The Girl in the Tower

The Girl in the Tower Chap 5

Harry grinned. “You’re in a rather good mood.”

"Let’s just say that your little storybook princess has turned back into a frog."

"Then I should kiss you again. Who wants a frog?"

"We only have a moment, you know. We'll be leaving for Diagon Alley soon."

"I'll get school supplies some other time."

"Well I won’t!"

Harry grinned. "What do you mean? You don't need many supplies for tower-dwelling, even if it is in a school."

Sara laughed and shook her head in disbelief. "I never told you! How could I forget?"

"Forget what?"

"I'm to be normal again, Harry! It was all Snape's idea, actually, so you can thank him. I'll be attending school with you in September, posing as an apprentice to Professor Trelawney! Only I can't let on that I'm American. Uncle Albus said I need to blend in."

"Sara! That's great!" Harry gave her his biggest hug yet. "You'll have to teach Trelawney a thing or two as well. She can't predict the future any better than I can. But how are we to behave if you're an apprentice and I'm a student? It wouldn't be proper and I doubt Dumbledore would approve-“

"Harry, I'm to be a student, too! Uncle Albus and I already thought of that. Trelawney only has so many classes a day. After all, it's not the most popular subject, so we'll be taking a potions class together, as well as History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He insisted on that."

Harry was so thrilled by the news, all he could do was kiss her until she sighed and pulled him closer.

"You know, we're not at school and Dumbledore's the last thing on my mind."

"Are you getting a little impatient?"

"Not at all. Well, yes."

Sara laughed. "Me, too."

There was a light knock at the door and Ron popped his head in. "Uhh… sorry… Hermione insisted I ask the pair of you if we’re ready to go. I bloody well hope so. Then maybe she’ll glare at somebody else for a bit!"

Sara raised her voice and called to Hermione in the hallway. "Come in here!”

Hermione appeared at Ron's side, dressed in less conservative clothing than she'd worn to meet the Dursleys. Sara's expression turned panicked when she saw her. "I forgot to change! I can't walk around Diagon Alley dressed like a librarian! I'll just be a minute." Sara leapt to her feet and hurried around the room, gathering garments, before disappearing into the bathroom.

Hermione held aloft a folded parchment. "Got your list, Harry?"

He rolled across the bed and onto his feet without grace, and then set to rummaging through his backpack. "Somewhere…"

The sun-baked cobbles in Diagon Alley lent an added warmth to the day, and Harry smiled at the evening. Sara held his hand and her eyes glanced about with delight, like one enchanted, the way Harry’s had so long ago as he walked alongside a gentle giant, staring in wonder at these strange and wonderful new surroundings. Shop windows drew her greatest interest and Sara smiled as she walked beside him.

Sara also spent too long in every store. She and Hermione lingered in one establishment neither Ron nor Harry had ever been in before. It was expensive and the merchandise finely tailored. Robes of silk, velvet, and satin were abundant and the girls perused the racks, trying what seemed like everything on.

Harry and Ron decided to wander around the men's section, even though they had no plans to buy anything, and browsed without looking. Harry's eyes roamed over shelves of pricey odds and ends. (He had no idea why they were in the men's section, except perhaps as gifts for women.) His eyes lingered on one item in particular. Sara’s birthday was coming up. He’d planned to get something by owl order, but the beauty of this item drew him. The craftsmanship was aces, beyond anything he’d ever seen before, and it was many, many centuries old. Perhaps even millennia. It was bound to be far more than he could afford.