Harry looked out the window at the house across the street. There was a new family moving in, and there was a moving truck and a shiny car parked outside the house. Harry watched as a brown haired man got out of the car. He was followed by a black girl with a dark braid running down her back. Out of the back seat came girl around Harry’s age. She had dark skin that was a few shades lighter than her mother’s. Her dark hair swayed in the wind and shimmered in the sunlight.

Harry wasn't sure how he felt about having new neighbors. He felt like they were the kind of people that you could talk to and be comfortable around. There was a certain warmth coming from them. Just as Harry got his hopes up of getting to know them, the thought of the Dursley's came to mind. They would never let him get to know another Muggle family. They would never let him get to know anyone at all.

He went downstairs. Aunt Petunia was in the kitchen, spying on their new neighbors, and Uncle Vernon was sitting at the table, eating breakfast and reading the newspaper. Dudley was staring at the television with his little piggy eyes. All of the Dursleys completely ignored Harry. He grabbed a piece of toast off the plate in the middle of the table and started buttering it.

"Did you guys notice the new neighbors?" Harry asked the Dursleys.

"Of course we did, you silly boy!" snapped Aunt Petunia.

"What do you think of them?" he asked her.

"I think that they all look too happy, and their daughter is ugly," she criticized.

Dudley looked up from the television. "I think she looks extremely pretty, Mum," he said, feeling dejected.

"Ickle Diddykins has a little crush now, does he?" Harry teased. This earned him a smack from Aunt Petunia.

Harry ran upstairs. At the top of the stairs, he could still hear Aunt Petunia shrieking. He could hear Uncle Vernon bellowing, "HOW DARE YOU TEASE DUDLEY? COME DOWN HERE, YOU FOUL BOY!"

Harry stayed up in his room all morning. He spent the time in his room watching the family move in. At lunchtime, he went down to get something to eat. He made himself a ham sandwich with mayonnaise. When he had finished, he decided to go for a walk. He had been going for walks a lot over the past week. He had only been away from Hogwarts a week, but he still missed it like crazy. He had also been thinking about the events that had happened the previous June. The whole Triwizard Tournament, Cedric’s death, and Voldemort’s rebirth had given him a lot to think about.

He had been walking with his head down, but was surprised when he bumped into someone.

"Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going," he apologized. He looked up and saw that he had ran into a fifteen-year-old girl. It was the same girl that he had seen getting out of the car that morning. She looks kind of cute up close, he thought.

"It’s okay. I wasn’t watching where I was going either," she said in a soft voice. "My name is Ari." She held her hand out for Harry to shake.

He shook her hand. "Hi, I’m Harry," he introduced himself. "I saw you over at Number Five Privet Drive. Are you moving in?"

"Yes, we've moved from Greece. That’s where my Dad is from," she answered.

"Wow, that’s so cool. I live in Number Four Privet Drive with my Aunt, Uncle and cousin," he said.

"You don’t live with your parents?" she asked.

"No, my parents died in a car crash when I was one," he lied. He didn't think that she needed to know the real reason they died.

She gasped. "I’m so sorry I asked. I can be so careless sometimes. I shouldn’t have asked. It was none of my business."

"It’s okay. I can’t blame you for being curious," he said reassuringly. "Hey, do you want to walk with me?"

"Sure," she answered, smiling.

As they walked, they talked. Harry soon found out a lot about Ari, and Ari found out a lot about him. They had talked and talked. Harry had found out that Ari enjoyed reading, playing chess, photography and shopping. He soon also found out that she was very active and enjoyed walking. When Harry had looked down at his watch, he found out that they had been talking for six hours.

"Hey, Ari, it’s six O’clock. If I don’t get back soon my Aunt Petunia will yell at me for being out so late. She probably has more chores for me." He rolled his eyes. Ari laughed. Her laugh was full of joy and happiness.

"Well, I had better walk home too. If I don’t, my Mum might send out a search party." She laughed again. "Could we walk back together?"

"Sure," Harry answered.

When they got back to their houses, Harry turned to see Ari walking back to her house.

"Ari?" he called. "Do you want to walk again later? Maybe after dinner?" She turned around.

