Disclaimer! I don't own Harry Potter and I'm not getting anything but my own satisfaction out of writing this! Please don't sue me!
Chapter 2 – 7 King St
Dumbledore arrived at the Dursley residence at 10:00 the next morning. Confused, Harry had asked if he had heard the time wrong, thinking that it had been noon. Dumbledore assured Harry that he had had the time correctly, but Dumbledore wanted to check the Harry's room and fix it up a bit before the two left for good.
It took a full hour for Dumbledore to inspect and fix the room. He insisted that the Dursley's deserved to have their room left in fine shape. The brewing of potions was harsh on wood walls, part of the reason that the course was taken in the Hogwarts dungeons, and many of the wooden support beams in Harry's room were now rotting. Dumbledore made short work of that problem. Harry made short work of vanishing his simmering potions, though it was done hesitantly. Harry asked if they could leave then, but Dumbledore firmly stated that the Dursley's at least needed to know that he was leaving. Harry reluctantly consented.
The two made sure that all of Harry's possessions were packed before exiting the room for the last time. They waited downstairs and Harry turned on the television. There was a muggle movie on, Planet of the Apes. Dumbledore seemed to know it and Harry watched for a while before the opening of the front door announced the return of the Dursley's, well, at least one of them.
Petunia walked into the house carrying two sacks of groceries labeled Tesco. She walked into the kitchen and began to put the groceries away before a polite cough by Dumbledore announced their presence.
Petunia turned around, very startled, and even let out a small yelp at the Headmaster's presence.
Harry spoke up, "It's alright Aunt Petunia. I just wanted to tell you that I'm leaving. I don't know if I'll ever be back. I don't believe I'll ever have fond memories of this place, but thank you for taking me in. Try to take care of yourself, and tell Uncle Vernon and Dudley good-bye for me."
Petunia's face turned ashen and she could only nod at the announcement. In one fell swoop she was free of the one thing she hated most, but now she was also fearful, for with his leaving the spell that protected them from more of his kind would disappear too. It was bit of a catch 22, but one that she was willing to accept.
That done Dumbledore asked Petunia if he could borrow the newspaper. She told him he could. He pulled out his wand and muttered, "Portus." Harry knew what that meant and took hold of the newspaper as it activated.
A familiar tugging sensation behind the navel announced the start of the transport. Harry and Dumbledore popped out of existence in the view of Petunia Dursley and she reflected on how it was an appropriate way for the boy to finally disappear from her life.
Harry crashed to the ground upon landing, feeling rather nauseous.
"Where are we?" asked Harry slowly getting off the ground.
"We are at the new Order Headquarters. With the events of last year it was decided that the security of 12 Grimmauld had been compromised. We relocated here. Many of the same spells are in place, but I believe you will find it a more cheerful environment. Now I need you to read this." Harry took the paper knowing exactly what to expect.
The Order of the Phoenix Headquarters is located at 7 King Street, London.
The same miracle that accompanied the discovery of Grimmauld place happened here. Between number 6 and 8 a house popped into existence, and Harry immediately noticed the differences. This headquarters was more of a mansion than anything else. It was four stories tall and used bright colors in its decoration patterns. Harry stood, shell shocked at the difference, for a good fifteen seconds before Dumbledore coughed.
"It is unfortunate on a day such as this, but it is necessary that we do go inside Harry."
"Uhh, right Headmaster," Harry said as he followed Dumbledore up the three steps to the front door.
Dumbledore inserted a key into the lock and turned it first to the right, and then back to the left. The door swung open for them and Harry's jaw dropped a little further. A short hallway led to an immense two-story tall entrance hall. But that wasn't the impressive part. In the middle of the entrance hall was a beautiful golden spiral staircase leading up to the third floor. The staircase was wide enough for three people side by side to walk up comfortably, though Harry imagined you could fit four.
Harry then noticed that there were doors at the back and both sides of this room as well. They were all opened at the time. To his left was the dining hall, or so Harry assumed by the enormous square table. Behind the staircase Harry could see the doors open up to rows of books, a library then. To his right he saw comfortable furniture and a large fireplace, Harry guessed it was the living room.
