Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, though after HBP, I'm not sure I would want to. No, I take that back, I would want to own it, just not be the one to write it. No, I take that back too. I would want to. Then maybe HBP wouldn't have happened like that. I'll show you delusional. Oh, I'm wandering, aren't I? Where was I? Oh yes.... I'm just playing here.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has left a review. It is incredibly motivating! Thanks! And of course, thanks to my beta MapleMountain. As we've seen in this story and in RL recently, three cheers for A/C!! Yay!
Chapter 7. Gone Shopping.
The car ride to the shopping center was surprisingly quiet. The only sounds to be heard were the dull roar of the road noise as the tires drove on the asphalt and the radio station Emma had tuned into as they started on their way.
At one point or another during the drive, Hermione, Emma, and Dan had each intended on trying to strike up a conversation with Harry just to break the silence. They all decided against it however, when they saw the look on his face.
Harry was sitting in the back seat, next to Hermione, with the biggest grin on his face any of them had ever seen, including Hermione. The only word that could describe it was excitement. As they drove, he was constantly looking around at the city that passed them by, trying to take in everything.
Harry felt like a little kid who had just moved to a new town. To be honest, it really wasn't that far from the truth. He wanted to see everything. He watched as they drove past a park that was filled with children on the play equipment. He looked at all the advertising billboards they drove by.
He was even excited to see some guy in a sports car being given a traffic citation by the local constabulary. All around him, it was life as normal. No war. No Voldemort. No worries, except how hot it would get and if the stores would run out of ice cream.
Finally, they arrived at their destination: the main shopping center in Wandsworth. Harry could not help but be impressed. In his first ten years, he could count on his fingers the number of times he had gone shopping with the Dursleys.
They always made every effort to unload him onto their neighbor, Mrs. Figg, whenever they went out. If they ever had to go out to buy "things" and she was unavailable, they always put the trip off until she could watch him. On the rare occasion Harry had accompanied them out, it was only to the grocery store. Even then, he had been told to not look at anything and to not touch anything. And as usual, there were the constant warnings against any "funny business."
Harry was so excited, he could barely contain himself. As the four of them walked through the car park, Emma tapped Harry on his shoulder to get his attention. "Where do you want to go, Harry?"
Harry looked at her with a happy, but slightly bewildered look. "You tell me, Emma. This is my first time in a shopping center. Where do I need to go?"
A slightly sad look swept across her face for a fraction of a second, but was then replaced with her normal cheerful expression. "Well, we need to stop at the grocery, but we'll do that last. I imagine Hermione here will want to stop in the book store."
Apparently this was a family joke as Harry could see Dan in front of him chuckle a little. Hermione, who was walking next to him, threw her shoulder into Dan's left arm. In a playfully angry voice, she quipped, "Yes, yes. 'Hermione can't resist a book store.'"
Smiling, Emma continued. "So, other than groceries, this trip's mainly for you. We will definitely need to stop at the department store to get you some new clothes. We can wander around the other shops and see if anything catches your eye. I know everything you need to buy in is Diagon Alley, but maybe you'll find something here that you want to buy."
The shopping center they were in was a nice, relatively new mall with about thirty small and medium-sized shops lining a central promenade. At each end were two large stores, a department store on one end, and a grocery store on the other. Walking through the entrance in the middle of the mall, a collective sigh from all four of them could be heard. The mall was air conditioned.
Once they had reached the promenade, they turned right and started in a leisurely stroll towards the department store. Every so often, one of them would see something in a window and walk into the store, the other three following. Coming out of one of the stores, Dan had put his arm around Emma and together the two of them walked side by side.
Again, Harry was surprised by the sudden feelings that evoked. He was quite certain he wanted to do that too. Not to Emma, of course, but to someone... his own special someone, if he ever found one.
He could not help but recall the previous year when Cho Chang rushed up to him after his interview in The Quibbler and started holding his hand. At the time, he seemed happy. But now that day, not that long ago, seemed a mere shadow of its former self, as though it were something he only witnessed instead of actually experiencing.
As he watched Dan and Emma surreptitiously, he was vaguely aware of hearing someone call his name. He nearly had a heart attack when he felt Hermione put her hand in his.
