to ask and maps to look at," Tonks guessed.

Remus nodded. "All right, let's go."

"Hey!" cried James, jogging over to them. "Where are you guys going?"

"James, wait up!" called Lily, panting. "I can't run that fast."

"Sorry, sorry."

"We're going for dinner," Tonks told him. "Want to join?"

"Sure!"

Lily frowned. "As long as we're not intruding anything…"

Tonks smirked as she saw Remus's face flush. "Nothing, Lily, don't worry. We're just going for dinner."

"Like a date." James smirked. "Cool."

"Oh, shut up," mumbled Remus.

"Why does Remus always go into his inner shell about girls?" James asked.

Tonks laughed. "Does he?"

James nodded. "I know all his secrets. Growing up with a guy for seven years really does do something."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"I'm actually kind of hungry," Lily put in, "can we go eat now?"

"Sure," Tonks replied. "Let's just look at a map. I think they're by the elevators."

James closed his eyes. "The metal things people stand in and that takes them to different floors, right?"

"Good," Remus complimented him.

"Yeah, good for you," Lily said, ruffling his hair.

On their way to the elevator, they found a sign that read The WindJammer. It looked to be a restaurant, and Tonks could smell some pretty delicious things in there.

"Should we go here?" Remus asked.

"Yeah. It looks cool," Tonks replied.

They entered, and they were greeted with a bottle of hand sanitizer which all four of them took. Then they kept going until they reached a counter full of food that stretched around into a large circle. Tonks could see everything; pasta, pizza, lasagna, soup, salads, and everything you could think of. Even more. She could see some Asian food, some Australian, some South American, just so many foods peppered into the mix.

There were a lot of tables outside of it, and a bunch of people were sitting there, talking and eating and laughing. The chefs were walking around behind the counters, refilling stuff and talking to customers.

"How are we ever going to taste all of this?" asked James.

"This looks… so good," whispered Tonks. She could practically feel her mouth watering.

Remus blinked. "That's… a lot of food."

James gave him a look.

"Woah. I'm just going to take, like, a lot of refills," Lily said.

Tonks loaded her plate with pasta and tomato sauce with parmesan, and small pizza squares in the corner. She promised to go back for dessert, and then she grabbed a cup of orange juice before heading over to Lily, who was grabbing salad. "Where do you want to sit?"

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"Somewhere close by, so Remus and James can see us and so we won't get lost," Tonks reasoned.

"Sure. I like that." Tonks and Lily headed over to the nearest available table, and were soon joined by Remus, who only had a sandwich on his plate.

"Are you serious?" Lily asked incredulously. "You only got a… a sandwich?"

"What's wrong with that?" he asked.

"Remus, you're going to starve!" cried Tonks.

"I won't," he said, smiling. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, he's lived like this for years," put in James, plopping down on the seat next to Remus. "Don't even bother trying to convince him. He won't change."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Thanks for your input."

"Anytime. Hey, I got the same pasta, Tonks."

"Wow."

"Is it any good?"

Tonks shrugged. "I haven't tasted it yet." She put a forkful of the pasta in her mouth and swallowed it. She considered it for a moment. "It's so good. Literally. I've never been to a better restaurant. Ever."

James's eyes gleamed as he shoved pasta into his mouth. "You're right! It's brilliant!"

"Oh, wow, maybe we need to get it too," Remus commented, grinning at Lily.

"There's just too many options here, though," Lily replied, her eyes twinkling. "I have an entire hierarchy of what I need to get next."

"You should get the pasta next, though, Lils," James recommended. "You too, Remus."

"I don't need to. This sandwich was plenty filling."

"Oh, right." James rolled his eyes. "Stubborn Remus in the house."

"I'm being serious," Remus retorted. "I just don't want to eat anything else."

"You need to eat something more!" ordered Tonks. "Remus, this is why you're so skinny!"

He laughed. "I'm really not. But seriously, this is fine. I'm used to this."

"Yeah, don't bother," mumbled James. "He won't change his mind."

Lily grimaced. "Unfortunately. I've tried. Like, a bazillion times."

Tonks frowned. "But… But it's not fair! Remus shouldn't get less food than the rest of us."

"It's not a big deal. It's my choice," Remus said.

James groaned. "You're wasting your time, Tonks. He's about to launch into a speech. I am fine with what I eat, I am a…" He trailed off, looking at the Muggles around them. "You-know-what."

Tonks glared at him, and then turned to Remus. "Remus, please?" she asked quietly. "You need to eat something more. You can't just have a sandwich."

He hesitated.

"Please?" she repeated softly.

He groaned. "You're going to be the death of me someday, I swear you will. Fine. I'll go get the…"

"PASTA!" yelled James. "Oops, sorry," he added when the other chefs turned and looked at him like he was crazy. "Pasta," he repeated quietly.

Remus grimaced and got up, walking over to where the pasta was.

James turned to Tonks, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Merlin, Tonks. We have a new secret weapon."

Tonks plopped down onto the bed, sighing. She was absolutely knocked out. It had been such a long, yet exciting day. And there were so many days left...

"So you want the bed, then?" asked Remus, who was going through a bag with clothes.

"There's absolutely no way you're sleeping on that couch tonight," she said firmly. "Come here."

He hesitated a moment, then walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge.

"Look, we can set some rules," she offered, knowing that he might want to take this slowly, and not wanting to pressure him. "You want to start?"

"No wearing provocative clothing," he said, after a moment. She bit back a smile.

"No provocative comments or gestures," Tonks continued.

"We stay on our own sides of the bed," Remus added.

She bit her lip. "But I roll in my sleep."

He laughed, and then, with a movement of his wand, a pillow appeared in between the two of them, and another one on the floor.

"In case you fall," he said, smiling. "Are we good?"

"Yeah, I'm good," she said, attempting a smile. That pillow separating them was no match for her.

"All right, then. Good night, Dora."

"Good night, Remus." He flicked his wand again, and the lights went out as the two of them settled into their respective sides of the bed.

Tonks took a breath and let it out. It was like they were new to each other, all over again, taking their time to explore each other. And she was okay with that. If Remus needed his time, he could take it. She didn't want to rush him into doing something that he maybe didn't want to.

That also meant that she needed to give him that space. And since she didn't trust that pillow to separate the two of them once she had fallen asleep. She tended to move around a lot, and she didn't want to roll over to his side in the middle of the night and frighten him when he woke up.

It was okay. She was going to give him his space. She wasn't going to rush this relationship. She would do this relationship right.

Not like the last one.

A/N: I wonder what the last one was like... ;)

More cruise chapters coming your way! Thanks for the reviews!