[godric's hollow] rise to the sun [#harvey]

Chance stared at the front door of the nice home, eyes wide and confused. This was where Harvey lived? It was so different from the small flat that she’d shared with her mountain of siblings. It made her anxious, as if she was stepping into another world. The city that she lived in was large and bustling, and this village? It was cute. Something out of one of her fairy tale books. After flooing in to the small wizarding restaurant, she’d spent the extra time she’d had exploring. Everything was beautiful. Chance’s lips were still opened in awe as she stared at the lovely area. She believed her mother would die to live her. And when Harvey was out of school, he was here all the time? Lucky boy.

The petite girl had been stunned by Harvey’s invitation. It was so soon after the term was over, and she’d not expected the owl that’d flown into her open window when she was dancing in her underwear in the moonlight, and she’d almost punched it out of the air. but the owl slid out of her reach in the last minute. It’d taken a few minutes (read: an hour) to coax the owl down out of the rafters of her attic bedroom so she could get the letter. It’d taken plenty coaxing from her mama to  allow her to go, but the half-Italian and wasn’t to be swayed.

Now she was in front of Harvey’s house, staring at his door. She was a Gryffindor! Not a coward. The little moment in the common room had the younger girl flustered, and she found herself shy around him sometimes. Only sometimes. Turning her head to the side, she knocked furiously on the door. She was still looking away when she heard a noise and stared into blue eyes. “HARV!” She squeaked, gripping the small picnic basket she had in her hands tightly. “I’m….not late am i?”

“And why are you in your pyjamas? It’s 2.” Her head tilted to the side, and she let her eyes wander his tall frame before she realized she was staring, and her gaze slammed upwards to meet his. Her face was cherry red, and she bit on her bottom lip. “Am I over dressed?” She tugged at the pretty floral dress that she’d begged her mother to help her get. She was embarrassed. What was she doing? What was she thinking? Panicking, she shoved the basket at him.

“I have gifts? Like jam. My mama helped me. And cheese. Fuck.” She shifted from side to side. “Maybe this was a bad idea…”

@Harvey Landsdowne
oops >>

This was just delicious.

A tall boy was fast asleep, long limbs tangled up in dark blue sheets with his face pressed deep against the pillow. It was summer! He had one whole week of doing absolutely sod all before he had to start work. "Work" was kind of an over statement. Each year when school ended, he was coerced into working in his aunt's florist shop in Truro. All he did really was lug buckets of water around and sign for deliveries and be the general dogsbody for a month or two but it wasn't all that bad. Plus, he got paid. Bonus.

It was a warm and clear summer's afternoon. The sun was high and bright, filtering through his curtains that flopped in the gentle, gardenia scented breeze. Birds were singing joyfully, high in the surrounding trees, causing him to twitch due to the disturbance in his sleep.

All of a sudden, a very small and very determined missile came bursting through his bedroom door.

The noise belonged to Titania, his fourteen year old sister. Unlike her brother, she was up at the crack of dawn and had already run around like a headless chicken. He vaguely remembered saying she was going out for the day with their mum and grandmother into Cornwall.

Bleary eyed and disorientated, Harvey grunted as he sat up, just in time to have a pillow launched at him by the little hellion. "Urgh. Oh get lost," he grunted, flinging the pillow aside, his brain trying to catch up. His sister offered a smile and entered, invading his personal space. "There's a girl at the door for you," she replied in a sickeningly sweet, sing-song voice as she wiggled her eyebrows. "She's pretty," she concluded with a shrug. "So she's clearly way too good for you. I told her you weren't home." With that, Titania offered a grin, cackled with glee and sprinted back down the stairs, slamming the front door behind her.

Clumsily, Harvey reached for his glasses on the bedside table and shoved them onto his face, flinging back the covered and trotting down the stairs, wearing just a pair of pyjama bottoms. Still none the wiser, he was surprised but pleased to see the caller.

"Chance!" Harvey exclaimed, a grin lighting up his handsome face. Of course. He'd invited her over. Duh. "Nah you're right on time," he said with a smile as he leaned casually against the door jamb. "Is it?" He asked with a frown as he was made aware of the time. "Ah crap, I'm sorry. I didn't forget you were coming," he said, looking sheepish before his big blue eyes widened. "No! No. You look beautiful. I'm the one letting you down," he admitted.

Shifting to catch the basket, he offered Chance a grin. "I love cheese," he said, feeling flattered and both guilty because he was being a colossal dick. "I love it. Come on. In you come." With that, he shifted the hamper, grabbed her wrist and hauled her inside but not before kissing her on the cheek. Setting the basket down near the foot of the stairs, he gave one last yawn and stretched, cracking his back and shoulder muscles before scratching his bare stomach.

"I'm gonna be two minutes. Don't move." Leaning in, he placed a soft kiss on the tip of Chance's nose before taking the stairs two at a time. If she'd taken the time to look extra gorgeous, then he should at least try to match her. Having the world's quickest shower, shave and brush of teeth, he bounded down the stairs fully dressed and out of breath, offering her a beatific grin.

