Chapter Eleven - A Camping We Will Go

Seven Months Later

Sirius discovered computers and the internet!  He put a computer in the play room so that he could be on the computer and watch Harry at the same time.

One day while another excellentdinner made by Mitzi, Sirius brough up something he read about on the internet. 

"Guys I read online about something I would like us to do."  stated Sirius.

"What is it Sirius?" asked Remus.

"It's called Camping!"  replied Sirius excitedly.

"I have heard of that."  stated Remus.

"What is this concept?"  asked Severus.

"You rent a spot called a camp site at specific areas called camp grounds and you put up housing units called tents up.  In these tents you place sleeping bags which are like thick blankets folded over with a zipper holding the ends together.  You place these sleeping bags in the tent and sleep in them.  With Harry we would have to use a travel cot.  I asked someone online about toddlers going camping and they suggested a carrying cot but not sure that would work with Harry as they are like the bigger cots just smaller."  answered Sirius.

"Sounds interesting and we should give it a try at least onece.  I agree with Sirius a small cot would not work for Harry, he would scream like he did when we had to change his cot to a toddler bed," stated Remus.

"Interesting concept," replied Severus.  "We can go to a muggle store and check it out on what we would need."  suggested Severus.

"Sounds like a plan," answered Remus.

Two days later found them in a muggle store looking for camping supplies.  An attendant was helping them get everything that they would need.  They got a big cabin tent, a Coleman Hampton 9, Coleman chairs to sit in, pots,pans, utensils, plates and other things that would be needed during their camping experience.  The sales attendant also introduced them to camping cots.  These will get them off the floor of the tent and to Severus that is a plus.  Hehadn't been looking orward to sleeping on the ground although they could have put cushioning charms on the floor but the cots will work better, so they got four of them.  With Harry's cot they would put a safety charm around the cot so that he doesn't fall off of it and can't get off of it while they are sleeping.

Sirius was looking forward to their camping trip.  He was counting down the days til the trip.

Finally the day was upon them and they packed up the van they had bought that Remus drives because he is the only one of them with a license.  Off they went onto their next new adventure.

The guys go to the camp grounds and paid for their site and was told how to get to it so they were off to find where they were to spend the next week at.

They found their spot and took everything out of the van.  Now it was time to set up the tent.  The guys found the best spot and took the brand new tent out of the carrying case and the box.  They spread it out onto the round and consulted the instructions.

Severus read the instructions out oud so they would all know what to do.  Sirius piced up one of the poles and looked at the pieces.

"Look this pole is broken!  In fact all the poles are broken!  What are we going to do?"  whaled Sirius.

Remus replied," I think they are suppose to be like that so that they can fit into the bag."

"How do we put them together?" asked Sirius.

"I don;t know.  Try dropping them on the ground to see if that works," suggested Severus.

Meanwhile across the road were the Jones Family.  They were veteran campers.  They have come to theis camp grounds every year for the past 20 years.  They watched as the guys tried to put up the tent and they heard everything that was said as it was loud enough conversation going on over there.  They laughed wheb Sirius complained about the poles bein broken and they roared with laughter when they tried to put them together by dropping them on the ground.

"Obviously they are new to camping," laughed the mother Alice.

Robert, the dad, laughed and agreed with his wife.

"Robert, why don't you and Oscar go over and help the poor boys," stated Alice.

So Robert and Oscar went over to the campsite across the road and introduced themselves.

"Do you boys need help setting up your tent?"  asked Robert.

"Sure do, I'm Sirius Black, this is Remus Lupin, Severus Snape and the little one is Harry Potter," Sirius introduced everyone to the newcomers.

Robert and Oscar helped the guys set up the camp site and it went a lot faster than if they would have been left on their own.  They thanked Robert and Oscar for their help, then went about getting a fire going to make lunch.

Severus got the fire going then went to get the pots and pans he needed and the food.  Severus made lunch and they sat around thecampfire and talked for an hour.

Sirius looked at everyone and suggested, "Let's go to the pool and swim.  We can take turns plaing with Harry while the other two go off to swim.  I am sure Harry would love it."

"Yes, sounds like a good idea and I will take Harry in with me to get him changed and do the sunscreen spell," volunteered Severus whispering the last part.

So they got ready and headed down to the pool.  They took the thing the sales attendent called a ‘life jacket' with them for Harry to wear in the pool.  They weren't sure how to put it on him but they were determined to figure it out.

