Chapter 18: Christmas in the Caribbean
Unless he had to be in class, or Wood was dragging him out of bed for Quidditch practice, Harry had become very accustomed to sleeping in. It was therefore quite a shock to his system when the day after the wedding he was woken at seven in the morning. Normally speaking it wasn't terribly early, but he had been up talking to Remus until three, and it was Christmas break so he had counted on being able to sleep in. It was even more of a shock when he realized that Minerva was half shaking his shoulder, half rubbing his back while she called to him softly.
"Harry, Harry dear, it's time to get up. We need to get ready to leave."
Before he'd come to live with Albus and Minerva, Harry had been accustomed to being awoken early by Aunt Petunia rapping harshly at the door to his cupboard under the stairs shrieking for him to get up and make breakfast before she stomped off to take a long, hot bath. Harry had to then pull himself out of his make shift bed of worn through blankets, get dressed in his clothes that were five times his size and so worn out that the local thrift shop wouldn't even take them to get breakfast started before his aunt, or worse, his uncle came back downstairs.
Stretching and yawning Harry rolled over, snuggled further under his blanket, and pulled the pillow over his head. "Too early," he muttered. "Five more minutes."
Minerva couldn't help a small smile as she began undoing the cocoon Harry had made around himself. She had a feeling that he had been up with Remus pretty late last night. Normally she would have checked to make sure he was asleep on time, but she had let it slide because of Remus's visit.
"I'm sorry Harry, you need to get up now so you can eat breakfast and help Albus and I get everything together so we can be at the transportation center in two hours. We have to be there an hour before the portkey is scheduled to leave so we can finish the registration process and check in." Minerva's voice was still soft and she continued gently shaking Harry's shoulder with one hand and patting his back with the other. Their portkey left the transportation center at 10 and would take them to Florida in the United States. They would then have to take the American Knight Bus for an hour long trip to Ft. Lauderdale arriving at the ship dock at 6 giving them an hour to get everything situated before the actual cruise began.
Harry just groaned as he peeked out at a very fuzzy Minerva. He fumbled on his bedside table for a moment until he found his glasses, and then pushed them on his face before sitting up still looking absolutely exhausted. "Minerva," he moaned stretching his arms high above his head before face planting into his pillow again. "I'm tired."
"Yes well next time I'll remember that and make sure you actually go to bed on time instead of letting you talk to your guest all hours of the night," Minerva stated with a smile. "Now get up, make your bed, and get ready for the day. Albus and I will be expecting you in the kitchen in 20 minutes."
"Yeah, yeah," Harry muttered into his pillow as he waved his hand to shoo Minerva away.
"Watch the cheek little monster," Minerva stated landing a single swat on the dark haired child's posterior before walking out of the room.
When Minerva's hand made contact with his rear end Harry yelped and jumped, then placed a hand protectively over his bottom as he glared at a retreating Minerva. Honestly, the meddlesome witch. It hadn't been hard, but it had definitely shocked him awake. Groaning once more Harry swung his feet over the edge of the bed and stretched a little more.
Harry leisurely took all 20 minutes given him to get ready, but as he walked out of his room to join Albus and Minerva, he was still fighting to control his wild mop of hair. "Morning," he muttered as he tried once more to flatten it using the palm of his hand.
"Good morning Harry my boy," Albus stated jovially as he handed Harry four plates to set the table with. Remus was going to join them for breakfast and then head off to his own place.
"Don't bother Harry," Remus's own voice sounded from behind the pantry door. "James tried again and again to get his hair to lay flat, but it was no use. He even used a sticking charm on his first date with Lily. Sirius, Peter, and I laughed so hard we fell off the bed because it looked like he had glued hair to his head and it took him forever to get the sticking charm off so it would look halfway presentable for Lily."
Harry didn't even bother asking how Remus knew he had been trying to flatten his hair when he had been hiding behind a cabinet door. He just grumbled to himself as he set the plates on the table and moved to get silverware and glasses before Minerva came with a pitcher of ice cold pumpkin juice and a platter of piping hot chocolate chip pancakes.
Harry finished setting the table, sat down, and Remus came out of the pantry holding the butter dish and syrup dispenser. Harry made no effort to stifle a yawn as he took a good look at Remus. He looked completely awake and ready for the day even though he had been up as late as Harry, and obviously gotten up earlier. "Are you mortal?" Harry managed to ask through another yawn.
Remus just laughed as he sat down in a vacant chair next to Harry. "Yes, but I'm also used to staying up late. I'd elaborate but Minerva is still unaware of how late your father and I used to stay up in our dormitories." He flashed Minerva a cheeky smile as she set some hot sausages down before taking her own seat.
