bad woman
Harry chose Kingston as the meeting place.
This was his first date after his confrontation with Queenie, and he wanted to start from the place of their first date—even though they weren't attracted to each other then, he considered it a date if two people went out alone together. Based on his previous dating experience, Harry warned his godfather and friends in advance that anyone who dared to show up again would be in for a wide-eyed, thunderous Tarantella dance.
It's still summer vacation, and the same groups of young men and women are still coming and going. Nearly a year has passed, and apart from a few shops changing their signs, Kingston hasn't changed much.
Their first stop happened to be among the shops that had changed their signs.
A new nail salon had opened in the heart of Kingston's shopping district and was proving quite popular with girls. Harry knew Queenie liked it, and planned to start his day there.
Queenie proved to be quite pleased; she couldn't take her eyes off her new manicure. The light green base was adorned with white five-petaled flowers, and each of the five nails had a unique design in the details. She loved every single one of them—a truly summery design.
Harry couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. "Queenie, maybe you remember it was us on a date, not you and your nails?" He regretted putting the nail salon first; it should have been last.
Queenie finally looked away, but instead of looking at Harry, she turned into the women's shoe store next door. "You're right, it's not me and my nails, it's me and my pretty shoes."
"..." Harry glanced at the sign; it was the same shop he and Queenie had visited before.
Queenie picked up a pair of low-heeled, closed-toe sandals in a nude pink color with a matte finish. The moment she saw them, she already knew what dress she would wear with them.
She put her shoes on the ground and raised her left hand. Harry then raised his right arm for her to hold. Queenie took off her flat sandals to try them on—she had worn them specifically for shopping, but she couldn't deny that the main reason was to match Harry's height.
The sales assistant came over and said, "This is one of our new summer styles. You look absolutely gorgeous in it!"
“I think so too.” Queenie looked at herself in the mirror with satisfaction. “I love the color; it looks like candy.” However, these were a bit too big. She told the sales assistant her size and took several photos of herself in the mirror while waiting for the clerk to bring the shoes.
"Doesn't it look good, Harry?" Queenie finally remembered her boyfriend and tilted her head to look at him in the mirror. "You haven't said anything?"
"..." In fact, he did say that he used a lot of words to praise her, but she was so engrossed in posing for photos that it was as if she had created a vacuum around herself.
Queenie made a sudden realization. "I get it, don't worry, honey. Didn't you say you'd grow taller? You know, there's a boy in our class who grew four inches in just one summer."
"..." He now wished he could grow 7.2 inches in a single day! No, in a minute!
Harry didn't say a word, but his expressive face said it all.
cute.
Queenie turned around and reached out to scratch his chin. Harry, still resentful, only let her touch him for three seconds before grabbing the new shoes the shop assistant brought and paying for them.
The shop assistant glanced at the young couple, but couldn't resist her gossipy nature. She asked in a low voice, "Excuse me... is he your ex-boyfriend's younger brother?"
"What?" Queenie didn't understand at first.
“I’m sorry, I just remember you two last summer—you came to the store too—you and your boyfriend at the time looked very well together, so I remember it very clearly…”
Oh, now she understands.
Queenie suppressed a laugh and whispered, "You guessed it, both brothers like me, and I figured I might as well give it a try—you've seen what they look like—so I talked to the older one for a while, but he was so boring, so I switched to the younger one. To be honest, I prefer the older brother's looks, but it's okay, they're brothers, he'll grow up to look like him sooner or later, right?"
"..." The shop assistant looked at her like she was some kind of wicked woman who specializes in toying with other people's feelings.
Harry returned after paying, and Queenie gestured to the clerk to shush him, then affectionately took his arm. "Honey, let's go, I still have so many things I want to buy."
"You can have whatever you want. I brought plenty of money with me today." He had to thank his parents for the savings they left him, and Sirius for giving him a lot of pocket money.
Upon learning the "truth," the shop assistant was speechless. "...How old is that boy? He looks like he's still a minor!" Well, maybe beautiful women can do whatever they want.
During afternoon tea, Queenie told Harry the joke.
