"You know, I'd love to stay here and enjoy the sun, but I told the others we'd meet an Zonko's", George mentioned reluctantly.
Jayla immediately jumped up.
"Oh, fuck! I'm so sorry. Let's go."
She almost dragged George off the bench and towards the main street.
"Woah, calm down. It's not like I told them an exact time or anything. They'll be fine waiting. Anyway, I'm glad you seem to be enjoying your trip so far."
While George said that, he put an arm on her shoulders and drew her closer. Smiling, Jayla let it happen and even wrapped her left arm around his lower back.
Distracted by George's jokes, she let herself be led to Zonko's, still laughing, still walking arm in arm. Jayla had just leaned her head against George's arm when Fred shouted over to them from a short distance.
"There you are guys! Come on, George, I need to show you their newest product range!" he shouted excitedly.
Upon seeing the rest of the group looking at them, Jayla froze on the spot. She had totally forgotten they weren't alone. Panic rose inside her, her pulse quickening.
"I…I think I've lost my wallet," she stumbled, before she turned and ran towards Honeydukes.
As soon as she was out of sight, she headed into a narrow side alley and stopped. Using a shop's wall for support, she tried to regain her composure. How could she have been so stupid and let that happen? She was sure at least some of the group disagreed with her and the twins hanging out and she had nothing better to do than parade around in front of them arm in arm with one of the boys?
Tears were uncontrollably streaming down her face by now
"There you are," a gentle voice suddenly said. "Are you okay? Fred and George looked like they were both ready to sprint after you, but I've told we girls got this, right?"
Jayla still stared at the floor. She didn't trust her voice not to break if she opened her mouth right now. Luckily, Juana apparently had a good sense on how to approach Jayla.
"Anyway, so who's heart are you about to break?"
"What?!" That made Jayla look up in shock, which apparently was just what Juana had planned as she was looking at her with a huge smile on her face.
"Sorry, just tried to ease the tension. I was just joking. But your face was priceless if I may say so." You could see Jayla wasn't sure if she had crossed a line there as she was looking at Jayla with anticipation.
"I get why you're part of Fred and George's friends now," Jayla laughed.
A huge rock was falling off the other girl's chest and she chuckled. Somehow sharing a laugh with someone made Jayla ease up a lot faster than she would have liked.
"Thanks for checking on me. I was just panicking earlier," she admitted.
Juana just raised an eyebrow, showing her curiosity, but not wanting to pressure Jayla into anything.
And for whatever reason, the quiet Slytherin continued: "I've been careful not to let anyone see me too close with either Fred or George. I can see and hear people talk…" Juana just opened her mouth, ready to interrupt her, but Jayla cut in: "Don't even try to persuade me otherwise. I've seen all of your looks and whispers when we came around the corner earlier! Anyway, I just don't want them to get in trouble with any of their friends or their brother Ron because of me. I'm just not worth it." Jayla added the last sentence rather quietly, but Juana still caught it.
"Look, I'm not saying it'll be sunshine and daisies all the time and I'm sure Fred and George haven't even thought about it half as much as you did – you know how boys are -, but they're also super stubborn if you haven't figured that out yet, so if they've decided that you'll be worth any trouble that might arise, then you are just that. I don't think they even care what others think of them as long as they are happy." Juana shrugged, and added: "Plus, I rather enjoyed seeing Fred speechless like earlier." She nudged Jayla with her elbow, who smiled back.
"Thank you," Jayla whispered.
When the girls walked back to Zonko's, the rest of the group had apparently already finished their shopping spree and were about to head to the Three Broomsticks. Jayla had to admit she was curious about Zonko's as she had never been in there either and Fred and George were making such a fuss about their products, but she also didn't want to stay back on her own, as she wasn't sure she'd muster the courage to join them at the pub later if she was the only one being late. Luckily, Fred took that decision from her, because, as soon as Jayla came within reach, he grabbed her hand and almost dragged her back to the shop.
"Finally, you're here! Don't think you can skip Zonko's on a Hogsmeade trip, misses!" he exclaimed, excitement glinting in his eyes.
Jayla craned her neck back to the others.
"Don't look at us. We won't help you," Lee laughed.
An amused looking George only shouted "Have fun!" and off they went down the street.
As soon as they had made it through the door, Fred put an arm around Jayla's shoulder and leaned onto her. "Welcome to heaven," he said, a huge smile on his face.
