Meeting is a gift
Queenie's suspicions led her to stare intently at Harry's face during their next meeting, paying particular attention to the area around his eyes, since this is the most noticeable part of the face as a person ages.
There wasn't a single wrinkle, and it was even healthier than the area around her eyes... Was it because she spent a long time at sea and was well-hydrated?
Queenie's thoughts wandered aimlessly, her gaze sweeping over every inch of his face again and again, until finally settling on his beloved lake-like eyes. Harry's green eyes appeared lighter because of their brightness, like the shimmering surface of a lake at midday.
Harry, who was being stared at by Queenie, was extremely nervous. His hands and feet were sweating uncontrollably. He wondered if he hadn't washed up properly before leaving the house, or if he had been caught using Ron's skincare products. Ron's skincare products were leftovers from Ginny who didn't want to use them anymore. To avoid wasting them, he took them and used them whenever he remembered, even though he didn't remember them most of the time.
Harry's hands, which were around Queenie's waist and in her palms, tightened slightly. "What's wrong, Queenie?"
"It's all because of your problem yesterday," Queenie said, her tone full of reproach.
"Huh?" Harry became even more nervous. He knew Queenie was talking about lies. It was all his fault for being so talkative. Queenie must have remembered something strange. Come to think of it, his performance was indeed not perfect... Why doesn't a text message have an recall function?
Queenie suddenly tiptoed closer, and Harry froze in place, his dancing stopping as well.
The last time Queenie treated him like this, he was so shocked that he backed away repeatedly. But this time, he seemed to be petrified, his feet stuck to the spot, unable to move, as her breath sprayed on his face.
His eyes seemed to be filled with honey.
He was surrounded by the colors that belonged to Queenie.
Then he heard her say, "Tsk, your skin is so good, even up close... You're really not lying about your age? If you're really in your thirties, it's fine, but you're so good-looking."
People who conceal their age usually say they are younger than they are, and Queenie never imagined that the man in front of her—or rather, the boy—was only fifteen years old.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course not, I'm twenty...twelve years old, I just had my birthday at the end of last month."
Queenie stepped back, returning to her original distance, and quickly shifted her attention upon hearing Harry's reply, "July 31st?"
"Um."
Queenie quickly pieced together the timeline of their first meeting: "Wasn't that the day after we met?"
Harry nodded. He had gone to the pub the day before his birthday, partly because of the end of his fourth year, and partly because he hadn't received any gifts or greetings from his friends, which had made him incredibly upset.
Queenie said with a hint of regret, "Why didn't you say so then? Otherwise, I could have celebrated with you, or at least given you a present." As she said this, Queenie's mind was already filled with images of how she would celebrate Harry's birthday. A cake was essential; she could order a ship-shaped cake, use candles as chimneys, and then—
Harry led her into a new round of dancing. "No need for that, Queenie. I'm not a greedy person. Meeting you is already the best birthday gift I've received this year."
As the music drew to a close, melodious and soothing, Queenie's arm rested comfortably on his shoulder, her voice as pleasant as the music, "Me too."
When the music ended, they bowed to each other.
It's okay, they still have the important date of August 31st.
"The day before school starts? Is it appropriate to hold a dance party on that day? Isn't the school worried that the students will get too carried away and won't be able to get up?" Ron asked.
Hermione explained, "High school usually starts on the first Monday of September, which is obviously a few days away from the start of the semester."
"Okay, I thought students all over the world started school on September 1st."
This unintentional remark reminded Hermione again, "But Harry, how are you going to leave on the day of the ball?"
"Uh, like today?"
"Have you forgotten that Mrs. Weasley said she'd throw us a small party?"
"..." He remembered that there were two reasons: first, to celebrate the start of the school year, and second, to celebrate Ron and Hermione being elected prefects.
"We don't have much time left. We need to come up with a plan as soon as possible. It will be too obvious if either you or Ron is missing from the party. Besides, I think the prom will last a long time. It can't be shorter than our party."
