Sales
Eileen and Sev went to the centre of Cokeworth, talking about Lauren on the way, as they hadn't yet and his mother was dying of curiosity.
He bought a dark brown leather wallet first, the smallest one there was with room for bills and coins, and then they went to get the swimsuits at the shop where Lily had bought him underwear, pajamas and a dressing gown for Christmas.
"Buy a bikini instead of a swimsuit, Mum, you have a good figure."
"I don't have a good figure at all, Severus, even though I'm thin I'm very ungainly."
"At least try them on, come on. They're very discreet, they cover everything very well, and so you can sunbathe on your belly too."
"No, Severus, I'm very embarrassed with Peter and Violet."
"Come on, Mum, get rid of your embarrassment. We're going to do something, I'll accompany you to the changing room and when you're ready, let me know and I'll tell you."
"I'm embarrassed even if you see me. Don't you see that when you have children your belly sags? Even though you're thin, you have a very ugly figure. Maybe if I had had you when I was younger I would have recovered it, but being over thirty and not doing physical exercise regularly it was impossible. Bikinis are for young girls."
My… poor woman… thought Sev. "Well… whatever you want…"
"Besides, I already know what swimsuits I want, I've already had my eye on them and they're also quite youthful. This one is all black with an asymmetrical cut and the other one is red and black with a psychedelic print, so I can wear them with the ladybug earrings."
"I think it's great, Mum, very good taste."
"Go ahead and choose what swimsuits you want for yourself and also think about buying some more underwear. Maybe another pair of pajamas if you're going to sleep around often, and changes of clothes, what you have might not last until Christmas, and especially socks, the ones you have are winter ones and with the heat this year you're going to have a terrible time."
"Okay, I'll grab all my stuff while you try them on."
"Let's see if I got the size right, I'd rather grab several so I don't have to leave the changing room," she said. "You don't need to try them on, as you can see, men's swimsuits are little more than underwear, just grab them in the same size as the changes you have."
"True, I don't like these swimsuits at all, for that I'd just bath in my underwear."
"You're absolutely right, they're very indiscreet. But that's how it is, boy, fashion, what's in."
Eileen went to the changing rooms and Sev chose his swimsuits. One black with an asymmetrical red stripe and another navy blue with a white stripe. Then he picked up a pair of navy blue pajamas made of light fabric, a size larger than the one he had, as they were already tight and he preferred them to be looser so he could sleep more comfortably. I'm still growing. How nice.
He picked up short-sleeved ones, made of cotton instead of fiber, and without buttons. Like the ones Hippolyta has. A warmer feel for when I can't sleep naked with her and so the buttons don't bother her when we hug.
Finally he took up his underwear, stocking up on half a dozen pairs of light socks in dark colors and another of underwear, even prettier than the ones Lily had bought him, instead of plain, striped prints and even some bright colors.
When he finished, Eileen had already left the changing room.
"How about, Mum? Did you like them?"
"I loved them, Severus, they fit me great, they cover everything that needs to be covered and they also support the breast well. I even looked pretty, I have a very good eye. At home I'll put them on so you can see them."
"I'm very glad."
"Do you have yours?"
"Yes, yes, I have everything," he replied.
"Have you taken more winter socks?"
"No, not that."
"Well, take them, because the ones you have might not last until Christmas and at Christmas there are very few days between the start of the sales and when you have to go back to school," she recommended.
"I won't have enough with the twenty pounds."
"Come on, don't be exaggerated, if it's not enough for the sun cream, I'll buy it for you tomorrow or on Saturday when I come to work."
"Okay…"
His mother took everything from his hands and he took another six pairs of winter socks.
"What colours did you take the light socks in?" Eileen asked.
"Dark ones."
"What colour are you going to buy the trainers in?"
"If there are, black ones," Sev replied.
"There are. So it's okay, just think that you're going to need shorts to go to the beach and anywhere else when it's really hot."
"Ugh... I don't see myself in shorts, huh?"
"Severus, don't be silly. You're not going to go around in the heat like a fool."
"Don't try to convince me."
"For that, women have the advantage of skirts and dresses, you have it worse."
"The typical Scottish outfit has a skirt," he said.
"The Scots are clever."
"I wouldn't mind trying it one day."
"They usually marry wearing it," she said.
"Oh…"
"Well, you know, at your wedding, pretend to be Scottish and dress in a kilt, you get married in Glasgow, Edinburgh or in some village in the Highlands."
"True, in a village, Lauren would love it," said Sev.
"Well, there you go, if you would wear a skirt on one of the most important days of your life, I don't see why you can't wear shorts."
