Hogwarts in France
Chapter Five
Tuesday
Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.
Harry was standing under the shower, thinking about the events of the past few days, as the warm water washed down his body. It was extremely refreshing and relaxing. A lot was different to what it had been like on Thursday when they had been told about the trip. Malfoy was actually being friendly and they had been able to get along with one another and generally have a good time. Harry wasn't looking forward to returning to Hogwarts and going back to being enemies. Now he knew what Draco could be like, he didn't want to loose that.
'Ron and Hermione.' Harry smiled as he though about his two best friends. Their getting together had been a surprise that hadn't been very surprising to any of them on the trip. He was sincerely glad they had found one another. Merlin, maybe there would be fewer arguments!
'Ginny'. Harry blushed even at the mere thought of her. He loved how happy she always made him feel and how she was always so easy to communicate with. Maybe he had feelings for her?
He was beginning to feel cold so he stepped out of the shower and quickly dried off and dressed. Ginny was sitting on the floor outside the door, clutching her towel and shower gel.
"Blimey, how long do you wanna take?" she asked, looking up at him,
"Oh, sorry Gin, I was just thinking," he explained,
"What about?" she questioned, a curious glint in her eye, her lips smirking,
"Wouldn't you like to know," Harry said, passing her with a wink and making his way to the dining room.
He definitely had feelings for her.
Harry and Draco were having a casual conversation over breakfast when Ron and Hermione walked in, holding hands. They sat down very close to one another and proceeded to eat a croissant, sharing it.
Draco was watching in mild horror and Harry was certain his face had greenish tinges to it. His own breakfast lay forgotten on his plate.
"Do you have to do that in front of us?" Malfoy asked, disgusted,
"Just 'because you can't get anyone," Ron said, "Mind you I'm not really that surprised."
Malfoy scowled but said nothing.
"Ron, that's mean," Harry started,
"Harry! You shouldn't care if it's mean or not! He's Death Eater scum!" Ron said, vehemently.
"I am not Death Eater scum, you moron!" yelled Draco, "Don't talk about what you don't understand, Weasel!" He stormed out of the room.
Professor McGonagall poked her head in and enquired to what the matter was. Harry explained as best as he could, while Ron sat furiously.
"Mr. Weasley! Come with me, immediately!" Professor McGonagall snapped red with rage.
Reluctantly, Ron got to his feet and followed the teacher. Hermione gave him a swift swipe on the bottom and rolled her eyes.
"Do you reckon you should see if Malfoy's OK?" she asked, anxiously.
"Yeah," Harry sighed. He stomped up the stairs and could hear Professors McGonagall and Lupin berating Ron. He felt slightly pleased about that. What Ron had said had been mean, especially as they were all trying to get along.
At the top of the stairs, Harry met Neville looking frantic, dressed in only a tatty old towel.
"Harry! It's Draco! He stormed into our room and he won't open the door and I really need my clothes!" he cried.
"OK. Hang on," Harry instructed, knocking on the door.
"Go away!" snapped Draco's voice,
"No. Let me in," Harry said, trying to open the door,
"I said, go away!"
"Please let me in. It's my bedroom as well!"
There was no reply. Harry waited until he lost patience and whipped out his wand.
"Alohomora!" he cried.
The bedroom door clicked open and Harry strolled inside, closely followed by Neville. Malfoy was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling with a scowl still on his face. Harry walked over and stood over him, staring down while Neville scurried around grabbing his clothes and then escaped into the bathroom to get dressed.
"Are you alright," Harry said, softly,
"Would you be alright in my position?" Draco said,
"I wouldn't have thought so," replied Harry, sitting down on the bed, "That was mean of Ron."
"You're telling me?" scoffed Draco, "Calling me death eater scum! He doesn't have a bloody clue what he's talking about!"
There was a pause.
