We'll spend the summer skating
Disclaimer: I know this should be somewhat legal sounding, but if the main idea comes across, what's the difference? I AM USING CHARACTERS WHICH ARE NOT MINE FOR UNHOLY PURPOSES.
Author's Note: I would like to apologise to everyone who is going to be offended by my incorrect usage of skater jargon as well as for my lack of knowledge. Write what you know, they say… well, I never really was one for the rules of writing.
Oh, and Draco actually appears in this chapter. And there are a million and one OCs who will not at any time be attending Hogwarts.
A Second Beginning
Harry and Hermione wanted to go to Diagon Alley first as they were already beginning to miss being around witches and wizards. Harry also wanted some muggle money for clothes and things. As they entered the Leaky Cauldron, Harry stopped a moment to talk to Tom before they went into the Alley. Hermione's parents would be meeting them out in a bookshop in muggle London in an hour for lunch.
The pair made their way to Gringotts first. Harry left Hermione to change her pounds to galleons and sickles. After scooping up a larger amount of gold, silver and bronze than usual, Harry made his way back up. Hermione was just finishing up as Harry headed for the counter dedicated to changing wizarding money into muggle. He stuffed the pounds into his left pocket and galleons in his right.
"Where to first, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Books," Hermione said with a grin.
"Okay," Harry said. "But I definitely want to go to Gambol and Japes' for some Filibuster's to scare Dudley."
Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes but agreed anyway.
In the bookshop, Hermione began looking at old histories of ancient nations. Egypt, Greece, Rome. She still thought it was fascinating how wizards and witches were the answer to all the things muggles couldn't answer. And of course, it was amusing to read about the stories muggles made up to explain magic.
Harry was content to just wander through, looking at the different book titles. In the end, he picked out a simple spell book filled with fun or useful charms: animation spells to make drawings move, colouring spells for just about everything, clothing modification spells (this is what really drew his attention) and tips to make spells last longer or wear off at a certain time.
At Gambol and Japes, as well as the Filibuster Fireworks, Harry got some stink pellets and a potion that made the drinker fart uncontrollably for ten minutes. Hermione just watched, then couldn't help herself when she bought a book illustrating the evolution of muggle magic tricks and the equivalent wizarding spells.
"You up for an ice cream?" Harry asked Hermione. They still had ten minutes left and Harry wanted to see Florean. After all, he hadn't been to Diagon Alley in two years. They'd have five minutes to get the ice cream and five to walk back into muggle London. Hermione protested a little about the idea of having dessert just before lunch, but she knew she probably wouldn't have a chance to have one with her parents around later that day.
At the ice cream parlour, Harry asked for his usual: strawberries, peanuts and cookie dough in chocolate ice cream.
"The Harry Potter Special," Florean said. "I named it after you."
Harry stared a little. "Wow."
Florean handed Harry his cone and Hermione got her banana and caramel in vanilla sundae. Harry began to hand over the money, but Florean stopped him. "No, my dear boy. That's now my biggest selling ice cream and I owe it all to you."
"Thanks," Harry smiled uncertainly, a little put out that once again he was getting special treatment because of his uncalled for celebrity status.
The bell over the door rang and Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson waltzed in. Malfoy sneered as he walked past. "Can I get cookie dough, strawberries and peanuts in chocolate? In a cone," He ordered.
"Ah," Florean said. "The Harry Potter Special."
Malfoy looked at him, then at Harry. He seemed disgusted that he'd managed to order something called a Harry Potter Special.
"It's my favourite," Harry offered as explanation as he and Hermione left.
"I was going to have that, too," Harry heard Pansy say to Draco on the way out. "But I think I'll have a vanilla and lemon sorbet sundae."
Harry and Hermione laughed to themselves as they left. Maybe celebrity wasn't so bad after all.
They finished their ice creams as they walked, meeting Mr. and Mrs. Granger who had bought some gardening books. The group then had lunch in a small Italian restaurant, dining on pasta and potato. They spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for various things. Harry bought some clothes. Hermione bought some clothes. Mrs. Granger bought some clothes. Mr. Granger bought some screws and nuts. When he began looking at drills, Harry mentioned that his uncle worked for Grunnings. Mr. Granger was almost as interested as Mr. Weasley had been.
Mrs. Granger had them stop in several random shopped hoping to buy a present for her sister. In the end, she decided upon a small crystal giraffe. They then went to the markets to buy groceries. As they were passing stalls, Harry spotted a small basil plant that he knew Aunt Petunia would love in her herb collection (the last plant had died some time during the past year). He debated with himself about buying the plant. He really had no reason to buy his aunt a present, but he knew that she'd be overjoyed to have it. Also, it would perhaps make her friendlier toward him. He checked the price. It was only five shillings. Harry made up his mind and bought the plant.
