10

Peter blinked a few times, lying on top of his bunk bed, staring at the ceiling and not paying attention to reality altogether. Then, he finally panicked, blushing bright red in the face. Peter quickly hid his face in his pillow and muffled a scream from the pure embarrassment he faced today from his stupidity, or perhaps bravery.

Peter blamed no one but himself for whatever he pulled today. But then again, the moment of embarrassment earned him a date with Harriet, and he was sure he was on Harriet's dad's good side which was a plus.

"Peter! Dinner's ready!" His aunt woke him out of his thoughts from downstairs.

"Yeah! I'm coming down right now, May!" Peter shouted back as he ditched his bed and large pillow, trudging through the piles of dirty clothes and discarded objects of the results of his dumpster divings.

When Peter arrived at the dining room, which was technically a part of the open-space kitchen, he already saw his uncle sipping on a cup of cold coffee while reading the Sunday newspaper.

After helping May set down dinner on the table, Peter took a seat next to Uncle Ben who seemed weary from working his daytime job. For a spry middle aged man, Ben's face was already riddled with wise wrinkles.

"Peter, do you have a cold? You're really red in the face!" Peter had been texting Harriet the time and place for the date. He wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans and by the time he looked up to his aunt with an unconscious smile, May had already come around the table to placed her warm hand on top of Peter's forehead. "Your temperature's fine."

"I-I'm fine. I'm not sick," Peter responded, backing away from her hand.

"No, you're definitely sick, Peter," Uncle Ben said with an all-knowing smirk. "Love-sick."

"What…?! No way, that's not true, Uncle Ben," Peter tried to laugh it off. If he didn't at least try, he'd be teased for the rest of his life.

"Who's the lucky girl?" His aunt inquired as she took her seat next to her husband, ignoring what Peter said to his uncle.

Peter finally gave in, sighing, and said, "her name's Harriet Potter."

"That's a very bold name," Ben offered, "it means ruler of a house. I'm sure she'll be very successful in life." May rolled her eyes at the small fortune telling all in good nature.

"I, uh, asked her out to the movies. I'm thinking of watching Skyfall with her tomorrow."

"Movies are nice for a first date, no matter what anyone says. Your uncle and I went to see Scream for our second date," May reminisced the good old times back in the mid 90's. Then, snapping from the nostalgia, she tried persuading, "show your date a rom-com instead. Girls love a good rom-com!"

"No, no, horror movies are the way to go for any date," Uncle Ben supplied, he then pointed to him and May, "look where that got us." That got Peter convinced, but he still wanted his date to have a good time during their first date.

"That was the 90's, Ben," May smiled, "this isn't the 21st century. Peter, if you want to show her a good time, go with a rom-com."

Uncle Ben shook his head. "Listen to me, Peter. Horror movies are the best for first and second dates. It reveals a person's true personality — also, cuddling," Ben shrugged, "your aunt and I went to see a horror film for our first few dates, look how we turned out."

"I only went to see horror films with you because you're a horror film Maniac, Ben."

Peter sighed as he thought of what movie to go for. He'd wanted to see Skyfall for a while, but then again, it was the first date and he didn't want to mess anything up. So, go with a movie which, stereotypically, all girls like? Or go with a movie that would get him the cuddles from the girl he loved?

He decided to ask his friends. He wasn't exactly best of friends with Harriet's friends, but they were still his friends nonetheless, and they got on together spectacularly over the past few months at school.

Group chat: SOS

Invited: Neddard, Hermione, Ron

Peter: hey guys, need a tip.

Neddard: Finally got a date?

Hermione: :O with who?

~ With harry?

Ron: Out of the friend zone, mate?

Peter: lol yeah.

Hermione: omg

~ I'm freaking out

~ the ship is sailing!

Neddard: what

Ron: Good on ya!

~ Who asked who?

Peter: I did hehe

Ron: YES

~ I win

Hermione: -_-;

Peter: Win what?

Neddard: A bet

~ Hermione, pay up

~ If you guys didn't forget

~ I was a part of the bet too

~ and I bet that Peter would be the one to ask her out

Hermione: D:

~ I don't get my allowance till next month though

Ron: You have a part time job

Hermione: You are cruel, Ronald.

