Hand-Me-Down Clothes: Chapter Seven
Shopping, a Handkerchief and a Family
Later that same day it came upon Albus Dumbledore the idea to go shopping immediately and rid Harry of all those particularly nasty remnants of the Dursleys which might serve as an unpleasant memory to the boy. So it was that as the clock struck twelve o'clock in its deep resounding bass, Dumbledore, Harry and McGonagall made use of the floo network and arrived noisily in the Leaky Cauldron.
The shopping expedition had sparked much discussion, with the result that Harry and his adult companions were to brave the muggle world, instead of the magical, to postpone the inevitable questions and possible dangers that came with his Boy-Who-Lived status.
Hence the reason Harry was wearing one of Professor Flitwick's cloaks with the hood drawn up and why, beneath their outer cloaks, Dumbledore and McGonagall wore muggle clothes, with some discomfit it is to be noted. For extra precautions, Dumbledore had turned his silver white beard a dirty grey, wore owlish glasses and adopted a bumbling, nervous attitude, had cast the Disillusionment charm on Harry and convinced his colleague to grow warts.
It was with much relief, when they exited the Leaky Cauldron (without being recognised as the normally stately and respectable people they were) that Minerva McGonagall rid herself of warts and grotty cloak and stood, respectable again, in plain brown skirt, muggle blouse and jacket. Albus Dumbledore, somewhat less enthusiastic to cease playacting continued to amuse Harry by pretending to be unable to see more than a few feet ahead and asking the 'young master' if he knew where the nearest library was to be found.
After the Disillusionment charm had been lifted from Harry, and he and Mr Dumbledore had also discarded themselves of disguise and wizard cloaks (discreetly shrunk and placed in one of Dumbledore's endless pockets). Dumbledore, dressed in the suit Mrs Figg had conjured for him, only now a deep purple with matching heeled boots and silver buckles, took Harry's hand and with McGonagall holding Harry's other, set off in search of children's clothing.
It was to be an eventful day.
The first shop they went into was Boots, looking big and friendly as it did, however it didn't sell clothes, and by the time Mr Dumbledore had gone up and down the escalators thirteen times, both Harry and Minerva McGonagall were sick of the place and dragged him from it forcibly.
Mothercare, Harry insisted was for babies only, and then they spent half an hour in a fancy dress shop which had caught Mr Dumbledore's fancy, trying on moustaches, false noses, a witches hat from which hung straggly green hair (particularly funny on Mrs McGonagall) and alien masks.
Success came in Woolworths, a shop they popped into for the absolutely amazing array of sweets that were on show in tiered boxes, where they spotted some socks. They bought Harry some multicoloured stripy ones, a superman pair and several hardwearing sporty ones. Dumbledore bought some that said, 'I'm as cheesy as my feet' and, 'sock fetish' whilst Mrs McGonagall consented to some that declared she was a 'Cute Kitty ', which made Dumbledore laugh delightedly.
Next they discovered Marks and Spencers, though Mrs McGonagall, expecting the doors to open automatically like they had in Woolworths caused a stir when she walked straight into them.
'Are you all right, Mrs McGonagall?' asked Harry, worriedly taking her arm and guiding her through the actual automatic door.
'I'm fine, Harry,' assured Minerva, glaring at Albus Dumbledore whose lips were twitching suspiciously.
They found the children's department without further incident, and clutching their stripy bags of muggle sweets and bag of socks, began to browse, with no real idea of where to begin. The shop itself was fairly full, but not crowded, which was good as both of the adults made constant references to the magical world as well as pointing out perfectly ordinary things like security tags.
'How on earth do they expect you to know what will fit you?' asked Mrs McGonagall irritably. 'There's no measuring being done!'
'The sizes are on the tags,' said Harry, showing her the label "Age 6-7", on a pair of trousers.
'Magic is by far easier!' muttered that lady, examining the label suspiciously.
'What about this, Harry?' called Dumbledore, lifting a shirt with ruffles from its post.
'Um,' said Harry, hating it but not sure how to say so without being insulting, should he try and like everything they liked?
'Albus, it's hideous, for Merlin's sake, Harry's not wearing anything like that! Have you no taste?' said Mrs McGonagall, askance. Then she glanced his clothes over and said out of the side of her mouth to Harry, 'Silly question.' Harry giggled and then quickly covered his mouth, blushing as Mr Dumbledore pouted and returned the shirt on its hanger back to the post.
'Where do we start?' asked Dumbledore of them both, rejoining them.
'Underwear,' said McGonagall practically, she glanced around. 'There,' she pointed out a rail of pants, socks and vests for little boys, and started across leaving both the males to follow.
