Shopping Trips and Thievery
Harry had reached a dilemma.
It had been two months since he began using his aunt's skincare. Since then he had regularly practised pulling on the ebbing flow of his magic, and it got easier, quicker and more controlled with every attempt he made.
He had figured out how to lock and unlock locks, how to make multiple small things invisible at the same time, as well as how to duplicate things. Since he learnt those tricks he had been able to get food more regularly than before.
Of course, he couldn’t just eat anything, or too much, and he couldn’t unlock his cupboard unless he was 100 percent sure none of his relatives were home either. And although the food he stole wasn’t enough to make him gain sufficient weight, at the very least his stomach didn’t ache from hunger anymore.
His hair had always been quick to grow, to the point where his aunt would cut it with scissors and then take a hair trimmer to it just so she didn’t have to cut it as often. It had been two months since he decided to grow his hair out, and he hadn’t cut it since about three -or well, not from lack of trying on his aunt’s part.
In fact, she had pulled out a pair of rusty kitchen scissors and forced him down into a chair. He looked on in horror as she had put the scissors against his hair. The dull blades of the old scissors would surely mess up his hair big time, but when she tried to snip off one of his curls, the scissors broke, and not a single strand on his head was harmed. He had then been promptly thrown into his cupboard for the rest of the day for his freakishness, but Harry believed it was well worth it.
The point was, his hair was getting fairly long -not nearly as long as was his goal, but around two inches at least. The trouble was how was he going to deal with it. When his hair had started getting longer, he had realized that it wasn’t that his hair was unruly really, nor was it curled or coiled, it was just very, very wavy.
When his hair got long (when, not if) he thought it might look like Madge Bellamy’s hair, an actress Mrs. Abbott absolutely adored and had introduced Harry to. (A/N: I recommend googling ‘madge bellamy’ to get a picture of what i mean :D). Harry had no idea who she was until Mrs. Abbott had shown him a picture of her.
Frankly, Harry loved it more than if he would have had pin straight hair, he liked that it would look wilder and more.. well, insane. Okay not insane perhaps, but not proper, smooth and clean either. If he had had straight hair, he would’ve started doubting the idea of long hair. He just didn’t think it would fit him.
No, that definitely wasn’t the problem, the problem was;
How the hell was he going to manage it?
After he had decided to start caring more about how pretty he was out of spite, he could admit that he was starting to genuinely like the idea of long hair. Sure, he liked the wildness of it, but he wanted a controlled craziness with defined curls that he could easily brush through, and not a frizzy mess. Something windswept.
Another problem was that he was getting more and more paranoid that his aunt would find out he’s been using her beauty products. Not only because it’s ‘sissy’, but because they're hers.
Harry saw only one solution to this problem. He had to go shopping for both hair products and new skincare.
His plan was to steal some of his uncle's pocket money. As the money was constantly coming and going from his wallet he wouldn’t notice a couple of pounds missing, and he was only taking just enough for a bus ride to and from the city.
His plan from there on out was to pickpocket some people on the streets.
He was quite good at it, or atleast Harry thought so. He had yet to be caught atleast, and there were a couple of times he had had to pickpocket some money so he could buy himself decent food.
So with nothing more ado, stealing his uncle’s money. Harry took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to do. If his uncle found out he’d been stealing money, he would be done for.
It was Saturday morning and his uncle had just left for work, and his aunt and cousin had left to buy Duddy Munchkins a new bike, since he had broken his old one driving over their neighbour Mrs. Figg’s cats, again.
That would probably take all day as Dudley would likely be very picky with what bike to buy, perhaps even drag aunt petunia to another bike shop, and then they would buy something to eat, and then they would go to another shop to buy him something that has nothing at all to do with bikes, and then they might go for ice cream…
So yes, they’d most likely be gone for a while.
