Author's Note: This chapter matches up with the third chapter of Summer Rituals titled "Eight" Not all chapters will end up matching up with existing chapters with more scenes. The first part of the story works for that, but I'm afraid that I actually cut planned scenes for this plot line in Summer Rituals. This was particularly true near the end of the story. This chapter features the introduction of 008, Captain Charlie Brown. Look towards encountering other double oh agents in the future.
Chapter Three: The Living Daylights
This wasn't the first time that Lavender Brown had stayed at Le toit-terrasse de la Residence Magical. It was a regular stop in the family's vacations. It was, however, the first year that Lavender's father had realized that he had a developing girl. At least that was Lavender's theory as to why her father had just jerked her into their suite after she greeted Alexandre Vérany, a local boy she'd met on the very beach they were about to go to when she was four, by the traditional exchange of kissing the other's cheek.
"Lavender Brown," her father growled. "I will not have my daughter acting like a hussy this summer."
"I just kissed his cheek, you know, like you're supposed to do in France for a close acquantance? I've known Alexandre since we were four," Lavender protested. "And we do this every time we meet. You even did it to Madame Montrosour when you greeted her this morning, and Mum didn't have any complaints."
"He kissed you, and you were both naked," her father growled.
"So were you and Madame Montrosour," Lavender said. "You're acting silly Daddy. Right Mum?"
"Yes, go to your friends, Lavender," her mother interrupted, turning her father around. "I shall iron this out ... or at least distract you father in the usual way."
Lavender fled the room, back to her friends, before she had to witness the usual distraction. How she didn't have another sibling was a mystery.
Lavender was really enjoying the first beach of her summer vacation. Several friends she'd met on previous trips had joined her. About half of them now attended Beauxbatons, and a third were starting in September. Currently a good half dozen of them were seated on towels on the beach drinking magical snow cones.
Madelaine Brisbois, had actually completed her second year at Beauxbatons, as the oldest of them all. Her preferred grape flavored snow cone had stained her lips purple. The tips of her blond hair were also dyed purple, though a lot brighter shade. "Second year is much harder than first year, first year was a breeze," she said.
"I will settle for a year without trolls, dogs with three heads, and possessed professors," Lavender said, taking a sip from her own pineapple snow cone, her favorite flavor.
"What in the world is going on at Hogwarts!" exclaimed Aveline Beaufort, who had completed her first year. The dark haired girl nearly spilled her own apple snow cone, which for some reason was green. "At Beaubatons none of us encountered any of that. Okay, Professor Voclain did have a Cerberus that he brought in for a week for Care of Magical Creatures, but only fourth year and up got to see that."
"And you so wanted to see it," Alexandre Véranym shot back. He was currently the lone boy gathered on the towels, mainly because a rather bad broken leg the prior day had him taking it easy instead of joining the boys who had run off to play rugby with a group of muggle boys from Occitania. The brown haired boy was quite comfortable among them, but perhaps that was because they'd all know him since they were toddlers and they didn't see each other as more than friends. "Don't deny it."
"Okay, but only to see if I could play it to sleep with my violoncelle," Aveline replied.
Orabelle Daviau, giggled and turned her head, causing her charmed long golden blond hair to land in her peppermint snow cone. "You'd end up trying to flee, and there is no way that you'd save your cello," the girl said. "Take up a flute if you want to try charming creatures with music." She was one of those that hadn't started at a magical school yet, but everyone had seen Aveline practicing. No one was going against that judgement.
"I find a harp, charmed to play, of course, to be more than adequate to put a Cerberus to sleep," Lavender said. "Trolls, on the other hand, it takes some serious talent to get them to do ballet. At least according to the tapestry on the seventh floor at Hogwarts."
"Barnabas the Barmy," asked Morgaine Beaufort. Lavender nodded to the short-haired blonde, who was also Aveline's little sister by just ten short months, having been born prematurely. "We've got a copy of that at Beaubatons, right outside the Care classroom. I think it's supposed to be a warning of some sort."
"Do warnings like that actually work?" Madelaine asked. "They don't seem to at Beauxbatons."
"Not at Hogwarts," Lavender said. "The Headmaster always reminds us about staying out of the Dark Forest, saying it's forbidden, but somehow it's even considered an appropriate place to have detention, even at night on a full moon, in a place where werewolves are known to be. I know at least two dozen members of my house who spent regular time in the forest, without any staff in the know."
"Dark Forest ... are they just asking for your house of the brave going questing into something called that," Aveline said.
"Oh it's also called Forbidden Forest, just to make it more tempting," Lavender said. "That being said more Hufflepuffs than Gryffindors end up in the forest. I think it's the lure of the unicorns and their tail hair. By the way, braiding a unicorn tail hair, freely given, into your hair really does make your hair brilliant and cuts down on the oiliness."
"Told you so," Orabelle said.
"Of course, our headmaster really tempted my fellow Gryffindors this year at the Welcoming feast, when he informed us that 'the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.'" Lavender quoted. "I'm petty sure that there were only a handful of Gryffindors who didn't check out that corridor."
