Chapter 21 – Splurge

Harry woke up in his new bedroom at Potter Manor feeling like he'd had the best sleep in years. He picked up his glasses and thought about what the weather was like outside and no sooner had the thought formed in his mind, the curtains started opening revealing the rolling fields and country side beyond that were sunny and it looked like it was going to be a really nice day weather wise and warm.

Harry got out of bed and made his way into the bathroom where he started the bathtub running and after checking the temperature jumped into the bath and had a good soak and a wash.

He got out of the bath and dried himself with one of the towels from the pile next to the bath and made his way into the walk in wardrobe where he found that Beatrice had propped his trunk at one end on a seat near the mirrors and Harry picked the trunk up and opened it before setting it on its side and going into the trunk to get the few clothes he had in there to put them in his new wardrobe at Potter Manor.

Harry grabbed a white t-shirt with a red stripe that ran all the way down the t-shirt over the breast pocket and he pulled on a baggy pair of cargo trousers and a pair of trainers. He looked himself in the mirror and decided that he looked alright.

He left his suite and made his way downstairs to the kitchen where he found Hermione sat at the island in the kitchen that had stool along one edge talking with Beatrice and Paul as they went about making breakfast.

"Good Morning everyone."

"Morning Harry, sleep well?" Hermione asked

"Like a log. You?"

"Yes, I did sleep very well. I didn't dream or anything just slept right through." Hermione replied as she took a cup and began making Harry his cup of tea just the way he liked it. Strong, no sugar and a small splash of milk just to change the color. It wasn't Hermione's taste as it made it looked like dish water in her opinion but Harry liked it. She handed the cup to Harry and he thanked her as he picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet that was next to him on the counter and started reading it while taking a big noisy slurp of tea that caused Hermione to tell him not to slurp.

Beatrice watched the exchange and began roaring with laughter to the point where tears were actually streaming down her face. Paul was facing away from them at the hob and his shoulders were rising and falling as he chuckled heartedly to himself.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked as Beatrice calmed herself down and Paul had brought two plates of poached eggs on toast, asparagus and hollandaise sauce over and put them in front of Harry and Hermione.

"Sorry Harry. It's just funny as we used to see that exact same thing every morning for twelve years with your Mum and Dad. You're both even sat in the same seats. It's just funny as it brings back happy memories of them both and it's nice to see that you two share the same bond." Paul replied as he handed Harry his plate.

This caused Harry and Hermione to avoid each other's gaze while blushing.

"What's your plans for today then you two?" Beatrice asked them.

"Well the Ball is tomorrow and I really need to go to get my gown sorted and Harry needs some new dress robes as well as were being presented to the rest of the Wizengamot and some members of the ICW. Oh stop groaning Harry, this is just something that we have to do unfortunately after being named Heirs' to the Hogwarts founders." Hermione said before taking a sip of her tea.

"I know but it's just going to be so boring and such a stuffy atmosphere." Harry replied as he took a mouthful of his breakfast.

"You never know Harry you might actually enjoy yourself. I remember Sirius had to attend a function held by the Wizengamot after he was made Lord Black and he used to come home very drunk and merry." Paul said.

"So after you've been shopping what do you plan on doing for the rest of the day?" asked Beatrice.

"Well I think I need to do some clothes shopping as my wardrobe is looking a little barren and I'm going to need to get some things from some muggle shops as I've got Madam Malkin making me quite a few clothes that I can wear in the wizarding world." Harry answered.

Hermione perked up at the sound of a shopping trip and agreed that she would need some clothes as well but she'd put them in her trunk and take them home later.

"We should probably go to the ministry as well and get here, the Raven's Nest and Badger's Nook added to the floo network as well while we're in London don't you think?" Hermione asked as she tucked into her breakfast as they started making plans.

After breakfast and after Hermione had argued Harry out of driving into London in order to get to Diagon Alley they apparated to the apparition point next to the Leaky Cauldron and looking around made there way along Diagon Alley to Madam Malkins. As they walked along they kept getting stopped and congratulated by other shoppers who asked for photos and autographs.

