Tonks straightened out her towel and promptly lay down on it with a happy sigh as she felt the sun hit her. Oh, yes, this was the life. This is what she needed. Just the sun and the lap of waves and sand in places where there shouldn't be sand. Oh, that was good. She would worry about sand in unmentionable places later. All that mattered now that the Spanish sub actually felt warm against her skin and that there was no risk of clouds, never mind rain. She was pretty sure that it never rained here. Definitely not in all the years they had been coming here. She was going to stop thinking about rain because, knowing her luck, it would start raining on them. She didn't want that, she wanted sun and heat and relaxation.

It felt like this was the first time she had properly relaxed in months. And, in a way, that was right. Between studying for her NEWTs, taking her NEWTs, flat hunting, apparition test and all the little thigs in between, she really hadn't had a spare minute to herself. But now she did. Now, she was on holiday with her parents where she could just kick back and relax. There was nothing stressful here except the decision where to go eat tonight. She personally wanted to go back to that place that served amazing paella but her dad wanted to try somewhere new, saying they couldn't come to another country and eat in the same place every night. She begged to differ when that one place had been so good but whatever, her mother had agreed and she wasn't about to go off somewhere by herself for dinner. That was just sad. As long as it wasn't a chippie like she heard a few other Brits saying they were going straight to. Seriously, you came all this way only to have fish and chips? It wasn't even good fish and chips; she had had some for lunch and regretted it. So much grease. And not the good kind. Thank Merlin for stomach soothing potions, that's all she was saying. It didn't ruin the holiday and they knew where not to go back to, at least.

Ten days here. Ten days of pure bliss and sunshine. Just what they all needed. There was no revising, no stressing about tests or exams. No nothing, as horrified as her mother would be to say it. She could just empty her head of all thoughts and enjoy herself and that was exactly what she was going to do. And what better way to do that than lay back on a towel, on the beach and just lie in this lovely heat? And yes, she had sunscreen on. She wasn't stupid. Nothing was going to spoil her relaxing.

Then, of course, she got hit in the head by something.

"Hey!" She said, sitting up and rubbing her head.

"Sorry!" A kid shouted, running past.

Then another three followed, giggling like mad, spraying sand at her.

"Argh!"

It was in her mouth! Sand was in her mouth! Gross, gross, gross!

"Oh, don't spit on the ground, Nymphadora!"

What else was she supposed to do when she had sand in her mouth! She wasn't about to swallow it!

Not that she could get all those words out to tell her mum that so all she spluttered out was a semi-coherent, "Sand!"

Bleurgh, it was all over her tongue! It was everywhere in her mouth! How on earth did it get everywhere? She was pretty sure it was between her teeth!

Much to her mother's disgust, she kept swilling water around her mouth and spitting it on the sand in an effort to clean her mouth out.

"Can you at least go down to the sea to do that?"

No, no she couldn't because the time it took her to walk over there was time that could be better spent on getting the damn sand out of her mouth.

What had she said about relaxing?

She did manage to relax after all that, Tonks just made sure to put a hat over her face in an effort to protect her mouth. It had the added benefit of keeping the sun off her face as well which was always good. She didn't want to be one of those Brits coming back home with a stupidly bright red face, after all.

"Are you really just going to sleep the day away?"

Tonks gave a long-suffering sigh and didn't even bother removing the hat from her face to reply, "Yes, mother, that is exactly what I am planning on doing."

"That seems like a waste of our time at the beach."

Okay, that got her sitting up, the hat slipping down her face, in indignation.

"And you aren't? You're just sitting here too!"

Andromeda waved a book in the air.

"I am reading. A very productive activity."

"I'm people watching," Ted felt like he had to add.

Both women ignored him.

"And I am going to nap." Tonks said stubbornly.

"You are going to regret that."

"I am not."

Her mum didn't know what she was talking about.

"How did I manage to get sunburnt?" She all but wailed on the third night, looking at herself in the mirror.

"That's what you get for forgetting sunscreen," her dad scolded.

"But I didn't! I slathered myself in the stuff!"

And yet her body had the audacity to burn. A red splotch right there.

"Apparently not that spot." Her mum decided to literally point out.

Literally, as in pressing her finger against the burnt strip.

"Ow!"

She didn't have to press quite so hard! Or at all! She was fully aware that she was sunburnt, thank you very much!

"Annie, don't," her dad chided.

"Yeah mum," Tonks stuck her tongue out.

"Not unless your finger has this soothing lotion on it," Ted finished.

"Dad!"

"What, you need to put it on."

"I know!"

"Then why aren't you putting it on? Come here-"

He tried to grab her but she easily darted out of the way. Promptly regretting the fast movement. Why did burns have to hurt so bad? Even if it was only in one spot. And a tiny one at that but it still hurt every time she moved. Trust her to get sunburned in the spit where the skin pulled a lot. Well, that's what it felt like.

"Seriously?" Tonks asked with a pout. "How in Merlin's name did I forget one spot? One spot! And it had to go ahead and get burnt!"

"That tends to be how it goes, Dora," Ted said with a chuckle. "Now, come on and turn around. Let me put this on you."

"Or would you prefer to go around burnt?" Asked Andromeda.

Tonks just grumbled at them but went back to her dad and turned around so he could put the cream on her.

"And you were saying that you were an adult?" Andromeda said sarcastically.

"Getting burnt doesn't make me a child!" And then she hissed at how cold the cream was but it soon gave way to a sigh of relief as it did its magic.

"It does if you do not let people help you fix it."

"I'm letting people help!"