Once a sopping wet and furious Daphne had emerged from the pool swearing vengeance, they were all able to venture into the villa proper and each lay claim to their own room. Harry and Daphne chose rooms directly opposite each other, with Astoria next to her sister and Daniel and Marie next to Harry. Once they were all unpacked, they gathered in the spacious kitchen and Marie began to inspect the space.
"We'll have to go to the shops and stock up," She told them, opening an empty cupboard. "This is a muggle house, so there are no stasis charms on anything. We'll be eating out mostly, but we could do with some ingredients for breakfast and packed lunches for when we go to the beach."
Daniel reached into his pocket and removed his wallet. "I changed a thousand galleons into muggle money," He said, turning to Harry and removing a wad of notes. "The goblins said that there was 38,000 francs here, how much does a food shop usually cost?"
Harry goggled at the small fortune held in the man's nonchalant hand. "In sterling about £50, I think."
Daniel smiled as he put the money back into his wallet. "Oh, good, we should have more than enough then."
"Yeah, I'd say so, unless you're planning on eating caviar and white truffles for the entire trip." Harry laughed, shaking his head at the thought until he noticed the look on Daniel's face.
"I do enjoy a good truffle..." The man considered with a wistful smile, lightly patting his stomach, until Marie closed the last cupboard and, in one fluid motion, turned and smacked him lightly upside the head.
"You know they don't agree with you, and caviar tastes foul, so no, we won't be partaking in such pretentiousness." She told him sternly.
Daniel scowled but nodded his head in submission. Marie nodded with satisfaction to herself and strode past him and out of the kitchen, calling that she would need a few moments to gather her things, her daughters following along behind her.
Daniel sighed as he wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulders and began to lead him to the foyer to await the rest of the family. "So much for the finer things in life, son."
The trip to the local shop took much longer than it should have in Harry's opinion, but really, what was he expecting when four Purebloods were introduced to entirely new-to-them products?
"What're these, Harry?" Astoria demanded, waving a large blue bag of Doritos in his face loudly.
"They're crisps, Astoria." He told her patiently, reaching out and gently pushing the bag and its sharp corners away from his face before he lost an eye.
"Crisps?" She repeated uncomprehendingly, staring at the bag in her hands as if it were a newly discovered wild animal.
"Yeah, crisps. They're made of potato, and seasoned to taste like different things. Look on the bag, it'll say what flavour they are."
Astoria's quickly read the front of the bag, but it did little to help her understand. "Cool original? What's that?"
"It's..." Harry started but then frowned. "I have no idea, but they taste good, or so I've heard."
Astoria looked between him and the bag a few times before she shrugged and raced out of the aisle, where Harry could hear her shouting for Daniel "DAD! Bring the bag on wheels, I've found something else!"
"It's a shopping trolley, Tori, you know what a trolley is!" Daphne shouted loudly from an entirely different section of the shop.
"GIRLS! STOP SHOUTING!" Hollered Marie from somewhere behind him.
Harry glanced around at the customers sharing his aisle who were eyeing him with disapproval. "Sorry. Err, désolé?"
An elderly lady harrumphed as she walked past him. "Your pronunciation iz 'orrible."
The angry voice of Marie sounded from behind him, causing him to whirl quickly. "Oh, horrible is it?"
The other woman lifted her nose into the air with a disdainful sniff and strode away as Marie reached his side, glaring at her retreating back. "Old bint." She spat. "Anyway, could you tell me what these are, dear?" She asked in a much kinder voice, holding out a brightly-coloured box to him.
Harry took it from her, immediately feeling how cold it was. "They're ice lollies, Marie. Like ice cream, but solid and different flavours."
Marie's eyes lit up. "Oh, perfect! These will do nicely for the beach." She cheered, taking the box from him and setting off in search of Daniel and the trolley.
Harry just shook his head fondly and returned to perusing the shelves, but his solitude was short-lived as minutes later Daniel turned into his aisle and quickly wheeled toward him with the trolley. "There you are kiddo! Could you-"
Harry interrupted him after a quick glance at what he was holding. "It's Coca-Cola, Dan. A fizzy, sugary, caffeinated drink - not recommended for consumption by Astoria."
Daniel looked down at the bottle, tipping it this way and that. "Is it nice?"
Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure, I was never allowed any."
Daniel's eyes steeled and he nodded firmly to himself as he placed the bottle into the trolley. "I'll just make sure Astoria doesn't get any."
Harry just shook his head as Daniel began to wheel away. "I'm sure she'll go along with that." He muttered to himself.
Finally alone again, Harry strolled idly further down the aisle until he reached the nut section and was bothered once more.
"Harryyyyyy..." Daphne sounded from behind him.
He sighed as he turned and immediately looked at what was in her hands. "What the-it's chocolate! Why do you need my help identifying chocolate?"
Daphne smirked at him. "I don't, I just wanted to see how upset you'd get." She leaned in closer and peered at his face.
"Aww, your eye twitches in the cutest way when you're mad."
By the time they had arrived back at the villa and unpacked the shopping bags it was already dark and, according to Marie, too late to start cooking anything, so it was decided that they'd walk along the waterfront and find a nice restaurant to eat in.
After they'd all gotten changed into fancier clothes ("Why, who are we trying to impress?" Astoria had demanded to know before she had been forced into a nice blouse and skirt), they set off into the warm night and down the hedged path toward the promenade. They strolled along, trading cheerful "Bonjours" with the people passing them, with the exception of Astoria who trudged along behind them all looking murderous.
Along the way, a man in ripped jeans and a faded blue t-shirt approached them, bandoliers on each shoulder with jewelry attached. "'Ello, pretty jewelry for the pretty mademoiselles!"
"Oh, how nice," Astoria answered, perking up immediately. She rushed forward past them all and plucked a necklace from the man, affixing it around her neck quickly. "Thank you very much, kind sir! Au revoir!" She began to walk away again, smiling to herself as the man began to panic and follow after her.
