Chapter 50: The Vacation

"Why don't we do this every weekend?" Callum asked, taking a sip of his drink. Draco glanced out over the clear blue sea in response, taking in as much of the view as he could.

"Because, idiot," Albert said, "We don't have the money to come to Spain on vacation every weekend."

Callum snorted playfully. "Well, maybe you don't. I definitely do."

"Then hook us up, then, will you?" Albert said, half-joking. "If you've got so much money to blow, spend it on us, please."

"Can't," Callum said. "I've got too many other things to spend it on."

"Yeah, like that girl you met at the hotel pool last night?" Draco said, teasingly. Callum took it in stride.

"Precisely. I'm not leaving Barcelona without a girlfriend this time."

"And how will buying her stuff do that?" Albert challenged playfully. "Unless you're good in bed-"

"Shut up!" Callum said in a loud whisper as a tall girl with long, black hair approached them. "Hola, Luisa. Como estas?" Callum said in terribly accented Spanish

"Bien, mi amor. Podemos reunirnos en mi cuarto esta noche?" She replied with a wink. Draco and Albert looked at each other and mocked gagging on their drinks.

"Of course," Callum replied, kissing the girl's hand. "See you then." He said with a coy smile. The girl smiled back and then walked away to join a group of her friends on the beach. Once she was gone, Callum shot Draco and Albert a triumphant smile. Draco bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing as he exchanged a skeptical glance with Albert- Callum's vacation hookups usually never ended well.

The three men spent the rest of the day lounging around on the beach, stopping only to take a brief snorkeling lesson-at Albert's insistence- and then headed back to the hotel, at which point Albert and Draco headed out to a locally famous nightclub while Callum headed to Luisa's room, more excited, in Draco's opinion, than one should ever be for this kind of thing.

At the nightclub, Albert and Draco tried waiting in line to get in, then got bored, Confunded the bouncer, and then emerged into the crowded and sweaty room, consumed simultaneously by a pressing darkness and waves of brightly colored neon strobes of light. The two men downed shots of vodka and tequila, then headed out to the dance floor. They very quickly spotted two witches they had met when they were last in the city, and headed over. Dancing ensued, and the four of them finally left the club in the early morning hours, thoroughly drunk and exhausted. Draco and Albert dropped the girls off at their apartment, then stumbled back to the hotel, where they collapsed in their room. Neither of them woke up until 1 in the afternoon the next day, when Callum began banging on their door, having lost the room key. Groggily, Draco pulled the door open to find a disheveled Callum, shirt buttons all in the wrong holes, looking simultaneously angry and embarrassed.

"Last night didn't go to well?" Draco asked with a smirk, pulling the door open.

"Shove it," Callum replied darkly, tossing his shoes into an empty suitcase and yanking Albert out of bed. "Get packing, or we'll miss the train."

"No need for that," Albert said, pulling himself off of the floor. "I've got a Portkey."

"How'd you manage that?" Draco said, closing the door and heading into the bathroom.

"Told Claudine we were going on an assignment. By the way, the piece is due on Monday morning," Albert said, half-sheepish and proud.

"Damn you," Draco said, tossing a pillow at Albert and knocking him flat on his face once again. "When is the Portkey for?"

Albert picked himself up again and looked at his watch. "Two hours from now."

"Git," Draco muttered as he began pulling a new set of clothes on and grabbing his camera bag. "And I suppose you have some sort of plan for this?"

"Nope," Albert said. "You're the ideas man."

Callum let out a bark of laughter. "You guys are screwed."

"Well, I'm not," Draco said. "I have job security. But Albert, you can kiss that promotion goodbye."

"Yeah, I figured."

At precisely two-thirty in the afternoon, Draco clicked one last picture of a tiny Parisian bakery as he stood on a cobbled street in the depths of Barcelona. It had taken him approximately ten minutes to recall this bakery and spin it into a story about Parisian wizards working abroad- a fine piece for the Gazette's new Travel & Culture section. In a much better mood than usual, Draco had agreed to let Albert take credit for the story, since any semblance of a raise for Albert would mean that the rent on their flat would finally be split fifty-fifty.

Finally, at three, Draco placed a hand on a wrinkled wizard's hat, a suitcase in hand, and was whisked away to Paris, stumbling, upon landing, into a pile of leaves in the middle of an empty field.

"Really, Albert?" Callum said, brushing dirt off of his shirt, "You couldn't have had this set to return to your flat?"

"I told Claudine to do that," Albert said, his brow furrowed. "I guess she thought this would be funny."

Draco rolled his eyes and grabbed Albert's arm, Apparating them back to their flat.

On Monday morning, Draco watched carefully as Albert dropped the packet of photos and writing labeled "Barcelona" onto Claudine's desk, then returned to his work for that day: reviewing his colleagues' work. Though he did not like to admit it, Draco really enjoyed this work because it allowed him to learn from the new kids working at the paper, and some of them were really brilliant.

Halfway through a set of photos by the new intern, Jacques, Draco peered over his coffee mug (a terrible drink and habit he had picked up from Albert) to see Clauding tearing open the packet Albert had placed on her desk earlier. Draco studied her face carefully as she thumbed through the photos and read the copy Albert had worked on all of last night. Finally, as Claudine's infamous left eyebrow was slowly raised above its normal location on her face- a surefire sign that she was impressed- Draco smiled to himself. He placed his mug down and began making notes on a piece of paper to give to Jacques, watching, out of the corner of his eye, as Claudine called Albert into her office and had him sit down in the straight-backed chair in front of her desk. Humming quietly, Draco braced himself for what was to come.

"I DID IT!" Albert roared as soon as he reached Draco's desk.

"Congratulations, mate!" Draco said with a huge smile, reaching out his arm to give Albert a hug. "Assistant Writing Editor?"

"Yeah," Albert said, his smile faltering for a brief moment. "Claudine said she definitely couldn't fire Amelia."

"Well, that's still a promotion!" Draco said excitedly. "Does that mean we're splitting rent evenly now?"

"Yes!" Albert said happily. "But I still can't afford to pay you back for all the other months."

"Yeah, I figured. Well, congrats again! Party tonight?

"Definitely!" Albert said. "At Callum's place, right?"

"Of course," Draco said. "Should I let him know?"

"Nah," Albert said with a shrug. "We all know he loves surprises."