Picnic in the Grass
At 10:30 in the morning, Liam felt a sudden impulse to take a shower. It was Monday, more than a week before Professor Gregor would question the owner of the Book Shoppe in Knockturn Alley about Wicked Vengeance. The clouds that would threaten rain over much of the country were still out to sea. The sky was clear and bright, with only a few puffy white clouds high in the sky.
Before she went to work, Liam’s mother asked him to mow the lawn. He decided to get it done right after breakfast. Liam’s house had a small patch of grass in the front and a larger, longer one in the back. He ran the mower over both lawns, trimmed the edges by the driveway and sidewalk, and dumped all the trimmings in the compost bin. The job was complete and tidy by quarter of ten.
Had she been home, Annie might have prodded her son to take a shower afterwards. She was not home, however, and since he had showered when he got up, he was not inclined to take another one.
Until 10:30 in the morning. He felt again the urgent impulse: Take a shower.
Patrick was hanging around the house. He had fallen out of touch with his Biggleswade friends. Rather than reconnecting with them over the summer, Patrick moped about, complaining that he couldn’t do magic.
“It’s totally unfair that everyone else in school can do magic over the summer and we can’t,” complained Patrick for the thousandth time that June.
“That’s the rules,” said Liam. “We’re not the only ones who live in Muggle villages. You think I enjoy not using magic over the summer? I bet there’s a handy spell that mows lawns.”
“Why didn’t you use it, then? For the backyard at least.”
“It’s not allowed. We can’t have Mrs. Mitchell looking over her fence and seeing the mower moving of its own accord. I’m a prefect, and I’ve got to be a good example. Especially to someone like you.” He sighed. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Why? You took one already!”
“I’m sweaty and I smell like grass. I need a shower.”
“You finished the lawn an hour ago. Why shower now?”
“Because I need to,” said Liam firmly. He didn’t know where this sudden urge was coming from, but since it was something his mother would approve of, he decided to go along with it. He went into the bathroom and showered again.
As soon as he was drying off, the urgent command changed from Take a shower to Get dressed. He picked out a clean pair of jeans and a charcoal grey t-shirt.
He had just pulled the shirt down over his head when he heard the doorbell chime. He went out into the hall, but Patrick got to the door first. He heard his brother say, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m not here to see you, Patty,” said Gillian.
Liam hurried to the entryway. There she was – long red hair, bright blue eyes, her face and arms covered in freckles. Wearing a long-sleeved peasant blouse with a wide scoop neck and a flowery, knee length skirt, she looked like a hippie. On her arm was burlap satchel. Liam could sense the wand hidden within it.
“Hey,” she said, smiling.
“Hey. It’s great to see you.” Liam was suddenly flustered. He gave her a hug while he scrambled for something to say. “How about lunch?”
“It’s a little early for lunch,” she said. “Let’s pack up for a picnic.”
Liam led her to the kitchen. He was on more solid footing now. He was eager to show off his foodie skills to one of his Hogwarts friends. “I just so happen to have a nice brioche loaf and some sliced pastrami from the deli. Add Swiss cheese and some grainy mustard and we’ll have ourselves a sandwich. How does that sound?”
“Lovely,” said Gillian. With a sly look, she added, “You look freshly showered.”
“Yes, I just showered. Hey, have you been putting thoughts in my head for the last half-hour?”
She responded telepathically. I’ve been putting thoughts in your head since we were eleven years old.
“Good point,” answered Liam, audibly.
Patrick looked quizzically between the two. Liam guessed that he could not hear Gillian’s telepathic messages. Not everyone could hear them.
Patrick turned to Gillian and asked, “How did you get here? You didn’t fly your broom this whole way, did you?”
“Of course not. It’s too far. I took the bus!” said Gillian.
“What bus?” asked Patrick, suspiciously.
“The Knight Bus. You’ve heard of the Knight Bus by now, haven’t you?”
“Your mother let you take that?”
She looked smugly back at Patrick. Liam heard her telepathic reply. I told my mum I was going to Sadie’s.
Liam set about making the pastrami sandwiches. “Are you going to make one for me?” asked Patrick.
“Yes, but you’ll not be accompanying us on our picnic,” said Liam sternly.
Patrick’s eyes flicked between the two. “When I have a girlfriend ….”
“When you have a girlfriend,” interrupted Liam, “we’ll make arrangements. That will be then. This is now. I don’t want you hanging about or trailing us. Let us be.”
“Fine. But make me a sandwich.”
“This one can be for you, then.”
“Don’t put so much mustard on mine.”
“I won’t.”
The two brothers bickered in this way until Liam had made all three sandwiches. “Are you eating now?” Liam asked Patrick.
“No. I want to eat later.”
“I’m putting in a tub for you, then, and sticking it in the fridge.” He put the sandwiches for himself and Gillian in tubs also. He set two cloth napkins on the counter next to the tubs. From a pitcher in the refrigerator he filled to bottles of water, and he took from the crisper drawer, two red apples. There was a tub of cookies in the pantry. Liam selected two large oatmeal cookies, made with raisins and walnuts. They gave off a strong scent of nutmeg.
“I baked these a couple days ago, but they’re still fresh,” he assured her.
“They look great, and they smell delicious,” said Gillian.
Gillian arranged all the tubs in her satchel. “Do we need a blanket or something to sit on?” asked Liam.
“I have one in here,” she said.
At the entryway, Gillian drew her wand and waved it over herself and Liam. “We’re not supposed to do magic,” said Liam.
“We’re not in front of Muggles!” argued Gillian. “This is just a little charm so that people ignore us. I wanna be with just you. I don’t want other people hanging around. Maybe sometime you can introduce me to your friends, but not today. I want you all to myself.”
“Where do you want to go for our picnic?”
