disclaimer: i own nothing of great value

The cord around Harry's neck tightened slightly. Not enough to choke him, but enough to let him know this person wasn't fooling around. "Who do you think you are sneaking up on a-…Harry!" a familiar voice said.

"Jen?" he realized that Jen's voice had come from behind him. Immediately the cord around his neck loosened. Just as it was about to be taken off of his neck completely, Harry grabbed it and spun around to face his attacker. He was surprised to only see Jen. He then looked down and saw that the cord that had moments earlier been wound about his neck had dark blue and white jewels on it. "What is this?" he asked.

"My necklace," Jen responded, somewhat apologetically.

"Care to explain why your necklace was around my neck and about to cut off my air supply!" Harry questioned, though not as angrily as he normally would have been.

"I didn't know it was you," she explained. "I wasn't expecting anyone out this early on a Saturday, and it just startled me a little."

"'A little'? What would have happened if you had gotten really startled?" he asked, somewhat concerned about what the answer would be.

"The only time I would have been really startled is if I thought someone was following me," she replied.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Well I do have a pocket knife…" she then trailed off a bit.

"How relieving," he responded sarcastically. He was still a little surprised that he wasn't yelling his head off at her this very moment. Sure, it had been a simple misunderstanding, but he had blown his top at people for much less than almost strangling him recently. And those people were my friends. Getting mad at a complete stranger for this would have been slightly more justified. He then realized that she had said today was Saturday. He quickly counted the days that he had been back from Hogwarts off in his head. Shit. Today was Saturday alright, and that meant that if he went home anytime soon, he would have to spend all morning with the Dursleys. Maybe he could come up with an excuse to not come back to the house all day.

"Hey, I know this might not be the best time to ask, but do you think you could show me around the neighborhood? Y'know, so I don't accidentally attack anyone else that I shouldn't?" Jen asked, trying to lighten the mood. It was all Harry could do not to scoff at the last bit of what she said. Frankly, there were quite a few people he wouldn't mind her accidentally attacking. But, he realized, if he showed her around the neighborhood, he would use up a good couple of hours that he would otherwise spend with the Dursleys.

Harry had given Jen a funny look when she asked if he could show her around, but after a few seconds of what must have been careful deliberation, he said, "Sure. We're close to the park, so let's go there first."

"Sounds good," she replied, happy that Harry wasn't about to yell ather 'till he went hoarse about what happened. The two of them walked in the direction that Jen had originally been going. "So,"she asked, "is this a park like swings and junk or is it just a bunch of trees and benches and signs that say 'keep off grass'?"

"There is a little playground, but all of the swings are broken and the slides are made for three year-olds. There is also an area with a lot of trees in it. No 'keep off the grass' signs, though," he responded as the two teenagers rounded a corner at the end of the street. Down the street thatthey were now on, Jen saw a small park with a grove of trees right next to it.

Jen smiled, in love with the idea of climbing the large one the second she was close enough to do so. "Hey, Harry?"she asked.

"Hmm?"

"Can I have my necklace back?"

He looked down and realized that he had failed to return the necklace earlier. "Depends," he said seriously, "are you gonna attack me again?"

Now Jen really smiled; she was happy to see that Harry still had a sense of humor. "I'll do my best not to,"she answered. He rolled his eyes and handed it over. By now, the two of them were almost at the trees. Jen broke into a run and jumped on a large, thick branch that started out at a decent height in the tree, and then sloped down until it was about two feet off of the ground. Harry seemed surprised by her actions, and only more so when she started carefully walking towards the trunk of the tree. This tree was perfect for sitting in. From where Jen was, she could just see a branch through the foliage that looked like it would support the weight of two teenagers sitting on it. Perfect.

"Jen," Harry's voice called, "what in the heck do you think that you're doing!"

"Climbing a tree,"she responded. "You should really try it; it's great." To her surprise, Harry went over to a spot where the branch was about three feet off the ground and climbed up. Soon, the two of them were sitting in the perfect spot: almost impossible to see unless you got right under it and looked directly up, and even then it wouldn't be really easy. Plus, it was strong enough for both to sit in without worry of the branch breaking.

"Where are you from?" Harry asked.

"Mars,"Jen responded without hesitation.

"I'm serious," he said, "Where?"

"Texas"

"You don't sound like you're from Texas," he replied.

"You mean I don't have that ridiculous drawl?"

"Erm, yeah," Harry said, apparently feeling stupid for asking.

"Sorry,"she said, "that came out wrong. What I mean is it sounds ridiculous when I try it. I know a lot of people that have a drawl. Sometimes I just get a little short with people for immediately thinking something's wrong with me if I'm from Texas and I don't drawl. I mean, I give much more valid proof than that."

Harry chuckled, seemingly relieved that she wasn't angry about it. He opened his mouth to say something else when a twig snapped below. Both Harry and Jen's heads shot down andthe two of them spotted a large, somewhat pig-like boy standing beneath the tree that Jen and Harry were sitting in. The boy seemed to be looking around for someone, and thankfully he hadn't noticed either of the two teenagers above him. From the look of absolute loathing on Harry's face, he knew this guy. Jen and Harry pulled their legs up as they had been dangling down over the branch. "Yo, D," a voice called, and a group of boys that all looked around the same age as Jen and Harry came walking up the street.