"Non! You must pay!" He called and Astoria whipped around. "Oh! You never said that."
"Honestly Astoria, he was hardly going to give it to you for free," Marie scolded her, crossing her arms.
Astoria's eyes watered lightly and her bottom lip wobbled. She turned towards her father, "B-but I want it!"
Daniel just sighed and stepped closer to the seller. "I'm sorry about the confusion sir, how much for the necklace?"
The man brightened. "For you my good monsieur, 1,500F," Daniel paused for a second and fixed the man with a disbelieving look, before eventually he relented, retrieving his wallet from his back pocket and counting out the required amount. He handed it begrudgingly to the man who took it with a small bow and darted away quickly to look for another poor schmuck to push his wares upon.
"Happy now, Astoria?" Daniel asked his youngest, who beamed at him.
"Oh yes, thank you, Daddy!" She simpered, giving him a tight hug and burying her face into his stomach. Daniel's eyes softened and he smiled happily once she extricated herself, holding out his arm for Marie to take once more and leading them onward. "She still calls me Daddy!" Daniel preened to his wife, who just patted his arm lovingly.
Astoria fell back to walk alongside Harry and Daphne, where her sister immediately began to interrogate her. "Alright, what's your game, Tori?"
"My game?" Astoria responded in mock surprise as she held up the necklace to her eye level, seeming entirely unimpressed with it. "This was their idea. They said if there's anything I really want they'll buy it for me to make up for purposefully scheduling this holiday so we'd be away on my birthday."
"And that's a bad thing because...?" Daphne asked, not seeing the problem.
"Because I'll have to wait for my wand for even longer!" The younger girl exclaimed angrily.
Daphne gave her a suspicious look. "And you really wanted an overpriced necklace that's worth barely a Galleon? I know you, Tori, and you couldn't care less about jewelry."
Astoria's angry visage cleared and she shrugged one shoulder delicately. "It caught my fancy for a moment." She said loftily before she grinned like a Cheshire cat at her parent's backs. "I'm going to scalp them for everything they've got."
Daphne raised an eyebrow at her. "And why, pray tell, do you think I'm not going to immediately tell them what you're doing?"
Astoria turned her still grinning face to her older sister. "Because I'm going to cut you in. Whatever you want, let me know and I'll get it for you. Deal?"
Harry, who had watched this entire exchange, looked expectantly at Daphne to refuse, but his jaw dropped in shock when she quickly replied. "Deal."
"How about you, Harry?" Astoria said, looking past Daphne at him.
"Absolutely not!" He said, outraged. "I can't do that to Daniel and Marie!"
Astoria gave him a pitying look for a moment before turning back to her sister. "You'll keep him quiet?"
Daphne nodded once. "I will."
"Perfect," Astoria responded primly. "Aren't I a good sister?" She said lightly before skipping ahead to her father's side, taking his large hand in hers to walk alongside him innocently.
"Yeah, an awful daughter though," Daphne replied to herself before she turned to look at Harry's unimpressed face. "What?"
"I can't believe you! The one time you two are ever on the same side and it's to swindle your parents?" Harry said with clear disapproval.
Daphne smiled softly at him, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Oh, Harry, just let me do the thinking, and don't worry your pretty little head, okay?" She linked her arm with his and leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked.
Harry just blinked at her, astonished. "Err, okay."
They walked along for another few steps before he came to a sudden halt as his brain reengaged.
"Hold on, pretty?!"
The next day, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, Marie got her way and they found themselves up early and getting ready to head to the beach.
"Remind me again, dear, why do we have to be up so early?" Daniel asked his wife as he dutifully held open a cooling bag whilst she packed things into it.
"So we can get the best spot, why else?" Marie answered, entirely unconcerned or uncaring that Daniel was swaying on the spot in exhaustion and the three children had taken the opportunity to go back to sleep on the nearest settee, tangled together in a mess of limbs.
Daniel turned and took in the sight. "But look at them, they had a late night, shouldn't we allow them their rest?"
"It was you who wanted to stay out to watch the bad kaboke singers, Dan." She reminded him.
"It's Karaoke, Marie, and it was hilarious so you can't blame me for that." He defended himself, crossing his arms as if it settled the matter.
Marie zipped up the bag and rolled her eyes. "For goodness sakes, Dan, it's nine o'clock in the morning, it's hardly the crack of dawn."
"It is when you're on holiday." He grumbled as he heaved the bag onto his shoulder.
Soon enough, General Marie had roused her troops and gotten them marching blearily toward the soft sand and turquoise sea she had been dreaming of for months. Once they had arrived, she scanned the area quickly and efficiently, instantly spotting a nice patch with enough space for all of them and striding over to it to stake their claim. Once the rest had slowly followed along and reached the area she had chosen, Daniel bravely risked life, limb and liberty to ignore Marie's demands to pass her the bags and instead set them down at his feet, retrieving three towels for his children and passing one to each of them to lay down and sleep on. They did so, instantly dropping down close to each other and resuming their slumbers.
Daniel shrugged unapologetically at the look on Marie's face, which promised retribution as he picked up the bags and walked over to her.
"Finally." She ground out, snatching the bag from him. Daniel took off his t-shirt, sweltering under the sun, and tossed it aside as he awaited his orders. "Now, be a good husband and go and get five sunbeds whilst I do the bugger-off charms."
"I believe the technical term is 'notice-me-not charms', dear," Daniel told her as he walked away toward the back of the beach where sunbeds had been piled.
"What's the difference?" Marie answered his withdrawing form as she looked around, ensured nobody was watching, and discreetly removed her wand from the bag. She began walking in a slow circle around the area she had chosen, her wand held in the hand she was pretending to scratch her stomach with under her cover-up, muttering the protective charms to herself and taking the occasional glance at a particularly attractive man.