He pulled on his magic in a way that had gotten easier the more he had practised, and waited until he could hear the telltale click! of the lock opening. When he finally heard the clasp give in he slowly opened the door to the cupboard, his heart pounding hard in his ears. There was no way he wasn’t going to get caught, his uncle was going to open that front door any second now and he would-
Harry took a deep breath and forcefully pushed the panic away and walked up the stairs silently. No point in panicking. Although the panic wasn’t on the surface of his thoughts, they were evident by the slight shaking of his hands, his shallow breathing, and the way his eyes were sharper than that of an eagle.
Although he knew there was no one home, so no one could catch him in the act, he still couldn’t help but try to walk as silently as he could. He opened the door to his aunt and uncle’s bedroom and stepped inside. As he walked over to his uncle’s side of the bedroom -the one facing the window- he couldn’t help but feel like he was going to get caught in the act anytime now.
He grit his teeth together harshly as he opened the bedside drawer as swiftly but quietly he could. He was carefully listening for any tell-tale sign of the door opening, his entire body wound tight as a bowstring. He opened his uncle’s old black leather wallet to find a couple of different banknotes. Harry took three pounds, safe in the knowledge that his uncle would most likely not notice the small amount of money missing. As quickly as he took the money he put it back, right back where it formerly laid. He closed the drawer and snuck out of the bedroom.
It was only when he was back in the safety of his cupboard that he let out a loud sigh of relief.
His plan was to take a bus to the city on one of the days his relatives forgot about his existence. On some level he was happy that they didn’t care that much about what he did, as it was their negligence that gave him the freedom and liberty to frequent the library, and now to go shopping in the city for beauty products.
✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩ ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶
The opportunity didn’t arise until a couple days later, when he had finally finished his chores. His list that day hadn’t been that long, as the majority of it was simply things that they had put there out of spite so he would be forced to slave around, and not because it actually had to be done. He had been up extra early, so that he could finish his chores as quickly as possible, tired of waiting for a good opportunity to pop up on its own.
So here he was on a Sunday morning with three pounds in the pocket of his ratty pants that were held together by a shoelace, looking at his relatives laughing on the sofa, engrossed in their tv show, still eating the full English breakfast he made.
He quietly opened the front door and stepped outside into the cold January morning. Frost covered the grass on their lawn, and it poked sharply at his throat with every breath he took. He closed the door as quietly as he had opened it.
He put his hands inside of his puffy blue jacket before he started to freeze. His jacket was one of his more prized possessions, as it was incredibly warm, and actually fitted him fairly well. Dudley had had it when he was 5, but he had quickly outgrown it. His aunt and uncle had gushed about his ‘growing spurt’ and how he was going to ‘catch the eyes of all the ladies’.
Harry frankly thought it was the result of one too many desserts seeing as it wasn’t exactly his height that had gotten more impressive, but sadly he could not voice that thought.
He walked down the surprisingly serene street. There wasn’t much snow, as that had melted around Christmas, but there wasn’t any slushy remains and black ice from when it would melt either. Only a beautiful frost and a white sky. The chilly wind started to pinch at his cheeks, and he burrowed his head as far into his jacket as he could.
He wished he had a scarf or something to wrap around his cold face, woefully he couldn’t buy one as the Dursley’s would destroy all material things they noticed he owned. That was why he planned to hide the products he bought under a floorboard and with the protection of his magic.
After a couple of minutes of walking he finally reached the bus stop. Luckily, he didn’t have to sit and wait in the cold for all too long, as the bus rolled up to the stall in a little over 5 minutes. He jumped onto the bus, paid the tired-looking bus driver 20p and sat down in one of the seats at the back of the fairly empty bus.
He finally arrived at the centre of the city some 10 minutes later. He jumped off the bus and walked the short walk from the busses to the town square. The town square was beautiful, in Harry’s opinion, and it was a shame that he couldn’t visit it more often. There were many shops, and in the middle of the city stood a mall.
There were luckily many people milling about the town square, so stealing a few wallets should be no big trouble.
