A/N Okay so here's the next installment of SotP. I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but I had a lack of inspiration and didn't feel like writing. The third chapter shouldn't take me as long to update, although my final exams start next week so that might deter me a bit from writing. Thanks to my wonderful reviewers for being so encouraging and patient!
"Alright you lot," said Mrs. Weasley as they were finishing up their lunch of macaroni and cheese, "if you want to go swimming, I suggest you go unpack and get ready!"
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny cleared their plates and left the adults to talk as they made their way up the staircase. Ron was rambling about how he wanted to make a huge sandcastle, while the girls were chatting animatedly about their new swimsuits. Harry didn't say anything; he just followed Ron into their room to change into their swimming trunks. Ron started flexing in front of the mirror to see how he looked without a shirt on and Harry couldn't suppress his laughter.
"You know you look a bit like an idiot," Harry said in-between laughs, as Ron's ears started to turn red.
"Oh shut it," Ron said, throwing a pillow at Harry, but he stopped admiring himself all the same. He pulled a faded Cannons tee-shirt over his head, which clashed horribly with his hair, and the two boys made their way back downstairs.
The adults' conversation ceased immediately when Ron and Harry came down the stairs. Mrs. Weasley smiled and said, "All ready then?"
"What were you talking about?" asked Ron.
"Never you mind. Now come here so I can put a sun-screen charm on you," she replied, grabbing her wand. She turned Ron around and tapped the crown of his head, muttering, "Pas soleil." Ron shone briefly for a second and then Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry around so she could perform the spell on him also.
Ginny and Hermione came down the stairs, their flip-flops echoing loudly, as Ron was pulling towels out of the closet. Both girls were sporting pink tee-shirts bearing the legend "The Weird Sisters" which Harry suspected Tonks had given them. Mrs. Weasley performed the same sunscreen charm on Hermione and Ginny while Ron handed out towels.
"Now," Mr. Weasley said, "we're trusting you four to look after yourselves today. If the house wasn't so close to the beach I doubt we would let you go alone. But we feel you're old enough and we know you are all very responsible. Just make sure you're home in time for dinner, and don't go wandering off anywhere. Stick together."
Ron and Ginny nodded at their father, and he smiled. "Have fun then," he said. Ginny turned and led the way out the back door, which would take them directly to the ocean. Harry, who was not wearing any shoes, was heartily enjoying the feeling of the sand under his toes. So this is what it's like to go to the beach, he thought excitedly. The four of them traipsed through the sand dunes and after a few minutes they were down by the water's front. Loads of people were sitting along the beach, sunbathing, eating, building sandcastles, and swimming in the ocean. Harry could not stop grinning.
"Race you to the water!" Ron shouted, hastily pulling off his tee-shirt. Harry pulled off his own dark green shirt and ran after Ron, careful to avoid running into any sandcastles. The two of them ran straight into the water, splashing a lot of people who were wading in the shallower part of the sea, and made their way farther into the ocean where lots of older swimmers were jumping over waves.
"This is bloody brilliant!" Harry yelled to Ron.
"Told you, didn't I? The water's not too cold today either, it's perf—look out Harry!"
A wave came hurdling toward them and Ron dove into it. Harry, who of course had never encountered a wave before, simply stood there stupidly and was knocked over backwards. He came up again, spitting out seawater, to find Ron's wet head laughing at him.
"You've got to jump the waves, mate," Ron said.
"Nice of you to warn me," Harry replied. "I should dunk you, I should."
"I'd like to see you try!" Ron shouted, as Harry tried to push his head down. Ron flung him off and was just about to dunk Harry when someone jumped on him from behind.
"What the--?" he said, clearly surprised, but next second his head was immersed under the water, and Harry saw Hermione and Ginny behind him, pushing his head down.
Ron bobbed up, whipped his head around furiously, and spotted the girls. Harry noticed that Ron did a double-take when he saw Hermione in her swimsuit.
"Where'd you two come from?" Ron said, blushing slightly.
"We came in right after you did. We saw you and Harry trying to dunk each other and couldn't resist joining in the fun," Hermione replied in an innocent tone.
"Oh you'll get to join in the fun alright," Ron said with a wicked grin, and before Hermione could protest he dropped down underwater, scooped her up around the legs, and put her over his shoulder.
"Ron, stop, you're tickling me!" Hermione shrieked, but he just threw her off of him into the water. Ron looked very triumphant and Harry saw Ginny laughing at the obvious attraction between her brother and her best friend. After a few seconds, though, Hermione hadn't resurfaced and Ron's look of triumph slid quickly off his face.
