Chapter Fourteen
Ice Skating
"Slap Happy!" Heather called to her cat as she entered
the home of her adoptive parents. The male gray American short hair
meowed at his master and jumped into her arms. Heather patted
him on his head and Slap Happy made a swipe at the basket
Hermione had Crookshanks in. Slap Happy gave a quick hiss
and jumped out of Heather's arms to land on the stairwell.
He raced up the stairs and out of site.
"Slap Happy?" Ron asked.
"When he plays with the balls we buy him, he bats them
around the house. So we called him Slap Happy." Heather
turned around to face Hermione. "You won't have to worry
too much about Crookshanks and Slap Happy fighting because
Slap Happy is not allowed in the guest wing." Heather
gave the four of them a reassuring smile.
"Ah, Miss Potter, welcome home." a woman in her mid-
sixties greeted her. She was a tall woman, who had a
bit of an unhealthy thin body weight to her. Her eyes
were a light blue and her lips were thin. In fact,
the word thin seemed to describe most of her. She
wore a dark blue suit dress and a bright yellow
sunflower flower on each dark blue high heeled shoe.
"I see my mother and father are out, Louise." Heather huffed
and rolled her eyes. Then muttered under her breath, so
only Harry could hear her. "Why does it not surprise me?"
"Completely unavoidable." Louise commented. "The governors'
ball is hardly something you cannot just merely not attend,
Heather."
Heather sighed and decided it was better to glance around
at the room rather than face her at the moment. "Have my other
guest arrived?"
"Yes, Miss Potter. They are settling down in their rooms as
we speak."
"Good that will be all." Heather dismissed her with
a rather harsh tone to her voice. "Damn that woman is such
a bitch!" she commented once the five of them were out of
ear shot.
"Who was that woman, Heather?" Harry asked, as he climbed the
stairs and traveled with them down the hall to the left.
"Louise Goodie. Her family was one of the first rich families
over here to America. Some of her muggle ancestors where burned
at the stake and the father, who was a wizard, placed a curse on
the other family, the Fears. It was in series of novels by an
author known as R.L. Stine. He documented it in a whole bunch
of muggle fiction books known as the "fear street sagas."
The Nelsons are related to the Fears by marriage, so she
thinks we are out to get her too."
"But your not really a Nelson are you? Your a Potter."
Hermione pointed out.
"But I am good as to her. I am adopted by the Nelsons,
but they allowed me to keep my family name. To her,
I am a blood traitor because the Potter line belongs
to the Goodies." Heather guided them through a
series of corridors before stopping at a rather large
wooden door. Heather pointed at the door with her
index finger and chanted. "Alohamora." and the door
opened. She guided them through the doorway and down the
hall. Harry guessed this was the guest wing because each
room had a name on the door and a set of keys taped to it.
"You each get your own room. Harry, you get the room furthest
from the door and Hermione is next to him. next is Ron and then
you Ginny. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley is down the hall on the other side
and then it goes, Bill, Sandra Watson, George, Fred, Charlie,
and then Percy. We dress for dinner, so you will find appropriate
attire in your closet. I will leave you to get settled." Heather
paused at the door and then turned around. "Oh, by the way, my
room is down the other hall way and to the left. You will find
it...it has my name on the door on a small silver plaque."
Once Heather had left, Harry went into his room to unpack.
His room was as large as it was at Hogwarts, but he did not
have to share it with anyone. It was decorated in a rather
ornate fashion with gold trim and white walls. The bedding
consisted of a dark blue satin comforter, which was thick
and fluffy, and large amounts of pillows at the head of
the bed. There was a large closet off to one side and to the
other was a bookshelf and a desk. On the opposite side of
the door was a rather large wrap around balcony to where
he was tempted to go to Hermione's room once everyone turned
in for the night. Harry laughed at the thought and went back
into his room to unpack. He carried his personal items into
the bath room and found it rather nice to not share the
same bathroom as the rest of the school. The towels were
white and warm with the sent of freshly laundered linen.