"Why did you buy that?" Hermione asked.
"For my aunt," Harry replied.
"I wish you'd do that for me sometimes, Hermione," Mrs. Granger said.
"Would you really want a pot of basil?"
"No," Mrs. Granger said. "You know that."
"And there lies my dilemma," Hermione said. "Do I buy you a useless present and waste money only to prove that I do indeed love you when it is something I show you in every way every day."
Mrs. Granger smiled. "And that's why I love you." She put an arm around Hermione's shoulders and kissed her forehead. Such a simple action really made Harry miss his parents and for the first time, he was really envious of Hermione. He really wanted someone who would hold him like that, just simply.
Mr. Granger gave Harry a small smile. "Let's head home, shall we? We'll have dinner, then you and Hermione can talk about whatever it is you magical folk talk about."
Harry laughed. "We're just normal people."
"Harry, you aren't normal. You're extraordinary."
"I wish I was normal," Harry said as they walked back to the car.
Harry had a lovely time with the Grangers. He was back at the Dursleys' at the appointed time. He left the plant on the kitchen windowsill with the other herbs and hoped she didn't mind. He'd explain it later if he had to. For the moment, it wouldn't be noticed. The plain terracotta pot was the same colour as all the others.
Harry made his way upstairs to deposit his purchases, then headed to the bathroom before bed.
"Good day?" Dudley asked as Harry left the bathroom.
"Pretty good," he replied. "You?"
"Okay."
Harry nodded and went to bed.
---
The next morning, Pig entered the room through Harry's open window. He carried a letter from Ron.
"Dear Harry,
How's your summer been going? Hermione says you two are going out to muggle London for a bit. Wish I could come. Dad says he's got to teach me a few things before I'm allowed out without a wizard that knows a memory charm. You guys are lucky. You got to grow up in a fascinating place. But I would never trade my family for those muggles of yours, mate.
Yesterday, me, Ginny, Fred and George played a bit of two on two Quidditch. The twins absolutely walloped us. They won't admit to cheating but I swear they somehow managed to charm the quaffle into avoiding everyone and everything but them. It was behaving more like a bludger than a quaffle. They seemed to just let go of it then it'd fly through the hoops.
Mum and dad keep owling Dumbledore to ask when you can come to stay. It seems like he's never going to let you. Hope you don't have a terrible time with those muggles. They must be the only ones Malfoy seems to be right about.
See you when I do,
Ron."
Harry scrawled out a fairly long message about his day yesterday before realising that Pig had flown of and that Hedwig wasn't back yet.Settling down, Harry began finishing his homework. A potions assignment and some sketches of the planets Xenos and Ypras later, it was lunchtime. After lunch, Harry decided that he needed a break and so headed for Marsden Road, a street nearby lined with shops.
He headed for the newsagent first, purchasing a newspaper. Then, he entered the ice cream parlour (not nearly as big, fancy, or nice as Florean Fortescue's) and bought a caramel milkshake. He then headed back to Privet Drive and sat on the front step, out of sight from the Dursleys.
Harry skimmed the newspaper, looking for any signs of things that may have been caused by Voldemort. To his surprise, there were no mentions of massacres in quiet suburban streets. But Harry should have known because his scar hadn't been feeling particularly painful, recently. Although, there had been a dull throb ever since the Riddle House incident.
"Hey you!" a voice from the street called.
Harry looked up to see the gang of skaters he'd seen on his first day back from school.
"Yeah?" Harry questioned.
"Are the Dursleys in?" a boy with light brown hair and hazel eyes asked. He was on foot, like the rest of their gang, but still was wearing elbow and kneepads. He was about 5'6" and wore a black T-shirt and cargo shorts.
"Yes," Harry said, observing the rest of the group. They were all dressed as though prepared for a day's skating: helmets, knee elbow and write pads were worn by most of the group of seven, but they all lacked boards and a couple were barefoot of wore thongs.
"Damn," the spokesboy said and asked one of the girls what she thought.
Harry ignored them and went back to sipping his milkshake, which was nearly finished. With a huge slurp and a burp, Harry finished it, noting that the skaters were still there, staring at him.
"Want to come with us?" a girl with blue hair and streaks of what must have been her natural brown hair.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked, curious.
"We're not sure," a boy with dark hair answered.
Harry shrugged. "Okay." He went in to throw out his cup and was pleased to note that they were still there when he came back. He stuffed the newspaper into his pocket and joined them on the path. "I'm Harry," he introduced himself.
