Chapter 2
A/N: Thanks everyone for the response on chapter 1. Since we're co writing this, it takes a little longer to get the chapters out because we have our other fics to juggle as well. But we appreciate your patience! :)
While you are waiting for the next chapter, please check out our individual stories, and also our OTHER co-authored fic, The Art of Seduction.
Harry bent over and tied his shoelaces tightly, then without being asked, began to lug Dudley's toys out to the car. After he had stuffed them in, he went back into the kitchen.
"I already gave you breakfast, boy." Petunia said as she glanced over. "Fix your hair before we leave."
Harry ran his hand through his hair and tried to flatten it. "I just came to get the lunch sack Aunt Petunia." He said politely. Harry was trying not to show how eager he was to get to the park. Sometimes if his relatives knew he liked something, they kept it from him. While Harry knew they could not leave him here alone, he had an idea that Aunt Petunia might try and keep him from playing with his new friend.
Petunia's eyes narrowed momentarily at Harry, but then she stuffed the last piece of cake into the bag and pushed it wordlessly over the counter to him.
He wasn't sure if it was just him or not, but the sack seemed to be heavier each day. However, he stayed quiet and soon enough, they were on their way.
As soon as they reached the park, Harry quickly opened the boot and (gently) dumped Dudley's toys and the sack down on the grass, and then scooted off quickly towards the grove of trees where he thought he might find Hermione.
Dudley's eyes followed him, he hadn't failed to notice that Harry and that girl had been talking yesterday and Dudley had also noticed how eager his cousin was to get to the park, even though he tried to hide it. A sly smirk crossed his pudgy face; perhaps this was information he could use at a later date.
***
"Mum are we leaving soon?" Hermione called up the stairs. She was extremely eager to get to the park to see Harry.
"In ten more minutes, why don't you get your lunch ready?" Mrs. Granger called back down.
"Okay." Hermione went into the kitchen and quickly got together what she wanted to eat that day. After thinking a moment, she grabbed a small plastic bag and stuffed about fifteen cookies inside. She smiled to herself as she thought about giving them to Harry, from the way he reacted when she had given him the sweet the first day and then she also gathered his aunt and uncle didn't give him much, certainly not with his fat cousin around.
"Now, Hermione, sweetheart, Daddy, you and I had the talk the other day about too many sweets…" Mrs. Granger had entered the kitchen. Hermione looked down and realized her fifteen cookies had turned into about fifty.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mum." Hermione smiled sheepishly and took some of them back out. "These aren't all for me though, my friend Harry doesn't get many sweets at his house so I thought I'd bring him some."
"That's very thoughtful of you, dear." Mrs. Granger said, smiling at her daughter. She was pleased that Hermione was making some friends; there had been plenty of times where she'd seen her child on the outskirts of action, rather than with the other kids her age.
"I'm going to bring my red ball so we have something to play with." Hermione was saying as she stuffed the smaller bags into her larger one and swung it back over her shoulder. She followed her mother out to their car, grabbing the ball on the way and settling it and her bag neatly on the seat beside her. Biting her lip, she tried to curb her enthusiasm, dancing on the seat wouldn't get her there any faster.
"Hermione, I'd like to meet this boy you've become friends with." Mrs. Granger said as she parked the car and they got out.
"Okay." Hermione was impatient to go. She grabbed her bag and the ball from the seat. "I think he's already waiting for me in the woods though."
"Well later then, dear. Have fun." Mrs. Granger said as Hermione dashed away.
Harry heard a scuffling and he turned to find Hermione just entering the clearing.
"Hi!" he said, relieved. He was a bit afraid she wasn't going to show up, that she'd decided it wasn't worth it being friends with him.
"Hi Harry." Hermione answered, panting slightly. Harry noticed this.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine." She replied. "I just rushed in here so Dudley wouldn't see me and follow, he'd probably play in here just so we couldn't."
"Good idea." Harry was impressed.
Hermione smiled. "Here." She said, opening her bag and pulling out the small sack of cookies. "I brought these for you."
"For me?" Harry looked like he was stunned. Gingerly taking the sack, he was surprised to find a load of cookies in it. "You brought these just for me?"
"Yes, silly." Hermione smiled even wider, she was pleased with herself. "They're really good too." She reached in the bag and took one, then bit into it.
Harry grinned too. Digging into the bag, he stuffed a cookie in his mouth. "Chocolate chip!" his eyes widened.
