Hello. It's been forever. Sorry, I've been struggling with a lot of stuff lately, so fan fiction hasn't really been at the top of my priority list. But I'm better now. I don't even think it matters that it's been so long, since no one reviewed last time I updated anyway. Oh well. I really hope no one is turned off because I put "spiritual" on the genre. Let me make this clear: yes, this story will have a lot of Christianese stuff in it, but I'm NOT trying to push anything on anyone. I'm a big Christian, and since it happens to be one of my interests, I'm doing this for myself. If anyone else gets anything out of it, awesome. If not, at least review the quality of my writing, because I'm trying to work on my mad skills ; ) Thanks.
Chapter 10
"Shopping day!"
The next morning, Number Four Privet Drive was buzzing with activity. The five occupants of the house were hurrying about their business, getting ready for their day in London. The only person in the house who was overly excited was the bipolar exchange student. Kat was ready to go an hour before everyone else, and she was now bouncing around the house animatedly. Dudley was unfortunate to cross paths with her on his way to the bathroom. "Better get cleaned up, Dudders, we're going shopping. All right..."
Harry stepped out of his room as Kat came charging down the hall. As manic as she was acting, she was still amazingly attractive, even dressed in casual jeans and a red t-shirt. Kat's eyes lit up when she saw Harry, and he felt himself blush. "Harry! Oh my gosh, how are you?"
"I'm okay, are you okay?" was his uncertain reply.
"I'm great, just great," Kat answered. "Sorry if I'm spazzing out here, I'm just anticipating London. It's like, what I've dreamed of forever. So, excitement! Happiness!"
"I'm glad you're happy," Harry said, distractedly, for he had just read Kat's t-shirt. It had two stick figures on it that appeared to be Satan and Jesus, and said, "Satan is bad, Jesus is good, be like Jesus!" "Nice shirt," Harry, commented. Kat looked confused for two seconds before she looked down at her shirt. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Yeah, well, it's comfortable, and I can translate it into Spanish."
"That's a good reason to wear it."
"I thought so."
They stood there in comfortable silence for a moment, until Petunia called them downstairs. "Kat, are you ready to go?"
"Yeah," Kat called. She quickly retrieved her purse from her room, and together, she and Harry headed downstairs and to the car. Once again, Kat requested that Harry sit in the middle. "You're just too skinny," she said, climbing in after him. Harry snorted, remembering what she had said to him the other day.
"Eat up skinny," he quoted in a low voice.
Kat looked at him, wide-eyed, a huge grin spreading across her face. "Oh my gosh, Harry, don't make fun!" She playfully shoved him. Harry smiled. He was getting somewhat used to Kat's strange sense of humor.
The drive was fairly eventful. Kat asked a lot of questions about London; what stores there were and the like. Petunia answered her shopping queries with enthusiasm. Harry, who had never been shopping (for himself), didn't find the conversation very interesting, and proceeded to tune it out. That is, until he heard something he knew would not please his aunt and uncle.
"...I would love to check out Portobello Road," Kat was saying, "because they had this huge scene about it in Bed knobs and Broomsticks and it seemed really cool."
Uncle Vernon chose that moment to have a coughing fit and Petunia proceeded to pat him on the back, completely "forgetting" Kat's statement. Kat had a look of concern on her face. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yes," Vernon responded between coughs. "Yes I'm fine." Cough. Kat looked out the window uncertainly. Harry glanced at her, then looked over at Dudley, who had a very amused, knowing look on his face. Harry didn't like it at all. Suddenly, Dudley spoke up. "So Kat, what were you talking about? Some movie?"
Kat looked at him, startled out of her reverie. "Uh, yeah, Bed knobs and Broomsticks."
"Isn't that movie about witches?"
Harry looked at him sharply. What did he think he was doing?
"Yeah, witches. And nazis."
"Same thing," Dudley sneered. "They're both evil."
Harry stared hard at the floor, fists clenched. Kat just looked confused. "Uh...sure," she said, shrugging.
After what seemed like forever, the car finally was parked and Harry tumbled out, feeling slightly sick. "Uh, Duddy, why don't you come with us, we'll buy you a new outfit or something," Petunia bribed. Harry knew what she was doing. She and Vernon had been as uncomfortable as he was during the little episode in the car. They probably didn't want Dudley around himself and Kat for fear he would let something slip. Harry really agreed.