"Sir, what is this place?"
"Ah, I was wondering if you would ask that," Dumbledore answered with a twinkle in his eye. "This, Harry, is the official Potter Residence. As your temporary guardian I was able to acquire it for temporary use to the Order, but I was hoping that you would allow us to continue to use it, as it does belong to you. I had meant to ask you immediately, but it was only very recently that we have begun using it, and I'm afraid it slipped my mind."
"This," Harry began, "This is where my family lived?"
"Yes, that would be correct."
The house immediately became a goldmine, and Harry couldn't wait to get started exploring the place.
Dumbledore could tell that Harry was about to run off, and so asked him again politely if the Order could continue to use the residence as their headquarters.
"Of course Headmaster, it won't be a problem at all, especially if I get to stay here!" A smile lit Harry's face and Albus Dumbledore smiled as well. Upon seeing that smile any remaining worries he had about Harry Potter were banished. In that smile was a true happiness, happiness on the scale of his first finding out that he was a wizard, upon first seeing Hogwarts.
"Well," Dumbledore began, "now that that is done we can move onto other pleasant matters. REMUS!" Dumbledore yelled up the staircase. "Remus we have a new inhabitant!" It was only a few seconds before a familiar face popped up at the top of the staircase.
Harry's smile went wider.
"Harry!" Remus called. "You are here to stay?"
"Yep," Harry laughed in response. "I'm here to stay Remus. No more Dursley's. How wonderful is that?!"
Remus bounded down the stairs and engulfed Harry in a hug. "Welcome home Harry. I suppose
Dumbledore told you what this place was?"
Harry nodded in answer.
"Well then I will take the liberty of showing you around."
Dumbledore stopped them. "Before you go Remus, I have one more thing to ask Harry here."
"Yes Headmaster?"
"I want you to continue your studies here. If you don't mind I will be setting up a rather rigorous training regimen for you this summer?"
Harry smiled, work was something he wanted to do. "I would be very happy to be busy this summer." As Dumbledore turned to leave Harry stopped him. "Thank you once again Headmaster. You have no idea this," Harry gestured around, "means to me."
Dumbledore didn't say a thing, but smiled at Harry, who smiled back before walking out the front door and off to whoever knows what important business. Harry reflected he had been smiling a lot that day. Perhaps that was a good thing.
"Come on! This place has loads of great things I want to show you!" Remus called to Harry. Harry turned and ran after Remus whose age Harry noticed seem to dwindle away as he showed Harry the house which turned out to be bigger than Harry even though it would be, and grander. The entire first floor was with vaulted ceilings and so actually extended up through the second floor space, with the exception of the kitchens. Remus showed him the entrance to and the rooms for the house elves quarters, which were directly above the kitchens.
Huge windows with Maroon drapes decorated the outer walls of the dining room, living room, and library. The dining room table was a giant square with a square cut out of the middle. Remus told him that this was fairly customary because the house elves would appear in the middle and then serve the family and/or guests from there so that they were not reaching around the diners.
The library was large, but not nearly as large as Hogwarts. Remus told him that the Black Family Library was moved here as well, but that was being stored upstairs. Harry browsed some of the titles noting that they are mostly on charms and transfiguration. "Hermione would love this place I'm sure," Harry told Remus.
"I think so too Harry," came the reply with a smile.
The living room came with the biggest surprise however, for across the gigantic fireplace was the Potter Family tapestry. It chronicled hundreds of years of the Potter family back to the age of the founders. George Potter was the first on the list and he was followed by George II and George III. Throughout the family history it was common to see marriage to muggles and non-purebloods. Harry was also pleased to see that he was not related to the Malfoys in any way except for a branch off about 700 years ago. There was a more recent connection with the Weasley's though. Arthur Weasley was Harry's 5th cousin once removed.
"And they never told me," complained Harry laughing.
"You dolt," said Remus hitting him lightly on the back of his head.
"Hey!" Harry protested. "What was that for?!"
