Starry skies and Gardenias

Chapter 87

The Hogsmeade weekend came sooner than expected, and Isabella wasn't entirely prepared for the 'date'. 

She would have usually spent a maximum of one hour in the village and gone back. 

Isabella stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a couple of minutes. Should she do anything different than she would have usually done? . . .No, not really. It wasn't worth too much effort and bother.

Yeah. She was fine as normal. 

She went down to breakfast early, as always and when the owl post arrived, she had a few letters, all addressed to 'Valerie'. Apparently, writing for the Witch Weekly came with this extra responsibility.

The first letter was from a witch, saying that she absolutely adored Valerie and that her horoscopes were the only thing she looked forward to reading.

Then there was a wizard claiming that he was finally going to open his dream store because he trusted in Valerie's predictions. 

Isabella went through five more thank you letters, one of which was a bit more flirtatious than any other. 

She put them away in her bag, and later, she would deposit them in her trunk. 

People were fickle-minded. They wouldn't stay in one lane. When public opinion sways, most of them follow that path. So, she didn't take any of the things she had read seriously. She appreciated it, yes. It made her feel good, yes. But she knew better than to fall for the sweet words, which were most of the time exaggerated. 

She had better things to do. And she wasn't doing this for the thanks or the appreciation. She was doing it for money, simple. 

It took her a while to realise that they had never agreed on a place to meet up at and for a moment she imagined both of them missing each other every time they looked and thinking the other one had stood them up.

Then she realised that the Marauders had the Map, and they would find her regardless, as long as she wasn't in the Room of Requirement. 

She didn't feel like waiting in the common room, so she set off to the grounds, thinking. 

"Alrighty, here's the plan, Moony," Sirius said, handing the Map to James, who had just seen Lily, and handed the Map to Peter, before sauntering off. 

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Peter whispered and waited for the Map to develop before he looked for their target.

"First, we find where she is," Sirius said. "Wormtail,"

"The grounds," Peter answered as they took the marble stairs to the Entrance Hall. 

"Great," Sirius said brightly. "So, now you go up to her. And say, 'I thought you'd be here',"

"That's manipulation," Remus deadpanned.

"No, it isn't," Sirius rolled his eyes. "You give girls flowers as a romantic gesture. But isn't it more like bribing them to stay with you?"

"That's not how it works—" Remus started.

"D'you think you should take flowers?" James who had just rejoined their group said. "Orchideous," 

A bunch of pink tulips burst into being in his hands.

"Nice, eh?" he said, proud of his creation.