It was Claire's pick this Thursday and when Claire suggested they rent the most recent Harry Potter movie, Peter definitely wasn't as excited as she wanted him to be.  Nonetheless, because he was Peter, he sat down agreeably with a bowl full of popcorn and asked for a quick recap of the previous five.

Ten minutes into the movie, Peter wasn't even glancing away from the screen and Claire grinned.  She didn't know how he'd gone this long without seeing a Harry Potter movie or reading the books, but she was going to get him hooked. 

Movie nights were Claire’s favourite.  She got to take the night off of studying (although she probably really shouldn’t) and hang out with Peter.  He was the closest thing she had to a best friend in this city.

Claire grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl and wondered how many movies it would take before Peter was willing to go with her to the Harry Potter theme park. 

As she watched the action onscreen, Claire kept thinking about Peter and Harry Potter and the theme park and the possibility of tickets to said theme park as a possible birthday, Christmas, or eventual college graduation gift.  Then a novel thought occurred to her.

"Peter, I've decided that you're Harry Potter," Claire announced about thirty minutes into the movie.  She nodded once to herself and turned to face him. 

"Oh really?" Peter looked at her as if he was about to stop laughing at her, but wouldn't because he was too polite.

"Yeah," Claire said confidently.  The playing movie was long forgotten as she smiled at Peter.  She'd already seen Half Blood Prince in the theater anyway, so she wasn't as riveted by the DVD as she was by her new discovery.

"Why am I Harry Potter?"

"Well, for many reasons."  She started to list them off.  "You have dark hair and special powers.  Also, both the powers and the fact that that sort of thing runs in your family came as a complete surprise to you.  You're a hero and have a 'saving people thing', something for which I am eternally grateful.  Your nemesis came back after everyone thought he was dead.  Sometimes you get really angsty and I have to snap you out of it.  The list really goes on forever."

"You do realize I'm not a wizard, right?" Peter joked.

"Close enough," she defiantly responded.  "I can't help it if the parallels are astounding."

Claire thought for a second and remembered something Peter had said once that also fit right in.  "Didn't Charles Deveaux even tell you that your power was love?  Dumbledore said that to Harry too."

Peter looked a bit more thoughtful after she gave her last reason.  He wasn't paying attention to the movie any more either.

"Okay," he said, "and if I'm Harry Potter, who would you be?"

"Ginny Weasley, of course," Claire replied without even having to think about it.

"That easy to decide, huh?"  He smiled, and that joking twinkle returned to his eyes.

"Yes.  I'm Ginny Weasley."  Claire began counting off reasons on her fingers.  "I'm short, I'm athletic, and I have a good sense of humor.  I'm pretty and popular -"

"You have a very high opinion of yourself," he teased.

"I can't help it that people like me.  It's not a crime.  People like you too.  Just like people like Harry.  You're the de facto leader."

"I never signed up to be a leader." 

"Neither did he," Claire replied with smile.

Peter nodded and went back to watching the movie.  He didn't like to be reminded of the extra responsibility on his shoulders and Claire understood that.  That's why she tried to lighten things up whenever he was around and not burden him unnecessarily with things he didn't need to know about.

Claire scooted over and leaned into Peter's side.  He lifted his arm to the back of the couch behind her and she settled in comfortably, hoping that their closeness would convey everything she wanted to say about how he may not want to be the leader, but he's great at it, and how she always feels like she belongs somewhere when she's with him, and how she loves that he's the kind of guy who will watch Harry Potter with her just because she likes it.

Several minutes later, Peter finally turned away from the T.V. and looked at Claire. 

"So what else makes you Ginny Weasley?"

She looked up at him and noted that he still looked at her with the same focus that he always had.  She was so lucky she had him in her life.

"The most important thing of all," she said in response to his question, "A dark-haired hero fought a very bad man one night at my school in order to save my life." 

Peter hugged her closer as they both fell into the memory of that night.

"I always meant to thank you for that," Claire said.

"I'm sure you've thanked me."

"Not enough."

She pressed a quick kiss to Peter's cheek and then returned her focus to the movie.  Onscreen, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were locked in a passionate embrace in the Gryffindor common room.  Claire snuck a glance at Peter and saw that he was looking intently at her.  Ignoring his gaze, she grabbed some more popcorn and focused on the kiss, wishing that the literary parallels could be more applicable.