Chapter 14: The Most Dangerous Mission
Harry had met with Professor Luenebraum several times over the next two weeks to discuss tactics for Battle Training, and was getting more excited by the day. He had thought that teaching the students defense training under the nose of Umbridge had been glorious, but had soon come to realize that it was nothing compared to the elated feeling he was getting now that he had the entire staff of Hogwarts supporting him.
Christmas Holiday was drawing nearer by the day, and Harry had a long list of tasks he needed to accomplish before it arrived.
'First thing's first,' he thought to himself, as he settled down with a sheet of parchment.
Ron had been his best mate for nearly six years now and Harry still found it hard to decide what to give him for Christmas. After Hermione's birthday, Ron went on for days about how well Harry's Firebolt handled, and though he "still liked his Cleansweep", he couldn't help but compliment the Firebolt Broom Line and how it was manufactured. This had given Harry an idea. He knew that Ron would never accept a new broom as a gift, and Harry would never dream of insulting Mr. And Mrs. Weasley by buying him one. Harry did think, however, that he could overcome this difficulty and make sure his best mate got the Christmas gift he deserved, without offending the Weasleys' financial situation.
Loading up his quill with ink, Harry sat down to write his letter to the Firebolt Broom Line Company. Ron was always concerned about money and ways to make it. He had even thought about working the Holiday in the twins' shop for an extra bit of pocket money. After hearing Ron rave aboutthe Fireboltfor weeks on end, the perfect idea came to Harry: he would write the Firebolt company and buy stock in Ron's name. With the knowledge that many Hogwarts students would be purchasing new brooms over the Holiday for the new Escape Plan, Harry thought it would be an ingenious way for Ron to make money. While he was at it, he though he might as well buy some shares for himself as an investment.
Finishing up his letter, he called Hedwig down to him and attached it to her leg, along with a note to Gringotts to have them forward the appropriate amount of gold from his now much larger vault (thanks to his inheritance from Sirius) to the Firebolt Broom Line's stock account. On the bottom of the note, he had included a postscript informing the goblins to expect some additional purchases to be made at other stores, and to pay the shopkeepers accordingly. Taking his snowy owl to the window and wishing her a safe flight, Harry sat down with his quill, ink and parchment and began two more letters: one to Miss Amanda, at "Miss Amanda's Antiques and Amour", and another to Madam Malkin, owner of the finest robe shop in Diagon Alley. Taking these over to Sanguine, he smiled as his Phoenix took them in her beak and flashed away in a brilliant burst of emerald flame.
Having completed his Christmas shopping (albeit, via owl- and phoenix-post), Harry mentally looked at his list, and realized that the most difficult things were coming up. Jumping off his bed before he could get too relaxed, Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak, bag and winter gear, and headed out the portrait hole to Dumbledore's office. Ron, Ginny and Hermione were out having the first snowball fight of the season in the courtyard, but Harry had told them he couldn't join because he had a meeting with the Headmaster that afternoon. It was true, he was meeting with Dumbledore but it had been he, not the Headmaster, that had arranged the meeting.
Bounding up the stairs to Albus's office, Harry found the door open and the Headmaster donning a Muggle winter coat, apparently waiting for his arrival. At his side was Nymphodora Tonks, who greeted Harry with her usual "Wotcher," and a grin.
"Ready to go, Harry?" asked Albus.
The boy grinned, nervously. "Ready as I'll ever be."
He watched as Tonks morphed her appearance, with the ending result being a short, toad-looking woman with dark curly hair sporting a large bow and a pink cardigan.
"Verry funny, Tonks," snorted Harry, as he watched an unmistakable replica of Dolores Umbridge fade before his eyes into a sweet faced, elderly Grandmother that joined hands with the Headmaster.
"Oh, Alby," she crooned, "are we really going to Muggle London?"
Even Albus couldn't hide a smile. "Yes, sweetums, we are."
Harry gagged. "Honestly, if you two keep this up I won't bother with my Invisibility cloak. I'll be laughing too hard, and I'll blow my cover."
