"He never got to do it before except in Diagon Alley. Even that's done by Mrs. Weasley now," Hermione explained. "He's tired of everyone making decisions for him and this is part of it. Besides, he likes to be out and doing things. That's something he's never been allowed to do with his relatives. I want him to have a good summer for a change; I want to take him places if we can."
"I'm sure we can do something, what did you have in mind?"
"Just the normal sightseeing stuff. Harry's never even seen the ocean except...well that's not important. I just want him to have fun. Maybe even an amusement park."
"Think he'd like Alton Towers?" Jean asked. "I had a patient last week who kept on about the park. Would Harry like Roller Coasters?"
"I think he'd love it," Hermione replied. "Though the coasters might be a bit boring to him after..." She'd almost mentioned riding the dragon but stopped herself, "his broom."
"Then how about this weekend?" Jean replied. "It's a bit of a drive, but that'll just give us more time to spend with Harry and give him a true taste of a family outing. Unless you just want to pop...or whatever you called that, up there."
"I think the drive would be nice, though we'd have to figure out something about the Weasleys and Dumbledore. I'll see if Harry's interested and we'll figure out something."
"Want to go to an amusement park this weekend? Mum's suggesting an outing to Alton Towers."
"I think I saw a commercial on the telly before I left the Dursleys last year about that place. I'd love to."
"I'll ask again at dinner, so mum knows."
The clothes and trainers Harry wore into the store were now in a bag to be tossed into the bin later. As eight rolled around he was dressed for their trip to the upscale restaurant on the fifth floor. He had on a pair of Black khakis with the emerald green shirt. Around his neck was a silk tie. The tie was beige colored and had a sea otter swimming in the pattern*. "Something to always remind me of you," Harry had told Hermione when he picked it out.
"Guess I'll need to find a broach in the shape of a stag won't I?" She'd replied. "Or maybe a scarf."
Shortly past eight they made their way to pay for the final purchases. They were last in line at the til because Harry had insisted on picking up a summer dress Hermione had eyed as they passed the display. It was already ten after eight when the tired young saleslady looked over the amount of purchases her last customer needed to make. With a long sigh she picked up a shirt and started to remove the hanger from it. She glanced up at the customers and as her eyes fell upon a black haired young man, she noticed something on his forehead. Her eyes flew open wide and she almost dropped the shirt in her hand. "You're...you're Harry Potter aren't you?" She exclaimed.
Harry and Hermione instantly looked around to see who else might have heard. But with it being past closing the store was empty, at least in that area. "Why would you ask that?" Harry questioned.
The saleslady lowered her voice. "I'm a squib, so of course I know of you," she said with a smile. "I saw what you did last week, I did. It was all in the Prophet. Socked one right to You-Know-Who. My dad went on about wishing he could buy you a drink. Wait to I tell'm you came to my store and I got to help you," Then she saw the girl at his side and her eyes grew even wider. "And you're Hermione Granger. You're his girlfriend. Wait until Jennifer, she's my roommate and a full witch you know, hears I met you. She's going to be so jealous."
"Jealous? Of meeting me?" Hermione asked as she wondered how the girl could say so much without taking a breath. "Why?"
"Because you're his girlfriend of course," The squib lady replied as if it was obvious. "It's like you're the Princess herself in the wizarding world. Rumor has it you're going to be on the cover of Witch Weekly next week," The saleslady nodded. "Really, Jenny told me and she always knows those things. You have to be the luckiest witch there is."
"Skeeter I bet," Hermione muttered. "Maybe I should find another jar."
"I agree, but we also don't want anyone to know we're out and about in the muggle world. I don't want Death Eaters looking for me here nor having to deal with Dumbledore."
"What can we do though?"
"Let's try this," Harry smiled at the saleslady who was trying to keep an eye on Harry and Hermione while also ringing up their purchases at the same time "Actually I'm the lucky one. I don't deserve Hermione but I'm happy she's my girlfriend. But could you do us a favor? We'd appreciate it if you'd not tell anyone that you saw us, at least not here. Maybe you can say you saw us near the Leaky Cauldron or somewhere like that. We don't want to attract the wrong people here."
When the saleslady looked hesitant, Hermione picked up the argument. "If you tell people, then we can't come back here and shop can we? You know how it is. We can even ask for you if you'd like," She looked at the lady's name tag. "Maria."
....
Join my P*atreon to enjoy 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/ScarletRosee (Remove the *)
Free members can get 2+ advanced chapters FOR FREE.