"Run that by me again?" Dan was staring at his wife.
"You heard me perfectly well the first time. Hermione wants to..." Emma began.
"That's the part that makes no sense. Hermione asked to go shopping in London? Not you?"
"Yes! She asked to pick out a dress."
"So she's not going there to buy more magical textbooks? Are you sure that's really our daughter that stepped off the train?"
"Hermione's still a girl, Dan. She can still get excited about going to a dance. Oh, she'll need shoes, perfume, and a haircut as well."
"All this for a school dance?" Dan shook his head in disbelief.
"It's not just a dance. It's a fancy ball. You know, if she was still in normal school, she would have gone to a school formal next year anyways."
"Well, at least I know who her date is. I'll have a nice man-to-man talk with him while you girls go shopping for a day."
"Actually, Harry's coming with us. He wants to help shop, and I think he needs some formal clothing himself."
"He hasn't got a suit?" Remembering the phone conversation he had with the Dursleys last summer, reminded himself, "Oh, right. Of course not."
"Hermione mentioned that wizards wear a dress-robe or something like that for these occasions, while the girls are closer in line with normal fashion. We might end up dropping by Diagon Alley again."
"Well, we might as well make it a family affair then. I'll come along," Dan resigned.
"Actually, I have a job for you to do." Emma gave her husband a slightly patronizing smile. "Don't make that face at me, you know as well as I do that you'd be bored out of your mind if you came along anyway."
"And Harry won't?"
"As far as Hermione can tell, clothes shopping is probably an entirely new experience for him. He's had nothing but hand-me-downs from his overweight cousin. He never wore anything that fit until he bought his first wizard robes. This should be fun for him."
Dan sighed. "I know he's a good kid, but I wonder how much of this... new Hermione is because of him."
"I know what you mean, but I don't think it's because of Harry. She's known him for three years before they became a couple. Maybe this is just Hermione growing up."
"What scares me the most is the fact that we might not be there to see it. We see her last summer and she brings home a boy, and a few months later the first thing she buys is one of those full-length swimsuit racers wear, and then she's talking fancy dresses. Have you seen how much she dotes on Harry? She might as well have been talking wedding dresses instead of evening gowns."
Emma's eyes widened. "I'm not going to let my little girl get married before she's graduated and landed herself a solid, well-paying job. I don't want her growing up dependent on some man."
Dan knew he'd finally managed to push one of his wife's buttons. He never dared to tell her, but she did look incredibly sexy when she argued passionately about something. He wondered how much further he could take it with her. "You know, if she does marry Harry, she wouldn't have to work another day in her life," he said with a smirk.
"Don't you dare suggest that Hermione become some kind of gold-digger," she glared at him with flames burning behind her eyes. "Since when did your daughter's wealth become more important than her happiness?"
Dan backpedalled quickly. "That's not what I said! I'm just saying that the extra money that Harry's got certainly isn't a bad thing."
"It is if she ends up being stuck doing nothing with her life with nothing to do except be a housewife."
"Harry wouldn't do that to her. Heck, she wouldn't let Harry do that. Have you seen her drag Harry out of the house to the swimming pool for the early bird swim the last few mornings? I think she's the dominant one in that relationship." Dan couldn't believe he was suddenly defending Harry.
"Oh, from what I've read in Hermione's letters, Harry can get pretty fierce when he has to. And did she show you the earrings he bought for her? Apparently he just got them on a whim, no special occasion at all."
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