Chapter Three
It was August the fourth, and I had been off from my old job at the Ministry of Magic for just under two weeks. I sighed. I had been looking at my reflection in the mirror in the inside of my closet door, and I realized that I had been losing weight over the whole matter of love these past couple of months. I sighed. Had three years really gone by since I had graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? It almost seemed to have been centuries more than a measly three years. Three years.
Oh what hard and miserable years those had been. I sighed. Why could life not be even a little bit kinder to me then it already was? And now I was going to be heading back to the school that had been my home for seven long years. And it was now going to be my home for an indefinite period of time… years perhaps. And for once in my short lifespan, I was not truly looking forward to that.
I heaved a sigh again. Looking back at my reflection, I also realized that I probably did not own a respectable dress for tomorrow's upcoming dinner with the entire staff of Hogwarts. "I suppose that I must get a new one today." I spoke out loud to myself, not altogether pleased by the idea of gong shopping anytime soon. "Apparently there is a new shop in Hogsmeade. At least, that is what Ginny told me a while ago. Maybe I will take a look inside of it when I get there this afternoon. Maybe I might even find something that will both make me look presentable, while in the meanwhile, not empty my purse."
I turned from the mirror in disgust. Though my ministry job could not exactly be called a well paying job, it had certainly been enough to help me through the years that I had been working there without much discomfort. But as I had been looking at myself, I had realized that it was still not quite enough to make me look quite up to the standards of what I thought that a Professor should look like.
"It was not a problem for Professor Lupin." A small voice spoke within me. "I shook my head to get rid of that ever present, and ever annoying voice, my soft brown curls bouncing around my slumped shoulders as I did so." "I know," I answered quietly in return to the voice of my small conscious. "But I just cannot help myself feeling this way about it. It will be a second first impression, to my old teachers, who will be my new colleagues in a short amount of time. And besides, I just want to be able to impress upon…" I paused.
Before continuing softly. "Maybe I just want to show him that maybe I am at least a little bit more than the bratty know-it-all girl of muggle parentage that he has always known and despised. Maybe then, after he does realize that, maybe he will give me a chance to prove myself at loving him." Yes, I decided. I was going to get myself a new dress, even if it drained me to my very last Knut.
That afternoon, I was not too sure about that reasoning. I had apparated just within the village of Hogsmeade at around one o'clock in the early afternoon. So, as I walked through the streets of the only all wizarding village in Britain, I had wondered about what this new shop would be like. My romantic self pictured a small shop with several display windows, filled with the flickering glow of candlelight, overflowing with a collection of bright and cheerful clothes and dress robes. Of course, I had reasoned, I probably could not afford anything too grand, but just being inside of a room filled with them, would probably be good enough to lift my spirit.
I had continued down towards the main street, where all of the shops were, when I came to an abrupt stop. The shop before me was not at all what I had been expecting. I had been expecting something small… but this building in front of me seemed almost to bulge out of its walls with some of the most expensive looking dress ware I had ever seen in my life. I could probably never afford anything inside of here. But all the same, I stopped in front of the bright windows to stare at the glorious items displayed within.
With my last glance back at the light filled windows, I noticed it. My dress. It was the dress that I had always dreamed about. It was a soft sea green color and it was edged with a periwinkle blue. It had a rounded collar, and loose fitting sleeves, that looked as if they would simply billow around me. I sighed happily, and took a small step towards the window, hoping for a better and closer glimpse at the billowing dress that almost seemed to glow in the light that lit it. Knowing that I could never afford it, I sighed to myself I turned away from the brightly lit window.
After another long moments pause, I continued on my way. "Maybe I could transfigure one of my older dresses that I have into something that could pass as presentable." I thought out loud to myself, 'Yes," I decided finally with a small sigh of regret, "that is exactly what I am going to do."
As I walked down the path, I did not notice that the tall dark form of the figure that had been silently following me had stopped in front of the window, and was looking between the dress and my retreating form with the softest expression that had ever graced his face. I also did not notice that he had just silently disappeared from sight within the doors of that brilliantly lit shop.