𝗷𝗮𝗻𝗲, harry potter

˗ˋ 21

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
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-: fourth year :-

── IN WHICH SHE BUYS BOOKS

. . .

Every inch of the bookshop's walls was covered head-to-toe in shelves, old books stuffed into them all higgledy-piggledy and practically waiting to fall off. It reminded Harry of Ollivanders - except there the books were all wand boxes.

Jane was stood in the middle of it all, talking to the old man that had stumbled out from behind the counter with eyes full of wonder to see someone so young enter his shop. They had been talking for ten minutes or so, the man pulling out dusty books every so often to recommend to her.

Harry had been listening to their conversation only a little, words drifting over the wooden shelves, mingling the music that was playing from the record player on the counter. He vaguely recognised the song - Queen, he thought - the type of song which had the sort of energy that made him think of Jane.

Sliding a book off of a shelf to keep him busy whilst the old gentleman and Jane spoke, Harry flicked through a few pages, barely even reading the words and his green eyes just flickered over them.  

This place seemed to be like a treasure trove to the Everleigh girl, who was all bright eyes and gentle hands, as if she would harm the book if she held it too hard. It was distracting, and for the following five mintues, Harry's attention was drifting from the book to his friend, worry from Dudley seeing him melting away even further.

"Harry?" Jane's voice carried across the shop, even louder than the music playing. It had changed song - still Queen and still something that Harry couldn't name but recognised. "Mr Dixon is just adding together the prices and then we can go." 

She was stood by the cash register, velvet pouch of coins in her palm and her bag held open by the straps being spaced apart on her arms. Behind the counter, Mr Dixon was painstakingly writing down the prices for each book - they each seemed to have different pricing.

Swerving around several slightly tilting bookshelves, all stacked high with books and the weight of them causing them to creak suspiciously as Harry walked past them, the boy reaching the counter. Stood side by side, he and Jane waited for Mr Dixon finished.

Harry felt his stomach tightening, and his nose scrunched as he heard it rumble, praying that neither Mr Dixon or Jane had heard it. Instantly, Jane's eyes were on him and wondering if he had any breakfast that morning - she hadn't given him any of Angela's cooking, which meant that he most likely hadn't. 

Which was true, Harry was left with the fatty scraps of bacon and the burnt pieces of now soggy toast. None of which he particularly fancied, so he threw away the toast and gathered the bacon into a square of kitchen roll and fed it to the cat that lived at Number 2. 

"Growing boy." Mr Dixon spoke up, his words sudden. "No shame in being hungry." The old man was certainly not all entirely there, the eccentrical part of him much more prominent. "There's the old fish and chip shop just down a bit, where the stream had more of a banking. Do the fish and chips the same as they did way back when the war ended." 

"I think we'll go there next." Jane nodded. "We still have a while before the appointment." She smiled at Harry, not saying anything about his hunger or the pink tips of his ears. "Thank you so much." She continued, as Mr Dixon placed the books away in a paper bag, and exchanged it for the money in her hand. "Thank you again, I hope to come back one day."

"Of course, you're always welcome. My granddaughter would be excited to see you, hopefully then you can." Mr Dixon smiled after them as Jane pulled the door open, her cheerful expression falling.

"What's wrong?" Eyes instantly filled with worry, Harry glanced back into the shop. "Did he say something to you?"

"His granddaughter died three years ago." Jane shrugged. "He forgets sometimes. Was around my age - he runs the shop with his wife but she was out food shopping." 

"Oh.." Harry trailed off, unsure what to say. 

It seemed to have effected the ginger haired girl quite a lot, and the two of them remained silent as they walked along the path. Reaching the fish and chip shop, Jane confirmed that they both just wanted the classic order before disappearing inside.

Leaving Harry with her bag of books and a mission to find them a good place to sit. It didn't take him long, and he found a clear space of banking covered in grass and where the stream was beginning to thin out across the expanse.

Just down from where he sat, a group of children were playing in the area that was clearly once a cross, smoothed out so a vehicle could cross. But it was so quiet around the area that the childrens' parents were sat outside of the nearby cafe. 

"Here." Jane appeared by his side, folding her legs under her as she sat down beside him. She placed one of the packages she was holding on his knee, putting her own on the grass as well as a small box. "One of their mum's were selling some cakes, so she gave me a few - I'm not sure why exactly, but I'm not going to say no to free cakes."

She had brightened up since going into the shop, and Harry was glad to see a smile on her face. Perhaps inside the fish and chip shop they had seen the sadness too - and it was common knowledge to anyone that laid eyes on Jane that she should be smiling, she was someone who should always smile, never deserved to be sad.

Harry had noticed within minutes of meeting to, and he had the feeling that the workers had too.

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