"And I suppose you were on the list who did check it out, and found that once again the adults were exaggerating the risk," Madelaine said. "Just like they did the castle dungeons we visited in Germany?"
"Of course," Lavender said. "Oh, and Uncle Charlie would like to apologies for what happened to your dress in Freudenstadt. Anyway, I didn't just check out the corridor, I got past the Cerberus, and the diaolus laquem, which according to Neville was the sub-species silures, an almost safe variant. Then there was that lock that was way too easy to pick before the chess room. I'll have to give Ron credit for getting us through that room. He was brilliant, five moves and the white king surrendered.
"The troll in the next room, well it was all the Gryffindor girls. We were not going to have any boy rescue another of us after Hermione. We turned its club into a lightning rod, forcing it to drop it, then used some powders, isatis tinctoria, which reacts with troll soft tissue to cause it to turn to wax. Then Parvati burnt it up. I now know why troll candles are so sought after for outdoor lighting. They are so bright.
"Then there was the Potion Master's room. Logic puzzle. Rather disappointing actually, but it only allowed Harry to go on to confront our possessed Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Poor Quirrell. Ended up as ashes."
"The famous Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts Curse stuck again?" Alexandre asked. Lavender nodded. "Poor unfortunate soul."
"Don't you dare start that song from that Muggle production," Aveline said, turning to her little sister. "I'll never get the tune out of my mind, Morgaine."
"But, my dear, sweet, 'line, that's what I live for. To help troubled older sisters like yourself. Poor souls who don't understand the joy of Disney," Morgaine began starting to turn her conversation the very song that Aveline was trying to head off. "I admit that in the past I've been nasty. They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch."
"Dump her in the sea?" Madelaine asked as Morgaine continued to sing.
"Under the sea," Lavender concurred.
"Darling its better," Alexandre said, "when she's when she's wetter." He stood up. "Now she's got me doing it."
Morgaine stood, preparing to run, still signing "I've mended all my ways. Repented, seen the light, and made the switch."
"Demonstrably, not," Aveline said, standing as well, with the rest of them.
"... Fortunately, I know a little magic," Morgaine said, as she turned and ran.
"But you're not using it in this chase," Alexandre said as he and the others took up the chase. "Into the sea she goes!"
Lavender Brown was busy giggling on the beach in France. If she wasn't careful, she was going to end up giggling so hard she'd loose control of her bladder. It wasn't her fault that she was giggling. It was her father's fault. Her father and his attempt to conceal Lavender's body, that is. Lavender hadn't noticed the glamours, but her mother had.
Her mother had been dispelling the glamours one after another since Lavender had arrived naked on the beach, just like the whole entire crowd that she had been associating with all week. It was after all a nude beach of some note in both the magical and muggle world.
For the last hour, Lavender's father had been scanning the crowd to try to figure out who kept taking off the glamours that he had put on his daughter. Then about fifteen minutes ago, he'd caught her mother in the act. Since then Lavender had been watching her father chase after her mother with a bucket of what had started out as sea water, and was now a bucket of ice.
He'd lost the contents of the bucket at least twice as Lavender's mother had arranged to trip him, causing the bucket to be spilled on various passers-by. Two of them had joined the chase, and Lavender suspected that the chase was going to get a lot longer before it was done. She was very sure that her father actually had no intention of catching her mother until her mother decided to be caught.
She knew she wouldn't see her parents until the next morning once he did. How she was an only child, was a continuing mystery to her.
"So, Lavender, did your mother tell you that I had a job for you?"
Lavender nearly jumped out of her skin when her uncle seemed to appear from no where and bend over her shoulder. He was in a black wetsuit, and appeared to have just come out of the Med. "Don't do that! And I don't take your jobs."
"It's tradition, Lavender," her Uncle Charlie said. "And you know I'm not asking for myself."
"I know, you're asking for Her Majesty, the Queen," Lavender said. "What does M need me for."
"M understands that you were involved in an encounter with a certain dark lord who was supposed to be dead at school this year," Charlie said, whispering in her ear. "Furthermore, you were third in your year in Charms. Your professor has indicated that you are capable of doing certain detection spells that may aid the mission. I believe that Professor Flitwick showed you how to detect possession, even past possession?"
"Yes, Uncle Charlie," Lavender said, as they resumed normal volume. "You're going to cut my summer vacation short again, aren't you?"
"Oh, I leave that up to you," Charlie said. "A two to three week Med Cruise, or nights listening to your parents because they never remember the silencing charms, and you aren't allowed to cast them. Which one can you have more fun with?"
"Put it that way, which way is the Oracle?" Lavender asked, as her mother tripped and her father landed on top of her. It looked like it would be a long night.
"I'm afraid we'll have to swim out," Charlie said, pulling a foil packet from his wet suit. "Have some Gillyweed."
"I'm going with Uncle Charlie now, Mother!" Lavender said, taking the foil packet, and heading towards the water. "Which way is that boat, Captain Brown?"