"Jason," the spokesboy said. "Or Jace. That's Matt." He indicated a short boy with red hair. "Tina," he motioned to the girl with blue hair. "Danielle," he noticed a tall, skinny girl with curly blonde hair and brown eyes.
"Call me Dan," she said.
"I'm Rick," a boy with almond eyes and dirty blonde hair said. "And this is my brother Will." He indicated to a shorter boy who otherwise looked exactly like him.
"We're twins," Will explained.
"And we call him Common Green," Jace indicated to a tall, broad-shouldered fellow with an olive complexion, dark brown hair and eyes, and a slight frown.
"Anthony," he said in a very deep voice.
"So," Tina began as they started walking. "How old are you?"
"Fourteen," Harry said. "I'm fifteen at the end of the month."
"You don't look it," she replied. "You look about twelve."
Harry shrugged. "Haven't had a growth spurt."
"I'm thirteen," she said. "Fourteen in December. I'm the second youngest. Matt's twelve."
"Who's the oldest?" Harry asked, curious.
"Marty, he's seventeen. But he's not here today. His mum's grounded him except to help out at the Dursleys' and Jake's with his mum somewhere."
"He said something about visiting family friend," Rick contributed.
"The twins are sixteen. So is Jace. Dan turned fourteen last month. Jake's seventeen as well, and Common Green's fifteen."
"Why do you call him that?" Harry asked.
"I'm not really sure. Marty made it up because Will was saying that we needed someone with a crazy nickname to keep our image of 'skater punks'. And Anthony was completely refusing to go by Ant or Tony or anything else we could come up with."
Their walking led them to the ramp in the local park.
"What were you all doing at the Dursleys'?" Harry asked.
"Scouting," Jace answered. "Dursley baiting's out favourite past time now. We check out the house while they're out to set up tricks for while they're there."
"It's mostly Marty and Jake who do it, though," Will added.
Harry nodded.
"Next week," Dan said. "We'll see how you go on a board and if you're any good, Jake's given you permission to join us."
"Really?" Harry asked. That would mean instant friendships. Harry had never had any muggle friends before. "Cool, thanks."
"You'll have to thank Jake when he gets back. I don't know why he's letting you join. From what I hear, he's only met you once," Tina said.
"And he says you don't even own a board," Rick said.
"I reckon he's got a crush on you," Will said, leering at him.
Harry laughed.
"Yeah, I know," Will said. "He's not gay."
"You don't have anything against gay people though, do you?" Jason asked. "'Cause if you do, that's immediate disqualification."
"No," Harry said with a shake of the head. "I'm bi."
"Cool," Dan said. "So'm I."
"What exactly is your group?" Harry wondered. "Like, what do you do?"
"We're skaters," Jason said. "We're pretty much just a team who participate in comps. Jake's older brother Carl is our chauffeur. His band's got this mini bus that he shovels us around in."
"That reminds me," Dan said. "If you're going to be in on this. We're kind of going on tour in August. We're leaving on the third. It's just that there's this comp up in Scotland that we want to compete in on the seventeenth."
"That'd be all right," Harry said. "The Dursleys wouldn't care. But my school starts on September 1st, and I board so I can't exactly just rock up late."
"That's cool," Jason said. "The comp's only four days and we can drive back in a couple of days if we have to."
"By the way," Common Green said. "D wants in on this. His dad's buggin' him like hell so he thinks it's time to run away again."
"Should be okay," Dan said after sharing a glance with Jason. "Tell him he can come. But he'd better be skating."
"Danielle, you know he's crap," Common Green said.
"Who's D?" Harry asked Tina.
"This rich ponce that we picked up one day after he'd run away from his dad. Common Green likes him, practically lives next door to him. I don't think he ever got around to telling us his real name. Didn't trust us at first."
"Oh," Harry said. "He reminds me a bit of someone I know. Boarding school, you know."
There were nods and knowing grunts.
"And he's terrible on a skateboard," Jason added.
The group had been standing beside a skate ramp this entire time.
"Why are you all just standing here?" Harry asked.
"We have this rule that we can't skate when a member is grounded," Danielle said.
"Grounded as in, has had their board confiscated," Jason clarified.
"Right," Harry said. He checked his new watch. It was almost six o'clock. "I'd better go. I don't get fed if I'm not there. My cousin Dudley eats it." He made a face and the others laughed.
"We won't keep you, then," Dan said. "It was nice meeting you."
"Same to all of you," Harry said with a wave.
"We'll come pick you up on Wednesday at four," Jason said.
Soon, Harry was back at the Dursley residence pondering his day with people he would soon call his friends.
---
A note from me: I am not quite sure what I was on when I wrote this chapter it just seems so wrong.