Harry Potter and the Gift of Memories [Harry Potter Fan Fiction]

Chapter XXXIV: Holiday Shopping, Part I

“I didn't like Gaston, though.” Lisa sniffed disdainfully as she continued her tirade. “He was an idiot.”

“I don't know.” Harry finally butt in with a thoughtful look on his face. “I kind of liked Gaston.”

“What!?” Lisa whirled on him as her mother giggled behind the pair. “How could you possibly like that self-centered, egotistical, vile, loathsome git!”

Wow, she'd picked up some impressive vocabulary. Harry wondered where she got those insults, but then realized it probably came from him when he was watching football or professional martial arts competitions. Sometimes, even Harry couldn't help but be a child.

A very articulate child with an incredibly literate mind and a vocabulary large enough to make an Oxford English professor green with envy, but still a child.

Harry looked at his friend, and with the straightest face possible, said, “because every last inch of him's covered with hair.”

Lisa stared at him for several moments, blinking as if trying comprehend his words. Behind her, Ms. Crawft covered her mouth in order to stifle her giggling.

“Are you having it on with me?” she asked finally, her mind having recovered enough to speak, as well as glare at him.

“No.”

Lisa's face began to twitch as Harry's face suddenly went from being completely blank to giving her the most dazzling smile she had ever seen. It was so incredibly bright that it could only be fake, especially when one took the time to remember that Harry never smiled like that. Ever.

“Jerk,” she muttered, looking away from him, eyes closing as she turned her nose up in a haughty gesture.

Harry gave a very mild chuckle, almost inaudible over the shouts and laughs and squeals from the people around them. He placed a hand on his friend's arm, making her attention turn back to him, and gave her a sincere smile.

“I'm glad you enjoyed the movie.”

“W-well of course I did,” Lisa's face became flushed deep red. She looked away once again, but this time did so in order to hide just how bright her face had become. “It was an awesome movie.”

Harry smiled a bit, enough that Lisa, who had been sneaking the occasional peak at him while trying to mask her blush, noticed.

“Hey, Harry?”

“Yes.”

“Are you alright?”

Harry blinked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you seem... different.” Lisa frowned, eyes scrutinizing him, as if looking at him for the first time in years. “It's not a bad change or anything. In fact, it's really good, at least, I think it is.”

“Ok...” Harry said slowly, his face adopting a confused look. “What's really good? And how am I different?”

“You seem happy!” Lisa blurted, before blushing again. “I mean, happier than usual. I mean, you're usually not unhappy or anything, but I've only ever seen you smile like that a few times before now, and usually that's only when you're reading a book, or getting beaten up by that old man you call a teacher. But ever since you've returned, you've been smiling a lot more.”

The words caused a small moment of introspection with Harry, who furrowed his brow. Was he really so different that Lisa actually picked up on it? The girl wasn't as oblivious as she sometimes seemed, especially when it came to him. One might even argue that, out of all the people who knew him, she knew him best and could pick up his moods much more readily. But even she wouldn't know what he was feeling if he truly did not want her to.