"How you women like to direct the lives of men."
"Of course, that's what we have left," said his mother. "Come on, let's pay, because at this rate we won't get home in time for Alice and Genevre to call you."
"True."
"It doesn't matter, they'll call later."
"Of course."
They paid and Eileen asked that everything be put in the same large bag. Then they went to the shoe store, the first thing they looked at were the flip-flops.
"How ugly they are," he complained.
"And not only that, they are very uncomfortable, having to put this thing you see here between the big toe and the next."
"I won't wear flip-flops, I'll go barefoot on the beach and that's it."
"You'll burn yourself with the sand," she objected.
"Really?"
"Really, in full sun the sand burns a lot."
"Ugh... And there is no alternative?" asked Sev.
"Of course there is, something I'm going to buy myself to simply go down the street, and you should. Good sandals."
"Of course…"
"Much better than trainers," his mother opined.
"But I'm going to buy the trainers anyway, just like I can't go everywhere in boots, I can't do it in sandals either. I can't go to work in sandals, it's dangerous to have my skin exposed to the products."
"Of course, of course. Come on, then each to their own, you look for sandals and trainers and I'll look for flip-flops and sandals."
"Will you get the money, Mum?"
"If I don't get it, you can lend me something until tomorrow or Saturday when I get paid."
"I told you that I want to contribute to the food. You should have let me take the fifty pounds."
"It will be more than enough for us, Severus. Come on, let's get to work."
Sev chose and tried on a pair of completely black trainers and sandals that covered the whole foot and closed with a buckle, made of dark brown leather. Eileen was very excited when she found a pair of Roman sandals, with numerous thin light leather straps that closed by tying them at her ankles.
She showed them to her son. "Look how pretty and modern they are. I'm also going to buy a couple of dresses or skirts that go up to mid-calf, to show them off."
"Of course, Mum, they look great on you. I'd like some like that for myself."
"Impossible, Severus, there won't be any for your foot. They're for women, this is the largest size they have, mine."
"Ugh… Everything for men is much worse, trousers instead of skirts, ugly swimsuits…"
"Become a transvestite."
"What is that?" he asked.
"Men who dress like women."
"No… never, but what I can do is ask Valerie to try to Summon me some like yours in my size."
"True. But just in case, take those you chose as well," she advised. "They are much more resistant, to give them more battle, and much better for the beach. The others, just to show off, sandals deteriorate quickly. Now you have one more reason to wear shorts."
"True."
"Come on, let's pay."
They paid, they didn't take the shoe boxes, they put everything in two medium-sized bags."
"Let's go get the food now, to the market," said Eileen.
They went to the market to buy enough food to last until at least Sunday. Severus didn't miss a single detail of how his mother chose the products and carried out the transactions, since he had never bought food and it seemed essential to him to learn.
When they were leaving, she said to him, "It's cheaper and more comfortable at the supermarket, you take what you want, but everything is already packaged, it's not as fresh or as good quality. In addition, you feed the rich people, who own the supermarket chains and pay their employees a pittance, a very unskilled job. By buying in small shops or at the market you give life to many small family businesses, people who work hard. The fishmonger stays up all night, he has gone to London to the fish market for the day's produce, and the same with the baker, he has baked the bread himself all night. The meat and vegetables are similar, they don't need to go every day because their products are not as perishable, but they go to the food market several times a week for produce."
"Oh…"
"It's a very hard job, then the whole day serving people, and you can see how kind they are and how satisfied they seem, because it's also a safe job, food is always bought. The bad thing is that the supermarkets eat them. Violet and Peter, for example, since they have a fridge with a freezer, go to a large supermarket to buy everything for the week on Friday afternoon or Saturday and load it into their car. I'm trying to convince Violet to stop that habit and since she works so close, at the town hall, to come to the market after work even if she gets home a little later. In short, she's alone most of the year, Peter and Tuney eat out every weekday."
"Of course."
"I also campaign among my clients, but you know, most of them work, otherwise they wouldn't need me, and many work precisely during business hours and it's impossible for them to come every day," continued his mother. "Even so, I try to convince them to do it on Saturday, instead of going to the supermarket they can come here, but many don't do it because they don't have to get up early and because it wouldn't be so convenient for them to come by car. The market closes early on Saturday at noon, the supermarket is open until the evening, and here in the centre of Cokeworth there is little space to park, while the big supermarket has a huge car park."
"Oh…"
"Of course, to take advantage of when people are free. They exploit their employees."
"Ugh…"
"I think we have enough left for the sun cream, let's go to the drugstore," she suggested.
