A/N: I lied. This chapter is not long. So, yes, I lied, feel free to pass that around. If you wanted a longer chapter you would have had to wait a month. Otherwise, you can get this right now and have fun with what I'm giving you.
That's what I thought.
Sorry bout the long waits though. I do have to call to attention though that someone (who will remain unnamed) reviewed, asking an awful lot of me to update quicker---saying it would ruin the middle of the story if I didn't. I understand some of you wish I could update sooner-but I have a life, other things to do as I go to school, have homework, do cheerleading and theatre and baby-sit and I'm going to start working soon and I'm flying half way across the world once every month to be home in England so be lucky to even HAVE this story there, mates. So as much as I say this, I hope you get it, NO anonymous reader, taking slow between updates is NOT as bad as ABANDONING! If anyone else feels the same, lemme know... but I was thinking most would rather know the ending and the way the story goes than have me abandon it, correct?
Read a/n at end of chapter
Okay, now that I let my frustration out…onto the record breaking chapter, eh? Grab a coke or two. This is long.
Lol. You know i was kidding.
~*~
I was in search of a good time
Just running my game
Love was the furthest
Furthest from my mind
--Billy Ocean "Caribbean Queen"
~*~
Harry had kissed me.
Dangling high above the water had been a total rush, but add that to our hot, slow kiss…I'd felt as though I
could actually touch the clouds. I had not wanted the kiss or the parasailing to end, but eventually we had to be
brought down. I was still marveled by the fact that he kissed me.
Why? Had Harry just gotten caught up in the wonder of the clouds and being up so high in the air-or was there more to it? Could Harry actually have feelings for me? I had a feeling that kissing me wasn't what Sirius had in mind when he told Harry to watch out for me, so I couldn't use that as an excuse this time. This was all him.
Once we had gotten back down, Harry hadn't made any indication that it was a big deal, or that it really mattered. In fact, he looked a bit embarrassed! Embarrassed at what he had done. How was I supposed to go from that? We both simply sat in silence till we reached the shore.
The new Hermione was too scared to ask Harry why he had kissed her-so she could only wonder. Had Harry done it because he truly wanted to…or was there another reason? For god sakes, he could have lost a bet…it could've all been a plan. His friends could've set this all up. But he wouldn't have done that to her…would he've?
"Thanks Harry," I called to him as we stepped off the dock.
"Sure," Harry nodded and waved. "I'll catch up with you later.
I wondered if he really would. I saw Lavender jump off the steps off the dock and hook her arm through mine. "We should go back to the ship and get ready."
"And Harry?" I asked.
"He'll catch up," She replied.
"Oh," I sighed.
Lavender looked at me curiously for a moment as we continued walking. "So, what aren't you telling me about you and Harry?"
"What?" I asked, alarmed at the question.
"What aren't you telling me about you and Harry?" She repeated, annoyed I hadn't answered her the first time.
I stared at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Yeah, okay, sure," Lavender rolled her eyes. "That kiss, what was that about?"
"You saw it?" I questioned nervously.
"Kinda hard to miss," Lavender looked at me as she was teaching a child to count. "It lasted forever."
"It did?" I asked, it had seemed like it had lasted for a long time, but I didn't know if it was just my mind; intruded by the sense of Harry being against me in high altitudes.
"Yeah," she said. "I thought you weren't interested in him."
"I'm not." Much. Maybe I am falling for him.
"You could have fooled me," She replied.
I was beginning to think that maybe I was fooling myself as well.
~*~
"I still can not believe Harry kissed you!" She exclaimed, still going on about the kiss as we walked down the streets of St. Thomas later.
We had gone back to the ship, changed into tank tops, loosely flowing skirts, and flip flops before hitting the town again. I realized just how many times you changed clothes a day on the ship and thanked my mother silently for pushing me to buy more clothes and `over pack'.
And here Lavender was, still jabbering about the kiss. It seemed that was all she could talk about. "Is it hard to believe?"
