Harry Potter Breaking The Chains

Jessica pulled a small card out of her pocket and grabbed a pen off the counter and wrote something on it. After she was finished she tilted her head back up and looked him in the eye again. She bit her lip softly as she lifted the card up and held it out to him. "If you ever need a personal shopper again, just give me a call," she explained behind a smile. "You're a really sweet guy, Harry. Don't be afraid to call, even if it has nothing to do with shopping."

Harry cursed himself as he felt his face heating up for what seemed like the hundredth time since coming into the store. He knew that he was probably grinning like an idiot, but he couldn't do anything to help it. He took the card from Jessica and gave her another one of his shy smiles. "Thanks," he replied softly. "I'll have to keep that in mind."

"Be sure that you do," she replied with a winning smile. "Do you need some help taking these things out to your car?"

"Oh… no. No, I think I can get everything out there okay," Harry answered. "Thanks again for all your help Jessica."

"It was my pleasure, Harry," she responded.

Harry's cheeks tinged with pink yet again as he collected all of his purchases together and set off for the store's exit. He glanced back over his shoulder to find that Jessica was following his exit with her eyes, still standing at the counter. She gave a little wave goodbye to which Harry could only respond with a grin because both his hands were tied up with the bags of clothes.

As he came out of the store, Harry returned to the alleyway he had visited before entering the store to change his appearance back to normal. Here he stored his new purchases in his trunk. Once everything was safely inside and his trunk was tucked back into his pocket, Harry apparated back to Privet Drive.

Harry noticed as he appeared in his bedroom that his owl's cage was empty. Finding that somewhat curious since she didn't normally leave to hunt until after dark, Harry wondered where Hedwig had gone off to. Shrugging off his curiosity, he sorted through all of his new purchases and put everything away properly. He changed out of his cousin's old clothes and put on one of his new pairs of jeans and a white t-shirt. Harry looked in the mirror and shortened his hair a bit to the last length he had it at. He was about halfway through his gradual lengthening of his hair. It was at a somewhat awkward length right now, but he knew that in a little bit of time it would be just how he liked it.

Harry read for a couple hours before his hunger got the better of him. He ate his dinner quickly, eager to get out of the Dursley's company and back into the solitude of his bedroom. He resumed his reading when he returned to his room. He didn't see a sign of his owl until the next afternoon when a white blur in his window drew his attention away from his books. He looked over to see Hedwig gliding towards him with a letter attached to her leg.

"So that's where you were off to," Harry said. "You were out fetching mail for me." He gave her some owl treats as a thank you, then looked to the letter in his hands. He could tell it was from Ginny right away just from the way she had written his name on the outside. They were owling enough over the summer for him to become very familiar with her handwriting. He had just gotten a letter from her a few days back in reply to the thank you he'd sent for his birthday gift, but he hadn't sent a letter back since then. He wondered why she was writing him again so soon. Harry tore the letter open to find out.

Dear Harry,

I think your owl likes me. She just showed up last night without any mail to deliver. She spent the night in my room, although I left the window open for her, so she may have been in and out during the night. After breakfast this morning I figured maybe I should write a letter for her to take back to you before you started to worry where she was.

We got our Hogwarts letters yesterday morning. I didn't make prefect, not that I really mind all that much. I have no desire to have the extra responsibility thrust upon me, but it would have been nice to have gotten the rewards for it. I figured I might get a cat or maybe an owl. I've never had a pet of my own before. Oh well.

Ron got his OWL results which I gather were decent but not outstanding based on both his and Mum's reactions, but I'll let him tell you more about that. I didn't actually see his scores anyway. How did you do? I'd be willing to bet you aced your Defense exam, right? That's what I thought. How did you do on your Potions exam? That was the one you were worried about that you needed to become an auror, wasn't it?

Ron and I have been bugging Mum to let us go to Diagon Alley with her since we got our letters. I don't think we were having much of an effect on her, but then today at breakfast Ron got another owl from the school, this one naming him captain of the Quidditch team. Kind of odd how the notice came a day late and separate from his regular Hogwarts letter, don't you think? I wonder why that is… But anyway, after Mum found out and Ron begged to go to Diagon Alley to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies, Mum finally caved in. I wish you could come with us, but nobody seems willing to budge in the least bit where you're concerned. Sorry.

It will be nice to finally be able to get out of the house for a bit. Not that we have it nearly as bad as you, but I'm beginning to feel kind of caged in here, you know? I mean, we can go outside and all, but the wards around the house only extend so far, so we have to stay close to the house. That means the clearing we usually play Quidditch in is off limits. I've gone flying a bit around the house, but it's not the same. We don't have the space to really practice. Did your Quidditch ban get lifted? Or have you not heard about it yet? I can't imagine them not lifting it, but the ministry has done a lot I'd never imagine it doing. It'll be nice to have you back on the team.

Well, I've run out of things to talk about for the moment. Feel free to write me; you know you want to.

With love,

Ginny

Harry was glad to see that McGonagall had listened to his advice and named Ron the Quidditch captain. He realized that Ginny, like Hermione, could be entirely too clever for her own good. She hinted that she thought that there was more to Ron being named captain than meets the eye, and she was quite right. But Harry hoped that Ron didn't make the same connections his sister had. Ron could be extremely jealous at the best of times. Harry didn't want to know what his friend would do if he knew that Harry had refused the captaincy and recommended Ron. A normal person might be grateful, but he could never tell with Ron. He tended to get jealous and resentful in that type of situation.

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