Disclaimer: These things are so boring. In case I haven't mentioned this, the songs belong to the band 3 Doors Down. Not mine (Though I'm flattered that you think so)
The following chapter is dedicated to Chief Marmoset, Jessica Hatchet (3 reviews! wow, thank you so much!), darkcelestial20, Smurkle Snap, and Estora. Many Thanks to my first five reveiwers!
Author's Twaddle – isn't that a great word, twaddle? Such fun. I just discovered it in a Thesaurus. WARNING: Fluff Alert! And cheese. Lots of cheese. Anyway, I'd like to let you all know that something interesting is about to happen with Harry…
Chapter 4 – Live for Today
As the summer wore on, Harry found himself spending more and more time with Tristan and the new friends that she was busy making. Some of these were people who had rejected him in elementary school, and so the reunions could be a bit tense. However, Harry found that many of those who had excluded him then were remorseful about their past actions. And in any case, Harry was willing to forgive and forget for Tristan's sake.
This, combined with his growing relationship with Remus, contented him. After those first two letters they had exchanged, they had started to trade more regular letters, and every time Remus was on guard duty, the pair would take some time to simply sit and talk in the backyard of number 4.
That explained why Harry was resting lithely in the freshly cut grass in the Dursl-ey's well-kept backyard, with Remus relaxing next to him.
"…just bopped me on the head!" exclaimed Harry indignantly. "And with me completely helpless to do anything about it! I didn't even say anything. I mean, I didn't even know what the whole thing was about until nearly two hours later!"
Remus chuckled at the teen's account of the story as he played with a piece of grass in his mouth. The werewolf's skin had a healthy sheen to it from the sun, and the laughter smoothed out his face, making him look years younger.
Harry considered the older man's worn clothes and a question sprang to mind. He barely realized the sensitiveness of it until he had already worded the question.
"Why do you still wear those old clothes? I mean, didn't you get some money or something from Sirius after…?" Harry trailed off, angry with himself for bringing the subject up.
Remus considered the abrupt question carefully. The subject of Harry's deceased godfather had not been brought up in their conversations before, though it might seem strange. Sirius was, after all, the strongest tie that bound them together. But both were unwilling to discuss his passing.
Hesitantly Remus said, "You mean from his will?"
Harry nodded, mentally kicking himself for bringing up such a painful subject.
"Well, Sirius' will actually hasn't been settled," Remus explained slowly. "There's an awful lot of complications. He was, after all, an escaped convict and he…died…in rather strange circumstances. Dumbledore and the goblins are working on it, but we've just gotten involved in a war, so everything is even more tangled than ever."
Bothwere pained byRemus' use of the past tense when referring to Sirius. Harry felt his eyes start to sting and quickly closed them, trying to get a better handle on his emotions. A moment later he felt a light, gentle touch on his arm, as tears squeezed their way from between tightly closed lids. Gently, slowly, Remus drew him in, holding the future savior of the wizarding world tightly in his arms. Every part of the werewolf's being ached at the injustice of it all.
Tristan found Harry and Remus in the park not long later. Petunia had evacuated them from the backyard, claiming that the grass needed to be mowed, and that simply couldn't be done with the two of them sitting there. Harry suspected that it had more to do with the fact that she didn't want two freaks sitting on her immaculate lawn making a scene.
Nevertheless, the duo removed themselves from number 4 and continued to talk as they meandered through the park. When Tristan caught up to them, she instantly noticed the fading redness around Harry's eyes, which, of course, aroused her suspicion of Remus. Neither Harry nor Remus missed the strange looks that Tristan was giving them, but they decided not to comment.
"Hi, Tris," Harry waved a half-hearted greeting as she approached.
"Hey, Harry," she smiled.
"Remus, this is Tristan, the new friend I was telling you about. Tristan, this is Remus, my…" Harry cast about for an appropriate title.
"When you were one I was your Uncle Moony," offered Remus.
"Really?" asked Harry, delighting in this new piece of information from his early past. "So I guess that means that I should refer to you as my uncle then?"
"Only if you never put me in the same category as that pig masquerading as a human being," answered Remus wryly. Both Harry and Tristan laughed at the jab at Vernon Dursley.
"Sohow long have you knowneach other for, then?" Tristan questioned.
"Actually," Remus replied, "we've known each other for about…what, three years? But we've only had the chance to really get to know each other recently. I was also friends with Harry's parents before they died."
"Oh."