"Well, Hermione, I don't mean it offensive! It's not that I'm surprised he kissed you, it's just…I know Harry, okay? I go to school with him and I know what he's like. He doesn't normally go after a girl unless he really wants her. Some would call him a stick-in-the-mud but he's fun…he's just not the `hook-up' type. The only two girls he ever dated were…" She shook her head in thought. "Cho and Ginny. And I know you don't know who those girls are…Cho was a year ahead of us, but she got whining all the time…it was just Harry's first crush. And Ginny is Ron's sister…"
"Ron, Ron?" She asked, confirming that she knew the Ron Lavender was speaking of.
"Yes, that Ron. Anyways, I don't know why he got in it with her…but he did," Lavender sighed. "He broke up with her `for her safety', that's Harry talk for `I'm not interested anymore', and never made effort to get back together with her after the war. It's just…firsts for Harry, after all he went through, he's not emotionally capable of grasping that much in the girl department," She finished.
I felt overwhelmed with my sudden in-depth knowledge of Harry's love life, Lavender had just spilled a huge part of their life at home that I knew I wasn't a part of. "Well, I don't know what was going on, but I know Harry's not interested in me."
Lavender just sighed as we continued to walk down, looking for any clubs that were open. We found a place that looked interesting enough; and it seemed that most didn't dress up for island night life. Lavender pulled me into a thatched roof building.
Without any second guessing, as if she had been their a million times before, she and I wove through the crowds, leading me to the veranda and courtyard. The second we found a table and took a seat, the waitress was zooming over, asking us what we wanted to drink.
"Two beers, please," Lavender ordered, without looking at me.
"Actually," I interrupted, looking at the waitress. "I'll have a margarita."
The waitress zoomed off in the other direction to get out drinks and Lavender looked at me curiously but didn't say a word about it. I paid the waitress when she returned with our drinks and we both grabbed our glasses, taking sips as we watched the dance floor.
"Time to find us some guys," Lavender's eyes scanned the floor.
I grinned and thought, `yep, time to find us some guys for the night.' Could tonight be the night? Maybe.
"C'mon, let's go dance," Lavender pulled me to my feet.
"But we don't have any dance partners!" I yelled over the sudden burst of music.
Lavender shrugged. "Who'll notice in this crowd?!" She shouted back.
I followed her to the crowd of people dancing in the center, music booming through the speakers. After only a few seconds, I found myself running into a very familiar face.
"Ron?" I called to the boy I had just collided my body with.
"Hey!" He called, slurping his beer. "Didn't know you would be here. Is Lav here?"
I fought the urge to roll my eyes, and pointed. "Over there." I turned my head to realize that Lavender had been swarmed with a couple of the other guys I recognized as Seamus and Dean.
To my utter surprise, Ron did not start away for Lavender, but stayed put and continued talking to me. "You aren't hooked up with a bloke?"
I smiled slightly. "Nope."
"Cool," He bobbed his head.
We continued dancing, moving to the beat. Occasionally, we'd get knocked into by other dancers, but you learn to cope on a crowded floor. I felt some guys grinding against me, supposedly on accident. There were so many girls and so many people, I guess you couldn't really tell where you were or who you were with, you just danced when you felt someone next to you.
Ron was nice enough…he had a cute, somewhat sexy grin that showed off his white teeth, which was very much appreciated, since I was obsessed with dental hygiene; mostly because my mum was a dentist. Still, I didn't feel that skip-a-heart-beat-catch-my-breath double take that I had when I'd met Harry.
He held my hand to keep me on the dance floor when the music came to a pause and I kept trying to convince myself that he was cute enough. I kept trying to tell myself that he might be the one, but something kept saying, "Don't think so."
However, I couldn't figure out why.
I saw Lavender making her way towards me, the two boys in tow. "Hey there, Hermione, Ron," She nodded at us. "Seamus, Dean and I were just talking. You guys wanna get out of here?"
"And go where?" I asked.
"Wherever the mood strikes," She shrugged.
