TOGETHER (A HARRY POTTER LOVE STORY) 4

10

MILLIES POV

"You've been ages," said Mione, when Harry and I finally got back to the Weasley's tent. "What did you do?" she added more quietly to me as Harry instantly went over to the boys, staring me down suspiciously.

"Actually nothing," I reassured her, not being able to stop myself from smiling. "We spoke to Oliver for a while, that's all."

My new goal of finding someone new from Harry had finally given me some hope that I could move on from him, and that maybe everything could go back to the way it was before him and I dated. Sure, it might take a while, but I knew in the end that it would be worth it.

Besides, it was clear Harry had moved on already.

"You not got the fire started yet?" I asked Fred, who was lifting a massive bucket of water across the grass.

Fred shook his head, grunting slightly with the weight of the water. "Dad's having fun with the matches."

Mr Weasley was having no success at all in lighting the fire, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Splintered matches littered the ground around him, but he looked as though he was having the time of his life.

"Oops!" he exclaimed, as he managed to light a match, and promptly dropped it in surprise.

"Come here, Mr Weasley," I said kindly, taking the box from him, and starting to show him how to do it properly.

At last, we got the fire lit, though it was at least another hour before it was hot enough to cook anything. There was plenty to watch while we waited, however. Our tent seemed to be pitched right alongside a kind of thoroughfare to the pitch, so Ministry members kept hurrying up and down it, greeting Mr Weasley cordially as they passed.

At last, the fire was ready, and Mr Weasley had just started cooking eggs and sausages when Bill, Charlie and Percy came strolling out of the woods towards us. I quickly rearranged my position in my chair so that I could get a good view of Bill.

"Just Apparated, Dad," said Percy loudly.

"Really?" George said sarcastically. "We thought you were getting the bus?"

Percy ignored him. "Ah, excellent, lunch!"

"Would you like some pumpkin pasties, Mills?" Harry asked me from where he was stood on the opposite side of the fire.

I looked at him in surprise; firstly, because I didn't even noticed we had brought pumpkin pasties, and secondly, because I was shocked he had offered me any.

"Yes, please," I said eagerly, straightening up.

"Yeah, me too," he said shortly, dropping back down into his chair and sighing.

If Mr Weasley hadn't been stood a few metres away, I would've called Harry something extremely rude.

I was halfway through my breakfast when Mr Weasley jumped to his feet, waving and grinning at a man who was striding towards us. "Aha!" he said. "The man of the moment! Ludo!"

Ludo Bagman was easily the most noticeable person I had seen so far; he was wearing long Quidditch robes in thick horizontal strips of bright yellow and black. An enormous picture of a wasp was splashed across his chest. His nose was squashed (probably broken by a stray Bludger, I thought), but his round blue eyes, short blond hair and rosy complexion made him look like a very overgrown schoolboy.

"If only Jake was here," Fred whispered, making me smirk. "Now that'd be entertainment."

"Ahoy there!" Bagman called happily. He was walking as though he had springs attached to the balls of his feet, and was plainly in a state of wild excitement. "Arthur, old man," he puffed, as he reached the campfire, "what a day, eh? What a day! Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming...and hardly a hiccough in the arrangements...not much for me to do!"