Daylight || Harry Potter

Chapter One

"Sorry about that," Ash said sarcastically. "I thought a walrus was strangling Harry. Then I just realized it was his uncle. Pretty sure child abuse is still illegal, though, so I wouldn't do that again."

"Who... in... blazes...?" Uncle Vernon gasped.

"Vernon, what on earth is going on?" Aunt Petunia demanded, appearing at the window beside her husband. She shrieked when she saw Ash standing in their lawn. "Who are you?"

"That's Ash," Harry said quickly. "A friend from school."

"Well, what's she doing here?"

"Relax," Ash said. "I'm not planning on staying. I came to hang out with Harry... if you're done threatening him, of course."

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia said nothing.

"Awesome! I'll have Harry home in an hour or so, then," Ash chirped, skipping over and grabbing Harry's wrist before hauling him away from the house. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia leaned away from her when she got close.

They ran up the street toward Magnolia Crescent, trying not to laugh like maniacs.

"I'm going to be in huge trouble with Grandma'am," Ash said, wheezing.

"Why's that?"

"I wasn't supposed to Apparate on my own."

"That cracking sound was you Apparating?"

"Yeah, I've been allowed to start practicing since I've already had my Trace removed, anyhow."

"Wow," Harry said. "I'm probably going to be in trouble for laying in the flower bed."

"Well, why were you doing, that, weirdo?"

"So I could listen to the news without them practically snarling at me."

"Oh."

As they made it into Magnolia Crescent, they stopped for a bit so Harry could catch his breath. He couldn't help but stare at Ash as he did.

She'd changed a lot in a month. She'd gotten taller — she was about the same height as Harry now — and had obviously spent a lot of time in the sun, since her skin had gotten darker. It was also slightly strange seeing her out of her Hogwarts uniform; while most wizards wore robes on a daily basis, Ash, who lived with Muggles, usually dressed like Muggles. Her hair was the biggest change — it was no longer curly; it was mostly straight, and she'd started wearing bangs that cut across her forehead and framed her face.

"That's new," Harry said, gesturing at her hair.

"Oh, yeah." Ash laughed softly. "Ever since I used that gel stuff at the ball, my curls kind of just..." she flicked her hands and made a small poof noise. "And I've wanted bangs like these for years. They never worked with my curly hair, so now that it's straightened out, I took the opportunity."

"It looks nice," Harry said.

"Thanks." Ash grinned. "So, where to?"

"Well, seeing as most restaurants and shops are too far away to walk... How do you feel about the play park?"

Ash laughed. "Why not? Lead the way."

They talked while they headed for the park. Harry asked Ash if she'd heard anything about Voldemort, and she shuddered and shook her head, so he decided to leave that topic alone. They talked about their recent birthdays — neither of them had done much. Ash's birthday on the seventh of July had been too close to Cedric's death for her to feel very cheerful about turning fifteen, and Harry never did anything for his birthday anyway. Harry asked about Luke and Annabeth (the latter whom he'd finally been able to meet through Iris-Messaging).