ᵖʳᵒᵘᵈ ᵖᵃʳᵉⁿᵗˢ ; ʰᵃʳᵐⁱᵒⁿᵉ

Chapter Sixteen

Inviting Francesca to go shopping with them turned out to be a masterstroke, her local knowledge proved to be immense and invaluable. She knew all the best places to shop, so all they had to do was say what they were looking for and she could lead them right to it. When the group split along gender lines to shop for clothes, Sirius appeared as if he was about to rebel, until Francesca offered him a very acceptable solution.

"If you really want to, we can return here to shop - when it's just the two of us?"

That was an offer Sirius couldn't wait to accept. When he claimed that was a date, Francesca's smile had him as happy as a dog with two tails.

As a clearly pleased Francesca led the ladies to the clothes shops she recommended, Hermione was keeping a very close eye on everyone else in their group. This was a massive culture shock for her five female friends and they all appeared to be coping with it well. Susan and Hannah were reminding Hermione of her Gryffindor roommates, Lavender and Parvatti - they were almost drooling at the multitude of fashions on display. Ginny was practically clinging to Luna for support, though the youngest Weasley seemed far more excited than scared. Luna was having the best time of her life, mainly because she was experiencing all these new adventures surrounded by friends.

Milly was the one who drew Hermione's focus, leading to her taking the girl's arm. "Are you alright?"

"To be honest - no. I think I'm in shock here. Things like this don't happen to Millicent Bulstrode - at least they never have before. I've never been further than Diagon Alley, yet you could easily fit all of those buildings about ten times over into this place - it's so light and spacious too. Are you sure we can pick some of these clothes? I've no idea what those price tickets say but everything looks so expensive."

Doing some quick sums in her head, Hermione pointed to a lovely sun dress modelled by a mannequin. "What if I told you buying that would see you get change from three galleons?"

That got Millie's attention. "Are you kidding? Harry gave us all much more than that as spending money."

"I know, but that money is not for spending here. Anything you like is on me, you can spend some of your galleons when we hit the magical shopping centre."

The other girls had been listening and Susan quickly cut in. "Hermione, I thought we were spending the entire day here? I've never seen anything like this before. Beautiful clothes in wonderful colours, all laid out so you can browse before you buy."

"Today is merely a fact-finding mission, and to pick up some much needed summer clothing. We will be returning here again while you're on holiday. Remember, PI students will be able to spend weekends visiting here during the school year too."

Looking all around her, Hannah neatly summed it up for all of them. "This has Hogsmeade beat hands down."

Francesca steered them into a shop specialising in teenage girl fashions and no more needed to be said. While her mother latched onto Ginny and Luna, Francesca stuck with Hannah and Susan. Hermione and Millie hit the racks too.

"You just look for something you like, see if they have it in your size, try it on and then buy if you're happy with it."

"What if I like the whole shop?"

"Then you should have brought a bigger trunk to Italy with you."

-oOoOo-

With Sirius appearing to have entered a world of his own, though Dan felt certain he wouldn't be alone - there would be a certain female Italian Architect in that daydream too - it was left to the dentist to deal with the four boys who'd never set foot in a muggle shop before. They'd entered a sporting goods emporium, thinking that would be best for what they needed.