beautiful - harry potter

chapter 21

Thalia found herself liking Harry's company more than she thought. They used to only snog but now they would talk when they had their cuddling sessions. 

She thought he would be repulsive and still make awful pick up lines, but he was nice and he was considerate. Sometimes, he still made awful pick up lines though. Thalia Forthing finally fancied Harry Potter, not just for his lips and his body anymore, and she didn't know how to feel.

"He might seem a little... blunt but he's my savior," Harry said. Ron still didn't like Thalia after that little threat she made on her birthday and the incident in the schoolyard. 

"In second year, my uncle put bars on my window and I couldn't respond to any letters so Ron came with a flying car and pried the bars off. I stayed with the Weasleys for the rest of that summer. They're like my family."

Thalia dug her head deeper into Harry's chest and he laughed at the hair tickling his neck. They were laying in Harry's dorm and they stopped snogging to talk a few minutes ago. Thalia's arms were wrapped around Harry like he was a giant teddy bear and their legs were interlocked.

Thalia liked laying around with Harry. She would die before she admitted that she was cuddling Harry Potter, but she actually liked it. He was warm and his voice was calming. He whispered sweet things to her while running his fingers through her hair.

It was different from the way she laid with Draco or Theo. Thalia laid next to Theo and they didn't touch at all and Draco held her hand while they slept. Slytherins weren't the biggest fans of touching.

"He still hates me," Thalia giggled, referring to Ron. 

"He can't hate you forever," Harry chuckled. He subconsciously played with Thalia's hair as he inhaled her peppermint scent. "I love you so much," he whispered quietly but not loud enough for Thalia to hear.

"Hmm?"

"I just said the, uh, the Hogsmeade trip is coming up," Harry said in a louder voice. "I wanted to know if you'd like to go with me?" He'd been wanting to go with her for ages and he keeps asking her but she keeps saying no.

"Oh, Harry," Thalia sighed. "I would love to but-"

"You don't want to be seen with me," the messy-haired boy finished. "It's fine, I get it."

"No, that's not it," Thalia giggled. That was part of the reason but now she had an excuse for why she couldn't go. "This is Saturday is my self wellness day."

"Your what?"

"Once a month, I like to spend a Saturday doing whatever I'd like without the presence or judgement of my peers. I spend the entire day doing something I want to do," Thalia explained. "It lets me rid myself of all my bad toxins."

"But I wouldn't judge you," Harry frowned. "In fact, I'd gladly spend the whole day doing whatever you'd like."

Thalia would've accepted his offer but she needed to go without him. She needed to find Harry's gift for her and she needed to buy the same thing so she could finally know what Harry was talking about.

"That's a very nice offer and I'm sure I'll take you up on it some other time but not this Saturday," Thalia mumbled. "I'm sorry. Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," Harry frowned. "I could never be mad at you. You're so lovely."

Thalia lightly laughed and she tilted her head upwards to meet Harry's chocolate brown eyes. "You're too nice to me, Harry," Thalia sighed.

"I wouldn't be mean to you," Harry frowned slightly. He bent down and kissed Thalia's lips softly, a singular kiss instead of a snog. Thalia wanted to deepen the kiss but Harry pulled away and let the tip of his nose rest at the top of Thalia's head.

"No snogging while cuddling," Harry mumbled. 

"That seems like a rule to me," Thalia said.

"You get seven hundred rules and I only want a few. Let me live, woman," Harry huffed. 

-----

Thalia was on a search for whatever Harry got her for her birthday. She walked along the streets of Hogsmeade alone and entered the only bookstore in all of Hogsmeade. He'd asked her if she read 'it' so maybe it was a book.

Thalia grabbed the metal handle of the door and pulled it open, venturing into the bookstore. The store was large, filled with many books upon books, but there was no one there. The lights were dim and Thalia didn't recognize the authors of any of these books.

The brunette went to the cashier, who seemed to be the only worker. The cashier was an older man with a dark green sweater, and he seemed friendly. "Excuse me," Thalia said clearly, "I know it's not likely but do you know if Harry Potter came here a while ago?"

"I remember everyone who comes through here," he said. "Harry Potter came here five times in the past."

"Great," Thalia exclaimed while letting out a sigh. It would be much easier to just ask this kind man instead of having to go through every book and wonder if this would be something Harry would by for her. "Do you know which book he bought?"

The worker nodded and Thalia smiled politely. "Great," she repeated happily. "Can I get that same book?"

The man remembered Harry Potter coming in a month ago with his redheaded friend. Harry scanned the aisles for something to get Thalia and he finally settled on something while droning on about Thalia.

He looked over Thalia with narrowed eyes. She definitely fit the description. He had no idea why she wanted two of those books but he didn't ask as he searched the aisles.

Thalia followed him around the entire store and he finally pulled out a book and handed it to her. "How to Cook Easy Meals," Thalia read aloud. It was a bloody muggle cookbook. Harry bought her a cookbook?

"Um, are you sure this is the right one?" Thalia asked. She cracked open the book and started flipping the pages. There were easy recipes for pasta and salad and grilled cheese. 

"Yes, Harry Potter purchased this one," the older man replied. His nimble fingers traced the spines of the books and he pulled out another one. "Harry Potter also purchased this one."

"The Art of War?" 

The bookstore worker continued walking along the aisles while picking out books. He tossed all of them onto Thalia's pile of books in her arms. "And this one and this one and this one," he continued. "And this one and this one and this one."

Thalia knew for a fact that her gift was a single book because it wasn't thick enough for one book and if there were multiple, Harry would've asked if she liked them, not it. "Are you sure?" Thalia asked.

"Harry Potter came here a total of five times," the worker informed. "He bought different books each time."

"Well, um, do you know which one he bought in March? February maybe?" Thalia questioned. The man stroked his chin in thought and he pulled out two of the books.

"He definitely didn't buy these two in February or March," he informed. "I'm not sure which one he did buy at that time."

Thalia looked down at these six books. How could she possibly know which one Harry bought her? What if they talked about the book and Thalia had no idea what he was talking about? 

"Um, I'll take all of these then," the brunette decided. The worker nodded and led her back to the cashier, where he bagged Thalia's items and wrapped them in brown packaging, the same packaging that Thalia's birthday gift was wrapped in.

He tied them all together with a white string and pat them before pushing them back towards Thalia. "That'll be 18 Galleons."

"18?" she gaped. Thalia sighed and counted out 18 Galleons. She put them on the table and thanked the cashier. The brunette grabbed the large stack of wrapped books off the table and left the bookstore.