A knock on his door told him that he would not be alone
for too much longer. Harry opened the door and found
Hermione on the outside of the door. "Allo, can I come in?"
Harry smiled and escorted her inside of his room. "Oh,
I had this room the last time I was here." Hermione
commented as she took a place on Harry's bed. "The view
in the early morning is really quite extra-ordinary. You
can see for miles!"
As Hermione rambled, Harry grew closer and soon they
were only a few inches apart. Hermione looked up at
Harry as her ramblings died off once she realized he
was that close. He leaned down closer and soon his
soft pink lips were against hers with such hunger,
it was if he had been starving not being able to do
kiss her like he wanted to. As the kiss deepened, she
laid down on the bed. Harry let go of the kiss to
look deep into the chocolate depths of her eyes. He
smiled affectionately as he combed her hair with his
fingers. "Now, I think this view is quite lovely."
Hermione blushed and Harry captured her lips once
more. He opened his mouth and the kiss deepened.
Harry had longed to do this for a while, but Hermione
did not allow them to because of being head boy and
girl. They still had to keep Dumbledore's trust,
but being on break it was tempting to give into
their desires.
A knock on the door broke them apart. "Harry,
you in?" It was Ron.
"Come in, Ron." Harry said once he and Hermione
sat up on the bed and she tired to fix her hair.
The door opened and Ron's red hair was the first
thing noticeable through the door way. He was
wearing a full black tuxedo with tails. His vest
was black and so was his tie.
"Wow, Ron. You clean up well." Hermione commented
and grinned.
"Oh, allo Hermione." Ron looked over and wondered
why the two of them were not dressed. "Why aren't
you guys dressed yet? Dinner is in a few minutes."
"Oh, I didn't know that." Hermione practically
jumped off Harry's bed and walked out the door.
"I have to go get ready. I will see you guys later."
Ron's attention went back to Harry after Hermione
had left the room. "Did I just miss something, Harry?"
"Bloody Hell, Ron. I thought you knew about me and
Hermione." Harry went over to his closet and opened
it to find a tuxedo to match Ron's. He stripped off
his shirt and began to change his cloths.
"I did, but did I just walk into what I think I
just walked into?" Ron grinned knowingly.
"We were only kissing, if it is any of your
business. Which it isn't." Harry didn't look
at his friend...he knew he had been caught.
"Touché. Sure. That is all that happened.
You sure you and Hermione didn't just have
a snogging session?" Ron was digging
for information and to Ron it seemed to be
working.
"Ron, if it were any of your business, I
would tell you, but it's not, so get over it."
Harry pulled the pants of the tuxedo. The jacket,
with tails had to come last because of the green
vest and bow tie had to go over the shirt. Once
Harry was finished, he looked himself into the
mirror. "Heather must have picked this one
out special."
"Yeah, must have." Ron looked down at his
tuxedo. It was plain black, nothing like
Harry's. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah, I think so. We probably should wait
for Hermione, though."
"Its just dinner, Harry, not the bloody
Quidditch Cup! Its not like she won't be
there. Come on! Before dinner gets cold."
Ron dragged him by the arm down the hallway.
"Do you know where the dinning hall is?"
Harry asked his friend as he climbed down the
main stairs they had walked up a hour before
to get to their rooms.
"No, do you?"
One of the servants walked by the two of
them and said not a word to them. "Well, then,
do you think we should go and ask then?"
"No. I think we can find it on our own."
Ron assured him. "How big could this bloody
house be?"
"Big enough for the two of you to get lost
in a matter of seconds." Hermione's voice floated
through their ears and they turned around to her.
Ginny was with her, dressed in a rather lovely powder
blue full length dress. It had no straps, but a
nice shawl to cover her arms and a pair of white
full length gloves. Her hair was off her face
and it was done in a French roll with a diamond
studded comb to hold it in place.