Further down the street they saw Ron and Neville having a similar situation happen and the people around them got even more excited when they saw Harry and Hermione show up. Noticing the crowd was swelling the longer they stood there forced Hermione into prefect mode.

"Excuse me everyone!" she called getting instance silence from the crowd. "We're really sorry, but the four of us have got a very important appointment that we must attend and we can't afford to be late."

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Sorry everyone but we've got to run, but if you want to know the full story of what happened last year we'll be doing an interview very soon about what happened and you'll be able to read all about it there." This caused Harry and Hermione to look at Ron as he'd not written to them about sorting the interview out as they hadn't heard from Ron in three days since they had left Muriel's.

They made their way into Madam Malkins who shut the shop and pulled the blinds down so that the crowd of people outside couldn't see in to the shop.

"Well I see you four are as popular as ever." Madam Malkin said as she showed them into the shop proper.

"Sorry about that it's a bit crazy out there and we're sorry that were proving such a distraction for you." Harry apologized.

"Not at all Mr. Potter. If anything the four of you being seen coming in here will be good for business if nothing else. Now I assume that you've all come to collect your orders and to finalize your outfits for tonight?" Madam Malkin asked getting nods from the four of them.

"Right well, Alicia why don't you take Miss Granger and Mr. Longbottom back there so that they can try on their outfits for tonight and you can make any alterations required, while I show Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley the clothes they've ordered?" Madam Malkin suggested as Neville and Hermione went through the curtain into the back of the shop with Alicia.

"So Mr. Weasley this rack here is everything we've made for you so far." Madam Malkin said as she pulled out a rail from the wall where a suit carrier was hanging and the bar shot out of the wall to show that there were about eighty more suit carriers on the rail.

"Wow I'll never be able to carry all of that home." Ron said as he moved towards it and started looking through the items.

"Not to worry Mr. Weasley we'll get them delivered to a place of your choice for you and you'll have them there by the time you get home unless your apparating of course." Madam Malkin replied.

"Ah great. Could you deliver them to this address?" Ron asked as he handed over a business card to Madam Malkin who took the card off him.

"Salamander House…. I've never heard of that." she commented.

"It's my new home. It was originally Salazar Slytherin's house. I've only moved in recently." Ron replied as he went back to looking at the clothes.

"What you've already been up there?" Harry asked.

"Yeah I went with Ginny and George a couple of days ago."

"I thought you were at the Quidditch try outs for Brixton and that's why you couldn't come with Hermione and me?"

"They got postponed and moved to next week instead."

"Well why didn't you say something and we'd have come with you?" Harry asked surprised that Ron would have gone and not told them.

"I only found out after you'd left and I didn't know where you were going and wouldn't have been able to track you down." Ron answered defensively.

"You could have just sent an owl and we would have come back."

"Seriously Harry what's the big deal? You and Hermione, I assume, found the places you were looking for and I killed some time and found what I'd got from Slytherin."

"Ron, it just would have been nice if we'd done it together. We've been through enough bad stuff with each other over the years, it just would have been nice to share something good with each other you know?" Harry asked seeing the realization of what he had done dawn on Ron's face.

"You're right... I'm sorry. I just thought it would be good to go and find something for myself you know. Everything we ever do is normally you and Hermione figuring it out and I just come along for the ride. I just wanted something just for me I suppose." Ron answered.

Harry felt bad as he felt like he had attacked Ron for not coming with them but maybe that was just guilt about how much he had enjoyed spending time alone with Hermione or something.

"I'm sorry Ron, I shouldn't have started up on you like that. You've every right to do things on your own. You missed out though. The Raven's Nest is brilliant and near Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and Potter Manor is the best thing I've ever seen and I can't wait to show it to you. What's Salamander House like?"

Ron then proceeded to excitedly tell Harry all about Slytherin's house and what it was like and what they'd found there. It sounded a lot like the Raven's Nest from the description Ron gave.

They made their way through the clothes that Madam Malkin had made for them both so far and Harry was happy to see that they'd made him a nice selection of clothes from every day suits, smart suits, dress robes, casual robes, work robes along with belts, shoes, boots and coats.