The warmth of her skin touching his blocked out every other sensation in his body. He looked down dumbly at their joined hands. Their arms were now rising towards horizontal as she moved away from him. He looked at her; all he saw was the back of her head as she was pulling him somewhere. Finally feeling a tug in his shoulder, he numbly followed wherever she was leading him.
As they left the skylight-lit promenade, Harry was barely aware that they had entered a shop when the lighting intensity decreased. He was still too entranced by the warm, pleasant feeling that had started in his hand and which was now traveling up his arm to notice where they were.
He had held Hermione's hand before. Why did this seem so strange? No, not strange... just... different. He tried to remember all the other times he had held her hand. He supposed it must feel different when you weren't being chased by werewolves, angry centaurs, or Death Eaters. That must be the difference, he convinced himself.
He recognized where he was by the smell before he even looked up. It was a very comforting smell; it reminded him of being back at school. He could feel his entire body immediately relax. It was the smell of parchment. No... that wasn't it exactly. It was the smell of paper, not parchment, with a hint of ink and glue. Hermione had dragged him one store back, into the book store. He hadn't even noticed it when they walked by.
Feeling quite out of his element in a book store, he let Hermione lead him around. They slowly wandered around the store, pausing occasionally as she looked at the books in one section or another. He watched as the shop owner, a middle-aged woman, greeted Hermione warmly. It seemed obvious that she recognized her as a book lover, since he assumed it was unlikely she knew Hermione personally, considering she was away at school for more than nine months a year.
The owner then glanced at Harry as he walked by. As he returned her smile, he recognized the all-too-familiar glance up to the scar on his forehead. Unlike every other time however, after she saw it she simply returned to whatever it was she was doing, as though it were unimportant and just any other oddly-shaped scar.
Secretly, Harry found this very comforting. He never really like crowds before... all those people gawking at him, or probably more accurately, his scar. It didn't really matter to him whether they were pointing in awe, admiration, or more recently ridicule. He just didn't like being the center of that kind of attention.
He thought back to the scene that had captured his attention right before being led into the book store. If he had to be the center of attention, he'd rather it be the attention of just one person, rather than the entire world. Someone who would hold his hand and take him shopping and...
His musings were interrupted when he heard Hermione snicker slightly. He looked up at the shelf of books she had turned away from. It was shelf with a dozen or so random books on witchcraft, sorcery, and magical folklore-or at least the Muggle ideas of them. Harry could not help but smile as he passed them by also.
Finally, the two of them stopped in front of a large bookcase of used books. There were probably a hundred or so on the shelves and they were not organized in any logical fashion. Hermione ran her hand along the books, reading each title as her fingers passed over the spine. She didn't seem to be looking for anything in particular, simply looking at each one to see if anything interested her.
On the third shelf, Hermione must have seen one that did interest her, for she grabbed it and pulled it off the shelf. As she brought it closer to her, Harry suddenly felt his own left hand being pulled up suddenly. Evidently Hermione had forgotten she was still holding his hand.
"Oh! Sorry," she whispered to him, blushing slightly. She immediately let go of his hand and took the book, opening it and flipping through the pages. Still able to see traces of pink on her cheeks, Harry thought it was quite funny that she had forgotten she was still holding his hand-funny, that is, until he realized that he too had forgotten she was still holding his hand.
Harry had been so intrigued by the sensation of her hand in his when she first started leading him into the bookstore. When he entered the store and noticed the smells that reminded him of being at Hogwarts, it drove the conscious awareness of that sensation from his mind.
It wasn't that he couldn't still feel her hand. It was as though that feeling were the most natural thing in the world. It was so natural that he didn't notice it, just like how a person might not be aware of their own breathing.
Just like a breath of air, now that her hand was gone, Harry seemed to notice its absence more than its presence. His hand felt curiously cold and empty. Of course, that only made sense since the warm presence was now gone. But still, he felt strangely disappointed by its removal.
Harry looked around for a moment. Dan and Emma were nowhere to be seen. "Erm, Hermione? Do you know where your parents are?" he asked quietly.
Not looking up from her book, she turned another page. "They probably went into to the bath store. It's two stores up."
"The bath store?" Harry asked. "Don't you already have a bath?"