Harry went speechless when he noticed Hermione's
dress. She also had a full length dress like Ginny
did, but Hermione's was emerald green and more form
fitting. The straps consisted of clear beads on clear
string and the dress trained along behind her. Adoring
her neck was a black beaded necklace in which to its own
right was regal, but upon her head she wore a small tiara.
To Harry, she was stunningly beautiful. When Harry
finally was able to say something, she smiled. "Umm...
yeah, we got lost."
"I figured you would. Heather really didn't give you
guys the grand tour. Not that I blame her really.
She's just excited to be home for the first time
since the attacks." Hermione laughed with Ginny heartedly.
"I don't think excited is the word I would use,
but close enough." Harry offered.
"Well, come on. Dinner's ready." Ginny grabbed her
brother's arm and the four of them walked regally
down the hallway. When they entered the dinning
room, Heather had not arrived yet. The rest of
the Weasleys were there, dressed in the attire
Heather found appropriate.
Mrs. Weasley wore a dark blue full length ball
ball gown and to Harry's surprise, it was strapless.
She wore white gloves just like her daughter and
her hair matched her daughters perfectly. She wore
a blue colored stone around her neck, to which Harry
guessed it to be a sapphire. Mr. Weasley wore a tuxedo,
like the rest of the men, except for his bow tie
and vest was dark blue to match his wife's dress.
"Where's Sandra?" Arthur asked his son, before he
noticed the four of them.
"She has bit of jet-lag, so she doesn't feel up
to eating. She went straight for bed." Bill commented
and looked over at the door.
"Hiya Harry." George announced to the group and the
group of them turned to greet them. Harry, Ron, Ginny,
and Hermione claimed their seats (there were place cards
on the table to tell them where they were suppose to be
seated at.).
"Heather isn't here yet." Fred mentioned.
"She always has to be fashionably late." Ginny
commented as she took a sip from her water goblet.
"What about me being fashionably late?" Heather
stepped into the room and all heads turned in her
direction. Once Ron looked at her, his mouth gapped
open. Now he knew why she had chosen black for his
tie and vest. Heather chose a black floor-length skirted
dress with spaghetti straps. Her hair was accented
with jewel studded barrettes and around her neck
was a rather large diamond choker necklace that
started from her neck and cascaded down past her
collar bone. "Good evening, everyone. I'm ready to
eat, what about you?" Heather stood behind the
seat next to Ron. She seemed to be waiting for
something.
"Ron, get up and pull out her chair, you dolt!"
Charlie rolled his eyes at his younger brother's
lack of courtesy. Ron quickly overcame this and
stood up and pulled out her seat for her. She
nodded and she sat down in the chair. He sat
back down next to her and the meal began. The
first course consisted of a cream of chicken
soup. Harry laughed quietly as Heather looked
horrified by Ron's "good table manors".
"What's so funny?" Hermione asked him as he
continued to chuckle. Heather and Ron were
sitting across from them and they did not seem
to notice Harry's fit of laughter.
"It's like she has never seen him eat before!"
Harry told her as he took a spoonful of soup and
ate it.
"Yes, but I think she was hoping for him to use
his best manors here at the dinner table." Hermione
chuckled. "The problem is, those are his best table
manors." The two of them laughed together and then
the second course was served, a salad with their
choice of dressing. The third course consisted of
rolls and the fourth was their main course: An Italian
Marinated Chicken breast, Green beans and almonds,
a pepper stuffed mushroom and a potato.
"Heather this chicken is excellent." Molly commented.
"I will pass along the comment to the chef. He
always enjoys hearing good things about the things
he prepares." Heather smiled. "I could get him to
give you the recipe if you like, but I don't think
it is anything compared to your fried chicken of
course."
Molly blushed. "Thank you."
"Am I not right, guys?" Heather asked the group
and a chorus of agreement came from everyone at
the table. "I only wish I had half the talent in
the kitchen as you, Mrs. Weasley. Maybe then I
wouldn't burn water."