"Because – Umph" Remus never got to finish his statement because Harry tackled him laughing. The two wrestled on the ground for five minutes before they were both to tired to continue.
"You know Remus," Harry started, "this is the most fun I've ever had during summer vacation."
Remus and Harry laid there for another five minutes, Remus contemplating what Harry had just told him, and Harry happy to finally be home.
After he felt sufficiently rested Remus asked, "So you want to see the rest of the house?"
"Of course," came the smiling reply.
Remus groaned as he got up off the floor muttering a, "I'm getting too old for all this horsing around."
"No you're not Remus, you'll never get too old for that," answered a still smiling Harry who skipped up the stairs and waited for Remus at the top.
Remus then explained that the room they were currently in was a sitting room, just to lounge around in and relax. To Harry's right there extend a hallway. Remus led him down it first and showed him the four guest bedrooms, including the one he was currently using. Each bedroom was the size of the Gryffindor common room and decorated in much the same colors, and each had its own private bath.
After Harry was told that Remus was the only one using any of the guest rooms at the moment he was lead back to the sitting room and to the north into what Remus called the entertainment room.
Inside was a piano, "Your mother was an excellent pianist," Remus told him, a billiards table, a television, and a music system including a muggle radio.
"Your mother wanted to preserve some of her muggle heritage here and so got James to make this a sort of muggle room."
Harry determined that this room was his favorite so far, as he saw his mother imprinted all over it. In fact, there were several pictures of her and his father on the walls. And there was one painting of his father when he was younger, younger than Harry at the moment. Harry was fairly captivated by the painting and was somewhat disappointed when he found that it was a typical muggle painting, the figure could not move and talk. James had never imprinted his image into it Remus explained.
Remus showed Harry how the piano worked and played a short piece he called, "Ode to Joy."
"It's the only thing I know how to play honestly," Remus said, "your mother taught me. It is very simple." Harry extracted the promise that Remus would teach it to him sometime, before he allowed Remus to lead him to the next room –
- the master bedroom. It, like the rooms on the first floor, had a vaulted ceiling at two stories high. A grand four-poster, canopy bed sat against the front wall of the house. There were a number of dressers and armoires along the inside wall, and an ornate, old fashioned couch sat under large windows along the outside wall of the house. A private bath was attached to the back of the bedroom along with two closets. The windows that lined the east wall were currently only slightly opened, due to the drapes.
"This is where you will be staying of course," Remus said.
"Why?" Harry asked. He had never seen a bedroom this large; let alone lived in one.
"Well that should be obvious," started Remus. "This is the master bedroom, and you are the master of this house. The last remaining Potter." It was strange to say those words. Remus had met three generations of Potters and now there was only one left, not even only one generation, only one Potter.
Harry seemed to take in the meaning of those words too and stopped for a second before agreeing that he would take the room, "however unnecessarily large it is."
Finally, Remus led Harry up to the last floor of the Potter residence. They arrived once again in a sitting room. Remus again led Harry down a hallway to the right and showed Harry the two storage rooms where the Black family library was currently being stored, and two more guest bedrooms that were down that way. After finishing that, he led Harry back to the sitting room and towards the front of the house.
There, behind some doors was a Potions laboratory. A few cauldrons were simmering and Remus told Harry that Professor Snape, he chose to use the title there, was working on the Wolfsbane potion and Veritaserum for the Order. Harry felt guilty about his recent misuse of cheering potions when Remus told him that as long as he doesn't disturb any of the potions that are being made by Severus, he could use the room to practice his own potion making skills.
"There is only one more thing to show you," said Remus as he led Harry back out into the sitting room and towards the back of the house. Harry soon saw what it was as Remus opened two large glass doors and stepped out onto a balcony that gave Harry an excellent view of the city out that way. Remus pointed out that they were only about a half-kilometer away from the Leaky Cauldron and a large muggle shopping area, but warned Harry about going out without telling anyone.
Harry agreed that he wouldn't.
