So.. Been awhile, eh?
Rose's heart jumped into her throat and she quickly spun round. Anna only quirked one perfectly arched eyebrow and tilted her head to the side a bit, looking like a confused puppy.
"What? What're you talking about?" Rose snapped quickly, a hand clutching the place where her heart was. From the completely unchanged expression on the redhead's face and her honest curiosity, it was clear she had no real clue what she was asking about. That helped to calm the former girl's racing pulse just a bit.
"What can't the boys and I know about?" she repeated. "Is it a secret? Is it a surprise? I love surprises!" Her lightly freckled face suddenly burst into one of the utmost joy and excitement. "It is not my birthday until November, but I do love surprises so much! Whose birthday is it?"
"Harry's, on July thirty-first. And Neville's is on the thirtieth," Rose replied. Her calm façade obviously played out well, even though her mind was racing with the possibility that this little French transfer student had figured out their secret. Anna squealed with excitement, jumping so her lithe gymnast's body practically flew.
"Oh, I love surprise parties! Can I help? Please?"
"We'll see, Annella, we'll see. I think the girls and I have this one sorted, but if we need any help, we'll let you know in a pinch. Fair?" Anna nodded and smiled, to which Rose replied in the same manner. "Everyone's out swimming. Want to join them?"
"I haven't a swimsuit."
"Just go in your knickers," Rose offered. Anna's face instantly turned the color of her hair at the suggestion.
"That isn't decent!" she squeaked, her blush coating the entirety of her face as well as her neck. She looked a bit like Ron when she blushed, actually, which only cause Rose to chuckle more.
"Decent, shmecent. It's summer in a new country with attractive members of the opposite sex! Where's the fun in being decent?"
Anna shook her head one more time before racing out of the house and towards the shoreline. As Rose stood at the window and watched the girl practically dance along the hot sand, she shook her head.
They'd have to remember to keep an eye on that one. She may be more trouble than she's worth.
"Samantha Calloway owns a one-piece swimsuit! I'm shocked!" Neville called out over the roar of the waves crashing onto the wet sand. Sam smirked and ran towards him, body-slamming her tall frame into his taller one. They both tumbled into the cold water, crying out as it chilled them to their bones.
"Fucks sake, it's freezing!" Kenzie cried out, her toes barely in the retreating ocean. "Why did we choose to swim again?"
"Because not all of us have the skin of a newborn. Some of us can tolerate a bit of cold water," Draco replied with a smirk as he began to walk backwards into the water. Kenzie bit her lip hard to keep from saying anything as an oncoming wave taller than her boyfriend approached, but couldn't hold in the laughter when it knocked him flat off his feet.
Those laughs then turned to screams when she felt his dripping, icy arms wrap round her and pick her up, then toss her in as well.
Annabelle was practically crying with giggles as she watched her friends being dunked and soaked by the coastline's never-ceasing torrents. It wasn't until a moment later that she began to wonder where Blaise had gone, but by then she knew.
He picked her up swiftly and put her on his back, running through the water's edge as she squealed and clung to him, terrified of being dropped as all her friends had been and therefore being soaked. But Blaise held her tight. Unfortunately, that meant that when he tripped over a rock, they both went flying and came up coughing and laughing and screaming at one another through fits of joy.
Eryn and Harry were the only ones not partaking in the merrymaking. The pair laid out far enough up on the beach that the ocean didn't touch them, but close enough that they could still hear their friend's words over the sounds of high tide. With his arm wrapped round her shoulder, she leaned back and allowed her eyes to shut, just content to listen to the sounds around her.
"This is exactly what I'd hoped for," she said to herself. And it was. She'd wanted nothing more than to have all her friends and their significant other's for a summer of fun and nonsense together. It was something they all needed, after the end of sixth year and school stresses dying down. A group vacation was just heavenly.
"Oi! Come over here, mate!"
Harry kissed Eryn's cheek and rose to join Ron and Oliver who were, in true Gryffindor fashion, planning out a game of Quidditch in the sand. A game of Quidditch that would take place over the ocean. The dangerous nature seemed to forgo them as they quickly started mapping out placements and teams.
"Hi!"
Eryn tilted her head back and saw Anna smiling down at her. She grinned back and patted the space next to her where Harry had previously been.
"What're you up to then? Enjoying England thus far?" she asked, just making conversation. Anna nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh, yes! The boys are much better looking here than in France," she giggled.
Eryn rolled her eyes a bit. "I find that hard to believe, really. I think my friends and I were lucky to have snagged a couple of lookers, considering the majority of the male population at Hogwarts isn't too… appealing, shall we say."
"What about him?" Anna quipped. Eryn followed her gaze towards the Gryffindor's.
"Which one?"
"Not the tall one, and not your boyfriend. The other one. The older one."
"Oliver?" Anna nodded. "He's alright, I guess. He's out of Hogwarts now, so I haven't seen him in a few years. But I have to agree with you, he's bulked up and is pretty fit."
"Do you think he would like me?" she asked.
Eryn looked at Anna. The latter girl looked genuinely curious if she thought Oliver could like her. Yet there was something in her eyes that came off as sad and almost insecure. As though the hope was far-off and unattainable.