"Oh, I am perfectly aware that you and your delinquent friends were up all hours of the night to pull off your abominable stunts Remus John Lupin. I seem to remember catching you at it a time or two myself." Minerva fought to keep her voice stern, but Remus just smiled, and Albus chuckled slightly as he joined the three at the table with a hot kettle of tea.
"Delinquent is such a strong word Minerva." Remus stated with a smile before helping himself to a stack of pancakes that he quickly drenched in strawberry syrup. "We managed to graduate Hogwarts with decent marks; James even as Head Boy and Quidditch Captain."
"Yes, that is one position of authority I will never understand." At that Minerva shot a sharp look at Albus who appeared to not notice, but instead hummed to himself as he sipped his cup of tea.
Now that Harry was more awake, the excitement of the awaiting vacation was fully sinking in once more. He had never been on a cruise ship before, couldn't even imagine it, and he couldn't wait to try it all out.
"Harry, please stop bouncing like a hyper bunny rabbit," Minerva's tone was waspish and she placed a hand to her head gently, both to try to soothe her increasing headache, and to try and get control on her patience. "We'll be leaving soon enough."
"Sorry Minerva," Harry couldn't help but smile, but he did sit down in the leather recliner to try and control some of his energy and stay out of the way since he was all packed up and ready to go. It was close to nine, and Minerva and Albus were attempting to get everything completely together so they could leave.
When everything was finally squared away, Albus flicked his wand at the baggage they would be taking with them, and just like that first day in Harry's room on Privet Drive, it vanished. "Alright, I have sent our luggage ahead, and it is waiting for us at the Transportation station. Now we just have to get ourselves there."
"Yay!" Harry couldn't control it anymore and began bouncing up and down again before a look from Minerva stilled him.
"Go ahead of Minerva and I in the floo Harry," Albus's voice showed his amusement as he handed Harry the container of floo powder. "The place you are going to is 'London Transit Center,' and remember to speak clearly. We don't want you spending your Christmas holiday lost somewhere instead of on the cruise ship with us." Albus's blue eyes twinkled and he ignored Minerva's glare.
"I'll speak clear Albus," Harry assured him as he took a handful of the sparkling powder and threw it into the fire. The flame instantly turned green and he stepped inside allowing the warm flames to brush his skin. "London Transit Center."
No sooner had Harry spoken the words than he was zoomed out of the sight of the Dumbledore living room and stumbled into a noisy brick building. There were witches and wizards everywhere, pulling young children by the hand, or shouting at older children to hurry up or wait for them. Harry had never been to a muggle airport, but he assumed this was what it must be like. There were signs showing different stations leaving to various parts of the world, as well as signs pointing to places like the food court, check in, luggage, and restrooms. Harry's head spun as he tried to take it all in, and nearly jumped out of his skin when Albus placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We best get to the check in Harry so we can get our tickets registered." With that he began leading the way to a counter with a long line.
"Albus, why do they have a food court here?" Harry asked curiously. "Isn't portkeying almost instantaneous? And the floo is also quick. You could get either home or to your destination really quickly."
"Ah, you are correct there Harry, but some families feel it best to grab a bite to eat here at the transit center rather than cooking at home right before or right after a long trip, and if this isn't your only stop, like for us, it can come in handy as well. Our ride on the American Night Bus will be relatively short, but some are much longer. Not only is food not served on the night bus, but many witches and wizards would prefer not to even think of eating while riding it."
"Oh," was Harry's simple response as Minerva joined them in the line.
It took a while to get all three of their tickets processed, and make sure their luggage would be waiting for them in the American Transit Center. By the time they were allowed to head for their portkey gate they only had 20 minutes before it took off. It took another 10 minutes to maneuver their way through the crowd of people to the correct gate, and Harry thought that the remaining 10 minutes was absolute agony.
When the time finally arrived for departure, a travel instructor asked everyone on this trip to gather around something that looked like a hand rail on a public bus. It was a long metal rail with a loop for each traveler to hang onto. The instructor then explained that everyone needed to grab ahold of a loop. For young children that might let go, the parents had been issued a small wrist leash. The instructor then made sure that one end of the leash was attached to the child's wrist, and the other end was attached to the portkey rail. He used his wand to tap the end connected to the rail to magically secure the leash so it would not leave the child behind. The instructor then made his way to the front of the rail and instructed everyone not strapped to the rail to hold on tightly until they had safely landed in the American Transit Center in Florida. He then counted down from five, and when he reached one, Harry lurched as he felt a pull behind his navel.
