Almost Perfect (Gary)

[Nokomis Astarra H5]

A few weeks had passed since Gary had found her at the lake. She was upset, and trying to figure out how she could get her grades up, when he had found her, and as always he seemed to make everything better. He had even told her that he would help her study if that would help her improve her marks. Since then he had been help her her a few times a week, and it seemed to be working wonders. She actually scored an E on a potions essay. She had never even received an A on anything for potions before. While the news of that grade was wonderful, it was made even more perfect by the fact that it happened to be the week before a Hogsmead weekend, and when she told Gary about the grade, then had decided that they should do something in Hogsmead to celebrate it. She wasn't exactly sure yet what they were going to do, but the whole idea seemed wonderful.

The day that they were suppose to go to Hogsmead she woke up with a knot in her stomach. It reminded her of the one she always got on quidditch match days. It was like nervous energy, but good nervous energy, only she wasn't quite sure why going to Hogsmead to celebrate with Gary made her feel like quidditch. It was like she felt like she had never been to Hogsmead with a friend before. She had gone with Ivy lots of times. And the excitement over the grade was much calmer now, so it wouldn't seem to be that either. Somehow it was the whole combination that made her unable to sit still for even a second. Even getting dressed seemed hard, only she wasn't sure of that either. She got to wear street cloths to Hogsmead, so there was some choice, but still, who cared what she wore? Yet somehow she started thinking about everything, and wondering if she should dress up a bit since they were going to celebrate, even though it was only Hogsmead, and why would she dress up just for Hogsmead? It wasn't like she had anything to dress up into either. She never dressed up. The only time she wore a skirt was when she had to, but that was basically all Gary had seen her in anyway. And when exactly did she start caring about what Gary had seen her in? Finally, she dug through her trunk ad found a pair of nice brown trousers and a white and green stripped shirt that had a little clover on and said Irish in tiny letters on the front. It was what her Dad had given her for Christmas when she saw him over holiday.

Finally dressed and ready she headed off to meet Gary. They hadn't decided exactly where they were going to go to celebrate, instead they had decide to meet and either one of them would have thought of something or they would simply decide together. She didn't really care either way, she was just happy that this day was here. Everything was perfect...well, almost perfect. Perfect would be when she spotted Gary in the crowd.

[crane]

Gary had never before encountered the problem of not having anything to wear. He had missed some football jersey or something similar but Gary wasn’t certain at all what would be suitable to wear to Hogsmeade today. But even this small dilemma couldn’t smother Gary’s good mood. He and Noko were going to Hogsmeade to celebrate a good mark she received at Potions. There was still a bit to go from E, but it was a very good start. Definitely something worth celebrating. Gary dug out a pair of clean pair of stone-washed jeans he hadn’t worn for so long he had almost forgot he even had the pants along at Hogwarts. But they fit so it was all good. The jeans and a nice light-blue shirt and Gary decided that he was all good. His hair was still a bit too long and needed cutting, but there was nothing he could do about it right now. He would not trust anyone from his dorm near his head with scissors or even worse a wand.

Gary took the small flowers he had found growing near Hogwarts walls. He didn’t have a clue what flowers they were, but they looked sweet so Gary had picked some to give to Noko. The flowers were small and weren’t anything fancy, but hopefully Noko would not mind. Gary ran out of the common room after making sure he had his wand and money and took the quickest route to the entrance hall that was swarming with people. Gary looked around the room worriedly as he tried to locate Noko. Which actually turned out to be an easier task than could be expected as Gary noticed Noko coming down the stairs. Movoing around people and mumbling a sorry as he stepped on someone’s toes Gary walked over and touched Noko’s shoulder gently to catch her attention. “You look lovely.” Gary smiled sincerely at Noko as he handed her the small bunch of flowers. “Here, I picked them today. I know they aren’t fancy but they were so fancy and spring-like that I couldn’t help myself.”

Gary gently held Noko’s elbow as if not to loose her in the crowd as they slowly made hteir way outside the castle where the carriages were awaiting for them. Gary helped Noko climb into one of the first carriages before hopping in after her. They got the carriage all to themselves and Gary smiled at Noko feeling content and somehow complete now that he was with Noko again. The moments spent with Noko were slowly starting to become the high-lights of Gary’s life. “Do you know what you want to do? Today is your day after all. Good marks in Potions are more htan a reason to celebrate.”

[Nokomis Astarra H5]

She felt someone touch her arm and she turned around to see Gary, with flowers, and her stomach jumped. It always seemed to do that when he was around. Her stomach felt all fluttery or she lost her breath for a moment, or acted with out thinking. Always something she was never quite ready for. She grinned when he gave her the flowers. No one had ever really given her flowers before. Her mum once, when she broke her arm and was at the Hospital, but that didn't really count. "There perfect." She smiled at him, taking the flowers and holding them to her chest as they made their way threw the crowds and toward one of the carriages to take them to Hogsmead. Gary helped her inside and then settle down in the seat next to her before asking her what she had in mind for the day and bringing up how well she had done in potions--or well for her at least.

