Friends? (Naomi)

Dear Naomi,

I realize that after what happened out on the grounds I may have ruined whatever chance I had at becoming friends with you. Looking back, I do understand how what I said may have been hurtful and I'm sorry for that. Even though we weren't on the best of terms though, you still helped Casey and I out when we needed help during the attack. That's something I'll always be grateful for, because even though I was trying my best to protect my little sister without you I'm fairly certain we would have been injured if not worse in that attack. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Not sure if you'd be interested or not, but I'd like to invite you over to spend a day hanging out at my house. My parents are fine with it, and said you'd even b welcome to stay the night as kind of a sleepover party. No pressure on that part, although I know Casey would really enjoy it. We have a pond we can go swimming in, a tree house, and lots of other fun things to explore outside if any of that interests you. This Friday is the best for my parent's schedules, so any time after nine in the morning works for us. If you'd rather try a different day just write me back and we can work something out. If Friday works just let us know if you need help with transportation. Our address is 419 Dorchester Road, in Edinburgh. Hopefully, we can see each other soon. Maybe even be friends?

Your Puff Acquaintance,
Humphrey

After writing the letter and putting her full name on the outside of it he sent the letter off, hoping she would com hang out. Even though he couldn't explain it, he'd missed the girl after they'd gone running together despite having barely gotten to know her at all before then. Humphrey wanted to become friends, and knew that if they could she'd probably be his closest one aside from Casey. Casey would always be his best friend, but he wanted to make other close ones too. He did his best to stay occupied for the rest of the week as it was only Monday, mainly by working on his summer assignments and enjoying being outside whenever he wanted to again. A lot of it was spent running, swimming, or simply going for hikes with Casey and Alice, the family's husky.

Eventually Friday rolled around, and both Casey and him were dressed and enjoying some fresh pancakes their mum had just cooked up for them. Dad had already gone to work, but would be back for dinner. Although he hadn't gotten a reply back from Naomi, he was really hoping that she would turn up today to spend time together. "So Humpty Dumpty, when's your girrrlfriend show up." Casey teased, knowing full well that wasn't the case but enjoying herself as she saw him blush slightly. His sister's teasing brought him out of his thoughts about the pretty Slytherin girl.

Humphrey gave his sister a glare before rolling his eyes and poking her in the side lightly. "Quiet, you. You know it's not like that. And I'm not even sure if she's coming since she never wrote back. But, I told her any time after nine so really it could be after lunch before she gets here if she comes at all." he said, and took some more fresh pancakes before loading them up with butter and syrup, digging in with gusto to avoid answering about why, if that was the case, he was blushing when Casey called Naomi his girlfriend.

Casey simply gave her brother a knowing look before winking at her mum and teasing him some more. "Yes, I know it's not like that. At least now, now..." she trailed off. "It's obvious that you like her though, so maybe one day she will be." the girl said simply, before also munching on her pancakes some more.

As soon as Humphrey heard a knock on the door and bounced off of his seat with a big, goofy smile on his face. Before he went to answer it, he fixed his sister with a firm stare. "Okay, here's the deal. You don't spill the beans about me liking Naomi and don't drive her away, and I'll do your laundry for a month. Got it?" he asked, hoping she wouldn't try to win over the other girl for him. It would be way too embarrassing if he had his little sister trying to win over the girl he had feelings for, even if she was only doing it because she wanted him to b happy. Eventually, Casey nodded and he ruffled her hair before going to the door. "Thanks, Case. Love you." he told her.

Hurrying over, he ran his fingers through his messy hair to gt it out of his eyes before opening the door with a grin. He'd heard the pop of apparition before he did so, and when he opened it only the Slytherin girl was there. He figured one of her parents must have dropped her off. "Hey, Naomi! Thanks for coming. We're just finishing up breakfast. You're welcome to have some if you want. Mum makes some pretty mean pancakes." he said, stepping out of the way so she could come inside. It probably would have been proper manners to show her where she could drop off her stuff first, but he knew most teens were hungry a lot of the time so food was usually welcome. "Come on in."

Humphrey was still confused about how a growing teenager ate as little as Naomi did, but shrugged it off. When she offered to wait while he finished he shook his head. "Nonsense, I was about done anyways so don't worry about it. You should come meet my mum and little sis, then we can drop your things off in the guest room." he said, and led her into the kitchen. Once they got there he smiled sheepishly, a little embarrassed at having the girl that he liked over to meet his family, even if she didn't know he liked her. Both his mum and sister were well aware of his feelings for her. "Mum, Casey, this is Naomi Wilson." he said, making the introductions.

They both smiled and gave cheery waves, his mum telling Naomi to make herself at home. Once that was out of the way he showed her upstairs to the guest bedroom. "You can set your stuff here, unless you'd rather have a sleepover with Casey in her room. We can do pretty much whatever we want for the day. The pond is really fun to go swimming and the tree house is fun to hang out in. Or, we could go for a walk or play games with Casey. Any of that sound interesting? he asked his friend.