Harry was a little embarrassed at having to buy underwear, and kept carefully behind Mr Dumbledore hoping that he wouldn't have to try them on or anything. Mrs McGonagall had picked up a pair of white pants and a pair of small cotton boxer shorts, and was regarding them looking little confused, seeing Mr Dumbledore, she thrust them at him, and said acerbically:
'Here, this is more your department.'
'Hmm,' said Dumbledore, tugging his long white beard, which had already drawn many glances today, he bounced down to sit upon his heels in front of Harry.
'Boxers or briefs, Harry?' he asked, holding forth a pair of each.
'Um,' said Harry, all of a sudden feeling very shy.
'Which do you normally wear?' said Dumbledore, smiling so kindly that Harry felt much less embarrassed and pointed out the briefs.
'Right,' said Mr Dumbledore, in a businesslike manner, winking at Harry. 'Age 7'.
Together they found ten pairs of pants that would fit Harry (age 6-7, as 7-8 looked far to big when they held them against the child), in several different colours and patterns, leaving both child and man supremely satisfied with their efforts. Mrs McGonagall, who had been wandering the rows of hangers came back and reminded them about vests and so they picked several vests out too, and then some more socks, because Harry said he liked the pair with Dennis the Menace on and Dumbledore insisted he have them.
Next they migrated towards the pyjamas and picked out for Harry a pair of green bottoms with a top that had a royal blue chest and green sleeves, a red pair that had a huge lion roaring on the front with its mane actually fluffy to the touch, and a black pair that had a florescent skeleton stuck on the front which would glow in the dark.
Feeling much more confident the three of them moved onto shirts and tee shirts, of which there was a huge variety that momentarily overwhelmed them, luckily a sales assistant approached with a smile, to offer her help.
'Good Afternoon, may I help you?' she said, smiling at Harry, who promptly hid behind Mr Dumbledore.
'Any help would be most welcome,' said Dumbledore, smiling at the woman, whose name badge read 'Sue'.
'What were you looking for?' she asked politely.
'Everything,' responded Minerva dryly, 'but at this moment tops, shirts.'
'Well, although summer is just ending it's still quite warm, so might I suggest some tee shirts and then some warmer, long sleeved shirts for later on in the autumn,' said the sales lady, who had quite obviously done this many a time before.
'Tee shirts,' said Dumbledore slowly, as if he wasn't quite sure what they were.
'They're these,' said Harry, grinning, tugging the corner of a white one with the motif 'surfing dude'.
'Is it Granddad's first shopping trip?' asked the sales lady, winking at Harry, knowingly.
'No,' said McGonagall briskly. 'We're the boy's new guardians.'
Harry's face fell, the Dursleys had made a point of calling him, 'the Boy', and he had secretly been hoping that his dream of a family of sorts would come true, and that Mr Dumbledore would be his Grandfather.
'Are we?' said Dumbledore, regarding his deputy with an quizzical expression, Mrs McGonagall avoided his gaze and tugged on the edge of her coat. The sales lady looked surprised and then sad, casting Harry a pitying look and looking sympathetic as she murmured her condolences.
Poor Harry didn't have a clue what was going on, but felt a little guilty about making the sales lady sad, Mrs McGonagall snapped at Dumbledore.
'Yes, of course,' without specifying what she was confirming, or agreeing with.
'We are the only family Harry has left,' said Dumbledore aside to the sales lady, though it seemed somehow as if he was talking pointedly to McGonagall.
'The Dursleys were my guardians too,' said Harry, quietly and it was made crystal clear to Minerva McGonagall that to Harry, guardians were something bad, associated with unhappiness, unworthiness, quickly bending she took Harry's hand and said:
'Then we shall be your family, and you shall be ours,' she smiled, that gentle, almost shy smile, as if she didn't do it very often, that softened the hard, taut angles of her features and made her face warm and loving.
'I've always wanted a Grandson,' said Mr Dumbledore, reaching down to clasp a hand comfortingly upon Harry's shoulder.
Harry took a great deep breath and felt that he was breathing in the happiness, it was pouring golden down his throat, threading it's way right to his little toes, like drinking hot chocolate on a winters evening, which he had once been able to do at Mrs Figg's. Feeling like he might cry with joy and at the same time terrified he might loose this new found feeling of belonging, and of being wanted, Harry flung his arms around Mrs McGonagall's neck and tried not to cry.
The sales lady began to sob, and Dumbledore gave her his handkerchief which she used to vigorously blow her nose in, making great snotty blowing noises. Seven year old Harry relinquished his strangle hold on Minerva and watched curiously, Mrs McGonagall wrinkled her nose in disgust and Dumbledore looked politely concerned.
'Oh, it's - just - so…. Snuffle sad, I - snort - oh I - ohh!' the lady wailed. A colleague of hers came across and took her around the shoulders, apologising to Dumbledore profusely, and walking 'Sue' away.
'I'm sure it's nothing a cup of tea won't cure,' said Dumbledore, 'please, there's no need to apologise.'