He walked into the mass of people. The voices of tens of people trying to talk over each other filled his ears, so loud that he could barely hear his own thoughts. There were so many voices that they all just sounded like an angry beehive. People were pushing into each other, in a selfish attempt at getting to their destination.
Harry was careful not to pickpocket those who looked as unfortunate as he did. For example, close to him stood a woman with a very worn and clearly second hand baby carrier, in a jacket way too large for her trying to calm her screaming child. She was garnering annoyed looks from the people around her, and the mother grew panicked and desperate in her attempts at shushing her baby.
“sorry! I'm sorry!” She blabbed nervously. Harry felt his heart pinch a bit at the scene. Of course, he had no idea what it was like being a mother, but he did know what it was like being poor and garnering disgusted and annoying looks for something he could not help.
So yes, he avoided stealing from the likes of her, as she clearly could use the money as much as he did.
He ended up stealing the wallets of a few businessmen, one of them walking in a three piece with a golden watch on his arm. All of their hair were carefully trimmed and slicked back, and he would wager they were around 30 years old, but their hairline was receding around their temples. He would wager they had been sporting the slicked back hairstyle and snobbish attitude since childhood.
Even their laughs sounded like yachts and expensive champagne. Harry wrinkled his nose, and did not feel at all bad for eventually stealing the wallets they kept in the back pockets of their suit pants.
He walked around a corner and into an alley to see how much money he had gathered from those men alone.
He opened one of the three wallets he had acquired, and it took him a while to fully realize the sheer amount of money that was in the wallet. He quickly counted it to 60 pounds, and that was only one! He quickly took the money and stuffed it into the pocket of his jacket. He opened the other two, which, together, held 98 pounds. He had acquired 158 pounds!
He stood there for a second, completely frozen and dumbfounded by the sheer amount of money that he held, before he quickly regained his composure and stuffed the money in his pocket.
He winced a bit as he threw away the probably very expensive wallets into a large plastic recycling bin, but if there was one thing he didn’t want to do, it was being caught with the mens’ wallets.
Even though he had walked into the alley with a slight haste, he exited it with a jump in his step and a slight smile on his lips.
He had written a list on what to buy prior to the trip. He had written down many things he wanted, but as hadn’t had any prior knowledge of how much or how little money he would be able to spend, he figured he would have had to cross off some things. But now he didn’t even have to do that! Hell, he could buy everything on that list and still have some money left!
He pulled the piece of wrinkled paper out of his pocket, smoothed it out, and read what stood on the list.
-haircut
-hair things (ask hairdresser)
-face things
-pair of working glasses
-food/snacks
The first thing he wanted to do was to get a haircut, and he was excited to ask the hairdresser for things that were good for long hair. His hair had grown shaggy, and it reached down his neck and over his ears. He wasn’t going to trim it all off, but he didn’t want to look homeless either.
He put the list down in his pocket, as his hands quickly started freezing from being exposed to the cold. He started walking through the square. He had no idea where he could find a hairdresser, as he had never been to one. He hadn’t been to a barber either, for that. He wasn’t even allowed to take warm showers because it ‘cost too much’, much less cutting his hair at an actual barbershop.
So no, he had no idea where he was going, but maybe he could ask someone. Although he would have to come up with a backstory so good that no one would question what a nine year old was doing out on the busy streets alone.
He walked up to a kind-looking woman and picked her on the shoulder. She turned around to look at him. She had short tightly braided hair, with a kind brown face. When she saw that he was a child she immediately became more animated, her face becoming brighter.
“Well hello there” She cooed, she looked at him for a second before realizing there were no adults in their vicinity that seemed to be his parents, or a caretaker “where are your parents? Do you need help finding them?”
He shook his head “My mom was supposed to get her hair cut at a hairdresser called.. uhm.. I-I don’t remember, but I’ve forgotten the way there” he faked, trying to look nervous and innocent. He rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet, trying to look restless but not panicked.