"I’d love to," she answered with an ear-to-ear grin. They both waved, and Harry turned and walked into his house.
__________________________________________________

He had been wrong about Aunt Petunia having chores for him. When he had went into the house he went to the kitchen to see the Dursleys sitting and eating soup. He sat down and wolfed down his soup.

"So, where have you been all afternoon, Potter?" Dudley asked.

"I was walking again. What’s it to you?" Harry answered his pig of a cousin.

"It’s nothing. I just saw you with that new girl from across the road, just now," he answered.

"Oh, yeah. I bumped into her when I was walking, and we just started talking. We’re going to walk again after dinner," Harry explained.

Dudley frowned. Harry could tell that Dudley liked Ari. He was glad that he was making Dudley jealous. Harry finished his soup and went upstairs. He decided that he would wait a while just to give Ari some time to finish eating.

He paced around his room, thinking. Thoughts flooded rapidly thorough his mind. Do I like Ari? Yes, I do. When will be the best time to ask her out? Should I do it tonight? What if she doesn't like me? He thought about these questions over and over again. He finally decided that if Ari showed any signs of liking him that he would ask her. He decided to take her for a walk to the playground. He looked at his watch. Surely, Ari was done eating by now. He went down the stairs and out through the door, making sure that he grabbed his coat.

As he walked up the garden path leading to the house, he thought about the same questions as he did up in his bedroom a few minutes ago. He knocked on the door. He heard footsteps running down the stairs. Ari threw open the door.

"Hi, Harry. Let me just grab my coat and tell my Mum where I’m going," she said. She ran into the house and left Harry standing in the doorway.

Harry saw a black cat pass the doorway. Finally, Ari came back.

"Sorry I took so long," she said. "I couldn’t find my coat."

Harry and Ari set off down the garden path and headed for the playground.

When Harry and Ari got to the playground, they sat on the swings. For a while, it was silent. Neither of them knew what to say. After about five minutes, the painful silence was broken.

“So, what was it like in Greece?” Harry asked Ari.

“It was nice. We lived in Athens. It was beautiful there. All the people were really nice,” Ari answered.

“Wow, that sounds really cool,” Harry said, amazed.

“It was, but enough about where I lived. What about here? What’s it like here?” she asked

“Well, it’s not that great here. Not for me, anyway. A lot of the people here don’t like me,” Harry answered.

“Well, I like you,” Ari said.

Harry blushed. “I like you, too,” he said.

“So, did you have any boyfriends in Athens?” Harry inquired.

“No. Why do you ask?” she asked suspiciously.

“I’m just curious,” Harry defended himself. Ari sent him a disbelieving look.

“How about you? Did you ever have any girlfriends?” she asked.

“No, I have liked girls before, though,” Harry answered.

Ari was silent. Maybe she’s jealous, Harry thought.

“Are there any girls my age around Little Whinging?” Ari suddenly asked.

“Probably. There’s none that I know of, though,” Harry said, looking around.

Suddenly, the quiet of the night was broken by voices. Harry and Ari looked and saw that Dudley and his gang were walking along the street.

“Hey, Dud, did you see the beautiful girl who lives across the street from you?” one of the guys, Piers Polkiss, asked Dudley.

“As a matter of fact, I did, and tomorrow I’m going to ask her to be my girlfriend,” Dudley announced.

Ari stood up. Harry tried to pull her back down onto the swing, but she wiggled free of his grip. Harry stood up, ready to defend Ari in case Dudley tried to do anything. When Dudley and his gang saw Harry and Ari, they grinned.

“Hey, Dud, looks like your cousin’s got a girlfriend,” one of the guys said. At these words, both Harry and Ari blushed.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Harry mumbled.

“Well then, you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out, would you?” Dudley asked.

“Actually, I would, Dudley,” Harry said. Ari looked at him, but he didn’t notice. He was staring at Dudley, who was still grinning.

“Got yourself a crush, do you, Potter?” Dudley teased. Suddenly, Harry lost his temper. Harry jumped after Dudley, trying to hit him, but Ari held him back.

“No, Harry! Please don’t. He’s not worth it,” she whispered to him

Harry looked at Ari and saw that she had tears in her eyes. He grabbed her arm and led her away before Dudley could tease anymore, before Harry lost his temper and used his wand.

