the one | h. potter

49. a key

It's now five o'clock, and I'm sitting outside of a dressing room at some fancy muggle clothing store, waiting for Harry to try on a boatload of clothes. I dragged him into this one because it's the only muggle store in this mall that has anything close to dress robes, which are mysteriously absent from his closet. Of course, this is a muggle store and there are no traditional dress robes for sale, but the fabric looks as though it could be transfigured into them with ease. And since we couldn't go to a drss robe store together without attracting attention, this is the best alternative.

"Almost done in there?" I call into the dressing room. Harry must be having trouble with some buttons, because he's been in there for almost ten minutes.

"All good," he replies. "Give me one second."

I hear the pull of a zipper, the rustle of clothes, and the turn of a doorknob. Harry stands, wearing a very smart business suit and a dark green tie.

A smile plays on my lips. "You look amazing."

He does a quick little twirl and grins. "The tie gives a Slytherin vibe, don't you think?"

"The tie matches your eyes," I recite, almost automatically.

"I have my mother's eyes."

I smile softly. "I know." Harry takes one last look at me before settling on himself in the mirror.

"I think we'll take this one," he decides. "No need to try on any more."

"Harry..."

"We still have to go get you something!" he argues.

"I don't need anything. You just don't want to try any more of those on."

"There's no use of trying another one if this one is successful!"

I glare at Harry. "I don't care." I motion back to the changing room. "Go."

Harry glares at me right back, before his mouth settles on a wicked grin. "Does my ass look good in these pants?"

I feel my face burn bright red. Harry smirks. "Well, there's my answer."

• • •

We've got a 6:30 reservation at an Italian restaurant near the River Thames. We arrive a few minutes late because we found a kitchenware store while shopping and stopped to get Ron a toaster for his upcoming birthday next month (because, whenever Ron first came over after we'd redone the kitchen, he was entranced by all of our muggle appliances but was the most impressed, for some reason, by the toaster. We'd gotten him a special, more expensive toaster because we knew he'd be baffled by all the different settings and we knew watching him try to work it without Hermione's help would be disastrous and hilarious).

Once we'd ordered our food and drinks, the server left, leaving the two of us alone.

"This feels like a first date," I remark.

Harry nods. "Haven't been out much, have we?"

"No, we haven't," I agree. Between training and the weekly Weasley dinners and our Friday pub nights, Harry and I have barely ever had time to go out for dinner like this. When we'd had free nights on Saturdays, we'd always get takeout or cook at home to save time and not get mobbed by the daily prophet.

I take a small sip of my wine. "How's Teddy?" I ask. "I haven't seen him or Andromeda recently."

Harry's lips turn up into a grin. "I saw him last Saturday when you went to go visit your dad. He's learned how to change eye and hair color now." He smiles fondly at the memory.