As the first Hogsmeade weekend dawned, Eddie felt a flurry of excitement. Hogsmeade had been one of the things he was looking forward to most when he arrived here, and, as a little bonus he would have a girlfriend for the first time in his life. His relationship with Hannah, meanwhile, had not gone without the usual teasing from the Fateful Eight.

"C'mon, not Lily?" Nathan grinned. Him and Victoria had been dating for nearly three months now and it was a common joke between them that the two Hufflepuffs and two Gryffindors would get together, given that had been the way of the Slytherins and Ravenclaws.

They arrived in the High Street. It was a wonderful place, even more so than Hogwarts, in Eddie's opinion. He'd agreed to spend the morning with Hannah, and then in the afternoon join the rest.

He walked with Hannah for a bit, the pair not really knowing what to say to each other, the awkwardness growing more palpable by the minute- when finally, he plucked up the courage to speak.

"Err - Hannah?" he asked nervously.

"Yes?" She looked at him curiously.

"What was - er - going through your head when you saw that boggart?"

"Well -" her face tinged red, "I was quite surprised for a second - then I put two and two together and realized. But, no, I wasn't angry - it's quite normal to feel like that…"

"Only problem is that Malfoy was there…" Eddie shook his head. "Sorry…"

"No, don't be. Word spreads through the school like wildfire. He'd have found out one way or another. Speaking of…"

Malfoy was standing not very far from them talking to Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle, when he noticed them.

"Ah, if it isn't the lovesick mudblood!" he sneered. "Abbott, really, I thought you had better taste than this - are you going to date every guy with a sob story?"

Mocking Eddie, Malfoy continued. "Oh, boo hoo, my girlfriend's going to get stolen by Malfoy - whatever shall I do?" Crabbe and Goyle snickered, Pansy laughed deliriously.

"Yeah, well," Eddie smirked, unfazed by this. "At least I don't need buffoon bodyguards to boost my already inflated ego."

"You dare insult me? Wait till my father -"

"Yeah, I know - go cry to daddy like you always do," scoffed Eddie, annoyed.

Hannah looked apprehensively from one to the other.

"C'mon Hannah… he's not worth it…"

And so they continued walking, ending up at the Three Broomsticks, bought two butterbeers and sat down at a nearby booth. Eddie was still in awe, looking around. Not to mention the butterbeer tasted even better than the one that was served at Universal Studios.

Hannah smiled at him, before delving back into talk.

"So you said… that in your world this is… fiction?"

Eddie nodded. "Yeah… it's kinda crazy… I still can't believe it sometimes… It's got a big following, you know… there's books, movies, theme parks, a whole host of things… this seems like something out of a fanfiction if you ask me."

"A what?" she asked.

"A fanfiction." Eddie told her. "It'll take some well-known fictional universe, like Harry Potter, and a fan will publish their own story about it. Most of them aren't very good, though…"

"Oh…"

There was a long silence, broken only by intermittent sips of butterbeer, when Eddie finally found something to grasp for conversation.

"Hang on… why didn't you tell me you liked me?"

Hannah shrugged. "I didn't know it was you who wrote the letter. And - to be honest, I wasn't quite sure myself…"

Eddie blushed sheepishly. "Yeah… I'm sorry… I would have signed my name but I wasn't quite sure how you would react…"

At around midday, they were joined by the rest of the Fateful Eight.

Being the only three not involved in a relationship, Lily, Tom and Natalie felt a bit out of place.

The nine of them had to occupy two booths, with Nathan, Victoria, and Lily joining Eddie in his booth.

Nathan grinned at the pair of them. "So, why didn't you make Hannah the ninth person on the team? Back in first year?"

"Oh, shut up," Eddie smirked, "I didn't like her yet."

"I see you and Victoria are going well," said Hannah, joining in.

Nathan laughed. "Nice comeback."

Lily, joining the fray, piped up, "Hmmm… battle of the lovebirds… would make for a great movie. I call being the director!"

Eddie leaned back, resting on the back of the booth, at peace with himself and the world, just taking it all in… he'd have never dreamed this possible three years ago… it was surreal.

The chattering continued, and too soon, it was almost time for them to leave. It had been a wonderful first day in Hogsmeade, a wonderful first date with Hannah.

Right before they were about to enter the castle once more, Eddie paused, walked up the nearest hill, and looked out into the sunset, Luke Skywalker-style. He smiled slightly. One thought flashed through his head as he let the fall breeze wash over him like a warm shower.

Take that, Eric.