“Oh, maybe you’re thinking about Alice’s salon? or perhaps Surrey since 1918?”
“Alice’s Salon! That’s the one dad said!” he smiled brightly, forcing it to reach his eyes in a way he knew made him look kinder and less ‘vigilante-like’ “Thank you so much ma’am”
She started frowning lightly “maybe i should help you walk there? Your mom is probably very worried”
He shuffled his feet and started frowning, trying his best to look slightly uncomfortable. It wasn’t very hard seeing as he wasn’t exactly comfortable in the first place. “My mom said I should never follow strangers anywhere, ‘cause they might do bad things. I live here, and i wanted to go to my mom, but i forgot where it was. Could you show me the right way? Please?” He said, making his eyes a bit more pleading, fidgeting with his hands and tilting his head slightly down, but never stopped looking in her eyes.
She seemed to consider her options, a frown evident on her face. He was worried she would deny him the longer her silence went on, and so with a light push of his magic the frown eventually smoothed out, her eyes got slightly glazed, and a distracted smile graced her lips. “Alright, it’s not too far, but you promise me you will walk straight there without cutting any corners” she said sternly.
Harry eagerly nodded “I promise ma’am”
The woman pointed down one of the four large streets that branched out from the town square and gave him detailed but simple instructions. He thanked her profusely, said goodbye and started walking down the busy street.
The weather was nice, according to Harry, and it was a nice day, but it was very loud. People were walking in all possible directions, and were conversing with each other loudly. He was thankful when he eventually found the salon.
The bell on the door made a sound as he stepped inside. He sat down on the sofa next to the door and waited. He swung his feet and gazed around. There were multiple black salon-chairs facing full-body mirrors. The walls were beige, which seemed to be the theme throughout the whole salon, with wooden On the glass coffee-table in front of him stood a glass bowl of small chocolates.
He really wanted to take one, chocolate was a luxury he had only tasted 2 maybe 3 times prior, but he also didn’t want to get yelled at for taking what wasn’t his, so he kept his hands to himself. He had no idea how to do this, did he have to walk up to the register? Or just sit here and wait. Maybe if he walked up to one of the hairdressers and asked?..
In the end he decided to walk up to the register. He didn’t want to bother one of the women working, but he also didn’t want to sit and wait for forever, since he didn’t have an endless amount of time.
He rang the bell at the register and waited for a while, until eventually a woman with long blonde hair walked up to the register.
“Hello!” she said brightly. She had a melodic well-as high-pitched voice, and she seemed the type of person who never knows how to stop smiling.
She had long, thin platinum blonde hair, and her face was youthful with her slim blue eyes and deep dimples that protruded anytime she smiled. “My name is Lisa, are we waiting for someone? Mum? Dad?” she questioned.
“No ma’am, I’m here alone, my mom gave me money and told me to get a really nice haircut, and that you were good at that stuff” He said. If he’d been older you would’ve been able to tell it was blatant manipulation in an attempt at making her stop questioning him, but as it was he wasn’t, and so it was shrugged off as adorable childhood innocence. Although, if he’d been older, he wouldn’t have to manipulate her in the first place.
“She told me to get whatever haircut I want- but no colours! And nothing crazy!” He said, imitating the voice of a stern mother. Or what he imagined one being like anyway, not like he had a point of reference. He had heard a girl named Annie at school complaining very loudly that her mother wouldn’t let her color her hair, so he tried to channel that energy.
She let out a small giggle “Alright darling, let’s see if we have any spots available. I think I'm available, ‘m fairly certain my client cancelled” she murmured quietly, more as if talking to herself than him. She looked at the computer in front of her, clicked a few buttons until eventually she said “Yes I’m free to take you on now if you can! But it will be quite expensive” She said with suspicion laced in her voice, reasonably dubious that he could afford the haircut.