Daniel returned, carrying two sunbeds stacked on top of one another. He walked them over to the bag, which his wife had returned to as she began to unpack from it.
"Only two?" She asked idly as she pulled out a large, already-opened parasol that absolutely should not have fit in the bag from it. "You're getting old, dear."
Daniel paused from setting up the two beds to give her a hurt look. "Old? Me? How dare you! I'll have you know I received many an appreciative look on my way over here."
"You keep telling yourself that," Marie answered lightly as she removed her cover-up and lay on her chosen bed. "Off you go, you have three more beds to carry for your 'appreciative' audience."
Behind her back, Daniel mock-saluted and dutifully went off once more. By the time he had returned, carrying a stack of three beds, Marie was lying on the bed and smiling to herself as she looked into a handheld mirror, looking for all the world as if she were simply checking her hair. She listened intently as her husband put down the beds and removed them one by one from the stack, placing them in a row next to Marie. Soon, he had carried each of the sleeping youngsters and their towels and placed them onto a bed. He removed their sandals and sunglasses, placing them in a pile next to them, and dragged the parasol over to keep the three of them shaded from the sun before finally, with a huff, he plonked down heavily onto the end of her bed.
"You're right, Marie." He said, sweat dripping down his brow. "I'm getting old."
Marie reached down into the cooled bag next to her, passing him a bottle of water and giving him a smile. "And yet I still love you as much as I ever have." She told him as he quickly unscrewed the lid of the bottle and gulped the liquid down greedily like a dying man in the desert.
She waited for his mouth to be full before she continued. "You looked very attractive carrying those beds all by yourself."
Daniel choked, quickly swallowing down the contents of his throat and pointing an accusing finger at her.
"I knew you were looking!" He rasped, coughing and laughing in equal measure.
Marie put away the mirror, happy that it had served its intended purpose.
Two hours later, it was Harry who was the first to rouse, sitting up and blinking his eyes tiredly. He looked around him, momentarily confused as to his whereabouts until he remembered the early start and trek to the beach. Looking to his right, he saw Daphne lying on her side facing him, smiling to herself in her sleep. He gave a soft smile at the sight, and turned to his left where he immediately saw Astoria on the sunbed next to him, curled up into a tight ball and face scrunched up adorably. It was the most peaceful and innocent he'd ever seen her.
Beyond her, his eyes finally rested on Daniel and Marie, who waved cheerfully at him when they noticed he had awoken.
"Morning," Harry greeted with a contented smile.
"Morning Harry," They called before Marie beckoned him over. "Come over here so I can put a sun protection charm on you."
Harry made a small "oh" of surprise before swinging his legs over the side of the sunbed and beginning to stand. "Ow!" He breathed out harshly, instantly falling back into a seated position and lifting his poor, burned feet up off the scorching sand.
"Sandals and sunglasses are on the other side, Harry," Daniel called.
Holding up a hand in gratitude, he quickly put the sandals on his feet and the sunglasses on his face and stood, walking over to the Greengrass' parents' bed and sitting on the end of Marie's, facing the water and enjoying the sight of the rolling waves as Marie sat up behind him. She motioned for him to take off his t-shirt, and once he did she began to wave her wand up and down his back, casting the spell to protect him from burning in the sun.
"Okay, now the front." She ordered. Harry turned to face her and, to avoid staring into her close face awkwardly he looked over her shoulder at the people behind them. For a few long seconds, his brain didn't quite realise what he was looking at, until it suddenly kicked into gear and he looked down at his lap. He hoped desperately that neither Daniel nor Marie had noticed what he had inadvertently been staring at, but his quickly reddening face was clue enough for the two former Aurors that something had happened.
Daniel quickly glanced behind them and saw what it was that Harry had seen. He turned back around nonchalantly and acted as if nothing was untoward, though he had to take long, slow breaths to keep from bursting out into laughter.
"Legs," Marie intoned, and Harry froze for a moment before he understood what she was saying and stretched out his legs and rested them on either side of her, keeping his eyes still firmly staring at his lap. She repeated the motions on his legs, and as soon as she declared she was done Harry turned around and faced the ocean again, sitting stiffly.
Immediately, Marie turned to her husband who lifted his chin to indicate for her to look behind them. She did, noticed what Harry had seen, and turned back to her husband, who was smiling softly.
"Together?" She mouthed, and he nodded, getting to his feet to sit at the end of his bed and be closer to Harry, but as he did they all heard a soft voice ask "Where am I?"
Looking over, they all saw Daphne, leaning up on one arm and looking around her through tired eyes. The two parents looked into each other's eyes quickly, and after a short moment, Daniel hurried over to her. "The beach, princess, don't you remember? Stay there and I'll put a charm on you to protect you from the sun while you adjust."
Whilst her husband distracted their daughter, Marie scooted forward until she was sitting just behind their son. "Lovely, isn't it?" She said lightly, resting her hand on his shoulder and ignoring the full-body flinch from him.
"Y-yeah." He stammered, refusing to look behind himself at her.
"It's been a long time since we've been to a beach." She told him, looking around her for targets and spotting a few.
"Really?" Harry said simply, swallowing slightly.
"Hmm," She hummed in confirmation. "Twenty years in fact, on our honeymoon."
"Where did you go?" Harry asked, feeling the heat begin to leave his face.
"Greece," She said, continuing to speak lightly. "Rhodes, more specifically. Another villa, though that one was magical, so we didn't need to go out into the muggle world much. The only time we did was to go to the beach there." She told him, pausing for dramatic effect. "Though, it wasn't like this beach."
Harry's head quirked slightly to the left at her words. "Was it a shingle beach? Like the ones in England?"
She chuckled lightly. "No, dear, it was a nudist beach."
Harry whipped around quickly, eyes wide. "A-a what?"
