Title - Getting Away 12/24

Author - Lena

Pairing - Harry/Ron, Harry/various OC's (slash and het), Ron/OC (slash)

Rating - this chapter - PG

Feedback - [email protected]

For warnings, disclaimers, etc. please see chapter 0/24 - msg#11257

Chapter Twelve - Monday

When he woke in the morning, Ron was in his bed, snoring away. Harry hoped all went well for him.

Harry got up and took a shower. He stood there under the water, not wanting to think about last night anymore or think about anything. He decided he couldn’t go home because Ron would never let him.

When he got out of the bathroom, Ron was on the phone talking loudly. Harry said, “Talk softer. Who is that?”

Ron smiled, “It’s Ryan.”

Harry smiled back, “Nice, but talk softer.”

Ron lowered his voice a little and continued talking. To Harry it sounded like Ryan was asking Ron to go out for the day.

Harry continued dressing trying not to be nosy about the conversation Ron was having. When Ron got off the phone, he called to Harry in the bathroom. Harry came out and said, “Yeah?”

Ron was sitting on his bed, bouncing up and down a bit. “Last night, Ryan asked if I’d go out with him today. He has a day off and he was just calling to see if he could pick me up. You don’t mind, do ya, Harry?”

Harry said, “No, not at all! What time did you get in last night?” Harry smirked as he said this.

Ron blushed and said, “Oh, around one o’clock.” He stopped bouncing. “We only snogged!”

Harry laughed and said, “None of my business!”

With that Ron rushed around getting ready and an hour later, Ron was waiting downstairs for Ryan with Harry by his side. They finally saw Ryan’s sports car down the street and weave through traffic towards the hotel. Ryan pulled up, parked and got out. “Hey, Harry!” He shook Harry’s hand. He turned to Ron and said, “Ready?”

Ron grinned and said, “Yeah!” Ron turned to Harry and said, “Have a good day, Harry. See you later.”

Harry said, “Bye, Ron. Have fun.”

Ron opened the car door and folding his long legs into the front seat area of the sports car and sat down. Ryan ran around to the driver’s side and got in and they were gone.

Harry looked up at the bright, sunny day. He went back upstairs and changed into his swim trucks and filled a bag with his sunscreen, towel, and other sundries. He stood in front of the elevator waiting for it, when he thought to himself, how much he hoped Ron would find someone who would love him the way he deserve. He wasn’t so sure if this relationship would last, but Ron should have a little fun.

He reached the lobby and walked out to the street. He smiled. He was going for a walk and take in the sun.

Harry walked to the same beach Ron and he had been at the week before. He walked over to get a soda and a snack from the beach shop, and then found a relatively secluded place to lay out his towel. He took off his shirt and shoes, sat down and looked at the scenery. He really liked this place. It was sunny, maybe a little humid, but beautiful.

Harry lie back on his towel and placed Ron's hat over his face and started to doze a little. He was peaceful.

Then he felt a smack on his head. He yelled, "OW!" He rose up on his elbows and the hat fell off his face. He looked around and saw a man running over to him.

"Oh, dude, sorry! My boy threw it too far." The man grabbed the ball and stood over Harry.

Harry shielded his eyes from the sun and looked up. The man was holding a ball and had a small boy standing behind him.

The man said sharply to the boy, "Say you're sorry, Josh!"

Harry said, "Oh, it's okay. He didn't mean it, I'm sure."

The man said, "Yeah, but that musta hurt."

Harry rubbed his head and said, "Oh, I'll be alright."

The man said, "You on vacation, too?"

Harry got up, so he didn't have to shield his eyes anymore. "Yeah, I'm from England. How about you?"

The man said, "My family and I are from California."

Harry said, "Really? That's cool. My mate and I thought about going to California. I'm Harry, by the way."

The man said, "Oh, I'm Mike and this is Josh."

Harry bent down to the boy's level and said, "Hello."

Josh peeked from out behind his father's leg and said, "You talk funny."