After agreeing on meeting up in a few hours, Harry and Kat set off on their own through the city. They came to a section of sidewalk sales, Kat getting very excited. She picked up every other item, "oohed" at it, and then set it back down. Harry noticed that she seemed to concentrate more on dressing him up than herself. She plopped a black leather cap on his head, nodding and commenting. "That's hot."
"Really?" Harry inquired skeptically, as he looked at himself in the mirror. "Ew."
"Ew! What are you talking about? It's sexy!" Kat exclaimed. She picked up a horrid green floral scarf. "This with it, is so you."
"Right. I think I'll pass." Harry took the hat off. Kat returned the scarf, shaking her head. "You're starting to sound like me." She looked back over at the cap. "Have you ever considered growing your hair out?" she asked.
Harry stared at her. "Um...not really."
"Hmm." Kat gazed at his hair. Harry looked at a rack of moccasins, feeling uncomfortable by the scrutiny. "Yeah, it looks cute short," she concluded. Harry blushed. He wasn't used to being referred to as "cute" so much.
Kat continued. "Some guys can work it," she said. "My little boyfriend in Indy has shoulder-length hair, and it's layered and he straightens it and everything. Most guys would look gay, but he can pull it off."
Harry's mind briefly wandered to Sirius' matted locks. Stop it. He pushed the depressing image away and snatched at the first word that flitted through his brain. "Boyfriend?"
"Oh! No, he's not my boyfriend, he's just my friend's younger brother, so he's my boy. I don't actually have a boyfriend," she added. Harry found to his surprise that he was a little relieved. Weird. "Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked.
"No." Harry looked uncomfortably down at his shoes, which he just noticed were painfully dilapidated.
"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"
"Well, sort of..." Harry didn't really know what had taken place between Cho and himself. He couldn't really remember anything that happened last year. "I went out a few times with a girl from my school."
"Really, what was she like?" Kat asked as they made their way towards a clerk (Kat was buying the leather cap). "Um, her name is Cho Chang, and she's a year older than me, and she kind of cries a lot and gets really jealous of my best friend, so that didn't really work out."
"Sounds like it." Kat paid for the hat, and they went off toward a bookstore. "Who's your best friend?"
Harry hesitated for a second, then decided to continue. There was no harm in telling about his friends, after all. As long as he left certain parts out. "Well, she's one of my two best friends. Her name's Hermione. She's really smart and kind of bossy. My other friend's name is Ron. He has a lot of siblings and fights with Hermione all the time. They should so go out."
"Okay, now you're really starting to sound like me," Kat said, grinning. Harry felt his face turning red. "I'm sorry."
"If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I apologize for rubbing off on you." Kat stopped to look at the books in the self-help section. She peered at one of the titles. "Why Your Life Sucks. That's the book for me." She picked it up, looked at the price, snorted, and set it back down. "Your friends sound cool." Then she paused. "Wait...Hormone's a girl."
Harry stared. "Um, yeah."
"And Cho is a girl."
"That's right."
Kat seemed to be thinking hard about something. "Don't you go to a boy's school?"
About that... "Oh, yeah, that..." Think, retard, think! "I...did go to a boy's school...but I don't now."
Kat frowned. "The Dursleys made it sound like you still went there."
"In their mind, I probably should be," Harry scowled. "They probably told you that to try to dissuade you from being around me too much." That wasn't a complete lie.
Kat seemed satisfied. "Hmm. Well, it didn't work." She linked her arm through his and guided him out of the store, not noticing the dumbfounded look on his face. They sat down at an outdoor restaurant for lunch, where Kat continued the conversation over pizza. "No, actually, my brother went to a boy's school."
"Really?" Harry asked, biting into his small slice of pizza. He hadn't had any money with him, and the Dursleys probably hadn't even considered him eating lunch. Kat was quite perturbed by it, and had bought a large pizza for them to share.
