Chapter 13

Christmas morning was bright and cold. The sun was shining and when I was indoors it gave the illusion that it was much warmer out then it truly was. I discovered this when I went out to sit on the porch and drink a cup of tea after presents had been opened, I quickly dashed back inside and haven't returned since. Instead I seated myself in one of my grandmothers squishy armchairs that she has tucked away in her living room. This room has a few perks. One. The chairs are the most amazingly comfortable chairs in the world. To quote Patrick " Its like they snuggle you into them." Once you sit down you're never going to want to leave. Two. It had the best view of the ocean, well besides Nanas room and the dining room. Three. Hardly anyone ever used this room. It was small and somewhat cramped. Besides sneaking off for a nap after lunch it wasn't used for much. Considering it was to chilly for me to sit outside I came to this room to clear my thoughts.

Opening presents held more then one surprise.

Of course Ryan was surprised when she opened her present from me, a box with a Quidditch ticket replica and a folded note inside inviting her to come with me to the Potters to watch the Quidditch match. After reading it she promptly let out a shriek that only bats can hear and grabbed me around the neck pulling me into a tight hug. Needless to say she was over the moon with excitement.

Nana it seemed surprised us all. For the first time since I can remember she's coming to England over the summer holidays. Mum burst into tears when Nana told us. Mum has been following Nana around all morning planning with her. Telling her about all the sights they're going to visit, the things they're going to go do, and all that jazz. I'm looking forward to her visit but we have six months until she comes no need to be pestering Nana about how green England is in the summer.

And I, although no one else knows it, received a surprise. For the first time in seven years Al had sent me a gift. It wasn't anything large or anything. In fact its quite common but still we had never exchanged gifts before. When I first started opening it I thought it was another present from Rose, the fact that my present from her and my present from him were wrapped in the same paper made this thought entirely possible at the time, but instead of finding some sweets or a book or something from her Uncles joke shop I found a round glass ball, about the size of a globe. Curious I lifted it up, I was expecting it to be heavy on the contrary it seemed to be as light as air. Underneath it was a note.

Happy Christmas Riley,

I know how much you enjoy looking at the night sky and I thought you would enjoy this. Just tap it twice with your wand to turn it on. Now you can carry the stars wherever you go.

Al

P.S. Its enchanted so that even it you drop it, it won't brake.

Good thing Al placed the enchantment on it because as soon as I read whom it was from it almost slipped out of my hands. When I had finished reading the note I gently set it back in its package. I wanted to see what it was. How could I carry the stars around with me? I knew I would have to test it out in my room. Mum would never let me do magic in front of everyone. Once presents were opened, and Ryan had let me go so she could tell her friend Lara, I quickly went to my room eager to see what Al's present did. I dug my wand out of my knapsack and then following Al's instructions I tapped the glass ball twice. Instantly the ball darkened and millions of pinpricks of lights appeared. I gasped. It was the night sky and all the stars. I discovered that if I tapped on one star directly fine glowing lines would appear connecting all the remaining stars in the constellation it belonged to. It was absolutely amazing. I really owed Al, and at that moment my face fell and guilt washed over me. I hadn't gotten anything for him. It wasn't like I purposely didn't buy anything for him. I just didn't realize we were at the stage of friendship where gift giving was accepted. There is a time and place for everything and gift giving is one of those. If you get invited to someone's birthday party you give them a gift but that doesn't necessarily mean that you buy them a Christmas present. And now I had to spend the next week with him knowing that he got me something but I didn't get anything for him.

I clasped my hands over my eyes. The guilt was going to eat me up from the inside. I could feel it starting already.

I needed to do something for him. I couldn't just let him get something for me that turned out to be so personal. If it was just a book or something I could live with it. But the fact that it's a globe of the stars made it mean so much more.

But before I could think of something to get him on such short notice, Ryan came bounding in to the room. Apparently my thinking spot wasn't as secret as I thought, her brown eyes bright with excitement.