"A nudist beach." She repeated like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Oh, it shocked us too. We had no idea." She told him, shaking her head. "There we were, newly married, walking arm-in-arm toward the gorgeous sand, and we were stopped by a young man, a lifeguard. He pointed to us and loudly declared 'You two! Get naked'" She finished with a laugh.
"He said that?" Harry asked, shocked.
"Well, he didn't speak very good English, so he wasn't able to put it any gentler. I thought Daniel was going to curse him into smithereens and damn the Statute of Secrecy, but luckily for him, he waved an arm around to indicate the rest of the beach-goers and their distinct lack of clothing. When we calmed down, a helpful young Scottish girl came over to explain it to us."
"What happened, did you leave?" Harry asked, smiling slightly at the story and intrigued.
"We thought about it," She told him, shrugging a shoulder. "But we decided, well, we've walked all the way here, and if everyone else is doing it?"
Harry blinked a few times. "So you...?"
"Took all our clothes off? Yes, we did." She chuckled to herself. "As you can imagine, we felt like a right pair of prats. There we were, two relatively sheltered Purebloods, who had only ever seen each other in such an intimate state, and suddenly there were boobs, bums and bits everywhere." Harry looked incredulous at her words, but she just smiled at him. "As soon as we had our clothes off, Daniel wanted to cover me up from any prying eyes, but as we set our things out we noticed that nobody was really paying us any mind. People looked, sure, but they didn't stare, and we did the same. We stayed, and the next day we came back and we found that we barely noticed anyone around us."
Harry looked down at the sand beneath his sandals, considering what she'd said. Marie gave him a few moments to think before she spoke again. "Am I right to assume that the girl behind me is the first girl you've seen without clothes on?" Harry went still for a moment, but eventually just sighed and nodded his head.
"Look over there, Harry." She told him, pointing to their left with her chin. Harry followed the motion and looked around until his eyes found the naked girl Marie was indicating. He looked for a few seconds before he tore his gaze away. "And there." She said, indicating a spot in front of them. Harry glanced over, noticed another naked girl, and looked away.
"You see?" Marie said, regaining his attention. "It must not be a big deal to them, otherwise they wouldn't do it. I think it may be a cultural thing, you know?" She continued as Harry quirked his mouth, considering. "Some cultures don't seem to think as much of it as we do. Nudity, I mean." She clarified when his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "These girls have chosen to, in a public place, reveal themselves. You shouldn't be ashamed that you looked, especially when you did it accidentally, just don't stare." He nodded after a few moments, smiling at her as he understood what she was telling him.
"Harry?" Marie asked gently, making sure he was paying attention. "What did it make you feel when you saw those girls?"
Harry jerked slightly in surprise at the question, his eyes searching Marie's face for her motive in asking, but all her could see was curiosity. He looked back down to the sand, thinking of what he had felt.
"They...looked nice?" He started uncertainly with a shrug of his shoulders. "Attractive. But..."
"You think they're attractive, but you're not particularly interested in looking again?" Marie suggested. Harry released a breath and nodded, relieved that she had summed up his thoughts.
Marie looked around until she spotted what she needed. "Look over there, Harry, a little to our left near the sea" Harry did as she asked, seeing a tall, muscular naked man walking out of the water and towards his towel. Harry watched him for a moment before turning back to Marie.
"What about then?" Marie asked softly.
Harry just shrugged a shoulder. "It's a little weird to see him naked, but other than that nothing."
"No attraction?" Marie probed.
Harry shook his head. "No, not like the girls."
Marie just smiled at him as she leaned in a little closer and whispered. "It would have been okay if you were."
Harry frowned at her, wondering why she was saying that. She just continued to smile at him. "I'm just letting you know. Some people are...funny, about people liking the same gender as them." She explained to him.
Harry continued to frown but the expression cleared when he realised what that meant. "Oh. Like they're 'funny' about blood purity?"
Marie nodded and leaned back against her sunbed, reaching up with a lazy arm to adjust her pillow. "Yes, like that dear."
"Idiots." Harry snorted with a shake of his head. Then, he thought about what Marie had said to him and turned to her. "And you wouldn't have cared at all?"
"Not one bit." She responded firmly.
Harry smiled widely at her. "Thanks, Marie."
"Harry," Daphne called, and Harry turned to see her standing next to Daniel in her swimsuit. "Dad and I are going for a swim, are you coming?"
After a few seconds of silence, Harry shook his head and quickly turned back around so he was facing away from her. Daphne raised her eyebrow at his odd behaviour, but her Dad just started to walk away toward the sea so she quickly forgot about it and followed him.
Marie waited patiently until Daniel and Daphne were out of earshot before she casually asked "So, how did that make you feel?"
Harry gave her what would have been a rather impressive withering look if he didn't currently resemble a black-haired tomato.
"You'd best get used to the sight quickly, dear, otherwise it'll be a long two weeks for you."
Astoria awoke ten minutes later, hair wild and in disarray. She yawned widely before she stretched, arching her back like a cat. Once finished, she looked dully over to her left side where her mother was lying on the sunbed beside her, luxuriating in the hot sun and reading her book. Taking another look around, she noticed that the rest of her family was missing.
"I always knew they'd abandon us one day, Mum." She said, announcing her return to the waking world to Marie. "We're too smart for the other three."
Marie didn't even glance at her daughter as she beckoned her over to her bed. "They haven't abandoned us, your father and sister are swimming and Harry went over to that stall over there to buy things to make a sandcastle with."
Astoria padded over the short space in between their beds, apparently not even noticing the extreme heat of the sand beneath her soles. "Why's he doing that?"
Marie looked at her shortly and put down her book. "He has his reasons, now sit down so I can put the charms on you."
As Marie was waving her wand over her youngest, Harry returned, announced by the loud cat-call whistle from Astoria. "Looking good, Potter. Have you been working out?"
Marie jabbed her under the rib with her wand and she yelped in shock. Harry, who hadn't put his shirt back on, looked down at his still somewhat bony frame in confusion as he reached them. "Err, no?"
