because i liked a boy • fred weasley

Chapter 12 - Saturday, October 5th

It's finally time for the Hogsmeade trips. The school graciously sets up carriages and thestrals to go back and forth almost every hour, so any walking is removed from the equation.

Talia, Nathan, and I loaded into a cart with a couple of other students. They always try to get me to walk around the town with them, but I know how romantic Hogsmeade can be, plus I like to walk around alone. I always meet up with them at the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer before we hit Honeydukes.

"I'm gonna go towards Diagon Alley first," I tell the couple as we get off of the cart. I glance back at the thestrals and admire their whimsical beauty. I know that I'm probably the only person here who can see them right now. I remember the first time I saw them, I went to go pet them and Talia looked at me as if I had birds flying out of my ears. "I need more cigs."

"Okay, Three Broomsticks in an hour?" Talia asks as her eyes wander all of the shops.

"Can we do two hours? I hear there's gonna be a street table book sale for dirt cheap," I feel myself getting giddy at the thought of buying a stack of books.

"Of course, find me something good?"

I nod and say goodbye to both of them, walking in the direction of Diagon Alley.

Nowhere in Hogsmeade sells cigarettes, and I'm sure if a shop did, one of the professors would be posted at the door the entire day to make sure no student stepped foot inside.

I walk to the steps that lead down into the alley, passing some sketchy creatures with every couple feet that pass. I find the cart that sells some mild drugs and buy my normal packs.

"You should try this," the man holds up a single cigarette in my face, "it's an ever-lasting cig. We just got them in."

"Have you smoked it yourself?" I ask, skeptically.

"No," he gives no other explanation.

"Will I be the first person to buy it?"

"Yes."

"I'm good," I pass on the somehow forever cig, but pick up a bag of some candy looking thing. "What's this?"

The man looks to see what's in my hand. "Ah, those are popular among the young. You eat one of the candies and get all of the effects of being high. It's like an edible, but you don't have to wait 20 minutes to feel the bliss, it's instant. Plus this high can be stopped with a spell, unlike normal weed."

I decide to grab a small bag of it, pay for the 6 packs of cigs and the magic edibles, and leave the alley as fast as possible. The stares I get down here leave a chill down my spine. I put all of the goodies I just bought in my bag so they don't immediately get confiscated by any lingering professors.

Getting back into the town is like a breath of fresh air, the smell of urine and weed disappears at the opposite end of the stairs. There's gotta be some sort of barrier between the two that divides the atmosphere completely.

I go towards the tables with books piled on it and tell myself that my limit is 10. 10 books will be enough to get me through until the next time I get to a bookstore. As I scan the covers, I see a mix of both muggle and wizard authors.

"Actually, I'm okay," I hear my sisters voice say from the other side of the table, and as soon as I look up, I see her walking away from her group of friends – away from me.

I see Harry, Ron, and Hermione watching her leave. Ron's expressing his confusion because Luna was dragging them to this table. I immediately recognize that she wants to avoid me so bad that she can't stand to be within 15 feet of me.

Hermione gives me a small smile once she sees me, and tells the boys that they'll come back here later. I know Luna's happier to be hanging out with these Gryffindors than the other Ravenclaws. I guess we have gravitating to that house in common.

It takes me over an hour to pick through the huge pile of books, and by the time I decide on which ones I'm going to buy, it's time to meet Talia and Nathan at the pub. I lug my now heavy bag over my shoulder and go into the pub, looking for my friends.

I find them at a back table sitting with George. They already have 4 butterbeers in front of them, so I sit down without ordering one.

"Find anything good?" Talia jokes as I drop my tote on the floor next to me, it lands with a thud.

"You're gonna love some of them," I grin at her. I kept her in the back of my mind when picking some out. She loves a friends to lovers story, whereas my favorite is enemies to lovers. She doesn't understand enemies to lovers because "how can you hate someone so much and then just all of a sudden love them?" The "there's a thin line between love and hate" line doesn't do it for her.

I take a sip of the chilled butterbeer in front of me, moaning at how great it tastes. "Thanks for this by the way."

Nathan responds, "No problem."

"So where did you go off to?" George asks me, eyeing my bag.

"Got some cigs and some edibles that the cart man convinced me to get," I take another sip. "He also tried to get me to try this everlasting cig."

"Fred and I were trying to make something like that!" George laughs, reminding me of when Talia told me they like to make prank items. I remember one time in my 3rd year they pranked a 1st year with some pimple juice, giving the poor kid welts on his face the size of a snitch.

"Go try it out and let me know how it is," I joke. "But I also got a dozen or so books."

"It took you that long to go book shopping?" George asks puzzled.

"Let me tell you," Nathan jumps in, "bringing these two to any bookstore is a death sentence. They take forever."

We continue bantering as we finish our drinks, then file out to head over to Honeydukes.

"I need some Sugar Quill lollies now," I pretend to bed Talia. She mentions how dramatic I am when it comes to sweets.

We go into the shop and I go to the section I know was made for me. I buy some Sugar Quill lollypops and a bunch of Chocolate Frogs and decide that's enough sweets for me.

I tell the others that I'm gonna wait outside for them. I sit on the bench that's across from the store and open one of the lollypops, sucking on it as I wait.

"You're so fucking pathetic, do you know that?" A girls voice shouts from the alley between Honeydukes and the shop next door.

"That's rubbish," a man shouts back.

I lean over to be nosy and find none other than Angelina and Fred in a heated fight. I make the decision to mind my business before I get caught snooping, and focus on the people around me.

"Ready?" Talia asks once they're all done with shopping.

We walk back to where the carriage picks everyone up to bring us back to school. I'm the first one to get in and am shocked to see Fred getting in, sitting across from me.

"Hey," I touch my shoe to his, lying through my teeth, "I didn't know you came today."

Fred smiles at me, but his eyes are telling me a whole different story. "Yeah, had to come stock up on a couple of things for some inventions George and I are working on."

"Where are they?" I ask.

"What?"

"You don't have anything with you," I motion to the floor.

Fred's face flashes with realization, "Got distracted?"

I don't say anything else. Instead, I open another Sugar Quill and offer it to him, smiling when he takes it from my hand and puts it in his mouth, winking at me. I play with the wrapper in my hands and think about how childish I feel with myself.