I think this is going to be updated weekly. Also, even though I have vague plan for how this story is going to go, if anyone has constructive criticism I will definitely take it into account. R & R please!
Thank you for all the lovely reviews. You guys are completely awesome. =)
Harry spent the next few weeks of his summer escaping from number four as often as he could to hang out with Jenna and her friends. The Snow household became a place more familiar than the stark rooms of the Dursley's home. He met Jenna's other brothers- there was Matt, age fourteen, and Daniel, age nineteen. They always seemed to be "out" indefinitely. Jenna didn't bother to explain away their absences and Harry didn't ask. Derrick could be found hanging around the house often, generally with Sara. Despite Jenna's obvious distaste for Derrick they got along more then either of them cared to admit. Jake always seemed to be around along with others of Jenna's circle of friends. But Harry noticed that she was never all that happy about it. It was evident that she was extremely popular, but when Harry joked about it one night as they walked along the multitude of suburban side streets, Jenna had a different view.
"They're not my friends, Harry." she said, looking ahead at the stretch of perfect sidewalk.
"What are you talking about? Of course they-"
"No, they're not." She paused mid stride and turned to face Harry. "It's the clothing, the house, the cars." she explained.
"Jenna-" Harry started, but he didn't get a chance to speak.
"I mean, I've always known that Lara just wants my hand-me-downs. She already hinted about this shirt." She said indicating the plain white shirt she wore. Harry looked down at it and could faintly see the outline of a black bra underneath. He blushed and pulled his eyes back up to meet hers.
"What about it?" he asked.
"It's name brand." she said sighing. "I don't even know what brand. I ripped the tags off all my clothing in a fit of teenage angst this past spring. My dad insists that we all wear the very best."
"So, you have money. Is that a problem?" he asked.
"It is when it's the reason people are trying to be friends with you. I mean, these days I think the only real friends I have are Jake and-" she paused. "And well, you, Harry."
She turned and started walking quickly down off the sidewalk and into the street. There were no cars, just the silent sounds of the suburbs and the quick padding of her trainers on the tarmac. Harry sprinted to catch up until he was walking alongside her once again.
"Why do you have to buy the clothes your dad wants you to wear?" he asked, keeping up with her brisk pace. She shrugged.
"I've always listened to him. I mean, it's not like he's forcing me into them, but-" she paused, taking a moment to push a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I barely got him to let me go to Stonewall instead of Wellington." she said, naming the sister school of Smeltings. "He was so mad about it. So, I try to listen to him about these stupid little things. They're important to him ."
"So he didn't mind that you ripped all the tags out of your clothing?"
"Well, I didn't exactly advertise that I did that." she laughed.
That walked in silence for a little bit down the moonlit street. Harry felt like they didn't need to talk. That was what he loved about Jenna. She would talk when she felt it necessary, but if she didn't have anything to add she didn't try to carry the conversation any more than needed. She walked ahead of Harry, trying to walk in a straight line down the middle of the road, like a gymnast on a balance beam.
"Well," Harry called ahead to her "I can think of something more fun to do than attempting to get hit by a car." She looked over her shoulder, her feet still planted one in front of the other.
"And what is that?" she asked.
* * *
The park was empty, having been officially closed hours before when the sun set. Harry walked straight for the swings, his source of constant company before the days when he had found human company in this muggle world. He sat himself down on one of the swings and motioned for a skeptical looking Jenna to sit in the other swing. She sat hesitantly on the creaky swing as though she thought it might fall out beneath her.
"Do you not like swings?" Harry asked.
"No, it's fine." she said, grasping the chains holding up the swing firmly. "I just had a bad swing experience when I was little."
"A bad swing experience? Really?" Harry smirked.
"A certain eleven year old Derrick thought it would be hysterical to push my swing higher and higher as I was screaming for him to stop. I freaked out, jumped, and broke my arm."
"And you are so scarred by this experience that you still fear swings?" Harry asked, trying not to laugh.
"Well, I just-" she stopped speaking as Harry got off his swing and stood behind her. "What are you doing?" she asked anxiously.
Harry didn't answer. He reached out his hands to grab the chains. He pulled, dragging Jenna's feet off the dirt ground.
"No, no, no, no, no," she muttered. Harry pulled the swing as far back as he could and then let go as Jenna squealed. The swing started to swing higher as Jenna pumped her legs and Harry let go of the chains. He sat on his own swing and watched her fly back and forth laughing at her occasional gasps. Her hair flowed behind her like an auburn ribbon. A smile began to spread across her face as her legs pumped back and forth to keep the swing's momentum. She stopped the swing sharply by digging her toes deep into the soil and getting her undoubtedly expensive trainers dirty.
"Better than trying to get hit by a car?" Harry asked.
"I wasn't trying to get hit by a car!" she protested giving Harry's shoulder a shove. "But okay, I'll admit that wasn't as bad as my seven year old self led me to believe."
She dug her the toes of her shoes deeper into the soft soil.