Neddard: Don't forget to pay me!

Peter: guys, forget about the bet!

~ I'm in a real crisis here!

Neddard: right, I'm all ears man

Ron: ditto

Peter: Which movie genre should I watch with her?

~ Skyfall, rom com, or horror flick?

Hermione: Skyfall isn't a movie genre

~ I'd like to see it.

~ I think Harriet would like to see it too.

Ron: Horror.

~ Definitely horror.

Neddard: ^ same dude

Hermione: one vote for Skyfall

Ron: majority wins

Peter: thanks guys. Ttyl

Hermione: Fine, I'll go see it with Harry

Harriet didn't get a wink of sleep the prior night, she was so nervous and deciding what she should wear was on her mind ever since returning home. As it was a universal girl-problem, Harriet didn't have anything to wear, even though she had a total of hundreds of clothing.

In the midst of frustration, however, there was a solution.

Group chat: OMG guys

Invited Ned, Hermes, Ronaldo

Hermes: gurl

Harriet: heyyy

Ned: haha you too?

Harriet: what you mean?

Ned: nothing

Ronaldo: lol

Hermes: What you need, gurrrrl

Harriet: what's with your texting?

Hermes: this is how I normally text

~ What's wrong with it?

Harriet: …

~ Nothing I guess

~ Uh, I need help deciding on an outfit.

Ned: …

Ronaldo: Shouldn't this be a girls' convo?

Harriet: I just thought you guys should be included

~ Anyways,

~ Pick

~ option a

[image uploaded]

~ option b

[image uploaded]

~ option c

[image uploaded]

Hermes: what's this for, Harriet ;)

Ronaldo: yeah, Harriet what's this for? ;)

Ned: lol :-)

Harriet: it's nothing

~ ugh, never mind I said anythinG!

~ goodnight :(

Hermes: No!

~ Don't go!

~ Option B!

Ronaldo: I honestly don't care

Ned: honestly I think he'll like you in any of these

Harriet: Ron, Ned… you guys are really

~ Unhelpful

~ wait , ned how do you

~ What do you mean 'he'?

Ned: k, I'm going to bed

~ night guys

~ good luck with your date, harry

Harriet: omg how did you know?

Ned: trade secret

Ronaldo: patented

Hermes: Tell me all about it after the date, Harry :)

Harriet: -_-;;;

That was how Harriet was standing just outskirt of the Potter's manor wearing option b, which was a pair of skinny jeans, a shirt underneath a wool cardigan, and a warm scarf to cover her neck.

She waved to Peter when she saw him coming. "Hey, Pete."

"H-Hey." Peter was blushing, and Harriet doubted he was the only one with a bright tomato face. "Uh… Shall we?" He lent her his arm like a gentleman and Harriet took his offer.

They began walking until a familiar car was going slow beside them. The window rolled down and Harriet groaned. She'd half expected her father to do something weird to embarrass her in front of the boy she liked. "You two need a lift for your date?"

Harriet punctured the front tires with magic, making the vehicle stop.

"Harriet!" James called out, exasperated. And he'd just changed the tires...

"What?" Harriet innocently responded. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Uh, if you'd like, sir, I could help change the—"

Harriet interrupted Peter. "No can do, you're busy with the date you promised me, remember?"

Peter looked from Harriet to her father nervously.

"It's fine, Mr. Parker," James heaved a sigh, rubbing his temples, "just leave me be."

Harriet dragged Peter by his hand and once they were a distance away, she said to him, "sorry. … He's such a weird dad."

"He's just being protective."

Harriet broke out into a light chuckle which made Peter smile, "no, he's just being weird."

"I'll go buy the tickets," Peter offered.

"Then I'll buy the popcorn," Harriet replied. Before he could stop her, Harriet vanished into the crowd. Peter smiled when his eyes met hers amongst the crowd for a brief moment.

This date was nerve-wracking, in a good way. Peter had never been on a date before, nonetheless with a gorgeous girl.

After purchasing the movie tickets, he went to find Harriet. She was pouring butter over the popcorn but was getting an unwanted attention from a someone who looked like a college student with gorgeous blond locks.

