[HP Doujin] 1943

As the summer of 1945 approached, the Randalls were recovering from the devastation of the Margaret incident.Although Mr. Randall still doesn't like me very much, in order to make up for the fact that he threw me out last summer, he decided to take me on a vacation to the Continent.

The news was brought to me by Mr. Edmund Douglas, the old butler of the Randalls.With a face of icy dignity, he emphasized that this was a "family trip", as if Mr. Randall treated me as an official "family member" was a great thing, and I should be grateful for that. .

My mother had been living in Monte Carlo since the beginning of the year, where the Randalls had a vacation home.Before going to Greece, Mr. Douglas took Tony and me to Monte Carlo for a week to meet my mother.During this period, I gradually understood Tony's dependence on Mr. Douglas. Compared with Mr. Randall who was too busy to see him all year round, Mr. Douglas was more like his father, taking care of him in every possible way.

We stayed in Monte Carlo for about a week, and when Mr. Landauer returned from a business deal in Stockholm, we went to Greece together.

I love all places where the sun is shining, and coming here from London, which is rainy and rainy, I feel like I have come to heaven.It was the sunniest summer in my memory, the sky of Monte Carlo was dazzlingly blue, colorful parasols were inserted on the snow-white beach, speedboats and skateboards galloped against the white waves in the blue water, yachts With flying colorful ribbons and flags.

I was wearing a white dress and a big bright yellow sombrero hat, and I was sitting alone at a bar lined with rainbow-coloured umbrellas outside the bar, drinking a tequila on the rocks.

"One more drink." A young man's voice sounded beside me, I turned my head and saw a man with dark brown hair, he snapped his fingers at the waiter, "Martini, double ice, shaken and not stirred, s'ilvousplait. "【16】

His English is mixed with French, and his accent sounds like a southerner of France.Holding the glass, he shook it at me, showing his white teeth.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle. [17]" he said to me, squeezing his gray-blue eyes.

This is already the third French man I have approached this morning.Without looking up, I said, "I have a boyfriend."

He shrugged: "So what?"

My eyes caught sight of the ring on his left ring finger: "You're married."

He looked at me with innocent brown eyes, bewildered, "So what?"

I shook my head, picked up my glass and walked away. I couldn't bear it and said to myself: "The French..." For them, there is nothing wrong with finding a lover. That was a colossal failure.And the summer resort of Monte Carlo is a dating paradise for young and beautiful money diggers and rich men who have escaped from boring family life for a short time.

I went to sit under a parasol, and after a while, Tony, who was wearing a white ball jacket and khaki polo pants, came to me, stretched his slender limbs lazily, and sat down on the white recliner.Pushing his sunglasses over his messy honey-colored hair, he said cheerfully, "I think I saw you being molested just now."

I snorted and ignored him.

"Francis is usually a rigid and dogmatic British gentleman, and he has become a virtue after a few drinks in France," Tony said with a laugh, "don't pay attention to him."

"That man was Francis Stuart just now?" I opened my mouth in surprise and looked at Tony with an expression of disbelief.

Tony entered the Ministry of Magic's Transportation Department directly after graduation. Charles Stuart Sr. was an old friend of Mr. Randall, and he had already arranged a position for Tony.Tony's immediate boss is old Stuart's only son Francis.I've seen pictures of Francis in the Daily Prophet, but never seen him in person.In my impression, he is an old-fashioned and pretentious person, but the person just now——

"What a rascal!" I said bluntly. "If everyone sees the behavior of the Director of the Transport Department of the British Ministry of Magic when he is on vacation in France, I'm afraid he will be kicked out the next day." .”

Tony laughed and said, "Work is work, life is life, these are two different things."

"I thought he was a Frenchman."

“Francis is indeed half French. His mother was the daughter of an old pure-blood family in Paris, and he grew up in France,” Tony told me.

"What is he doing in France?" I asked. "A tryst with you?"

Tony almost spat out the pineapple juice.