Tonks stuck out her tongue at Harry, and tapped an old mirror with her wand, which glowed blue and vibrated in her palm for the briefest second before sitting normal once again.
"Wotcher, Harry. Put your cloak on now, and I'll activate the Portkey when you give me the go-ahead."
Harry nodded, and donned the cloak. When he had a firm finger on the mirror, he said, "ready", and felt the hook behind his navel carry him, along with an Auror and Hogwarts Headmaster, into the thicket of Muggle London.
Arriving in a back alleyway, Harry adjusted his Invisibility cloak to make sure it was covering him entirely after their trip, and he, Tonks and the Headmaster walked into the shopping district of London. Tonks was playing her part perfectly and if Harry hadn't known better he could have sworn that she and Albus were a well to do, elderly married couple out to do their holiday shopping together. Gazing around him at the wide variety of shops, Harry's eyes widened in wonder.
"Where do you want to head first?" Tonks asked, as if speaking to Albus.
Suddenly, Harry heard the Headmaster inside his head again, just like he had after the announcement of the new Protection Plans.
"I think it would be good exercise for you to speak telepathically with me today, Harry. That, and it will make it a lot less obvious that you're walking between us if you're not talking."
"All right, sir. But how did you figure out that I could speak… what did you call it? Pathitelly?"
Albus laughed aloud.
"Am I that amusing today sweetie?" asked Tonks, batting her eyelashes.
"Hmmm? Oh, I was just laughing at a pigeon, my little Cauldron Cake."
Harry groaned. They were doing this to torture him, he just knew it.
"It's kind of the opposite of Occlumency, Harry," Albus continued. "You're fairly decent at shutting down your emotions, but you're better at opening them. So, since you're on the high end of the emotional spectrum, and a pretty powerful wizard for your age, speaking telepathically with people you trust is easy for you.
"Don't worry about your Occlumency shields dropping, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly, easing Harry's fears before he could even think them, much less speak them. "This is completely separate, you have no need to fear."
"So where to, sweetie?" asked Tonks brightly, taking Dumbledore's hand, and grasping a bit of Harry's cloak with her pinky, to make sure she could feel him between them.
"Wherever you'd like, pumpkin."
Harry snorted. "Cut it out!" he whispered. "Merlin, I don't know why I agreed to this."
Sighing, he resorted back to speaking with his mind.
"Let's head to a store called Sach's. I'll never forget that name. When my Uncle Vernon gets my Aunt Petunia gifts he always shops there. She brags about it constantly, so it must be good."
Harry didn't have to be in Sach's for long to realize that it was not the store for him. Granted, there were a lot of pretty things, but Harry didn't think that Ginny would like them. They just weren't special enough. Harry had thought about going back to Madam Amanda's in Diagon Alley, but after speaking with Dumbledore about it, he reasoned that it might not be the best idea. By shopping in Muggle London, Harry had a much easier time concealing himself. That, and he thought that any gift he could get Ginny that was Muggle would undoubtedly impress Mr. Weasley very much.
Albus and Tonks had made the plans to head into London's high streets under the guise of checking the city's magical defenses and dark detectors for the Ministry, and seeing if they needed improvement. The real reason they were there, however, was to help Harry on a very important, yet delicate, errand. Tonks' presence was key. Not only could she help protect him as an Auror, but also her ability to change her appearance at will would enable Harry to make sure he got the right size on the first try.
Yes, Harry Potter was on a mission of the most dangerous kind. He was in London to buy a gift for his girlfriend.
Two hours and several stores later, Harry and company settled down to have a brief lunch. While Tonks and Albus seemed to be having a great amount of fun, Harry was getting increasingly frustrated. He had been to what seemed to be every shop in London and hadn't found a single thing, though it wasn't for lack of trying. Tonks got a huge laugh out of going into stores and hearing Albus say something to the like of "My little Pumpkin Pasty and I have been thinking that she doesn't have enough expensive things. We need something the granddaughters will fight over in the will," and then proceeding to try on half the things in the shop, with Harry not liking a single one.
