C'est la Vie

A/N: Hello, again! I hope this chapter isn't too late! Well, I think the title kind of gives the chapter away, so, please read anyway! I have corrected it, but a few minor things might still be in here, so cut me some slack. I waited so long, and I don't want to make you wait any more! Well, here it is, longer than the first chapter, that's for sure! Enjoy!

P.S. Okay, I'm fixing on two other fics I want to write, so be on the lookout for them soon!

"Harry-"

"Shh..." Harry pulled her though the sunny sand. He watched her feet step into the small tides of the ocean. "Don't talk."

"But-"

"No talking." He felt a grin tug on his lips. Watching her, this beautiful, gorgeous woman in front of her, who he could claim as his own, was blindfolded by her own scarf. He couldn't stop his smile, because it was so perfect, leading her down the shore to his destination.

Harry wanted to put his arms around her, pull her close, kiss her senseless-but there would be plenty of time for snogging and making love.

She was wearing jeans shorts, and a simple tank top. Harry on the other hand, was in shorts and shirtless.

The waves went up to her knees almost, and her curly hair was flowing in the wind.

In simpler terms, she looked beautiful.

Harry knew their times was limited, so he had to walk quicker. He sneaked behind her, and have her back a small push, and watched her stumble a bit, then turned and glared at him. "I know you're there, Harry Potter." She grinned, slightly. "Where are you taking me?" her voice was smooth, like honey.

"You'll see, love." He smiled wider, and continued to pull her down the beach.

"Harry!" she whined. "Where are you taking me?" She tried to pull her hands from him, but Harry's grip was to strong to break free from.

"Don't worry, love." He soothed her. "We're almost there."

They walked down farther on the sandy shore, Harry pulling her along. She complained a few more times, but gave in to the warmth of him next to her, and the excitement. "We're almost there," he kept saying.

Harry stopped. It was nearing diner time, and they would have to hurry to make dinner. Harry stared at her, watching her hair sway in the wind, and watched her cheeks redden from excitement. Harry pulled her into his arms and reached behind her head. He pulled off the scarf and grinned. "Now open your eyes."

She opened them slowly, taking her time. Her breath caught in her throat. She watched the aqua ocean wash under her feet, then rolled back to the great big blue mass in front of her. She stared at the sun, which was now a shade of light pink, with pink and blue clouds around it, and was fading intoo the horizon of the sea.

"Pretty, huh?" Harry whispered. She nodded slowly, still staring in awe. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his hard, lean body. He rested his head on her shoulder and studied her face. "You like it?"

She couldn't find her voice. All she could manage was a slight nod, even though in her mind she was saying so much. She closed her eyes, sighing into the ocean salty air. Harry grinned at her, sheepishly, and nuzzled her neck. "You like it."

And she did. It was gorgeous.

It was a perfect blend of colors. The orange sun was shining brightly, giving the beach a nice glow.

Harry watched her face with fascination. He looked back at the sun, and took a deep gulp of sea air. "I like it too. But you know what? You're even better to stare at." He felt her eyes go on him. He avoided her gaze and shrugged. "I'm just telling the truth." He turned and grinned at her.

"Sirus told me about this spot." Harry explained. "When I told him about the trip. He mentioned this place. Not many people know about it." Harry couldn't keep the smile off of his face. "He said that he and my dad came here and bewitched it, so Muggles couldn't see it." He looked at her face again. "Let's sit down."

She nodded and watched him sit down, lean his back against a flat rock, spread his legs araprt, and then pat the area between them. She sat down, and instinctively, Harry put his arms around her. He inhaled her scent. He smiled. "I really need to steal your shampoo. You smell too good."

"You can you it anytime you want." She smiled at him and melted against him in his warm embrace. She sighed and felt his arms give a tighter grip on her.

"Mmm..." Harry murmured against her hair. "Did I tell you how much I love you?"

She giggled. "Only a few times today."

"Oh," he nuzzled her neck. "Well, I love you."

"I love you too."

