Title: Survival of the Fittest

Author: Marcielle's Musings

Previously In Survival of the Fittest:

"Don't cut it," said Baird from the doorway to the bathroom.

"Why not?" asked Harry in surprise, "It makes me look too much like a girl."

"No it doesn't. It makes you look how a powerful young wizard, like yourself, should look." said Baird before he turned to leave, "If you are going to revert it back at least keep it shoulder length so that it doesn't look like a birds nest."

Harry did like his hair when it wasn't flying all over the place so he decided that shoulder length would work for him and then began the long process of reverting it back.

In the end it took him three tries to get the length right and one time he had even ended up bald but now Harry was staring at his reflection in the mirror of the small bathroom.

I did it was all he could think.

Chapter 11: New Me or Shopping Spree?

As a child, Harry had never gone clothes shopping. He had always been given Dudley's castoffs or if he was lucky something that Aunt Petunia had bought for him out of the bargain bin. So when Harry walked into the largest shopping centre in London he couldn't help but gape.

There were so many things to buy.

Anything a person might need was for sale.

There was also three times the number of people than there ever was in Diagon Alley.

Harry didn't like crowds, even on a good day, so he quickly dodged in the heavy press of holiday shoppers until he reached one of the glass windows for a shop that sold woman's clothing. Putting his back to the glass Harry caught his breath and watched the shoppers for a few minutes as they pushed and shoved their way through.

"Are you ok?" said a voice coming from inside the shop that Harry was currently leaning against.

Harry's head whipped around and his hand went to the waistband at the back of his jeans where his wand was currently hidden until he stopped himself.

"I said are you ok?" asked the woman standing on the other side of the glass in concern.

"Um... yeah. I'm fine... you just shocked me that's all..." Harry answered back through the glass while trying to sound as convincing as possible.

He failed.

"Well you sure don't look it. You look like by boyfriend, Kyle. He hates crowds – claustrophobic you see. Why don't you come in here? It's a lot less crowded," continued the woman as she waved her hand in a 'come on in' motion.

Figuring that the woman was probably right, even if it was a woman's clothing store, Harry went inside.

"Come this way," said the woman he had been speaking to, "I'll get you a bottle of water from out the back."

Meanwhile as, who Harry assumed was one of the sales women, popped out to the back room, the female shoppers were all staring at Harry as if he was another life form from a distant planet.

Harry had a strong urge to hide himself in a clothes rack and understandably too; he had never been very good with talking to the opposite sex. It was like they spoke a completely different language and every time he tried to talk to them he would just clam up.

Harry was jolted out of his inner ramblings when the sales woman reappeared and passed him a chilled bottle of water.

"Thanks," mumbled Harry in appreciation as he cracked open the lid and swallowed a few hearty gulps.

"Oh, it's no problem," said the woman with a smile, "So what were you trying to shop for before the crowds became too much?"

"Clothes, I need a complete new wardrobe. I've grown out of everything I have..." Harry answered as he rubbed the back of his neck in an awkward manner.

It was if those had been the magic words because as soon as he said them half the women in the shop perked up as if they had just heard something exciting.

"Well then," continued the woman as if nothing was out of the ordinary, "my break is in seventeen minutes," she said with a glance at her watch, "how about I come help you? Give you a professional opinion and all that?"

Harry really didn't know what to think let alone what to say so in the end he just blurted out a nervous "sure".

"Ok then!" said the woman happily, "let me just finish up here and then we will go, ok?" and with that she went running off into the back room, leaving Harry in the store not knowing what to do.

In the end, he ended up leaning against the front counter fidgeting with his hands as he waited for the young sales woman.

As the twenty minute mark approached, Harry began to fidget more and more, wondering if the sales woman was going to come back or if she had just left him. But as he began to consider just leaving the shop and going clothes shopping by himself the woman burst through the door to the back room with her hair now up in a high pony-tail and her very large handbag swinging from her shoulder.

"Oh good, you're still here," said the sales woman with a relieved smile, "I was a little bit worried that you would have left without your fashion consultant," she said with a wink as she grabbed Harry's arm and looped it through hers.

The last thing she said before they were out the front doors to the shop was, "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

And it was...

At least for her it was...

The woman, whose name which Harry later learned was Lisa, was thoroughly enjoying herself at the expense of Harry's eternal suffering.