They went back to the playground and sat on a bench. Harry looked at Ari, who now had tears rolling down her cheeks. He put his hand up to her face and wiped the tears away.

“What’s wrong, Ari? You're not hurt, are you?” Harry asked.

Ari shook her head. “No. I was just afraid. I don’t like it when people fight.”

“Well, I’m sorry. I have a hard to control temper and when Dudley started teasing I couldn’t stand it,” Harry apologized.

“Thanks for defending me. It meant a lot to me.” Ari smiled.

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t about to let him ask you out. You deserve better than him,” Harry said, blushing.

“Well, thank-you. Nobody’s ever defended me like that before.” She blushed.

“Well, it’s getting late. I guess we had better start walking back now,” Harry suggested.

“Yeah, I guess we should.” Ari stood up and started walking home. Harry stood up and caught up to her.

“Did you have a good time? I mean besides what happened with Dudley,” Harry asked.

“Yes, I did. We should do something tomorrow,” Ari said.

“How about I come over to your house and we can hang out in your backyard?” Harry suggested.

“Sounds great,” Ari said.

They came to the alley way. They started walking to the other end, when they heard voices. Harry pulled Ari into the shadows. Dudley and his gang were headed home. As they passed, Harry heard what they were saying.

“You know what I think? I think that Dudley has some competition for that girl. From the sounds of it, Potter likes her too. Did you see the look on her face when he jumped after Dudley, trying to punch him? She looked terrified. I actually saw tears in her eyes. I say that she likes Potter,” Piers exclaimed.

“Well, if Potter thinks that he’s going to win her heart then he must be crazy. Who would like a weirdo like him?” one of the guys that Harry didn’t know asked.

“I hope she doesn’t. It would take a pretty long time for me to get her then,” Dudley said, looking nervous.

Finally, they were gone. Harry let Ari come out of the shadows. She looked terrified again.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked.

“I’m afraid that they might hurt you,” Ari mumbled.

“Trust me, they won’t,” Harry said. Because Dudley knows that I have a wand, Harry added in his thoughts.

Harry put his hand on Ari’s shoulder. She was shivering. Harry took off his coat and put it around her shoulders. She looked at him, confused, but didn’t say anything.

They finally came up to Ari’s house. Ari went to take Harry’s coat off her shoulders, but Harry put his hand up.

“You can take it. I don’t really need it for now,” Harry said.

“Okay,” she said. She started to walk up to her house, and Harry turned to go. He stopped and ran up to Ari.

“Can I ask you something?” He turned her around to face him. “It’s important.”

She looked startled, but nodded her head all the same.

“Ari, I was wondering if- if you would like to-only if you want to-would you like to-” Harry was cut off by Ari.

“Harry, just ask me,” she said.

“Ari, would you like to-” Harry looked at Ari. She looked beautiful. Why was this harder than it should be? “Would you like to be my girlfriend?”

Ari frowned at Harry, and he looked at her expectantly. Finally, she spoke up.

“Harry, I- I’m so sorry. I just think that maybe we should get to know each other more. Is that okay?” she declined.

Harry looked at her sadly, and he looked like he was in a state of shock.

“No, no it’s fine. I guess I should have waited. I’ll see you around.” Harry turned and started walking back to the Dursley’s.

“Harry, I really am sorry,” Ari called after him.

Harry didn’t bother looking back. He felt angry with himself. Why did I have to ask her tonight?

He walked into the Dursley’s and ran up the stairs. At the top, he collided with Dudley. Dudley smiled.

“Mum says you're in trouble. You were out too late, and now Mum is going to make you clean the house tomorrow,” he said cheerfully.

“Dudley, I don’t care. Right now, I just want to go to my room. Can you please get out of my way?” he asked, trying to stay calm.

“No. And why do you look so angry? It’s not like I’ve done anything!” he exclaimed.

“It’s none of your business. Now, will you please get out of my way?” Harry asked again.

“I already said no! Now tell me why you look so angry!” Dudley screamed.

“Dudley, don’t make me hex you!” Harry warned.

“You wouldn’t! You're not allowed. You’d get expelled,” Dudley whimpered.

Harry thought for a moment. Of course, Dudley was right, but maybe Harry could just pretend and freak Dudley out.