“Show me some of your glorious English countryside.”
Out on the doorstep, Liam turned and locked the door with his key, despite the fact that his brother was still inside. Liam took Gillian’s satchel and set it on his shoulder. They walked hand and hand through Liam’s suburban neighborhood. A kid Liam knew rode passed on a bicycle. He didn’t seem to notice the couple walking and holding hands. Gillian’s charm was doing its trick.
Just passed the Cricket Club the houses fell away, and there was only tall grass and oak trees. They turned north and walked through the grasses. To their left, the River Ivel rolled slowly along.
“How was the Knight Bus?” asked Liam.
“Not too bad. A bit noisy and crowded. There’s a loud bang when they jump from stop to stop. You should try it sometime. Come up next summer and watch the Quidditch World Cup.”
“I might have to bring my brother if I do that.”
“It’s okay. My brothers will be there, too. It’s best with a big crowd. I’m thinking England will have its act together and do well in the tournament, but even if its Italy vs France, it still should be fun. My brothers make all sorts of crazy bets – which keeper will have the most saves, which flyer will have the fastest broom – stuff like that. It’s worse when they don’t care who wins. They’ll be looking for any angle to keep them interested in the match.”
“They play Quidditch in Italy and France?”
“Yes! Everywhere in the world, really. Even in America. Though the U.S. team is never any good. The women’s team is tough, but the men don’t care. They’d rather play Ultra Frisbee.”
“Ultra Frisbee?”
“Yeah, it’s some kind of team sport involving brooms and frisbees. I watched it once, but I couldn’t figure it out. It was the middle of the night, anyway, and I was half asleep.”
“Do they always play in the middle of the night?”
“No, it’s the time difference, silly. It was a night game for them, but it was really late for us. I just watched it ‘cause it was the finals, and my parents were out of town and one of my brothers wanted to watch it.”
They came to a spot in the dappled shade of an oak tree, with tall grass all around. Gillian reached into her bag and pulled out a cloth napkin with a red and black tartan plaid. She gave it a firm shake, and suddenly it was a full-sized picnic blanket.
“You’ve got to watch that magic,” said Liam, sternly. “We’ll get in trouble. Specifically, I’ll get in trouble. They’ll assume it was either me or Patty.”
“There’s no one around,” said Gillian. “And, even if some was looking our way, they won’t notice us. It’s like we’re not even there.”
“Does it work on dogs? Some people run their dogs through these fields.”
“I don’t know,” laughed Gillian. “A dog will probably sniff us out. If it happens, just pet it and send it back to its owner.”
They sat down on the blanket. The grass was damp and marshy so close to the river, but the blanket stayed magically dry. Liam doled out the sandwiches, apples and water bottles, and the two started eating.
“How were your O.W.L.s?” asked Gillian. “Let me guess, Outstanding in Potions.”
“Correct. And History. E’s in everything else except Runes. I got an Acceptable in Runes.”
“My O was in Magical Creatures. I can’t wait to take the NEWT class. Charlie Weasley will be giving some lectures on dragons! He may even bring one in for us to see!”
“Cool! What were your other scores?”
“O in Charms. E’s in Fig, Div, Defence and Potions. Barely scraped an A in History. That class is so boring!”
“Binns is boring,” said Liam. “The subject itself is quite interesting.”
“For nerdy boys like you, maybe,” said Gillian with a laugh. “So, what are you taking next term?”
“My NEWT classes are Defence, Fig, Arithmancy and Potions,” said Liam. “I’ll be taking Magical Creatures as my Granger, and I’ll TA in DeVere’s First Year Potions lab.”
“Cool! I’m taking the NEWT Defence and Fig, too. Plus MC, of course, and Charms. Are you taking Charms?”
“Nope. Something had to go, and that was the one.”
Gillian took a bite of her apple. Her blue eyes twinkled, and she laughed, her voice like water rushing over stone. “What are you laughing about?” asked Liam.
“Something Guishar told me once. It’s nothing.” Her face turned bright pink, though and she looked away.
“If Lara said it, it wasn’t nothing,” said Liam. “Was it some sort of prophecy?”
“I guess so. I didn’t know she was a seer at the time. When it came out that she was, it all made sense.” Gillian lay down, resting her head in the crook of her arm and took another bite of her apple. Her knees rose like pale freckled peaks.
She was too inviting to resist. Liam lay down beside her. “You sure nobody can see us with that fancy charm of yours?”
“Yeah, I think we’re good,” she said. She set her apple down on the blanket and leaned in for a kiss. One kiss followed another and another. Liam’s hands wandered up inside her blouse and along her smooth thighs.
Do that thing again, she prompted.
He lifted his hand above her and cast the heat spell down upon you.
No, do it like you did before that one time.
The time when you were freezing to death from that creepy curse? thought Liam.
Yes. Save me again. He set his hand on her thigh and slowly moved it up towards her torso. That’s it. All the way.
You know I wasn’t going to touch you there, not with you unconscious, not with all those people around. Lara said I had to. It was the only way to drive the curse out of you.
I know. Don’t talk about it anymore. Just do it.
He came to that place again. Where he expected to find a wall of tight fabric, there was only a narrow strip of lace. I bought something nice, just for you, she said. His fingers easily slipped past the lace strip. Beyond, Gillian’s skin was warm and damp. He cast his spell once more. Her face flushed and she gasped.
Oh my god. You have no idea what this does to us girls. Her eyes opened, two blue stars brightly twinkling. Do it.
Do …what?
You know. It.
It? Here? Right here on this blanket? His brown eyes searched her. He wanted to be absolutely sure he had understood her.
Is there any place better? Not in your house with your brother hanging around. Right here is just fine. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. If your gonna love a Gryffindor girl, Liam, you gotta be brave.