Ok well I finally got around to writing your update! Sorry it took me so dang long. I have had the hardest time concentrating on anything for the last few days, and my writing wasn't turning out so hot. So anyway, in this update I've included a few bits from the end of the last update, but revised a bit because I didn't like how I ended the last chapter. So anyway, just read this and tell me what you think. You guys are so awesome and I thank you all for the wonderful reviews. *hugs*!
Also, I've put the beginnings of a twist in the end of this, so I just want to see how many of you catch on. If you don't get it, you'll see what I mean in the next chapter. Talk to you later! *more hugs*
A Careless Sleep
Lucius isn't my father and I refused to go by the Malfoy name," Josie suddenly blurted out, having snapped out of her memory trance. She looked at him sheepishly, suddenly finding a great interest in the table's design.
Ron studied her for a few moments, figuring out why she had said this all of a sudden. "What?" he paused for a bit, "You're only half a Malfoy?" he choked out.
Josie's eyes shot up to his in a dazed, yet dark, look. She bashed her hands down on the table…SLAM! The glasses and silverware jingled under the fierce impact. For a moment, she had a teary look in her eyes, but it softened after a little bit. "Ron, for the last time, I'm not a MALFOY! Don't you get it? Narcissa Malfoy is my mother, but I do NOT have Malfoy blood in my veins, understand?"
Ron nodded his head fiercely, not wanting to make her even more furious. He'd never seen her even remotely bothered, but just now, he figured he didn't want to be the cause of it surfacing ever again. He took her angry words in, trying desperately to make it fit in his mind. He began to get into what she was saying, and, suddenly he felt the anger subside, feeling it replace itself with a calmness he felt earlier before storming off down the beach shore by himself. He let his mood show through his eyes and face, making Josie feel better about the situation. "Josie, I'm sorry for the things I said to you. I just didn't understand."
She cracked a small smile in his direction, finally feeling the utmost relief of getting through to him. "It's alright. I would probably be mad too if someone I cared about lied to me."
He smiled back, matching her mannerisms.
"So-what did you order to drink?"
Ron shrugged his shoulders a bit, "How did you know I ordered a drink," he asked loosely.
Josie smiled. "I figured that you don't feel like eating much when you're in an off mood."
"Yeah, you're right about that one! Actually, I ordered some Noni juice or something like that."
Josie snickered at him, covering her mouth to hide it. "I hope you ordered some fruit with that to liven it up. The last time I tasted Noni juice, I spit it right out because I couldn't stand the bitterness of it."
Ron turned his head just as the waiter came around and put his drink in front of him. The juice was a strange color, but no fruit in sight. He lifted his nose to smell it, and put it down swiftly. Trying to remain in focus, with Josie staring at him, he picked up the straw and placed it in the drink before wrapping his lips around it to take the first sip.
Josie looked on, leaning her elbows on the table in an amused manner. "I wonder if this is the reason Harry nicknamed Hermione `Noni,'" she said vaguely
Ron roughly swallowed the juice that was in his mouth. "Not bad. It's definitely different than anything we have at home."
Josie put on a sly smile, tipping her chin up in a challenging way. "Take another sip."
He eyed her apprehensively but took another swift sip of his juice. Very soon after, his face warped into a sickened look, and the juice came spluttering out of his mouth.
Josie pulled up one of the menus to guard herself from the spray. "Tastes different the second time around, doesn't it?"
He nodded fiercely and pushed the glass slowly away from him. "That's the most revolting thing I've ever tasted. No wonder the waiter was pressuring me to order some fruit."
The two exchanged loose laughter. Josie reached into her bag and pulled something out, and handed it to Ron. It looked like a straw wrapped in colorful paper, but with powder inside.
"What's this," he asked hesitantly as he took it from her grasp.
"It's a muggle treat. Really, it's just tartly-flavored sugar, but it will spice up that drink quite pleasantly."
Without anymore hesitation, he ripped off the top, being sure to shake the powder down, and poured the entire thing into his drink. Then he tested it, and gulped about half of it down. A sly nod indicated it tasted better, but it wasn't enough to cover up the bitterness. "Do you have any more of those?"
Josie wrinkled her forehead and looked in her bag. A short time later, she pulled out a whole bag filled with the sugary treats. She took some out and put them on the table in front of him. "I wouldn't recommend mixing either the blue or orange ones together. They can really mess you up after a little while."