The three looked at each other, and after about half a minute—
"How about—"
"or--"
"I think--"
Well, they really do have great chemistry; they choose to speak at the exact same time.
Hermione cleared her throat. "Let's say it together."
Harry and Ron nodded in agreement.
"Go find Sirius!"
"Silis!"
"Tell Sirius!"
It is only natural for children to seek help from adults when they encounter problems they cannot solve.
Sirius was given a brief overview.
"Ha, so Tonks wasn't wrong, you really did find a girlfriend!" Sirius's excitement was palpable. He put his arm around Harry's shoulder and winked at him. "Great! I'm going to be there next time you two meet. I have to keep an eye on things for you, right? I'm your guardian! Don't be nervous, I'll appear as Big Foot. You know, no girl dislikes a dog!" He had to admit that Harry was really something, running away so many times without being caught.
"...Yes, I think it's apart from those dogs that can fight werewolves all night."
Sirius's Animagus was enormous and imposing; there wasn't a black dog of that size in the wizarding world, let alone the Muggle world. Everyone thought it was cool, but Queenie might not think so. She might—in fact, he guessed she definitely would—be frightened. Besides, if Sirius slipped up, it would be too difficult to explain. He meant he already had enough lies; there was no need for Sirius to add a few more.
Sirius wasn't disappointed; after all, he could just sneak around, couldn't he?
Speaking of which, Harry's new hairstyle was probably because of his love life, right? Oh right, and the age-enhancing potion, but why use an age-enhancing potion? Does that girl prefer older men? Wait, so Harry wants to learn Apparition not because he envies the twins, but because he wants to see his girlfriend faster? How far has Harry progressed? If he's already mastered it, how can he sneak off with them? He's already promised to teach them Apparition, so maybe he should teach them more slowly? But Voldemort has been resurrected, and the sooner Harry learns, the safer he'll be…
Harry stated truthfully, "Besides, Queenie and I aren't dating; she's not my girlfriend."
Ron frowned, Merlin's beard twitching. He'd forgotten that Harry and Queenie weren't together yet. What would happen once they were officially a couple? He'd have to share a dorm room with Harry for three more years! ...Would Harry sneak out of Hogwarts to see Queenie like he did when he ran away from Black's house?
"What?" Sirish immediately banished those fleeting thoughts from his mind. "Why? She doesn't like you the way you like her? Do you need my help? You might not know, but I've always been quite good at attracting women."
"...No need, thank you. We get along well." Given that his father only managed to get a date with his mother in seventh grade with Sirius's help, he assumed that Sirius's "good looks" referred to his good appearance. After all, no one could deny that Sirius's face wasn't handsome; even Snape would use phrases like "your ugly, snotty-nosed brain" when arguing with him.
“Alright, Sirius,” Hermione tried to steer the conversation back on track. “Harry needs your ‘help’.”
“Ah, right…” Sirius blinked. “Isn’t that simple? Just use your old method, the compound decoction.”
"You're impersonating Harry? But how do you explain the absence of 'you,' the owner?"
"Then let's find someone else who won't be there that day to impersonate me, Remus?"
Harry looked at him expectantly. "Isn't there any other way, Sirius? I don't want too many people to know about Queenie, especially now..."
"Krems is trustworthy."
“It has nothing to do with that. I just want to keep potential dangers away from Queenie as much as possible, and the three of you—” Harry looked at each of you in turn, “are the people I trust the most.”
Although he felt a little bad for Remus, Sirius was overjoyed. "Alright, alright, then—I've got it!"
The trio immediately looked at him intently.
"Invisibility Cloak! Parties are all about games, right? So how about we play 'Find Harry'?"
Hermione understood. "Let Harry put on the Invisibility Cloak and hide, a game of hide-and-seek in the wizarding world! Then no one will know where he goes!"
Sirius smiled charmingly, "Clever lady, ten points in Gryffindor."
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