Title: Adrift
Summary: It was supposed to be the perfect holiday, but a tragic accident plunges Harry and Hermione adrift in to a new, uncertain life.
Rating: PG-13 for language and adult themes
Authors Notes: First, a big thank you to all the people who reviewed the first chapter and to the many others who may have read it and not reviewed. I encourage everyone to review my fics, just as long as if you're being critical, it's constructive (ie, please don't just write 'this fic is shit' or similar- write something like 'your writing style is a lot different to what I usually read, perhaps if you tried *insert suggestion*').
Now, second, if you've ever read any of my other fics, you will know that I am not a fan of Ron. Of all the characters in the HP world, I cannot write Ron and this is why he tends to die a lot of the time when I'm in charge. In my belief, Ron, not Fred, should have been the Weasley that died… but that's just because I don't like him. I even once wrote a fic where, much like Kenny, Ron died in every chapter. It was very therapeutic. So the Ron content in this fic is very minimal, and as always seems to happen, he comes across as a petulant child in some parts. I do apologise to the Ron fans out there, but if you read my other fics, you will see that this is how Ron is in every single one of my fics.
TWO
'Are you sure this is safe?'
Harry and Hermione laughed at Ron's nervous question as they sat down in their seats on the plane that would whisk them away on their holiday. Ginny and Harry felt as nervous as Ron did, but neither had been stupid enough to vocalise the thought (and Harry was perfectly aware of how safe it was, the Dursley's failing to die every time they had flown somewhere).
'Ron, relax, it's perfectly safe,' Hermione reassured him, taking her seat next to him and doing up her seatbelt. 'Muggles do this all the time.'
'Why couldn't we apparate?' he asked, holding the seatbelt and looking confused by it.
'Because international apparating is awful,' Ginny said with a shudder, thinking back to her Quidditch playing days. 'And brooms are too impractical with luggage, so is Floo powder. And it was too hard to organise a Portkey for all of us. Besides, we agreed on making this holiday and bit of a novelty and doing it like muggle's. And this is how muggle's travel.'
Harry buckled himself into his seat and turned to his side and looked over the back of his seat at Hermione.
'Have you explained the in-flight movie?' he asked her and Ron looked from Harry to Hermione.
'What's an in-flight mooffee?'
'Honestly, Ron,' Ginny said, leaning back and closing her eyes. 'You would've thought that you would pick up something from dad's love of muggles.'
'Well, I learnt how to drive a car,' he said proudly, and a passing Muggle stopped and stared at the four of them.
Harry caught Hermione's eye and they both looked away before they started to laugh.
~*~
The plane took surprisingly little time to fill and then, without warning, started to move. Ron looked frightened for a moment, but rearranged his face into a nonchalant expression.
'Good morning, ladies and gentleman, this is your captain Sam Hughes speaking, welcoming you aboard British Airways flight BA 340 to Madrid, Spain. The first officer on today's flight is Joseph Patton and your navigator is Lachlan Manton. Your head stewardess is Sarah Bolston and she is assisted by Meagan Jones, Angela Reid and Craig Phelps. The cabin crew will shortly begin with the safety procedures which you will all need to be aware of. I'll hand over to Sarah Bolston now and will speak to you again once we've reached our cruising altitude.'
Ron watched the safety demonstration with more attention than he had ever paid to any lessons previously. Hermione had buried her face into her novel and was lost in her own world. Ginny was staring out the window and Harry was thumbing through the in-flight magazine, not paying attention to it or the demonstration.
They took off with no problems, Ron looking gleefully out the window as they soared higher and higher. Harry was looking around the cabin at the variety of travellers. He, like Ron and Ginny, had never flown before. When he was younger, the Dursley's had taken several trips abroad, but each time Harry had been left with Mrs Figg, and on one occasion had spent on horrible week at number 4 with Aunt Marge.
'Remember when Dad wanted to know how planes stay up?' Ron asked Ginny, who laughed.
'Of course- I was the one who got him the books that explained it. He was devastated when he found out that wasn't secret magic.'
They all laughed as the hostess rolled the trolley past and served their meals.
'Much better than the food on the Hogwarts Express,' Ron said, licking his lips and staring hungrily at the warm chicken dinner.
~*~
They landed in Madrid and followed the line of people through customs. There was a slight delay in customs, with their wands being scrutinised. Thankfully, Hermione was able to get hers back rather quickly and confund the custom officials to let them through with no further hassles.
'You are far to good at that,' Harry muttered to her as they headed towards the exit. She just laughed.
'Kingsley will kill me!'
Bypassing the taxi ranks, they walked with their suitcases into the parking garages and took the elevator to the top tier. This area of the parking garage was deserted and they stood together outside of the elevator, gripping wands in pockets with their right hands and luggage with their left.
'See you on the other side,' Ginny said with a wink.