By four in the afternoon Harry and Lisa had been through six different stores and Lisa had made him try on everything that they had for sale until she found items that were 'suitable', 'OMG that looks amazing!' or 'hmmm, it's ok... but it's not great. Just put aside and we'll see in the end'.

Harry was about ready to go find Voldemort and beg at his feet, "PLEASE! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY LONGER! JUST KILL ME NOW AND SPARE ME THE AGONY!"

Harry was not quite at that level of desperation yet, but he was getting there.

His one saving grace was the fact that Lisa had said that this was the last store and after this he wouldn't have to go clothes shopping again until he grew some more.

That was almost enough to cause him to start weeping for joy at her feet.

Almost, but not quite.

He still had some dignity left. He wasn't sure where it was hiding right now after all of her poking and prodding but he was almost positive that it was still alive.

Maybe.

But anyway, back to the task at hand. Harry was currently in the dressing room of a very expensive looking men's clothing store trying on suit jackets. He thought he looked ridiculous in all of them and for once Lisa was agreeing with him.

"Ok, well that's the end of the slate grey ones... We'll just move on to the blacks now," said a frustrated Lisa when Harry finally emerged from the change room for her perusal.

So with that dismissal Harry was banished back to the dressing room to begin trying on the pile of black suit jackets that Lisa and the sceptical salesman had left for him.

Thus far, with Lisa's help he had bought twelve t-shirts, ten button up shirts with long sleeves and six with short sleeves, three pairs of beige trousers, four pairs of black trousers, three pairs of jeans in various cuts and washes, two brown belts, two black belts, a new pair of prescription glasses, two pairs of sunglasses and contacts, various undergarments – that had been mortifying!, three new pairs of shoes, and last but not least a black suit jacket.

Stepping out of the change room for what felt like the millionth time, Harry stood in front of Lisa waiting for either her approval or disapproval.

"Wow," was all she said before she turned to the salesman and asked, "Do you think you could tailor it around the waist?"

"Certainly," the salesman replied as he walked up to Harry and gestured for him to take off the jacket.

Rushing to do so, Harry slipped the jacket off of his shoulders and passed it to the man.

"Is that it?" Harry tiredly asked Lisa.

"That's it, Harry. All done now," she said with a smirk.

The evil, sadistic woman knew exactly how much pain this 'shopping spree' had caused him and he was pretty sure that she was revelling in it.

Harry couldn't decide who was more evil; Voldemort or Lisa.

In the end, Harry just ended up praying that they would never team up. He didn't think the world would survive it.

Meanwhile at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix...

Ron, Hermione and Ginny were relaxing upstairs in what was supposed to be Ron and Harry's room after a long day of trying to clean the living room when Hedwig landed on the windowsill and began pecking at the window.

"Look, it's Hedwig!" shouted Hermione as she scrambled up from her seat beside Ron on his bed and flew to the window.

After fumbling with the latch, Hermione finally got the window open and Hedwig soared inside and landed on the dresser.

"Is there a letter," Ron asked eagerly, "Is Harry ok?"

"She doesn't know yet Ron," said Ginny as she sat on Harry's bed, "For once in your life be patient."

As Hermione cautiously approached Hedwig, Ron and Ginny waited eagerly in anticipation to hear any possible news from Harry.

"Hello, Hedwig" Hermione cooed.

In response Hedwig fixed her beady golden eyes on Hermione and just stared down at the girl from her perch on the dresser.

Ignoring the stare, Hermione asked Hedwig, "Did Harry send us a letter?"

Hedwig just ruffled her snowy feathers and tucked her head under her wing to nap.

"So, is there a letter?" Ron asked.

"No," an aggravated Hermione answered, "There's no letter. There's nothing."

"Where could he possibly be?" shouted Ron

"What I'm more worried about is the fact that he didn't send a letter," said Hermione quietly as she slumped down on the bed and buried her head in her hands.

"I mean why did he have to run off? Was he attacked? Has Voldemort kidnapped him?" Hermione ranted.

"I'm sure he's fine," said Ginny reassuringly.

"But we don't KNOW THAT!" shouted Hermione, "No one tells us anything! He could be dead and we wouldn't even know it!" she shouted before she burst out in tears.

"There, there Herm. I'm sure he's fine, like Ginny said," said a nervous Ron as he tried to comfort Hermione with reassuring pats on the back.

He wasn't doing very well.

