Harry walked nervously down El Camino de la Ropa. He had the feeling that everyone who looked at him knew what he had in the little shopping bag. He felt that he had 'guilty' written all over his face. He felt that everyone's eyes could penetrate his brain and read what he was thinking. He had to get away from these crowds. He had to get back to Ginny.
Harry couldn't use the potion while they were still in the Wizarich District. Jeremy Titan was a muggle. It would be too suspicious. So Harry had another idea of where he'd like to take Ginny. He just needed Charlie to go along with it. And, he needed Ron and Hermione to go along with it too, but Harry thought that since were probably a couple by now, they wouldn't mind being left alone.
Harry was also going to need a new set of clothes to wear while he was Jeremy. He turned into the designer Wugmump Royale's shop on the main street. It looked very expensive, but a sign on the window said "New arrivals! Muggle Influenced Designs!" Harry thought this store was destiny.
The shop was the exact opposite of the ones on La Mort Street. It was bright and cheerful. Nothing was broken. The employees were good looking.
Harry shopped around for a while, admiring the clothes and the people. He tried on leather pants in the dressing room, though that was pointless, he thought, because they were not supposed to fit Harry. But he was curious as to how his butt looked in leather. It looked pretty good. I mean, after the shock of wearing leather wore off. He decided to get a few sizes too big because he wanted to be absolutely positive that he could fit inside them.
"Are you sure you want to buy that size? I think it is a little big for you. Not that you are small, but your behind would show up better in a little tighter fit." Said a very helpful blonde store clerk named Gwendolyn as Harry approached the check out.
"No, I think I want the baggy look." Harry said.
"Oh no you don't! None of the magical designers are showing baggy pants this season. That is strictly a muggle look! And even they don't wear baggy leather!" Gwendolyn said, trying to sound sweet and helpful, even though she was truly appalled that a boy would want to buy those!
"Well, I still think this the size that I want."
She was fighting back tears as she rang up the pants. Harry also bought a blue buttoned up shirt. He though the blue would look nice with Jeremy's eyes. He didn't think he would need shoes.
Just as Gwendolyn was about to hand Harry over the bag of purchases, she shrieked, "Oh my conscience won't sit if you buy these! Please, let me use some of my personal magic on them! I can charm them to fit around your backside. Or fit around anyone who puts them on! A Resizing charm! It's very complicated; I only just learned it, but Oh for the love of Gucci, please let me charm your pants!" Gwendolyn was urgently pleading with Harry.
Harry couldn't speak for a minute. Her words could be taken way out of context. And in Harry's teenage boy mind, he was giggling like mad. But Gwendolyn was a recent fashion school graduate and her youthful ideals just wouldn't let her allow a costumer to walk out with horrible baggy leather pants. They just wouldn't work! The fashion police would arrest him for making a public felony before he took three unfashionable steps!
Harry had to regain control of his adolescent mind before answering. "Yeah, that would be great. You can charm them if you want."
"Oh thank you!" She said, pulling a wand out from a desk drawer. She muttered, "Flatteranus!" and the leather glittered for a second before fading back to normal.
Harry was proud of his purchases. He now that pants that he could wear while he was Jeremy and while he was himself incase Ginny showed any signs of liking the bad boy leather look he was going to try to pull off. After all, there is no sense in dropping that sort of bling for just one hour's wear.
Harry ran into Ginny and Charlie as he was leaving Wugmump's. They were just window shopping along the El Camino de la Ropa. Neither of them had the mega-money required for the stores on this street.
"Harry!" Ginny called when she saw him exit the store; she had been looking at the display of formal dresses on dancing mannequins.
"Hi Ginny." Harry said quietly. He didn't know what to say, or how to act around her.
"Harry, I'm glad to see you again. You didn't make any purchases, did you?" Charlie asked meaningfully.
"I bought something personal." Harry said, averting his eyes to avoid Charlie's judging stare.
"Can I see it?" Ginny asked.
"No. Or at least, not yet." Harry said, this time looking directly into Ginny's beautiful eyes. Ginny liked it when Harry looked at her; it meant that she got to see those famous bright green eyes. She had always been fascinated with his eyes ever since she heard the story of baby Harry Potter when she was a little girl. She didn't understand why he hid them beneath glasses. She had heard of the muggle cure for four-eyedness, contact lenses, and she was sure that wizards could do better than that.
Anyway, back to Harry and Ginny, staring at each others eyes. Harry was looking lovingly in Ginny's, but Ginny only stared back with fascination.
Harry broke the connection because he thought that he was being obvious. He was also getting impatient. He wanted to drink the potion as soon as possible.
Ron and Hermione stumbled around the corner. They were outside Wugmump Royale's about five seconds later.
"We've been looking everywhere for you guys!" Hermione said, breathlessly.
"Oh I'm so sure." Ginny said, teasingly.
"No, really, we um, tried very hard to find you as soon as possible." Hermione said, trying to sound truthful.
"So, are you two together finally?" Ginny asked.
"HELL YEAH!" Ron shouted.
"Hey, what happened to the gentleman?" Hermione said, with her hands on her hips.
"I said that I only did that around you." Ron said defensively.
They spent a very pleasant afternoon doing real shopping. Ginny found some great bargains with help from Hermione's sixth sense. Hermione certainly was going to need that extra suitcase she brought to fit all the things she acquired.
They passed back through the barrier; you only had to say a password ("I'm Clothes-minded!") to get back to the Sugar High candy store.
