The next two days were lovely, even better than Harry could have hoped for. They would rise early, eat breakfast, and then head to the beach. Severus had placed a variety of charms on their sandcastle to protect it from the high tide and any other children who might do it damage.
They added to it each day, making the sandcastle longer and wider and taller, so by the third day, Harry thought it looked quite impressive! Not as large as the Hogswarts castle, of course, but certainly bigger than anything he could have dreamt of making on his own.
Harry and Severus would explore the beach for shells and interesting looking rocks to decorate it. Once, Harry even found a multicolored feather! By mid-morning, it would be quite warm, and they'd go in the water to brave the waves and cool off. Then, it was time for a picnic lunch, more work on the castle, and a final swim.
After a hot shower, they'd eat dinner and dessert, and relax in the sitting room until it was time for bed. Sometimes, they played Chess, other times, they would read. The hours always sped by, and Harry would be yawning before long. His dad would tuck him in and card his hair, or rub his back or feet, until Harry fell asleep.
On the fourth morning, however, Harry woke up to the sound of rain. He rose immediately, then ran over to one of the windows. He sighed. It wasn't just a bit of rain, or even a steady stream. No, there was complete downpour. Harry sighed again. Even if it stopped immediately, the sand by their cottage would be as wet as the sand by the ocean. At least, their sandcastle would be all right. His dad had told him that the charms protected it from all water.
Fully awake, now, Harry brushed his teeth, then crept downstairs, pulling one of his dressing gowns over his night shirt as he walked. He'd intended to go straight to the kitchen, but found himself staring outside in the sitting room, face pressed against the glass. Rainy days were nice enough at the castle, especially if they fell during the weekends. It meant staying inside, working on puzzles, playing with Calla and her toys, and drinking large mugs of hop chocolate. Reading curled up on the couch in the sitting room next to his dad, sometimes silently, sometimes, listening to his guardian read aloud to him. Warm blankets, too, somehow made warmer by the prospect of the cold air outside. Fires, too, in the sitting room, and later, in Harry's bedroom. Harry never minded rainy days at the castle.
Here, it meant a loss of a perfectly good beach day. And so early in their holiday, too! If only the rain hadn't started until they were at least a week in, or, better yet, the day they were due to leave.
Still...it was rather soothing, the familiar sound against the large house, and Harry felt rather mesmerized as he watched the droplets fall to the ground.
He didn't hear Severus's footsteps, and nearly jumped when a hand squeezed his shoulders.
"I apologize, owlet," Severus said, immediately, concern on his face. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's okay." Harry reached out to hug his guardian, and was rewarded with a good, long one. Harry nestled into the man he'd come to see as his dad, not letting go for longer than usual.
Nor did his dad push him away. He just held Harry until Harry chose to let go.
Which he eventually did. His dad gave Harry a quick squeeze before releasing him.
"How did you sleep?" Severus asked, glancing briefly outside, then at Harry.
Harry shrugged. "Not bad. You?"
"Quite well," his guardian answered, with a smile. He glanced at the full length window. "I see we'll be unable to go to the beach, at least for the time being."
Harry nodded, trying not to let his disappointment show. "I reckon even if it stops soon, the sand will be soaked through."
"Mmm." Severus put an arm around his shoulders. "But we can have plenty of fun inside. You'll see."
Harry's dad had packed plenty of games and a few puzzles, as though his dad had expected at least one rainy day. After breakfast, they played Exploding Snap, which Harry had played twice with Dora in the sunny outdoors. Severus won the first game, and Harry barely squeaked out a victory for the second. Afterwards, they switched to Checkers. Harry had known how to play before coming to live with his guardian in the wizarding world, and having grown up with his mum as a friend, Severus had learnt as well.
"It's not a game most of our kind knows," he'd told Harry. "Wizarding Chess follows the same rules as the Muggle version, except the pieces are enchanted. However, I expect that no one bothered to create enchanted checker pieces."
It was fun to play, but Harry rather thought that enchanting the pieces wouldn't do much for the game. Even having a piece say, "King me!" after reaching the end of the board might take the enjoyment out of it. And Severus played very much by the rules. If you forgot to say the line, then you had to wait until your next move to say it again.
