Author: Lyta Padfoot
Category: General, Romance
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling. Characters and situations are used without permission, no infringement is intended.
Summary: Lisa and Terry must go separate ways over the summer.
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"You will owl me, won't you?" Terry Boot asked his girlfriend Lisa Turpin for the fifth time in under an hour. They were sitting in an otherwise empty carriage on the Hogwarts Express reading a book together and trying to savour the last hours of the term. Soon, Terry and his family would go in one direction while Lisa and her family went in another.
"Of course," Lisa replied patiently. Under most circumstances the repetition of an already answered question would have caused her to unleash her sarcastic side. Today, however, she felt the weight of her impending parting from Terry and was inclined to be understanding.
"Remember we meet at Diagon Alley on August fifteenth," Terry reminded her yet again. His wistful expression caused her to lean over and kiss him soundly. Experience had shown her that this was the best - and most enjoyable - way of distracting Terry when he treaded too close to self pity.
"I thought you needed that," Lisa teased as she gently broke the kiss.
Terry brushed a stray strand of her hair back behind her ear with one hand while the other played with the front pocket of her blue cardigan. There was a mischievous look in his eyes though he affected an innocent expression. "I think I need another kiss, please."
He looked so endearing, Lisa was more than ready to oblige. After the necessity for air caused them to draw back from one another, they felt the train begin to slow. Lisa, who was seated closer to the window, peered out and sighed.
"We're almost there," she informed Terry. He nodded and they both sank back into their seats. Neither could imagine how they would pass the next two months. It seemed to be an eternity.
Lisa found herself taking Terry's hand in hers and watching him as if trying to store up memories of him. At Hogwarts they were safe enough from Voldemort and his minions; now she felt a sharp stab of worry that something dreadful might happen to Terry over the holidays. He was Muggle-born and thus a target.
To her surprise, Terry correctly read her look and addressed her concerns. "My parents and I will be travelling to visit family over the holidays," he said with unaccustomed seriousness. Then he smirked a little and added, "its harder to hit a moving target."
Lisa could not help but laugh a little at that.
When the train shuddered into the station fifteen minutes later, they dutifully collected their things without the usual joy of a homecoming. While Terry picked up Fish's cat basket, Lisa put away the book and straightened her grey pleated skirt.
Through the train's window Lisa could see her parents waiting for her on the platform, beacons of familiarity in their dull grey Ministry robes. Terry's parents were doubtless awaiting him on the other side of the barrier. After a final kiss that left Lisa breathless and dizzy, the pair said their farewell and moved through the thickening crowd toward their respective families.
Lisa turned around for one last glimpse of Terry, but he had already melted into the crowd. She sighed and picked up her pace as she neared her parents.
Her father hugged her first, then stepped back to allow her mother to embrace their daughter. Meredith Turpin would deny it, but there were tears in her eyes as she noted how Lisa had changed since she'd last seen her.
Her father waited until his wife was through before he asked "Did you have a good term?"
She nodded and said "yes." It was the same question he asked at the end of every term, just as he always reminded her to be careful at the beginning of each term. It was how Lisa knew he loved her. Her father was not the kind of person who often told people he loved them, but even though he seldom used the words, his family and friends always knew how he felt.
"Ready to go home?" her mother asked, pointing her wand at Lisa's trunk and uttering a levitation charm.
To her own surprise, Lisa found that she was. As much as she loved her dormitory at Hogwarts, it was never quite as comfortable as her bedroom at Willowmere, the family cottage. It would be nice to have a room all to herself.
As she stepped out of Willowmere's fireplace and into the comfortable kitchen with its familiar pine furniture, Lisa began to brush the soot off her robes as she steered her trunk up the stairs to her bedroom. Then she noticed an unexpected bulge in the pocket of her cardigan. Frowning she pulled it out to discover something wrapped in parchment and tied with a bit of scraggly blue ribbon.
She sat on her bed and untied the ribbon to reveal a small squirrel about the size of her thumb carved from a bluish grey stone. Underneath the squirrel there was a note in Terry's untidy handwriting.
"I'm already going nuts without you. Owl me soon, love Terry."
By Terry's name there was a dancing acorn with an owl circling it. Lisa smiled as she traced a finger over Terry's name. Even from a distance he could lift her spirits. Somehow the summer did not seem quite as long now.