Hi guys! I know it's technically no where near Christmas, but I saw that I haven't updated this book in awhile and I thought that it was about time that I did. Plus! It's July, so I guess you could say that this is appropriate. You know, Christmas in July? Eh? Heh sorry for my lame attempt at humour.
Anyway, let's get on with things!
-/-/-
'Come on, Mione, let's go!' I grabbed my sister's hand and dragged her to the front door.
I had finally asked our parents if we could go Christmas shopping and surprisingly they said yes! Unfortunately though, this meant that we were going to be going shopping on a Saturday and that meant there would be lots of crowds, unless we got there early. Which was why I had got up and got ready early so that we could go out because the last thing I felt like doing was fighting my way through crowds while trying to look for presents for my friends.
'Alright, alright, I'm coming!' Hermione laughed as we finally made it to the car. 'Honestly, Mel, you could have waited a few minutes longer. Mum and Dad aren't even out of the house yet.'
'So? Now that we're out here hopefully they'll hurry up.'
Sure enough, just a few moments later our parents walked out and unlocked the car so that we could get in. Once we all had our seatbelts on, Dad started the car and we were on our way to the shops.
'So, what's the occasion, Melanie? I haven't seen you so excited about buying presents in a long time.' Mum asked.
'I just...' I hesitated, suddenly feeling embarrassed about being excited to get things for my friends at Hogwarts. They would probably think it was silly. 'I don't know.' I finally shrugged.
'Oh well, it's the season to be jolly, so let's just enjoy it.' Dad suggested and turned on the radio just in time for them to start playing It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year.
'It sounds like the radio agrees with you.' I said, making us all laugh.
Maybe it wasn't so bad to be excited about all of this.
When we got to the shops we had to fight for a park because, surprise, surprise, there were already people out doing their shopping. It took us nearly twenty minutes, but when we finally got one we all quickly got out and went into the shops.
Once inside we split up, each of us going into a separate aisle. The shelves were stacked with all sorts of muggle gifts from toys for young kids to cheesy Santa ceramics. I walked through the rows and rows of Christmas themed knick-knacks, occasionally pausing to examine one or two of them before I kept walking. Now, I had already tried to think about what presents to get my friends, but now that I could see what was available, nothing really seemed right.
'I don't know what to get them.' I sighed when I came upon Hermione.
'I don't either, but we have to get them something.'
'I just wish I knew what.'
'We probably should have gone shopping in Diagon Alley.' She whispered and I nodded.
'Yeah. Do you think Mum and Dad would let us go back there and look?'
'Maybe, but let's keep looking here first.'
'Fine, but if we don't find anything then you have to be the one to ask them.'
'Why me?'
'Because they'll say yes if you ask.'
She opened her mouth to argue then closed it again. 'Ok fine.' She agreed reluctantly.
'Thanks.' I smirked. We both knew I was right, the odds of our parents agreeing to let us go to shop at Diagon Alley was significantly higher if she did the asking and not me.
However, we didn't want it to seem like coming here was a waste, so we looked around for awhile longer and I actually managed to find a few small presents. Mostly in the form of sweets. I doubted that my parents would approve, being the good dentists that they were, but after I explained why they seemed to come around to the idea.
'They're for my friend Jane. She hasn't tried any of these because they're muggle sweets, so I thought I could get her some for Christmas to see if she likes them.'
'Alright then.' Mum agreed.
I grinned and placed the sweets on the counter so that she could pay for them. There was a small box of Nerds, some Trolli gummy burgers, and a few Ring Pops. It wasn't a lot, but at least it was something. Plus Mum and Dad also got some Christmas cards for some of our other family members, along with some extra wrapping paper. Hopefully that meant that they wouldn't see this trip as a total waste of time and would take Hermione and I to Diagon Alley so that we could get some cooler things for our friends.
'Are you sure that there's nothing else you want? What about your other friends?' Dad asked, looking at us.
'Well actually,' Hermione started and I crossed my fingers in my pocket, hoping that they would say yes to our request, 'We were hoping that we could go shopping at Diagon Alley?'
'You want to go there? Today?' He asked with a look of disapproval. 'I don't know if we will have time for it.'