"Riley I can't believe you scored a ticket for me to come watch the match with you! I totally owe you. I mean all I got you was some DVD's and an enchanted camera."

I put my hand up to stop her.

"Ryan your gift was brilliant. I love all of those movies and don't own them. And as for the camera its something that I've wanted for forever but have never had. I mean come on who wouldn't want a digital camera that's been enchanted to take wizarding pictures?"

I saw her open her mouth to argue with me.

"I don't want you buying me anything. I didn't actually buy you the ticket remember."

"It's still the thought that counts and even though you don't want me to I'm going to find a way to repay you." Ryan said as she sat down in the chair next to mine.

I sighed. I knew she wasn't going to let this go.

"Fine. But you can't spend any more money on me."

Ryan gazed out the window for a few minutes thinking this over.

"Deal." She smiled at me. " Riley you have no idea how excited I am for tomorrow."

I nodded my head. My stomach tightened at the thought of Al. I must be more anxious about not giving him a gift then I previously thought.

"What time are we leaving?" she asked.

"Our port key is at 8 am."

"What time is the game?"

"The game isn't until Thursday. So we're just going to hang out with the Rose and stuff. There's nothing big planed for tomorrow. At lest, as far as I know there's nothing big planed for tomorrow."

"How come if the game isn't until Thursday we're going tomorrow?"

" I guess that they want us there so we can get settled rather then having to travel and to make sure everything goes right so we can get to the match on time. Rose's Mum is a bit time orientated. She's never late to anything."

Ryan nodded her head, her blond bangs falling into her eyes. A second later she sprang up out of her chair and grabbed my hand.

"Well if were leaving tomorrow we better go pack then. You know we're not going to sleep tonight right?"

"Well, I was kind of planning on sleeping at least a little bit. I mean we're going to have to be up all day tomorrow.

"Well tough shit. You can sleep when you're dead. Now come on I'm going to ask Mom if I can take the car back home and start packing. We will be back for dinner and then we can pack all of your stuff."

And with a quick tug she pulled me out of my chair. It looked like I was going to have a busy afternoon ahead of me. Part of me felt relived. Anything to get my mind off Al.

The next morning was overcast. A mass of gray clouds swirled overhead, making it look as if it could snow at any moment. Ryan kept her word and unfortunately we stayed awake almost all night. She spent most of the night asking me questions about James, Rose, and Al. Specifically Al. It seemed that she wasn't going to let the fact that she thought that Al and I fancied one another go. I answered every single one of her questions truthfully. I mean I had no reason not to. Its not like I had something to hide.

"More pancakes?" Nana asked as she held a stack of steaming cinnamon pancakes under my nose.

I looked down at my plate where half my breakfast sat untouched.

"No thanks Nana. I hardly think I could eat another bite."

"You're sure?" Nana asked her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Yes Nana. I'm positive."

She turned and began shuffling away taking the plate of perfectly brown pancakes with her mumbling under her breath about how she thought we all were to skinny and must not eat enough at those schools we go to. If only Nana knew how much we consumed on a regular basses. I don't know what it is about Grandparents but it seems that one of their missions is the feed you until you have to be rolled out of their house.

Rolling my eyes I tried to catch Ryan's eye across the table. However she was looking down, watching as she pushed a piece of syrup soaked pancake around her plate with her fork.

I'd known Ryan all of her life and the only time I had ever seen her not finish her plate of Nana's pancakes was when she was anxiously awaiting to find out of she made the travel soft ball team. She then spent the whole day being short with all of us until later that night when she got the call informing her she made the team. The change in her attitude was instant. As soon as she got the news the bright bubbly Ryan returned and the moody sullen Ryan was gone, at least until later in the summer when she had her first game.

