Year 3: Not Quite Right
Chapter 23: November 2017
As October turned into November, it seemed that Justin had given up his quest to bring Louis and Julia together. Louis was relieved. Now he could stop worrying about Justin's every move and get back to focusing on the important things, like astronomy club.
There was a Hogsmeade weekend coming up – the second since the beginning of the year. Now that Louis and Justin were third years, they were finally permitted to go on these excursions, and Louis was looking forward to spending his day in Dervish and Banges, a shop that sold all manner of wizarding equipment. They had a whole section in the back devoted to astronomy that he'd noticed on his and Justin's first trip, but hadn't had the chance to properly investigate yet.
But on the morning of the trip, Justin surprised Louis with a very unwelcome surprise.
"I asked Julia out for you," Justin revealed excitedly. In fact, he was so excited to reveal this secret that he could barely sit still when he told Louis in their room that morning.
"You did what?" Louis demanded.
"I asked her out for you. It was a few weeks ago. Professor Tonks asked you to stay back at the end of transfiguration that one day, remember?" Justin asked.
"Yeah, I remember," Louis nodded. Professor Tonks had noticed similarities between his essay and that of Alec Roper and had been concerned about Alec stealing his ideas, but Louis had assured her that he and Alec had simply shared thoughts on the topic of inanimate to animate transfiguration theory and that was why their essays were similar.
"Well while you were busy, I caught up to her and asked if she'd be interested in going to Hogsmeade with you today. And she said yes," Justin smiled widely.
"And she didn't think it was weird that my friend was asking for me?" Louis frowned.
Justin waved the question off with his hand, indicating that it was unimportant. "It's fine," he assured Louis. "I just told her you were shy."
"Too shy to ask her out myself?" Louis demanded.
"Well you are, aren't you?" Justin pointed out.
Louis remembered that he was supposed to like Julia, at least as far as Justin knew.
"Well I didn't need you asking her out for me," Louis protested. "I'd have done it in my own good time."
"Oh, quit complaining," Justin grumbled, clearly unhappy with how Louis was taking the news. "I did you a favor, sped things up. Now you can spend the whole day with her."
"I was going to spend the day at Dervish and Banges," Louis muttered, also rather put out that his entire day had just been scrapped.
"I'll go to Dervish and Banges and I'll tell you all about it later tonight," Justin promised him. "You just focus on your date."
As both boys got ready for their trip into Hogsmeade, both were sure that they'd gotten the short end of the stick. Louis, who had no interest in Julia whatsoever, was now roped into spending an entire day with her. What would they even talk about? Where would they even go? He hoped she had a plan, because he had no idea how to take a girl out on a date.
Meanwhile, Justin continued to grumble under his breath about being underappreciated and how he'd only wanted to do something nice for his friend. While Louis could see how this could be perceived as a kind gesture, were Louis actually interested in Julia, he also considered it a grave overstepping. Even if Louis had liked Julia, Justin should have stayed out of it unless Louis asked for his help. His friend was too meddling for his own good.
Thankfully, the agreement between Julia and Justin had been for Louis to meet up with her in the village, so he didn't have to endure the hour-long walk with her. When he and Justin arrived at the prearranged spot, they saw that Julia wasn't there yet, which Justin claimed was good.
"You don't want to be the late one," he informed Louis. "You don't want her thinking you're not reliable. No matter how early or late she might be, you should always arrive first."
Louis wasn't sure how reliable Justin's intel was. After all, he'd never actually gone out with anyone himself, only pined over Louis' sister Dominique from afar. But what he said sounded right, so Louis filed the information away.
It was another twenty minutes before Julia showed up, late, and with her best friend Olivia in tow. Louis watched as the two giggled to each other upon their approach. Finally, they came to a stop in front of the two boys and both looked expectantly at Louis.
"Er – hi," Louis said, forcing himself to smile.
"Hi," Julia returned.
Olivia looked to Justin and stepped away.
"Well I'll just be walking around," she said. She motioned to Justin that he should leave too, and Justin patted Louis on the back before following her.
"Yes, and I'll be over at Dervish and Banges if you need me," he informed Louis. "Not that you would, of course, just – "
"Come on Justin, let's let these two enjoy their day," Olivia said, dragging Justin down the street.
Left alone with Julia, Louis didn't know what to do. He shuffled his feet and stared at the ground, feeling immensely uncomfortable.
