Chapter 11: Dates and Hogsmeade Trips

Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry!

Phew. I think that's enough sorrys...one more. Sorry. Okay, there.

I could make a lot of excuses, like the fact that I had a ton of schoolwork and was having an existential crisis...but let's not dwell on that! I've been working on this chapter for a week, so I hope you guys like it. I made it quite a bit longer as well, which is one reason it took ages. So, if you like the longer chapters, let me know and I'll keep writing them.

As always, thank you to everyone who favorites, follows, and reviews this story. And an especially huge thank you to bellatrixD, who was a big help with this chapter :)

I still don't own Harry Potter.

"Do you think they'll find him?" Megan asked, her eyes wide and worried.

It had happened again. For the second time, we'd been hauled out of bed so that the teachers could search Ravenclaw tower for Sirius Black. Now we were all standing in the common room, too wired to go back to bed, even though they hadn't found anything in the tower.

"I kind of doubt it," I grimaced. "He's already broken out of Azkaban, and broken into the castle once, and he still hasn't been caught."

A nearby second year boy looked at me warily and moved a few feet away. I sighed and shook my head, not bothering to say anything to him. The night passed slowly, all of us huddled in groups around the common room. Most of the first years eventually dozed off. Professor Flitwick came in at sunrise to tell us that Black had escaped yet again.

"It was Ron that saw him," Elena told me as we walked down to dinner after class that day. "Fred and George's brother. He said he woke up and Black was standing over him with a knife. Apparently, Ron yelled and he ran for it."

"That almost doesn't make sense," I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing, just...if Sirius Black really did murder all those people, years ago, then why did he run? Why not get rid of Ron and finish whatever he came to do?"

Elena raised an eyebrow. "You should be an Auror. Study how criminals think and all that."

I rolled my eyes and elbowed her. "I'm serious, 'Lena. Something isn't right."

She sighed. "You're overthinking things again."

I scowled. Maybe she was right. I shook my head as though I could clear my thoughts like I was shaking away water.

"All right," I said. "Let's talk about something else."

"Like what you want to do for your birthday?" Elena prompted, grinning when I sighed.

Megan had been pestering me about that, too. She didn't seem to believe that I didn't want to have a huge party for my sixteenth birthday. My plan for that day was to avoid the common room for as long as possible, as she was no doubt planning my party for me.

"I just want to finish the book I'm reading," I shrugged. "But if you're looking for a party, I'm sure there'll be one, whether I want there to be or not."

"There's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend," she reminded me. "It's the day before your birthday. I'm sure Megan would settle for that."

"She's not going to Hogsmeade," I said. "She's got homework to do, apparently. Are you busy this weekend?"

"Oh." Her cheeks went bright red. "Well, yeah. I sort of...have a date."

I stopped in my tracks. Had George asked her out?

"Spill!" I ordered. "Spill right now!"

"Well, look who's such a girly girl all of a sudden!" she teased. "You know Carson? From Hufflepuff?"

I felt the smile on my face freeze. "I think so, yeah. Tall, has dark hair?"

"That's the one," she nodded eagerly, grinning broadly. "I ran into him a few nights ago in the library. We ended up talking for a while and then he just asked me out!"

"Wow."

"Did you just have a mood swing?" she asked. "You looked thrilled two seconds ago. Now you look like I kicked your puppy or something."

"Sorry," I said quickly. "I'm glad you've got a date, I just thought you were kind of...attached to someone else, that's all."

"Attached?" she laughed. "To whom?"

"Who do you think?" I asked.

The blank look on her face told her that she really didn't have a clue who I was talking about. She was silent the rest of the way down to the Great Hall.

If you wanted to have a conversation, Charms class was a good place to have it. There was generally so much chaos in the room that no one noticed or minded if you had a chat with someone. Unfortunately, George Weasley wasn't being a very good conversationalist at the moment. He kept glancing over to where Elena was sitting, working with a girl I vaguely recognized as one of the Gryffindor Chasers. He looked dejected; from what I'd gathered, Elena had told him about her date.

"George," I sighed, snapping my fingers under his nose. "Are you even listening to me?"

