Chapter Eight – Hogsmeade Weekend

As September drew to a close, a chill wind swept across the castle grounds. The leaves on the trees began to drop en masse. Riya Singh sat at a table by an open window in the Gryffindor common room on a late afternoon. She allowed herself a moment of reflection as she looked through the window at the reddening leaves outside. Riya and Molly were working on their Defence Against the Dark Arts homework which was due the following Tuesday. They had already been planning their prestigious careers outside of school since before their third year, but last year's O.W.L.s and the start of their sixth year at Hogwarts made everything much more real. Riya planned on becoming a Healer at St. Mungo's and Molly was planning on becoming an Auror. Molly Weasley II's dark brown hair, role as Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, law enforcement ambitions, and her hatred of anything bureaucratic, made her as different from her father Percy as any child could be. Or at least she had claimed so. Both girls became fast friends in their first week of class, six years ago, and were virtually inseparable since. Though Molly was the more extroverted of the two, Riya had recently experienced a big surge in popularity. Her black hair, mocha complexion, and doe eyes had caught the attention of many boys both within Gryffindor and from other houses. Though she was born in London, she still carried a hint of her parents' Punjabi accent which her current boyfriend called 'exotically lovable'.

'Are you still coming to Hogsmeade tomorrow?' asked Molly.

'Yes, and Tom said he can join us at the Three Broomsticks at one o'clock if that's okay with you,' replied Riya as she tore her gaze away from the open window and her daydream.

The dashing Thomas Delamont was Riya's latest boyfriend. Handsome, smart, and popular, Tom had impressed every faculty member at the school along with many of the students. This, in turn, had recently earned him the status, and duties, of Head Boy. Riya and Tom had started dating the previous June and have kept in contact over the summer. Tom had even paid Riya a visit in London for a couple of days in the summer. Riya couldn't help but reminisce over these days occasionally, when they were free, in love, and without a care in the world. Now that Tom had had to pay more attention to his duties as Head Boy and his approaching N.E.W.T.s, they didn't have much spare time to spend together anymore. A reality that was only exacerbated by the fact that he was a Hufflepuff, and she was a Gryffindor.

'What's he doing until then?' asked Molly.

'He said he's got something to take care of first, didn't say what,' replied Riya.

'And you didn't ask?'

'I don't wanna nag, Molly.'

'I'm just saying it's a bit odd that he's not telling you where he's going or what he's doing all these times he "can't see you."'

'He's got loads of responsibilities right now, being Head Boy and all. I'm glad he still makes the time to see me somehow. Besides, he's the nicest guy at school – ' started Riya.

'Yeah, a little too nice if you ask me, nobody's that perfect,' said Molly.

'You've had it out for him from the get-go. You just think I should've stayed with Jacob Nowak, that twit,' replied Riya.

'At least he's a Gryffindor, and in our year. We don't really know this Tom guy, we know Jacob.'

'Yeah, we know he's a twit.'

Both girls laughed at that. No longer in their hectic fifth year, and not yet in their stressful seventh, it seemed that, in their sixth year, things had slowed down a little. They could now spend some more time on chats and banter that would otherwise not be possible.

They kept working on their essays in silence as the sky outside slowly turned a shade of dark blue. After a couple more hours, Molly was the first to call it quits. She bid her friend good night and walked over to the door leading to the girl's dorm. Riya sat in her armchair a little longer, she looked at the fire which faded slowly into embers.

A knock was heard in the darkness. A small paper aeroplane was bouncing against the window to her left. She smiled to herself at the odd sight and opened it, unfolded the paper plane, and read:

Out in the corridor, now.

Riya got up with her heart racing. She checked again that she was indeed alone in the common room and walked over to the back of the Fat Lady's portrait. As she pushed open the portrait, somebody grabbed her hand and pulled her forwards. She let out a short soft scream as the boy pulled her over and kissed her passionately.

'Tom, what are you doing here?' she asked disapprovingly.

'I wanted to see you, is that so bad?' replied Tom.

'No but if Filch catches you - '

'That old git is too slow by now. Even if he does see me, he won't be able to catch me,' he smiled boldly.