"He came to find his wife." He coughed and said, "The matter between him and his wife is really hard to explain. Those two people should not have been married from the beginning."

I don't think it's strange, which one of those sanctimonious big families doesn't have a lot of shady things?Divorced, widowed, having an affair, brothers turning against each other, father and son becoming enemies... In short, all kinds of dramatic things can be found in those big families.But I'm not a gossip like Ada, so I'm not interested in Stuart's chores.While shaking the ice cubes in the wine glass, I looked at the sea not far away, listening to Tony's words absently.

"He didn't want to marry Laura Greengrass at all. His father forced him to marry this woman. He almost broke his face with his old man because of this, and turned the Stuart family upside down. He refused to tell me why, but I guess he must have someone else in his heart, otherwise, wouldn't it be the same for a man of his status and family background to marry any woman?"

"I really can't tell that he is this kind of person," I said sarcastically, "I thought he was the same as you, and only knows how to mess around."

"He just teased you because he knew you were my sister, and he did it on purpose to tease you. What kind of family is Stuart, you can't find a second family in the UK that is more strict and conservative than them." Tony drank Sipping his pineapple juice, he said, "He had a falling out with his wife a few days ago, and Laura came to France alone in anger, so he had to find it. Good luck to him."

"Good luck to him," he said, but in a tone of complete schadenfreude.

"What about you?" I suddenly thought of a question, "Have you ever thought about your own marital problems?"

"Me," Tony raised his eyebrows, "I don't want to lose the joy of single life too soon. I have to wait until I'm at least 30 to get married."

"Does your father have a suitable candidate in mind?"

"Believe me, he's already got a long 'Mrs. Tony Randall' list," Tony said sarcastically, "so I'd better not fall in love with a woman right now, or I'll be the one who suffers in the end. "

I stared at him for a moment, raised my glass, and said to him, "To your misfortune."

He noticed the tequila in my glass and couldn't help frowning: "Drinking before ten o'clock in the morning?"

I gave Tony a sideways look, ignored him, raised my neck, and drank the wine in the glass.Tony shrugged, took out a small plastic umbrella from the juice, fished a cherry out of the glass and popped it into his mouth.

I reached out and snatched his sunglasses, put them on my eyes, lay down on the blanket on the beach, enjoyed the morning sun and breeze, and stopped talking.

We arrived in Greece at the end of July and stayed at the Royal Olympia, a large chain of wizarding hotels owned by the Landauer family.My vacation would have been flawless if I hadn't bumped into Tom and Sylvia's group.

On a hot evening in mid-August, I walked through a crowded alley in a pair of flat shoes, with my hair loose and my skirt lifted, and I quickly ran down the winding stone steps between the masonry walls.Under the stone steps is a one-way street. Two Muggle policemen are wearing guns and standing idly under a parasol, following several ox carts, flatbed carts and motorcycles that swayed past.

I ran along the one-way street to the vicinity of the hotel in one breath.I raised my head and put my hands on my forehead to cover the dazzling sunlight. Looking over the white walls and sky blue roof, I could see the Aegean Sea shining with gentle light in the setting sun.

The deep blue waters surrounded by the Temple of Zeus, the Parthenon and the Crete Peninsula are soft but not coquettish, bright but not dazzling, deep and melancholy but approachable, and it still rippling in my heart after many years.

The hotel is located halfway up the mountain, out of sight of Muggles.The doorway is stacked with tall and imposing limestone arches, leading to the asphalt driveway that has been baked hot and melted by the sun inside.The driveway is flanked by lush gardens, with gravel paths and manicured hedges, elegant white plaster sculptures and marble fountains.

The summer of 1945 was unnaturally hot, and I remember the laurel trees and hydrangeas in the garden, the edges of those leaves sickly and unhealthy yellow.Because of the lack of water, the water pipes used for watering every day are limited, and the fountains have all stopped.There was no one in the garden, except for the incessant croaking of summer insects, the rustling of leaves in the wind, and the occasional car engines passing by the driveway.

