AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’m sorry, so sorry that it’s been forever since my last update, but Pharmacy school classes have started back up again, leaving me precious little time for writing. Please bear with me. I have not, will not, forget about this story, and I will try to update on a more regular basis. Also, be on the lookout for more upcoming stories, hopefully sometime soon. Peace!
Oh, and all the usual disclaimers apply.
Harry headed for the ice cream parlour the next evening lost in thought. He hadn’t had a problem with getting out of his aunt and uncle’s house to meet Lara. Ever since they’d found out that his godfather, Sirius Black, was an escaped convict who expected Harry to keep in touch with him, Harry had been pretty much free to come and go as he chose, with the exception of chores, of course. He often wondered what their reaction would be to discovering Sirius’s innocence. When Harry finally arrived at the ice cream parlour, he couldn’t help noticing that Lara was already there.
“Hey, Harry,” she greeted him.
“Hello, Lara,” he replied. She followed him to the counter and they placed their orders.
A few moments later they sat down at a table, both of them with a cup of Double Chocolate Fudge ice cream.
“This is the best ice cream,” Lara said. “Lois has gotten me hooked on pretty much anything that’s chocolate.”
“Who’s Lois?” Harry asked curiously.
“My cousin Clark’s wife,” she responded. “I live with them now. My parents died not that long ago.”
“Ohh…sorry to hear that,” Harry said. “My parents are dead, too. They were killed when I was a baby.”
“So that’s why you live with your aunt and uncle. I was wondering about that,” she replied.
Harry grimaced. This was definitely not a subject he wanted to discuss. Change of topic…
“How long are you in town for?” he asked her.
“Well, I’m not exactly sure. At least for the summer, I guess. See, Lois is pregnant and there are some complications. Her doctor in Metropolis, Dr. Klein, recommended a doctor for her here in England, so I suppose we’re going to stay here until a few weeks after the baby’s born.”
“How far along is she?” he asked.
“Seven months,” she replied.
Harry nodded and smiled. “I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be around here. I usually end up going to my friend Ron’s house about midsummer and staying there until school starts again. By the way, how old are you?”
“Thirteen, how about you?”
“I’ll be fourteen at the end of July.”
“Really?” she asked. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
Harry looked at her with surprise, and watched as her eyes grew wide and her face turned an interesting shade of red as she suddenly seemed to realize that she’d actually said that out loud.
“No, why? Are you interested?” he asked. He couldn’t help teasing her.
“No,” she replied hotly. “I was just making sure that I’m not going to get a black eye from some girl who thinks that I’m trying to steal her boyfriend.”
Harry laughed. “Considering you’re the only girl in this town brave enough to give me the time of day, I can assure you that’s not going to happen.”
Lara started to laugh as well, then asked, “And why is that? Why does everyone in this town seem so afraid of you?”
Harry grimaced. “Because of aunt and uncle, and Dudley, of course. My aunt and uncle have told anyone who’s ever asked them that I go to St. Brutus’s, and, well, you know what they say about small towns.”
She nodded in agreement. “Small town gossip. That must be why Mrs. Winters thought you went to that school. She’s Melissa’s fiance’s mother. She came over the other day to discuss wedding plans when I was about to leave the house, and, being from around here, she knew that you went to St. Brutus’s.”
“Winters…Winters…that name sounds familiar…” Suddenly Harry remembered where he heard that name before and he groaned. “I think I know her…I think she’s a friend of Aunt Petunia’s.”
“Oh, well that explains it then. Oh, and let me guess: Dudley and his gang did their part by scaring away anyone who even tried to be friends with you?” she asked.
“Right,” Harry nodded.
By this time, they were both pretty much finished with the ice cream. “Hey, are you a Tolkien fan?” she asked him.
“Who’s Tolkien?” he asked her. He’d never heard of this Tolkien guy before.
“You know, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings…”
He shook his head. He still had absolutely no clue what she was talking about.
“I’ve never heard of a hobbit before…” he answered her, and was stunned when she started to giggle uncontrollably.
“What? What did I say?” he asked, extremely confused.
She shook her head and her eyes twinkled. “That was one of Treebeard’s lines from the second movie. Hey, I have an idea! Why don’t you come over to my place tomorrow and we can watch the first Lord of the Rings movie? I really think you’ll like it. How about 1ish?”
Harry shrugged. “Sure, I guess.” It wasn’t like he had anything better to do around here or anyone else to hang out with, and he found that he was really enjoying her company.
They sat in silence for another moment, and suddenly Harry noticed something. There was a shadow in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. She was definitely very upset about something.
“What’s wrong, Lara?” he asked.
All of a sudden her face changed. It was like a mask came up and the haunted look about her eyes disappeared behind it. “Nothing, nothing’s wrong, just…thinking about my parents…” she trailed off.
Harry looked at her questioningly. Though that could undoubtedly be the explanation, he wondered if perhaps something else was going on that she for some reason didn’t want to talk about.
“Okay, well, I think I’d better be getting home. Remember, I’ve got to be there by…”
“…by the time Dudley gets there, yeah…” she finished for him. They both stood up and headed out to the street.
“Would you like to walk me back? I mean, so that you can see where I’m staying to make it easier for you to find it tomorrow?”
Harry felt himself start to turn red with embarrassment. “Sure, right, okay,” he replied, and they walked together to her cousin’s home, where they bid each other a goodnight and headed their separate ways.
Okay, well, that’s it for now. Hopefully it was a little longer than the other posts…I will try to make them longer. Anyway, enjoy! Oh, and please don’t forget to review!