Even after visiting three shops, Harry was still bothered, "So you prefer me at twenty-two?"
“I love you no matter what. Look at you, you still have a bit of baby fat.” Queenie pinched his cheek. “Your eyes are as clear as the Sargasso Sea, making you wonder what they’ll become when the storm comes.” She sighed. “You know, if you were really twenty-two, I could see it right now, wouldn’t I?”
The experienced Mr. Potter quickly understood what she meant, his face flushed again, and he stammered, "I'm sorry..."
Queenie seemed thoughtful. "You really don't have a brother, right?"
"...Queenie!"
She blinked. "Just kidding, don't be angry."
"Queenie? Hey Queenie!"
A voice called her from ahead. Queenie looked in the direction of the voice and saw Emily and Winston. They looked puzzled, which made Queenie swallow her words of greeting. She pulled the flustered Harry into the clothing store next to her and ran straight into the men's fitting room—luckily, no one was walking around outside the fitting room at the time, otherwise it would have definitely caused a stir.
"What do we do now?"
"You're a wizard, you should think of a solution."
There were people in both fitting rooms, and they could only communicate with whispers.
"...Maybe Emily will think she's mistaken someone for someone else?"
"Knowing her as I do, she will definitely come after me."
Queenie had barely finished speaking when Emily's voice called her from outside.
Winston wasn't quite sure; he hadn't seen Queenie at the time. "Could you be mistaken?"
"Of course I wouldn't mistake my best friend!"
"..." Harry took a deep breath. "Hold on tight, I can Apparate you away from here."
Queenie looked disgusted. "That magic that makes people vomit and dizzy? No."
In his panic, Harry felt a bulge in his pocket—something he habitually brought with him before coming to see Queenie. His eyes lit up. "Merlin, thank goodness I brought the aging potion!"
The liquid in the bottle looked like ordinary beer. Queenie asked curiously, "Is this the... potion that can make you look like you're in your twenties?"
Harry nodded, opened the bottle and took a sip. To Queenie's astonishment, he quickly transformed into the familiar figure she knew, as magically as a movie special effect, except that his clothes no longer fit.
Queenie hadn't seen Harry like this in a long time. Her gaze was fixed on his angular face, now free of baby fat, from his eyebrows to the bridge of his nose, and from his lips to his Adam's apple, scrutinizing every spot she had kissed countless times like a lord surveying his territory.
Damn it, who can remember that he was only sixteen?
“I lied.” Her hand reached up to his shoulder, her body pressed against his chest, and her lips stopped just short of his restless Adam’s apple. “I do prefer you at twenty-two.”
Then she chose to kiss him from the opposite direction of his gaze, and Harry was shoved against the dressing mirror behind him by the slight yet powerful force. He returned her kiss twice. "Queenie, Emily is still outside..."
"I know." She bit his lip hard one last time, then opened the fitting room door. "I'll go get you some clothes."
Queenie grabbed an outfit and shoes from the nearest fitting room and handed them to Harry. She went out again and, sure enough, Emily was still lingering in the clothing store, seemingly about to call her.
Queenie called out, "Emily? What are you doing here?"
Emily put down her phone and said smugly, "I knew it was you! Why did you run away when you saw me?"
"Run? I didn't see you before."
“Really?” Emily asked skeptically. “Who was with you? Harry? But it doesn’t quite seem like it.”
Queenie said calmly, "It's Harry, he's trying on clothes."
Emily leaned closer to her. "Is it because you and Harry have been in a long-distance relationship for too long that you can't take it anymore? Don't be shy, I'll always be on your side."
"...Thanks, but it really is Harry. He's back from work. Look, he's in line at the cashier."
Harry came out after changing his clothes and saw Queenie and Emily looking at him, so he immediately waved to them.
"Okay, maybe I saw it wrong. To be honest, I haven't seen him many times either... Well, we'll be going now, so as not to disturb your date. See you later."
"See you later."
Once Emily and Winston were out of sight, Queenie took Harry's hand and started to walk out, almost forgetting to grab their purchases.
"Where to, Queenie?"
"A place where you can kiss."
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