Harry saw her turn her head an inch or so towards him, and then back to her book. She smiled slightly. "No, Harry. It's not a store where you buy bath tubs. It's a store where you buy stuff for the bathroom. Fancy linens, natural sponges, bubble solutions, specialty soaps... you know, that kind of stuff."
Harry did not know. He had quite an incredulous expression on his face "You mean they have stores just for soap and bubble baths?" Hermione nodded. "But why?" he asked sincerely.
Harry saw the book Hermione was holding drop a millimeter or two. "It's just a girl-thing, Harry. Sometimes we like flowery-smelling soap, or adding scented oil to the bath water. It can be quite relaxing actually, after a long day."
Harry looked confused. "But, if it's a girl-thing, why would your dad go in there too?"
Hermione's mouth twitched as though she was fighting to not smile. "Because, Harry. They're married. They do everything together," she explained, still not looking up from the book.
"Oh, that makes sense," Harry reasoned. This time Hermione was unable to hold back her smile. "Of course they'd go shopping together." She let slip a chuckle. It made perfect sense now that she explained it; he didn't know why she thought it was funny, however.
Finally deciding she didn't want to buy the book, Hermione closed it and put it back on the shelf. "Anything in here in particular you want to look at, Harry?" she asked.
He looked around at all the shelves of books in the store. "No," he decided. "There are a couple things I might be interested in reading about, but I don't think we'll find those books here."
"No," she admitted, "I don't think we will. I know what you mean. When I come in here, unless I'm looking for something specific, I usually just go look through the used books. Somebody read them, so they must've been interesting to someone. I just look through them and see if anything catches my eye. Nothing today, unfortunately."
As the two of them headed towards the exit, Harry under his own power this time, Hermione waved goodbye to the shop owner.
"Nothing today, dear?" the owner asked; Hermione shook her head. "We should have another shipment of used books come in, in a month or so. Be sure to stop by again before you go back to school."
"I will," Hermione promised as they walked out the door and back onto the promenade. As they started walking towards the bath store, Hermione glanced over at Harry and saw the inquisitive look on his face. She knew what he was debating on whether to ask her. "No, Harry, she doesn't know where I go to school. You may find this hard to believe, but every time we come shopping here, I stop in there." She looked over and saw Harry with an exaggerated look of disbelief; she rolled her eyes.
"Since the only times I can come shopping with Mum and Dad are on holidays, she only sees me then. She always remembers me, but she can never seem to remember my name."
"Well, it is a hard name to remember. It does have four syllables, you know," Harry said teasingly. Hermione lightly swatted his arm.
"So, anyway, she asked why she saw me so often in such a short period, and then never again for so many months. I just told her I went to a private boarding school up north."
As they reached the bath shop, Harry and Hermione looked in the window. They saw Dan and Emma in the middle of the store, looking at a bottle of something pink. Grabbing his hand again, she pulled him into the store. "Come on, let's go get them. They'll be in here all day if we don't," she said with a sigh.
As soon as they came up to Dan and Emma, Hermione let go of Harry's hand. "Hey Mum, Dad," she said.
Emma turned around. "Oh, there you are, dear." She looked down at Hermione's empty hands. "Nothing in the bookstore you wanted?" Hermione shook her head. For the first time that day, Harry suddenly felt quite relieved that she had let go of his hand.
"Oh well, we can always stop at Flourish and Blotts later. Oooh... there is something here you just have to see. Here Dan, hold this for a moment." Emma handed him the bottle of pink liquid.
The two of them hurried off to the back of the store to look at the specialty soaps. Harry and Dan looked at each other. Harry had to admit that Dan did look a little awkward standing there holding a bottle of pink something. Dan laughed awkwardly. "So Harry, the men are abandoned while the women run off to giggle about soap, eh?"
"Yeah," Harry laughed back as he looked over and saw Hermione and Emma holding something between them and talking excitedly.
"They may be a few minutes, so you might as well go look around," Dan suggested. "Believe me, you'll look stranger just standing in the middle of the store than you will looking at all of the different bath oils." Harry nodded and then started to walk around. As he started looking around, he was surprised at how many guys there actually were in the store.
Probably buying things for their girlfriends, Harry thought with envy. Oh well, when in Rome... He continued looking around the store.
