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Chapter 97: “First date?”
🕑 Added 2024-03-12 15:59:00 +0000 UTCJames was up at 11:30 in the morning. After breakfast, he was ready to head to Diagon Alley for his meeting with Gwen.
"See you in a bit," James said, waving goodbye to his parents. How first he would meet to talk to Gwen his parents would not go with him. They would go to say goodbye when it was time for him to leave with Sirius and his Uncle Alphard.
"Good luck on your date," Fleamont said with a smile, and Euphemia laughed under her breath.
"It's not a date!" retorted James as he grabbed flu dust.
"Remember, you are forbidden to enter Knockturn Alley," said Euphemia in an irrefutable and serious tone.
Knockturn Alley was a commercial area next to Diagon Alley. The bad thing was that it was dedicated to the Dark Arts being a very dangerous place. The wizards and witches that lurked there were very suspicious.
"Understood," said James seriously. He would never go to a place where there could be criminals when he couldn't use his wand.
"To Diagon Alley!" said James in a loud and clear tone. He approached the fire and disappeared. In a few seconds, he opened his eyes and was at his destination.
James headed for the outskirts of Ollivander's Store. In that place, he would meet Gwen. He could see that many boys and girls were walking around with excited faces. They seemed to be buying the books and other things they needed to start their first year at Hogwarts.
In front of Ollivander's store window, there was Gwen, who was covering the window for the people who wanted to see Ollivander's legendary wands. They weren't missing much, as there was only one poor wand on a dirty, faded cushion.
Gwen was staring at a clock in the distance with a slight frown, her right foot tapping leisurely on the floor.
"You're blocking old Ollivander's window. He might lose customers because of you," said James, approaching from the side and startling Gwen, who looked at him a little startled.
"Don't scare me like that...! Anyway, I'm doing a favor to the new Hogwarts students. It's better if they don't see such poor window dressing," said Gwen.
"You're right about that. With the money he must make, he should put his shop in better condition," commented James.
Almost the entire population of Britain gets their wands through Ollivander. His sales are so great. The wands indeed cost seven galleons at a very cheap price, which would be almost 35 pounds sterling. Cheap considering they are made from legendary creatures such as dragons, unicorns, and phoenixes.
James believes there is an agreement between Ollivander and the Ministry. There would be no other way to explain why the prices are so cheap.
"I guess he doesn't need to. Let's stop wasting time, come on," said Gwen taking James by the hand and walking hurriedly.
'She seems to be in a hurry...' thought James, looking at Gwen's hand gripping his.
They walked hurriedly towards the north side of Diagon Alley. Finally, stopping in front of a quaint little store. The sign on the store read Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
"It's here," said Gwen, looking at the store.
'Oh, Florean's store. I've come here with Mom,' thought James.
"Let's go in?" asked James as he tried to wriggle out of Gwen's grip on his hand.
"Oh, yes. Sorry," said Gwen slightly blushing quickly letting go of James' hand and walking first into the ice cream shop.
The inside of the ice cream parlor wasn't very spacious, but it had a very nice decoration, there were several tables and chairs.
"Good morning, young people. Would you like to sit inside or outside?" asked Florean Fortescue, the owner.
"Hi, we'll sit inside," replied Gwen.
"Well, this will be your table," said Florean, directing himself to a table for two that was next to a window.
"Isn't there a place that's not near the window?" asked Gwen.
"No, sorry. It's more crowded today than usual since it's so hot. Another option would be outside," replied Florean.
"We'll sit here..." said Gwen as she sat in the chair by the window, and James did the same. After ordering their respective ice creams, James looked strangely at Gwen.
"What's wrong?" asked the blonde girl as she noticed the look.
"Nothing. You just seem to be fussier than usual," joked James.
"I'm not fussy!" said Gwen indignantly.
"Being next to the window, we get the sun, and it's annoying," she added, justifying herself.
"You're right about that," nodded James, noticing the sunlight on his face. Today was a hot day, and it would have been nice to be in the shade, shielding himself from the sun.
As James was about to ask something, he noticed that now Gwen was looking at him strangely and with her mouth slightly open, as if she was surprised.
"What's the matter? Do I have something on my face?" asked James.
"You have glasses!" said Gwen in shock, covering her mouth with her hand and her eyes wide open.
"Now, do you notice...?" said James, rolling his eyes.
"It all happened so fast I didn't have time to notice," Gwen justified herself as she stood up from her chair and moved closer to James' face to get a better look at him.
James had to admit that he felt nervous looking so closely at Gwen's face. The girl's blue eyes were very striking. Her blonde locks of hair fell over her face, and her skin was pale and flawless.
"W-what...? If you want to tease, do it," James said in a nervous tone very different from his usual one. However, Gwen didn't notice as she was watching him intently.
"I won't tease. Those glasses suit you well," said Gwen returning to her place.
James didn't expect Gwen to praise him. She's usually the girl who gets compliments and doesn't give them. Just then Mr. Florean arrived with his ice cream.
They both ordered bitter chocolate ice cream. Since they were kids they liked chocolate frogs and for both of them, it was their favorite treat.
