A/N: We appologise for the confusing formatting of this chapter. Due to the limited formatting options on ff. net we have had to make some changes. Where a letter has both Bold and Italic formatting, whatever is in italics has been crossed out (strike through), and the bold is the part that has been 'kept'. We know this could be confusing, and if it is please find a link on our profile to another site that allows for strike-through.

This story is inspired by the movie 'The Shop Around the Corner'. If you haven't seen it, we definitely recommend it. Draw Your Own Conclusions is a work in progress and while we will attempt to upload new chapters as quickly as possible we can't promise anything expect that we've planned this to the end and will not be abandoning it! :)

Hope you enjoy! And please review to let us know what you think.

Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs either to J. K. Rowling or the makers of 'The Shop Around the Corner'.

Chapter One

Personal ad, DailyProphet, July 3rd, 1977

Seventeen year old female. Curvy, slanted, charming, seeks witty, meaningful, handsome penmanship. Looking for an anonymous quill in possession of a good sense of humour with which to exchange letters over the summer. If interested, please respond via owl.

-A friend.

July 11th

Dear Curvy, slanted and charming,

Witty, meaningful and, last but definitely most, handsome reporting for duty.

July 12th

Dear friend,

Your knight in handsome penmanship has arrived. My valiant stead, Mr Matuschek,

I don't normally

James stood from his chair after finally deciding on his polished letter. With one sweep of his arm he pushed the scribbled on and scrunched up pieces of paper, the casualties of his war with words, into the already nearly full bin by his desk. A few of them fell onto the carpet but he ignored them as he walked swiftly out of the room. Mr Matuschek hooted excitedly upon seeing the letter in James' hand. James read the newspaper ad over one more time, making sure he had fully understood the original piece before he sent a reply. He turned the letter over in his hands a few times, hesitated a few moments and then took a deep breath.

James tied the letter to Mr Matuschek's leg and opened his mouth to tell him the address. He suddenly realised that he had no idea where to send the letter or who to send it to. He flipped the paper over frantically looking for an address or a name or some sort of instruction. Nothing. Not ever a hint or an obscure clue. He read the paper backwards, upside down and performed a revealing spell on it but nothing jumped out at him. Mr Matuschek hooted again, impatient this time.

"Erm. Can you- Do you know- I don't know where this is going." Mr Matuschek stared blankly at James.

James put the paper in front of the owl's face and pointed at the ad, looking at him expectantly. Mr Matuschek looked back at James and tilted his head to the side. James offered Mr Matuschek a treat.

"Pretty please?" James pleaded with the owl, his expression close to desperate.

The owl took the treat from his hand and rolled his eyes before flying away. James sighed and flopped onto his bed heavily, still not sure if he had made the right choice.

August 14th

Dear friend,

I hope this finds you well. How has your summer been so far?

- A friend

August 16th

Dear Friend,

I was beginning to think I would never get a reply to my ad, so I can't tell you how happy I was to receive your letter.

I'm very well, thank you. And my summer has been great. It's drawing to a close though, and this time of year is always a bit sad. I'm excited to be going back to school, but I always miss my family – even my bat crazy sister.

How are you, friend? Has summer treated you well?

-A friend

August 17th

Dear Friend,

I actually saw your ad at the start of the summer it just took me

I take a while to compile my thoughts

My response was delayed due to

Why is this word thing so hard?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

You're lucky I never throw anything out. Haha. Ha

August 18th

Dear Friend,

You're lucky I never throw anything out or I may never have come across your ad.

I'm glad you had a good summer. It sounds like your family members made sure it was an interesting one.

I've had a great summer too. It's been good to spend time with my parents. It gets a bit lonely sometimes being an only child but I've always got friends to keep me company. Definitely looking forward to heading back to Hogwarts even it if means having to start school work again. Not that I don't enjoy school work. I'm quite good at school work. In some areas. In others not so much. But the teachers love me. Well, most of them do. Okay, some of them do. You know I think it's more my friends that they don't like. Horrible influences, all of them. I think I need to stop waffling now.

I hope you continue to enjoy your holiday. And that your friends are good influences.

Sincerely yours,

Waffling.

August 19th

Dear Friend,

Of course… lucky. So you didn't spend six weeks trying to think of a cucumber cool response?

Don't worry, I'm just messing with you.

They sure make it interesting alright. What's it like being an only child? When I was younger I sometimes wished I was an only child; my sister could be so annoying! It's funny; I always miss her so much when I'm at school but when I come home it's a completely different story. You know what they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder. Maybe if she found out she was adopted and went to live with her real family we'd become best friends. Very fond of each other from very, very far away.

You go to Hogwarts too? I was hoping I'd get a reply from a fellow Hogwarts student. I wonder if we know each other at school. Oh, what if we're friends? Maybe it'd be best not to know. Just in case we're mortal enemies. Haha. Besides, guessing will be half the fun!

Did you know that there is a famous wizard called Adalbert Waffling? He has a chocolate frog card, you might have seen it. It calls him the 'father of magical theory'. Sound anything like you?

-A Friend

August 21st

Dear friend,

I'm naturally this cool. You're obviously just jealous of how cucumber-y I can be.

Your sister sure does sound like a handful. I can definitely empathise with your feelings about absence. I have a friend I fight with on a daily basis about anything: school rules, homework, you name it, but the second we're not together I feel like maybe the fighting is worth it because at least we're together. Maybe I'm crazy. But then again I think all my friends are a bit crazy. It could be why we fit together so well. It's alright being an only child, mostly. I think it might have made me a bit spoiled though. Although a lot of the time I don't feel like an only child because my friends are like my brothers. Complete with bickering and annoying moments just like any real family.

You're right, I think it's better not knowing. This way we can build up our expectations and be disappointed when we finally meet. Haha. Well, you know what else they say? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Maybe if we are mortal enemies we may discover we're not all that different. Or one of us will discover the other's ultimate weakness and one will triumph over the other in a fiery battle of the ages. Either is equally likely.

Father of magical theory, huh? Sounds like a perfect description of me. But don't think you've gotten away scot-free, my friend. Now it's your turn. What do you think of animals? Something cute and fluffy. Rabbit, maybe? Squirrel? Pigeon? Choose your poison.

Unequivocally yours,

- Waffling