'Get well soon,' said Harry, holding Mrs McGonagall's hand and provoking a fresh wave of crying from the besieged saleslady.
'Give the Gentleman his handkerchief back, Sue, there's the girl, wipe your eyes now, I'm sure everything will be fine,' murmured the new lady, now holding Dumbledore's handkerchief. She turned to hand it back and was surprised to find herself holding the edge of something the size of a tablecloth, one that still had the initials 'AD' on one corner.
'I get very bad hay fever,' explained Mr Dumbledore nonchalantly, taking it back and quickly tucking it away out of sight, with only minimal difficulty considering the fact that fully half of it lay upon the floor like wilted wallpaper.
'Oh,' she said, blinking slowly, 'but-'
'I believe your colleague is in desperate need of that tea,' suggested Dumbledore, looking concerned.
'Oh yes, of course, yes. Ah, did you want any assistance?'
'No, that's fine,' said Mrs McGonagall firmly. 'We'll manage on our own.'
When the stricken lady and her friend had gone a sufficient distance, both Dumbledore and McGonagall turned to stare at Harry piercingly, almost accusingly.
'Um.. What?' asked Harry, bewildered, he didn't think he'd done anything wrong.
'The Handkerchief, Harry,' said Mrs McGonagall looking over the rim of her glasses at him.
'It's in Mr Dumbledore's pocket,' said Harry.
'You didn't do anything?' asked Dumbledore gently, but he didn't look stern, in fact he was smiling gently.
'No!' cried Harry, now looking panicky.
'You're not in trouble Harry. It's very common for magical children to unknowingly use spontaneous magic,' reassured Dumbledore, eyes twinkling merrily, 'You just gave us a bit of a surprise, that is all.'
'I didn't do any magic!' protested Harry, they looked at him silently. 'Did I?'
Both adults literally beamed at him, and Minerva McGonagall bent down and hugged him briefly, much to Harry's pleasure.
'Come,' said Dumbledore, congenially, 'let us purchase what we have and then have some lunch, my tummy is chewing its tail!'
'Tummies have tails?' asked Harry looking intrigued, as they approached the till.
'Intestines,' said Dumbledore, helping Minerva place the pants, socks and vests upon the desk. 'Good Morning Sir,' he smiled at the cashier, who returned the greeting warily, having seen his colleague 'Sue' reduced to tears a little earlier by the odd group.
'In test lines of what?' asked Harry, whose head did not reach the desk and who hated looking at the wooden side.
'No, intestines,' corrected Dumbledore, leaning down and swinging Harry easily up onto the desktop. 'They are a part of your body, and they start at the bottom of your tummy.'
'What do they do?' asked Harry, who was an inquisitive little boy on the whole, he kicked his legs and enjoyed the view as the till beeped away behind him.
'They digest food,' said Mr Dumbledore, giving the nervous man some muggle money.
'Which is what we are about to do,' said Minerva McGonagall, 'and then we must buy you some new glasses before we resume buying clothes.'
'We're going to digest some food?' said Harry.
'We'll put into our mouths first,' said Dumbledore, swinging Harry onto his back.
'Albus! You'll break your back!' exclaimed Minerva in alarm picking up their newly acquired clothing in bags.
'Nonsense!' cried Albus, giving Harry a bounce, 'the boy doesn't weigh a thing!'
'Then it will go down into our throats,' added Harry, with some relish, 'and into our tummies!'
'If we can find somewhere to eat,' murmured Minerva McGonagall, regarding the busy street they had just stepped out onto.
'MacDonalds!' cried Harry, pointing past Albus' head, over the heads of everyone else in the street (Albus was a very tall man), at a large yellow "M".
'I've heard about MacDonalds,' said Albus, looking enthusiastic.
'So have I,' said Minerva McGonagall, looking entirely unenthusiastic.
The queue was rather long, but as Dumbledore delightedly explained to Minerva, it wouldn't actually be very long till they were served, because it was known as 'fast food' for the fast service, to which Minerva added: and for the greasy, unhealthy foods. They reached a compromise, they would acquire some 'fast food' to 'take away' and eat in the large and beautiful Hyde park. Harry hungrily ordered a cheeseburger and coca cola with his Happy Meal, whilst Minerva grimaced and reluctantly bought a Chicken sandwich meal, with tea as her drink (something she would later regret). Albus spent much time asking questions, and annoying the people behind him, before finally ordering a Big Mac meal with a strawberry milkshake, with their food tucked securely in hands the three of them sped away to the verdant lands of Hyde Park, where seated in the shade of a gnarled oak they whiled away an hour.
'Albus, really! Harry does not need more socks! We are looking for trousers!' said Minerva McGonagall sharply.