They went, very loaded. At the door, Eileen said to him, "You ask, go on, you're the one who knows about these things."
They went in.
"Good morning," the clerk greeted them.
"Good morning," answered Sev. "We wanted to buy sun protection cream."
"What factor?"
"What is that?"
"The sun protection factor is the amount of time you can spend in the sun without burning compared to the time you could spend without sunscreen," explained the salesman.
"Ok, understood. I have no idea, what factors there are?"
"Five, ten, twenty and thirty. Each one is appropriate for a skin type and for a degree of tanning. For very light skin and without tanning at all, a factor of thirty is recommended, the maximum. As one tans, the skin's own pigmentation protects from the sun and lower factors are needed."
"Oh... how interesting. Well, we'll take factor thirty," decided Sev.
"Do you want a particular brand?"
"We don't know any."
"I have this one on sale, buying two containers the second one is half price," said the clerk pointing to a sample.
"Will we need two containers, Mum?"
"No idea, son. How do you use it?" she asked.
"It is spread over all the skin that is going to be exposed to the sun," explained the salesman. "It is advisable to do it at least ten minutes before exposing yourself, so that the product has time to penetrate the skin layers. You have to do it again every two hours or after having bathed."
"Indeed we will need two containers, and I doubt that we will have enough."
"Well yes, because Hippolyta needs it, that is why I have asked for the maximum factor," Sev agreed. "She is very white skinned and does not get tanned even when sunbathing on the Quidditch field or in the pond as it has happened to me, and I am sure that she is bathing all the time."
"So if we have the money we will take four instead of two, and otherwise, I will come back for more. Until when will you have it on sale?"
"Until the shipment runs out, it is an offer from the brand, not mine," answered the clerk.
"We'll take four, if we have any left over it'll be for Peter, Violet and Tuney, they're not dark-skinned at all either."
"Of course," said Sev.
"I'll count what we have left."
Eileen left the bags on the floor and counted the money.
"We have enough and we have more than enough, Severus, what I was saying, look how well your mother calculates."
They bought four jars of cream, put them in the bags from the shoe store and left. They headed home.
"Another thing I hate is plastic bags," said Eileen. "Even though I use them for the trash, you know, they accumulate anyway, and all my clients do the same. Until things started to go wrong with your father and we ran out of money, I used to go shopping with a basket, all the women did back then."
"Oh…"
"But it broke and I couldn't buy another one. As soon as I can I'll buy one, I could buy a shopping cart, so I don't have to carry a lot of weight, but I'm not going to do that for two good reasons."
"What is a shopping cart?" asked Sev.
"A device with wheels that you pull, you don't carry the weight."
"Well, buy that one, Mum."
"No, I have two good reasons. I always buy when I leave work, I should take the cart to my clients' houses and many of them live in flats without an elevator, walking from one house to another carrying the empty cart up and down would be a nuisance."
"You have it reduced and you hide to make it bigger."
"No, because I have a second reason, which should be the first one," she objected. "Climbing stairs, carrying weights and walking is the only physical exercise I do. It is important to do physical exercise at all stages of life to deteriorate as little as possible."
"True."
"Keep telling me about Lauren, go on."
They continued talking about her until they got home. It was half past twelve, they left the bags of clothes and shoes in the living room and went to the kitchen to organize the food they had bought.
"Ugh... Alice and Genevre must have already called," Sev lamented.
"Well, it's okay, they will do it again, if they told you from twelve to one there is still time."
"But maybe they are already having lunch."
"I don't think so, Severus, they arrived home yesterday on Express, they would be with their families, they would also go to bed late. Do their parents work?"
"I think Alice's don't, they are very wealthy, I don't know about Genevre's."
"Well, if they don't call now, they'll call when they finish lunch. Don't become a slave to calls, people call and answer when they can. Tell me that spell, go on, in case they call and you have to go answer them, I don't want to lose my fish. I'm going to reorganize the cupboard, reserve a couple of shelves for things that need to be cold."
"Great."
Sev explained the spell, Eileen began to rearrange everything in the cupboard.
"Let's see if I can do it, huh?" she said.
"You'll check it right away, you'll notice the cold instantly in the area where you cast it."
"Great. How lucky we are witches."
"I'd say how lucky or how unlucky," he said.
"Sure, normal, because of the war."
"Spot on."
"But I suspect it will also end up affecting the Muggles, huh?" said his mother. "If they are not stopped, just as they attack Muggle-borns, they will attack Muggles themselves."
"Of course."
They heard a call from the fireplace.
