Year 3: Not Quite Right

Chapter 28: April 2018

It took a while for Louis and Julia to settle into a new normal. They both wanted to remain friends, but it was strange at first to hang out after everything that had happened between them. But Julia was determined and Louis appreciated her company and soon they grew comfortable with each other – even more comfortable than when they'd been dating in fact.

Justin was furious. His plan had been for Louis to sever all ties with Julia and instead, the two were closer than ever. Julia continued to pester both boys about talking to Professor Longbottom about their troubles, one day even going so far as to steal a pile of essays they'd written for the Slytherins and threaten to burn them if they didn't comply. Louis managed to talk her down, and he understood that her actions came from a place of concern and not malice, but Justin was becoming hell-bent on seeing Julia silenced.

"I think I know what the problem is," Louis said one day in the common room. Justin had just stalked off to the library after stating that he was tired of listening to Julia preach at him all day.

"What?" Julia asked. "The fact that you're both being idiots and should just tell the teachers what's going on?"

"Not about that," Louis shook his head. "I meant about his bad mood."

"Is he not just always like that?" Julia inquired.

Louis shook his head. "He used to be much more agreeable," he informed her. "But for a while now…"

"Go ahead," Julia prompted. "What do you think the problem is?"

Louis sighed. "Well, for a long time Justin had this thing for my sister, Dominique."

"The fifth year?" Julia asked to confirm.

Louis nodded. "He would follow her around and stare at her and he even tried talking to her a few times. Obviously, she wasn't interested and never took him seriously, but he always seemed to think he had a shot."

"Alright," Julia said, sounding slightly unsure. "So what?"

"Well in November, Dominique started dating this guy, William Stimpson," Louis revealed. "He's a Ravenclaw."

"I've seen them around together," Julia said. "Didn't they get together the same Hogsmeade weekend we had our first date?"

Louis nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, they did. And ever since, Justin's been a lot less of who he used to be and a lot more cynical. He set us up in the first place, because he was so convinced that love was the most important thing, and then last month he was going on about how relationships don't last and there's no point in staying in them since they're doomed anyway."

"That's not why you broke up with me is it?" Julia frowned.

"No," Louis hurried to say. "Trust me, that had nothing to do with Justin. But it got me thinking. I think his mood is a result of losing Dominique to that Ravenclaw guy."

"You think he's depressed?" Julia inquired.

"Not exactly," Louis said. "But I think his feelings for her were more than I'd thought. I always thought he was just being his weird self, but I think it was deeper than that. I think he has a broken heart. I think he might be giving up on love."

"What can we do?" Julia wondered. "You must have brought this all up for a reason."

"I have an idea," Louis declared. "The relationship he thought he had with Dominique was never real. It was always in his head. I think he needs to experience something real."

"You mean you want to find him a girlfriend?" Julia asked, clarifying.

Louis nodded. "Or at least set him up on a date. He needs to get out there for real. He needs to go out with someone his own age and feel feelings for someone who might actually reciprocate them."

"Did you have anyone in mind?" Julia asked.

Louis shrugged. "I thought maybe that's where you would come in," he said. "You have friends who are girls. Maybe there's someone you could set him up with?"

"I don't know," Julia said hesitantly. "I honestly don't have that many friends. I mean, there's Olivia – "

"That's perfect," Louis said eagerly. "She's not dating anyone, is she?"

"Well no, but I don't think they'd make a good match," Julia warned.

"That's fine," Louis insisted. "Justin just needs someone to go out with. He needs to get back in the game and then we can worry about finding the right girl."

"I don't know how I feel about lying to Olivia though," Julia said. "She's my best friend."

"Why do you have to lie to her?" Louis asked.

"Well if I'm setting her up with someone that I don't think is a good fit, isn't that kind of dishonest?" Julia asked.

"Don't think of it that way," Louis insisted. "Think of it like giving them an opportunity to come to that decision on their own."

Julia sighed. "Alright fine," she agreed. "I'll talk to Olivia, and you talk to Justin. We'll set it up for the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"It's a plan," Louis agreed.

And so, the two did as they'd agreed. Later that night, Julia headed upstairs to locate Olivia and tell her about the blind date she and Louis were setting up and Louis went to find Justin in the library since he'd never returned.

Justin was a little resistant at first, but eventually he agreed to go on the date, mostly because Louis kept insisting and wouldn't shut up. Louis did point out that it had been Justin who'd set him up with Julia in the first place and that as a result, Justin now owed Louis a blind date as well.

Julia received less resistance from Olivia than she'd been expecting, but she'd also kept Justin's identity a secret and had just said it was a mystery date. Olivia liked the idea of a mystery date and agreed excitedly to the arrangement.

In the days leading up to the Hogsmeade weekend, Louis and Julia made plans to follow Justin and Olivia and to spy on their friends' date. It wasn't that Louis had an interest in policing Justin's love life, but more that he wanted to keep an eye on him for now, just until he found a relationship that would take off.

