Harry Potter Breaking The Chains

He saw a clock in the window and saw that he was 25 minutes early. With nothing better to do, Harry entered the store and sat on a bench near the door. He watched the shoppers and store employees as they all set about their tasks. Some shoppers seemed to just be browsing casually while others seemed intent on finding clothing that suited them. Some of the employees were greeting customers cheerfully and offering assistance, a few greeted the shoppers with less cheer and more grumpiness, but offered help nonetheless. Still others seemed to be in charge of restocking the shelves and racks of the clothes that were disappearing of them. They seemed to be the least cheerful of all the workers, but Harry couldn't blame them. The job did seem rather boring.

After a short while he saw her; she was leading a customer toward one of the registers. There eyes met briefly, and she gave him a small smile as he gave her a casual wave. She returned his greeting and tilted her head toward her customers and held up one finger to let him know she'd be with him in a minute after she finished helping the shoppers. She rung them out cheerfully and bid them a goodnight. They replied in kind. She then sauntered toward Harry, so he got up and met her halfway.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hey," she said back. "You're early."

"I know," he replied sheepishly. "I didn't want to be late, so I gave myself plenty of time."

"That was sweet of you," she told him. She glanced at a watch on her wrist. "I still have ten more minutes until I can punch out. Are you alright just hanging out here 'til then?"

"Oh," Harry responded, "yeah, that's fine. I'll be right here whenever you're ready to go. Take your time though. I'm not in a rush or anything."

She gave him a full smile in return and said "Thanks. I'll try not to keep you waiting too long." And with that she turned and headed back into the store. Harry returned to his bench and continued his people watching. He also used the time he had to focus on controlling his emotions. He didn't want to be a stammering wreck the entire night and was hoping that his Occlumency practice would help in that respect.

It was about fifteen minutes later that Jessica walked back towards him. She had changed, he noticed immediately. She had been wearing a cotton skirt before, red in color, with a white blouse. Now she was wearing a black skirt that seemed to be a more silky material. It had some white flowery designs on it. She was wearing a light blue top that came down in a V over her chest.

"Shall we?" she asked.

"You look beautiful," he told her without registering what she had asked. She shot him a dazzling smile as a reward, and Harry's brain took another moment to catch up with him. "Err, right, I'm ready to go."

She giggled softly again, and Harry found he rather liked the sound. It wasn't like when girls like Lavender or Parvati giggled while gossiping at Hogwarts. That was a louder, more intimidating laugh. Jessica's giggle was soft and… inviting. He decided that anything he did to make her laugh like that was worth it, even if he did look stupid as a result. "Thank you, Harry. You look rather dashing yourself."

Harry blushed brilliantly at the unexpected compliment. "Well, a woman with impeccable taste helped me pick it out," he managed to say without stammering one bit.

She giggled again, and Harry mentally congratulated himself for accomplishing that without making an idiot of himself. He opened the door for her and waved her through it. She smiled at him as she passed and whispered, "Thanks," as she walked out into the street. Harry followed her out the door and looked at her for direction. "Right. It's over this way," she explained gesturing to the right. Harry followed her lead, and they walked side by side down the street.

"So how is the job going?" Harry asked her conversationally.

"Oh, it's going alright," she replied. "I haven't had many cute guys coming in spending hundreds of pounds and leaving me enormous tips lately though, so it could be better."

Harry chuckled sheepishly at her joke, shrugging slightly. "You really did save my life that day, you know. I think I'd still be wandering around the store looking for clothes if it weren't for your help."

She looked over at him and met his eyes for a moment and knew that he was being honest. "It was my pleasure, really," she told him. "As I said, it's not every day I get a customer like you. And it's not every day that I actually enjoy myself so much while on the job. Ah, here we are," she said, gesturing toward the Italian restaurant in front of them. "I hope you like Italian?"

"Uh huh," he responded.

They entered the restaurant, and she immediately led him to the host table and said "Jessica Roland, party of 2."

The man looked through a list in front of him and responded, "Ah yes, I'll be able to seat you in just a moment, if you'll just wait to the side momentarily."

She nodded to him, and the two of them stepped to the side to wait. "Thanks for setting all of this up," he told her. "I really don't know where anything is in this city. I had to ask someone to direct me to the nearest department store that day just to find the place."

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