"Come on," he said, holding the basket in one hand and her own in the other, he opened the door and stepped back out into the sunshine. "It's really thoughtful of you to bring stuff with you," Harvey told her, genuinely touched by her generosity. "So! I was thinking. Do you wanna have a picnic in the park?" He asked with a head tilt. "I'll buy you an ice cream from the post office?" He said in a sing-song voice, hoping to coax her into agreeing as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“Oh!” Squeaking, Chance let herself be dragged into the house, eyes wide. There was too much tall shirtless boy for her to not be all red and blotchy, and she bit her lips. She squeaked again when he kissed her cheek, and stared upwards when he pulled away. While she was affectionate, more than most people, she wasn’t used to surprise kisses and hugs. She used her free hand to tug at her dress when he called her beautiful, and stared down at the ground. Why was she so damned awkward? Like she’d never seen a handsome boy before. Squaring her shoulders, she peered back up at him only for him to kiss her on the nose and bound away.

Then she was alone again, and Harvey’s sister (she supposed) was staring at her. So she stared back. They engaged in a staring contest for a moment, Chance’s lips twitching the whole time as she tried not to laugh. Then there was noise and brightness, and Chance broke the contest first, rolling her eyes at the hissed ’Yessss~! from the younger girl.

“EEP!” She squeaked as he lead her outside, and the sun shot into her eyes. She pulled her overlarge sunglasses down from where they perched atop her head, and blushed again. “I…it’s what my mama taught me to do…” She let him lead wherever they walked, her small fingers twining where they could fit in his big ones. She squeezed his hand slightly, peering up at him. “I love picnics! Okay!” Chance chirped, bouncing in place like an eager puppy. “I also love ice cream…” She wondered why they sold it at the post office, but every place had it’s idiosyncrasies.

As they continued to walk, Chance’s free hand slid up to remove her glasses as she peered around the village. Everything was beautiful there, and she was itching to explore. She smiled broadly at the people who kindly spoke to them as they walked to the park. Everyone was so kind and nice, and not as self-absorbed as people in her large city were. There were even nicer picnic spots, she noted as they got to the park. She took him over to a large flowering tree, staring up into the branches as she twirled.

“This is the one! Can you conjure a blanket?” She stopped twirling abruptly, landing in a heap at the bottom of the tree. “Or we can sit on the grass, but I’d rather you not with as fine as you’re dressed today…” She admired him openly, sighing a bit. “Oh! I also have other snacks. C’mon Harv!”

The air was warm and fresh on his bare forearms as he walked Chace down the high street and through the quaint little streets of cottages. In the summer, Godric's Hollow was the typical English chocolate box village. Cute houses, climbing ivy and a strong sense of community. In winter, it looked just like the scene from a Christmas card. It was a nice, quiet place to grow up but Harvey always secretly thought he was better suited to a city lifestyle.

"Well, she's a very good woman," the Gryffindor said conversationally, both loving and feeling faintly concerned for how jittery Chance seemed. It was a far cry from the time she'd curled up on his lap and read his palm. If he didn't know her any better, he'd think it was a flirting technique. "And I'd never much like to meet her one day." Thankfully, Harvey was good with parents. Like Chance, his mother had raised him to be charming and polite. He never let any awkward silences appear and filled them with witticism and intelligent conversation…until it came to Muggle football and someone supported Manchester United. Then he'd have to punch them.

As instructed, Harvey twirled his wand and a tartan blanket unfurled. The tree was hanging low enough to provide enough shade and the trunk was wide enough so that they could lean against it. On such a beautiful summer's day, he could sort of see why the Victorians had enjoyed eating outside so much.

He snorted. "Oh, what? This old thing?" He joked, gesturing to his freshly pressed attire. Chance was distracting. That was the worst thing. She was smart and beautiful and funny and cute and she had a pair of legs on her that could drive a man wild. Clearing his throat in case his mind wandered down that path, he knelt down and opened the hamper. "Oh you brought plates!" He exclaimed with wide eyes, finding out that it was one of those fancy ones with leather catches that held cutlery and glasses. For such a Neanderthal, his table manners were oddly delicate.

Like a child on Christmas morning, Harvey made his way through the boxes, sniffing at them before heaping dollops of various things onto his plate with eagerness. His big hands neatly sliced some cheese and chewed it, making soft, agreeable noises as he did. This was like a treasure trove of culinary delights.

"Did you make this?" He asked, pointing at various little tubs that he was now tearing through. "If you did, I'm gonna have to marry you," he said before taking another forkful and doing his happy dance which concluded of wiggling his bum and shimmying his shoulders. Chance looked so much more different outside of school. A good different, a more relaxed different. Harvey didn't know if she'd dressed up especially for him but if she had, he was both pleased and flattered.

"How's your summer been so far?" Harvey asked, interested to know as he took a small bite from a sandwich and gave a soft moan of appreciation. How did she know that his favourite sarnie was ham and mustard on white bread? The girl was a mind reader. Though, Chance could have given him dog turd on a bun and he would have ate it for her.

Reaching up, he deftly snapped off a small white flower. Twirling it in his fingers, he leaned across the blanket and deftly slipped it behind one of her ears with a smile. It wasn't a grand gesture. It was just a simple wildflower. Call him crazy but he had the idea that she'd prefer that than a fat bouquet of force grown roses that lacked aroma.

With that, he kicked off his shoes. Flopping backwards on the soft grass, he wiggled his bare toes and peered at the clouds from underneath the branches on the tree they were sitting beneath, adjusting his glasses absently. "That cloud looks like a unicorn," he observed with a thoughtful frown.