Fey Pov
Hogsmead was stunningly decorated as I walked down the streets. Pumpkins were enchanted to glow during the daylight hours, and orange and black garlands hung from every surface, shining in the light.
It was spectacular to see!
Pansy held onto my arm, and we walked through the streets together, with the boys following behind us.
"Why are they here with us?" Pansy whispered in my ear, leaning close so they couldn't hear her.
I looked over my shoulder the same time she did, and we saw them several feet behind us, laughing with each other.
I was almost positive they had followed us because of me, but I didn't know if I was ready to tell her that yet, "I thought we were all friends?" I asked her, shrugging.
"Well, sure we are, but they've never felt the need to follow me around like this," she gave me a look I couldn't figure out and tugged me into the Honedukes.
The shelves were lined with Halloween-themed treats and snacks, and as soon as we stepped inside, Lorenzo was on our tails just as excited as we were for the sugar sweets.
I made a beeline for the Sugard Butterfly Wings and Chocolate Skeletons, snagging a few because they were my favorites. Along the way, I snatched a pack of Chocolate Cauldrons and Cristilized Pinneapples before I squeezed through the crowd with my goodies to pay.
Passing Lorenzo as he loaded his arms with Sugar Quills and chocolates was a task. He was like a small child holding his treats while Pansy giggled, trying to snag a few as he cleared the shelves.
The sweet old woman cleared her throat, drawing my attention. Smiling, I moved to the counter and placed my things for her to see. As she bagged them, I counted out my gold, but before I could pay, a hand settled on my hip and tugged me into a solid body.
Looking up, I found Blaise taking care of my treats, setting a small pile of gold on the counter.
"You don't have to do that."
He only looked down at me and raised a brow.
The sweet woman smiled at us and handed me my bag and Blaise his change before he led me out of the shop with his hand still firmly on my hip. He guided me down the steps and to a bench before the shop.
We sat with our thighs touching silently before he settled his arm around my shoulders.
I watched the students and Professors pass us by on the street and did my best not to overthink about his arm on my shoulders. Its heavy presence was soothing and relaxing but a sudden change for Blaise, who was normally reserved and quiet in his own world when we were together.
"Come to my Quidditch match against Gryffindor," Blaise said, his eyes focused on the shops across the street.
My eyes settled on the side of his face, "Your first match next week?" I asked curiously.
He turned to look at me then, looking over my face before he gave me a small nod.
"Okay, I'll go."
He gave me a small grin, clearly pleased with himself. He gave my arm a gentle squeeze, and we continued to sit in a peaceful silence until Lorenzo and Draco came out arguing, followed by a howling Pansy.
Draco pinched the bridge of his nose, frowning, and pointed at Lorenzo, holding four massive bags of sweets, "He bought half the shop."
"I only made you pay for the one bag," Lorenzi said defensively, "You ate from my stash last night."
"Good lord," Draco muttered, "I didn't think you'd..."
I stood and stepped between them, "We did promise to replace what took, Draco," I looked to Lorenzo, "Are you being honest?"
Lorenzo nodded, grinning, but the longer I stared at him, the more his smile faltered until he finally frowned and dropped his bags. He pulled out four gold coins and shoved them at Draco, "Here." he groaned.
Draco grinned, stuffing the coins in the pocket, "What a child."
"Draco, don't be so cruel. You know how much he loves his sweets." I scolded him.
Lorenzo stuck his tongue out, and Pansy laughed as Draco pulled out his wand.
Throwing up my hands, I took hold of Pansy and let her lead me off in the direction of the other shops. They really were like children sometimes. Blaise followed alongside us, ignoring his friends, who continued to squabble.
Pansy stopped suddenly and squealed, "Oh yes! We need to stop here!" She took hold of my hand and tugged me into a shop I hadn't seen before. I looked back at Blaise, but he had stopped at the bottom of the steps along with Draco and Lorenzo, who looked slightly uncomfortable.
Turning back to the excited Pansy, I finally noticed where she had taken me.
A lingerie shop.
My cheeks flamed, and she giggled, "You're almost as bad as the boys, come on. Help me find something. I have a date tonight."
That caught my interest, "A date? Who with?"
She was the one to blush this time, "I haven't told many," she looked up at me with narrowed eyes, "If you tell anyone, I promise I'll kill you."
I raised my hands in surrender, "I swear I won't tell anyone."
"I have a date with Laura Madley..." She whispered under her breath, not meeting my eyes.
My eyes bugged out, and my mouth gapped, "You mean the Hufflepuff chaser?" I asked, shocked.
