"I haven't introduced you to Harry have I?" chirped Ginny, pulling Moira away from Dean. "Moira Bunkley, Harry Potter. Harry Potter, Moira Bunkley."
Moira shook his hand, realizing who he was. She didn't say anything, though, as Hermione had warned her back in the Burrow of how uncomfortable Harry gets about his scar.
"Nice to meet you," she said politely, shaking his hand. They were rough and calloused; Moira could only guess a broomstick.
"Quidditch?" she asked, withdrawing her hand. Astonishment drew across Harry's face.
"Yes," Harry replied, and Moira noticed a wave of disappointment wash over his humble face. "You seem to keep up on your reading." He nudged his head toward a newspaper stand, where pictures of him with a golden snitch in his hand plastered many of the front pages.
"Oh!" Moira gasped, understanding his disappointment. She was no longer just a new friend to him but another die hard fan, "No, it's not that – it's your hands!" She explained. "They feel like those of a Quidditch player. I just assumed…"
Harry's face broke into a grateful smile. "Oh." Moira smiled at him before turning back to the dresses.
"Well, Ginny, what do you think of the dress robe I picked out?" she questioned, motioning at the catalog. She had chosen a chocolate brown dress; it was almost the exact same shade as her hair. It was strapless and fell to the floor.
"It's gorgeous!" Ginny chimed.
"We need two pairs don't we?" Moira asked, looking at the dresses again. "For the two balls?" Neil snorted with suppressed laughter. Moira smacked him upside the head, hoping that his sick brain would feel it threw that thick skull of his.
"Oh, yes! I almost forgot," Ginny replied as she began looking around the shop. "We should probably get Hermione."
"All right, I'll stay here to get my measurements" Miora said, nodding.
"So I have to go there alone?" asked Ginny, a look of distaste on her face. "There are odd wizards in here sometimes!"
"Oh, I haven't spoken to Hermione, yet. I'll go with you," Harry assured her, as they headed to the front of the store. Moira found herself alone with Dean, and she suddenly felt nervous.
"May I?" asked Dean, gesturing at the catalog. Moira nodded shyly.
"Wow, that's a very nice dress. I'm sure you'll look amazing in it." He smiled up at her before pulling his money bag out of his pocket. "I'll chip in for it."
"Oh. No, I couldn't." Moira protested. "I couldn't take your money!"
Dean just laughed and said, "Well, if my girlfriend won't let me pay for hers, I'll just have to help with her cousin's."
Moira felt her cheeks burning, though carefully reminding herself that Dean was Ginny's boyfriend – as in, he wasn't up for grabs.
"This one is nice, too. Why don't you get this one?" asked Dean, as he caught sight of another dress in the catalog. He showed her a picture of a gorgeous dress. It was a deep maroon halter, with a low neck and back line. It came to just below the knees.
"I like it," said Moira, as she leaned over and looked at the picture. "I also like the price."
It was only 50 gallons. The affordability made her smile. As Moira looked up from the catalog, she caught Dean looking at her with a look she couldn't quite place. It wasn't curiosity, and certainly wasn't anger. He wasn't particularly happy, but he wasn't particularly sad. Just as Moira was trying to figure out just what was written on his face, she wondered if it could be…longing?
To her surprise, Dean began to lean towards her. Was he going to kiss her? She started to panic –after all, he was Ginny's boyfriend! –and did the only thing she could think of. She didn't think much of it at the time; they did it in all the movies, so what could be wrong with it? She leaned up and gave him a quick, sharp slap.
"Bloody hell!" he cursed, holding the side of his face, and looking up in alarm. Suddenly, Moira was brought bumping back to reality.
"I'm sorry!" she cried, reaching out worriedly. "I just.."
"What? Felt a surge of anger at my audacity of reaching for my money?" he retaliated, giving her a bewildering look.
Moira flushed a deep red. She was sure that he would hate her forever now. How could she be so naive? She was about to turn away in shame when she heard the most wonderful, and confusing, sound. Dean was laughing!
"What are you laughing for?" she questioned, utterly perturbed.
"You slapped me!" He started to laugh harder. Moira was afraid now, positive that he was insane.
"You're mad!" she cried, her eyes wide, an involuntary smile spreading across her face. Dean just laughed harder.
"I'm mad?" he chortled. "You just i slapped /I me!"
"And how exactly is that funny?" Moira asked.
"It's just that, I've never been slapped by a girl before, not even one I've tried to kiss!" Moira's cheeks burned at the thought. "And I didn't expect it to hurt!"
A wide smile spread across Moira's face.
"Why didn't you think it would hurt?" she giggled.
"Well, the only girl at Hogwarts that can really hit anything is Hermione, and I've never been on her bad side, thank Merlin. Draco Malfoy wasn't as lucky though." Dean paused before considering Moira, an amused smile spreading across his face, his laughter subsiding. "You're one interesting girl Moira Bunkely. I look forward to seeing you again."
"Well, I am going to be in Gryffindor," she said proudly. Dean's face lit up.
"Then I can show you around-"
"What was all that commotion?" interrupted Hermione, as she walked in with Ginny and Harry, a worried look on her face.