"Well, shall we start walking maybe?" Julia finally suggested.
Louis was grateful for the suggestion of something to do and he turned, falling into step with Julia as they began to walk the length of the high street.
They walked in relative silence. There was still the sound of everyone around them, laughing and talking and yelling across the lane to one another. There was the sound of the crunch of gravel under their feet. There was the sound of bells ringing as doors to various shops opened and closed. But neither Louis nor Julia spoke.
They walked the length of the street, turned around, and walked back in the other direction. Louis didn't know whether he was supposed to suggest they go into a shop, or whether he was supposed to wait for Julia to express interest in going somewhere.
Finally, as they passed by Honeydukes for the second time, Julia stopped and pointed at the door.
"Can we pop in here?" she asked, as if looking for permission.
"Sure," Louis agreed, excited to have an activity.
The two stepped inside, and immediately the smell of sugar and the bright colors of the sweets overwhelmed them.
"I just love it in here, don't you?" Julia asked closing her eyes for a moment to inhale the scent.
"Definitely," Louis agreed.
The truth was, Louis thought Honeydukes was too much. As one of the most popular shops in Hogsmeade for Hogwarts students, it was always insanely crowded. There were so many different colors and displays that he never knew where to look, and the smell of sugar was so strong it gave him a toothache just standing in the store. But he couldn't tell Julia any of that.
Julia dragged Louis along with her as she passed up and down the aisles, collecting a few different items as she did so. She grabbed a whole bag full of jelly slugs, a package of licorice wands, and a box of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum.
"No chocolate?" Louis inquired. Both his sisters adored chocolate, and it had been Louis' belief that all girls were obsessed.
Julia shrugged as she headed up to the counter to pay. "I guess I'm not really a chocolate kind of girl," she replied.
Though it only served to confuse Louis more, he liked that Julia didn't enjoy chocolate. He himself had always preferred candy to chocolate. He grabbed a package of ice mice and some exploding bonbons for himself since they were there, and the two paid for their purchases and stepped back out onto the High Street.
Once again, the two set off in an uncomfortable silence. Now that they were out of Honeydukes, Louis didn't know what they were supposed to do next.
Suddenly, Julia stopped.
"How many shops were you able to visit last month?" she inquired.
Caught off guard, Louis was unable to remember exactly how many. At least five, he was pretty sure, though Justin had insisted they spend the majority of the day at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, where he could feel important for being with someone who knew the owner.
"I don't' know," Louis shrugged. "A few."
"Me too," Julia said. "But here's an idea. Let's make our way through the village and visit every single one."
"All of them?" Louis frowned. "You know some of the shops are just the post office or the apothecary."
"So?" Julia challenged him. "It'll be fun. And then we'll be able to say we've been to every shop in Hogsmeade."
Louis found himself grinning. "All right," he agreed. Not only would it actually give them something to do on their date, he actually liked the idea.
And so, for the next few hours, the two third years made their way in and out of every shop they came across. They didn't buy very much, mostly because they didn't have very much money, but they explored each shop thoroughly enough to be able to say something about what each sold, and by the end of it, Louis was really starting to enjoy himself.
By mutual agreement, when they came out of their last shop, which was the Hogsmeade branch of Potage's Cauldron Shop, they headed over to the Three Broomsticks to get a bite to eat as they were both starving.
"I had a lot of fun today," Julia said as they ate and drank their butterbeers.
"Yeah, it was a good time," Louis agreed. Though he'd been dreading this date ever since Justin had told him about it that morning, it hadn't gone as terribly as he'd feared. And now that he was through it, he could get back to his normal life.
"Maybe we should do it again sometime?" Julia asked.
"Yeah, sure," Louis muttered, not paying too close attention to what Julia was actually saying.
"Maybe at our next Hogsmeade weekend?" Julia suggested. "In December?"
"Dec – what?" Louis frowned, spitting some of his butterbeer back into his mug after taking a big sip. What was Julia asking him? And had he really already said yes?
"Or January," Julia rushed to say. "December's really a tough month anyway, what with Christmas shopping and all. So maybe in January then?"
"January," Louis repeated in a confused voice.
"Great!" Julia smiled brightly. "It's a date."
Louis sat and puzzled through the conversation, trying to figure out exactly when he'd agreed to go on a second date with Julia. He certainly hadn't meant to. Of course, he also hadn't exactly told her that he didn't want to. Louis was so confused.