"Hey, Hermione," said Ginny

"Hmmm?" Hermione replied

"Why don't we try and send a message too Harry using Hedwig? She should be able to find him anywhere. Then we would know that he is at least safe,"

At this suggestion Hermione's mood visibly brightened.

"Good idea, Ginny. Let me just go get some parchment and a quill," said Hermione quickly and she rushed out of the room with tear streaks still on her face.

When Harry finally reached the Leaky Cauldron he was so relieved.

He could finally shrink all those bags of clothes!

It seemed like they weighed a ton... each, and there were at least twenty bags. And every single Muggle he had passed had just looked at him like he was insane.

One man had even come up to him and asked, "Why didn't you drive? Or even just catch a taxi?"

Harry was wondering that very same fact. Why the hell hadn't he caught a taxi or if he was feeling a little masochistic, the Knight Bus? But no... He felt the need to walk all the way back to the Leaky Cauldron without casting feather light charms on the bags or even shrinking charms.

It was moments like this that made Harry feel that Baird was justified in his opinion that Harry was particularly forgetful to the fact that he actually had magic unless he was attacked or he was specifically told to use magic.

Baird's exact words had been, "Why on earth do I keep you around when you can't even seem to remember that you are a wizard?" before he had stormed off down to the shop to take care of a customer.

Since then Harry had been trying to make himself use magic for everything, even the tiniest of things like tying his shoelaces.

Once inside the Leaky Cauldron Harry plonked his bags down on one of the spare tables and shrunk them until they were the size of matchboxes and slipped them in the pocket of his jeans.

Now that his hair was long enough to cover his scar, no one had recognised him, yet. But Harry knew that it would only be a matter of time. Long hair is a crappy disguise even by Harry's low standards. Harry was going to see if he could work on changing his eye colour and height next but this evening he planned on pulling out Slytherin's 'A History of Parseltongue' and beginning to read that.

After a good long nap on the couch first though.

So with those thoughts in mind, Harry passed through the barrier into Diagon Alley and began making his way to Obscurus Books.

As Harry walked through the front door to the shop a small bell went off and the customers who were still milling about in the shop turned to look at him before dismissing him and returning to their browsing.

"Ah, there you are boy!" said a voice from behind one of the bookshelves, a voice that sounded exactly like Baird.

Harry just groaned. He didn't have time for this! He just wanted to go upstairs to their apartment and become one with the couch and he rested his poor feet.

"Are you ignoring me?" asked Baird as he emerged from the book stacks with a raised eyebrow.

"No, Baird. I was just catching my breath," Harry sighed.

"Good," said Baird with a grin.

'Crap' thought Harry. He knew, he just knew that he wasn't going to get to sit down and rest his feet because every time Baird got that god-forsaken grin on his face Harry ended up having to do something for the old coot.

"Because I need you to watch the shop for me, for a second while I go fetch something for a customer," continued Baird with a smirk.

'Why do I even bother?' Harry thought sarcastically before answering, "Sure, let me just put my bags up in my room?"

"No, you can do that afterward. It will only take a moment," said Baird and then he was gone, out the door to the back staircase.

Harry just sighed and walked behind the counter, hoping that none of the customers would have questions about any of the books in the store because Harry didn't know that much about any of them.

"Hi, I would like to purchase this book," said a petite witch who appeared to be in her mid twenties. Although, knowing how wizards and witches age she could be fifty for all Harry knew.

'Crap," though Harry, 'Where's Baird when you need him?'

"Sure," said Harry as he forced down his inner panic and pulled on his Slytherin mask with what he hoped was a convincing smile. Glancing down at the book, Harry suddenly changed his mind because lying innocently on the counter in front of him was Gilderoy Lockhart's 'Voyages with Vampires'.

"Ms?" asked Harry hesitantly.

"Yes?" the witch replied with an inquisitive look, "Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem at all," said Harry reassuringly.

Harry knew that if he just blurted out that Lockhart was a fraud and that he didn't think the woman should by his books, then the witch would probably just leave the shop in disgust and then Baird would be angry at him for scaring away a customer so Harry decided to be sly about it.

"It's just that if you are looking for a good Defence Against the Dark Arts book, I know a much better one," Harry continued while trying to be as convincing as possible.

"You must be mistaken," said the witch, "There are no better books on Defence Against the Dark Arts than Gilderoy Lockhart's!"