Sighing, Harry sipped his drink under his cloak as Tonks and Dumbledore discussed battle tactics. Gazing around the street through the window, Harry wondered if he'd ever find something. They walked further down the street after lunch, and found a few smaller stores that Tonks thought would be worth looking into. The first one they entered was called "The Rough".
Harry was getting impatient. The shopkeeper and his assistant were very nice, but Harry got the feeling they were hiding something. Reaching into his moneybag, he pulled two one hundred pound notes from it, set them on the counter in front of Dumbledore and waited. The assistant was busy chatting with Tonks as she began trying on several items, and the manager was overseeing her. As if the shopkeeper had a sixth sense, the instant Harry's money hit the counter he hurried towards Albus, who was innocently humming something that sounded suspiciously like "Weasley is our King" and staring at the ceiling. The shopkeeper grinned jovially as he pocketed the bills.
"Sir?" he queried to Albus. "Perhaps you'd like to accompany me to our private viewing room?"
Albus broke out of his daydream. "Hmmm? Oh, yes. Of course."
Harry grinned. Silently, he thanked the Weasley twins for telling him about how they had gotten the idea for the 'Special Purchasers' room in their Joke Shop. Giving the Headmaster a slight nudge in the back, Harry followed behind him and the shopkeeper to a door in the back corner of the room.
"I'll just be a moment, dear," Albus called sweetly to Tonks, who was giggling with the salesgirl as she held a pendant up to her ear.
Harry gagged internally. Girls and jewelry. He had never seen Tonks so giddy in his life, and he never wanted to again, but he did file it away in his memories for blackmailing purposes. He was never going to let her forget how she had started humming to herself inside Harrods and declaring that the rings were 'singing' to her.
The shopkeeper turned on the lights in what turned out to be a very small, but what Harry deemed must be a very pricey room. Offering Albus a large, comfortable looking chair, the manager hurried around and began pulling out specific pieces from their locked cases and bringing them over, while Harry wandered around the room, blinded by all the shimmers.
"Albus," he called.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Ask him what's in the red box."
A brief hand appeared to be floating over where Albus thought Harry's head must be, and then it disappeared.
"Ah, my good man," Albus began, as he pretended to be interested in the Solitaire the shopkeeper was now showing him, "these are lovely. But I am curious, and I find myself drawn to the small red box on the shelf over there. I wonder if I might have a look?"
The manager raised a surprised eyebrow, and bowed before he carefully retrieved the box from its shelf.
"Sir, I knew you had a keen eye, but I must admit, I never thought it would be that keen. To have spotted this box from where you are sitting, sir… it must have called to you. This particular piece hasn't been removed from its shelf in nearly sixteen years. "
Harry leaned over behind the chair Albus was sitting in, and gazed breathlessly into the red velvet.
"Sir… it's perfect."
Dumbledore smiled, and nodded his agreement.
"I'll take it."
The shopkeeper sized it while Dumbledore waited, and Harry leaned over the counter to watch as he worked. It was perfect for Ginny, and he knew she would love it.
"So the last time it was looked at was sixteen years ago, you said?" inquired Albus.
"Oh, yes," answered the shopkeeper, as he began to carefully buff and polish. "I remember it like it was yesterday. A young man came in- couldn't have been twenty five- and said he wanted a gift for his wife. Said they were going to have their first son in a few months- July, I think he said- and he wanted to get her something special."
At the mention of this, Harry gave his rapt attention to what the shopkeeper was saying.
"Is that so?" mused Dumbledore. "And he didn't take it?"
The manager shook his head, as he examined the gift under a magnifying glass, to make sure he hadn't missed any spots.
"No, he didn't. He took one look at it, whistled, and said that as much as he wanted it, it "wasn't for him". He bought something else, but before he left he asked to look at it one more time."
"Did he now?"
"Yes. I obliged him, naturally, and he had this sad kind of smile on his face when I closed the box. I asked him if he was satisfied with his other purchase, and was he entirely sure he had made the right choice."
