TW for mentions of alcohol
That night, the five boys found themselves in front of one of the secret passageways. George looked down at the map again.
"It just says to wave your wand in a circle in front of this torch here," Fred said. "So…"
He pulled out his wand and did just that. Sure enough, part of the wall slid open to reveal a passageway.
"Woah," Marshall whispered. Ted just stared with his jaw dropped.
"Come on!" Barney said, also whispering, and he ran ahead along the passageway.
Torches lined the passageway, so the twins were able to look down at the map and figure out how to close the passageway. It shut behind them and they started walking.
After a while, the torches disappeared, and Ted pulled out his wand and said, "Lumos."
The tip blinked but didn't light up.
"Dammit!" Ted groaned.
Marshall tried to cast the spell too, but failed. Barney did as well.
Although Fred managed to light his up. Barney rolled his eyes and said, "I wasn't trying."
"Obviously," Fred said, smirking.
The group continued traveling down the passageway until they reached the end, which was just a wall.
"What's the map say?" Ted asked, leaning over to see it.
"The circle thing again," George said, waving his wand in a circle. Nothing happened.
"Hmm. Let me try." Fred did the same thing. This time, it worked, and the wall opened up to an alleyway. It closed behind the group as soon as they were out.
"Mischief managed," George muttered, and the map was cleared. He folded it up and stuffed it into his pocket.
"So, where to first?" Fred asked.
"Ooh, let's get butterbeer!" Barney said.
"What's that?" Marshall asked.
The other boys' heads turned Marshall's way.
"Only, like… the best drink ever," Barney said. "Come on, you've got to try it."
"I can't drink it," Ted said. "Mum says I'm allergic."
Barney frowned. "What do you mean, allergic? You can't be allergic to butterbeer. It's too good to be allergic to."
"Well, Mum said it's not impossible," Ted told them as they began walking. "And she said I'm probably allergic to anything at Honeydukes, too, and a lot of muggle sweets, and not saying please or thank you…"
"Not saying please or thank you?" Fred turned around to face Ted.
"Sounds like your mum lied to you," George said, grinning.
"Huh," Ted said. "She… she lied to me!"
"Then let's go get some butterbeer!" Barney said, and they went into the Three Broomsticks.
When they arrived inside, the place was almost completely deserted. The manager looked up at them.
"Sneaking out of bed to come to Hogsmeade, are we?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"No," Fred lied easily, "we're starting next year."
The manager still looked suspicious of them, but said, "Alright. Take a seat and I'll get to you soon enough."
They all sat down. Ted watched the other boys cautiously but had to admit he was excited to finally try butterbeer.
"When were you guys first allowed to drink butterbeer?" Marshall asked. "Is it actual beer?"
"There's a bit of alcohol in it," Fred explained. "If you're too little, you might go a bit wonky."
Marshall blinked. "Uh… okay, then."
"But that's not a problem for you," Ted said. "None of us are too short… I mean, Barney might be—"
"Hey!" Barney protested. "I'm average!"
However, Barney was easily the smallest of them. When the woman came back to take their orders, they all asked for butterbeer, and eventually she came back with them.
Marshall was the first to take a sip, and his eyes widened. "Wow, this is good."
Ted tried it, too, and narrowed his eyes.
"... well?" Barney asked.
"How could my mother keep me from this?!" Ted asked.
Fred and George burst out laughing, then Barney laughed, too.
"This does sound like something Mum would do, though," George said. "Or, at least, to keep us out of trouble."
"Not like it was ever gonna work," Fred snickered.
The five continued to talk and have a nice time, but when they came back through the passageway (Ted had the idea that only the person who'd waved the wand at the beginning could open up the passageway at the end, and they were all excited about this idea to test) they found a different surprise.
Argus Filch was waiting for them at the end of the passageway.