As they made their way through the games, Harry knew that his dad had ages of experience on him. He might let Harry win, on occasion, but even then, Harry had to earn it. He didn't really mind. On the rare occasion Dudley wanted to play a board game with anyone, he'd not only had to win, but spectacularly. Few people, in Harry's opinion, played more poorly than his cousin. If he didn't get his way, he'd topple over the pieces and throw a fit.
Severus would never allow such behavior. Not that he'd hit Harry, but he probably would stop playing games with Harry for the rest of the day.
Which was likely fair. No one fancied playing against a sore loser.
They took a break for lunch, after which Harry felt rather tired. Try as he might to hide his yawns, he couldn't fool his dad.
"Time for a rest," he said, gently, but in a manner of speaking that meant Harry was not to protest.
Not that Harry wanted to. Especially after his guardian made the couch wider and softer, piled it with blankets, and climbed in beside Harry. He relaxed fully as his dad's hands began to card his hair, snuggling into his dad's chest, listening to his heartbeat.
They both slept for at least a few hours. When Harry rose, he felt Calla against his other side, heard her purring loudly. While not sleepy, he lay nestled against his guardian, who was still fast asleep.
It was still raining when they ate dinner, perhaps harder than when Harry woke up.
"Do you think it will be sunny tomorrow?" Harry asked, casting another glance outside one of the wide windows.
Severus opened his mouth, stared outside, then gave a slight shrug. "It's possible." He squeezed Harry's hand from across the table. "How would you like if we had popcorn with our dessert? I can pop it over the fire, and you may watch."
Harry grinned, both at the anticipation of the fresh treat as well as watching his dad prepare it. "Yes, please!"
Before long, the heat from the fireplace filled the rather drafty room (which Harry still felt from beneath his two blankets), and the smell made his mouth water and stomach growl. In addition to the popcorn, his dad had warmed up several biscuits for them to share. Two tall glasses of milk sat beside them.
It was still rather early in the evening when the popcorn was finished and the fire had become mere glowing embers. Not early enough for Harry to feel very tired.
"Tell you what," Severus suggested, running a hand over Harry's hair. "We'll have our showers, brush our teeth, and change into fresh night clothes. Then, I'll read to you until you fall asleep."
Harry looked down at his own night clothes, realizing for the first time that he'd been wearing them the whole time. He grinned. "Can you stay with me tonight?"
His guardian pretended to think about it. "As long as you sleep in my bed. It's...rather more comfortable than yours."
That was a fair deal. He nodded, then jumped up to get ready for a long reading session.
A half hour later or so, they both lounged in Severus's bed, which was rather softer than Harry's. Not that his had been uncomfortable by any means, but he could tell the difference immediately. "Mmm," he sighed.
Severus chuckled. "Indeed. Now, which book shall we read from?"
Harry chose the final book in the Narnia series, "The Last Battle," which they had only begun a few days ago. His dad's voice was soothing, but the voices he used changed his tone enough to keep Harry from falling asleep. It was not until his usual bedtime that he began to feel tired. Severus tucked the covers around them, and, aided by the sound of the rain against the house, Harry fell into a sound sleep.
The next day, it had stopped pouring, with the rain slowing down to a mere drizzle. It was an improvement, to be sure, but would not be a beach day.
"We can go to town, if you like," Severus offered, as they ate their breakfast.
"I didn't know there was a town," Harry replied, raising his eyebrows.
His guardian chuckled. "Oh, to be sure. That's one thing our kind and muggles have in common. If there's a beach town-not just an abandoned beach, mind-there will be shops nearby. Places to purchase items you've forgotten to pack, restaurants, sweet shops, and that sort of thing. I've never been to this town," he added, quickly, "but the pamphlet that came with our rental agreement provided all the details. And, as it's still rather too cold to go swimming and the sand will be too wet to add to our sandcastle, we can either peruse the town, or stay inside. I'd be content with either, so the choice is yours, Harry."
"I-I reckon I'd like to explore the town," Harry said, softly. "But not the whole day?"
"Very well. We'll set out for an hour or so, and see if it's worthwhile to remain. I'd best bring some money, if we wish to have lunch and the like," Severus added, saying the last part a bit more quietly, as though to himself.
They donned light cloaks before heading outdoors, something else Severus had thought to bring, "just in case." Harry was grateful for his. It wasn't cold, exactly, but there was a chill in the air that accompanied the light rain. Still, he felt reasonably comfortable as he walked, hand secure in his dad's.