Ron glanced at her, but didn't take her advice as he took all blue and orange sticks from in front of him. One by one, he poured them in, soon finding he needed a spoon to stir everything together as it became thicker and thicker. Now it was an awful shade of green, and the grains of sugar were very visible from Josie's position.
Her eyes grew wide as he attempted to slurp his new drink through the straw. It became so thick, that it took at least a minute for one little slurp.
"That's disgusting!"
Josie and Ron turned their heads in the direction of the new voice. Harry and Hermione stood next to their table, watching Ron closely, but Hermione was the one to speak her mind about what he was doing. "Need some water with that there, Ron?"
He flashed her a cheesy smile and nodded his head. "That would be perfect!"
Hermione trailed her hand around Harry's abdomen, lightly tickling him, as she slipped behind him to get Ron some water.
"So I see you two are getting along fine now," Harry commented distractedly, as he watched Hermione make her way around the lively area. He looked back down at them, to find the two of them looking up at him accusingly. "What," he said defensively.
Ron gave up on his straw, and sat back in his chair while they waited for Hermione to come back. "Honestly, Harry. You two are so caught up in each other, I'm surprised you've even decided to join us."
Harry smiled uncontrollably, not quite knowing what to say. "Well that was the original plan, but we decided to check up on you two."
"Tell me Harry, what were your plans going to be tonight," Josie asked suggestively, raising her eyebrows to him.
He responded by rolling his eyes. "You and Ron are perfect for each other," he said bleakly. "No actually, we have some things we wanted to talk about without any interruptions. We'll do that sometime tonight, but for now, we plan on partying a bit with everyone."
Josie sighed. Just as the conversation dropped, Hermione returned with a small glass of water.
"Here, Ron." She said, handing over the water.
Ron smiled brightly and took it from her grasp, immediately dumping it into his half-empty drink.
The sugar and remaining Noni juice had mixed in such a way, that it made a very thick paste in the glass. The water Ron had poured in didn't even penetrate into the mix, but instead, just rested on top of the other two ingredients, untouched and still perfectly clear. He raised the glass up and looked at it, a smile breaking out on his face. "Wicked."
"What did he put in that," Harry asked, disgusted.
Josie shook her head and sighed. "It's a muggle candy. A very tart sugar and colorful, to say the least. I told him not to mix the blue and orange together, but he obviously didn't listen to a word I said."
"Well it looks to me like he's drinking sugar, with a hint of water and juice," Hermione commented jokingly.
Josie and Harry had a good laugh about it while watching Ron attempt to scoop it with a spoon.
Harry came behind Hermione and circled his arms around her, becoming more aware that the breeze was slightly dropping into colder temperatures.
She smiled and leaned into his embrace, feeling his warm skin against hers. It gave her goose bumps all over just to think none of this would have been possible just a few days ago. And now, they had started to become something more.
Harry bent down and whispered into her ear, making her smile some more. He moved her hair off her neck, and kissed the skin underneath, tenderly.
"So what do you say we hit the dance floor," Josie asked. "Or we could go run around the bon-fire and make total fools of ourselves."
Harry and Hermione looked at her, then back at Ron. He was so wired with the sugar his hands were a little shaky. "I say we make total fools of ourselves. That way, Ron can't protest." Harry suggested, swaying slightly back and forth with his arms now wrapped around Hermione's shoulders.
Josie got up, and walked to the other side to pull Ron out of his seat and away from the oddly intoxicating drink.
He staggered a bit at first. "So tell me again why you shouldn't mix orange and blue together?"
Josie slapped him in the arm, testing his balance, and nearly knocking him over. "Because it does that to you."
Harry and Hermione laughed at the two of them. "Well let's get a move on before all the good spaces are taken up!"
All four of them took off in a light jog, Harry and Hermione linking arms all along the way.
Ron, Josie, Hermione and Harry all danced around the enormous inferno, shouting random things at one another as if no one else was watching, having a grand old time. Ron's perkiness and twitchy behavior from his highly sugary drink concoction eventually rubbed off onto his friends. His laughter was contagious, and his eccentric behavior was enough to keep everybody entertained. Those sitting in chairs around the fire watched the four of them go around one side, and come back from the other. It was quite a sight. Few people joined in the encirclement of various island dancers. Being that Ron was so excited about the festivities, and he was still very wired with sugar, he didn't put up a fight when Hermione suggested they join the dance circle.
Around and around they went, twirling and jumping at all the right moments. The hula dancers seemed quite amused themselves at the fact that four tourists could keep the entertainment going for everyone.
