Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor do I own Falling For You, which comes from the lovely band Weezer.
“HOGSMEADE! HOGSMEADE! HOGSMEADE!”
“Yes, Hunter, I am aware,” I deadpanned at the bouncing boy.
Hunter adored Hogsmeade. I mean, we all love Hogsmeade. How could anyone not? But he put the rest of us to shame with his complete and total admiration of the place. He tended to get a little overexcited on the days when we went to the nearby village.
“We’re almost there!” he squealed, clapping his hands together excitedly.
If Hunter had man cards, I would be taking one away right about now.
We were getting close, though. And it was exciting, just not as exciting as Hunter thought it was.
“Look! It’s right there,” he informed us as if we couldn’t tell and pointed off into the distance where the village was coming into view.
“Shut up,” Mark growled, clearly unimpressed by Hunter’s happy-go-luckiness.
“Don’t be such a spoilsport, Lyons,” Hunter chirped.
“You’re such a child,” I said.
“But it suits him,” Sydney added with a smile.
“Where are we going first?” Hunter asked.
“Somewhere warm,” Sydney answered immediately. “I’m freezing.”
Once she mentioned it, I began to feel the chill that was beginning to make itself known in the air. It had certainly gotten colder as of late, but luckily the first snow had yet to fall. I wasn’t a big fan of the stuff. I know some people thought it was all fun and great and such, but to me, it was just messy, wet junk that made you cold.
Call me a cynic if you wish, but I can’t help my feelings.
“How about Honeydukes?” Mark suggested, causing Hunter’s eyes to light up.
“Ooh! That sounds fantastic,” Hunter cooed.
“You know, mate, you seem just a tad bit more hyperactive than normal. Even for a Hogsmeade day,” I commented.
“It’s because this is his first Hogsmeade day with a girlfriend,” Sydney pointed out knowingly.
“Ah, this is true. Where is Miss Andrea?” I queried.
“With her friends. We’re meeting at Puddifoot’s later,” Hunter replied.
“Bleh. Have fun with that.” Mark blanched and pretended to throw up.
“Are you jealous?” Hunter asked seriously, putting his hands on his hips. I raised my eyebrows at him.
“Jealous?” Mark echoed incredulously. “What in the world is there to be jealous of?”
“Well,” Hunter began, “I have a girlfriend and you don’t.”
“So? James doesn’t have a girlfriend, either.”
“Are you threatened by Andrea’s presence in my life?” Hunter went on, seeming to ignore Mark. “You know, just because she’s a part of my life now doesn’t mean I’m turning my back on our friendship.”
“Mate, I think you’ve finally lost it,” Mark commented. “I mean, really lost it.”
“I’m merely trying to prove a point,” he huffed.
“Hunter, mate, I think you’re reading a bit too much into this,” I told him in what I hoped was a calming voice.
People (my friends, mostly) can be so strange sometimes (or all the time).
“Come on,” Sydney prompted, “let’s go into Honeydukes. I’m all out of Sugar Quills.”
We followed her lead and went into the store, which was quite significantly warmer than the outside. We stayed in there awhile before leaving with bags full of sweets to last us until the next Hogsmeade trip.
“I’m off to meet Andrea,” Hunter announced later as we walked down one of the streets in the village. He waved at us before scampering away to find his beloved. Gag.
“I’m so tired,” Sydney said through a yawn as we continued to stroll the streets.
“Didn’t you sleep well last night?” I queried.
She shrugged. “Not really. I might head back early and get a little nap in.” She yawned again. “Or perhaps just fall asleep and wake up sometime next year.”
“I could do with some sleep, too,” Mark agreed.
“How’d I get stuck with this boring lot of friends?” I teased.
“Pure luck,” Sydney answered jokingly.
“Well, I’m content to head back,” Mark said.
“Me, too,” Sydney coincided. “You coming back, James?”
I looked around at the village, which was very picturesque, and decided I didn’t quite want to leave it yet. “No, I’ll stick around for awhile. Catch you up later.”
“Alright, mate, have fun,” Mark said.
“Bye,” Sydney called as she and Mark turned and walked away.
Once they were out of sight, I took a deep breath and began to ponder what I was going to do for the rest of the day. I was up to the stellar option of sitting alone in the Three Broomsticks like a prat loser when I heard some shouting from an alley between two stores.