"Why?" asked Harry, quietly,
"Merlin! Do you think I'm a Death Eater too?" said Draco,
"I assumed so…well when we were enemies…you acted like you were, you know calling Hermione names and well, you're in Slytherin and according to Ron, there's not a witch or wizard in Slytherin who didn't go bad," mumbled Harry,
"Well, you shouldn't believe everything Ronsays," Malfoy sneered, "I'm not my father."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry,
"Look Potter, I don't know why I'm telling you this of all people! Probably 'cause you're like one of the main leaders of the Light side or so it seems from the Dark side… Anyway, as hard as you probably find this to believe, I don't want to be a Death Eater and bow down to that snake faced idiot my stupid father worships so much! All that nonsense he sprouts about Pure-bloods being the superior race…for God's sake, he's Half-blood anyway. What a hypocrite!"
Harry sat silently as he listened to Draco rant.
"I didn't know you felt like that," he said, after a while, "You've certainly never shown any signs of feeling like that."
"Well, I'm telling you now," Malfoy said, "Anyway, it's almost half past eight. We need to go." He brushed his hand through his hair and sighed.
Harry nodded and together they collected their bags and walked down the stairs.
"Beauxbatons? We're going to Beauxbatons today?" whispered Hermione, her eyes wide,
"Yes," said Remus, smiling at the excited girl.
"YES!" screamed Hermione, jumping up and down, "We're going to Beauxbatons!"
Harry shook his head at how excited Hermione was at simply visiting another school. Then a thought occurred to him.
"Remus? How are we getting there?" he asked,
"Madame Maxime has generously provided us with a Portkey, which activates in five minutes. Therefore, we don't have much time. Is everybody ready to leave?"
Everybody was so they gathered around the dining table and touched the ragged French newspaper that Remus held out.
His eyes on his watch, Remus counted down the remaining seconds and suddenly with a tug behind their navel, the Hogwarts group were travelling through a blur of light and colour.
Their feet hit the ground with a thump and Harry immediately fell over. Sniggering, Ginny hauled him up and for a moment, their faces were very close together. Breathing deeply, Harry stared into her warm brown eyes before a loud shout attracted his attention.
"Harry!" Ron yelled, "Will you look at this place?"
Reluctantly, he tore his eyes away from Ginny and took a look around the Beauxbatons grounds. The grounds appeared very large and apart from a few gravel pathways, was entirely covered in lush green grass and multicoloured flowers. There was a Quidditch pitch over on one side of the grounds and on the other side; there was the sparkling blue Mediterranean Sea and a sandy beach. The school itself looked more like a white palace than a school and Harry thought it wouldn't look out of place in a fairy tale. All in all Beauxbatons Academy of Magic was extremely beautiful and grand.
"Where are we?" gasped Neville, in awe,
"Beauxbatons is located in the south-east of France," replied Remus, "Ah here comes Madame Maxime now!"
The students looked up at the giant figure of the headmistress of Beauxbatons, while Hermione breathed, "I knew it! Bouillabaisse is only served in south east France really and their uniforms appeared to be designed for hot weather- that's why they were cold in Scotland!"
Nobody answered as they were too busy greeting Madame Maxime enthusiastically.
"Ah, bonjour Lupin, Madame McGonagall and mes enfants, I am pleased to see you again!" she greeted, planting kisses on everyone's cheeks. "I 'ope you are all well?"
"Fine thank you," replied the professors.
"Welcome to Beauxbatons. We 'ave a selection of things for you to do today if you like. I 'ave appointed some of my students to be your guides. Ah, 'ere zey are!" Madame Maxime waved her hand at a group of Beauxbatons students standing patiently behind her. "Zey are in their sixth year 'ere and are taking ze day off studying to be your guides!"
"We are honoured," Remus said, nodding to the students who smiled back.
"Zey will take you for a tour of ze Palace of Beauxbatons before luncheon. I will see you zen. Please, 'ave a nice morning." Madame Maxime gave her students some instructions in rapid French and then walked back up to the school, along with Professors McGonagall and Lupin.
"Bonjour," said one of the students, "My name iz Alain and zey are Céline, Monique, Sacha, Fabrice and Luc."
The Hogwarts students introduced themselves and followed the guides across the grounds and into the school.
By the time they retired for lunch in the Beauxbatons Great Hall, the Hogwarts students had been taken all over the school and had seen everything. They had compared it with Hogwarts all the way around and were dutifully impressed.