"Wow, I'm tired," Ron commented suddenly. He stopped the dance circle and felt the dizziness sink in from so much activity.
"Ron, are you alright?" Hermione rushed up beside him, seeing the sickened look in his eyes. A mix of huge amounts of sugar, and dancing in circles over and over again, can cause quite the after effect. "Okay, you're done. I think you should go sit down."
Hermione, Harry and Josie all followed Ron to a table. "You know what?" Harry spoke up. They all looked at him with their eyebrows raised. "I think we should go sit by the water for a while. I saw a little clearing with some trees that would be perfect."
Hermione and Josie beamed at him. "Well Ron? You up for it?"
Ron looked at Josie and stood up quickly from his chair. "Good idea Harry. Then maybe I can take a quick nap or something."
They all rolled their eyes at him as they began walking quietly out to the sandy beach.
The breeze whispered through the sands, and echoed off the ocean waves. Moonlight skimmed across the glassy surface and illuminated the beach. Gentle torches lit the path to the shore, and made for easy travel.
"Right here looks good," Josie said, stopping in her spot as the other three attempted to continue on.
They all turned around and looked at the place she had picked out. Palm trees surrounded the clearing in a semicircle, and in the center, was a pit for a fire.
Harry led Hermione from behind, nuzzling her neck, as they looked for a comfortable spot to sit down. Logs were surrounding the fire pit and everyone decided that to be perfect for a while.
Hermione and Josie shivered from the cool sea mist floating from the oceanic waters. Harry tuned in right away and pulled out his wand. He muttered a few words and four blankets appeared at their feet.
"So Josie, what did you have to do to Ron? I mean, he's not being a cranky git anymore."
Josie snapped her head up and looked at Hermione with a smile on her face. "Oh nothing really. He was just jealous," she snickered.
Harry looked over at Ron.
"I was not!" he said in his defense.
Josie squared off to him and stared him down, with her eyebrows raised. "Oh? Then what would you call it then? I particularly remember you getting all hot and bothered when you saw me talking to another guy."
Hermione and Harry tried not to laugh as the two of them started a mild argument.
"Fine, whatever," Ron said glumly, with Josie staring at him.
"I can't hear you," she teased, cupping her ear in a playful way.
Ron muttered something so quiet, not even crickets could hear.
"Come on Ron, do what the lady says," Harry joked.
He sighed. "Fine. You win. I was jealous. Now can we talk about something else a little more interesting?"
The four of them started a conversation about how the trip was going so far. Everything from the excitement of taking a vacation, to the fact that Ron nearly got sick from downing so much sugar just a little while ago was a hot topic.
"I see you're not as twitchy anymore," Hermione commented sarcastically about Ron.
He shrugged. "I'd do it again if it didn't make my stomach turn inside out. That mixture tasted pretty good, but it had some strange affect on me."
They all laughed.
A while later, they began to get really chatty, signaling the start of their drowsiness. All of them had long since moved to the comfort of the sand to lie down and get even more comfortable while the fire crackled. Harry and Hermione snuggled in one blanket while Harry's blanket was stretched out underneath them to keep out the sand.
Ron and Josie suddenly got quiet, the two of them drifting off to sleep while Harry and Hermione whispered to one another.
"Guess what Josie told me," Hermione said in his ear.
He pulled back to look at her. "What?"
Harry's arm was lazily slung over her waist, while his other arm propped up his head as he rested on his side. Hermione's back was to him, but it wasn't all that difficult to carry a conversation with the sudden quietness.
"Josie is Malfoy's half sister." She could feel Harry's muscles freeze from behind her. Obviously it was a shock. She rolled over in her spot and looked up into his jade eyes.
She just lay there on her back, waiting for some response from him. He appeared to be thinking about it. "Harry, say something," she whispered softly, moving his hair off his face, and trailing her finger languidly down the side of his face.
He made a thoughtful face then looked down at her, smiling. "Don't want to. Who cares if she's Malfoy's half sister? I don't want to think about that right now."
"What do you want to think about then," Hermione asked pleasantly.
Harry rolled over on top of her and propped himself up on his arms. Effortlessly he bent his head down and kissed her on the forehead. "You. All I want to think about is you."
She smiled and looking up him, pulled him down to her for a soft kiss.
A little more time passed and Harry was now on his back, with one arm folded behind his head for support, and Hermione snuggled up to him. They both stared in silence at the clear night sky, dusted with shimmering stars, while thinking heavily about each other, and little by little, drifted off to sleep……..