Author's Note: The ideas are mine, the characters are not. But we do spend a lot of time together...
"Sadly it is not only the force of gravity we get used to as we grow up. The world itself becomes a habit in no time at all. It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world."
(Sophie's World)
"Tonight, I'm gonna push you and him under the mistletoe and then what are you going to do, Rose?" Dominique asked.
"Don't be disgusting, Dominique." I said, quickly. "He's my uncle!"
Then I walked away. It's not like I was going to admit to my cousin that I really thought about what it would be to kiss uncle Harry.
Every time I saw him, I felt my heart skip a beat.
He was intelligent and handsome of course, with his messy dark hair and bright green eyes. Like my mum was. Like I wish I was… But the two of us were very similar in everything else.
When we went to Diagon Alley, my cousins never wanted to do anything but spend time at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. But I loved the ice cream shop. I loved to take a seat at one of the small tables by the street and watch the people coming and going. Witches and wizards from all over Britain, carrying packages of many shapes and sizes. There was so much movement in that little street, so many curious noises… Diagon Alley was so full of Magic.
I know I sound silly. I know I'm fourteen years old and I'm not supposed to be like this. When you grow up around magic, especially in a big wizard family like my own, you're not supposed to let any small thing surprise you. It's not like my parents or grandparents would ppunish me for not behaving like a pure blood witch. They are not like that... But my cousins, love to tease me, calling me a squib. They always do it when the adults are not around. I don't think uncle Bill would like that very much. I don't think he would like half the things Dominique does.
But I know I'm not supposed to be like this. None of the adults think the Diagon Alley is a big deal. After all, it's just a street full of of shops to them. But not to me. And not to uncle Harry. I don't know why, but he never seems to get bored by magic, like most adults get, like my parents get sometimes… During the summer he often picks me up and takes me to have ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. He told me stories about how he used to go there to do his homework, the summer before third year. Our favorite game is to watch the people walking up and down the street and try to guess their stories. And sometimes something happens, like that time when we saw an oddly shaped box explode only to release what seemed like a thousand butterflies across the sky. Uncle Harry didn't notice I was watching him, but I saw the expression of awe on his face, and I loved it. Because I was astounded as well, and before that I thought I was the only one…
I know there's no way he will ever like me. My teeth are not beautiful and aligned like my mum's, and my hair is not smooth and silky like pretty much everyone in my Dad's family. I'm all kinds of awkward. But we hang out anyway. And sometimes Harry takes me to the apotecary, and explains about all sorts of different roots and ingredients, and I love it, because that shop is always crowded, and he puts his arm around my shoulders when we're there, keeping me close to his body. Trying to protect me from bumping into everybody else.
"Hi, Rose," uncle Harry said, awaking me from my musings. He had his hand on my shoulder, and I felt my heart racing fast. But before I could say anything, Dominique jumped up on us holding up a spring of mistletloe over our heads, and laughing.
"Oh, look! Now Rose has to kiss uncle Harry! I bet she'll like that!"
Harry looked at me, and I felt myself blushing violently. I saw a curious look on his face, and I knew what was going to happen. He wasn't going to kiss me. He couldn't. I understood that. But even if I understood it, it hurt. Nobody wanted to kiss me, and everybody knew that... And when our eyes crossed, for a fraction of a second, Harry, my uncle Harry, saw right through me. He saw that I was about to cry and that there was no good way to get out of that situation. So he lifted my chin and kissed me softly on the forehead. Then he smiled and blinked at me:
"We showed her how it's done, right, Rose?"
I couldn't help but smile...
Author's note: Just a harmless story about a young girl with an inappropriate crush... It was meant for a challenge but I couldn't cut it down to 300 words... Now that it's a free piece I might make it longer one day... Please review