“Hocus Pocus!” Harry whispered. At these words, Dudley ran into his parents’ bedroom. This gave Harry just enough time to run into his room and lock the door.

Harry sat on his bed and looked out the window. He sat there thinking for what felt like hours. At one o’clock, Hedwig was outside the window. Harry let her in and got an idea. He rummaged in his trunk and took out a piece of parchment and a quill. He started writing a letter to Ron. He finished at about one-thirty and looked it over.

Harry called Hedwig over and tied the letter to her leg.

“Take this to Ron,” he whispered. Hedwig flew threw the window and Harry was left alone. He lay down on his bed and just thought. As he lay there, he drifted off into a restless sleep.
__________________________________________________ ___________

When Harry woke up the next morning, he felt groggy. He had had a horrible nightmare last night involving Cedric and Voldermort. Harry had still not gotten over what had happened in the graveyard last June. He slowly got out of bed and went downstairs. Aunt Petunia was making breakfast. Dudley was waiting hungrily at the table. Aunt Petunia looked up as he walked in.

“You're cleaning the house today, boy,” she said.

“And why would that be?” Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

“Because you were out late last night and when you did come home you got angry with Dudley!” she exclaimed.

“Fine, I’ll clean. It’s not as if I have a life of my own,” Harry said sarcastically.

“Well, it’s not like you have a choice, is it, now?” she asked.

“I guess not,” Harry agreed.

Aunt Petunia looked at him funny. He couldn’t blame her. It’s not like he always agreed with his Aunt and Uncle.

Aunt Petunia finished making breakfast and set it on the table. She made sure that Harry had the least and Dudley had the most.

“Mum, I’m going for a walk after breakfast, maybe over across the street,” Dudley said, grinning. Harry just frowned and ate his bacon.

“You can do whatever you want, son,” Uncle Vernon told Dudley.

After breakfast, Harry went to clean up the living room and Dudley went outside. Harry watched Dudley through the living room window.

Dudley walked up to Ari’s door. He knocked and waited. After a couple of minutes, Ari’s mother answered the door. They were talking, but Harry couldn’t hear. He opened the window, but still had trouble hearing. He heard the words, “I’ll get her” and then she was gone. Ari came down in a couple of minutes. She frowned at Dudley.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I came to ask you something,” Dudley answered.

“Fine, ask me,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Can we go for a walk or something? I’d rather not ask right here,” Dudley said, nervously. Ari stepped out and started walking with Dudley.

Harry sighed. There was no way he could follow them. He’d just have to wait until Dudley came home.

Harry spent the rest of the morning cleaning the house. Around the afternoon, Harry walked into the kitchen for lunch. Dudley was sitting down, and he was smiling. Harry didn’t say anything and got himself a sandwich. He ate it and walked out into the backyard.

Harry had to water the plants and clean up the backyard. He was in the middle of picking up garbage, when Ari came over. Harry didn’t look at her. He couldn’t. The sight of her brought a lump to his throat.

“Harry,” Ari broke the silence, “I’m sorry.”

Harry looked up. “What for?” he asked.

“For not agreeing to go out with you,” she said.

“Don’t be sorry. It was your decision, and if you didn’t want to you didn’t have to. And, besides, you're with Dudley now,” Harry said, sadly.

“Wait, I am not with Dudley! What made you think that?” Ari exclaimed.

Harry couldn’t believe his ears. “When Dudley came home he was smiling. That usually means he got his way,” Harry answered.

“I have no idea why he was smiling. I told him no,” Ari said.

“Oh, well, sorry. I guess I jumped to conclusions,” Harry apologized.

“Harry, when you said that I shouldn’t be sorry for saying no, you were wrong. I lied. I should have said yes. I do like you. A lot. I just was afraid that if I said yes, Dudley would get angry and maybe hurt you!” she explained.

Harry was speechless. He couldn’t believe his ears.

“Harry?” Ari looked at him nervously.

“Yes?” Harry asked.

“Would you like to be my boyfriend?” Ari asked.

Harry smiled. “Yes, I would like to. I would like to very much,” he answered. Ari smiled, relieved.

Harry put his hand in Ari’s and walked off down the street, forgetting all about the yard and his punishment.