Whatever hope that Grace felt that Sunday afternoon, was gone quicker than it came. Peace lasted maybe an hour before her parents started arguing again over something small and trivial. Weekdays were both Harry and Grace's favorite, since it was usually peaceful in the afternoon with just them, Remus and Sirius. They liked the days where they spent the afternoon at Blue Cottage. Harry liked the openness that surrounded the house, and the homey feel he felt every time he stepped out of the fireplace; it reminded him of the Burrow. It didn't have the same magical touches that the Burrow had, thanks to Mrs. Weasley, but Blue Cottage had a sense of comfort to it that Harry looked forward to feeling.
One afternoon in the second week of July, it was particularly hot out as Grace and Harry walked through the forest, trying to escape the sun. Grace hopped on a fallen tree trunk, and walked heel-to-toe with her arms out for balance. Harry lazily walked on the ground a little bit behind her, just watching her. Her curly hair was tied in a knot on the top of her head, only little fly-away hairs seemed to have escaped. She wore a light pink floral spaghetti strap shirt that was tucked into a pair of light denim shorts. Harry's tried for the last two hours to not stare at hertoomuch, but every move she made his eyes seemed to gravitate to her.
"What's the incantation for a banishing charm?" Grace asked as she jumped off the log, and picked up a long stick from the ground. Helena didn't want them going out side and running wild before doing their actual school work, the same rules as last summer applied: Two hours of school work, then the rest is free. Unfortunately, and much to everyone's surprise, Sirius also agreed to those terms. However, during the week, Sirius didn't care how they managed to do two hours of their summer work if it got done. A loophole done at its finest. While it was hot out, Grace thought it was to pretty of a day to be kept inside, and decided that instead of reading their texts, they were going to revise; so for the past hour and a half, she's been quizzing Harry on everything they had learned last year.
"Er...Depulso," Harry answered, surely and Grace grinned at him from over her shoulder. Harry felt a familiar tug in his chest at her smile. It was something that he's noticed he's been experiencing often the past two weeks, usually when ever she smiles at him, or when she's laughing. Not a normal laugh, but a big, loud, laugh that had her head falling back, her hands clutching her sides, and complete unawareness of herself. Many times when she had one of these laughs she always found herself leaning onto Harry's side, or found herself half laying on his lap. He didn't mind, he liked it when she did that because he liked it when she laughed.
"Good job, Mr. Potter," she teased. "I say that's enough revision for today, I'm hot."
"Yeah," he found himself thinking out loud, and he felt his cheeks heat up.
"Huh?" she asked, turning to look at him but he shook his head.
"Nothing, I just agreeing, it's – er – hot out," he stumbled over his words.
"Let's go cool off," she said, grabbing his hand and leading him further into the forest.
"Er... wouldn't we go back to the house?" he asked, but let her lead him anyway.
"There's a stream a little bit ahead," she told him, "the water is usually cool." What Harry thought 'a little bit ahead' meant was obviously very different than what Grace meant. He thought they were going to be walking only a handful of meters away, not a whole kilometer. Harry felt the sweat beading on his forehead and the back of his neck when they finally reached the stream.
Grace let go of his hand, and sprinted to the water; slipping off her shoes, she stepped into the cool water. She bent down and cupped her hands into the water, then splashed her face, sighing as the cool water rolled down her neck. Harry stood there, swallowing a strange lump that formed in his throat as he stared at her, watching the water droplets cascade down her neck and disappear under her shirt. "Aren't you going join me?" she asked him. Harry blinked, shaking his head.
"What?"
"Are you going to get in the water?" she asked and Harry's eyes widened.
"Er, yeah," he nodded, then made his way to the stream. Slipping off his shoes and socks, he rolled up his pant legs before stepping into the water. He looked at Grace again, seeing her bent at the waist, cupping more water into her hands. His eyes lingered, trying to convince himself that he's staring at her dangling necklaces. Harry forced his eyes away and bent down to cup some water, but he glanced at Grace again before grinning.
She squealed when she felt cool water hit her face and she looked up to see Harry grinning at her. "Did you justsplashme!?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," he shook his head.
"Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged innocently. "So you didn't do...this!" she cupped the water in her hands and thrusted the water toward Harry. He exclaimed, trying to turn to dodge the water but ended up getting his glasses wet.
"Oi! No fair! I'm blind without these!" He protested as he pulled his glasses off and tried to dry them.
"You splashed me first!"
"I wasn't aiming for your face!"
"Then what were you aiming at?"
"Er...the rest of you," he answered lamely, and she laughed. Harry grinned at her, and then sent more water her way. She screamed and turned her body so her front wouldn't get wet.
"HARRY!" she screamed before laughing. "Alright, let's go," she grinned as she kicked the water in his direction.
"OI! I threw water at you! Why are you kicking it!" he exclaimed as he cupped water in his hands and threw it at her; she screamed, shielding her face. It was then that the two engaged in a water fight.
They didn't know how long they were throwing water back and forth, but both of them were soaked. Grace kicked more water toward Harry, but when she brought her foot down to take a step back, she gasped when she felt a sharp stinging pain in her foot.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked, his smile falling as he stared at her.
"I-I stepped on something sharp," she winced as she lifted her foot. Harry took hold of her arms, helping to steady her as he looked at the bottom of her foot. He winced when he noticed the blood.
"You cut your foot," he told her and she winced. "We should probably get back to the house."
"Yeah..."
"Here, I'll carry you back," he offered.
