Harry Potter and the Beach Vacation: chapter 3
pairings: HP/SS, HG/RW, those are the two main ones, and frankly, I haven't thought of any others....maybe Draco/Neville....I dunno. Suggestions are welcome for poor single Draco.
author's note: To sev1970: I'm afraid there is no Tunnel of Love at Busch Gardens, but I found the next best thing! Thanks for the idea! And to Katrina, you might not want to read any further, since it's just going to get dirtier. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last two chapters!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor am I profiting at all from writing this. All rides, attractions, and exhibits that are in quotation marks are owned by, you guessed it, Busch Gardens. Duh:)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At breakfast the next morning, Hermione rushed over to the boys' group, muttered an apology to Harry and Ron for the confusion, and promised never to mix them up again. They both accepted, laughed uncomfortably, then dropped the subject, returning to their Continental bagels with cream cheese....yum.
As Snape finished off his meal, he pulled out a set of e-tickets that Dumbledore had gotten off of the internet....how he did it, Snape never found out. The old man could barely use a telephone correctly, and the WWW was a universe unto itself.
He passed the tickets around his table, and briefed them on the day's schedule.
"We're taking a bus to Tampa, so it should take us at least and hour and a half to get there. Once at this...theme park, we are going to pair up with McGonagall's group to explore it. I will NOT be going on any roller coasters, so you can forget-" Lucius cut him off.
"Oh come now, Severus. Where's the fun if you aren't going to ride any of the roller coasters? I've done a little research on this particular park, and it seems to have some pretty decent ones. I will not have you watching me ride one alone." For it was a known fact that all Malfoys could not resist a roller coaster's heavenly beckoning. "I have a bet for you. If you accompany us on, oh let's say, five big rides, I'll give you twenty galleons for each. That's a hundred total, but no cutting out. I will only pay you if you ride all five of my choice. What do you say?" Lucius smirked. Snape had a teacher's salary, and a hundred galleons for going on a couple of rides would really temp him...
"Fine." The Potions Master sighed, shaking Lucius's hand. He then stood up to put his plate up, and Harry got a nice view of his khaki-clad arse. Damn! The man was dressed as casual, muggle tourist. Snape had on a dark green tee, not too loose, not too tight, and cream shorts that reached his knees. He also wore black Nike sneakers, and a pair of semi-transparent sunglasses. Harry kept on staring, unaware of his drool.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A half hour later, they had stuffed their backpacks with sunscreen, swim trunks, exchanged American currency, and snacks. They were ushered on to a rented school bus, and sat three to a seat, so everyone was really squished. 'At least I'm pressed against Severus...hee hee.' Harry sniggered mentally, while shoved between the window and his teacher.
When everyone was packed in, Trelawney, still bug-like in her gaudy sequined granny ensemble, sat herself behind the wheel. Hagrid (who had been shrunk to fit), Severus, Lucius, and McGonagall tried to get up to protest, but Dumbledore shushed them with a wave.
"Sybil has graciously decided to drive us to Tampa, so stop bickering. One of you can take us back." Dumbledore said, obviously confused as to why the adults were so anxious not to see the Diviner drive.
By the end of the hour, they all knew why.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was Harry this time who was gripping Snape's hand as the insane divination teacher veered around I-95, speeding at 100 mph, two highway patrol cars hot on their tail. She was shrieking at poor drivers staying in the speed limit, and in her craziness decided to scare the hell out of everyone by veering towards random vehicles, knocking cars and trucks into the grass median, causing mayhem and destruction wherever she drove.
"Stop the bus, woman! You're going to kill us all!" Lucius hollered at the driver, bracing himself on the seat in front of him to keep from being tossed onto the floor. Left and right, at each sharp turn and sudden brake, kids were flying out off of their feet, landing on top of others, rolling under the seats, slamming into windows, and screaming as they tumbled into the aisle. Teachers, when able to hold themselves steady, were trying to restore order and reach Road Rage Trelawney before they crashed and were killed.
Severus had had enough. He stepped over(and purposefully onto some) students, gripping anything he could before he reached the front seat. The crystal gazer, cackling maniacally, turned around and bit him on the arm.
"Shit!" He exclaimed, trying to shake her off, but her yellowed teeth just dug deeper in. "Ow ow ow!" She would not release him from her vice jaws, and the bus was careening out of control.