He blinked rapidly a few times. "Sorry, Alyssa. What were you saying?"

"I wanted to know what Ron said about Siri- George!"

He didn't answer this time. He'd already zoned out again. I shook my head in exasperation and returned my attention to the Color Change Charm we were supposed to be practicing.

"Colovaria!" The rat on the table in front of me turned bright blue, just like I'd wanted.

"Oh, excellent, Miss Summers!" Professor Flitwick squeaked excitedly, rushing over to me. "Let's see, who else wants to demonstrate? Miss Michaels?"

Elena grimaced. The girl could brew potions like she was making tea, but she hated Charms. She pointed her wand at her rat. Instead of changing color, it swelled to the size of a small dog. Several girls screamed.

Professor Flitwick quickly pulled out his wand. The rat shrunk back to normal size, but the damage was done. Elena had gone scarlet. She looked as though she'd like to melt into a puddle on the floor. Flitwick assured her it wasn't a big deal, he'd seen worse things come from spells gone wrong. Still, he suggested she practice the charm before our next Charms class.

"Be honest," Elena said as I caught up to her in the corridor. "How bad was it?"

"Not nearly as bad as that time last year when we were learning Banishing Charms and you-"

"Don't," she warned, scowling at me. I tried to hide my grin, but I don't think I was successful. Elena elbowed me.

"You know who could help you?" I said, after I'd elbowed her back.

"You?" she asked hopefully.

I shook my head. "I really wish I could. But I've been so busy this year. I'm juggling ten subjects, and then prefect duties on top of that. I've barely got time to do my own homework."

"Oh." She look disappointed, but shrugged it off. "Well, who were you going to suggest?"

"George." She raised an eyebrow. "What? He's actually really good at Charms, despite the fact that he doesn't show up for class half the time."

"True," she nodded. "All right. I'll ask him at dinner."

"Good," I smiled. "I'll see you then."

She waved and we headed off in opposite directions to our classes.

"Alyssa!" I turned my head so sharply at the sound of my name that I pulled a crick in my neck. Grimacing, I waved to Cedric with one hand, rubbing the back of my neck with the other.

"Hi." I smiled he fell into step beside me. "How're you?"

"I'm good," he grinned. "I wrote to Mum and Dad and explained why you didn't come over during Christmas. They understood, so you don't have to worry about them hating you or anything."

"I wasn't worried," I chuckled. "But thanks for clearing that up with them. So what-"

"'Lyssa!" I turned again, wincing as my neck twinged with pain; I needed to stop doing that. Fred and George were standing behind us, wearing identical expressions of amusement.

I sighed. "It's after curfew. You shouldn't be in the corridors this late."

"What're the two of you doing out here, then?" Fred asked, arching an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes and tapped the badge on the front of my shirt. "Prefects, remember? We're supposed to be out after curfew. You, on the other hand, are not."

"Yeah, sorry," George said, just as Fred opened his mouth, no doubt planning to retort. "Alyssa, could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um...I guess," I shrugged, glancing at my watch. It was nearly midnight, so it was nearly time for me to head back to my common room anyway. "Cedric, I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Right," he nodded. "'Night, 'Lyssa."

"Goodnight," I smiled, then turned back to George. "Come on, then. You can walk me back to Ravenclaw Tower."

"Ooh," Fred smirked, wriggling his eyebrows. "Sneaking off together? Do you two need a chaperone?"

I wished I had a book on hand so I could throw it at him. A hardcover book. With eight-hundred pages. I settled for crossing my arms and scowling at him, which only seemed to amuse him further. George sighed and gave me a push down the corridor, telling Fred to go back to the common room. Actually, his words were a bit stronger than that, but it wasn't the kind of thing I'd go around repeating. We spent a few moments in silence, George walking with his hands burrowed in his pockets. Finally, I sighed.

"All right, what is it?"

He frowned. "Elena's date. What do you know about him?"

"Carson?" I shrugged. "Not much. He's pretty nice, from what I've heard. Kind of quiet. He hangs out with Cedric a lot. You'd have better luck asking him."