'You're never like this, what's wrong with you?' said Riya, though she couldn't help but smile back.

'I know, look at what you make of me.'

'Shhhh, I think someone's coming. Go back. I'll see you again tomorrow,' she whispered.

'Okay, okay, I might have some great news tomorrow!'

'SHHHH!' Riya silenced him again.

Tom kissed her again and began to walk back. At that moment, however, a loud screech was heard from the corridor ahead. Peeves had appeared in front of Tom, blocking his way.

'OOOOOOOH, what do we have here?' squeaked the poltergeist in unmistakable excitement, 'Biggy Head Boy and his Prefect luv-dove out and about past hours! Tut, tut, Peevsie must report you! Yes, yes, I must do what's right, I – '

'Silencio!' Tom and Riya called together.

Peeves grabbed his throat as his voice died immediately. His face contorted in anger as he floated in place for a second and then rushed away. Tom smiled at Riya triumphantly as she began to giggle –

*CRASH*

The loud sound, particles, and dust of shattered china filled the corridor. The poltergeist threw an ancient vase against the wall to Riya's left.

'PEEVES!' the voice of Argus Filch, the old caretaker, thundered below them. 'I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!'

'Go! Now!' yelled Riya through tears of laughter. 'Gingerroot,' she called at the portrait of the Fat Lady who looked at her disapprovingly before opening the passage. Riya climbed back into the silent common room laughing quietly. She walked over to the door of the girl's dorm and opened it. As she laid back in her four-poster bed moments later, she smiled to herself again and hugged her pillow. Nobody had ever made her feel that way before.

Riya and Molly woke up at 8:00 the next morning. They made their way to the Great Hall shortly after for breakfast. Riya looked for Tom across the hall at the Hufflepuff table, but he was nowhere to be seen. She figured he had already finished his breakfast by the time they got there. Their mood was elated as they walked back to Gryffindor Tower to take their jackets, bags, and permission slips for the day.

'Where do you wanna go first?' asked Molly.

'Probably the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes outlet, I feel a tad rebellious at the moment,' replied Riya.

Molly snorted loudly. 'My stupid uncles' shop branch?'

'You mean your stupid rich uncles' shop branch.'

'Yeah well, they're still stupid. But their stuff pisses off my dad a lot, so I guess they have some use,' chuckled Molly. 'Speaking of rebellious moods, you wouldn't happen to know what caused Peeves to smash a vase right outside the entrance to our common room would you?' she asked with an inquisitive look at her friend.

Riya grinned at her friend. 'Tom came to visit last night.'

'Riya! You snuck out?! We're Prefects! Why are you letting him do this to you?' demanded Molly.

'Oh shut it, it's all in good fun. And it's not like we got caught!'

'Whatever. Just don't say I didn't warn you. Blinded by boys, that's what you are.'

'Are you gonna report me?' asked Riya cheekily.

'Don't make m – ' started Molly with an equally cheeky smile, but before she could finish, Molly walked into someone as they turned the corner onto one of the corridors.

'Oh, sorry,' apologised Molly.

'No worries, you're fine,' said the young man. He was broad-shouldered and auburn-haired, had dark green eyes, and a closely trimmed beard. The man smiled at them politely and walked off. He was observing the different portraits and windows of the castle silently as he progressed through the corridor ahead.

'Er – did he look like a Hogwarts student to you?' asked Riya suspiciously as they watched the man disappear around a corner.

'He's kind of cute though,' said Molly.

'Now who's "blinded by boys"?' asked Riya in disbelief.

'Oh relax, I'm sure McGonagall wouldn't let anyone wander around here without her permission. Come on, we need to get going now if we want to beat the queue.'

The girls continued walking upstairs through the castle to Gryffindor Tower. A few moments later they were queueing up with their bags over their shoulders as they stood in line to get checked by Filch.

'Can you see Tom anywhere?' asked Riya as she looked around them through the crowd.

'He told you he had stuff to do, didn't he? He's probably still in his dorm,' said Molly.

'I guess…' said Riya.

