Magic, Fairy Tales and Happy Ever After

Magic, Fairy tales and Happy Ever After

It was a long way from Little Whinging. It was a long way from Hogwarts. In fact, it was a long way from anywhere. That was one of its main attractions.

Chapter 1

Debbie loved to come to the beach after a storm, especially at this time of the year. The Indian Ocean was in the process of changing colour from its winter shade of deep, sullen grey to its summer hue of glorious, bright aquamarine. The sparkling white sand had been scoured clear of the detritus of humanity by the rain and wind and was now shining in the early morning sunlight.

There was a cool, stiff breeze blowing inshore. It felt like it had come all the way from Antarctica and it probably had. It was still too early and too cold to tempt many of Perth's residents to head to the beach. As she crested the dune she could see only one other person, a dark haired man standing about fifty metres up the beach staring out to sea.

She leaned down and ruffled Kelly's fur as she felt for the release catch to his chain. The minute he was free, the big black dog charged towards the water. Wonderful, Debbie thought, one cold, wet, sandy passenger in the car on the way home.

He charged into the shallows, spraying water for quite some distance and attracting the attention of the only other occupant of this stretch of sand. As soon as Kelly sensed that he had the man's attention, he charged joyously towards the stranger. Water, sand and wet fur flew madly in all directions as he ran to welcome a new friend.

"No! Kelly, no!" Debbie raced quickly after him, but did not get there in time to prevent Kelly from jumping up and making the man as wet as he was.

"Sit, Kelly, Sit!" Debbie stammered her apologies as she hauled Kelly off the man. "I am so sorry. He just likes to be friendly.

"That's okay." The man leaned over and stroked Kelly's head. "I like big dogs. A friend of mine .... had a dog like this."

He stood up and smiled at her. Debbie found herself looking up into the face of a man about her own age, roughly six feet tall. He had collar-length windswept black hair and a nice ordinary face, with a fairly square jaw. Her first impression was of a very average sort of bloke, except for his eyes. They were the greenest eyes Debbie had ever seen, like two sparkling emeralds.

Under the scrutiny of those eyes Debbie was well aware that she was no picture postcard. She self-consciously brushed some wet sand off her jeans and tried to push her mousy brown curls out of her face, without much success.

They both just stood there examining each other. Debbie felt very uneasy and decided to take some action. "Hi," she said, extending her hand. "I'm Debbie Mason and this reprobate is Kelly.

He smiled, ignored her hand, and gave the dog another big pat. "I guessed that he might be. I'm Harry. Harry Evans. Do you live around here?"

"No, I actually live over at Floreat. But Kelly likes to come to the beach on weekends and this is the nearest beach where dogs can run off their leashes. You're a Pom, aren't you?"

He looked at her in confusion. "Er, sorry, what's a Pom?"

"Oh. Don't you know? It's a term for people from England."

He smiled. "I guess I am a Pom then."

At this point, Kelly grew tired of the lack of action and started to trot away from them up the beach. He stopped after a few steps and looked pointedly back at them. "I'm being reminded that we came here for a walk." She shrugged her shoulders as they both started to follow the dog up the beach. "Honestly, sometimes I think he's human."

Harry grinned at her. "Are you absolutely sure he's not?"

They walked slowly along the beach together, while Kelly dashed back and forth chasing seagulls and ran in circles around them.

Harry asked her about herself and her family and she told him all about it - her parents, her sister, her studies, her plans for the future. After some time she realized that the conversation was all about her, and he was not saying anything about himself.

"So, what brings you to our fair city?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm just traveling around a bit," he said. "I lived a fairly sheltered life as a child, so when I finished school, I decided I would like to see something of the world."

"How long do you plan to stay here?" Debbie mentally kicked herself for sounding too eager.

"I don't know. It just depends."

"On what?"

"On all sorts of things." There was a very final note in his voice which indicated the futility of pursuing this line of discussion.

Debbie realized that two hours had passed and she was overdue to go home. Reluctantly, she called Kelly over and clipped his leash back on.

