ROMEO [2] ⚡ harry potter

9

"What do you suggest?" Harry teased. "I mean, if you wanted to give me a send off, maybe you should've came along when it was still Saturday. Midnight passed ages ago."

"Let's go for a swim," Charlotte suggested, suddenly brightening.

"Oh, okay," Harry spoke, sarcastically. "Let me just grab my swimming trunks and we can get in the bathtub."

"Firstly, we can just go in our underwear there'll be nobody but us," Charlotte shrugged with a cheeky wink. "Secondly, I will not get in the bathtub with you Romeo, I'm not that kind of girl."

"It's not like we have a pool in our backyard," he laughed.

"No, we don't," she sighed, dramatically, before smiling. "But my school does."

"Are you joking?"

"C'mon," she cackled. "You're the Boy Who Lived! So live a little!"

"I don't remember ever saying I wouldn't do it," Harry replied. "I'm just a little surprised is all. You're full of surprises, Charlotte Cardleman."

"That's what you like about me, Harry Potter," she answered, before taking his hand and pulling him away into the night.

~

"I'm all for breaking and entering," Harry said, as the two of them stood beside the school pool, which Charlotte had had to spend time powering up. "But skinny dipping?"

"It's not skinny dipping if we're not buck naked," she groaned, shrugging off her hoodie. "Come on! What happened to daring, nerve and chivalry?"

"I dunno, maybe you're more Gryffindor than I am," Harry laughed, and she rolled her eyes, before taking off her vest and tracksuit bottoms.

"I sure am," she replied, before making a run up and jumping into the pool with a loud splash. She turned around, casually staying afloat. "Come on! Join me."

Harry's hesitated for a moment and she could've sworn she saw his eyes roam her torso and she bobbed up and down in the cold water. Then he undressed leaving himself in black underwear and came diving to her side.

"You could have told me it was freezing!"

"It's not that cold," Charlotte giggled. "Maybe we could do a few laps to warm up. Five."

"It's a race," Harry grinned, before jetting off and Charlotte gasped.

"Cheat! You got a headstart," she shouted, but swam after him anyway. Harry tired around the third lap and Charlotte swiftly overtook him, watching as he swam back to her after his final go. He took her hands and they rotated in the water, slowly, gracefully and her heart leapt.

Charlotte looked at Harry and sighed. He looked beautiful, hair soaking wet and eyes bright. "I want to pause this moment," she blurted. "Right here. I want you to stay."

"I want to stay too," he answered, quietly. "This summer... I've remembered a lot."

"Like?"

"What it's like to be normal," Harry sighed. He turned away from her and leaned his arms over the edge of the pool, resting his chin on them, and closing his eyes. She mirrored his movements, watching him as the chlorine water sploshed around them."When I'm at Privet Drive, I'm this terrible thing with terrible blood. When I'm at school, I've constantly got eyes on me. I've remembered what it's like not to be the Chosen One. You help me forget about all that, and... When I'm with you, Lottie, I'm not The Boy Who Lived. I'm just Harry."