He saw a small display in one corner. Above it was a picture of a silver tap that was pouring water in to a bath filled with bubbles. He opened the sample bottle and smelled it. The scent was very familiar. Harry suddenly remembered back to his expedition to the prefect's bathroom back in fourth year to solve the mystery of golden egg from his first task in the Triwizard Tournament.
He had been most impressed with all the golden taps on the edge of the large marble bath. There were about a hundred of them that poured different types of bubbles and foams and scented clouds. He was beginning to see the appeal of this store.
A few minutes later, Dan, Emma, and Hermione had bought whatever it was that they wanted, and they were again on their way to the department store. Once they had reached the clothing department, Hermione and Emma headed off to the women's section while Harry and Dan headed to the men's.
"So, Harry, did I hear you right earlier? This is your first time in a shopping mall?" Dan asked. Despite the smile on his face, Harry could tell Dan didn't enjoy having to ask that.
"Uh huh," Harry replied. "I mean, I've been to the grocery store a couple times, and I've shopped in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, but never anywhere like here. All the clothes I have that aren't school clothes were all once Dudley's. If you've ever seen me in them, you'd probably know you could fit three of me in them," Harry said with a bit of a sarcastic laugh.
Dan replied with a smile. "Well, once we get you outfitted, what do you say we get rid of all your old stuff?"
"Sounds fine by me," Harry replied eagerly. "So, where do we start?" he asked Dan.
"Well, since we're here," Dan said, waving his hand at all the shirts in the shirts section, "this is as good a place as any to start. Then we can head over and get you some pants and maybe even some shorts too. They are very nice on these hot days. Oh, can't forget socks and underwear. You can never have too many of those. So, how much do you think you'll need, Harry?" Dan asked.
Harry looked at him, unsure of what he meant.
Dan, seeing Harry's confusion, continued helpfully. "If you were at a regular school, I'd say you'd need at least ten sets of clothes, one for each day of the week, plus a few extras to rotate in or for emergencies. That way you don't have to wear the same clothes every day. But since you have school clothes also, I don't think you'll need as much. So, what do you think?"
Harry thought for a moment. "I think five sets should suffice. A couple for weekends, and a few more in case we plan on wandering around outside. If you don't go out wandering the school grounds, everyone usually just stays in their school clothes."
Dan nodded, and then Harry started walking around looking at all the clothes. Picking out clothes was hard. There were so many from which to choose. He didn't understand why girls seemed to like to do this. After about five minutes, he had found six shirts that he didn't think looked too hideous.
Next, the two of them went over and picked up some jeans and a couple pairs of shorts. Harry then took everything into the fitting rooms and made sure they all fit. This, he thought, was the most amusing part of all.
He knew it was perfectly logical, but after being given Dudley's clothes all his life, it just seemed strange to make sure clothes actually fit before getting them. True, he did have to get fitted for new robes every year, but that wasn't so much "trying them on" as is was just standing there while Madam Malkin draped a new robe over him and then made adjustments. As for his actual school clothes, he always found them, properly sized, waiting for him in his dormitory the first day back; he didn't know how that worked.
Six sets of clothes later, they walked over to the socks and underwear. "Do you get these at school too?" Dan asked. Harry nodded. "Oh well," he said indifferently, "grab some anyway. Like I said, you can never have too many of them. I don't know about you, but I always seem to be missing a sock."
A thought suddenly popped into Harry's mind. Didn't Professor Dumbledore say something like that once, about not having too many?
Twenty minutes after separating from the women, Dan had all of Harry's new clothes purchased and bagged up. The two of them then left the men's department in search of the female Grangers. After spending about five minutes wandering around the women's department looking exactly like two lost men searching for their women, Dan suddenly stopped in the middle of the aisle. "Oh, there they are," he said.
Harry, being shorter than Dan, could not see as far through the many aisles of clothing. Dan turned around and handed Harry the bags containing his new clothes. "Here, Harry. Hold these for a second. I'm going to run over to them and tell them we'll be upstairs finding you some new shoes. I'm sure you'd like something a little nicer than those old trainers of yours that're about to fall apart."
Harry looked down at his pitiful pair of trainers. Now that he actually thought about his feet, he realized that he had put his old trainers on with his nice school clothes. It looked quite silly in his opinion. He looked back up at Dan with an amused expression. "I didn't even pay attention to what shoes I had put on. My good school shoes are still in my trunk."
