Chapter Eight; The Big Surprise
"You girls look awful." Derek began the next morning in the breakfast line to Sabrina and Eve. "Are you alright?" he asked them.
"Not really. Neither one of us got too much sleep last night." Sabrina began. "Eve spent a lot of time thinking about Hope and all I could think about was having to leave the island." She finished.
"I know, but it's for your own good you know." Ron told her.
"But who would ever want to adopt me? I'm way too old. I'd be out on my own in a few years anyway and I really don't want to leave my boyfriend behind." She said.
"You don't know that for sure. God works in mysterious ways." Harry told her. "Just give it time and be patient." He said.
"So Harry do you want to go horseback riding after breakfast?" Ginny asked him.
"I'd love to, but I promised Eve that I would take her down to see Hope." He said. "Maybe later." He told her.
"She will be alright won't she?" Eve questioned him.
"Well I can't promise that she'll be able to return to the ocean, but I think that she will be. A lot of our captive dragons are making out just fine." He told her.
"But that isn't good enough! Her parents must be worried sick about her!" she cried.
"Listen Eve, I know that you just want to help her and do what's best for her but I'm not even sure if Hope's parents are still alive." Hermione told her.
"I don't care, we just can't give up." She said.
"You really feel strongly about this don't you?" Ginny questioned her as Eve nodded silently and they continued gathering their food together.
….
Ginny kicked off her flip-flops and waded into the ocean with her hair blowing in the wind. That's when suddenly Harry appeared beside her. She quickly turned her head over to look at him. "There you are, I was wondering where you went." He said as he smiled warmly at her but that's when she slowly turned her head away from him since she didn't want him to see that there were tears in her eyes.
"It just isn't fair. First Hope loses her parents and then she almost dies. I just don't understand why muggles can be so heartless!" she spat angrily with a sniff before she wiped away her tears. Harry knew for a fact that Ginny hardly ever cried and she wasn't a very sensitive person so he knew that she must really be upset.
"It's not just muggles you know, not all witches and wizards can be trusted either." He told her.
"I know, it's just that Hope belongs out here in the ocean with her family. Not in an aquarium." She said with a shake of her head and other sniff before Harry took her hand and interlaced her fingers with his own.
"I know, but it's the best that we can do for her right now." He said when suddenly Ginny thought of something.
"Maybe it's not." She began before she turned to look at him. "Harry, I read somewhere online that you can take a boat out into the ocean and go swimming with the dolphins. Maybe we can find Hope's family that way." She said.
"Yes but how would we know if we found her parents?" he asked her when suddenly a grin stretched a crossed her face. "I have an idea. Come on." She told him before she let go of his hand and disapparated.
"Ginny wait!" Harry exclaimed before he disappeared right after her.
….
Sabrina sat on top of a lawn chair wearing a bright pink bikini with a pair of matching sunglasses while she folded her elbows behind her head and sunned herself. That's when suddenly Derek came out of the water (he was wearing a pair of black swimming trunks) and sat on the chair beside her. Sabrina lowered her head and looked at him over the rim of her sunglasses while he wrapped a towel around his shoulders and started drying himself off.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him.
"That's funny, I was about to ask you the same thing. Why aren't you in the pool with everyone else, or down at the aquarium with Harry and the others?" he questioned her.
"Everyone's leaving in a few days. It isn't worth getting attached to anyone if all I'm doing is going straight to an orphanage right afterwards." She said as she rested her head back on top of her arms and looked back up at the sun.
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that and I don't think I'm going back home." He told her.
"What!? Why not!?" she exclaimed with pure astonishment and disbelief as she sat back up.
"I really like it here." He began with a grin. "Besides, you can't beat the weather." He told her.
"But you're a part of a singing group, Aaron and the other boys need you." She said.
"That's true," he began. "but you and your sisters need me even more." He finished as he continued grinning at her.
"I don't understand. What are you saying?" she asked him.
"I'm saying that Harry's right. You deserve somebody who will be there to take care of you, love you, and protect you Tracey and Casey. That's why I've been thinking it over and I would like to adopt you and the other girls." He explained.
"Really? Do you mean that?" she questioned him as she now felt tears of joy welling up inside her eyes and flowing down her cheeks.
"You bet I do." He told her with a nod as she quickly leapt to her feet and threw her arms around him.
"Thank you, thank you so much." She told him as he smiled down at her and wrapped an arm around her and hugged her back.
"You're welcome." He told her before he planted a kiss on the top of her head while patting and rubbing her back.