Soon, after boarding the thestral-led carriages, during the start-of-term feast, Dumbledore addressed them.
"Welcome!" He smiled at them all. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few notices to give out, and I think it's best to get them out first, before this excellent feast can be served, as one of them is very, very serious."
"As all of you were made aware during a search in the Hogwarts Express, Hogwarts will be playing host to the dementors of Azkaban. This of course, as many of you are aware, is due to the escape of Peter Pettigrew."
Eddie was in shock. Of course… Why had they not realized on the train? Sirius was free! Nobody else should have been able to escape Azkaban… but Pettigrew did. How, though?
And why? What was his motive? Sirius' motive had been to kill Pettigrew… but Sirius was not at Hogwarts for Peter to return the favor…
Eddie slipped into another one of his deep, musing thoughts for a long while until Lily snapped her fingers in his face. Dumbledore's speech was over.
Eddie sighed and got up, still shaken by that news.
The following afternoon, it was time for their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, which was their last class of the day.
Eddie was excited, but then he remembered as soon as he walked in.
They would be having the class with the Slytherins. The lesson was on boggarts. Malfoy would be able to see his worst fear and exploit it. He became very, very silent.
Meanwhile, Lupin introduced himself to the class at large, and requested them to put their wands back in their bags, as they would not be needing them. With some forewarning on what was to come, Eddie had not bothered to take his out to begin with.
Eddie was momentarily distracted when they rounded a corner and they found Peeves, who was currently stuffing a keyhole with gum.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Peeves," Lupin said pleasantly, like a parent who wanted to yell but was a very mild-mannered person. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get to his brooms."
This was, of course, ignored by the poltergeist, so Lupin drew his wand, pointed it at Peeves, and said, "Waddiwasi!" The gum zoomed up, and into Peeves' nose. He floated away, snarling.
When they reached the staffroom Lupin proceeded to talk about the boggart and what it did, and fear slipped over Eddie again. He took a few quick glances first at Malfoy, who was paying Lupin no attention whatsoever and was instead locked in a conversation with Crabbe and Goyle, then at Hannah, who was listening attentively. He shivered.
Soon, they all got into line. Eddie shot for the back at first, but curiosity got the better of him and he was able to shunt himself forward a few places. Lily was at the front with Claire, and Sean all the way in the back.
Lily was the first of the four to go, and her boggart was - interesting to say the least. A mirror had appeared and in it, different sports stadiums could be reflected, but they were empty.
"A world without sports…" she muttered to herself, and stood there, frozen for a second, but she drew her wand, and bellowed- Riddiklus! And so it changed, into pictures of vibrant, happy, stadium crowds.
Claire was next, and her boggart was simply a rat. Claire changed it to a dog, which barked. Interesting, Eddie thought, considering that one had just escaped. He chuckled to himself. A brief moment of respite for what was to come.
One by one, they proceeded through the line, until it reached Eddie. Nervously, he stepped forward.
He stared into the eyes of Susan's boggart (a zombie which was doing a tap dance) and took a deep breath. The boggart changed, Eddie closed his eyes, gathering himself….
It was Hannah. Eddie was confused, why would he be scared of her? His question was answered when a second figure materialized behind her - Malfoy… of course. Of course. Out of all the boggarts in the world… but that wasn't even the worst part of it.
Boggart-Malfoy pulled Boggart-Hannah towards him, and the two kissed, inflaming Eddie, but at the same time, he wanted to curl up and disappear. He could only imagine what Hannah thought right now, and his heart sank lower. He mustered up the courage, and cried- Riddikulus! Boggart-Malfoy slipped and fell, which made some of the class laugh and the boggart changed. He stepped aside, but then froze.
Hannah was very red, and Malfoy had doubled over laughing. He took one look at the pair of them, and did the only thing he could think of. He ran. Ran as far away as he could, to the common room, which was thankfully empty, and threw himself face first into the couch. He didn't quite cry, but he was very close.
He sat up and took a deep breath. He'd embarrassed himself. Is that what he was? A coward?
Meanwhile, back in the staffroom, the class was in a state of total shock.
"Erm- Professor?" Hannah piped up, very weakly and very flustered. "Is it all right if I go look for him?" Lupin, very sympathetically, let Hannah go, and the class proceeded to rifle through the remaining boggarts.
"Yeah, that's right, Abbott." Malfoy muttered low enough for Hannah to hear but not Lupin, "Go look for your boyfriend," he leered.