It took them a very long time to find the car. Not that a blue Volvo wagon was a common car, quite the opposite, most Volvos in LA were the new sporty kind.
"Charlie, do you think we could go back to the beach for a little bit? I'd like to cool off after such a long day." Harry asked as they piled in the car. This time Ginny had called shotty. Harry was stuck in the backseat, shoved to the side by Ron and Hermione who couldn't keep their hands off each other.
"Sounds like a fine idea, Harry. Hey, knock it off you two!" Charlie said. Hermione and Ron pulled apart instantly. Hermione would have felt embarrassed if Ron could have stopped looking so darn gorgeous for one second! They spent the rest of the car ride stealing kisses whenever Charlie was busy yelling at some annoying pedestrian. Harry and Ginny stared determinedly out the windows, not wanting to witness Ron and Hermione's displays of affection.
They drove west and were very soon sitting in the sand, staring at the sun as it dropped closer and closer to the blue horizon.
Ginny and Charlie left the group to take a walk on the beach. Ron, Harry and Hermione remained seated. It was a magnificent sunset. Really; it was quite picturesque.
"Harry, we don't want you to feel weird or left out because Ron and I are together. Your friendship matters to us, and well, if we seem distant, I want you to let us know." Hermione said as they sat looking out at the waves.
Harry was startled to her Hermione speak. His mind was completely elsewhere. He had been staring out at the waves in the fading light, thinking of Ginny, of course.
"Thanks guys. I'm sure it won't be a problem. You two just do what makes you happy." Harry said honestly. He had been worried about things changing between the three of them. He was worried that he would feel like third wheel. That he didn't belong with the two of them anymore. Hermione's words were reassuring, even if they were just words.
They sat in the dusk in silence. Harry was still lost in his thoughts; Ron and Hermione became lost in each other. Harry looked over at them and realized that it was time for him to go.
"Guys, I think I'm going to try to find a restroom and then maybe catch up with Ginny and Charlie." Harry said, standing up, grabbing his bags of purchases.
Ron looked up at Harry. He could tell something wasn't right. "Do you want us to come?"
"No. I'll be fine." Harry said.
"Harry, are you feeling alright. You've been real spacey lately. Is it because of Hermione and me?" Ron asked.
"No. Nothings wrong. I'm just preoccupied."
Ginny was walking along the shore with Charlie.
"So, Ginny, why didn't you want to stay with Harry, Ron and Hermione? I mean, I'm honored that you're walking with me, I just want to be sure that everything is ok with you guys." Charlie asked
"Oh no, we're fine. I just wanted to give Harry, Ron, and Hermione some time alone together, to be a group of three again. You know, they are really close friends, and I thought that Ron and Hermione would want to make sure Harry was not angry at them for getting together. I sometimes feel like a tag along when I'm with them." Ginny explained. She always over-thought situations like this. Her mind wandered sometimes to the point where she was convinced that other people were annoyed with her all the time. It was like she sometimes found herself irritating, and so she thought that others did too.
"Well, that was very thoughtful of you, but I don't think it was necessary." Charlie said, "I know for a fact that your company is never unwanted, no matter how close they are with each other. You matter, too. In fact, now that Harry is like a third wheel, you might be very helpful. He'll probably need a friend to hang around with when Ron and Hermione go on dates."
"I would love to help Harry, but I don't think I can always do that for him. I've got a boyfriend, too. When we go back to school, Dean will want to spend more time with me. Plus I want to spend time with my school friends. And Harry's never gone out of his way to be my friend, well I mean except for my first year." Ginny found that it felt good to talk about her feelings. Better than keeping her thoughts and emotions all mixed up inside.
"What happened in your first year of school?"
"Well, a diary was controlling me, and it nearly killed me. Harry fought a snake and a spirit and saved me."
"Whoa. How old was he?" Charlie asked, amazed.
"Twelve, I think." Ginny said, looking out at the waves, thinking about how big of a crush she had had on Harry back then.
"Ginny, do this for him. Not all the time, and when you get back to England, I don't know what you should do because I don't know your life. But while you are in California, I think you would both feel better if you had each other to talk to. It would stop both of you from feeling like tag-alongs, and it would give Ron and Hermione, a chance, to um, just be together more." Charlie explained.
He hoped that if Ginny was nice to Harry, then Harry might confess to her about his feelings. Charlie hoped that what Harry was planning to do wouldn't ruin everything for him and Ginny. But, hey, if Harry could save someone's life at age twelve, maybe he did know what he was doing.
"Charlie, you are so right. We have to go back to Harry right now! I'll ask him to come surfing with me or something. Do you know, I could have sworn I saw Silas, our surf coach, back at the Wizarich district? I would have said something, but he isn't a wizard, so how could he have been there? He used to give me the creeps. He always seemed suspicious." Ginny said.
"Huh, we'll have to look into that one I guess." Charlie said.
Charlie turned to walk back along the beach with her. He wanted to make sure that Ron and Hermione were acting responsibly now that Harry had no doubt left them alone.
Ginny was walking quickly; she really wanted to help Harry. She thought that her desire to make sure Harry was happy must be lingering feelings of concern left over from her four year obsession. She felt she owed it her former self to be there for Harry.
But just as her thoughts were filling up with Harry Potter, guess who Ginny should see walking towards her on the beach? The moving figure was tall, the figure was a man, and the man was wearing…leather pants?! But Ginny was only fazed by that for about two and half seconds…