Unexpected Things

KeysCanHurt: THANK YOU! :D Yes, I can see that :P Well his dad had one(or several) in the 6th book, why not his son? :)) That is true xD Scor should avoid hot yet evil-ish Dirk =)) HAHAH xD meant-to-be-ness =))

Guess Who: Thank you muchly :D Yesh, Kron is his usual security camera self :P

yellow 14: Once Al gets used to it, maybe he will enjoy it xD Hmm... maybe he will be back ;)

Chapter Fifteen

Hogsmeade

Classes went on, life went on. When the schedule for the Hogsmeade weekend trips were posted, students grew excited, especially the third years, since it would be their first time. They were all looking forward to the fourth weekend of October. Even Care of Magical Creatures, which was generally regarded as fun and exciting, (Hagrid learned not to pick such deadly creatures for class. At least not for now.) was hard to pay full attention to since they were so excited for their first trip to Hogsmeade. Professor Flitwick was kind enough to let them have free time during his class, since he knew how excited third years could get for their first Hogsmeade trip. Professor Macmillan and Professor Smith were less patient though. Smith took a lot of House Points away that Friday.

James, when he first went to Hogsmeade told Al and the others all about how delicious the sweets from Honeydukes were; the fun things in the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes branch; the Butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks; and the scary stories the locals told about the Shrieking Shack (Potters and Weasleys knew they weren't true, but Al was fascinated by it anyway).

James also told them about the unsupervised selling of alcoholic beverages in the Hog's Head (Al and Rose disapproved, but at the time, Scorpius was interested).

But James admitted that when the owner found out that James and his friends were drunk from Firewhisky and doing… 'crazy things' (as James put it), Aberforth kicked them out of the pub. James also confessed that he and his friends were given detention for the incident and their parents also gave them a number of scolding letters.

Al remembered the loud scolding James got when they came home for Christmas.

Al definitely wasn't going to try taking anything that would get him drunk. The consequences weren't worth the risk. Rose agreed with Al. Demelza expressed a desire to find out what it would be like to get drunk. James told her that the hangover was not enjoyable.

After class, Paula excitedly announced to them that James asked her out on a date in Hogsmeade.

"Good for you!" Al grinned at her, happy for his Ravenclaw friend. She talked to him occasionally about her crush on James, and James talked to him frequently about Paula. Those two would enjoy a date.

"What about you?" Paula asked them.

"We plan to go single-"

"-and enjoy the joke shop by ourselves." Al was relieved to hear the twins' answer. He hoped they weren't planning to ask Demelza out. Al himself still wasn't sure whether or not to, and if he even had the courage to do so, but the idea of one or both of the twins taking her… Al didn't like it.

"G'day, me pretty Rose!" Raph strutted over to them.

Al half expected Raph to conjure a bouquet of flowers, imitating James.

Raph didn't.

"Hello, Raph." Al didn't miss Rose's dull tone. She was gloomy today. Ria said that when they came from the library during lunch, Rose bumped into Scorpius since she had her face covered by a book she was reading. Scorpius swore then stopped when he saw who it was.

Quoting Ria "They just… stared at each other. Scorpius looked like he wanted to say something, Rose looked like she wanted him to say something. Then Scorpius frowned and walked off. Rose was quite upset after that. She snapped at me too, for not warning her that she was about to bump into someone."

Raph looked taken aback by Rose's lack of enthusiasm, but he got over it soon enough. The grin was returned to his face as he spoke. "Rosie come with Raphie to Hogsie?"

Al wondered how Rose would react. He was somewhat surprised when she laughed. "You silly fish!"

"Fish?" Raph raised an eyebrow at her, confused.

Rose pinched some of Raph's messy reddish-brown hair and gave it a playful yank. Al could barely believe the unpredicted swing of her mood. "Fine then. More appropriately- squid."

Raph rubbed his hair. "I still don't geddit."

"Doesn't the Giant Squid live and swim in the lake even if it's freezing?" For emphasis, Raph's chest was given a prod every few words.

Getting over the shock, Al felt proud of Rose. Her moods were a lot better than that Saturday, how many weeks ago, when Scorpius walked out on them. Well, Al wasn't very helpful in cheering her up, and her Gryffindor friends had more opportunities to comfort her and keep her happy. But Raph at least, seemed to be pretty good by now at making Rose happy.

Raph chuckled. "Okay. Take two. Rosie come with Squiddie to Hogsie?"

"Oh, all right, Squid!" Though Rose tried to sound like she was forced into it, Al could tell she would eagerly await the Hogsmeade trip on Saturday.

"Al, are you taking anyone or are you going with the twins?" Demelza asked.

"I guess I'll go with Tom and Theo." Al looked directly at the pair. "Just don't test your newly bought products on me."

"You kill the joy, Al." Theo stuck his tongue out at Al.

