𝗷𝗮𝗻𝗲, harry potter

˗ˋ 59

CHAPTER FIFTY NINE
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-: fourth year :-

── IN WHICH THE DAY
BRIGHTENS UP

. . .

They had gone swimming, the pool beneath the waterfall luckily not too full that they couldn't go in, setting down multiple towels down over the rock so that they had somewhere to sit. Like the sunrise earlier that morning, the day became a lot warmer as it progressed and Harry realised that Jane was right after all.

His birthday wasn't the cut-off point for the good weather, or the good time that he was having with Jane. He couldn't really pinpoint why he had let that thought enter his mind; perhaps it was him just letting his mind run wild, the dream that followed the best fay of his life overshadowing any other thought. 

As much as he tried to stop thinking about it, somehow the nightmare was on his mind. When he dipped a toe into the cold water of the pool, when he watched Jane dare to go under the waterfall, when he sat and ate the cold tuna and sweetcorn pasta that Angela had quickly made for them whilst they ate breakfast that morning - there were flashes of dark and memories of the cracked, moulding window panes of the Riddle Manor.

When he submerged himself into the depths all he could think off was the cold mud that had coated his feet as he ran towards the graveyard, when his eyes were first filled with the sight of a vibrant green copse of trees, all he could think of was the curse that had hit Cedric Diggory and turned him comatose. 

He really tried to stop it, but everywhere he turned were reminders of the nightmare. But just like when he woke up, Jane was always there to pull him from it, bringing him back to the reality of things - which was that he was fine, he was alive, and he had nothing to worry about as of right then. 

As he watched her swim around the pool and approach him, holding her arms out and taking his hands to pull him further in, he was reminded of what he had felt as he woke up, the warmth of Jane's hug, the comforting words, the reassurance that absolutely none of it was real. Or it was - she just had no idea why there was pain shooting through his forehead from his scar.

Because scars weren't supposed to hurt. They were supposed to be reminders of the pain and struggles that someone had faced. They weren't supposed to come back. 

Harry could see the worry in Jane's eyes every so often, just flashes of uneasiness when she glanced over, but not once did she ask about it, or what he had dreamt about. Even if it was a natural thing to wonder, she still respected that it was something more private. But that worry seemed to be ever so prominent as they climbed over the Green Bridge and back into Little Whinging, the sun still drying the pavements as they headed back towards Number 4 Privet Drive.

"Do you think.. there might be another one tonight?" Jane asked quietly, as they climbed up the dirt steps towards the road. "Another nightmare, I mean."

"I hope not." Harry replied, trying to cheer her up a little with a smile, squeezing her hand. "I'll be fine, we'll meet up tomorrow morning and I can tell you. I used to get them last summer as well.. and the end of the school year."

He had been having nightmares almost all of his life, but he wasn't going to disclose that to the Everleigh girl. She tried and succeeded in acting so carefree, but she did worry, and she made the effort to try and not make it so obvious so not as to make others uncomfortable.

"Okay.. just remember that it isn't real, okay? And you're supposed to have weird amounts of fingers in dreams." She added, turning towards him.

"What?"

"In dreams you either have more than five fingers or less to a hand." Jane told him, a smile on her face. "Or supposedly anyway. Just give it a try, if it happens again, alright?" 

Harry nodded, swallowing. He would - Hermione had been trying to find a trigger for him to recognise in a dream since she found out about them, but nothing had worked - and perhaps this could. "What are we doing tomorrow?" The boy asked, as they reached the top of the stairs and began walking down the hill. "Any walks you can think of?"

"Maybe. There's one across the village that might exist." Jane didn't question the chance in topic and let it smoothly flow. "You know the park besides the primary school?" Harry nodded. "If you go past that and through the tunnel under the train tracks then you come out on the other edge besides the moor."

Little Whinging was in a valley, and neither had really realised it but they had only explored one side of that. It was the perfect situation really: they would spend a month on each side, and Harry would go back to Hogwarts having to catch up with his homework on the train as opposed to having it done in the first week of the holidays. 

"Then we'll go there. Meet by the tree?" Harry asked, as they turned down Magnolia Crescent and continued to Privet Drive, both having agreed that Jane shouldn't go all the way up to the door so as not to upset his aunt and uncle, or to send Dudley into another spiral of accusations. 

"Meet by the tree." Jane nodded, confirming the place. Her eyes drifted over to the street sign, a the smile on her face widening as she spotted the cat. "Have a good evening, Harry." 

And after she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek, she was scratching the cat behind it's ears, leaving the Potter boy to make his way to the house he hated so much, unusually happy and somewhat love drunk.

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a/n
do the maths and you
realise theres only a day
left