The two spent the rest of the day lounging around and talking about Harry's parents. Harry admitted his surprise that there were no secret passages here, and Remus says, "that, no doubt, is because this house was not designed by your father. I imagine that if he had built it, one would never be able to get around the house without knowing all sorts of passwords and the like."
That had brought what was to be the thirtieth smile to Harry's face that day.
.:oOoOoOoOo:.
Harry woke the next morning warm and content and with no headache. Looking up a maroon canopy greeted him. A moment of shock went through him as he wondered where he was, but just as suddenly the shock went away and it was replaced with security. He was home, truly home.
He rolled out of bed and saw that there was a pair of slippers that looked pretty warm at his side. He put them on and went to the bathroom where he quickly turned the water to hot. It was instantly scalding, and Harry had to turn the temperature down before he could slip in. While in the shower he contemplated the recent events in his life. He recalled Dumbledore's words from yesterday about being trained, and he couldn't wait to get started. He briefly wondered if he would start that day.
Harry quickly finished his shower and dried himself off with the towel on the rack before pulling on his wizarding robes, which were much nicer than his muggle clothes. After dressing he headed downstairs via the grand staircase and into the dining room.
"Harry Potter Sir!" came the squealed greeting and Harry had to look down to see the house elf that was currently squeezing his legs. "Dobby is come to take care of Master Harry's house sir! Are you being hungry sir?"
"Yes actually," Harry replied, still wondering when Dobby had arrived at the house. He hadn't seen the house elf yesterday during the tour, and he imagined that the house elf would not have wanted to miss him.
Instantly the place nearest Harry was full of food, much more than Harry could eat, but he didn't voice this.
"Thanks Dobby."
"Oh Harry Potter is a great wizard sir, thanking Dobby like Dobby is a friend!"
With that Dobby popped off to only Merlin knows where and Harry began to eat. The entrance of Remus and Dumbledore into the dining hall interrupted his meal.
"Ah, Harry, just the person I wanted to talk to," Dumbledore greeted him. "I have taken the liberty of setting up a schedule for you so that you may study over the summer with competent instructors." Harry noticed the slight emphasis on competent. "I just want to have your input. I have spoken with Nymphadora –" Harry grinned and imagined Tonks' face as Dumbledore used her hated first name " - and she has agreed to come and help you with Defense Against the Dark Arts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at 10:00. After that at 11:00 I am available to come and help you with your Occlumency. It is still imperative that you master this. I will also be able to help you understand wizarding culture and your place in it. At noon you would break for lunch and at 1:00 if you feel it is necessary Remus here has agreed to help you with any spells you are having difficulty with."
At this point Remus interjected, "I can also help you look up spells that have a desired effect and help you practice them if you would like, or we can do some physical conditioning."
Harry nodded and Dumbledore continued.
"On Tuesday and Thursday I am available at 10:00 to come and duel with you. I believe that this is a very good opportunity for both you and myself and I do hope that you agree to it. At 11:00 Poppy, excuse me, Madam Pomfrey, is available to come and teach you some basic medimagic. She will also be able to heal any injuries we may suffer while dueling. Again at noon you would break for lunch, and you would pick up again at 1:00 with Remus here who will be able to assist you in potions."
Harry was a little apprehensive about the idea of dueling with Dumbledore on every Tuesday and Thursday, but quickly agreed to the schedule.
"Excellent," Dumbledore said clapping his hands. Well then, today is Saturday the 22nd, so you have two days to yourself here. I give you freedom to go to Diagon Alley and even into the muggle world if you would like, but I will warn you that you will be under Order surveillance."
Harry nods his head in acceptance of that.
"Thank you Headmaster, you are making this the best summer ever for me."
"I had hoped I would be Harry," came the reply. "Well, I must be off, I have a meeting with Cornelius in..." Dumbledore checked his watch, on which Harry couldn't seem to find the time under all the moving planets, "... fifteen minutes. Thank you for your time Harry, and your agreement to the schedule. And thank you, Remus, for our chat earlier."
Remus nodded his head to the Headmaster who was already up and walking out the doors to the entrance hall. A few seconds later Harry heard the front door open and then close, signaling the exit of the older wizard.
