The Crown Series - A Harry Potter Story

The last day of summer

James POV
It was so damn cold that my feet were numb in an instant. But still it was beautiful. The last rays of sunshine illuminated the water and let it sparkle, the gentle breeze and the crashing of the waves uplifted the mood of everyone.

We were the only people bold enough to step into the lake, other students were scattered around the grounds, reading or chatting. Ginny and Liss were standing before me with crossed arms to contain their body heat.
"Thats freaking cold." Liss stated
"Well what an observation Sherlock." I replied, grinning at her.
"Thank you Watson." She said head held high as she stepped towards the shore.

"No no no, you're coming with us." With a wink in Ginnys direction, I grabbed Liss waist gently and flung her over my shoulder. Then I ran deeper in the water, with her half laughing, half screaming in my ear. I knew if she wanted to she would be down already, beating me up.
When we were deep enough I tossed her into the water and started to run away like the devil was following me, because she was.

I was engulfed by a big wave, not even 5 meters from where I started my run. Gasping for breath I broke through the surface and saw her looking at me. She was laughing her ass off at my face which held a look of disbelief and surprise. Her hair was messy and dripping with water but still she looked unbelievable beautiful. Her eyes shone like all the stars of the sky combined. The radiant aura she possessed pulling me in. Slowly I took a step closer to her, pushing a strand of her hair out of her face.
Liss just looked at me with her stunning blue eyes that mirrored the lake and the sky. I tried to find a sign that I should stop, that this was wrong but I couldn't find doubt or anything, just determination.

"Hey Lovebirds! Stop flirting and look at that!" Ginny screamed.

I immediately pulled back, putting some distance between us. I was distracted, which is the only thing I cannot be. I have to be alerted and ready for both of us. This time it may only be Ginny startling me but one day it may be a death eater or worse.
Shaking my head I looked over to where Ginny was still pointing at.

A giant tentacle was stretched towards the sun, a black shadow floating just below the surface.
"Bloody hell!" Dean exclaimed.
"Language!" Neville replied.
"I've never seen the squid that close before!"
"Wait, there are big creatures in the lake and nobody warned me?!" Liss sounded shocked.
"I may have forgotten to tell you that..." I sheepishly said, stepping back to avoid her punch.
The Group started to laugh as she was chasing me around.

A little bit later Hermione joined us and we decided to play some games in the water. Dean suggested that we could play 'chicken fight', a game I've never heard of before but one I was determined to win.

"...It's played in teams of two. One is sitting on the shoulders of two and is tasked with bringing the other teams down. The last team standing wins."

"Sounds nice, so who is teaming up with who ?" Liss asked, looking around.
"We're going to win!" I replied, walking through the waist high water to her and grabbing her hand.

Ginny was looking at us with a funny face, raising her brows and mouthing something to Liss. Who started to blush furiously. Girls are strange.

"Okayyy, Neville do you want to team up?" Ginny asked, tilting her head to the side and smiling confidently.
"Sure?" He sounded unsure and nervous.
"Don't panic, we're gonna beat them." She assured him.

Dean was looking at Hermione, who shrugged with her shoulders and said:"I am not sure if this is the right game for me. Maybe it is best if I just get out?"
"Oh come on. I've played this games dozens of times before. It will be fun, I promise."
"Alright, I'll give it a try." She was smiling now.
"Then let's start!" He shouted.
Immediately I refocused back on Liss. A playfull sparkle in her eyes and her determined expression told me she was ready to battle.

"Now Mylady, would you mount your horse please?" I crouched down and waited for her to climb on my shoulders.
I heard her laugher as I carefully stood up again, raising to my full height. My job was it to make sure she didn't fall off my shoulders, her job was it to make sure Ginny and Hermione would fall off. Sounds easy, right? Well it wasn't.

First of all we had to wait for the other two teams which took a while.
Second I had to figure out how to move right, because every time I did a fast, unexpected sidestep Liss fell down. Which was quite funny but not helpful in terms of winning.
Thirdly Liss had to learn not to strangle me to death. I mean I get it, it must be tough to hold her balance, but I had to remind her several times that it was my neck she strangled.

Hermione and Dean though were naturals (at least Hermione). They won almost every round. Ginny and Neville failed more than we did, because of her moving her body too much and Neville didn't really had enough strength to regain balance then.

The whole game was really fun, but the water was still freezing which led us to get out of the water after a while. Harry and Ron left the spot already, so only Atti was lying on the towels and blankets.

After we were dry again, we played a few rounds of truth or dare, before we packed our bags and started to head back into the castle.
We parted in the common room as the girls headed upstairs to shower and Neville, Dean and I started a heated discussion about the future Hogwarts champion for the triwizard tournament.

The last day of summer soon ended after eating dinner and a game of exploding snap.