InsaneJournal

Teddy felt like he left his problems at home the moment Tracey started showing him around Greece. Teddy had traveled quite a bit growing up, but he had never seen Greece. It was beautiful. Her family was also brilliant. Teddy had been worried considering his family connections, but he thought it was going well. He hoped anyway.

However, the pair finally managed to steal some moments for themselves and were walking the beach. "Everything seems better here," Teddy remarked as he let the water engulf his bare feet. He smiled at Tracey, enjoying that even the quiet seemed nice. "Ha, look at them." He nodded toward some children making a sand castle. "Remember things like that?" Teddy hadn't known Tracey then, but his mind wandered to Draco, Pansy, and Ernie. "Wonder if they'll still be happy together ten years from now." He hoped so. It was very Hufflepuff, but he sincerely hoped so.

Tracey probably had not had this much fun for a very long time. It could have even rivaled with the time that she danced with Teddy at the Malfoy-Nott party. Greece definitely was a whole new experience when you were taking the trip with a friend who you quite fancied. So far, her family adored him. She hadn't really shared details with them of any connections to the Dark side with them except that Teddy was never one of the bad guys. And they believed if Tracey trusted him, they could too, for which she was very relieved.

There was a slight breeze that day on the beach that caused her skirt to ruffle. She held her sandals in her hand as she did the same as Teddy and let the waters wash over her feet. It wasn't quiet, per se, when just in the near distance you could hear the waves hitting at the rocks, but it still felt completely serene. "Sand castles? I was never good at making them," she said with a laugh. "Well, if they were happy ten years earlier and your friendship stays strong, you'll be happy ten years later."

Teddy didn't know how much he believed that, but he wasn't going to bring down the mood with his pessimistic thoughts. Instead, he grinned cheekily as he walked backward in the ocean. Some birds flew by and he flinched. "Always so loud," he complained. However, that annoyance vanished as quickly as it came. "Never good at them? What? You didn't have parents who waved a wand just to make you think you did all by yourself." He laughed at the memory. It always felt good to think about his father, remembering the good rather than the bad.

Tracey laughed. "Well, it was a bit difficult to do that when you're among Muggle relatives. And the fact that we're not supposed to do magic in front of them..." Even if a few of her Mum's family knew, a lot still didn't. Plus, they were in a public place. "How good are you at it then? Without the use of a wand, hmm?" she teased, following him into the water. She stopped momentarily to inspect a shell she had just spotted and scooped down to pick it up.

Teddy watched her pick up the shell. "Nice one," he commented though he probably wouldn't have noticed it had she not brought his attention to it. "And was that your way of challenging me to make a castle?" His hair whipped onto his cheeks. "Oy, Mum's right. I need to cut it."

Holding it in her hand, she walked closer toward him to show him the shell. "Well, it wouldn't be a challenge when I'm not much of a competitor." She smiled, looking up at his hair. It was long, yes, and probably prettier than her own hair, but she wasn't complaining. "It looks good, Teddy," she said. Reaching over with one hand, she flicked at some strands. "It's the longest I've seen."

"It gets stringy like this. It drives Mum mad. She used to send me things to help at Hogwarts." He blushed at that admittance. Like Tracey wanted or needed to know that? "Come on though. Let's see if I can manage something the muggle way, aye?" He grabbed her hand, trying to pull her to the sand.

Tracey let him take her hand. They'd been trying to do a lot of things the Muggle way since they had arrived, anyway. Making sand castles was just going to be another addition to that list. "Okay, but I don't want you to purposely downgrade yourself to make me feel better," she said, jogging up slightly to walk right next to him. But she hoped he wouldn't let go of her arm right then.

Teddy had enjoyed some of those muggle things even if they did seem a bit odd at times. He was still fascinated by the telly and was actually wondering how he could get one. He had learned about them before seeing Hannah's over Christmas, but finding them with Tracey again just made him want one. "Downgrade? Isn't this an accomplishment or something? I mean any eight year old should know, yeah?" He grinned wickedly, knowing full well he'd probably have to ask one of those eight year olds for help.

She moved her hand out of his but only to whack him lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, I'm not less talented than an eight-year-old! Watch it, mate, or I'll leave you stranded here," Tracey teased. On perfect timing, two boys that looked about that age ran by in a chase, and Tracey had to move closer to Teddy to make room for them. And she tried not to blush when her hand bumped into his. "Sorry. I think nowadays eight-year-olds have decided to take up new hobbies."

Teddy looked at her quizzically. "Sorry for what? Oh..." He looked down at his hand. "It's still there, see? No harm done." He frowned then. "We need...things to do this the muggle way, don't we?"

"Well," Tracey started. Glancing back at where the little boys had ran from, she saw the exact tools they needed to make the castle. As well as some food and towels. "If you can catch up to the little ones, maybe we can ask if we could borrow their things."