"You burned water!" Ginny laughed hysterically.
"How on earth did you accomplish that?"
"I dunno. I just did." Heather looked as lost
as the rest of them on how she managed to burn
the water. The sixth course was a round of sorbet
before dessert.
"Why do we get ice cream before dessert?" Ron
was completely lost, as he dug his spoon into
the dish. It wasn't Heather who answered this
time, it was his father, Arthur.
"The sorbet is to cleans the pallet so we can
enjoy the dessert."
Suddenly the phone rang and one of the servants
answered it. "It's for you, Miss. It's your
ice skating coach."
"Thank you, could you put it on speaker phone
please?" the room quieted down and she talked to
the person on the phone. "Hey Jennifer. What's up?"
"I am calling to tell you that you have practice
tomorrow. We have only a few weeks before competition,
and I think I can get you a new partner for the
event."
"Do you think I could be ready in a couple of weeks,
I haven't had any real practice since last season. I
have been busy with the dance team and all. Not to
mention, I have one of my big tests this year."
"If I know you, like I do, you will be ready."
"I dunno, Jen. I don't think I can." Heather
sighed. "I am going to have to get back to you,
Jen, I have guest over. I will talk to you tomorrow.
Bye." Heather hung up the phone and sighed. There
was a still silence from the group as they finished
their mint sorbet and their desserts were passed out.
It didn't exactly bring a smile to her face.
"Blueberry cheesecake. That was Hector's favorite."
Heather poked at it with her fork and then excused
herself from the table. Harry and Ron both stood
up to go after her. "Ron, let me get this one."
Ron, obediently, sat back down and Harry raced
after her.
Harry found Heather outside by the stables.
She was over petting Stargazer on the nose. Harry
said nothing as he approached her, but she knew it
was him anyway. "Hi, Harry."
"How did you know it was me?" Harry asked as he
came closer to where she was standing, next to the
fence.
"I figured it would be, my big brother." Heather
sighed as she glanced over in his direction. The
full moon shone brightly over them and a strong
winter breeze made Heather shiver.
"Here, Have my coat." Harry placed the coat
over her shoulders and her shivers subsided a
little. There was a long pause before Heather
spoke again.
"I'm quitting skating."
"For how long?"
"For life." Heather glanced at what her
brother's reaction was. It was a blank
face as he looked at her. She could tell
that he was waiting for what her reasoning
was. "It reminds me too much of Hector and
I need to move on with my life. There is a
lot of things I'm going to give up not just
because of that, but because I have my owls
this semester and then in two years I have
my Newts. I just won't have time for any of
it."
Harry looked at her and then patted the
horse. "What else are you wanting to give
up?"
"Well, I was thinking definitely my
Ice Skating, surfing, and archery."
Heather sighed and then laughed out loud.
"I was thinking basically pretty much
everything, except for the Dance Team
because I think I can keep busy with
that and with my duties of being a Prefect."
Harry said nothing for a long while,
but then he looked at her. "If you
think that is what you need to do,
Heather, then do it. You are the
only person who can tell you what
you need to do, but we better be
getting inside because I am freezing
and you must be too."
"Actually, I have worn less than this
when I been Ice skating. " Heather
smiled. "You think you guys would like
to go with me to my last practice?
For moral support?"
Harry almost laughed, but didn't because
she was being serious. "I think that would
be nice."
*****
The next morning, Heather woke
at a quarter 'til ten and dressed
for her last ice skating practice.
She decided to wear a pair of gray sweat
pants and underneath, she wore a dark
red long-sleeved leotard. She put on
her earmuffs, just as a knock came
on the door. She yelled for the
person to enter, and in stepped Ron.
"Hi."
"Hi." Heather put her shoes on
and began packing her bag. She
would not go the day wearing this
particular outfit and especially
in public. She packed a pair of blue
jeans and a dark blue sweater. When
she placed her "skating gloves", which
were really just a pair of red winter
gloves, Ron spoke.