Harry buried his head in her hair. "God, I'm crazy about you."

"Me too," she said.

"I can't go through the day, thinking about how much I want to reach out and grab you and hold you close in my arms." He grinned down at her. "And at night I hate hugging my pillow where you should be. I want to tell them about us. When should we?"

She bit her lip. "I don't know."

Harry gave a short laugh. "This sure has been a crazy week, huh? Sneaking around to make love and have snogging sessions, or just for a little petting..." his hand sneaked into her lap and was trying to pry apart her thighs.

"Harry!" she giggled and smacked his hand away. He made a pouty face.

"What?"

"Not now."

"Aw, come on, honey. I miss you so much!" he whined.

"No, not know, Harry! It's almost time for dinner!" she fingered his bare chest. "What inspired you to come shirtless?"

He grinned. "I thought you'd like it."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh, I do." She looked up at him, her brown eyes filled up with tears and love and trust. " I love you Harry," she smiled, then kissed him.

He grinned sheepishly after the kiss, and held her tighter. "I love you too, Herm."

"Good." She snuggled closer to him. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Harry?"

"Harry..."

Harry's eyes snapped open. Out of his small plane window, he could see that the plane had already landed. There was still a few annoyed passengers behind Ron, who was happily blocking the narrow aisle.

"Harry!"

He turned to the voice that barked at him. Hermione. Gosh, since when was she so grouchy? But he had to admit, she was very good looking. So good looking, that he just had a dream about her.

It's just a dream, Harry thought. In front of Ron, he saw Fred and George holding something that looked like a photograph and were sniggering. Harry shrugged and climbed out of his seat. The people behind him said things like "Finally" and "Let's get moving" and "Damn teenagers".

Harry walked behind Hermione; he couldn't help but to let his eyes wander downward, toward the small roundness of her behind-

What am I doing? Harry thought to himself. There he was, one of the most famous wizards in the world, who could easily get any witch or girl he wanted, and he was fantasying about his best friend. I'm pathetic.

When he exited the airport, Mr. Weasley grinned at the teenagers, then smiled wide at Harry. "Sleep well, Harry?" he winked at Harry.

Embarrassed, Harry got a better grip on his bags and looked away. "Um...y-yea, Mr. Weasley."

"Good!" Mrs. Weasley inhaled the Paris scent. She looked over to Hermione, who was staring at the city in awe. "So good so far?"

"Very."

Harry grinned at her, and she returned the favor. "Like what you see?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh."

Harry grinned and threw a protective arm around her shoulders. "Well, let's get to the hotel so you can drag Ron and me to every little place in this city."

She squealed. She pulled out of his embrace and ran to the curve with Ginny. Harry sideways glanced at Ron, "How big is Paris, exactly?"

Ron gulped. "By the looks of this-big."

Harry nodded. "We're in trouble." But he saw Hermione and Ginny trying to catch their breath. They're so excited, he thought.

In his daydream, Harry didn't realize that they had caught a taxi already, and Hermione was looking at him like some kind of strange phyco. "Um...Harry? You feeling okay?"

He blushed, and nodded. "Yeah, Herm. I am." He picked up his bags again and started to load them into the small yellow trunk. The driver seemed to be having trouble with all the trunks that Ginny had brought along.

"Ginny-" Ron cursed at her under his breath. "Why did you bring so much stuff?"

"I needed it," she said, as if stating the obvious.

"That seems obvious, but why would you need all of.... this?" Ron let out and exasperated breath as he dropped her trunk into the back of the cab. He wiped his forehead, and turned to Harry. "My god, do these girls think we can carry all the weight in the world or something?" He took a deep breath and leaned against the yellow car. "I'm pooped. I can't wait until we get to the hotel; I'm going straight to my room and sleeping. Well, after I get something to eat, that is." He added, grinning.

"Ron, get in the car," Bill instructed his younger brother. "And please, shut up."

Ron pouted at his brother, as Harry climbed into the car first. "Aw, stop raining on my parade, Bill."