He nodded his head “My mom gave me 65 pounds so that I could get a haircut and buy some things for my hair” He didn’t want to name too high a price, in case she raised the price to fit the budget, but he also didn’t want to run short since he wanted to purchase products afterward. She conceded and started leading him towards one of the salon chairs.
He sat down, she put on a big kind of apron that sat under his chin and pumped his chair up. She started running her fingers through his hair, her long red nails scratching gently against his scalp “So what are we thinking of doing then? Cutting it short?” Harry noticed she had a slight American accent, perhaps Texan? Southern at the least.
He shook his head “I want to save my hair out, so it’s very long- like, down my back. So I just want to maybe cut my hair, or even just clean it. My mom said I have curly hair, but she doesn’t know how to style it. So we thought maybe you knew, and if you could give me some tips on how to fix and style it..” He finished lamely.
Luckily, it didn’t seem to deter her at all.“Absolutely! We can start off by shampooing and conditioning your hair, then we’ll cut the ends of your hair so that it grows out well. Sounds good?” she asked.
He nodded his head with a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. She led him to the shampoo bowl.
He dropped his head in the bowl and was forced to close his eyes as the ceiling light shone directly into his eyes. The woman turned on the water to make sure it was the right temperature so that it didn’t scold nor freeze him.
She picked up a bottle of shampoo and started shampooing his hair and thoroughly but gently massaging his scalp.
No one had ever treated him with such gentleness, and it was.. weird to say the least.
His neck was tense, both from the uncomfortable attention and from the bowl digging into his neck, but also because he was forced to close his eyes and bare his neck in such a vulnerable position. He couldn’t relax, no matter how gentle and nice the head massage was.
After that she put in some conditioner -”to make it easier to brush”- and some other cream that she didn’t wash away -”It’s to make your curls more defined” and he was glad when it finally was over.
She led him back to the chair and started drying his hair with a hand-towel.
“So, if you don’t mind me asking, but do you want your hair long in a girlish way or a boyish way? We won’t judge either way, but it would be easier for me if i knew”
He was afraid she was going to judge him for being too ‘girlish’ so he was hesitant to answer, but she had said she wasn’t going to judge.. “I don’t really know what you mean by ‘boyish’, but I want my hair to be long and to be wavy. I don’t want it to be tangled but I don't want it to be silky smooth either. Like, windswept”
She hummed and was silent for a couple of seconds “I think I understand what you mean. You don’t want frizz, but you don’t want them all neat and tidy either. like, controllably uncontrolled?”
"Yes! I want it soft but not silky” He told her.
“Alright, and you wanted to buy some products as well? What type of products? We might be able to try some out now”
"well.. I don’t really know any products, but I want something to define my hair, and the shampoo and the thing that made my hair less tangled smelled really good, and I only have some shampoo that my dad uses, so I want those as well- if you have them.”
“The conditioner? And yes, we have them. Did you like the flowery cranberry scent they had?” (A/N, if anyone owns the Big Pony perfume by Ralph Lauren, that was my point of reference)
“I really loved it. Oh! And do you have something that helps my hair grow faster?” He asked curiously.
“We have a couple of oils. We can try one of them now if you want to try ‘em?”
He nodded and she immediately began working on his hair. She applied something called coconut oil that smelled amazing, and she began cutting his hair. Harry didn’t even know coconuts had oil. He might check that out in the library someday, he mused curiously.
She trimmed the ends of his hair, and evened it out where aunt Petunia's demonic scissors had ruined it last time he got his hair cut. She explained she was going for a look called a ‘wolfcut’, which was apparently great for when you want to grow out your hair. She dried it with something called a ‘hair diffuser’, meant to preserve the curls -or waves, as it was in Harry’s case- and to minimize frizz.
“And we’re all done, how do you like it?” She picked up a mirror that showed the back of his head as well.
Harry was speechless, he loved it.