'A man can never have too many clothes, especially not socks,' disagreed Albus, who was currently holding a pair made by Adidas that claimed to make you run faster due to the pressure points employed by the reinforced toes, heel and arch.
'Oh yes he can,' retorted Minerva, nodding her head at Harry who had just come out from the changing room wearing a pair of Maine jeans and was listening interestedly. 'Remember Professor Wax? Poor Earl, he went to borrow one of your fancy shoelaces and didn't come back for two weeks!'
Albus made a vague noise and waved her comments away, they were now in Debenhams, a large many storied department store, selling everything from saucepans to perfumes, holidays to clothes.
Harry laughed at them, and did a 360 degree whirl at Mrs McGonagall's imperial hand gesture, (she had been demanding the same of him for a while now, and Mr Dumbledore seemed to approve of Harry's whirling, and so he whirled, rather liking the unusual amount of attention this warranted).
'What does Adidas stand for, Harry?' asked Mr Dumbledore, raising one long bushy white brow in query.
'All Day I Dream About Socks,' said Harry, grinning. 'Actually, I don't know, but that sounds funny.'
'It sounds appropriate,' said Minerva McGonagall, critically tugging at the waistband of the jeans. 'There's no way you will stay this skinny whilst you are at Hogwarts, Harry. We shall have to remember to buy you trousers with room for growth!'
'We have yet to go shopping for wizard robes,' pointed out Mr Dumbledore who was sat cross legged on the floor eating a mushroom sweet from his striped bag.
'More clothes?' gaped Harry, regarding the pile beside a nearby stool.
'Not today,' said Mrs McGonagall, for some reason finding his face amusing, Harry glanced at Mr Dumbledore cautiously.
'Are we going …home soon then?'
'We have to, the shops are closing on us,' said McGonagall.
'We've managed: underwear, pyjamas, socks-'
'Plenty of socks,' interrupted Minerva, looking in one bag that was full of them.
'Shirts, tee shirts, trousers. One pair of glasses with a new prescription, a pair of trainers and some Wellingtons!' continued Albus Dumbledore. 'Not bad really, for one afternoon.'
'One long afternoon,' emphasised Minerva, resting on the stool and wondering why she seemed to be aching far more than Albus.
'What do you think, Harry?' asked Dumbledore holding out his hands to the boy with messy black hair and a hesitant smile.
'I think it's been great,' said Harry, smiling, he took the unspoken invitation and sat in Mr Dumbledore's lap where he was enfolded within the kind old man's arms, hiding his head by burying it in the purple suited arm, he added: 'Granddad.'
Mr Dumbledore's only response was to tighten his arms and murmur his agreement with the little boy's assessment of the day.
With a tired but admittedly happy sigh, Minerva McGonagall joined them on the floor, bending with a cat like grace, smoothing Harry's hair affectionately, and leaning comfortably against Albus (now bravely adopted Granddad), she said:
'I don't think I've ever had such a lovely day, thank you Harry, Albus,' and bent to kiss Harry's forehead from where it had perked up to reveal emerald eyes, wide with the novelty of feeling nurtured, loved even.
With a deep chuckle that reverberated in his chest against Harry's ear, Albus Dumbledore removed one of his arms and placed it around his age old friend Minerva McGonagall. He hugged her warmly to him and the small boy whose life had been so changed by the events of two days ago, and who in turn had forever changed the lives and warmed the hearts of those two loving individuals that embraced him now.
Author's Notes
I know that this chapter doesn't involve much 'drama', that is, not a lot happens, but this fic is more about the exploration of how characters would react in certain situations, rather than a 'Harry adventure' fic featuring evil Wizards and dark! Harry etc. Well, I sound like I'm justifying myself, but I'm just explaining, because I really want all my reviewers to enjoy this fic… well if you have criticism (constructive obviously by far the more popular with me than destructive), please do leave it in a review, for I take great pleasure in reading each and everyone of them.
Ah, don't worry, it won't all be so soppy, they'll be an incident with a certain potions master next chapter, which will be great fun to write! (I've planned you see, I'm full of ideas at half past midnight.) This fic will not be continuing for all of Harry's years, just his settling in, maybe I could do sequels, but I won't think about it now.)
Review Thanks! B***y hell, I got 88 reviews for this chapter! I don't thank you enough do I? However, what with so many, I may have missed some of you out, and I apologise fervently, I mean no offence, I'm very grateful for any reviews received, and genuinely want to thank all of you for your support!
Lots of you asked me to update, and many appeared to think I had meant not to continue at all with this fic after OotP, which wasn't the case, I just meant a period of adjustment, and people being busy with the book itself, and not fan fiction.
So many of you said that you 'loved it', thought it 'fun', 'cute' and even tearful at some points, that I will just give everyone a great big cyber hug for making such sweet comments, and yes I value even the ones that just said 'I love it!'.
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