In the legendary town of Hogsmeade, three teens exited a carriage and stepped out onto the pathway. The first was a tall blonde headed female wearing a red plaid skirt and a red blazer with a gryffindor logo on it. Next out the carriage was a girl who was a few inches shorter than the other girl. She had bushy brown hair, yellow plaid skirt and a yellow blazer with a hufflepuff logo on it. Finally came a messy haired teen. She wore green plaid akirt and a green blazer with a Slytherin logo on it, all were wearing black semi high heeled shoes, two had ankles high yellow and green socks, while the other had knee high red socks with white diamond pattern on them. They were accompanied by Prfoessor Fig.
"I still don't understand why we are here", the girl said to the taller girl
"I do ", Heather Chandler shrugged, " we are in Hogsmeade".
"Hogsmead", the other girl, Heather Duke smiled, "i think i see what your getting at".
"Hogsmead", the last girl Heather Mcnanmara recited automatically, "and no I don't know what your on about".
"Wow something the great Heather Mcnanmara doesn't know", Chandler laughed, "this must be a first". Mac slapped her on the arm but she was laughing along with Chandler and Duke. The trio had arrived a day early in Hogsmeade.
"Right I think we should have some lunch before we do anything else", Duke clapped her hands together and marched towards the pub.
"Always thinking of your stomach", Mac grumbled under her breath, drawing a small laugh from Chandler. Chandler suddenly stopped and rubbed her scar, it wasn't painful but Duke could tell something was wrong, "Heather, are you alright?" Duke asked with concern in her voice.
"Yeah, I think so", Chandler began, "just a bad vibe that's all".
"That's the third time today mate", Mac called out, "I think that means something is going down".
"Yeah", Chandler replied absentmindedly. A few minutes later, the teens were sitting in the pub, "I think I'll have the Shepherd's Pie with extra chips", Duke said as she looked through the menu.
"How can you still be hungry", Chandler shook her head, "arent you ment to be on a diet?".
"Dont you dare tell Pansy" Duke replied.
Suddenly there was a blood curdeling scream
"An attack?", Chandler said.
"But in broad daylight though", Mac added.
"Well I'm not going to hide in here", Chandler announced and quickly ran for the door, closely followed by Duke and Mac.
They soon had reached the edge of Hogsmeade. The cobblestone streets had been cleared of snow, but thick layers of white powder still rested on the roofs of the three-story brick buildings. The main street stretched before them, filled with Hogwarts students enjoying the day before they head to Hogwarts that night..
"So any idea where that scream came from?" Chandler asked, between puffs.
" Im-"
A shrill shriek interrupted Duke's words, and the trio looked up the winding path to see four female figures. There was no one else on the trail to the Shrieking Shack, and the four of them were gathered together in the shadow of a huge pine tree. It clearly wasn't a friendly meeting. Three of the figures were much bigger than the other one, and the tallest of the three was pointing her wand at the smaller girl.
As they drew closer, They recognized the older girls as some of the sixth year Ravencalw who usually hung out with Zoe Accrington. They couldn't recall the name of the small, black-haired girl next to her, but the middle one was clearly Cho Chang, the brown haired girl lay on the snow-covered ground, legs dancing madly.
"Next time think about buying what is mine," scoffed Cho. With a flick of her wand, she cast a nonverbal spell, causing the snow beneath the girl to transform into thick, brown mud.
"Thats Veronica!" Duke said, Chandler's face darkened
Chandler started walking closer to the group of girls followed by Duke and Mac. "Stop it, Cho."
Relief flashed across Veronica's face as she turned to see her rescuer, but the emotion vanished as quickly as it'd come when she saw the Heathers.
Cho lowered her wand as she glowered at Chandler. "Are you here to be the white robed witch again?"
Jeanne glanced past Chandler at Veronica and said, "Or are you just showing off?"
The tiny black-haired girl scowled as she looked from Chandler, Duke and Mac and back.