Harry knew that the trip was going to be quick, but he was even quicker in deciding that he really didn't care for traveling by portkey. Actually, it was his least favorite form of magical travel so far, and that was saying something since the floo still made him feel like he was going to choke on ashes and cut his elbows off as he spun around and around. This didn't make him dizzy like the floo, but it was not comfortable by any stretch of the imagination either.
The portkey travel time was approximately 90 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity to Harry, and when they finally landed in Florida, the only thing that kept him from falling face first into Minerva was the death grip he had established on the loop he had been holding.
Looking around, it seemed Harry wasn't alone in his dislike of their method of travel. Several of the young children had started crying, and parents were wobbling a bit as they tried to catch their balance once more. Some had also not gotten quite a good enough grip on the hand loop, and actually did fall forward, but Harry was amazed that some people seemed completely unfazed by the abrupt landing. Shaking his head Harry let go of his hand loop, wiped his sweating, trembling palm on his jeans, and stepped as far away from the portkey rail as he could without leaving Minerva's and Albus's sides.
"Well that was interesting," Albus stated with a smile as he straightened his royal purple shirt. They had all dressed in muggle attire since they would be getting on a muggle cruise ship, but Albus had seen no need to tone his color preference down and wore a short sleeve button down shirt in royal purple, and some tan cargo shorts that looked like he himself had painted some large purple flowers on.
"Speak for yourself Albus," Minerva tentatively let go of her hand loop and placed a hand to her forehead again as she closed her eyes to try and regain her balance. Like Albus, she was also in muggle attire, but she still looked like Minerva. She was wearing an emerald green, full sleeve blouse, and a black pencil skirt with black flats. Her hair was once more in its perfect bun, and Harry thought she looked more like she was going to a business conference than a vacation on a cruise ship.
"Yeah," Harry agreed with Minerva. "That is definitely not my favorite way to travel." Harry wasn't wobbling anymore, but he didn't trust his legs to let him move very far without stumbling. "A broom may take longer, but I'd take that any day."
"Oh it's all in the name of adventure." Albus placed a steadying hand on both Harry's, and Minerva's shoulders as he led them towards the gate's exit.
"I would think you would be ready to leave the adventure to the younger generation Albus," Minerva stated simply.
"But if you give up on the spirit of adventure, life becomes dreadfully dull my dear Minerva. We can't go letting the young ones have all the fun. Besides, they have to learn it from somewhere, so it is our duty to continue on for their education." Albus's words spoke of endless energy, but Harry thought he could detect a hint of weariness in his tone, even though the old man's face gave nothing away.
Both Minerva and Harry decided to remain silent and not encourage Albus any further as they made their way out of the portkey gate and towards the luggage pick-up. Since they wouldn't actually be going into the muggle world quite yet, Albus and Minerva used their wands to levitate the luggage ahead of them as they left the transit center to wait for the Knight Bus.
Harry may have managed to keep from falling over when the portkey had landed, but as a purple triple decker bus hurled toward them he tripped over an untied trainer lace as he jumped backward, and fell hard on his bottom, scraping up the palms of his hands. Ignoring the shooting pain through his hands, Harry stared wide eyed and open jawed at the bus in front of him. It seemed impossible that the bus could be that large, and even more miraculous was that a moment ago it had been nowhere in sight, but now the door was opening to allow them entrance, and a guide was ready to greet them.
"Fantastic! We match," replied Albus merrily as he took Harry's hand to help him back to his feet. It took a moment for Harry to understand what the old man was talking about, but then he realized that the purple of the bus, and the guide's uniform, was the same royal purple as Albus's shirt and flowers. Realizing this Harry just shook his head stunned as he followed Minerva up the stairs.
It may have been mid-morning when they left London, but here in Florida it was only about 5 in the morning and was still pitch black outside seeing as it was the middle of December. Another major difference however was the weather. While it had been gently snowing in London, there was absolutely no snow in sight here. Seeing as the sun hadn't even shown up yet, the air was still brisk, but Harry could see that Albus's wardrobe choice was no long completely out of context. As long as you factored out the color choice and painted on flowers of course.
Inside the bus was no less astounding than the outside. Instead of benches or seats like on a normal muggle bus, there were beds. Only a few of the beds were occupied, and the state of the residents varied greatly. Some were fast asleep, while others sat in bed looking like they desperately wanted to reach their destination; seeing this made Harry hesitate as he was led to an empty bed. He would have felt reassured when Albus lied in a bed beside him, but Minerva sitting on the other side of him looking determined not to throw up made Harry think they were in for another rough ride, and this one would be awhile.
