September came and went. Now it was October and only one more week till Halloween.
Evie was excited because the first Hogsmeade weekend was coming up.
She couldn't wait to visit Zonko's, the Shrieking Shack and Honeydukes.
Right now she was sitting under a tree near the lake reading a book. A cold wind was blowing in from the south and the sky was threatening to rain.
Evie didn't notice any of this; all she saw were the words of her book. She didn't even notice Char walking towards her until she called out. "Evie!"
Evie looked behind her and waved. "Hey Char!"
Char was shivering even though she wore her cloak, scarf and gloves. "It's so cold out here, how can you just sit there reading a book?"
Evie shrugged. "I guess I don't feel the cold as much".
"You're crazy!" Char laughed.
"Who knows maybe I am and maybe I'm not".
"Well anyway the other's sent me to find you. You've been here ages".
"They're probably right". Evie closed her book and stood up. "Let's go find them".
They both started walking towards the school building. "One more week Evie!"
"I know!" Evie's eyes were suddenly bright. "I can't wait to see Hogsmeade!"
"I don't think any of us 3rd years can!"
"I've heard stories about Honeydukes; it's supposed to be fantastic!"
"Magical sweets of almost every description! Have you heard about their sugar quills?"
"Those ones that you can suck in class and it looks as though you're thinking of what to write next? Yeah Lessa was telling me about them last night".
"We've got to see the Shrieking Shack!"
"Most severely haunted building in Britain!"
"Don't forget Zonko's!"
"How could I?"
"How could you not?"
"Now you're just confusing me!"
They kept talking about what they wanted to do once they got into Hogsmeade all the way to the Gryffindor common-room.
Because of the cold and the wind outside the room was fairly crowded with students trying to warm up by the fire.
Char led Evie up the staircase and into the dormitory. Lessa, Cathy, Nancy, Alexis and Amy were sprawled out on the beds laughing and giggling at some joke.
Lessa looked up when the door opened. "Char you found her, excellent!"
Evie took off her shoes, her coat and her scarf before sitting on the end of her bed. Amy was already seated on there, laughing along with the rest.
"You have to get us some sweets from Honeydukes!" Alexis demanded.
"Alright Alex, we'll get you some candy". Lessa assured her.
Alexis replied. "You better!"
"We'll get you a bagful of sugar filled candy, honest!" Evie added.
"Yay Candy!" Cathy started singing.
"Speaking of candy". Amy pulled out a bag of lolly-pops from the front pocket of her robes. "Anybody want one?"
"Yeah alright, just one". Evie picked out a strawberry flavoured one. "Thanks!"
Cathy also pulled out a strawberry lolly-pop. "Eurk! Strawberries!" She put it back and looked for an orange flavoured one.
Char was pulling off the wrapper of her lemon lolly-pop. "What's wrong with strawberries? I love strawberries!"
"Aha! Orange!" Cathy pulled one out.
Evie watched Cathy with worry. "Never mind Char, Cathy's just weird".
Lessa had a dark purple grape flavoured lollypop which was making her tongue turn purple. "No Cathy's just psycho!"
"Hey!" Cathy was offended. "That's not very nice!"
"I don't think it was meant to be nice Cat". Evie had to laugh.
"Any lime flavoured one's left?" Nancy asked Amy.
"Here's one!" Amy tossed it over and Nancy caught it.
"Thanks!"
Alexis was holding a darkish-red one. "What flavour is this?"
"I think that's cherry". Amy checked the bag. "Yes that's Cherry".
"What other flavours are there?"
"There's lemon, lime, grape, strawberry, orange, cola and pineapple".
"Can I have pineapple?"
"Yeah sure!" Amy threw one into Alexis' outstretched hand.
"Thanks!" Alexis started pulling the coloured wrapper off.
Amy pulled out a cola flavoured lollypop before putting the packet away in the pocket of her robes.
The rest of the evening was spent laughing and giggling in the dormitory. Evie couldn't imagine not having them all as her friends.
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The morning of Halloween dawned cold, windy and almost rainy. Evie woke up and nearly froze when she got out of the blankets.