It was not a very long walk into town. Less than the distance they covered to buy groceries at the muggle shopping center. Harry could hear the town before seeing it, as this was where witches and wizards gathered on this cool day.
Unlike at Hogwarts, which consisted mostly of much older kids in their black robes (or other colored robes during the weekends), there was a great assortment of people. Adults, of course, who looked more or less the age of Severus. But mostly kids, ranging from babies being held by their mothers or carried in magical strollers, to kids Harry's age, to teenagers older than the massive seventh years at school. Some were cheerful, others grumbling, but most looked like they were in a hurry.
"Hurry up, Hilda!" a cross mum was telling a child younger than Harry, gently tugging at her arm.
Harry turned his eyes away from the people to glance at the shops. Unlike at Hogsmeade, where they were rather scattered about, these looked far more organized. From his memories of being dragged to shops with Aunt Petunia, the shops didn't look very different from those in the muggle world.
A bit, anyway.
Some had signs were charmed to glow in flashy colors, meant to draw your attention. The sweetshop included alternating pictures of various sweets. So did the ice cream shop. Harry just wanted to gaze around, take everything in.
So did Severus, or perhaps he understood how Harry felt, because he slowed his pace so they were walking slowly enough to look around carefully.
The shops continued for a few streets, but as they were only on one side--with the beach taking up the other side--it likely felt larger than it was. The final street included a large playground, but this was far less busy than the shops.
"I don't suppose," Severus said, rather dryly, "you would wish to visit the sweet shop."
Harry, whose attention had been on a elderly woman wearing a large hat with a dead bird on it, abruptly glanced up at his dad.
"Err..."
His guardian squeezed his hand. "Come along, owlet. We can compare it with Honeydukes."
The shop was rather smaller, but contained most of the popular items without the ones that weren't edible. Bertie Botts's beans were still there, Harry noted, although they contained warnings that each bean should be eaten with care. Other sweets, such as chocolate frogs and ice mice, had no such warning.
They left with a rather large bag of all of Harry's favorite sweets--he'd chosen a small amount, and Severus far more.
Even better, the rain had stopped entirely, and the sun was beginning to shine.
"Perhaps we'll be able to go to the beach tomorrow!" Harry said, excitedly.
His dad glanced up. "Or even this afternoon. Not in the water though." He studied the skies. "Perhaps."
They stopped at a few other shops without buying anything, as Harry already had swimwear and robes, but it was still fun to look around. His dad grumbled a bit--in a good natured manner that, Harry realized, was his way of being funny. Severus had been straightforward with Harry from the start. Kind and gentle, of course, but always saying what he meant.
This was new...joking a bit, grumbling in a way that meant he wasn't really angry. Uncle Vernon occasionally acted like that, towards Aunt Petunia, and very occasionally towards Dudley.
Was this something adults did? Harry didn't know, but it made him feel rather warm inside to think his dad could (sort of) tell a joke.
They stayed long enough to eat lunch in a restaurant. The food was quite tasty, and Harry would have asked for seconds had Severus not strongly hinted they would go to the ice cream parlor afterwards.
Which they did. Harry tried a mixture of blueberry and caramel--which was delicious--while Severus a chocolate mixture. They let each other try what the other had ordered, and while tasty, they preferred what they had initially chosen.
Afterwards, they headed back to the house, as Harry was beginning to feel a bit tired. Sunny as it was becoming, there was still a chill in the air, and the wind was picking up. Severus helped a rather sleepy Harry out of his cloak before guiding him to the couch. Once covered by blankets, Harry slept easily for a couple of hours.
There was no rain or cold weather for the rest of the holiday. Severus and Harry's sandcastle was quite impressive before they left, as reflected in numerous pictures. They took turns taking photographs with the other standing by it.
Harry felt rather sad to leave the beach on the last day, especially as he stood in the sitting room next to their packed trunks.
"We'll return next year," Severus promised, hugging him tightly.
Harry wiped a couple of tears from his face. "Thank you, Dad."
When they returned home, he felt rather better. To their surprise, among the flurry of owls containing letters was one from the Tonks family, extending an invite to their home.
Author's note: Sorry for the delay. Another difficult chapter to write. Perhaps because it's winter? Anyway, I hope the next one will come out more quickly.
As always, please leave a constructive comment/review!
Up next: A visit to the Tonks family.