"You are completely correct," said Harry with a smile, "But the book that I am talking about is just as useful as Lockhart's books but is almost half the price. You see, Lockhart was a genius of a writer but because of his fame, his books are now a little bit too pricy."

"That is why I'm telling you this little secret," Harry continued with a wink at the witch, "To help a beautiful witch like you, get the information she needs but at an affordable price."

The woman was blushing at the attention, "Um... well. Ok, if you insist." She responded with a nervous smile.

"Alright then, just this way," said Harry as he walked back around the counter and began leading the witch to the Defence Against the Dark Arts aisle.

"Just so you know," said the witch who was still blushing a little bit.

"The book is for my fiancé. It's his birthday next week and he works in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement so I wanted to get him something useful," said the witch as she puffed up in pride when she began speaking about her fiancé.

"Well he must be a very lucky man to have such a beautiful witch as his fiancé," said Harry with a smile at the once again blushing witch before going back to his search.

"Aha, here it is!" Harry said triumphantly as he reached up to the top shelf and grabbed the defence book that had been assigned during Harry's third year at Hogwarts.

"And you're sure it's just as good as Gilderoy Lockhart's?" the witch asked dubiously.

"Positive," said Harry with a grin, "I guarantee your fiancé will love it."

"If you're sure, then I'll have it," said the woman with a smile in return.

"Then I'll go ring it up for you," said Harry.

When the woman was gone, happily walking out of the shop with a wave at Harry, Baird mysteriously appeared as if he had sensed that Harry no longer needed him.

"Thanks for all the help back there, Harry muttered sarcastically to Baird as he walked past him to give a book to one of the wizards in the Transfiguration aisle.

"You're welcome, my young apprentice," said Baird with a smirk when he returned, "it's good to see you demonstrating that you have some potential after all."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry asked, slightly offended.

He thought that he had handled the situation perfectly. He had convinced the woman to believe that not buying Lockhart's book was the right decision. Wasn't that a good thing?

"It was excellent," said Baird with a pat on Harry's back. "I just wish you would act that confident and suave all the time. When you put on what you call your 'Slytherin Mask' I see you transform into a young man with the world at his fingertips and who is ready to take it."

"Oh," said Harry.

He was confused. Baird had just called his manipulative Slytherin mask a good thing?

"But isn't it wrong to manipulate people like that?" Harry asked.

"Let me ask you something," said Baird as he began closing up the shop and setting up the night wards.

"Did you convince that woman not to buy Lockhart's trash of a book?" asked Baird.

"Yes," replied Harry hesitantly from his seat on the counter with his legs swinging back and forth.

"Was that woman flattered by your compliments?" asked Baird with a smirk.

"Yes"

"Now was she pleased when she was leaving?" Baird asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes" replied Harry resignedly. He could see where Baird was going with this.

"Now do you see? This is any salesperson's job. This is what I do and this is what you will do," said Baird with finality.

"But it's wrong!" yelled Harry.

"No it is NOT, boy!" Baird yelled back.

Harry just sat stunned on the counter. Baird had never raised his voice in the time that he had known him. He had never yelled at Harry but something he had said must have set the man off.

"Everyone manipulates," Baird continued, "Some just do it better than others. In the Wizarding world that makes you a Slytherin and in the Muggle world that makes you a Conman. You need to learn to embrace who you are and make the most of it."

Then Baird started to walk towards Harry with a scowl on his face.

"I've said this before, kid. You have so much potential in there," Baird solemnly said as he pointed to Harry's forehead, "I just don't want to see you waste it."

"I understand," said Harry with a serious nod.

"Good!" said Baird cheerfully.

Harry's eyes widened at Baird's sudden mood swing and then it dawned on him. The old coot had just manipulated him! Harry couldn't force himself to be mad with Baird because he had just been demonstrating exactly what he had been trying to say...

"Why you old manipulative coot!" Harry yelled as he leaped off the checkout counter to follow Baird to the back staircase.

"Guilty as charged!" said Baird with a grin as they climbed the stairs to the apartment they shared, "Now let's have some dinner."

Harry just sighed. He was never going to get to sit down let alone put his shopping bags away at this rate. Baird would never let him have a moment's peace... but for some reason that was ok with him because for once in his life he felt like he was on the right path.

A/N: Yay, the good bit is slowly coming closer and closer! I hoped you all liked this chapter of Survival of the Fittest. So click the review button and tell me what you thought!

-Marcielle-