a pokemon picnic [MIONE]

[Harry Potter]

date: 19 sept 2005, monday

[/b][/size]t started four years ago.

While Harry hadn't grown up in the middle of the Muggle world, he was still frequently exposed to it throughout his childhood and felt perfectly comfortable intermingling with Muggles, watching Muggle shows, and even playing Muggle games. Most of the games he enjoyed were along the lines of It, jacks, Monopoly, various card games and the like, but there was one he'd fallen prey to that was almost embarrassing for a teenaged boy to still enjoy-- but nevertheless, enjoy it he did. It was catchy. The premise was stupid - almost cruel, really - and yet it was horribly addicting.

This game, beloved by so many primary school children, was Pokémon.

What started four years ago wasn't his interest in the game, however; that began in 1999, when he was nine years old and Pokémon Red was released in England. His interest remained casual but loyal, and continued up until he left for Hogwarts; Gameboys didn't work on the magic-heavy castle grounds, after all. Only able to play in the summer, his interest waned for the first year, but picked up again after the summer when he visited Hermione Granger and was able annoy her into trying the wildly popular and probably overhyped game.

No matter how logical and mature she might have been, she was still a twelve year old girl and it was still a game full of children making non-consenting best friends forever with cute, cuddly creatures. It wasn't long before Pokémon became A Thing with them, especially once Harry began affectionately calling her Psyduck due to her tendency to overthink herself into headaches and fret constantly, in combination with her natural brilliance.

This was why he approached her at their appointed meeting spot by the Black Lake before dinnertime, a basket of food in hand and a "Hey, Psyduck!" on his lips.[/ul]

[Harry Potter]

date: 19 sept 2005, monday

[/b][/size]rinning at the rejoinder, Harry dropped down onto the blanket with much less propriety, instantly sprawling on his back as he yawned widely. "Yup - no new crises since you last saw me two hours ago," he teased; they did, after all, still share most of their classes at this point.

With a glimmer in his eyes, he sat up again. "Guess what ?" he said before proceeding without waiting, knowing she would have simply smiled and said "What ?" or rolled her eyes if she guessed what was coming. He had, after all, been saying it every time they met that day, regardless of if their separation had been for a different class or a brief bathroom break. He did so love to exasperate her, after all. "Haaaa~ppy birthday !"

As he spoke, he reached into the cloth-covered basket the house elves had kindly supplied him with upon his request that morning and pulled out her favourite flavour of cake. It was a small one - circular, only about four inches in diameter and a matching four inches high - a perfect size for two. There was even a candle placed in the center - a wizarding candle, of course. Setting it down on a low, plain table he Conjured up, he lit the candle with his wand and the flames began flickering in the shape of the number 16.

[/ul]

OOC NOTE: WTF. The bit about saying happy birthday to her every time they met was originally in the FIRST post, but I must have accidentally deleted it... xD Oops.

[Harry Potter]

date: 19 september 2005; monday

[/b][/size]arry let out a laugh when he was tackled. It never ceased to amuse him how readily the 5' 4" bookworm could knock his 5' 10" self off his feet with her enthusiastic hugs, and it never bothered him even when she knocked them into something or onto the ground. Pain was temporary; happy memories were forever.

He managed to keep them upright this time, and wound a secure arm around her shoulders familiarly to return the hug before letting go. "Most girls your age are self-absorbed, mindless twats,"[/color] he opined bluntly, shrugging one shoulder. It was a generally appropriate description for adolescents as a whole, after all. Winking, he casually straightened out his collar and ran his hand through his hair in a mimicry of his father. "Fortunately, you're smarter, and have far better taste in companions. Now, go on and make your wish before the wax melts into the cake." It was an unnecessary caution, of course; wizarding candles just didn't do that. But even so, it was an age-old concern for Muggles and he liked being able to talk about Muggle things with her.[/size][/font]

The candle was magical in more ways than burning with her new age and not melting, however. Upon blowing it out, a secondary charm would be triggered to explode sugar confetti from the extinguished flame, and her primary present - a wrapped book, true to form - would appear beside the cake while the confetti caused a diversion.[/ul]

[Harry Potter]

date: 19 september 2005; monday

[/b][/size]he moment the candle blew up, Harry busted up laughing. He didn't catch her this time - couldn't, really - barely registered her even falling as he cracked up. It was true, their father's pranking genes had pretty much all gone to Ariana, but Harry was still his father's son and couldn't resist tormenting those he loved most. It was why he had another present for Hermione, but this he would give to her later; he'd let her think he'd finally outgrown giving her embarrassing things for now...