They were both impressed with the variety and the difference in the clothes and thanked Madam Malkin for them. Harry was happy to see that Madam Malkin and Alicia had tried to incorporate the Peverell, Black, Potter and Ravenclaw element into the clothes and cufflinks and things. Just little details that made them very individual.

They both paid with a beseecher slip before Neville and Hermione came out carrying a suit carrier each with their outfit for that night and Alicia called Harry and Ron into the back with her so that they could try on their outfits.

Ron was up first and went into the changing room to try his outfit on and when he came out of the changing room and stood on the dress stool in front of the mirrors that surrounded him in a five panel semi-circular mirror.

Ron's outfit for the evening was a pair of black shoes that had silver snakes that interlocked forming a buckle that tightened the shoes closed. He wore a pair of formal trousers that had an emerald green and silver pinstripe in them. Then there was a white dress shirt with a high collar that had a silver cravat held in place with a silver snake pin that had two small emeralds for eyes.

Over the shirt was an emerald green waistcoat that had a silver snake slithering around Ron's torso and kept popping in and out of view as over the shirt and waist coat Ron had a long three quarter length black Edward style jacket that was edged in a dark green snake skin along the lapels and cuffs of the jacket and the material on the inside of the coat was a shiny green.

"Wow that looks bad ass Ron!" Harry exclaimed causing Ron to grin. "Seriously good work there Alicia. You really do have a flair for this."

"Thanks Harry." Alicia replied beaming. "Here this is yours and it might be a bit more difficult to put on than your used to so if you need a help let me know." she gave a suit carrier and then a wink and then turned to Ron and started talking to Ron about how it felt and the length etc. as Harry went behind the curtain and started getting undressed.

Harry managed to get everything out of the suit carrier and put the black trousers with a thick royal blue stripe running down the leg. They were very comfortable but he was unsure about them as they felt more like leggings than trousers as they were very tight and Harry was sure that you'd be able to see his package quite easily looking at him.

He put the royal blue shirt on that looked like royal blue mercury as the light danced off it. The shirt had cufflinks with it that turned out to be miniature Ravenclaw emblems on a small bronze shield that contrasted with the shirt color well. He also had a black cravat that was held in place with a raven pin the same bronze as the cufflinks.

The trouble came when Harry tried to put on what he thought was a jacket but it was made up of cloth and straps he didn't know what he was doing with it. He called out for Alicia and said that he couldn't figure out how to put the jacket on.

Alicia came into the changing room with Harry and helped him put the jacket on, did up the straps and then started shifting things about into place to make them look better. Harry started feeling a little uncomfortable as Alicia went onto her knees in front of him and started adjusting the cloth hanging near his privates and couldn't resist sneaking looks at her cleavage as she worked and Harry was sure that she caught him looking a couple of times but didn't say anything.

She worked her way around him and as she was behind him she felt Alicia squat down on her haunches and said that she was just going to check the alignment over everything from behind and as Harry stood staring at the curtain Alicia slowly ran her hands up both of his legs from the top of his boots, up his thighs and onto his bum which she gave a firm squeeze causing Harry to jump and gasp.

"I've been wanting to do that ever since our first Quidditch game together and I saw you getting changed." Alicia whispered in his ear before giving it another squeeze before letting go and quickly walking around him to open the curtain for Harry to step out, which Harry didn't want to do as he was hard as a board thanks to what Alicia had just done.

Ron turned from the mirrors where he was still checking himself out and turned to look at Harry.

"Bloody hell mate you look amazing." Ron said as Harry stepped out more confidently as Ron hadn't commented on his engorged state.

Ron got off the stool and went back into the changing room to change into his other clothes and Harry stepped up on it to find that the jacket that he was wearing wasn't a normal jacket and was more a series of parts of a jacket that was fastened together by three leather straps with bronze buckles.

The jacket itself was made up of lower and upper piece of black material that was black and had sheen on it like a raven's feather and the middle piece of cloth between the black was made of the same bronze as the pin and provided a contrast to the blue and black while tying the whole outfit together.

The collar of the jacket came up high and wouldn't have looked out of place on a Dracula outfit but it worked well with this outfit as there over one shoulder a small royal blue half cape was coming out of the bronze fabric layer of the jacket and over his shoulder and coming to rest just below his buttocks and from the bottom of the jacket was a piece of royal blue fabric edged in bronze that hung down to Harry's knees that was covering his privates.