Astoria gave a dramatically dreamy sigh. "Wow, he looks this good naturally!"
Harry chose to ignore her and instead sat down in the sand at the foot of the sunbed to make a start on his sandcastle. Marie, once finished with ensuring her youngest child didn't cook under the bright sun, leaned back into her pillow and resumed her book. Astoria sat watching Harry as he packed sand into the bucket using the spade that came with it. When the bucket was full, he set it face down on the surface of the beach and waited a few moments, before picking it back up.
The sand that remained, rather than looking like the majestic first tower of his intended castle, instead looked like a vaguely-tower-shaped pile, before the tiniest breeze imaginable swept over it and robbed it of any such resemblance and returned it to a shapeless pile of loose sand.
"How would you like to be my chief architect when I make my rise to power, Harry?" Astoria said snarkily. She jerked forward when she felt her mother's foot kick her lightly in the back. She looked back furiously but Marie shook her head slowly and meaningfully at her.
Harry stared at the pile of sand, wondering what he did wrong. He'd always been jealous of Dudley and his tales of trips to the beach with his parents, and the gigantic sandcastles he would make with his father, Vernon. He knew they were both morons, so if even they could make one, how could he not?
After the reprimand from her mother, Astoria settled in to watch him again, and when his second attempt failed as the first did, she began to look around. No one else was playing with sand like Harry, not even the small children. Casting her gaze further, she finally spotted something that could help. A man was standing before his towel on one foot, whilst the other hovered in the air. He was scraping off large, solid-looking clumps of sand from his foot before getting back onto his towel.
Astoria turned back to her mother. "Can we do any magic here? Without the Muggles seeing" She asked quietly.
Marie eyed her suspiciously. "Within a certain radius, yes, we can. Why?"
"Is Harry in that radius?" Astoria queried, ignoring her mother's question.
Marie glanced past her daughter to the frustrated boy sitting in the sand. "He is. Again, why?"
Rather than answer her mother Astoria got up and walked over to Harry to sit down beside him. He had just revealed the third attempt at a tower, having left the sand inside the tower-shaped bucket for a few minutes this time, but it did little to help the structural integrity.
"Hey, Harry?" Astoria said quietly, and he turned to look at her. "Conjure a little bit of water in the bucket, see if that helps."
Harry thought about what she said, deciding it didn't hurt. He glanced at Marie, who was watching them, and saw the short nod of her head, letting him know it was okay. He reached inside the bucket with his hand and a short burst of water shot from the tip of his index finger, filling up the bucket with an inch of the liquid.
He scooped more sand into the bucket, filling it to the brim, before quickly upending it and placing it onto the sand. He waited a few moments before picking up the bucket again, but when he did he saw that there was no pile of sand whatsoever in his place. Astoria coughed lightly next to him, and when he looked at her she pointed at the bucket. He looked and saw that the sand was still inside, though it was darker in colour. He put the bucket back down and, alighting on an idea, used the spade and began tapping the bottom of the bucket to encourage the sand to dislodge. When he picked up the bucket again, he was delighted to see a perfectly formed tower sitting there.
Harry and Astoria turned to each other with matching grins as Marie watched on, her book happily forgotten.
Daphne and Daniel returned an hour later, the sun glistening off their drenched bodies, but both stopped short when they saw the progress Harry and Astoria had made.
"Look, we're building Hogwarts!" Astoria crowed as her nimble fingers drew details into the formation whilst Harry sculpted the rough shape of the walls and turrets into their towers. "Or so Harry tells me."
"That...does actually look like Hogwarts," Daphne said, inspecting their work. Harry gave her a blinding smile, too happy with himself to react to the sight of her this time. Marie cleared her throat to get her attention and beckoned her over to dry her off with her wand, repeating the actions with Daniel.
"Come on you two, time for a break, we haven't eaten anything today." She called to the two builders, who jumped up at her words, only just noticing how hungry they were.
They sat in companionable silence as they tucked into the sandwiches Marie had made that morning, and once they were finished Marie fished out the box of ice lollies. She tore the box open wide so they could each choose a flavour. Harry and Daphne each had a strawberry-flavoured lolly, Marie and Daniel had lemon, whilst Astoria was the only one brave enough to try a brown-coloured lolly that none of them could identify.
That is until Daniel picked up a ripped piece of the cardboard box and read the flavours listed on it. "Ahem, Harry?" He said quietly to the boy sitting beside him, who looked over. "Look."
Harry looked at where he was pointing and began to read. When he was finished he glanced worriedly for a moment at Astoria, who showed no signs of change. "I think it might just be a similar flavour, I don't think it's actually made with Coca-Cola."
When they were all finished, Harry and Astoria immediately returned to their castle, whilst Daniel and Marie stretched out on their beds to watch them. Daphne walked slowly over to the pair. "Can I join you?" She asked, and the uncertainty in her voice was only recognised by her parents behind her, who glanced at each other.
Harry didn't notice the reticence in her voice as he carefully sculpted a small pile of sand into something resembling Hagrid's hut. "Of course, you can help me with the grounds if you like?"
Daphne nodded her assent and sat down quickly, wondering what she could do. After a few moments, she thought of trying to make the greenhouses. "How do I-?
Harry quickly cottoned on and reached for the bucket of water, filling it up with the required amount of water and passing it to her. He explained how to form the towers, using the spade to make sure the sand came out, and went back to scratching small lines to indicate the thatched roof into the top of the sand version of Hagrid's hut.
Between the three of them, within the next few hours, they had built a more than passable replica of the castle, though a few details were missing. They sat back proudly and marveled at their work, receiving appreciative comments from Daniel and Marie.
"Well, that was fun," Astoria said, jumping to her feet and slapping her hands on her thighs to rid any excess sand from them. "I'm going to lie down for a bit."
"Thanks for all the help, Tori," Harry said to her sincerely, receiving a genuine smile from the younger girl, for Astoria had realised what he had not.