"Oh, you don't have to-"
"Grace, it's fine," he assured her with a smile, and she nodded. Harry pulled on his shoes quickly before helping her up. "Here, get on my back," he motioned, turning around for her. She pressed firmly on Harry's shoulders and she jumped from the balls of her feet. He caught her, pressing his palms firmly under her thighs, holding on to her. He held out her sandals for her, and she grabbed them, letting them dangle from her hands, that were wrapped around his neck. "You may have to guide me, I don't know where to go," he told her and she laughed. Harry felt that tug in his stomach, and his heart skipped in his chest when he felt her breath against his ear.
"Onward, my noble steed!" she exclaimed, pointing in the direction he needed to go.
"Why am I asteed?" He scoffed playfully. "I'm the one rescuing the damsel in distress."
"Okay, okay," she laughed. "Onward,Prince Charming!"
"As you wish, my lady," Harry replied, imitating Sir Cadogan. Grace laughed in his ear, and he thought it was the most beautiful sound.
It took Harry nearly half an hour to get back to the house, and when he came from the forest clearing, he saw Sirius outside feeding Buckbeak. "There you two are," he greeted, turning to look at them with a smirk. "What happened to the two of you? Did you fall in a river?"
"Er, kind of," Harry answered as he got closer. "Grace sort of stumbled."
"Are you alright?" Sirius frowned in concern as he helped Grace down from Harry's back.
"I'm fine, I just lost my footing and stepped on a sharp rock," she told him as he and Harry helped Grace into the kitchen.
"Why are you wet?" Remus asked, looking up from his book.
"Stream," she answered as she sat on the chair across from him. "It's hot outside, so we went to cool off."
"The stream isn't that deep, did you fall in?"
"Water fight," she answered, with a smile and Remus nodded in understanding.
"Let's see," Sirius said softly as he sat in the seat next to her, bringing her foot up to rest on his lap. "Harry, can you grab a wet cloth, please?"
"Yeah," he nodded. In less than a minute, Harry was handing Sirius a damp cloth.
Grace hissed and jerked her leg when she felt Sirius press it lightly on her heel. "Shh, shh, shh, it's alright," he said softly, running his thumb along her ankle as he dabbed her heel again.
"Did you go barefoot into the stream again?" Remus asked. When Grace nodded, Remus sighed, shaking his head.
"Ow," she winced, her leg jerking when Sirius wiped over her heel.
"Sorry, love, but I've got to make sure I get it cleaned up, so I know what charm to use," he told her. After another minute, he pulled the cloth away, and then waved his slowly over her foot. Harry's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the jagged cut begin to close. Sirius took the cloth again and wiped any of the excess blood before letting her foot down and standing up. He turned to Remus and narrowed his eyes playfully. "You could've at least helped."
"Why? You looked like you had it covered," Remus replied after setting his teacup down on the saucer, then turned the page of his book. "'Sides, I've been doing this for thirteen years, it's your turn."
"Can you dry us?" she asked Sirius, who nodded and grabbed his wand from the counter. Once they were dry, Grace stood up and grabbed Harry's hand. "Thanks, dad! We're going to go finish our work-"
"I thought you did that already!"
"We revised, we still have reading to do!" she shrugged, then started pushing Harry upstairs.
"You were supposed to do two hours of work," Sirius narrowed his eyes at her and she smiled innocently at him.
"And we're about to do hour number two!" she told him and his mouth fell open as he blinked at her. "Go, go, go!" she whispered hurriedly, then the two of them ran upstairs.
A/N: The teenage boy hormones are really starting to surface!
We saw a little bit last chapter, but now they're really starting to show. I would say this is about the time that Harry really begins to start noticing Grace as a GIRL girl, rather than just oh yeah she's a girl, and it's also when he starts (subconsciously at least) thinking of her and seeing her as more than just a friend. The match has been lit, you guys! The burn is starting, and the pining and the tension is going to start and build :)
Also, was any one else tickled at how unphased Remus was by Grace cutting her foot? And how he's like: oh ho ho.. .Sirius is here, it's his turn. It was something that tickled my funny bone. :)
So some exciting things!
Ch. 132 is the Department of Mysteries and the events happening before that got them there. It is the LONGEST chapter I have EVER written. It is 32 pages... and the reason it's so long is because well... I can't split it up. The Yule Ball is I think the second longest chapter of the fic at over 20 because it was impossible to find a place to split it, and Ch. 132 happens to be the same case. Too much happens, too much is going on and it just simply couldn't be split up into 2 16 page chapters (which 12-16 pages seem to be the average chapter length now). There will be line breaks of course, but it's one that you will need a snack, some water because staying hydration is important... :) Of course we probably won't get there until some where in the new years, but just a fair warning now for those who will read this in the future and won't have such a long wait.
Ch. 132 is also a chapter that has taken me 3 days to write, and I was writing all day. It wasn't a chapter that I struggled with at all, I was pumping out words like no ones business for 3 days and I felt it. I was so mad that I actually had plans after work and COULDN'T finish it earlier than I wanted. So... it's a big one... and honestly one of the most anticipated chapters (besides the one where Harry and Grace finally get together of course).
With THAT, I can officially say that I have finished Order of the Phoenix, and I am now starting with Half Blood Prince! I will say that for PoA, GoF and OotP there have been a good 6-10 chapters before the plot of the book begins. That isn't so much the case for HBP. We'll be getting into the plot of the book A LOT sooner, but that doesn't mean we'll be going to Hogwarts that soon :) muwahaha.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Until next time my friends!