Charlie snorted as he lifted his own trunk into a taxi cab behind the one Ron was in. "Ron, if you had a parade to rain down on, then Ginny would be the high-wire act of the London Circus."

Ginny looked at her brother, and playfully hit him over his head. Charlie rubbed his head, then grinned. "But you know it's true, Gin." He smiled at her. "All those years of ballet had to do you some kind of good on balancing."

Ginny shook her head. "Leave me alone," and climbed into the car.

Fred looked over to his twin, then to his older brothers, then to his parents. He shrugged his shoulders and climbed into the taxi.

Ron slammed the door shut with a loud BAM! Hermione hit him over the head. "Ouch, Ron! You know, I do have ears, you know." She looked out the wind shield as the driver settled himself back into his seat. He was sweating, but he looked at the kids, grunted, then started the engine. Mr. Weasley popped his head inside, and smiled at the driver.

"To the Le Pirogues hotel, please?" The driver nodded, then pulled away from the curve.

Harry looked out the window, and watched Paris pass them by. Hermione rested her head on his shoulder, and sighed in deeply. She was looking out the window as well. Harry smiled at her, and stroked her hair a bit. "Can you see, Herm?"

She nodded, and shut her eyes slowly. "I'm a little tired..." she yawned. "I'm going to take a short little nap, okay, harry? Wake me up when we get there." She snuggled closer to him, and fell into her sleep.

"Sure things, sweetie," Harry whispered. The driver looked up in his mirror, back at Harry. He smirked, then continued looking back at the road.

Ron was getting drowsy too; he had never imagined that Paris would actually be....THIS big! He expected a small ride, perhaps ten minutes, but what he was getting was an half an hour ride...he expected to be in his own room now, well, roomed with Harry, and sleeping in the clean, fresh smelling sheets of a hotel bed. Or, he would be in the hotel lobby, eating.

He looked over at Harry, and saw the his head was resting gently on top of Hermione's, his eyes closed too. Everyone was too tired. And from behind them, Ron could faintly hear Ginny screaming at Fred and George.

Passing out, Ron smiled.

* *

*

"Hey, kids, wake up!"

Harry blinked a few times, and realized that he had slipped an arm around Hermione's shoulders, and her head was now against his chest. He blinked again, and gently shook her. "Herm, wake up, hun."

She blinked, then rubbed her tired eyes a few times. She yawned, then smiled at him. "Are we at the hotel, Harry?"

"Uh huh."

"Mm 'k." She smiled at him, and crawled out of Ron's door, which was still open. Harry followed her out, and stood on the pavement of a fancy hotel and stretched. Ron was still starring at the place, eyes wide, and his jaw on the floor.

"Dad, are we staying here?"

Mr. Weasley put an arm around his youngest son. "We sure are, Ron." He smiled. "Good things came when I got promoted." He gave him a small squeeze, then went to find his wife. Ron was still standing there, still utterly confused.

Harry picked up his own trunk, and looked over at Mrs. Weasley. She saw the hotel staff having trouble with them. Harry gave her a small smile, and she took out her wand and muttered a small charm under her breath. All the trunks seemed to get considerably lighter.

They all walked inside, and Ron was suddenly in a daze. He stood frozen, looking around the hotel in awe. A waiter passed him in the lobby, while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went to get their room keys. As if the waiter knew how much Ron was drooling, he stopped and held out the platter to Ron. "Would you care for some scargot?" he said, with a heavy French accent.

Ron nodded eagerly, and took one off the plate. "How much?"

The waiter seemed to be surprised. "Well, sir, they're free. Are you staying at this hotel?"

Ron nodded as he bit into the first treat. "Can I have another?"

The waiter seemed amused by Ron's behavior. "Help yourself." Ron took a handful of them off the plate and grinned at the waiter.

"Thanks!" he said, stuffing some more into his mouth.

Harry and Hermione sniggered, as Ron walked up to them. "Hey guys!" he said with a mouthful. "Want some? They're good!"