"Do you like our school?" asked Sacha, a pretty blonde girl,
"It's great," Neville said, in a strangled voice,
"It's really similar to Hogwarts but I expect all magical schools are the same, really," said Hermione, picking some grass out of Ron's hair,
"I've never seen 'ogwarts," said Luc, "I was too young to enter ze Triwizard Tournament. 'arry, weren't you a champion?"
"Oh, yes I was," said Harry, chewing his lip,
"You won, did you not?" asked Fabrice, "Along with ze other 'ogwart's champion?"
"Err, yeah," said Harry, feeling very uncomfortable.
"Let's change the subject," said Ginny, hastily,
"OK, what are ze similarities between our schools, zen?" asked Céline, curiously, "I know zat 'ogwarts iz a castle,"
"Yes, that's one difference and we're in the middle of a load of mountains and you're by the sea," Ron said,
"Hogwarts has four houses called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. We're all in Gryffindor except for Draco, who's in Slytherin. Traditionally, we're not supposed to get along," explained Ginny,
"Beauxbatons 'asn't any 'ouses but we compete year against year. We 'ave fewer students' zan 'ogwarts. Only five 'undred," Monique said,
"We have over a thousand. It gets crowded sometimes," said Neville, "but we all have our own common room and dormitories in our house,"
"As you 'ave seen, our dormitories are on ze upper levels of ze academy and we sleep five persons to a room and a common room for each year," said Sacha, smiling at Neville.
Suddenly, a bell began to ring and all the Beauxbatons students jumped up and headed out of the door.
"Eet iz ze end of luncheon," explained Alain, "Zey must return to zeir lessons. If you like, we will play a game of Quidditch now?"
"Oh yes!" cried Harry, Ron and Draco.
The French students laughed at their enthusiasm.
"Does anybody not want to play Quidditch?" asked Céline,
"I don't really want to. Most of the time, I end up watching the boys or going to the library," said Hermione,
"I can't fly very well," said Neville, blushing,
"Very well. We will go and sit out somewhere," said Céline, "Sacha, will you come with us?"
"Yes," replied Sacha. Neville looked very happy.
"Ciao," said Luc, "We'll see you at about three?"
"Yes, ciao," said Céline, waving them off.
Alain, Fabrice, Luc, Monique, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Draco strolled over the grounds towards the Quidditch pitch and then inside. They stood in a ring on the pitch and looked at one another.
"It's four on four, then," said Harry,
"OK, 'ow about two French and two English on each team? Zat will make eet easier," suggested Fabrice,
"Great idea," said Ron,
"Very well. Do any of you play on teams?" asked Monique, in interest, "I, Alain and Luc play for our year's team."
"Cool. Ginny, Harry and I play for Gryffindors Quidditch team and Malfoy plays for Slytherin. Harry's actually our captain," answered Ron, "What positions does everyone play?"
"I am a Chaser," said Alain,
"I am also a Chaser," said Luc,
"I am Keeper," said Monique,
"I play anything," said Fabrice, with a smile.
"Well that makes it easy then," said Captain Harry, "Four positions will be Seeker, two Chasers and a Keeper. Let me see…"
The other seven players waited to see what he had decided.
"Right, team one is Draco as Seeker, Ron as Keeper and Luc and Fabrice as Chasers. Team two is me as Seeker, Monique as Keeper and Ginny and Alain as Chasers. Is that alright with everybody?" said Harry,
"Fine," everybody said.
Luc and Alain ran off to collect eight good broomsticks and Draco helped Fabrice charm the bludgers. They would have to make do without any beaters.
When the French boys came back, they carried eight Cleansweep Elevens and had brought Hermione, Céline, Neville and Sacha along with them.
"Do you want us to commentate?" Sacha asked, "We decided to come and watch,"
"Alright!" yelled Luc, "Do not be biased!"
The players clambered onto their brooms, Sacha and Neville went to the commentators post and Céline and Hermione went and sat in the stands and the game began.
