"Harry! It's good to see you. Have a seat. When did you get here?" Ginny chattered as she tried to regain control for her emotions.
"Thanks" Harry said as he took the offered seat. "I got here about 10 minutes ago. I stowed my stuff in my room at the Leaky Cauldron then decided to see if any of you had arrived. How has your summer been so far?"
"Oh, its been really nice, thanks for asking," Ginny answered. Then remembering her manners she said, "Harry, let me introduce you to Liz Parker. She's come over from the United States for the summer program. Liz, this is Harry Potter."
"Pleased to meet you," Harry said as he offered her his hand.
"You, too," Liz answered reaching for his hand. "Glad you could join us."
"Thank you," he said with a smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. He looked back at Ginny and asked, "Is Ron off drooling at brooms again?"
"Actually," Liz offered, "I think he may have talked my friend Kyle into buying one. I saw him walking this way with one a few minutes ago, but I don't know where they went."
"Then, knowing Ron, they probably stopped off at Bertie Botts for some Every Flavor Beans," Harry said with a chuckle.
"Every Flavor Beans?" Liz asked with a small grimace.
"Oh, yes, Every flavor! So be very careful not to just pop it in your mouth completely if you aren't sure of the flavor," suggested Ginny, whose blush had finally begun to fade. "You might get strawberry, chocolate or popcorn flavors. But you might get sardine, sawdust or navel lint instead," she made a face as she suggested the bad flavors, then her eyes popped open a little wider as she remembered something else important. "Oh, a word of warning, if any of my brothers offer you yellow creme candies, DON'T eat them. They are testing their latest batch of Canary Cremes and if you eat any you'll turn yellow and have feathers and a beak for about an hour."
"OK," Liz said hesitantly as she marveled that Ginny could mention something like turning into a bird as if it were something that happened daily.
Ginny noticed the hesitation and explained. "Fred and George are going into the wizard practical joke and novelty business as soon as they finish 7th year.
"Oh, I get it now," Liz answered sounding relieved. "You had me worried there for a minute."
Ginny giggled and Harry smiled.
About a minute later Ron and Kyle joined them at the table. Kyle was introduced to Harry.
"So what part of the States is home?" Harry asked.
"Roswell, New Mexico. For both of us actually," Kyle answered.
"Really. Did you know each other there? Or did you meet on your way over?" Ginny asked.
Kyle said, "Well we used to…"
Liz, afraid of what he was about to reveal, interrupted him, "Yes, we go to the same school and he eats at the Crashdown all the time."
"What's the Crashdown?" asked Ron.
"That's the restaurant that her parents own. She's a waitress there," Kyle explained.
"Along with my best friend, Maria and several others. Speaking of Maria, I need to get some of those blue postal air mailers from the regular Postal service if possible. Do they have them available here?" she asked Ginny.
Harry answered, "No, but they should have them in Muggle London. As soon as Hermione gets here we'll ask her how to get those. She's more familiar with London than any of the rest of us are."
Ron perked up but tried to act natural as he asked, "When is she supposed to meet us?"
"In about half an hour," Harry answered.
Liz looked at all the bags and boxes surrounding her. "I vote for a stop at the Leaky Cauldron to drop this stuff off before shopping anymore," she suggested.
"Here, here," Kyle seconded.
"All in favor?" asked Ginny.
The five teenagers walked back toward the entrance to the alley. Along the way the met Mrs. Weasley and explained what was happening.
They met Hermione in the upstairs hallway of the pub. After introductions and explanations, she agreed to take Liz to a post office and to a bank to exchange a few dollars to pounds to pay for them. They took Ginny with them.
Since Liz had agreed to buy a few mailers for Kyle, he and the other boys went back into the alley. They decided to give Kyle a few more lessons in Quidditch by taking him to Quality Quidditch Supplies.
An hour later they all met back at the Apothecary for potions supplies. Liz was fascinated by the variety of different things that could be used in potions. The also purchased their dragon hide gloves, scales and filials before they went next door to purchase their cauldrons.
Liz sent her packages back with Kyle as she, Ginny and Hermione headed back to the bookstore.
"There are some books that are simply necessary to have on hand when doing papers for school. There are others that are just informative that I love to read," Hermione said helpfully.
"I am definitely interested in getting some extra books. What do you suggest?" Liz asked.
"Well definitely Hogwart's: A History as well as…"
Liz decided to buy about half of the books that she suggested, narrowing it down by asking, "Have you ever used it to help write a report that the teachers have assigned?"
She also bought a few extra rolls and quills at Hermione's suggestion. She found a purple parakeet feather "writes any color you ask" quill and a small green leather bound journal. She decided to buy both, thinking, "This one will only be used for my experiences as a witch. Nothing alien for me to write about here and since I left that journal locked away, this one will come in handy."
When they finished they had about 20 minutes left before they were to meet back with the boys and they decided to stop at a different robe shop just to look, DeAnne's Divine Dress Robes. They had daily robes, dress robes, and at the back they had clearance racks. Hermione saw summer weight school robes on a special rack. She tried one on and it felt much cooler.
They checked the price and found that they were on sale since school had just let out for the summer. They each bought two of the summer robes, even Ginny. Hermione offered to buy hers as a birthday gift (even though it wasn't her birthday.)
Ginny declined and explained, "I've been helping Fred and George with their Weasley's Wizard Wheezes orders and they even paid me for it. I have enough for two of these and maybe a new set of dress robes if they are on sale. But I'm not sure that we'll need them again."
"If you get some that are classic and elegant it won't matter when you need them, you'll have them," replied Hermione.
They found the perfect set of black velvet robes for Ginny. They were about an inch too long, but they decided to leave it since she was still growing.
While they looked Liz also found dress robes in burgundy velvet "just in case." She said, "I haven't grown in two years and I will be here full time in two years so I'm going to have this ready. Of course that's the same reason I went ahead and bought my winter coat, too. Any excuse to shop is better than none." She winked at the girls and they all burst into a fit of giggles.
They stopped in front of a display of blue velvet robes. "Those would be perfect for Ron," said Hermione.
"Yes, the perfect color, but you know how hard headed he is," Ginny answered and rolled her eyes.
"You're right," Hermione sighed. "Maybe I can send back for them at Christmas."
"That's the only way he'd take them from you and he'd fuss even then," Ginny replied.
Suddenly they realized that it was getting late and they only hade a couple of minutes before they had to meet the guys. They paid for the robes and rushed to meet them.