After a long wait at the line for inspection, the girls were finally on their way to Hogsmeade village. The skies were cloudy and bleak, and the cold wind that swept the grounds yesterday remained. Molly and Riya tightened their jackets as they marched towards the main street of the village. The passed the rest of their morning walking around the different shops in the village. Riya left Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' Hogsmeade branch with a Weather in a Bottle and a Jinx-Off kit that she fancied. They then decided to go over to Honeydukes and stock up on some sweets for their heavy schoolwork and essays which were sure to come.

'You know what,' said Molly as they left the sweet shop, 'I feel like a change in hairstyle,' she motioned over to the hairdressing salon across the street. 'Wanna join?'

'Sure,' said Riya.

Soon after Riya sat at a corner of the barbershop and read the latest edition of Witch Weekly. Best wizarding kitchens? Hunkiest wizard of the month? Best magical flower arrangements? How can anyone read this boring pile of dragon dung? Is that seriously what these people expect "all witches" to like? More like all witches over forty, thought Riya as she looked up at her friend whose hair was being trimmed short by a pair of floating scissors. Half an hour later both girls walked out of the hairdresser, Riya with a weird smile on her face and Molly with a bob cut and a streak of purple in her hair.

'What?' asked Molly.

'Nothing,' said Riya a little too quickly.

'You keep looking at me and smiling like that,' persisted Molly.

'It's nothing really…' said Riya now trying not to laugh. 'You just look so "special" and "interesting" now that you have a purple streak in your hair,' she said as she couldn't help herself anymore and began to giggle uncontrollably.

'Shut up!' said Molly as she smacked her friend on the shoulder.

Riya kept bursting into giggles as they walked around a little longer looking at the different displays in the shop windows.

'It's almost one, I think we should go over to the Three Broomsticks now,' said Molly.

As they walked back towards the inn, Riya spotted Professor Longbottom walking toward them with an old man. The girls waved politely at their friendly Head of House, and he smiled back at them. As they passed them by, Riya heard the old man mutter 'Merlin's beard…' with a glance at Molly's hair. This caused another fit of giggles which lasted until they arrived at the Three Broomsticks Inn.

They sat down at one of the tables furthest from the entrance. It was extremely crowded in there. The inn was overflowing with students, teachers, local, and non-local patrons to the point where it was hard to spot an empty bit of floor. Barnaby, the youngest son of the landlady Madam Rosmerta, was running around taking orders and serving the many customers of the pub.

'Do you reckon we should wait for Tom?' asked Riya.

'Nope, I'm starving! He can order whatever he likes when he gets here, we'll wait for him to finish,' replied Molly.

When Barnaby had finally arrived at their table, he sat down for a breather next to Molly. The young man looked exhausted. He took their orders: 'Two Butterbeers, Fish and Chips, and the vegetarian Bangers and Mash, please!' and then scurried off into the crowd. A few minutes later two glasses of butterbeer floated onto their table.

'What do you think's taking him this long?' asked Riya as she kept glancing over her shoulder.

'I don't know, it's like quarter past one now, right?' said Molly as she glanced at her wristwatch.

Riya was getting worried; Tom had never been late to meet her before, and she hadn't seen him at all since last night. What was he doing?

'I'm sure he's fine, Ri, he's just a bit late that's all,' reassured Molly. By then their dishes appeared at their table. They began to tuck in, Riya stopping every once in a while to look again over her shoulder.

About 40 minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Tom. Both girls had finished their lunch by now and even Molly started shooting looks at the door.

'If he doesn't come soon, we're gonna have to either order more drinks or get out…' said Molly nervously. 'We can't keep sitting here taking space.'

'I know… it's just… why is he not here yet?' replied Riya.

'Anything else for you dears?' asked Madam Rosmerta, rather pointedly, after a few more minutes had passed. She noticed the girls were done with their food and drinks and came over to check on them.

'No, thank you, we'll go pay at the bar,' said Riya sadly.

As they left the inn, Riya's mind was racing. Something must be wrong, he would never skip on me like that, she thought.

'Wait, Ri, look! There!' called Molly.

