Harry's Surprise

Harry's Surprise.

Harry had been made to apologise to Dudley and was punished by having to clear out the garage and re-stack all of Dudley's old toys. Uncle Vernon had bought a chain and had secured Dudley's bike.

"This is coming out of your wages boy!" he snarled. Harry did not care really. All he knew was that he and Jasmine would not be cycling together again, and this upset him dearly.

Harry worked long and hard and finally got into bed by 2am. How he wished Ron or Hermione would write to see how he was doing. Hedwig still had not returned from when Harry had updated Ron with his last message.

Apparently, Ginny had had an exciting summer so far: she had picked up a scar in an accident at the Ministry. Ron was more distraught however that she seemed to be going on a lot about Draco and even defending him in arguments.

Ron's last letter had ended with "Oh my word Harry! Imagine having Draco as a brother-in-law! Nooooooo!"

Harry had wished Ron had not told him that. Ginny was great to have around, and even though he did not love her as such, he felt a little betrayed that she have defected to loving Draco in his absence.

This summer was turning out to be one of his worst yet, and for some reason, he could not pinpoint why.

All that changed the next morning. Harry walked out to work in a gloomy state of mind, exhausted and upset. But around the corner was waiting Jasmine on her bike, supporting a second larger bike next to her.

"Morning Jasmine! Wow! Nice bike!" said Harry eagerly.

"I thought you might need a new ride. This was Daniel's, so look after it or else buddy," she sneered. Harry noticed she was wearing nice clothes today, all ironed and sweet-smelling.

"I'm wearing more protection against your pedals today Harry," she said, playing up the pain in her kneecap as he mounted the replacement bike.

"I had noticed. you look great!"

"Why thankyou Harry."

"Oh Jasmine! You are great! Thankyou!" said Harry.

"Well, come on then! We'll ride into work together!" she cheered.

And they did. Mr. Mohebbi was impressed at their punctuality. "Another new bike Harry?" he commented with suspicion as Jasmine sorted out the papers.

"Oh, well, I had an accident with my cousin's one, so Jasmine leant me her brother's one," said Harry.

"Really?" said Mr. Mohebbi, but did not press the matter further.

And then they were off, racing along the streets. Harry discovered he was good at controlling bikes, once he figured out how to take corners on them. Brooms were technically easier to control, yet reached more deadly speeds, so the fear-factor was not there and Harry relaxed and let his intuition guide him. Jasmine was impressed.

The sun was beating down and the pair soon finished their rounds.

"Fancy going for a longer ride Harry?" cooed Jasmine sexily.

Harry lazily agreed, feeling truly free of all of the problems that had weighed him down for ages.

"Okay. where can we go?"

"Well, I've got a bit of money on me. Let's get some food and drink, stick it in the bags and go for a picnic?"

"Great idea!"

They went back to the shop where Jasmine knew Mrs. Mohebbi would do them a sly discount on the sandwiches she made. Her husband would not approve but she thought he was far too uptight sometimes and usually ignored him. Jasmine grabbed two sandwiches, some chocolates and two bottles of drink.

Harry realised what it was like to be Ron now, having someone else pay for you so easily whilst all you could do was say thankyou.

And they were off. Jasmine was faster and more nimble on her bike, but Harry was quite fit and strong and would catch her on the straights.

Soon, they were out of the town and into the glorious golden countryside. The sun beat down on them, and the pair were soaked with sweat and had to stop to drink hungrily from their supplies.

Then Jasmine left the roads and they hurtled through the countryside, through forests, down gulleys and across streams. The bikes were expensive and well-built. Jasmine obviously enjoyed riding them and soon the pair were deep in the cool shadows of a humid leafy forest.

"This place will do," sighed Jasmine. And the pair dismounted and sat down overlooking a small brook. Harry lay back, panting. To his pleasant surprise, Jasmine placed her head on his chest and she wrapped her arms around him.

"This is nice." she sighed.

"Yeah." thought Harry. He realised that Jasmine had taken him off alone somewhere and was being very friendly. He was a little unsure what to expect, but tried his best to act casual.

"What do you do in your spare time Harry?"

"Oh. Read. Play chess. Go flying."

"Flying?"

"Yeah - on my broomstick."

Jasmine giggled. "I thought only witches did that."

"Wizards can do it too."

"Oh, I see. I bet you're one of these dungeons n' dragons weirdoes. All your little friends together pretending to be knights and wizards and that."

Harry was a bit confused. "So, you know about dragons and that?"

"Of course! You'll be telling me you've been chasing unicorns next."

"Well actually..."

"Tell you what, I'll be your princess and you be my knight in shining armour."

"Oh, I'm no knight." laughed Harry.

Jasmine sat up and stared into his eyes. "Oooh, so your a big rough barbarian, come to ravish me, is that it?"

Harry blushed. "Erm, I'm hungry. Let's eat."

"Oh great! Now you're back to being a typical man!" she laughed. "Food, drink, sex and sleep. Typical."

They ate. Harry felt his mind buzzing with lots of doubts and reservations, but he suddenly realised that it was some sort of guilt holding him back. Harry resolved to enjoy himself and after they had finished eating, he put his arm around Jasmine.

They kissed. They kissed again. Jasmine suggested Harry remove the piece of lettuce from his teeth. He did. She shifter closer. On the third attempt, they kissed for a long time.

The afternoon sun shone down through the trees onto them and Jasmine and Harry had snuggled the whole time. Harry had no idea if he was meant to be taking this further, but would leave stuff like that up to Jasmine.

After a bit, Jasmine rolled onto her back and seemed content at Harry's side, curled up sweetly under his arm.

She broke the silence. "Well, I like all that role-playing stuff to. I've got this computer at home and I get to be this warrior on the internet. It's great 'cos you meet all of these people."

"You meet lots of people as a warrior?"

"Sure? Well, it's only a game, but you can have some quite rude conversations with complete strangers. And anyway, you're the wizard, remember."

"Yeah," sighed Harry. He had not asked to be. "So is this 'internet' someplace nearby?" he asked.

Jasmine sat up and laughed. "Yep. At my house, in my room. Want to come and look?"

Harry did not care much what they did. Damn the Dursleys, he would come home late tonight. What's the worst they could do? Make him work until 2am again?

"Aw Jasmine, what's the rush?" he drawled.

Jasmine smiled and Harry wrapped his strong arms around her, kissing her passionately.