A Summer Romance by unicorngirl22
Chapter Notes: My first fic. Hope you guys like it. Thanks to Elisabeth for being a wonderful beta.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except Ari of course.
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.
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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.