Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Chapter 26, Hogsmeade
The fab four were in the forest hunting for mushrooms for Heather and Raislen's Herbology assignment when Heather suddenly let out an excited gasp. "I nearly forgot. We shall have a Hogsmeade weekend coming up in a few weeks! You did get your permission form signed, didn't you, Severus?"
"Of course I did!" Severus practically shouted with glee, because at last he could go to Hogsmeade. For two entire years, through some shared feat of amazing perseverance, Heather and Raislen had been able to refrain from going to Hogsmeade more than once or twice a year. They hadn't wanted to abandon Severus, who wasn't allowed to go yet. The few times they went, Severus had stuck to the Slytherin common room to avoid the Gryffindor Gang Of Gits. Heather and Raislen were always kind enough to bring him back something from their magical shopping sprees, which always made him feel special. Now he could finally go and buy his own things. He hadn't much money, so he'd have to spend it carefully.
"That's rubbish," Regulus grumbled. "You lot are going to go off and have fun while I sit in the Slytherin common room and read."
"You didn't mind reading yesterday," Raislen pointed out. "Reading is fun."
"Yes, but I can read any time and you bloody know it," Regulus said resentfully.
"We'll bring you back something nice," Raislen said.
"You don't have to," Regulus said with a sigh. "I've been to Hogsmeade plenty of times with my parents and Kreacher. I just thought it'd be even more fun to go with you lot. That's all." Suddenly Regulus's eyes narrowed. "What if I can meet you all in Hogsmeade?"
"But how," Heather asked. "First years aren't allowed. You know that."
"Are you going to turn me in if I somehow manage, Miss Prefect," Regulus teased, laughing.
Heather frowned. "Of course not. I'd never turn you in for being a proper Slytherin. But if you get caught and lose us house points, I will be angry, because getting caught would be stupid." Regulus nodded sagely. "Indeed. Getting caught would be stupid, and I have absolutely no intention of doing so. The last thing I would do is cost us house points. I have very personal reasons for wanting to beat Gryffindor out for the house cup, after all. My prat of a brother has shamed our family by being sorted into that rubbish house."
"Very well, so how are you going to meet us in Hogsmeade," Raislen wondered.
Regulus smiled mysteriously. "You'll see. Where shall you go first?"
"Honeydukes," Severus said excitedly. He remembered well that this was where Heather and Raislen always liked to go first when they'd gone to Hogsmeade without him in the past. Every time when they'd come back they'd given him all the details so he'd know what to look forward to when he could at last come along.
Raislen chuckled. "Yep. It's best to fill up on sugar first so that you have plenty of energy to run about town. looking at potions and books. Perhaps I'll even visit the joke shop this time too."
Heather frowned. "What do you want from there?"
"Nothing to do with you," Raislen told her. "So don't be all suspicious. I was thinking of buying something to use on the Gryffindor Gits. You know, something I can amp up with a bit of magic to make it end up being even funnier than intended."
Heather smiled in approval and Severus snickered.
"Don't expect them to take any one else's jokes well that aren't their own," Regulus warned.
Raislen grinned. "Oh I'm counting on it."
"You know, now that I've calmed down, I think I may wait a while for my revenge on those Gryffindor prats," Heather said. As she spoke, she resumed her hunt for mushrooms, bending over to carefully move aside the leaves of ground foliage under which they were supposed to be growing. "I think it'll be so much better if they think they scared me off. They'll be all stupid and complacent, and then it will happen. When it happens, they shall learn the hard way that they did indeed not scare me off and that I am not to be trifled with."
"Um I think it was me who got trifled with," Severus muttered. "I found one," he added triumphantly, waving a fat mushroom in the air.
"Give me," Raislen said. "Regulus gave the last one to Heather Toy. It's my turn."" Severus handed Raislen the mushroom and he dropped it into a basket that hung over his arm. "Thanks, Kid," he said, then grunted in pain as Heather's fist flew into his stomach.
