Chloe smiled, forcing the corners of her lips up. "Seven eighty-two, sir," she said cheerfully. It was Monday and Chloe wasn't feeling even remotely cheerful, but it was part of her job to smile at each customer.

In front of her, a man who couldn't be more than forty pulled out his wallet and bent his head to look into it.

Ah, thought Chloe. There's the bald spot.

Chloe could tell a lot about a person by what they bought from the grocery store. Her last customer, a twentysomething with red-rimmed eyes and greasy blonde hair, had bought ten containers of hot chocolate mix and three extremely soft blankets; Chloe knew that meant she was hosting a break-up-pity-party soon. This customer was currently rifling through his wallet to purchase hair-growth cream that Chloe suspected didn't work.

He handed her his credit card and she scanned it through, charging it for the hair-growth cream. She handed the plastic rectangle back to him. "Have a nice day, sir!" she said cheerily as he walked away.

Her next customer was a boy about her age. Built, no doubt from playing some type of sport, he had warm brown eyes, black hair that was mussed up in the back, and wore a smirk as he placed a box of flavoured condoms onto the counter.

Chloe shook her head slightly and sighed, scanning the box. "Six fourteen, sir," she said.

"What's your favourite flavour?" asked the boy as he pulled out his wallet.

Chloe raised her eyebrow. "Watermelon," she replied smoothly. "What's yours?"

The boy laughed, his smirk still in place. "I wouldn't know," he replied as he handed her his credit card.

"Hmm," said Chloe uninterestedly. The manager, Dustin, walked by, glaring at her. She immediately grinned cheerfully, swiping the card through the scanner. "Have a great day, sir!"

The boy laughed. "You too, sweets." He turned around and started to walk away. Then he stopped. He turned. He walked back to Chloe's checkout counter. "When do you get off?"

"Past your bedtime, love," she replied.

The boy's gaze slipped to her nametag. "Chloe," he said simply. "You're name is Chloe."

"Indeed it is," replied Chloe. "Now, I have customers waiting, so if you could just..."

The boy looked behind him to see an old woman behind him. Other than the elderly lady, the line was empty. "Well," he said to Chloe. "Okay then." He ripped open the package of condoms and pulled out a watermelon-flavoured one. "Could I borrow a pen?" he asked, grabbing a Sharpie from the counter before Chloe could say otherwise. He scribbled some words onto the condom and handed it and the Sharpie to her.

Chloe was too mortified to look at him. She stared at the old woman behind James, who was looking on at the scene without interest.

"See you next week, Chloe," said the boy's voice next to her, and Chloe heard his footsteps reduce in loudness, marking his leave. When she was certain he was gone, and after she'd rung up the old woman (a package of Depends, extra large), she looked down at the red condom.

JAMES POTTER, read the boy's black scrawl. Scribbled next to it was an address in Godric's Hollow, where Chloe herself lived. She groaned. If he ever found out she lived in the same district at him, she would never be left alone. She shoved the condom away into her apron pocket just as Tessa, the girl taking the next shift, arrived at the counter, apron in hand.

Tessa rasied her eyebrow at Chloe's sudden movement, but said nothing, snapping her gum loudly and obnoxiously. Chloe removed her apron and, careful to watch for any particularly handsome raven-haired boys, rode her bike home, the watermelon-flavoured condom still in the pocket.

Hey! I realize that this prologue was rather boringly written, but I promise I'll do my best to make it more interesting in the actual chapters. Also, those will be much longer, I hope.

Reviews are better than watermelon! ;)

Love,

Clash.