"I don't even know. I'm just happy I did well and that we are doing something to celebrate...whatever it is. And I'm really happy your helping me celebrate. I couldn't have done it with out you." She looked over at him and bit her lip, sort of half smiling. He was like a knight in shining armor from all the fairy tales, rushing in to save the day, only he had a wand instead of a sword and a broom instead of a horse. She was quiet for a moment, trying to think of something to say after that. Finally, she grinned at him. "Ice cream. I think we need ice cream and butterbeer."

[crane]

Gary felt good. As if he had actually succeeded in something. Like found a solution for world hunger, arranged world peace or guaranteed a lack of crimes. Or best of it all made Noko happy and had her smile at him. Gary returned Noko’s smile not being able to find words to describe how he felt. Around Noko he just felt happy and satisfied and almost all-powerful. “I’m glad you like them,” Gary replied with a small smile as the carriage they were on was moving forward. Gary reached over and took one of Noko’s hands into his. Just because he wanted to hold her hand and that way be connected to her.

“You did awesome. And it’s good to see you this happy. Celebrating is always good and even the weather is joining in with the fun. And you could have done it yourself. I just there to keep you company. You can do anything you want.” Gary turned a little and glanced out of the carriage window. It was true. The weather was as close to perfect as it could get. The sky was clear and cloudless, the sun was shining, the breeze wasn’t cold and everything had already acquired a green edge: the ground and the trees. The earliest flowers were already peaking their heads out of the ground too which was how Gary could have picked the small blooms for Noko. Even if he suspected that magic had quickened the growth of those blooms a little. But it didn’t matter. A flower was a flower and could be admired anyway.

“Ice cream and butterbeer. Sounds perfect. I’m sure we can find both at Hogsmeade. Do you want them now or maybe we could get the ice creams and walk around for a little while? It would be a shame to stay cooped up all day long if it’s this nice outside.”

[Nokomis Astarra H5]

She could feel her stomach squirm as Gary took her hand, and she glanced over at him, hoping he didn't noticed how flushed her cheeks were. She didn't know why, but she always blushed around him, and her stomach always seemed to have a life of its own. Once she looked at him she smiled, forgetting that she was worried about him seeing her cheeks as red as Gryffindor's quidditch robes. He was so nice to do all this for her, and then to go out and celebrate with her.
"I couldn't have done it with out you, I've been doing so poorly all year, so you did more than just sit there and keep me company." It was like a cycle. The more time she put into quidditch the lower her grades were, and the lower her grades were the more she avoided it by spending more time on quidditch. Things seemed to be better when Gary was there.

She grinned at his idea. The weather outside was beautiful, and she glanced out the window for a moment at the blue sky. It was nice after a long cold winter. "That sounds like a wonderful idea." Walking around was always nice. There were some nice spots to sit outside in Hogsmead, and there were great shops too--her favorite being the quidditch supply, even if she never had the money to get anything there.

[crane]

Gary squeezed Noko’s hand a little wishing she would stop thanking him. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable as Gary hadn’t actually done anything. Gary had just sit by while she studied and worked on his won homework. If they came to a hard question they had consulted and tried to figure out the best answer together so it wasn’t as if Gary had suddenly put a scoop of knowledge into Noko’s head. “You would have been fine one way or an other. Just think of the study dates as a very early preparation for OWLs next year. I’m sure you could ace all of them if you just wanted to. I have complete faith in that and in you.” Gary told placed his hands on Noko’s cheeks for a moment as he looked into her eyes as if wanting to mentally engrave his words into her head. Gary smiled warmly at Noko as he gently pushed a strand of her hair away from her forehead only to hear the sound of a bell that you couldn’t mistake for any other.

“Stay right here, I’ll be right back.” Gary smiled at Noko before jogging over to the colourful ice-cream cart. He had discovered that Noko was fond of chocolate ice-cream once when they were studying so Gary chose a big cone of chocolate ice-cream for her and a cone of lemon ice-cream with chocolate sprinkles for himself. Paying quickly for both ice-creams Gary walked back to Noko slower now as he didn’t want to drop the ice-creams. “Here you go. Chocolate as you like it. We can enjoy these while we decide where we want to go or what to do then.” Gary took a bite of his own ice-cream feeling glad and happy here. The sun was shining, his marks were good too and he couldn’t have spend the day with better company. Gary felt almost complete as if nothing could go wrong right now.