"It felt like flying." she whispered, half to herself. Harry tried to keep his face blank, but Jenna had hit the nail on the head. The reason Harry loved the swings so much was how close it felt to flying. It wasn't the same as zooming eighty feet in the air on his firebolt, but during his stay at the Dursley's, it was the closest he could get to that feeling. When he closed his eyes and felt the air rushing past him he could pretend for a moment that he wasn't in Surrey anymore, but was somewhere more⦠magical.
Jenna was busying herself, twisting the swing round in a circle so that the chains became a braided rope above her. When she couldn't twist the chains any longer, she gave Harry a grin and pulled her feet off the ground. She started swirling like a tornado and became a blur only identifiable by the occasional squeak. Harry tried to pull his swing away from hers so as not to get hit by this force of nature, but he wasn't quick enough. Tornado Jenna's legs came flying out from their tucked in position, knocking Harry off his swing and taking the tornado down with him.
"Ow," Harry muttered and opened his eyes to see Jenna lying on top of his bruised body. "You okay?" he asked concerned. She wasn't answering him, just staring at him. Maybe she was in shock or something. Maybe she wasn't kidding around and this had brought up awful childhood memories of breaking her arm when she fell off the swing.
Harry was still debating all this when he noticed that Jenna's lips were way too close. And it wasn't until he felt them on his that he realized what was going on.
Their lips were a study of contrasts. Jenna's were sure and guiding, while Harry's were hesitant and explorative. This was new. This wasn't Cho or Ginny. This was Jenna. Her lips were eager, moving down to his neck, laying light kisses across his collarbone before flying back up to meet his lips.
But Harry's mind, so blank a moment before, was spinning now.
Ginny. The last girl he kissed was Ginny and-
"Hey!" he protested, pulling Jenna's hand away from his bum. She silenced him with another kiss before she responded.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself." she muttered, reaching up to play with his hair with one hand. At some point Harry had ended up on top of her and he could now see a very distinctive grass stain on her expensive white shirt.
"Your shirt-" Harry started.
"What?" Jenna asked, smirking. "Is it in the way?" She untangled her hand from her hair and reached down to pick up the edge of her shirt. Harry grabbed her hand and steadied it.
"Jenna! No, that's not what I meant. You have a grass stain, that's all." he pointed out. Jenna let go of her shirt and rolled her eyes.
"I've never met a boy who was so distracted when it came to snogging." she said. "I'm doing all the work here." She put on a pout. "Your turn." She let go of Harry and reached her arms above her head, lying flat on the smooth grass.
Harry heartbeat accelerated at the sight of her before him and he bent his head to engage her lips in battle. He stroked an arm from fingertips to shoulder and down the side of her torso making her shiver. But she didn't move, firmly rooted in the idea that it was "his turn." Harry kissed down her cheek to find her neck, then to her collarbone. She drew in a quick breathe which made Harry smile against her soft skin. He reached up to her hair and gently touched the auburn locks-
Ginger. Ginger hair. He blinked and froze.
"Harry? What's the matter?" Jenna asked, sitting up from her limp doll position. He shook his head trying to knock out the vision of Ginny that had just seeped into his mind. A vision accompanied by guilt.
"Um, I just realized that I'm going to get locked out of the Dursley's if I don't leave now." he said as he stood up. It was a lie. He had perfected sneaking into the Dursley's house at this point. He could now climb through the window without even waking Hedwig. Jenna frowned momentarily at his lame excuse, obviously suspecting something, but she didn't say anything more about it.
"Alright," she said, reaching out a hand for a Harry to pull her up. She brushed off bits of grass that had stuck to her jeans. The shirt was ruined at this point, but she didn't seem to care.
"I-" Harry started, trying to explain, trying to tell her what he was feeling, how confused he was, but as usual he came up short for words.
"No," Jenna said quickly, reaching out to cover his mouth. "You'll ruin it. Stop thinking so much." She removed her hand and moved it to his cheek.
"You need to shave, mister." she muttered.
"I'm trying to look like William, from the movie." he joked, "Don't you like the werewolf look?" He smiled as she rolled her eyes.
"No, I prefer vampires or wizards or even hobbits." she said, kissing him gently. Harry prided himself that he didn't even twitch at the Jenna's mentions of wizards.
He was halfway to the Dursley's when he began to berate himself. He was being so stupid. It wasn't like he was still together with Ginny. He was free to do as he pleased. He had no reason to feel guilty. And yet, something was gnawing at him that, despite all these rationales, felt wrong.
He reached the side of the Dursley's house and looked up at the trellis that reached to his window. He hated this. As he started to climb his barely stable mock-ladder he longed for the Burrow or for Hogwarts. Places he would never be locked out of. Where he would always be welcomed.
He reached the window he had propped opened and slid soundlessly into his room. Hedwig peered at him through yellow eyes and gave a soft hoot as though scolding him for coming home late. Harry shushed her as he pulled off his shoes. He sat on the edge of his bed, his mind whirling with images of Jenna, the Burrow, Hogwarts, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. One of these things is not like the others, he thought to himself as his head hit the pillow.