"We actually met for the first time at my school. He was one of my teachers for a year or so," Harry informed her.
"I see," a hint of mischievous cunning wormed it's way into her tone. Harry shot her a slightly suspicious look when he caught it.
"Remus," she started, stopping to turn and look at him, "You wouldn't happen to have any influence over the Dursleys, would you?"
"I might," admitted Remus, an eyebrow raised. "Should I ask why?"
"Well, some people," she waved an arm around, "have decided to hold a outside dance here at the park…"
"Tristan…" protested Harry. She silenced him with a sharp glance.
"They've got a DJ, and food and all that good stuff, but no matter how much I bug Harry about going, he won't come! He says that his aunt and uncle told him 'no' and that's why he can't come. So I was hoping that maybe you could convince them to let Harry free for one night."
Harry simply shook his head and waited for Remus to apologize and deny the request.
"I think that I might be able to manage that," agreed Remus. Harry's shocked eyes flew open and he gaped at Remus.
"When is this dance?" Remus asked Tristan, ignoring Harry's flabbergasted look.
"Friday night – in two days."
"I'll see what I can do," nodded Remus.
"But, Remus, what about–" Harry tried to intervene.
Remus took the teen's face in his hands and said gently, "Harry, no one likes to see how depressed you've been lately, and I'm sure that Sirius would be horrified to see the state you're in. An outing will do you good. You need to get out and do things more."
To Tristan he stated firmly and determinedly, "He'll be there."
"Thank you," she smiled at him.
"No problem."
"I should get going," Tris said quietly. "It's almost suppertime and Mom's probably wondering where I am. Nice to meet you, Remus. See you later, Harry," she kissed him softly on the cheek and bounced off in the direction of home.
Harry raised a questioning eyebrow at Remus, who chuckled and walked on. "Nice girl," he commented over his shoulder. "Very pretty. When are you going to tell her that you fancy her?"
"Remus!" protested Harry, chasing the werewolf down.
The next morning Kurt and Matt accosted Harry just as he stepped down the steps leading to number 4. The two young men slipped in a practiced manner to either side of their green-eyed friend, slinging their arms over his shoulders.
"So, Harry," started Kurt. "You wouldn't happen to have any extra money to spare, would you?"
"A little bit," admitted Harry, giving the two a suspicious look. "Why? Should I be worried?"
"Really, Harry, don't you trust us?" Matt asked breezily.
"No," came the prompt answer.
"Ouch. That hurt, Harry. Matt, don't you feel the pain?" Kurt passed over Harry's head. Matt chuckled in agreement. "Listen, Harry, go grab whatever money you can spare, O.K.?"
Harry reentered his aunt and uncle's house with some misgivings, but nevertheless grabbed his muggle money from his room. There was only about twenty-five pounds, even though Harry had been collecting it slowly throughout the years. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia weren't exactly careless with their money, so it took time for Harry to find enough money lying around for it to add up.
Harry met up with Kurt and Matt again. Kurt quickly checked the amount that Harry had come up with and added, "and I've got another ten pounds to add on to that, so we should have enough."
"Whoa, wait up," demanded Harry. "Enough for what? What are we buying?"
"Well, Harry," drawled Kurt, clearly enjoying every moment of Harry's confusion, "my sister came home last night practically shining with delight at the idea of you going to this dance with her. And I said to myself, 'Kurt, your little sister is going to a dance with a boy who dresses like a bum.'"
Kurt held up a hand to ward off Harry's hurt and indignant face. "Yes, I know that your clothes are not your fault. But we still need to fix the problem. So I called up Matt here and ordered him to join us. We're here to abduct you."
"No – no, you guys don't understand – I can't –" Harry stalled, thinking of the Order and how disappointed they would be with him if he put himself in danger again.
"We aren't taking no for an answer, Harry," Matt stated unflinchingly. "It's not right, the way those relatives of yours treat you. The least we can do is make sure that you don't look like an idiot in front of everyone at the dance."
"Thanks ever so," muttered Harry sarcastically under his breath.
"And I'm sure that you want to impress Tris, too." Kurt's eye and mouth twitched in amusement. Harry felt his face heating under his friend's knowing smiles.
"No," he said firmly, pulling himself away from them. "It's not that simple…"
A soft breath on his neck stopped him short. Tonk's voice murmured in his ear, "Go ahead, Harry. I'll be right behind you."
He sighed softly and studied their determined faces before giving in. "O.K."
