Harry Potter and Claire Smith's Adventures: Book Four

Something Else

Chapter 23: Something Else

"Claire, are you alright?" Harry asked concerned.

He watched as she replenished her oxygen supply. He didn't blame her—being part fish for an hour really did take a toll on the lungs. His green eyes met her brown ones. Before he could ask her again if she was fine, Claire tackled him into a hug and her lips met his. Harry quickly recovered from the shock of her lips against his and kissed back. It was almost as though the world had stopped turning as his lips molded against her soft pink ones. He never imagined something could feel this good. Harry felt a new kind of euphoria coursing through his veins.

Claire felt that weird sensation in the pit of her stomach subside as she kissed Harry. It was almost as though the kiss was the remedy to the weird sensation. After they had both almost drowned to death, here they were kissing. Claire was kissing her messy raven-haired, emerald-eyed best friend. Best friend? Oh, Merlin! I just snogged my best friend! Claire immediately pulled away from the kiss once she realized this. She expected Harry to be angry with her, but found that he wore a smile on his face.

"About b-bloody time!" Claire and Harry turned to see Ron. "I knew something was going on between you since last year."

"I'm surprised you paid attention to something other than food, Ron." George teased.

Ron simply sent a glare at his older brother. The twins, Hermione, and Ginny were standing near Ron. They all wore knowing grins on their faces. Hermione and Ron were both drenched from the lake and had towels wrapped around themselves to keep warm in the frigid air. This made Claire and Harry notice the goosebumps on their arms and legs. Though they both blamed the cold air for these bumps, they half-suspected the kiss had something to do with it too; though neither would admit it out loud.

"You two look freezing." Hermione said noticing their goosebumps. "C'mon, we'll show you to Madame Pomfrey. She sat up a tent with hot towels."

Hermione led them to a blue tent. They walked inside and Madam Pomfrey directed Harry to one side of the room to a bed and then directed Claire to the opposite side of the room. Hermione and Ginny went to get some hot towels for Claire and came back with the same grins. Claire thought their faces would be permanently stuck like that if they continued to grin like that.

"I can't believe it!" Ginny gushed as she threw the warm towel over Claire's shoulders. "You kissed Harry! Do you know what this means? It means Hermione and I were right! You do like Harry! This is amazing!"

"G-Ginny, sh-shush!" Claire hissed as she wrapped the hot towel around her shivering body. "That kiss was a terrible mistake, Ginny! I've probably ruined our friendship now! He's never going to want to see my face again! I don't know what came over me. I-I just-ugh! Why am I so stupid?"

"What are you talking about Claire?" Hermione said. "Didn't you see the way Harry looked after you kissed him? He was smiling!"

"He was probably smiling because he was about to laugh." Claire replied. "He couldn't possibly see me in any other way besides a friend."

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"She couldn't possibly see me more than as a friend." Harry said on the other side of the tent as he took a hot towel and threw it over his shoulders.

"Mate, I've known Claire her whole life." Ron began putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "As much as I hate to say this, she's never looked at anyone the way she looks at you. Not even when she was dating that Saxton bloke. I may not be the most observant person, but it's obvious the two of you like each other. I had suspicions last year, but this year they only grew—especially during the feast when the other schools arrived and I made a comment about the girls in Beauxbaton and Hogwarts. Remember? You said girls were made alright at Hogwarts and then you looked at Claire. That's when I knew you fancied her."