The Kiss

The next morning at breakfast nobody was speaking much. Harry was sure they were thinking about last night. He wondered if Dudley would actually get a punishment. However, the day began and ended without a word being said on the subject. Early the next morning, Harry was awoken by the banging on his door. He sat up, "What?"

"Get up. You'll have visitors," grumbled Vernon from the other side of Harry's door. Vernon stomped away, and Harry got dressed. Down in the kitchen Vernon was sitting behind his newspaper like usual. He looked up as Harry came in. "I received a letter saying your friends, the Weasleys, will be coming to pick you up in three hours. So I suggest you pack your things, boy," his uncle looked a little put out, but deep inside Harry saw a tinge of glee. Harry on the other hand was overjoyed; he was finally going to leave this place. He ran upstairs to start pulling out his things and stuff them in his chest. But upon entering his room, he saw a small pile of wrapped presents that had arrived. Harry had completely forgotten that his sixteenth birthday was today! He hurried over to his desk where they were. He unwrapped a red parcel from Ron which contained a special collector's edition coin with a Quidditch scene engraved on the front and the International Quidditch League's logo on the back. Along with it was a note from Ron:

Hey Harry,

Dad picked up two of these coins at work, one for me and one for you! They're extremely rare! I don't think the bloke that sold them knew that though.

See you soon,

Ron

Harry examined the coin again. He placed it carefully in its box, and picked up Hermione's gift, which was a box of homemade sweats from her grandmother in Ireland. He tasted a few morsels and had to say it was the best tasting candy he'd ever had. He had a feeling it wouldn't last long. And Hagrid had, of course, sent him a gift too. It was a beautiful inkwell that Hagrid had picked up in India. How and why Hagrid had gone to India Harry didn't know. But it was a very thick glass that started a jade green at the bottom and blended to a dark royal blue at the top. It was very impressive. Harry sat there a while admiring all his things before remembering that he had to get packed.

It took him nearly an hour to find all his things. Papers and books had been scattered everywhere, and his clothes were a mess on the floor. He placed his new gifts carefully into his chest on top. After he was done he went downstairs again. He had an hour and a half left; he wanted the time go by fast, but how? And then he looked out the window, and he suddenly realized he didn't want to go. Julie was just going inside her house. Harry made up his mind; this could be the last time he would see her. Ignoring Petunia's questions about where he was going, he bolted out the door. He walked across the street to her front door. He stood there for a moment thinking of what to say. Nothing came to him, so he just knocked. A tall and thin man answered the door.

"Yes?" he asked. Harry hesitated for a moment.

"Uh, is Julie here?" Harry asked. The tall man stared at him for a moment.

"Come in," he said. Harry followed him into a small but lovely house; it wasn't as clean as the Dursleys' thankfully, but very friendly and cozy. "Julie, you've got a visitor," her obvious father said. Harry turned a little red. Julie came out of a hallway to Harry's right; she looked around before spotting Harry.

"Oh, hi!" she said. She had some papers with her, and so she went to the table in the dining room to Harry's left. Harry went and sat beside her. "So, what brings you here?" she asked. Harry had never really thought why he had come here; he just did.

"Oh, well, I'm gonna have to leave at noon for a long time, so..." he was trying hard to think of what to say next. A cute smile spread across Julie's face; she looked down at her papers, and now she was the one who was flushing at the cheeks

"What are you doing?" Harry asked her pointing at the papers.

"It's a project. I'm writing a book," she said a little hesitantly.

"What's it about?" She looked at him the same way her father had.

"Do... you want me to read you a piece?" she said half hopefully.

"Sure!" She smiled and looked down at her papers. She began to read. After a few lines, Harry realized it was poetry, poetry in its most beautiful form. Harry began reminiscing to his old school days with Dudley. In fourth grade the teachers had them all write three poems. No one in the class even came close to Julie's poetry. It flowed and swept him away. The poems were about all different things from describing a scene to expressing emotions, but they were all beautiful. Harry lost track of time. And after a while Julie looked up at him. "What do you think?" she asked worried.

"That was nothing short of beautiful," Harry stuttered trying to find words to express how much he loved them. He had never considered himself a fan of poetry, but for some reason it was different with her. She turned pink and looked down again. Harry was thankful to see that she believed him. "You're so nice," she said. All he could do was shrug and smile. "When will you be back?" she asked next. Harry thought.

"Well, I usually stay at school for the whole year, but maybe I can get a pass for Christmas," he replied. "Do you spend Christmas at home?"

"Yes, I do," she answered. There was a pause. "Well, it's noon," she finished. And at that moment the doorbell rang. Her father got up again to answer the door. He came into the dining room after a moment, "Is your name Harry?"

"Yes," Harry said.

"It's for you, then," he said. Harry got up with Julie following him. When Harry approached the door, he saw three people with flaming red hair. He smiled as he saw Ron, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley.

"Hi," said Harry.

"Are you ready?" Arthur Weasley asked.

"Yeah, my trunk is in my room," he replied. He saw Ron taking a peek at Julie standing behind him. Harry turned around. "Well, then I'll see you at Christmas," he said happily.

"I guess so," she said smiling. They looked at each other for a moment before Harry walked out the door. "Bye," she said, and he returned it. As Ron and Harry, followed by Ron's parents, headed for the Dursleys' home Ron asked, "Who was that?"

"That's Julie," was all Harry wanted to say; and then he stopped and looked at Ron.

"How did you know I was over at her house?"

"Your aunt told us," said Ron. Of course, his aunt, thought Harry. He re-entered the Dursleys' house and headed up to his bedroom ignoring the repulsive looks on his relatives' faces. He grabbed Hedwig's cage, and Ron dragged his trunk down to the Weasley's black rented car. Harry wondered if it was just a normal car this time. As they were climbing into the car, Harry was jolted back out.

"Harry, wait!" Julie was yelling and running towards him. She caught up to him. "Here, you can have these," she said. She handed him some of her poems.

"No, I couldn't... " he began.

"Oh, don't worry; I've got them copied," she said assuringly. "Now you can read them to everybody at your school and make me famous." She laughed. "But I wouldn't mind if you kept them to yourself."

"Thanks," said Harry. "Well, I'll see ya."

"Okay," she said and gave Harry a gentle kiss on the cheek. He wasn't sure how to react to that, but Ron started yanking him into the backseat. Arthur started backing out the car, and Harry watched Julie wave with that forever sweet smile. After the car had made the corner Harry righted himself in his seat. "I'm not even going to ask," said Ron a little jealously. And for the whole trip, all Harry could think about was Julie.