"Good afternoon, everybody!" said Sacha, "Myself and Neville 'ere will be commentating on zis wonderful game. And ze Quaffle is taken immediately by Ginny- she iz really belting along up zere, a neat pass to Alain, back to Ginny- non, now Luc has taken ze Quaffle and off he goes- he iz going to sc… non, stopped by an excellent move by Monique. Alain iz back in possession, nice dive around Fabrice zere! Look at 'im go! Flying like an eagle up zere…OUCH! Zat must have hurt- hit in ze back of ze head by a bludger!"
Neville took over the commentary; his voice timid at first but then growing in strength.
"The Quaffle is taken by Luc. He is speeding off towards the goals but he's blocked by a bludger and drops the Quaffle! Ginny is back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes- she's really flying- dodges a speeding bludger- the goal posts are ahead- come on, now, Ginny- Keeper Ron dives- misses- Ginny scores!"
Ginny's team cheered and whooped while the other team groaned. As play started again, Sacha took over commentating.
"Fabrice in possession, 'e ducks a bludger, 'e ducks Alain and speeds towards ze- wait a moment- was zat ze Snitch?"
Harry turned around sharply and dived towards Alain, who had dropped the Quaffle. Draco was neck and neck with him; both had their arms out, straining, when suddenly:
"Arghh!" they both screamed, as a bludger came pelting straight at them. They scattered and lost sight of the Snitch, which disappeared once more.
"Oh well," said Neville, "Alain manages to retake the Quaffle and tosses it to Ginny but it is intercepted by Luc, who speeds off to the goal posts, past Ginny… and scores! Ten all!"
Team one cheered and play resumed.
The game continued for another hour, with each side gradually gaining more points. The score was 70:90 to Draco's team when Harry suddenly went into a magnificent dive. Hurriedly, Draco dived after him. They were getting nearer and nearer the ground and then Harry pulled out and flew straight forward after a small dancing, golden blur. Meanwhile, Draco startled to see Harry suddenly disappear stopped watching where he was going and hit the ground with a loud thump!
"Harry Potter has just performed ze Wronski Feint!" screamed Sacha, "Mon Dieu! No wonder he iz ze the captain!"
"Look!" shouted Neville, pointing at Harry, "He's going…he's going…he's got it! Harry Potter has the snitch! Team two win the game!"
Everybody cheered and then ran over to make sure Draco was alright.
Draco groaned, stood up and looked at Harry. "I really hate it when you do that!"
"Sorry," grinned Harry, "Want me to teach you?"
"'arry!" squealed Monique, "You were fantastique!" She hugged him and planted two fat kisses on each of his cheeks; Ginny glowered silently at Monique's back, which Harry found rather endearing.
"Well done 'arry. I will look forward to seeing you play professionally in a few years time," grinned Luc.
Harry smiled slightly and looked around to see Ron and Hermione locked in a post match snog fest.
"Break it up!" he said, loudly.
Ron looked up. "Harry, just you wait until you're having a snog with my sister!"
Harry and Ginny blushed bright red and everyone else tittered.
"Come on," said Céline, "We 'ave two 'ours before we 'ave to return to school. Let's go down to ze beach?"
"OK," said Hermione, "Pack up quickly and then we can go."
With the treat of a Mediterranean beach to look forward to, the Quidditch equipment was soon packed away and the twelve students made their way across the school grounds and onto the soft sandy beach. A wide array of beachwear was piled on a rock with huge towels and a football. Everybody decided they wanted to go into the sea, so they quickly hid from one another behind rocks and got changed into swimming costumes or trunks, which shrunk to fit the wearer, handily enough. Then, they ran shrieking into the waves.
"It's so COLD!" gasped Ginny, shivering violently.
Harry crept up behind her and dived on her back, sending her face first into the water with a scream. Harry stood laughing above her as she emerged, which turned into a yell as Ginny pulled his ankle and he fell down on top of her. As they sank through the water, their faces were centimetres apart. They stared at one another until, all of a sudden, Ginny leant forward a planted a brief peck on Harry's lips. Then, she turned and swam quickly off.
Harry inhaled a load of water and stood up choking. He scanned the immediate area and saw Ginny was having a water fight with Draco, Luc, Fabrice, Monique, Alain and Céline. Ron and Hermione were playing tonsil tennis over on the beach and Sacha and Neville were chatting; sitting right on the shoreline.
