Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JKR does.
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The last day of October meant three things to Icarus: it was Halloween, his birthday, and today was the first trip to Hogsmeade. Back in the summer after second year, Icarus had endlessly nagged his mother about signing his permission slip. She had given in to him not even a week in to summer break just so he would shut up.It was cool day. A nice and easy breeze blew through the air. The Hogwarts students who were going to Hogsmeade had left not too long after breakfast.
Icarus had been to Hogsmeade enough times to know what he was going to do. He planned to raid Honeydukes. Of course, he wasn't going to spend all of his money at the sweets shops; he was also going to visit Zonko's and The Three Broomsticks.
The first few times Icarus had been to Hogsmeade, he had gone to see the Shrieking Shack. After those few times, however, it had lost its luster in Icarus's opinion. Well, to be fair, Icarus had always thought that it was lacking; it didn't seem haunted, and it wasn't like Icarus didn't believe in ghosts because he did. It would be difficult not to with all the ghosts that resided in Hogwarts.
"Will you two walk faster? Everything's gonna be gone by the time we get there!" Alan called, waiting impatiently for his friends. They were walking to Honeydukes, and Alan seemed to be thoroughly convinced that all of the candy in the store would be gone when they entered it. Icarus thought he had no reason to be worried since that had never happened before.
"Calm down," Phillip said, scowling. "I assure you that there will still be chocolate frogs by the time we get there. God, you're such a child."
"Yeah, well, you're slow."
"It's not my fault you have longer legs than me!"
"It's not my fault that you're short!"
"Will you two shut up?" Icarus interrupted.
"No!" they angrily said at the same time, then glared at each other.
Icarus sighed. "The entire village of Hogsmeade does not need to know about your problems."
"Yes, they do," Alan argued.
"Well, they don't care."
"Our problems are the first thing on their minds every day!" he exclaimed loudly, earning him a few weird looks.
"I am leaving both of you," Icarus said, walking past Alan. He entered Honeydukes. It was busy; Hogwarts students were everywhere. He scanned the shelves, looking for what he might buy. He had always gotten peppermint toads and sugar quills in years previous, and Acid Pops were also a definite (he loved giving them to first and second years and watching their reactions to the newly burned hole in their tongue). He nearly fell forwards as the door burst open and hit, making him stumble. He turned to see Phillip and Alan, grinning.
"What'd you do that for?" Icaurs scowled.
"We didn't do it on purpose," Phillip defended, the ridiculous smile still on his face.
"Yeah, and maybe next time you will move away from the door instead of standing right in front of it," Alan said, his expression matching Phillip's.
Icarus rolled his eyes as his friends moved to stand beside him.
"What are you going to get?" he asked, still looking around.
"The whole store," Alan responded to which Icarus just laughed and shook his head.
True to his word, Alan nearly bought out the entire shop.
"You know, Alan, I don't think you got enough sweets," Phillip said. "And Icarus and I aren't going to carry them for you."
"I know," Alan said, a large pile of candy at his feet. "That's why I thought ahead and brought this." He pulled out a small burlap sack that could be cinched tightly at the top.
"Don't mean to burst your bubble there, mate, but how is that small bag going to fit all of that candy in it?" Icarus asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.
Alan rolles his eyes and let out a huff of breath. "I'm smarter than I look, you know," he said, annoyance creeping into his voice. He cleared his throat and spoke again. "I placed an undetectable enlargement charm on it," he explained, picking up a few Pumpkin Pasties and dropping them in the sack.
After Alan had collected all of his candy, they travelled to Zonko's Joke Skop and they bought some Hiccough Sweets. They eventually made their way to The Three Broomsticks where all three of them decided to bet and see how much butterbeer it would take to make a person drunk. Sadly, the bartenders refused to serve them any more because they realized what the three Slytherins were trying to do.
Icarus, Phillip, and Alan returned to Hogwarts when the sun had started to set, the sky becoming a beautiful hue of orange and pink before turning into a deep purple. They went to the Halloween feast with the rest of the school, and Icarus had seconds of everything.
With their stomachs full, they made their way back to the dungeon which had been getting progressively colder as they went farther into fall.
"Bloody hell," Icarus said, falling backwards onto his bed the moment they entered the dormitory. They were the only ones in there. It was still early and most of the other Slytherins were out in the common room. "I don't think I'm ever going to drink butterbeer again."
Alan groaned in agreement.
