Chloe hated a lot about herself, but currently it was her inability to kill the pigs on Angry Birds that she hated most about herself. She cursed her phone and chucked it across her bedroom before rolling off of her bed and fetching it again.
"Chloe, dear, are you alright?" asked her father from downstairs. She heard his footsteps stomping up the stairs and quickly snatched her phone from off the ground next to her and jumped back onto her bed.
"I'm fine, dad."
He opened her door a crack, sticking his head in. He was young for a father, and quite handsome. Chloe resembled him quite a bit; her eyes, her ears, her thin neck - all of those were his as well as hers. "You sounded quite upset when you cursed and chucked something against your wall."
Chloe couldn't suppress her grin. "All's well, dad. Thanks for checking up." She turned off her phone. "Have you walked Hero yet?" she asked.
"No," said her father hesitantly. Then, defensively: "But I was getting to it!"
Chloe laughed. "I'll do it, dad. I wanted to go for a walk anyway."
"Thank you, darling," her father said with a smile before stomping back down the stairs.
Chloe got up, shoving her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. She loved her dad, but sometimes...sometimes he was just so lazy. And he forgot things rather quickly. It was a wonder he hadn't yet forgotten important business meetings. She climbed down the stairs and attached a leash to her beautiful dog, Hero.
Hero was one of the reasons Chloe had stayed with her father after the divorce. While her older sister and mother had moved back to Arizona in the United States, Chloe had remained in Britain with her father. Her mother had tried to convince Chloe to stay with her multiple times, claiming that the Anderson Womens' Bond wouldn't be as strong without her there, but Chloe had been firm in her decision: she was to stay with Hero, and Hero was to stay with Mr. Anderson.
"Come on, you beautiful Hero," she said, fastening the black leather onto the collar around the dog's neck. Hero wimpered. "I don't like this bloody leash either, honey, but we have to do it," said Chloe softly. She led the dog outside.
It was wet and gloomy outside, telling Chloe that it had just rained. She slipped on her coat and resumed her promenade, Hero next to her.
"So where do you want to go, Hero?" asked Chloe once the pair reached the end of their street. "The park?" Hero barked adorably. Chloe grinned. "Okay then," she cooed, and headed in the direction of the park.
It was a fifteen minute walk to the abandoned playground. The swings were wet, and the slides. Chloe wiped the swing seat off before sitting herself down on it, Hero's leash still in her hand. The dog in question pounced onto her lap and she petted him. "Aren't you precious, Hero? I love you." Chloe grinned into Hero's fur. "Do you love me, too?"
"Yes, I do, actually," said a very human voice.
Chloe jumped, her head snapping up to the source of the noise. "Oh, it's you," she said, placing a hand on her heart and looking up at James.
He grinned his dimpled smile. "It's me."
Chloe nuzzled her head back into Hero's damp fur. "What do you want?" she asked. She didn't mean for it to sound mean, but it ended up rude anyway. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean it rudely."
James looked surprised that she apologised. "No problem," he said right away. "Did you know that we know each other?"
Chloe snorted and raised her head from her dog once again. "Really, James? I know who you are? How strange!"
James rolled his warm brown eyes and chuckled. "I mean we knew each other before I gave you that condom."
"Hmm...from where? I don't recall meeting you before condoms."
The raven-haired boy snorted. "You used to play a lot with my little sister."
"Really? What's her name? I didn't even know you had a little sister."
"Lily."
"Oh my god! You can't be James Potter related to Lily!" Chloe laughed for a few moments, until her stomach hurt a bit and her face was beginning to turn a slight rosy colour. She sighed. "You've changed so much, James!" She chuckled again.
James looked at her on the swing with her dog on her lap and couldn't help but smile. She was breathtaking. "So've you! I mean...look at you!"
Chloe's face suddenly turned crimson. "I...well, how's the family?"
"Fantastic, as always," replied James smoothly, smirking at Chloe's embarassment. "Lily's studying to become a nurse, and Al's going to propose to his girlfriend soon, we think."
"That's wonderful, James," said Chloe. She shook her head a bit again. "Can I meet them again? It's been...what, eight years now? Nine? How on earth did you recognise me?"