It had been the first time he'd called her "Tori" rather than "Astoria".
After Astoria had flopped back onto her sunbed, Harry and Daphne sat together on the sand. Daphne glanced at the happy and carefree look on his face and smiled.
After a few minutes of simply enjoying his company, she looked back out into the water and saw the waves were larger than they were before, a sign that the tide would be coming in in a few hours. She watched the people in the water, laughing as they were taken by surprise by the strength of the water. She found herself wanting to go back in and join in the fun.
"I'm going back into the sea, do you want to come?" She offered happily to the boy beside her, but to her dismay, the carefree look disappeared and was replaced by a guarded look.
"Erm, no, sorry Daph." He said quietly, hunching his shoulders a little.
"Oh," Daphne said, trying not to let the hurt enter her voice. "Okay." She got to her feet slowly, hoping he would reconsider, but when he said nothing she turned away and began to walk toward the sea.
"Wait there, sweetie, I'll come with you," Marie called, rising from her sunbed and stretching her legs out. "I haven't swam for years." She said with a smile, which her daughter returned half-heartedly.
"Sure, mum." She returned, waiting for her mother to join her and abjectly refusing to even glance at the silent boy sitting by the sandcastle. Once she had, the pair walked silently to the water and got in. Marie made a pleased sound at the temperature of the sea as she waded in deep enough that the water was up to her neck.
Daphne bobbed along beside her, glancing back at their towels, where she could see Harry sitting and talking to her Dad.
Marie noticed where she was looking and paddled over to her. "You know, for someone so insistent on getting into the water you don't look like you're enjoying it much."
Daphne tore her gaze away and to her mother. "What are you talking about, I'm happy, see?" She grinned toothily at her Mum. "See how happy I am?"
Marie reached out and covered her mouth. "Stop that, you look like a shark and we're in the ocean, you'll cause a panic." Daphne scowled at her and slapped her hand away.
"At least now your face matches your mood," Marie smirked at her.
Daphne crossed her arms and scowled at her, opening her mouth to retort when a large wave formed behind her mother and swept them both away. Daphne, who hadn't been using her arms to tread water, ended up turned upside down in the water, and Marie, who was behind her, could only see her daughter's feet and ankles sticking up in the air as they were washed to shore.
When the wave's momentum had finally petered out, Daphne was able to right herself, spitting out large clumps of sand that had entered her mouth as she was dragged across the seabed. With a growl, she got shakily to her feet, reached up and ripped the seaweed that was stuck across her face from her eyes and immediately spotted her mother, her darling mother, the woman who brought her into this world, throwing back her head and laughing like a musketeer.
"Oh! Oh, Merlin!" Marie cried, pointing at her with one hand whilst she clutched her side with the other. "That's the funniest thing I've ever seen!"
Daphne was outraged. "You're supposed to make sure that your child isn't horribly mangled before you start laughing!" This did little to calm her mother down, if anything it made her howl even louder. "I could have been choking on a seashell and you don't even care!"
"Stop! Please stop!" Marie wheezed. "You're making it worse!"
Daphne placed her hands on her hips and glared at her mother, waiting for the idiotic woman to calm down. Movement from behind Marie caught Daphne's eye, and she smiled wickedly.
"I suppose you're right Mum, it must have looked pretty funny." Daphne sighed, keeping an eye over her Mum's shoulder.
"I-it was!" Marie laughed, beginning to calm down. She breathed out heavily and straightened, lifting up a hand to wipe away tears. "With your feet sticking up in, the air, you looked like a duck-" She couldn't finish and burst out laughing again, wrapping her arms around her stomach.
Daphne just smiled pleasantly, internally counting down the seconds.
3...
2...
1...
The biggest wave yet crashed into the back of her mother, immediately toppling her due to her unbalanced state and sending her face down into the seabed. Marie pushed herself up on her arms, spluttering and coughing out clumps of sand and trying to ignore the guffaws from her daughter.
"You're-you're definitely right, Mum," Daphne forced out between fits of laughter. "That does look funny!". Marie couldn't help but smile at her daughter's happy face, even as she was still periodically coughing up sand that had lodged in her throat.
Eventually, Daphne calmed down and the two of them peacefully swam further out to sea, treading water next to each other with smiles on their faces. Marie glanced over at her daughter and decided to try again.
"So, will you tell me now what was bothering you?" Marie asked gently.
Daphne sighed, her smile dimming slightly as she looked to the shore and the boy there. "It's...silly."
"Silly or not, it still upset you." Marie countered lightly.
Daphne hummed in response, her eyes still on the distant Harry. "It's just...Harry was acting weird this morning when I asked if he wanted to swim, and I figured he just wanted some time alone. But then he spent hours playing with Astoria, so that wasn't it. Then when I asked him later, he went all weird again." She rambled, finally turning to look at her mother who immediately saw the hurt in her eyes. "Have I done something wrong?" Daphne asked finally, worry clear in her voice.
"Of course not, sweetie," Marie reassured her. "Anything else?"
Daphne chewed the inside of her cheek as she thought about it. "It was the way he looked, the second time. He just closed off from me, and we've never been like that with each other."
"Perhaps you should ask him, sweetie," Marie suggested. "I'm sure he has a reason."
Daphne sighed. "I suppose," But before she could say anymore, she spotted her Dad and Astoria swimming toward them.
"Hello, you two," Daniel called between strokes as Astoria doggy paddled alongside him. "We wanted to join you before it gets too late in the day."
"You're more than welcome," Marie smiled, but her eyes lifted above their heads to the shore, where Harry sat alone on a sunbed. Whilst Astoria swam off to her sister, Daniel lazily made his way over to her and immediately started a whispered conversation.
"Hello sister," Astoria greeted happily, floating on her back in front of her. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Hello-" Daphne's reply was cut off by her sister instantly taking the opportunity to begin kicking the water directly in front of Daphne's face repeatedly.
