Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters.
Note: Thank you again for your kind comments and happy vibe SiobhanPhelps/Abby. lol. The chapter is alright, the next one is kinda crazy. May or may not be posted tonight. I will tell you though that Madison woman needs to go. And remember Matt is hottt, stop hating on him. :-P Happy reading everyone.
Back to Hogsmade
"Tammie" I heard a voice said from a few feet away. I looked over, Matt, again. Part of me wanted to be annoyed with him; he was intruding on my thoughts, again. I let him walk over to me, I didn't want to seem too desperate for his attention, he had enough of that. "How are you?" he asked. I let my anger slip away, he sounded much too sincere to stay mad at for long.
"I'm well, thanks, how about you?" I asked, suddenly a thought about my schedule popped into my head. I didn't realize how busy I was going to be.
"Fine thanks. I heard you're going to be on the Quidditch team, Chaser huh?" he asked. I nodded, my thoughts still on my schedule.
"I'm sorry, um, do you need something?" I asked, trying to sound as nice as I possibly could. He laughed as he shook his head.
"No, but, I thought maybe you could use this;" he pulled out a roll of parchment. "Obviously you can't copy the whole thing, but I know you don't much like Astronomy and I want to help you." I unraveled the parchment, it was the Astronomy homework. Surely, not something I should have.
"It's okay, I can get by on my own" I replied, trying to push his paper into his hands but he didn't even look like he was trying to take it.
"Tammie, honestly, it's okay, and you can't really get in trouble. I know you have a lot on your mind. If you're having trouble with class I don't want you to struggle and risk the things you are good at" he explained. I wanted to laugh; I wanted to ask why he was so kind to me. He wasn't this kind to the other students.
"Are you sure?" I asked instead. He nodded, giving me a smile.
"Trust me, if you start struggling with one thing the first thing to go is your relationship and I kind of always rooted for you and Fred, you two make a nice pair." I was surprised to hear his words. I should've been relieved, he even said them with sincerity, but something was missing. In his eyes, something was missing when he said it. I couldn't help but wonder if the memory at the library had slipped back into his mind like it did mine.
"Oh, thanks, I think Fred would appreciate hearing that" I told him as I tried to smile. Matt nodded, smiled too, but I sensed it was forced.
"Allen, Knacks, it's such a pleasure seeing you both out here" Professor Madison said, walking down a staircase toward us.
"Well, yes, friends do hang out outside of class sometimes" I said sarcastically. She looked at him and smiled, blinking more than necessary but held her composure.
"I only meant that it's nice to see you with someone who hasn't purposely poisoned you" she said. I half wondered how she knew about that but she kept talking. "But, I know you tend to struggle letting people go who have hurt you" she said with a knowing smile. Screw you. I thought to myself as I half smiled back at her. "Don't get me wrong dear, I'm sure Fred is good for something," For some reason her words seemed to make Matt twitch. What did he care, he said he rooted for me and Fred.
"He's good for a lot somethings" I said though I knew that didn't exactly help my case. She didn't say respond; I assumed it was because she didn't have a comment but then I realized she was looking pass me, at the group of students who just filed in. I turned to look too; Fred was among them.
"I'm missing another party aren't I?" he asked parting from his group and walking over to us, wrapping his arms around my waist. I couldn't be more thankful to have Fred be able to pick up an awkward or threatening situation and turn into something cheerful like George did.
"Ah, Mr. Weasley, no, we were just talking about making friends, it's nice to see that you and Mr. Knacks are both so close to Miss. Allen here" Professor Madison said. I froze, wondering if Fred could pick up this situation as easily.
"Well, you know how we men are, we find things of interest and they just draw us together in a wonderful web of friendship" Matt said with a full smile. Professor Madison looked at him for a moment, her lips forming into a frown. She didn't except him to reply like that. Granted, I didn't either, nor did I image Fred.
"Obviously it would be a girl such as Tammie that would bring us together, I mean, can you honestly think of no one better. She can be too caring like that" Fred said, his humor easily flowing as he kissed my forehead.
"Of course, well, if you don't mind, I need to have a word with Professor Snape and then I'll be off grading papers." She didn't wait for any of us to say goodbye as she strolled into the Great Hall.
"See you later Tammie" Matt said then nodded toward Fred, Fred nodding back. I shook my head as I looked after him.
"He's nicer than we give him credit for" I told Fred who was had finally let go of me. He didn't say anything for a moment.
"Everyone has a hidden motive Tam" he said quietly, his eyes moving from mine down to the parchment in my hand and then back up to my eyes. I looked away; I didn't want him to ask about it. "I'm going to chat with George for minute; I'll see you in the common room." He kissed my forehead and then walked into the Great Hall. I remained where I was for a moment. I should've followed him; I should've told him what the parchment was. He shouldn't have had to ask or waited for my response. I sighed, letting myself forget it as I headed up the common room to start on the enormous pile of work.
The middle of October approached, which meant the first weekend was the first trip back to Hogsmade. It also meant the first Quidditch game was coming up. Ravenclaw versus Slytherin. As the day approached to go to Hogsmade I seriously considered staying in my room, the amount of homework was ridiculous and it seemed Fred was more often a distraction than a help. Though, I never thought he minded, he wasn't the one going from O's to E's on his assignments. As I rolled out of bed I remembered that Melinda wanted to meet for a butterbeer. Even though George had seemed to do a very nice job at perking her up I knew if I avoided her it would only decline her mood again.
