Jackie walked into the empty house. She dropped her heavy luggage to the floor of the living room and collapsed onto the couch. She sighed softly draping an arm across her eyes to block out the evening sunlight. It felt good to be back home, away from all of the people she hated. Jackie was thankful for the end of high school. She would be able to keep the shop open full time, maybe even hire some help. She had plans, so many plans for the shop. She had already started to make Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations. The Fourth of July merchandise was a hit.

It wasn't until late into the night that Jackie made the least bit of an effort to unpack her bags. She shoved dirty clothes into a bulging hamper and threw clean clothes into the open draws of an antique armoire. After the clothes were done, she moved onto the bath items and such. She pulled out the beach bag, smiling as she remembered what if had been like that day.

Jackie pulled the jacket she had worn that day out of the bag. It must have ended up there while she was packing. She moved to put it away when a flash of white caught her eyes. She reached into the pocket and pulled out a napkin from the restaurant they had eaten at. She couldn't remember putting it there. Carefully she unfolded it and found and hastily scrawled note.

Dear Jackie,

First I would like to apologize ahead of time because I am not so good with words so some of the things I might say won't make sense.

I don't want to sound cheesy or weird since we only met a few days ago, but I want to thank you for the last couple of days. If I hadn't met you that day in the pool I probably would have spent the rest of the trip moping and then who knows what I would have been when we finally returned home. I wanted to let you know this just in case we weren't able to make it up your way. I'm pretty sure we will, Hermione likes you, and she is happy to see me off my arse and actually doing something. Well, I've got to go, hope you find this, and see you soon.

Harry

Jackie smiled at the note, it was adorable. Why can't there be guys like Harry in America, she thought to herself as she folded the note and placed it in the top drawer of her dresser. She finished unpacking and sat down on the couch in her quiet living room. She looked out the large bay window into her back yard. Maybe I'll take up gardening, she thought wishfully as she surveyed the landscape.

The flowerbeds were overgrown with wildflowers of every color. There was a gazebo with peeling white and blue paint. Trees had started to grow in some of the flowerbeds, and in some places there were clumps of dead vegetation. Jackie vowed to herself that she would cleanup the garden.

And that was where she was later that when the phone rang. She wiped her dirty hands on her shorts and picked the small black potable phone out of a pile of gardening tools.

"Hello?" She said pulling a leaf out of her hair.

"Hi, Jackie? It's Harry." Replied the voice on the other line.

"Harry! I thought you'd forgotten me. So, what's the news?" She asked hoping for the best.

"Well…"

"Well what?" She asked impatiently, the last week had been a monotony of gardening and sleeping.

"We're coming?"

Jackie managed to restrain an excited scream, saving Harry a painful experience. However, she didn't stop herself from dropping the phone in her excitement. It fell into a pile of weeds, and was lost in its tangled depths. A looked of horror was pasted on Jackie's face as she rummaged for the phone, still able to hear Harry's voice. Eventually she was able to retrieve the phone from the debris.

"Jackie! Are you still there?" Harry asked concerned.

"Yea, just dropped the phone, got lost there for a moments. It's all good now."

"Okay, no problem then, I just need your address, we'll be there tomorrow."

Jackie gave him the address and they talked for a few minutes. Eventually Harry had to go, something about Ron needing nourishment. Jackie spent the next couple of hours in a happy daze, methodically cleaning for her guests. She cleaned and prepared the three spare rooms for them, not sure what the sleeping arrangement was for Ron and Hermione.

There was a considerable amount of dust that had settled in the rooms. They hadn't been used for anything more then storage since Jackie had moved in. And she had a feeling that it had been decades since the landlord had rented it out to anyone else. She had only rented it to Jackie because the landlord, Mrs. Adams, had known Jackie's mother in the good ole days. Jackie wasn't sure what the "good ole days were" but she was thankful for them.

Harry couldn't sit still as their car sped down the costal highway. He sat in the back, staring out the window, counting down the minutes till they got to Jackie house. He was anxious to see the girl he feared would turn into a dream and escape through his fingers. It seemed surreal the way she appeared that night, like something sent to save him from himself.

Sitting in this car, driving down the highway made Harry realize how much he relied on magic, he had became so use to it over the years that getting back in the habit of doing things the Muggle way was hard. But it offered him time to get his thoughts into perspective. Driving places may take sometime, but it a wonderful opportunity to get some thinking done.

He wanted to be friends with Jackie he knew that but he was afraid. He couldn't explain it, before it was easier, when he pushed people away there was a good reason. But now that reason was gone, that didn't mean things weren't still dangerous, just not as much as they had been. He had lost out on love because he pushed the girl he loved away.

He didn't have to worry about Jackie being involved in a war, she was safe in America, and he could let his guard down. Yet, he still feared getting too close to someone. Emotional he didn't know if he could handle it, everyone told him he needed to move on, but he couldn't help thinking of all the ways he could still get hurt.