"I love it. I look half rock star and half medieval knight." Harry commented grinning "Although I reckon I'll have trouble putting this jacket on by myself as the material is really loose and flappy.

"No you'll be alright." Alicia replied as she pointed her wand at the jacket and the jacket tighten up so that every looked the same but less flimsy and the material pieces joined together to make the jacket more normal and stitched together.

Alicia came up behind Harry as Ron entered the dressing room to change out of his outfit and whispered "I just made it half-finished so that you'd have to call me into the dressing room with you. Next time I'll have to do something similar with you pants." as she squeezed his bum again and laughed stepping off the stool just as Ron came out in his normal clothes carrying the suit carrier.

"Right then my Lord Weasley please come this way if you're happy with your outfit." Alicia said giving him an exaggerated bow and leading him back into the shop and giving Harry another wink as the curtain closed behind him. Harry went back into the changing room and got back into his clothes and put the outfit back in its carrier and joined the others in the main shop.

Harry paid for his outfit and thanked both Madam Malkin and Alicia for all of their efforts and asked whether they would permit them to apparate from the shop just in case there was a big crowd outside again. Madam Malkin said that it was fine and Harry and the others all joined hands and Harry apparated them all out of the shop to the back of Weasley Wizard Wheezes so that they could have a chat in private before going their separate ways.

"So what's the plan for later then?" Harry asked the group.

"Dunno but I'd rather us all go in together rather than me getting there and having to wait for the rest of you on my own." Neville said to which the others agreed that this wouldn't be preferable.

"Well I'm getting ready at Potter Manor and was going to use the portkey they provided with my invitation and it said that the arrival time for that would be seven o'clock. Did you lot get portkeys?" Harry asked to which they all nodded.

"Mine is scheduled to get there for five to seven." Hermione said.

"Ten to Seven." Ron confirmed.

"Quarter to Seven." Neville said "I'm not getting there before the rest of you and standing around for five minutes on my own like a loser."

"Tell you what we can all meet at Potter Manor if you want and then use the same portkey and get there at seven o'clock. I'm going to the ministry from here to have Raven's Nest and Potter Manor connected to the floo network and then I'm going into muggle London to do some shopping. I can ask for Badger's Nook and Salamander House to be added on as well if you two fancy spending some time together." Harry said.

Hermione perked up at Harry's thoughtfulness and Ron agreed that it would be very kind of him to do so. Neville told Harry he'd floo over to Potter Manor at six o'clock and asked Harry to let him know if there was a problem with the floo connection and he'd apparate there instead.

Ron said that he'd have to duck back home before he came but he'd floo over there for six as well and Hermione said that she'd be back well before then, so that she had plenty of time to get ready. Harry said he'd see them later and apparated.

Harry appeared at the toilets he and Ron had used to gain entrance into the ministry and flushed himself into the ministry. He knew that this wasn't the visit entrance and it was a staff entrance but had no alternative as he didn't have any of the coins Mr. Weasley had used to gain entry via the visitor's entrance.

As Harry appeared in the fireplace in the foyer he saw that all the floo exits were now funneled to two lines for visitors and staff. Harry queued up with everyone else and noted that people were trying to look at him without staring. This was a nice change of pace for Harry.

As Harry got to the front of the queue the security wizard stood there asked him to enter his name in a book and as Harry wrote Harry Potter the other titles he had instantly appeared in his hand writing along the rest of the line. He entered his reason for being at the ministry and the security guard asked for his wand for it to be registered he took his wand out of the wand holster and handed it to the security guard to place the wand in a glass tube next to the book that had a gold cap on it and closed the cap and the glass had a really bright light came from the tube before stopping.

Harry saw next to his name and reason for attending a new line of text had come up saying "Wand = Holly eleven inches, registered to Harry James Potter-Black-Peverell-Ravenclaw, Wand Core = Phoenix tail feather (traces of Thestral hair)."

The security guard gave Harry his wand back along with a visitor's badge and directed Harry towards the lifts. Harry got in the lift and the lift shot off as soon as the doors were closed.

