Dysfunctional

15 - The Holiday - Part 1

Saturday, July 27

"I think I've made up my mind what I want to do with the rest of my life," said Harry, as he scooped up the steadily melting lavender flavoured ice-cream, a local delicacy.

"Other than becoming an Auror, you mean?" said Sirius, without opening his eyes. He was lying down on the beach towel, in his white button-up which was undone, as he soaked in the sun of the Cote d'Azur, the most beautiful beach Harry had ever seen with its crystal-clear turquoise waters and rows upon rows of umbrellas sheltering naked bodies of men and women from around the world as they all indulged in the glorious warmth of the Provençal sun.

"Yeah, I'm going to travel the world after I finish school," said Harry, nodding.

It had taken him two days for his nerves to settle down and stop being so 'jumpy' as Sirius put it. He was almost positive that a Death Eater would jump around the corner and apprehend him when he was not noticing.

But after two whole days of walking around the cobbled stone streets of Aix-en-Provence, visiting the local theatre festivals and swimming in the Calanques de Cassis, he was now thoroughly enjoying their trip and was marvelling at the fact that the world was so much bigger than just England. There was plenty to see and learn and experience that he thought he might have found his calling in life.

"That's a splendid idea, Har-James," stumbled Sirius, opening one eye to make sure nobody was around to have noticed the slip.

Harry and Sirius, or in other words, James and John Evans were the innocuous father and son duo of their little tour group. They had settled for their middle names and his mother's surname but Sirius had to take Remus' middle name as 'Orion' was in no way a common muggle name.

Other than themselves, there was a couple along with their seventeen year old daughter, another woman who had ended up alone on what should have been her honeymoon and a small family with two young boys.

Their official cover was that James (Harry) was John (Sirius) Evans' son, whose wife had left him and he had attained custody of him after a long and arduous custody battle. This was their first trip as father and son and it was fairly amusing watching Sirius spin the tale even further with practiced ease to the lovely Miss Jane Evesham. The poor woman had been stood up in her wedding and had decided to come to France (her would-be honeymoon destination) and wallow amongst strangers.

She was a pretty woman in her late twenties, very slim and petite with a beautiful face - although, it had been rather blotchy for the first two days of the trip. Since learning Sirius'...or rather John's story, she found some sort of mutual companionship and was hanging by his arm since.

The woman in question was currently walking towards them from the waves, her slim bikini-clad figure looking quite appealing.

Feeling apprehensive, Harry finished his lavender ice-cream quickly and stood up muttering, "I'm going to look for Alicia."

"Don't go too far," came Sirius' lazy drawl as Harry walked away. It was only maybe ten seconds later, when a loud shriek made him turn back immediately.

What he saw made him break into hysterical laughter along with some of the rest of their tour group. Sirius, who had earlier been digging a rather large hole in the sand, had spread a blanket over it to cover it up. Jane had apparently tried to lay back and promptly fell into the pit, screaming.