The Encounter

Ever since he told me about his new job at Diagon Alley, the new Harry Potter-themed boutique, on the last day of school, I knew I had to go visit. “I just want to say ‘hi’,” I told my friends, even though I knew it was more than that. But the summer passed by so quickly, and school would start once again tomorrow. Things didn’t look very hopeful. Then, today, I got my chance. My parents were both out for the evening, my brother over at a friend’s house. I had the evening to myself, plenty of time to bike to Diagon Alley and back. I’d finally be able to fulfill the promise I gave him to

I hoped onto my bike and rode quickly to Diagon Alley, only ten minutes away. When I got there, he was helping another customer. He looked so cute, with his ruffled black hair and green eyes. Everyone had teased him about looking like Harry Potter, to the point that he had started wearing contact lenses near the end of the school year.  Here, though, it was an asset to resemble the famous wizard, and he was wearing his brown, rectangular glasses once again.

I watched him for a few seconds as he spoke with the other customer. He acted so professionally, so unlike a nerdy high school student. Eventually, he looked up and noticed me. He gave a surprised greeting, and smiled. I love that smile. It was such a simple move, and I had seen it many times before, but it never felt fake. Nothing about him was ever fake.  Just as I was going to say something, a coworker popped out of a back room and asked me what I wanted to order.

“Say you’ll wait a bit,” a little voice at the back of my head whispered. But shyness and apprehension took over and I blurted out, “I’ll have a box of Berttie Bott’s Every Flavoured Beans and three chocolate frogs, please.” I couldn’t help but watch as he rung up the other customer’s order. It took a few seconds for me to realize that the coworker was trying to ask me something.

 “I said, ‘Would you like anything else?’” I shook my head. The coworker handed me the bag. I gave him some money. He handed me the change. And I left. Just like that. I left.

When I got home, it hit me of how stupid I had been.  He could have taken my order. I don’t even know why it’d make a difference. No, I do know. There would have been more of an interaction between us. I would have talked to him. But no. All I had managed to do was stare at him. Great. I probably looked like a creeper now. All throughout the school year, I had been trying to find an opportunity to talk to him about something other than schoolwork and the weather. All week I had tried to think of ways I could see him at Diagon Alley before school started again. And then when I finally found an opportunity, I blew it.

Sitting on my bed, holding onto my favorite teddy bear, one I had gotten for my tenth birthday, I realized that I was blowing everything a bit more than a little out of proportion. So what if I didn’t get to say much to him? At least I went. At least he acknowledged my existence. Things could have gone much worse. And who knows? Maybe tomorrow I’ll see him in one of my classes. I put the teddy bear down and got off my bed to start packing my backpack for the next day, a little happier, and, for the first time in a while, a little excited for the first day of school.