Our First Holiday (Madley)

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Persuading his parents to let him go on holiday had been an hour long ordeal. Who do you want to go on holiday with? Who is this girl? You have a girlfriend? Since when? Is she like you? How old is she? Do her parents know about this? Will they be with you? Where will you be going? How long for?

The tirade of questions would not stop, but Finley worked through them all. Until the question he'd been dreading, how much will it cost? 'I don't know' was not satisfactory to his parents, but they had agreed, telling him to take it from the funds his grandparents had left him when they had passed away. Finley had taken this as a yes, thanked them, finished his chores, and hurried upstairs to text Madison the good news.

They were booked for the Monday to leave, and Finley had withdrawn money from his monies from his grandparents for new clothes - he didn't own a pair of swimming shorts, and he needed some shorts for normal wear too. He'd brought some new clothes for everyday wear, too, to take to Hogwarts for the weekends. Some new books, and finished up his school shopping in case he and Madison extended their stay.

Monday morning had come around much too soon, and as they'd agreed, Finley had taken the train up to London, and met Madison in Diagon Alley with her parents. He'd smiled sheepishly at both of them, greeting them with as little stuttering as he could. Of course, it was still there, but he controlled himself as much as he could to stop himself from looking pathetic.

Soon, though, they had been transported to the cabins that Madison had told him about, and after checking that they had enough food, money and anything else they could want for the time they'd be there, Madison and he were left to themselves. Madison had great fun in showing him around the place, Finley's eyes growing wide the more they moved from room to room. It was amazing, but Madison had insisted that this was nothing in comparison to what her parents usually rented when they went away. Finley, though, thought it was fantastic.

After putting their luggage in the room - Finley had taken in the one bed in the room and swallowed for a moment, before insisting to himself that this was going to be okay - the two had moved to the kitchen for lunch. Finley had found a couple of tins of soup and heated those through for them, and they'd enjoyed it out on the deck, looking across the lake that would be their home for the next ten days.

"T-this is amazing." Finley had told Madison after clearing away their bowls from their lunch, sitting back down at the table and looking across at his girlfriend. "T-thank you." He added, meaning that more than Madison could ever know, because he wasn't just thanking her from bringing him to somewhere so beautiful, but also for getting him out of his home, away from his parents, so that he could relax a little.

"The... only t-trouble is... I've... umm... I c-can't swim." Finley admitted softly, looking out across the lake longingly. He wanted to try, even if he was more than a little apprehensive about it, but he didn't know if that was going to be an option.

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Madison had gone home after the date and told Melody straight away that she had asked Finley out. Next was to inform her parents, which she had neglected to tell Finley she hadn't already done. In any case, she knew all the soft spots of both mother and father, and so she wasn't particularly worried.

And, as expected, it only took her about ten minutes of pleading and presenting her case for them to accept. Of course, her father was the one who was worried the most, but she assured him that Finley was a Ravenclaw prefect, and at these words, her mother had understood the connotations; Ravenclaws weren't what one would deem the naughty kind. Making a comment on her preference of Hufflepuffs, but accepting the Ravenclaw as someone trustworthy, Madison watched with secret pleasure as her mother told her dad to allow the trip.

The rest of their conversation took place in private and lasted far longer than Maddie's part had, but when her dad next came out an hour later, he gave her all the details of the place and their room. Naturally, she played the grateful part and spent the better half of the day gushing her thanks, much to her sister's amusement.

She spent the next few days getting the place ready with the help of her mum (stocking up food and the like), as well as getting other supplies for school and whatnot. When the day finally came, Madison double checked her suitcase, making sure that her father saw the modest one-piece swimsuit she had no actual intention of wearing lying on top, covering the selection of bikinies she had also packed. Confident she had everything she'd need, she closed it and, passing it to her dad, went to hold her mother's hand as he took the other.

Apparating there was easy, and not something that was unfamiliar with, so she wasn't left winded or anything; her mum took her places this way often enough. They went through the normality of greetings and whatnot, with Madison glad her parents had not said anything to frighten the boy; she had warned them before hand of his shyness, and begged her father not to scare him.

When they were finally brought to the cabin and left alone, Madison relaxed, showing her boyfriend around with pleasure. The cabin was smaller than she was used to - for when they went on family vacations, they tended to rent the two-story one - but it was just right for the both of them.

Lunch was a simple affair, and she couldn't help but marvel at the position she was in - she had a boyfriend, and they were spending ten whole days together alone in a lake-side cabin. If that didn't seal the deal, nothing would, and Maddie couldn't wait to hear what the girls back at school thought of this trip. No doubt they would have theories as to what they did for fun, and Madison wasn't about to spoil their fun by spilling all the details.

"You're most welcome," she replied, smiling warmly and genuinely at him. There was nothing she wouldn't do to ensure he was safe and happy.

She couldn't help but let out a light laugh at his confession. That was one thing she hadn't even considered, and a light blush crossed her face as she realised she should've made sure he knew that before asking. "I'm sorry," she said, aplogizing both for laughing (it wasn't at him) and for not having thought of it. "I should have asked before!" Smiling, she gave a shrug. "I can teach you, if you want. There's a shallow part of the lake over this side, so we can always start there. It only gets really deep near the middle."

Pointing out to the lake, she gestured to the different coloured boeys. "See the red one out there, past the slide? That point is six foot. The slide is at about five, so we're good up to that point. We can start shallow, first, and I'll try and teach you basic things," she told him, smiling. It honestly wasn't a big deal.

Guest

When Madison let out a laugh at his confession about swimming, he could feel his ears growing warmer with embarrassment. Why he never went for swimming lessons the Ravenclaw didn't know, but he did know he couldn't swim. He liked water though, so he wasn't scared of trying out swimming. He would just need some help.

But as the apology came the boy realised Madison wasn't laughing at him, on the contrary, she was quite willing to help him. "T-thank you!" Finley replied at her offer, looking out across the lake at the small bouts Madison had motioned to and storing the information away for when he would need it.

"Do y-you think it'll t-take long to learn t-to swim?" Finley asked, his eyes setting back on Madison with interest. She was going to be his teacher, and Finley wanted to see how long she thought it would take so that he could try and do it quicker. It was the Ravenclaw in him that made Finley want to achieve faster, in a classroom or out of it.

"A-and when can w-we start?" Finley added, grinning at Madison to show he really wanted to do this.