'Please dad? We won't take that long, we promise.'
'What do you think?' He asked Mum.
She shrugged her shoulders lightly. 'I guess if they really want to then we can go there.'
'Alright then, let's get going.' He nodded and we went back to the car.
When we were both sitting in the back seat I flashed Hermione a grin, that had worked out better than I had thought it would. Leave it to Hermione to convince them to take us. She smiled back and soon we were on our way again.
Diagon Alley had quickly become one of my favourite places in the Wizarding world, not that I had seen much of it of course. There were just so many outrageous things to see and buy. The only problem that I had with it were the crowds. I wasn't much of a fan of having to push and shove to get through crowded areas, and sometimes the noise gave me a headache, but none of that was going to stop me from enjoying this.
Naturally the first place we stopped at was Flourish and Blotts, because we couldn't come to the alley and not pay it a visit. Plus, where better to get a present for my bookworm of a sister? Not to mention that there were plenty of books I would have liked for myself, but I had to remind myself that this trip wasn't about what I wanted. It was about getting things that my friends would like.
So first things first, I got Hermione a copy of The Book of Charms & Spells, making sure to buy it when she wasn't looking, and then while she continued to wander around in there with Mum, Dad and I went to Sugarplum's Sweets Shops.
'So, what do you think your friends would want from here?'
'I'm not sure yet.'
'Well I'm sure you'll find something for them. Come on, let's look around.'
I wouldn't admit it out loud, but it was nice to be able to spend a little bit of time with my dad, without us fighting or arguing about anything. It made me think that maybe things really would be better this Christmas. Sure it had gotten off to a bit of a rocky start when we first got home, but I guess things could only get better from there on in. Maybe this was a good sign.
While at the sweet shop I got some cauldron cakes for Paisley, a couple of packs of Droobles Best Blowing Gum for Potter, and a chocolate frog for Weasley. Dad and I even bought some extra gum to try for ourselves and we laughed as we chewed it while walked back through the alley.
'Your tongue's blue.' I pointed out, grinning.
'Well let's see yours, I'm sure it's blue too.' He chuckled and I stuck out my tongue to show him. 'I knew it would be. But you know that's going to make it hard to keep it a secret from your mother.'
'Well at least it's sugar-free.'
'That's true.'
Speaking of my mother, not long after that I caught sight of her in the crowd up ahead. 'There's mum and Hermione.' I pointed in their direction.
'Let's go see them, I just hope that there are still some books left in that book shop.' He joked.
When we reached them, I observed that they were each carrying a couple of bags and I looked at them curiously. 'What did you get?'
'Just a few things.' Mum replied cryptically.
'Oh ok..'
'Well is there anything else we need?'
'Can we get ice cream?' I asked, hopeful.
'I don't-'
'Please?'
'Sure.' Dad nodded before she could get another word in.
'Yes!' I grinned and I heard Hermione giggle.
'Come on, I think we walked past it.' Dad said and he led the way to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
The ice cream there was amazing and they had so many flavours that it was almost impossible to choose, but after much deliberation Mum decided to have the earl grey and lavender, Dad and Hermione both chose strawberry peanut butter, and I had the sticky toffee pudding flavour.
All in all it was a very fitting end to a great day.
Or it would have been, if I didn't happen to see someone lurking in a shadow nearby. I looked at them out of the corner of my eye, but even though I couldn't see their face something about them seemed familiar and not in a good way. A chill worked its way up my spine and I quickly looked away. I quickly shook the feeling off and smiled at my sister when I noticed her looking at me. Her eyes asked if I was ok and I nodded. I wasn't going to let some stranger ruin things today.
'Thanks for everything today.' I said, looking at our parents with a smile.
'You're welcome.' Dad smiled back. 'Now we should be getting home.'
-/-/-
What did you guys think of that? I would love to hear your thoughts on it, be they good or constructive.
Also, who do you think was that stranger she saw right at the end and do you think it has anything to do with her case at Hogwarts? Or is it someone else entirely? Let me know what you think in a comment and if you think it deserves it then give this chapter a vote!
Thank you for reading!
~ Lexa