Gary swallowed and looked at Noko thoughtfully for a few moments. Gary hesitated for a few moments before smiling at her. “I know this day is all about you like it should be, but would you mind terribly much if we went by the quidditch store while we are here? I ripped my glove rather badly at last practice and I need to get a new one and the next Hogsmeade visit is a bit too far. Would you mind it terribly much?” Gary smiled at Noko while catching a droplet of ice-cream that had melted and was running down the side of his ice-cream on it’s finger and then licking it off as Gary waited for Noko to reply.

[Nokomis Astarra H5]

Gary told her to stay right there and she stood, a bit confused watching him jog away from her. It wasn't until she saw him at an ice cream cart. She grinned when she saw him walking back with two large servings, impressed that he remembered how much she liked chocolate. He was perfect--absolutely perfect. She took her ice cream and she thought about what Gary had said, something to do next. She tasted her ice cream, which was also perfect, as she glanced around, before looking back at Gary when he started to speak. His idea was the quidditch shop. She couldn't resist giggling at it. "Do you really think you have to ask if I want to go to the quidditch sore? That would have been my suggestion if you hadn't suggested it first." She giggled again before turning in the direction of the store ands tarting off in its direction beside Gary.

The Quidditch store had gathered a small crowd as it usually did when Hogwarts had a Hogsmead weekend. Students gathered inside to admire the latest and greatest brooms, buy replacement equipment and sort through fan memorabilia for their favorite teams. Nokomis, though distracted by the Irish display in the corner tried to stay on task. "Gloves...gloves...I think they gloves are..." She started to walk through the small over crowded shop, squeezing by clusters of students and she tried to push her way toward the back. At some point she reached back and grabbed Gary's hand, not sure when she did it exactly. It was almost extinctive, and she didn't want to loose him.

[crane]

Gary had just taken a bite out of his ice-cream cone when Noko started giggling. The sound was cute and Gary nearly choked on the ice-cream as he tried to swallow it on the whole in order to respond to Noko. Making some grimaces Gary finally managed to swallow the sweet before he smiled at Noko a bit sheepishly. “Sorry about that. And today is about you so it was a bit selfish of me to ask you to join me while I try to decide on the best glove I could afford.” Gary smiled at Noko knowing fully well that he didn’t have very much money but he had been saving up for the glove for a few months so Gary was rather certain he could get a proper one. He had noticed his gloves starting to fall to pieces even before the last practice when they were completely destroyed after all. “But I’m glad you don’t mind coming with me. I think that you know much more about such things than I do so you can educate me a little.”

Gary finished his ice-cream almost at the same time when they reached the quidditch store that was rather packed. Not so awfully that they couldn’t move around in it but enough to give Gary an excuse to hold Noko’s hand so they wouldn’t become separated. Gary gave Noko’s fingers a little squeeze as she directed him to the shelves where there were dozens of gloves on display. “Lovely. It’s making me a bit dizzy before my eyes but at least I should be able to get something fitting from here.” Gary smiled at Noko tenderly brushing her hair back. “Help me choose? And then we can go over and see the Irish. I know you like them.”

[Nokomis Astarra H5]

She giggled as he said that she could educate him. She never really thought of herself as anyone who could teach anyone anything. She was more use to Gary being the smart one to help her with things not the other way around. “Well, I can do my best I guess.”

She couldn’t stop color flooding to his cheeks when Gary said that they could go over to the Irish section after they picked out a pair of gloves for him. She knew that it was rather well known that she has a bit of an obsession with the Irish, and Gary knew that more than anyone, but she hadn’t thought she was that obvious when they walked past the section of the store only moments ago. She glanced over at him and smiled, thinking for a moment about what gloves may be best for Gary. “Well…There all a bit different I guess. I’m not sure what you want really. The ones on the end are new, so their more expensive, but they are really flexible and soft. Um…then the ones in the middle are known for their durability, but you have to break them in. Then those there have a special grip charm made into the palm. Then we have the less expensive ones, there are ones a lot like the more expensive ones, ones with better grip, or softer semi-broken in ones, only not as nice as the others.” She glanced over at Gary and blushed again, feeling strange for talking as long as she did eve if Gary had sort of asked for it.

[crane]

Gary smiled and listened closely to what Noko was speaking off. Smiling a bit shyly at her Gary shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t have the money for the most expensive ones.” Gary looked at the display of gloves and picked up a dark-brown one that had caught his eyes because it had two blue streaks going down on the back of one’s hand. The colours weren’t exactly right but they were the closest to Ravenclaw colours as Gary could get. “It’s the one with a better grip, am I correct?” Gary asked Noko after he had pulled the glove on and found that it perfectly. Smiling happily at Noko Gary held his now gloved hand out for her to inspect and approve the glove.