"There's one of them, go answer it, go on."
Sev went to the living room, Genevre's face was in the fireplace wrapped in green flames.
"Hi, Genevre."
"Man, Prince... How's everything going?"
"Great. And you? How was your trip on the Express?"
"A hassle, what a waste of time, there's a reason I don't usually go home for Easter, not just because I stay to study."
"Of course. And with your family?" he asked. "You hadn't seen them since Christmas."
"Well, well, the usual, we'll catch up little by little, lots of things to tell. You with your mother?"
"The same, little by little. We just got back from shopping, we were in the sales."
"Ugh... I hate shopping, another waste of time," she said.
"Oh, really? I love it."
"Well, all the better for you. How did you find her in spirits?"
"Yesterday she gave me a scolding as soon as she saw me," answered Sev. "Her spirits are fine, but she has spent these two months without eating or sleeping well, she has lost a lot of weight."
"Ugh... We will all look after her, don't worry. And with the dwarf last night?"
"Also great, both topics, her parents are fantastic. Her father already started learning Occlumency with Paul last night."
"Great. I have to talk to Deborah but I'll leave it for tomorrow, this afternoon I will draw up my availability calendar to accompany you to St. Mungo's," said the Rave.
"Thank you very much, Genevre. If you haven't spoken to Deborah yet, I have some good news for you, minors can use the Ancestral Magics."
"Wow…" very excited. "Great…"
"I'll try Tracking you, let's see if I can catch you. Have you tried to do it with me?"
"Of course I did, I did it last night as soon as I got home," she answered. "I didn't succeed."
I've lost confidence in her, Sev realized. "Well, don't worry, we live quite far away, Deborah didn't succeed either."
"True, true. Did you try Tracking someone?"
"Yes, I did it with Hippolyta in Godric's Hollow."
"Wow…" she was very amazed.
"Also with Valerie, and Valerie with her."
"Wooow… what an invention this Tracking is."
"Of course it is. Try Tracking more people, see who you can do it with, maybe with Valerie you can," he suggested.
"Yes, and I suppose I can with Alice and Frank too."
"Sure, try it."
"I'm really surprised I can't Track you," she said.
"Don't worry, Genevre, we'll keep in touch anyway."
"I hope that by the time I have to accompany you to St. Mungo's I can do it, otherwise the whole plan will be ruined."
"Don't worry about it, Genevre. We'll sort it out."
"Well, I'll leave you now, if you've just arrived home you'll have things to do, organize the shopping and all that."
"Yes, I was thinking about that, and I'm also waiting for Alice to call me."
"Okay, then we'll leave it now. See you next week at the latest, handsome. I might call you before then, and you can call me whenever you want, I already told you."
"Thanks a lot, Genevre, I will."
"Big kiss."
"Another one."
The Rave disappeared. She hasn't said anything about hooking up anymore, Genevre doesn't suck her thumb at all, Sev thought. She'll give up and we'll get back to trusting each other, I'm sure we will.
"Mum! Do you need me to help you anymore?"
"No, Severus, I'll get organized myself. Take what you bought to your room and get the receipts so we can do the math. Who was it? Alice or Genevre?"
Sev reorganized what was his from the bags of clothes and shoes. "Genevre."
"And how did it go?"
"She can't Track me."
"Ugh... Is it your fault or hers?" Eileen asked.
"Mine, I don't trust her one bit. She wants to take me to the garden, Lauren made me see it the other night."
"What a cross you have, boy. It's been a year since you was all alone and now they come out from under the stones."
"Well, yes, I'm a little fed up, to be honest," he admitted. "Has the spell worked?"
"Yes, yes, it has."
"Great. I'm going upstairs." He heard the fireplace again. "Not anymore. Alice." He turned and saw Alice's head in the fireplace.
"Hi Prince!"
"Hi, Alice…"
"This is the third time I've called you since twelve."
"I'm very sorry, I've been shopping with my mother."
"How is she?" she asked.
"Better. Yesterday when I arrived she was awful, she hadn't slept all night and she had even gone to work without breakfast."
"Well, understand her, she's a mother. You have to be very patient with them."
"She slept more than nine hours straight tonight," Sev added.
"I'm so glad. She'll recover in a week of having you with her, you'll see."
"Tonight, for the moment, I'm going to leave her, I'm having dinner at Lily's parents' house with the Gryffs, and then I'm going to sleep at Cecile's house."
"Yeah, I already knew about dinner, they told me about it," said the Gryff.
"How did you get home?"
"Wow... I was really looking forward, very glad to seeing my parents."