"Come on, don't lie, you came alone. I can tell from the one small bag of popcorn," the stranger said with an arrogant smirk. He was standing so close to Harriet that Peter wasn't sure to be angry or upset.

"I don't eat a lot, it's for my date," Harriet glared. If there was anything good that came out of this, it was the fact that Peter was witnessing Harriet not running off with someone else. He also set a reminder to google-search 'how to ask a girl to be his girlfriend.' He didn't exactly know the protocol for when 'my date' became 'my boyfriend'.

"Babe, stop playing hard to get. Come with me and we'll have a good time." The guy gripped Harriet's wrist and pulled her close to his chest, and that was when Peter intercepted as he grabbed onto the guy's skinny wrist.

Peter growled, "why don't you back off."

It turned out the college dude was a wimp as he said, "whoa, alright! Chill! Geez…"

Harriet turned to smile at him. "Thanks, Peter." I would've let out a stupefy if it weren't for you, she thought.

"No problem. Come on, the movie's gonna start at any minute now."

Peter handed her movie ticket and she looked perplexed. "Are you sure you wanna see this?"

"Uh… Y-Yeah?" Peter Benjamin Parker, you better brave up, man! Peter watched a horror movie once. It did not end well for him. Half a year of continuous nightmares. Peter shuddered involuntarily.

BAD IDEA! BAD IDEA! Abortabortabortabortabort!

Nonononononononnononono! Don't go in the basement!

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmyfuckinggod.

"Peter, are you alright…?" Harriet asked Peter in a hushed voice, careful not to bother anyone else in the theatre. He almost yelped when Harriet touched his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Peter cleared his throat to lower his tone of voice. "O-Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? Are you fine? Yup… You're fine."

Harriet held back her laughter. "Come here, Peter." She reached out to pull him closer to her. Peter had his head resting on her shoulder as he quickly shut his eyes when he knew a jump scare was coming.

They were cuddling as Uncle Ben had told him, but this wasn't the cuddling that Peter expected.

Peter cleared his hoarse throat. Him, along with the rest of the movie watchers, were screaming for every jump-scare. Harriet, however, hadn't let out a single scream.

When they both exited the theatre, Peter asked Harriet, "so… did you like the movie?"

"It was okay. I mean, it wasn't really that scary for me, but I guess it was for you, huh?" Harriet said with a chuckle.

Peter blushed, sighing in disappointment. He was a bit ashamed of himself. He'd wanted to look cool in front of Harriet for once. "It wasn't— … Okay, yeah, it was a little scary." Harriet raised an eyebrow, "okay, really scary."

Harriet smiled. "It takes a man to admit it."

Peter's lips slowly curved into a smile.

Group chat: we did it

Invited: Neddard, Hermione, Ron

Peter: Guys, we did it.

Neddard: congrats man

Hermione: I heard it was a success

Peter: what? From who?

~ Were you guys spying us?

Ron: no…

~ Harry texted us

Peter: you know Harriet doesn't like it when you call her that

Ron: she likes it

~ only her closest friends and family call her that

Neddard: yeah, she didn't get mad at me for calling her harry

Peter: when did you

~ how

~ when?

Neddard: last couple of weeks ago?

Peter: I'm gonna start calling her that.

Ron: good luck mate

~ u need it

Neddard: yup.

Hermione: wishing you luck, Peter

Peter: aren't you guys faithful

Hermione: sarcasm doesn't suit you, Peter

Peter: noted and ignored

Ron: congrats on the date btw

Peter: thank you!

~ You're a true friend you know that Ron?

Neddard: hey what about me?

~ I congratulated you

~ telepathically

Peter: meh

Neddard: :\

Hermione: Congrats, Peter,

~ and may many more dates

~ with Harry come your way

Peter: best friend no. 2

Ron: who's best friend no.1

Peter: u

Neddard: :0

Ron: ;)

a/n:

I should've mentioned this at the start but : Peter has Ned as Neddard in his contacts, and Harriet has Hermione as Hermes and Ron as Ronaldo in contacts. signifies a new text bubble

Any questions you may have, I'd be happy to answer them. Reviews are much appreciated. I love reading what you guys think, I especially love reading long reviews.

Also, Beta-san is having a much needed break so bear with me as I struggle to edit the chapters by myself OTL

Get well soon, Beta-san!