Chapter 4 – First Impressions and Reparations
Harry was slightly nervous the next morning when he woke but did his best to ignore the feeling. He showered and dressed before heading downstairs to the kitchen where he found Remus reading the Daily Prophet.
"Morning Moony; what's the plan for this morning?" asked Harry as he grabbed some toast.
"I think were going to go all out and do a completely physical workout. I think it would be better for you if you didn't have an overabundance of energy going in to the meeting with Blaise. It might stop you from making a fool of yourself. It'll be good to be relaxed when you meet her," Moony said with a smirk on his face. "Now, there are a few things I want you to do before you head off to meet her. I want you to go to Diagon Alley early and arrange for a private meeting room for your lunch and then head on over to one of the jewelry stores and choose a small gift for her. It'll make a good impression.
"Now, I know that you're 'technically' engaged and a ring would be an appropriate gift to give her but I don't want you to do that," Seeing Harry's confused look he continued. "It would be best to let her be there when you choose an engagement ring. You freely admit that there is very little that you truly know about her. I think it wise to have her there so the ring matches her tastes and that is something that you cannot do by guessing."
"Understood. I think we should hurry up though. I want to be able to shower again and change before I have to leave and regardless of how good your information may be, if I show up smelling like a gym I think that'll' leave a lasting impression far from what I am aiming for," Harry said with a grin.
They both ate the remainder of their small breakfast before heading off to start his mornings training. Moony ended the session early to give Harry a few more pointers so that 'his mother would be proud' of the way he acted on his first real date.
Before he knew it, it was time to head off to Diagon Alley to take care of his errands and meet Blaise. He said a quick goodbye to Remus before flooing to the Leaky Cauldron and arranging the private meeting room for his lunch date. He left Tom with the instructions of showing Blaise to the room if she should arrive before he gets back from his small shopping adventure.
He tried to walk as quickly as he could to get to the jewelers but he still noticed the stares he was receiving. Giving himself a once over he realized that he had not cleaned himself after his ride through the floo. He set off towards the jewelers again, cleaner this time, but the stares did not cease.
It was hard not to notice that the looks were coming from the young women in the alley. After three weeks of good eating and constant training he was starting to look more like a normal teenager, with above average looks.
The store directly across from the jewelry store was, luckily enough, a magical vision store. He decided to make a quick stop there to order some new glasses since he had been using the same pair since his sixth birthday. He was pleasantly surprised that he could wear his new glassed out of the shop since they were constructed magically. He chose a new set of frames that wasn't nearly as bulky as his old ones and instead of black plastic; they were made of a gold plated material. The lenses were magically enhanced to match the current prescription of the wearer so he would only have to return to the store if the frames are broken, something he was immensely grateful for.
He finally made it to his intended destination of Jasmine's Jewels and found a simple but pretty sliver necklace with a small emerald gemstone hanging at the end.
It was almost five minutes 'til the scheduled meeting time so Harry made his way back towards the Leaky Cauldron. He arrived two minutes early and was slightly surprised to see that Blaise was already seated at the table in the back room. It took Harry a moment to take in her appearance. He had never truly paid any mind to her in the past since she was in Slytherin and most of his time was spent ogling Cho Chang.
She looked up from he seat at the table when he walked into the room and was about to say something when Harry cut her off, "I apologize for my tardiness; I was trying to find an appropriate gift for the occasion," He said, as he pulled out the velvet box containing the necklace.
As Blaise took the box from him he took the time to study her a bit more thoroughly. It was hard to deny that she was anything short of gorgeous. She had shiny, straight, blonde hair that fell just past her shoulders, ice blue eyes, a flat and toned stomach, long lean legs, and nice shapely breasts, all of which made her appear to Harry to be one of the most beautiful girls that he had ever seen. Slytherin or not, he couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed her before.
Blaise opened the box, wondering what he could have given her, to reveal the silver necklace with an emerald attached to it. She was speechless. They didn't even really know each other and yet he had already given her an owl, named Alexander, and now a necklace. She wasn't sure what to make of it.
After composing herself she finally said, "Harry, I can accept this. I mean, you've already bought me an owl. You didn't need to buy me this as well."