George wrinkled his nose and shook his head. I couldn't help chuckling. Merlin, he had it bad. It was a shame that Elena hadn't noticed. I nudged George with my elbow.

"You know," I said, "when Elena told me she had a date, at first I thought you were the one who asked her out."

"I was thinking about it," he admitted. "But I was afraid I'd screw everything up."

"And how would you do that?" I asked.

"I dunno...Elena's one of my best friends. If I asked her out, there are basically two ways it could go. Best case scenario: 'I like you too, George! I'd love to go out with you!' Worst case: 'Um...sorry. I just don't see you that way.' It would completely ruin our friendship, and I don't want that."

I took a moment to mull that over.

"Maybe you should've been a Ravenclaw," I said. "Overthinking is our specialty."

"How dare you suggest such a thing?!" he gasped, looking affronted.

I grinned. "Hey, a Ravenclaw's not the worst thing to be. We don't just sit around and read books all day, you know."

"Well, what do you do for fun? Assuming you have fun."

I rolled my eyes. "We have poetry nights. Debates. That sort of thing."

The look on his face clearly told me that he couldn't imagine anything less fun. I sighed and shook my head, glancing up at the spiral staircase leading to my common room, which we'd reached the foot of.

"I think I can make it the rest of the way on my own," I said. "I'll see you at breakfast, all right?"

"Right," he said, stepping back and saluting mockingly. "Goodnight, Lady Summers."

I snorted. "Don't call me that. Your brother calling me Princess is bad enough. Oh! And one more thing: if I were you, I wouldn't give up on Elena just yet."

"Don't worry," he smiled. "I don't plan to."

On Saturday morning, I ran into Elena, quite literally. We almost smacked into each other as I walked out the front doors of the school.

"Hey!" I laughed, grabbing her shoulder to steady her. "I thought you and Carson would have already left!"

"We were just going to meet there," she shrugged, just as a voice behind me called, "Elena!"

Carson was fairly handsome, with raven hair and blue eyes. He had a good ten inches on me, although that wasn't saying much. I was short, as Fred Weasley had taken to pointing out recently.

"Hi," Elena smiled, her cheeks coloring slightly.

"I know we planned to meet there," Carson said. "But I was hoping I could walk to the village with you."

Elena and I exchanged looks, and he added, "Or I could walk with the two of you?"

Oh no. No, no, no. I was not going to get stuck third-wheeling this date. Not for all the Galleons in the world.

"It's fine. I'll walk with someone else," I shrugged. "I'll see you later, 'Lena."

"Who're you going with?" she asked, looking concerned. "I thought Megan wasn't going."

I glared at her, trying to think up a response. Before I could, however, a pair of arms dropped over my shoulders, making me jump. The Weasley twins grinned down at me. I sighed.

"I guess I'm walking with them."

"Did I hear that right?" Fred asked. "Her Highness is going with us?"

"Not going," I corrected. "Walking. Big difference."

"Who cares?" he grinned. "Let's go...walk."

Before I could protest, he'd linked arms with me and was pulling me along. I glanced back at Elena. She was trying to look sympathetic, but failed miserably, as she was barely concealing a smirk. I stuck my tongue out at her and turned around again, trying to tug my arm away from Fred.

"If you don't remove your arm, Weasley, I am going to remove it for you."

He dropped my arm immediately, huffing and shaking his head. "Sheesh, Princess. Someone's grouchy today."

I took a step closer to George, scowling at Fred. "If you had my problems, you'd be grouchy, too."

"Oh, do confide," Fred pleaded.

"Let's see," I sighed. "Where to begin? Well, I've got my O.W.L.s in a few months, and I have ten of those to take, plus all the homework I have to get through to know everything for the exams. On top of that, I've got prefect stuff to do. So there's my sleep schedule ruined. Oh, and there's the minor fact that people think I'm secretly helping a mass murderer. And to top it all off, there's this guy who won't stop annoying me."

"Whoever could it be?" Fred asked in mock surprise. "Diggory? I'm sure he can be irritating."

"Nope. Not Cedric."