Dan laughed lightly, and then quickly looked around to see if anyone was within earshot. "Don't worry about it too much, Harry. I said it before. You might be a great wizard, but you're still a guy. Coordinating footwear isn't exactly our specialty. Hang on then, I'll be back in just a tick."
Harry moved to the side so that he wasn't blocking the center of the aisle. He watched as Dan started weaving his through the maze of clothing racks and floor displays. He seemed to be working his way to one of the back corners of the store. By now, all he could see was his head.
Emma and Hermione, who were about as tall as Harry, could not be seen, where ever they were. Where is he going? Harry wondered. OK, now he's stopped. That's where they must be. What's over there? Ah, there's a department sign over there on the wall. This stupid SALE sign on the rack in front of me is blocking it. That's better. Intimates. Intimates? Oh...
Harry's eyes suddenly went wide in realization. Feeling as though he just got caught out of bounds by Filch without his Invisibility Cloak, he quickly put the SALE sign back where it originally was, blocking his view of the offending department sign. Turning to very intently examine the rack of women's jackets next to him, Harry eagerly waited for Dan to return.
A minute later, Dan returned with a highly amused expression on his face. "Women!" he complained with a laugh. "They weren't even buying anything... 'Just looking.' When I walked up to them, you'd think I barged into the changing room or something."
Harry feigned ignorance about what they might have been looking at. "Huh?"
Dan's moment of amusement having since passed, Dan sighed slightly to clear the last of the chuckles. "Oh, never mind. So. Let's go find you some decent shoes, shall we?"
The two of them walked over to the escalator in the center of the store and headed up to the second level. Reaching the shoe department, Harry sat down; Dan sized his foot with a steel instrument that Harry thought would look quite at home in the Headmaster's office. After about ten minutes, Harry had found a pair of shoes and a pair of trainers he liked. The best part about them though was that they actually fit him.
Harry's new wardrobe now complete, Dan and Harry started heading back to the department store entrance, and to the promenade. "I don't know how much longer they'll be, so I told the ladies we'd meet them in the food court. Are you hungry, Harry?"
"Yeah," Harry said eagerly. "I haven't had anything since breakfast, except that cup of tea back at your house."
Dan sighed in disappointment. "I'm sorry, Harry. I assumed you would've eaten lunch before we left Privet Drive. Most parents feed their children before they send them on trips."
Harry laughed once in sarcasm. "The Dursleys aren't most parents. At least with me." Harry and Dan walked silently towards the food court.
When they arrived, they slowly walked around the court looking at all the offerings. "See anything that strikes your fancy, Harry?" Dan asked.
Harry looked around. "Lots," he replied simply. "Though, since we're out, I'd like to try something a little different, something they don't serve at Hogwarts. Any recommendations?"
Dan too looked around. "Hmm... something they don't... How about Chinese? I don't remember Hermione mentioning anything like that. Ever had Chinese food?"
"Does leftover white rice count?" Harry asked, smiling.
"No, Harry, it doesn't. Chinese it is. Technically, it's not authentic Chinese food per se, but rather the American version of it. It's still very good though," Dan explained as they walked over to the order station. Dan looked at Harry questioningly.
"Whatever you like," Harry answered. "I don't know what I like, so I'll just try your favorite." Dan nodded, and then bought two orders of General Tsao's Chicken with pork fried rice and two Cokes. Finding an empty table, the two sat down and started in on their lunch.
Harry was quite unprepared for how spicy the chicken was. He put an entire piece into his mouth and immediately started chewing very quickly to get it down, drawing in great breaths of air to try to cool the burning sensation. Once he had finally swallowed it, he took a big drink.
Dan watched, slightly amused. "Small bites, Harry. Small bites. Get some rice in there too. Not so hot that way. It's got quite a kick, it does."
His eyes watering, Harry nodded.
About ten minutes later, Emma and Hermione returned from the department store, empty handed. "Didn't find anything you liked?" Dan asked his wife and daughter. Harry stared intently at his food as he ate, not daring to look at either of them.
"I told you we were just looking," Emma replied in an exasperated tone. Though he was still looking at his plate, Harry could almost hear Hermione rolling her eyes at her father.
