The rest of the school year passed in the blink of eye – since no one had to cram for exams, it was all fun all the time. George and Polly had spent little time together having fun, since Polly was trying to catch up on everything she'd missed while in the hospital. George wanted her to relax, but at least she was doing the work while in school and not during summer vacation.
Even just sitting with her in the library, made him feel like he was whole once again. There was no more missing piece, sitting uncomfortably in his chest.
Justin would typically accompany them in the library, because he too had missed quite a few classes – but not even half as much as Polly. She was behind months. They were giving her the summer to get the marks she needed to pass her classes and move onto the next. It was boring, but it had to be done.
"It didn't hurt, right?" George had asked the next day. Justin and Polly looked up from their books.
"No, it was scary – finding Colin like that, but I didn't feel a thing. Except the little cut on my hand, but what can I do about that?" She held up her hand, the wound looking as if it had happened yesterday. It was hard to heal when your skin was literally porcelain... and your heart wasn't beating. "The real question is: if the sword had cut off one of my fingers, would the finger also be petrified or would it continue as a separate entity entirely? Would it die?"
"Stop it," George said, giggling. "I was worried you were in pain."
"It's all over now, there's no need to worry anymore."
"Hard to act like it didn't happen," George mumbled.
The conversation lulled to an end. Polly really didn't want her summer to be wasted away on school work, so the more she could get done: the better. She was currently working on all her Transfiguration work, since she was pretty good at that she could get the course done quickly. Then she would move onto potions, since she would need the ingredients from the room for a few of the assignments. Snape was unusually willing to watch over her as she did her potions. It was pleasantly out of character.
Essay writing was never her favourite. She had the smallest writing, and making it bigger for the sake of space just didn't seem like a viable option. She would have to consistently think about her handwriting, and that would make the work take even longer.
Justin packed in his books before Polly did, leaving George and her alone at the table. He didn't quite have the drive to get everything done that Polly had. George took the opportunity to lay his head on her lap and close his eyes. She smiled, but just carried on with her work.
The rest of the school year seemed to progress that way. Classes, followed by hours at the library – only joined by Justin and Fred half of the time. They both hated the boring afternoon of working, when exams were cancelled anyway. But Polly wanted to be able to learn everything she's missed. She'd already missed eleven years of studying magic.
It was when they were on the train heading back from school did George finally put his foot down to make Polly stop working.
"We'll be apart for who knows how long? Can we spend these next few hours together, please?"
"Yes," Polly had said, putting down her book. "That sounds reasonable."
Now, Polly was sitting at her desk at home, working on a small letter the Fred and George, just to remind them to get their own summer work done before Polly came to visit next month, so if they got stuck on anything, she could try to help.
Polly was already missing them dearly. And break had only just begun. George and Polly had kept up a very frequent correspondence. She told him the important bits of what was going on in her life, and he told her all about the burrow, and what was going on. She loved that whole family. What an interesting life it must be to be part of the Weasley crew. But Polly wouldn't trade her own family for the world, she loved them.
With only half a page filled and nothing else interesting to write, Polly went downstairs looking for something to do that didn't involve any kind of homework. She'd had her fill of that for a while. The weather outside was absolutely gorgeous. There were a few big, puffy clouds, but for the most part it was a big blue sky accompanied by a nice breeze and lots of warmth. Polly decided to give Angelina a ring, and see if she would like to take a trip down the street to swim in the pool. The water looking so inviting out of the kitchen window as the phone rang in her ear that she almost hung up and jumped right in without changing.
After a brief conversation, Angelina said she would be right over. Polly quickly got into her bathing suit, grabbed a towel from the closet, and went out side with a can of Cola. She brought a second for Angelina.
It was only eleven o'clock in the morning, and Polly's parents were both out at work, so they had hours to splash around and hangout before dinner. After setting her towel on a deck chair, she cracked open the drink, taking a sip. When the breeze wasn't blowing, she felt like she could melt.
"Hello, hello," a voice said from the side of the house. Angelina was making her way around.
"Just come 'round back," Polly said, taking another sip. She set the can down in a cup holder.
"Glad to have a friend with a pool," Angelina said, walking through the gate. She clicked it shut behind her. "It's boiling out here." Angelina had her towel slung over her shoulder, and a loose shirt and some jeans on. Polly was already wearing nothing but her bathing suit.
"It's open to you anytime," Polly said, smiling. "There's a cola for you in that cup holder there, and you can undress in the bathroom inside if you want."
"No need, my bathing suit is under my clothes anyway." Angelina took off her pants and shirt, and made a run for the pool, jumping in and splashing Polly with the cool water. "Ah," she said as she resurfaced. "Perfect."
For the next couple of hours, Angelina and Polly switched between sitting around on the deck and splashing around in the pool. The cold water was a blessing in the summer heat.
Now, the girls were sitting on the lawn chairs, drinking their second cola each and soaking up some of the sun. They were just chatting about what they'd been up to this summer. Angelina and Polly hadn't really done much together yet, because Polly had been so caught up in her studies. But she'd figured she needed to have some fun. Angelina and Polly planned to get together to work on the actual summer homework together, but they had to wait for Polly to catch up first.
"Polly? Are you outside?" her mother called, she peered out the kitchen window. "Oh, well hello Angelina, lovely to see you."
"Hello Mrs. Samuel," Angelina said politely.
"What are you girls up to? Taking a dip in the pool?"
"That's what we've been doing on and off today, too hot to do much else," Polly said, smiling.
"Well, that's why we got the pool in the first place. Angelina honey, will you be joining us for dinner?"