Harry's breath hitched in his throat. He shook his head, attempting to clear it, thinking that he must be letting his imagination be running away with him. The manager continued.
"He assured me that he was definitely satisfied, and I didn't blame him. The item he had ended up selecting was one of a kind, and so, he assured me, was his wife. Said something about how the box was red, just like her.
"I didn't really get his meaning, so I asked, and he said his wife was a red head. The "most beautiful you could ever see", but he claimed that he knew this box wasn't for his red head, that it was for someone else's.
"Say, sir, your wife? Was she a red head when she was younger?"
Albus nodded, natural as could be, and looked in what he assumed must have been Harry's direction.
"Aye, that she was. I met her when I was eleven, and I loved her from the moment I saw her."
Harry nodded under his cloak, even though he knew no one could see it.
"Eleven? You don't say? I'm sure she'll love it, sir. Seems funny, but it makes me feel happy to know that other bloke was right- it did go to a red head, after all.
"You know, now that I think about it, he said he'd come back to buy more gifts for his wife, but I never saw him again. Figured maybe he was just being nice. Had the messiest black hair I ever saw. I imagine his son would too."
Harry couldn't help but smile.
"Well, here you are, sir," said the shopkeeper, handing over the carefully wrapped parcel. "She's yours for the keeping."
Albus handed him the Gringotts automatic debit card that Harry had given him at the start of the day. It worked just like a Muggle credit card, and automatically took the correct amount of gold from your vault, converted it to the appropriate currency and accredited the shop where you made the purchase.
Handing the card back to Dumbledore, the manager smiled and said, "Thanks for your purchase, Mr. Potter. I hope to see you again!" and Harry and Albus left the room.
Grabbing Tonks away from the sales girl, they said their goodbyes and headed into the alley next to the store.
"Did you find something, Harry?" Tonks asked, as she tapped the mirror with her wand once more.
"Yeah…" Harry mumbled. "I definitely did."
Sitting back on his bed that night, Harry drew the curtains and examined the ring he had finally decided to purchase. Holding it between his thumb and index finger, he stared at it breathlessly before he whispered,
"Ginevra Molly Weasley, will you marry me?"
He smiled contentedly to himself: it had been a very productive Saturday.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Thanks so much to all my reviewers! I, like everyone else that write fanfiction, am a 'review slut'. I love to hear your comments and so I thought I'd reply to them (like I do at Mugglenet) as a thank-you and a way to sneak in hints... I love the things people come up with! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed- I love hearing from you!
Kristen Sirius Black: Thanks so much! I like working humor in, but it's getting harder every chapter in this story... watch out for it- we're about to go on a huge roller-coaster! Thanks for reading!
Color of Angels: Thank you so much! There's a LOT more twists coming up, hopefully I haven't put in too many, but there should be enough to keep you happy!
Spacehog26: I couldn't agree with you more- I'm so sick of people turing HP into "teenage pregnancy is FUN when you're a witch!" stories. It makes me gag. Worry not, this is not one of those fics. I'm so glad you decided to keep reading- there WILL be a lot more "battles/action scenes" coming up (I think that's what you were referring to- if not, please let me know and I'd love to work it in!), but by coming up, I mean that I'm currently writing them, so they won't show up in the story til about Chapter 22. :-) Hopefully you'll stick with me till then. I really appreciated your comment- it was well thought out and very constructive. If it makes you feel any better, you will not hear ANYTHING about Ginny being pregnant in this story, except for in the Epilogue. Hehehe- that should keep everyone's brains going...
Taeniaea: Thank you! I'm glad you "love" it!
S.D. Blum: Why, thank you! That's why I love my editor so much (editor, not Beta), Jamesey always makes sure I tie up my loose ends and don't leave things hanging. He also has amazing ideas, sends menasty emails when I haven't sent him new material in a while (ha!)and helps with chapter titles- I couldn't do this without him.I hate it when questions aren't answered... like Ron and the brain thing... I mean, um, oops, forget I said anything. :-) Thanks for reading and posting such a thoughtful comment!