"Are either of you hungry?" Dan asked. "Harry hadn't had lunch yet, so we decided to broaden his horizons a little beyond the regular school food fare and Dursley leftovers."
"We split a sandwich while the two of you were up 'bonding' in Harry's room," Emma teased, "but that wasn't really enough to count for lunch. Oh Dan, why'd you get two orders? You know they give such big servings."
Dan threw a quick smile at Harry then looked back at Emma. "Because I knew the two of you would be here in a few minutes. I knew neither of you would want a full order yourselves, so you'd just sit and stare expectantly at our food until one of us caved and offered you something."
That's why he brought two extra forks, Harry thought to himself, quite impressed. I'll have to remember that one.
"How sweet of you," Emma said sarcastically as she sat down next to Dan. She then smiled genuinely and kissed him. "Thanks, dear."
"Okay Mum, children present at the table," Hermione said in a tone of voice Harry had never heard her use as she sat down next to him. If he had to describe it, it was almost a comedic whine. As she sat down, Harry reached over and grabbed one of the extra forks. He captured a piece of chicken on it and handed it to Hermione as a gesture of "caving in."
"Thanks," she said to Harry.
Emma looked back at Hermione as though she were still an eleven year old girl. "Oh come now, dear. I'm quite sure you've seen worse at school." Harry hid his smile behind his cup as he took a drink. He'd heard about some of the detentions Filch had given after catching students in the broom closets looking very breathless and with very disheveled hair.
"Yeah," Hermione retorted, "but they weren't my mum and dad."
Harry almost choked on his drink. After forcing it down so he didn't spray it over everyone, he started coughing and gasping for air, all the while a few stray laughs slipping out. Hermione immediately started patting and then rubbing his back to help settle everything.
Dan and Emma, across from him, looked at him with concern. Once he had caught his breath, he started laughing and their expressions slowly changed to amusement. Out of the corner of his tear-filled eyes, he could see the same reaction play across Hermione's face. "I'm so sorry about that. It's just something I never expected to hear Hermione say... Complaining about you kissing in front of her."
Hermione took her hand off Harry's back and picked up the fork she'd dropped so quickly. "Well, how would you like to be at Ron's house and have to watch Mr. and Mrs. Weasley snog each other while you tried to eat? Or," she added very dramatically, a wicked gleam in her eye, "if it were your-"
Harry quickly turned his head towards Hermione, pointing his plastic fork at her threateningly. "Don't you dare finish that sentence, Miss Granger." The hint of a smile betraying him, he made a slight jab towards her with his fork to back up his words. Hermione didn't at all look threatened. He turned his attention back to his lunch. After staring at it for a few seconds, he let out a defeated sigh and looked back at her. "Thank you for that mental image... my aunt and uncle."
Hermione smiled back at him in what could only be described as a very evil grin. "You're very welcome," she replied.
Ten minutes later, Dan and Emma had finished Dan's food, and Harry and Hermione had finished Harry's. Once they had dumped their trash in the bin, they headed off towards the other end of the promenade. When they reached the entrance in the middle, Dan and Harry took everyone's purchases back to the car so they wouldn't have to carry them around as they did their grocery shopping once they reached the other end.
When they returned, they found that Emma and Hermione had wandered off on their own. They decided to just work their way down towards the grocery store. Sooner or later, they'd see them in one of the shops. If not, whoever got to the end first would simply wait for the other two by the shopping baskets.
Along the way, Harry saw a small sporting goods store that he wanted to visit. Inside, Harry asked Dan, "I wonder if I should get Ron a football. One of our dorm mates, Dean Thomas, is also a Muggle-born. He likes Quidditch now, but he's still a big football fan. Ron never seemed to be able to understand the game. Maybe if I get him one, it might help."
"Possibly," Dan said. "But just remember, you don't have to buy everything today. If you're not sure, we can always come back later."
"Yeah," Harry agreed, "let's go look at some of the other stores." Three stores down, Harry saw a games and hobby store. "That might have some potential," Harry said to Dan. Hermione's birthday was still several months away, as was Christmas. Ron's birthday was even further off. However, he rarely got an opportunity to go shopping separate from Ron or Hermione in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley, so he definitely wanted to make the most of this chance in case he saw something.
