apples and scented candles • h.potter ✓

• eleven •

He finished lunch quickly, then dressed up in muggle clothes. He wore warm shirts and pants and finished it off with an emerald green Weasley jumper that he had received from Molly a few months ago. And, just to be safe, he wrapped a soft muffler around his neck.

He apparated to Corben's house. He had shown where he lived when Harry had gone to that restaurant near his home with him and Teddy. Harry was worried that he wouldn't remember which building it was where Corben lived, since they were all nearly identical and packed together. But thankfully, Corben was already on the streets, and they both found each other at the same time.

"Hey!" Corben greeted him cheerfully and sprinted towards him. "I almost didn't recognise you with that Slytherin look."

Harry frowned, confused, before he realised he was talking about the jumper he wore. He laughed. "Ron's Mum made it for me."

"Well, green looks nice on you. Did you ever think of becoming a Slytherin?"

"Yeah, sure," said Harry sarcastically. "I'll just head over to Hogwarts and ask the Sorting Hat to change me to Slytherin."

Corben laughed. "It wouldn't hurt to try. Who knows, maybe the Hat will make an exception for the Boy Who Killed Voldy."

They began to walk down the street. "Hm okay, so if that's the case, then I can surely ask the Minister to let me resign and give me monthly pensions even though I'm only twenty two."

"And free food," Corben pointed out. "Don't forget free food."

"And unlimited access to hair products."

"You use hair products?" Corben gave him a dubious look.

"Of course," Harry said as though it was the most obvious thing ever. "Such fabulous hair as mine doesn't come naturally." And he flipped his hair for extra effects, causing Corben to erupt into a laughing feat.

"Merlin, your hair flip is ridiculous."

"I take offense to that."

When Corben has finally stopped laughing, he asked, "So what have you planned?"

"Plenty, actually. I hope you like shopping. And cooking."

"Hm," said Corben thoughtfully. "Not a fan of shopping, but love cooking."

"Great."

They went into a deserted corner and Harry gripped his arm firmly before disapparating. Once the nauseating phase was over, they were standing in a narrow alley. Corben looked around, blinked, then playfully glared at him. "Are you kidnapping me or what?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Come on." And he dragged him out of the alley which was riddled with overflowing trashcans. Just outside, there were quite a few people bustling around, and they weaved through the crowd before Harry finally stopped upon reaching his destination.

Corben stared at the supermarket that stood before them. "You've … brought me to … grocery shopping?"

Harry gave him a bright smile. "Yes."

He explained his plan to Corben as he rolled the shopping cart through the aisles. The latter seemed quite uncomfortable, and Harry guessed it was due to the large number of muggles swivelling past. He probably wasn't used to so many muggles together.

"I actually wanted to invite you to dinner first," he spoke to him, though his eyes wandered over the shelves on either side. "But then I thought it would be more fun to shop, cook dinner ourselves, and then eat it. That way, it offers more satisfaction."

Corben smiled, leaping slightly as a woman rushed past him with her trolley, a toddler seated upon the baby seat. "You know, that's not a bad idea."