My body was slow in moving, it wanted to sleep, I wanted to sleep, just a few more hours. As I dressed the thought staying from Hogsmade popped up again; if I stayed and finished the assignments I'd be in bed earlier, I thought. I shook it from my mind. The few days I had managed to finish early Fred would find me and we'd get to talking. It always ended the same. After testing out the vomiting and nosebleeds and disappearing under the new hats he'd come over and sit with me, talk about anything that was on my mind at the moment, letting me rant about the assignments and then offer a few words of support, or even a joke, but then on several occasions he'd draw a breath to whisper something but each time he'd instantly close his mouth and decide against whatever he wanted to say. The only reason I never said anything was because Abby had joined us almost every night for a ten minute conversation, practically idolizing Fred.
"What do you keep trying to tell me eh?" I asked him on the way to Hogsmade Saturday morning. "I mean, it can't be that bad, what do you think I'll do? Run away screaming?" I joked.
"Maybe that's exactly what you'll do" he said dryly, hooking my hand in his as we strolled. I shrugged, I wanted to say something else, but Matt caught my attention, waving at me, a few other girls surrounding him.
"Hey, where are you headed first?" he asked as we walked closer. It amazed me how bright his eyes were, how excited he could get when he spoke. Even in class he appeared to be opening up more. He'd talk to someone every now and then. He even forced Draco to talk, though Draco never truly seemed to hate Matt, there seemed to be something under the surface, something I never quite understood. "I was thinking you'd both like to come and get Butterbeers with me?" he asked, looking mainly at Fred.
"Actually, you two go enjoy something, I'll join you later, Honeydukes, right?" I asked as I unhooked my hand from Fred's. "I have to go meet Melinda" I added running back and kissing Fred on the cheek.
I realized I never confirmed a place to meet Melinda, but I knew Hog's Head was certainly not where she'd be willing to meet. I walked past it, smiling as I remembered our first trip for the thousandth time. I walked closer, Zonko's Joke Shop. I knew Fred would want to stop in there. Hopefully I'd be paying attention so I'd know what to get him for Christmas.
I stopped as I looked at Madame Puddifoot's tea shop. I moved closer and biting my lip I opened the door. The smell hit me first. Lillies, roses, all wonderful scents, all balanced. The place was tiny, cramped, but lovely, they had redecorated a bit, but it didn't lose the romantic genre it was trying to get by. I looked around, finding Melinda instantly; she was the only person sitting by herself. It took a few minutes to get to her, I felt bad and slightly embarrassed about walking past the people on dates or kissing. Melinda frowned as I approached her. "How did you know?" she asked looking up at me as I sat down.
"Eh, you've always been one for the cheesy stuff" I joked as I leaned back in the chair. I looked around, it wasn't a bad looking place really.
"How are things going with you and Fred, I meant to ask you last night on the way from dinner, but I was just so tired." I nodded; I knew she was, I was too. I didn't even remember seeing her.
"We're good, he keeps trying to tell me something but he sorta stops and never really lets me bring it up again," I sighed, feeling slightly disappointed about it again, but I knew he probably had his reasons. When I looked up at Melinda though she looked ten times happier than when I sat down. "What?" I asked, looking around wondering if George had decided to pop in after all.
"He hasn't said anything?" she asked. I shook my head again, this time watching her expression.
"No, nothing, he gets really stiff and serious looking and kinda quiet but never says anything" I told her again. She smiled and looked at me but I blinked, wondering what on earth could possibly be going through her head.
"You're really thick, you know that don't you?" she asked with a laugh.
"Then why don't you tell me since you seem to know everything" I replied sarcastically. She shook head, sipping on whatever was in her cup.
"It's not my place to tell you, but, it's good" she said the last part so quickly I wasn't even sure if I heard it correctly.
"What are we doing meeting in a tea shop anyway?" I asked.
"It's about Draco" she said, setting her cup down and moving it toward me.
"Okay, well, I kind of figured that" I admitted. She looked at me questionably. "Well, this is the least likely place you'd hear anyone say anything about him so you know you're pretty safe to freely talk about him" I explained leaning on my elbows. "So, what's the deal with my awful cousin Draco?" I asked smiling at her. I thought she'd smile too but she didn't. Instead she had the opposite reaction. Her face seemed to become red, as red as the rose behind her. I turned and followed her gaze. Standing at the counter was Draco Malfoy. I wasn't sure whether or not I should be waving so instead I turned back toward Melinda who was looking confused. She started to open her mouth, as if to ask me the same question I wanted to ask her but her lips seemed to snap shut and her face emptied of color. I laughed; it was like someone had instantly sucked the blood out of her. When she didn't react to my laugh I turned back around to look at Draco; my mouth hanging open when I noticed Courtney holding his arm.
"Hey, don't worry about it" I told Melinda turning back around, though my head was still in their direction. Thankfully we were out of the way, they didn't see us, even as they made their way to an isolated corner they still didn't see us. "They're in the same house" I said, though I knew it was less reassurance. I looked back over, they were laughing, Courtney's hand was on Draco's. "They're probably just talking about the Quidditch game coming up. You guys play them first, right?" I was mainly talking to give Melinda a distraction; she'd curse them both if she was absorbed in her own thoughts too long.
"Yeah, and they're going down, I'll make sure of that." I didn't need to look at her expression and ask why she sounded so cold, so threatening because as I stared at Draco and Courtney, Courtney leaned in and kissed Draco and Draco didn't even try and pull back.