The Jones Family decided to go swimming at the same time so they coud keep an eye on the guys.  And it's a good thing they did too.  When the Jones Family got there Sirius, Severus and Remus were around Harry trying to figure out how the life jacket went onto Harry.  Harry meanwhile was staring at the water wanting to get into it.

Alice decided to help so that Harry could get into the water faster because he (Harry) was staring at the water with a look of longing.  Alice showed the guys how to put the life jacket onto Harry.  Now that they knew how to put the jacket on they could come to the pool any time.

Sirius and Severus got into the pool and turned to get Harry and put him gently into the pool and was splashed because Harry had gotten sick of waiting and had jumped in.

All the Jones Family laughed especially Alice and Robert as they remembered when Oscar use to do the same thing.  Sirius was freaking out imagining Harry drowning but he came up laughing and wanting to do it again, so Severus place him back on the deck and let him jump into the pool again.  Harry was having a blast!  Harry got bored with jumping in so Sirius decided to drag him around gently buy his life jacket as Severus tells Harry to kick his feet.

When Harry got bored with that, Remus saw a ball so he went to get it so he and Harry played with the ballmk for a while.  By the time he was bored with that it was time for Harry's rest time, so they headed back to the camp site,

Severus put Harry in his camping cot with the cushioning char and the safety charm and wished him a good rest and left the tent.  Harry was so tired with the excitement of doing something new and playing in the pool that he went right to sleep dreaming of what he had already done.

The guys did different things to entertain themselves while Harry slept.  Severus and Remus read a book while Sirius stared off into space.  Harry slept for a couple of hous then yelled for Sirius to come and get him.

The guys discretely put up a perimeter charm so that Harry couldn't go near the road.  That was okaqy because Harry was too busy playing with his friends and the other toys they brought with them.  Soon it was time to prepare dinner so Remus and Severus got everything together to make something Sirius had read about...pie irons.  They had gotten the devices to make them so they were going to give it a try.  They read the instructions again to refresh their memories and then set about making them.  The first one was totally burnt and not edible, but the ones after that weren't perfect but at least they were edible.  Harry loved them, he had two of them and was covered from head to toe with pizza sauce even though there is very little used in the pie irons.

Remus took Harry over to the showers to clean him up.  Harry enjoyed the experience and even got a chance to hold the hose and he sprayed Remus and even got water all over the outside of the shower stall.  What a mess the little one made but he had fun and didn't start yelling or screaming when the water hit him.  Remus checked the other shower stalls and the bathroom stalls to see if there was anyone in the room, he saw no one so he got his wand from his pocket and cleaned up the water that harry had sprayed into the main room.  With that done he took Harry back to the site.  He told Severus and Sirius what had happen in the washroom and they laughed.

It was late when finally got Harry to sleep but he will most likely be up early.

So as soon as they were sure that Harry was asleep the three of them headed to bed as well so that they could be up early with Harry.

They were right, Harry was up early and ready to go.  He played with his friends while Severus got his breakfast ready with the camp stove they had bought.  Severus made Harry scrambled eggs and a couple of rashers.  Harry ate it all with gusto as Severus ate his breakfast too.  Severus let Sirius and Remus sleep in and he will lay down with Harry for a rest.

Harry and Severus laid down for their rest and an exciting event happened down the road.  Remus heard claning so he told Sirius that he was going to check it out.  Remus followed the clanging sound and came across some men throwing what looked like horse shoes at a metal stake in the ground.  He went over and stood to watch as they played the game.  One of the men saw Remus and said hi to him and introduced himself and the other four men.  Remus asked about the game, so they descibed the game and its rules.  They then asked him if he would like to try a game of it.  Remus said he would and he was paired with the odd man then played the game to his best ability.  He had a blast and promised to play another game the next day.  Remus kept his promise and played "Horseshoes" everyday with the men and enjoyed each and every game.

One day Severus went over to the main hall to go to the washroom and saw a number of people there talking.  After he did his business he went over and listened to the people talking.  One of the people saw him and welcomed him to the group.  He introduced himself and was invited to sit down and join them.  He sat down, was asked how he like his coffee to which he replied he had never had coffee.  Well the one lady was appalled, but then remembered his accent was British so she forgave him and made him a black coffee so he could appreciate the taste of the coffee.  Severus tried the brew and found it bitter but was good.  He decided that having nothing in it was a good thing, The conversation continued and Severus joined in.  They spent an hour and a half talking over coffee everyday and invited Severus to come back over tomorrow for more conversation and coffee.  Everyday Severus joined the group for conversation and coffee.  He was becoming addicted to the taste and would have to see about finding some when they got home.