Curiously, I shuffled over to the entrance of the alley and peered into it just as two kids who looked to be about fifth years scuttled out and ran away.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I approached the scene.
I was surprised to see Sarah there with a group of four younger boys, probably third years. The boys were all sitting on the ground and looked fit to burst into tears. Sarah was kneeling next to them, cooing and trying to calm them down.
When she saw me she motioned me over and started to explain, although her eyes never left the still-scared victims. “Those two bastards that just ran past you cornered these boys and hexed them,” Sarah explained, the malice in her voice clearly intended for the hexing gits.
“Are you alright?” I asked the boys, crouching down by Sarah so I was at eye level with them.
The one closest to me nodded, but sniffed.
“Are any of you hurt?” I questioned.
“My arm hurts a bit,” one of them admitted, his face scrunched up in pain.
“Let me see,” Sarah demanded gently and held out her hand.
The boy let her grab his arm and she examined it carefully, making sure not hurt him with her hand.
“Stinging Hex, it looks like,” she commented softly. “The effects will wear off,” she told the boy, forcing a smile. “The pain will go away before you know it.”
I’d be lying if I said my heart didn’t speed up a bit. I had always fancied Sarah but I had never seen this side of her before; this caring and almost maternal side. It was nice to see.
“I’m Sarah, and this is James,” she said, pointing to me. “What are your names?”
“Devon,” the one who had suffered the Stinging Hex said, choking back a sob.
“Patrick,” another answered meekly.
“Alex.”
“Ralph.”
“Well Devon, Patrick, Alex, and Ralph, how do you boys fancy a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks?” Sarah asked them brightly.
The four boys grinned and we helped them stand.
“Great, let’s go then,” she prompted. “You coming?” she asked me as they began to walk off.
I grinned and nodded, jogging a couple steps to catch up. The six of us walked to the Three Broomsticks together and luckily managed to find a table big enough for all of us. I went up to the bar and bought a round for everyone, bringing it back to the table amongst cheers.
“What houses are you all in?” Sarah asked them as we began to sip on our butterbeers.
“We’re in Hufflepuff,” Devon said, motioning between him and Ralph.
“And we’re in Ravenclaw,” Patrick said, doing the same motion between him and Alex.
“Oh, fun!” Sarah chirped. “We’re Gryffindors. Looks like we have all the houses represented here.”
“Except Slytherin,” Devon pointed out.
“Yes, well, Slytherin doesn’t count,” Sarah said, winking conspiratorially at them, causing them to laugh.
“Those two boys were in Slytherin,” Alex mentioned.
“Do you know their names?” I asked.
They shook their heads.
“Hmm,” Sarah muttered. “That’s too bad. Well, I’m sure they’ll be getting what’s coming to them. I believe in Karma, don’t you?”
Ralph shrugged. “Sure,” he conceded.
Sarah grinned. “How about some more butterbeers?”
She made to get up, but I stood up quickly and motioned for her to sit back down. “I’ll get them.”
“Okay,” she allowed and smiled at me as I left the table.
We stayed at the Three Broomsticks with the four third year boys for awhile before they all decided to head back, leaving Sarah and I alone together.
“Be careful!” Sarah called after them as they made their way to the door. “If someone tries to hex you, just yell for help!”
“Nice kids,” I commented after they left.
“They really are,” Sarah agreed happily, a smile on her face.
“Where’s Elyse?” I asked after a few moments of silence.
Sarah shrugged. “Who knows? Probably off with some bloke. I think she mentioned something about hooking up with Kelton possibly.”
I snorted, remembering how Kelton had admitted he thought Elyse was absolutely sexy. “Nothing would make him happier.”
“So I don’t really have any other plans for the day… what about you?” she hedged.
I cleared my throat awkwardly. “Sydney and Mark both left and Hunter is with his girlfriend, so…” I trailed off awkwardly.
“You know, I broke my last quill yesterday. I could really use a trip to Scrivenshaft’s.”
“Would you… would you like some company?” I queried.
“Sure,” she agreed and we stood up, preparing to leave the Three Broomsticks.
We walked together down High Street until we came across Scrivenshaft’s, the one stop shop for all things quill-related. We browsed the selection for awhile, finding funny and entertaining quills that were made to insult you when you made typos or ones that giggled as if they were being tickled when you wrote with them. I wasn’t sure who in the world would want quills like that unless they were playing a joke on someone, but they were certainly fun to look at as we perused the shop.