"Aren't you hot in that robe?" asked James as he began to eat his ice cream. Gwen was wearing a very striking green tunic.
"Of course not. It's a chiffon tunic, the latest in fashion," said Gwen smugly and happy that James had noticed her tunic.
James made a face like he didn't understand what Gwen was talking about, "Ugh... it's a tunic with a light fabric, perfect for summer," added Gwen.
"Mm, I see," said James.
"Besides, the color green reminds me of my house at Hogwarts. Last year my house won the cup. Maybe you heard that news," Gwen said with a smirk, looking at James.
"Tsch, be happy for now. Next year, Gryffindor will get to keep the house cup," growled James, scooping out a large piece of chocolate with his little spoon.
"Oh... Really? You sound pretty confident. Do you want to bet?" asked Gwen, amused.
"Of course I do..." replied James quickly.
James and Gwen continued to chat as they ate their ice cream. Then they ordered more ice cream as they finished the first one they ordered.
'I should watch my diet...' thought Gwen with a conflicted look at Mr. Florean, who brought the third chocolate ice cream. Both she and James were very gluttonous.
'We should talk about the subject of the letter already...' thought James as he devised a plan to bring up the subject. It was much harder to talk about difficult subjects in person.
As James thought about how to start the conversation about this topic, Gwen held her ice cream and looked out the window.
In a move that surprised James, Gwen ducked out from under the table. It was a fleeting movement.
"Come here," said Gwen in a low tone as she tapped James' leg.
James peeked out and looked at Gwen, who was sitting on the floor under the table holding her ice cream, "Just come here, quick," Gwen grunted embarrassed.
With no other choice, James sat down under the table. The place wasn't spacious. His knees must have been bent, and he was bumping into Gwen's legs.
"What's wrong with you all of a sudden?" asked James confused.
"Nothing... I was just bothered by the sun. It's cooler down here," replied Gwen.
'What a lame excuse...' thought James.
"Do your parents know you're here?" asked James, and Gwen gave a little jump. He had hit the mark.
"It's not that," said Gwen.
"Come on. Don't want to trick me," pressed James, tapping his foot at Gwen.
"Alright... stop hitting me! My parents won't let me come to Diagon Alley alone, so I had no choice but to run away," explained Gwen.
"I guess they don't like you hanging out with a blood traitor," said James smiling a strange smile.
"No! It's not like that!" said Gwen in a nervous tone, looking at James.
He had visited the Shafiq's house on Gwen's birthday. It wasn't too hard to tell that Gwen's parents were apathetic towards him. Especially Marcellus Shafiq, as Elizabeth didn't show much emotion from what little he knew of her.
Unfortunately for James, the Shafiqs were almost equally as crazy as the Blacks, the Notts, or the Lestranges. As far as purist ideals go. They're not like more neutral families, who don't put as much stock in so-called 'Blood Traitors.' Like for example: the Ollivanders, the Slughorns, the Prewetts, etc.
"Don't make that face. It's not your fault. It's your family's ideals that are very different from my family's ideals," said James.
"Yes..." said Gwen in a depressed tone.
"That's the very reason we fought, right?" asked James, and Gwen nodded without saying anything.
"If we patch up our differences, your family won't let us get together. It will be hard to maintain a friendship that way. Besides, it will be hard to get together at Hogwarts when you're from Slytherin, and I'm from Gryffindor," James commented.
Many years had passed since the incident where James saved Gwen, and Gwen's parents were beginning to show a more apathetic attitude towards James, not as permissive as before.
As for Hogwarts, James didn't mind hanging out with Gwen, but it wasn't the same for Gwen. Since some Hogwarts students might tell his parents and cause trouble for him. Like Sirius' cousin, who passed information to his mother.
Another minor fact was that James did not have a good reputation in Slytherin. To most first years, he was their nemesis. After humiliating Rabastan and mocking pureblood supremacy. He earned the hatred of many older Slytherin students. Gwen's best friend Anastasia hated his guts, as he mocked her on the first day of Hogwarts.
"We can use the dragon club! That way, I won't have any problems with my parents and my friends," said Gwen determined.
'Oh, that's right. I'd forgotten about that,' thought James, as long as there wasn't a student that could harm their relationship they could continue to talk and practice there without any problems.
James and Gwen decided that they would use the Dragon Club as a base to try and maintain their friendship, without Gwen being punished by her parents. As for the argument a while back, they decided that they would both try not to fight.
And James got that Gwen would from now on start treating Bob or another Muggle-born or half-blood wizard neutrally.
This was a breakthrough for James and he was surprised at how cooperative Gwen was being.
These agreements they made by eating ice cream under the table. The people in the ice cream parlor looked at them weirdly, but they had to endure the stares. The meeting ended, and Gwen said her goodbyes as she crept out of the ice cream shop.
The only disappointing thing about his meeting with Gwen was that, as expected, he didn't hear from Emily. When James asked her, Gwen answered without giving much information. So, he put the subject aside. He didn't want to start another argument and fight when they had just reconciled.
