A/N: A girl at school wants to be friends with Harry. Harry/OC. young!Harry. I'm not good at OCs so this is my attempt.
Submission for:
Romance Survival Challenge: Harry/OC
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
She had seen him often sitting by himself at lunch time, always near the tree at the far end of the schoolyard. He would open his unmarked, crumpled paper bag and nibble on a small piece of bread that looked like something her mum often gave the birds at the park. If she watched long enough, she saw when Dudley with his wall of fat, and his friends would walk up to the boy and knock his paper bag to the ground, stomping on the bread then laughing as they lumbered away. The boy with the wild hair would stare at the bread, a look of hunger evident in his green eyes, and sometimes would pick it up and try to make the most of it.
She had always wanted to talk to him but too scared of Dudley and his crew. Everyone knew that Dudley had it out for the scrawny boy in the class. Rumours were they were related though if anyone mentioned it too loudly, they found themselves crushed by the large boy's body. Safe to say, no one really did.
But today, she didn't know what came over her as she made her way towards him across the schoolyard. His bread was nowhere to be seen as he had eaten it quickly before Dudley had come around
"Here," she said, thrusting a shiny red apple into his astonished face.
He blinked a bit, his eyes wild and scared like a cornered animal before he reached for the apple and muttered a quick "Thank You."
She smiled before she took a seat beside him beneath the tree. "I like apples. They're my favourite fruit. What's yours?" she asked.
He looked at her a moment, his cheeks filled comically with the juicy red fruit before he swallowed and said, "I like apples too."
They began to talk more about their favourite things, or more she did and he just listened, nodding at the right moments and agreeing if she asked him a question. She took the time to study him more, the thinness of his shoulders, the tape that barely held his large glasses together and the way his eyes often darted behind her to see if anyone noticed them speaking yet.
"And then Dottie ran across the yard with Dad's slipper in her mouth," she said with a smile, earning a small one from her new friend. "Dad was livid. And-"
"Oh, made a new friend?" a voice asked from behind them.
The boy's smile immediately fell and she turned to see big Dudley with his gang.
"She must be mental to want to be friends with you, freak," Dudley said as his friends laughed at his joke.
She jumped to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. "I am not mental. I-" she began but then stopped as Dudley began to advance her. He wouldn't hit a girl, would he?
He picked her up by the neck of her school shirt and said, "No one is allowed to be friends with this freak, am I clear?"
She wanted to say something, defend her new friend. He wasn't a freak. He was nice and he needed a friend. She opened her mouth but then Dudley reared his fist back and she closed her eyes.
"Aaah!" Dudley cried, dropping her onto her bottom and then clutching his face. She could see there were red boils erupting all over his face and they were very painful. He ran back into the school building with his friends following behind him.
She turned to her new friend and he had a fierce look that she had never seen before in all her times watching him. Then he looked at her and moved to help her to her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine. Thank you," she said, then asked, "What happened?"
The boy looked away, an odd look coming across his face and then said, "It was nice that you stood up for me but I think it's better if you aren't seen around me anymore."
"What?" she asked. "But I like you. You're so nice and sweet and-"
The boy's face tinged pink but he still shook his head. "No. Today, we were lucky but Dudley will come back. He could even come and find you alone. I wouldn't want him picking on you because of me."
She hadn't thought of that. What if Dudley did find her alone? Would she be able to handle it?
"But-" she began.
"Please?" he asked, his green eyes pleading with her.
She sighed. "All right then." She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Goodbye new friend," she said before running back across the schoolyard and leaving the boy alone again.