As they walked in the store and looked around, Harry was absolutely certain it did have potential. The store was filled with (Muggle) games of every type imaginable. There were card games and board games and computer games. There was even an entire section dedicated to puzzle and logic games. Harry spent several minutes looking at those.
Making note of several items that certainly had gift potential, Harry tore his attention away from the Japanese Puzzle Boxes. As he turned around, his eye caught on two glass display cases in the middle of the store, next to the cashier. They were filled with exquisitely beautiful chess sets.
Harry walked over to them as quickly as he could without actually running. He was awestruck by all the different types of sets in the case. There was a second display case facing away from him that also had chess sets in them, but he couldn't see them very well from his point of view.
Whatever was in those cases did not matter, however, as the sets in front of him were beautiful enough. There were six sets in the case; all of them looked handmade. They also looked expensive. The cheapest one Harry saw was £149. The pieces were either hand carved out of natural materials like wood or stone, or were cast out of solid metal. All were highly detailed, most painted by hand.
There were several sets with standard style pieces. One set, on the bottom most shelf, caught his eye first. It appeared to be made of cast metal that had been gold- and silver-plated. The price tag on that one confirmed his suspicion. Another set looked like it was made of intricately carved pieces of dark and light wood. A third set was made of what looked like black and white marble.
As Harry looked at them, Dan walked over and joined him. Also in the case were several specialty sets. One of the sets had different animals as the pieces. It looked like warm-blooded against cold-blooded. The king of the warm-blooded side was a lion. The bishops of the cold-blooded side were snakes. Gryffindor versus Slytherin, Harry could not help but think.
The last two sets in that case caught Harry's interest. Fortunately, they were on the topmost shelf so he could see them closely. The set on the left was a magical and mythological set. It appeared to be made out of pewter. The king and queen on both sides were wizards and witches. The other pieces were other characters and creatures of a magical or mythological nature. The rooks were cauldrons.
When Dan saw Harry looking at this set, he spoke very quietly. "See anything there familiar, Harry?" he asked with a knowing voice.
Harry pretended to study the pieces carefully. "Well, it looks like the knights are supposed to be griffins, though I think they look more like Buckbeak if you ask me. And those goblins and elves for pawns are much too tall," he said with a smile.
The last set in the case had a military theme, though he wasn't sure what they were. Fortunately, he just happened to have a Granger standing next to him who was more than willing to tell him all about them.
"These pieces represent two branches of the American military, Harry," Dan explained. "This side, with the white uniforms, is the US Navy. The other side, with the dark blue uniforms, is the US Army. Army versus Navy. I've heard there is a long standing friendly rivalry between them, more so than between any other branches. These uniforms are called, I believe, dinner dress. I suppose they have them dressed like this because they get into fights in pubs on leave," Dan finished with a smile.
"I thought maybe Ron might like a chess set for his birthday, but I don't know if he'd like a regular set." Harry lowered his voice to keep it from traveling. "Half the fun of wizard's chess is watching the pieces fight each other."
"Do you see anything in here you want to buy, or are you just looking for ideas?" Dan asked.
After throwing a quick glance back at some of the logic games, he thought for a moment. "No, I've got some ideas, but I don't want to buy the first thing I see. Definitely some possibilities here though. I might see something a little more interesting when we go school shopping, so I'll wait for now."
"All right," Dan agreed, "let's go see if we can find the girls." They returned to the promenade and resumed walking towards the grocery store. Seeing no other stores either of them wanted to visit, Dan and Harry reached the grocery store before Emma and Hermione.
They tried to look as comfortable as they possibly could simply standing next to a shopping basket. About ten minutes later, Emma and Hermione finally joined them. They were carrying several bags. Selecting a cart, Emma and Hermione put their purchases in the basket. There wasn't much room left for groceries.
As the four of them started walking into the grocery store, Emma directed her voice in Harry's direction. "Since you're our guest Harry, is there anything in particular you'd like for dinner tonight?"
This was one of the questions Harry had feared. He didn't know what he wanted. He was never given a choice about what to eat at the Dursleys. At Hogwarts, there was always so much wonderful food that he simply took whatever looked good. Even at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley always made lots of food, what with having to feed five Weasley children (six if you counted Ron's stomach separate from himself) plus Arthur and herself, so he never really had to ever decide what was going to be made.