"Great!" exclaimed Kurt, already pulling Harry along the sidewalk by his arm. "Now we'll need to take a bus for a bit, but it isn't far."
"And exactly how do you expect to buy enough clothes with only 35 pounds?" asked Harry skeptically. He knew how much money clothes could cost.
"Well, as long as you aren't incredibly vain, there's always thrift stores."
"Thrift stores!" exclaimed Matt, who was obviously uninformed of this plan
"Hey! Do not dis the thrift stores! You would not believe the things you can find in those places!"the Canadiandefended himself. "Some of my most comfortable and best clothes came from Value Village, O.K.? Geez, man."
The thrift store that the trio stepped into was deceivingly large. Harry was surprised at how large it was. The store seemed to have thousands of racks of clothing that stretched far into the back of the store.
"And we're supposed to find what we want, how, exactly?" he demanded. Kurt just laughed and dragged him over to some racks stocked full of jeans.
"As quickly and as painlessly as possible," he answered. "What size do you think you are?"
A glance at Harry's bewildered expression answered that question. "Oh well. We'll just have to figure it out as we go along. Here try these on." Kurt tossed a few pairs of jeans at the overwhelmed teen and steered him in the direction of the change rooms.
The next hour was a blur of clothes and shirts. Harry was sure that Tonks had joined in the fun. Matt and Kurt swore they hadn't picked out at least two of the shirts that they ended up buying. Not to mention that at least twice someone had thrown ugly, flowered dresses into the change room, and Harry was fairly sure that it hadn't been one of the guys.
All three boys breathed a sigh of relief as they left the store behind. Harry was now armed with three pairs of jeans and several t-shirts. He also wore a pair of khaki shorts and a well fitting white t-shirt as they walked out to the bus stop. Matt had taken the liberty of donating Harry's old clothes to the thrift store while Harry wasn't watching.
Harry wouldn't be surprised if the thrift store burned the clothes instead of selling them.
"I'm going to have to get you started in weight lifting so you can fill in your new clothes better, Harry," teased Kurt.
"When do we start?" Harry surprised them by asking.
"Whenever you want," Kurt didn't hesitate in responding.
"Why aren't I invited?" Matt's indignant interruption made the other two grin.
"Saturday night, then. Both of you come over at, say, 6 o'clock? Sounds good?"
The younger boys nodded their assent as the bus came rattling up to the bus stop.
Nervousness curled tightly in Harry's belly on the night before the dance. He was going to be heading over to Tris' house in less than fifteen minutes, and he found himself unable to sit still. Thoughts of Tristan flickered continuously through his head, and he was helpless to stop them. She made him feel even more off balance that Cho ever did.
And, he reasoned, Tristan was a lot steadier than Cho was. She seemed a lot less likely to burst into tears, though Harry guessed that Cho had a pretty good reason to be unhappy.
But Tristan did something that Cho never did. She made him laugh, and in Harry's books, that went a long way. He needed someone to remind him that life could be funny, even through all the bad times.
But Tristan had never given him any indication that she liked him back, and Harry would be damned if he threw away their friendship over something that would probably never work out. He would rather have Tristan as a friend then not at all. The last thing he wanted was to make things awkward between them.
Finally Harry decided not to make a move on Tristan that night. It simply wasn't worth it. He would stick out the summer as her friend and nothing more.
He looked at the clock. Five more minutes till he had to go to Tristan's house. He went to inspect himself in the bathroom mirror for a fourth time. Nothing had changed. He groaned and gave up. This is ridiculous. He thought. I'm working myself into a frenzy just waiting here. I should go early. No one will care if I'm a bit before schedule.
Harry fairly flew from the Dursley's house to Tristan. Dudley and his parents were out that night at one of Dudley's boxing matches, so no one got in his way as he walked out the door.
Tristan answered the door when Harry knocked. She beamed at him and motioned for him to come in.
"We're gonna meet the gang at the park," she explained. "I've just got to grab a couple of things and we'll get going, 'kay?"
Harry nodded numbly, a smile playing on his lips. Tristan began to bound up the stairs before she suddenly turned to face him.
"What do you think, Harry? Do I look alright?" inquired Tristan.
"You look…great," Harry finished lamely. 'Great' didn't really do it justice, Harry decided. The jeans and halter top that she had chosen to wear were perfect on her, setting off every curve and making Harry itch to hold her close. Tristan seemed satisfied with his pathetic compliment though, and she flashed him a brilliant smile.
