Ten Things I Hate About You {Regulus Black}

xxiv: hogsmeade

The end of January had come upon her quickly. Olivia's grief was still strong, still overwhelming at times. It hadn't gotten any easier, but she had learned to cope with it.

She had started hanging out with her friends again. Truthfully, she had missed them dearly. It felt good to be with them again, just like the old times.

It was the third Saturday of the month, which meant it was another Hogsmeade trip. While they were once every other weekend, a certain foursome of seventh year Gryffindor boys had ruined that experience.

Olivia followed Marie and Cordelia up the stairs to the Ravenclaw Common Room, where they found Kian sitting solemnly on one of the blue armchairs.

"What's with the long face?" Cordelia asked him as they approached him.

"I think Quentin is going to break up with me". He informed them.

"Kian, why?" Marie asked him with sadness in her voice. Kian shrugged softly, his gaze still lingering on the ground. "Are you two still fighting?"

"Yes." Kian nodded softly. "We've been mad at each other for so long, I can't even remember what we were fighting about in the first place."

"Couples fight, Kian." Olivia remarked from beside the two girls "You'll figure it out."

"Well, thanks for you sympathy, Olivia." Kian remarked with bitter sarcasm. "Next time something goes wrong in my life, I'll be sure to come to you first."

"Why don't you come to Hogsmeade with us?" Cordelia offered while simultaneously giving Olivia the side eye.

"I'd rather be alone." Kian replied. "Besides, I heard that there might be a snow storm later on".

Indeed, they had predicted a furious snow storm later that day. Grey clouded already covered the expansive sky above them, and the trees lashed about wildly. They had already had a few inches of snow the previous night, and fresh snow had began to fall upon the grounds.

"Whatever. See you later, Kian." Cordelia rolled her eyes, and the trio left the Ravenclaw Common Room.

The wind was strong as they walked on the streets of Hogsmeade. Olivia's teeth chattered teeth as the cold wind lashed against her face. They were headed in the direction of the Three Broomsticks, but the heavy snowfall had added a bit of an extra obstacle in their journey.

As Marie, Cordelia and Olivia turned the corner, a giant black dog came trotting down the street, its tongue hanging from the side of its mouth. Upon seeing the trio of girls, the dog made a beeline towards them. Suddenly, the dog stopped at their feet, and roll onto his back, exposing his hairy, black stomach.

All three girls let out a chorus of adoring signs, before dropping to their knees. Each girl reached their hands over and scratched his belly, which caused his leg to kick wildly in the air, his tongue still hanging out the side of his mouth.

Suddenly, Remus Lupin and James Potter came bounding around the corner, laughing hysterically. They approached the three girls, whistling to the dog.

"Sorry about him." Lupin apologised as he stood beside the dog.

"Yeah, this dog doesn't know when to stop." James remarked with a smirk.