"Yeah," she continued. "He was quite a handful a few years back. Which is understandable, considering his crappy family life. But he got saved, got better, and now he's pretty much as perfect as a human being can be." Kat stared at the salt and pepper shakers on the table, a look of pride on her face. "He wants to be a pastor, and a worship leader. He's got mad guitar skills. He's also pretty good at basketball." She looked thoughtfully at Harry. "You know, you remind me a lot of him," she said.
"I do?" Harry questioned.
"Yeah, you kinda look like him. I mean, the dark hair, green eyes, unnatural thinness." She smirked. "And you went to a boy's school, but you're perfectly fine now. And," she added sympathetically, "you're family life isn't exactly Leave it to Beaver."
Harry's brows knitted together in confusion, and Kat chuckled. "It's a TV. show."
"Oh." Harry felt little flattered at her comparison of him to her brother. She seemed to really adore him, so saying that he reminded her of Jared was probably a huge compliment. He would ponder that later. For now, he had to be discreet again because Kat asked, "So, what school do you go to now?"
Harry's brain struggled to produce a quick answer. "A private school. Up north." That wasn't too bad.
"Do you like it?"
"Yeah, it's really great." Harry's love for Hogwarts had somewhat diminished over the past year, but it was still his home. "It's more of a home than the Dursley's house will ever be."
"I like that," Kat said, picking a rogue sausage off of her pizza. "I despise my school with all the fires of hell." Realizing what she just said, Kat looked over the pizza hanging from her raised hand to the gaping boy across from her. "Well, it's not that bad," she shrugged. "It just...has its moments. You know, moments when you just wish someone would come into the classroom you're in and start beating your head against the wall until you go into a coma and don't have to listen to what the teacher is saying?"
Harry leaned his head against his knuckles. "I can definitely relate."
Kat rolled her eyes and nodded, glad someone understood her predicament. "Let's just say I can't wait to graduate."
Harry snorted. "I hope I get that far."
"Amen."
Sometime later, Harry went to use the bathroom, and Kat waited for him by the sidewalk sales they had passed earlier that day. She rummaged through a rack of sunglasses, mostly huge and ridiculous. She pulled out a particularly nasty looking pair and tried them on. Admiring herself in front of the mirror, she nodded to herself. License and registration please.
"They really become you."
Kat whipped around and frowned toward the direction of the drawling voice. She spotted a tall, pale, extremely blonde boy smirking at her by the jeans. That can't possibly be his natural hair color. Aloud, she said, "Aren't they sexy?"
The blonde shrugged. "They're...unique. Sometimes that's sexy."
Kat nodded in agreement, then took them off and contemplated them. "Eh, I already have a pair just like them," and she set them back in their place. "Should I be impressed?" the boy asked.
"That I paid for them with my own money? Yes," Kat said, turning back to him. She couldn't get over his albino hair. But he wasn't albino. He had very prominent gray eyes. "I'm going to ask you a question," she said. "But first I think we should introduce ourselves. I'm Kat Bailey."
"Draco Malfoy," The boy replied.
Kat stared dumbly at him for a split second. His parents must have been on crack. She recovered quickly and shook her head. "Draco. Great. Okay, is your hair for real that color?"
Draco smirked at her again. "Indeed it is."
"Are you serious?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I know, it's not the most attractive hair in the world, but at least I've got an exquisite body to make up for it."
"Right," Kat drawled. Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "You're American."
"Unfortunately, yes. But least I've got a hot body to make up for it."
"Clever."
"I thought so...so you're name's Draco. That's a strange--."
"Yes I know," Draco agreed. "But my parent's names are even worse. My father's name is Lucius."
"Lucius is a Bible name," Kat blurted out. Draco raised his eyebrows. "Really? Hmm. I don't think anyone has ever made a connection between my father and the Bible before."
"That bad?"
"Worse."
Kat jokingly winced. "Well, there were also evil Roman emperors named Lucius."
Draco grinned. "Yes, that sounds more like him." He gestured toward the store. "What are you doing here in England? Just shopping?"
"Oh," Kat glanced around, frowning. Harry had been gone a while. "I'm on an exchange program..." she said distractedly, "where's..."
"Potter!" Draco exclaimed. Kat looked in the direction he had shouted. Harry was briskly walking towards them, his face a mixture of emotions. Kat opened her mouth in surprise. He was radiating a mixture of fear, anger and hate. Major hate.