His hair was finally behaving, something that he had never seen it do before. Instead of sticking up, they fell in graceful waves, the ends curling in tighter spirals. The sides were almost as long as before, and he had wavy bangs that framed his face. It made his eyes look less intense, and it fitted his glasses as well, and he imagined that if he ever managed to get enough nutrition to be healthy, it would make his cheeks look softer and fuller. She hadn’t shortened it down anything more than she needed it to either, which he was very grateful for.
“I- thank you so much, i love it!” He said with a happy, content smile.
She smiled at the child, it wasn’t often her children's clients behaved as well as Harry had in her chair, often bouncing all over the place during the entirety of the service and making it incredibly hard to cut straight. In fact, Harry was a rarity for not doing any of those things.
She clapped her hands together “And that I'm very glad for. Let’s go check you out, and I can help you pick out the products you wanted to go home with.” she smiled.
They walked up to the register and she helped him pick out the same shampoo and conditioner she had used, some coconut oil and the curl defining cream. It all added up to 64 pounds, which he paid gratefully for, thanking Lisa and saying goodbye.
He had no idea it was going to be that expensive, but he was definitely coming back there next time he had to get a haircut nonetheless.
He walked out of the shop with an uncharacteristic bounce in his step that was often not seen in the too-serious boy.
He crossed haircut and hair things off of his admittedly rather short list, and he calculated the amount of money he had left to about 94 pounds.
Next he walked into the Surrey mall to fix his glasses, get some things for his face, and get some food that he could eat if his relatives withheld him food.
He walked into the glasses store. The man at the counter was a short man with specks of gray lining his temple. He looked professional, and he wore a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. He seemed like the type of person who took no nonsense. Harry swallowed and walked up to him.
✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩ ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶
He walked out of the shop a while later, his pocket 23 pounds lighter, with the knowledge that his vision was -3 without his glasses and that new glasses were incredibly expensive. So expensive in fact, that he couldn’t afford a new pair. It was a sad fact, but he figured he would just buy a new pair in a second hand shop somewhere. If he wasn’t mistaken there was a big one just a couple of minutes away, which he would visit after finishing his business at the mall.
He continued walking across the crowded mall until he walked upon a beauty store that looked homely. It had warm lights and gave off an earthly vibe, much unlike the ‘clinic’ vibe of the other stores. He liked it.
He walked inside the store. It had a surprisingly wide range of makeup and skincare for such a small shop.
He silently walked up to the aisle of skincare, and immediately got overwhelmed. He stood and stared for a while, shuffling his feet in nervousness, until eventually an employee decided to take pity on him.
“Do you need any help?” she asked, Harry turned around to face her. She had brown skin and curly brown hair that took up much space. She had a purple velvet headband, a long black skirt with many ruffles, a poofy cream blouse, and a matching purple scarf with many tassels that hung off her shoulders like a blanket.
On her wrists and neck were many necklaces with crystals and golden armbands that clanged as she walked. She had a strong peppery perfume that smelled like cinnamon and oranges. She looked like a hippy witch, in Harry’s opinion. Her name tag said her name was Camilla Khayyam.
“Oh- um yes please ma’am. I was looking for some skincare things, but I have no idea where to begin.”
“Alright” she said with a high and raspy voice “Is it for you or for someone else?”
“It’s for- uh- me” he said stumbled nervously, afraid she would kick him out for being too ‘girly’.
She didn’t, and instead nodded with and led him through the shop.
✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩ ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶
30 minutes later, he walked out of the shop with a slightly dazed but satisfied expression. The woman, Khayyam, had been incredibly helpful in getting him started. He had told her he had saved his pocket money for this, and was going to spend his savings there. ‘His savings’ being all but 15 pounds.
It stung a lot, spending almost 60 pounds in one place, but he didn’t regret it either.
He had not gotten anything that required time he didn’t have, for example face masks, but he had gotten other stuff. He had chosen to stay on the cranberry scented road, as he really loved the fruity scents. It was also a pro as the Dursleys would never approve of guys smelling like cranberries, flowers and warm summer nights.