"You're different, Chloe, but you're not that different. I can still, y'know, recognise someone my little sister spent all her time with eight years ago."
"Yes..." Chloe's eyebrows furrowed together suddenly. "Why did you leave the school? I was left all alone!" She chuckled a bit.
James laughed openly. "Poor Chloe...did you say you wanted to meet the family again?" he asked, subtly changing the subject.
Chloe nodded and addressed Hero. "What d'you say, Hero? You want to go see Lily again? Perhaps she knows where we hid Lionel the Ken doll, yeah?" Hero barked. "Alright, let's go." Hero jumped off of Chloe's lap and James, Chloe and Hero made their way back to their street and to James' house, just three away from Chloe's.
"Mum!" called James. "Do you remember Chloe?"
A flustered Ginny Weasley answered the door with a sigh. "James, I've not clue who - Ohhhhhhhhh. Hello, dear!" She ushered her son and Chloe into the house, even allowing Hero to enter. "I'm Mrs. Potter, James' mother. You must be Chloe!"
Chloe laughed nervously and James glared at his mother. "Heh, my mom says that to everyone," he tried to cover.
The brunette just raised her eyebrow and shook her head, suppressing a smirk.
"Lily! Al! I've brought a surprise for you!" shouted James up the staircase once he and Chloe entered the living room.
Immediately, a red-haired woman who couldn't be older than twenty shot down the stairs at terrific speed on a broom. She threw herself off of the broom and stood in front of James before looking around the room curiously. Her eyes landed on a stunned Chloe, whose jaw was wide open.
"Um..." Lily trailed off and chuckled nervously.
"She's just embarassed because she still jumps down the staircase and pretends to fly," said a smooth voice behind Lily, who moved over a couple of steps, revealing what was undoubtedly James' younger brother.
Chloe snorted. "I used to do that too...when I was six."
Lily exhaled, relieved. "Ha! I totally remember that. We used to do that together!"
Chloe shook her head. "I can't believe how much you've changed!" she exclaimed. "Are you seeing anyone?" she asked suggestively.
James interrupted with a snort: "No. Why would anyone want to date Lilykins?"
Lily stuck her tongue out at her brother. Albus looked on at the scene with vague interest. Lily grabbed Chloe's hand. "I know it's been forever, but we simply must catch up. Come to my room, we can talk safely there." Lily eyed her brothers suspiciously before dragging the brunette up the stairs and to her room, leaving Albus and James alone in the living room.
"Where's Fred?" asked James to Albus, referring to their cousin. Fred was practically their brother, given the time the three boys spent together. The entire Potter-Weasley clan was rather close. Some people thought it was strange, but everyone was everyone's friend in that family. There were fights, of course: family strifes were inevitable - however, the large family managed to make do relatively peacefully.
"Right here, mate," said Fred, appearing right behind James and making the raven-haired boy jump.
"You remember Chloe Anderson, right?" asked Albus.
Fred thought a moment. "I think we pranked her a right lot when we were kids, yeah?"
James grinned and nodded. "Yeah. She's here. For the summer, at least. She's actually in this house right now."
"Is she really? It's been...what, eight years? Nine?"
"She's all grown up now."
"Perfect. Let the pranking resume."
"Nope," said Chloe, descending the stairs gracefully with Lily. "I don't want to be pranked, thank you very much. I was victim to your immaturity prior to age eleven, and I don't look forward to being subject to that humilitaion again now that I'm nineteen."
"You're twenty and twenty-one," said Lily to Fred, Albus and James, shaking her head. "Shouldn't you be over the pranking phase by now?"
"Never, love," grinned Fred and James at the same time.
Albus adjusted his glasses on his nose. "Any of you lot seen Audrey today?"
"Who's Audrey?" asked Chloe.
"Albus' future wife," three voices chorused while Albus beamed proudly. James added: "If he ever mucks up the courage to ask her."
Chloe smiled gently. "Aw, that's adorable. How are you going to ask her?"
Her question was met with silence, and just as Chloe was going ask why, a voice behind her asked a different question entirely. "Really, Albus?" Chloe twirled around to see the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. She had auburn hair and beautiful bright blue eyes. She was tall and thin and wore a simple black dress. This was Audrey, no doubt, and she'd heard everything.