"Do you have to go now?"

She was gratified to hear a note of regret in Harry's voice. "I'm afraid so. I should have been home for breakfast half an hour ago. Mum will be starting to worry."

He stood still on the beach as she started to walk away up the dune. "Can I see you again some time?" he shouted after her.

She smiled at him. "Yeah, I'd like that," she shouted in reply. He smiled back and waved as Kelly dragged her over the dune. When she got into the driver's seat of her car, Debbie suddenly realized that she had not given him her address or phone number. "Stay, Kelly!" she said before she tore back down the path to the beach. She crested the dune, but Harry was nowhere to be seen. "Shit!" she said. Then, very slowly, she walked back to the car.

The only bad thing about spring, mused Debbie, was the approaching end of year exams. This morning's revision tutorial had been especially grueling. It was made worse by the fact that her mind was still dwelling on the man she had met at the beach on the weekend. How could anyone concentrate on biochemistry when haunted by a vision of dreamy green eyes and tousled black hair?

She had a spare couple of hours after lunch, so instead of spending such a beautiful day locked up in the library, she decided to wander down by the river and enjoy the sunshine. She was fortunate enough to find an empty bench not too far from the water's edge. She knew it was the wrong thing to do, but she couldn't help herself. Instead of pulling out her study notes she pulled out her sketch pad and pencil and tried again to capture on paper the face that was haunting her mind.

A shadow darkened the page. "Good afternoon, Debbie. How are you?" She jumped in surprise and the pencil skidded off the page. Looking up, she found herself staring into the same green eyes she had been dreaming of all morning.

"Uh. Hi, Harry. Fancy meeting you here." Her face was staring to flush and she just knew she sounded like a total idiot. "I really didn't think I would see you again."

He sat down at the other end of the bench, facing towards her, resting his arm on the back. "It would have been a little bit easier if you'd given me your phone number. But I have my ways." He leaned forward and peered at the sketch pad. "What are you drawing there? I thought you were a Science student?"

"I am," she said, angling the sketch pad so he couldn't see. "This is just a little hobby of mine."

"Does it help if you have the subject of the picture in front of you?" he asked. His eyes were twinkling and the corners of his mouth were twitching as if trying not to smile.

"Yes."

"Well, then you might as well finish that one while I'm here," he said, as he slipped forward to match the pose of the drawing perfectly.

They sat there in silence for the next half hour as Debbie carefully observed and sketched. It was strange. In drawing class she had never had any trouble staring at live subjects. But looking too long at Harry made her feel decidedly giddy. Especially when she looked into his eyes.

Debbie had never seen eyes like that before. Oh, she knew enough people with green eyes, but not clear, luminous emerald green eyes. His lips were starting to curve into a strange, secretive half smile and she realized her hand had been motionless for about a minute.

At that moment of realization the shrill ring of a mobile phone broke the silence. A brief expression of annoyance crossed Harry's face as he stood up and reached into his coat pocket. "Excuse me a minute," he said as he looked at the display screen. He put the phone to his ear and moved away quickly, before Debbie could hear more than the first few words. "Hey, Max. What have you got for me?"

She watched him as he moved under a nearby tree. It was difficult to gauge the conversation's content from his facial expression. Debbie decided he would make a very good poker player. The call was fairly short and he returned to the bench within five minutes.

"I'm really sorry, Debbie, but something has come up." He leaned forward with the phone still in his hand. "Perhaps this time I could have your number?"

Exams came and went and now it was nearly Christmas. Ten weeks had passed since Debbie had given her phone number to the mysterious Harry Evans and still he had not called. She had stopped mentally kicking herself for not getting his number in return some time ago. Now she was just resigned to the fact that it had been mere politeness on his part, nothing more.

Summer had hit Perth with a vengeance. City and suburbs were baking under an oppressive sultry heat. Kelly had been suffering through the heat all day, so as soon as the sun started to set and the temperature dropped a few meager degrees, Debbie hooked his leash on and headed out into the street. There was little breeze that evening, and despite the late hour the heat wrapped around them like a blanket.