Suddenly it dawned on me. Ryan was nervous about going to the Potters. I had never seen her nervous about meeting new people. She wasn't shy around anyone, at least not that I knew. But seeing her sitting at the table not speaking and her eyes down cast made me think that maybe her over confidant lively personally was just a front and deep down she's just like the rest of us, anxious and insecure. Almost as if she felt my gaze she glanced up at me and her normally bright brown eyes looked dull. She pushed herself away form the table, grabbed her plate, placed it in the sink, and walked out of the kitchen.

I quickly did the same and followed her down the hall and into my room. She was lying down on the bed face down.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I sat down beside her and gently stroked her hair.

"Nothing" she mumbled in to the bed.

"Liar. It's ok to be nervous. If I was in your shoes I wouldn't have been able to eat breakfast either. I mean you're going to be meting one of your favorite Quidditch players. Anyone would be nervous."

She slowly picked her head up at that. " I'm not nervous."

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Really? So suddenly the girl who I've seen eat three full plates of pancakes couldn't even finish one?"

I saw her face begin to tinge pink at that.

"I hate that you know me so well. Fine I'm nervous. But he's James Potter. I don't care if you think he's not as amazing as your precious Al" I felt my face heat up at that. Al wasn't my precious anything. " But he's still a famous Quidditch player and I've been watching him play for months and now I not only get to meet him but I get to spend time with him and see what he's really like. I guess that part just kind of freaks me out a little bit. I have this whole image of who he is in my head and I'm beginning to think he's very different and I'm hesitant for that image to shatter."

I could understand where she was coming from. Growing up all I heard about the Potters and Weasley and had pictured them so differently in my head then how they were in person. The perfect image of them was shattered quite quickly after I saw James and Al get into a full on fight in the common room a few days into term.

" I know you're nervous. Trust me I was in your position only a few years ago. But you can't put him on some sort of pedestal where you think he's perfect"

"But I don't think he's perfect." Ryan interrupted.

"I'm not saying that you do think he's perfect. I'm saying that you need to let go of any thoughts you've formed of him in your head simply based on interviews. It will be much easier for you to like him that way."

"Why?" Ryan asked.

"Because who they are in interviews and at public events is only one side of their personality. He's grown up in the public eye since before he was born. He's good with having a front that he presents to the public. Now, I'm not saying that the person he is when there are a million plus people watching isn't a part of him. He is witty, and charming, and wicked funny, but there's defiantly part of him that the public doesn't see."

"Like what?" Ryan interrupted.

I paused for a moment trying to think of things that I was surprised to find out about James after seeing one side of him for so many years.

"He's moody. He gets into these funks where he just wants to be left alone. He also has a temper, gets it from his mother. He changes moods quickly sometimes and other times they last for days. And I'm telling you depending on the out come of the match we will either have a blast or James will be in a mood and everyone will walk around on egg shells. Thank Merlin were staying at a hotel so if the latter happens we can escape from him and have a good time."

When I finished speaking Ryan for once was silent. That could only mean one thing. I had made it worse.

Sighing I rested my head on her shoulder.

"I'm not saying any of this to ruin him for you. I'm just trying to prepare you for what would be the inevitable. Which is worse, finding out now or finding out in a few hours when he does or says something you weren't expecting?"

"I guess now is better. This way I don't stand there like an idiot when he does something I'm not prepared for."

"Good I don't want you moping around all day. You are about to meet your idol after all. Now lets go. We've got a port key to catch.

Hello Wonderful Readers!

I'm so sorry that it has taken me this long to update! This summer has just been crazy busy and I've been working 50+ hours a week. Between that and attempting to have some sort of social life writing got put on a back burner. I know I said that they would be going to the Potters in this chapter but while I was writing it took a different turn and I decided to get this to you all instead. Thank you so much for all the reviews! I appreciate each and everyone of them. I will do my best to update soon. There's still a few more weeks of work though so who knows what will be happening. Reviews of any kind are welcome. All of your support is amazing.

I couldn't think of a song to put at the top of this chapter. Any ideas?