Disclaimer: The Characters and situations of Harry Potter depicted in this fic are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stood in a circle as they adjusted their Team Name stickers on their robes. Hermione thought that having a name would give them a feeling of "making it official" and create "unity" among the group. This almost made him laugh, since it had been the exact same argument she had made the previous year when they had first started the D.A. But it was just plain stupid to argue with what would inevitably happen some way or another, so with a small sigh he had obliged and scribbled "Team Hogwarts," in his messy scrawl. Nobody else had the faintest idea how they had thought up the name; the native Costa Ricans and everybody else who hadn't been to Britain (who could read) thought it was an "English thing" and the few who were from England decidedly said it was a ''teenage thing'.'' Nobody bothered to correct them.

The event for they had first was the three-legged race, Jorge announced after everyone had settled down. Everyone began sorting themselves into pairs, although the four of them stood around awkwardly. Harry knew who he wanted to be with, but he disregarded the possibility immediately. It would be awkward, and, he wasn't sure if he wanted another chance to embarrass himself. Ron looked like he was thinking the same about Hermione, but nobody made a move. Suddenly, Ginny broke the tension.

"So, how about it big Bro? Time for the Weasleys to conquer again?" Ginny grinned.

Ron looked crestfallen for a moment, and then a look of eager determination crossed his face. "Too right, lil' sis. Shall we?" Ron picked up the two of the pieces of string they'd been given and began tying his left and her right together.

"Well, if those two are on a team together they haven't got a prayer. Looks like it's up to us to bring in the ribbon, eh Hermione?" Harry made his voice bright and cheerful, as if there was nothing he'd rather be doing in the world than this particular race. Hermione lit up as she began tying their own legs. He felt surprised for a second, turning over how happy he could make someone just by acting cheerful himself. It was a strange feeling, and he suddenly felt more regretful then ever for being so moody his last year.

Jorge held his whistle up to his lips and gave it a loud blow. Everyone jumped in shock for a moment, not expecting the whistle so soon--except Ron and Ginny. With a deafening war cry, they began at high speed, taking only a split second to synchronize their paces. Harry stared at them in amazement for a second before Hermione hissed in his ear and they began stumbling towards the finish line. They didn't seem to be well-matched; although he wasn't close to Ron's height, he still towered over Hermione, and their legs couldn't seem to find the same speed. He couldn't help but wonder how Ron's lanky form and Ginny's petite frame managed to work together so well. After tripping over themselves twice, and lots of muttered tips on a successful race from Hermione, they collapsed over the finish line, just managing to tie with an elderly German couple who hobbled over the mark in the sand second-to-last.

"Ah, so here's the legendary pair who was supposedly all set to bring in the ribbon for our team," Ron laughed and crumpled a Fresca Soda can in his hand just as Ginny popped the tab on her own.

"Where's the soda?" He asked, his throat dry.

"That would be winner's privilege. There's some water in the dispenser." Ron motioned to the shade underneath a palm tree, where Hermione was milking the last of the water in the dispenser for all it was worth. Harry watched her helplessly as the last remaining drop fell into her paper cup and let out a small sigh. Ginny lifted her can to her lips and then pulled it back as she noticed the last of the water being drunk.

"I haven't actually drank from mine yet, you can have some if you're willing to risk the cooties." The corners of her mouth turned up.

''It's almost like she's challenging you, don't you think? If you don't take the soda you're a weakling.That's what she's saying by offering it to you.''' "I'm sure." Harry said sarcastically. "And I suppose that's also the polite thing to do in your twisted mind,"' He added. Mmm. Well, fine. Don't take the soda. You'll just have to wait ten minutes or so for them to bring out more water. But I guess that's a fine price to pay to have white teeth.'

At the thought of waiting ten minutes before drinking anything Harry's perspective changed. "If you honestly don't mind, I'm dying of thirst." He said. Nobody in their right minds would call him a wimp now. Ginny handed him the soda, and Harry deep drink, relishing the fact that her lips had been on the exact same place a second before. He handed it back.

"Thanks," he muttered, suddenly feeling embarrassed although he wasn't sure why.