"Oh, not tonight. My mom's been cooking a pork roast all day and it smelled wonderful when I left." Angelina smiled nicely.
"Well, maybe next time. Anyway, you girls have fun." Polly's mom walked away from the kitchen window to go sit in the den with a book.
Angelina and Polly spent a great deal of time together over the course of July, and the beginning of August. Almost everyday Polly would work for a few hours, then Angelina would come over for a few hours, and they'd separate around five. Sometimes Angelina stayed for dinner and sometimes they went to the diner a few blocks away. But mostly they enjoyed the luxury of a private pool.
It wasn't until the middle of August, that things started going even better for Polly. She didn't have to do anymore schoolwork until September. It may only be two weeks, but she had scheduled work up until the day before. She was quicker than she gave herself credit for. So for two weeks, Polly and Angelina could be up in time to catch a ride from one of their parents. One day they went bowling, and the next to a movie. Sometimes they would even go just the the park. And hangout on the swing.
But nothing compared to Polly's backyard paradise on a sunny day.
On the last Tuesday before school started, the girls were stuck inside. The rain was pounding on the windows with terrible force. It was as if the rain was trying to break the glasses. But the girls weren't bothered. They made themselves some hot chocolate and ate some leftover chocolate cake from her Angelina's fathers birthday party a few days ago, and they played board games. The rain sounded rather soothing as it hit the glass.
"So, you're not going to the burrow at all this summer? I thought you were supposed to go last week," Angelina said, rolling the dice. They were playing monopoly.
"I was supposed to go, that's the plan we made at the beginning of summer. But then Arthur won that prize, and they went on vacation... but we'll see them tomorrow at Diagon Alley. You're still coming with us, right?"
"Yep, that's not a bother for your parents, right?"
"I should hardly think so," Polly said, taking her turn. "I don't even think they're coming around this year with us. I think they're going to tour around on their own."
"That would make sense, they trusted you to the Weasley's last year," Angelina said.
"Exactly," Polly said, landing in jail for the fourth time. "And besides, it's not like you haven't been here almost every day."
"Don't be lippy with me just because you keep going to jail," Angelina said, laughing.
"It's not even fair, this game is rigged," Polly said, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. She nearly fell and grabbed the ledge of the table quick enough to correct herself. Angelina just laughed. "Oh, forget you."
Because they were going to have an early morning, Angelina and Polly had planned a sleepover. They'd rented a few videos, and made three bags of buttery popcorn. They'd only stayed up until about ten, but that whole time seemed more exciting than all the days they'd spent together in the summer. It was irrational, sure, but they didn't care.
In the very early hours of the morning, Angelina accidentally woke Polly up when she tripped over her while trying to get to the bathroom. Polly sat up, and rubbed her eyes. The clock on her wall read five am. A whole two hours before they actually had to be up. Polly laid back down for another twenty minutes, but couldn't find herself falling asleep. So she stayed awake.
She saw on her desk another letter from George. Errol must have brought it in the earliest hours of the morning, because he was fast asleep on her desk. Her own owl, Peggy, was absolutely unimpressed with the messier bird sleeping next to her. The letter from George was just him confirming that he would meet her and Angelina tomorrow, and he mentioned that he missed her very, very much, and he couldn't wait to see her.
"From George?" Angelina asked from the doorway. She yawned as she spoke.
"Yeah, they're going to meet us outside Gringotts around ten," Polly said, putting the letter in the top drawer of her desk. That's where she kept all of her letters from George.
"Uhm, what was that?" Angelina got closer to Polly.
"What was what?" Polly asked, snapping the drawer closed. She die of embarrassment if Angelina found out about her hoarding the letters. It seemed so obsessive.
"In your desk there," Angelina said, creeping even closer. "Lemme see."
"Nothing in there but the beginnings of essays I didn't like," Polly said.
"You hate clutter."
"I might use them in the future," Polly said, leaning against the desk to block Angelina.
"You hate hoarding."
"I don't think I'm as full of hate as you make me out to be." Polly swallowed.
"Fine, don't show me," Angelina said, raising her arms. "I would never invade your privacy."
Polly let out a breath, and a sheepish smile before easing against the wooden fixture. She was a dope. Because the moment Polly's guard was down, Angelina pounced, easily pushing Polly to the side and ripping open the drawer. She stopped laughing when she realized that they were all the letters she'd kept from her summer long conversation with George.
"Polly, don't be embarassed about this. It's very sweet," Angelina said. "If someone complimented me this way, I'd keep them too."
"It's dorky," Polly said, snatching the letter out of Angelina's hand and placing it carefully on the top of the pile.
"Fred has only written me twice, you know. Lee has written me twenty-six times. You're getting the right amount of attention, from the guy you want. Brag about it! I would've happily gushed about this with you. In fact, I've been letting you off the hook for months about George, but when we have to a few hours before we have to go, so I'm reeling in. Tell me all about it. Tell me how you feel."
"You really want to hear about it?"
"Yes, I really want to know about it." Angelina patted the spot next to her on the bed. "Let's chat."
"Well, I don't know exactly. I mean, every time I see him my stomach feels fuzzy. And I always feel so content whenever I'm around him, I've never really described it before. I guess I would describe it as the pool, on a really hot day. He's just so sweet, and caring, and he makes me laugh until my stomach hurts."
"Have you guys gone on a date at all?"
"No," Polly said, thinking about it for the first time. "I guess we haven't. I mean, we kissed once and that was great."
"So you like him?"
"I really, really do."