"Astoria-" She tried, getting a mouthful of salt water. "Tori-" Again, no opportunity to finish. "STOP THAT YOU LITTLE SH-"
Whilst Marie and Daphne walked over to the sea, Harry watched them go with a resigned sigh, idly tracing patterns into the sand. Behind him, Daniel watched him sadly, having witnessed the interplay between the two children.
"Hey, kiddo, come sit up here with me for a bit." He called to the boy, who jumped slightly when he was broken from his thoughts. Harry stood and made his way over to Daniel's sunbed, sitting beside him.
"What was that all about, son?" Daniel asked once the boy had gotten comfortable. "Why didn't you want to go swimming?"
Harry said nothing for a long moment, eyes quickly darting toward Astoria to make sure she was asleep. If the small mewls she was making were any indication, he was safe for the moment.
Nevertheless, he kept his voice hushed when he answered. "Can you keep it a secret?"
Daniel nodded firmly. "Of course."
"I can't swim," Harry whispered as his face screwed up in embarrassment.
Daniel smiled at him reassuringly. "That's okay Harry, there's nothing wrong with that. Have you never been for lessons or anything?"
Harry shook his head. "The Dursleys, they...refused to allow me to go. Our school would go on Wednesday afternoons every other week to the local swimming baths, but they told the teachers that I had a crippling fear of water and shouldn't go."
'Bastards' Daniel thought viciously to himself. "I could teach you if you like?"
Harry glanced at the water, watching the larger waves rolling into shore. "In that?"
Daniel looked past the boy at the current state of the ocean, grimacing slightly. "Maybe not today, but we have the pool at the villa, and the water is calm there all the time. We'll get you all caught up in no time."
Harry looked back at him, seeing the earnest desire to help on the man's face. "But everyone else will know, won't they?"
"But like I said, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. No one will make fun of you, I promise." Daniel told him firmly.
Harry swallowed, looking back at the sea. He saw Daphne and Marie laughing together, then as he moved his gaze to the side he could see others enjoying the water just as much.
He turned back to Daniel and nodded his assent. "Okay."
Daniel put his hand on the boy's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I would recommend telling Daphne, kiddo. It upset her before because she didn't know why you were refusing her, but if you explained it she'd understand."
Harry sighed, nodding his head. "I know, I just...I didn't want her to think less of me."
"Don't be stupid, she thinks the sun shines out of your arse." Harry and Daniel's heads whipped around to look at Astoria, who was stretching after waking up from her nap. They wondered how much she'd heard of the conversation, but before they could ask she spoke again. "I'm going to go for a swim too, are you coming?" She asked, looking between them with a blank expression.
Daniel glanced at Harry, who just gave him a smile. The man stood, holding out a hand for his daughter. "Come on then sweetheart."
Astoria grabbed his hand and they began to walk away, but she turned back quickly to Harry. "Guard that castle with your life, Potter."
Harry just chuckled and waved them off. He got up again to go and sit in the sand in front of their castle, leaning his back on the end of Marie's sunbed and watching Daniel and Astoria make their way into the water.
He smiled when the Greengrass family was reunited, grinned when Astoria began to kick water in Daphne's face, and started to laugh lowly to himself when Daphne caught her younger sister and began dunking her under the water repeatedly. He settled into a more comfortable position and relaxed, enjoying the breeze and the sound of the waves.
He didn't notice he'd fallen asleep at all until he was jostled awake. He blearily looked to his left and saw Daphne on her knees next to him. "Scootch over." She ordered, and once he had she sat down next to him, leaning against the sunbed and watching her family play in the sea.
"Hi, Harry." She said quietly.
"Hey, Daph." He answered softly, taking off his sunglasses and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
Daphne turned to look at him, considering him for a long moment. "Are you mad at me?"
Harry turned his head rapidly toward her. "What? No, of course not!"
Daphne frowned slightly. "Are you sure? You've been acting strange today."
Harry sighed, shaking his head slightly. "I'm sorry Daph, I didn't mean to, you haven't done anything wrong."
Daphne's frown deepened. "Then I don't understand, why-"
"I don't know how to swim."
"-you didn't tell me that earlier." Daphne finished, understanding blossoming on her face. "Why didn't you just tell me that earlier, I've been worrying over nothing!"
Harry ducked his head, face reddening. "I was embarrassed." He mumbled.
"That you couldn't swim?" Daphne pressed.
Harry nodded, glancing at the sea. "Look over there," He said, pointing at a cluster of people in the shallows. It was a man and a woman with a young boy, no older than 3, playing in the water together. "Even little kids can swim when I can't."
"Because they were taught how to, Harry. If you weren't taught, it's not your fault." Daphne soothed, taking his hand in hers and rubbing circles in the back of his hand with her thumb.
"Your Dad says he'll teach me in the villa pool. It's too wild for me in the sea." Harry said lowly, still feeling a little ashamed despite the reassurances from Daniel and then Daphne.
"Well, he's the one who taught me and Astoria when we were little, so you'll be swimming with us in no time," Daphne told him in a chipper voice, leaning into his side.
Harry was silent for a moment, enjoying the feeling of having Daphne close. "How did he teach you? You don't have a pool, and your mum said she hasn't been to the beach since their honeymoon."
"You're forgetting, we're magical, Harry. Dad conjured a big, stone container, filled it with water, and set to teaching us one summer." Daphne chuckled, thinking back to her younger days. Harry smiled at the story before he began to laugh to himself.
"What is it?" Daphne asked, lifting her head to look at him.
"I was just thinking," Harry began, grinning to himself. "It's lucky it was you that Astoria pushed into the pool and not me." Daphne rolled her eyes at him and he glanced at her. "I'm surprised you haven't gotten her back for that yet."
Daphne smiled at him patronisingly. "I thought I told you to let me do the thinking and not to worry your pretty little head, Harry."
