A/N: This is my entry for round five of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. I definitely do not own HP.
Prompt- 1st Hogsmeade weekend.
Even though I am not one of the students who used Hogsmeade for dates, I find my ways to enjoy the place. I mostly walk around with my best friend, Robert, and drag him, first of all, to Dervish & Bangs. He tries to protest and insist that Dominic Maestro's is much more of an interesting place to visit, but I keep reminding him that he is the reason that I need to go there. Through the year he kept messing with my things, ending up breaking them.
Then, we visit Dominic Maestro's. There is a nice tune playing around the place, which makes me tap my fingers on my thigh to the rhythm. Robert is much more into music than I am, he loves learning to play all kinds of instruments. He is fascinated with the shop, walking around with sparkling eyes and I enjoy seeing him like this. I , on the other hand, like the shop and walk around as well, studying all kinds of instruments and things that I don't know what are used for, but about an hour after we walked into the shop, I realize Robert might stay in here for a very long time.
I tell Robert that I am going to Gladrags Wizardwear and then I'll probably be at Honeydukes, earning a faint nod from him. Walking into the street, I try and make a list of things I need to buy in Gladrags Wizardwear. But then, I hear a scream, or more like a scream that turns into a sob. The sound takes away all of my attention away and I decide to walk in the direction where it came from, which is easy to recognize, since a lot of people start to gather in one of the alleys, most of them are Hogawarts students.
As soon as I approach the crowd, Claire hurries to me and starts to cry into my shoulder. I half hug her, a frown forming on my face while I try to understand what happened. I don't know how long we stand there, but at a certain point one of teachers walks away with a few crying students to calm them down and there is a gap in the crowd. I can see there is someone lying on the snow, a Ravenclaw student, and his face is very close to being as pale as the color of the snow.
''What the bloody hell happened?'' Robert says, suddenly standing next to me and catching his breath. When I turn my head to look at him, he adds, ''I knew a heard a faint scream, so when people begin rushing out, I figured something happened.''
''I am pretty sure it's a body, a Ravenclaw.'' I say.
''Thomas, fifth year.'' Claire says, suddenly not crying anymore and disconnecting from me.
I watch Claire as she wipes her cheeks and fixes her blonde hair, but she still has tears in her puffy eyes. After a moment, she is about to open her mouth and speak, but a teacher's voice cuts in, ordering the students to follow a teacher who I don't know, if we don't have any urgent business left in Hogsmead. Of course, most of us don't have anything urgent to do in Hogsmeade, unless buying a candy supply for the rest of the year counts. Most of the students don't walk anywhere near the direction of Hogwards.
Robert gives me a light hit on the arm, before walking away towards the teacher who is to lead us back to school. I don't know why he is suddenly so into going back to school, but in front of me is a crying Claire and I decide to take her back to school, because the castle will be more helpful for her to calm down than here. Also, I want to know what Robert is up to. I take her hand in mine, causing her to look up at me, and I lead her back to the castle.
We catch up with Robert, who is walking right behind the teacher and gives me a weird gaze. It takes him only a couple seconds to begin talking. ''Mate,'' he says with a sigh, ''I wonder what happened there…''
He is obviously waiting for someone to give him an explanation and I notice him giving a look to the teacher's back, but she says nothing. When he looks back to me, I frown at him, wanting to hear a different explanation than him. We both get zero explanations.
''You heard of Voldemort, right?'' Claire asks suddenly and we both nod, ''Well, someone there said that the person who… Killed Thomas, is one of his supporters.''
''Really?'' Robert asks with raised eyebrows, ''I never thought something serious will come out of those mad men.''
Claire shakes her head while I become aware of the fact that her hand is still in mine. ''I heard he is getting stronger, earning supporters and power.''
''I don't like this. At all.'' I admit, ''If he is getting stronger, someone should stop him, or do something about it.''
''It's kind of complicated,'' Claire says, luckily calm now, ''most of the things the ministry knows about what is happening with him are rumors. There is not too much confirmed information or how to get it.''
''And where do you know all of that from?'' Robert asks with a raised eyebrow.
''My father works in the ministry, so when I come to visit him there I hear all kinds of things.'' She says with a pleased smile, causing me to grin as well.
''I think they should take us for another visit at Hogsmead this year, we totally missed important hours. Maybe sometime after Thomas's funeral. Anyway, I don't think we have something to worry about, our teachers are one hell of wizards and we have talented students.'' Robert says.
I shake my head, ''I think something should be done about this. If they killed Thomas, they can kill more people and we can't stop them all. We don't know how many are they.''
Claire says in a quieter voice, her eyes distant again, ''I think that after this, the ministry will have to do something. People can't just be murdered around here.''
The teacher says not a single word through the entire way to Hogwarts, which could have disappointed Robert, if Claire wouldn't have said what she knows. Near Hogwarts we become silent and Robert goes to talk with a few students, who might have more information, leaving Claire and me alone. I give Claire's hand a squeeze, and she squeezes back, as if to tell each other that everything will be alright, but I am honestly not sure whether things will be alright.