They all turned on the spot, eyes shut tightly as they concentrated on their destination. Hermione, with the help of her parents, had tracked their destination down on the internet. When she had suggested the cruise to Ron, he had balked at being on the water for such a long period of time. Harry didn't want to be at sea either and so they had had to compromise. They were spending a week in a villa on the Spanish coast, before catching a flight to Rome and apparating to Venice for the second week of their holiday. They were yet to decide on the third week and it looked like Harry and Ginny would be touring Tuscany, whilst Hermione and Ron headed to Greece (Harry and Ginny had toured Greece for their honeymoon and preferred to go somewhere they had never been).
Their apparition destination was a small lane directly behind the villa they had rented. The keys had been mailed to Ginny before they had left London and she was the first to re-appear, holding the keys tightly. Hermione was next, then Harry and lastly came Ron, who stumbled a bit as he re-appeared on uneven ground.
They walked around to the front and up the stairs. The villa had a view of the sparkling blue ocean from almost every room. They laid claim to bedrooms and bathrooms. Hermione started to unpack her and Ron's things into the cupboards, whilst Ron lay on the bed and fiddled with the TV remote, flipping through all the channels at rapid speed.
Down the other end of the house, Ginny was sitting out on the small balcony, watching the ocean. Harry was searching through his suitcase and pulling out shorts and a t shirt, and a pair of beaten up joggers. He got changed and joined Ginny on the balcony, who laughed at him.
'You're serious?' she said, looking him up and down. 'You're going for a run?'
'I didn't have time before we left,' Harry said, bending down and kissing her on the forehead. 'And if I don't keep up my fitness, I won't be able to when we get home.'
'Well be quick at least,' she chided. 'And don't get lost!'
He waved over his shoulder and left the bedroom. Several minutes later she saw him go running down the street, as there was a knock on the door.
'Come in!'
Hermione came in, smiling. She had changed from her travelling clothes into a white sundress that gave no indication that she had given birth to two children. Ginny looked down at her own clothes (a worn pair of denim cut-offs and one of Harry's old shirts) and wished that she hadn't inherited her mothers body shape. She was in no means 'fat', but she knew she showed that she had three children in her figure and wished she could go back to the body she had in her Quidditch days.
'Where's Harry?' Hermione asked, sitting down next to Ginny.
'Running,' she replied with a smile, and thought that maybe she should start joining him on his runs. 'He runs for about an hour a day.'
'And when did this start?' Hermione asked with a laugh.
'He was chasing someone at work several months ago,' Ginny explained. 'And he got a bit exhausted and realised how unfit he was. So he's been doing it ever since. I'm starting to think I should join him.'
'Why?' Hermione asked with surprise. 'You are looking fabulous!'
'Not next to you,' Ginny said and Hermione laughed.
'I spend my days running around the ministry and most of the time I forget to have lunch,' she said with a laugh. 'And since the kids left for school, we've been eating a lot differently at home. Most nights we just have toast or salad. If we remember to have dinner.'
'I think that's the difference between us- I'm at home most days and find myself baking cakes and biscuits to send to the kids,' Ginny said, laughing. 'And sampling them, of course. But I don't know how much longer I'll be doing that.'
'Why?'
'I've been offered a new job,' Ginny said with a small smile at her sister-in-law, her most trusted confidante. 'It's something I can do as well as writing my column for the Prophet.'
'Well?' Hermione asked eagerly.
'They want me to become the coach of the national Quidditch team,' Ginny said proudly. Hermione beamed.
'That's fantastic, Ginny!'
'I know- I'm considering doing it. The only problem is that it would mean I would be on the road a fair bit, especially over the coming summer.'
'But it's a great opportunity! Have you told Harry?'
'Not yet,' Ginny said with a sigh.
'Why not?'
'Because he'll tell me to do it,' she said and Hermione looked puzzled.
'Then why is it a problem?'
'I just want to make sure that I want to do it first.'
'Do what?' Ron asked from behind and both women jumped, making him laugh.
'None of your business,' Ginny said, shifting sideways in her seat so she could see him. 'And don't you knock?'
'The door was open,' he said with a shrug and both women rolled their eyes. 'Anyway, I'm starving.'
'Of course you are,' Hermione said, standing up. 'But I am too. How long will Harry be?'
Ginny looked at her watch and shrugged her shoulders.
'No idea. Why don't you two go ahead, I'll wait here and we'll join you.'
'But where are we going?' Hermione asked. Ginny smiled at her own stupidity, having not realised that they had no idea where anything was.
At that moment, Harry came back into view on the street, panting only slightly as he ran through the gate and up the stairs towards the villa. Ginny leaned over the balcony.
'You were quick,' she called down to him and he stopped running underneath the balcony and stared up at all of them.
'Found a bar that serves food, just down the road.'
'Well don't you have perfect timing- I'm on my way,' Ron said and they all laughed.