"See? Just like that. Raislen stupidly did not see my fist coming for calling me that dreadful name, and that is precisely how it shall be with the Gryffindor Gits. And yes, Severus they did trifle with you, but as you even said, it was because of what I did, so I owe them but big."
"What are you going to do," Raislen asked as he straightened and rubbed his belly. "What is this big IT that you have planned for them?"
"I don't know yet, but I have plenty of time to figure it out. Time is stage one. As I said, it shall allow them to grow complacent which will make it even worse when I pay them back. It shall be before Christmas, though," she assured. "I don't want to wait too long. Wait too long and they could forget what they're being punished for by the time it happens, which wouldn't do at all. It's all a balance, you see. Too soon and they don't get all complacent, too long and they forget what it's all about and neither of those make for proper revenge."
"She's scary," Regulus said appreciatively. He chuckled.
"That's my Heather Toy," Raislen said, then dodged aside as Heather swung at him. Darting determinedly toward him, she swung again. Laughing and shouting Raislen ran backward away from her until his back crashed into a tree and her fist finally struck home. Raislen groaned as the air left his lungs and he doubled over.
"Sadly, even some otherwise smart individuals never learn certain things," Heather lamented calmly to Severus and Regulus.
"I can see that," Regulus said, giving Raislen an amused smirk. Severus rolled his eyes and shook his head before resuming his hunt for mushrooms along with the rest.
There must have indeed been something to Heather's thought process on revenge, because the Gryffindor Gang of Gits left Severus and Regulus alone for the most part for several weeks. For the most part, because of course there were still the random name calling incidents between classes, but they were half-hearted. This didn't mean they didn't make Severus's blood boil, but he took comfort in the knowledge that revenge was to be had. Hopefully when Heather decided what she was going to do, she'd let him help. He owed them even more than she did as he saw it. If she did not include him, it just meant he'd have to get them back on his own, and that was alright too. It meant they'd get what they had coming two or three fold, considering Raislen had plans as well.
Severus hoped the older boy got inspired by something at the joke shop when they went to Hogsmeade. The more ways the Gryffindor Gits could be made to pay for being their Gittish selves the better. Maybe one day they'd eventually feel they'd paid enough and actually leave he and Regulus alone. Though Severus didn't see much to like in most people, he truly did not understand the inherent need of the Gryffindor Gang of Gits to actively seek someone out and start rubbish with them! He genuinely didn't comprehend the appeal. He was quite alright with not thinking at all like the Gryffindor Gits, though. Granted if he did, he may be able to sort faster ways to pay them back, but then again perhaps not. By the time their first trip of the year to Hogsmeade came around, the Gits were the last thing on his mind, so eager was he to explore the town with his friends.
Like Regulus, he'd been to the wizarding town with his mum, but going with friends was different. It made one feel all grown up somehow, free to do whatever one liked! When the big day arrived, he woke full of energy and eager anticipation. While Heather and Raislen bought a ton of sweets at Honeydukes, Severus was more careful with his money. He planned to spend most of the little he had at the potions shop so only got two pieces of his favorite candy ever. The name said it all. Best-In-Three-Worlds chocolate with almond.
Raislen and Heather were taking their time selecting their own sweets in order not to be too obvious while waiting for Regulus. As he was finished shopping far faster, Severus took the opportunity to inhale one of the two slabs of chocolate. He was almost finished with it, when Regulus dashed in with an unusual looking house elf at his side. The elf's nose had a pronounced hook to it, causing him to look rather severe instead of cute as many other elves did.
"Here I am," Black sang out happily. The elf glanced carefully around, clearly assessing the situation. His watchful expression relaxed when Heather and Raislen waved from where they stood across the shop in front of a glass enclosed rack of tiny Fun-Fudge cakes. Severus approached Regulus as he shoved the last bit of almond chocolate into his mouth. He tried to smile with his mouth closed while still chewing in way of greeting. The attempt must have worked out alright, because the elf smiled back as Regulus introduced them.