"Still wish we could've gotten drunk, though," Phillip said. "I only feel the slightest bit tipsy."
Alan laughed. "Lightweight."
"How does that make me a lightweight?"
"You just said you got tipsy off of butterbeer. It barely has any alcohol in it."
"Well, maybe I just drank more than you."
"You still got tipsy off of butterbeer." Icarus could practically hear the grin on Alan's face.
"Only a little bit!"
"Oh my God, will you two stop acting like an old married couple and just shut up," Icarus said. "I'm tired of listening to your bullshit."
"All right, all right, we'll be quiet," Phillip promised.
"Thank you."
Barely any time had passed before Alan said, "I'm bored. Just laying here in silence is boring."
"And what do you want us to do about it?" Icarus sat up and looked over at his blond friend.
Alan smiled a devious smile. "Well," he began, reaching over to grab the sack full of candy.
"Oh, dear God," Phillip said.
Alan continued. "I bought ten boxes of. . ." He paused for dramatic effect. "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans!" He pulled out a box from the sack.
"Why?" Phillip asked.
"Because I can," Alan snapped.
"At least they're not a year old," Icarus said.
"Yeah, see, there's a silver lining!" Alan was about to open the box when Samuel Avery poked his head into the room.
"Ah, Sammy! Want some jelly beans?" Alan shook the box.
"No thank you," Samuel said. "I was told to tell you guys that we have to go to the Great Hall."
"Why?" Icarus asked.
Samuel shrugged. "I dunno. I'm as in the dark as you are."
He left, and the trio followed him into the common room. The other Slytherins were exiting through the entrance wall. Icarus and his friends were near the end of the group, and a sixth or seventh year prefect stood behind them.
"What do you think's happened?" Icarus asked Alan and Phillip in a low voice.
Alan shrugged, but Phillip said, "Do you think Black got in?"
"What, do you think he's decided to pay me a little birthday visit?" Icarus said jokingly.
Alan scoffed. "Doubt it. The grounds are crawling with dementors. There's no way Black could've gotten past them."
"Well, he couldn't have apparated inside," Icarus said, frowning.
"We don't even know if it was Black," Alan said after a beat of silence.
They walked out into the hall, following the other Slytherins.
"It probably was," Phillip said. "I mean, what else could it have been?"
After some more walking, the Slytherins finally reached the Great Hall. They were the last house to arrive. Icarus heard snatches of other students' conversations about what had happened. Most of the speculations, if not all of them, involved Sirius Black.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore announced. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all of the doors in the hall. "I'm that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately." He looked over at Percy Weasley while saying that last sentence. "Send word with one of the ghosts."
Dumbledore was about to leave the hall when he added, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing. . ."
He casually waved his wand and the house tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood against the walls. He waved his wand again. Hundreds of purple sleeping bags covered the floor.
"Sleep well," Dumbledore said, exiting the Great Hall and closing the door behind him.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" Percy Weasley shouted. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"
"Ten minutes!" Icarus grumbled as he, Alan, and Phillip grabbed three sleeping bags and dragged them to where a group of Slytherins in their year were.
"Don't worry, mate," Alan assured. "I'm sure we can eat most of these in ten minutes."
"Most of wh—" He stopped when he saw the box of jelly beans in his friend's hand. "You seriously brought those?"
Alan hummed in response. Then, when Samuel Avery walked by with a sleeping bag, he said, "Oi, Sammy! Catch!" He tossed Samuel a jelly bean, which Samuel caught.
"Seriously, Michaelson?" Samuel held the bean between his thumb and index finger.
"Oh, c'mon, just eat it!"
Samue, sighed and rolled his eyes before eating the jelly bean. His facial features twisted into a sour expression and he swallowed hard. "Earwax," he said, still pulling a face.
"Pfft, earwax's not that bad," Alan said, waving a hand dismissively in the air. Samuel sat down and joined their group.
"You're obsessed with Bertie Bott's," Phillip said.
"No, I'm not." Alan grabbed a handful of jelly beans and tilted his head back, dropping each one individually into his mouth. With his mouth full, he offered the box to everyone around him. "Want some?"
"Don't talk with food in your mouth," a Slytherin girl in their year, Tanya Edwards, said. "It's disgusting."
Alan stuck his tongue out at her, and she rolled her eyes. Swallowing, he said, "So, does anyone here wanna grow a pair and eat twenty of these at once?"