I agreed and before I knew it we were strolling out of the club, walking into random clubs, sometimes dancing, other times just drinking a few sips of our choice of alcoholic drinks and then heading out. Ron had slung an arm around me, as if staking his claim. I shouldn't have been bothered by his attention, but it felt a bit too intimate the way he was holding me. A little to much intimacy, a little to fast.
Wasn't that what I wanted, though?
No, I wanted someone I felt comfortable with, and an image of Harry popped in my head. I forced it out vigorously, knowing that getting intimate with Harry would only feel awkward. He must have thought the same, cause after that mind-blowing kiss earlier, he had stayed silent. I took that as a sign he regretted it.
Ron was nice and fun, and a heck of a dancer, but I didn't feel the appropriate connection with him. Still, he was fun to hang around.
We continued heading down the streets of St. Thomas, with our stop and go, stopping at clubs for no rhyme or reason…just going with whatever struck us. Or rather…Lavender. She was the leader in tonight's particular activities.
It was growing later, and I knew our time in St. Thomas was coming to a close. People had been making their way back to the ship and I was still registering Ron's arm around me. I was wondering if he was actually using me as a crutch now, seeing as he had been the winner in every beer guzzling contest the boys had held that night.
"We've got some time," Lavender suggested, "Why don't we walk the shoreline."
Everyone seemed to agree, for we soon found ourselves walking the coastline of the beautiful Caribbean island. I watched as Lavender walked the coast, a guy on either side of her. She laughed and giggled, which was quite funny to watch because neither of them could walk straight lines if their lives depended on it. I myself had not drunk much that evening. I was not a heavy drinker and often opted for just a few sips. I wasn't that kind of person, no matter how much I wanted to change.
As Ron and I reached the shoreline, I realized he was hanging really heavy on me. "You're the bloody best, Hermione… How about a kiss?"
I wanted to laugh at his proposal…where was the element of surprise in that? Still, I wanted to play a good sport. I tilted my face to his, ready to kiss. He leaned on me, about to kiss me, when his arm slipped.
I let out a screech as his body collapsed to the ground in a heap.
~*~
Lavender had thought the whole thing was absolutely hilarious. Ron's friends, Seamus and Lavender had had to drag Ron to his feet and take their passed out friend back to the cruise ship. Our walk on the shoreline had turned into so much more.
"Aren't they fun, Hermione?" She laughed.
"Oh, yeah," my voice dripping with sarcasm. "I can't tell you when I've enjoyed watching a guy pass out more."
She nudged my shoulder with hers and laughed. "Okay, I'll admit that part wasn't great, but while you're on the islands that's what you've got to get used to…guys drinking all the time."
Drinking til you dropped? Wow, that wasn't how I imagined my personal island adventures. Not at all. Although, I had some alcohol in me, at least I could walk a straight line. Once we returned to the boat, I felt restless, but I didn't want to go clubbing.
"I think I'll go sit out on the deck for awhile," I told Lavender.
"Can I join you?" She asked, almost tentatively.
"Sure," I replied, surprised she didn't want to go off and find one of the guys again. I was pretty glad she decided to join me on the top deck, which was now mostly vacated.
We settled into a few loungers, staring up at the twinkling stars above us.
Lavender sighed. "I wish I lived on the island."
"Don't you think it'd get rather boring?" I asked.
She shook her head. "No way, never."
I wasn't so sure. As fun as shopping, hanging out, going to the beach and going to clubs was…I didn't think I could make that my lifetime. If it made sense, those were parts of vacation, though. They weren't meant for regular life.
"There's something so peaceful about the ocean," I commented quietly.
"Yeah," She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "This is the best vacation ever."
"You read my mind," I replied.
~*~
Lavender left the deck a little while later but I decided to stay. I shifted my body, trying to get comfortable. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world but I was too restless to go to bed.
That left my mind drifting to the movie Titanic .The romance that had taken place aboard that ship had me sitting
through the movie three times. Of course watching Leonardo Di Caprio wasn't any hardship either.
I suppose I had though that I could have a romance similar to that onboard this ship. It wasn't easy meeting people though, I mean, besides Harry's friends but they weren't exactly the guys I was after. Maybe tomorrow, I'd have a better chance at finding Mr. - Perfect-for-one-night.