The sound of the "Didi" horn came from behind me. I thought I was blocking someone else's way, so I stepped back and turned my head, only to find an aggressive bright yellow sports car parked next to me. The hood was covered to keep out the scorching heat and harsh sunlight.The window was lowered, Tony was wearing sunglasses, one hand was on the steering wheel, and the other hand gestured to me to get in the car.

You may not think that even Malfoy can't compare with this young master Randall in terms of prodigals and girls. In London social circles, his name has become synonymous with "playboy".Not long ago, Tony had a soft spot for German cars, and this summer he ditched his Daimlers and Mercedes for a fancy Italian car shipped straight from the Continent in a container sea Coming to the UK is very similar to the luxury cars that Gatsby and Buchanan drove around Long Island, New York in Fitzgerald's novels.

He used magic to make all kinds of insane modifications in the car - in addition to ordinary wizards would do, such as invisibility, flying, widening the seat - he also likes to install a fireplace in the trunk of the car, and then magic Friends from the Ministry, connect the fireplace in the car to the Floo network.The first time I sat in his Bentley R-type Continental, I almost had a heart attack when there was a sudden "poof" from the trunk, followed by a person crawling out.

Mr. Randall never ignored him, so Tony became a regular visitor to the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Division of the Ministry of Magic-he didn't go to work, he was caught to file violations.So every time Tony was caught in the Misuse of Muggle Substances Division, the people in the division would smile and say, "Oh, we meet again?" After filling out a bunch of forms, they would smile and say to Tony: "Welcome to come again next time."

I climbed into the co-pilot's seat, it was cool in the car, I looked out the window at the steaming driveway, my fingers unconsciously scratched the smooth and flat handmade leather seat under the buttocks.The radio in the car was blaring the latest broadcast—

"--Torfan Clothing Store sincerely welcomes your purchase--Okay, there are enough advertisements, welcome to the British Isles Wizards News Afternoon Tea, Overseas Edition. Now insert the headlines, Hitler encountered No.40 this afternoon Second Assassination. While I personally love Hitler's haircut and beard, I'm still not too impressed with the fact that he killed thousands of Muggles - by the way, don't take this Muggle lunatic's deeds as sleepwalking. It might be a bit off-putting to tell your children the former story—”

A woman's voice cut in: "Hitler's hairstyle and beard? For Merlin's sake, Phyllis, I thought your taste could be better. Dear listeners, the British Minister of Magic strongly recommends that you Witches and wizards on holiday and business trips abroad are best off avoiding Germany on their trips, that country has gone into a mass psychosis—”

Phyllis' voice sounded again: "That's right, Angela. We once again remind our British citizens, never underestimate the potential threat of Muggle bombers, guns and shells! These Muggle-made fratricide weapons that are more than likely to injure you when you happen not to be holding a wand in your hand! Of course, our little vacation proposal is not just because of Hitler, that idiot with a forehead as big as a potato, Yes or no?"

Angela went on to say: "That's right, Phyllis...uh, the situation in the magic world has not been optimistic since the beginning of summer this year. Mr. Gellert Grindelwald seems to have controlled more and more European countries-this That's why we don't have much time to deal with Muggle wars right now. The following is the official announcement from the British Ministry of Magic this morning, listing a list of countries British citizens should avoid visiting this summer, including Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland..."

I reached out, snapped the radio off, and asked, "When are we going back to London?"

Tony put his hands on the steering wheel, and the silver Vacheron Constantin on his wrist flashed. He looked at the windshield in front and asked, "You don't like Athens?"

"Yeah, but we've been here for over two weeks," I said meanly. "You guys are the main reason, of course. I get annoyed when I see people named Randall."

Tony snorted, a strand of honey-blond hair falling across his forehead.At this time, the car bypassed a fountain at the entrance of a hotel, and came to a porch full of green plants and tall stone pillars.Tony slammed on the brakes as he raced all the way to the door, and my head thumped in front of me.

