The moment Harry and Hedwig appeared on the sandy beach the girl tossed off her shoes, allowing the sand to cover her feet with a slight giggle. "Luna told me I should stay barefoot, sounded like good advice." She explained, earning a smile from the boy next to her, who promptly followed her lead as the began to walk across the empty coast.
She had chosen a tropical vacation for her 'week' and Sirius had been quick to provide. Originally they had mentioned she could spend both there, but with the addition of the other girls requesting time the white-haired girl had relented and stuck with only a single five-day period.
"So," she inquired as they made their way, hand in hand, towards the small cottage in the distance, "what do you want to do first?"
A smile formed on his face as he took a deep breath of the ocean breeze, "To be honest I am just looking forward to a nice peaceful week. No distractions, no politics, no dealing with other people's problems, just the sand, sun, and ocean."
"And me," Hedwig teased, earning an even broader smile from the teen.
"How could I forget? Now I do recall Sirius saying something about having a pool out back, perhaps we should take a look?"
...
The amber-eyed girl let out a happy sigh as she cuddled a bit closer to the boy next to her, all the while staring up at the stars in the night sky. "It is beautiful tonight."
"Mmmhmm." he muttered, hand stroking up and down her bare back, "not as beautiful as you though."
She snorted, but could hold back the smile as she smacked his arm half-heartedly, "Prat… besides you are just saying that because you are stuck with just me for the next three days."
"No, I have always thought you were beautiful, you know that."
She shifted a bit closer, "I know… it is just nice to hear. With you being busy with the others so often I just… have missed it being the two of us."
He turned towards her, eyes softening as he looked into her own, "Some things will always just be the two of us. No matter how close I become with the others we share a connection that is deeper than that."
Reaching up she lovingly ran her fingers through his hair. "I know, but sometimes it is nice being able to talk to others about you."
"You have grown rather close to the others." he pointed out gently, earning a smile once more from the white-haired girl.
"Of course, they are practically my sisters at this point. Some of them might require a bit more patience than others but they are still family, we just all happen to share the same lover."
Silence filled the air as the two settled into simply enjoying each other's presence before Harry spoke once more, "Are you happy Hedwig? With our life?"
"Of course I am."
He nodded, "Sometimes I look back at everything that has happened and worry that it will never stop, that my life will continue to be this way forever."
The girl's hand stilled, before sliding to his cheek with the other doing the same in an effort to focus his eyes, and attention, on her. "It won't be this way forever Harry. You are making change, one after another and eventually the World will begin to shift. The avalanche is coming, we just need to wait for it to bury the remains of the old world with the potential of the new."
"You are starting to sound like me." he teased, earning another smile from the woman.
"What can I say? I guess some of your greatness finally rubbed off on me."
The boy-who-lived shook his head, "It is the other way around, without you I would have never made it this far, I would have strayed into a darkness that I would have become lost in and never found my way out. You saved me Hedwig, whether you realize it or not this new world I am building is all because of you ."
...
"Hey pup, can you hold up for a second?"
The duo had just arrived back from their vacation when Sirius Black had called out to them while they were on their way to unpack. Harry halted, turning to where his godfather currently stood in a nearby doorway before giving a slight nod, "Of course," his gaze shifted back to Hedwig, and gave her a smile before she returned it and continued on towards their room at the mansion. He then followed the older man into the private area.
With a gesture Sirius had the teen sit, before pacing back and forth a few times then taking a seat himself, all the while fidgeting with his hands. "Is something wrong Padfoot?"
"Uh… maybe? I'm not sure if it is considered wrong or not, or even if it is going to happen but I still feel like you should know, because it does concern you and it is important if it does happen… you know?"
The emerald-eyed boy stared back for a moment, before giving a slight nod to continue, "I uhm… well the thing is pup I just… listen when Malfoy told us about what happened in the graveyard, about what you were able to do… It might have some implications further down the road if it comes to light."
"Such as?"
Here the man shifted even more in his chair, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, unfortunately he had taken it upon himself to inform his godson personally, and hadn't told his best friend of the plan yet. "It concerns your children." the man paused, before suddenly went wide eyed and stammered out the rest of the words, "I-I mean if you have any that is! Because you don't have to, or you can have a ton you know? I mean you can have as many as you want and Moony and I will support you… but if what I think is true turns out to be correct… well there are going to be some important things to consider when and if that time comes. I didn't want to worry you with something that might not even be true yet… you know?"
Harry's gaze had focused on the wall behind the man with a far-off look, before he snapped back to the situation at hand, "Yes, yes I understand and you were right to tell me, now tell me everything ."
...
"Are you sure about this Harry? We could do something different instead, I know a lot of people think of vacations as relaxing and this is…"
The boy put his finger on the bookworm's lips, silencing her rant, "I already told you I am more than fine with this Hermione. The few vacations I have all been on are always in one spot for the most part, so getting out and seeing a bit of the World sounds like a very fun week, even if it is focused on architectural sights and libraries."
She blushed, muttering about him teasing her as they continued walking through the crowded streets of Venice. "I figure we could spend a day in each city, that gives us about five places to see."
"Sounds fun, I assume you already have the itinerary planned out?"
Seeing her nod excitedly Harry chuckled, lacing his arm with hers as they continued towards their destination, the Library of St. Mark's.
....
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