Shivering she dressed in her warmest clothes: her warm knitted jumper, thick socks, long sleeved shirt, pants, gloves, robes and as and after thought she added her permission note for the Hogsmeade trip into her deep pockets along with her money purse.
She thought of warming up by the fire before going on downstairs for breakfast. Her plans however were interrupted by a very excited Laura.
"Going to Hogsmeade today Evie?" Laura bounded up to her.
"Yes, wouldn't miss it for the world!"
"Can you get me some Honeydukes candy? Please!"
"Ok, ok! I'll get you some when I'm there".
"Thank-you!" Laura hugged her. "Evie you're the best!"
"Not really but it's nice that you think so".
"Oh I almost forgot!" Laura pulled out her purse. "Here, you'll need this". She handed Evie some coins. "It's for the candy". She added when she saw Evie's confusion.
"Oh, ok. Then I'll get you something good. Promise!"
"Yay!" Laura danced around the common room. "They're all going to be so jealous!"
"Who is Laura?"
"The other girl's in my dormitory, they all know about Honeydukes".
"I see".
"Laura!" Sally came rushing down the stairs towards them.
"Sally!" Laura greeted her. "Evie's getting me some Honeydukes candy!"
Sally's eyes turned bright. "Really?"
"Yes I am". Evie grinned at her.
"Can you get me something as well Evie?"
"Well I guess I could, what do you want exactly?"
"I have money for a sugar quill and some chocolate". Sally rummaged in her pockets.
"What sort of chocolate exactly?" Evie questioned.
"Oh any kind. I like chocolate". Sally explained.
Laura nodded. "It's true, Sally loves chocolate".
"Well I'll see what I can do".
"Thanks Evie!" Sally handed her a couple of sickles and a galleon. "That should be enough right?"
"I think so!"
"Great!" Sally gave her a grin. "If there's enough change can u get a quill for Amanda?"
"If I can I will".
"Excellent!" Sally jumped around.
Laura turned to Evie and shrugged. "Sally's just a little weird sometimes".
"It figuires". Evie looked at Sally with concern.
Char, Amy and Alexis came down at that moment so Evie decided to head down with them for breakfast in the Great Hall.
Evie sat down and poured herself some orange juice before helping herself to some toast.
"It's so cold this morning! I hope it warms up a little before we go to Hogsmeade!"
"Don't worry Char; we've all got plenty of warm clothes". Evie bit into her toast.
"I guess you're right". Char sighed.
Not long after the others came down and had breakfast.
About an hour after that all the students going to Hogsmeade lined up in the Entrance Hall while Filch checked the list of names.
Evie and her friends joined the long queue but it wasn't long before they were all walking towards the village. The leaves of the trees were turning a bright orange, red, yellow or brown. Evie loved the chilly crispness in the air as she walked.
"Happy Halloween people!" Char stated suddenly out of the blue.
"Yeah Happy Halloween Char!" Evie laughed.
"Where do we go to first?" Cathy asked when they reached the village.
"HONEYDUKES!" Char, Lessa and Evie shouted at once.
They made their way towards Honeydukes magical sweet shop where a crowd of students were already making their way towards.
The sweet smell of candy filled the air once they were inside, so sweet it nearly made them all drool. At once they took a look at the counter.
Evie felt like she was on cloud nine, the shop's selection of sweets was amazing.
She remembered her promise to both Laura and Sarah by getting what they had asked for first before deciding what to buy for herself.
Cathy reminded them all to chip in and buy a sampler for both Amy and Alexis.
Evie handed her share of the money over and hurried to get herself some candy.
After what seemed like minutes but was actually ages they all came out of the shop loaded in candy; although most of it wasn't for them.
Everyone started shivering when a cold wind blew at them on the street. Evie suggested going into the Three-Broomsticks for a drink.
The others all agreed and walked off in the direction of the bar.
They ordered drinks from the bar and went to sit down at a table. It wasn't long before Rosmerta the bar-maid came along with hot-chocolates.
"Ahhh warmth!" Char took a sip of the hot drink.
"Hmmm chocolatey goodness!"
"Chocolatey goodness?" Evie looked at Lessa.
Lessa didn't answer; instead she had some of the chocolate drink.
After the hot chocolate they went back to exploring the village.