I'm pretty sure he did it on purpose.

He took off his sunglasses and hung them on his breast pocket, opened the car door and walked down, throwing the car keys and tip to the hotel parking attendant who ran over to park the car for him.

I followed him forward.The entrance to the hotel is made of dark brown oak with large panes of glass in the middle.He opened the door and let me in very gracefully.

"Why don't you find something to do for yourself, Lizzie?" he said, as we walked through the busy hotel lobby and headed for the elevator in the back. "You're not hanging out all day, It’s just sleeping in a room alone, it’s no wonder it’s not boring!”

"Is there anything to do?" I said disdainfully, "like you, driving to the beach to find Greek blonde girls with big breasts for a ride?"

Tony laughed: "Why not? I still have a Bentley, which I can lend you to drive. Girls may not mind your gender when they see a Bentley. My Bentley is still new. The engine vibration is small but it accelerates. Not as fast as a Ferrari."

I rolled my eyes, went to the elevator and pressed the up button.

With a ding, the elevator door opened. When I saw who was standing in the elevator, I froze all over and opened my mouth in surprise.

Sylvia Black was wearing a long silver-gray dress, her black hair was hanging on her thin shoulders, and she was talking to two or three wizards I didn't know behind her.When she saw Tony and me, she didn't look very surprised.

"My dad said that the Randall family is also here on vacation. I thought it was just your parents." She glanced at Tony coldly, nodded at me, lifted her foot and left.

"What are you doing here?" I asked turning around.

"Of course I'm on vacation." She said lightly, then turned around, and as if remembering something, she turned to me and said, "Oh, Tom is here too, didn't he tell you?"

I stood still and didn't speak.Seeing the anger flashing in my eyes, a satisfied smile appeared on Sylvia's face.

"Don't worry, we won't disturb your family. We don't live in this kind of tasteless hotel." She glanced up and down at the hall decorated with Greek-style Cretan-style stone columns and murals, and there was a hint of indifference in her polite tone. Appropriate sarcasm.

I saw a hint of displeasure in Tony's eyes - "Royal Olympia" is the hotel of Randall's family. The biggest feature of this hotel is that it blends with the local culture and style, and incorporates a lot of comfortable and leisure Muggles element.As long as you don’t live in luxury suites, sea view rooms and honeymoon suites, the price of ordinary rooms in the “Royal Olympia” is quite reasonable, so it is very popular among the middle class in the wizarding world. As long as it is full in the tourist season, it is difficult to find a single room ordered.The rigid and old-fashioned Black family is completely opposite to this. They resolutely do not incorporate any Muggle elements into the "Cote d'Azur" hotel, and the price is high. Usually, some celebrities and dignitaries from big families stay here.Although Tony never said anything in front of Sylvia, I once heard him mention it when chatting with others: "Don't look at how proud Blake is now, the board of directors of the Cote d'Azur is already a mess. Many people are Threatening Orion Black to divest them if he doesn't reform the hotel business model. Too few guests, too high costs, and sooner or later that hotel will go out of business."

Sylvia turned and walked away gracefully, her stiletto heeled lambskin shoes clicking rhythmically on the dark marble floor.

I'm still mad at what she just said.Tony patted me on the shoulder reassuringly, and said to me: "You know, Sylvia has never been a friendly person, don't think about it."

"What is Tom doing here?" I asked stiffly.

Tony shrugged, "I don't know."

[16] "Martini, double ice, shaken and not stirred" means "Martini with double ice, shaken, without stirring." This is the traditional way of drinking James Bond in the 007 series.Martini is a fortified wine, which is slightly dry and spicy neutral wine.Drink a martini with an inverted triangle wine glass. Generally speaking, a small stirring stick is used to fork an olive leaning against the glass.The latter sentence "s'ilvousplait" is French, which is equivalent to ifyouplease (troublesome) in English.

[17] French, meaning "Hello, Miss".