They had just reached the first corner when her phone rang. "Debbie here."

"Good evening, Debbie. It's Harry." Her mouth dropped open and she nearly dropped the phone. "Harry Evans? Don't you remember?"

"Er. Yes. Hi, Harry."

"I'm back in town and wondered if I might be able to catch up with you?"

"That would be great..."

He cut her off in mid-sentence. "Alright, see you in a minute." And then the phone went dead.

As she turned the second corner to head towards the park she could see a solitary figure standing next to the park gate, looking in her direction. As she came closer, Kelly started to strain on his leash and whine. When she released the chain he bounded directly towards the figure. It was Harry. How had he known where they would be?

Debbie followed slowly. No way was she going to be as obvious as the dog about how glad she was to see him.

Man and dog were still greeting each other rapturously when she reached them. Harry looked up at her, a big smile lighting up his whole face, including his eyes. Despite her lingering annoyance that he had taken so long to contact her, she could not help smiling back.

"Hello, Debbie," he said. His hand was still on Kelly's head. "Sorry I took so long getting back to you." They started to walk together side by side into the park. "The job that came up took a little longer than expected."

She looked at him curiously. "Job? I thought you were a backpacker, just traveling round?"

He looked back at her, that strange half smile playing on his face again. "Did I say that?"

"No," she said slowly, "you didn't actually say that. I just assumed it."

"It is the logical assumption," he agreed cheerfully. "I'm actually a bit of an 'odd job' man, and it doesn't matter where I go, the jobs find me."

He seemed to be satisfied with his explanation and Debbie decided not to push the issue any further. After all, it was none of her business.

They strolled around the park in relative quiet for a while. Kelly raced around madly and rolled in the grass, enjoying the cool moistness of the well watered lawn. Harry found a good sized twig, which he seemed quite happy to throw time and time again for Kelly to fetch. Debbie wished she had brought her sketch book or at least her camera. When they were talking she felt that his face was perpetually masked, as if Harry Evans's face was not allowed to show his emotions. As Harry played with Kelly, however, the mask seemed to drop a little.

"It's starting to get dark," she said eventually, reluctant for the evening to end. Who knew when she might see him again?

Harry just stood a few paces away looking out across the park while she put Kelly's lead on. When she was ready to go she hesitated, unsure what to say. He turned and walked over to her side with his hands in his pockets.

"Is it okay if I walk you home?" he asked, with a hint of uncertainty, as if he was afraid she would reject the offer.

Debbie smiled at him in what she hoped was an encouraging way. "That would be great. It's starting to get quite dark now and I really would appreciate the company."

As they walked he asked how her exams had gone. She was surprised at his memory of exactly which subjects she had taken. It was only a short walk, so by the time she had dissected and analysed her results for the semester for his benefit, they were at the gate.

"Well, thanks, Harry, for a lovely walk. I think Kelly appreciated the company."

He looked at her, searching her face with those piercing green eyes. "Did you enjoy the company, Debbie?"

"Yes," she said softly, "yes, I did. And don't you dare take so long to get back to me next time."

He shrugged and smiled. "I'll try to do better. It does depend on the work." Then he reached out and touched her arm, very lightly, so lightly it was barely a touch. "Debbie, I would like to take you out for dinner some time. Will you come?" He was staring at her intently.

It was weird, she thought, the look felt more solid than the touch of his hand on her arm.

"I'd love to go out to dinner with you, Harry."

He grinned broadly in relief and dropped his hand away from her arm. "I'll call you when I work out the details. Okay?"

She grinned back. "Okay." Then on impulse she stretched up quickly and kissed his cheek. And drew back very quickly. The effect on her lips was like sticking your tongue in an electric socket, a strange fuzzy tingling, quite unexpected.

Harry had also recoiled ever so slightly, but he was still smiling. "Goodnight, Debbie," he said and turned and walked quickly to the corner.

"Goodnight, Harry," she replied, but he was moving so fast, that she doubted he could have heard it.