The bus needed only to close its door before Harry decided that traveling by floo powder wasn't all that bad after all. He had decided to follow Albus's example and relax by lying in the bed, but when the bus started moving at a breakneck speed, he was almost thrown from his bed completely. Quickly grabbing hold of a rail to keep from having his nose rammed into the floor, Harry forced himself into a sitting position.
"I know it's not the most comfortable travel accommodations Harry, but it will only be for a little while." Minerva's voice was kind, but Harry could hear something in her voice that made him think that she too feared for her life. "Since you are underage, and we are going to a muggle place, it really is the best way though. Side along apparition isn't recommended for even the simplest of traveling, and it isn't very comfortable either. As for traveling clear across an ocean like this, it's also not the safest. Too many things can go wrong."
Harry didn't bother asking what side along apparition is. He had learned that apparition was when a legal witch or wizard turned and disappeared from one place, only to appear almost instantly in another. Harry had found it cool, but lost interest when he realized he wouldn't even be introduced to it until 6th year, and he wouldn't be able to actually do it until he turned 17.
The bus ride seemed to take forever, and when they finally reached their destination Harry hoped desperately that he would never have to ride the Knight Bus again. Somewhere in the back of his brain he realized this was foolishness since he would have to ride it to get back to England, but that was a matter for another time. For right now he could focus on the fact that before him stood a giant ship. Several people were already on the dock loading their luggage and getting checked into their cabins. Harry, Albus, and Minerva joined the flock of people, and waited patiently for a crew member to assist them.
Once they were all squared away in their assigned cabin for the 10 days, the Dumbledore family sat on their cots, finally able to rest for a moment. Even Albus, who had seemed to halfway enjoy the travel here, couldn't help but look relieved to finally be able to rest for a moment. As much as he hated to admit it, Albus was an old man, and was not able to run around without a care in the world anymore. Without suffering the side effects of exhaustion at the very least.
Even with his late night with Remus, Harry was the first to recover and was anxious to explore. After seeking permission from Albus and Minerva, and promising to meet them at the buffet for lunch, he scampered off to see what he could find aboard the ship. Harry was ecstatic to find that another family was also enjoying the cruise this Christmas, and they also had children. The 6 year old boy and 9 year old girl didn't pose too much interest, but when he found that they also had a 12 year old boy, Harry could have leaped for joy. To make matters even better, here he was just Harry. There was no Dudley that would bully anyone for trying to play with Harry, and there was no Wizarding Savior prophecy hanging over his head that made everyone treat him like something that should be worshiped. No, here he was a normal boy that could run and play without a care in the world. Except for remembering to meet Albus and Minerva for lunch of course.
Harry and his new friend, Daniel, spent the entire morning checking out the activities aboard the ship. Neither Harry, nor Joshua knew the extent of their family plans for this trip, but vowed to spend time together as well. Just before lunch, Harry gave Daniel his cabin number before hurrying off to the buffet the boys had located earlier in the morning. Upon seeing Albus and Minerva already waiting for him, Harry bounded over instantly with a large smile plastered on his face.
"This ship is so cool!" Harry bubbled out excitedly. Albus beamed at the boy as he handed him a plate. Minerva however gave a sort of grimace that she tried to force into a smile. "They have so many neat things here, and I can't wait to explore it with my new friend Daniel. His family is also on vacation for Christmas. He's 12 and has a little brother and sister. Daniel wants to do everything, and I told him I'd do it too. Is that ok? I mean I know we're here as a family, but I can have some time to play with my friend right?" Harry knew that he was babbling now, and only bit his lip when he saw Minerva place a tired hand to her head.
"Harry, please slow down for a moment," she muttered as she filled her plate with a simple salad not even sure she could stomach that.
"Of course you will have time to play with your new friend Harry," Dumbledore stated with his normal smile filling his plate with everything in site. "We are here on vacation after all. Yes we will do some things together, but I dare say that if we are connected at the hip the entire time we'll be ready for a vacation from each other long before the end of the cruise. Especially if Minerva doesn't manage to find her sea legs soon."
Author's Note: I know many of you have probably given up on this story, and I'm sorry. I have had some major writers block, then I got pregnant and had my little girl in April, and then moved, and I've just been crazy busy lately. I haven't given this chapter to my editor, so I'm sorry for any mistakes in it. I have worked hard to finish this chapter thanks to the reviews I have continued to get despite how long it has been since my last update.
Also, I have never been on a cruise. So any ideas on what Harry and Daniel could do on the ship would be highly appreciated. As well as ideas for the Dumbledore family. I am kind of severely stuck right now but I will try my best to update soon.
~Lily