You Looked Lost (Narry Lifeguard AU)

Chapter 4: Part 2

I ate another spoonful of the chocolate ice cream that was quickly disappearing from my cup.

“Would you rather wake up the same gender with a different face, or a different gender with the same face?” Harry had been asking me questions like this for the past ten minutes.

“Same gender, different face.  What kind of question is that?  I don’t think anyone wants to see a girl with my face,” I shook my head at Harry, who just shrugged in response.

“Okay, how about this.  If you had to choose between living in Narnia and attending Hogwarts, which would you choose?”

I dipped my spoon into my ice cream and ate another mouthful while thinking about my answer.

“First of all, you are such a dork,” Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled at the remark. “Second, Hogwarts.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I finished my ice cream, but held onto it, not feeling like walking over to the trash bin.

“What house do you think you’d be in?” Harry wasn’t finished with his yet, so he ate another spoonful.

“I guess Ravenclaw? I don’t know,” I laughed nervously, wondering why Harry even cared what I thought.

“Yeah, I could see you in Ravenclaw.  I think I’d be Hufflepuff, if I’m honest with myself.  Although, I’d love to be in Gryffindor,” he got this thoughtful look on his face, that made me roll my eyes at him this time.

“Skinny dipping or shaving your eyebrows?” Harry asked.

I sighed in annoyance, but I wouldn’t admit that I was having fun with these questions.

“Once again, a no-brainer.  Skinny dipping.  That’s a one-time thing, whereas my eyebrows would take months to grow back properly.”

“True,” Harry nodded his head like he hadn’t thought of that.

“Why are you asking my this stuff anyway?” I asked, laughing lightly to let him know I still enjoyed it.

“It tells me a lot about you by how you answer.  Helps me get to know you better,” Harry explained.

“Why do you want to get to know me?” I asked sheepishly, not sure if I really meant to ask that.

Harry cocked his head at me, looking confused with his eyebrows furrowing together.

“Because we’re friends,” Harry stated with a questioning tone in his voice, like he was waiting for me to say differently.

“Can I ask you something for real?” I asked, my voice quieter than before.

“For real?”

“Yeah, I mean a real question.”

“My questions were real,” Harry teased, knowing what I was getting at.

“You know what I mean,” I looked at him a little more seriously so he would know I wasn’t kidding.

“Go for it.”

“Remember the night of the party? Last Friday?” I reminded him.

Harry nodded, so I continued.

“You looked upset when you left.  Did something happen?” I knew I probably didn’t know Harry well enough to ask him this yet, but I had been curious.

Harry’s face grew more serious as well.  He looked down at his cup of ice cream, moving the spoon around, but not actually eating any.  He looked back at me after a few moments and bit his lip in thought.

“I don’t think I’m ready to tell you, yet.”

It was a strange answer, but promising nonetheless.  It meant I hadn’t imagined things.  He had been upset about something.  I just didn’t know what that was yet.  He’d said ‘yet,’ which meant he would tell me eventually.  It did make me kind of worried though at the thought that something had upset him that much.

We were both quiet for a few moments, Harry mindlessly playing with his ice cream, and me trying not to stare at him.  I could see that his dark curls were trying to escape the hat that was restraining them, this snapback a dark purple one.  It made me want to knock the hat off for some reason, set his curls free.  It almost seemed like he hid behind all those hats.

“Favorite color,” Harry spoke suddenly, his voice still soft as though he didn’t want to disturb the peace, but all traces of timidness were gone.

I looked at him for a moment, but then bit back a smile.

“Green.”

Harry nodded.

“Orange,” he pointed to his chest.

I made a face.

“What?” Harry asked.

“Orange, really?” I crinkled my nose up.

“Orange is a great color,” Harry insisted, his face sporting a pout.

“Sure,” I shook my head, as we both headed over to the trash bin to throw our cups away.

“Let’s head back.  It’s getting kind of late,” I said, Harry nodding in agreement.

The car ride back was anything but silent, filled with Harry’s constant silly questioning and bad dance moves.  I was grateful that when I dropped him off at his car, a smile was covering his features, unlike last time.  I hoped it wasn’t just for my benefit.

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Check out that Narry look of love on the side there.