"Neither," said Chandler. With two flicks of her wand, Chandler undid the jelly-legs jinx and transfigured the mud back into snow. "Look, Cho, just leave the poor girl alone. What did she ever do to you?"
Cho pursed her lips and glanced over her shoulder at her black-haired friend. Finally, she said, "Don't be dumb, Heather. They were Cedric's favourite."
Veronica stumbled to her feet, and Duke caught her hand. The two of them stood together as they watched the ravenclaw's and Chandler fight over whether the girl deserved to be hexed or not. The hand holding Chandler's wand was trembling as she said, "If that's your reason, you're the one who's dumb. All over candy."
Cho rolled her eyes. "Fine. Be a prat. If you must know, Veronica brought the last of the carmel blitz bombs"
Duke and Mac's jaws dropped. "And that's why you decided to hex the girl? Because she brought the last of some candy?" Duke asked
Cho had gone as white as the snow around her.
"Cedric wouldn't give a hippogriff shite about candy and he'd be disgusted that anyone would use his name to bully others. Just because you fucked him doesn't mean you own him." Chandler snapped.
Cho,however, barely listened to anything that had been said. With a snicker, she said, "Looks like you've got a girlfriend."
A scowl formed on Chandler's face but he only said, "Get out of here, Cho."
The anger and laughter drained from her face and was replaced with something akin to fondness. It took me a moment to realize that despite their arguing, she was looking at Heather Chandler with respect. Even though she'd called her a prat and was obviously mad, she appreciated that Chandler bothered to speak her mind. Cho nodded to her friends and said, "We should go."
Yurika nodded, and soon the three girls were making their way back up the curving path to Hogsmeade. The four watched as Cho put her arm around Yurika's shoulder. Judging by the slight tremble in the smaller girl, Yurika might have been crying. Jeanne shot them a ferocious glare before the three of them turned a bend in the path and disappeared from sight.
" Are you right?"
Veronica nodded her head, "Of course, im not afraid of some arsehole Ravenclaw's"
A grin crossed Chandler's face and she looked over at Mac to share in her amusement. Mac managed a weak smile in return.
"Veronica right?" asked Chandler .
"I'm Veronica Sawyer" Replied the brown haired girl "didn't expect anyone to help me"
"Let alone us right," said Chandler. She noticed some mud still on Veronica's cloak, and with a flick of her wand, she cleaned the cloak of all traces of dirt.
At last, Duke broke the silence. "Come on." She extended her hand to Veronica. "Let's go see the Shrieking Shack."
Veronica took her hand, and together the four walked the rest of the way down the path.
The Shrieking Shack was a staple of Hogsmeade. At least every Hogwarts student had stood at the wooden fence and look out across the grounds, over untamed bushes and overgrown trees, at the haunted house. With light snow falling around it, the singled roof had been allowed to crumble, and the windows had been closed with boards and nails, the house had no doubt been a happy home.
There were plenty of rumors about the Shrieking Shack that floated around Hogwarts. In one story, a boggart had made the house its nest, and the howling came from students who were afraid of wolves. In another story, a Yeti had been imprisoned in there years ago, driven mad with hate for its captor. The group stood on the safe side of the wooden fence. Many students had dared each other to cross the fence, trek through the overgrown yard, and touch the walls of the decrepit house.
"You were wicked cool back there Heather," said Veronica suddenly.
"Not really. I just got mad with a reason that stupid." Chandler replied
There was a pause, and then Mac said, "You were defending your friend."
"Yes, well, we Slytherins look out for each other, isn't that one of our defining traits? 'In Slytherin, you'll make your real friends'." Duke quoted the Sorting Song
"Thank you" Veronica said " You didnt have to help but you did"
" What are friends for " Chandler said, Mac smiled, Veronica leaned on Chandler, her legs still unstable. " Come on lets get back " Duke said.
The four new friends headed back towards Hogsmeade, they had a carriage to catch after all.