"No problemo. Let's see, what do we have next." She pulled out a paper and ran her finger down the list. "There wasn't enough room for us in the sack race, so we're in the scavenger hunt instead, but that's tomorrow. It looks all we have today is the Volleyball Tournament, and that's not for a half-hour. I'm going to go cool off in the ocean, anyone want to join me?" Nobody said anything, so she handed Harry the rest of her soda and dashed off, pausing to pull off her clothes to reveal a sky-blue tankini before she dove into the ocean.

Harry slipped into a hammock suspended between two palm trees and watched her as he savored the coolness of the can he was still holding. His eyes narrowed as he saw a Costa Rican boy (Tico, he reminded himself) the same age or a little older than Harry swim towards her, smiling. He said something to her, and she laughed, her eyes bright as she threw her head back. The boy turned towards the open ocean and all of the sudden noticed something in the distance. He pointed at it, motioning excitedly. Ginny shaded her eyes, but didn't seem to see what he was gesturing at. The boy moved her head slowly until it was facing the right direction, and Ginny bobbed in the water happily as she saw it. Harry shaded his own eyes until he saw it, a pod of dolphins leaping into the air. Usually, something like that would have made him brighten, but right now he wasn't in the mood.

'Who does that boy think he is, touching her head like that when he barely even knows her?'' Harry felt strangely inclined to agree. Pulling himself away from the scene so he could more easily resist the urge to run down and break the two of them up, he couldn't help but feel he was losing something important.

Then again, he reflected, it wasn't like he'd had her in the first place.

REVIEWERS:

Chapter Two:

Why Me?-- (Floats away on happy cloud) Another reviewer LOVES my story!! (o: Thank you!

Mary-v--Don't worry, no problemo. (o: Glad you like it.

Ami-Gryffindor89-- Thank you, it's not pathetic at all. (o:

Nightwing 509--Glad you enjoyed it! Hmm... the Percy thing will probably be resolved last chapter, k?

Miss Effie--I still love your reviews so so so much! I've done the italics again for you. (:

JamieBell--Thanks for your very helpful review! You're my html hero! (Oh gosh that sounded corny... ignore that comment). And you wrote a long review, too. (o; Sorry I confused you, though.

Melindaleo--yah, he annoys me pretty bad too... we'll see if I decide to redeem him or not...

HermioneGreen--Lovin' your reviews! And I'm very happy you think it's realistic. That's up there in the top five compliments you can give me.

Coyote/spike--Thanks! Hope you still think so. (o:

Chapter Three:

padfootpuppyeyes--thanks for reviewing... you'll find out in good timeÉ. (tries to sound mysterious like JK and fails miserably)

MsMissProngs--Thanks, lol. (o:

JamieBell--I stuck with the italics, and updated the other chapters too. Thanks for your lovely review.

Why Me?--Thank you, hope this is okay. I love your enthusiasm, lol. Makes my day.

Me222--Yeah... I use that to get rid of most the weird symbols, but when I try doing anything else with it I just get confused. Oh well. O.o Glad you like the conscience, and I like your theory on it. He uses his good side so much it has to tell him to do bad. Now why didn't I think of that? Lol.

Koonelli--well, I found out later that I did have a couple other people on my favorites list, but I hadn't put anyone on there for a long loong time, so you should still feel proud. And you love it, too! (happy grin) And by the way, are you British? You sound like it in your reviews and stories, but I had to ask. (o: BTW, everyone check out her stories, she great one-shots. (o:

Ami-Gryffindor89--I'm still so so sorry about the beta mixup, hope you don't mind doing this one. (o: Sorry about the Jorge mistake. EDIT: Thanx for the great beta'ing on this chapter!!

Miss Effie--I'm sorry... The html pulls off the end quotation marks and hypens. I can fix it with quick edit, but I was in a hurry and I didn't get all of them. I'll try to do better with this one. (Does anyone else have a bazillion weird symbols in the editing box? Maybe it's just me, but they drive me nuts. O.o) I love your word, too. Can I use it? Awesomeosity. Way cool. All the chapters will be around 1,000-2,000 words this story, methinks.

Nightwing 509-- Thank you very much. I updated as fast as I could, but I might be a little slower now that I'm in volleyball camp all day.

Persephone's-Child--I already kinda answered your question, but just in case you didn't get the e-mail Horhay=Jorge. (o: And I'm liking your idea more and more, lol.

A/N: I still need a beta for my Draco story! Help me out here people. (o;