"Oh, shove off, Malfoy," she snapped at him, and she stormed out of the staffroom.
When Hannah entered the common room, she found Eddie with his head in his hands. She quietly sat next to him and bit her lip, waiting for him to notice her.
Eventually, Eddie sat up. Still not looking at Hannah, he croaked, "What?"
"Oh-nothing," she said quickly, "Are you all right?"
Eddie nodded. "Well, now you know."
"Know what?" asked Hannah, confused.
"That it was me who wrote the letter," Eddie explained.
"Ohh…" There was a very awkward pause. "Well, I had a feeling it might be you."
"Really?" Eddie looked up. "I - didn't know I was that obvious…"
"Well, you weren't… mostly. Remember when I got the letter, you wouldn't look at me."
"Ohh yeah…" he shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, it was nice, what you wrote…"
"Oh - thanks."
They both sat there in silence, with nothing but the fire crackling and the occasional bird twittering.
"Well- you're not- are you upset?" Eddie asked with some hesitation.
Hannah blushed. "Well - Malfoy was a git - but, no, I'm not upset."
Then, really quickly- "Quitetheopposite-"
Eddie was confused. "What?"
Hannah sighed- "Well, I like you too… Susan'll tell you."
Eddie blinked. "Really? I mean - if you're only lying to make me feel better -"
"I'm not," Hannah said quickly. "You know what - how about first Hogsmeade weekend we go together?"
"You mean it?" Eddie asked, overjoyed.
"Of course I mean it!" Hannah said, and smiled. "Now - we gotta go back to class."
Eddie nodded, stood up, and the two of them walked out hand in hand.
The following morning at breakfast, Malfoy, unfortunately, hadn't quite gone away. Eddie and Hannah had walked in together, so the Slytherin had taken to the trouble of "formally announcing" their relationship to the entire school, well, without the "formal" part.
"HEY, IF IT ISN'T HOGWARTS' NEWEST LOVEBIRDS!" he shouted at the top of his lungs when the couple arrived. Eddie, blushing furiously, took Hannah by the hand and led her towards the Hufflepuff table saying nothing. Malfoy had gotten a couple of chuckles, but overall, evidently not the reaction he had been hoping for as he sat down with a huff.
It definitely seemed to improve Eddie's mood, however, that he was now firmly in a relationship with Hannah. Despite his added classes (Care of Magical Creatures and Divination) his marks had never been higher.
Hagrid's first lesson as Care of Magical Creatures professor had gone, quite surprisingly, well, for Malfoy had not provoked Buckbeak. In fact, they hadn't even looked at hippogriffs at all. Instead, they'd started with the flobberworms, with promise for "bigger" lessons around mid-November. Eddie only presumed that without the Golden Trio being formed, Hagrid had not felt the need to put together an "impressive" first lesson. It was rather boring, but Eddie was relieved that there would not be anything for time travel shenanigans later on.
Sybill Trelawney's Divination classroom was as hot and stuffy as the books had described it. To be quite honest, Eddie didn't really want to be taking the subject, for the subject, at all, but Sean, Tom, and Nathan had all decided it would be one hilarious riot and Eddie agreed, fantasizing about the hilarious death scenarios they could come up with to sate their eccentric professor.
Quidditch practices had started, and Eddie had made the team for the third year in a row, with some newfound confidence to boot. But what he was really looking forward to, of course, was the first Hogsmeade weekend, and his promised date with Hannah.
As it dawned, Eddie felt a flurry of excitement. Hogsmeade had been one of the things he was looking forward to most when he arrived here, and, as a little bonus he would have a girlfriend for the first time in his life. His relationship with Hannah, meanwhile, had not gone without the usual teasing from the Fateful Eight.
"C'mon, not Lily?" Nathan grinned. Him and Victoria had been dating for nearly three months now and it was a common joke between them that the two Hufflepuffs and two Gryffindors would get together, given that had been the way of the Slytherins and Ravenclaws.
They arrived in the High Street. It was a wonderful place, even more so than Hogwarts, in Eddie's opinion. He'd agreed to spend the morning with Hannah, and then in the afternoon join the rest.
He walked with Hannah for a bit, the pair not really knowing what to say to each other, the awkwardness growing more palpable by the minute, Eddie worried that he'd made a terrible mistake- when finally, he plucked up the courage to speak.
"Err - Hannah?" he asked nervously.
"Yes?" She looked at him curiously.
"What was - er - going through your head when you saw that boggart?"