"You ok, Harry?" Ginny yelled. She was grinning and winked at him, saucily.
"F…f…fine thanks!" he stuttered out and ducked his head into the water to cool down his cheeks.
The rest of their time down on the beach was spent enjoying themselves as thoroughly as possible. Harry dragged Ron away from Hermione and they, Draco and the French lads had a quick game of football: French versus English. Céline and Hermione made friends as they discovered they both shared a love of books among other interests and Sacha and Neville got even closer and even amounted to holding hands as they strolled back up to the academy at about six o'clock.
"Ah, zere you are," declared Madame Maxime, when they met her and Professor's McGonagall and Lupin in the entrance hall, "I trust you 'ave enjoyed yourselves?"
"Yes, thank you," replied everyone.
"Bien, We 'ave organised a small party for our English guests this evening with dinner. Come with me," said Madame Maxime, leading the way.
The followed the headmistress though a maze of corridors and into a fairly large room. The setting sun gleamed in through the windows and highlighted a long table with enough seats for fifteen people. That was down one end of the room. The rest of the room was dedicated to a dance floor, which Harry looked at with a gulp.
"Please sit," instructed Madame Maxime, gesturing to the table, "We will 'ave dinner first."
Harry sat in a chair and consequently found himself between Ron and Ginny. Hermione was on Ron's other side with Céline sitting next to her. On Ginny's other side was Neville and then Sacha. Immediately opposite Harry was Draco and Monique was sitting on one side and Alain on the other. The two Hogwart's professors were sitting next to one another at one end of the table and Madame Maxime took up the other end by herself.
"Bon appetite!" said Madame Maxime and a wide selection of English and French food appeared in the centre of the table and many jugs of Pumpkin Juice and varying other drinks. Harry quickly helped himself to some food and tuned into what Ron and Hermione were saying.
"I love it when you smile," said Ron, gazing at Hermione who immediately smiled,
"Aw, you're so cute," said Hermione.
Harry shook himself and tried to block them out by eating another mouthful of chicken.
"It's disgusting, isn't it?" said a quiet voice in his ear. He turned to look at Ginny, who was smirking,
"Just a little bit," Harry said, willing himself not to think of last time he was alone with Ginny,
"I'm hoping it's just their honeymoon period," Ginny stated,
"Their honeymoon period?" asked Harry, confused,
"Well, they've just started going out so they're going to be gooey for a few days and then they should be back to normal. Until then, we've got to put up with them!"
"Merlin, I hope it's soon," muttered Harry,
"Don't you like romance Mr. Potter?" asked Ginny,
"I…well…" stammered Harry,
"Didn't you like the kiss?" whispered Ginny, "'Cause I sure did."
Harry breathed in deeply and then blew out, trying to calm his racing heart. Ginny smiled sweetly and returned to eating.
When everybody had finished their meal, they all stood up and Madame Maxime waved her wand and the chairs flew to cluster around small round tables that suddenly appeared. The original large table disappeared, the lights dimmed and music began to play.
Harry went and sat down at one of the small tables with Ron and watched everybody else dance to the fast track that was currently playing.
"Been a good day, hasn't it," remarked Ron,
"Yeah, I'm surprised you actually noticed any of it being constantly glued to Hermione!" teased Harry,
"Oh, shut up, Harry!" Ron laughed.
Ginny suddenly materialised in front of them.
"Come and dance, Harry!" she demanded,
"I can't dance!" protested Harry,
"So?" said Ginny, grasping his hand and pulling him to his feet.
Harry ignored Ron's smirk and followed Ginny into the throng of dancers. He looked around and tried to imitate everybody else's moves. After four songs, he was finally getting the hang of it and Ginny was smiling proudly.
"Dance avec moi, 'arry!" said Céline, "please?"
"Alright," laughed Harry, not noticing the dark looks on both Ginny and Draco's faces.
For the next hour, Harry danced with Céline, Hermione, Monique, Luc, Ron, Alain, Professor McGonagall, Fabrice and Remus. After the initial hesitation, Harry found dancing to be great fun and a lot of laughter was issued by various people.