I started to get very sleepy and closed my eyes. I knew I should head back to my cabin-but I didnt want to move. I'd have just a few minutes of rest here and then I'd move right on up to my room. That's right...just a few more minutes....
~*~
I woke up to find a large beach towel draped over me, and the sun easing over the horizon. It was really gorgeous, painting the sky with deep pastels. I knew by their very nature that pastels weren't bright colors but when nature was doing the artistry, there was brilliance to the hue that was indescribable.
I thought it was simply amazing. I sat up straight, stretched, and then...froze.
"What are you doing here?" I blinked.
"I wanted to get in a morning job before it got crowded. Saw you laying here. Id you lose your key again?" He said, from his lawn chair right next to mine.
I wrinkled my nose at him. "I didnt lose my key before."
"Okay, then did you give your key to someone else, and forget to reclaim it?"
I politely covered my mouth as a yawn came out. "No. I was just sitting her last night, enjoying the ocean. I suppose I fell asleep."
As if sat up a little more, I grimaced from the pain of my cramped muscles.
"Sore?" Harry asked.
"Yes," I admitted, forcing my body to stretch. "I think its time for a muscle melt."
"A muscle melts?" He glanced at me amusingly.
"A massage the ship gives. It melts your muscles."
"Hence the name," Harry commented. "Turn around. I'll massage your shoulders."
It was innocent enough, I really did need it. But that was a bit uncomfortable. "You don't have to..."
"It's alright, I've got noting better to do. Come on."
I tucked my feet beneath me and turned so my back was to him. Most of my shoulders were exposed from eh tank top and I could feel the heat of his hands on me. It was nice. He was nice.
All of the sudden, his hands stopped. "So, how's the list coming?"
"I still have several things left," I told him.
"Did you have an okay time last night?" He said as his magic hands started again.
"What?" I asked.
"I heard about your little rendezvous with Ron," I could sense his large grin.
"Oh, shut up, you," I shook my head. "It was terrible! He was so drunk!"
Harry laughed. "I know. I was with Seamus and Dean when they came back. He was out."
"Totally," I replied. "Have you seen your mum lately? Or mine and Sirius?"
"Not your Mum or Sirius...but speaking of which, I think my mum's kind of getting restless with being alone. She wants to have dinner with us," Harry said. "Is that okay?"
I nodded. "I like your mum."
"Good," He noted with a smile. "She likes you, too. But don't forget we have tickets to a show tonight."
"What time?"
"We should get there a little after eight, we can leave from dinner."
"And Lavender? Did you get her a ticket?" I asked.
"Yep," He said, his hands removing themselves from my shoulders, clearly done. I felt much better. "You can tell her to meet us down there at 8:30."
"Alright. Thanks for the massage," I replied, standing up.
"Of course," He said, picking up the beach towel, kissing my cheek and walking away.
My foggy mind watched him disappear. He had just kissed me again. On the cheek this time, though. Were they good enough
friends now that that was acceptable? I guess so. She couldn't help but admit she wanted to at least be friends
with him.
It was then I realised that he had said he found me when he was going to go jogging. He had covered me with his beach towel. How many people carried a beach towel while jogging? He was taking this looking-after-me-at-Sirius'-request a little too seriously. And I found myself wondering why that notion didnt bother me as much as it once had.
~*~
A/n: SEE! I told you, that was probably the shortest chapter ever but I'm telling you-it would've been sooo long of a wait for that extra long chapter.
I've made myself a silly promise. I won't make you guys anymore promises cuz every time I do, I break them.
Call me a bad author and I don't care. You have to learn that if you say jump I won't say, `how high?'
This is my story and I am trying to be better about it, but you have to understand how difficult it is.
So, no promises, but I will TRY to get the next one out before too long. The story's kind of a little over half way
through-so we won't have probably more that...eh...six? More chapters...six? Maybe seven. I dunno. We'll
see!
Sorry for this update!!
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