Pansy nodded, "We've already gone on a few dates. Things have started to get serious. Tonight, I want to make sure I look nice..."
"Oh, Pansy. We will make sure you look ravishing," I promised her as I made my way to the racks to search the options.
We spent an hour looking through the different sets and finally found a beautiful lavender set that made Pansy's pale skin and dark hair stand out beautifully.
Before I could head for the door, Pansy took hold of my jumper and pulled me back, "Where do you think you're going?"
"I was going to wait for you outside."
She shook her head, "There is no way I am going to let you do all the work for me and then let you leave empty-handed. We need to get you a few things," She eyed me up and down, "Maybe more than a few things."
"What do you mean?" I asked, eyeing my muggle clothing. My jeans and jumper were baggy and comfortable. I always wore it when I wasn't in school clothes.
"Fey, you were the same thing in different colors all the time," she rolled her eyes, "It's so boring. We need to give you some spice!"
"I don't know, Pansy."
"I am not taking no for an answer."
She took me to a dressing room and shoved me inside, ordering me to strip to my knickers before shoving clothes over the top of the door for me to try on.
I tried on tops, jumpers, skirts, dresses, jeans without holes, and something she called a romper. All of them were in my size, nothing baggy or oversized in sight. She would make me spin and twirl each time I came out before trying on the next set.
Admittedly, it was a wonderful feeling. She chose things that made me feel beautiful. Things that accentuated the best parts of my body and made me feel sexy.
When I tried on the final outfit, a dark green long-sleeved dress that fell to my knees, she told me that was the one. She scooped up my old outfit and tossed it in the trash, my shoes included, before handing me another pair of low flats and helping me take my new wardrobe to check out.
With my many bags, we left the shop and found the boys, Theo and Mattheo, loitering in the front of the shop, a few cigarettes passing between them. Pansy took the bags from my arms and shoved them at their chests before dragging me away again as they stared openly at my sudden change.
"I guess they are good for something," she mused.
"What would that be?" I asked, looking at them as they followed us.
"Carrying our bags, those were damn heavy."
I laughed at her joke, and she steered us into the Three Broomsticks. Sitting in a secluded booth, Pansy pranced to the bar, ordering enough Butterbeer for us all. The boys arrived and filed around me as Pansy returned from the bar.
Draco sat to my left and Theo to my right, blocking me with little room to move. Pansy was going on about how terrible Professor Flitwick had graded her on her last essay, pouting about how hard she had tried and how long she had studied.
I promised to help her but told her we would need to study in the common room or her dorm. The library was not an option. Twinky gathered the books I needed from the library for me when she could; if she couldn't, she would send another house elf. She was very helpful in that way.
"Thank you!" Pansy praised me, "What was your score on the essay? He gave me a dreadful, and I nearly cried..." she ranted.
"I received an Acceptable," I told her, "But I am working to get that to an Exceeds Expectations or better. I want to take NEWT level Charms next year."
Pansy snorted, "NEWT Charms? You're insane. I could never. Flitwick hates me as it is. I could only imagine how bad NEWTs would be."
I went to console her when a hand rested on my left knee. Tensing, I looked down and saw the identifiable rings of Draco. He was sipping at his Butterbeer as if he wasn't touching my bare skin, so close to the ugly scars on my thigh.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to ignore it, "Pansy NEWT Charms is required for almost every career you can imagine. What do you plan to do after school?" I asked her, raising my glass to my lips.
His hand slipped higher as his thumb rubbed slow circles into my skin. The corner of his mouth tipped up as I clenched my thighs together.
"Yeah, what can you do without NEWT Charms?" Lorenzo asked, leaning over the table, munching on a Suage Quill, "For real, tell me. If I don't have to take it, I really don't want to."
Mattheo smacked the back of his head, "You're taking it."
"Ow," Lorenzo sat back, rubbing his head and glaring at Mattheo. The two began to argue as Theo watched on, amused.
Pansy sighed, "I don't know what I want to do yet..."
"Really? You've got two years until graduation, and you have no idea?" Draco asked, clearly entertained by her inner turmoil.
"Shut it, Malfoy. What do you want to do?"
"Curse breaker," he told her quickly, pushing his hand higher up my skirt.
My skin started to heat, and his fingers gripped my thigh tightly before pushing my legs open slightly so he could rub the inside of my thigh. I felt like I was on fire. Liquid heat traveled up my spine and through every limb, impeding my thinking ability.
"Fey?"
I blinked rapidly and looked up at Pansy, "Yes? What was that?"
"I asked what you had planned?"
"Ah, sorry. I want to be Potioneer or maybe a Dragon Keeper," I shrugged, "I can't decide between the two."
