like lightning: jack harries

six

JACK

"Let me know when you need one though, right?" Finn winked.

"... right." Laura chuckled nervously. "But I'm really not looking for a .... um, boyfriend."

I let out a brief laugh but quickly stopped at the mellow glare of Finn.

"Sorry, he'll really never stop trying." I muttered.

Laura laughed through her scrunchednosefrecklefaceddimpled smile and I raised my eyebrows, swiftly adding a mental tally mark by my name and taking one away from Finn.

"I'm getting a napkin."Finn muttered, swiftly getting up from his chair and walking toward the house.

I cleared my throat just as Finn entered the house, causing Laura's attention to set on me again.

"So... " I smiled.

"So... ," Laura smiled a slight half smile (her newest edition) that highlighted her dimples and made me want to throw myself out a window.

"Sorry about Finn, he's a bit of a flirt to say the least."

I eyed the porch door, wanting to have Finn to stay in the house forever.

"Oh no, it's fine." Laura laughed, making me smile ear to ear. "He's alright."

"You might as well just give him your number already to get it over with, honestly."

Or just you ask already, I thought, biting my lip.

Laura giggled (I marked another tally mark by my name) and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, I'll just... let him be."

I chuckled and looked at my phone in my pocket. God, just ask her already, you idiot.

"Hey, I... was wondering if.... " I began. "if you maybe would give me ....you could maybe give me um, well, nevermind."

Keep going, solider.

"What?"

"I-it's nothing, I guess." I muttered.

You've failed, solider.

"What is it?" Laura laughed.

"It's seriously nothing, don't worry about it." I swatted his hand in the air.

You're an idiot, solider. Get a grip.

Laura smiled suspiciously and leaned back in her chair.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Nothing."

That's a lie, solider. Solider, you're an idiot, once again.

Laura narrowed her eyes and sat back in her chair.

"Alright." She sighed. "So, psychic boy... how's Harry Potter going?" She emphasised psychic boy, making me both cringe and feel like my face was turning into a tomato.

"It's alright, definitely interesting." I grinned and bit my lip again to combat my blooming rosy cheeks.

"You haven't read them before?" Laura sounded astounded.

"Eh, I wasn't much of a reader when I was younger." I shrugged.

"Oh right, right..." She rolled her eyes. "Let me know how it goes, ok?"

"How what goes?" Finns voice finally popped in.

I leaned back in my chair and released a breath of defeat as my precious time with Laura had come to a close.

"Nothing, it's really nothing." I muttered, wondering if Laura was as sad as I was.

The rest of my lunch was spent listening to the constant (one sided) flirtation between Finn and my beloved Book girl- everything that came out of Finn's mouth that caused Laura to laugh or perhaps giggle was a knife to my hope- to hear Laura giggle because of Finn was practically my new favorite worst sound.

But to hear Laura's laugh because of something I had said, on the other hand, was one of my new absolute favorite sounds. And the nose, the freckles, the dimples (oh, the dimples) only added to the display.

When it was time for the Larken family to leave, I got up heavy hearted from my chair to bid farewell to their guests.

"Pleasure to meet you." I firmly shook the hands of Mr. and Mrs. Larken, Finn doing the same.

"And you too Peter, nice to meet you too." I chuckled, sloppily shaking the hand of the curly haired 10-year old.

"Jack, how about you get Laura's books from the house?" My mum gently asked me, pushing me slightly towards the door.

My cheeks flushed as I caught the eye of a smirking Laura, her hands motioning forward.

"Oh yeah, um, sure." I nodded, quickly heading toward the house.

I opened the door and spotted the books on the table, but then paused. I found a pen and took the library receipt out of the book and busily started scribbling and-

"What are you doing?" Finn's asked, coming through the door out of nowhere.

"I-I... I um," I quickly shoved the reciept in between the pages of The Order of the Phoenix. "Nothing, it's nothing. What are you doing?"

"Getting their coats." He lifted up 2 lightweight coats.

"Oh, ok." I loosened my grip on the stack of books.

"...Yeah." Finn eyed the receipt tucked in the book, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah."

LAURA

Jack handed me the stack of books with a slight smirk on his face, causing me to take them suspiciously.

"You're welcome."

"....Right." I slowly smiled, his eyes hanging on to mine.

"Your mum wants you." He gulped, looking to the ground to break the eye contact.

I looked over to my parents, who were both motioning towards me by the fence.

"Oh." I looked back to Jack and to Finn who stood close by. "Well, it was nice meeting you both, I probably should um... get going now."

Jack and Finn both stuttered a reply and a waved in goodbye as I followed my parents towards the door of the fence.

"Thanks for coming!" The Harries family chorused as we opened the door to the fence.

"See you soon!" We replied, closing the door and waving one last goodbye.

I followed my parents and Peter into our cool house, finding Grandma in her usual spot in the pink chair.

I plopped down in the leather coach right next to Grandmas pink chair and set my books carefully down on the coffee table.

"How was lunch?" My grandma asked, her hand gently petting calm pug in her lap.

"Oh, they're such great people." My mom gushed. "Beautiful house, too. Oh, and what awesome food that Rebecca can make! Seriously, Laura, did you dry the dip?"

"What dip?"

"Aw, nevermind. Anyway, mum, I was thinking that...." My mom droned on, my Grandma patiently nodding in between her narratives.

I grabbed The Order of the Phoenix off the top of the stack and opened to page one, drowning out the further conversation between my Mom and Grandma, pausing when my Mom set a coffee cup on the side table next to me.

"How were the boys, Laura?"

"Oh, um-" I swallowed. "Nice, they were nice."

"Well, I know one couldn't keep their eyes off you for sure." My mom whispered.

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