Chapter 9: Hogsmeade

It was finally time for the first Hogsmeade visit of the school year and Poppy was going with Grace, as usual. They always did the same things, went to Honeydukes to stock up on sweets, had butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks and went to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop to make fun of the lovey-dovey couples. After all this, Grace usually met up with some boy and today would be no different. Poppy usually spent her alone time browsing the shops but this time Marcus had promised to keep Poppy company while Grace had her date.

"Grace is abandoning me for a boy, yet again," she had said.

"If you promise not to ask so many questions, I'll keep you company," he had replied.

This was before she had gotten mad at him, and she didn't know if their plans were still on.

Oliver was going as well, his date this time was Alice Clearwater, a sixth year Gryffindor girl who, in Poppy's opinion, was by far the prettiest of Oliver's dates ever. It didn't matter, though, as there probably wouldn't be a second date.

Poppy and Grace had already visited their routine stops and were having tea at Madam Puddifoot's, waiting for Grace's date.

"What was his name again?" Poppy asked.

"Matthew... Something," Grace said. "He's a sixth year Hufflepuff."

"I can't believe you're having your date here. We hate this place,". Poppy said, gazing at the pink decor and lace tablecloths.

"Okay, it's tacky. But he invited me here. Where's your brother taking his girl of the day?" Grace asked.

"I don't know, he never tells me anymore."

"That's probably because we'd go there and mock him."

The boy named Matthew arrived just as he was supposed to and Poppy left the two of them to enjoy their heart-shaped biscuits. She stepped out the door and discovered Marcus was there, waiting for her.

"I didn't think you'd come," she said in a surprised tone.

"Because of yesterday? I'm not that easily offended," he said.

Poppy smiled at him and he smiled back, slightly.

"Butterbeer or shopping?" Marcus asked.

"Butterbeer, please. I can't afford to even look at a shop window right now," Poppy said.

And with that, they headed to The Three Broomsticks but stopped to admire the display in the Honeydukes window.

"I want to buy that," Poppy said, motioning to the huge milk chocolate bar with white chocolate swirls in the window. "But chocolate is apparently bad for you."

"So they say," Marcus replied.

In reality, Poppy couldn't afford to buy the chocolate. In fact, she couldn't afford anything at the moment. After buying her school books for the year, she wasn't exactly left with a lot of spending money. She had budgeted away enough money for a few small things, such as butterbeers or a chocolate frog or two but anything beyond that was just unimaginable. Most of the earnings from her summer job had gone towards paying for her and Oliver's room at The Leaky Cauldron.

When they arrived at The Three Broomsticks, Marcus surprised Poppy by paying for both of their drinks.

"Shut up and drink it before I take it back," he simply said as Poppy protested. Grace always said boys were supposed to pay for everything on a date but this wasn't a date and Poppy didn't want anyone to think otherwise, so she was trying to convince herself he was just being friendly. They sat in the darkest corner of the pub, the table had been Poppy's choice but she was starting to regret it. She didn't want people to think they were trying to hide.

"You never told me about you and Adrian," Marcus said, interrupting Poppy's thoughts.

"What? What is there to tell?" Poppy asked.

"Well, the way he talks about you, I get the feeling you were... Involved?" he said.

"No! Never! Is he saying we were?"

"Well, no, it's just, he kind of praises you a lot."

Poppy rolled her eyes casually while in her mind she wanted to seriously injure Adrian for making Marcus think they were ever together.

"We were friends, for a short time," Poppy said simply. "Then he tried to kiss me, I swerved the other way and after that we weren't really friends anymore."

"Oh," Marcus said.

"Told you there was nothing to tell."

"No, this is interesting. When was this?" Marcus asked. Poppy thought he was being way too interested in one almost-kiss between her and Adrian, especially when she was usually the one asking questions. Today, he seemed more talkative than ever.

"Last year. Did he ask you to talk to me about him?" Poppy said, slightly annoyed.

"No, of course not. It's just, whenever I see him, he just goes on and on about you," Marcus said. "And knowing there's nothing going on just makes it weird."

Poppy didn't know how to respond. She had known Adrian still had feelings for her, but didn't think he went around telling people. Knowing he did made her slightly uncomfortable.

"He only says nice things, though" Marcus said, almost reading her mind.

"Yep, as if that makes it normal," Poppy replied. "Can we talk about something else, please?"

"Sure. So, where's your brother? I figured he'd be trailing us but I haven't seen him," Marcus asked, half-jokingly.

"He's on a date," Poppy said, slowly sipping her butterbeer.

"A date? With a girl? That's a first."

"He's had many first dates but no second ones. Too busy, he says."

"Aye, you're never too busy to enjoy the company of a beautiful woman."

"Haven't seen you around one, either," Poppy quipped.

"What do you think I'm doing right now?"

Poppy was taken aback by this, her cheeks flushed, and Marcus clearly noticed as he started laughing.

"Relax, it was a joke."

Poppy breathed a sigh of relief and laughed with him but she couldn't help being a little embarrassed. What if he knew exactly what she was thinking? What if he wanted to tease her?

Later that day, after supper, there was an incident. Sirius Black had apparently broken into the Gryffindor Tower and so Professor Dumbledore made all the students sleep in the Great Hall as the castle was thoroughly searched for the murderer. To Poppy, it was actually rather fun to spend the night somewhere other than the dungeons, and lots of students stayed up whispering far longer than they were allowed. So did Poppy and Grace.

"I'm sure he meant it, it was his subtle way of saying you're beautiful," Grace whispered.

"No, he was just messing with me, as a mate," Poppy replied quietly, tying her hair into a bun. They were trying to be as quiet as possible, since Oliver's sleeping bag was no more than ten students away. He looked to be sleeping already, but Poppy wouldn't have been surprised to know he was eavesdropping on her conversation.

"If you say so, but I saw the way he looked at you when you came in," Grace said.

Poppy had been wearing the shirt Marcus had given her almost non-stop as her pyjama top, and tonight was no exception. Grace was already in The Great Hall, when Poppy arrived, and she absolutely insisted there had been some sort of look on Marcus' face when he had seen her, wearing the shirt. Poppy had not seen Marcus, as The Hall was packed with students, and had a hard time believing Grace, though she did have an eye for this sort of thing.

"I'm telling you, he likes you," Grace mumbled before falling asleep.

A/N: I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you that have read, reviewed, followed or favorited my story. It means a lot:)