Oh, so lovely! The details were fantastic---I could feel the sand in my toes---and the image of Snape in denim cut-offs will be burned in my mind for ever. The hurt/comfort is delicious but there were moments of humor too: this line, regarding the snake handler, had me laughing aloud:
"And he knows what he's doing, I hope? I wouldn't want to be bitten a second time, although the irony would probably kill me first."