𝗷𝗮𝗻𝗲, harry potter

˗ˋ 03

CHAPTER THREE
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-: fourth year :-

── IN WHICH THEY MEET

. . .

Harry had always been grateful that the Dursley's had decided to settle down in Little Whinging rather than any city .

Because whilst he could stay at Hogwarts or the Weasleys for Christmas and Easter, he had no choice but to return to his Uncle and Aunt's home for the majority of summer.

But given that it was summer, most days could be spent outside. And Little Whinging was situated in the perfect place for that. As a small town in the countryside of England, it was completely surrounded by rolling fields of green.

And if it was during any other time in the year, there was a rather high possibility of it raining. But seeing as it wasn't, and the sun was beating down ont he town, Harry was to take advantage of that.

Perhaps, given the events of what had taken place during his last few days of his fourth year at Hogwarts, it wasn't the best idea. Voldemort was back, and who knew where, and what followers were slowly rising out of the nooks and crannys of the the country during the time they thought he was dead.

But Harry could not stand to spend every day in the undeniably ugly and uncomfortable place he was forced to call home, and so he was willing to take that risk and venture into the outside world.

And many others had decided to do the same. Whilst their opinions on their own homes were quite possibly opposite to what Harry thought of his, he encountered many children and kids his age running about town, and narrowly missing his cousin Dudley and his gang, the Potter boy saw even more as he crossed the green metal bridge and down onto the bank on the otherside, children playing on the beach beside the river.

In front of him, a path led up to a farm, and then to more fields, but Harry decided to take the trodden grass path instead, walking along the river bank, past thin walls of bushes and short trees that seperated the path from the dark water besides it.

His bag swung across his back, History of Magic book rather heavy and digging into his shoulder. But despite the rather sudden shooting pain, Harry knew better to get the book out there, and instead carried on quite a way, passing a group of people paddling in the calm river, finding a tree and sitting down under it, tilting branches hiding him slightly from sight.

He peered around each corner of the tree, eyes drifting along the grassy path and then the small sandy area that the tree was beside. He saw no one, and so he deemed it safe to pull out the book from his bag, opening it and flicking to the page he needed.

A few moments passed, trying to convince himself to focus on the words written on the page and not let his gaze drag down the the slowly rippling water, or the other direction and seeing the rather dreamily swaying field of wild grass, wheat and flowers. 

"How very interesting." A voice echoed above him and Harry snapped the book shut, his focus moving upwards, making eye contact with a girl sat in the tree above him. 

Rather quickly, she swung her legs around and jumped from the branch, landing nimbly on her feet without even wobbling, dusting her hands off on her flowery-patterned dress that reminded the boy off something remotely similar to what a girl at school was wearing on the last day.

"Are you sure those glasses work?" She looked down at him, head tilted. "Because, despite you checking so thoroughly before opening your book, you forget to check somewhere." Harry stared at her as she sat down in front of him. "If you're really that cautious about something, and you decide to sit under a tree, surely you would look up in it's branches."

"I didn't even consider it." Harry said, quickly pulling his bag from his side and pushing the History of Magic book into it, frowning as the girl twisted her head to try and read the title. "You're awfully nosy, aren't you?"

"And you aren't the brightest." The girl replied, light bouncing in her eyes. "It just looked interesting. I'm Jane, by the way, and you are?"

"Harry, Harry Potter." Now, Harry wasn't exactly enjoying the habit he seemed to have of giving his name out to strangers, but considering the rather sudden flashback he had to meeting Hermione on the train, it had convinced him to just tell her.

"Well Harry, Harry Potter, I'd say you need to check your surroundings better before getting out books you don't want others to read. Who exactly are you hiding from, by the way?" Jane asked, and Harry watched as she leaned to the side, peering out at the path behind the tree.

"No one in particular, except possibly my cousin and his friends. Looked like they wanted to terrorise- what are you doing?" Harry had also looked behind the tree, but when he glanced back, the girl had disappeared and looking upwards, he saw her up in the branches again.

She didn't say anything, just looked to be gathering up what must be her own stuff. And much like how she had gotten down before, a brown bag ended up on the floor beside Harry, and then a tote-style bag followed it, material crumpling on the floor.

Jane appeared once more, brushing moss off her hands as she sat in front again, crossing her legs and pulling the brown paper bag onto her lap, pulling out a package of sandwiches, unwrappping it.

"Don't mind ham and cheese do you? I'm not particularly fond of ham so I had to pick it out, but Flora gave me a sandwich extra - reckons I could fatten up a bit, and I could say the same to you." Jane rambled slightly, holding out the unwrapped package, Harry simply staring at her. "Well, go on. I've looked after kids long enough to know when someone hasn't eaten a meal they enjoyed in days."

And Harry found himself taking them.

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a/n
i wasn't sure on last
chapter so idk it could
still be unpublished