AN: Okay so this is probably not my best work, but oh well, I did my best. This was written for round five of QL with the prompts; Benjy Fenwick, First Hogsmeade weekend, If I die young – the band perry, , frostbite and sealing.

Disclaimer: while I did use desrcriptions straight from the book because I couldn't think of how to describe Honeydukes – nothing is mine.

Word Count: 1,200

Hogsmeade

Out the tall, chilled windows, the snow quickly fell, covering the grounds and the top of the castle. He watched as the snow fell horizontally, sometimes hitting the window and cascading down the smooth glass. He always enjoyed the first signs of winter at Hogwarts, everything looked and felt so restful and peaceful.

He always enjoyed winter in general because he loved being outside, playing in the snow. He remembered when he was a kid and he spent countless hours outside. His mother always had to drag him back inside so he wouldn't end up getting frostbite from the harsh weather.

What excited him most about the start of winter now that he was a third year was the Hogsmeade visits starting. He'd been looking forward to the visits since his mother had signed that permission slip. He also looked forward to being able to take his mind off of everything that was happening in the real world.

He'd spent a lot of the time over the summer overhearing conversations between his parents involving the war. He probably shouldn't have done it, but there was a part of him that couldn't help. There were a couple of nights when he couldn't sleep so he wandered downstairs for a glass of water – only to find his parents in the kitchen. He was curious to know what was happening which caused him to linger in the hall.

Hopefully the visit to Hogsmeade Village would take his mind off of everything he'd heard over the summer. Most of the time he laid down to sleep, his mind would flash back to those hushed wishers of his parents.

"Should we tell Benjy any of this," his father spoke, pacing the living room as he always did. Benjy could hear his footsteps as he walked across the floor. "All of these innocent people and families missing…possibly worse."

"He's just a boy!" his mother retorted. "He's thirteen and I am not going to worry him with this."

"Keeping him in the dark doesn't necessarily keep him safe, you know."

"He'll be at Hogwarts," his mother said, firmly. "He'll be safe there and he won't have to know anything. That's final."

He knew that the families were probably horrifically killed if the Death Eaters had anything to do with. He shook the thoughts away and took a breath. He needed to get his mind off of that. His mother was right, he was at Hogwarts – he was safe. He would be safe at Hogsmeade too.

"Benjy," a familiar voice said, pulling him from his thoughts.

He turned his head towards the source and saw Dorcas standing a few feet away from him. She had her Gryffindor scarf tied around her neck, ready to leave.

"Are you coming?" she asked him. "Everyone's getting ready to head down."

"Yeah," he responded before walking towards her. He pulled his gloves out of his pocket and shoved them on his hands as they made the long trek down to the Entrance Hall.

Dorcas titled her head and glanced over at him. "Is something on your mind?"

He shrugged. "There's a lot going on," he finally said as they turned another corner.

"Anything you want to talk about?" she prompted. "I'm here if you want to talk."

"I know that, but it's just something I'd rather not talk about now," he replied, honestly.

She sighed. "I think I know what you mean…everything that's going on out there in the Wizarding War when no one will tell you anything because you're 'too young'… it sucks, not knowing."

"That it does."

He took a breath. If only he didn't know anything or could forget it – that would make him feel slightly better than he did.

The village looked exactly like a scene on a Christmas card. The building tops were covered in a crisp layer of snow and their windows were frosted over. Footprints leading in all directions, in all shapes and sizes littered the snow that covered the cobblestones.

Upon entering Hogsmeade, his thoughts from before quickly exited his mind. The small village was homey and welcoming; it was just like he imagined it would be. He glanced around at the buildings nearby and wondered where he should go first.

When Benjy and Dorcas entered Hogsmeade, they met up with Alison and Malcolm who were supposed to meet them. The four of them continued through Hogsmeade and decided to stop at Honeyduke's first.

The first thing Benjy saw was the shelves upon shelves of sweets. He felt his mouth watering at the sight. Hundreds of different kinds of chocolate were in neat rows on the other side of the store along with creamy chunks of nougat, coconut ice; fat, honey-colored toffees were placed on shelves. There was also a large barrel of Bertie Botts Every Flavor beans.

"Wow," he heard Alison say from behind him.

He loaded up on as many sweets as he could reasonability carry with him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Malcolm trying to carry way more than he could and Benjy couldn't help but laugh.

"Malcolm, slow down a bit," Dorcas told him.

He waved her off, like he always did. "Oh, I'm fine."

Benjy shook his head and a small smile crept up on his face. Once Malcolm was set to do something, there wasn't anything anyone could do to talk him out of it. Especially if candy was involved.

After they left Honeydukes, Malcolm dragged them towards Zonko's. Benjy couldn't help but wonder what prank he was planning now. But maybe it would just be better if he just didn't bother with it.

When they entered the joke shop, Malcolm slipped away with a sly smile on his face.

Dorcas titled her head as she watched his retreating figure. "Should we be worried?"

"I think it's better if we just let it go…It is Malcolm we're talking about here. The more we don't know, the better off we'll be," Allison shrugged. "But maybe I should make sure he doesn't get carried away."

"What are we going to do with him?" Dorcas questioned.

"What can we do?" Benjy responded.

"That is true," Dorcas gave a small laugh.

Her laugh was contiguous and Benjy couldn't help but laugh along with her. It felt nice to be laughing after the summer he'd had and the things he'd heard.

The five friends stopped by the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer before it was time to head back to the castle. The snow was continuing to fall as they trudged through the cobblestoned streets – he walked back towards Hogwarts with his friends loaded up with sweets and a new book that he picked up at Tomes and Scrolls.

It was nice to spend a day with his friends, having fun and doing what people their age were supposed to be doing. The change of scenery and atmosphere was also a nice change – It was calming and serene.

He glanced between his friends as they chatted and a warm feeling spread through his chest. He hadn't felt this happy and content in a while and he was already looking forward to the Hogsmeade visit next weekend.