Chapter Ten: Dress Robes
"I actually thought you looked kind of cute with the lace." Hermione commented over a collection of dress robe patterns; Ron, who had been staring out the front window at passers by, whipped his head around.
"They don't still make those feminine torture devices?" Ron was aghast.
"But I like this one better, myself." Hermione pointed to another picture Harry couldn't see; he turned back to his own booklet. Who knew there were so many styles?
"Shouldn't you wait 'till Ginny can be here?" Luna asked, looking up from a copy of The Quibbler. "You are going together."
"We had a bit of a falling out." Harry muttered, his nose getting very close to the catalog; forming a barrier.
"She broke up with you?" Luna's surprise irked Harry; moving him to embarrassment to anger.
"I broke up with her." Harry replied defensively; up to this point he would have used a softer term, but his anger burned away all softness.
"That's odd." Looking past the catalog - who was she to call anything about him odd? - he found her staring at him, rather perplexed; Harry glanced nervously to the side, wondering how Ron and Hermione's reactions would compare, but Hermione was holding a color pallet to Ron's head.
"Can we not talk about it?" Harry asked, returning to flipping through the catalog; trying to seem nonchalant. Luna shrugged; silence stretched out.
"The light green makes you look like a Christmas tree." Hermione rebuffed Ropn's suggestion. "You'll need a haircut too," her voice falling to a mumble as she ran her fingers through her husband's hair.
"Hermione is well?" Luna's question jerked Harry's attention back from its wondering; he realized he'd been staring at the couple.
"Hermione's doing great." Harry replied, his heart rising from the glumness thoughts of Ginny brought.
"They look even more perfect then they did in school."
"They are perfect." Now Harry was back to feeling sorry for himself. "What do you think of this one?" Harry quickly changed the subject, holding forth the catalog.
Luna studied the picture critically; looking down at the picture, up at Harry, and down at the picture, she prepared to state her opinion. "The green will-" and Harry chimed in, "match your eyes." Harry let out a bark of laughter.
"You must hear that a lot." Luna smiled; letting out her own tinkle of laughter. "But it's true." She finished, and if Harry wasn't imagining things, flushed slightly.
"It does get tedious though." Harry replied with a shrug.
"The cut is normal enough." Luna continued, moving on quickly. "You can change the color to whatever you want."
"Is normal bad?"
"Not particularly." Luna shrugged, handing back the catalog, and turning back to The Quibbler.
"What would you do?"
"Probably longer sleeves, some green embroidery, and more flowing." Luna replied from behind the protective wall of The Quibbler. "Black."
"That one looks like the robes you wore to the Yule Ball." Hermione commented from over Harry's shoulder; making him jump.