Lazy Summer Days

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter characters they belong to JK Rowling.

Lavender walked down the corridor quickly. She was supposed to have met him five minutes ago, but she had been too busy talking with Parvati that she had failed to realise the time. Lavender saw the entrance to the courtyard up ahead and broke out into a full-on run. Her fears of being extremely late, meeting him could turn out to be unfounded. She would only be a little late for their meeting.

She took the courtyard steps two at a time and then she ran swiftly across the courtyard. Once at the grass, Lavender saw the tree shift into her vision and she grinned to herself, as the tree was their meeting point. Only one day of term remained until they headed home for the summer holidays, and as beautiful as the days were getting, Lavender couldn't help but find herself a bit sad.

Once Lavender reached the tree, she stopped and leaned over, realising she needed to catch her breath. When she felt able to walk without wheezing, she looked up and saw that he was standing against the tree, grinning. She shook her head, but couldn't stop from grinning back at him. Lavender walked over and stopped just a few feet in front of him.

"I am so sorry that I'm late, Seamus," she said apologetically. "I lost track of time as I was talking to Parvati."

Seamus shook his head. "It's ok, Lavender, don't worry about it," he said.

Lavender smiled at him, thankful. Seamus stepped in front of her, closing the space between them.

"Come on," he said, her hand and pulling her towards the lake.

"Seamus," she started. And as she was about to ask him to make sure he wrote her over the summer, she was splashed with water. He ran away the minute the water hit her. She stood shocked for a few minutes, processing what he had just done.

Suddenly she burst out laughing and she began to run after him.

"Seamus, I am going to kill you," she exclaimed. She heard him laughing up ahead.

"Only if you can catch me," he shouted over his shoulder. Lavender smiled, knowing that she would love it when he got wet instead. She broke out into a run after him. Both of them ran alongside the lake. Lavender knew that if she timed it right she could push him into the lake which would even the score between them. While she was running, she gained on him every moment until they were neck and neck. She waited for the right moment then she threw herself into him, knocking him into the lake. The surprise was clear on his face as he fell into the lake and she giggled as she stood on the side of the lake watching him. He was drenched.

He tugged on her robes which caused her to fall into the lake with him. It took her a minute to realise that she was falling. She stared at him in surprise. She was now as wet as he was.

"You do realise that we will get into so much trouble for this," she said to him, turning to look at him as she did.

"Only if we get caught," he replied, grinning impishly at her. She laughed and he laughed along with her. He grinned, pulled himself out of the water, and then he held out his hand for her to take so he could help her to her feet. She smiled at him and slid her hand into his.

They walked away from the lake, hand in hand. After they had left the lake, Seamus pulled out his wand, muttering the drying spell he dried his clothes. Lavender then took her wand and did the same. Turning back towards the lake, he picked up a small rock and let it skim across the lake. Lavender picked up a rock and did the same; her effort skimmed across the water a little, but then disappeared from view.

Her efforts were never as good as his were. They smiled at each other.

"Do you want to go and sit by the tree for a little while?" he asked her. Looking at him, she nodded. They began to walk, reaching the tree in no time at all. Both of them sat down against it.

"It's a beautiful day," Lavender said as she looked up at the sky.

"Yes it is," he said in reply as he turned up at the sky as well. He looked back at her.

"I can't believe that it's summer already," he sighed.

"Yeah, I am going to miss seeing you every day," she replied softly.

Lavender looked over at him; he was staring at the ground intensely. Lavender could tell something was annoying him.

She banged her shoulder into his gently to get his attention, and he looked up at her as she knew he would. She smiled at him.

"We'll still write to each other like we do every summer," she said. He nodded.

"Of course," he said in agreement.

She definitely knew that something was bothering him now, as he had not sounded as enthusiastic as she had hoped he would. Lavender bit her lip, worried about her friend, silently counting to two in her head. She was tossing up her options about what to do and then she spoke not able to take it any longer.

"Seamus, what's wrong?" she asked him. He stayed silent, not answering her straight away. Raking a hand through his hair, he took a long deep breath. Then he turned to look at her.

