Chapter 4

I woke up feeling strong arms around me; I turn over to see Harry laying down next to me, "Harry?" he looked up at me and smiled, "What are you doing here?" he got up and leaned against the wall,

"You were having a nightmare. You were screaming when I got to you." I sighed and nodded; I put my head in my hands,

"I'm sorry you had to see that." I thought for a moment then looked at him, "How did you get in my house?" I nodded to the doors to a balcony,

"I climbed the tree that's right outside. It's pretty close to the balcony, so it was easy to climb up." I smiled, "I remembered that you had a nightmare when I was painting your room, and I just wanted to make sure you're okay." I couldn't help but feel happy by his protectiveness, but it also seemed a little creepy.

"I'm okay, probably going to make some tea." he started heading downstairs,

"Come on; we can talk about your dream if you want to." I got out of bed, and we went down together. Harry went to make the tea while I sat down at the table; I could still see those red eyes. I shiver at the thought, Harry noticed and sat down next to me, "Are you okay, Claire?" I nodded, but I could tell with the way he looked at me that he knew I was lying. I took a breath and told him everything, the reason we moved, my family, and even my dreams. Harry seemed interested and didn't even look at me like I was crazy.

We sipped our tea and talked for a long while until I noticed the time, "You should get going; we have school in six hours." Harry hesitated,

"You shouldn't be here alone at night. I don't want you to go through that without someone with you." I smiled,

"I'll be okay; mom will be getting off soon." he nodded and got up,

"Are we still on for tonight? I was thinking about dinner and a romantic movie." I thought for a minute and stood up where I was only a few inches shorter than Harry,

"Sure, that sounds nice." I kissed his cheek and walked him to the door. He smiled and leaned on the doorframe, 

"So, I'll pick you up here at six, okay?" 

"Yeah, okay." I stood there for a minute, and Harry smiled at me; he took my hand and kissed it gently,

"I'll see you at school." nodding, I closed the door and texted Allis, doubting she was even awake. I walked back to the kitchen, but then my phone went off, I looked and saw that Allis was calling; I answered,

"Hey, Allis, I didn't think you were up." I set the phone down on the counter and put her on speaker,

"Family thing, but when I saw the text about Harry, I had to call. So what happened?" I poured another cup of tea,

"I had another nightmare, and Harry held me in his arms." 

"Whoa, go, girl. What happened next?" I laughed,

"He made me some tea, and we talked." Allis scoffed,

"Boo!" we both laughed,

"Oh chill, we still have a date tonight." her 'yays' echoed through the phone, which made me laugh harder; I saw lights shine in through the window, it was my mom. "I'll talk to you later, Allis; my mom just got home from work."

"Okay, I'll see you at school, Mrs. Nyx." I rolled my eyes as we said our goodbyes right as mom walked through the door. She came straight to the kitchen. 

"Oh, Claire, what are you doing up? It's three, fifteen." I poured her a cup of tea,

"Had a nightmare." mom looked at me and sighed,

"Really? I'm sorry, sweetie, are you okay?" As usual, I lied to her and said I was fine, "Okay, what kind of tea is it?" 

"Tastes like chamomile." she was confused,

"Harry fixed it. He wanted to check on me, and I had just woken up, he came in, and we talked for a while until I calmed down." she nodded and smiled,

"I like that boy. He's respectful and caring." I nodded; he was the most respectful guy I had ever met. "Okay, I'm going to go to bed, are you sure you're alright?" I nodded as she took her cup upstairs to her room; I set my glass in the sink and went upstairs.

I still had two hours until school started; I was dressed and ready to go but didn't know what to do. I sat on my bed and looked down at my bag, reaching for it, I pulled out my spellbook and started looking at all the spells. I sighed; there were several generations of Nightingale women in this book and not one jinx that could help me with these nightmares. I set the book aside and got on my laptop to do some research on witches; finding one that looked interesting, I clicked it, but something was strange about the site. It was not only about witches but also vampires and werewolves; if I was possible, would it be possible for vampires and werewolves to exist?

The doorbell rang, and I went downstairs to get the door, it was Allis and Harry; I invited them both in, "You guys realize that we have another hour and a half until we have to be at school, right?" 

"Yeah, but I figured we could head early to get some breakfast," Allis tells me, I agree and grab my bag. I wrote mom a note to let her know where I was heading and started walking out the door, "Harry, backseat, please." Allis told him, and he got in the back while I took the passenger seat; we headed out for breakfast.

Allis and Harry brought me to Dennys. I was excited but sad too; the last time I ate Dennys was with my dad, he took me for my fourteenth birthday, that was the birthday before he died. My birthday is Halloween, which is in the next few months, it's been a struggle. We sat down at a table and ordered our drinks, "So, we need to talk to you," Harry says, "it's about your nightmares." I looked at both of them, 

"Harry told me about the dreams, and I went to my mother; she did some fortune-telling back in the day, and I asked her what she thought." The waitress brought us our drinks, and we placed our orders. I turned my attention to the two of them,

"This better be good since one of you is buying my breakfast." we laughed, 

"She thinks it may be trauma from your dad dying. However, Marlin thinks something else; she thinks that it could be something bad." I thought back to my nightmare last night; it had to be something terrible; I could feel it. I suppose Harry could see the gears shifting in my head as I thought,

"Claire," I brought my attention back to the two of them, "Is there anything else that you can tell us? Something that may be able to help us figure out what is causing this?" I shrugged, I didn't know anything else that could cause these nightmares. The waitress brought us our food, and we ate in silence. 