Harry almost choked. "Um...Ron? You do know that 's car go is fancy French talk for snails, right?"

Ron stopped chewing and looked down at his hands. His face turned from the usually pale white, to a deep shade of green. "Excuse me." He ran off the find the nearest bathroom.

"Poor Ron," Hermione said. She brushed her curly hair out of her eyes and smiled up at Harry. "Harry, what do you say we go see if we can get our room keys from Mrs. Weasley. Okay?"

Harry grinned. "Sure."

Mrs. Weasley turned around. "Hello!" She smiled brightly. "Alright, here are the sleeping arrangements." She cleared her voice and looked over the children. "Is everyone here?" She started to count when she paused. "Where's Ron?"

Harry looked at Hermione. "Well, he ate something he really shouldn't have."

Mrs. Weasley nodded, and cleared her voice again. "Bill and Charlie, you're in room 413 on the sixth floor. Fred and George, you're room 414 on the sixth floor, and Harry and Ron, you're room 419 on the seventh floor, and Ginny and Hermione, you're room 416, on the seventh floor." She frowned that all of them wouldn't all be on the same floor. "That was all we could get."

"What floor are you and Dad on, Mum?" Ginny asked.

"The sixth." She looked at her own room key. "Room 410." She smiled slightly. At least she was a little bit away from her sons. "Harry, dear, could you give Ron his room key when he come back? I'm sure he'll get lost if you won't."

Harry took and smiled. "Sure."

Hermione smiled slightly. Ginny grabbed her arm. "Come on, Hermione! Let's go see it!"

"Ginny, it's just any other hotel room-"

"Woah! Ginny, who gave you the high pills?" Ron asked, his face back to it's normal color. He wiped his mouth again, and looked over to Harry. "Remind me never to eat anything here again, unless it says what it's translated to in English."

Harry grinned. "Alright, Ron."

Ginny tapped her foot. "Come on! We're the top floor!"

Hermione gave a small yelp when Ginny almost pull her arm off of her. Harry and Ron exchanged looks before heading toward the elevator. Ginny was standing in the door way of it, her back pressed to one door, and her foot pressed to the other. Hermione was leaning against the back wall, rubbing her arm.

Ginny pulled them in. She looked around the board of numbers. "Now, where is it..."

"Push the little button that says '7', Gin." Ron grinned at his little sister, before ducking from her punch.

"I know that. I just can't see that well in here."

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, me too. I would think for suck a fancy hotel, they could replace the lighting in one elevator." She sighed. "I've only been here for not even ten minutes and I'm already unimpressed."

Ron stared at her. "Well, that's just you. If all of the sudden the elevator stops and gets stuck, then we don't get rescued for hours, and our rooms are disaster areas, THEN I'll be unimpressed."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You have very low standards, Ron."

Ron opened his mouth to speak. "Hermione, my dad just got promoted, early this spring, and he now has enough money to take us on a family vacation, and since Percy and Penny weren't coming, they said I could invite you two!" He puffed out air. "The last family vacation I had was when I was just four-"

There was a huge lurch in the elevator. The lights started to flicker on and off, and suddenly, it stopped. The lights when off into complete darkness.

"Uh oh."

Hermione gave a loud groan. "Happy now Ron?"

Ron blinked a few times. "We still have time to be rescued." He crawled over to who he thought was Ginny. "It's okay, sis, it's okay."

"Ron, get off of me!" Harry's voice came. "I'm not Ginny! She's over there!"

"Oops," Ron crawled until his head came in contact with the cold wall. "Gin, is this you?" he touch her shoulder.

"Yes, Ron, it's me."

Hermione looked around in darkness. "I hate the dark...so many things happen then..." She bit her lip.

Harry smiled at her. "Aw, come on Herm. You'll be okay. And if you feel really scared, you know I'm right here for you, okay?"

"Okay."

Just then, the elevator dropped, soaring down from being stuck between floors five and six, plummeting down towards the basement. The girls screamed, and Harry felt something close tightly around his neck and hanging onto him.

