Summer in Little Whinging

As soon as they entered the Dursley residence, Dudley ran to his mother and told him about his shopping adventure with Eleanor, even though she ditched him to hang out with Harry. Eleanor closed the door and thanked Harry for carrying her bags.

"You're such a gentleman Harry." She smiled.

"No problem." He laid the bags by the door.

"So, um, can I see your room?"

"It uh," He looked at the stairs and scratched his head. "It looks like a tornado came and left."

"It doesn't matter."

"Okay," They walked up the stairs. "I warned you."

He stood in front of his door and opened it slightly. "Wait here for a second."

"Fine."

He entered his room and loud noises were heard by Eleanor. He threw his books under his bed, his wand in his drawer, threw a blanket over Hedwig's cage and tried to fix his bed. Eleanor stepped inside at the exact time Harry threw a pillow at the door. She ducked and gawked at Harry. After standing up and fixing her hair she cleared her throat. Harry turned around and dropped a book that was in his hand.

"What was that?" She pointed at the book.

Harry looked down and saw his Transfiguration book for his third year and pushed it under the bed with his foot.

"That? That's nothing." He nervously laughed.

"If it was nothing how come you pushed it under your bed?" She asked with a smirk.

"So," Harry began changing the subject. "This is my room."

Eleanor looked around. He was right, it is messy. A couple of non-Hogwarts related books were either on the floor or dresser drawer. The bed sheet looks like it's about to fall off the bed. The blanket that he used to hide Hedwig moved around. She stared at the moving blanket for a bit and shook her head.

"This looks nothing like my room."

"How does your room look like?"

"Blue and silver, the unofficial colors of the Clarke family." She pointed at him and smiled while walking towards him. "Victorian style. Pictures, a nice large bookshelf with my books that are organized by genre and author. I could go on but that's will take a hour or two."

She sat on the bed and looked the moving blanket. Harry sat down next to her and folded his hands together. He noticed something different about her.

"I though you have black hair." He said.

"I wanted to try something new." She looked him.

"Um, what's the name of the school you go to?"

"Madame Jacqueline Maxime l'école pour les jeunes femmes."

"Wha-"

"Madame Jaqueline Maxime school for young women." She translated for the non-French speaking Harry.

"Sounds fancy."

"Fancy, tacky, irritating, all combined into one big ol' school that I want to leave. ASAP." Eleanor rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hands. "I hate that place." She groaned.

"You'll get through it." Harry patted her on the back.

The sound of the door being opened caused Harry and Eleanor to jump. Dudley rushed into the room and grabbed Eleanor by the hand. He babbled about going on more dates with her and making her his girlfriend. Eleanor looked at Harry for help. Harry pulled Eleanor away from his annoying portly cousin. Eleanor stood behind him as he told Dudley to get lost. Dudley sneered and left the room.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"I think I should call my dad and ask how he's doing. Where's the phone?" Eleanor asked.

"It's downstairs."

He led the way to the living room where Petunia sat cleaning her precious porcelain items. Harry pointed at the brown and black phone hanging on the wall. Eleanor thanked him and dialed a number. She began talking to her dad and looked at Harry a couple of times. She flashed him a smile and he returned it with his own. A couple of minutes went by and she hung up.

"Who were you talking to, dear?" Petunia asked with a rotten look on her face.

"My dad." Eleanor said coldly. "I'm going home at around 5 o'clock."

"That's good." Petunia muttered under her breath.

Harry and Eleanor spent the remainder of her stay sitting on a bench outside and talking. School, life, pets, food, music. Whatever came to mind they talked about. Family was a touchy subject for both Harry and Eleanor so they tried to avoid making the other uncomfortable. That was difficult because they were curious about one another.

"Do you have any siblings Harry?" Eleanor asked while played with a bracelet she bought at the mall. Blue and silver charms hang off of the bracelet.

"No, I'm an only child." Harry briefly thought about the possibility of being an older brother if his parents were alive. "You?"

"My brother is two years older than me. He gets on my nerves sometimes, but I love him anyways."

"How do you two feel about your parents not being together?"

Eleanor stopped playing with a charm on her bracelet and looked to her left. She took a deep breath and thought about it. Her parents not being together definitely bothered her. She has hopes about a possible reconciliation but sometimes doubts that will ever happen.

"Angry, sad, conflicted. A lot of negative emotions."

"I didn't mean-" Harry began his long and drawn out apology.

"It's okay Harry. Friends bring up uncomfortable situations all the time. No need to freight your little head." She told him.

"Ellie,"

A voice called her name. She immediately groaned and rolled her eyes thinking it was Dudley. Harry looked up and saw her dad waiting for her with a frown on his face and the bags containing the items she bought at the mall. Harry informed her it was her dad and her face brightened up. She got off of the bench and gave her dad a hug.

"I see you had a good day." Micheal said.

"Sort of. Are you okay?" She saw the frown on his face.

"We'll talk about this later." He whispered making sure Harry could not hear him.

"Hello sir." Harry greeted Micheal.

"Please don't call me sir Harry. It makes me feel old." Micheal sighed. "You can call me Mr. Clarke." Harry nodded his head. "Well, it's time to get going. Eleanor do you want to come back tomorrow?" Her dad asked.

Eleanor saw Dudley standing inside the house looking at her with a smile that may give her nightmares for days. She told her dad no and stopped looking a Dudley.

"That's fine. I guess Harry can come over for a while tomorrow."

"Great. Later Harry." Eleanor waved good bye.

"Later."