Harry cut her off again, politely, and said, "I know that I didn't have to buy this for you, but I wanted to buy it. I know that this is an arranged marriage and we've both been thrown into it but that doesn't mean that I won't do everything I can to make sure that you aren't treated the best that I can offer."
Seeing the sincerity in Harry's eyes, she couldn't help but accept his feelings on the matter. At least he wasn't going to use her as a shagging toy while going off with other women whenever he chose. He was at least willing to make the effort to make the marriage work. She wasn't sure why her grandparents had ever agreed to the marriage contract and it still angered her slightly, but the man she was supposed to marry was at least a kind man and wanted to make her happy. If nothing else, she was willing to put as much of an effort into it as he was.
During the modest lunch, they traded stories of their childhoods, and differences in the way they grew up. Both were slightly reserved, as was to be expected, but shared their stories nonetheless.
The meal passed by pleasantly and it was a bit of a surprise when they noticed that they were both finished and Tom was arriving with the bill.
"Blaise," Harry asked to get her attention after he paid the bill. Once she was looking at him, he continued, "Is there anything specific you wanted to do today or do you just want to spend some time in the alley?"
She didn't have anything planned for the day. She just expected to meet Harry and learn a bit about him so she told him as much before asking if there was anything specific he wanted to do that day.
Harry gave her a smile, "Well other then enjoying the company of a beautiful lady, I was hoping that you would help pick out my wardrobe. I have no taste when it comes to clothes, muggle or wizard, as you can tell, and you're the one that's going to have to endure me for the most part so I may as well dress to your approval. I also wanted to stop at Jasmine's Jewels again to get you an engagement ring."
Blaise, once again, was shocked by just how giving Harry seemed to be. Here he was, not even sixteen years old and spending hundreds of galleons on someone he just met. "Umm… not to sound rude or ungrateful but how can you afford to just keep buying me things? I mean, you're not even sixteen yet and I've never heard of the Potter's being an extremely wealthy family."
Not bothering to answer that question at the moment, Harry rose from his seat and made his way around the table, offering Blaise his hand. Taking the hint, she took his hand and allowed him to help her out of her seat.
"Well, I guess that requires a bit more openness on my part. Since we're going to be married I don't have a problem telling you. As of a few weeks ago I am legally emancipated and have received two separate inheritances, technically three, but we'll talk about than later. Incidentally, it's also how I came into the marriage contract with you, but again, that's a tangent that won't get your question answered. The easiest answer I can give is to say that I have more than enough money to spend a little on my fiancée."
The two of them left the Leaky Cauldron shortly thereafter and headed down the alley towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Harry walked straight into the store and up to Madam Malkin herself, who sat behind the counter.
He leaned in close to the older women and said in a low whisper, "The business I have to conduct today as well as any information you may gleam from said business must be kept in the strictest of confidence. If you are unable to swear an oath to not utter any information you learn during the next few hours, I will take my business elsewhere."
Madam Malkin had been in business for the last thirty-five years and she wasn't unaccustomed to the sort that demanded secrecy so she had no problem swearing the oath before they continued their business in the back room, which was locked and silenced, and having another sales person take her place at the desk.
"I apologize for the threat but some information is not for public consumption as I'm sure you can guess," Harry finished wryly.
"This," Harry motioned to Blaise, "Is my fiancé Blaise Zabini. She will be assisting me, and you, in choosing my new wardrobe. The only clothes I have are my school robes and old muggle clothing that my family gave me. So, since I know nothing of fashion, I will leave it to the two of you to decide what would go best with what and what I should buy."
"Of course," said Madam Malkin "I think it would be best to leave most of the decisions to the future missus. Congratulations by the way. Miss Zabini you can start telling me what you have in mind for Mr. Potter here.
A little over one thousand galleons and a migraine later, for Harry at least, the new couple left Madame Malkin's and headed towards Jasmine's. As they were walking toward the jewelry store that Harry had visited earlier Blaise turned to him and asked, "Are you sure that you can afford all of this? I mean my family is well off. I know they are as much responsible for this as your family is. I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping with the engagement ring cost."
