Chapter 3: Shopping and Eating Day

Harry felt a little weird wearing clothes that actually fit him. Especially when they looked really good. As he looked at the mirror inside the changing room of a store Fleur took him to, Harry raised his eyebrows slightly, not quite believing that these clothes fit him so well.

He was wearing a simple grey shirt that he had rolled up to near his elbows. His trousers were jeans. And Fleur had said to try on a pair of grey ankle boots with black laces.

In the end, Harry shrugged a little before stepping out of the dress.

Fleur, who was waiting, crossed her arms as she looked at Harry before she started laughing.

"Hahahaha!"

"Do I not look good?" Harry groaned a little, trying not to blush.

"It's not that... I'm sorry..." Fleur breathed a little heavily as she calmed down. She smiled and said, "I'm just surprised that clothes fit you so well."

"I thought you'd be skinnier."

"You mean scrawny," Harry huffed, knowing that he really was like that a few years ago. However, Quidditch training and meals at Hogwarts had caused him to gain more weight and muscle. He wasn't someone like an athlete, or someone who goes to the gym every day, but if he was naked, some muscles would really show.

"You said it, not me," Fleur smiled before placing her hands behind her and walking towards the entrance of the store.

Harry simply rolled his eyes before asking Fleur to help him pick out some other clothes. He ended up walking out with several bags.

"Can you shrink them?"

"I can..." Fleur nodded before they placed themselves behind the shirts to hide the wand and the bags shrank. Harry nodded and placed the now small bags into his pockets. She still didn't want to show that she could use magic outside of Hogwarts.

"Thanks for helping me, Fleur."

"You're welcome, Harry. I don't have much to do anyway."

"By the way, why do you work at Gringotts?"

"It's just a part-time job I decided to take," Fleur said as they walked through the streets of London.

"I need to start working for myself, save money, gain experience, that sort of thing."

"You've got it kind of rough," Harry commented. "But couldn't you have worked in France?"

"I could have done that, but I don't think I would have liked it," Fleur replied. "My father works at the French Ministry of Magic, he has a pretty good position and his reputation is the same."

"I felt like if I worked around him, then I'd end up going a little crazy."

"Ah... the typical comments of: You're the daughter of so-and-so, you should be good just like him. Things like that?"

 "Yeah... you seem to understand it well," Fleur sighed a little.

"Well, I had a similar experience with my parents. Flitwick and McGonagall would comment on how good my parents were in their respective classes. And while I don't think they meant to, they sounded like they expected me to be just as good as them in those classes."

Fleur looked at Harry for a few seconds before looking ahead as they continued walking.

"Tell me Harry, how can you stand so much?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, a little confused, although he suspected where the conversation might go.

"I heard some rumors and comments when I was at Hogwarts. About the tournament and your name jumping out of the goblet. Then, when you managed to overcome the dragon, everyone seemed excited and even praised you," Fleur frowned a little, remembering those moments.

"It was so... hypocritical."

Harry blinked once, twice. It was the first time he had been asked that, and the first time anyone had actually said how hypocritical the students at Hogwarts were.

"I've gotten used to it, I guess. I don't even care anymore."

"But that's not right!"

"Mm... true. But if you end up listening to what fools say, doesn't that make you a fool too?"

Fleur looked at him, a little surprised. But then she smiled a little.

"Yeah. I think you're right," she said.

"Yeah. I think you're right," she said.

"By the way, where are we going now?"

"I don't know, I was following you," Harry replied, before he laughed at Fleur's slightly annoyed look.

Fleur shook her head before saying, "Then let's go get something to eat. It's already after two in the afternoon."

Harry simply shrugged. He had only eaten a sandwich anyway, so a nice meal wasn't a bad idea.

...

Harry's eyes looked with obvious annoyance at Fleur, who had a bright, amused look on her face. She was obviously enjoying Harry's apparent suffering at the plate in front of him.

She had guided him to a French restaurant within London. It wasn't really expensive, but they served good French food, and it had been the usual place he ate ever since he arrived and started working in London.

Fleur had recommended a dish called escargots à la bourguignonne. And of course, Harry didn't know French, and there weren't any pictures on the menu either. So when the waiter brought a plate with snails that apparently had butter and parsley on them, Harry felt his stomach twist a little.

"How do you eat this?" Harry decided to ask the waiter.

 "You can just scoop them out with your fork."

"... Thank you."

Harry looked at Fleur before she picked up a snail and removed it from the shell. Seeing it, he flinched a little before he popped it into his mouth.

Fleur was a little surprised, not expecting Harry to actually eat that. Though she almost laughed when she saw him swallow hard and almost gag.

Putting his fork down and looking at Fleur, Harry said, "You know I'll pay you back for this prank, right?"

Fleur blinked slowly, before tilting her head slightly and smiling.

"You wouldn't do something so cruel, would you, Harry?"

Harry sensed Fleur's charm before completely ignoring it. Thanks to the magical memories from the future, he knew quite a bit of magic, mostly Occlumency, though not at an expert level yet, but it was enough to resist the little charm right now.

 "That won't work, Fleur. You're beautiful, but not that beautiful."

Fleur stopped and looked at him with a certain level of bewilderment before she felt annoyed. That had really hurt her pride a bit.

"You surprise me, Harry Potter. Although it also makes me wonder, how beautiful does a girl have to be to catch your attention?"

"Who knows... I've yet to find a girl that really catches my attention that much," Harry replied as he shrugged. Although he also remembered his bad date with Cho. Although that could be considered as a simple crush, because he really had no experience nor had he ever felt romantic love before.

At that time he was a complete novice.

Now he knew better.

Fleur rolled her eyes before starting to eat.

Harry just pushed the plate of snails away before taking out the concert tickets.

"By the way, do you want them?"

"You don't like Celestina?"

"I don't even know her."

"She's quite famous, although her music isn't to my taste. But here she's very famous, to the point that many would give a lot of money for a ticket to her concerts."

"Although I might consider going if you invite me."

Harry looked at her before putting the tickets away.

"I think I'll sell them."

Fleur's eyebrow twitched for a moment.

"Okay, fine," Harry laughed a little at Fleur's obvious annoyance.

"So, do you want to go with me?"

Fleur just nodded. Still, it was better than staying in her apartment, all alone and doing nothing. Besides, Harry was good enough as a friend and companion.