The shop really was amazing. It wasn't as shockingly colourful as Honeydukes, but it was full of the most intriguing products. Without Jayla realising, Fred had taken a box from a shelf and held it under her nose.
"You should give this to your mum when she annoys you over summer."
Jayla took the box and turned it around.
"A teacup?" she asked surprised.
"A NOSEBITING teacup," Fred explained. "It bites everyone that tries to drink from it. Brilliant, isn't it? We once used it on our aunt and her face was hilarious. Mum didn't think so though and confiscated all our cups…". Fred rolled his eyes. "On second thought, though, this might not be the best idea for you then. I'd definitely miss you if you're mum decided to throw you in a dungeon or something."
Jayla just smiled and shook her head. Fred had such a weird way of making compliments while joking.
Jayla enjoyed the time at Zonko's with Fred. It was funny how different shopping with him was to shopping with George. The twins always seemed to be together, so everyone just saw them as one person, but Jayla began to notice some subtle differences. Whereas George had let her roam the shop on her own, only occasionally pointing things out, Fred pretty much dragged her around the store, excitedly shoving several products into her arms.
Jayla had no idea how much time they had spent in the shop, but when they walked back out her stomach crumbled again. It must have been a while since she ate that Cauldron Cake and not having had breakfast might not have been the best idea in retrospect.
Fred just laughed. "Looks like the perfect timing to grab something to eat, right? I bet the others are already starving too."
Jayla nodded and the both headed off to the Thee Broomsticks. This time, Jayla was careful not to get too close to Fred. Every time they as much as accidentally bumped their arms against each other while walking, she took a step away from him, constantly checking her surroundings to see if anyone was watching them.
"One could think you don't like to be seen with a Gryffindor," Fred said, half joking, half serious.
"This is not about me," Jayla whispered, unsure if she wanted him to hear it or not. But he did. The boy stopped and grabbed her shoulders to gently turn her to face him. Instead of looking at him, though, Jayla just stared at her shoes.
"I know," he sighed deeply. "But could you for a second stop worrying about me and George and just enjoy it?" As Jayla was still looking down, he put one finger underneath her chin, lifting her head slightly. "It might be a big deal for some people now, but I bet it will get boring sooner rather than later and no one will even bet an eye. So let's not make a bigger problem out of it than it is, okay?"
Jayla still avoided his look, but she nodded slightly. He was right after all. There have been inter-house friendships, so why should it be such a big deal, just because she was a Slytherin? Jayla didn't want to admit her stupidity though.
"Can we go and get something to eat now?" was all she replied to that. Fred seemed to be satisfied with that answer though and offered her his arm, probably to proof his point. Jayla hesitated but eventually took it.
Fred only released her when they had arrived at the Three Broomsticks, smirking triumphantly. He opened the door for her and waved her through. It took Jayla a while to find the others as they had picked a table in one of the corner furthest from the entry. Jayla was surprised to not see the whole group there. "Where are the others?" she asked, as she and Fred walked through the pub.
"Who?" Fred replied surprised.
"Angelina and most of the other girls."
"Oh, I don't know. We usually only walk to Hogsmeade as a big group, but it gets split up after a while. They're probably still shopping," he explained.
"Oh." That made sense. Jayla felt so stupid as she had worried about nothing. The only people at the table were Lee and George, who had already ordered four butterbeers apparently. The latter motioned her to take a seat at the bench next to him, whereas Fred sat down on the opposite side next to Lee. As soon as Jayla had sat down, George slid closer, so that their sides were touching.
"So, how bad was it?" he whispered jokingly, but still loud enough for Fred to hear.
"Oh, you know, it was actually way better than Honeydukes. Fred is so much more fun to hang around with!"
Fred spit out his butterbeer he had just taken a sip from. Jayla couldn't blame him as George's shocked face was priceless. Jayla couldn't help but burst out laughing. She had to lean against George in order to not slip off the bench.
"I'm kidding, silly," she explained, once she had regained her composure.
Still laughing, she did something she had never done before. With no idea what had got into her, she gave George a really quick kiss on the cheek and added: "You know I love you both." And the strangest thing about that? It did not feel weird to her. For the first time in forever, in that little corner in the pub, surrounded by those three pranksters, Jayla felt like she belonged.