A year in the life of Harry Potter
Chapter 15: August, 11
"...we'll be arriving at the Hoek van Holland in thirty minutes..."
"Do we have to get up?" Harry moaned, turning around.
"Yes we do," Severus told him, climbing down the latter. Harry heard the bathroom door close. It would give him a few more minutes to sleep...
"Oh, that's so sweet!" Quentin exclaimed as she saw her father carrying Harry, his head on Severus' shoulder. "If he could see this he wouldn't believe it!"
"Be quiet then and don't wake him up," Lucy smiled as she took Severus' rucksack and handed Quentin Harry's.
"Can't we make a photo?" Quentin begged. "A moment like this won't come very often."
"Quentin," Severus began, annoyed, but before he could say anything else Lucy had already slid the camera out of her rucksack and, checking that no one was in sight, she made a photo.
"I can't wait to see it developed!" Quentin said.
"Huh?" Harry muttered sleepily, his eyes half open.
"Go back to sleep," Lucy whispered in his ear, and no sooner than she finished the sentence were his eyes closed again and his breathing in a regular rythm.
Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes, sitting up.
"Are we already in Holland?" he asked sleepily.
"We've nearly reached Rotterdam," Quentin reported, looking out of the train window. "We'll be able to get some breakfast there."
"Noooo!"Harry wailed, remembering the melon pieces. "No food!"
"Why don't you and I go and see when the next train to Amsterdam leaves while Lucy and Quentin go and get some food," Severus suggested.
Harry shrugged.
A few minutes later they arrived at Rotterdam Centraal. While Lucy and Quentin went out of the train station in search of some late breakfast Severus and Harry made their way to the information desk where a small queue was waiting.
"Wanneer gaat de volgende trein naar Amsterdam Centraal vertrekken?" Severus asked once it was their turn.
"I didn't know you can speak Dutch," Harry muttered.
"There's not much you know about me," Severus said, smiling.
"In vijftien minuten op platform 1b," the woman replied.
"Bedankt," Severus said before he and Harry went to meet Lucy and Quentin who meanwhile had gotten food. They went to the main entrance to wait for the others.
"Harry," Severus began.
"Yeah?"
"I... I - how do you like Holland so far?"
"Is okay I guess."
"We found some sandwiches," Quentin said as she and Lucy appeared minutes later. She handed a paper bag to Severus.
"We can buy some more food once we're in Amsterdam," Severus responded, looking at his watch. "We have about seven minutes left until the train departs."
"Why don't we go straight to the hotel?" Harry questioned.
"Because we won't be able to check in until three o'clock in the afternoon," Lucy explained. "I'm not sure why but that's the way it goes in Leuwenhorst*."
"So what will we do in Amsterdam?" Harry questioned.
"How about we take a boats tour?" Quentin suggested. "It's so warm today I don't think we'd want to walk very far."
"You're right," Severus said. "And that way Harry can see a lot of the things we already saw when we went sight-seeing. The next time we go into Amsterdam we can go to places like the Anne Frank Huis if Harry wants to."
The train ride to Amsterdam Centraal took forty-five minutes.
"Who's is the cheese sandwich?" Severus questioned, pulling a sandwich out of the bag.
"Mine," Quentin said.
"Could have guessed so," he muttered under his breath. "Ham and cheese?"
"We've got that one for Harry," Lucy said.
"I'll eat it later," Harry said.
"Tuna is for you, Lucy? Then the egg and cheese must be for me."
Sooner than any of them thought they arrived at Amsterdam Cetraal. After putting their luggage into lockers they went outside, looking for a sign advertising boat tours. They found one five minutes away from the train station.
The boats tour was one-and-a-half hours long. After it ended (Quentin had made dozens of photos, especially of her parents and Harry) they went in search of a cafe to eat lunch. They walked around a bit more and then started their journey back.
Shortly after half past three they arrived at the hotel.
"I'm tired," Harry moaned as Severus checked them in.
"Here are your keys," Severus said, giving Quentin and Harry each a plastic card. "You have room 5115 and Lucy and I have 5116. I suggest we go up to the rooms and rest a bit. Tonight after dinner we can go to the beach if you want to."
Quentin showed Harry the way to their room while Severus and Lucy left themselves time to go up.
"Oh, you'll love the beach!" Quentin said happily, putting her rucksack down.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wanna sleep right now if that's okay."
"Guess it is. I'll try to be quiet."
"Thanks," Harry smiled, knowing how hard it was for her to do so. Moments later he was in bed, deeply asleep.
An hour later he woke up again at the noise of television.
"Oh, did I wake you?" Quentin asked.
"No, no, it's alright," Harry reassured her. There was a knock on the door. He got up and opened it.