Riya turned her head and saw the unmistakable figure of Tom walking fast and with determination in the completely opposite direction to the Three Broomsticks, toward the entrance to Hogsmeade.

'Tom? Hey, Tom! TOM!' Riya called after him.

The boy turned around and looked at her in confusion. 'What? Who - '

'Tom we were waiting for you at the Three Broomsticks forever, what happened?' asked Riya.

'Oh. Yeah, sorry I er – forgot,' said Tom.

'Forgot? What – ' started Molly.

'Look – er – I have to go okay, this is important. I'll see you later,' he cut her off.

'Okay…?' said Riya in confusion. She leaned over for a quick peck, but Tom had already started walking back toward the castle.

'I don't like this…' whispered Molly.

'It's really weird, what the hell…' started Riya.

'Let's follow him,' said Molly.

'What?! But Mols if he doesn't want us to know – '

'Oh for Merlin's sake, Ri! Don't you think this is a little too suspicious?!' replied Molly with a groan. 'We'll keep our distance. He's not gonna know we're tailing him. Bloody hell, he's supposedly so in love with you, yet he forgot you were supposed to meet up? What sort of nonsense – '

'Okay fine let's go,' said Riya.

They followed Tom on his way back to Hogwarts, making sure to keep themselves at a good distance. The girls had to dive behind a tree or two as Tom kept looking behind his back and down the path to make sure he wasn't followed. Something about him was very odd. He didn't seem to walk or carry himself the right way. He also didn't appear to know who Riya even was when she'd talked to him earlier. Was he Confunded? Or worse?

Tom had reached the gates to the castle grounds. Riya and Molly had to dive back behind a tree again to avoid being seen. Once Filch had finished prodding and poking him with his Secrecy Sensor, he carried on walking at his fastest pace towards the castle itself. Riya and Molly ran up to the gates to catch up with him. They stopped for Filch's scanning while looking impatiently at Tom's ever distancing figure.

'Well, well, what do we have here, eh? Thought you might sneak that in, eh? Thought I wouldn't catch ya?!' said Filch to Riya in a triumphant tone. He was holding her newly purchased Weather in a Bottle. She'd forgotten to hide it in the secrecy-detector-proof compartment of her bag.

'What? Oh, yeah whatever, you can have it,' said Riya dismissively.

'Not so fast Missy!'

'Look Mr Filch we have to go, please, you can have this just let us go – ' began Riya.

'Albus?!' called Molly suddenly.

'What?' said Filch and Riya in unison.

'OI! Albus! What the hell do you think you're doing exactly?!' yelled Molly as she ran towards what looked like two boys in their first year who were sneaking out of the Forbidden Forest ahead of them. One of the boys was taller and blond, the other was black-haired and scrawny, they were both frozen in fear.

Riya hesitated for a second, then ran after Molly with Filch at her tail. When she finally reached the boys, Molly was holding them both by the necks of their robes.

'What in the name of Merlin's cross-eyed face were you doing in there?' she asked the black-haired boy.

'Nothing,' said the boy, though he was clearly panicky for having been caught. 'We were just exploring!'

'Yeah, right, exploring my a – ' began Molly.

'I'll handle this!' called Filch with an unmistakable grimace. 'Give them here girl, I'll give 'em a good – '

'We are Prefects, Mr Filch, we can handle this, thank you,' said Riya with all the confidence she could muster.

'I will take them both to their Head of House now,' said Molly.

'Now look here – '

'Your instructions from Professor McGonagall are to stand at the gates and check everyone who's coming back from Hogsmeade for contraband, are they not?' asked Molly.

Filch nodded his head dumbly at her in disappointment.

'We'll take the boys to Professor McGarth, and you'll watch the gates,' she concluded.

Riya looked back in the direction of the castle. Tom was nowhere to be seen now.

They walked the boys all the way back into the Entrance Hall where Molly stopped and let go of their robes. 'I don't know what you were doing over there, Al, but consider yourself lucky that you're my cousin and I'm feeling lenient today. If I see you anywhere near that forest again your parents are going to hear about it. Yours too, Mr Malfoy, I presume? I bet your dad wouldn't be too happy to hear that you're misbehaving. And trust me, I'm not gonna be this nice next time, you hear me?'