"Well, well, look who's out and about." Draco's smirk had returned. Kat looked at him, bewildered. "You guys know each other?"
"Oh, we go way back," Draco remarked. "Old school friends. Isn't that right, Harry?"
Harry glared at him with intense loathing. "What are you doing here?" he said through clenched teeth.
"Oh, just moseying around," Draco replied. "I sometimes enjoy wandering around Muggle London. It gives me something to do."
Harry let in a sharp intake of breath at the word "Muggle." He quickly glanced at Kat, who was staring into space, mouthing the foreign word. He turned back to Draco, who was also watching Kat with amusement. "So you're staying with Potter, I assume?"
Kat snapped out of it. "I sure am."
"Well isn't that something." Draco arrogantly looked at his watch, then back up at Harry. "Well, I'm guessing you no longer wish to be in my presence, so I'll leave you to it. It was nice meeting you Kat. Potter." He nodded and headed off.
"Nice meeting you too," Kat called. "Have fun in...Muggle London?" She raised her hands in a questioning gesture and shrugged at Harry. Draco just looked back and grinned.
Harry couldn't seem to move. When he finally remembered to breathe, he noticed Kat was looking at him strangely. It was that concern thing again. "You okay?" she asked.
"What? Oh, yeah, fine, I'm just...shocked. He is the last person I would have expected to see here." And he really was. What was Draco Malfoy doing in Muggle London? And having a civil conversation with a Muggle, no less?
Kat sighed. "Yeah, you really seemed to hate his guts. It was coming off of you in waves."
"Well that's only because...I really hate his guts." They both smiled at the comment. "We should probably get going," Harry suggested. Kat nodded, lifting her bags over her shoulder.
They got to the meeting point early. Kat slumped down onto a bench, gingerly feeling her red face. "Definitely should have worn sunscreen," Harry heard her mutter. She then leaned back and closed her eyes. Harry thought she fell asleep, until she spoke up. "So why do you hate him?"
Harry knew whom she was referring to, and he scowled. "Because he's an arrogant as-."
One raised eyebrow from Kat shooed that thought away. "Sorry. He's not a good person."
Kat nodded in understanding. "He did seem a little cocky." She leaned on one knee. "But I could also sense a lot of uncertainty in him." Harry looked at her, confused. "Sense?"
"I kinda have the gift of perception," Kat said. "He's not all he seems to be. He's got questions about a lot of things. I think his father in particular."
"Lucius Malfoy?"
Kat smiled grimly at him. "I'm guessing you don't like him very much either?"
"Probably less."
"I got the impression that he's not Dad of the Year."
"What?" Kat was about to explain, but Harry interrupted. "No, I get it, I just...I thought Draco idolized his father."
Kat shrugged. "If he used to, I'm pretty sure he doesn't now."
"You got all of this from spending two minutes with him?"
Kat rolled her eyes, more at herself than at Harry. "He seemed desperate to talk to anyone, and I also have a thing for listening. At home people flock to me like I'm Dr. Phil or something." Kat shrugged again. "I don't know. Maybe it will give you something to think about."
It was Harry's turn to sigh. "I already have enough to think about."
Kat just smiled at him and ran her hands through his hair. Harry wasn't embarrassed.
Wow. You have no idea how hard it was for me to finish this. I'm pretty proud of myself that I got it done, actually. Now the fun begins. Ha ha ha. I think it's going to start to move faster now that Harry and Kat are getting to know each other better. In the next chapter Dudley starts to really start crap and Harry freaks out. I swear this will come sooner than three months, but I do need motivation. PLEASE REVIEW! I'll love you forever: )
Oh, and a couple notes about Chapter Nine. There were some errors that my computer won't seem to let me fix, so I'm just gonna clear them up now. I accidentally spelled Coolerz wrong (I spelled it Koolerz) I saw a pack at the store and was like, "oh great, I spelled it wrong." Also, when Piers is taunting Harry, it didn't put in the stars for certain letters of a word I don't like, so it just says "fing" That is extremely retarded, but I figure you can all tell what I meant to say. Again thank you for your patience, and please review.