On our way to school, I sat in the backseat, I was arguing with myself on what to do. Something didn't feel right; we passed all the local shops until we made it to the school. Allis got out first, and Harry helped me out of the backseat; whenever Harry touched my hand, I felt sparks fly between us, which caused me to blush. We walked to class together and separated when it was time to depart. Harry kissed my cheek before heading to class, and Allis nudged me with a smirk on her face. I rolled my eyes and went to class.

After school, Harry and I met Allis in her car; we had a pep rally, and we got to see Allis perform with the dance club. I hugged her tightly, "Allis, that was incredible!" she laughed and hugged me back,

"Thanks! I've been working on my solo for weeks; I'm the only one that can do a triple loop, backward somersaults." Harry wrapped a hand around my waist,

"Well, it was awesome. I'm glad that Vanessa was able to get you up high enough to get the triple loop in, it's a difficult move." Allis smirked as she set her bag in the trunk,

"At least I didn't fall. Claire, do you remember that girl from the mall?" I thought for a minute, trying to contain my dislike for the girl,

"Yeah, I remember her. She isn't my favorite person." 

"Well, you are going to love this," I stared at her curiously, "She was supposed to do the solo, but attempting to steal my routine, she broke her leg!" I cracked a small smile,

"Well, we better get going. I have to get ready for tonight." I looked up at Harry who kissed the top of my head,

"I'll be there on time with a bouquet of roses." I giggled as he released my hand and went to meet up with his mom for a ride. Allis and I hopped in her car and went to my house.

The minute we got to my house Allis rushed me to my bathroom and made me take a shower while she got everything set up. I washed my hair in my strawberry-scented shampoo and conditioner then continued showering. Allis came in, "I've got everything ready, it's four, fifteen, so we should have plenty of time." I smiled,

"Okay, I'll be out in a minute or two," she said okay, then went back to my room. Once I was out, I felt great; I wrapped my towel tightly then slipped my robe on before walking into my room. Allis was looking at my outfit to decide on the makeup, I took in a breath and sat down in the chair she had. 

"Okay, Claire, do you trust me?" I nodded, and with that, she began her work. It felt like hours when Allis finally finished my hair and makeup; mom walked in to see me, and she almost started crying.

"You look so beautiful." Allis smiled,

"She is going to bring that boy to his knees." They both laughed while I got dressed. After I was ready, I went to my mirror; I didn't recognize myself. I was pretty. The doorbell rang, and mom went downstairs to let Harry in; Allis hugged me, "You're beautiful, Claire, and Harry is going to fall." I smiled; Allis went down before me, and then I went not long after.

I got down the stairs to see everyone sitting in the living room; Harry stood up, and as he stated earlier, he had a bouquet of roses, I was surprised as I took the flowers, "Thank you, Harry, these are gorgeous." he took my hand and brought it to his lips,

"Not as much as you," he said as he kissed my hand gently; I could feel my knees buckling. "We should get going if we're going to make the reservation." nodding, I pass the roses to Allis as we start towards the door and out to his car. He opened the door for me, and once he was in the car, we were off.

We pulled up to the restaurant, it was lovely; we went inside and up to the hostess, "Reservation for Nyx." she smiled and looked down at the roster, 

"Here you are, right this way, please." She led us to a room in the back and placed menus in front of us. The waitress came by and poured us both some water and took our drink orders before leaving us alone. I looked around the room; it was official. I was very impressed. Harry smiled before taking my hand in his,

"You look stunning tonight, Claire," I could feel my face blush, "You're the first girl I have ever brought here; this place, it has a lot of meaning." curious but hesitant, I asked,

"Why?" he smiled slightly and began explaining, 

"This was my fathers' restaurant. My parents opened it before I came into their lives; he left it to me before he passed." I regretted asking,

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's alright; I haven't talked to anyone about it before, not even my mother. She takes it a little easier than me; sometimes I wonder if she loved him." this was when I took his hand which surprised him,

"I'm sure she loved him, it may just be that she puts on a brave face for you." he smiled a little and nodded,

"Maybe you're right." we continued talking even after we got our food, it was lovely. Once we were finished we went to the movies, we went in and picked a movie; I know he hated me after I told him what I wanted to watch, but he watched it anyways. I may be a witch, but I love Disney movies. We watched Aladdin, which I secretly think he liked. After the movie we went back to the car and started singing, A Whole New World, all the way home.

Harry walked me to the door, our hands interlocked, "I had a great time tonight Harry, thank you." he smiled before placing a small kiss on my cheek and whispering,

"I should be thanking you. You're the one that said you'd go out with me." he stepped closer to me but stopped when he was only a few inches away from my lips, "If you want me to stop, I will." he took my hands which sent sparks soring throughout my body. Harry began backing away, realizing this what I did next shocked both of us; I kissed him. It only lasted for a moment, but it felt like forever. Harry pulled away first; I was flustered, I started into the house,

"I should go, it's late."

"Yeah, me too. Goodnight, Claire." I kissed him once more,

"Night, Harry." with that, I went inside the house. Once I saw that Harry was safe in his car, I went to my room to get ready for bed. Mom was already asleep in her room, so I tried to stay as quiet as possible; getting to my bedroom, I changed into my pajamas and climbed into bed. I laid in bed, thinking of Harry as I drifted off to sleep.