"Ah well. Why can't you just ignore the guy?"

"I've tried," I glowered. "He won't let me."

"So he's always on your mind?"

Where was a hardcover book when I needed one?

"In a 'I-fantasize-about-strangling-him' kind of way, yes."

"Ooh, that's harsh."

"You know," George interrupted. "I'd just love to watch you two go at it, but if you're just going to do this the whole way to the village, why are we walking together?"

"I refuse to be a third-wheel on Elena's date," I said firmly. "You don't have to put up with me once we reach Hogsmeade."

"But it wouldn't be proper to let you wander the streets alone!" Fred gasped, looking horrified at the very thought.

I snorted. "I think I can handle myself for an afternoon."

He sighed. "If you insist. So what're your plans for the day?"

I eyed him suspiciously, then shrugged. "I want to go to the bookstore. There's this journal I've been wanting, so I figure it can be my birthday present to myself."

"It's your birthday?" he asked sharply.

"No, it's tomorrow," I corrected.

"Oh. And you're getting yourself a present? That's just sad, Summers."

I rolled my eyes. "It's just something I've been wanting, and now I have the chance to get it. It's got an enchanted lock, so if you're like me and have a nosy younger brother, they can't get into it."

"Makes sense," he nodded. "Well, if we have to let you wander around all alone, you should at least walk back with us."

I bit my lip and glanced over at George, who had been oddly quiet for a while. To my bemusement, he was smirking. When he saw me looking at him, he only shrugged.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," I decided. "Since Elena will probably still be out."

The smirk disappeared. George's face clouded over, making me feel a bit guilty. Fred didn't seem to notice. He was beaming.

"Excellent! We'll meet you at The Three Broomsticks!"

"All right, all right," I grumbled as we approached the Hogsmeade High Street. "I'll be there."

"Good." He grabbed George's arm and steered him toward Zonko's Joke Shop. "Come on, Georgie, we have to get the extra-splatter ink for..." I raised an eyebrow and he stopped abruptly. "Excuse us. We have business to discuss."

I shook my head, deciding against asking what they wanted extra-splatter ink for. I didn't really want to know.

My afternoon was divided between Honeydukes and the bookshop. I spent a while fuming because the journal that I had had my eye on was gone. According to the woman in the shop, someone had bought it not five minutes before I entered the store. There was nothing to be done about it, though, so I bought a few new textbooks while I was there before heading back toward The Three Broomsticks to meet Fred and George.

As I walked down the street toward the pub, I saw Elena and Carson standing outside it. I slowed, not wanting to interrupt something. As I watched, Carson said something to Elena, then leaned down and kissed her cheek before disappearing inside The Three Broomsticks. I approached Elena cautiously.

"That looked like things went well," I noted, shifting my shopping bag from one hand to the other.

She sighed. "No, Alyssa, that actually bit the dust...and chewed. And swallowed. And got another mouthful-"

"What happened?" I asked incredulously. "He looked really nice!"

"He is really nice," she agreed. "But we're not going to be seeing each other again."

I frowned. "Why not?"

"Well...'Lyssa, do you remember telling me that you thought I was already attached to someone?" I nodded. "Was it George?"

"Well...yeah," I admitted. "But I thought you didn't get it."

"I didn't...until today. I figured it out. Or rather, Carson figured it out and explained it to me."

I raised an eyebrow. "And how, exactly, did that go down?"

"No, no," she said hurriedly. "He was really nice about it, actually. I saw Fred and George around earlier. I don't know...Carson backed off. He said he thought maybe I fancy George. And...I think I do."

I didn't mean to, but I was beaming. Elena frowned.

"Alyssa, quit. You're freaking me out."

"Sorry," I chuckled. "So you fancy George. Now what?"

"I...don't know," she said, with a very un-Elena-ish giggle. "You won't tell him, will you?"

"Of course not," I assured her. "I'm going to let you do that."

"Good," she sighed. "I mean...never mind. Where're you headed?"

I gestured toward the pub in front of us. "Here, actually. I'm meeting Fred and George here."

She looked at me like I'd dropped from Mars.

