Hogwarts Mystery - B and T's Summer Break

Roller Skating

I think I wrote, deleted, and rewrote this chapter about 5 times....

The week after Bill and Charlie left passed by lazily. As much as we enjoyed our time alone together, I could tell Barnaby missed having Charlie around.
"I have a surprise this afternoon" I said as we lay in the sun. Spending so much time outdoors, Barnaby had gotten a nice tan and he looked gorgeous.
"A surprise huh?"
"Wipe that cheeky grin off your face" I laughed "Not that kind of surprise"
"Well what is it?"
"We're going roller skating"
"Am I supposed to know what that is?"
"Um.... it's like special shoes with wheels on them"
"Wheels on shoes?" he laughed "You gotta be joking"
"No, it's fun. I promise."
"How hard can it be?"
At the skating rink, I got Barnaby laced up in a pair of skates. He was 6'2" to begin with, so with skates on he towered over my 5'0".
"Just stay still until I get mine on. Then I can help you"
But he didn't listen. One minute I was lacing up my skate and the next minute I saw arms and legs flying in my peripheral vision. I couldn't help but laugh.
"y'alright?" I laughed
"Yeah. Just hurt my pride....and my arse...but mostly pride"
I still couldn't stop laughing "Well don't do that again or I might pee my pants"
I finished lacing up and took a quick lap around the seating area to get my bearings
"Come on now" I grabbed both his hands and skated backwards leading him around until he got used to the feeling. I showed him how to push off and stop. 
"I think all that stupid broom balancing Orion had us do last year is working"
"You're doing great, but do me a favor. If you start to fall, let go of me. You have about 6 stone on me and if you fall on me you'll do some damage" I giggled but wasn't kidding "Are you ready to get out on the floor?" I asked after a few more laps around the seating area
"Yeah I think I got this"
I spun around to his side and we held hands as we made our way out to the floor. After a few laps we were able to pick up speed. Then the Dj called for my favorite game: The Limbo.
"Oh this is my favorite! I can usually win this one"
I brought Barnaby over to the edge wall to watch and I joined the other people playing. The first few turns under the bar, I was able to just scrunch down into a ball to get under the bar. As it got lower, more people were out until it was just me and 1 other girl. She was good. Really good. The bar was moved to the lowest setting... about a foot off the ground. She went first and knocked it off. I had to get under to win. Luckily I had done this plenty of times. I got a running start, and right before the bar, I dropped into a split, grabbed each skated and flattened out and just barely made it under.
"That was incredible!" said Barnaby shaking his head "You are so good at everything you do."
"Nah, this is easy because I'm small. It's one of the few times being short works in my favor" I laughed "I am not good at getting books off the top shelf of the library at school. Or trying to find someone in a crowd..."
"You make a pretty good armrest though" he laughed resting his arm on my head
"Oh yeah a great life skill. But I'm not the best at anything. Rowan is better at school than I am, Penny is the prettiest in our year, and you are the best Quidditch player in the school. And I'm not even the best curse breaker. That's Bill. I'm just plain old average me" I shrugged
"Youre crazy" he shook his head
"I think your opinion of me is a bit biased" I nudged him "Hey let me show you how to play the racing game" We changed back into our trainers and I led him over to the arcade. I showed him how to shift, steer, and brake.
"Alright let's race" I honestly thought it would be an easy win for me, but he surprised me and won easily. Twice. Then a few other guys challenged him. And he beat them all. Soon, he drew a crowd, everyone lining their quarters for a chance to play the new guy. A few girls were hanging around to check out the shiny new toy, which made me laugh. Especially since he just made the point about one guy staring at me. I made a mental note to tease him about his fan club later.
"So, I haven't seen you around here before. Where are you from?" said one of the girls.
"Oh um I'm just here for the summer. I live just outside of London."
"Oh London is lovely. What brings you to our small town....I'm sorry I didn't catch your name..."
"I'm Barnaby. I'm staying with my girlfriend's grandparents." He looked my way. The girl narrowed her eyes at me as she looked me over. I smiled as I walked over to them, Barnaby put his arm around me. The girl walked away without saying anything.
"Seems you got yourself a fan" I nodded toward the girl
He blushed but didn't say anything
"Turns out you're a pretty good driver."
"Yeah it was pretty fun beating you at something" he laughed
He leaned down to give me a quick kiss, but I wouldn't let him get off that easily. I grabbed his bottom lip gently with my teeth
I put both hands in his back pockets and pulling his body close to mine.
Later that evening, Barnaby and I went for a moonlight walk.
"That was a fun thing. That racing thing"
"It's called an arcade game. And yes they are fun" I laughed "You were brilliant!" I loved seeing him excited about something. Like an adorable child at Christmas. And especially seeing him exel at something new have him a confidence boost that he needs.
"Think Pops would let me drive his truck?"
"Not on the road. But maybe thru the fields" I shrugged.
"Do you want to know something Charlie told me the other day?"
"Of course!"
"Professor Kettleburn is working on Magical Creature Reserve at Hogwarts. He is going to be asking his best students to adopt creatures and help care for them."
"That's amazing! He's sure to ask you. You are one of his favorite students"
"I'm pretty excited about it. I hope he asks you too."
"Well I'm sure he'll ask Charlie and Liz Tuttle before he asks me. It's not my best subject."
"But you're still good. You get high marks"
"Only because of you"
"This is our OWL year, so I'm glad I'll be able to cuddle some creatures when studying is too stressful. Maybe a baby Hippogriff."
"I bet Charlie is hoping for dragons"
"Oh he is! I think he has a problem. He talks about Dragons way too much. But he thinks I talk about you too much. So I guess we're even"
"Did he say that?"
"No. But I can tell. Whenever I talk about you he gets weird and trust to change the subject. He was acting kind of weird when he was here actually. Like he didn't want to be here or something"
"Oh. That's funny. I thought Charlie and I were friends.... He was fine when we were riding horses when he was here. I hope he isn't mad at me or something"
"I'm sure he's fine. I probably shouldn't have said anything"
"No. No I'm glad you did. Maybe next time I see him I should make a point to talk just him and I to see if there's something wrong"
"He's just a little shy. Shyer than Bill anyways. Actually, him and Bill are not anything alike...."
I wonder what's going on with Charlie. Maybe I should send an owl to Bill.
"It's late. we should head back"
As we walked, Barnaby couldn't stop talking about all the different creatures he hoped would be on the Reserve, but I was only paying half attention. I was thinking about what to say to Bill when I wrote to him.