Reality Bites Harry Potter

Parks are the place to be

Pyper showed me Sirius's letter and I couldn't help but get excited. Sirius was such a good guy I always hated how he was treated. "Is that the same park we're meeting the girls at?" I ask and Alex nods. "I don't think it's a good idea to meet strangers there but if you trust him then that's on you. I'm sitting out on this mission" and I roll my eyes. "Suit yourself but he's not scary" I say softly, looking through my clothes to find the perfect outfit. What screams helping an escaped convict who was actually an innocent friend? Obviously I went with a leather jacket and combat boots. "So Pyper what's the plan?" I ask and she shrugs. "The plan is to meet up with him and let him tell us the plan. He's the adult after all. He's also been cooped up for 12 years, it's about time he got some control back with his life" she points out and I pout. "I like planning though" I say and she rolls her eyes. "You're a drama queen" she says, leading the way to the park. I see a big black dog under a tree and head over. "Sirius?" I whisper and he sniffs my hand, rubbing his head against it. "Ok, I'm taking that as a yes. We want to help but we don't know how because Pyper insisted I let you do the planning" I say and he drops a letter at Pyper's feet. "I see you're a step ahead of me, good to know. And you probably only wanted to meet to make sure no one else saw the plans. You're really smart" I say and he sneezes but it sounds like a laugh. "Bless you" I say, wiping snot off my hands in his fur. "You deserved that" I say when he looks up at me. I see someone watching us and Sirius runs off. "Well, looks like our planning time is over" I say, sighing. "Dumb people staring. Haven't you ever seen a girl talk to her dog before?" I ask and Pyper laughs. "You did look a bit nutty" she admits and I make a face as we head back to Alex's house. I've been having fun with Alex and Izzy but I was excited to have the picnic with the girls. A couple days pass and Alex and I are looking for things to do at the picnic. We're in town looking around when I see a really cool denim jacket in the window of the local thrift store. "I love it! I want to decorate it and make it even better" I say, heading inside to look at the price. "Hi, Alex. Who's your friend?" the guy behind the counter asks. Alex smiles big, running over to the counter. "Mr. Callahan! It's so good to see you. This is my friend Shayla, we met at the boarding school I'm going to. Shayla, this is Mr. Callahan. He's the owner of the store and honestly the best adult in this town" she says and he laughs. "You're only saying that because I give you and Izzy good deals" he teases and she shrugs. "You look out for us kids, that makes you a good adult" she says. "How much for the pink jacket in the window?" I ask and he smiles. "It's supposed to be 15 but it's been there for almost a month so how about we go with 5 as long as you make it amazing" he says. I smile big "I will I promise. We actually are going to be buying a bunch of jackets, I think we should decorate them at the picnic" I say and Alex makes a face at me. "I'm not exactly good at decorating" she says and I laugh. "You don't have to be to use buttons and patches, just find things you like and make them work" I say and she nods. "I can maybe handle that" she says. We look through all the denim in the store and find jackets we think all the girls will like. "If you're looking for buttons and patches we have the grab bags for $2. They have a lot in each of them and they're labeled so you can quickly decide which ones you want" he says. We go and look at the grab bags and I'm quickly drawn to an LGBT+one and one labeled Girl Power. I grab them and the jackets while Alex grabs a grab bag labeled Goth Glitz and a package of fabric paint and paintbrushes. Mr. Callahan rings everything up. "It's 60 dollars, girls" he says and I pull out the money from my wallet. McGonogall had given us each 100 dollars for the summer and honestly I didn't see anything else we would spend it on. We spend the rest of my money on picnic supplies and I was super excited for tomorrow when we would actually be having the picnic. Mr. Lovegood had sent a book that was going to work as a portkey to get the girls home after the picnic so the only part we had to make sure and do was be at the park by 10 am. I put on a yellow floral shirt with denim shorts with rainbow ebroidery up the sides and rainbow sandals before having Pyper put my hair in 2 braids and heading to the park with the others. We get all the food and jackets and stuff laid out just in time for them to show up. "Not gonna lie this looks badass" Hannah says, grabbing a sandwich before immediately grabbing a black jacket and paint and going to work. It looked a bit chaotic at first but once the initial paint dried it looked amazing and I was thoroughly impressed. Megan grabbed the other colorful jacket and her mix of preppy and hippie showed really well and I smile, knowing her jacket would be my second favorite right after mine. Pansy grabbed the Cute but Psycho patch as soon as she saw it and I couldn't help but laugh. "The first step to fixing it is admitting you have a problem" I tease her and she flips me off. Luna quietly sets to work on hers, putting roses on the arms and a handful of buttons that all 'spoke to her' and none of us wanted to question it. Lexia takes the yellow paint and starts working while we're all joking around. She seemed a little nervous but once she's done I gasp. "Lexia, your sun is gorgeous!" I say excitedly and she blushes. "Thanks, Shayla" she says softly and I hug her. Susan's jacket is the hardest to describe, kind of like Susan herself. Parts of her personality shine through so well but to the average person looking at it shes a walking clusterfuck of patches and buttons. Alex is, as expected, our resident goth. I still love her jacket and will most likely borrow it for sneaky time purposes. It looked cute yet creepy and I loved it. Pyper's is the longest of the jackets because that girl can't pick patches to save her life. They all mixed well though and who was I to tell my sister no. And my jacket told a story all it's own. Covered in bi flags and rainbows there was no denying I was coming out without all the awkward "I'm bi" discussions. We didn't have to talk about it, it could just be a fact and nobody was allowed to question it. All in all it was a great day full of artistic outlets and loud conversation that definitely disturbed the locals.