"Aren't they the best?" Hermione asked.
Harry nodded vigorously. "I've only had them twice, but they're my favourite." He greedily devoured another one. They settled back against the trunk of a rather wide tree and shared the remaining cookies.
"So what are your favourite things to do?" Hermione asked, trying to make pleasant conversation.
"Me?" Harry seemed surprised she wanted to know, and Hermione had to remind herself again that he probably never had anyone interested in his behaviour before. "Well…I like to watch the clouds."
"Watch the clouds?" she seemed a bit confused.
"Yeah, watch the clouds, and see the shapes they make." Harry replied. "Sometimes I make up stories about them."
"Really?" Hermione brightened. "Will you tell me one?"
"Well I really don't remember any…" Harry's face was red with embarrassment.
"Oh please?" Hermione asked. She loved to hear stories.
"Okay…" Harry relented. He scrunched down and laid flat on his back. "There!" he pointed up and Hermione quickly lay down next to him. "That cloud there, can you see the giant?" he traced the outline with his finger.
"Yes!" Hermione said, excitement evident in her voice.
"Well he's a giant who lives among the hills of Scotland. He has a pet snake, like a boa constrictor, whom he really loves. One day, a gang of trolls invaded the hills and took over his cave, making him sleep outside." Harry paused.
"Go on!" Hermione said, enjoying his tale.
"Well, the trolls captured his snake, and planned to make it their dinner…." Harry spun a full story on how the giant managed to get his snake back and run the trolls away from the hills, making him a hero among the other giants.
"Harry that was great!" Hermione said sincerely. "Did you just make it all up?"
"Yeah." Harry ran a hand through his hair and grinned sheepishly. "Did you like it?"
"I loved it!" Hermione clapped her hands together gleefully.
"What about you, what do you like to do?" Harry turned the tables on her.
"Well, I like to read…"
"I already knew that." Harry joked.
Hermione shot him a glare. "I also like to bake with my mum, and I like to watch the television sometimes."
Harry nodded. "Dudley loves to watch television, they have one in nearly every room of the house, but mine and the kitchen." He was too ashamed to admit that he slept in a cupboard under the stairs.
Hermione nodded, and then they were silent a few moments.
"What else do you have in your bag?" Harry asked, now feeling uncomfortable in the silence rather than talking.
Hermione's eyes brightened and she pulled out her ball. "We can play catch!"
"Play what?" Harry was confused.
She stopped and stared at him. "You don't know how to play catch?"
Harry shrugged. "My relatives don't play games with me, and Dudley never does anything athletic."
"Oh." Hermione felt at a loss for words. "Well, it's fairly easy. You go back there by those bushes." She motioned to Harry and he did as she said. "I'll toss you the ball, and then you throw it back to me."
"That's easy enough." Harry felt grateful she didn't make fun of him for not knowing what to do. She threw the ball and he dodged over, and to his surprise, managed to catch it.
"Good!" Hermione beamed as he threw it back to her. She tossed it back to him, and he once again managed to catch it.
"You have a good arm." Harry said. "I know I told you that yesterday, but you really do."
"Well my Dad and I play catch together on Sundays sometimes." Hermione said.
"Throw it as hard as you can." Harry said, lobbing the ball back at her.
"Okay!" Hermione heaved the ball at him and Harry staggered back as he caught it.
"Wow." He was impressed. "Here, do it again."
Hermione lifted her arm and threw the ball, but this time Harry missed and it went directly into the bushes.
"Oh no!" Hermione wailed. She didn't want to lose her ball.
"It's okay, I'll go get it." Harry volunteered. His frame was slight enough so he could scuttle under the bushes. He crawled under, expecting to see the ball and was surprised when it wasn't there. "Weird…" he muttered, crawling further. Finally he saw a small glimmer of red, and hurried to reach it.
As he grabbed for the ball, he suddenly noticed a drastic change in temperature. He shivered in his too large shirt and trousers. Harry then realized that he was no longer in the bushes as well, and stood up. He looked around, and realized that he was no longer in the park.
"Hermione!" he shouted. "Hermione come here!" he waited a few moments for her to push through the bushes, but she never came. Not wanting to stay there alone any longer, he ducked back through the brush.
"Hermione!" he said as he poked his head out. She looked up from where she'd been rummaging in her bag.
"What?" she asked. Harry tossed her the ball as he came out from the bush.
"Didn't you hear me calling?" he asked.