Calming down a bit as she demanded what he would have done had she hexed the cake, Harry shook his head. "Died laughing," he chuckled as he wiped at a tear, unconsciously echoing her thoughts. "It's a good thing you didn't, since that's the only cake I brought, but it would have been worth it. Psyduck used Frustration ! It's super effective. Cake fainted !"[/ul]

[Harry Potter]

date: 19 september 2005; monday

[/b][/size]arry had, in fact, not paid attention most of the times Hermione talked about the book. He rarely did when it came to books, aside from picking up a few key points so he could parrot those at her later to "prove" he had been listening. However, he was also very aware of how little he paid attention to her bibliophilic pursuits, so he'd purchased the book the second time she'd mentioned it and kept it hidden in his room for the day he would inevitably realise her birthday was upon them. He was generally very good at remembering at a distance that a birthday was in a specific month, and usually managed to grab a present at the last second, but dates were really not his forte. That was, perhaps, a good part of the reason why he loathed History lessons so much - the other simply being Binns.

"Of course I remembered," he lied; honestly, he'd forgotten the name of the book as soon as the money was out of his hands and the purchase was in his possession. The sudden stifled emotionality was dismissed as just being her extreme love of the book. "I do sometimes lis -"

His protest was cut off by her hug, and he wondered how many more times she was going to hug him that afternoon. Really, it was no wonder people often thought they were dating. It was amusing - endearing, even, and comfortable, familiar, reassuring - but definitely sent out the wrong message. Well, that was fine. It wasn't as though he was really on the pull for a flock of birds. "It's just a book," he reminded instead, a little embarrassed by her pleasure at what he considered a very mundane gift. "I know they're sacred objects to you, but really, it's not as though it's an autographed, gold-plated copy inscribed with your name."[/ul]
OOC note: It's not actually a made-up attack. ;) Frustration is a real move Psyduck can learn. The more he hates his trainer, the more effective the move is. :D It's the opposite of Return, where the more the Pokémon LIKES his trainer, the more effective it is~ /geek

[Harry Potter]

date: 19 september 2005; monday

[/b][/size]arry was not very good at... emotional stuff. Well, sentimental stuff. He had enough fire to him that emotions were not the problem, and he would always rush to comfort somebody who was upset - well, unless they deserved whatever had happened to them - but the nice, sweet type of sentimental admissions were completely different. They didn't annoy him the way they did some blokes but he simply did not know how to respond without it seeming completely canned. In his opinion, anyway. Thus, the book banter was fine, and he simply rolled his eyes indulgently at the brunette's practicality, but the next bit surprised him and left him a little lost on what to say or do.

Rubbing his neck, he shrugged. "You're not as high-maintenance as you seem to think," he told her, feeling awkward and insufficient but not wanting to sound like a friendly greeting card, either. "Really, the lecturing isn't a problem, you're no worse than mum and Remus when they gang up on me. You're rarely, if ever, annoying, and if I'm feeling cranky or impatient, I just go flying or something." It wasn't often he felt the need to hide from her but it did happen sometimes, and generally when he was thinking too much about his family or housemates so he was really hiding from everyone. "Just as I assume when my disinterest in the magical properties of insert-specific-fungus-here or obsession with Quidditch or ranting about the obnoxious little gits around the school gets too intense, you find ways to occupy yourself away from me. It's just a balance. We've got a good balance, I'd say."[/ul]

[Harry Potter]

date: 19 september 2005; monday

[/b][/size]aking a face in protest that he was too focused on Malfoy, Harry shook his head. He didn't... well, he wanted to tell her of the weirdness going on with Malfoy, but he also felt like Malfoy deserved the right to privacy. (Privacy from anybody but him, anyway.) But Hermione was always his go-to person, and maybe she'd have some advice... advice beyond "Tell Dumbledore" or "Tell Snape," anyway. But she was also prone toward asking too many questions, and he really didn't want her prying into why he might be fixated on Malfoy...

Still, he couldn't help but grin when Hermione agreed that they worked well together - just to throw in another little barb about Malfoy. Holding his hands up in a truce gesture to not be picked on, he reached for a plate and some cake himself. "I'm not that focused on him," he protested. "And besides, it's not my fault. He's just always there. We live, school and fly side by side so there's just no escaping the skinny little prat."

Even as he spoke, he glanced around and above them just to make sure there were no eavesdroppers. It wasn't as though there was anywhere for someone to hide, unless they were drowning themselves in the lake. Then again, he was perhaps a tad bit paranoid...[/ul]

[Harry Potter]

"That's different. I haven't had a rivalry going on with them since the first day of school," Harry reminded, relaxing as she went through all of the spells and grinning in embarrassed thanks. He didn't generally get embarrassed very easily, but Hermione had much more dirt on him than practically anybody else. He was grateful for her tolerance of his eccentricities, whether she believed in them or not.

He took another bite of his own slice of cake, then went on to explain. "Dratini's always had it in for me, and he is The Iconic Slytherin of our year." He didn't tell her that their tensions went back long before Hogwarts, since that was a secret he kept from pretty much everybody. Of course his parents knew he'd gone to Malfoy's fifth birthday party and been sent home, but Ariana had been too young to remember or care at the time and he didn't think Remus or Tonks knew. He wasn't even sure why he kept it quiet, but he did nonetheless.

[Lakin!]

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