Albus spoke up. "Yes." He pulled a piece of paper and a small, black box out of the pocket of his jeans. "Carried these around, just in case the moment ever came," he muttered. "Silly."
Chloe stepped back, allowing Audrey to be in the center of the circle they had unconsciously formed. Audrey gasped when Albus opened the box.
"Audrey, I didn't know when to do this, or what to say, so I wrote it out ahead of time." James snorted, and Albus continued: "I meant to memorise it, but you like things in writing better anyway..." Albus handed Audrey the small slip of paper.
Audrey looked at it cosely for a moment before a tear dropped down her face. She nodded her head, beaming. Then she stepped closer to Albus and kissed him.
Fred wolf-whistled and Chloe and Lily looked on with smiles. James was smirking. Albus and Audrey broke apart, and the entire surrounding group broke out into laughter and cheers.
"Congratulations Audrey and Albus!" shouted James, pulling out his wand. He restored it into his pocket quickly after receiving a strange look from Chloe. "Stupid sticks, dunno how those got in here..."
"So," said Audrey to Chloe an hour later, her face glowing, "we've never met. But I hear you're James' object of affection at the current moment?" The entire Weasley-Potter clan was currently in the Potters' living room celebrating Albus and Audrey.
Chloe snorted. "No, I'm sorry to say that you are sorely mistaken. We're just...friends, I think. If even that. But how about you! What do you do, Audrey?"
"I'm a journalist," she said, grinning. "I write about sports, actually."
"Oh, which sport?" asked Chloe, genuinely interested. "Which paper do you write for?"
Audrey smiled at her, thinking up a good topic-changer. "Never mind me!" she laughed. "What about you? What do you do? What do you want to do, if that's not the same question as the previous one?"
Chloe grinned. "I'd love to become a nurse, like Lily. I love helping people, you see, even if I don't act like it all the time." She chuckled. "Right now I work at a supermarket, actually. But I'm returning to nursing school in the fall."
Audrey laughed. "Well check you out!" she said. "Pun absolutely intended."
Chloe laughed. "Yes, got to love grocery store puns."
"Those have no expiration date for when they'll become unfunny!" said James, joining their conversation. He laughed at his own joke.
"That one just failed, James," said Audrey.
"Miserably," agreed Chloe with a chuckle. James was obviously drunk, even if only slightly. It was only seven in the afternoon and he'd already had too much to drink in the hour that the Potter-Weasley clan had arrived.
"Alright, alright," said James sourly. "I'll come up with another one." He thought a moment before a grin broke out onto his face. "Chloe, beautiful, fair, wonderful Chloe!"
Chloe blushed and tried to suppress her giggles. Audrey was laughing openly. James had attracted Fred and Lily's attention by then, and a few other family members were staring at him strangely.
"Darling Chloe, will you go out on an expiration date with me?"
Lily cracked up, and Fred slapped James in the back of the head. Chloe raised her eyebrows. "That was pathetic," she said, smiling.
"Pathetic enough to work?" asked James charmingly, pouting slightly.
"I suppose I could find time to go on an expiration date with you," said Chloe, sighing dramatically but grinning nonetheless.
"My love for you shall never expire!" exclaimed James.
"You are drunk," said Lily simply, dragging him up the stairs and away from a laughing Chloe.
Chloe returned home soon after James was dragged upstairs.
"Hello, dad!" she shouted. "I'm home!"
"Chloe darling! There you are. It's been nearly three hours! You right near gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry, dad," she said. She untied Hero from his leash and made her way upstairs, pulling out her phone and preparing herself to play Angry Birds again. But even when she lost, she didn't swear, nor did she chuck her phone at the wall. She just grinned, remembering James' face when he asked her on that expiration date. She put her phone down and laid her head back on her pillow, feeling stupid and girlish, but loving the feeling nonetheless.
Hey! I'm loving the feedback I'm getting so far! Thank you all so much.
HUGE thanks to my reviewers for chapter one: lovely42 (I usually update rather quickly, but lately I've been slacking), Rani Jashalithie (I'm glad you like it so far!), and Megii of Mysteri OusStranger (yay, I'm glad you like it! Yes, it's way different from the other story, haha.)!
Reviews are better than grocery store puns! :)
Love,
Clash.