"So did we come all this way just to watch television?" Severus asked as he saw Quentin lying on her bed, remote control her her hand.
"Can we go down to the beach?" Quentin asked.
"Yes," Lucy said. "You two get changed and we can go."
"Isn't it a bit weird," Harry said once the adults were gone again, "that Severus doesn't trust us to be one night together in a cabin but he trusts us severel nights in a double bed?"
Quentin shrugged. "He'll have his reasons. Anyway, tomorrow is their wedding anniversary. I'm sure he's gonna want to spent some time with Mummy." She smirked smugly.
Harry gasped. "You don't mean?!"
"Exactly that."
Once they had changed into their swimming clothes and over them shorts and t-shirts, they went to knock at Severus and Lucy's room door.
"Thought you might want to go swimming before dinner," Lucy said, pointing at the small bag she had packed. In it was a big bottle of water, two towels and sun lotion.
Only minutes later they were at the beach. The sand was finer than Harry had imagined. After they'd found a space to sit Harry and Quentin wanted to go in the water instantly.
"Not unless you put on the sun lotion," Lucy said, giving them the bottle.
"Oh," Quenin moaned, but she knew there was nothing she could do against it. Harry helped her put it on her face and she helped him. Then they went into the north sea.
"This water is cold!" Harry gasped as the water splashed against their legs.
"You'll get used to it," Quentin promised. And she was right. Not a minute after she and Harry had walked forward enough for the water to be waist-high.
"You know," she said as a middle-seized wave came towards them. "In the last few years Audrey, Draco and I made up some games."
"Games?" Harry questioned. The wave hit him against the chest and he lost balance. He tried getting up again but no matter how hard he tried the waves kept keeping him down. He exploded in laughter.
"I - I can't get up," he said between his laughters, trying to get a hold in the sand.
Quentin too laughed as she helped him up. As she leaned over to grab his arm a huge wave came over them, making them go under water. Once they were above surface they laughed even harder.
"So. The first game is Hand Walking. It means your whole body as to float in the water and your hands have to be on the ground, and, with the waves pushing you forward you have to walk. Second game is Wave Hopping. It means you have to stand with your back facing the sea and, using the force of the waves, you have to hop as much distance forward as you can. Last but not least is Wave Jumping. You have to jump right into a wave, and the person who travels the greatest distance is the winner. In that game however you have to be careful not to go out too much, for that can be dangerous."
"Why don't we try all three?" Harry questioned.
"At the same time?" Quentin asked disbelievingly.
"Why not? We can call it Hand Hopping Jump."
"And how would you play it?"
"That's what we've got to find out," Harry said, sounding very optimistically.
Unknown to them Lucy and Severus made a few photos of them.
When they got hunger Quentin and Harry came out of the water again, washed the salt water off their bodies and dried themselves. After putting their clothes back on the four of them made their way back to the hotel for dinner."
"And afterwards we come back?" Quentin questioned.
"Yes, we come back," Lucy reassured her.
As soon as they finished dinner first went to their rooms, too full to go to the beach.
"I have a question, Quentin," Harry said.
"I'll answer as best as I can," she replied, changing the channel.
"Why does Severus always wear long-sleeved shirts? I mean, it's totally hot outside, so why doesn't he war short-sleeved shirts?"
Quentin turned the television off. "He has to tell you himself," she said, sounding final. "It is not my decision to do so."
Later when the sun started setting they went back outside.
They sat on a blanket at the beach, watching the sun set, as Quentin suggested to walk along the water.
Severus cleared his throat. "Harry, could you stay here?" he asked quietly. "I'd like to talk to you."
Harry shrugged, "Kay."
Once Lucy and Quentin were out of earshot Severus began.
"I - I wanted to say that I'm sorry that I slapped you. I don't know what overcame me."
Harry looked long and hard at him. Then he shrugged again. "Guess I haven't been behaving that good lately." After a pause he continued. "Tell me. About my past. Quentin said she promised you and this Dumbledore character she wouldn't tell me."
Severus looked at the sea, the last sun rays reflecting on the water.
"Your parents were killed by a man. You know that you're a wizard? Well, they sacrificed themselves for you because they loved you, so that man - the darkest wizard of all times - couldn't kill you, but he gave you the scar you have on your forehead. Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, thought it best to leave you with your mother's relatives, but that didn't turn out to be good after all. Well, from September onwards you'll be attending Hogwarts. I myself teach potions there. I think it's better if Quentin tells you about Hogwarts, for she seems to know more than any of us."
"Thanks," Harry murmured, smiling ruefully as he thought about his parents. "Thanks for telling me."
*The hotel Leuwenhorst is not actually located at the beach but 45 minutes walking time(10 minutes with the bus) away.
A/N: Hope you liked it.