Tristan disappeared upstairs and her father greeted Harry from the kitchen. Harry ventured into the larger room to say hello.
David was playing a game of cards with his wife and was obviously losing badly, if her triumphant crowing was anything to go by.
"I'll win this one," David threatened. His cards were a hopeless mess, and he made an effort to correct them. "You just watch."
His wife ignored his efforts and proceeded to clean up, finishing the game with a victorious 'Huzzuh!' David sighed and gave up, choosing to talk to Harry instead.
"So your aunt and uncle caved in and let you go to the dance, eh?" he addressed Harry.
"Yep."
"Good. You need to get out with your friends more," he looked Harry up and down, commenting, "You've certainly changed for the better since the beginning of the summer. It looks like you're finally starting to gain some weight."
"I give all the credit for that to Ann," conceded Harry. "I don't know where I'd be without your cooking," he addressed the older woman.
"I love to help, dear. It's been a delight having you here," Ann waved the compliment off.
"O.K., I'm ready, Harry. What about you?" Tristan appeared in the doorway and leaned against the doorframe.
"Yeah, I'm coming," Harry headed over to her. David and Ann told them to enjoy themselves as they left, and began another game.
The music had already started when Harry and Tristan reached the park. It was loud and packed. Tables of food stood on the sidelines. That was where they found Del and the rest of the gang.
A warm greeting rose up from the large group. Del bounced up to them, licking some remaining sauce off her fingers. She grinned impishly at them and sidled up to Harry, making a dramatic show of hanging off him.
"Well, well, well. Look here, mates! Potter doesn't look so bad once you get some proper clothes on him!"
"I'm not sure that was a compliment," replied Harry dryly.
"There was one somewhere in there," Del told him. "I think."
Tristan moved forward to grab a couple of chips, and Del gestured to the dance floor. "Come dance with me, Har. Matt's being a prick and won't come out with me."
"No," Harry shook his head. "Trust me, I'm no good at dancing."
"Why are you here then? News flash, mate. This is a dance! Com'mon. Here's your chance to learn."
"No – I…" Harry continued to protest as the blonde dragged him onto the floor. Del immediately started instructing him. He was awkward and uncertain, not exactly sure of what to do. Del laughed and pulled him closer to her.
"Lighten up, Harry. You're never going to get the hang of it if you're tense like this the whole time. It's not that hard once you get the hang of it. Just relax, yeah?"
Harry sighed and tried to do what she told him. By the end of the second song he was actually starting to do fairly good.
"You know, the last time I went to a dance, I completely bombed it," he informed Del.
"Yeah?" she asked, eyes sparkling.
"Yeah," he snorted, remembering the fiasco that had mistakenly labeled 'the Yule Ball.' He always thought that 'Total and Complete Embarrassment Ball' would have been more appropriate. "My date abandoned me, my two best friends had a huge fight and by the end of the night my whole school had probably decided that I was, without doubt, a complete loser."
"Your date walked out on you?" Del laughed aloud at the thought.
Harry shook his head and laughed. "Yeah, but I can't really blame her. I was being a right little prick that night. I feel kind of sorry for her, now that I think about it."
"Well, I would say that if you don't want Tristan to walk out on you, you'd better go dance with her." Del grinned at Harry's slightly surprised expression. "And yes, I've seen the way you've been checking over my shoulder to make sure she hasn't gone anywhere. Harry, if you like her, you should go for it."
With those last few words, Del pulled away from the raven-haired boy and swung off to another partner. Harry took a deep breath and strode over to where Tristan was joking with the others. Every step felt like he was moving through waist deep water. When he finally reached her, it took every ounce of his courage to tap her on the shoulder and ask her to dance with him.
What's wrong with me? He thought furiously. It shouldn't be this hard! All I'm doing is asking her to dance. The worst she can do is say no. I mean, it's not like I'm kissing her or anything! He quickly shed that uninvited train of thought, and smiled when Tristan's acceptance cut through his haze of thoughts.
She took his hand and led him to the dance floor as – just his luck – a slow song came on.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Harry repeated the mantra in his head. Why me?
Tristan wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him. Harry felt his insides melt.
"Enjoy yourself so far?" she made a brave attempt at small talk.
"Er…yeah, it's been pretty neat." Harry answered. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two.
"Del was teaching me how to dance, earlier." Harry tried.
"I saw," came Tristan's terse response.
"So, maybe I won't embarrass you to badly in the nextfast song," he smiled at her and Tristan chuckled.