The morning of the Hogsmeade weekend arrived and Louis was pleased to see that it was a beautiful day. As he and Justin got ready in the dormitory, Louis just hoped that everything went smoothly.

"So, Olivia Thomas?" Justin spoke as he got dressed. "She must have quite the crush on me to convince Julia to get you to set us up."

"What?" Louis frowned, distracted as he searched for his comb, which he was having trouble locating.

"That is why you set us up, right?" Justin confirmed. "Because it's not like I've ever expressed interest in her. Not that she's not attractive of course."

"Oh, right," Louis nodded. "Yeah, she has a huge crush on you. Won't shut up about it. Bit annoying, really. Julia's getting fed up."

Justin smirked.

"But don't mention that to her!" Louis insisted. "She'll be embarrassed if she thinks you know how much she likes you."

"Don't worry," Justin assured Louis. "I can be cool."

The plan was to meet in the village, so Louis and Justin walked down to Hogsmeade together, mostly chatting about astronomy club. When they arrived in the village, they headed to Honeydukes sweetshop, which was the store in front of which they were meant to meet up with the girls.

As usual, the girls were a tad late, but eventually they showed up, Olivia dressed up in some of her nicest clothes.

"Justin!" Olivia said, her eyes going wide in surprise as the girls approached. She turned to Julia. "Justin Spinnet? Really?"

"Surprise!" Julia said nervously, pushing Olivia closer.

Meanwhile, Justin turned to Louis.

"She didn't know she was meeting me?" he asked.

"It was a surprise," Louis explained. "She would have been too nervous to come if she'd known."

Justin nodded, satisfied with the response, and stepped out to greet Olivia.

"My lady," he said, reaching for her hand and kissing the top of it.

Olivia looked confused at this display, but Justin didn't seem to notice. She looked over at Julia with a what-were-you-thinking expression, but Julia just smiled and waved.

"Have fun you two," she said as Justin continued to maintain his grasp on Olivia's arm, but shifted so that he was now next to her and her arm was linked with his as he began to lead her down the street.

Left alone, Julia turned to Louis.

"Okay, what was he doing?" she asked. "The hand kissing and the arm linking? This is the twenty-first century."

"I don't know," Louis said, holding up his hands in defence. "I didn't tell him to do any of that."

Julia sighed. "Well I hope he gives it up quick, because Olivia is not going to like that act one bit."

"Come on," Louis suggested, leading Julia in the direction Justin and Olivia had gone. "Let's follow them."

And so, they set off. It took a little while to locate their friends since they hadn't seen which shop they'd originally gone into, but they eventually found them in Dogweed and Deathcap, Hogsmeade's herbology shop.

"Does Justin have a particular interest in herbology?" Julia frowned as she and Louis peered through the window.

"Definitely not," Louis replied. "In fact, it's one of his least favorite subjects. What about Olivia, does she enjoy herbology?"

"Not a bit," Julia responded. "What do you think they're doing in there?"

"I've got no idea," Louis replied, shaking his head. This date was already off to a poor start.

After a few more minutes, Justin and Olivia emerged from the herbology shop and Louis and Julia hurried across the street where they pretended to be looking into the window of Maestro's Music Shop. They watched as their two friends emerged into the street and then Justin led Olivia to the shop next door, the apothecary.

"Let me guess," Louis groaned. "Olivia also doesn't have an interest in potions?"

"Nope," Julia shook her head. "Olivia's favorite classes are charms and muggle studies."

"And Justin likes astronomy, obviously," Louis said with a sigh.

"Maybe they're just doing what we did on our first date," Julia said optimistically. "Maybe they're visiting every shop in the village."

"Maybe," Louis agreed, though he was less optimistic. Visiting all the shops in the village didn't sound like something that Justin would do. More likely he was trying to put on a show and failing miserably.

Louis and Julia continued to spy on their friends as they left the apothecary and entered a small used bookstore. After that, they popped in to a few more shops including Ceridwen's Cauldrons and The Magic Neep, a local greengrocer.

"Oh no," Julia groaned when they entered that last one. "Why would they go in there?"

Louis shook his head in disbelief. He'd thought that for all of Justin's big talk, he would be good at going on dates and showing girls a good time. But this date was a train wreck.

"We just have to let it play out," Louis insisted. "It'll be good for Justin either way."

"What about Olivia?" Julia demanded. "She's going to hate me after I set her up in this mess of a date."

"Well it's too late for her," Louis pointed out. "Come on, they're moving again."

Louis and Julia followed a safe distance away while maintaining an eye on their friends as they exited the greengrocer and approached the front of Madam Puddifoot's teashop. There Justin brought them to a halt and motioned to the teashop hopefully. Olivia shook her head and Louis and Julia moved closer in an attempt to hear the conversation.

"I'm just not interested," Olivia was saying. "Maybe we should keep shopping."

"Come on, you must be hungry," Justin insisted. "We'll just stop in for a moment, have some tea and sandwiches, and then be on our way."

"No, I'm really alright," Olivia insisted. "I had a big breakfast."

"We have to intervene," Julia whispered to Louis. "We can't let him drag her in there. You know what that place is for."