Harry glared at her.
"You know, I could get really offended by that."
By the time the rest of the family emerged from the water it was six in the evening and the sun showed signs of setting soon, so they quickly packed their things and made their way back to the villa.
"Make sure you all get showers before you get changed into your nighttime clothes," She told her brood as she followed Astoria up the stairs, the rest of the family following her.
Astoria span on the step she was standing on to face her mother, halting all of their progress. "Why? We've spent ages in the water, how dirty can we be?"
"We all stink of saltwater, Astoria, now do as your told, I want everyone ready in half an hour," Marie said sternly, and to her surprise, her youngest just shrugged and turned back around to resume the climb up the stairs. As she followed her, Marie turned her head to make eye contact with her husband, a shocked look on her face. Daniel just shrugged and motioned for her to hurry up.
Twenty minutes later, Harry walked out of his room wearing a nice polo shirt and three-quarter shorts and his hair was still wet from his shower. He made his way downstairs to the living area and found only Astoria waiting there in a 'Weird Sisters' t-shirt, denim shorts and boots, her black hair glistening in its damp state.
"Think you're going to get away with that?" Harry asked, gesturing to her attire as he sat down next to her, waving a hand around his head to dry off his hair.
"Yes," Astoria responded simply, smiling at him.
"Why's that?" Harry asked, but it wasn't Astoria who answered.
"Because she thinks she can get away with anything, don't you Tori?" Daphne called, walking around the corner into view whilst brushing her long, wet hair. She was wearing a nice, floral-printed white sundress, the polar opposite of her sister.
"Yes," Astoria said again, glancing at her sister as she walked over, sitting down on Harry's other side and continuing to brush her hair.
"Want me to dry it for you?" Harry said to Daphne, who turned to him with a smile.
"Oh, yes, thank you." She leaned her head in closer and Harry quickly dried the long, blonde tresses with a wave of his hand. Daphne gave him a beaming smile and began to brush her hair again, much smoother now it was dry.
Harry turned to Astoria and her damp, slicked-back hair and she shrugged idly, so he did the same for her, though she made no attempt to style her hair as her older sister was. Harry settled in further into the cushions behind him and soon found himself daydreaming as they waited for the Greengrass parents to emerge.
Ten minutes later, he was roused from his stupor by Astoria sitting up beside him. "They're late."
Daphne didn't even look away from where she was brushing the ends of her hair. "Are they?" She asked uninterestedly.
"And their door was locked earlier when I tried to go in," Astoria said knowingly.
This time, Daphne did pause her motions, making a small "oh" of understanding before she returned to brushing.
Harry looked between them, not seeing what they meant.
Daphne was too busy with her ministrations to notice his look, but Astoria did and smiled gleefully at him. "Oh, do you not get it, Harry?"
He shook his head, and she leaned in closer. "He's stirring her cauldron."
Daphne stopped brushing her hair immediately to glare at her sister and snarled. "You're disgusting, Astoria." She turned to Harry and said quietly. "They're having sex."
Realisation dawned on Harry's face. "Ohhhh."
Ten minutes later, Daniel and Marie made their way downstairs, smiling and laughing at each other, but stopped short when they entered the living room and saw the watchful eyes of their children.
"We were, ah, erm..." Marie stammered, her face still slightly flushed, fishing for an excuse.
Daniel surreptitiously laid a hand on her arm, signaling that he'd take over and stepped forward. "Nothing to worry about, kids," He started confidently. "Your Mum just had a little pipe problem in the shower."
Astoria immediately burst into peals of laughter, the tears quickly streaming down her face whilst Harry blushed and lifted his eyes to stare at the ceiling. Daphne just face-palmed, shaking her head and groaning. Daniel turned to his wife, an expression of utmost confusion on his face, but only received a thunderous look in return. He thought back quickly on what he'd said.
"Ohhhh."
Hi.
Yeah...it's been a while, hasn't it?
I'm sorry for the wait, but every time I sat down to write it wasn't coming out the way I wanted it to, ideas weren't coming into my head and I didn't want to write anything substandard for you guys. And then as the weeks kept coming without an update it became a feeling of "well, it's been ages since I've updated, it has to be really good."
So when I sat down the other day to start this, it had been so long that I had to go back and read the first 14 chapters to get my feel for the characters again, and I read what I put in the very first A/N.
"I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself for it to be perfect, I just want to enjoy writing and seeing what happens."
In the time I've been gone, the following of this story has grown to over one thousand people, and that is honestly nuts. You have no idea how grateful I am to you all, it's amazing to see that people are still discovering Never Be Apart and enjoying it, and the reviews from you all still warm my heart.
However, I started this story by writing it for one person only, and that's me. I forgot that, but during the writing of this chapter, I went back to how I was thinking for the first one, and guess what? After a shaky first few scenes, I could feel myself getting back into the flow again, and ideas kept popping into my head as I was writing. That's how all the other chapters had been written, really. I'd just sit down to write and when an idea would appear I'd just go with it, not really thinking "Is that good enough" or "Will people like it".
This chapter, when I sat down the last night to write it, was honestly going to be just breezing through the holiday and summer and ending with Astoria's sorting, but as I said, ideas kept coming into my head and by the middle bit of the chapter I felt good about my writing again to the point that this has actually ended up being the second-longest chapter so far. I've got no idea how long they'll be on holiday, I have a few other scenes in mind that I was going to put in this chapter, but the last scene felt like a good break-off point.
So, that long explanation that I doubt anyone actually cares about aside, I hope you all enjoy the return of this story (especially my guy in the reviews that despises Astoria) and I'm not going to make the mistake of promising when the next one will be, it'll drop when it's written (soon, I hope).
Oh, by the way, keep an eye out for some small changes to earlier chapters, nothing too major but when reading it over again I realised I fucked two important future things up by forgetting to put in the seeds.
Please leave a review letting me know what you think.
Enjoy!