"Of course he would," Eryn replied gently. "What's not to like about you? Plus, you're French!"
Anna rolled her eyes. "Ah, yes. The allure of the new girl with the accent. It gets old pretty fast, believe it or not." She laid herself back, letting her mass of red curls splay along the sand.
"How do you mean?"
"I took a trip to America a year or two ago. Let's just say, American's enjoy the little twinge of French even more than the English. More than one boy tried to flirt – and I say try very heavily, because their attempts at French were très terrible. I hated it so much, being treated just like I was a walking, talking doll."
"So why did you do the foreign exchange? If you hate being mocked, why come to Hogwarts?"
Anna grinned a small, sad grin. "My father is from England. He met my mother when they were in a little coffee shop near Bathe, and they've been married for years. I can see in their eyes that they're in love even after all this time. I want a love like that. And I think I'll find it in England." Eryn couldn't help from smiling and shaking her head just a bit. "I know, it's ridiculous. But it's my dream."
"I think that it's beautiful dream, Anna," Eryn said softly. Anna smiled in return, nodding.
"HEY! Someone get Rose! We're going to start a game of Quidditch!"
"There aren't enough people for even two full teams, so we're making do with five for each," Oliver explained loudly. It was obvious that while he was pretty quiet around most everyone, he could get excited about things he loved: like Quidditch. "Annabelle and Neville don't play Quidditch, so they're obviously out. But everyone else is fair game.
"Now, teams will be composed of a Seeker, a Keeper, a Beater, and two Chasers. You know your positions. Team one will be Potter, Zabini, Weasley, Thorne, and Anna," he called. He stumbled over the last name, however, and corrected himself: "I mean, Bellefontaine." The coloring of his cheeks didn't go past everyone's notice. "You can play Chaser, right?"
"Oh, oui, Monsieur Wood!"
His face only turned redder, but he cleared his throat and tried to finish. "Team two will be Malfoy, Carson, myself, Winters, and Calloway."
"And the best part is that we'll be playing over the Atlantic Ocean!" Ron called out, earning himself a smack in the arm by Harry and laughter from those around the boys explaining.
"So, has everyone got a broom?" Nods all around. "Brilliant! Then gear up!"
"Make sure this doesn't cut over dinner, I ordered Chinese," Annabelle interjected. Kenzie patted her arm.
"Don't worry, love, we'll be sure to cut for food," she assured.
In no time, the players were suited up as best they could (Sam was forced to put on something fuller than just her bathing suit, as it was just a bit chillier in the sky than it was on land). The makeshift hoops to throw the Quaffles Oliver brought with him through were old hula-hoops that the Weasley children used to own and use when they came to vacation here. Levitating many feet above the water's surface, they were held up easily by magic. Everyone stood in place, awaiting Neville and Annabelle to start them off, having a magically enhanced bullhorn they found to commentate on the match.
"Ready… Set… FLY!"
The kickoff was sandy, creating huge torrents of air to swirl it up and around the pair still levitating themselves high enough in lawn chairs so they could safely and easily view the game.
"And their off! The Quaffle is in the possession of Winters! She's swivelling and dodging all attempts to have it taken from her skinny little arms!" Annabelle said loudly.
"Ah, but Thorne snatches it from her clutches and is headed in the opposite direction!" Neville interrupted, grabbing the bullhorn from her. "She's right, then left, curving and swerving, and… SHE GETS A GOAL! Team one has a goal!"
"But the Quaffle is quickly taken again by Calloway, and Malfoy seems to see something that may be the Snitch! Shit this could be the shortest fucking game ever!"
"Please, Harry's got this one in the bag! He can beat Malfoy with his little finger!"
"OI! WATCH YOUR MOUTH, LONGBOTTOM!" Draco called from the sky. There was a loud cackle from the girls flying round as Rose flew over him and bopped him in his head, just hard enough for him to whine and fly faster.
"Keep up the game, ladies!" Oliver hollered. The glare that was sent to him from every female was enough for him to cough awkwardly and call out that the Quaffle was still in play.
"Wood is keeping the Quaffle out of his hoops, no one's getting past him! Never, ever, ever!"
"No one but Anna, who managed to get it past him with barely a bat of her eye!"
"But Sam quickly takes it back, and has it in her hands while Rose desperately tries to beat back a Bludger from her head!"
"Ooh, and it's a close miss when Ron keeps that Quaffle away!"
The banter and the game continued for what felt like hours, but must've been barely half of one. Flying and chasing, scoring and screaming, smashing Bludgers and almost catching the Snitch over and over again. The game seemed to never be able to end.
"ROGUE BLUDGER!"
No one heard Blaise scream out the warning. No one saw it come winding back around and smash him in the gut, knocking him straight off his broom. No one saw him crash into the roaring sea below, unconscious.
My deepest, sincerest apologies for the lateness of this. Really. Like fuck, I'm so sorry. My trip was hectic and I was in a bad mental state after and yeah. So I'm sorry if this is half ass. But hope it was alright!
Hope Blaise is alright :3
REVIEW! :D