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Chapter 41 - (4) Christmas Break

(Word Count: 1,202)

This time, Harry was able to catch himself as they appeared one after another into Diagon Alley. They were at the head of the alley, right next to the Leaky Cauldron. As they made their way to Fortescue's, Draco couldn't help but complain a bit.

"Why are we getting ice cream anyway? It's freezing out here."

"It's never too cold for ice cream, Draco. Besides, Fortescue's also offers hot chocolate. You can get that," Harry said.

They entered Fortescue's and found it almost entirely empty. Not many people came to an ice cream store in the middle of winter. The only other people here were the Lovegoods! The three of them were merrily eating a large bowl of ice cream each.

When they saw Harry enter, they all raised their spoons and cheered. "Harry!"

"Hey Lovegoods! I see you've gotten some ice cream already," Harry said, sitting down at their table. They were here to meet them after all.

"It's never too cold for ice cream," Luna said gravely. Mr. and Mrs. Lovegood both nodded in agreement.

Harry nodded along. "Never."

Draco scoffed. "I beg to differ," he muttered.

Harry gave him a look. "Why do you hate fun?" He turned back to the Lovegoods. "Sorry, we've got this grouch with us today."

"I'm not a grouch!"

Harry ordered a cone of chocolate, while Draco ordered a hot chocolate. 

"So how did your trip to find the Weetimorousbeastie turn out?" Harry asked.

Luna frowned. "I already told you in my letter, haven't I?"

"Well, yes, you did. It sounded like a great time, so I suppose I was just wondering if you had any pictures of the trip," Harry said.

"We do, but not here with us. You'll have to come over so we can show you!" Mrs. Lovegood said, dabbing some chocolate off her mouth.

Mr. and Mrs. Lovegood finished their bowls, and stood up. "Well, we're off! You kids have fun."

They kissed Luna on either cheek, and left.

Harry stood up as well, "Alright, we should be off too."

"Where are we heading to first? Carkitt Market, or maybe… Knockturn Alley?" Draco grinned mischievously, as if trying to taunt them into doing something stupid.

Luna smiled back, "Muggle London!"

Draco's smile dropped. "What? Why would we go there?"

Harry patted him on the shoulder, "Because, that's where I need to go to get all of my gifts I need to buy."

Draco grimaced in disgust at the thought. "You're actually getting muggle gifts for people? But… Why? Cheap wooden toys and straw dolls don't make the best toys."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Really, Draco? Did your daddy dearest tell you that? He knows nothing about the muggle world. Surely you've seen their cars, and their electricity? If a society can build all of that, then their toys aren't going to be simple toys like that. Maybe a hundred years ago, but now there's some pretty fun stuff. You'll see."

Draco shuffled his feet, "I still don't see why you need to go out there. We can buy everything we need in the wizarding world, and the toy's will be enchanted!"

Luna tilted her head, curiously, "I think he's afraid, Harry."

Draco sputtered, turning red. "What? No, I'm not! That's just not where you said we were going!"

Harry grinned and joined in on the teasing. "I think you're right, Luna. Draco looks too scared to come with us. That's okay, Draco. You don't have to come with us. You can go back to mommy."

"I said I'm not scared! Come on then! Let's go already!" Draco stormed out furiously, marching his way towards the Leaky Cauldron. Though Harry did catch him muttering, "What a waste of my time…"

Harry sighed to himself reminiscently. Ah, the dreadful accusation for all boys: the accusation of being a chicken. It could make a young boy like Draco do anything.

Harry and Luna watched him from inside as he stormed off until he was out of sight from the window. They shared a look and laughed. "Thanks for coming along today, Luna. I don't think I can bear shopping with him by myself."

"It's alright, Harry. I think it will be fun!" With that, Luna skipped out the door. Harry watched her skip all the way across the view of the window and out of sight. Harry shook his head with a laugh.

Just having Luna along made this whole day a lot better.

Harry ran to catch up.

Together, they left the Leaky Cauldron on the muggle side, and into the streets of London. They were actually pretty close to King's Cross, so they were near the main streets for stores and such. However, they needed to get to a shopping mall.

Draco looked around cautiously. "So, what do we do now? Do we take one of these cars?" He pointed to one of the many cars parked on the side of the road.

"No, we need to take the bus. Come on, the bus stop's over here."

They made their way through the city, with Harry paying for Draco's bus fare and Luna surprisingly having her own bus pass, and found themselves in front of the mall. Together, the three of them made their way through several stores. Their first stop was a clothing store. Luna wanted to get her parents a new pair of gloves. Just the one pair.

"Why only get them one pair to share between them? That doesn't make any sense," Draco chided.

"Mommy can wear the left one, Daddy wears the right one, then I'll be in the center to hold their other hands to keep them warm!" Luna smiled proudly, as though she thought it was the best idea in the world.

Harry's heart just melted. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Luna!"

"How childish," Draco muttered to himself, but he left it at that and walked away.

Luna watched him go with a pout on her face, "Hmm… That wasn't very nice."

"I think he's just jealous of the great relationship you have with your parents. It's very obvious that they love you, and you love them. Not every child gets that from their parents."

Luna looked at Harry, shocked. "What? Why not?"

"Not all parents deserve to have children," Harry said. "Draco's mum is fine enough, but his father… Well, it might be best to just leave it at that."

Luna was left there reeling at the horrible thought of unloving parents.

"Come on, I've got to find Dumbledore some thick woolen socks, and a leather jacket for Dora," Harry pulled her along.

They eventually got everything they needed from this store, and went to find Draco. They found him looking through the boys t-shirts disdainfully. 

"Our clothes are enchanted," Draco said when they met up again. "They're much more comfortable than these rags. They're not even made of magical materials, so it's not even possible to enchant these things!"

"You have to admit that there are a lot more different styles though," Harry defended. 

Draco just sniffed piously. "I'd take quality over quantity any time!"

Harry did have to admit that Draco had a point. He did prefer his enchanted clothes more.

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