"Hermione?" he called into the spot where he had thrown her. "Hermione?" he repeated. Harry's heart began to race and Ginny seemed frozen. Just then something leapt out of the water and full submersed Ron's wet, crimson head. Hermione had one arm tight over Ron's shoulder and the other was on top of his head, dunking him. Ron came up, shook his wet hair, and saw who his attacker was.
"That wasn't funny, Hermione!" he said, although he was half-laughing.
"Actually, Ronald, your face was classic," she said sweetly, pulling back her sopping brown hair and tying it into a ponytail. "And I think I won our little dunking war."
Ron frowned, stubbornly refusing to admit his defeat. However, it was clearly apparent to Harry that Ron was very pleased with Hermione jumping on his back in a bathing suit. Ron just laughed and shouted, "Here comes another one!" The four of them dove into the wave and all emerged with soaking wet heads, smiling and preparing to jump into the next one.
After having spent an hour playing in the ocean, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny returned to the beach to rest for a little bit. Ginny suggested the four of them build a sandcastle, and her and Ron excitedly began to gather sand.
"Last year, we made a small model of Hogwarts!" Ron told Harry and Hermione enthusiastically. Hermione gave Harry a look which clearly showed she was thinking the same thing he was, something along the lines of Wow, our friends are acting like six year olds. Harry just laughed at Ron's childlike excitement and knelt down to help him gather sand.
"So, what should we build?" Harry asked.
"Well, we could build Hogwarts again, but that wouldn't be as fun…or we could build a miniature Quidditch pitch, or maybe something like the Shrieking Shack…"
At Ron's words, something in Harry stirred. The Shrieking Shack, he thought. Where I first met Sirius. Harry's chest began to hurt slightly as he tried to clear the memory from his mind, but he was having a hard time succeeding. Hermione seemed to notice the sudden change in Harry's aura, because she gave him a swift look and then said to Ron, "Or maybe we could build something like the Three Broomsticks."
"Nah, that's boring," Ron said, as Hermione frowned. Neither Ron nor Ginny seemed to have noticed a change in Harry's behavior, because the two of them continued to gather sand.
"How about a car or something?" Ginny suggested. "We could build a small car that looks like the old Ford Anglia!"
"That's not a bad idea….yeah, let's build that, Gin," Ron replied cheerfully. He began to sculpt the sand avidly with Ginny's help. "Aren't you two going to help us?" Ron said to Hermione and Harry. Hermione frowned at him, but he didn't seem to notice. Harry nodded his head and started helping Ron. Reluctantly, Hermione joined them also. After a couple of minutes Harry started to forget about Sirius and was actually enjoying himself again. The four of them had fun trying to make the sand car resemble the Anglia. Harry was also entertained by Ron and Hermione's antics; the two of them kept accidentally bumping shoulders while molding the sand and then blushing at having touched the other's bare skin. Harry found this highly amusing, and it seemed Ginny did also.
After about forty five minutes, the sand-car was finally completed. Ron and Ginny positively beamed at it, and Harry had to admit that the four of them had done a pretty good job. Hermione got out her camera and took a picture of the car. She then asked a passing tourist to photograph Harry, Ron, Ginny and herself posing with the min-Anglia. The American woman agreed and suggested that the four of them kneel behind the car with their arms around each other's shoulders. Somehow, Ron and Hermione ended up next to each other and the woman insisted that they follow her pose, clearly not noticing how awkward this was for Hermione and Ron. Harry ended up next to Ginny, and although it was not awkward for him to put his arm around her, he couldn't help but feel a slight lurch in his stomach which he didn't think had anything to do with his appetite.
"Okay kids, there you go!" said the woman cheerfully, handing Hermione her camera. "It'll be a really cute picture!"
"Thanks," Hermione said indifferently; she didn't seem very fond of the woman.
The four friends went back into the ocean for a few minutes to get some of the sand off them, and then they trekked back to the beach house, wet and hungry. Ron and Hermione were bickering about who got to use the shower first.
"Think they'll ever notice the obvious?" Harry said in an undertone to Ginny.
"I don't know," Ginny said with a grin. "Maybe some of the day's events will have opened their eyes up a little more. I think Ron's the one who needs to notice though…Hermione seems to have accepted the horrible truth that she fancies my brother."
Harry laughed and Ginny flashed him a cute smile. They followed Ron and Hermione into the house and went up the staircase together in a comfortable silence. Harry thought he had just had an excellent first day at the beach.
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