"Severus, this is my friend Kreacher. He helped to sneak me out of Hogwarts, because the Apparation blocks don't work on elves!" He gave a pleased smile. "Told you I'd get here. I even informed my parents so they'd not bother Kreacher for the entire day. As I knew would be the case, they were fine with the arrangement."
"Kreacher," Raislen called. He hurried over before Severus could say more than "Hi." That was good, because Severus rarely knew what to say to people he didn't know. He gave Raislen a relieved smile and Raislen grinned back before returning his enthusiastic focus to the elf. "So we finally get to meet the individual that Regulus is always writing to." He extended a hand for Kreacher to shake. Seemingly surprised, the elf blinked his large eyes, then extended his own and shook.
"Kreacher is pleased to meet any friends of Master Regulus, especially when they dislike Master Sirius. It says much for their upstanding character."
Raislen chuckled. "Awesome! I'm Raislen WestCraven, by the way."
Kreacher bobbed his head. "Kreacher is pleased to meet Raislen WestCraven."
"I hate it when you call me Master Regulus," Regulus complained, frowning at Kreacher.
Kreacher shrugged, frowning back. "It is only proper."
"I said I hate it," Regulus retorted darkly as if that were more important. Severus supposed it probably was.
"We don't care about proper in this group," Heather said cheerfully as she approached. Her hands were full of individually wrapped Fun-Fudge cakes. Severus couldn't help eying them hungrily. They were so delicious and gave one the experience of having the time of their life when eating one, thus their name Fun-Fudge.
"Don't worry, we got enough to share," Heather told him. Apparently his hungry glance hadn't gone unnoticed. "That goes for the two of you as well," she added to Regulus and Kreacher. "We can stop in first at The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. While we're there, we can snack on the goodies we bought here before going to plunder all of our favorite shops!"
"Brilliant," Regulus breathed. "Isn't it brilliant, Kreacher," he asked the elf excitedly.
Kreacher gave the cakes a skeptical look. "Kreacher supposes it could be. He has never had one of those cakes before."
"You look as if you could do with some fun," Raislen told him. "It'll loosen you up a bit."
"Oh Kreacher is plenty of fun," Regulus insisted as Heather and Raislen went to pay.
"Like pranking Sirius or what," Heather asked, peering curiously at Regulus and Kreacher over one shoulder.
"Not so much, but he's a great chess player and we read books together all the time," Regulus said. "And we talk. He and I can talk about anything and we can tell our secrets to one another. It's nice to have someone you can tell anything to, you know?"
Before Raislen and Heather, Severus couldn't relate, but now that he had them, he could nod right along with them in understanding. He did envy Regulus having someone like that far sooner than he himself had. "Kreacher dislikes Master Sirius more than even he dislikes Muggles, but he dares not prank him," the elf said regretfully.
"It is a pity, because Kreacher's pranks would be Darkly wicked... Nasty, and horrific. Master Sirius would be very sorry he ever was unkind to Kreacher and Master Regulus if Kreacher felt free to do anything he liked to him." Severus decided to ignore the Muggles comment. Kreacher was not insulting Tobias Snape. He'd never met Severus's father, and perhaps if he did, he'd give him a chance and grow to like him quite a lot. Severus had to think so. So he didn't comment on that bit, focusing instead on the bit of what the elf said that he agreed with.
"I can completely relate," Severus said fervently. "Only nothing is stopping me from *pranking* him. I just need the proper opportunity and... well you know, not getting myself thrown out of school or put in Azkaban."
Kreacher snickered, nodding. "Kreacher understands."
"Well now that we all agree on how rubbish Sirius Black is, let's go and have fun," Heather said. She and Raislen happily picked up their now paid for bags of sweets and led the way from Honeydukes.