Christmas Shopping (( Ron and Susan))

[Professor Neville Longbottom]

" Susan, what do you think?" Neville held the the little stone necklace for the Hufflepuff to eye. " You think Luna would like this?" Susan scrutinized the bauble, getting on the same level that Neville held it up at. She shook her head 'No' and walked away to look at a chocolate display. Sighing, he put the little box back on the large display. He hated shopping for Christmas. It wasn't the bustling crowds, the outrageous prices, or the rude people fighting over the newest gimmick. It was actually finding that perfect present. He was lucky that Susan Bones, a sixth year Hufflepuff, had been enthusiastic about coming with him. However, most of the bulging bags that he now carried were full of things for herself.

He didn't understand how girls could shop for hours, buys tons of clothes, and then say they didn't have anything to wear. Neville watched as Susan pulled a gold robe off a rack. A huge smile crossed her face and she ran back to the dressing rooms. " Damn, something else to carry." Neville muttered herself.

[Ron Weasley]

The holiday season had begun, and that meant only one thing. Shopping! Ron had never been much of a big shopper. He could never really afford much anyway. Year after year he was forced to buy mediocre presents for his friends. Which usually ended up being sweets and chocolates. Not this year. Ron had promised himself he would buy some good gifts this year. So he had been saving up. The carriage came to a stop outside of Hogsmeade and Ron stepped out. Jingling the large satchel at his hip. It still wasn't a lot of money, but it was more than he normally had.

It seemed Ron wasn't the only one that had decided to go shopping today. Hogsmeade was overrun with students from Hogwarts running this way and that. Spotting the Quidditch shop he decided to go looking for Harry's present first. Ron did owe Harry a lot. The least Ron could do was spend the most money on Harry's present. The tingle of the bell was lost within the noise of the students crammed into the small shop. It wasn't hard for Ron to pick out a present. Nearly anything that had to do with Quidditch was good for Harry. It was navigating the packed store that was a problem.

Finally Ron had navigated, picked something, payed for it and was back out in the fresh air. Hermione was the next person on his list. She wouldn't enjoy Quidditch apparel as much. So he went instead into a general store. This store, just like the last was also packed full of students, more so than the Quidditch shop. Ron pushed through the crowd and accidentally ended up slamming into someone's back. "Oh sorry about that." He said looking to see that it was Neville he had bumped into. "Oh, hey Neville."

[susanbones]

Susan opened the door to the shop and smiled broadly! Shopping! She loved shopping! She looked over at Neville and smiled. " I'm going to go over there and look at those robes." She rushed off from the boy. " Don't get too lost now!" Giggling to herself, she began to eye a dark blue robe that hung from a rack of multicolored clothes. Susan wasn't sure how she picked up Neville Longbottom along the way to Hogsmeade, but it was only a good thing really. Now, she had someone to help her carry her bags.

Within a few moments, Neville had motioned Susan over to have her look at a necklace for Luna. On careful inspection of the gift, Susan shook her head. It wasn't that she didn't like the necklace. In fact, she loved the little piece of jewelry, but Luna was a different matter. The girl wore strings of bottle caps around her neck for godsakes! Luna was not known as the queen of the fashion world at Hogwarts.

Going back to the rack, she further inspected its contents. Finally settling on a gold robe, she rushed to the dressing rooms in the back and put the frock on. After surveying herself in the mirror, she stepped out of the little stall and walked into the store. To her surprise, Ron Weasley was now standing beside Neville. " Um, hey guys." Susan walked up to the boys and tried to cover her bare feet by pulling the robe in the front. " What are you doing here, Ron? Oh, by the way, how do I look?" She smiled and did a bit of a twirl in the dress.