"Yeah," added Ginny. "We heard someone curse, then yelling and..."
"I just found out that your cousin was insane," Dean laughed. Then seeing the look on Ginny's face, he added, "-ly funny! Insanely funny!" Ginny's scowl disappeared into a smile.
"Well, I'm glad to see that you're getting along, but we have to hurry! Its four-thirty and the pet shop closes at five! Ron still has to buy some owl treats."
"And I wanted to pick up some new toys for Crookshanks," added Hermione, referring to the fluffy orange cat that had repeatedly left dead mice and birds on Moira's bed.
Everyone hurried to the front desk and paid for their robes. With Dean and Harry's help, who, according to Hermione both had very large bank vaults, the price was cut greatly. Yet in all, it was the most expensive shopping trip any of them had ever made.
When they reached the pet shop, everyone used the last of their spending money. Mandy ended up buying a small black kitten, which she named Friday, along with an assortment of unnecessary toys for it. Neil however became attached to a large tawney owl, who Neil deemed Big Mac, Mac for short. Oh the things boys come up with when they're hungry! Moira wandered the shop, looking in the small glass windows that showed an assortment of animals. Moira giggled at what looked like a small round poof ball, that kept sticking its tongue up its neighbors nose, eating it's boogers, but she didn't see anything she liked. She was about to join Mandy in playing with the new kitten, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was a dog. Confused as to why there would be an ordinary dog in a wizards pet shop, she went to take a closer look. As Moira approached the glass, she noticed that it looked just like a Jack Russell Terrier, except for its strange forked tail. Moira called over a shop keeper for assistance.
"What is it?" she asked, deeply interested, pointing at the dog-like creature.
"That's a Crup, now, ain't it?" the shopkeeper replied, busy cleaning a cage.
"What's it like?" Moira questioned. She was beginning to feel a strong pull towards the animal.
"Well, they're absolutely vicious towards muggles unless they are well trained, but they're quite loyal to a witch or wizard, aren't they?"
Moira put her hand against the glass, wanting to touch the young Crup, who, to Moira's surprise, put its tiny paw against the glass, up against her hand. A surge of joy went through Moira.
"How much is it?" she asked softly.
"Free, if you take a bag of Crup food with you. To be truthful, we haven't sold a bag for a while. Fewer and fewer people have Crups anymore. It's quite sad really, ain't it?"
"Done," said Moira. She followed the shop keeper around back, where he handed her the Crup puppy. It immediately immersed her face in kisses, licking her all over.
"Thank you," she said to the shop keeper, paying for her mega bag of Crup food. He nodded kindly as she headed outside the store, noticing that Dean was the only one who had waited in the store with her. She smiled as she walked out the door with the newly christened Whopper, Moira felt the name would go lovely with Neil's owl, Mac.
Mandy's face turned horrid when she saw the Crup, "What is that?" She bellowed, "It'll eat Friday!" She held the small kitten tightly to her chest. Surprisingly, Dean laughed in amusement.
"Don't worry," He soothed, "It's not a dog, it's a Crup." He looked at Moira's confused expression as to how he knew this.
"I had one when I was a kid," he explained before turning back to Mandy, "It doesn't chase cats like dogs do."
Mandy furrowed her eyebrows and muttered to herself, "It better not. " Though she purposely made it loud enough for everyone to hear.
The long shopping day was over and everyone was tired. Mrs. Weasley wasted no time making her way to the Leaky Cauldron. With permission of the landlord, Tom, they used the large fireplace to get back home. One at a time the family members stepped into the hearth and disappeared back to the Burrow, even, to Ron's delight Harry, who would be spending the rest of the summer with them. Ginny and Moira were the last to go, with Dean of course seeing everyone off.
"Bye Dean," whispered Ginny, her arms around his neck. A knot formed in Moira's stomach, forcing her to look away. Ginny leaned in to kiss him, but Dean just barley brushed her lips, like Moira would do Mandy, when sending her off to bed. Ginny however, did not seem unnerved. She then stepped into the hearth and yelled "The Burrow!" before disappearing into a waft a green flame. It was then that Moira noticed that she was a lone with Dean. She stepped wordlessly toward the fireplace, feeling Deans eyes on her the whole time. She began to step into the hearth, but something was holding back. It was Dean. He was holding her hand loosely, yet tight enough to pull her back to him.
"You're beautiful." He muttered, this time when he leaned in, Moira new it was for a kiss. She felt an extremely strong urge to respond. To lean into him, kiss him back, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, yet spending the day with him had made her comfortable, and happy, and she didn't feel as skittish as she did in Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions. She didn't want to slap him, or push him away, but she knew it would be wrong to kiss him to, no matter how much she wanted to. All she could do was stand there, and allow him to kiss her, but that didn't even happen, for before he was even close to her, Whopper nipped Dean's heel and ran towards the hearth. Dean wrenched himself away from Moira, grabbing at his foot. Moira smiled, knowing the puppy had somehow, most likely through it's magical abilities, sensed her need for a way out. She smiled at the puppy before hurrying after it into the fireplace. Even while she was stating the name of her destination, she could hear Dean yelling, "Wait! Moira come on! I didn't mean..."