It wasn't that he didn't like Julia. They had actually had a fun day together, and they'd been able to talk without too much difficulty. But Louis didn't have feelings for Julia either. Spending the day with her had been the same as spending the day with Justin – except that with Justin he could have spent the whole day looking at astronomy equipment, whereas Julia would have gotten bored and dragged him along to the next shop. But he couldn't go back on his word now. He'd already agreed to go out with her again, and she was so excited. Louis' heart sunk as he thought of the hole that he was slowly digging for himself. Though Justin had been holding the shovel at first, it was now wholly in Louis' hands. He only had himself to blame for anything that happened going forward.
Louis and Julia finished up at the Three Broomsticks and then said their goodbyes. Julia thanked Louis for a nice date, and Louis politely shook her hand, not wanting to do anything more lest she get any big ideas. Then he turned and left, in search of Justin, deciding that she was more than capable of making her way back up to the castle on her own if her friend Olivia was already gone.
"So, how was it?" Justin asked when Louis joined him in the back section of Dervish and Banges.
"Well it wasn't terrible," Louis replied honestly. "She doesn't like chocolate."
"A match made in heaven," Justin declared.
Louis shrugged.
"So… did you make any more plans?" Justin prodded Louis for information.
"Kind of?" Louis said, the words sounding more like a question than a statement. "We're going out again at the January Hogsmeade weekend."
"Good man," Justin slapped Louis on the back. "I had a feeling about you two."
"Right," Louis muttered uncomfortably.
Something about all of this just didn't feel right, but he didn't know how to tell Justin. Especially since he'd lied to Justin about liking Julia in the first place. Not to mention, Justin had gone to a lot of trouble to set this date up, and Louis didn't want to make him feel bad for it.
Louis decided that the best thing to do would be to go out with Julia once more in January, and then to simply explain to her that he wasn't interested in going out on a third date. Two dates didn't make him her boyfriend or anything, so really, he wouldn't even need to break up with her. Everything would be fine.
LlLlLlLlLlL
It had been a week since the Hogsmeade trip and Justin burst into the dormitory in a grand spectacle. He threw the door open and groaned loudly before dancing over to his bed and throwing himself on it with a great big sigh.
"What's wrong with you?" Louis demanded of his theatrical friend.
"My life is over," Justin dramatically. "Everything is meaningless."
"What happened?" Louis said, already feeling the exhaustion he knew this conversation would bring.
"She has a boyfriend," Justin declared.
"Who?" Louis insisted. "Who has a boyfriend?"
"Who do you think!" Justin cried in anguish. "Your sister, Dominique!"
"My sister has a boyfriend?" Louis frowned. He hadn't been aware of this. It had to be a new development, he decided, because the last time they'd spoken she'd shown no interest in settling down with one guy.
"That's what I've been saying!" Justin cried. "It's some chump from Ravenclaw. A fifth year like her. William Stimpson." He said the name like one might say the word 'chunky' or 'moist'.
"Good for her," Louis said, happy for his sister. He hadn't been super comfortable with her attitude so far this year, and it was good to know that whatever nonsense that had been was over.
"Good for her?" Justin cried in outrage. "What about me?"
"What about you?" Louis frowned.
"What am I supposed to do with myself now that the love of my life, the apple of my eye, has chosen another lover?" Justin moaned.
"Move on with your life?" Louis suggested. "Find someone your own age to chase after?"
"You don't understand," Justin lamented. "You have your woman. You don't feel the pain I feel."
"Excuse me?" Louis asked.
"You have Julia. She's not off with another guy while you lie here heartbroken," Justin declared.
Louis sighed. "First of all, you are not heartbroken," he said. "You were not in love with Dominique, you were obsessed with her. And second of all – "
"You don't know what I feel!" Justin interrupted, screaming at the top of his lungs.
Louis rolled his eyes and sat back against the headboard of his bed. If Justin was going to be irrational and emotional, then he could do it without Louis' involvement.
As Justin continued to lament, everything he said fell on deaf ears. Louis just hoped that it meant that Justin really would move on, focusing his attention on someone that wasn't Louis' older sister. No matter who he chose as his next target, it was bound to be less uncomfortable for Louis going forward.
So, despite Justin's pain, Louis decided that this was a good thing. And Justin would realize that too in time. Letting go of Dominique would allow him to find something real. Louis wanted that for his friend. And he also hoped he could find it for himself some day. It just probably wouldn't be with Julia.