"Well -" her face tinged red, "I was quite surprised for a second - then I put two and two together and realized. But, no, I wasn't angry - it's quite normal to feel like that…"
"Only problem is that Malfoy was there…" Eddie shook his head. "Sorry…"
"No, don't be. Word spreads through this school like wildfire. He'd have found out one way or another. Speaking of…"
Malfoy was standing not very far from them talking to Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle, when he noticed them.
"Ah, if it isn't the lovesick mudblood!" he sneered. "Abbott, really, I thought you had better taste than this - are you going to date every guy with a sob story?"
Mocking Eddie, Malfoy continued. "Oh, boo hoo, my girlfriend's going to get stolen by Malfoy - whatever shall I do?" Crabbe and Goyle snickered, Pansy laughed deliriously.
"Yeah, well," Eddie hated having to think quickly, but he managed. "At least I don't need buffoon bodyguards to boost my already inflated ego." Hannah chuckled to herself.
"You dare insult me? Wait till my father -"
"Yeah, I know - go cry to daddy like you always do," scoffed Eddie, annoyed.
Hannah looked apprehensively from one to the other.
"C'mon Hannah… he's not worth it…"
And so they continued walking, ending up at the Three Broomsticks. The pub was dusty, drab, and quite frankly, a little dilapidated, but to Eddie, like the rest of the unique locales of the Wizarding World, it felt like home.
"Two butterbeers, please," he requested from Madam Rosmerta, who ran the place, received them, paid for them, then sat down at a nearby booth and handed Hannah hers. Eddie was still in awe, looking around. Not to mention the butterbeer tasted even better than the one he'd had in Orlando.
Hannah smiled at him, before delving back into talk.
"So you said… that in your world this is… fiction?"
Eddie nodded. "Yeah… it's kinda crazy… I still can't believe it sometimes… It's got a big following, you know… there's books, movies, theme parks, a whole host of things… this seems like something out of a fanfiction if you ask me."
"A what?" she asked.
"A fanfiction." Eddie told her. "It'll take some well-known fictional universe, like Harry Potter, and a fan will publish their own story about it. Most of them aren't very good, though…"
"Oh…"
"But trust me, Hannah. You-this-" he indicated his surroundings- "are very, very real to me."
She nodded, smiling weakly for a bit, and Eddie didn't know whether or not he had weirded her out more by saying that, but he'd shot his shot, and all he could do was await her response, which would take a bit as she was currently staring outside the window.
She looked back at him, and said "Um, yeah, I guess that makes sense.."
Thinking he'd probably made a mistake, Eddie quickly responded "I'm so sorry, was that a bit weird, it felt a bit weird."
She looked at him for a second, then two, then three. Wishing she would say something, Eddie waited, when, finally, she did. Laughing. He was confused for a second, then she broke the confusion.
"I'm sorry, I'm-I'm messing with you." She continued to laugh, and then she straightened her expression. "I understand. Don't worry." She smiled again, this time, more genuine.
There was a long silence, broken only by intermittent sips of butterbeer, when Eddie finally found something to grasp for conversation.
"Hang on… why didn't you tell me you liked me?"
Hannah shrugged. "I didn't know it was you who wrote the letter. And - to be honest, I wasn't quite sure myself…"
Eddie blushed sheepishly. "Yeah… I'm sorry… I would have signed my name but I wasn't quite sure how you would react…"
At around midday, they were joined by the rest of the Fateful Eight.
Being the only three not involved in a relationship, Lily, Tom and Natalie felt a bit out of place.
The nine of them had to occupy two booths, with Nathan, Victoria, and Lily joining Eddie in his booth.
Nathan grinned at the pair of them. "So, why didn't you make Hannah the ninth person on the team? Back in first year?"
"Oh, shut up," Eddie smirked, "I didn't like her yet."
"I see you and Victoria are going well," said Hannah, joining in.
Nathan laughed. "Nice comeback."
Lily, joining the fray, piped up, "Hmmm… battle of the lovebirds… would make for a great movie. I call being the director!"
Eddie leaned back, resting on the back of the booth, at peace with himself and the world, just taking it all in… he'd have never dreamed this possible three years ago… it was surreal.
The chattering continued, and too soon, it was almost time for them to leave. It had been a wonderful first day in Hogsmeade, a wonderful first date with Hannah.
Right before they were about to enter the castle once more, Eddie paused, walked up the nearest hill, and looked out into the sunset. He smiled slightly. One thought flashed through his head as he let the fall breeze wash over him like a warm shower.
Perfection..