"Well," Remus began breaking the silence after Dumbledore left, "why don't you finish eating and then I can show you that fantastic muggle shopping area around here. I can tell you are in dire need of some new clothes," he added with a wink.
Harry groaned but quickly finished up his meal, or at least finished what he could, and went upstairs to change. He came down and Remus looked at him before giving a "tsk tsk," and waving his wand. Harry's clothes changed into something acceptable, but they were still a far cry from nice.
"Well, they will have to do until we get you some new ones," Remus said before leading Harry out the front door. It was 11:00.
Harry was surprised at how short of a walk it really was to get to Diagon Alley. Remus had told him it was a simple half of a kilometer, but it was different when you walked it. Harry was also surprised at how quickly the buildings changed from residential to commercial. The two walked east on King St, and then headed a bit more northeast on Garrick Street before turning onto Charing Cross road, a commercial haven. The two crossed Shaftesbury Ave and a hundred meters more brought them to the front of the Leaky Cauldron. Remus took the time to point out that across the street and past a few rows of stores was the well-known shopping strip, the Carnaby shopping area, he had been telling Harry about. Harry would be going there for his clothes, but first they had to visit Gringotts.
It was short work to be made at Gringotts to transfer five hundred galleons to muggle currency. When asked why so much by Harry Remus explained so that Harry didn't have to come back often, and that he would have cash on hand at the house any time he needed it. In the main teller room Harry changed his 500 galleons into pounds sterling. At the current exchange rate of 2.5998 pounds to the galleon and a 5-galleon exchange fee, Harry had argued it down from 10; Harry was soon holding £1234.90. The bills were split into nine £100 notes, four £50 notes, eleven £20 notes a £10 note and a few coins at Remus' insistence.
"It wouldn't do to only have large bills in the muggle shopping area; the storeowners would be suspicious because Harry was so young," he had explained.
Remus then led Harry back to the Leaky Cauldron and after a short warning that he would be watching, left Harry to go off into the muggle world to get his clothes. Remus disappeared into the crowds.
Harry was left alone again, but this time he was not fully alone, and he knew it. That thought gave him strength and he walked across Charing Cross road and to the other side of the street. He then meandered back south to Shaftesbury Ave and east to Regent St. It was there that he walked north and stumbled into a very active part of town.
People were everywhere, women especially, carrying large bags that mostly contained clothes. Harry was assaulted by brand names and styles and he honestly had no idea what to do. So he did what any man in that situation would do, he walked to the nearest coffee shop to contemplate his position.
Café Mocá was not your typical coffee shop, the entrance made sure that the customer knew that. The architecture of the front doors was made to look like it was one column; the doors were curved in and above them the top of the "column" was engraved with the name.
Inside, the shop was pristine, and the smell of numerous coffee bean types that were used in the store assaulted the customer's nose, making him forget the cost of such drinks at this location. Harry was not a coffee person, in fact, he knew absolutely nothing about coffee, but he did know one thing, the coffee smelled delicious, so he wandered up to the counter to place his order.
"Hello, welcome to Café Mocá, what would you like today?" the woman at the counter asked him.
"What is the coffee that smells so good right now?"
"Sorry sir, but I can't tell," came the hesitant reply.
"Well then just get me whatever one you think is best," Harry replied not knowing at all if what he was saying was possible.
"Well," the lady began, "I personally like the Columbian Coffee with vanilla bean extract, is that alright with you sir?"
"Oh yeah, that's fine." Harry had no idea what all that meant, but it sounded good enough to him.
The lady quickly returned with his drink and he paid the £4.50 that it rang up to and settled down at a table alone to quietly sip his coffee. 'Hmm, this is rather good,' he thought after his first sip, then 'Great, I'm out here alone and I have to get a full wardrobe, how in the bloody hell does Remus expect me to navigate muggle fashion? There is just no way –"
"Hi, mind if I sit here?"
Harry looked up from his thoughts and saw a girl with short black hair smiling at him, coffee in hand.