'Yes…' said the boys.

'Good. Go to your common room now.'

As the boys scurried off, Riya began scanning the Great Hall ahead for signs of Tom.

'Just as I was thinking we weren't gonna have another James on our hands…' said Molly, looking at the boys' backs as they disappeared behind the doorway to the dungeons.

'Tom's not in there, I can't see him,' said Riya.

'What? Oh. He could've gone anywhere by now…' said Molly as she looked all around them. 'We'll look for him at dinner today. Common Ri, Let's just go relax in the common room.'

The rest of the day had passed with no other sign of Tom. Riya and Molly decided to check for him again the following morning during breakfast.

Riya scanned the Hufflepuff table for Tom's tall figure but could not spot him. She was getting extremely worried again now. Right as the girls decided to leave the Great Hall and maybe go over to the Hufflepuff common room entrance, Tom had walked into the hall and sat down at a lonely corner of the table. He looked tired, sad, and, maybe, angry?

'Hey Tom, what's up?' asked Riya as she sat next to him.

'What do you mean "what's up"?' he responded in – now unmistakable – anger.

'What – ' began Riya.

'Why are you even here Riya? Why don't you go hang out with Jacob Nowak and his gang of goons?' blurted Tom.

'What – what are you talking about? Is something wrong?'

'Oh, real funny, real clever, Riya. You know what, I'm not even hungry!' Tom yelled as he got up from his seat. 'Coming here, after breaking up with me in the middle of Hogsmeade, saying I don't spend enough time with you, don't give you enough attention. NOW you're pretending to care? real class act!'

'What…? Tom, I – I never broke up with you – ' started Riya in bewilderment.

'Now we're playing mind games, are we? "Never broke up with me". Right. Sure. Can't even say you regret breaking up, just straight up denying it, eh? You know what Riya, save it. You're right, I don't spend time with you because my job prospects ARE more important to me!' And with that, Tom walked off and disappeared past the doors to the Entrance Hall.

Riya looked at Molly. She seemed just as confused as she was, though not as hurt. She then turned to see the entirety of the Hufflepuff table, and most of the other ones, stare at her with loathing looks.

'Let's get out of here,' said Molly. She grabbed Riya's arm and walked her out of the hall.

'What the hell was that about?!' cried Riya as tears began to flow down her face.

'I don't know, but this is really suspicious,' whispered Molly. 'We know for a fact that you didn't break up with him yesterday, and we know that he was being very odd too. You know what I think? I think someone's interfered with his memory. He may have even been Imperiused and then had his memory modified. We need to go to Professor McGonagall. Now.'

She had grabbed Riya's arm again and pulled her up the marble staircase. Riya was weeping uncontrollably. She didn't understand what was going on and was in no position to resist her friend's grip. Molly, however, seemed in her element. She looked more determined than ever to get to the bottom of things and expose whoever did this to Tom.

'It might be connected to this whole "Lost Child" business. We don't know,' continued Molly as they made their way through the castle to the Headmistress' Office. 'Whoever's doing this is smart though. They knew we were in Hogsmeade yesterday with Tom and that he was seen walking off quickly after we talked to him. This would provide eyewitness accounts from all the other students. And he didn't seem to be acting suspiciously to anyone but us yesterday, right? He seemed himself today. Merlin's pants! This is practically our word against Tom's and he's Imperiused or bewitched or whatever. But we have to try and explain it to Professor McGonagall, preferably before any other word gets to her.'

Molly was talking almost as fast as she was walking and Riya could barely keep up with her words, let alone with her pace. She didn't care about plots or Lost Children or bewitchments. All she cared about was that Tom now hated her guts. And she hadn't even done anything wrong.

They soon turned the corner to the Gargoyle Corridor. Right at the front of the Stairwell Gargoyle, which concealed the stairs to the Headmistress' Office, they spotted the tall, handsome, black-haired figure of their Transfiguration teacher, Professor Montgomery.