"No, I didn't hear anything." Hermione replied, setting the ball neatly in the bag and shouldering it.
Harry gaped at her for a long moment. "Come with me." He grabbed her hand without thinking and pulled her into the bushes.
"Ow!" she cried as a branch snapped in her face. "Harry where are we going?" she asked as he led her in.
"I don't know." He answered. "But here…" they came out the other side, and Hermione wrapped her arms around herself.
"Oooh, when did it get so cold?" she asked, shivering. "And where did the sun go?"
Harry looked up, the sky was dark grey; the clouds hovering low. "I didn't notice that before." He said, biting his lower lip in confusion.
"Harry, this isn't the park…" Hermione said, a gnawing fear growing in her stomach.
"It's not?" his voice rose an octave; he was getting a bit nervous.
"It can't be, the temperature wouldn't change like that, and we would have seen the clouds coming." Hermione replied logically.
"Well then, where are we?" Harry asked.
"I…. don't know." Hermione felt helpless, she almost always knew the answer to everything.
"Well uh…" Harry felt like he should be braver than he was being. "Want to explore?"
"Explore?" Hermione looked at him as if he had gone off his rocker. "What if there's something dangerous out there?"
"Well, we can stay within close distance to these bushes, and we can run if we hear or see anything." Harry said. He took her bag and set it down where they had come through. "There, now we know where to go back out."
"Okay." Hermione said tentatively, grabbing onto Harry's arm. She was scared, but curious. The two children stayed close together as they stepped slowly away from the clump of bushes.
Harry noticed as they walked that the ground was rather mushy, and a bit slimy. It also smelled quite bad, like the Dursley's attic; dusty and stale. They noticed the trees were all dead, the bare branches bending in the cool wind.
"Those trees, they look like bony fingers." Hermione said, her voice loud in the silence.
"Yeah, they do." Harry replied. To their right was a small, shallow body of water surrounding a tiny island. Dead fallen tree branches jutted out of the pool, and a broken wooden bridge was clumsily set across providing access to the island.
"Want to try and risk it?" Harry looked to the bridge, then at Hermione.
"No thanks." She shuddered. "That water looks gross." They moved closer to the bridge and noticed that most of the planks were missing, making it impossible to cross.
"Oh well." Harry said, somewhat disappointed. A snap made both their heads turn quickly. "What was that?" he asked.
"I don't know." Hermione said, her hand clutching his arm tighter. "Maybe we should go…." They both stood completely still for a few moments, but heard nothing else.
"Maybe it was just the wind." Harry suggested. Hermione nodded slowly.
"I guess so." She agreed. They walked around the pond and into the small clearing of trees beyond it. Both of them were starting to feel a little less scared now that they figured if anyone was inhabiting this space, they'd have made themselves known by now. Hermione gradually let go of Harry's arm, but stayed close to him.
"This place would actually look really nice if it were…. alive." Harry said, looking up at the dead trees that seemed to scrape at the sky.
"Yes it would." Hermione said. "I hate to think of this place like that, it seems such a shame that someone would let it die like this."
Harry was about to say something when the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. "Hermione, do you feel that?"
"Feel what?" she asked, looking at him. She noticed with concern that he'd gone pale.
"Do you feel suddenly, like someone's watching us?" Harry asked.
His words gave her the chills, and then she felt it too, like someone's eyes were trained upon her. "Let's go, okay?" she asked, her voice small.
"Yeah, okay." He agreed instantly. She grabbed his hand and they ran back, Harry scooping up her bag as they scrambled back beneath the bushes.
Sunlight and warmth greeted them as they emerged from the other side. "That was creepy." Hermione said, glad to leave the sensation of being watched behind.
Harry only nodded as he handed her the bag. They stood there silently for what seemed like a long while, until Hermione spoke again.
"Harry listen…I think we should keep this whole thing a secret."
"A secret?" he asked, his eyes bright.
Hermione nodded. "Even if we decide not to go back in there, I have a feeling that we should keep it to ourselves, forever."
Harry shrugged his shoulders in a noncommittal sort of manner. "Okay."
"Promise you won't say anything to anyone." Hermione looked at him through narrowed eyes, it certainly didn't seem like he was serious about it.
"Hermione, who am I going to tell?" he asked, holding his hands out.
"Right." Hermione smiled at him and held out her hand. He shook it firmly.
"Our secret."
A/N: Well that's it for chapter 2!! Please don't forget to R/R!!! We'll have the next part out just as soon as we can! :)