“Ooh, what about this one?” Sarah asked laughingly as she picked up a fancy looking quill that was adorned with a bright pink feather and lots of glitter.
“It certainly has style,” I commented unenthusiastically, to which she laughed.
“That it does! I think I’ll get it just so that I can have the most obnoxiously ostentatious quill in all of Hogwarts.”
I smiled as she flounced up to the register and handed the ridiculous quill to the salesperson so that they could ring it up. The salesperson, who was an older man, raised his eyebrows at the quill but made no comment except to tell her how much was owed for it. She handed him the money with a pleasant smile and he put it in a small bag for her to carry.
“Did you see his face?” she whispered as we left the shop. “Thought I was an absolute nutter, he did!”
“It is a pretty bizarre quill.”
“Yes, it’s perfect! Where to next, do you think?”
I shrugged. “Wherever you want.”
Because let’s be honest, I would have walked straight into the arms of an angry Hungarian Horntail if that was what she wanted to do.
“Hmm, how about Gladrags? They always have the most interesting things there.”
She wrapped her hand around my wrist and pulled me towards the shop in question. The skin where she had her hand felt like it was burning right off of me. I suppose such things are bound to happen when you’re as sickeningly infatuated with someone as I was.
We found a lot of entertaining things in Gladrags. Like the pants that shrieked endlessly as they were being washed and the hat that was designed to say rude things about the hair of its user. The most disturbing item was the scarf which was supposed to strangle people when it was wrapped around their neck. It came with a tag that said it never got far enough to kill, but I wasn’t comforted by that and made sure to keep my distance from the violent item. Who the hell thinks up these things anyway?
“Are you going to buy anything?” Sarah asked as she tried on a silly vest that had pixies embroidered into it. She laughed at her reflection before yanking it off.
“No, I don’t think so,” I replied.
“Pixie vests and strangling scarves not your style?” she queried with a wink.
My heart skipped a beat but I managed to not flail or look too ridiculous (I think).
“I ought to buy this,” she mused about the vest, “and wear it, just to see the look on people’s faces. Especially Elyse’s. She’d throw a hissy fit as soon as she laid eyes on it.” Then she smiled at me with an impish wink, “And it would match those boxers you have.”
Normally I would’ve died right then and there at the mention of those boxers, but the wink had totally floored me. Then I saw the price tag of the vest.
“It’s twelve galleons!” I exclaimed.
“Which is exactly why I won’t buy it.” She sighed wistfully and chuckled again as she hung the vest up and put it on a rack with others of its kind. “Also because I don’t want people thinking I’m some kind of lunatic. Some things just aren’t good for the reputation.”
“It’s getting late,” I commented idly as we made our way out of the shop.
“I suppose it is,” she granted. “But we have time for one more shop, don’t you think? I mean, a trip to Hogsmeade is not complete without stopping in at Zonko’s!”
Surprised that she wanted to go to a store like that, I followed her down the street to the shop which was still bustling with activity, despite it being later in the day.
We spent a fair amount of time there. Sarah was evidently a big fan of the novelty jokes that the store had to offer and managed to get me with a Nose-Biting Teacup. The bite itself had hurt pretty bad, but I daresay the subsequent laughter from Sarah was enough to make me feel a little better. She bought one of the teacups, vowing to use it on a Slytherin at some point.
Who knew she was so sneaky and devious?
We walked back to Hogwarts together, Sarah chattering away about everything under the sun. It was fun to see her all excited and giggly. It seemed like it wasn’t two minutes later when we were inside the common room, pausing to say goodbye.
“I had a really nice time with you today, James,” she said, a smile on her lips.
“Me too,” I agreed, suddenly feeling awkward.
“You’re a lot of fun, you know that?”
“Yeah, you too,” I responded.
She reached up and before I even knew what was happening, she had pecked a chaste kiss on my lips. I froze, stiff as a board, and barely comprehended her words as she said goodnight and went up to her dormitory.
I don’t know how long I stood there looking like a complete tosser, but I didn’t really care because my thoughts were much too preoccupied on another question:
Had I just been on a date with Sarah Simpson?
A/N: I think this chapter is just like, a massive combination of my insanity. I hope said insanity was enjoyable. Thank you for reading<3 Next update will be soon!
And let's not forget theelderwand, who is the world's best beta and who has also been writing new things! Go look at his author page!
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