All of a sudden, the Macarena song came on and everybody cheered and got into position. The song was so popular that even witches and wizards knew it, however Harry did not.
"Just get behind me and follow my actions!" whispered Ginny. Harry did as she said and imitated her actions: her arms went out in front and then across her chest and then behind her neck and then on her hips and then she wriggled her bottom and jumped ninety degrees to the right. Startled, Harry followed and the process started all over again. After a few circuits, Harry had memorised the dance and was performing it flawlessly.
After about fifty circuits, or so it seemed to Harry, the music came to an end and he flopped gratefully into a seat and took a long swig of pumpkin juice. He idly watched the remaining dancers until Ron came and sat next to him.
"I can never get enough of that song," he laughed, "its universal!"
"Yeah, I like it," said Harry, watching Ginny,
"My sister taught you well then?" asked Ron,
"Yeah," Harry said, "She's a good teacher,"
"Bet she can teach you other movements as well," muttered Ron,
"Ron!" yelped Harry, as the meaning of his statement sunk in,
"Oh come on, Harry! It's so obvious you both like one another!" said Ron, "Why deny yourselves?"
Just then, a slow romantic song began and Hermione came over with hope in her eyes.
"Harry, I dare you to ask Ginny to dance this song with you," said Ron, as he stood up to face Hermione, "May I have this dance, m'lady?"
Hermione giggled and nodded and together they made their way onto the dance floor and began to slow dance.
Harry sighed and looked around. Ginny was sitting with Céline gazing wistfully at the dance floor. He made his way and over and opened his mouth.
"Do…do you want to dance, Ginny?" he asked, blushing furiously.
Ginny giggled. "I'd love to, Harry."
She stood up just as Draco came over and took a hesitant breath. "Erm, Céline? Would you like to dance?"
Céline accepted and the four of them went onto the dance floor where Ron and Hermione, Luc and Monique and Neville and Sacha were already slow dancing.
Harry wrapped his hand around Ginny's waist and clasped his other hand in hers, hoping his hand wasn't too sweaty. They began rotating on the spot in time to the soft beat of the music with small smiles on both their faces. It was extremely peaceful and romantic and Harry enjoyed the slow dance immensely. As the song came to an end, he vowed to do it again with Ginny one day.
After a few more songs, Madame Maxime announced that the party was over and the lights relit. The twelve students congregated in the centre of the dance floor and hugged and kissed one another, with many promises to write and keep in touch. Although they had only known one another for a day, they had got incredibly close and were sad to leave one another.
"Stay in contact, mon ami!" said Monique to Harry, "I will miss you,"
"Come and visit soon," Fabrice said, shaking Ron's hand,
"Yeah mate, you're all welcome to visit Hogwarts anytime," Ron replied,
"Maybe the teachers can arrange an exchange like the Muggles do," suggested Hermione,
"Oui," Céline said, "That would be nice. I will miss you, Her-my-oh-knee!" She kissed her on each cheek and the two girls hugged.
Harry turned from shaking Alain's hand and saw Sacha and Neville in a fierce hug. As they drew apart, Sacha touched Neville's face and gently touched his forehead with her lips. Neville flushed but looked pleased.
"Come along," Remus said, "The Portkey leaves soon."
Everybody walked through the silent school and onto the front grounds and with a last hug, the Hogwart's group stood in a ring touching a deflated football.
"Ciao, Céline!" said Draco, turning to wave,
"Goodbye, Draco. I will miss you a lot," replied Céline.
Alain, Fabrice, Luc, Céline, Monique and Sacha all stood in a line waving goodbye to their guests as the Portkey activated and took the group back to their little gite in the North of France. They would miss them very much.
Thanks to luckycharms445, Queenlover, Clopinette (I translated your review eventually- I do speak French but limited although I got an A in my GCSE's for French YAY!), Spacehog26 (You read my mind about a beach trip lol), cecile9155, vegetarians ROCK and griffindor-girl12.
Updated as of 31August2005 with help from Clopinette.
Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received.
