"So now that we are friends, Harry, can I give you a hug?" May asked.
"ummm," Harry was not used to giggly girls. Hermione was so un-May and un-Claire. Even Ginny was never this bad. But hey, they were the first exciting things to happen all summer.
"Don't ask May, just do it!" Claire said, throwing her arms around Harry and giving him a kiss on the cheek. May did the same.
Harry was not used to this kind of attention from girls. The summer day was starting to look brighter already.
"So will you really teach us magic tricks?" Claire asked, expectantly. "We haven't really learned any yet."
"At Wickford's School you have to pass the 'swish and flick' before you can move on to any spells," May explained. "The 'swish and flick' is really hard."
"Ah. Really" Harry said, stifling a giggle. "Um, well maybe learning spells isn't such a great idea. The swish and flick is sort of important."
"Yeah. That is what Professor Morony keeps telling us" May grumpily declared, "I do not like Professor Morony."
"Well how about Quidditch? Does your school teach you that?" Harry asked. If by some lucky strike of lightning these girls could play Quidditch, this was going to be the best summer ever.
"Well, our school does have a pretty good team, but we are not on it" Claire said.
"Yeah, we didn't make the team because we were afraid of the bludgers" May said, shivering at the memory of the time Joey Bloostine whacked her with a bludger on the first day of school. "Bludgers really hurt."
"Well, if you want to play Quidditch, you can't be afraid of the ball" Harry said. "I've been hit loads of time and I still love the sport."
"But you are made of tougher stuff than we are, Harry, don't forget that little bit" May sighed.
"That's a load" Harry said, "You girls can be tough, I'll teach you."
"AAAHHHHH—" began May and Claire before Harry silenced them with look.
"You girls had promised me that you wouldn't squeal."
"So how can we play Quidditch? We can't be seen by the muggles" Claire asked.
"I was just thinking that myself. And I really don't know, to be honest" Harry said.
"Well, I know what to do whenever you don't know what to do" May said smugly.
"What?" Harry inquired.
"We should go to the mall. I get most of my wisdom from the girl who sells shoes at Madame Ripoff's. Her name is Anna Naif and she is a muggle and so she subscribes to all of the muggle teen magazines. Those quizzes that they have in there are really insightful." May explained. "Like for instance this one quiz that Anna showed me helped me to realize that I wasn't being a 'true blue' pet owner. And so I followed Anna's advice and sure enough, after I bought my doggie a pair of doggie shoes, it was like we were communicating on some whole new level."
'Maybe I just don't understand girls,' Harry thought. 'Because that sounded like a bunch of boloney'
"So I only heard the part where you were talking about Madame Ripoff's shoe store. Is that where we are going?" Claire asked.
"Yes of course silly! That is where the wisdom is found." May said, laughing at Claire's childishness.
May and Claire turned to walk towards the mall when they realized Harry seemed to be hesitant to follow.
"Oh come on, Harry. Shoe shopping is a blast! But we are going to a muggle mall, so you can't do any really fancy magic tricks! Although, you can show me privately if you get the urge to do something really wicked." May winked.
Harry felt really uncomfortable by this last comment of May's, but he wasn't doing anything else this afternoon, and he was intrigued.
"Alright girls, I'll go shoe shopping."