Mike looked down and said, "Josh!" He turned to Harry and said sheepishly, "Sorry."

Harry just laughed and said, "Well, I do, to him. It's okay!"

Mike said, "Hey, you here by yourself?"

Harry said, "Oh, my mate is with another friend today, so yeah, I'm on my own."

Mike said, "Hey, you want to come over to where we are? We're gonna eat lunch in a while and you're welcome to join us!"

Harry thought for a moment. Mike said, "Oh, you probably just want to relax on your own. Don't blame you!"

Harry did want to just lay out and relax, but then he thought when would he get to meet some nice people like this. Ron would be proud that he had made some friends. Harry said, "No, I'd like to eat lunch with your family. Sure!"

Mike smiled and said, "Okay." He pointed over to a beach blanket that had two women on it sitting talking. "We're just over there. That's my wife and my sister."

Harry looked and said, "Okay." He picked up his things and followed Mike through the sand.

Mike, Josh and Harry walked over to the two women and Mike introduced Harry. "I'm sorry I didn't get your last name?"

"Potter. Harry Potter."

The two women looked up and smiled. He spent the afternoon asking them about California and found out that not everyone knew movie stars when they lived in California. They asked about London and found out that it didn't rain all the time and no, Harry had never met the Queen.

Harry had an enjoyable day. The family had brought a picnic and shared it with him. They seemed to have brought plenty of food, so he didn't feel bad for eating, but didn't quite eat as much as he was capable. He threw the ball back and forth with Mike and Josh.

Mike’s wife snapped pictures all afternoon and Mike used what he called a video camera. Harry tried not to ask too many questions about it, because he figured Mike would think he was odd, if he didn’t understand it.

Harry noted how nice the sister looked in her bikini, but it was obvious she was older than he and he was in no mood to pursue anything, after all the problems he‘d had.

He got out the camera that Ron had bought in the airport that all he had to do was point and snap and was not very complicated. They hadn’t taken too many pictures, but Harry now asked Mike if he could take a picture of his family. Mike was more than agreeable.

Mike, Josh, Mike’s wife and sister all stood with the ocean in the background. It looked really nice. As Harry looked through the viewfinder, he hoped someday he had a family like that. He smiled to himself as he thought of the brother he already really had. Harry snapped the picture.

He stayed with them the whole day, until Josh started to get cranky, and they were making moves to leave. Harry started to gather his things as well. Mike said, “Harry, it was so nice meeting you. Here’s our address. If you make it out to California, call us up!”

Harry thought that was so nice. He wrote down the Burrow address and gave it to Mike, even though a regular letter carrier had never been to the door of the Burrow. Oh well, he thought, if they ever did, Mr. Weasley would be thrilled.

Harry said his goodbyes and headed back to the hotel. He'd had a wonderful day.

He hadn’t been back very long, when Ron came practically floating into their room, after spending the entire day with Ryan. He smiled and lie back on his bed. Harry looked at him and said,” Have fun?”

Ron said dreamily, "Yeah. Thanks for introducing us to each other."

Harry said, "You're welcome. What did you guys do?”

“Harry!”

“Oh, you know I mean where did you guys go!”

“I took me down the coast to the Keys. We just drove and looked at scenery and stopped at a tiny restaurant, where he probably wouldn’t be bothered and luckily he wasn’t. It was really nice.”

Harry said, “That's nice.”

“I’m just here for a little while. Then I’m going to dinner with him at Sal’s.”

Harry said, “Are you coming home tonight?”

Ron got up, turned red and said, “Uh...I don’t know.”

Harry didn’t make a comment about that, but said, “We need to pick up Hermione’s money from Western Union. Can you go with me?”

Ron said, “Sure! Ryan’s not picking me up until...” He looked at the clock. “At seven o’clock.”

They got their errands done and Ron came back to the room to freshen up before Ryan picked him up. Ron left right on time at seven o’clock and as Harry suspected, Ron never came home that night.

Harry stayed in the room that night, not venturing out in the nightlife and went to bed early.