Harry Potter and the Winters After the War

Chapter 13 - Wendy's Training Ploy

Morning came and Harry was awake long before Wendy. He started bacon and eggs cooking before he sent a patronus to Ginny to ask about the scout and was delighted to get one back almost immediately telling him briefly that though nothing had been said definitely, she hoped to receive an official letter from the Harpies inviting her to try out for them some time this spring. Wendy emerged a short time later, still in her dressing gown from the bedroom.

“Were you talking to someone?” she asked.

“Just a patronus, from a friend.”

Wendy put her hand to her head pushing back her hair and mumbled something incoherently that might have been good morning.

 “Good morning to you too,” Harry greeted her cheerily.

Wendy groaned. “You know that sort of attitude this early in the morning is indecent don’t you Potter?”

Harry chuckled. “Come on Wendy, it can’t be that bad, even if you’re not a morning person.”

She glared at him. “How can you be so cheerful? You can’t have slept much better than I did last night.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

Wendy looked irritably at him. “You do know you’re not exactly a silent sleeper?” she asked.

Harry looked at her speculatively trying to remember any unusual dreams or anything that caused him to awaken even momentarily in the night, but he couldn’t remember a thing.

“Why, what did I do? Snore?” he asked.

“You talk in your sleep!” Wendy said.

“Oh, is that all,” Harry said.

“What do you mean is that all?” Wendy asked.

“Well Ron tells me that sometimes I yell,” Harry shrugged. “I used to wake him up a lot when we were roommates back in school.”

Wendy looked at him steadily as if to decipher the honesty of what he said. “I see. Is that the reason you didn’t want to share a room?” she asked.

Harry shrugged. It was as good as any, given their current situation.

“Could be,” he said deciding to keep her guessing on that front.

“Okay I get it. Good to know though,” Wendy conceded then grinned. “See, I’m getting to know you better already.”

“Okay, so how does knowing I talk in my sleep going to help you to do better work as my partner?” Harry asked.

“I know to keep dreamless sleep potion with me … in tablet form…if ever it looks like we could be taken hostage for long periods of time. I expect you could give away mission secrets in your sleep if you dreamed.”

Harry shook his head. “Not likely. I rarely dream about anything current. Rather you’re more likely to hear about something that was happening to me last year.”

“Hum. That’s good to know too. The other thing is, if we ever need to think straight early in the morning, I’d better let you do it.” She yawned again as Harry smiled.

“Coffee?” he offered.

“Please. Then I’m getting a shower before breakfast.”

It was still early when Harry and Wendy emerged from their tent, fed and ready for the day. Harry suggested they walk by the shops and cafes along the seaside to see what their routine was like early in the day. He decided that was a good call. There were only two cafes open at that hour, one was occupied by locals while the other mainly by folks passing through. Harry offered to treat Wendy to a second, somewhat better cup of coffee in order to give them an excuse to go in so that he could study them. The locals were all fishermen and a few farmers, but the non-locals seemed to be comprised of delivery men of one sort of another. Harry wished he had a camera to see if these were the same men the first set of teams had reported that came every week. He mentioned this to Wendy, and later that day bought a disposable muggle instant camera at one of the local shops to use, along with a few things to augment their supply of food.