As Gary waited for Noko’s response she stared at the top of her head a bit worriedly for a moment. Would she think him to be too pushy or too clingy if he asked her? Would she even agree? It would feel so bad and awkward if Noko said no so for a moment Gary almost wondered if he even should ask. But he wanted to so he gathered his wits to himself and after a moment asked again. “Um… Noko? Can I ask you something? You have my met my family and Felton is going to propose to my mom. Felton is the man to whose house we were at during New Years. So would you come with me to my mom’s wedding too? I’m sure my family would be delighted to see you again! You can say no if you don’t want to come but I just figured I’d ask just in case.” Gary looked almost nervously towards Noko as he reminded himself to keep on breathing. Why was he so nervous about what she would say?

[Nokomis Astarra H5]

She smiled at him when she said that he didn't have the money for the expensive ones. She did have the money either. She glanced over the less expensive ones and thought over them. She had tried them all before even though the ones she had were in the box on the end--nothing special about them. They did have extra grip or flexibility or durability, but they were the least expensive pair. When she glanced back over at Gary she saw that he had picked up the less expensive grip pair, which happened to have a blue stripe. "Yeah, they look good...the blue is a nice touch." She glanced back up at him from the gloves. It seemed like a good choice. It was a nice glove, especially for a chaser.

As she watched Gary's expression she noticed that he looked a bit serious for a moment, like he was thinking something over. Noko tilted her head slightly wondering what he could be thinking over when he finally asked her about the wedding. She smiled at him, thinking about the last time she was at a family think with him. "It sounds nice, I've never been to a wedding. It sounds really nice...I mean yes, of course I'll go with you."

[crane]

Noko approved the gloves so Gary smiled happily and quickly paid for them from his quite slim pocket-money resources and took hold of the handles of the bag into which the gloves were put in. “I thought so too. We are going to be playing Gryffindor next and she’s our new or old depends how you look at it quidditch captain as you most likely know already told me that I will be one of the starting chasers. I’m quite nervous about it as I want to do well but I’m quite exited too. This will be the first game when I actually play against an opposing team so I’m afraid I’ll do something wrong too.” Gary smiled at Nokomis. She might not know what Gary was feeling as she seemed to be born to fly over the quiddtich pitch on a broom while wearing the appropriate equipment. But Gary was nervous. There was nothing he could do about it. But maybe a little bit of nervousness would even do him some good.

Gary returned Noko’s smile beamingly waving his hands a little. “It’s not sure when the wedding is because Felton is yet to propose and all but Meyghan show me the ring because Felton had asked her to ask me if my mom would like it. I’m going to get a new sister and a brother for myself. It will be a bit weird to call me Gary Michael Gallagher but I think that I can get used to it. Mom will be happy at least. But I’d be delighted if you came.” Gary smiled at Noko before looking over the Irish team composition set out in a corner of the store. “So tell me. Why the Irish team? I know they are good but is there any other reason for it too?”

[Nokomis Astarra H5]

She knew what Gary meant when he said that he was a bit nervous for this first game. It was a while ago now that she was there too, but she could still remember it. She was a starting chaser her second year, when she first joined the team, and all morning she was so nervous she was sure she was going to be sick. "I'm sure you'll do wonderfully" she told him, straightening up a bit so she looked very confident. "I know you'll be amazing during the whole game, and I'll be there cheering you on for the whole thing." She grinned at him, thinking that she never really cheered on any of the other teams, well unless they were playing against Slytherin, but that was really just because she never really got along with any of the people she had met so far from that house. This match thought, it would be special, and she would watch every minute of it and yell out for Ravenclaw to win.

As they walked the made their way across the room toward the Irish display. Over the past few years, the team had been getting stronger and stronger, and as a result, the display at the quidditch store had gotten bigger and bigger. She looked down through the piles of shirts, pins, books, and figurines, wondering if there was anything she could actually afford to buy. When Gary asked her about why she liked the Irish she forced herself to look away from all the green clovers and dancing leprechauns and back at him, but she smiled once she did. Gary always made her smile. "Well, I guess it started just by country pride I guess, and then they were doing so well and winning all those competitions. And then I realized how good their chasers are...if you really watch their moves, there just amazing. And I don't know...somenow, because their so good, and its my home country and everything...its the team I want to play for one day...I mean, if everything goes well. I know thats like a billion to one shot, right? I'm sure lots of people want to play for that team, and its not like I'm really talented enough to make it happen, but you know...its just....what I want to do....something to hope for maybe?" She looked at Gary, biting her lip for a moment as she thought about how silly she probably sounded. Gary already knew that she wanted to play for the Irish one day, but every time she actually said it out loud it sounded even more ridiculous to her. "I don't know...I guess, just all that rolled together makes me really like them."