Author's Note: Once again, much love to everyone who reviewed, especially those awesome people who have reviewed every chapter! Here is chapter three, which includes a man's greatest horror in life… dun dun dun… JEWELRY SHOPPING- with a girl…
THE TIME IT TAKESChapter Four
Harry had decided. Jewelry shopping was officially the most murderous form of torture possible, especially if it involved Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger.
Every time Ron picked something up, Hermione snorted, shook her head, or simply made this irritating clicking noise with her tongue. Ron, in turn, would be hurt and indignant and force her to list everything that was wrong with the ring in question. It was usually quite a long list.
The awful part about it wasn't that Hermione was being annoying. Rather, it was because, as usual, she was right. Ron was rubbish at picking things out- every ring he chose was completely ornate and overdone and all wrong for Ginny.
The most recent ring had consisted of a huge diamond, surrounded by several multicolored gems and covered in flowery gold designs. Harry winced at the sight of it. He was beginning to wish that he had only invited Hermione to come ring shopping with him.
Hermione laughed. "Really, Ron," she scoffed.
Harry was beginning to wish that he'd come ring shopping by himself.
"What's wrong with it?" Ron asked defensively. He seemed quite upset about Hermione's criticism.
"It's ghastly, and it's huge, and-." She gasped, "Ronald! Honestly! It's seven hundred Galleons, twelve sickles!" she seemed quite upset about Ron's awful taste in engagement rings.
"It's not as if Harry doesn't have the money…" Ron reasoned, leaving a horrified expression on Hermione's face.
"I'm not sure that one's quite right, Ron." Harry spoke up, searching the case of jewelry for something that he might have missed in the last hour.
"Well, there's a shock," Ron muttered, "you haven't like one since we started looking, and we've been everywhere! I don't see what the big deal is, really, it's just a ring…"
"Just a ring?" Hermione cried shrilly, "This RING is symbolic of Harry and Ginny's love! It's a sign of their commitment to spend the rest of their lives together! It should be perfect!" she was eyeing Ron with every sign of anger and hurt, leaving both Ron and Harry quite alarmed, though Harry had a fairly good idea as to what was going on.
Hermione was quiet for a while, until she said, "Maybe we should try a Muggle store."
Ron looked at her in a sad sort of way, as if he was convinced that she'd finally lost that beautiful mind of hers.
"What?" she asked dangerously, "Harry's got Muggle money, we've been everywhere else, and I don't think Harry particularly needs an engagement ring that sings or dances or says, 'Marry me! Marry me' over and over all bloody day long!"
Harry considered this, as well as Hermione's testy mood, and nodded, "Yes- yes, I think that's an excellent idea."
Ron was still a bit skeptical, but since he had no desire to anger his girlfriend any further, he agreed. They apparated onto a Muggle street. A few neat little townhouses lined the freshly paved road, as Muggles in sandals and shorts scurried by. Two spoiled looking young girls in white dresses played jump rope on the sidewalk, and some of the little stores were slightly crowded with teenagers, middle-aged women, and old people.
Hermione looked around the street with a sad sort of smile on her face, and took Ron's hand in her own, focusing on one little brown house with boarded up windows and an overgrown yard. "This is where I grew up." She said softly.
----oOoOoO----
After they stood in front of the little brown house for several minutes, Hermione spoke again.
"There's a jewelry shop a bit down that way," she said, pointing down the street. Harry nodded, and Ron looked worried for her, and he didn't let go of her hand as they walked. They went for a while before Hermione stopped in front of a small, quiet shop that had a sign informing passersby that there was a special deal on diamond necklaces.
Somehow, the calm little store seemed much more familiar and right than all of the bustling wizarding jewelry establishments. Smiling, Harry went inside, and was followed by Ron and Hermione.
"Hello dears!" beamed an old but pretty Muggle woman from behind the counter. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"
"Er," Harry muttered, "an engagement ring, actually."
"Oh, how lovely." The woman smiled, "Have you any idea what you're looking for?"
Harry glanced back at Ron and Hermione, but they had traveled to an opposite corner of the shop, and were now squabbling about yet another ring.
"No." Harry admitted, "Haven't the foggiest. But- but it needs to be perfect. The perfect ring."
The woman studied him, smiling slightly. "I say, dear, you do look familiar. In fact you look just like that boy- oh, but that must have been twenty years ago…" she trailed off. "You look just like him, though." She frowned.
"There- there was a man here?" he asked, frowning, "One who looked like me?"
"Oh, you're the spitting image! I'll never forget that young man… he came in with three other boys, all dressed quite oddly and squabbling about something odd- can't quite remember what it was, now, but I was very surprised. And this boy- he was very handsome, of course, he came up and he said, 'I need the perfect engagement ring.' Just like that. Very blunt- I was quite taken aback, but intrigued, so I chatted with him for a bit and asked about his life, and this girl he needed this ring for…"
"And- and what was she like?" Harry asked, quickly. He couldn't imagine why his father would be buying his mum's engagement ring at a Muggle store… but still… it all seemed to fit…
"He told me she was beautiful," the woman smiled, "an incredible looking girl, with dark red hair, shiny and smooth as silk, and eyes the color of my finest emeralds. He also said she was a bit of a spitfire, spunky and bold and not afraid to speak her mind. I'd never met a man so incredibly in love in my life." She sighed.
"Did this man…" Harry asked, now completely sure of his theory, "Did he give you his name?"
"No, I'm afraid not." She said slowly, and then looking on Harry's disappointed face, she added, "but the girl… He called her… his flower. Oh- his Lily flower. That's what it was." She smiled, "I suppose her name must have been Lily."
Harry grinned. "So- did he find the perfect ring, then?" he asked.
"It just so happens that he did, dear." She smiled at him. "And- I still have it."
"What?" Harry asked worriedly, "You mean- he didn't take it?"
"Oh, no, he did take it," she said, "but- about two years later, someone came in and told me that the man and his wife had perished, and that they thought that the ring belonged back at the shop. This man… he must have been one of the three who was with the boy the first time, though he looked to be a thousand years older. He told me that I should show this ring to anyone else who came in, looking for 'the perfect engagement ring.'" She looked at him. "And funnily enough, no other man besides you has ever made that request since."
Harry looked at her. "I need to see this ring." He said quickly.
"Oh, of course," she smiled, "I've been keeping it in a special place. I'll be right back, dear."
She disappeared for a moment, and Ron and Hermione approached him. "What've you been doing up here, mate?" Ron asked, frowning, "You've been chatting up this old lady for fifteen minutes."
"Well- you've been arguing just as long." He pointed out heatedly.
Hermione blushed, "Er- Harry…we sort of made up."
It was then that Harry noticed the faint traces of pink lipstick on Ron's face. "Ah." He said slowly. "All right, so I found something weird."
"You have an odd attraction to older women?" Ron suggested, snorting.
"My dad bought my mum's engagement ring in this store." Harry said.
"What?" Hermione asked, "Harry… how could you possibly figure that out?"
"That woman- she told me- not that it was my mum and dad, obviously, but this whole story… and she still has the ring, Remus brought it in after they died, she's going to bring it out right now!"
"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, looking at the open black velvet case now sitting on the glass counter- top. "Harry, it's…"
It was the perfect engagement ring.