"What are we supposed to do?" Louis asked.

"Follow my lead," Julia said.

She peeled herself away from the window display she and Louis had been pretending to inspect and confidently walked right up to Justin and Olivia, Louis trailing behind.

"Hey guys!" she said loudly and brightly. "So funny that we'd run into you. We were about to head over to the Three Broomsticks."

"We were?" Louis frowned. Julia shot him a look. "Oh, right. Yeah, we were going to get lunch."

"Maybe you two would like to join us?" Julia suggested. "I'm sure you're both hungry by now."

"Well we were actually – "

"That would be great," Olivia interrupted Justin. She looked over at her date. "Come on. It would be rude not to join them."

Justin acquiesced, and the four fell in step together and crossed the street to where the Three Broomsticks was located. They got a table and then Justin volunteered to go up to the bar to get them all butterbeers.

While he was gone, Olivia's expression changed and she looked at Julia with something akin to anger in her eyes.

"What were you thinking setting me up with that?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry," Julia said. "It was Louis' idea – "

"Hey!" Louis cried indignantly.

"Well it was," Julia insisted. "Anyway, it's just a few more hours, do you think you can hang on until them?"

Olivia sighed. "He took me to the greengrocer, Jules. The greengrocer."

"I know," Julia said miserably.

"Even Louis didn't take you to the greengrocer on your weird first date," Olivia said.

"Hey!" Louis said again, feeling attacked. "That was a lovely date."

"It was," Julia assured him. "Look, just tell him where you want to go, and I'm sure he'll take you. He's probably just as lost as you are."

"He doesn't seem lost," Olivia muttered. "He keeps leading me to these places."

"It's possible he thinks you're leading," Louis said.

"He wanted to take me to Madam Puddifoot's," Olivia countered.

"Yeah," Louis agreed. There was no defence for that one. He sighed. "Just give him one more chance."

"Alright," Olivia muttered.

Justin returned with the drinks and the table fell into an awkward silence.

"So," Julia said, trying to stir up some conversation. "Who's excited for the Gryffindor/Slytherin match that's coming up?"

"My cousin's playing," Louis contributed. "I'm looking forward to seeing that."

"I'm not really into Quidditch," Justin said, pulling the conversation to a staggering halt.

A few more minutes passed in silence.

"So Olivia, I don't know if you knew this, but Justin and I are in the astronomy club together," Louis said.

"Yeah," Julia agreed. "Remember, I went to that one meeting to see that meteor shower."

"I'm not really into astronomy," Olivia replied, ending that line of discussion as well.

Louis and Julia racked their brains for more topics to bring up, but nothing would stick. Justin and Olivia were both so different, and behaving so disagreeably that they couldn't find anything in common.

"Well," Justin said once they'd finished their meals. "I guess we should be splitting up now."

"So soon?" Olivia asked sarcastically. "But I was having so much fun. But if you insist – I do have some homework I should really get working on back up at the castle."

"Oh," Justin said in dismay. "Well I meant the two of us should be parting ways with Louis and Julia. But if you need to go – "

"I think we're done here," Olivia declared, opening her purse and counting out the coins necessary to cover her portion of the food and drinks.

"Oh, you don't have to pay," Justin insisted. "I don't mind – "

"Trust me," Olivia said. "I have to pay."

She left the coins on the table and gestured to Julia to join her. Julia sent Louis an apologetic look before getting up and joining her friend. She dropped some money of her own on the table and then the two girls left.

"Well that didn't go well," Justin muttered, seeming confused.

"And why do you think that was?" Louis demanded. "You barely said two words to her all through lunch. You brought her to the greengrocer."

"She's the one that led me into the greengrocer," Justin insisted. "And besides, it's not like she was making an effort to talk to me either. I thought she was supposed to be in love with me or something?"

"She wasn't," Louis declared. Now that the plan had failed, there was no point in keeping up the ruse. "I just said that to get you to go out with her."

"Why would you do that?" Justin frowned.

"I don't know," Louis sighed. It had all started out well-intentioned, but now Louis questioned all the decisions that had led him to this point. Maybe it would have been better if he'd never meddled at all. "Let's just forget about it."

Later that night, Louis and Julia met up to discuss their failed plan.

"I think it's safe to say that wasn't what you had in mind?" Julia asked.

"Definitely not," Louis confirmed. "I didn't know Justin was going to be so weird."

"Olivia was pretty upset with me," Julia confessed. "But I've talked her down and now she's only mad at you."

"Great," Louis muttered. "Well listen, I'm sorry I put you in a weird position. I just thought doing on a date would help."

"I think you need to find someone better suited for him," Julia said. "Someone he shares interests with. Olivia and Justin have nothing in common."

"I think I should probably just stay out of things for a while," Louis decided.

When Justin had interfered in his life, things had spiralled out of control. And now Louis had tried to interfere in Justin's life and the same thing had happened. Perhaps the key was that the boys needed to let each other make their own decisions and their own mistakes.

"Probably a good idea," Julia agreed.