Chapter 15 - Almost Christmas Morning Folly
Harry, still wearing his Hogwart's uniform from the night before with a heavier and warmer robe, stormed out of the Castle carrying two heavy bags by his side. The morning was light and the atmosphere was that of a normal Christmas; the sun was just peeking over the horizon and the snow from the night before was still fresh. It was hard to walk through the snow, especially carrying two huge bags with you.
***
Harry was in a sweat by the time he had reached Lynda's Wizard Anythings, however, there was something he wasn't really expecting: the store was open. He originally planned to just dump the bags at the front door and leave. In fact, that's just what he was about to do regardless the shop being open or closed. Still, he had not seen Ashley, the worker of the store in quite sometime. He decided to say hello and to drop the bags off as well, plus he would give Ashley an explanation as to why she would have found two bags abandoned at her door.
"Hey Ashley," called Harry as he entered the shop, the door making the familiar dinging sound. It wasn't hard to spot her. She was at one corner of the shop, organizing presents and putting last minute decorations on a Christmas Tree. The corner was probably the cleanest part of the store. Shocked to hear her name, she quickly looked in the direction of Harry's voice.
"Hi Harry!" beamed Ashley after seeing who it was. "What on Earth are you doing here?"
"I should be asking the same thing," said Harry, careful not to step on anything that was on the floor as he made his way to the cashier desk.
"You know, it a good thing that you came Harry. There's something that you might like to hear…" Ashley had just joined him when he put the two bags on the table with a loud thump.
"What's that?" she asked, cutting her sentence short and looking very confused. "You're not planning on trading something again for a last minute Christmas present are you?" she said in a joking way.
"Not this time," sighed Harry. "I've come to make a return."
"A return?" she asked, perplexed. "What and why are you returning something?"
Harry started to tell her about the argument he and Hermione had the night before.
"I'm very sorry about that Harry," sympathized Ashley, "but what does this bag have to do with anything?"
"I'll give you one guess as to what's in this bag," said Harry firmly. "And it's not the red dress."
Ashley looked to be in deep though, but after a few seconds, a look of realization appeared on her face. She looked to be astonished and upset at the same time.
"You are not returning those books Harry! They're for Hermione!"
"They were for Hermione," corrected Harry. "Think of it as me giving it back to you. I don't need you to give me my money back. Just take them. After that little attitude from her, she doesn't deserve them!"
Ashley could only stare at Harry. She couldn't believe that that one incident could make Harry so upset that he was resort to rid of something that he really wanted to give away as a gift. Still, she knew something that Harry did.
"Harry I need to tell you something," she said quietly, as if she were to tell him something that would make him even more upset. "Someone came in here last night. Well, two people actually."
"What does that have to do with anything?" spat Harry, keen on just leaving the bags and walking out no matter what Ashley thought.
"Since the Christmas Ball went on last night," explained Ashley, "Some stores were required to stay open later than usual, just in case couples form the Ball wanted to hang out. And you'll never guess who ended up in here…"
"I don't care…"
"…a girl in a elegant red dress and a boy who I assumed was her date." This had finally caught Harry's attention. The girl and boy that had walked in was Hermione and Ernie.
"But how do you know that that was Herm…?"
"No one else has that dress within miles of here for one thing," continued Ashley. "You were the one that bought that dress for her and she walks in with it on. I realized that it was Hermione when I saw the dress on her. "
"So what does…?"
"I'm going to tell you something Harry, and I don't want you to interrupt me until I am done ok?"
She had his undivided attention.
"When they both walked in here, I just though they were just some couple from the Christmas Ball, however, I noticed that red dress she had on. I remembered selling… sorry, trading… you a red dress some time ago for a girl that you liked even though you were not attending with her. Just to be sure, I made small talk. I asked them how they were doing, where they came from,… and their names. The girl introduced herself as, Hermione! That's when I knew that that girl had to be the one you liked! She wandered around the store while her date stayed near the register. A little while later, another boy walked in and up to her date, probably some friend of his but it looked more of a messenger thing. They talked about something, though I wasn't listening because I'm not the one to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help but hear one of them say something like, "Harry's jealous of you and Harry thinks you stole Hermione from him and Harry thinks this and" blah blah blah. I'm guessing either it was planned out that way, or maybe it was just a coincidence, but that's how the whole thing about you talking badly about him started. Hermione's date told her, of course, and she sort of went into a rage. She politely said thank you and left. I was worried that something were to happen to you. As I can tell, by you coming in her with the intention of returning Hermione's gifts, tat something did happen."
Harry didn't say anything at first. What would he have to say? For one thing, it did sound like some sort of plan, but then again, it sounded to be all one big misunderstanding. Harry was a bit disappointed that Ernie didn't start any of this, otherwise it would have been that much more fun getting Hermione back. One thing was for sure: he had to apologize, to Hermione and Ernie.
"This was my fault," Harry said apathetically. "This was all one big misunderstanding…"
"As for returning your items Mr. Potter," Ashley added in a businesslike way. "I'm afraid that due to my no return policy, I'm unable to make the transaction, regardless you want your money back or not."
Harry, as if almost mechanically, reached into his robes and pulled out the manila envelope Colin had given him last night. He took out the picture of Hermione in front of Ashley and looked at it, as if how could he ever have been mad at such an angel. Ashley seemed to take great interest in the picture more than Harry did.
"Oh that's a beautiful picture!" she exclaimed. She snatched it form his hand and made her way to the back of the store. "Wait here."
Harry, taken aback at the picture snatching and looking very anxious, looked at the books inside of the bag; another reminder of Hermione. "Hermione is going to love these…" he said, more to himself than anything.
"Here we go," jubilated Ashley, coming back from the employees only section. She handed back the picture of Hermione to Harry, only there was a slight alteration to it.
He held a beautiful frame made of oak. It seemed to shine with the light outside and you could still smell the freshness of the oak, as if the frame was made just seconds ago. It surrounded the picture of Hermione, making the picture stand out and look more beautiful that ever.
"That frame guarantees lifetime protection of whatever picture is in it," explained Ashley.
"But I have no money…"
"No charge," smiled Ashley. "My Christmas gift to you."
"Ashley I…"
"Don't argue Harry," she said seriously, though her smile was still evident. "I saw how happy you were to receive the gift, so why don't you give a gift, four of them to be exact, and see just how happy one can get?"
Harry blinked at her. "Thanks."