"It's fine. Trust me," Harry said. "I'll tell you more about my financial situation and all of that later on. I don't think now is the time to talk about it, especially in such a public place as Diagon Alley. For now just trust me." He was about to say more before he spotted Parvati Patil, his date for the Yule Ball during his fourth year.
If Harry had learned anything in his time at Hogwarts it was that girls, Parvati in particular, loved to gossip. If she saw the two of them together, going into a jeweler no less, there would be no end to the hell that would cause. "Go on it and start looking around. I saw somebody that I needed to talk to really quick, okay?"
Blaise looked slightly confused before asking who it was that he wanted to talk to.
"Parvati Patil, I want to try and avoid being seen together by someone who gossips like her," Harry said before continuing on quickly, realizing he had not used the best choice of words. "Not because I'm ashamed of the fact that I'm with you; far from it, I just want people to be told at our own discretion and not because of the biggest gossip in school."
Nodding in understanding, Blaise said, "Alright, I'll let you handle her, but you should also apologize for the Yule Ball while you're at it. That is if you haven't already done it.
"Don't be so shocked, everyone knew that you didn't exactly behave the way that you should have that night," Blaise said seeing his look of shock. "Hurry up though; I want you there while picking out the ring."
Blaise turned on her heel smoothly and went into the jewelry store while Harry walked over and tapped Parvati on the shoulder.
Parvati turned around with mild shock registering in her eyes, "Hello Harry. How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing well, thank you. Yourself," he asked, returning the question.
"Not too bad," She replied.
"I guess I shouldn't beat around the bush, eh," Harry chuckled somewhat nervously. "I came over to apologize to you. I was perhaps the worst date on the planet for the Yule Ball and you deserved better than that," Harry said carefully.
Parvati stood there for a moment before saying, "It took you a while but… it is still nice to hear you apologize. I have to admit, it hurt to be treated that way. I was somewhat hoping that you would be willing to make it up to me though."
"I would love to make it up to you, but it would have to be in a non-romantic way," Harry said. Seeing her crestfallen look he decided to clarify. "It's nothing to do with you specifically. I have personal reasons that I can't see anyone romantically right now," He stated.
"Oh," Parvati said, slightly disappointed that he wouldn't go on a date with her, not tell her the real reason why. "I understand. You can make it up to me by being a better friend this year, okay?"
"That sounds fine," Harry said, relieved that she was taking it so well. "I will do my best to be there for you whenever you need me, I promise.
"I'm sorry to cut this short, but I'm afraid I have an appointment that I can't miss."
"Ok," Parvati said. "I'll see you later then. Take care, Harry."
"Will do, take care of yourself too," Harry said "otherwise I can't uphold my end of the deal." With that Harry left turned on his heel and headed in the general direction of the jeweler. He didn't want to be obvious about it so he made sure that nobody was watching while he entered the store for the second time that day.
Blaise was narrowing down the field of rings that she liked. Regardless of how many times he had said it, she was still money conscious. She looked up from the rings as she heard him come in the door. "Are you sure you can afford this?"
Harry responded the same as he had the last three times she had asked that day. "I will tell you more once we get to somewhere more private. For now, just trust the fact that I have more than enough money to get you whatever ring you want. I want you to be happy in the relationship and not just settling for it because it's all there is."
"Ok," Blaise said. She still seemed unsure but figured that she should start to trust him especially if he was to be her husband. "I've narrowed it down to these three rings but I can't decide on the one I really want. What do you think?"
"How about the one in the middle there, with the yellow diamond as the center piece, it looks different then most of the ones here," Harry said after he scanned through the three rings in front of him. He couldn't deny the fact that the ring he had chosen was also the most expensive ring in the store but he didn't care about the money.
"Are you sure Harry, I mean it's your money and I don't want to feel guilty for you spending so much," Blaise said.
Getting tired of the redundant questioning and not really liking jewelry stores all that much, Harry turned to the man at the counter. "We'll take that one. Charge it to my family vault at Gringotts; you should still have the information from earlier?"
"Yes sir, right away." The salesman placed the ring into a velvet box, which while unnecessary, was story custom, and told them how to resize the ring magically to fit her finger one she decided to wear it.