I did say I was gonna continue with this, eh? :D When I started this, I never thought it would take this long to finish. And there's so much more to come, I don't even want to guess at when this is gonna be done. But it's fun, because I can actually see my progress with writing and English just by reading this story. Though I still shudder at the typos I've done, and still do. ^^'
Warnings: None that I know of.
Disclaimer: If I owned these characters, I wouldn't have let HP end at 7 books. No way. And it would be much more fail. Blah.
So, enjoy this lame chapter. I promise things will get more interesting from now on.
The next day one could find a reluctant Johnny being dragged around in the streets of London by Harry, who had a determinant look on his face.
"But Harry, why do I have to cut my hair? I like it this way!" Johnny cried out, a small pout on his lips.
Harry didn't even bother to look back at his friend as he pushed his way through the crowd of people. "Because it doesn't look good on you. Believe me, you'll look ten thousands times better when we're done, okay? Besides, your hair almost burst into flames during chemistry, just because you were too damn stubborn to put it into a ponytail." Johnny chose not answer his friend and instead tried to make himself as heavy to drag as possible. Which really didn't work because Harry was stronger than he looked.
When Harry finally found a reasonable hair saloon he let out a triumphant yell and pushed his friend inside. Johnny stumbled through the threshold and glared at his friend for being so rough with him. The glare went unnoticed as Harry turned to talk with one of the hair dressers; unfortunately for Johnny, the saloon was almost empty and they didn't have any more booked costumers for the day. So not even 5 minutes later, Johnny found himself sitting on one of the padded chairs while the hair dresser worked on his hair. He had closed his eyes, not wanting to see when the hair he had carefully saved was being cut off strand by strand. He could practically feel Harry's smug face and Johnny cursed himself for not being able to say no to his friend.
But 20 minutes later the hair dresser was done and Johnny was forced to open his eyes. Completely taken by surprise, he just stared at his own reflection with his mouth open. The person looking back at him hardly looked like himself. The hair dresser had gotten completely free hands and she had decided to spare the poor devastated boy and not cut it too short. The hair in his front gently grazed his jaw, with the bangs hanging just above his eyes. The hair in the back was slightly shorter than Harry's, but it made his shoulders look broader and manlier.
"Really nice, Johnny", Harry commented from his side; looking up, Johnny saw that his friend was watching him with sparkling eyes. "You look good like that."
Johnny couldn't stop himself from grinning like crazy as he happily thanked the hair dresser while Harry went to pay for the cut.
Stepping outside of the saloon, Harry stopped Johnny from moving another inch by standing in front of him. The taller of the two just looked at his friend with a questioning look, but received no explanation. Instead, Harry just stared at his hair, his face, down to his neck and shoulders and then back up again. His eyes were glittering again as he turned his gaze back to Johnny's face. It made Johnny's breath quicken slightly and he found himself unable to turn his gaze away from his friend.
Harry looked back into his eyes, the corners of his mouth slightly turned upwards. "You really do look great", he said. "I'm thankful to you for letting me do this, Johnny. It means a lot to me that you trust me this much. Even though you're a real pain in the arse when you feel like complaining." Harry was full out grinning now and Johnny couldn't help but to smile back.
"I think I should listen to you more often. This hairstyle really suits me." He ran a hand through his hair, astonished by how short it really was. He hadn't cut his hair for at least two year, and it was somehow relieving. Like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
He made up his mind on their way back home.
Johnny stared at the phone in his hand, still debating whether this was the right thing to do. Harry's smile flashed inside his mind, and he dialled the number he had almost started to forget by now.
He heard the phone beep four times, before someone answered.
"Hello, Steve speaking."
Johnny smiled at the familiar voice. "Hiya, Steve. It's Johnny."
"Well I be damned, it really is you! Where have you been hiding, you little brat? London keeping you busy?" Steve asked, amusement clear in his voice.
"You bet", Johnny answered him. His smile faltered slightly as he asked, "Is Kate in?"
"Yeah, though I think I'm much more interesting to speak to than she is. Hold on just a second." Johnny could hear Steve shout for his little sister and he nervously bit his bottom lip. Did he really have to do this?
"Hey, Johnny!" Kate said cheerfully.
Johnny allowed himself a small smile. "Hiya Kate."
"You know, I was wondering when you were gonna call. You never left your new number before moving."
He mentally slapped himself. He knew he had forgotten something. "I'm sorry, I've been kinda… busy here. New school and all." He could practically hear Kate nodding her head.
"Yeah, I know. It's okay, I knew you'd call sooner or later", she said, sounding slightly amused. "How are things going in London? It must be huge comparing to this town. You got any new friends?"
The image of Harry and Hermione laughing at Ron, who had someone managed to tip his full of food over one of their teachers fluttered through his eyes and he grinned. "Yeah, some great friends too. I think you'd like if you ever met them, Kate."
She hummed. "I don't doubt it, Johnny. If you like them, I'd like them too."
Silence reigned between them after that, both waiting for the words neither of them could say, 'I've missed you.'
Johnny cleared his throat, almost thinking of backing out. But he couldn't. "Look Kate, I called for a reason other than too see how you are. I've been thinking and-"
"If this is about us breaking up, I'm okay with that", she said, cutting him off. Johnny spluttered before getting control of himself.
"You knew?"
She snorted. "Of course I knew, Johnny. I've known you since forever. You didn't call for ages, and you've never come to visit. Clearly you've moved on. And I'm okay with that, because I can feel even now that we've grown apart." She was silent for a moment before continuing in a softer tone. "You don't need me anymore, Johnny. At least not as a girlfriend, and I don't want to be a burden."
"You're not a burden, Kate", he said, and he heard her sigh on the other line. "No, really. I haven't called because I knew this would be the outcome and I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't ready to leave me old life."
"But you are now." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"Yeah, I am. I'm sorry, Kate. I know we said we'd make it work, but…"
"I know", she said, and Johnny smiled softly. It was amazing how she knew him so well. "Promise me one thing though." He nodded though he knew she couldn't see it. "Promise we'll still stay as friends?"
"Always", he promised.
"Good", she said, and he could her smirk. "Now tell me everything that's happened since you left."
Comments are appreciated :D