"Harry told us your quitting
skating."
"It's just something I have to do, Ron.
It reminds me too much of Hector and I
need to move on with my life."
"Why are you throwing away the things you
love, Heather? Just because you think you
can't do them anymore? Because your boyfriend
died, just can't? You can always find another
partner, Heather."
This made Heather angry and Ron thought he
felt the house shake. "You just can't pick
any person to be your partner, Ron. It takes
special care to find the right one and when
you do, it takes years of practice, tears,
and victories to make you a team." Heather
put her towel in the bag and zipped it up.
"It's kind of like marrying someone. Its a
commitment the both of you are making not
only to your coach, but to each other. I
have to put a lot of trust into a person
not to drop me when they lift me in the air."
"So your just going to quit on trusting
people now? Now that Hector is dead?"
Heather slapped him, hard.
"Don't ever say that about Hector! You
never knew him!" Heather stormed out of
the room and headed down the stairs. He knew
he shouldn't have said that about Hector
but Heather made him so mad about giving up
on something she was really good at. "Me and
my big fat mouth." he thought out loud as he
went back down the hall, toward his room.
"Aren't you going to come with us, Ron?"
Hermione asked as she and Harry walked down
the hall past him. Ron said nothing, but slammed
the door loudly and locked it. "I'll take that as
a not."
"Come on, we'd better see what is up." Harry
sighed as he pounded on the door. "Ron, its us."
"Go away."
Hermione rolled her eyes, pulled out her wand
and chanted, "Alohamora!" The door obediently opened
and allowed them entrance. Harry and Hermione went over
to the bed, expecting to find him there, but didn't.
Instead, they found him out on the balcony. Harry
gave Hermione a look and she nodded. Once they came out
on the balcony, they literally dragged him to the car,
kicking and screaming.
"You promised that you would go and lend
moral support." Hermione reminded him and
you are going to be a bigger person and
do that whether you want to or not. So
you might as well stop before Heather
gets here."
Ron moaned, but stopped his complaints
as Heather came out to the car. She said
nothing as the four of them claimed their
usual seats in the car. She said nothing
the whole way to the arena either, but
she played a burned cd with the muggle groups
Limp Bizkit and Korn.
When they finally arrived at the ice skating
arena, Harry, Ron, and Hermione trailed behind
Heather. Once inside, the four of them met
Jennifer. "Jennifer Steele, this is my brother
Harry Potter, and our friends Hermione Granger
and Ronald Weasley. Guys this is my coach."
Heather turned back to Jennifer. "I just wanted
you to know that I am quitting after this practice."
"WHAT?! Heather, you can't!" Jennifer exclaimed.
"We have competition in two weeks from today!"
"Of which, you scheduled for me with out my
permission."
"Since when have I needed to see you to schedule
things for you, Heather?"
"Things have changed and I don't think
I will continue this anymore." Heather paused.
"Then why bother with the practice then?"
Jen asked.
"I owe it to my father to at least be on the
ice today. I mean, he did pay for these lessons,
so I think I owe it to him to be at my last one."
Heather put her ice skates on and went out on the
ice.
"I'm not going to teach you anything, Heather."
Jen crossed her arms. Heather smiled as she went
to the other side of the rink and everyone watched
with interest of what she was going to do. She
raced fast over to where she was and then suddenly
stopped and let all the ice spray onto her former
coach.
"That's fine. Then I won't waist my time." she
turned toward the group. "Come on guys, let's
leave and go to Bill's Diner for an early lunch."
*****
End of chappie 14...
Yep that did take less time than 13.
Here is what to look forward to in the
next chappie for the gwl:
a ball
a date with the dead
a prank at an open house at the ciww
a graveyard scene
FYI: I don't own the fear street sagas or
anything related to that either.
God bless,
S'Eleene Paris