Hogwarts is a Magical Place

Chapter 11

  Lily Hope Lovegood

I wake up on the couch. Okay, here's the real story. I passed out on top of Fox on the couch yesterday, so when I wake up, I jump off of the couch, waking Fox.

"Where are you going?" he says as I start to pull on a jacket over my shirt.

"On a short walk," I say.

"Why?"

"To clear my head." I look at the clock. 5:00AM.

"Let me come"

"Why?"

"It's dangerous. It's better to walk in a group. Let me come."

"Okay, fine. But can you climb trees?"

"Yes. I'll bring my wand"

"I guess I will too."

As we walk through the chilly night, Fox holds my hand. I look up, and see stars. We start to walk through the trees, and I look for a good climbing tree.

"How about this one?" I say, looking at a tree.

"The bottom branches are really high up, though."

"So?" I say, "When has that mattered?"

I hand Fox my wand and take a running start. A few feet from the trunk, I jump, push off the tree, and grab on to the lowest branch, using my momentum to swing me up.

"Toss me my wand, please. And your wand. You can't climb a tree with a wand in your hand."

I catch both of them and climb to a higher branch with them in my mouth.
"Okay, come on up."

Fox tries to copy my movements. He fails the first time, but succeeds the second time. I hand him his wand.

"I hope you don't mind my spit on it."

"Naw," he says, wiping it on his shirt before he puts it in his mouth. I climb up to a split in the tree where three branches come out of the trunk.

"So..." Fox says. "Whatcha wanna talk about?"

"Um, I don't know. I'm just thinking."

Fox brushes the hair out of my eyes. He leans forwards and kisses my cheek. What just happened? I kinda smile and blush a bit.

"What is your favorite animal?"

"How do you think I got my nickname?" He smirks. "What is your favorite animal?"

"A cat."

"What about your favorite number?"

"Thirteen and twenty-three. Yours?"

"Nine. Twenty-seven. You looked really cute last night."

"What, do I not look cute now?" I tease.

"Actually, I bet you do, but I can't really see you right now." He smiles in the dark.

I check my watch. "We should get back. It's getting late."

"We just got here, but you're right."

"I'll climb down first. When you get to the lowest branch, throw your wand on the ground away from the tree so you don't step on it," I say, then put my wand back in my mouth and climb down. I land on the ground with my knees bent, so I don't break anything, slightly bouncing my knees.

"Okay, you can come down now," I say, picking up my wand and stepping away from the tree so I don't get landed on.

"Toss me your wand," I say when he gets to the bottom branch. I catch it in my hands and back away as he jumps down, landing on his butt and rolling on the ground before standing up.

"Next time, try landing on your feet," I say. I hand him his wand.

"Well, it's easy for you to say. You've probably been climbing trees since you could walk."

This time, I smirk.