"I'm so glad. Was your trip okay?" he asked.
"Yes, the trip was perfect, I love traveling by train."
It feels so good and relaxing to talk to this woman, she's wonderful, thought Sev. "Great."
"How is it with Hippolyta?"
"Everything is great, her parents are great."
"It couldn't be any other way, being who she is," she said.
"Of course."
"When are you going to see her again?"
"On Saturday we're going to London shopping with Valerie, Jack and Sirius," he answered.
"True, Sirius told me."
"What do you know about him?"
"That at the moment he was going to James's house precisely for that, to have freedom of movement to go to dinner and shopping on Saturday," answered Alice.
"Of course."
"Next week or the following he will stop by his house and stay a few days to be with his brother, it may be the last time in his life that he sees him."
"Ugh… What a drama Sirius is in, huh?" commented Sev.
"Of course, we have to support him a lot. The best example that money does not bring happiness."
"True."
"By the way, I was asking you when you are going to see Hippolyta again so I can call you again asking you about her appointment with the Muggle doctor," she said.
"You can also find out through Deborah, huh? Her parents are going to accompany them."
"Well... then I will, of course."
"Call her this afternoon, I suppose they will be back by six, that's the time she agreed to call me last night," he suggested.
"I will then. And I will also tell her my calendar for St. Mungo's. Oh! One more thing, before I forget. I have Tracked you and I catch you."
"Great!"
"Frank too," added the Gryff.
"Wonderful. I also have good news, the minors can use Red Magic."
"Good! This afternoon I will call all the Gryffs and tell them."
"No, please… let me do it at dinner…" Sev asked.
"Sure, sure. Okay, then I'll hold back. The truth is that the person I want to talk to the most is Sirius to cheer him up."
"Sure, then do it."
"James gave me his address and also told me to stop by whenever I wanted," she said. "Maybe I'll pay them a short visit this afternoon after I talk to Deborah."
"Great, Alice, I'm so relieved that you're looking after him."
"It's not that I want to say goodbye right now, but when will we talk again?"
"I don't know, Alice, I don't know yet how tomorrow will be going. I'll probably spend the morning at Cecile's, I'll show up there at bedtime, meet her parents at breakfast or maybe even just her mother, and we might just stay there playing."
"I'd call you there, but you don't know what time you'll wake up."
"No idea, I suspect that tonight is going to be long, because Sirius will appear after dinner."
"Then we'll do something, if you want you can call me from there," suggested the Gryff.
"Okay."
"And if you prefer to talk face to face, you can come see me by Floo Network, I'm not going to leave my house."
"Great," he agreed.
"You can also call me at night, okay? I already told you."
"But if you're sleeping you won't find out."
"You give me the signal we agreed on by phone, I have a terminal in my bedroom," she suggested.
"Very well, Alice, I'll do it."
"I'm counting on you to do it, okay?"
"Count on it, do it, it feels great to talk to you. I'm going to confess something to you, Alice, I feel like you're the only woman close to me who doesn't want anything more from me than friendship, and that makes me feel very good with you."
"I already knew it, Prince, what a burden you have on your shoulders. If one night, even tonight, you want to stay overnight at my house, there is room, just so you know."
"I'll keep that in mind, Alice."
"If you arrive before twelve, you don't need to let me know."
"Okay."
"Well, you know, take my home address and my phone number with you in case you need me," suggested the Gryff.
"Of course I'm going to do it, I'm going to carry it with me at all times."
"Do you want to tell me anything else?"
"Nothing special," answered Sev.
"In that case, I'll leave you now, okay? You must have things to do, if you just got back from shopping and haven't had lunch yet."
"Have you had lunch yet?"
"No, at my house, on holidays, we eat lunch at one," she answered.
"Okay, it's good to know so I don't bother you while you're having lunch."
"It wouldn't be a bother, Prince, just leave it in stasis and run. Or you just show up here and have lunch with us."
"Thank you, Alice, thank you for everything, really," he said moved.
"Come on, Prince, cheer up. Do you want me to come see you now? Or after lunch?"
"No, it's not necessary, I want to spend the afternoon with my mother, we still have to talk about certain topics that I don't want to put off for any longer."
"About what, Prince? Tell me."
"About whether she has heard anything from my father in these two months."
"I don't know if it's very appropriate to bring up that topic precisely today, if she's just starting to recover from the anguish she's been through."
"But I need to know, Alice, I've also gone through years and years of anguish because of them, don't you think?"
"Well yes, you're absolutely right. In that case, do it, stay as calm as you can so you'll be very comfortable tonight."
