Henry Black waited by the edge of the sea water, one evening as the full moon reflected upon the water, lighting up the area. He had his knees drawn to his chest as his bare feet rested in the water, causing his toes to tingle as his body craved to jump into the water in that moment. However, he continued to wait patiently for his best friend to arrive. Hope was due any minute as she was going to spend the rest of the weekend at the Black Household before the first day of school was to begin.
His grandmother had been around earlier, but she figured the two young teens would want some time alone to spend the last few days of summer together. He splashed his feet about a bit as time continued on and Hope still hadn't arrived.
"Where in the world-"
The boy turned his head to look back at the house only to find Hope directly behind him.
"Boo!"
He screeched and scooted back falling right into the water. Hope laughed heartily as she gripped her sides, while Henry sat in the water looking terribly irritated.
"What did you go and do that for?!" he called to her.
"That's payback for the lovely dungbomb that when off when I opened my dresser drawer this morning!"
Henry grinned. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm sure you don't." The thirteen year old girl said plopping down onto the ground before pulling off her shoes. "I'm surprised you weren't in the water already."
"Well, I was waiting for you, I didn't know you were going to take forever!"
"Excuse me, but it wasn't my fault. Mum and Dad were getting ready to go spend the evening with Grandpa Remmy, but then Grandma Weasley came over to talk with Mum about changes to the knitted line, and you know they can go on for hours and hours about knitting."
"So can you." Henry teased her.
"Uh no, I crochet." Hope told him before sticking her tongue out at him.
"Same difference," he replied. "Anyways now that you're here..are you going to go swimming with me?"
"Well, maybe not full on swimming, but I'll walk along looking for some shells or something."
"Boo, that's no fun."
"Yeah, yeah, you're the mermaid here, go on and swim."
"It's merMAN!" Henry corrected her for the millionth time.
"Merboy." she grinned.
Henry made a face before disappearing below the waves, illuminated by the full moon.
Hope walked along through the water searching for any shells or pretty rocks that caught her eye. A couple of times she would peer up in search of her friend but as she looked at the water, it remained flat and calm.
"Where did you go, you little bugger?" she whispered to herself.
Henry poked his head out of the water quietly and observed Hope who was picking up a rock and looking it over.
A mischievous smirk appeared on his lips as he neared her like a shark closing in on his prey.
He was just close enough before splashing her with a wave of water, soaking her from head to toe.
The girl stood drenched before she turned to face him as he laughed loudly from the water.
"You are so dead, Guppy Puppy."
"You're going to have to catch me first, Dopey Hopey."
"Don't swim away from me!"
Henry laughed once more before diving down below the water disappearing from sight.
"Oh no you don't!" Hope said before jumping into the water herself.
Nixie was sitting on the kitchen counter as Sirius was cooking when the door opened and the two teens came in completely wet from their nightly adventure down by the water.
"Have fun?" She asked the two.
"Yes!" Hope answered brightly, the brunette walked in, her shoes squeaking with every step.
"Not really." Henry grumbled as he pulled seaweed from his hair as he sat down and gave Hope a look.
"Well, let's get you two dried up, shall we?" Henry's mother looked right at him before pointing her wand at him and using the hot-air charm. She repeated the process for Hope leaving the two dry.
"Now, are you two hungry?"
"That depends, who cooked dinner?" Henry smiled innocently at his mother. Sirius snorted, earning a whack on his arm from Nixie before she turned to face the children.
"I didn't cook." Nixie rolled her eyes. "But I should have to teach you a lesson. You should be grateful that I would be willing to cook you a meal."
"Sorry Mum." Henry said apologetically.
She grinned at him. "It's alright, darling. Dinner should be ready in a bit...do you two have any other plans for the night?"
"Just the usual." Henry shrugged. "Staying up late..."
"Eating food we'll regret later on.." Hope added.
"Telling lame jokes..."
"Listening to Henry tell lame jokes..."
Henry shot Hope a look before the two giggled.
"Well, it sounds like a fun night." Sirius said. "Don't forget to talk obnoxiously loud even though you two are sitting next to each other."
"No problem there." Hope told him. "I have to talk extra loud for Grandpa Ly Ly. LIKE THIS!"
"What?! What did you say Hopey, I can't hear you?" Henry said mimicking Lyall Lupin's voice.
"You two are terrible." Nixie chuckled. "I won't tell Lyall that his favorite great granddaughter was making fun of him."
"I'm his only great-granddaughter."
"That's why you're his favorite." Sirius told her poking her on the nose. "Now...Bon Appétit!"
The two children looked down the food with questionable glances.
"What is it?" Hope whispered to Henry.
"I dunno...just smile and say mmm." he whispered back to her.
The two smiled at Henry's parents.
"Mmmm!"
Later on that evening, Hope was sitting on Henry's bed leaning against the headboard, watching as Henry rummaged through his closet.
"What are you doing?" she called to him.
He didn't answer as his continued to make a bunch of noise. She arose from the bed and walked over. She was right behind him when Henry spun around with a mask on his face, roaring in her face.
She blinked a couple of times before shaking her head.
"Whoa..I almost had a heart attack." she said flatly placing her hand over her chest.
Henry pulled the mask off. "Scared Elliot the other day with it."
"Elliot was also afraid of his shadow for the longest time." she snickered.
"Yet he's one of the fiercest quidditch players I've ever seen." Henry pointed out.
"Angry quidditch baby."
They smiled at each other before Hope grabbed the mask and looked over the deranged dragon masked.
"You know if Aunt Anora saw you wearing this mask, she'd punch you in the gut."
"That's why I don't wear it when she's in town visiting your family."
"Smart boy." she patted his head.
Later on that evening as the two were resting in their pajamas, Hope turned to Henry and then looked forward.
"What?" Henry said as he had caught her.
"Hmm?"
"What? Why did you look at me like that?"
"No reason, I was going to ask you a question but it's not important."
"Ask me. Ask away."
"I was just going to say, are you ready for third year?"
"Of course I am, I have my partner in crime and our friends, why wouldn't I be ready?"
"I don't know...I can't believe the boy who still puts on his pajama shirt on backwards and inside out made it to third year."
Henry looked down to his shirt to see the tag sticking out.
"Did it ever occur to you that perhaps I like wearing my pajama shirts backwards and inside out?"
"Oh yes, I forget how fashion forward you are. Tags out are all the rage in Paris and Milan."
"What can I say, I'm a trendsetter."
"Trendsetting Guppy Puppy."
"With fashionably awkward Dopey Hopey."
"Are you judging my clothing?"
"I'm just saying that you need to get with the program, Hope. Tags out are in."
"Sometimes I want to see what goes on inside your head, but then I realize how scary that place would be."
"Scary? You mean brilliant!"
"No...no...just no, Henry."
"My feelings."