Chapter One; The New Girl
"Alright Angel you did a good job bringing me to the park, so now you get to have some playtime." Tobey told his dog as he removed her harness and threw a tennis ball for her to fetch. She excitedly raced after it when suddenly he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Hey Tobey." Luna said while he turned his head around and smiled at her recognizing her voice instantly.
"Oh hey Luna, are you with Katie?" he asked her as she smiled back at him.
"Yes she's right here with me if you want to say hullo." She told him as he squatted down in front of his old dog and started scratching her behind the ears.
"Hey Katie, remember me?" he questioned her as she instantly started wagging her tail and licking his face. Luna giggled.
"I think that's a yes." She told him as Angel returned with the tennis ball and Tobey threw it again. "So how's Harry doing?" she asked him unclipping Katie's leash from her collar so she could go play with Angel.
"He's doing pretty great, he's at work right now. After he gets home we're going to start packing for our camping trip though." He told her.
"Oh yeah that's right, I forgot." She began. "Ginny's going with you right?"
"Yeah, that's the worst thing about being blind I can't go looking at girls anymore. Although Harry is probably pretty thankful for that." He told her with a chuckle.
"Well I think it's what's on the inside of a person that counts anyway." She said.
"I know, Harry tells me that all the time. However he also tells me that it doesn't hurt if being attractive is an added bonus." He said as she giggled.
"Well I better go find Katie and make sure that she's not getting into trouble." She began with a slight wave. "See you later Tobey." Before she quickly shook her head. "I'm sorry that didn't come out right, I mean talk to you later." She told him as he chuckled again.
"That's alright, I knew what you meant. Goodbye Luna." He told her before she turned around and walked away.
Meanwhile Harry was busy walking down the gigantic hill to the dragon paddocks when he ran into another girl that he hadn't seen before. She had dark red hair tied up into a ponytail like Ginny's and amber colored eyes with tanned skin. "Uh, hullo." He began as she gasped loudly when she spotted the scar on his forehead.
"Oh my God! You must be Harry Snape! Ginny's told me an awful lot about you." She told him.
"Umm.." Harry began not really quite knowing what else to say.
"My name is Jessica Cross, I just graduated from Hogwarts this past year. I was in the same house as Luna Lovegood. The three of us are very good friends." She told him.
"Well that's good, it's nice to meet you Jessica." He said.
"It's nice to meet you too Harry but I prefer to be called Jessie. Wow, you're as dreamy as Ginny said, I can't believe we've never actually met up until now." She told him as he stifled a laugh.
"Yeah me neither." He told her.
"Anyway I love dragons too, and when Ginny told me that you worked here I figured that I would apply and so here I am." She told him.
"Well that's great Jessie we can always use the extra help." Harry said.
"I know David just told me the same thing and he sent me to find you so that you could show me the ropes." She explained.
"Well alright, you can come with me to go check on Moonshine, she's about to become a new mother and she just laid eggs last night." Harry told her.
"Really? What kind of dragon is she?" she asked him.
"An Aquatic Green Ridgeback which is why she has to have a pond inside her paddock." He explained.
"Cool, I can't wait to meet her. Is she friendly?" she asked him as they continued walking down the hill together.
"For the most part, you just don't want to get too close to her eggs." He replied.
"So Harry, Ginny also told me that you've got a little brother." She said.
"Yeah I do, he's a few years younger than you actually. He can't see though." He told her.
"I know, Ginny also told me that. That doesn't matter to me though I believe that it's what on the inside of a person that counts. I would really like to meet him." She said.
"Alright, I'll go ahead and tell him about it and see what he thinks." He told her.
…
Later on that afternoon after Harry came back home from work he found Angel there to greet him at the door. He quickly shut the door behind him and started to stroke her fur. "Hey son how was work?" his father wondered.
"It was great, where's Tobey? I want to talk to him about something." He said.
"He's in his room packing for the camping trip. My guess is that you probably should too so we can hurry up and leave." Snape told him.
"I will as soon as I'm done, I promise." Harry assured him before he headed down the hallway towards Tobey's room and knocked on the door. "Tobey it's me Harry, can I come in for a second?" he asked him.
"Yeah sure Harry come on in." he replied as Harry slowly turned the knob and entered the room. "So what's up?" he wondered while he finished packing his clothes inside his suitcase.
"Well, I met somebody new at work today." Harry began.
"Really? Man or woman?" he inquired.
"Woman. She's about Ginny's age and her name is Jessie. She seemed very interested in meeting you." He told him as Tobey zipped up his suitcase and turned his head towards him.
"Wait a minute, isn't she a bit too old for me?" he inquired.
"Only by a few years. And I don't think she wants to date you or anything, I mean you're not even allowed to have a girlfriend yet. I think she just wants to be your friend." He told him.
"Well,.. if you're sure that's all that it is then sure I wouldn't mind hanging out with her. But she does know that I'm blind right?" he questioned.
"Yeah, and she said that that didn't bother her." He told him as Tobey grinned and grabbed his suitcase by the handle before lifting it down onto the floor.
"Alright then, as soon as we get back I'll invite her over for dinner. That is, if it's alright with Dad." He said as Harry grinned back at him.
"Oh I'm sure it will be. I'll meet you out in the camper as soon as I'm done packing. Then we can go ahead and pick Ginny up." He said before he turned around and walked away.