Unofficial Portkey Archive

Author's Note: These stories are all one-shot, 1000-word responses to the Summer Writing Series Challenge, so each one is not related to the next.

Summer Writing Series Challenge (July 8)
Challenge: Sequel Week: The beach...
Title: I See London, I See France... (Sequel to Paris, With a Twist and Paris, With a Twist (Part 2))
Word Count: 1,000

After the 1998 Quidditch World Cup had been won, the Weasley/Potter/Granger clan left Paris and made their way to the south of France. Harry found that he loved traveling, having never really gone further than into London until his first trip to Hogwarts, and after that most of his traveling was under the tight protection of the Order. So it was especially nice to be on holiday in the company of his best friends and the family he considered his own, without the threat of attack.

The crowd ended up in a town called Cerbére, on the southernmost tip of France and quite near the Spanish border. The Mediterranean Sea was breathtaking, and although the beaches were more rock and shells than sand, it was still a beautiful landscape. Harry wondered why anyone would want to go back to cold and cloudy England after being in a place like this.

The first afternoon and evening in Cerbére were spent resting from the day's journey. The group split up for dinner, the younger crowd finding a trendy night spot to get food and entertainment for the evening. They retired early, with plans to spend the following day basking in the sun on the beach.

Early the next morning, Harry awoke to Ron's horrible screeching in the shower. He pulled a pillow over his head, which only sufficed to make breathing difficult, and did nothing for the racket. Resigning to the fact that he was now awake for the day, Harry stumbled out of bed and awaited his turn in the shower.

The two boys met a large group of Weasleys at breakfast a short time later. In fact it was all of them, with the exception of Ginny, who was apparently still in her room with Hermione. Girls always seemed to take so long to get ready. When they'd finished breakfast, Harry and Ron stopped at their room to get towels before heading to the beach.

"Should we wait for them?" Harry asked as they passed the girls' room.

"Nahh, it could be hours still. Let's go."

They found a prime spot on the beach and set out their rented chairs and two for the girls. Harry slathered himself liberally with sunscreen, and passed it to Ron whose fair skin was already more freckly than he'd ever seen it. Harry had gotten a bit of a tan on holiday himself, but not enough to skip the sunscreen.

There weren't many people out when they got to the beach, but it didn't seem to take long for the crowd to build up around them. Although he was toned from his years playing Quidditch, Harry was beginning to feel a bit self-conscious about his physique around all the beach bodies he was seeing. The men all had these huge biceps and firm pecs, while the women had - wait a minute…

"Whoa!" Ron exclaimed just as Harry stopped his train of thought. "Did you see that? She was…she had…she…!"

"Welcome to France, little brother," Fred said, walking up behind the two. He gave the gawking Ron a hearty pat on the back.

"Turns out they do this in England too, but mum and dad only took us to the beaches where tops were required. Such a shame," George added, joining the three.

Fred nodded his agreement. "I think they denied us of some true cultural experiences."

"You don't think Hermione will…?" Ron started to ask, but then his face went white. "Or Ginny?" he squeaked.

The twins' faces turned the same shade of white as Ron's, and within seconds they had turned on heel headed straight back to the girls' room.

"She'd better not even think about it," Harry heard Fred grumble threateningly. He couldn't help but laugh at the overprotective brother.

In truth, Harry was equally as shocked as Ron at seeing the bare-chested women who now seemed to be everywhere, but he hadn't even thought about Ginny or Hermione partaking in the local customs. And as much as he wanted to think about it, he made himself shake the mental images that were forming. Ginny was too much like a sister, and Hermione…well, it was probably better if he didn't even travel that road.

Around thirty minutes later a female voice behind Harry said, "Will you take a look at these two? Babe-magnets, don't you think?"

He was about to blush when he realized the voice belonged to none other than Ginny Weasley.

"Have you got your tops on?" Ron asked with his eyes squinted shut.

"Well if we don't then Harry here's getting an eyeful."

Jumping into brother mode, Ron swung his head around and saw that his sister and friend were fully covered…well, nearly. Hermione wore a one-piece suit with a wrap-around skirt; nice and conservative, yet attractive on her figure. Ginny, on the other hand, wore a bikini top with a tiny pair of shorts that Harry hoped was the bottom half of her suit, as there couldn't be much underneath it. Her suit was attractive on her as well, but left little to the imagination.

"Ginny!" Ron scolded. "Go put some clothes on!"

"This is my suit, Ron," she sneered. The two siblings bickered back and forth, and Harry turned his attention to Hermione, who blushed slightly when she realized that he was looking at her body and not her face.

"You, uhh…" Harry stuttered, finding his tongue suddenly thick. "I mean, do you need some sunscreen?"

"Sure," Hermione said with a small smile.

He passed the bottle and she applied most of it herself, but then asked, "Harry, could you get my back?"

"Of course," he consented, and helped cover the last bit of her soft, fair skin.

"Ready for a swim?" she asked when he'd finished. "They'll be fighting for hours."

Harry laughed. "Good idea. Let's go."

And just in time…Harry wasn't sure how it had gotten so hot so quickly, but the idea of a quick, cool dip sounded like just the thing he needed.