"No," Harry gestured, "go on ahead."
The girl sat down and asked Harry, "So, what are you doing out here all alone?"
Harry raised an eyebrow and the girl giggled.
"Its just, odd, that a bloke like you would be out here in this shopping district alone."
"Ah, yeah." Harry wasn't sure what to say, but came up with a solution to his problem. "Well, the truth is that I'm here because I need clothes, and a lot of them, so I'm out shopping."
"Oh," the girl said.
"The problem is, that I can't decide on which fashions to choose, which colors to choose, you know, me being a typical guy."
She laughed at that one. 'Okay Harry, you can keep this up.'
"I was actually sitting here hoping a girl like yourself would come up, so that I could beg you to help me shop, 'cause I have no idea what the bloody hell I'm doing!" Harry threw his arms in the air for good measure, though he nearly knocked over his coffee in the process.
"Well," the girl said still laughing, "you could start by introducing yourself." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Jess."
He reached out and took her hand. "I'm Harry. Would you help me find what I need?"
Jess reached into her purse and pulled out a small square object with a bunch of numbers on it. Harry saw its resemblance to a telephone, but didn't ask about its small size, or what she was doing with it figuring that it would be a stupid question. It turned out she was getting the time.
"Yeah, I could spare some time to help a bloke like yourself who has no idea 'what the bloody hell' he's doing."
"Great," said Harry, "where do we begin?"
"Well you could start by letting me finish my Mocá," came the reply.
"A superb idea!" Harry stated as he began again to sip his coffee. Jess laughed again. Maybe he was getting better at this kind of thing.
Three hours later found Harry and Jess in what must have been the thousandth store of that day, Merc, which Harry thought sounded infinitely more promising than the last store, DrunknMonkey. Harry had thought the store was quite odd but when he asked about it Jess had just replied that it was a popular store that specialized in the "new look" for men. Harry must have tried on thirty outfits before he purchased one "clubbing suit," and some nice looking street clothes.
Harry was quite fond of the "clubbing suit" that Jess had picked out, and was looking forward to his first chance to get to wear it. It consisted of long black slacks, and a button up black shirt made of some synthetic silk. It had felt really nice, and Harry thought he looked sharp in it as well. Jess had shared her similar opinion and told him how the black really went with his hair. Speaking of his hair though, he would have to get it cut; it was growing out of control.
Harry laughed at this and hoped that whatever he had done to it would not be reversed as it had when he was younger. With that the two headed down to Barber's Point.
Red and white striped poles announced their arrival and Jess led him inside. Harry put his name on the waiting list and then sat down next to Jess.
"How long?" she asked.
"He said fifteen minutes, is that alright?"
"Oh yeah, that's great. Normally you'd have to wait thirty to forty-five."
The two made small talk to pass the short wait; Harry found out that Jess was seventeen, at the moment two years older than himself.
Finally, "Harry?"
Harry stood up and walked over to the barber, "Right here."
"Right, follow me." The barber led Harry past the counter and sat him down in a fancy looking seat. Soon, Harry had an apron on to keep his hair from getting all over him.
"How do you want this done?"
Jess took over from there, much to Harry's relief, "We want the sides trimmed down and the top shortened up a bit, but just enough so that the hair can still be pulled around and messed up. Probably a number five on the sides."
The man nodded in agreement, and Harry was slightly nervous, he had no idea what Jess had just said and how his hair would turn out.
A half hour later, and much mumbling by the barber ("I swore I already trimmed this part down. Sorry son, it'll be just a little longer") had Harry looking into a mirror and liking the results. His black hair was still messy, it just wasn't in his eyes, and Harry felt that it could probably still do a good job of covering his scar. Not quite good enough apparently.
After walking out of the store Jess turned and inspected him. "Well Harry, you look very nice, only one more stop before I think you should have enough clothes." She stopped and put a finger to his forehead. "What's this?"
There was of course only one thing that she could have been pointing at, but Harry asked anyway, "What's what?"
"This scar silly," she said giving him a light tap on his shoulder.