Then, it stopped again.

The lights flickered on and he saw Hermione around his neck. He smiled as he looked up at him, her face flushed with embarrassment. "Hi Herm."

"Hi Harry."

Ron cleared his throat. "Well, now that you guys are all caught up, can we please use that freaking phone or whatever it is to call for help?"

Hermione reached for the phone and gave it to Harry who started to dial. "What, Ron doesn't like being then big tough guy and rescuing himself?"

Ron scowled at her. "Hermione, you hurt my feelings. I'm not talking to you again." He turned his back, and playfully threw his nose up in the air in disgust.

Ginny giggled. "Ron, only dogs are supposed to do that."

"And pigs," Hermione added.

Harry slammed down the phone. "Well, they really don't seem to care that there are four teenagers stuck in a elevator...they said wait it out until five o' clock."

"But it just turned one now! Wait five hours?" Ron dropped to his knees.

"What nerve!" Hermione sat down and looked up at Harry with despair. "What do we do now?"

"Wait, I guess." He sat down next to her and looked over to Ron. "What else can we do?"

They sat there for an hour, just sitting there. There wasn't any air conditioning, no vents, and nothing to eat or drink. Ron's stomach growled loudly, and Harry wiped his forehead to get off forming sweat. "This is a sweat shop, sort of." Ginny declared. "Child labor."

Ron suddenly grinned. "Well, there is a way out of here..." he stopped and pointed upwards.

Harry looked for a moment, then shook his head. "Uh uh. It's too dangerous for them."

Ron snorted. "Stop being so knightly, Harry."

Hermione stood up. "Harry, we'll be fine. Won't we Ginny?"

"Yes we will!"

Harry shook his head. "Okay, fine. I'll go first, then you two, then Ron goes last."

Ron glared at him. "Why me?"

"Because, we need a guy at the end incase Herm or Ginny falls or something." Harry stood up and stretched. "Okay, Ron, we need your super-tallness." Ron grinned, walking over to the little cut out in the ceiling big enough for one person to climb through. His fingers barley scrapped against the top when he was standing on his tip-toes. He jumped, and grunted, and slid the door aside. He gulped up air, and looked over to Harry.

Harry jumped up, getting a firm grasp on the handles at the top of the elevator, and pushed himself up. He looked around, noting a chain, ropes, and a small jagged hole on the side of the cement dark wall. "It's okay, Ron. Start sending them up."

Ron lifted Hermione out of the hole, and Harry took her hand. He smiled and took her waist and pulled her out. She smiled a little, and looked at their surroundings. Harry watched her look around, before remembering the hole. "Hey, Herm, watch out, right there. There's a jagged hole, thing there."

She looked at it. "Okay."

Harry shook his head. He saw Ron lifting Ginny up. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her out as well. Ron lifted his own self out, then turned to Harry. "Okay, master Harry, lead the way."

Harry scratched his head, the pointed ten feet above them to a elevator door, which was closed. "All we have to do is open that."

"Harry, we aren't super hero's here." Ron said. "There is no way that these girls can climb all the way up there on a rope and chains."

Ginny poked her brother's stomach. "Oh yeah? What about you?"

Ron grinned. "I work out."

"With what? Broom sticks?" Ginny laughed at her own joke.

Ron blushed. "No, with Bill's weights. He let me use them."

Harry shook his head. "Will you two please, shut up?" The looked at him for a moment, then stopped talking. "Thank you. Now if you guys don't want to climb it, I will, and I'll get someone to help you guys up, ok? Or at least open the door to the floor in front of us-" He paused. "In front of the door..." he rubbed his chin. "Hey Herm? Ginny? Do you girls have some kind of hair thingy I can use to pry open the door?"

Hermione shook her head, and Ginny pulled out a hair clasp. Harry took it, the looked it over. "It's worth a try." Harry jumped back in the elevator and plunged the hair clip between the two metal doors. Ron groaned.

"So all the hard work of opening the door and hoisting you two girls up was pointless?" He jumped back in and hit his head against the wall.