"I don't care how you dance," she declared, "as long as you actually dance. It's just not as fun at these things if you sit on the sidelines all night."
"No," agreed Harry. "Who would want to sit on the sidelines when they have a beautiful girl ready to dance with them?"
"Ohhh, Harry!" Tristan laughed. "That was smooth! Who taught you to talk like that?"
"Your brother, when he was done buying me a whole new wardrobe."
"Yeah, I heard about that! So you have a thing about flowered dresses, eh, Harry?" Tristan gave him a sly, sideways glance.
Harry groaned in frusteration. "That wasn't me, I swear! Someone was throwing them into the change room, OK? I personally think it was Matt," he confided.
"Sure, Harry."
"No, really!"
"Whatever," Tris gave him a knowing look and Harry shot her an exasperated one. Both broke into laughter a moment later, ruining the moment.
"Look," said Tristan, "I've gotta go to the bathroom. I'll catch you in a minute. Wait for me by the drinks?"
Harry nodded and she walked away as the song ended in the background. He ran a hand through his already messy hair and breathed out harshly. He'd only known Tris for a few weeks, but it was already incredibly hard to breath around her. And he couldn't figure out for the life of him how he was going to survive the rest of the night with her. He didn't realize just how much he liked her until she was dancing with him, her arms around his neck and her body pressed against his.
He mentally argued with himself all the way over to the table where drinks were being served. Erika, one of Tris' most recent friends came up beside him. She was a petit, pretty brunette with a bit of an attitude. She had dressed in a revealing mini skirt that showed off her legs, and a small tank top. Her belly button piercing glittered in the glow from the lights that had been set up all over the park.
"It's a good dance, isn't it?" she commented. Harry didn't know her very well, but made a bit of an effort to socialize with her.
"Yeah, it's pretty good," he allowed.
"This is a good song," she commented draining the last remaining drops of her drink. "Dance with me?"
"Er…sorry, but I'm just gonna wait for Tristan," Harry apologized.
"Oh, really, Harry. She's not going dance with you all night!" Erika's laughter rang in Harry's ears, and he found himself gritting his teeth against it's sound. Erika set her empty diet coke down on the table behind them. "She really likes Matt."
"Oh really?" Harry asked, feeling his heart dropping into his stomach.
"Hmmhm. At least, that's what she said to me the other day," Erika waved a dismissive hand in the air. "I'm sure that she wouldn't mind if you danced with me. Please? Don't be a bore, Harry."
Harry was torn – if Tristan really did like Matt, then he might be better off finding another partner. But one look at Erika and he knew that if he did find another person to dance with, it wouldn't be her. Simply standing next to the girl made his teeth ache.
"Maybe later, Erika. I'm just going to wait for Tristan for now. I don't think she'd be happy if I just took off on her." Harry was surprised at how cold is voice was.
"Oh, Harry…" protested Erika.
"No." It seemed like his voice had just crossed line from 'cold' to 'extraordinarily frigid.' Erika backed off, pouting.
"Alright, then. See you 'round, Harry."
Harry felt a wave of immense relief wash over him as the small girl walked away. She had given him a rather painful headache. Half of him was screaming with all it's might that she was just playing with him, and Tristan didn't like Matt, but the other part worried that Erika was right. After all, why would she lie to him?
Harry shifted from foot to foot as he waited and became increasingly anxious when Tristan didn't come back. Surely it didn't take that long to go to the loo!
Harry finally yielded to his misgivings and left his post to search for Tris. He wove towards the washrooms, keeping his eyes open. He walked around the building to the other side where the entrance to the ladies' door was, but stopped before he turned the corner. Tristan's voice wafted over to where he was standing. He could hear her clearly from his position.
"…And, damn, Del! I just can't do this! It's insane. I like him so much, and I have absolutely no idea if he likes me back! It's driving me crazy!" Tris sounded a bit hysterical.
Harry could feel blood pounding in his ears. He leaned against the building's brick wall and focused on their conversation. Was Tris talking about Matt or…someone else?
"Relax, Tris. He definitely likes you." Del sounded like she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she was right.
"You can't just say that, Del! You don't know for sure."
"Tris, if you could hear the way Matt talks…"
Harry felt as though someone had punched him in the gut, reached right into his body, and ripped out his stomach. Disappointment welled up inside him and he rubbed his eyes tiredly. He tuned back into their conversation after what felt like years, though it had probably only been a few seconds.