He had bought something that prevented dark undereyes, something for smooth skin, a lip balm, as well as something that kept his face hydrated. He had also asked Khayyam what ‘clear mascara’ was, and how to use it. She had told him that it was an invisible gel that you would, with the help of a small brush, put on your eyelashes to make them look longer and stand out. He had immediately bought it, even though he knew it was going to be a mess until he managed to get the motion of putting it on in his muscle memory. He was very thankful that it was see-through.
So yes, he was happy with his purchases that were laying inside the small white plastic bag he was holding, even though the price stung.
He switched the bag to his left hand so that he could take out the shopping list from the pocket of his jacket. The paper rustled as he unfolded it.
-haircut
-hair things (ask hairdresser)
-face things
-pair of working glasses
-food/snacks
He didn’t have a pen, but he mentally crossed off everything but food -or well, food and glasses, Harry thought as he sadly reminisced at the expensive glasses.
As he only had a couple of pounds left, he decided that some extra food was more urgent than fitting glasses -after all, his glasses worked, they just didn’t work too well and they didn’t fit his head either. He would get them another time, he thought sadly.
He chose to go into the local kiosk around the corner outside of the mall. As he walked out of the mall the cold mercilessly began nipping and pinching at his cheeks. He buried his face deeper into the collar of his jacket to escape its relentless pelting.
A bell rang above the door of the convenience store as he walked inside. There was a slight buzzing in the background coming from the freezers, and there was no one inside other than an incredibly bored-looking teenager sitting at the register chewing gum.
He walked towards the conservatives and picked out a couple of canned foods. He ended up buying five different cans of food and fruit that didn’t require any preparation, and a couple of energy bars. The teenage boy at the register looked at him and scrunched his nose as he paid for his groceries. He quickly exited the shop, not wanting to be on the other end of some distasteful comments from the boy.
✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩ ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶
Harry sighed a breath of relief as he sat down on the bus 20 minutes later. He loved the opportunity to be outside and being able to escape from his relatives for an afternoon, but he was incredibly exhausted. Tired but satisfied.
He sat down at the very back, in one of the seats closest to the window, and decided he may as well try to disguise the bag with his magic.
His magic was a bit sporadic and hard to control, and he couldn’t do much with it either (yet!), but he knew that if he managed to magic the bag just right, no one would be able to see it other than him.
Of course, it wasn’t foolproof, as people could still touch it, but he was going to place it under one of the floorboards under his cot anyway. He couldn’t remember the last time his relatives even opened the cupboard for any other reason than to antagonize him. He was sure they didn’t even know about the loose floorboard, as he himself had pried it open for storage.
He knew it wasn’t safe until he got inside, and he prayed his relatives wasn’t home or wouldn't hear him enter.
Please, please, please, Harry begged as he stepped around the block. As soon as he came within the vicinity of the Dursleys house, he immediately took notice of the fact that there was no car on the driveway, and there were no lights on in the house.
He let out a hard breath of relief which relaxed his shoulders and stepped up the porch. He tugged the door handle gently.
The door was locked.
He took a deep breath that puffed out his chest and let go of a bit of his magic. The door handle heated up a bit, static under his palm, until finally he could hear the click of the lock give way.
He hurried inside and took off his jacket. He locked the door behind him and made sure to put his shoes back exactly where they stood before.
He was thankful that his relatives truly didn’t care where he was during the day, and as long as he had finished his chores they practically forgot he existed. But that didn’t mean he was going to start becoming sloppy and leaving evidence around. No, the best option was the one where they never found out he had left in the first place. That way he could avoid possible questions and consequences.
He walked back into his cupboard and locked it with his magic. The springs on the ratty mattress creaked and groaned as he sat down. He pulled out the book he had currently been reading, created a blue tinted ball of light in his hand, and began reading, nothing more to do than waiting like a military wife for his relatives to come home and make him start on dinner.