Suddenly, a blurry fist whirled into her face, knocking her off Severus.
"Off my guy, floozy!" Harry yelled, pulling back his wrist. Severus, half stunned at the teen's remark, was sensible enough to turn the wheel, driving the bus into the grass median. Pushing the brake and putting the stick into park, everyone finally got a chance to breathe and sit back up. Hagrid lifted the unconscious Divination teacher out of the driver's seat and tossed her unceremoniously into the back somewhere. Everyone celebrated. Harry flushed when realizing that he had said "Off my guy" out loud, but the Potions Professor pretended to not have heard him. So the Boy-Who-Lived sighed in dismay, shuffling back to his seat. Lucius took the wheel.
The two patrol cars pulled to the side of the bus, and three burly police officers stepped out.
"Stupefy!" Dumbledore whispered at them, wand hidden under his sleeve. The spell his it's targets. "What seems to be the problem, gentlemen?" He asked. They just smiled dreamily at them, and shooed them back onto the highway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville gaped up at the beautiful theme park, where there were tiled water fountains gracing the Moroccan architecture of the entrance, and pretty flowers arranged in a Thomas Kinkade-like mural in the entrance gardens. Severus and Lucius led them to the turn stile, where they checked off the online tickets and walked through. There were relatively no lines, as all kids were still in school, and most of the older population that were visiting had the heart problems that the ride intercoms warned about. So the magical party of thirty-one had the run off all the rides. Harry gawped at the Egyptian exhibit, and Ron tried to tug them towards the "Gwazi", but Hermione won over both of them when she ran off to an animal exhibit on the other side of "Morocco."
"Look at the apes! The look so human." She cooed, pressing her hand up to the glass that separated her from the hairy primates.
"Yeah, and that one looks exactly like Goyle." Ron sniggered, dodging Malfoy's irritated smacking. Harry wasn't interested with the big monkeys, though. He wanted to see the big cats. 'Ooh, kitties.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
McGonagall's and Snape's group walked over to the "Edge of Africa," Harry in the lead, where they got to see the lackadaisical lions sprawled out on sun-bleached rocks, soaking in the warm rays, and ignoring the "here, kitty-kitty"s of the children. Draco and Harry were leaning very far over the fence, calling to the majestic animals, but they too were being slighted.
After they all lost interest, Lucius demanded that they ride the "Montu," a huge inverted monster of a roller coaster, towering over the "Egypt" section of the park. The students (except for Neville) eagerly ran ahead, pausing only to have a quick walk-through of "King Tut's Tomb." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In no time, Ron, Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender were strapped into the back row, as were Lucius, Draco, Harry, and Severus in the front seats. Severus watched the metal floor of the deck drop out, and everyone's legs dangled, swinging in time to their pulse rate. 'Why in the Hell am I doing this?' he grimaced mentally, white-knuckling the yellow harness pressing down on his chest. The Malfoys whooped when the huge metal ride started clanking up the initial drop.
Fifteen seconds later, they were at the top of the hill, looking at the sixty foot twist awaiting them. Lucius, his son, and Harry screamed as they careened down at eighty miles per hour, legs flying behind them. Severus bit back a shriek of terror, but his eyelids were glued to his eyebrows, heart almost flinging itself out of his throat. He did NOT like roller coasters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After they clambered off the deck of the ride, legs wobbly with the after-effects of the adrenaline, they passed the photo stand. Harry looked at the pictures that were taken of them on the ride, during the first plunge. Lucius and Draco looked as if they were in pure ecstacy, Harry was laughing, tears flying out of his eyes at the wind, and Severus....oh God. Harry doubled over with merriment when he saw how wide his teacher's eyes could go, and the look of utter horror on his features. The black hair whipped around his cheeks and neck, and the vein clearly visible under the skin of his temple, was too comic to imagine for anyone, let alone Snape. Harry bought it in a snow globe, not caring about the inflated price. He had the Potions Master, balanced on the verge of wetting himself, riding a roller coaster, in a snow globe. It was so worth the fifteen dollars.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~author's note: sorry that was so friggin' short, but I'm a bit cut for time right now. Maybe I'll get a couple of hours before I leave for the airport this week, and squeeze another chapter in there! Thanks for being so patient!