'Morning, Miss Weasley, Miss Singh,' he greeted them.

'Professor Montgomery, we need to speak with Professor McGonagall, it's important – ' began Molly.

'If you're referring to Mr Delamont's suspicious behaviour yesterday, rest assured I have already discussed it with the Headmistress.'

'Really? How – '

'I spotted him trying to sneak into my office yesterday, around two o'clock. When apprehended and questioned he seemed to be under the influence of some mind-altering substance. I quickly took him to Professor McGarth and we seemed to have rid him of its effects – '

'But you didn't!' called Molly. 'He still thinks Riya broke up with him when she definitely did not!'

'Perhaps. It may take some time for Mr Delamont to regain his memory and disposition in full. It may have been tarnished forever though. He is quite fine now, however,' he added at the mortified look on Riya's face.

'But – but – Why – ? How – ' began Riya through her tearing eyes.

'I suggest you try and reason with him. Perhaps make him understand that you did not mean to say the things he believes you may have said,' reassured the teacher. 'Until we figure out the perpetrator's identity, however, I would ask you kindly to refrain from sharing any information about this with any of your peers. You haven't told anyone about this yet, have you?' he added in a hushed tone.

'No,' said the girls.

'Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on a few matters.'

'But Professor – if we could just talk to Professor McGonagall quickly – ' started Molly.

'The Headmistress is well aware of the situation, Miss Weasley. Concerning her with the troubles of student-student relations is inadvisable at the moment. I suggest you go make Miss Singh a cup of tea, she seems to be in a dreadful state.'

Molly seemed to be looking for a better argument. When she couldn't think of anything else, however, she bid Professor Montgomery farewell and led Riya by her hand back to the Gryffindor common room.

Riya's mood didn't improve at all in the following week. The fact that she was now the target of dirty looks and rude mutterings, curtesy of the Hufflepuffs, did not help. Within the span of less than a week the entire school had seemed to take Tom's side. Tom did his part in adding to her misery by refusing to acknowledge her existence at all whenever they crossed paths. Riya, owing to Professor Montgomery's orders, couldn't even give her true version of events to anyone but Molly. All she could say to anybody who asked was that Tom had gotten the wrong impression and that she didn't mean to "dump him". A flood of rumours had spread through the student body, however, and Riya had even heard several gossiping fifth-year girls claim they'd witnessed the shouting match between her and Tom that day.

The month of October had appeared to be passing painfully slow. Riya hadn't once had a more miserable time at Hogwarts. She was never the most popular girl, but she was certainly not bullied or ridiculed either. But now she was the "mean hag" that had "dared breaking the heart of the most popular boy in school". Leanne Smith, Tom's ex-girlfriend, had already claimed, loudly and within earshot, that she had been 'comforting poor Tom,' and that 'he was regretting ever leaving her for that awful sixth-year snake.'

Molly did her best to try and cheer up her friend, cracking jokes and trying to get her to focus on theorising on what could be happening, but nothing had worked. She had seemed to get frustrated with current events as well. Anytime Molly had tried going to Professor McGonagall or Professor Longbottom with her input or issues, Professor Montgomery was there, stopping her and reassuring that investigations were being conducted and that she need not be worried. He appeared to be keeping a close eye on them ever since they'd met him at the Gargoyle Corridor.

Riya appreciated her old friend's comforting words and assistance, nonetheless. The only issue was that now Molly had to keep going off to Quidditch practice three times a week. James Potter, the newly picked Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and Molly's cousin, had needed plenty of training before their first match against Slytherin on the first Saturday of November. Whenever Molly was gone, Riya had faced a lonely, miserable time sitting by herself at one of the remote corners of the castle.

Riya had started her sixth year with a boy who loved and respected her, a friend who was always by her side, and a new status as one of the more popular students at Hogwarts. These days, she was facing the constant inquiries of the Gryffindors and the open hostility and ridicule of the rest of the school's student body. Molly was rarely around, and Tom had hated her intensely. Though she had been excited for this year at first, she was now wishing it would end… and fast.