"Maybe you could go to Hogsmeade with Seamus." Fay suggested. "He'd like that."
"That would be leading him on," Rem disagreed. "I don't do that."
"Oh, come on." Fay prodded. "You could go to Madame Puddifoot's-"
Remington made a derisive noise, "That place is always packed with couples-" Her expression was one of mild disgust. "It'll be even worse since it's Valentine's."
"What? You don't like couples?" Fay teased lightly.
"I'm not a huge fan of all the lovey-dovey stuff, is all." She corrected.
"No wonder you've got a thing for Malfoy-"
"Don't you even start, Fay." She interrupted. "It's not like that." Ha-ha, lies!
"You're right," Fay said with a slightly lofty tone, "It would certainly blow my mind if he went for a Gryffindor."
"Oh, just-"
"Or if a Gryffindor went for him, for that matter, or Ravenclaw, too. They're smart enough to know better, Hufflepuff, though... Well, they're too nice for their own good half the time. Probably pity the jackass rather than loathe him as they should." She muttered, then saw that Remington had done the whole dramatic face-palm thing and now sat with her forehead in her hand, facing the table. "Well," She said haughtily, "What's your argument?"
Rem looked up at her friend, her expression suggesting that she was thinking of a good answer that would allow her to win the little dispute. "You don't know him."
"Oh, and I suppose you do?" Fay countered.
Remington's eyes narrowed. After all the time she'd spent with him, the words they'd swapped, what did she know about Draco Malfoy? Maybe a few feeble strands of what most people could already guess, but that was it. She'd nearly spilt her heart to him and he'd given her nothing in return. "Better than you."
"Really? I suppose you waste enough time in his company, but name just three things that he's not already bragged to the world about." When Rem simply shook her head and declined to answer, Fay continued relentlessly, "See? You don't know him any better than me, which begs the question-"
"That's not true. Really, Fay, there's more-"
"How can there be more? You can't even tell me one thing I don't already know about him."
"What does it matter, anyway, Fay? I can judge for myself what sort of person he is and I don't find him to be as bad as you all blindly believe him to be." Remington shot at her under her breath.
"Blindly? Blindly? Everyone's seen how slimy a git he is!" Fay hissed back.
"Maybe if you'd give him a chance-"
"He's not worth a chance, Remington! Nothing he could ever do would make him worthy of a chance!"
Rem was taken a bit aback. She didn't like how sharp-edged their tête-à-tête had become. She may have been firmly convinced Fay was in the wrong, but this was an argument she couldn't win.
"Oh, no! Catch it!" But it was too late, the candy frog launched itself off the table in the Three Broomsticks and splatted onto the stone floor in a small pile of faintly twitching chocolate. "Dang it. I love those things." Remington mumbled, still leaning across the table and staring wistfully at the soiled sweet. "It was my last one."
"I could get you another." Seamus remarked, taking a drink of his Butterbeer.
"No reason to cry over spilt milk." Dean added.
Rem sighed, sitting back up and wrapping her hands around her own mug of Butterbeer. They'd visited Honeydukes just before deciding to settle into a booth in the pub. Neville had tagged along with the four, since Dean had felt bad about him having to come to Hogsmeade alone. Remington hadn't minded. Neville was a good kid. Shy and prone to being made fun of, sure, but sweet and kind, too.
She was pretty sure that Fay was giving her looks from across the table. Rem had already finished an entire mug of Butterbeer. There was only a little bit of alcohol in the stuff, but it was enough to lessen inhibitions. Not to mention she was sitting in the seat beside Seamus. She was sure the look in Fay's eye was mildly suggestive. But so what? Rem was sitting next to someone of the opposite gender, big deal. So was Fay, who was sitting next to Dean, but Remington wasn't shooting her pointed looks from across the booth.
"So does that mean we have to go back to Honeydukes before we head to the castle?" Fay asked.
"I don't know, does it?" Seamus asked, nudging Rem in the side lightly with his elbow.
She sighed again, dramatically, "I suppose I'll survive if we don't."
"But I should probably stop at Potage's-" Seamus began.
"Need a new cauldron, do you, Seamus?" Dean inquired mockingly. Seamus shot him a slightly withering look.
"Could we go to Tomes and Scrolls, too? There was a book I wanted to-" Neville started to say.
