"We have to meet mum at Flourish and Blotts in an hour," George said.
Fred, George, Polly, Lee, and Angelina were all standing outside of the only joke shop in town. Fred, Lee, and Angelina went inside and straight to the fireworks. Polly and George wandered off on their own, looking at the little trinkets and jokes that interested them. Polly picked up the same little sweet that Fred had given her on that first day. She showed George who smirked at it.
"Glad Fred gave you that," George said, taking the little candy. "Might not have met you otherwise."
"You don't think?" Polly had always believed in true love, and soulmates. She wanted to believe so badly that eventually, she did. Her parents have been happily married for years after meeting in a little diner her mum was a waitress at. Polly wanted a happy marriage and family in the future.
"Dunno," George said. His dismissive attitude didn't sit right with Polly. Would he be okay having not met her? Polly couldn't imagine her life without the two now, but she'd never really given much thought to how he felt about that.
"Give it here," Polly said. She took the candy from George and put it down where she had gotten it. "Let's go join the others." Polly let go of his hand and walked over to Angelina, who was looking at whoopie cushions with very little interest.
"This place is sad," Angelina said, looking around the beat up little shop. "Care to go look at some animals instead?" Polly and Angelina were friends, and oddly enough had grown closer over the summer rather than at school. Angelina's grandmother lived right down the street from Polly's parents, so they had spent a lot of time together. Angelina even found a meadow in the middle of the forest where she had attempted to teach Polly to fly like a Quidditch player. They had given up, but Polly still tagged along while Angelina practised. Mainly for the company, but also because she would be able to spot animals.
"Do you even have to ask? Catch you at Flourish and Blotts soon, boys." Polly and Angelina left the joke shop together. George was confused, as he had thought he was spending time with Polly today, and now she's hanging out with Angelina?
"What did you do?" Lee asked, laughing at George's confused expression.
"I honestly don't know," George said. "I don't think I did anything."
"How do you not know if you've done something?" Fred asked, shaking his head. George just shrugged. "Are you going to be all bent out of shape now?"
"Why would I be? Polly and I are fine," George said, smiling. "Better than fine actually."
"Why better?" Lee asked, smirking. He had an idea about where this was going.
"I kissed her the other night," George said. "It was very romantic. It was under the stars, you know the night the moon was just about three times bigger than it normally is?"
"Good on you, mate!" Lee said, punching George in the shoulder.
"You kissed a girl before I did?" Fred asked, grabbing his chest where his heart lived. "And you didn't tell me." Fred fell back into Lee dramatically as George and Lee laughed.
Meanwhile, Polly and Angelina were cooing over a litter of kittens. Polly loved the Magical Menagerie pet shop. It was filled with so many magical creatures. Wall to wall filled with bunnies, snails, cats, owls, and just about any pet you could imagine. It may have been a bit cramped, and noisy, and the smell wasn't fantastic. But it was fun. Angelina asked if something was bothering Polly. Typically, in the pet shop, Polly would be bouncing around, suggesting they open an animal day care or even their own shop. But at the moment, all she did was pet the same kitten.
"George kissed me," Polly said, picking the kitten up and rubbing his belly. The kitten meowed happily. Polly had a gift when it comes to animals.
"Wow, really? I didn't think he would ever get the nerve," Angelina said, trying to lighten the mood. "Isn't this good? You've been talking about him all summer."
"He holds my hand, and seems to enjoy my company." Polly was lost in her own thoughts. Did George really like Polly, or did he just like the idea of having a girlfriend? Not that Polly was his girlfriend...
"Polly this is good, you like him, remember?"
"Then why hasn't he asked me out. Why hasn't he made me his girlfriend?"
"I don't know," Angelina said, crossing her arms. "But I don't think you have anything to worry about, really. That boy is crazy about you. He talks about you all the time."
"If you say so," Polly said, placing the kitten back in his cage. The shopkeeper was keeping a close on eye on Polly. Does she really seem like the thieving type?
Angelina suggested they go get some ice cream, and forget about Polly's doubts for an afternoon, so they could have some fun. Polly agreed with her. Soon they were munching on the cold treat, and trying to prevent it from melting on their fingers. Polly was eating regular vanilla, while Angelina decided on chocolate peanut butter flavour.
They were sitting on the stone steps to a vacant building on the main street. Enjoying their day, and the ice cream. Angelina mentioned how she thought Fred was a good Quidditch player, but failed to mention anyone else on the team. After she commented on his ability to protect the other players from the bludger for the third time, Polly began to suspect a little more than friendship there, but she said nothing. If Angelina wanted Polly to know, she'd have told her.
"If we hadn't met through the boys do you think we'd have still spent the summer together?" Polly asked, ditching her ice cream in a nearby trash can. It was too sticky for Polly's liking.
"Yeah, I think so. I mean if fate has a plan, right?"
Now that was precisely the answer she had expected from George. Or at least the answer she wanted. Polly nodded, losing herself in her thoughts. She wished she could think of something other than George, she really did, but her mind always swam back to her favourite goofy redhead. It was a disease.