"…won't say anything, but even Kurt's caught on. His face is like an open book," Del was saying.
"But if he hasn't said anything to anyone, youcan't know. I mean, he's great, but he keeps to himself so much. There's still so much I don't know about him. We haven't even touched the subject of how his parents died!"
Harry frowned. He wasn't sure, but he thought that Matt's parents were both alive. But what did he know. Up till two weeks ago he hadn't talked to the other boy for years. Anything could have happened.
"First of all, Tris, you've got to slow down!" Del cautioned. "You've only know him for a little over two weeks! Give it some time. And the death of his parents has to be a really touchy subject for him. He'll talk to you about things like that when he's ready."
"I know…It's just-"
"Listen, Harry's always kept to himself. Even in primary school, he kept himself apart from everyone else. That could, of course, have been Dudley Dursley's fault, but the fact is that he comes to you in his own time. Be patient."
"I guess…"
"I know," said Del firmly. Tris sighed.
"O.K." Tris finally answered. "Thanks, Del. I really need to be getting back. Harry'll be wondering where I went. Later."
Harry ducked away and quickly made for the table where he had been standing. His heart was pounding in his ears, and his heart felt like it was doing the can-can in his chest. She liked him. Tristan really and truly liked him. He felt like yelling in joy, except that there were about a million people standing around him.
Tristan came tearing up to him. "Harry, I'm so sorry that I took so long. I ran into Del, and we started talking and-"
"It's okay," Harry stopped her. "I did wonder where you were, though. I was about to go looking for you." He smiled at her and noticed a slight blush on her cheeks. Why didn't I notice that before? He wondered.
"Dance?" He suggested. Tristan nodded and took his offered hand. A song that was well known to them began to play, and they grinned at each other. Harry couldn't begin to count the number of times that they had played that3 Doors Down CD. Tristan took hold of Harry's arms and they began to dance, singing along with the song.
Show me the road and I will find my own/ You build the bridges and I burn them down
Harry laughed at Tristan's off tune singing, grinning when she whacked him jokingly on the arm.
…But you won't know now and I won't tell/ You're always hiding, throwing up your hands while heroes ride again
The dance floor was packed; it seemed like everyone there had decided to dance for this song. Harry caught the sight of Erika dancing with a guy on the other side of the dance floor and laughed at the disgruntled look on her face.
…But I love this life that I'm live'n in/ I won't looked back to regret yesterday/ We're not handed tomorrow so I'll live for today!
Tristan tripped and fell forward into Harry. He caught her before she tipped over completely. She wound her fingers into his shirt to steady herself more, raising a flushed and smiling face up to Harry. He choked on his breath at the sight of her. The crowd and the momentum of her fall had pressed her into him, and her face was about one inch from his own.
…I'll take the chance before the chance has gone/ You never know when it'll be your last…
Harry gathered all of his courage and jumped headfirst before he could change his mind. He might never have this kind of chance again, and he'd be damned if he was going to give it up. Without a second thought he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, revelling in the moment.
They broke apart moments later. Tristan searched his face and suddenly a giggle escaped her mouth. Harry was horrified for a moment. I am that bad of a kisser?
But a second later, Tristan was leaning in again to claim a second kiss. Harry pulled her even closer to him. Everything around them faded into the background.
…We'll never say it but we're over our heads/ And we're drowning in all inside all these things we said…
When they came up for air a second time, a loud cheer distracted them from each other. Their entire group of friends stood on the sidelines, watching and cheering them on. Harry vaguely noticed that Roy was handing over some coins to Del, and that Matt had an incredibly smug smile on his face. Tristan went beet red and hid her face in Harry's shoulder. Harry grinned at the group and whisked Tristan away from the group of spies, further into the crowd.
…I won't look back to regret yesterday/ We're not handed tomorrow so I'll live for today!
O.K., yes, I admit it was cheesy, but it was some pretty darn good cheese, eh? Right? You know that fluff is good!
Don't worry. If things work out the way I want them to, the next chapter should be chock full of angst for poor Harry.
And don't you appreciate that this chapter was fully double the size of the others? I actually considered splitting this in half, but it didn't work with my chapter outline to do that. Unfortunately, this extra long chapter will have to tide you over for the next two weeks, because 1) the next chapter will be much harder to write and 2) exams are nearly upon us! (I should actually be studying right now, but I'm doing this instead)
Sooooo, I will be seeing you!
Smile;)
Jasperite
Next Chapter: Landing in London