"Of course, Neville." Fay said agreeably. "Remington probably wants to go there, too. She hasn't been running around with a new book for a while. Just that old thing-"
"Pride and Prejudice is a classic!" Rem interjected.
"I've never even heard of it!" Fay argued.
"Probably not, it's by a Muggle author." Remington muttered. She'd likely not have heard of it, either, if it hadn't been for Natalie.
"Why haven't I heard of it?" Seamus asked.
Rem grinned, rolling her eyes, "Probably because you're a guy."
"It's some sort of love story, isn't it?" Seamus prompted.
"Some arrogant rich guy falls for a girl with lower social status than him and treats her badly for most of the book." Dean said in response, earning a couple strange looks. "My half-sister adored the book." He reasoned.
"Sounds horrible." Seamus commented.
"Oh, but that's not it." Remington said, giving Dean a sharp look. "Mister Darcy just isn't sociable. People get the wrong impression of him. They don't give him enough credit. After a while, Elizabeth realizes it, though. Not before he proposes to her a couple times-"
Fay was eyeing her, "Is this supposed to be a metaphor?" She asked dubiously. Remington turned a glare on her.
"Metaphor for what?" Dean asked, "Isn't that like if I said 'Fay is as irritating as a rouge Bludger?'" That earned him a disapproving scowl from the girl sitting beside him.
"No, similes are the ones that have 'like' and 'as' in them, right? A metaphor doesn't have either." Neville supplied.
"So... you're saying that the storyline is the same as something else?" Seamus inquired, "That just doesn't make any sense."
"Exactly Fay, it doesn't make sense." Remington repeated bitterly, about ready to kick her friend beneath the table.
"Does too," Fay disagreed. "You just won't admit it."
"I am not arguing with you again, Fay." Rem told her.
"Again?" Seamus prompted, "Some bad blood, or what?"
"You could say that." Fay muttered, jumping slightly when Remington's sneaker jammed down on top of her foot.
"We just had a minor disagreement a couple days ago is all." Rem said, giving Fay a pointed look as she finished the last of her Butterbeer.
"I hope you know you're not getting another of those." Fay remarked.
"You can't decide that for me, it's not as if you're paying." Rem countered. "What? Do you think I'm going to get drunk off Butterbeer?" Dean gave a concealed snort of laughter.
"I can see your inhibitions melting." Fay informed her blandly.
Remington rolled her eyes, "Sure they are."
They stuck around for a while longer, and just to spite Fay, Rem did order another Butterbeer. After some time, they agreed to head up to Tomes and Scrolls. When they got up to leave, Remington caught sight of Hermione, Luna, Harry, and some woman she didn't recognize sitting at one of the tables and waved cheerily. Harry and the woman seemed too occupied with their conversation to notice, but Hermione offered a slight smile and Luna waved back dreamily before Rem slipped out the door with her little group.
"Today was good." Fay declared from her bed, where she was braiding her dusty brown hair into twin plaits.
Remington looked up from her used and abused novel, "I suppose," She allowed, "As far as Valentine's Day goes."
"I'm sure Seamus would agree." Fay remarked. Remington's stomach gave a jerk. "You sure you don't have any... less-than-platonic feelings for him?"
"None that a relationship could form from." She replied, hoping it was the safe answer. She couldn't very well deal out a negative after what had happened when they'd gotten back from Hogsmeade, not without lying. But then again, she didn't want Fay to know. She'd find out eventually, but that could hopefully be avoided for some time.
You couldn't kiss someone and still be convinced that feelings were entirely platonic, could you? Would that mean she had it for Draco and Seamus, both? No. It wasn't the same. Seamus was a great guy, a bit sharp-tongued and impulsive at times, but really quite good. He might have been attractive in a scruffy kind of way, and not bad at kissing, either, but she didn't fancy him enough to actually call it anything special. Draco, though... That was a bit harder to figure out, considering she had a good idea of what Seamus was thinking and not a single idea as to what Draco was. He was absolutely attractive, but the quality of the appearance was nothing like that of the mind. He was arrogant and cruel, selfish and short-tempered. He wasn't anything like a man she'd imagine herself being with for any length of time, but obviously, there was something that drew her to him. She couldn't fathom why, but she knew she had a fondness for Malfoy that couldn't be called platonic at all.
"I can't believe you." Fay mumbled, flicking a braid over her shoulder and pulling the curtains shut around her bed.