They emerged from the trees, Kevin dragging a bundle of logs behind him with a perfectly straight face.
He didn't say a word to Harry. He just looked at him once.
Harry found somewhere else to be.
Kevin built the campfire, set a large pot of soup to simmer for cutting through grease, and fired up the grill. He and Hermione washed vegetables and skewered things together while the other four came back from the creek, dripping and declaring themselves available to help.
Ginny actually helped. The three boys stationed themselves by the grill with the focused attention of people who found the fire significantly more interesting than the food preparation.
Kevin was genuinely tempted to join them. Hermione's eyes on him were the only thing keeping him at his post.
"All right, forget delegation. Grab your own skewers and cook."
And so began the great barbecue disaster. Tops scorched black. Bottoms raw. Sauce applied in quantities that defeated the purpose of cooking the meat. A fine dusting of ash on everything.
These children were not here for the food. They were here for the experience of food. Kevin respected that. He had extra antacids in his bag for a reason.
He handled Hermione's skewers himself, which she accepted by sitting down and waiting serenely to be fed.
"Kevin, you are genuinely insufferable," Ron said.
"I know," Kevin agreed pleasantly.
The Grangers materialised at some point, nosed around the grill, and stayed.
"Draco, those are mine!" Harry pointed at a vanishing skewer.
"Scarface, please." Draco took another bite.
"That's the third time."
"I'll cook you more." His face changed on the next bite. Something complicated happened.
"Ha!" Harry's expression turned wicked. "Knew you'd steal it. Special filling. Dog mess-flavoured. Classic Kinder egg."
Draco relocated at speed to be sick near the tree line.
"Draco!" Kevin called after him. "If you're doing that, aim at the river — we need to clear space for fishing."
Harry was evolving as a person. Kevin felt proud.
"Harry," Kevin said conversationally. "How do you know what dog mess smells like?"
Harry's smile did something terrible. The colour in his face did something worse.
"Can we not —"
Everyone laughed loud enough to startle the birds.
After lunch, while the others cleaned up, Kevin went to lie down.
"Where's he gone?" Ron asked, surveying the absence.
"Nap," Harry said.
"He's not in the tent."
"...What?"
Ginny passed by, hesitated. "He went into the girls' section." She went pink saying it. "He came in to talk to Hermione and fell asleep."
Hermione had pulled her aside: keep everyone out, he didn't mean to doze off, let him be.
The tent had separate sections. Kevin had only gone in because Hermione said it was fine. He clearly hadn't intended to fall asleep.
"Don't wake him," Ginny added. "Hermione will actually end you." She ducked her head and went back to the creek.
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
Things were getting interesting.
Inside the tent, Kevin slept soundly in Hermione's bed. He'd layered in the extra mattresses he'd brought instead of sleeping bags, added proper pillows and a duvet, and the result was an unreasonably comfortable sleeping arrangement for a camping trip.
Hermione sat on the edge of the mattress and watched him sleep. A small smile kept finding its way onto her face. She looked like someone replaying a memory.
She yawned. Wavered. Slipped under the duvet beside him.
Kevin stirred. Cracked one eye, processed the situation, and pulled her closer without waking up fully.
Hermione went very still. Then relaxed, inch by inch. He was already breathing slow and even again.
She curled into the warmth of his arm and closed her eyes.
An hour later, Mrs. Granger slipped into the girls' section for a check.
Kevin's arm around Hermione, her head on his shoulder. Both of them out cold. Like a pair of animals that had found a warm patch of sun and simply stopped.
She pressed a hand to her mouth, stood there for a moment, then quietly went and found Kevin's camera.
She came back and took several photographs.
The click woke them both.
"Mum! What are you doing?!" Hermione sat up, blinking, face immediately going red.
"Capturing the moment, sweetheart. You'll thank me when you're older." Mrs. Granger smiled serenely.
"Give me that." Hermione lunged.
"Here." Mrs. Granger handed it over without a fight. "I don't think you'll delete them."
Hermione looked at the photographs. Raised the camera to do exactly that. Stopped.
She lowered it.
Kevin had sat up and was watching this process with drowsy interest.
"Keep them," he said simply. "Hide them somewhere. They're nice."
Hermione looked at him, then at the photos again.
"Can I see?" He leaned over.
"No." She clutched the camera to her chest. "Absolutely not."
"...You're going to show me eventually."
"Hmph."
She handed it over.
He looked at the photos with the careful attention of someone rendering a fair verdict.
"Hermione looks very cute when she's asleep."
Entirely accurate. Objectively stated.
"Out." She pointed at the tent flap. "Out right now."
Kevin wandered out, genuinely baffled by what he'd done wrong.
He went to find the others at the creek.
"Kevin! Look — I caught one!" Harry held up a large, very much still-alive fish, waving it triumphantly.
A bucket of water hit Kevin sideways, knocked him over. Fish gone.
"Ha!" Draco stood with an empty bucket, radiant.
Harry was already filling his own. "Right."
The water hit Draco square on. Which hit Ron, who was fishing three feet away.
"Can you two function like human beings for ONE second?!" Ron grabbed a bucket.
Draco spotted Kevin getting up and pivoted.
Direct hit.
Harry and Ron piled on.
Kevin picked up his own bucket, considered the tactical situation, and went full offensive. He outpaced all three simultaneously and at one point scooped a fish directly out of the water and deposited it on Ron's head.
"Kevin, that is NOT FAIR —"
They descended into pure chaos. No rules. No strategy. Pure water and laughter and the cold creek running between their feet.
Hermione and Ginny had watched the opening moves from the bank with the detached amusement of people at a theatre. Then Ginny tugged Hermione aside and said something quiet, and they both went pink at the same time.
Eventually the boys tired and invited the girls in for fish-hunting. Kevin cast water-repellent charms on Hermione and Ginny before anyone was within range.
"Sexist!" Ron yelled.
Kevin ignored this.
"Kevin!" Mrs. Granger called from the bank. "Wild mushrooms and vegetables on the other side. Pick some after you're done."
"Yes!" Six voices.
Fish first, though.
"Whoever catches the least grills tonight," Ron announced.
"Harry — there's a big one — Draco, flank it —"
The three boys converged. The fish disagreed with the plan. It thrashed free and launched into the air directly at Ginny.
Harry moved before he thought about it.
He got there a half-second after the fish, arms out. Ginny grabbed it too, instinctively. They ended up holding the thing together, faces inches apart, both of them suddenly very aware of the fact.
Harry pulled her upright. They both went bright red.
Kevin elbowed Harry from behind and gave him a thumbs up.
Harry became extremely interested in the water.
The fish escaped.
Then Ron ate a mushroom he shouldn't have, because Ron was Ron, and Kevin spent the next ten minutes administering antidote while Draco yelled dramatically and Ron had interesting conversations with things only he could see.
He'd be fine. It wasn't the dangerous kind. But the shaking was going to last a while, and he absolutely deserved it.