"Why?"

"Oh, let's see," I said sarcastically. "Your impatient date ran me off, so Fred dragged me along, which George didn't stop, by the way. And then Fred decided I couldn't walk back to the castle by myself, and I figured you'd still be...out. So they insisted on giving me all the twin half-wit pleasure I could possibly stand in a single day."

Elena grinned and shook her head in amusement. "Well, I'm glad they did."

"You would be," I muttered.

"C'mon," she coaxed. "It was nice of Fred to look out for you."

"Nice...annoying, sexist, presumptuous..."

"Let's just go inside," Elena sighed, pulling me along with her.

Even though it was crowded inside The Three Broomsticks, we found Fred and George fairly easily. With hair like theirs, they really weren't too hard to spot. They were sitting toward the back of the room...at a table for two.

"Hey, guys!" Elena chirped, making them look up.

George's cheeks colored slightly. "I thought you were on a date?

"I was," Elena said, glancing uneasily at me. "But we decided to spend the rest of the day with our friends."

"Why-"

"What's with the table?" I interrupted, hoping to change the topic.

Fred grinned at me. "Sorry, love. We were only expecting three."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm only seeing two seats."

He shrugged. "We figured you could just sit on my lap."

I felt my cheeks growing warm and scowled, wondering if I could burn a hole through his stupid head if I glared hard enough.

"Fat chance," I snapped. "Come on, Elena."

We moved over to a larger table, but the twins followed us, Fred seating himself right next to me. I groaned.

"You're getting what you deserve," George informed me teasingly. "You're the one who invited yourself along this morning."

"Just because I didn't want to get stuck third-wheeling Elena's date," I reminded him.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself," he said with an exaggerated wink, before turning to Elena. "Speaking of your date, how'd it go?"

Elena fidgeted uncomfortably in her chair. "Um...he's a pretty great guy..."

Before I could say anything to help her, Fred beat me to it. But I wish he hadn't.

"What's in the bag, Princess?" he asked, nudging me with his elbow.

I rolled my eyes. "My books. What else would they be?"

"Just because the bookshop's logo is on the bag doesn't necessarily mean that's what you've got in there," he argued.

"Oi," George muttered. "I'm going to get your drinks."

Elena said something to him, but I didn't catch it because Fred was asking what kind of books I had.

"School. Books," I said through clenched teeth. I'd rather not cause a scene in the middle of the pub.

I should've just kept my mouth shut altogether. He didn't stop pestering me after that. Apparently, I was lying, and could have any sort of books in my bag, several of which he insisted on describing in great detail. I managed to finish my butterbeer, but I had a hard time resisting the urge to dump it on him. At some point, George had gone to wait outside, Elena going after him after a few minutes. The moment I finished my drink, I stood up and left. Fred followed me, still insisting I tell him what sort of books I'd bought. I ignored him.

"Ready to go?" Elena asked as we reached them. She linked arms with me when I nodded and we started back toward the castle. "So, what did you do today?"

"I wandered through the bookstore and Honeydukes," I shrugged. "I didn't get that journal I wanted. Someone got to it before I could."

She looked sympathetic, but she didn't get the chance to say anything, because at that moment, Fred Weasley ran by and snatched one of my bags. I sighed exasperatedly and ran after him, demanding he return them. He skipped down the street, ignoring me as he tried to unwrap one of my books. I caught up to him eventually, but he held the partially unwrapped book above his head, where I had no hope of reaching it.

"You can have it back once I've seen it!" he said, pulling the rest of the paper off to reveal my copy of Advanced Rune Translation. His jaw dropped. He looked horrified.

"I don't know what you were expecting," I sighed, grabbing my bag from him and holding out my hand for the book. He gave it back to me and we made our way back to Elena and George, who had taken my place by her side. I smirked at her as I put the book back in my bag, making her go pink. Fred took George's other side, shaking his head in dismay.

"What's with you?" George frowned.

"It was a bag of...textbooks." He shuddered. "Nothing but boring, educational textbooks."

"I told you so," I murmured.

After that, it was a relatively quiet walk back to the castle.