He stared into her eyes and gulped, losing his nerve to talk to her slightly. Shaking his head, he chuckled to himself silently. Lavender was one of his best friends, he could tell her anything. Anything but this, he thought to himself. If he told her this it could change their friendship for the better or it could completely destroy it. He shook his head once more. Lavender had noticed his strange behaviour the last couple of minutes. Her nervous eyes never left his face.

"Seamus," she said the concern that she felt for him clear in her voice. She reached over and put her hand on top of his.

Feeling her hand touch his, he took another deep breath. He had made up his mind now. It was time, he decided, that he told her. He stared into her eyes once more, smiling at her slightly. Then he spoke.

"Lavender, there is something that I have to tell you," he said to her nervously. She squeezed his hand, which spurred him on to tell her. He took another deep breath.

"I love you as more than a friend," he said. "I have loved you this way for more than a year but I was just too scared to tell you." After he said this, he stopped talking. Seamus stared at her, trying to gauge her reaction to what he had just said. He could imagine that she was a little shocked so he gave her a few minutes to digest this new information.

Lavender stared at him as this news began to sink in. He loved her as more than a friend. He felt the same way about her as she felt about him. Her change of feelings towards him had surprised her at first when she realised a year ago that she felt differently about him. She had been taken back slightly but it soon became clear to her why she loved him as she did each day that she spent with him. Every night she counted down the hours until she saw him again. Only the fear of losing him and losing their friendship had kept her silent about her feelings.

She remained silent, which only made him more nervous. He had blown it. He had lost his best friend, he thought to himself quickly. He fidgeted with his fingers, wishing that she would just say something. Say anything. This silence was killing him.

Lavender was feeling the same way - she couldn't take this silence any longer. So, she giggled. She could not help it. Seamus stared at her, puzzled by her reaction. He opened his mouth to ask her why she was giggling, when she threw her arms around him and hugged him. He didn't move, he was in such shock that he couldn't even put his arms around her, even as his brain screamed that he should.

A minute later she suddenly stopped giggling, she pulled back from him. He saw that she was blushing.

"Sorry," she said, her face turning redder still. He watched as she took a deep breath.

"Seamus, I love you too," she said, smiling. He reached over and slid his hand into hers, relief coursing through him.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked her. She felt that his hands were becoming sweaty; he was still nervous even now. Lavender smiled and nodded at him.

"I would love to be your girlfriend, Seamus," she replied.

Seamus' face broke out into a grin. Then he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. It was such a sweet gesture from him and she was surprised when she felt the prick of tears at the corner of her eyes. She blinked them away, she did not want to ruin this romantic moment by crying. Instead, she smiled at him.

Later in the afternoon, Seamus sighed as he realised that they would have to return to the castle shortly. It was getting late.

"We'll have to go back soon," he said to her. She looked at him and nodded.

"I know, and I still have lots of packing to do," she said regrettably. They stayed still for a minute, just staring at each other. Both of them didn't want to ruin the moment, at least not for a little while longer. A few minutes later Seamus sighed again and got to his feet. He shook the grass from his robes and then he held out his hand to help Lavender to her feet.

Lavender smiled up at him as she took his outstretched hand. "I wish we didn't have to go back to the castle then have to leave for vacation now," she said softly.

"I know, I feel the same," he said in reply. They started to walk back to the castle side by side. Lavender slid her hand into his as they walked.

"We can still write to each other every day," she said happily. Seamus laughed.

"Twice a day even," he said, then he laughed again.

They continued to walk together, both growing silent. Suddenly, Seamus grinned.

Lavender noticed that he was grinning. "What?" she asked him. He remained silent, knowing that she would grow impatient.

"Seamus, tell me please," she pleaded with him. He smiled.

"I bet you five galleons that I can beat you to the courtyard," he said with a mischievous grin.

She smiled back at him. "You're on," she said. Suddenly Seamus ran away, laughing. Lavender smiled; she had always loved lazy summer days, but she loved them even more so now, she thought to herself silently. Seamus shouted her name which shook her out of her thoughts.

"Come on," she heard him shout in the distance before he took out running again. She smiled once more and then she ran after him.