Harry found the right department and was happy to find that there was no queue and went to the counter and spoke to the witch there about connecting the houses to the floo network, which after the witch had checked with her supervisor for what felt like an eternity came back and confirmed that they had been done so and apologized for the delay but they'd had to go back a long time to find when the floos were last connected and where exactly they were.

Harry paid the ten thousand gallons to get them permanently connected to the network and while he was there also made enquiries about his properties in Germany and Greece to the network but he had to submit an application for that and was told that they would need to contact the respective ministry's in those countries and that the German property should be alright as the German's were very proficient but the Greek property might take a lot longer to connect.

Harry left the ministry and made his way into muggle London to do some muggle clothes shopping and found that it was quite nice to walk around without everyone turning to look at him or come and ask him for autographs.

Harry found a store called Selfridges in that he found catered to everything that he would need clothes wise from trainers and shoes to suits and casual clothes. As Harry was looking around he was approached by a good looking brunette girl around his age, wearing a little too much make up as her lips were as red as a traffic light.

She introduced herself as a staff member and personal shopper and asked what he was looking for. Her eyes lit up when Harry told her that he had to get an entire wardrobe from underwear to shoes, hats etc. He positively cracked a huge smile after he told her that it didn't really matter what it cost as he didn't have a budget.

For the next three hours the girl whose name turned out to be Abbey, took him around the store buying everything from underwear to watches and jewelry to suits and hats. The sheer number of clothes that they picked up was quite staggering and Harry didn't know if he would be able to carry all the bags on his own. After paying with the muggle bank card Griphook had given him for his muggle account Harry was in need of something to eat and Abbey told him that she was taking her lunch and would show him the food court if he liked.

They left his items in a storeroom behind one of the tills and Abbey led him to the shops food court and asked what he fancied to eat. Harry said he didn't mind and she could choose and he'd pay for it as she'd been so helpful to him. She took him to a restaurant in the store called The Corner, which she told him she'd always wanted to eat in but hadn't.

Harry ordered a fizzy drink made with something called Elderflower that Abbey said was nice. It was quite floral in taste but Harry quite liked it as it was subtle in flavor. To eat Harry had a starter of Smoked duck bean and nut salad and for his main he had Roast loin of venison, wild mushroom and black truffle polenta, crispy celeriac, parmesan and meat juices and they both had a chocolate tart with orange segments.

It was one of the nicest meals he had eaten in a while and Abbey was good company but very inquisitive about where he got his money from, if he was famous, where he lived, what he'd done with his life. Thankfully Harry was always able to steer the conversation back to Abbey as she had no problem talking about her life. She reminded him a lot of Lavender Brown.

After lunch Harry and Abbey made their way back downstairs and Harry collected his items and as he was leaving Abbey gave him a kiss on the cheek to his surprise and slid a business card with her personal telephone number on for him in case he ever wanted to hang out or if he planned another shopping trip.

Harry struggling with all the bags took them into a bathroom cubicle with him and called for Hamish. The house elf appeared with a loud pop and said hello. Harry asked him to take the clothes to Potter Manor for him and the elf clicked his fingers and with a pop he and the bags were gone.

Harry checked his new watch and saw that it was two o'clock and he still had four hours to kill before the others were going to be at Potter Manor. He had a walk through London just having a look around as he's never really had the time to just go exploring and see the sights and as he was walking along something caught his eye.

Harry approached the glass and looked through the window at the four cars that were there where a silver one really took his fancy as it looked like a cross between a jet fighter and a car. Harry pushed the glass door open and the salesman immediately got up from behind the desk and gave Harry the once over.

Harry looked down at himself and felt a bit more confident than he would have done before his shopping trip as he looked a lot smarter and had had a complete make over. He was wearing a pair of brown leather boots, over a pair of smart black jeans, a light blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up a pair of aviator sunglasses.

The man saw Harry's clothes and that they all looked designer and assumed that he must be the latest young signing for one of the football teams in London. He got up and went over and shook Harry's hand and welcomed him and they went and looked at the car that had caught Harry's eye.

AN- Thanks Goldzar for getting this sorted.