Tom laughed. "Fine, we'll try it out on one of th Flints instead... or both of them!"

"Oohh, or on them firsties!"

"Are you two seriously planning to bully first years?" Rose stared at them disapprovingly.

"Pranking is different from bullying."

"Must we explain, Miss knows-it-all?"

"Heehee, knows-it-all, but y'don't know the difference."

"Oh, and don't worry about your little bro."

"We'll keep him out of our list if that's what you want."

Rose rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe it! I'm crazy! I've lost my mind! I'm-" It felt like her first Quidditch match all over again. This was terrible! This was nerve-wracking! What was she thinking?

STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!

"Panicking for no reason." Demelza frowned disapprovingly. "Rose Weasley you told him you'd come with him. You said you would, so do it!"

"You have to admit that Demelza has a point." Great. Ria sided with Demelza. Rose was terrified and outnumbered. "You should keep your word and come with him."

"But I'm scared." Rose whined childishly.

"Of what, Thorny?" Demelza asked.

"I don't know! I just feel scared!"

"Rose." Ria took her by her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Calm down."

Rose opened her mouth to whine some more, but at the blue glare, Rose shut her mouth. Fine, she'll listen to what Ria had to say then whine about her fears. "It's normal to be nervous on your first date, alright?"

Rose's stomach flipped. "Date?" that word made it sound even more terrifying.

"Oh, did you seriously think this wasn't a date, Thorny?" Demelza's laughter was unhelpful, as it so often was. She tugged at Rose's arm, bringing her closer to the Three Broomsticks.

"I-"

"Rose, it's fine. Don't worry. Raph's a nice guy. Calm down."

Rose tried to, but her fears and worries remained. Raph was nice, but he was wilder than Rose. He was a risk-taker, unafraid of crazy new experiences. Rose was uncomfortable with the idea of a world beyond books… and maybe beyond Quidditch too.

And what if Scorpius came back?

Not that she wanted him to… He was a jerk for walking out on them. He shouldn't come back. No, he should not!

Damn. Who was Rose kidding? Stupid fool that she was! She missed him! She missed the innocent, fun talking, joking and laughing among the three of them- Al, Scorpius and herself. She missed his comments, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes blunt, sometimes funny. She missed his prescence. She missed him!

But so what if Rose missed him?

If Scorpius ever came back, he'd go straight to his precious beautiful Jacqueline Chua, that lucky girl. Then Rose would be moody all over again, but for a different reason, or set of reasons.

Rose didn't want to wallow in depression. It was too painful.

Then she thought of Raph.

He somehow managed to cheer her up.

He somehow managed to coax her out of depression.

The madman somehow got her to be more open-minded about facing the things she fears, her emotions being among those.

And he somehow got her to swim in a lake with him… and Dirk.

Rose didn't know how to be sure of what she felt for Raphael McCartney, but she did know that she was very fond of him and he made her happy.

Did she make him happy?

Rose couldn't be sure, but she hoped so.

It would be selfish and unfair if he made her so happy, but she didn't have the same effect…

"Hello, Rosie!"

"Hi." Rose felt heat rushing to her cheeks and ears.

"Are ye hungry? D'ye wanna eat now or later?"

"I'm not yet hungry. You?"

"Nope." Raph showed his teeth. "Come. I wanna show y'something."

"Er… okay." Rose waved at her grinning friends. "See you later!"

Then she followed Raph out of the Three Broomsticks, to a spot behind it.

"Just wait a short while. I'll be right back." He entered what she noticed was a door to the basement of the Three Broomsticks.

Rose didn't have long to wonder what Raph was doing. He came back with a broomstick.

"Wha…?"

"James told me they keep spare brooms 'ere. C'mon, wouldn't it be pathetic if they're called the Three Broomsticks an' they got no brooms with them whatsoever?"

"I guess…"

"Hop on, Rose!" Raph had already mounted the broom and he was hovering with his feet slightly above the ground.

"No way!" This was another crazy idea! She would not join him this time! No!

"It'll be fun!"

It did look like fun. What better way to explore Hogsmeade than on a broom? And Raph said he'd been practicing his broom flying skills, perfecting them. Surely, this would be safe and fun. Right…?

When she hesitated, he brought his face near hers, his green eyes locked on her brown ones. "Don't ye trust me, Rosie?"

She was still scared… but she wanted to give it a try. Nervously, she climbed onto the broom behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. It was one thing to fly a broom herself and do it well. It was an entirely different thing to be riding a broom that someone else controlled. Rose feared that she would end up falling off.

"Hang on an' enjoy the ride!"

"You know how to get around, right?" When he said he talked to James, it sounded like Raph did his research. Rose was impressed by the planning. "We won't get lost, right? You know your way around?"

"Nope!"

"No what?"

"Dunno my way around! It's my first time here, remember?"

Brilliant.