Seeing the looks on all three of their faces, Harry knew that "Whatever you want" would not be accepted. Fortunately, Harry was struck by an idea that saved him from having to find out.
"Are there any Granger family specialties I should try?" he asked. Harry was very pleased with himself.
Emma and Hermione looked at each other excitedly. "Oh, I'm sure we'll think of something," she said smiling. "All right then, let's get cracking."
Turning down the first aisle, Dan suddenly looked as though he realized something. "Hermione, let's go take these back to the car so there'll be room in the basket." He grabbed all of the bags and the two of them headed back into the promenade, towards the entrance.
As Emma and Harry walked through the aisles, he was surprised at how little they talked. Other than Emma's frequent reminder to "just grab it if you see something you like," they really didn't say much. Considering how much Dan had talked with Harry during the day, he expected she would do the same. However, Harry also noticed that she also had a highly organized shopping list in her hand, one she had pulled out of her purse as soon as Dan and Hermione left.
It was clear to Harry that she was in shopping mode. Actually, it looked more like hunting and gathering mode, since almost everything that went into the basket was already on the list. There was the occasional "Oh, we'll need that too," as she made modifications to her list as she considered what to make for dinner. As he thought about it, it reminded him a great deal of Hermione gathering her supplies to prepare a potion.
About fifteen minutes later, Dan and Hermione had returned, and the shopping basket was nearly full. Ten minutes later, everything was paid for and they were on their way back to the car park. Once the groceries were loaded, they were off on their way back home.
Harry was a little shocked to realize that he didn't at all find it odd to think those words: back home. Ever since his first day at Hogwarts, he always considered the castle his home. Privet Drive was little more than his home away from home. And yet, looking at the clock on the car radio, Harry had left Privet Drive less than four hours earlier, and already Harry had thought of Hermione's house as, well, not home exactly, but it was more than just another home away from home. It certainly now ranked higher on Harry's list of places he'd like to stay that Privet Drive ever did, though he didn't suppose that was saying much.
A short while later, they arrived back home. Harry made sure to look at the street name sign when they turned onto the road. For some reason, he just wanted to see it. Broomhill Road. After they parked, everyone helped unload the shopping. Hermione was the first one out and started handing Harry's bags to him.
After loading him up with his new clothes, she grabbed her bags that had been set against one of the side walls. Fully loaded down, they lumbered up to the front door. Harry noticed that her bags looked heavier than he remembered seeing her carry earlier. He waited as Hermione tried to hold onto everything and pull a key out of her pocket at the same time.
"Don't you just wish you could...?" Harry started to ask.
"Believe me, yes," Hermione said with a flustered sigh. "But I won't be of age until September. So... until then, keys it is." Finally setting down one of her bags, she was able to get the front door open.
As Dan and Emma put away the groceries, Harry and Hermione took their bags upstairs. Dragging everything into his room, he set all of the bags into the corner next to his trunk. He would empty out his trunk and hang up his new clothes in the closet later. Turning around, he was surprised to see an envelope sitting on his bed.
As he walked over to the bed, he heard Hermione come back into his room. It sounded as though she was talking to herself. He only heard part of whatever she was saying. "...doesn't make any sense. I don't even have an..." Her voice trailed off just as he picked up the envelope. He looked at the address on the envelope.
Harry James Potter
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
Assuming she had been talking about something she bought, he turned and looked at her amusedly. "Owl forwarding?" he asked, showing her the envelope.
"I suppose. Hardly anyone knows you're here. Who's it from?" Hermione asked, looking a little more interested than seemed normal for an ordinary letter.
Harry turned over the envelope. The hand holding the envelope started shaking. He appeared to be in a state of shock. Hermione immediately rushed over and took the envelope from him, putting her other hand on his right shoulder. Harry was in no state to notice there was something already in the hand she placed on his shoulder.
She looked at the seal on the back side of the envelope. There, embossed in the wax, was the emblem of Gringotts Bank. Hermione looked from the letter addressed to Harry in her right hand to an identical letter addressed to her in her left hand. Her eyes widened suddenly in realization.
She let out an almost silent gasp, and then spoke to no one in particular in barely more than a whisper.
"Sirius's will."