When Sirius went to the washroom once and was on his way out he noticed papers on a board.  He looked at the notices and was intrigued with the notice for a game named "darts".  He wasn't sure what it was but decided to check it out.  He let Severus and Remus know where he was going and headed over there.  When he got there he noticed a lot of people standing around and some were throwing what looked like pointy things at a board that was mounted on the wall.  This board had numbers on it and they were hitting the different numbers with the pointy things.

Sirius was standing there and watching whena man about 5'9" short blonde hair and average height  walked up to him and introduced himself as Bruce.  Now Bruce could tell that Sirius didn't know anything about the game but was curious.  He decided to take the man under his wing and introduce him to his favourite game.  Bruce asked Sirius if he was interested in learning the game to which Sirius replied that yes he interested.  So Bruce took Sirius over to one o the numbered boards and explained what the numbers represented.  Once that was done he got a set of pointed things which were called darts and had him handle them to see how the weight of them felt.  Bruce then showed Sirius how to hold one as to thrown it at the board.  Sirius threw the first dart but it didn't hit the board at all.

"That's okay, Sirius, no first timers get it in the board the first try unless they are good at targeting.  Now focus on the board and then take a deep breath and throw the dart using the grip I showed you," explained Bruce.

Sirius tried again and this time he got it onto the board.  He was so happy that he made it onto the board.

"Now throw the third one and repeat what you did with the second dart," said Bruce.

So Sirius threw the third dart and it too made it to the board.  Bruce had Sirius throw more darts then started a game with him and explained as they went along what to do and how to do it.  Sirius had fun and promised to make it the next night.  He kept hispromise and played every night they were there getting better at it everytime he threw the darts.  He promised himself that he would get himself a set of darts and a board when they got hime as it was a fun game.

So Severus went every morning for coffee and conversation, Remus went every afternoon to play horseshoes and Sirius went every evening to play darts.  On the Saturday they had kids activities for the little ones.  They pllayed games and did a craft.  Harry loved it and didn't want to leave.  Sirius promised Harry that they would do crafts while they were at home so that he could have fun.  Harry reluctantly left then but still wanted to do more.  He proudly showed the Jones Family his creation and it was oooed and ahhed at which made Harry very happy.  So much so that he gave it to Alice who proudly displayed it on the side of their tent.

The days went by fast and soon it was the last day of their week there.  Alice came over and invited them to their tent for one last dinner.  They accepted and went across the road early so they could talk to the nice couple and their two children.

They stayed talking to Alice and Robert while Oscar and Jessica played with Harry.  Harry was in his element, he had a ot of attention from the people around them and two even got down on the round and played with him.

They all said their individual groups on the Saturday before their departure and told them they had plans to come back next year and for a longer time.
It was finally time to pack up and head home.  They got everything into the van except the tent, tey had left it until last as tey weren't sure how it came down.  They were standing there in front of the tent looking confused.  Robert saw this and with a laugh went over to help the boys put it down.

"Now boys to put it down you just do the reverse of what you did to put it up," stated Robert with a smile.

So the guys did the reverse of what they did a week ago and what do you know it worked.  When they had the tent down they looked over at Robert, who had stayed just in case they needed more help.  It was a good thing he did.

"Now boys, you have to fold the tent up so that it fits in the bag it came in," Robert helpfully explained.

So they folded the tent but it wouldn't fit in the bag.  They tried five times and finally got it right.  Remus put it in the van and then went over to say good bye the the Jones Family.

"We camp here the same time every year.  Why don't you come back at that time as well, if you wish," suggested Alice.

The guys were all for it as they had fun and wish to do it again.  So they found out from Alice the dates they will be at the camp grounds next year plus Alice's email address so that she and Sirius could keep track of each other in case something happens to prevent either one not coming those weeks.

On their way out they stopped bu the office and booked those weeks on the same site they had this year.  They even paid for it in advanced.  Then they were on their way home.

They got home and unpacked the van then let the house elves take it from there and put it all away.

"It was a great week but it's good to be home!  I will enjoy sleeping in a real bed tonight," stated Sirius.

"Yes, it was great fun but it is good to be home," replied Remus with a smile.

"I think I will need a couple of days to recover from out first camping experience," commented Severus.

So they all survived their new adventure and would go back every year for all time, even when they go back to Scotland they go camping and met up with friends to catch up on what happened al the year they were not at the camp ground.

They will find out that it wil always be good to get home from any adventure so they could get back to their regular routine.  There will be other adventures for Harry and his Godfathers.  What they will be only time will tell.