"Oh, I've had it since I was one, got it in a car crash," he repeated the story that the Dursley's had told him many times.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be, its fine." She couldn't possibly know that the same 'car crash' had taken his parents lives as well, and he wasn't about to tell her.
With that she led him back down the street and around the corner to their "last stop of the day," the Quicksilver store. Harry had smiled at that because she had said the same thing three stores ago.
Upon entering, Jess led Harry to the men's section and then started to pick out tee shirts and jeans for him to try on. Harry thought a number of them were nice, but they were dismissed by Jess before she finally settled on some green tees.
"These will really work to bring out your eye color."
Harry grumbled, "How come all of my clothes always have to bring out my eye color?"
Jess laughed and answered, "Because your eyes are fabulous. I've never seen eyes such an intense shade of green."
Harry thought about his eyes, green, the same color green as the curse that stole his life from him.
As the two walked towards the counter to pay for the four tee shirts and one pair of jeans that Harry, no Jess, had picked out, they passed a display of sunglasses and Jess stopped.
"Huh?" Harry asked stupidly.
"Do you have a pair of sunglasses Harry?"
"I don't, no."
"Well then its time you get a pair." Jess called over a sales representative and asked to try a few of the sunglasses on Harry who happily obliged and opened the display.
It wasn't long later in retrospect that Harry was walking home wearing his brand new Frazer sunglasses by Quicksilver and carrying five bags of clothing from five different stores. He was still in a daze from the day's events. He had been with Jess for near four hours. That was at least three hours longer than any previous trip he had made to Diagon Alley for shopping.
Harry looked at his new watch, 4:45. No wonder he was hungry, he hadn't eaten since breakfast, and shopping was hard work. He hadn't minded spending the time with Jess though, who he was glad to note thought he was completely normal. The name Harry Potter had meant nothing to her before their meeting. His mind ran back to their last conversation ten minutes prior.
"I have to go Harry, got to be at home at 5:00 for dinner with the family."
"Well, thank you Jess for helping me with my shopping troubles."
"Not at all Mr. Potter," she teased, "I'm more than happy to shop and spend someone else's money."
"Well, it was going to get spent anyway, you might as well have fun spending it!"
"I was hoping that maybe I could spend some more of your time sometime," she started. "I'm usually at the Café Mocá at 11:00 on weekends for my caffeine fix if you want to come see me. I'm pretty busy during the week though."
Harry nodded, "Yeah I will be too, but I'd spend some more time with you. 11:00 you say?" Jess nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks again Jess, but I, too, better be off."
"Bye Harry," she said.
"See you later Jess," he had said as he turned around and practically skipped back towards the Potter Residence.
Remus appeared out of nowhere when Harry got back to Charing Cross St and passed by Shaftesbury Ave.
"I see you had a productive afternoon," he teased. "So who was the girl?"
Harry blushed faintly. "Her name was Jess, she's seventeen and a muggle. I liked that though. To her, the name Harry Potter meant nothing. Its nice to not be recognized."
Remus nodded his head, "Well, I'm glad you had fun. And I'm especially glad that you won't be wearing rags anymore," he added with a smile.
It wasn't long before they came to the entrance of 7 King St and Harry walked back into his home.
(A/N: Well! Perhaps the dates with Cho were worth it. Look at our little Harry, all grown up. ::tear:: For those of you that are against other characters, Jess won't be a major part of the story, though she will appear again. What's going to happen next? Harry's training of course! Hope you all are looking forward to the next chapter. I honestly don't know how long it will be, but it may be longer than this one, which weighed in at a hefty 6100 words. All the stores mentioned are real. The Carnaby Shopping area is real. The streets mentioned are accurate, and if the Harry Potter Lexicon is to be believed then so is the location of the Leaky Cauldron. Also, Tesco is a real, large grocery store chain in Great Britain. I have to say I enjoyed myself writing in some of the more subtle jokes, such as the ridiculous amount of decimal places on the exchange rate, let me know in a review if the subtle humor is enough, or if I should make it more blatant!)