Harry shook his head at his friend, and walked over to the hole. "Okay, Ginny, jump, and I'll catch you, okay?"

She bit her lip, but nodded. "Okay." She closed her eyes tight and jumped. Harry caught her around the waist and set her on her feet. Hermione looked down at him.

"Come on, Herm. You're next."

She nodded, and then jumped into his arms. Harry's arms went around her waist, holding on tighter than he had with Ginny. He set her feet on the ground and grinned at her. She grinned back.

"Harry!" Ron called. "It's budging!" Harry and Ron both took a door and pulled in separate directions. The doors parted and another pair of doors were visible. Ron stuck the clip in the crack and tried to pull it apart again. "Harry, it's not working."

Harry nodded, and tried kicking the door to see if anyone would hear. They didn't. "Let me see the clip." He took it from Ron, and jammed it into the door. "Okay, you take that side, I take this one. When I say pull, pull as hard as you can, okay?"

Ron nodded. Harry shook his hair out of his eyes. "One...two.... three....PULL!" The doors parted and Hermione and Ginny ran through. Harry put his foot behind Ron's back. "Go on, you next."

Ron nodded and walked out. Harry took a deep breath and leapt out of it, hoping not to get any of his body parts caught in the elevator. He did hear a ripping sound, to see the bottom of his shirt had been ripped off. He grinned a little, and straightened his clothes much as possible.

Ron looked at his watch. 3: 15p.m. Almost two hours of being stuck in a hotel elevator. Ron did have to admit it, he didn't like the idea of this hotel.

Harry sighed. "What floor do you think we're on?" He saw a large sign that read, "3rd Floor". He smiled. "Oh." He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "So, how do you guys think we should get to the seventh floor? Elevator?"

Hermione laughed. "I'd rather take the stairs."

Even after the elevator incident, Harry had a super setaceous feeling that being trapped in that elevator for two hours wouldn't be the worst thing that would happen that day. He just knew it. He just didn't know how he knew it right then.

* *

*

"Where have you four been?"

Mrs. Weasley's voice rang through the whole hotel. "Mum, we just met some nice people in the lobby and ended up talking for two hours," Ginny lied. "Honest."

She eyed her daughter carefully, before sweeping them into a hug. Bill eyed Harry's shirt. "Uh, Harry, what happened to your shirt?"

Harry looked at it. "Oh, uh, that..." he laughed a bit. "Um, it's actually funny..."

"We're waiting."

"Um...might as well tell you the truth. I was standing too close to an elevator and my shirt got caught to it and it ripped." Well, I'm not exactly lying. That is what happened, just not all that happened, he thought.

Fred and George took Harry's arm. "Harry, my dear friend, how have you been since we saw you at the hotel lobby," George looked at his watch, "three hours ago?"

"Fine guys."

Fred looked over to his twin, with a mischievous smile on his face. "Harry...won't you...." his voice changed oddly low, "come in."

George pushed the boy inside their hotel room, which was already unpacked with dozens of pranking products. "Harry, we would like to show you something."

"And whether you choose to show it to-everyone else, it's up to you. But we feel we must show you first."

"Yes, we must, but please you have to get it through your head that it's not us in the picture, it's YOU!!" George laughed.

Fred took out that photograph that Harry saw them looking at on the plane. "Here you go, Harry. One picture of you sleeping with You-Know-Who like a baby."

Harry choked. "A picture of me sleeping with Voldermort?"

Fred and George winced slightly at the sound of his name, but shoved the picture into his hands. "Here, take a look for yourself." He grinned at the look on his face. "Does that look like, well, You-Know-Who to you?"

George smiled at the look on Harry's face. "Aw, don't act that surprised. We've got another one of you two in the taxi this afternoon."

Harry's gaze was struck on the photograph in his palm. He was sleeping there on the plane, with his head resting on another person's head. They were cuddling together in the picture, which was completely opposite than what it was in real life.

Harry gazed at the picture of himself and Hermione Granger.