Jackie didn't seem like the kind of person who would try to hurt him; he knew that after the day in the stairwell. She was a good hearted person who had feelings. What he feared was that he would hurt her. He knew he couldn't stay here for ever, he wished he could, but eventually they would have to go back. There were people back home waiting for him, worried about him. He couldn't abandon them. If Jackie became too attached it would hurt her to see him go, he didn't want to do that.

Hermione looked back and saw the troubled look on Harry's face as he pondered his many feelings. He deserved to be happy after everything that had happened to him. If seeing this girl made him happy he should be able to enjoy it. . It wasn't hard for Hermione to understand why he was so intrigued by her. Jackie was an easy to talk to person, completely different then the girls from Hogwarts. She didn't flock to Harry because of his fame or the fact that he defeated Voldemort. It was because she like him, the real Harry Potter, the boy behind the scar.

Hermione liked Jackie, she was a nice person. She seemed honest. What Hermione worried about was her reply from Remus. It had been a couple days she wrote to him. After spending time with her she hadn't seen any signs of her having any powers, but then Harry had said that she was emotional when it happened. It was possible since she had not formal training that she accidentally uses her powers as a child would. She can't control what she does so it is very likely that she hasn't tried to hone her abilities. Hermione felt responsible to help the girl if it turned out that she did have some magical talents. She understood what it was like to be thrust into this world without knowing what she was getting herself into. People thinking she couldn't do it because she had no magical ancestors; well she proved them all around, she was the best in her class, brightest witch of her age is what they said. Hermione would be able to help Jackie though whatever emotions she might feel when the reveal the results to her.

Jackie sat in a worn rocker on the front porch waiting expectantly for the arrival of Harry and his friends. They had called only moment before to say that they were a couple minutes away. Jackie was beside herself in anticipation. Rarely was she excited to be seeing people, after what happened with her ex she tended to remove herself from situations where someone might bring it up, remind her of the pain. But with Harry and his friends she would be able to relax have a little fun.

It was only a couple minutes before Jackie heard a car driving down the gravel driveway tot the house. She held her breathe waiting to see the little red convertible. It turned the corner, Hermione and Ron in the front, Harry in the back. Jackie jumped from the rocker and waved to them, hardly able to contain herself. She took a quick deep breathe, trying to calm herself. She hadn't felt so excited in a long time, a very long time.

Ron eased the car up to the car up to the front of the house and turned off the ignition. He pulled the keys out, swirling them around a finger before attaching them to his jean short. He got out of the car slowly while Hermione nearly jumped out with Harry right on his heels. Ron thought that perhaps he was the only one who could see that Jackie wasn't going anywhere; therefore there was no need to rush. The two girls embraced like old friends, Ron mused over this, it must be a girl thing he concluded.

"Oh it's so great to see you guys! I was worried there for a minute you wouldn't be bale to make. Well come on inside, I don't think I have ever had company here." Jackie ushered the three, Ron bringing up the rear with the luggage.

"Ron, you can leave that in here. You guys must be hungry after that trip."

"I know I'm hungry." Ron stated. Hermione hit his on the arm.

"Manners Ron, you're always hungry."

I'm a growing boy, I need nutrition. Anyway, it would have taken so long if you hadn't had to stop at every historical site on the way."

"Well Ronald, I'm sorry if history isn't you thing. I happen to be very interested in it."

"Yes that's all great but after listening to Binns drone on about Go-" Ron froze mid sentence. Hermione was glaring at him, Harry looked uncomfortable and Jackie was confused. "Um, Gopher rights, I could really care less." Ron smiled nervously, Jackie caught the peeved look Hermione was giving him and the sheepish smile Harry had. They were hiding something, she just didn't know what.

For dinner the trio and Jackie put together a meal of gumbo, rice and corn bread. Jackie had frozen leftover gumbo that she pulled out and put on the stove to reheat. Hermione was working diligently out of a 'Southern Living Cookbook' trying to make cornbread. Ron was looking on, trying to offer her help. Harry was pouring rice into a pot of boiling water. Jackie could tell by the awkward way the three moved around the kitchen that they weren't use to preparing their own food.

They ate out on the back patio in the shade of a fig tree. Ron, who had never eaten anything like gumbo was enthralled by its uniquely spicy flavor. Greedily he shoveled spoonful after spoonful into his mouth. Hermione chided him for his poor manners as Harry and Jackie laughed.

"That was amazing. Beats any Hogwarts feast."

"Eh, its easy enough. A little bit of tomatoes, some spices, a good roux and a little bit of Cajun magic." Hermione gave Harry a clandestine look; she was intrigued by that one little phase. It could be a clue Harry thought, then again it might mean nothing, Hermione would figure out.

A.N. Ha two days in a row, a first for me. The next should be out in a week. I'd like to thank my reviewers: shadowytwilight, lake water, and Hot0Red0Head. It's you guys that review that make this possible.

Oh and Harry Potter and its characters are not my own and I in no way profit from taking JKR's characters for a test drive.

Till next time lovelies Dingo