"Potions and Dragons?"
"How different can you get?" Pansy laughed, "I guess it's good to have options."
Draco moved his hand upward, and I stilled as his fingers finally traced over the jagged scar on my inner thigh. I felt his body freeze as his fingers explored the anomaly carved into my skin. He was gentle, tracing over the dimpled flesh as if it would still cause me pain.
The curiosity of his wandering hand found the entrance and the exit my wand had made four years ago as I had tried to carve off the chunk of flesh from my body and failed. Trailing the old wound higher and higher, nearing the apex of my thighs, I panicked and clamped my legs around his hand, doing the one thing I had tried to stop.
I brought his fingers flush against my heat. Biting the inside of my lip, I tried not to react when his fingers wiggled against the damp fabric.
Pansy was chatting away, but I was no longer paying attention. My hands gripped my butterbeer, and my hips twitched softly each time Draco teased me with his touch.
"Draco!" A soft feminine voice squealed.
My eyes shot up, focusing on Astoria Greengrass, who was prancing to our booth like an excited puppy.
Draco said nothing. His fingers continued teasing me as she approached us.
"Draco, I was wondering when I would see you today!" she purred, grinning at him as if he were a prize she had won.
Jealousy reared its ugly head in my chest. It was a dark and bitter feeling, filling me completely.
Draco raised a brow at her questioningly and sipped his drink, waiting for her to explain herself. His fingers slipped past the edge of my panties, and I nearly cried out as he broached my wet lips and circled my clit with the tip of his finger.
Astoria frowned and crossed her arms, "You told me you would go to Hogsmead with me."
He nodded, and his finger slipped to my slit, teasing my entrance with his thick finger. His rings added a cold sensation to my thighs.
I could barely think, but I was angry when her words finally hit me. My teeth clenched, I placed my hands in my lap as if to straighten my skirt and pushed his hand away.
"We completely forgot you had a date today, Draco," I smiled sweetly at him, "Don't let us keep you from it."
He gripped my thigh to keep me near and shot me a glare.
I leaned into Theo, shaking off his hand as I did so. Looking up at Theo, I smiled, "Do you think we could all head to Scrivenshaft's? I need to get a new quill set."
Theo wrapped an arm around my shoulder, sensing my need to leave, and nodded. Pushing Mattheo and Lorenzo out of the booth, he kept his arm around me as he gathered my bags and shot Draco a look over Astoria's head. Pansy followed us, giving me an odd look, eyeing Theo's arm around me with a shocked expression.
We left Draco behind and walked to the stationary shop. When we were clear of the Three Broomsticks, I tried to slip out from under Theo, but he kept me by his side firmly.
Scrivenshaft's stationery was a fancy shop with large open windows in the front. When we entered, there was an elderly man seated at the counter reading the Profit. He nodded and promptly ignored us as we went to the shop.
Theo stuck by my side as I searched through the aisles of quill sets. The feathers came in various beautiful colors, but I had a few colors in mind. I either wanted a black feather quill or a very light grey feather quill; they were my favorite colors, but so few shops carried their colors, considering them dull and plain rather than universal and beautiful.
We passed a row of white quills and then a roll of blue quills before Theo stopped us and pushed me back against the aisle end cap. With a shuddering breath, I met his eyes, "Theo?"
"Oh, little love. I do not appreciate being used," he told me. His hands held me by my hips, keeping me planted against the aisle wall with nowhere to do, no that I wanted to go.
"I'm sorry, Theo. I was just so angry..."
He nodded in understanding, "That does not change the fact that you used me against my friend."
I nodded, ashamed of myself, "I did."
"How are you going to make it right?" he asked.
"I don't know," I looked pleadingly into his dark eyes, "What can I do, Theo?"
His chest rumbled, and he leaned down so our faces were inches apart, "A kiss, perhaps?"
He wanted a kiss? From me? My heart pitter-pattered in my chest with surprise and want, "A kiss?"
Theo nodded, waiting, "Unless you do not desire me as you do, my friends?"
He began to pull away, a frown tugging his lips downward, but before he could leave me, I grabbed hold of his tie and pulled him to meet me halfway. Planting my lips on his, I kissed him, pressing my body along his front, feeling his heat flowing into me where we touched.
His arms wrapped around me again, settling on my waist as his tongue parted my lips and delved into my mouth, tasting the sweet Butterbeer we had had minutes earlier.
When I could no longer breathe, I pulled back, letting go of his tie, patting as I tried to catch my breath.
"I do desire you, Theo."
He grinned wickedly at me before taking my hand.
We found a black feather quill set, and I bought two!