Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin

Not Everything Requires a Suit

Harry Potter sighed in relief upon exiting Gringotts.

Talking business like that for however long he had been in there was tiring, incredibly so. While he knew quite a bit about economics and business thanks to the many books he'd read, he had not realized just how much effort truly went into creating a business and investing money. It was a lot more work than he'd ever imagined, and he didn't envy those who did it for a living.

Lifting up his right arm, Harry looked down at his watch to see that it was half past noon. His meeting with Director Ragnok had started at half past nine, which meant he had been sitting in that room discussing business for three whole hours.

His rumbling stomach reminded Harry that he had yet to eat lunch.

Deciding to have something at the Leaky Cauldron instead of going back to the Durlsey's, where it would take an extra fifteen minutes to make his own food, Harry made his way onto the busy streets of Diagon Alley.

People bunched and pushed against each other as he walked through the main road that split Diagon Alley in half. He wove through the crowd, gliding along while others were forced to halt as someone got in their way. Harry was very grateful that he was so athletic, or he would have probably knocked down several times already.

"Hey, is that Harry?"

While walking through the throng of people, he heard someone calling his name. Not only that, but the voice was quite familiar, as it should be, seeing how he went to school with the person that voice belonged to.

Spinning around, Harry tried to locate the source of the voice.

"It is. Hey, Harry!"

Make that two sources. They were standing by a table at Florean Fortescues. Tracey Davis and Lisa Turpin. And they weren't alone. Standing with them was Tracey's mother and father.

A tiny smile worked its way onto his face. Gliding through the crowd, Harry quickly made it over to the table, where he was practically jumped on by an overly excited Tracey.

"Harry!"

Harry couldn't help but laugh as Tracey tried her best to squeeze his internal organs into a fine paste via her hug. It had not been that long since he had last seen his friends--just a little over three weeks. But, he could understand why she was acting like this. It felt like much longer.

He supposed that old saying about how absence in the face of time makes the heart grow fonder had some truth to it, after all.

"It's good to see you, Trace," Harry replied to her greeting.

The girl's grip seemed to tighten, and Harry could swear his backbones cracked. She then took a step back, and he got his first good look at her.

Not much had changed with Tracey since the last time he had seen her. She had grown maybe a centimeter or two at most, and her hair was a bit longer. She wasn't wearing it in a ponytail like she usually did, allowing it to fall down her back in gentle curls, framing her face.

She also looked less conflicted than when he had last seen her. He supposed that meant whatever troubling thoughts she had been thinking about had been resolved. Harry was curious, but felt it best not to dredge up possibly painful and troubling thoughts.

Tracey was also wearing muggle clothing, and he had to admit that she looked good in her tight blue jeans and green T-shirt. This was the first time he had seen her (or any other witch) dressed in muggle clothing. But then, he'd also never seen her outside of Hogwarts. For all he knew, she wore muggle clothes all the time when not at school.