"Hey pretty ladies," Lee said, sliding in front of the girls. "Look who I found."
Cedric Diggory and two of his closest friends, Alexander and Joe walked into view. Alexander and Joe were both Hufflepuff and Polly had met him a few times while in the company of Cedric. She greeted all of them with a hug, and a polite hello. Angelina just smiled.
"Missed you over the summer, Polly." Cedric pulled her in for a second hug and spun her around. "Better put you down, hate to get in a fight with George."
"Haha, funny." George crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.
"What was that about anyway?" Polly asked, she'd never been given the details.
"Nothing," George and Cedric said at the same time.
"Boys, we'd better get moving to the bookstore, Mrs. Weasley will be upset if we're late." Polly gestured for the twins to get a move on. They listened.
"It's going to be a nuthouse now," Alexander said, "Lockhart is supposed to arriving there any minute."
"What? He's going to be here." Polly asked, smile as bright as can be. "Today? Now!?"
"Oh great," George said, shaking his head. "Polly you can stop drooling now, he's a git."
"C'mon! He's famous, it's a little exciting right?"
"No," George said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "I could do what he does, easy as pie."
"I'd like to see you try," Angelina said, rolling her eyes. Polly laughed. George, Fred, Angelina, and Polly all parted ways from the other boys. Polly hugged Cedric, and promised they'd catch up first thing when they both got to school. She really had missed her friend. George led the group to the bookshop, and Alexander was right. It was absolutely flooded with people. Polly had to fight through the crowd behind George to make it to Mrs. Weasley, and even then she had to continue to fight to stay on her feet. It was the crowd thought their rowdiness would make Lockhart come out faster. All it did was the wait intolerable. But Polly was pretty excited. She was going to see the award winning smile, up close, in real life.
"You're drooling," Angelina said, laughing.
"You sound like George," Polly said. Angelina shrugged. "Are you not excited?"
"I am, but clearly not as much as you," Angelina said, giggling.
Polly just shrugged, trying to focus on the crowd in front of her. It was an absolute mad house. Polly could only compare it to a proper Quidditch match. Although, Quidditch matches were organized chaos. Here was just everyone trying to meet Lockhart first. Polly just wanted to stay on her feet. The crowd erupted into a fit of cheers when Lockhart walked into the room, his blue cloak flowing behind him like the train of a gown. He sat down at his table, and almost immediately a photographer was trying to take as many pictures as possible.
Polly clapped along with everyone, until she was pushed into the witch in front of her. She tried to apologize but the woman was having none of it. She glared at Polly.
"This crowd is merciless," George said, looping his arm through Polly's. "I'll keep you on your feet."
"It can't be – Harry Potter!" Lockhart shouted, shocking Polly. She had been looking at George's smiling face, but then turned to see Gilderoy Lockhart out of his chair, and pointing at Harry.
"How exciting," Polly said, moving out of the way with the rest of the crowd. Her quiet whispers adding to the slight buzz humming around the room.
"Does everything excite you?" George asked, laughing at her.
"Ladies and gentlemen! What an extraordinary moment this is!The perfect moment to make an announcement I've been sitting on for a long time." Lockhart had his arm strewn across Harry's shoulders. Harry appeared to be blinded by the constant flash of the photographer's camera. HE looked uncomfortable. "When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography – which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge. He had no idea that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his school fellows, will be getting the real, magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
The crowd burst into another round of applause. Polly clapped along with everyone, and fought her way into the line to buy the book set herself. It took her over an hour, Mrs. Weasley stuck right behind her. She was starstruck talking to Gilderoy Lockhart having never met anyone like him in her life. His hair was as perfect as she'd imagined it'd be in real life, and his smile – oh, his smile! He was so handsome. She took her handful of books and was nearly pushed out of the way when Mrs. Weasley attempted to get up to the table. All of Polly's books were signed by the author himself. How exciting!
Right as she was about the walk outside to get some fresh air, some kind of commotion began across the room. Polly couldn't see much, but she could see books falling off of a teetering shelf. Hagrid came into the room, and easily broke up whatever was going on. Polly tried to find Fred and George in the crowd, but people were still pushing and shoving. Polly didn't want to ruin her new books, so she held onto them tightly. Mrs. Weasley passed by her in a hurry, almost knocking Polly over yet again. This was getting a little ridiculous.
Polly made it outside, passing by Lucius and Draco Malfoy talking to the photographer from the Daily Prophet. She avoided eye contact at all costs. The Weasley's, Granger's and Harry were all waiting outside when Polly finally made it out. She felt a bit like a burden in that moment.
"You missed dad wrestle," Fred said, laughing as Mrs. Weasley swatted his arm.
"Let's go home, I think we've had enough excitement for today," Mr. Weasley said, walking off towards the Leaky Cauldron. "You have a few days left before school starts, make the most of them."
"Yes mum," the kids all moaned.
They parted from the Grangers at the Leaky Cauldron, as they were catching the bus and the others were travelling by floo powder back to the Burrow.
"We'll see you at school," Harry said to Hermione.
"See you then," she said.